From: "TheBear!" <thebear@earthling.net>
To: <XFilesNC17ff@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [XFNC17ff] Fic: Incarnations of Immortality! (Prologue/18) NC17
Date: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 6:41 PM

Incarnations of Immortality

By: The Bear!

XF/FK/HL crossover

NC17- graphic sex, some BDSM, some violence

Disclaimer: The characters in this construct belong to TPTB.

Please send feedback to thebear@earthling.net

Pairings: M/S  N/N  T/V and a surprise!

Summary:  Mulder and Scully go to Toronto and find that they are the
X-File.

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====


Prologue





Washington DC



2:55 p.m. Friday December 8th



The cell phone in his pocket started ringing.



"Mulder"



"Mulder, it's me.  Where are you?"



"On my way back to the office now, why?"



"Skinner wants to talk to us."



"10 minutes, Scully."  He reviewed everything he had been doing in the
last two weeks, trying to figure out what they were in trouble for now.
"Did he sound pissed-off?"



He heard a sigh, then "Not really.  Why, what have you done now?"



"Me?  Nothing Scully."  He swore he could actually hear her eyes
rolling.  "Seriously, Scully- Nothing.  Look, I'll be right there, ok?"



"Ok."



She didn't sound convinced.  "It's not *always* my fault." he muttered
to himself, as he pulled into the parking garage and looked for a spot.
"No, really.  Damn- I don't sound very convinced either," he thought.



Mulder went directly to Skinner's office, knowing that she wouldn't wait
in their office. When he got there Kimberly, Skinner's assistant gave
him a look of slight annoyance- pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes-
and then told him that they were waiting for him.



No need to ask who "they" were.



He entered Skinner's office to find Scully sitting across from him with
a slightly ambivalent look on her face.



"Nice of you to join us Agent Mulder," Skinner said with his customarily
lemony look.



Mulder glanced at his partner and got the "Don't-piss-him-off" look.
Suppressing a sigh, he turned to AD Skinner and said, "Thank you Sir."
He sat down next to his partner and put on his best mask of impassivity.
He waited for the other shoe to drop.



Skinner just stared at Mulder for half a beat, then settled back in his
chair and addressed his best, and most frustrating, pair of agents.
"There is a conference in Toronto next week."  He paused waiting to see
if there was any response.  When there was none he continued, "I am
assigning both of you to attend."  His tone was flat.  He stopped
speaking at that point, and leaned back in his chair, his gaze flicking
back and forth between the two.  After a moment the agents seemed to
realize that Skinner was done speaking.



Skinner waited with anticipation; he knew what was about to happen.



Mulder and Scully swiveled their heads towards each other about 15
degrees and made brief eye contact.  They then leaned forward to
identical positions of uprightness and paused before speaking.  Another
brief head swivel and eye contact, again, perfectly timed, and Mulder
pursed his lips while Scully spoke.  "Sir, if I may ask, what is this
conference about?"



Skinner wondered if they were even aware that they did that- Always.
Every time.  It was as though they rigorously rehearsed the choreography
of their movements ahead of time.  The movements were different each
time, and they seemed to trade off which one of them would speak, but
always, their movements mirrored each other precisely.



Sometimes they really were spooky.



He wiped the almost grin off of his face and answered the question, "You
may, Agent Scully."



Again, the choreographed silent communication.  Identical eyebrows rose.
Skinner broke in before Scully could ask the next question, "The
conference is being hosted by the Toronto Metro Homicide department and
Coroner's office.  Kimberly has your itinerary.  A representative from
each department will meet you at the airport.  That will be all agents."



They waited perhaps 2 seconds and then arose as one.  After another
pregnant pause, in which Skinner opened and began to peruse a file on
his desk, Mulder and Scully walked out of the office and got their
itineraries from Skinners secretary.



They walked in silence to the elevators and Mulder pushed the down
button.  They got on the next car and rode down locked in silent
communication, each trying to determine from the eyes of the other if
they knew anything beyond what they already had.  Scully thought she saw
something in Mulder's eyes- a glimmer of interest beyond trying to
figure out what was up with Skinner.



They entered their office and she turned on him, asking, "What is it
Mulder?  What's in Toronto that's got you so excited?"



"Jesus, Scully," he looked at her, astonished for a moment, "if I didn't
know better I would say you were a mind reader.  I think I had better
open up an X-File on you." He tried to divert her line of questioning,
"What do you think about Skinner's behavior?"



"Very funny Mulder," she said- allowing him to divert the discussion for
now.  She knew he would tell her soon enough.  "I think it's obvious."



"Yeah, you're right.  He wanted us to know that this assignment came
from somewhere else, somewhere other than his office," he said.



"Someone else you mean," she said quietly.



"Yeah," he sighed, "Probably."



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Toronto Homicide, 96th Precinct





11 p.m.  Friday December 8th



Nick was lost again.  Tracy was sitting at her desk and watching him
stare off into space.  Again.  "Nick, pay attention!  I need you to help
me finish this report!" Tracy growled at him.



Nick came to, and said, "Sorry Trace, I."



Tracy saw Nick's face light up, and he smiled at someone behind her.  "I
wonder what Natalie's doing here," she muttered, smiling when she was
rewarded with Nick's sudden sharp glance and his look of confusion.



"How did you." Nick began, but Tracy ignored him and turned around to
greet Nat.



"Hey Nat, what are you doing here so early?" Tracy asked.



"Hi Tracy, Captain Reese called for me," she said with a smile.  "Hello
Nick,"



"Hi Nat," Nick replied, with a silly grin on his face.



Just then they all heard a bellow come from the Captain's office,
"Lambert, Knight!  Get in here!"



Chapter 1


 


Toronto Homicide, 96th Precinct

 

11:10 p.m.  Friday December 8th

 

"So let me get this straight," Nick said, his voice raising slightly and
taking on a tone best described as exasperated, "You want us to baby-sit
a pair of United States federal agents.  For a week!"  Nick practically
shouted at the captain.

 

"Nick, you two were going to have to attend the conference anyway…"

 

"What about the cases we are working on?"  Nick asked almost resignedly.

 

"Nick, you and Vetter just completed the Shultz homicide, Klock is in
custody and the case is airtight.  Vetter can finish up the paperwork on
anything else you guys have left to wrap up…"

 

"She's going to love that," Nat murmured.

 

"As I was saying, you have nothing else outstanding right now,"
continued the captain with a narrow-eyed glance at Nat.  "Look guys, I
don't particularly care for this either, but the commissioner was
adamant that the two of you were to be put on this.  These two agents
are something different- they generally work cases involving
'unexplained phenomenon.' was how he described it to me."

 

"Captain, I wonder why he wanted me on this as well as Nick," Nat said-
looking bemused.

 

The captain leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head as he
regarded her.  "I don't know, Natalie.  One of them," he paused to flip
through the file, "Agent Scully, is a forensic pathologist in addition
to being a field agent.  Maybe that's why." he sat up, leaning forward
to thump his open palm on the desktop, "In any case, I don't like it
either.  I want you two to let me know if you find out anything that may
explain this.  If they let on that they may have a hidden agenda, or
that sort of thing- I want to know about it."

 

"Right Captain."  Nick and Nat said almost simultaneously.

 

"Come on Nick, I want to hear you give Tracey the good news" said Nat
with a smirk on her face.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Flight 3251 to Toronto


 


4:57 p.m.  Saturday December 9th.

 

"I don't know, Mulder.  When's the last time you ever heard of a
conference being held at night?"  Scully asked with a sigh.  "Look at
this schedule…"

 

"I know, I read it already," Mulder exhaled sharply.  "I think its
official now."

 

Scully's eyes widened slightly.  "Punishment detail?" she asked.

 

Mulder raised his eyebrows as if to ask what else it could be.  "That or
an elaborate trap of some kind."

 

"Great.  Just great," she clipped out between clenched teeth.

 

They sat in companionable silence for a moment, each seemingly lost in
thought.

 

Scully started slightly when Mulder loudly cracked a sunflower seed
between his teeth.  Her eyes darted immediately to his mouth and she
stared in wonder as his lips twitched while his tongue and teeth worked
the meat free from the shell.  She felt a shudder run slowly through
her, beginning at her center, and flowing from there down to her toes
and up to her scalp.  All of the tiny little hairs on her arms lifted
straight up from her skin and her nipples became painfully erect as she
imagined those lips moving over them.

 

"God, how pathetic is this?" she thought to herself.  "He chomps a seed
and I'm creaming my panties."  Her mind began playing scenes from
selected fantasies- the ones involving his lips on selected portions of
her anatomy.  She ruefully gave herself a little shake, "Stop it!  This
is your partner.  Your friend.  Its against the rules!!" she almost
chuckled out loud at that.  If she believed that he felt for her even
half of what she felt for him, she would have stripped him naked and
devoured him whole, long ago.  The truth was that she didn't think he
had any desire for her at all.  "I know he loves me- as a friend, a
sister even, but not a lover."  Deep down inside she fantasized that
that might change someday, but the rational Scully didn't believe it.

 

Mulder was trying not to look at her.  "Please, think of some thing
else, anything else…" ran over and over like a mantra in his head.  "Get
a grip, Fox! She is your partner- she doesn't think of you like that!"
He tried to think of baseball, but all he could picture was her; wrapped
in his arms, gamely trying to learn how to hit a baseball.  He tried to
think of basketball but the picture of her lying up against him, asleep,
on his couch while watching college hoops filled his thoughts.  "At
least when we have a case I can concentrate on that," he complained to
himself, "How the hell am I going to survive being around her for the
next 10 days with nothing but some boring conference I don't care about
anyway to fill my thoughts.  Images of her sleeping in the hotel room
next to him, mere feet away from him began to fill his head and he
started to feel stirrings in his groin.  He almost moaned out loud.
Turned toward Scully slightly to see if she might have noticed anything
and was shocked to see her staring at him.  "Busted again," he thought
as he saw her blush slightly, "I'm surprised she hasn't kicked my ass
before for this."

 

She was slightly startled herself when he turned toward her.  "Great,
Busted again," she thought, "I'm surprised he is even willing to sit
next to me anymore, as much as I stare at him."

 

"What?" Mulder blurted out.

 

Scully felt her face grow hot and tried to think of something to say.
Finally she recalled what she thought she had seen in his eyes during
the elevator trip down from Skinner's office.  "Why were you so
interested in Toronto, Mulder?"

 

"Reprieved!" Mulder shouted in his mind.  "Remember when you called me
before the meeting?" At her nod he continued, "The gunmen just got back
from Toronto a couple of days ago and wanted to show me a nifty little
device they got from one of their contacts there.  A Body Scanner."

 

"Ok Mulder, I'll bite, what's a body scanner?  Some twisted new device
to capture porn for the Internet?"  Scully smirked.

 

"No, although that's not a bad idea," Mulder smiled, "It's a device that
detects body heat and heartbeat signature.  They took an IR detector and
a hypersensitive microphone and slaved them to a microprocessor that can
filter out extraneous noise and heat source to discriminate a human body
from its surroundings.  It would be good for search-and-rescue
operations and they think they can further tweak the software to not
only differentiate humans from their surroundings, but even from one
another.  A unique 'fingerprint' so to speak"

 

"What about that makes Toronto particularly interesting?" Scully asked.

 

"Isn't that enough?" Mulder said with that classic half-grin on his
face.

 

"For others, surely, but for you?" Scully grinned herself.

 

"Are you sure you're not psychic Scully?" Mulder was smiling now.

 

"I assure you Mulder- I am not psychic- though I must be psychotic to
hang around you this long," she teased back.

 

His breath caught slightly and his smile faltered, but he swiftly
recovered and continued, "Well, they were telling me about how they were
driving around testing it when they came upon someone who didn't seem to
register on it."  Scully's eyebrow arched as he continued, "They watched
her walk into a club in the warehouse district.  They figured that the
thing must be malfunctioning, so they tried it out on some of the people
in line for the club, and it worked fine.  They ended up parking across
the street from the club and trying it out on everyone in line, you
know, just to see if it was an isolated anomaly, and found some
disturbing results."  He paused for a moment to gauge her reaction,
"They said that it worked on everyone in line, but that the bouncer and
several patrons leaving the establishment did not register at all.
Furthermore, patrons entering that were allowed to bypass the line
didn't register either."

 

Scully tried not to let her eyes roll, "And they concluded from this…"

 

"Well, that's where they seem to disagree," Mulder said.  "Byers thinks
they had some sort of shielding or something, Langley thinks they must
be some kind of alien hybrids, and Frohike…"

 

"I can hardly wait to hear what Frohike thinks," Scully muttered.

 

"Well, Frohike thinks they must be vampires or something."

 

"Vampires," Scully said flatly.

 

"Well they said the club was pretty gothic, and Byers thought that was
affecting Frohike's judgment.  Frohike said that Byers was just jealous
because he didn't figure it out first." Mulder said somewhat sheepishly.

 

"And you think we should check this club out."  Scully said somewhere
between exasperation and resignation.

 

"Well, can you think of any reason not to?"

 

"Sure Mulder.  A night at a classy Gothic bar in the Warehouse District.
You sure know how to show a girl a good time." she said, her expression
indecipherable, as a sudden mental picture of him showing her a very
good time crossed her mind.

 

Mulder's eyes glazed over a bit at Scully's words as he suddenly had
mental image of himself showing her an extremely good time.  Had they
not simultaneously averted their gaze from one another, each would have
seen the other blushing furiously.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Terminal 3


 


Lester B Pearson International Airport

 

6:02 p.m.  Saturday December 9th.

 

"They are FBI Agents, Nick.  How hard could it be to recognize them?"
Natalie asked.

 

"Nick looked puzzled, his brows drawing together, "How do you mean,
Nat?" he asked at they waited for the passengers to begin departing from
the plane.

 

"Well, they will probably both be tall, conservative looking, and
dressed in Brooks Brothers Navy blue suits, carrying briefcases," Nat
said with a giggle.

 

"I think you've been watching too many Cop movies, Nat." Nick said with
a sardonic grin.  "It's a good thing I brought a sign," he said, waving
the hand-printed Mulder & Scully sign in her face.

 

Passengers were starting to come out of the jet-way at this point and
the two noticed two figures clad in black suits and trench coats exiting
and looking about them.  "God, Nick," Nat whispered. "Look at those two,
they dress like you do."

 

"Must be a cop thing," Nick said with a grin.

 

She playfully punched him on the shoulder and said, "That's not what I
meant and you know it!"

 

"Well, they are walking this way, maybe they'll let you check their
teeth," Nick whispered in her ear, feeling unusually playful.

 

Natalie felt her heart beat faster and shivered a little at the feeling
of Nick's cool breath on her ear.  She suddenly felt flushed and
overheated.  "Get a Grip Nat!" she thought furiously at herself.  "He's
just being friendly.  Emphasis on *friend.*  Even If he wanted more than
that he would just go see Janet, not seduce you in an airport." she
thought, getting angry with herself.

 

Nick heard the increased heartbeat, smelled and saw the flush of arousal
that Natalie was giving off and jerked back as though he had been
bitten.  His control was becoming more and more tenuous lately-
especially around her.  An idea was hovering around the edge of his
consciousness, getting closer and closer every day, but nonetheless
eluding him when he focused his attention toward it.  He could feel that
it was about Nat, and that it was of extreme importance, and he thought
it might have something to do with his quest for mortality as well, but
he wasn't sure.  "No time for such musings now," he chastised himself as
the two objects of their conversation reached them.

 

Scully silently appraised the two as Mulder took out his identification
and introduced the two of them as Agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI
to the pale blond man holding the sign with their names on it and the
curvy brunette standing next to him.  She noticed that the woman was
blushing and the man seemed slightly lost in thought.  Half a beat later
the man spoke up and introduced himself as Detective Nick Knight with
Toronto metro homicide, and the woman as Doctor Natalie Lambert of the
Toronto Coroner's office.  They each smiled and shook hands with Mulder
and herself.  She noticed that Lambert's hand seemed very warm, while
Knight's felt quite cool.  Mulder made some inane pleasantries while she
quietly studied the two people who were here to shepherd them during
this conference.  She couldn't shake the feeling that there was a great
deal more to them than there seemed on the surface.  She wondered if
they knew why She and Mulder were really here.  Finally she broke her
silence, "Well detective, please lead on, we'd like to get checked in
and I could really go for something to eat right about now."

 

Natalie broke in with, "Actually that sounds pretty good.  Why don't you
let Nick and I take you out for a meal?  There's a decent café on the
way to the Plaza."  She turned to Nick with a smirk and said, "When's
the last time you ate, Nick?"

 

Deciding he wasn't going to win this one, Nick capitulated without a
fight, "Fine," he said turning to Mulder and Scully and continuing,
"Lets go to the luggage retrieval and get on our way."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Outside Victoria Café


 


6:58 p.m.  Saturday December 9th.

 

The conversation has somehow lapsed into docspeak during the ride, with
Mulder and Nick listening, bemused, to Scully and Natalie as though they
were speaking Yiddish.  They pulled into a parking slot in the mall lot
about halfway between the restaurant and office building beside it along
the highway.  As they exited the caddie, Detective Knight suddenly
struck a pose, as though he was listening to something far away.  Mulder
noticed and began to ask what was going on when he heard Knight mutter
under his breath, "Swords?"  He stood there, dumfounded for a moment as
Knight took off toward the back of the office building at a dead run,
then collected his wits and ran after him.  He could hear Scully and
Doctor Lambert running behind him, each calling out their respective
partner's name.  As he got closer to where he had seen Knight disappear
around the corner of the building, he heard the crash of metal on metal
and a shout of 'There can be only one!' followed by a moment of silence.

 

Nick had come around the edge of the building in time to see a man
kneeling before another who was swinging a sword toward his neck.
Before Nick could even ponder the question of whether or not to use his
Vampiric speed, the blade hurtled through neck of the kneeling man and
his head practically leapt from his shoulders.  He heard Agent Mulder
coming around the corner behind him and drew his weapon and pointed it
at the battle's victor.  He shouted, "Metro Homicide, drop the sword and
put your hands on your head!"  Agent Mulder stopped next to him, his
weapon drawn, a question on his breath when his attention was suddenly
refocused on the headless corpse, which began to raise off of the ground
while lightning began to arc from the neck and into the man standing
with his sword raised above his head.

 

Nat and Agent Scully came around the corner in time to see arcs of
electricity blowing sparks off of the transformers on the wall of the
building and a headless corpse hitting the ground as though it had been
dropped from a height.  A man with a sword in his hand was standing up
from the ground and running away on the other side of the showers of
sparks coming off of the transformer.  "Nick, what's going on?"  Natalie
breathed, hearing similar sentiments echoed by Agent Scully toward her
partner.  Both of the men had their guns drawn, but they were pointed to
the ground and they each had their mouths hanging open in surprise.  She
heard Agent Mulder recover first and say 'Wow!" in a loud exhale.  Nick
seemed entirely at a loss for words.

 

Scully took a moment to try and reconcile what she thought she had seen
with anything she might have ever seen before but gave up after a
moment.  She would have to think about it later.  Right now there was a
headless corpse to look at, and she wanted to be sure she had a chance
to make some close up observations before anything could happen to sweep
this under the carpet.  She heard Detective Knight tell Doctor Lambert
to take a look at the body while he went to go call it in.  Mulder
caught up to her as she approached to the body.

 

"How much did you see, Scully?" he whispered to her.

 

"What do you mean?" she asked.

 

Mulder explained to her what he thought he had seen.  "Oh, Mulder.
That's not possible- lightning doesn't come out of people's bodies- you
must have seen the arcs coming off of that transformer." she said.

 

"Scully- I saw the lightening for almost 2 seconds *before* the
transformer blew!"  Mulder whispered loudly.  "I'm telling you, Scully-
I saw it come out of him," indicating the corpse, "and into the other
guy- repeatedly."

 

Natalie overheard most of the conversation and wondered what Nick would
have to say about it, as he had apparently arrived on the scene first.
She examined the corpse and noticed the sword still clutched in the
out-flung hand.  She also noticed that the area where the neck had been
appeared to be seared and charred as if by high heat.  She would have to
check the feet when she did the autopsy to see if there were
corresponding burns where the electrical current should have gone out to
ground.

 

Scully walked over and squatted down next to the severed head, examining
it for anything unusual, beyond the fact that it was no longer attached
to the body.  She wondered about the sword "were they really having some
sort of duel to the death?" she asked herself, "what century did they
think they were in?"  She noticed Doctor Lambert joining her and asked,
"anything interesting on the body?"

 

Natalie noticed the lack of any burns on the neck of the head and said,
"Other than its unnatural lack of height?" she continued, "The burns
were obviously made after the decapitation.  We'll have to take a look
once we get him out of here to determine cause."

 

"I'd like to observe the autopsy if you don't mind, Doctor Lambert"
Scully said.

 

"You would have to get permission from my Captain, but I certainly don't
mind." Natalie replied.

 

Just then Nick returned to the scene and told them that more officers
should be arriving in a couple of minutes.  He paused for a moment as he
looked at the body, at the burns on the neck and remembered the scene as
it had unfolded.

 

Natalie noticed his reverie and asked him what had happened.  He began
to describe what he had seen but left out the part about the floating
body and the lightening pouring out of the neck and into the other man.
Mulder of course brought it up and asked Nick to confirm what he had
seen.

 

"But that isn't possible, is it Agent Mulder?" Nick asked, somewhat
bewildered.  He had never seen anything like that before in his 800
years of life/unlife.

 

"Impossible or not, it is what happened" Mulder countered.

 

"Frankly, agent Mulder, I can't be sure what I saw.  I remember it as
you said, but I'm not sure I believe it myself," Nick said softly as the
patrol cars and coroner's van arrived on scene.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


International Plaza Hotel and Conference Center


 


2:28am Sunday December 10th.

 

It had been after midnight before they were done at the precinct, and
Scully had wanted to observe the autopsy.  Mulder had told her he would
meet her at the hotel.  Scully was focused on the task at hand and had
barely acknowledged him with a glance and a non-committal grunt as she
followed Doctor Lambert off to the morgue.  Detective Knight dropped him
at the hotel and assured him that 'Nat' would see to it that agent
Scully made it to the hotel when the autopsy was completed, and that
they would see them at the conference Monday evening.

 

Mulder's mind was awhirl with what had happened that night.  He was also
hungry.  He knew his partner, and the fact that while focused on the
autopsy, she would undoubtedly forget her own hunger until she got back
to the hotel and then she would immediately be ravenous.  He also knew
that he had better be ready to assuage that hunger or she would be
extremely unpleasant to be around.  He called the desk and got a number
for an all-night Chinese place that would deliver.

 

He had eaten his fill, and even taken a brief, and cold, shower before
he heard her entering the adjoining room.  He immediately knocked on the
door and entered bearing gifts to satisfy the hungry Scully, hopefully
before she became the crabby Scully.

 

Scully dragged herself in the door, dropping her bags on the floor
immediately in front of the door and wearily walked over to the chair
and flopped down- too worn out to even make it all of the way to the
bed.  She heard Mulder's knock on the door and turned her head in time
to see him enter with so much as a 'by your leave.'

 

"Oh no! He's wearing that tight gray T-shirt and jeans," she thought to
herself.  The material of the T-shirt was stretched tightly over the
frame of his chest and shoulders, causing her mouth to water slightly
and she felt herself getting slightly damp between her thighs.  "Oh
Mulder, why tonight?" she thought as she silently condemned her
traitorous body for reacting so palpably to his mere presence.  "Dammit
Mulder, what now?" she said out loud, sublimating her desire into
annoyance, hoping that he would misread the tension she was clearly
displaying.

 

"Too late" he muttered under his breath.  "Food, Scully.  I thought you
might not have eaten yet and I knew you would be tired and you probably
wouldn't want to have to get up and get anything or wait for delivery
so…" He was clearly babbling and desperately wanted to shut up but
couldn't seem to get his brain on the same wavelength as his mouth.
Finally he noticed that he seemed to have drifted to a stop in the
middle of a sentence so he finished with "…so I got you some…  It's
General Tso's Chicken, Scully.  I know you really like General Tso's
Chicken…" Damn.  He was babbling again.  This time he just kept his
mouth shut.

 

"God I can be a bitch sometimes," she thought as she saw the wounded
puppy look on Mulder's face and listened to him babble.  "Why does he
have to be so sweet and understanding, and so damn sexy!" she
practically shouted at herself.  She quickly stood up and took the box
from him and set it down on the hotel-room table- turning her back on
him as she did so before he could see the welling of tears in her eyes.
"Thanks, Mulder." she murmured as she grabbed the box from him.

 

She looked so small and fragile sometimes.  He had to restrain himself
from swiftly closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms
around her and burying his face in her hair as he held her tight.  "So
much for the effectiveness of cold showers" he thought as he felt
himself tighten in his jeans.

 

"I'm beat Mulder.  Could we discuss the case in the morning?  I really
need to get some sleep," she said; even though what she really wanted
was for him to sweep her up and throw her on the bed.  She imagined him
pounding into her with an animalistic ferocity, while she was shouting
his name as he made her cum over an over again.  She was afraid if he
didn't leave now she wouldn't be able to keep the feelings that were
choking her from spilling out and revealing everything to him.  He
didn't feel that way about her and she was afraid that it would destroy
their partnership if she told him how she felt.

 

"She knows.  She knows and it repulses her."  Mulder felt his heart
crack a little.  "How can I be such a beast?  She is tired and worn out
and hungry and I'm standing here with a hard-on like a geeky high school
kid." Mulder berated himself and wondered even more how she could stand
to stay partnered with such totally screwed-up freak like him.  "Sure
Scully.  Hey, don't worry about getting up early- we need to acclimate
ourselves to the nights anyway while we're here." he said, his voice
only wavering a little.

 

"Ok Mulder.  Good Night," she said as he closed the door behind him.

 

Neither of them was able to fall asleep for several hours that night.
Each tossed and turned and wished they were in bed with the other.

 

=====

=====


Chapter 2a





Nicks Loft



3:10 p.m.  Sunday December 10th



Nick roused from a nightmare and sat up with a gasp, his body dripping
in blood-sweat.  He had been stuck in a swirling mishmash of images-
images filled with blood and terror, but in them he had seemed to be the
observer rather than the instigator.  He tried to sort out the images in
his mind as best he could and what he began to see was something that he
had never thought of before.  He saw his old partner Schanke being shot,
and himself not being able to reach the shooter in time, he saw himself
not quite reaching, falling short, showing up just a little too late,
failing to save people that he knew he had rescued over the past several
years.  He saw a myriad of incidents that he had successfully resolved
in reality, but in his dream, he wasn't able to stop the horrors from
occurring.  Finally, as he heard a loud roaring in his ears, the images
culminated in seeing himself enter that greenhouse where Roger Jamison
was going to rape Natalie, but this time he got there just after Roger
was done, instead of just before he started.



Natalie was asleep on the couch downstairs.  She and Nick had stayed up
until nearly 8 a.m. discussing the extraordinary events of the previous
night, including the unusual events surrounding the autopsy.  She woke
up to the anguished sound of Nick roaring her name at the top of his
lungs.  She rushed up the stairs to his bedroom door.  She heard Nick
sobbing and it tore at her heart.  She knocked at the door and opened
it, calling his name softly "Nick?  Nick, are you alright?"  The scene
in front of her scared her as much as it saddened her- Nick was sitting
on his bed, his bare chest covered in a fine sheen of blood, his mouth
hanging open, fangs dropped and a high-pitched keening pouring out.  His
eyes were glowing red and blood-tears were running down his face and
dripping onto his chest and stomach.  He seemed to be lost in thought
and didn't even notice her presence.



"Oh Nick." he heard Nat whisper under her breath as he snapped back to
reality.  He looked at her through a haze of red and realized what
condition he was in.  He stood up suddenly and walked away into the
corner of his room, facing away from her, "Don't look at me, Natalie.
Please.  Give me a moment to put myself together" he said as he wrapped
his arms around his chest tightly.  He knew that if she touched him it
would be over.  He would sink his teeth into that lovely ivory neck and
drain the last drop of her precious life into himself to fill the aching
void he was feeling.



She took a half step toward him and heard his tortured whisper "Please
Nat, I don't think I could stop." She just nodded, knowing that he
couldn't see her but unable to form any words, and walked out and down
the stairs.  She walked to his refrigerator and pulled out the first
green bottle she saw and poured a big glass of it for him.  She so
desperately wanted to be able to comfort him, but she knew that she
wasn't what he needed.  Wasn't *who* he wanted.  She choked down her own
sob and determined that she would do whatever she could do, and ignore
what she couldn't do, to help.  He needed a friend and she would be that
friend, even though she wanted to be so much more.



Nick took a quick shower and tried to put the images from his dream out
of his mind.  He knew what had caused his failure in each of those
scenes playing out in his mind- he was human.  He was convinced that the
Beast in him was trying to poison his desire to be human, trying to get
him to give up his quest.  Maybe it was LaCroix.  Maybe LaCroix was
sending these images to him to try and.  He tried to ignore the little
voice deep inside his head that was telling him that maybe he needed to
think about what the consequences of his quest would be if he succeeded.
Negative consequences as well as positive ones.



Nick shook himself out of his reverie and finished drying himself off
and getting dressed.  He never once met his own gaze in the mirror as he
dried and combed his hair.  He slowly walked down the stairs and saw
Natalie sitting at the table, the chair across from her pulled out and a
large glass of blood on the table in front of it.  Her eyes were fixed
on the glass and she didn't seem willing to look at him as descended and
sat at the table.  "Natalie, I." he started to say.



She interrupted and said, "Drink."  When he hesitated she finally moved
her eyes to his and said, "Drink, then talk."



He could smell her blood- like mulled, spiced wine- and it was all he
could do to choke down the bovine swill before him.  He did feel a
little better for having done so, however.  He looked up at her and saw
her patiently waiting for him to speak.  "She is so beautiful," he
thought, staring at her face, her mass of brunette curls framing it, her
neck like pale ivory, the pulse of her life's blood visible against the
soft skin of her throat.  He felt himself becoming aroused, he felt the
vampire becoming aroused as well.  He heard his own voice saying, "It
was just a nightmare Nat."



She heard his voice, knowing it was a lie the moment it fell out of his
mouth.  It was clearly more than just a nightmare.  She also saw his
eyes fixed on her throat, caressing it like the lips of a lover.  She
noticed tiny flecks of gold starting to form in the green of his eyes.
She also felt the affect his gaze had on her body- her nipples were
hardening, and she was starting to feel warm and damp at the juncture of
her thighs.  She cursed her body for its betrayal of her desire, knowing
his heightened senses could detect it.



Nick Knight had an epiphany.



He realized suddenly and for the first time that Natalie Lambert wanted
him.  Not just a little.  Not mildly attracted to him or slightly fond
of him but desperately in love with him.  Looking back over the past
several years, he realized that she wanted him all along.  In fact, in
retrospect he discovered that her desire for him was obvious- obvious to
everyone but him.  How could he have been so thickheaded?  He knew that
he was very often slow to catch on, but 6 years?  "What a complete moron
I am!" he yelled at himself.



"Oh God," Natalie thought to herself.  "I'm going to lose it!"  She had
to get out of there.  Now.  She felt that if she failed to leave
immediately she was going to collapse and bawl her eyes out.  She
plastered her best fake smile on her face and stood up, "Look Nick, I've
got to go home and clean myself up.  And I'm sure Sidney is waiting to
be fed, and I'll call you later, Ok?  Thanks for letting me crash here
last night, I was beat."  She couldn't seem to stop the verbal
hemorrhaging from her mouth as she swiftly walked to the elevator and
got in.



Nick had two other thoughts as he watched her close the door of the
elevator and begin the descent to the ground outside.  One was that
maybe mortality was not the key to his atonement.  The other was that
Natalie would feel betrayed if he told her he didn't want to be mortal.



He wasn't looking forward to that conversation at all.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




International Plaza Hotel





3:10 p.m.  Sunday December 10th



Mulder sat at the table slowly sipping his iced tea as he considered
what Scully had told him.  The body was in perfect condition.  Not
counting the missing head, of course, and the burnt neck- which Scully
couldn't explain, though she still didn't seem to accept his explanation
of events.  But the body, no scars- not even a vaccination scar- no
healed injuries, no breakdown of any tissues or organs- a total lack of
the normal wear and tear that is part of life as we know it.



"He would have had to have lived with a perfect diet and exercise. no,
even then gravity would have had some effect on him," Scully said,
frustrated by her inability to come up with even a theory as to how this
could be scientifically explained.  "I suppose you think he was a
vampire, Mulder?"



"Well, beheading is one of the given ways to kill a vampire, but nothing
else seems to fit.  I've never heard of vampires engaging in sword
fights, and you didn't find anything unusual with the teeth, did you?"
Mulder asked.



"No, Mulder.  There was nothing unusual about the teeth, except that
there was no evidence of any dental work ever being done.  No caps,
bridges, fillings or otherwise." she answered.



"Do you think it could be a clone, Scully?"  Mulder asked, his voice low
and quiet.



"Dammit!  Only Mulder could make that question sound sexy," Scully
thought furiously to herself.  Out loud she said, "If it was a clone,
Mulder, it was unlike any other we have seen."



"Yeah, no gas, no melting into green ooze, etc." Mulder muttered.  "Is
there anything else we can do at this point?



"Well, the DNA results should come back tomorrow or Tuesday, but I don't
seriously expect anything unusual from that.



"Why not?"  Mulder asked.



"The standard forensic tests don't look for much beyond identification"
she replied.



"We should." Mulder started to say.



Scully interrupted, "Already done, Mulder.  The Gunmen should get the
DNA sample by tomorrow morning" she said with a small grin.



Mulder just stared at her for several seconds.  "Maybe she really is
psychic," he thought.



Seeing his widened eyes and unblinking stare, Scully said, "I don't
require psychic powers to know you were going to suggest sending a
sample to the Gunmen for a more 'in depth' analysis.  Nor do I need it
to know that your next thought was going to be some smart comment about
my being psychic."



Mulder calmed down after a moment of near panic and realized that if
Scully were psychic she would have been slapping his face approximately
every 10 minutes for the past 5 years.  He smiled sheepishly and said,
"I don't think anyone in my whole life has ever known me as well as you
do, Scully."



"Sometimes Mulder, I feel like I don't know you at all." she said to
herself.  "We have about 24 hours before our first course at the
seminar, Mulder.  Any ideas on how to fill that time?"  Scully asked
with a raised brow.



That was a loaded question!  "Oh boy, I'm sure glad I wore a loose pair
of trousers today," Mulder thought.  "Actually Scully, I do."  Mulder
said with a leer, "but your going to have to change clothes first."



Scully's eyebrow climbed even higher as she said, "Why Agent Mulder, are
you propositioning me?  Whatever did you have in mind?"



Mulder managed to reply smoothly, even though his mind was whirling with
images of how he would like to proposition her, "I was thinking of
spending an evening at a classy Gothic bar in the Warehouse District."



"Oh no.  The Raven, Mulder?"



"The Raven, Scully."



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Natalie's apartment





4:45 p.m.  Sunday



She had barely made it home without breaking down.  She managed to get
the door to her apartment closed behind her and collapsed to her knees
on the floor right there in front of her door.  Wracking sobs shook her,
and bitter tears of humiliation poured down her face.  She berated
herself for her lack of control.  She had made a decision to accept
friendship and just be there to comfort him and the moment he looked at
her she creamed in her jeans like a sophomore prom date.  And he had to
know!  That's why he just sat there staring at her like she was an
idiot.  Pretty soon the humiliation faded and the despair came to the
forefront.  She wanted him so badly that it felt like someone had kicked
her in the stomach.  She loved him so much and she felt so selfish for
being unable to accept the lesser role of friend, rather than lover.



She knew that Nick had brought Janette back across, but she had hoped
that after Janette had left in anger over it that Nick might turn to
her.  She tried to console herself by remembering that Nick was worried
about how LaCroix would react after the fiasco on that long-ago
Valentines Day.  However, she also knew that the two of them seemed to
have resolved their differences after that child vampire Divia had gone
on a rampage, so she didn't think that was it either.  She had to face
the facts: He just didn't want her anymore- if he ever had at all.  She
felt like something was squeezing her heart until it threatened to pop
like a grape.



Eventually she was cried out.  There were no more tears to shed or
emotions to feel.  She was utterly exhausted and she fell asleep right
there on the floor.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




The Raven





8:45 p.m.  Sunday



They had been in line for about 15 minutes when she noticed a big green
Cadillac Convertible drive by and park down the block.  She waited until
she saw a familiar blond detective get out and head toward the front
entrance to the Raven.  She nudged Mulder and gestured with her chin
toward the approaching detective.



Mulder broke off his fantasy about how he could be keeping Scully warm
right now and noticed whom she was indicating.  They both watched in
silence as Detective Knight walked right up to the doorman, who
immediately jumped up from his stool and held the door open without so
much as a word or glance from Knight.



"Well." said Mulder, loading that one word with volumes of meaning.



"Come on Mulder, even if they exist, I hardly think that homicide
detective would be the kind of job they would hold down."  Scully said
with more than a bit of sarcasm in her voice.



"I don't know Scully.  What better way to cover up any 'indiscretions'
shall we say, that might pop up from the group?"  Mulder said, "It's too
bad I couldn't persuade the Gunmen to give up their new toy and bring it
here myself."



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Nick entered the Raven lost in thought.  He thought LaCroix would be
happy that he was giving up his quest, but would he be happy enough to
forgive him his debt for Fleur?  On top of that, even if LaCroix allowed
him to woo Nat, would she still want him if he gave up on mortality?  He
thought so, he was pretty sure she wanted him any way she could get him.
Unfortunately, he was equally sure that he didn't deserve her under any
circumstances.  She would be better off without him, wouldn't she?  He
used to think so, but lately he wasn't sure.  If vampires were not
inherently evil, then would he really be condemning her if he brought
her across?  If that's what she wanted?  He was very confused.  He was
paradigm shifting without a clutch, and the gears of his reality were
grinding noisily.



He felt sure of two things though.  He thought that he could atone-
could be forgiven- and that was much more important than being able to
see the sunshine again.  Also he was certain that he loved Natalie with
all that he was.  If she would have him, he would be one with her
forever.  She was all of the sunshine he would ever need.



He made his way through the crowd to the bar and spoke with Miklos, "Is
LaCroix available?"



"He's just finishing taping his broadcast.  Your usual while you wait?"
the bartender asked.



"No.  The house special, please.  And leave the bottle- I'll wait in his
office."  Nick said, his eyes locked on Miklos', daring him to say
anything.



Miklos merely raised an eyebrow and handed him the bottle and two
glasses, saying, "Of course.  I'll let him know you're here."



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




The Raven





When Mulder and Scully finally got in, about 20 minutes later, they
didn't see Knight anywhere.



"Where do you think he went?"  Mulder shouted over the loud music.



"I don't know, Mulder." she replied "Look, there's a booth near the
back.  It looks like it has a good view of the whole place."



They made their way back to the booth and sat down just as the table was
cleared.  The waitress was a scantily clad and very curvy blonde.  Her
skin was extremely pale and her eyes were very blue.  "What can I get
you guys?" she said.



Scully was immediately self-conscious thinking how she was definitely
Mulder's type- just like on those videos that he denied owning.  "Just a
beer." she said.



Mulder was looking at Scully, imagining her wearing the same getup this
waitress was wearing and having some difficulty breathing.  "Uh, yeah.
A couple of Mooseheads would be great." he stammered out.



Scully snapped her eyes to his, expecting to see them locked on the
waitress's backside, and was surprised to see them raking her up and
down.  "Great, he's comparing me to her- like that's any contest." she
thought.



Mulder finally noticed that she was staring at him and he felt himself
blush furiously.  He immediately looked away and saw very tall, intense
looking man step out of what looked like a broadcast booth and make his
way toward a door by the bar.



Scully noticed his focus and turned to see what he was looking at now.
She saw the tall man in the Armani suit walking into what looked like an
office, and she saw Detective Knight sitting in there, apparently
waiting for him.  "Who was that guy, Mulder" she asked.



"I don't know.  I saw him walking out of that sound booth," he gestured
to the studio across the bar.  "But I'm pretty sure that was Knight
waiting for him in the office."



"Curiouser and curiouser."



Just then the waitress returned with their drinks.  "There you go guys.
By the way, my name is Urs, if you need anything else," she said, while
blatantly checking Mulder out.



"Actually, Urs, do you know who that guy who was in the recording booth
was?  He looks familiar to me, but I can't place him."  Scully said,
hoping for a little info.



"Her eyes narrowed slightly but she answered, "That's Monsieur LaCroix.
He is the owner of the club, and does a radio show called The
Nightcrawler from that booth."  She looked back toward Mulder and
dropped her voice about half and octave and said "If there is anything
else you need, you just let me know." and then turned and walked away,
swinging her hips just a little bit more than usual.



Scully looked pissed, and he couldn't figure out what he had done now.
"Look, I'm sorry if I dragged you here against your will, but you have
to admit its getting pretty interesting."



"Lord!  How can I be jealous of a freaking cocktail waitress?"  Scully
asked herself.  "I'm surprised you didn't get her number, Mulder," she
said.  "Jeez, can I get any more catty?" she wondered.  At his look of
total confusion she said, "Never mind Mulder.  What do you think about
Knight meeting with the club owner?"



"What was that all about?" he wondered.  "I don't know, Scully.  I can
think of several reasons why he might be meeting with this guy.  Some of
them aren't even sinister," he said.



She chuckled at that and took a long pull of her beer.  She then
returned to watching the crowd and trying not to think about her partner
sitting across from her, looking damn sexy in his tight black turtleneck
and pleated slacks.



He took one last look at his partner in her tight black jeans and black
silk blouse, trying not to be obvious about reaching down to adjust his
erection to relieve some of the pressure, before returning his gaze to
the crowd himself.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




The Raven





"Nicolas, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?" asked LaCroix.



Nick wasn't sure how to begin, so he dropped his shields and allowed his
feelings to flow along their blood-link.



//fear/anxiety/desire/confusion// washed over LaCroix's consciousness
and he felt his own surprise that Nicolas would allow him access like
this.  "It has been so long," he thought, wistfully.  "Come my son, I
feel your trouble.  Tell me what is wrong."



"Father, I."



LaCroix's eyebrows raised at that word



"I don't know where to begin.  There's.  There is so much I need to say,
to ask."  Nick began- his voice rough with emotion and his eyes turning
golden.



LaCroix suddenly rose from behind his desk and took his son by the arm.
"Come, Nicolas, let us retire to my rooms and discuss this in a less
formal setting."  With that, he led Nick through the back door of the
office and up the stairway to his private apartment above the club.  He
sat Nick on the couch and sat himself down in the armchair perpendicular
to him.  "Now then Nicolas, perhaps you should begin from the
beginning."



Nick didn't really know where the beginning was, but he knew the thing
that he felt most strongly.  "I love her, father.  With all that I am, I
love her."



"Ahh.  We are, of course speaking of the delectable Doctor Lambert, I
presume?"



Nick nodded his head sadly.



"Why is that a concern my son?"



Nick shied away from his gaze.  He whispered, "because of our bargain.
My debt to you for Fleur."



LaCroix smiled.  "That's right Nicolas.  You owe me the life of a mortal
whom you love in recompense for denying me your sister, whom I loved,"
he paused for a moment as Nick hung his head, "and you wanted to ask me
what I would accept in place of the dear Doctor's life?"



"Yes father.  I would give you anything, do almost anything." Nick
began.



LaCroix jumped in, "Almost, Nicolas?  What wouldn't you do?" he asked,
wanting to draw this out a bit.



Nick raised his eyes to meet LaCroix's.  "I will not kill for food,
LaCroix."



"Is that all?"  LaCroix asked with interest.  "You would give up your
ridiculous quest for mortality, your 'humanity'?" he asked in disbelief.



"I still feel the need to atone, father.  I still seek to make up,
however I can, for the horrible things I have done.  However, I no
longer believe that mortality is the key to that atonement."



"I see.  You would give up drinking that bovine swill you have been
choking down for the past century?"



Nick smiled and indicated the bottle they were sharing now, "I already
have.  I had a case of donated blood delivered to the loft this morning.
I dumped the last of the cow before coming over here."



LaCroix sat back in his chair- Astonished.  "I am so very pleased to
hear that Nicolas."



"Is it enough, my father?  Would you release me from my debt?  Would you
let me have the love of my existence?"  Nick asked, plaintively.



"It is not enough, Nicolas.  Nothing could ever be enough to repay that
debt."



Nick broke in, "LaCroix, if you take her, you must take me as well, for
her death will be my own."



"You would fight me over this?"



"No father, but surely on the day of her death I will greet the sunrise
with open arms."



LaCroix sat back in his chair and considered his son.  This was indeed a
change in both behavior and attitude.  Nicolas was not trying to be
confrontational; he seemed to be genuinely trying to communicate like a
dutiful son, showing the proper deference for once.  "Since you
destroyed Divia, I have spent a great deal of time in thought;
considering many things, including your debt to me," he paused, waiting
for Nicolas to make eye contact with him.  "I knew you loved Natalie,
even though you lied about it at the Azure.  I have decided that I
should not have sought that bargain from you.  You were right.  I loved
your sister for her innocence, and I would have destroyed that goodness
then if I had brought her across.  And, I am in your debt for Divia."
LaCroix stood up and turned to face his son.  He reached out and gently
laid his hand on Nicolas' shoulder.  "I release you of this debt,
Nicolas."



Nicolas fell to his knees before his maker and grasped his hand,
pressing his lips to it and shedding his tears on it.  "Thank you
father.  I thank you with all my heart for this boon that you have
granted me."  Lapsing into the style of speech from his days as a mortal
in the early 13th century- speaking as vassal to Liege-Lord.  "Now I
have to convince Natalie," he said, leaping to his feet and racing out
of the apartment- taking the back exit and leaving the Raven to return
home.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Nick's Loft





10:05 p.m.  Sunday



Natalie entered the loft and wondered where Nick was.  She had noticed
that the caddie was gone, but she didn't remember him having any plans
for the evening.



The first thing she noticed was the 5 empty wine bottles sitting by the
sink.  She thought he must have gone on a real bender to empty 5 bottles
at once.  She once again berated herself for her behavior earlier today.
She had woken up two hours ago stiff and sore from sleeping on the
floor.  She had cleaned herself up and gotten dressed and decided to
come over to see if she could apologize and maybe get some videos or
something.  Even if she couldn't have him the way she wanted him, she
would take what she could get.  Just sitting with him on the couch and
enjoying his company was better than moping about her apartment longing
for what she could never have.  She knew she couldn't live without him.



As she approached the bottles, she noticed that they had been carefully
rinsed out and set to drain on a towel.  They looked as though they had
been dumped, not drank.  She could only think of two reasons why he
would dump all of the blood in his refrigerator- all of the cow's blood.
She didn't think he had found a cure to vampirism since she left the
loft earlier that evening.  That left only one reason.  She reached for
the refrigerator door and stopped.  "There has to be another
explanation.  He wouldn't give up on this, would he?" she asked herself.



She closed her eyes and opened the door.  After several seconds she
opened her eyes and the image before her matched almost perfectly with
what she had been imagining: Wine bottles.  Row after row of green
bottles with Raven Cellars labels.  She knew without a doubt that
LaCroix would never put the Raven label on a bottle of cow's blood.



A great crashing wave of despair smote Natalie Lambert like the hand of
God wiping out Sodom and Gomorrah.  She crashed to her knees for the
second time that night and again hot tears flowed.  "He doesn't want me
for me, and he doesn't need me for a cure anymore.  There will be
nothing left for me.  This is the end." kept repeating like a mantra
over and over in her head.  Finally she dragged herself up and out of
the loft, down the elevator and out to her car.  She started driving,
not sure where she was going.  She knew she didn't want to go home to
her depressingly empty apartment.  She drove around randomly for about
45 minutes when she noticed that she had reached the Raven.  She sat,
parked outside it for several minutes before she thought to herself,
"Why not.  I can get drunk there as easily as anywhere else," and it
seemed strangely fitting.



She got out of her car and walked over to the door, ignoring the line.
She walked right up to the bouncer and locked eyes with him, daring him
to deny her entrance.



The bouncer recognized Nick Knight's pet mortal, and while part of him
wanted to wipe the smug look of superiority off her face, the majority
of his intellect wisely decided that such an action would result in him
having to face a very angry Nick Knight.  Others might make jokes about
the vampire who would be human; but he had been an unfortunate witness
to several altercations between Nick and LaCroix.  The thought of an
enraged Nick Knight coming after him left him scared bloodless.  He
decided that, at least in this case, discretion was definitely the
better part of valor, and opened the door for her without a word.



=====
=====


Chapter 2b





The Raven





11:12 p.m.  Sunday



Scully nudged Mulder, who's eyes were fixated on the mass of humanity on
the dance floor, and pointed to the entrance where Doctor Lambert was
just entering, and looking extremely upset about something.  They
watched in silence as she made her way to the bar and placed an order.
They continued to watch as the bartender paused for several moments
before filling her order.  He then set up 6 shot glasses and took a
bottle of what must have been either vodka or gin, something clear
anyway, and filled each glass before her.  He then stepped back and
waited.  Doctor Lambert didn't even hesitate before picking up the first
and slamming it back.  She only paused long enough to return the first
glass- upside down- to the bar before picking up the next and repeating
the process until all six were empty and arranged in a small pyramid.
She then asked for and received what looked like some sort of whiskey on
ice and wandered over and sat down in a booth across the dance floor
from them.



Mulder and Scully looked at one another for a moment before Scully said,
"Maybe I should go over and talk to her, Mulder.  You keep watching for
vampires, Ok?"



"Sure, Scully.  Let me know if you need any help, right?"



Scully just rolled her eyes and began to make her way across the dance
floor.



She approached the booth Doctor Lambert was sitting in and noticed that
the alcohol was definitely beginning to take hold.  "May I join you,
Doctor Lambert?"  Scully asked.



Natalie whipped her head around and noticed the petite redhead standing
there.  "Uh, sure, agent Scully, and please, it's Natalie, Ok?"



"Ok Natalie.  Please call me Dana."  Scully replied.



"Ok Dana."



They sat in silence for several moments.



Suddenly Natalie asked, "What was the first thing you did when you
realized you were in love with your partner?"



Scully choked on the swallow of beer she had just taken, and took
several seconds to recover her ability to speak.  "What?"



"I mean, it must have been hard, you working together and all, I mean.
Were you worried that he didn't feel the same way?  Or did he tell you
first?"  Natalie began rushing the questions out without waiting for an
answer.  "I mean, obviously it worked out, for you guys.  How long were
you together before you took it all the way?"



To say that Scully was stunned would be to say that Rush Limbaugh was
somewhat conservative in his political views.  She just sat there with
her mouth hanging open for several seconds before it shut like a trap.
"Thank God Mulder didn't decide to join me over here" she thought.  "Uh,
Natalie, wha-what makes you think Mulder and I are together.  That way,
I mean"



"Oh, I understand that you guys can't advertise it.  Probably some kind
of problem with rules, right?"  Natalie asked, her eyes beginning to
glaze from the drink she had consumed already that evening.  "Don't
worry, I won't tell your secret.  I'm glad for you two.  I know what
it's like to want someone that badly, and *not* be able to have them."
She started to ramble, "Now that he doesn't need my help anymore,
there's no need to keep poor pathetic little Natalie hanging around
anymore is there?"  The bitterness contained in that statement was
enough to choke a horse.



Scully's head was spinning when Natalie switched topics again, "Where is
he anyway?  Your partner, I mean."



"Uh, he's watching for vampires," Scully blurted out, not even noticing
how ridiculous that must sound.



"Freaking bloodsuckers, first they want a cure and then they just throw
away six years of research and work like you don't count.  Frankly he
doesn't even deserve me!"  Natalie whispered venomously.



Scully realized that Natalie was well on her way to utter intoxication.
"Uh, Natalie- could I offer you a ride home?"  Scully said in what she
hoped was her most soothing voice.



"Don't worry, Dana, I'll take a cab or something.  Right now I am just
getting warmed up," Natalie said, her voice almost clear, but filled
with anger.  "Actually, If you don't mind, I would like to be alone
right now.  I'll see you tomorrow night at the conference."



"Ahh, sure Natalie.  If you say so."  Scully said softly.  She paused
for a moment and then got up and made her way back to Mulder.  Her mind
was whirling with what Natalie had said.  "Am I that obvious about my
feelings?  Surely Mulder would have noticed by now, and why did she
think we were a couple?  Mulder doesn't think of me that way at all."



"So, what's up with her?"  Mulder asked.



"Uh, I'm not sure.  Something about 6 years of research being thrown
away, and not mattering and someone not deserving her and, uh, some
other stuff."  Scully broke off as she realized that she needed to think
about the other stuff, but not talk about it.  "I thi-I think she was
drunk, Mulder."



"Are you ok, Scully?"  Mulder asked.



"I'm fine, Mulder, why?"



"You're stuttering."



"I-I'm what?"



"Stuttering, Scully."



"I most certainly am not, Mulder!"



"Ok, ok.  Jeez, Scully, Its not just a river in Egypt anymore, huh?"
Mulder trailed off as he turned away.



"What was that, Mulder?"



"Nothing Scully."



"Look Mulder, this is going nowhere.  Can we get out of here?"



"I wanted to see how long Knight was going to stay in that office."



"Just ask him tomorrow when we see him.  Seriously Mulder.  What do you
suspect him of doing?"  Scully asked when she saw the 'sad puppy' look
starting to form.  She leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered,
"Do you think he's a Vampire?  A freaking bloodsuck.er." she trailed
off.



Mulder didn't seem to notice, "Well he's awfully pale, Scully." he said,
only half-jokingly.



She just stared at him, lost in thought.  Mulder misinterpreted it as
annoyance and said, "Ok, Scully.  We'll go."



He left some money on the table and they made their way across the dance
floor and out onto the street.  The first thing Mulder noticed was that
Detective Knight's car was gone.  "Damn, how did he get past us,
Scully?"



"Come on Mulder, If he is a friend of the owner, don't you think he
could have used a back door or something?" she pointed out.  "Obviously
he must have.  Or do you think he turned into a vapor and sneaked out
with the cigarette haze?" she teased.



Mulder started to smile a little and decided to humor her, "No, he
probably turned into a bat and flew out a window."



"Do you think they license bats to drive in Canada, Mulder?"  Scully
asked, "How would they reach the pedals?"



Mulder laughed out loud at that, smiling widely at Scully.



"I would give anything to make him smile at me like that every day for
the rest of my life," Scully thought to herself wistfully.



Sometimes when he looked at her, he was so stricken by her beauty that
it felt like his heart would pound its way out of his chest and throw
itself at her feet in supplication.  Frankly he wondered how long it
would be before he slipped and drove her away.  He wasn't sure they
would still be partners by the end of this conference.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




The Raven





Natalie watched as the two agents left the club, His hand on the small
of her back, guiding her through the crowd and looking down at her with
adoration clearly written on his face, and she felt jealous.  "She has
someone who loves her and isn't afraid to show it.  Why can't I have
that?" she thought morosely.  "I'm a good person!  I've stuck by him in
good times and bad.  I've forgiven him when he backslid and encouraged
him when he was down, Dammit!"



Of course she knew the answer- Janette.  "He has loved her for 800
years, and now he's her master as well as her lover.  How can I compete
with that?" she wondered.  The answer, of course, was that she couldn't.
"I would have made do with his friendship," she told herself.  She would
have died a little to see him with her, but anything to stay in his
life.  "God how pathetic is that?" she whispered out loud.  She was
rapidly becoming more and more inebriated.



At that moment LaCroix came out from his office and noticed her.
"What's this?" he thought to himself.  "Surely Nicolas hasn't spoken to
the good doctor already?"  He felt himself becoming angry.  If she could
not accept that Nicolas was going to remain a vampire, if she had
rejected him after he declared his undying love for her.  He suddenly
had a flash vision of Nicolas embracing the dawn.  "Yet, I haven't felt
anything from Nicolas."  He opened himself to the link with his son and
felt him at peace.  He decided to find out what was going on.



"My Good Doctor Lambert, what a delightful surprise to find you here.
What, may I ask, brings you to my humble establishment this evening?"



Natalie slowly raised her eyes to meet his, trying to focus the bleary
image before her.  When she figured out who was speaking to her, she
felt suddenly furious.  "You.  You son of a bitch.  How dare you even
speak to me?!  You are responsible for this, aren't you?  You finally
brow beat him into giving up, didn't you?  Giving up on humanity, giving
up on me!  You couldn't be happy unless he was miserable, you bastard!"
Natalie hadn't raised her voice, but the low, venomous tone carried and
several of the surrounding patrons turned to stare at the foolish mortal
who would speak to the ancient in that tone.



LaCroix grabbed Natalie by the arm and escorted her into his office,
firmly closing the door behind them and dropping her unceremoniously
into the chair before his desk.  "What, exactly, are you babbling about
Doctor?  What has Nicolas said to you?" he demanded in a commanding
tone.



Natalie sat upright, well as upright as her intoxicated state allowed,
in open defiance and said, "He didn't have to tell me anything, LaCroix.
I saw it.  I saw the blood in his refrigerator.  It's clear to me that
his return to human blood can only be your doing," she pointed at him as
if daring him to contradict her.  "You have been against him and his
search for a cure all along!"



"Interesting," he thought.  Leaning back in his chair and steepling his
fingers before him he said, "And this affects you how, exactly?"



Natalie slumped in her seat a bit and whispered, "He told you he was
using me for a cure, remember?  I thought if I could cure him he might
want me to be with him," she sobbed, so lost in her cups that she didn't
even notice that she was breaking down in front of the monster that was
ruining her life.  "Now he doesn't need me anymore.  He'll just go find
Janette, and leave me behind." she trailed off, tears running down her
face as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness.



"Oh Nicolas, why can nothing ever be simple or easy with you?"  LaCroix
said to himself as he pondered this latest course of events.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Nicks Loft





3:05am Monday



Nick was sitting in his armchair thinking.  Pondering.  How would he
broach the subject with Natalie?  He was pretty certain that she would
be upset with him, and he wasn't sure how he would overcome her feelings
of betrayal and convince her of the necessity of the situation.  He also
was worried about her reaction to the images she would see the first
time he drank from her.  He thought if he told her everything first,
just so she would be prepared for it, it might help her overcome it.



She already knew in a vague way that he had killed a lot of people, and
that he had enjoyed it, reveling in the hunt.  She also knew that that
was all in the past- the distant past.  She knew it intellectually, but
not emotionally; not viscerally.  He knew that his love for her was
stronger than anything he had ever felt in his 800 years of existence.
He was reasonably confidant that his love would overshadow the horror
she would feel at his actions in the past.  He also resolved to go as
slowly as she needed.  He had waited 800 years to find her and he would
wait as long as it took.  But he *would* have her, and it would last
forever.



His daydreaming was interrupted by the sound of his elevator activating.
Was she coming to see him?  How utterly perfect that she would arrive
now.  Surely this was an omen of good things to come.  Nick's spirits
were soaring!



The door to the elevator opened and Nick's soaring spirits took a
nosedive for the tarmac.  LaCroix stood there with an unconscious
Natalie slung over his shoulder.  Nicolas' first fear was quickly
assuaged when he heard her steady heartbeat.  LaCroix gently laid
Natalie down on the couch and turned to Nicolas, expecting a torrent of
accusations to flow forth.



For once in his life, Nick paused to think for a moment before reacting
to what he saw before him.  He believed LaCroix's sincerity in their
earlier conversation.  If LaCroix were going to kill her he would have
done so already.  Obviously, something had happened to Natalie, and
LaCroix had somehow found out and brought her here.  The proper course
of action would probably be to find out what happened.



"What happened, father?"



LaCroix was surprised, almost shocked, that his son was calm and hadn't
attacked him in some misguided belief that he had done harm to his
beloved.  "She was at the Raven.  She was drunk, still is in fact."



"That isn't like her at all," Nick said.  "Why would she do that?" he
asked rhetorically.



"I might actually be able to answer that for you Nicolas," LaCroix said
as he gently laid her upon the couch.  "The good doctor seems to have
become aware that you have given up on your ridiculous quest for
mortality.  She has concluded that you no longer need her, as you were
only using her to try and gain a cure in the first place."



Nick was dumbfounded.  "Why would she think that I was using her?"



"Why, my dear boy, because you told me so, as you stood before me with
her in your arms."



"She remembers that Valentine's Day?"  Nicolas whispered, heavy hearted.



LaCroix sighed.  "It would seem so, my son.  You will have a great deal
of explaining to do when she awakes."



"Yes.  I have a great deal to answer for," Nick said as he kneeled
beside her and cupped her cheek in his palm.  "I hope she can find it in
her heart to forgive me," he whispered.



"Nicolas, I know we have had our differences these last several
centuries, but I want you to know that in my heart, you will always be
my beloved son.  If you can think of any way in which I may be of
assistance, you have but to ask."



"Thank you, father," Nick said as he looked up at his master.  "That
means a great deal to me."



"What will you do?"



"I think I will confess everything and throw myself on the mercy of the
court," he answered.



"Will you bring her across?" LaCroix asked with interest.



"If she consents to it, yes.  But not today, I think.  I will not do
this on the spur of the moment.  She would need time away from work to
acclimatize before she could be around mortals."  Nick answered.



"Very well, Nicolas," LaCroix said.  He then steeled his tone; "I will
expect to hear from you very soon, my son," LaCroix commanded and then
flew up and through the skylight and away."



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Nick's loft





8am Monday



Natalie awoke with bleary eyes, a headache, and a serious case of
cottonmouth.  She tried to determine where she was; she remembered going
to the loft, and then the Raven.  Things got a little hazy after that.
She remembered what she found at the loft, and why she went to the
Raven, so she supposed that she had succeeded in drinking herself into
oblivion.  The black satin sheets rustled as she tried to sit up, and
she instantly realized where she was.  Nick's Loft.  She wasn't sure how
she got there, but this was definitely Nick's bedroom.  In a panic, she
checked herself to see what state of dress she was in, and was both
relieved and disappointed to find herself fully dressed, save for her
shoes.



She noticed a glass of water by the bed, and a bottle of aspirin sitting
on an envelope on the nightstand by the bed.  She gratefully popped some
aspirin and downed the glass of water.  She saw that the envelope was
addressed to her.  She opened it and read the letter inside;



"Natalie,



If you would care to take a shower and change into something more
comfortable, I would very much like to speak with you before you leave.



Please Natalie.  I have many things I need to tell you.



Nick."



Natalie noticed the pajama top and robe that were draped over a chair by
the door and decided that a shower might help make her feel a little
more human before she went down and faced the music.  She wondered if
she had come here after her little bender and tried to give Nick a piece
of her mind.  "Good Job, Lambert!  If he wasn't sure about leaving
before, that would certainly have helped him make up his mind!"



As she opened the bedroom door and walked to the bathroom, she heard the
gentle strains of a Chopin Nocturne drifting up from the piano below.



Nick heard his beloved move into the bathroom and start her shower.  He
was so nervous that he had butterflies in his stomach.  He hoped she
would let him explain himself before she slapped him and walked out of
his life forever.  He began to pour himself into the music.  He poured
in his sorrow for the lives he had taken.  He poured in his resolve to
make amends, to do right where he had once done wrong.  Finally, he
poured in his absolute, unswerving love and devotion for Natalie, the
love he had hidden from her, and himself, for so long.



Natalie dried off and put on the silk top and robe.  She walked out of
the bathroom and was struck by the music Nick was playing.  It sounded
raw and passionate and forceful.  She had always enjoyed Nick's playing,
but it had never sounded like this before.  She made her way down the
stairs and walked over to the couch.  She sat down and tucked her legs
underneath her and just listened.  She felt at different parts sorrow,
pain, strength and joy flowing through the music.  The emotions were
almost tangible.  She had never heard music performed like this before.
It was almost as though her heart was an instrument and Nick was playing
it like a virtuoso.  The effect became even more pronounced as he built
up to the finale.



As he concluded the piece she realized that she had been holding her
breath, and exhaled forcefully.  Nick whipped around, startled.  He
hadn't noticed her enter the room and sit down, so focused on the music
he had been.



"Natalie!  I-I didn't hear.  T-Thank you for letting me speak with you,"
he said- his nervousness back with full force.



Natalie felt like she was made of glass, and the vibrations she was
getting were threatening to shatter her.  "Formality usually means bad
news, Nick" she said, "Are you going to give me some bad news?"  Even
her voice was brittle now.



"I need to tell you some things, Natalie.  Some of them are bad.
horrible," he said- the pain evident in his voice.  Some of them are
good, but they might be hard to understand."



Natalie felt like a vice was gripping her heart and her breathing was
becoming rapid and shallow.  Her voice was high and breathy, like a
frightened child, "When you are done telling me these things, will you
be leaving?" she asked, the tears in her eyes threatening to overflow.



The iron band tightened around Nick's own undead heart loosened a little
bit at that.  "She wouldn't have asked that question if she had already
decided she didn't want me," he thought.  He closed his eyes, took a
deep breath and slowly exhaled.  "Natalie- that will depend on you.  On
whether or not you still want me around when I am finished," he said.



"I get to choose?" she asked, startled.



"Yes, Natalie.  But please, wait until you hear everything I have to say
before you make a decision."



The vice around her heart loosened entirely, and a burgeoning feeling of
hope began to grow in its place.  The cynical voice inside her rose up
and said "Don't get your hopes up, Lambert.  Just because he is staying
around doesn't mean he wants you.  He's probably going to tell you
Janette is back and they're moving in together."



"I know you remember the Azure," Nick said, his head hung in shame.  "I
need to tell you about my sister, Fleur."  Nick proceeded to explain how
LaCroix had fallen in love with his sister and wanted to bring her
across.  How he had convinced him that to do so would destroy the very
innocence that he loved in her.  How LaCroix had exacted from him a debt
in return for releasing his sister- LaCroix would claim a mortal love of
Nick's in recompense.  Nick had bluffed on Valentines Day, hoping that
he could convince LaCroix that he was just using her to further his
quest.  "I don't know what I would have done if he had called my bluff,
Nat," he said- meeting her eyes for a moment.  "At that time I thought
that being a vampire was to be beyond redemption, to be evil incarnate."
Nick dropped his gaze and continued, "I owe you an apology Nat, not only
for the horrible things I said about you that night, but also for
presuming to choose your fate for you, without even asking your
opinion."



"That hurt Nick.  It hurt a lot that you could do that and then just
wipe my memory of it like it was nothing," Natalie said.



"I know, Nat.  I betrayed you that night.  At the time I thought it was
the only way to protect you, to save your life.  But it was betrayal
nonetheless.  Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it," Nick said, shame
faced.  "Unfortunately, the other things I am going to tell you aren't
any better.  But I want you to know the truth, Natalie.  The whole
truth, with no more secrets between us."



Nick told her about Janette.  How he had used her for sex and blood
because he couldn't have Natalie without killing her.  He told her about
his wife, who he had tried to bring across on their wedding night, and
how he had taken too much- killing her; which was why he didn't trust
himself to try Janette's cure.  He told her about his being married to
Janette for nearly a century.  He told her how he had brought Janette
back across, rather than let her die in the fire.



"I thought that keeping these secrets was the only way to protect you.
However, by keeping them from you, by not explaining them and allowing
you to have some say in the decisions that affected both of us, I was
betraying your trust."  Nick said.  I can never take it back, I can't
undo the pain you feel, Nat.  I can only say that I deeply regret the
hurt that I have caused you and that I don't want any secrets between us
in the future."  Nick fell to his knees before her and asked, "Can you
find it in your heart to forgive me?"



"As long as that behavior remains a thing of the past, I can and do
forgive you Nick."



Nick bowed his head, "Thank you Natalie," he said.  A single blood tear
slid down his cheek as he raised his head to meet her gaze.



Even though these were things she had been dying to hear, she was still
unsure and worried.  "Why now Nick?  Why are you finally telling me all
of this now and not years ago?"



Nick stood up suddenly and began pacing back and forth in front of her,
"I've come to the realization recently that my goals have been
incorrectly defined.  I have been striving for absolution; to atone for
my sins.  I thought regaining my mortality was a prerequisite for
forgiveness," he said shaking his head sadly.  "Now I know that it
isn't.  I also know that I am in a better position to help people as I
am; to try and repay humanity for the destruction I wrought in centuries
past.  I've realized that my being a vampire has nothing to do with
whether or not I am evil or good.  The demon that possessed me was more
evil than I ever was.  And it was the good that was in me that set me
free."



"What about the blood?"  Natalie asked, gesturing to his fridge.



"If I am going to be at my full strength, I must drink human blood.  Cow
weakens me.  The blood is all donated- I won't kill for food, Natalie.
Nor will I drink blood taken by force." he paused, then added, "Can you
accept that Natalie?"



She left that unanswered for the moment.  "What was the second reason?"
she said tightly.



"LaCroix."



"LaCroix?  How."



"He has released me from my debt, Natalie.  He will not harm you."



"Are you sure, Nick?" she desperately wanted to believe what she was
hearing, but she was afraid of LaCroix.  Afraid of the monster she
remembered from the Azure.



"Natalie, LaCroix has changed.  I would not have believed it was
possible either, until Divia came back."



"Who was she, Nick?  I know she was a vampire, and that she went on a
killing spree.  I know she tried to kill Vachon and you."



"Natalie.  I told you that there would be no secrets between us.  But I
cannot tell you everything about Divia, because she is a part of
LaCroix's history, and it is not for me to reveal his private life."  He
saw that she was about to protest, and hastily continued, "I can tell
you about what happened here, though.  She wanted to hurt LaCroix.  She
tried to kill everyone he knew and/or cared about.  If Janette had been
around, she would have tried to kill her as well.  She caused Vachon to
go insane- he made Tracy stake him, Natalie."



"Oh Nick, Poor Tracy.  But how.  I thought.  I've seen him- I saw him at
the Raven, Nick."



"Tracy pulled out the stake, and once Divia was dead, the madness left
him.  He managed to regenerate and claw his way out of the shallow grave
that Tracy buried him in."  Nick smiled at the memory, "He said she took
it pretty well, of course, she nearly shot him when he went to her
apartment to tell her."



Natalie giggled a little at that.



"Finally she attacked me and left me for dead.  Then she went after
LaCroix."  Nick's eyes went unfocused as he lost himself in the memory.



"LaCroix was able to defeat her?"  Natalie asked, interrupting his
reverie.



"No, she had beaten him, and was about to kill him when I got there.  I
ran her through with a spear as she poised to strike the final blow."



"You saved his life."



"Yes, but at a cost."  Nick whispered.  He then shook his head slightly
as if snapping himself out of a trance and continued "It changed him
Natalie.  He is much more open to me now."



"You feel strongly for him, don't you Nick."  Natalie asked, softly.



"For all that he has done to me, for all of the bad times we have been
through, he is still the only father I have ever known.  When I was
mortal, my father was always away.  He was in one war or another, or
away at court."  Nick sighed heavily.  "In every way that matters, both
good and bad, LaCroix is my father, Natalie."  He looked deep into her
eyes and asked, "I am a vampire.  LaCroix is my father.  Can you accept
that Natalie?"



"Tell me this Nick, are you giving up mortality for LaCroix, or to
protect me?"



"No Natalie.  I would have given it up to protect you if he had asked it
of me.  But, honestly, I decided to seek my atonement as a vampire, to
accept who I am and what I am- and what I am not, Natalie; before I went
to discuss with him my feelings for you."



"I-I thought you wanted to be human, Nick."



"Do you think that I am evil now, Natalie?  As a vampire, am I beyond
forgiveness?"



"No, Nick.  I've never thought that.  I just thought you wanted to be
human again.  To see the sun again."  Natalie dropped her gaze and
continued softly, "To have a family."



"I do miss the sun, Natalie.  Especially not being able to spend time in
the sun with you.  But honestly- when I get past the guilt and
self-loathing, the night is really beautiful.  As a vampire, my senses
are acutely tuned to the night.  There is no darkness that I cannot see
through.  Everything looks alive, vital, and light."  Nick responded.
"As for a family.  It's true that I will never be able to sire a child,
and a part of me longs for that, but in truth, I can still have a wife,
and if we wanted to, there are other options for having children.  There
are human couples that are unable to have children in the traditional
manner, and yet they are able to live full happy lives as parents."
Nick waited until she met his gaze again and continued, "The truth is
that Vampirism is a condition, it places restrictions on my life that I
have to accept.  However, it can only ruin my life if I let it.  Just as
any mortal disease or condition can be overcome to achieve a full, rich
life, so I can do the same.  I have spent the last century longing to be
human, thinking that it could only happen if I could regain my
mortality.  I have finally come to realize, really in the last few
weeks, that humanity is an ongoing choice of attitude and lifestyle.  I
have seen so many mortals that are as monstrous, if not more so than I
ever was.  I now know that mortality is not the key."  Nick smiled and
lightly said, "Besides, unlike mortal handicaps, vampirism has many
benefits that I think more than make up for the restrictions."



"If you have made this decision because it is what you want, Nick, then
of course I can accept it."



"I want you to know that I am deeply grateful for your help all these
years Natalie.  I really thought I wanted to be mortal again, and you
were there for me constantly.  You sacrificed a great deal of your life
for me, and for my quest.  For a long time I wondered why.  Why did you
give up so much for me?"



She blushed furiously and refused to meet his gaze.  "I know we are just
supposed to be friends, Nick."



"I love you, Natalie" Nick said.



".but I can't help it!  I-I just." then it dawned on her what he had
just said, "you- what?  What did you say?" she stuttered, thinking to
herself "No he didn't.  He did *not* just say he loved me.  Did he?"



"I need for you to know how I feel about you, Natalie.  Words just won't
do, I cannot think of the words to adequately convey the depths of my
love for you, Natalie.  There is a way for you to see for yourself."
Nick took a deep breath and continued, "If I were to taste your blood-
from your wrist- you would see everything.  I cannot drain you from your
wrist, so the danger to you is minimal.  I have to warn you, though- you
will see everything, though it will be jumbled and may not make a lot of
sense.  That means you will see images of my past- of the terrible
things I have done, Natalie.  Everything.  It will be a lot to swallow
at once."



"Oh, Nick."  Natalie's eyes were bright with unshed tears.



"Of course, I will also be able to see your whole life as well.  If
there is anything you don't want me to know, you may not want to do
this, because *everything* will be laid bare by the blood link."



Wordlessly, she pushed up the sleeve of his pajama top and thrust her
arm out to him.



Nick smiled and took her hand.  He laid one reverent kiss on her palm
and said, "Wait one moment, my love.  I mustn't be hungry when we do
this."  And with that he whipped around and up off of the couch,
literally flying to the refrigerator.  He pulled out the cork with his
teeth and downed an entire bottle in one long draught.  He then took a
second bottle and brought it and a glass back to the couch.



He set the bottle and the glass on the coffee table and took her hand
once again, "Natalie, I-I'm afraid."



Natalie's own heart was racing in fear, joy, dread, and anticipation.
She couldn't believe that this was really happening.  "Of what?" she
choked out.



Nick dropped his gaze down to her palm and whispered, "I'm afraid that
you will see the things that I have done and be repulsed.  I am afraid
that you will leave me."



Natalie's heart slowed, and a sense of calm swept over her.  She
shivered as a single blood tear fell onto her palm.  "Look at me Nick."
she said in a strong, even voice.  He raised his head and looked into
her eyes.  "Trust me." she said.



"I am, without a doubt, the single most fortunate creature in
existence."  Nick thought.  He slowly grasped the back of her hand in
his left hand and brought her wrist to his lips.  He reached out with
his right hand and cupped her cheek.  He never broke eye contact as he
willed the change- his eyes turning and his fangs dropping.



She felt the sting of his bite and was suddenly swept up into a swirling
maelstrom of image and sensation.  She exulted in the hunt.  She savored
the hot blood of the kill.  She saw entire villages destroyed, men,
women, and children drained of their precious life's blood.  She felt
the horror of realization, what it was like to discover that you were a
monster.  She felt the desire for atonement, the constant failures, and
the small victories.  She felt herself wrapped in a warm glow of love
and adoration- centered on a bright light like a beacon in the night.
As she drew closer to it she felt the warm glow become a burning flame
until she was utterly consumed by love, desire, and longing.  It burned
her up leaving nothing behind as she finally got close enough to see
what was at the center of the light.  When she looked into the light she
saw.  Herself.  Through Nick's eyes she was the most beautiful,
desirable, and alluring creature in existence.  Suddenly she was back
into herself, opening her eyes and seeing Nick withdraw his fangs from
her wrist.



He licked the wounds in her wrist until they stopped bleeding, and
savored the sweet, sweet nectar that was his beloved.  He had seen her
love and devotion to him, her faith in his salvation and her hope that
they could have a future together.  He had also seen her fear that she
wasn't good enough for him, or sufficiently desirable to him.  He saw a
huge inferiority complex in her psyche that was centered on the death of
her parents at a young age, her grandmother's indifference and abuse,
and, most recently his dalliances with Janette.



"Oh, Natalie.  Janette is my sister, my daughter, she was my wife for a
hundred years.  I will always love her.  However, if there is such a
thing as a soul mate, you are it, Natalie.  Janette and I are in the
past.  You are my future, if you will have me."



Tears were streaming down Natalie's face.  Tears of sadness for the
horrors she had seen, and tears of joy for the future she could see.
"Oh yes, Nick- I will have you.  Forever, if you will let me."



"Forever?  Are you sure, Natalie?"



"Absolutely, Nick.  I have never been more certain of anything in my
life."



"I believe you Natalie.  I have to ask, though, what about the sun, what
about a family?"



"Nick, when I dreamed about your cure, I dreamed about being in the sun
with you.  I dreamed about having *your* child."  She shook her head and
asked, "Don't you see Nick?  I don't want to be in the sun if you aren't
there.  I don't want a child, if it isn't yours.  I would a thousand
times rather be in the night with you than in the day without you."



"Day or night, Natalie.  I choose to be with you."



She was so happy that she thought her heart would burst.  She threw her
arms around him and drank his mouth like a woman dying of thirst.  He
reciprocated with an overwhelming passion of his own, as if the two
could become one through mouth contact alone.  When he finally pulled
away, he said "Soon Natalie, soon.  But not tonight."



"Mnhf!  Why Not!?" she whined.



He chuckled lightly.  "Don't you think your department would miss you if
you didn't show up for the next several weeks?"  He leaned his forehead
against hers, cupped her face in his hands and said, "We need a couple
of days to make some arrangements, Natalie.  But very soon we will be
together forever."



"You're right, of course.  I just feel like we have been waiting for so
long already, and I am sick of it," she said.



"Stay here today, Natalie.  Let me hold you in my arms and sleep with
you beside me.  That would wonderful," he said wistfully.



Natalie breathed out, "Yes, beloved."



With that he wrapped his arms around her and flew them up to his bed.



=====
Chapter 3





Toronto Homicide Investigation Innovations Seminar



5:30 p.m.  Monday December 11th



Nick and Natalie met with Mulder and Scully in the lobby of the Plaza
and checked out their schedule of events.  All four had the seminar on
Interdisciplinary Communication and Cooperation.  Essentially it dealt
with the importance of the homicide investigator working closely with
the medical examiner in order for both parties to understand the needs
of the other in order to facilitate rapid and accurate case solutions.
Mulder made a comment on already realizing the importance of close
contact with his medical examiner, and Natalie blushed furiously, Scully
only slightly less so.



Scully noticed throughout the conference that Knight and Lambert seemed
to touch quite a bit.  She hadn't noticed that when they had picked
Mulder and her up at the airport.  "Hmm, I wonder what happened after we
left the Club?" she thought to herself.  "Last night she was jealous of
Mulder and I, thinking that we were together, and now she and Knight are
sure acting like a couple.



During the break between seminars they decided to eat at the hotel's
restaurant.  Knight declined, mentioning that he had some intense food
allergies and was on a special Diet.  He did have a glass of the wine
they had ordered, although he only poured about a quarter of a glass.
At some point during the conversation, while Natalie was recounting one
of their cases and asking Nick's clarification on a particular point,
Mulder noticed Scully frowning ever so slightly at Knight's glass.
Mulder glanced over and noticed that Knight's glass was nearly full, and
it seemed to be very slightly darker than everyone else's wine.  The
bottle was across the table by Scully.  Surely he would have noticed if
Knight had reached all of the way across the table and retrieved the
bottle.  When he looked back to Scully, she was focused on Natalie who
was continuing with the anecdote.  He merely filed the discrepancy away
for future reference and continued in the conversation.



The second half of the day found them scheduled apart, Natalie and
Scully were slated for a seminar on advances in forensic technology,
"New product sales pitch session" as Scully called it.  Nick and Mulder
were headed for a presentation on computerized criminal demographics
profiling.



As Nick and Mulder stood outside the entrance to the auditorium their
presentation was to be held in, Mulder was surreptitiously observing his
companion.  The paleness, the refusal to eat, the 'mystery' of the wine,
the way he moves, the sheer presence of him.  He knew Scully would never
believe him, but he was pretty sure that Detective Nick Knight was a
vampire.  "Now, what the hell do I do about it?" he asked himself.  So
far as he could tell, this vampire was unlike what he expected a vampire
to act like.  He was catching killers, not killing.  He'd had the gunmen
hack the Toronto PD and pull his jacket.  Not only was he clean, he
seemed to be a star detective.  He and his partner, Detective Vetter-
who was, coincidentally, the daughter of one of the police
commissioners- had the highest solve rate of any of the homicide
detectives in any precinct in Toronto.  Not what you would expect from
someone who lived off of human blood.  As he was pondering this he
noticed something through the glass doors that led outside of the hotel.
A face that looked familiar.  It looked like the face he had seen
through the shower of sparks behind that office building Saturday night.
He interrupted Nick, who was recounting the steps taken so far in the
investigation of the decapitation, "Uh, Detective Knight, I think the
perp. is walking toward the door right behind you."



Nick whirled around and looked out the door.  He saw a medium height man
with short black hair and a beard, wearing a brown trench coat.  His
skin was suntan brown, and looked well weathered.  It was definitely the
same man he saw taking the head of their unidentified victim.



"I think we should follow him," Mulder said.



"We'll find out where he is going and then call in for backup" Nick said
as they went out the door once the perp had passed.



They split apart immediately, Nick trailing about fifty meters behind,
while Mulder crossed the street and paralleled Nick.  After trailing him
for about 20 minutes, he crossed over to Mulder's side of the street and
ducked down an alley between two smaller apartment buildings in a rather
disreputable neighborhood.  As Mulder came to the corner and looked down
the alley, he noticed the perp. disappearing over top of a fire escape
onto the top of one of the buildings, 4 stories high.  After whispering
a couple of harsh expletives, he took off down the alley and quickly
climbed the fire escape.  As he neared the top, he looked down and saw
Knight just entering the alley.  He didn't feel that he could afford to
wait for the Detective to catch up, so he jumped over the top and raced
across the roof after the perp.



As Mulder ran past one of the large HVAC units on the roof, he was
grabbed and thrown back into the side of the unit, striking his head and
tearing the skin at his temple.  He fell to his knees, momentarily
stunned.  "What the hell are you, man?" the perp asked him.  "I can
barely feel you!" he said.



Mulder said, "What?" as he tried to make sense of what the guy was
saying, but his thought processes were a bit sluggish.



The perp opened his trench coat and withdrew a short, broad-bladed sword
with a plain cross hilt.  He said, "It might be weak, but I'll take it."
He raised his sword and said, "There can be only one!"



Suddenly two gunshots rang out and Mulder saw what looked like two puffs
of dust bloom from the chest of the perp.  He staggered back several
steps and fell by the roof's parapet.  Mulder looked over his shoulder
and saw Detective Knight standing at the other side of the roof, about
30 meters away.  A small part of his brain whispered to him, wondering
how he had managed to come up there, when the front of the building
didn't have a fire escape.



Nick quickly ran over to where Mulder was and helped him up.  "Are you
alright, Agent Mulder?"



"Yeah, just a little stunned."  Mulder said, wincing only slightly at
the pain in his head.  "Nice shot, by the way," he said to Knight's back
as he approached the downed perp.  Mulder drew his own weapon to cover
Knight, just in case.  The guy definitely looked dead, he wasn't
breathing anyway, and there were a couple of bloody holes in his shirt
right in the middle of his chest.



Nick approached the man without fear.  He couldn't hear a heartbeat or
respiration at all.  Suddenly the perp's eyes shot open and he gasped in
a lung-full of air.  He immediately thrust his sword into Nick's chest
and stood up.  Mulder immediately began firing, emptying his entire clip
into the perp's chest.  Each impact caused him to stagger back until he
fell over the parapet and down to the ground 4 stories below.  Mulder
ran over to Nick, who was sitting with his back against the parapet and
the sword sticking out of the right side of his chest.



"Would you like me to call 911?"  Mulder asked, making no move to grab
his phone.



"No, just pull it out please," Nick answered.



"Will you need blood?"  Mulder asked.



"You mean, will I need your blood, Agent Mulder?"  Nick said.



Mulder just nodded his head.



"No.  I have a flask in my coat."



"Ok."  Mulder said, and then he grasped the sword hilt in both hands and
yanked on it, jerking Knight forward but not making much progress on
freeing the sword.  "Sorry" he said.  He then put one foot on Knight's
shoulder to brace him and pulled it free with a sickening wet sound.



Nick said, "thanks" and grabbed his flask from its pocket and drained it
in one long swallow.  "You aren't surprised," he said, more a statement
than a question.



"I have had dealings with vampires before."  Mulder said.



Just then they heard a clattering from below and watched, dumbfounded as
their perp stood up and ran away.



"Was he." Mulder began.



"One of my kind?"  Knight completed the question.  "No.  Frankly I
haven't seen anything like him before."



"What are you going to do with that, Detective?"  Mulder asked, as
Knight picked up the sword from where Mulder had dropped it.



"Nick locked his gaze on Mulder's.  He listened for his heartbeat, and
asked, "Are you a hunter, Agent Mulder?"



Mulder felt his consciousness falling into the bottomless wells of
Knight's eyes.  "What's a hunter?" he heard himself say as if from a
distance.



"Agent Mulder, there are no such thing as vampires."



Mulder felt his awareness snap back into his body.  "Oh, that's funny.
There sure are a lot of people running around with prop fangs and green
contact lenses then."



Dammit!  Either Nick was loosing his touch, or there were a hell of a
lot more resistors than there used to be!  "You said you had dealings
with us before.  What did you mean?"



"I worked two cases involving vampires in the states.  One involved
three of them that were stalking the gothic club scene and killing
wannabes.  The other involved a small, rural community that turned out
to be entirely populated with them."  Mulder answered.



"And what did you do with these 'vampires' you were dealing with, Agent
Mulder" Nick asked.



"Is that what you mean by Hunter?  Are you asking if I Hunted these
creatures down and killed them?"  Mulder asked.



"Did you?"



"No.  I am not a Hunter, Detective Knight.  In the first case, one of
the three torched the house they were in, killing them all.  In the
second case, the entire population disappeared once we uncovered their
secret."



"We?  Am I to take it that Agent Scully knows about us as well?"  Nick
asked.  He was beginning to worry about the danger these two could
represent to The Community.



Mulder chuckled.  "Scully is a skeptic, Detective Knight.  She wasn't
there for the first case, and didn't see everything I saw in the second.
She remains unconvinced that vampires exist.  However, she is an
extremely sharp observer and medical doctor.  She has already noticed
some of your, idiosyncrasies, shall we say?  She won't automatically
reach the conclusion that I did, but she will be suspicious."



They walked over to the fire escape and began to descend.  Mulder asked,
"Why don't you go down the way you came up?"



Damn the man!  "You didn't see me come up, Agent.  What makes you think
this isn't the route I took?"



"That's just it, Detective.  If you came up this way, I would have seen
you.  And so would have our perp."



They reached the alley and Knight stepped in front of Mulder and said,
"Please listen to me very carefully, Agent.  The community takes a very
dim view of mortals even knowing about us.  It is forbidden.  Our law
demands that those who find out be dealt with in one of three ways:
They either have that knowledge removed, they join our ranks, or they
die.  There are those among us who would kill not only you, but me as
well if they found out that you knew about us.  I cannot urge you
strongly enough to keep quiet about this.  Don't even tell your partner!
If the enforcers were to get wind of this, I couldn't protect you.



"I will try to keep that in mind, Detective."  Mulder said tightly.
"What about the sword, we can't really log it in as evidence, and no one
is going to want to hear how we came across it."



Nick thought about it for a moment and said, "Look, we'll just keep it
to ourselves for now.  We should be able to perform a more detailed
investigation anyway.  As you said, the powers that be aren't going to
be able to accept the more unusual aspects of this case anyway."



"I can accept that," Mulder said, "but we are going to have to bring
Scully into this.  Even if I wanted to keep her out of it, she would
figure it out on her own pretty quickly.  Skeptic or no," Mulder said.



"Look Agent, I can understand that you want to share this with her.  But
do you really want to endanger the life of the woman you love like
this?"



Mulder stopped short like he had run into a wall, "What!?  What do you
mean?"



"As I explained, Agent, knowledge of my kind is dangerous." Knight
started to say.



"No!  the other part!"  Mulder choked out.



"Agent Mulder, you and your partner do not hold a monopoly on
observational ability.  That's why they call it Detective.  We detect."
Knight said.



"We are just partners, Detective."  Mulder said tonelessly.



"I can understand that the FBI probably has some kind of rule about
fraternization between partners.  You two do a good job of hiding it,
really.  However, you have to realize that I can hear your heartbeats
speed up when you look at each other, I can see your pupils dilate and
your skin flush.  You couldn't hide your feelings for each other from
any one of us."  Knight said with a grin.  "Don't worry, Agent.  Your
secret is as safe with me as mine is with you."



"Look, Detective, you have made a mistake here.  We care about each
other, yes.  We are partners and have been for nearly seven years.  But
that is all."  Mulder said.



Nick listened to Mulder's heartbeat and watched his eyes as he spoke.
He realized that Mulder was being honest; at least in-so-far-as the fact
that they weren't together.  "You poor, stupid man," he thought,
comparing Mulder to himself.



"As someone who has only recently done so himself; I advise you to pull
your head out of the sand, Agent Mulder."  Nick said softly.  "I'll
leave it to you to decide whether or not to bring your partner in on
this, but please take me seriously when I say that you will be putting
her life on the line if you do.  I also think it would be a good idea if
you didn't discuss any aspect of this unless you are absolutely certain
that you cannot be overheard by anyone."  Knight thought for a moment
and said, "Why don't I bring you to my loft tomorrow evening and we will
discuss it.  You can take today to decide whether to invite your partner
along for the ride."



Mulder was lost in thought and responded, "yeah, sure."



They continued walking in silence for a bit when some of the puzzle came
together for Mulder and he said, "I've been thinking about the fight we
saw the other night, Detective.  What if, whatever these guys are, the
only thing that can kill them is decapitation?  I mean, being shot
several times, and then falling four stories didn't seem to kill him.
And they both had swords, right?  Maybe that's the only way they can be
killed."



"He was dead after I shot him the first time."  Knight said.  "I heard
his heart stop and he wasn't breathing.  I wouldn't have been so
careless about approaching him otherwise.  He was dead, and came back to
life."



"There was a pause between when he hit the ground and when we heard him
get up and run away as well.  So they can be killed conventionally, but
don't stay dead unless they lose their head?"  Mulder theorized.



"Well, the guy whose head he severed definitely stayed dead.  Of course,
I don't know anyone who wouldn't stay dead if they lost their head."
Nick added.



"That sword didn't seem to affect you too much."  Mulder ventured.



"No, steel isn't really a problem for me.  Wood is a very different
story.  But even we can't come back from decapitation."  Knight answered
reluctantly.  Eager to change the subject he asked Mulder a question, "I
heard what he said to you just before I shot him.  What do you think he
meant by, 'It might be weak, but I'll take it,'  and, 'There can be only
one?'  Only one what?"



"I honestly have no idea, detective."  Mulder answered.  "Believe me, I
have been shot on occasion in the past, and never once did I get up and
try to run someone through with a sword immediately afterward."



"Really.  What did you do?"  Knight asked.



"Mostly I lay on the ground bleeding until someone took me to the
hospital."  Mulder replied, chuckling.



"Hmm, get shot a lot do you, Agent Mulder?"  Nick asked jokingly.



"Look, just call me Mulder, ok?  Nobody calls me by my first name, and
I'm not sure I can listen to 'Agent Mulder' over and over again.  It
reminds me of my Boss."



"Ok Mulder.  I'm Nick."



"Oh, by the way, Nick.  Thanks for saving my ass up there tonight."



"Well, I didn't feel up to explaining to your partner that I had let you
get killed."



"Right."



They continued back to the hotel in silence, each lost in their own
thoughts about the events of the evening.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




LaRouge Lounge





After listening to blatant sales pitches for questionable products
Scully and Natalie decided to skip out at the first break and hang out
in the lounge until the guys got out of their presentation.  They talked
about some of the challenging cases they had worked on and their medical
backgrounds.  They each found the other surprisingly easy to talk to,
probably because of their similar situations- a woman in a 'man's job'
as it were- both excelling, and working the kinds of cases that most
coroners never even heard about.  Helping to catch madmen and serial
killers was a normal part of their lives.  Several glasses of burgundy
helped the conversation flow as well.  They eventually fell into girl
talk.



It felt so nice to sit and chat with another woman, especially one who
had such a similar job, and could understand what it felt like to dig
through dead bodies looking for clues and solving crimes for a living.
"So, Natalie, what has you so giddy today?"  Scully asked.  "You seem
positively giggly."



Natalie blushed furiously, and looked away.  "Uh, lets just say that
Nick and I finally came to an understanding last night."



"Ahh, I see." said Scully.



Natalie was still blushing and explained, "We have had a long and often
frustrating 'friendship' and finally realized that it is time to take it
to a new level.  I was so afraid that he didn't feel the way I felt it
was tearing me apart."



"I know how that feels," Scully thought to herself.



"I'll bet you do, Dana.  Was it harder because you are partners?"
Natalie asked.



"Oh, no!  Did I say that out loud?"  Scully thought in horror.  "What do
you mean?" she said to Natalie.



"I mean, did it create problems at work?  Does the FBI have any rules
against that sort of thing?"



"Uh, Natalie?  I think you might have made a mistake here, Mulder and I
are just partners."



Natalie just stared at Scully for several moments.  "Your aren't
together?" she asked.



Scully slowly shook her head side to side.



Natalie felt extremely embarrassed and could feel her face getting hot,
but the words slipped out before she could stop them, "Are you sure?"



"Pretty sure, Natalie" Scully said wryly.



Natalie's hands flew to her mouth as if to stop her from opening it
again.  "Ohmygosh.  I'm sorry.  You guys just seem. that is, I thought.
Uh, sorry."  She realized that Dana and Mulder were in the same place
she and Nick had been until last night.  "Oh no!  It's got to be eating
them up!  You poor, stupid woman," she thought to herself.



"Look Natalie, It's complicated.  We have a very unusual partnership
because of the kinds of cases we work, and the experiences we have had.
We care about each other a great deal and trust each other absolutely,
but those kind of feelings just aren't there."



'It's complicated.'  How many times had she uttered those very words to
describe her relationship with Nick?  "Look Dana, it's none of my
business, but take it from someone who has, up till very recently, been
exactly where you are, If you feel that way, you should tell him.  You
deserve to know, and so does he."  She stood up at that point and added,
"I'm going to take a cab home and clean up a bit.  I'll leave word at
the desk, but if you see Nick, tell him I'll see him at his place, Ok?
I'll see you tomorrow night, Dana."



Scully was too stunned to think of anything beyond an automatic, "Ok,
goodnight Natalie."



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Plaza Hotel





"Uh, Mulder?"  Nick asked as they entered the hotel lobby.



"Yeah, Nick?"



"You might want to head back to your room and clean up a bit before we
meet the ladies." he said as tactfully as he could.



Mulder looked down at himself and said, "I guess that rooftop was a
little dirty."



"A little, yes."  Knight said.  Look, I'm going to go put this in the
caddie and change my shirt.  I'll let your partner know where you are.
You two may have some talking to do."



"Yeah.  That's probably a good idea," Mulder replied.



"I'll call you tomorrow afternoon when I get up." and you can let me
know what you have decided."



"Ok," he said and then headed off toward the elevators.




Scully was still sitting in the lounge, Natalie's admonition tumbling
around in her mind, when Detective Knight walked up to her.



"Agent Scully?" he asked, hesitantly.



Scully slowly regained focus and looked up to see Detective Knight
staring down at her.  "Detective?" she asked.



"Your partner went up to his room.  He wanted you to join him when you
had a moment." he said.



Scully was so wrapped in her thoughts that it didn't even occur to her
to ask why he didn't just come in with the detective.  She just stood up
and grabbed her coat and seminar materials.  "Thank you, Detective," she
said.



"Not a problem, Agent Scully.  Uh, where is Doctor Lambert?" he asked.



"Oh, she said to tell you she would see you at your place.  She wanted
to go home and clean up," she answered.



"Oh, Ok.  Well, goodnight Agent Scully."



"Goodnight Detective" she said and walked away to the elevators.



Nick shook his head and wondered if Mulder and Scully would ever get a
clue.  He could sympathize.  Even with his supposedly enhanced senses,
it took him six years to see it himself.



=====
Chapter 4a





Room 1013, International Plaza Hotel





2:26am Tuesday December 12th.



Mulder was sitting on the bed in his room, lost in thought.  He didn't
think he was going to be able to do it.  "How can I *not* tell her that
he's a vampire?" he thought.  Of course, he didn't imagine that she
would believe him anyway.  "This is about her safety!  He's a vampire!"
Of course, that wasn't fair- he didn't think Knight would ever be a
threat to Scully.  But she was going to have to know that if she was
going to understand the rest of it.  How could he explain about the guy
they chased, and how it was that they happened to get the sword, unless
he told her everything?  He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear
her unlock and open the door.



She walked into the room to see Mulder lost in thought.  She stopped,
almost in shock at the sight, "He is so beautiful," she thought.  "Can I
risk this?  Can I risk driving him away?"



She paused as her heart felt like it was trying to painfully climb up
her throat and escape out of her.  "Can I continue on with this farce of
an existence knowing that he doesn't feel like I do?  Can I."



At that moment Mulder turned fully toward her and she noticed the blood
slowly oozing down the side of his face from a ragged-looking cut at his
temple.  She was struck suddenly with a surprising anger.  Anger at
whoever did that to him, anger that she wasn't there to protect him. and
suddenly it became fury.  Fury at *him*.



He saw her standing there, looking pensive, and then her face changed.
She looked like she was getting really pissed off.  She was looking at
him, but not meeting his gaze.  She seemed to be staring at his forehead
for some reason.



"Hey Scully" he said.



Something snapped.  How could he sit there with that endearingly goofy
grin on his face?  How could he sit there as if he hadn't gone off and
risked his life, again- leaving her behind to pick up the pieces-
*again*?  "Dammit Mulder!  What if I had lost you!?" she screamed in her
head.



".Scully?" he said softly, hesitantly.  Her face seemed to be getting
red and he imagined that he could almost see steam coming out of her
ears.  "What's wrong?" he whispered.



"What's wrong?  What's wrong?" she said, her voice rising as she
repeated the words.  "You did it again!  You went off and risked your
life- Again!"  She was shouting now.  "You could have died, you
inconsiderate bastard!  What was I supposed to do then?"  She threw her
hands up and let them fall, spent.



He goggled at her.  "Where did that come from?" he wondered silently.
He was suddenly struck by her appearance.  That smart navy suit she
wore, her face flushed and upper chest heaving as she breathed fast and
deep.  He was confused and aroused at the same time.



As the blood left his head for parts further south, the centers of
higher reasoning in his brain began to shut down.  Unfortunately, it
seemed, the areas of the brain that generated untimely witty rejoinders
were less swift to cease operations.  He heard, as if from a great
distance, the words "Gee Scully, I didn't know you cared." fall out of
his open mouth.  Instantly he wished that he could retract them.



Mulder blinked one time and when his eyes reopened he saw that all of
the color had drained from Scully's face.  She looked like a ghost-
"white as a sheet" was the phrase that seemed to fill his consciousness
as time slowed to a crawl.  He blinked one more time and she was gone.



She slammed the door to her room and collapsed on the floor, as though
the weight of her feelings were too much for her to carry any further.
"OhGodOhGodOhGodOhMyGod" reverberated through her head like a jackhammer
chiseling away at her mind.  She was unable to think.  She felt like she
was going to die.  She felt like she was dead already.  The last
vestiges of the doctor in her made the clinical observation that she was
going into shock.



"He's right."  She whispered to herself.  "He doesn't know.  I never
told him."  "It's only a cut on the head!" she sternly told herself,
"you've seen much worse!"  She knew this to be true, but she couldn't
overcome the feeling that he could have died and she had never told him
she loved him.  It didn't matter that he didn't feel the same way.  It
didn't matter that she would have to watch him fall for some 5' 10"
brunette with long legs and big breasts and a vacuous smile.  It didn't
matter that she would never find anyone who could satisfy her longing
like she just knew that he could.  He deserved to know.  She needed him
to know.  If he had died and she had never told him it would end her.



The pounding she heard in her ears seemed to be causing her whole body
to vibrate.  After several moments she became aware that she was still
sitting on the floor leaning against the door to her hotel room.  She
then realized that Mulder was pounding on her door and yelling for her
to open the door.  She slowly got up off of the floor and turned to the
door.  Choking back a sob and taking a few deep breaths to steady
herself, she opened the door.



Mulder stood there, one hand raised beside his head as he drew it back
to pound forward against the door.  His mouth was open wide as he
stopped in the middle of his shouting.  His face looked angry and she
silently berated herself for her unforgivable behavior, "was it just
moments ago?" in his room.



He took her in.  The sight of her- suit rumpled, hair mussed, eyes red
and brimming with unshed tears.  He stood there, unmoving for a moment
as she turned and walked into the room.



"Scully, what wrong?  I don't understand." he trailed off as she sat on
the edge of the bed and gestured for him to sit in the chair facing her.
"Scully, please.  Tell me what's wrong."



"You're bleeding Mulder," he heard her say as she pointed at the side of
his head where he had been struck when that guy- "Guy?  Not a vampire.
Something else?" he thought- had thrown him into the HVAC unit.



"Wait right there, Mulder" she said as she stood up and walked over to
the bathroom, "I'll get a washcloth," she added.



Scully tried not to look at her disheveled image in the mirror as she
saturated the washcloth with hot water and wrung it out.  "Well, its not
like I could grow 8 inches and 2 cup sizes in the next thirty seconds
anyway."  She thought to herself.  She hung her jacket on the door and
went back out to "face the music."  She just hoped that today would not
mark the end of their partnership.



Mulder waited with a sense of growing dread in the pit of his stomach.
He looked at her as she exited the bathroom, washcloth in hand.  He
tried to meet her gaze as she stood before him and slowly, gently wiped
the blood away from the side of his head and face.  "Scully, I." he
stopped mid-thought as their eyes met and he caught the resignation in
her eyes.



He could read the intent on her countenance- she was going to tell him
something she knew he didn't want to hear.  He had seen the same look on
her face just before she told him his mother had committed suicide.
"I've finally done it," he thought to himself.  "She is going to tell me
she can't be my partner anymore.  She is going to tell me it's over.  Oh
God.  Don't let this be happening.  Please!"



She saw the crestfallen look on his face.  She had seen this before.
"He knows what I'm going to say."  Her eyes began to brim with tears,
"It's going to drive him away from me."  She had seen the same look on
his face just before she told him that his mother's death was indeed a
suicide- the look that said he knew he was about to hear something he
couldn't accept.  "Can I really be this selfish?" she screamed at
herself.  "How can I tell him that I love him knowing it is going to
drive him away?"  Seeing his face, she knew their relationship to be
over anyway.  The look on his face was enough to give tell her that.
"At least he will know the truth," she thought.  He deserved that.
Their lives were spent searching for the truth.  No matter how ugly or
painful the truth was, the lie would be worse.  It would be a betrayal
of his trust, and she couldn't let herself do that - no matter how much
she screamed at herself to back away now.



"Mulder I have to tell you something.  It's going to be uncomfortable
for both of us, but."



"Scully, I."



She interrupted him, "No, Mulder!  Just don't!  I need to do this.  I
have to do this."  She could feel his stare like a crushing weight,
begging her not to do this.  She sat down on the edge of the bed and
steadfastly refused to meet his gaze.



"She looks so small," he thought.  He longed to wrap his arms around her
and make all of her pain go away.  That desire, of course, was the
reason why this was happening.  How could he think she could ever love
him?  All the pain she had been through for the last seven years was his
fault.  Every wound, every scar, every loss was his doing.  Her sister
Melissa, her daughter Emily, her infertility, her cancer, her abduction,
Antarctica, that damned chip in her neck- all of it.  "I am poison to
her," he thought.  Everything he touched turned to dust.  She was better
off without him, even though it took her seven years to come to her
senses and realize it.  And that was his fault too, wasn't it?  "I
should have let her go," he realized.  His selfishness knew no
boundaries.



"But not this time, damn it!" he resolved.  He would take his medicine
and then he would leave her- never to darken her path again.  Maybe she
would be able to get on with her life.  The life she deserved.  The life
his obsession had denied her for so long.  It didn't matter that it
would kill him to let her go.  It didn't matter that he had just found
proof of vampires.  It didn't matter that there were wackos with swords
running around chopping each-other's heads off and causing lightening
storms.



Her words interrupted his self-flagellating reverie.  "Mulder, I know
that it's selfish of me; that it's not fair to you; but I cannot keep
pretending not to feel what I feel.  I just can't do this anymore," she
sighed tiredly.  "I just can't.  I have been trying, really trying.  For
the sake of our partnership, for the sake of the work- because I know
how important it is to you, to us."



"God, how long has she felt like this?" he wondered.  "She's known for a
while apparently, but she stuck it out even longer for the sake of 'the
work.'  More like my obsession," he thought bitterly.



"I know you don't feel for me what I feel for you," She said.



What?.



"I'm sorry that I couldn't just get past it and move on.  You don't
deserve to have some hopeless pale little redhead pining away after you
like a sappy teenager.



What?.



"I know that I am not the type of woman you find attractive, but I
really wish I were."



"What the." he said.  "What the hell is she saying?"  Mulder thought.



"I want you to know that I don't expect anything from you because of
this."



"Scully, wait.  What are you trying to say" Mulder choked out, his mind
reeling.



"Oh Mulder, please don't make me actually say it.  How can you be so
cruel?" she thought.  She whispered- almost too low to make out, "I love
you Mulder."



"Scully!  What did you say!?"  Mulder demanded.  This couldn't be
happening.  He couldn't have heard what he thought.  How could she.



She finally looked up at him, her eyes locking defiantly onto his, "I
said, I love you, Mulder."  Her resolve faltered and her eyes dropped
back to her lap.  "I'm sorry, Mulder.  I wish I didn't, but I do."  She
waited for the rejection she was sure she would hear.



For a moment he headed once more down the path of self pity- "How can
she love me after all I have." he began to think, but then a different
feeling stopped him.  Shame so great that the pain of it overwhelmed his
soul.  *She* was worried about being selfish, when he had been the one
focusing on himself to the exclusion of her.  He had determined that he
was unworthy and in doing so had denied her what she felt she needed.
Him.  He had ignored her needs and desires, instead focusing on his
feelings of self-loathing and pity.



Her eyes were still locked onto her lap.  He hadn't moved since she had
said it.  It was as though time had stopped.  She knew her heart seemed
to have stopped while she waited for his response.  "Mulder, please say
something," she whispered at last, looking up into his eyes.



As though the floodgates had been opened- hot, bitter tears began to
flow down his face.  He still felt unworthy- he thought she deserved so
much more than he could ever give- but he made an instant decision to
spend the rest of his life trying to make up for it.  He dropped to his
knees, and leaned forward until his forehead was touching her knees.
Great wracking sobs began to shake his body as he wept freely.  He was
suffused with sorrow for what he had done to her and at the same time
filled with joy at the gift she had just given him.  He needed to speak,
to tell her, but the emotion inside him poured out so fast and furious
that he could scarcely breathe, let alone speak.



Scully began to panic, "What have I done?" she whispered to herself.
She could feel his tears like droplets of fire striking her shins and
running down her ankles.



"Mulder," she began and then paused.



No response.



"Mulder," she said a little louder this time.  "Mulder, I'm sorry."



Her words, or more accurately the fear he felt from her in them, gripped
his heart, slowing the flow of emotion enough to return his ability to
speak.  At first all he could get out was a litany without pause,
"Scullysosorrysosorrysosorrypleaseforgivemesosorry" over and over until
he ran out of breath.  When he was finally able to gasp for air he
raised his head to meet her eyes once again.  "Sc-Scully," took all the
breath he had.  He gasped in another lung-full and continued, "I am *so*
sorry."



His pain almost tore her heart from her chest.  "It's not your fault,
Mulder.  You can't blame yourself for how I feel."



"Scully, stop," Mulder said.  If you think you are unattractive, 'not my
type'; if you think of yourself the way you described to me just now
then it is my fault."



"Please Mulder, you don't have to."



"Yes I do have to, Scully.  Not because I am trying to patronize you or
pity you.  No.  I have to because you are wrong.  Dead wrong," he said.
Gripping her hands in his he continued, "I could spend all day telling
you how beautiful you are.  God knows I have spent entire days thinking
about it.  Cataloguing every look, every aspect, and every nuance that
is Dana Scully.  Frankly I am amazed that you didn't catch me staring at
you more often," he said, shaking his head ruefully.  "I actually used
to worry that my career would end with a sexual harassment claim if you
ever caught me staring.  If you could have heard some of the things I
was trying not to think about, you would have at least slapped me, if
not just outright shot me."  Mulder caught his breath a bit before
continuing.  "I could spend the day telling you that, but I won't.
Because what was admittedly pure lust at first has become the least of
what I feel for you."



"Mulder, please.  You don't need to say anything just to make me feel
better."



"Don't I Scully?" he interrupted her.  "I hope what I am going to say
makes you feel better.  After all, my stubborn, pigheaded, obsessive
selfishness is obviously what has been making you feel bad."  Mulder
looked ready to cry again, "please let me tell you this, Scully.  You
told me how you feel, let me tell you how I feel," he whispered.
"Please Scully"



She could barely bring herself to nod her head.  Speech was utterly
beyond her.  She still felt as though she were in the midst of some kind
of dream fantasy and was waiting to wake up.  She was so convinced that
he was going to reject her that she still expected it to happen.  "He's
just trying to break it to me gently," she thought miserably.



Mulder settled back onto his heels, still kneeling before her.  He
looked down at his hands in his lap and, with a deep breath began
speaking.  "When you first joined the X-Files I was certain that you
were there to spy on me.  I had been waiting to see who they were going
to send to interfere.  I was waiting to see how they were going to do
it.  When you were assigned to me I figured that they wanted me to fall
for you.  So you could exert your 'evil influence' on me.  Frankly I
wasn't worried too much- I wouldn't let mere physical attraction
interfere with my quest.  Besides, how attractive could you be, I
thought?"  Mulder looked up from his hands, his eyes traveling steadily
up her body to her face- meeting her eyes again.  His voice dropped an
octave and he said, "I had no idea, Scully."



She saw raw emotion and arousal in his eyes.  She was confused.  "Why is
he telling me this?" she wondered.



His eyes suddenly dropped back to his hands and he somewhat hesitantly
said, "I lied to you, you know.  I told you that I made my parents call
me Mulder.  The truth is that I thought that if I made you use my last
name, I could keep things strictly professional.  I could avoid
developing any feelings for you.  You were the enemy, and I had to keep
my guard up."



"You succeeded, Mulder," she thought.  "You never let that guard down.
I wish I could have done the same."



"It just got worse, Scully.  You weren't just beautiful- you were smart
too.  You didn't take any BS from me, but you also didn't try to change
me.  Even when I could tell that you didn't believe my theories, you
respected the investigation.  You never belittled me for my 'wild ideas'
even though you obviously disagreed with them.  You adopted the quest
for the truth as your own."  His eyes returned to hers, "I began to
trust you, Scully.  You weren't the enemy any longer.  I realized that
you never were.  I know now, that I had already fallen for you at that
point, even though I didn't realize it at the time."



Wait, back up a minute, did he say.



Mulder continued, "I realized it after Duane Barry.  When you were gone
it was as though my life had ended.  If you hadn't come back- if you had
died instead of coming out of that coma."  The tears started again and
he took a deep, shuddering breath, "I'm sorry, Scully.  I would have.  I
couldn't have gone on."



Her breath caught at the implication.  "Could it be?" she thought.



He squeezed his eyes shut, "I never told you this before."



"Shhh.  It's ok, Mulder."



"No!  I need for you to know, Scully."  He reached up and cupped her
face in his hand, "I was given an opportunity that night- the night
before you woke up.  I was told that the men who had done that to you
were being sent to search my apartment.  I was told that their lives
were mine to take if I wanted them."  He drew another great, shuddering
breath, biting back a sob and dropping his hand he continued, "I said
yes, Scully.  I was there waiting for them.  I had my pistol and I was
going to kill them.  Then I was going to turn it on myself."



She gasped, "Mulder."



He ignored her and continued, "I welcomed it.  I yearned for it.
Finally there was a knock at the door, but it wasn't them.  It was your
sister.  She convinced me that you needed me; that you were going to
come back to me if I would be there for you.  So I went.  And you did.
And I was the happiest man alive.  I just wish now that I would have
told you then.  That I wasn't such a coward."



"Mulder, your not a."



"Aren't I, Scully?  When you got cancer did I ever tell you how
important you were to me?  When you went into remission did I let you
know that I felt like a sixteen-ton weight was lifted off of my chest?
Obviously not or you wouldn't have thought that I didn't find you
attractive.  You wouldn't have wasted a second comparing yourself to
those other women.  You wouldn't have believed for a moment that I could
ever find them more attractive than I find you.  You wouldn't have
hidden yourself from me so that I never thought in a million years that
you were attracted to me at all."



She looked into his eyes again and saw them darken in emotion.  His
smell, his strong, masculine Mulderscent, began to overwhelm her.  She
felt her nipples harden and hot moisture begin to pool in her center.



He caught the scent of her arousal and he felt himself begin to stiffen,
his erection beginning to show in the slacks he was wearing.  "I thought
you didn't want me, Scully.  I didn't believe that I could ever be
worthy of your desire- of your love.  I blame myself for everything that
happened to you while you worked on the X-files.  I am the cause of all
of your pain and I don't know if I can ever forgive myself for it.  I
knew I should let you go.  Give you a chance for a life.  A real life."



"Mulder, I have a life.  A real life," She said.  "I didn't stay on the
X-files out of duty or obligation.  I stayed because it is my quest too.
And because I love you."  Tears began to well in her eyes, "There is
nothing to forgive, Mulder."



"Scully, intellectually I know that your abduction, your sister's death,
your cancer and all the rest are not directly my fault.  I know that I
didn't do those things to you, but I cannot help feeling that way.  I
wanted you to stay because I was selfish.  Even if that is not the
reason you stayed, that is what I feel."  He sighed, "But, I don't want
to argue about that.  Despite the fact that I think you would have been
better off if you never met me, I am still being selfish.  I desperately
want you to stay."



She said, "Mulder, I want to stay.  I value our partnership, our
friendship."



Mulder interrupted her, "God Scully, and you think I'm dense."  He shook
his head sadly; "Let me spell it out for you.  I.  Love.  You.  With all
my heart.  With all my soul.  With all that I am."  He closed his eyes
and said, "I still don't think that I deserve you, but I want to spend
the rest of my existence trying to prove myself wrong.  Will you let me
try?" he asked her.



She was stunned.  She couldn't think.  Her mind revolved with, "He wants
me?  He loves me?" over and over.



"Please Scully," he whispered.  His voice became rough and low- dripping
with passion "I need you, Scully"



"Oh God, Yes!" she said, her own voice gravelly with need and desire.



=====
Chapter 4b



Mulder reached up and cupped the side of her face with his hand, slowly
guiding her toward his lips for a kiss.  The kiss was light, delicate,
his warm soft lips playing over hers for a moment and then traveling all
over her face.  Bestowing his adoration to her cheeks, eyes, chin and
forehead as her breath began to come in pants and the smell of him began
to fill her with an exquisite longing.  Suddenly his mouth was back on
hers- and there was nothing gentle about this kiss.  His tongue demanded
entrance and it was granted.  As his tongue swirled about her mouth, her
tongue danced with his, entering his mouth.



God, he tasted salty and bittersweet- like sunflower seeds and dark
chocolate.  She was filled with an overwhelming desire to taste him
everywhere.  She broke the kiss and began to work furiously at the
buttons of his shirt and before she knew it she had his shirt off and
was leaning forward, tasting the warm skin of his chest.



Mulder moaned, his whole body vibrating, "No fair," he panted huskily,
"you're still dressed."



"Well," she mumbled against his chest, "fix it!"



He stood them up and began tearing at the buttons on her blouse, and
then, having gotten that off, he reached around to unhook her bra.



She noticed that he seemed to be having trouble with the hooks and
pushed him back, down onto the chair by the bed.



He was suddenly hesitant, "Too fast?" he asked.



"Too slow!" she growled back at him, swiftly unhooking and removing the
bra, and then before he could do more than gasp she unzipped and
shimmied out of her skirt.  She stood before him clad only in a small
pair of sodden panties and her sensible pumps, her eyes challenging him,
as if to say "Well, Do something!"



"How could she ever think she wasn't attractive?" he thought, then spoke
aloud, "You are perfect, Scully.  Absolutely perfect."  Then he stood up
and toed off his shoes and socks and dropped his slacks to the floor.



As he stepped out of the puddle of clothing on the floor, his boxer
shorts tented out from his body, Scully felt the impact of his words and
his actions.  She read the sincerity in his admiring gaze and felt a
fresh wave of arousal flow to the junction of her thighs.  He swooped
down upon her, crushing her lithe body against his hard muscled chest,
and kissing her with such soul-searing passion that she felt as though
her very spirit was being drawn out through her mouth and into him.  She
could feel his erection trapped against her belly as he devoured her.



He laid her down on the bed and broke the kiss, gasping for air, as she
did the same.  Mulder looked into her eyes and said, "You own me,
Scully.  Body and soul, I belong to you."



She bit back a sob at his assertion, but before she could answer, the
sensation of his mouth on her aching breast robbed her of the ability
speak.  She was unable to do more than groan aloud.  As he worked over
her nipples with his tongue, lips and teeth, all she could think of was,
"Thank God for Sunflower Seeds!  I am going to buy him the biggest bag
of seeds I can find."



Mulder left her breasts behind and began to travel south over her
abdomen- licking, sucking and biting his way to her navel.  As he dipped
his tongue in, he heard her breath catch and then, "M-Mul-Mulder, I've
never.  You don't have too."



His eyes met hers and he saw her discomfort.  "No one has ever done this
for you before?" he asked.



She shook her head, eyes wide and breathing raggedly.  The few others
she had been with had been relieved when she didn't feel comfortable
with them going down on her.  She had, for some reason, been shy of a
man seeing her that closely.  She worried that she would smell funny, or
taste bad.



"Oh Scully, please let me do this for you," he begged.  "I want to taste
you, I need to taste you.  Please, Scully, Please," he punctuated each
word with a kiss to her belly.



How could she deny him when he wanted it so badly?  When he wanted to do
it, not out of obligation, or desire for reciprocation, but because *he*
wanted it, needed it.  She nodded her head and his face actually
brightened.  He smiled at her as though she had done him a favor.  Oral
fixation indeed she thought happily.



He slowly slid her panties down and off of her.  As he pulled them over
her feet, he kissed his way back up her legs, loving the sensation of
her smooth, creamy skin against his lips.  He kissed her right at the
junction of her tightly closed thighs and she relaxed allowing him to
spread them gently apart.  He glanced up at her from his vantage point
between her legs and saw that she was somewhat embarrassed.  She was
blushing hotly and her eyes kept darting away from him, as if she was
torn between the desire to see his reaction to her, and fear of the
reaction she apparently expected to see.  He needed her to understand
what she meant to him and how he felt about her.  "I love you so much.
Oh Scully, you are so beautiful.  You're so wet for me.  Do you know how
happy this makes me?" he asked as he gently stroked her with his
fingers.  "To know that you are this wet, for me; because of me?  Thank
you, Scully."  And with that, he began to explore with his lips and
tongue.



Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks.  Tears of relief, joy, and
love.  Scully's mind began to revolve, "He really loves me.  He's not
just saying it; he doesn't feel sorry for me.  He doesn't pity me.  He
wants me!  He loves me!"



She began to feel a sensation coiling tightly inside her, like a spring
being wound tighter and tighter.  She howled as he suddenly took her
clitoris into his mouth, sucking on it while he inserted 2 fingers into
her and began to rub them against the roof of her vagina, looking for
that spot.  Then he found what he was looking for and she screamed his
name as the orgasm crashed down upon her.  Wave after wave of pleasure
rolled over her.  She closed her eyes and bright spots of light winked
at her behind her eyelids.  She began to feel disoriented and dizzy, and
still the orgasm rolled on and on and Mulder continued to stroke that
spot inside her and suckle at her clit like a newborn against his
mother's breast.



Mulder was watching her face as she came, and came and came and came.
Her scream had ended in a long, drawn out, shuddering howl as the
pleasure kept flowing over her.  The look on her face was agonizingly
beautiful.  He was amazed; this had never happened before.  He was
overjoyed that he was able to do this for her.  Suddenly he noticed that
she had stopped moving entirely.  He rose quickly from her and was near
panic until he saw the reassuring rise and fall of her chest- that
lovely chest.  He began to feel pretty proud of himself, a little cocky
even.



When she came to she saw him standing before her, his boxers tented by
his erection and a big, dopey grin on his face- pride and satisfaction
practically glowing from him.  "Well, he has darned well earned it this
time," she thought in awe.  "Mulder." her voice was raspy, "that was.
That was.  That has never."



The pride on his face softened into adoration for her.  He wiped his
mouth with his hand and came down upon her to kiss her reverently.  "Oh
Scully, thank you.  Thank you for giving me that.  Thank you for letting
me see you cum.  You were so beautiful, Scully."  Tears began to fall
down his cheeks and he leaned in for another kiss.



She loved him more at that moment than she would have ever thought
possible.  "Only Mulder," she thought.  Here he was; still in his
underwear; obviously painfully erect from the way he winced when it
pressed into her thigh; having just made her cum so hard and so long
that she had been rendered unconscious; and he was profusely thanking
her for the experience.  He was grateful and she had yet to even touch
him.



Well!  It was high time to fix that!



Mulder was slightly shocked when she suddenly rolled them over with her
ending up on top.  She broke away from the kiss and began to work her
way down his body with her lips and tongue.  She began to lightly stroke
him through his underwear as she tongued his nipples.  She felt him
twitch in her hand and he suddenly groaned loud and low in his throat.
She tried to continue down toward the elastic of his boxers when
suddenly his hands were in her hair, feeling the soft, silky strands,
and trying to move her back up to his face.



She broke off from her attentions to his nipples and looked at him.
"What's wrong Mulder?"



"If you complete that thought you may get an unpleasant surprise, I
don't think I can hold out long."  He said, somewhat chagrined.



"I want that, Mulder.  I need that right now- I need to make you cum."



"Tonight I want to be inside you when I cum, Scully," he whispered.



"Mulder, what makes you think this will be the only time you cum
tonight?" she said with a wicked grin on her lips.



Mulder actually began to pant. "OhMyGod, Scully!" he gasped, his chest
heaving.



Scully let out a delighted laugh and continued on her original course.
She removed his undershorts and paused a moment in appreciation.  He was
so hard that the head was purple and the veins on the sides were
throbbing in time with his heartbeat.  She licked her lips and smiled up
at him.  His eyes were wide and staring.  She said, "This looks serious,
Mulder.  It's a good thing you've got a doctor handy," and with that she
gave it one long lick, from the bottom of the base to the underside of
the tip.  She immediately gripped the base, squeezing with her thumb to
keep him from cumming.  "Not just yet, Mulder."



He thought he was going to die.  No scratch that, he thought he was
already dead and in heaven.  She would take him into her mouth sliding
slowly down him until her nose was buried in his pubic hair.  Then she
would make a few short bobs of her head before slowly withdrawing,
swirling her tongue around the underside of him as she withdrew.  She
would then grip him, cutting off his orgasm while she would lick and
suckle his balls.  After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a
couple of minutes she took him all the way in again and began bobbing up
and down furiously, rubbing her saliva slicked fingers along his
perineum, beneath his balls.



He hadn't stopped groaning since the first lick.  He tried to speak,
"Sc-Sc-Scu-ul-ly, I'm. gonna. unh. gonna." she locked gazes with him as
if to let him know that she knew.  She wasn't stopping, however.  She
started moving faster and groaning herself.  The combination of movement
and vibration was too much and he came.  "Oh, God!  Oh, Scully," he
shouted over and over as he emptied himself into her.



She felt him cum and she concentrated on not choking.  She wanted this,
wanted to do this for him, to show him a little of the happiness he had
given her.  She wanted to show him a little of the love she felt for
him.  In the end she drank him all down and slowly withdrew, cleaning
him with her tongue.  She looked up and saw the awe and joy in his eyes.
She felt a little proud herself for being able to bring him to this.
She made a slow, languorous ascent up his body, tasting and feeling as
she went.  When she got to the summit, she stopped to taste his mouth
once more.



After a moment she leaned away from him and gave to him the gift he had
given to her earlier.  Her voice rough and thick with emotion she said,
"I am yours Mulder.  Heart, mind and body, I belong to you."



"Scully, I..." he began and then trailed off.



"Please Mulder, tell me.  You can tell me anything." she said, "You do
know that don't you?"



"I believe you Scully.  And I love you.  Oh, God how I love you.  I know
it seems like it's a little late for this, but I need you to know
something.  Before we go any further."



"What Mulder?"  Scully asked, starting to feel a little self-conscious
again.



Mulder reached out and cupped her cheek with his right hand and said,
"You know how I am Scully.  How I obsess about things and how I can be
stubborn about things."



"Mulder, you are like a terrier with a bone."  Scully chuckled.



Mulder ducked his head somewhat sheepishly and said, "Yeah I am like
that a bit." He then raised his head and locked his gaze on her eyes,
".If you stay here with me now, if we do what I really, really *really*
want to do next." His eyes were like bottomless pools of arousal now and
Scully couldn't have torn her gaze away from his even if the room were
to suddenly erupt into flames.  ".I won't ever be able to go back.  Not
ever.  You and I will be forever and nothing on earth, or from anywhere
else will ever drag me away from you."



Tears were flowing freely now from her eyes as she said, "Mulder,
nothing, and I mean it Mulder!  Nothing could make me leave you right
now- or ever.  You own me.  Forever."  And with that she attacked his
mouth, seeking to sear on his very soul the love she felt for him.



The kiss lasted until they were both lightheaded from lack of oxygen and
broke apart at the same instant, gasping for breath.  Scully was
delighted to feel Mulder's recovered erection pressing into her thigh.
She pulled back enough to look down and see it, and then looked back up
at Mulder with a coquettish gaze and said, in her best little girl
voice, "Is that for me?"



Mulder rolled them both over and hovered above her for a moment.  He
looked at her in all seriousness and said, in a deep gravelly voice,
"Every last bit, Scully.  It's all yours, and only yours."  In one
steady thrust he sunk into her, in to the hilt, "Forever," he gasped.



He began making long slow strokes, pulling almost all of the way out and
then slowly sinking all the way back in so that his balls were nestled
in the cradle of her ass.  When he was all the way in, she felt like she
had never been so filled in her life, and when he withdrew, she felt
empty.  His slow pace was maddening and his whispered endearments in her
ear were only adding to the feeling.



"You're so wet Scully.  You're so warm Scully.  Is that for me?  Did I
make you that wet and warm?" he asked huskily.



"Oh God Yes Mulder, You made me wet, you made me hot and you're making
me insane!" she wanted to scream out, but all she could force out was an
inarticulate "Ohgomld!  Unnhhyah!"  She would have been embarrassed
except that he seemed to understand, and his eyes softened- the absolute
adoration he felt for her expressed clearly.  How could she have ever
thought he didn't want her?"  It was obvious by the look on his face-
she hadn't ever seen that intensity of focus.  It was as if there was
nothing and no one else in the universe but she and he, and all the rest
didn't exist.



Mulder was driving himself insane, every instinct in his body was
screaming to forget pace and slam into her like a jackhammer until the
two became one.  But he wanted this to last.  He never wanted it to end.
He wanted to make her scream his name at the top of her lungs until he
occupied every last drop of her consciousness and there was nothing left
in her but him, just like he already felt about her.



Suddenly he changed his angle, sliding up so that her face was level
with his neck and shoulders, and his shaft dragged across her clit with
each stroke.  Almost instantly she was rocked with a powerful orgasm.
It surprised her and she screamed at the suddenness of it.  Her body
started to convulse and the muscles that wrapped around him started to
contract violently.  It was the last straw for him and he lost any
semblance of control and started pounding into her for all he was worth.



The waves of her orgasm were not dissipating, but rather they were
crashing down on her faster and harder as Mulder picked up the pace, his
shaft grinding against her clit as his strokes became faster and
shorter.  She locked her legs around his hips and her arms around his
back and sank her teeth into his trapezius muscle, between his neck and
shoulder, biting down so hard in her frenzy that she drew blood.



The sudden clutch she put him in and the sharp pain of her bite sent him
over the edge.  He roared her name incoherently as he pumped his seed
into her.  His own orgasm seemed to last much longer than normal.  He
felt like he was draining his entire self into her.  He collapsed onto
her and when he made to roll off of her, her grip on him tightened even
more and she cried "No!"  She was still shuddering from the force of her
orgasm, and the thought of separation from him was more than she could
bear in that moment.



"Baby, I don't want to crush you, that's all."  Mulder whispered.  He
then expended his last bit of strength and grabbed her and rolled them
both over so she was on top of him and they were still joined.  He
pulled the sheet over them and promptly fell asleep with his arms
wrapped around the love of his life.



A sense of peace and contentment unlike any she had ever known
overwhelmed Scully.  Her last conscious thought was, "I wish I could
stay like this forever."



=====
Chapter 4c




Nick's Loft





3:30am Tuesday



Natalie had fed Sidney and petted him for a while.  He was less than
pleased that his mistress had been gone for so long, but soon forgave
her under the gentle attentions of her hands and fingers.  She snickered
at the thought of making Nick purr like that with similar stroking.
"Soon!  Soon!" her mind exulted.  She got up and danced her way into the
bedroom to pack an overnight bag.  "I should call it an over-day bag,
really, I guess," she thought, smiling.  She really didn't think she
would miss the day that much- not if she got to spend the eternal night
with Nick.  She laughed with excitement as she skipped out the door and
to her car for the drive over to the Loft.



As she rode the elevator up to the loft, Natalie was truly feeling
giddy.  She felt like she hadn't seen Nick in days, rather than hours.



Nick heard Natalie coming up in the elevator just as he lit the last
candle.  He had a bottle of Faiveley Cellars 1995 Clos de Vougeot
Burgundy, as well as a bottle Raven reserve label and two glasses on the
coffee table and had made a pallet of blankets and cushions on the floor
in front of the fireplace.  He flew to the refrigerator and pulled out
another bottle of Raven label, his fifth since he got home, and drained
it quickly.



Natalie's eyes lit up as she saw the loft in candlelight, with a fire
going strong and the little nest of blankets before it.  "Maybe soon is
sooner than I thought!" she thought, joyously.  "Oh, Nick!  It looks
beautiful.  Absolutely lovely!" she said as her gaze swept back and
forth across the room.  Finally her eyes rested on the visage of her
beloved as he stalked across the room with leonine grace toward her.



"All things before mine eyes pale in comparison to thee, beloved.  Thou
art radiance above the moon and the stars to me.  A gleaming brilliance
in the darkness, penetrating the cold death of night.  You warm my
heart."  Nick said in low resonant tones as he crossed the room, taking
her in his arms, "You are my life."  Then he dipped his head, meeting
her lips with his and drinking from his fountain of life.



Natalie dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around him crushing herself
against him with all of the strength she possessed, as if she could
merge with him into one being.  She finally broke the kiss, gasping for
air.  "NOT FAIR!" she thought.  "I'm the only one here who actually
needs to breathe!"



Nick chuckled when her eyes flashed in annoyance, instantly realizing
what she was thinking.



"I don't have your gift for poetry, Nick, but I want you to know- my
heart is overfilled with joy and it is pouring out and through my entire
body.  And, *you* are the cause!"



Nick's own heart leapt in his chest at her declaration.  "I love you,
Natalie Lambert!" he whispered and once again captured her mouth.



This time when she broke the kiss she was panting.  "I thought. we had
to. wait."



"Do you want to wait anymore?" he asked.



"NO!" she shouted.



Nick laughed out loud and swept her off her feet, swinging her around
and then carrying her over to the pallet he had built up.  He gently
laid her back on the cushions and knelt beside her.  "I still think we
should put off bringing you across for a few days, but I think that we
can still do this.  I spoke with LaCroix, and he."



"You discussed this with LaCroix!?"  Natalie was suddenly indignant.



"My love, you must understand that there are really no secrets between a
vampire master and his or her progeny."  Nick said placatingly.  Then he
growled, "I didn't want to wait another moment to have you!"



"Oh."  She said, pondering the idea briefly.  "Good idea, Nick."



He gave a low chuckle that caused shivers to run down her spine, and
moisture to start collecting in the center of her arousal.  "Anyway, I
have satiated my hunger with as much blood as I could drink, and I
believe I can control myself sufficiently to take only a little from
you.  I have a big bottle of orange juice and some Gatorade in the
fridge for afterward."



"What, no cookies?" she asked, " You are supposed to get cookies when
you donate blood!"



"I have an entire dinner, catered by Bellini's, keeping warm in the
oven.  But that is for after!" and with that he once again bent down to
ravish her lips, then making a trail with his lips and tongue to her
ear, where he paused for a while, nipping and sucking.  His hands slid
over her blouse, down from her shoulders, alongside her breasts- cupping
them through the material, and down to the waist of her skirt.  He
un-tucked her blouse and began to unbutton it, his lips moving down to
her neck and kissing her gently over her pulse point.  Knowing that he
would be sinking his teeth into the river of blood he heard flowing just
beneath the skin caused his own arousal to soar.  The knowledge that
tonight would be the night was sufficient to keep the vampire in check.
It was well sated and willing to be patient.



Natalie was not so patient.  His lips were fire on her skin and she
yanked his shirt out of his trousers, and began running her hands inside
his shirt, over the bare skin of his chest.  She moaned with pleasure as
he kissed her neck, and shivered with delight as he opened her blouse
and retraced the path of his hands, this time over bare flesh.  As he
slid his hands over her bra-encased breasts toward the front closure,
she felt her nipples stiffen against the fabric, as though trying to
reach through it to touch the skin of her lover.



Nick opened her bra and leaned back long enough to take in the sight of
his beloved's bare flesh.  He tried to speak and realized that he had
stopped breathing entirely and had no air with which to form the words.



Natalie opened her eyes when his touch left her and found him leaning
away from her, staring in open awe at her.  She smiled and licked her
lips, causing Nick to growl softly.  He slid her blouse and bra down and
off of her, and took the opportunity to capture one of her nipples in
his mouth.  He rolled his tongue around the edges of it, and stroked the
top of it in long licks.  He nipped lightly at it and then ran his
tongue around it, soothing the bite.  He stroked the areola round and
round, memorizing each bump and wrinkle.  His hand lavished the same
sensations on her other nipple, but in a different order.  The intensity
of the sensation and its contrapuntal effect caused her arousal to
become acute, her Vulva overflowed and ran down the junction of her
thighs, saturating her panties.



Suddenly, the smell of Natalie's arousal overpowered Nick.  As he tried
to unzip it the zipper stuck, and he tore the zipper-pull off of the
skirt.  He held it up between them and looked at it, like a small boy
with a broken toy.



Natalie would have laughed at the look on his face if she hadn't been
even more desperate than he was to get that skirt the hell out of the
way.  "Just tear it, Nick!" she growled hungrily.



Nick lost what was left of his composure and tore the skirt in two with
a quick pull and a little Vampiric strength.  As the smell of her- even
stronger now- assaulted his senses he ripped her panties from her,
dropped to his knees and buried his head between her thighs.



Natalie was briefly thankful that she had decided not to wear pantyhose
tonight.  Then all rational thought left her mind as Nick began to trace
her swollen folds with his tongue before latching on to her clit with
his lips and tongue.  He grasped the hood of her clitoris firmly between
his lips, squeezing the clitoris itself out and between his teeth, which
exerted the barest pressure on it while his tongue swept back and forth
across it in slow steady strokes.  She felt the pressure build up and up
until she thought she was going to burst.  Suddenly Nick stopped the
side-to-side motion and began furiously flicking his tongue up and down
over it.  Natalie felt her consciousness shatter.



Nick heard Natalie begin a low, keening wail that got louder and louder.
He changed the motion of his tongue over her clitoris and she suddenly
arched her back and grabbed his head, grinding it into her crotch.  She
screamed his name loudly enough that he was glad this area of the city
was virtually abandoned at night, otherwise he might be getting a visit
from the police investigating a report of a woman being murdered.



"Oh!  this is *so* much better," Natalie thought to herself once her
consciousness coalesced.  "So much better than doing it myself!" she
muttered as she dropped to her knees in front of him.



Nick was pretty sure she didn't mean to say that out loud, "Glad to be
of service, my Lady!"  He said, chuckling.



Natalie blushed hotly in embarrassment and averted her eyes from his.



"Please don't be embarrassed, Nat.  You were magnificent!  I felt like a
violinist being given the chance to play a Stradivarius," he said with
awe in his voice.  "It was just so wonderful, so extraordinary that I
could make you feel that.  I don't think I could ever get tired of
seeing you cum."



She returned her eyes to his and saw the sincerity in his voice, the
arousal in his eyes.  Any sense of shame or embarrassment left her
entirely.  She wanted him to know everything- her longing, her desire,
her absolute need for him.  The need for him to know her completely was
like a physical weight pressing down on her.



"Oh, Nick.  You don't know how many mornings I have spent touching
myself, stroking and caressing myself, imagining it was you.  Wishing it
was your hands on me."  She punctuated her words with her hands,
stroking her breasts, teasing her already hard nipples into achingly
intense sensitivity.  Her eyes closed and her hands drifted south along
her torso, stroking, teasing and touching- until her fingers were
tracing the outlines of her vulva, imitating the movements that Nick's
tongue and lips were so recently engaged in.  "Oh Nick, I want you.  I
*need* you."  She dipped the fingers on each hand into the moisture that
was flowing steadily again.  One finger she slid up to the hard nub of
her clitoris, where she began stroking agonizingly slow circles around
the clitoral hood.  The other finger she brought up to her lips, pausing
to reach out with her tongue to taste the wetness there before inserting
the finger into her mouth and sucking it clean.



She opened her eyes and saw him, his mouth glistening with her juices
and hanging open as he panted heavily.  His fangs were fully descended
and his eyes, glowing red, were locked on the finger in her mouth.  She
could sense that he was holding back out of fear of her reaction to the
vampire.  She didn't want him to hold back.  She laid back, spreading
herself open with the one hand, while pulling her other hand from her
mouth and sweeping her hair away from her neck as she arched her head
back.  "Nick, I need you!" her breath coming in short pants as she began
climbing up toward the peak of her arousal.  "I need to feel you inside
me.  *Now* Nick!"



She saw Nick blur in motion, and heard the sound of his clothing
shredding as he tore it away from himself in Vampiric speed.  In between
two blinks of her eyes Nick went from kneeling, fully clothed, between
her knees to covering her body with his own naked form.  He thrust
himself deep into her with one powerful movement and she knew that this
was going to be over in moments.  That was perfectly all right with her,
she knew that they had the rest of eternity to savor long, slow
lovemaking.  This was about raw need, and she needed it as badly as he
did.  She knew exactly what she was doing when she goaded him into this,
and she secretly didn't care if she remained mortal after this or not.
She wanted to be with him, and would joyfully give up any thought of
seeing another sunrise to have this for the rest of her existence.



Nick pumped madly within his love.  His need overwhelmed him and after
only seconds he plunged his fangs into the sweet essence of life flowing
through the smooth column of flesh before him.  The smell of Natalie's
blood had always reminded him of the heavily spiced, mulled wine that he
had drunk in the winters before he crossed over.  It was one of the
physical pleasures he had missed most after LaCroix had changed him.  He
was sure that it had never been this wonderful, though.  Her blood,
sweetened by her orgasm, and enriched with the passionate love she felt
for him, engulfed his senses.  He felt her desire for him, her absolute
need to have him in her, and she in him just like this.  Any guilt he
felt for loosing control so quickly was washed away as he felt her
pleasure at having driven him to this state.  "You little vixen!" he
thought, and felt her laughter and joy.



She felt the sting of his fangs entering her neck and the cool wash of
his orgasm inside her and the combination pushed her up and over the
peak of her own pleasure.  She once again screamed his name as she felt
the whirlwind of sensation and imagery bombard her consciousness.  She
laughed with delight when she felt him realize that this had been
exactly what she wanted- that she had pushed him to lose control in just
this manner.



After several mouthfuls of her blood had slid down his throat, Nick
found himself able to stop.  He felt her willingness to continue- to go
all the way, but the knowledge that it would happen soon enough,
combined with his pleasure at the thought of drawing out the process,
taking pleasure with her in this way for a while longer, was enticing as
well.  He withdrew his fangs and licked the wounds until the bleeding
stopped.



She gave a small cry as she felt his fangs withdraw, and the images and
sensations died away slowly.  She gasped in surprise as Nick used his
super-human abilities to rise up off the ground, bringing her with him,
and rotate in the air so that she was on top of him, while they remained
joined as one.  He then came to rest amidst the blankets and cushions
with his arms wrapped around her.  She had never felt so content in her
life.  She was physically and emotionally satiated.



As Nick lay there with his heart's desire draped over him like a human
blanket, he had a feeling of peace wash over him such as he had never
felt in his existence- even before, when he was mortal.  "It was never
like this with Janette," he thought.  He had loved Janette, and still
did, but not like this.  This was something he had never even imagined.



Natalie noticed that Nick was lost in thought and said, "Penny for your
thoughts, Nick?"



Nick shook himself from his reverie and smiled.  He said, "I was
thinking of Janette."  Instantly he berated himself as he felt her
stiffen, "I could have found a better way to say that!"  He tightened
his arms around her before she could pull away and quickly continued,
"Nat, I was married to her for 97 years, and in all that time, never
once did I feel as happy and content as I do right now."



Natalie felt her heart soften and silently chastised herself for
thinking for even a moment that Nick would hurt her like that.  "I
should know better.  I should trust him more than that," she thought.
She had seen herself in his heart while he drank from her, and she knew
that there was, and would never again be, anyone but her there.  Instead
of apologizing with words, she swept up and locked her mouth on his,
drinking him into her.  She felt him stiffening inside her and marveled
at the vampire's recuperative powers.  She felt herself growing
increasingly slick at the thought.  "This is going to be wonderful," she
said to herself, imagining what it was going to be like being with a
multi-orgasmic man, who could keep up with her own insatiable needs.



Natalie brought her lips to his ear and whispered to him "Some mornings,
Nick, I would cum six or even seven times while thinking about you.
Even then, I would only stop because my hands were tired."



Nick instantly became painfully hard inside her.  He growled back
"Satisfaction guaranteed or your next one's free."  He reached his hands
behind her knees and pulled them forward until she was kneeling astride
him, her dripping mound hovering several inches above, and slightly
forward of his groin with just the tip of his penis still inside her.
He then told her, "put your hands beside my shoulders." she complied-
her luscious breasts hanging above his chin, then he growled at her,
"Now.  Do Not Move!  Understand me?"



Her eyes widened at the command in his tone and she was compelled to
obey.  Wordlessly she nodded her head but that wasn't good enough for
him.



"Say it!" he commanded.



"Yes, I understand." she said breathlessly.



"Good, don't forget it," he said as he began moving inside her.  He made
long, slow strokes into her, taking as much as three or four seconds to
steadily press into her until he was buried entirely within, then
holding for a moment and just as slowly sliding out until only the tip
of the head of his penis was still inside.  He would then pause and
begin again.  After a few such strokes he changed patterns, stoking only
a little of the way in, then back out then a little more in and all the
way back out- increasing the depth of each stoke until he was fully
inside.  He then reversed course coming out in increments until he was
almost all the way out again.



She felt like she was going to go insane- the desire to thrust back
against him almost overwhelming her until she thought she couldn't hold
out any longer.  Just as she started to give in he grabbed her hips in
his iron grip and held her steady.  Not breaking the intricate rhythm of
his thrusts, he growled at her again, "I said don't move!  You can
scream or shout or cry all you want, but if you move I will stop!  Do
you understand?"



Natalie couldn't make her voice work.  All she could get out was
"Yunghhh" and she just nodded her head vigorously, keeping the rest of
her body still.



Nick was relentless, beginning the long thrusts again as he dropped his
voice even lower and rougher and said, "Do you want me to stop Natalie?"



She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and shook her head violently,
her hair whipping back and forth.



Nick picked that moment to reach his head up and, without touching her
breast or areola, drag his tongue slowly across just the tip of her
nipple.



Natalie felt the first orgasm like a firecracker exploding
simultaneously in her left nipple and her vagina.  How she managed to
keep her body still she would never know.  she threw her head back as
she gasped, and she felt the walls of her vagina begin to convulse
around Nick, who was keeping his maddening pace, changing between the
long slow strokes and the incremental penetrations every minute or so.



It wasn't until after the second orgasm- when he had treated her right
nipple to the same languorous lick as the left- that she noticed each of
the rhythms was getting slightly quicker.



After the third and fourth orgasms- he had scraped the tip of one fang
along the top of each nipple, drawing a single drop of blood and then
licking it off- she wondered to herself, "When did he start doing that
rotating thing with his hips?"



She had lost count of the firecracker-like orgasms as his pace had
increased to the point where the long strokes were pounding into her so
hard that only his grip on her hips kept her from being bucked entirely
off of him, and the incremental strokes felt like an air-hammer
pistoning inside her.  She was thrashing her head around and moaning so
loudly that she sounded like a pack of wolves howling at the moon.  Nick
had teased her nipples and areolas in ways that she could never have
conceived of and her juices were flowing so heavily that Nick was wet
from half-way down his thighs, up almost to his navel.  The cheeks of
her ass were dripping and the wetness on the insides of her thighs was
running down and saturating the blankets below.  She hadn't imagined
that the human body was even capable of this level of pleasure.



As she reached the point where she thought she would collapse, Nick
suddenly slid her up his body slightly, changing the angle of
penetration so that the head of his penis stroked against the roof of
her vagina, just a couple of inches inside of the opening.  Her last
articulate thought was that she hadn't even known that she possessed a
G-spot, then her mind shattered into a million shards.  She didn't even
feel the sting as Nick slid his fangs into her breast.  Several seconds
into the longest, most intense orgasm she could have ever imagined she
was suddenly thrown into the maelstrom that was the blood-link with
Nick.  It was finally too much- her consciousness fled and she collapsed
against him.



Nick felt Natalie's loss of consciousness through the blood link and
withdrew himself from her completely.  He licked the wound on her breast
until it sealed over, and then held her boneless form against him for a
moment.  He was so suffused with pure joy and happiness that he felt as
giddy as a schoolgirl.  He also felt an inordinately profound sense of
pride and accomplishment that he had been able to pleasure his Lady into
this boneless puddle of spent flesh.  He thought he had more than made
up for the quickness of his release the first time.  He wondered if
Natalie would be sharing this event with her assistant, Grace.  He felt
a ridiculous sense of masculine pride at the thought of her bragging
about his prowess to her girlfriend.



He stopped that train of thought and gently rolled her off of him onto
the blankets next to him.  He immediately became aware of the mess they
had made.  He ruefully chuckled when he saw the state of her clothes,
the skirt ripped in two and the panties in shreds.  He noticed that his
own clothes seemed to have been reduced to tatters in his haste to
become naked.



Natalie seemed to have gone into a light sleep.  Nick carefully wiped
her off with one of the blankets and then wrapped her in a clean one and
laid her on the couch.  He then used his extraordinary speed to quickly
clean up the mess.  He flew up to the bathroom and took a one-minute
shower to get the worst of the mess off, and then ran a bath for
Natalie, pouring in a generous portion of lavender-scented oil.  He lit
a few candles and turned out the lights, then went down to collect his
beloved.  He decided the food in the oven needed to come out and smiled
at the image of him feeding her while in the tub.  "Well, why not?" he
thought.  He checked and saw that she was still sleeping lightly then
continued his preparations.  A large glass of the juice, followed by a
plate festooned with samples of the various items from Bellini's along
with the glass and the bottle of wine from the coffee table.  The tub
was filled and everything was set, now to collect his beloved.  He
unwrapped the blanket and lifted her into his arms like a baby



=====
Chapter 4d



Natalie began to wake up in the arms of her beloved as he was carrying
her up the stairs.  She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck
and snuggled her head into his chest.  "Mmmm.  What happened, Nick?" she
asked.  She could feel of every square millimeter of skin where she was
touching him.  It felt like she was hyper-aware of each nerve ending in
her body.



"You passed out Natalie," Nick said with a broad smile.



She became aware of the soreness in her neck where he bit her the first
time, the soreness in her left breast where he bit her the second time.
She then became aware of the soreness between her legs- not a surface
pain like the bites, but the slow burn from the workout she had received
on muscles that hadn't been used like that since before medical school,
she thought languorously.  "Even then, it had never been like this was!"
she thought.  "I think I lost count around 10, not including that last
one," she thought.  That last one, which had overshadowed all of the
previous ones in both intensity and duration, was a marvel.  She didn't
even know that she had a G-spot, had never really looked for it, but
Nick sure seemed to know about it.



As Natalie was musing, they reached the bathroom.  He set her on her
feet and offered his hand to help her into the tub.



Natalie felt a bit unsteady and weak in the knees when Nick set her
down.  "Whoa!  Nick, where did you learn to do that?  That was not only
the best, most incredibly intense sex of my life, it was better than
anything I've even heard of or imagined was possible!"  She saw his ego
swell a little bit at her words, but she didn't care!  He deserved it
for that performance!



"I read about it in the Ananga-Ranga, an ancient Indian text on sacred
sex.  Then I just added a little speed," Nick said as he helped her into
the perfumed water.  He then handed her the orange juice and said,
"Here, you should drink this, it will help restore some of what I took
from you."



She drank the juice greedily, only now realizing how thirsty vampire sex
could make a body.  She chuckled out loud at the humor at that thought.



Nick took the glass and said, "Now, just relax Natalie.  Lay there and
let me pamper you a little."  He took the plate and began feeding her
bites of Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi, Pan Roasted Pheasant Breast, Veal
Scaloppini Marsala, and Seared Sea Scallops- alternating each bite with
a sip of the burgundy.



"Oh God, Nick.  You'd better be careful, a girl could definitely get
used to this."



Nick chuckled lightly, then dropped his smile and leaned in to softly
kiss Natalie on the mouth.  When he pulled back a single blood tear
trailed down his left cheek.  "Natalie, I just wanted to show you a tiny
little bit of the overwhelming joy and happiness you have given me by
loving me and letting me love you."



She felt her heart break at the thought of how alone Nick must have felt
for so long.  Wanting to change who he thought he was, feeling alienated
from the humanity he so desperately wanted to rejoin, and from The
Community that he never really felt a part of.  At the same time she
felt her heart swell up with love and joy, that she made him feel so
good, so happy.



She felt an overwhelming need to convey to him just how happy he made
her.  "Nick, I am so happy right now.  The sex was amazing and the bath
is so sweet of you.  I adore the food and the wine is perfect.  But, in
the end, it's nothing compared to the absolute, pure joy that's in my
heart because I know you love me."  Quiet tears of happiness began to
overflow Natalie's eyes and pour down her face.  "That's the best part,
Nick.  *You* are the best part."



Nick reached out to cup the face of the woman he loved.  He slowly drew
her face toward his as he leaned forward.  They captured each other's
lips in a passionate, loving kiss.  A kiss not designed to incite sexual
desire, but rather to communicate the love and adoration they each felt
for the other.  He rested his forehead on hers and breathed out, "I love
you, Natalie Lambert."



As much as anything else he had done to or for her that night, that kiss
and that simple declaration of love filled her heart to overflowing.



"I hope you're not too full for desert, Nat," Nick said with a boyish
grin stealing over his face.



"Hmmm, what did you have in mind, Sir Knight?" she said with a
coquettish look on her face.



"Port and Chocolate Truffles"



"Oh really?"  Natalie said, her voice belying her interest, but the look
on her face giving her away.



Nick smiled and elaborated, "1985 Fonseca Port wine, and Gianduia
Truffles from Vosges"



Natalie smiled and said, "Gianduia Truffles?" in a little girl's voice.



Nick's smile broadened and he elaborated further, "Milk chocolate and
crunchy praline, dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with more
praline pieces."



Natalie gave up all pretense and excitedly said "Ooooh, you *do* love
me!"



"Very much," he agreed.  "Now, let's get you dried off and downstairs to
where the chocolate is."



"Yes, by all means, let's," she said standing up and stepping out of the
tub, and into the large bath sheet Nick was holding up for her.



He wrapped her up and hugged her tightly for a moment, "I will let you
dry yourself off and get dressed.  Your bag is." he let her go and was
suddenly gone and back in a heartbeat, ".right here." he said, handing
her the 'over-day' bag she had packed.  "I'm going to put on something
and meet you downstairs."  With that he leaned in for a quick kiss and
was gone in a flash.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Nick flew into his bedroom and threw on a pair of black silk pajama
bottoms and a black silk robe.  He was nervous.  Very nervous.  Things
had not gone as planned tonight, and that was ok- better than OK as it
turned out- however; it left him wanting to do what he had planned on
holding-off until later in the week- maybe even next week.  Now, he
didn't think he could contain himself that long.  Part of the reason for
waiting was that if felt like it was too soon into this very new
relationship.  "But, it really isn't new," he told himself.  Really,
their relationship was deep-rooted.  They were already mentally,
spiritually, emotionally, and socially intimate, and had been for years.
Not so long ago, only a few decades, the physical intimacy they had
shared tonight would have been reserved for after marriage, not before.
That was certainly the way he had been raised in the late twelfth/early
thirteenth century.  Still, he was nervous.  She loved him, but did she
want to marry him?  She knew vampirism was forever, and she wanted that,
so what could she have against marrying him?



He was driving himself crazy for no reason, he thought.  She would say
yes, or she would say no, but either way, he was confident that she
would not leave him.  He just wanted to marry her and make it official.
"Marking my territory, I guess. but, it marks me as her territory as
well," he thought to himself- and that is what he wanted.



He set up the table for her, a glass of the port for each of them, his
fortified with blood of course, and a plate with 4 truffles and the ring
in the center under a small silver dome.  Nick felt light-headed and the
anticipation was coursing through his veins like fire.  "I feel like a
character in one of those trashy romance novels," he thought.  "Maybe,
but it's a really, really good trashy romance novel!"  He moved to the
window to look out at the stars while awaiting his beloved.  Sunrise was
coming soon.  "Was it really only two hours ago that she came in?"  It
felt like forever.  Soon enough they would have to discuss the events of
the day, and decide on a course of action.  He would speak to her about
Mulder and whether or not Scully would be brought in- and he rather
thought that Mulder would not leave her out of it.  He wondered if those
two would ever realize how they felt about each other.  He hoped so; he
himself knew exactly how they felt, and he wouldn't wish that kind of
suffering upon anyone.



He was still lost in thought when he heard Natalie.  He turned around
and saw his beloved descending the stairs, wearing a blood-red silk
nightgown that hugged her lusciously curved body in all the right
places.  He almost felt a little jealous of that gown, wrapping her
sensuously like that.  It had spaghetti-straps, a cleavage- enhancing
bodice and a long flowing length that was slightly tapered at the waist
ended at mid-calf.  Nick thought she looked absolutely ravishing, so he
told her so.



Natalie just smiled and asked, "You like the gown?"



"Oh, yeah. the gown is nice too."  Nick said, with a wide smile



This time she did blush.



Nick walked over and pulled out her chair and helped her get seated
before sitting across the corner from her, where he could look at her,
and was close enough to reach out and touch her.



She looked at the plate and the arrangement of the truffles.  She raised
one eyebrow at the silver dome in the center and asked, "What's under
that, Nick?"



"That, is the piece de resistance, Natalie.  It's for last."



"Oooh, a surprise!"  Natalie was almost giddy with excitement at this
entire night.  What goody did he have for her under there?  She would
have to restrain herself from wolfing down the truffles in order to more
quickly uncover her present.



Nick watched the near-rapture on Natalie's face as she bit into the
first truffle.  He sipped at his blood-wine while he silently watched
her savor the four truffles.  He heard the automatic shutters begin to
close over the window as sunrise approached.  He watched Natalie's
tongue dart out to lick up an errant bit of chocolate from her full
lips.  He reached over to her and stroked her cheek as she smiled at
him, his nervousness returning slightly as he waited for her to lift the
dome.



Natalie leaned into the gentle caress of Nick's hand, then catching his
hand in hers, she brought it around and laid a gentle kiss in his palm,
never loosing eye contact until he closed his eyes at the feel of her
kiss.  "May I look now?" as she reached out to touch the dome in the
center of her plate.



"Yes, my love, my heart, you may look" Nick said, the anticipation
threatening to choke him.



Natalie lifted the dome off of the plate and saw a red velvet jeweler's
box underneath.  Her breath caught slightly and she looked at Nick as
she lifted the box and just held it for a moment.  "No, it couldn't be
that.  Could it?" she thought to herself.



Nick heard her heart racing and saw the look of shock on her face and he
could hardly stand it.  "Open it, Natalie," he said quietly.



Unable to form a coherent thought, let alone actually speak, she slowly
opened the box and inside she found, nestled in the blood-red satin
interior was a ring.  It was a flawless one-and-a-half carat
brilliant-cut diamond, surrounded by small heart-shaped rubies.  It was
exquisite.  She was trembling.



Nick took the box from her and removed the ring.  He took her left hand
in his and slid the ring onto the third finger.  He met her gaze, which
had been fixed on his eyes since he took the box from her.  Natalie, I
think that I began to fall in love with you the night we met, when you
refused to believe that I was dead, 'Just different' you said."  Nick
smiled at the memory, "The truth, Natalie, is that I was dead inside,
and even if I had managed to find mortality at that point, it would have
been empty and meaningless.  In the six years you and I have known each
other; we have gone through many trials and tribulations together.
Looking back I have only one regret about those times; I regret that I
waited six years to tell you that I love you.  Natalie, you are my
heart, my soul, and my life.  Without you my existence would be
meaningless and unbearable."  Nick stood out of his chair and dropped to
one knee before her, "Natalie Lambert, will you marry me?"



There wasn't room enough in Natalie's heart to contain the love and joy
she felt.  Her face lit up in a smile so bright that a lesser vampire
would have been reduced to ashes at the sight of it.  "Nicolas De
Brabant Knight, I love you with all my heart and soul, with all that I
am.  I would be honored and delighted to be your wife!" whereupon she
pulled him up and jumped into his arms, squeezing as tight as she could
and peppering his face with little kisses and laughing out loud with
delight.  She finally let go of him and sat down, a little light-headed.



"Careful Nat, you should always remember to take it easy after donating
blood."  Nick said with a smirk.



"Oh Nick," she said, "It was worth it though!"



"Really?"  Nick said, fishing for complements.



"Yes!  I mean come on, Dinner from Bellini's and Truffles from Vosges?"
she said smirking herself, "That's worth a pint of blood or two."  She
laughed out loud at the crestfallen look Nick gave her.  "Honestly Nick,
for an 800 year old vampire, you're such a little boy," she said with a
delighted smile on her face.  "I don't know if I will be able to walk
tomorrow but it was definitely worth it!"



Suddenly concerned, Nick asked, "Was it too much, Natalie?  I know it's
probably been a while, and maybe I shouldn't have taken your challenge
so seriously, and."



"Nick!  It was perfect, it was amazing- I would happily give up ever
walking normally again for that kind of ecstasy."  She said, breaking
into his self-recrimination.  She then dropped her gaze and her voice,
looking down at her hands in her lap, "It's just that it's been about a
decade since I've had anything other than my fingers down there." she
continued.



"Oh Nat, I'm so sorry.  But, how is that possible?  You are one of the
loveliest creatures to grace the face of the earth for the last
millennium!  And believe me, I've been around  for most of it."



Natalie blushed fiercely at Nick's complement- the more so because she
could hear the sincerity in his voice.  "I am glad that you think so,
Nick.  Let's just say that others do not share your unique viewpoint."



Nick instinctively knew that words were not what Natalie needed at this
point, so he bent down and swept her up into his arms.  He kissed her
hungrily and flew them up to the bedroom.  'Their bedroom' as he now
thought of it.  He didn't think she should 'donate' again so soon, so he
resolved that this coupling would be for her alone.  And it would be as
slow and loving as the last two were fierce and passionate.



He laid her on the bed and began at her feet, gently massaging and
softly kissing each foot.  He slowly worked his way up her legs,
massaging and kissing, until he had her gown pushed up to her mid-thigh.
"I love your legs, Natalie.  Your calves are lovely and your thighs
delight me."  He leaned down and softly kissed her mouth, before raising
her up to a seated position and sliding her gown up and over her head.
He couldn't help pausing to look at her, lying before him naked and
beautiful.



"Natalie felt herself blushing under Nick's intent gaze and said, "what
about you?" indicating the pajama bottoms he was still wearing.



"Hush now, my love.  This one is for you.  Let me convince you how much
I adore you."  With that he began at her neck, kissing, licking and
stroking.  He gently kissed the bite-mark on her neck, secretly pleased
that it marked her as his and his alone.  He covered her shoulders and
arms with soft kisses and caresses.  He carefully laved each breast with
his tongue, paying particular attention to the bite-mark on the left,
while ignoring for the moment the taught flesh at the peak of each.  He
rubbed his smoothly shaved cheeks over her abdomen, pausing to dip his
tongue into her navel.



Natalie felt Goosebumps form over her entire body when he did that.  He
was deliberately ignoring the primary erogenous zones, nevertheless, she
felt intense heat building up inside her.  She felt herself growing
slick with anticipation, but she willed herself to be patient and take
whatever he would give.



Nick could smell the increase in Natalie's arousal and had to exert iron
control to keep the vampire at bay.  He finally made his way down to the
junction of her thighs and nudged them apart with his chin.  He again
paused for a moment to appreciate the beauty before him.  The tangle of
dark curls covering the outer lips, and surrounding the smooth, pink
inner folds.  The apex of those folds with its swollen member peaking
out.  He smiled with joy at the sight before him and leaned in to place
an open-mouthed kiss upon her lips.  He traced the inner folds with his
tongue and suckled them for several minutes before moving upward.



Natalie felt the slow buildup of pleasure inside her as Nick kissed and
suckled, below.  He was entirely ignoring her clitoris, and it was all
she could do to keep from grabbing his head by the ears and dragging his
mouth to where she wanted it.  She kept her hands occupied by stroking
and squeezing the nipples that he had ignored earlier, and tried to
stifle the moans that kept rising out of her throat.



When he heard Natalie lose control of her moans and she started to buck
her hips into his face, he moved up to her clitoris, slowly tracing the
hood, and then sucking the hardened nub into his mouth and squeezing it
with his lips.



This time her orgasm was not like fireworks or falling off a cliff.  It
was slow and languid, the waves of pleasure flowing out from her center
to the tips of her extremities and then back.  It filled her with
happiness to have such a careful and attentive, not to mention talented,
lover.  She felt sleep overtake her and said, "I love you, Nick" as she
drifted off.  The last thought on her mind was that she would definitely
find a way to repay him for this.



Nick heard her sleepy whisper and smiled.  "I am the happiest man
alive," he thought.  "I am also very hungry" he realized.  He quietly
made his way downstairs and to the refrigerator.  It was cold and lacked
the richness of his beloved, but it was adequate, "Still, it's *much*
better than Cow!" he thought as he emptied an entire bottle.  The
lassitude that daylight brought overcame him and he fled upstairs to
join his beloved in a day's sleep.



=====
Chapter 5a





Room 1013, International Plaza Hotel



11:26am Tuesday



Scully slowly began to wake up.  She was laying on her side with Mulder
spooned against her, his right arm wrapped around her ribcage and his
hand on her breast, thumb lightly tracing the contours of her areola and
nipple.  His breath was warm on the top of her head and his erection was
nestled in the cleft of her ass.  All in all it was a particularly
wonderful way to wake up.



As soon as he felt her stirring he said "Good morning, beautiful." and
moved his hand down her torso and between her legs.



Scully was slightly chagrined to realize that she was already wet.  She
had woken up wet.  She felt wanton, needing him again already, wondering
if she could ever get enough of him.  "Yep, I'm definitely addicted."



"Oh baby, you are so hot and ready.  I need you so badly" Mulder
whispered huskily in her ear, reaching his head down to nip at her
earlobe.  "You are like a drug, Scully, I am hopelessly addicted to you.
I can't get enough of you" he practically moaned in her ear.



"Oh God," she said to herself as his words mirrored her thoughts, "Thank
You *so* much!!!"  Out loud she said, "Time for your fix, then Mulder.
I want you inside me, Now!" her tone demanding instant obedience.



Mulder lifted her right leg slightly and she moved her hand down to
guide him.  He slipped inside her like he was made to fit there, and
began steadily thrusting into her.  After several minutes he began
nibbling on her ear again and whispering to her, "I finally figured it
out, Scully."



"Oh.  What's.  That.  Mulder?" she panted out between thrusts.



"The reason I exist.  Why I was born."  Mulder crooned to her.



"W-w-why-y-y" she stuttered out as he increased his pace.



"This, Scully.  To be inside you.  To make love to you.  To be in love
with you."



She wanted to say that she loved him too, but he chose that moment to
begin grinding his fingers in tight circles over her clit.  Her orgasm
washed over her in slow lapping waves,  "Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhh, Yes!  Yes,
Mulder, Yes!" she shouted.



Mulder paused inside her and lightened the pressure of his fingers
against her, gently stroking as she rode it out.  He was close himself
when he suddenly felt Scully tightening around him in a wave, starting
at the base of his penis and moving up to the tip.  "Oh God!  What did
you just do, Scully?"  She brought his hand up to her mouth and sucked
his wet fingers into her mouth.  Then she did it again and Mulder felt a
warm tingling beginning to build in his groin.



She smiled around his fingers as she heard him start to moan.  She
gripped him again inside her, and again- like she was milking him.
"Which, I suppose I am, in a way," she thought.  She heard him hoarsely
whisper that he was going to cum, and she gave out her own low throaty
moan, encouraging him to do just that.



It was too much for him to bear.  What she was doing to him inside her
was making him nuts, and then when he told her he was going to cum, she
made that moan like he was doing *her* a favor.  He exploded inside her,
the feeling of his orgasm traveled like an electric shock from his balls
to his brain and he saw stars as he closed his eyes.  It felt like he
pumped himself into her for hours, though it was probably only a few
seconds.  "That's it, its over," he rasped.  "Hi, my name is Fox Mulder,
and I'm a Scullyholic."



Scully laughed in delight.



"Yep, I've got it bad," he said.  "Crack addicts are going to see me,
and say, 'Damn, junky- you better get your ass to rehab!  You're outta
control!"



Scully was laughing so hard that tears were running down her face.
"Enough, Mulder!  I think we need a shower, as in right now," she said
with a wide smile on her face.  "We're sticky."



Mulder grabbed on tight and rolled her over the top of him and into a
seated position on the edge of the bed.  Then he stood up, looked her in
the eye and said, "Never let it be said that Fox Mulder isn't his lady's
obedient love slave."



Before she could respond to that he suddenly pulled her to her feet
while bending down towards her.  The next thing she saw was the world
invert itself and she found herself slung over Mulder's shoulder, being
carried through to the adjoining door to her room and into the bathroom.



He gently set her down and said "Go ahead and start it, I will join you
momentarily," leaving her to take care of her morning needs while he
went back next door to do the same.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



While watching him wash his hair she had noticed the wound on his temple
and asked him about it.  He had said it was a long story and after the
shower he would order some room service and tell her all about it.



As they sat at her table, drinking coffee, having just finished
breakfast, Mulder was uncomfortably silent.  Scully looked at her
partner, now her lover, and wondered what had him looking so pensive.
"Well, Mulder?"



He told her about him and Knight seeing the swordsman from the other
night and deciding to follow him, "We were just going to see where he
went, and then call for backup, Scully" he said when her eyes narrowed
at him.  He then went on to tell her about being spotted, the alley and
the fire escape.  He got to the point where the guy was standing over
him with the sword, and the cryptic words he said just before Nick
popped up across the roof and shot him.



Scully was confused at this point "But If Detective Knight was clear
across the roof and behind you, why didn't this guy see him and duck
behind the air conditioner?  Why just stand there and get shot?" she
asked.  "And where is the body?"



"Well, I have a theory on the first part, but you're not going to like
it."  Mulder sheepishly said.



"Oh Mulder, not the vampire thing again?" she sighed.



He just nodded.  "It gets better  m b, Scully" he said.



"What, the perp. was a vampire too?  And let me guess, he turned to dust
and blew away, right?" she said, exasperated.



"Uh, good guess, but. no."  He then went on to tell her about the guy
coming to, impaling Nick and taking a dive when Mulder shot him.



"So he was wearing a vest, Mulder."  Knight should have been more
careful.  Besides the wound couldn't have been that bad, I saw him last
night and he looked fine."  Scully was still in denial about the vampire
thing.  "Anyway, what happened to the body?"



Mulder responded to the first part again, "Scully, I had to pull the
sword out of his chest."



Scully just sat there with her mouth open.  She knew Mulder would not
lie to her, even when they disagreed on things, she usually just felt
that his belief in the supernatural and aliens skewed his interpretation
of things.  "As in what, Mulder?  The tip was caught under the skin."



"As in he was sitting upright with his back against the parapet, the
sword sticking straight out from his body."  He shook his head slightly,
remembering his excitement at living (as it were) proof of the
supernatural, combined with the fear that his 'proof' might take that
opportunity to 'get supernaturally medieval on his ass'.  "I had to use
both hands, Scully.  I ended up having to put one foot on his shoulder
to keep him from coming forward before I could get it out."



"Mulder, I." there had to be an explanation, and she would find it.
Maybe Knight was wearing a vest and it was stuck in that.  Whatever it
was she would leave it for now.  "What about the body Mulder?"



"You mean what happened to the guy Knight shot three times, and I
emptied an entire clip into, knocking him off of the top of a 4 story
building, where he landed on the concrete in the alley below?  That
body?"



"Yes Mulder, what happened to it?" she asked, getting impatient.



"After I pulled the sword out of Nick and gave him his flask of blood to
drink, I looked over the edge of the building and watched our perp get
up and run away."



She was stunned.  "Not possible, Mulder."



"Tell me about it, Scully," he said.



"But how."



"I have a theory about that too.  Do you want to hear it?



"He's a vampire too?"



"Nick says no.  Besides, if he was, why climb the fire escape?  Nick
didn't.  And why the sword?  They aren't very deadly to vampires, unless
you cut off their heads, but a good sharp wooden stake would be better
in a fight, more debilitating."  Mulder smiled, "at least the sword
didn't seem to bother Nick much once I pulled it out.  He didn't look
like he was in a lot of pain, and once he downed the blood the wound
healed almost instantly."



Scully looked like she was about to choke



Mulder pressed on, "I don't know what he is, but based on last night and
Saturday night, I would say that whatever he is, there are more of them
out there, and appears that the only way of killing them permanently is
by decapitation.  Nick said that the guy was dead after he shot him.  He
said that he could hear the heartbeat stop.  It was like the guy woke up
from death; one moment he is dead, the next he gasped for air and came
back to life.  That surprised Nick long enough that the guy was able to
stab him before he could react.  There was also a pause of several
seconds between when he hit the ground, and when we saw him run off."



Scully was having a hard time digesting all of this.



"Look, Scully.  Nick said it was up to me whether or not to tell you
about him.  He said it would be dangerous if you knew, that there are
those in his 'community' whose job it is to keep knowledge about
vampires out of mortal hands.  We would be targeted for death if they
found out that we knew.  I didn't want to tell you Scully."



"Mulder," she began.



He lowered his eyes to his lap and interrupted, "I know you don't want
me to 'protect' you from danger, Scully. I can't help wanting to
anyway."  He looked once more into her eyes and continued, "But, I knew
you were going to find out eventually and if you knew that I kept it
from you, you'd kick my ass." he said with a smile.



"Mulder, please don't take this the wrong way- I believe that you
believe these things."



"But you need proof, right Scully?"  Mulder interrupted.  "It's OK
Scully.  I am a believer, but if someone brought this to me, I would
want to see proof too."



"I don't know what to think, Mulder.  I trust you, and if you say you
saw it happen, then I believe that you did.  I just don't know that
there aren't other explanations that might be applied."  Scully said,
almost apologetically.



Mulder wondered for a moment at her apologetic tone.  She didn't usually
say it like that when she thought his theories were crazy.  Then it came
to him that she must believe that he would be mad at her for not
conforming to his beliefs now that they had advanced their
'relationship.'  He shook his head ruefully.  He was a lucky man to have
a woman that would be so solicitous, without taking the easy way out by
giving in to the desire to humor her lover.



He wanted to reassure her, "It's ok, Scully.  I love you!  I love the
Dana Scully who clings to scientific explanation as firmly as I believe
that some things are beyond science.  I love the Dana Scully who makes
me come up with evidence to back up my beliefs.  The woman that
challenges me to look beyond what I want to see, and find out what the
truth is.  I love the person who is willing to respect the journey, even
if she doesn't always agree on the destination."  He reached across the
table and grasped her small hand in his large one, lacing their fingers
together.  "I don't want you to change who you are, any more that I am
going to change who I am or what I believe.  I want *my* Dana Scully,
not some pale reflection of me."



Scully didn't think it was possible for her to love Mulder any more than
she already did, but once again his belief in 'extreme possibilities'
won out.  "Sometimes I think you are crazy, Mulder.  Other times I know
it for a fact," she said with a teeth-baring grin.  "However, you are
also, without a doubt, the man I love more than life itself."



Mulder squeezed her hand and placed a sensual kiss on her palm.  "Nick
said he would call this afternoon and we could discuss it at his place.
You can see if he will let you examine him enough to prove it to
yourself.  If he is running an elaborate hoax on me, you will have a
great opportunity to prove how gullible I am."  He smiled and changed
the subject, for now, "Why don't you tell me how your second seminar
was?"



She recognized the tactic for what it was, but went along anyway and
told him about what was going on with her while he was out gallivanting
with vampires and unkillable headhunters.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Nick's Loft





1 p.m. Tuesday.



Nick didn't have nearly the trouble telling Natalie about the events on
the apartment roof that Mulder did with Scully.  They were lounging at
the dining table in their robes.  She just listened; gasping
appropriately when he told her the perp. had come back to life and
stabbed him with a sword, and shaking her head in wonder when he
described the fall, and subsequent recovery and escape.



She was concerned when he told her about Mulder knowing about vampires,
and possibly involving his partner.  "Won't they be in terrible danger,
Nick?"



"Possibly, but Mulder already knew a little bit about vampires, as he
had had encountered them before, and I was unable to remove the memory
from him."



Natalie thought she heard him mutter "damn resistors," but chose to
ignore it.  "Aren't you concerned that he will report you to the FBI?"
she asked.



I don't think he will report me personally, and his previous reports
about vampires have been ignored."  Nick thought for a moment, "I think
he's kind of like the reporters who write for those tabloid magazines,
they report about vampire attacks all of the time.  I know that some of
those reports are accurate, because I was aware of the events before the
report was published.  However, the Enforcers don't get involved because
no one credible pays attention to tabloids.  If every time the National
inquirer reported about a vampire attack the reporter turned up dead or
missing, well, credible news agencies might actually start sniffing
around."



"So they take no action in those cases?"  Natalie asked.



"The vampire that was careless enough to get caught usually gets
'disappeared," but that's about it," Nick replied.



"Meaning that we would be in danger, right Nick?"  Natalie was concerned
with Nick's seemingly careless attitude about this situation.  "You
won't tell your own partner, but you'll bring these FBI Agents in on
it?"



Nick realized that he had sounded pretty cavalier about the whole
situation, but that wasn't the case at all.  He was madly trying to
think of ways to keep the lid on this situation.  "Nat, I'm glad to see
that you appreciate the gravity of this situation.  It is serious, and I
am concerned."  Nick took his beloved's hand in his own and said "Mulder
already knows.  I didn't tell him, and my denials were meaningless once
I had to ask him to pull the sword out.  I tried to whammy him, and
failed.  He is a resistor.  My only other options are to kill him, or
try to convince him to keep his mouth shut; I presume that you would
agree that killing him is not acceptable?"



"Of course you can't kill him, Nick."



He interrupted, "The Code demands it Natalie!  We already face death for
allowing him to live with the knowledge he has."  His face softened at
the resignation on her face.  "As for his partner, I advised him not to
tell her.  I was completely candid about the danger, but I know that he
will.  I can't really blame him for doing so, either.  It would be
difficult to keep something like that from someone you are so close to,
and work with so closely.  It would be like keeping you in the dark if I
had found out that Tracy was a spy for a foreign government, or
something.  It would be a violation of trust."



"You are right, of course, Nick.  I am just concerned about endangering
them and ourselves.  Besides, I kind of like Dana.  I empathize with
her."  Natalie sighed.



Nick smiled and said, "You mean because she and Mulder remind you of us
for the past six years?"



Natalie laughed and said, "Do you think that everyone who saw us
realized how hopelessly in love we were with each other?  In retrospect
I feel so blind for missing all of the little clues you were leaving for
me."



"No more than I feel, Nat.  I'm supposed to be a crack detective, and I
couldn't see the evidence that was right before my eyes."  He ruefully
shook his head.  "Speaking of our two clueless FBI agents, we're
probably going to need their help to solve this case.  We can't really
use our normal contacts on this one, and they have a pretty good
reputation for solving 'paranormal' cases.  We will just have to impress
on them both the importance of discretion in this matter."



They sat in silence for a moment.



"You know, Natalie, you brought up my keeping this secret from Tracy.  I
think we may need to consider bringing her in on this."



"Why now Nick?  I mean, I think she deserves to know, but why change
your mind now?"



"There are several reasons, Nat.  First, she is already in danger just
because she knows about vampires at all, and she is too nosey to keep
from looking where she doesn't belong, and asking questions she
shouldn't ask.  Second, I worry about her getting hurt if she tries to
'cover my back' when it isn't necessary.  Third, I am getting the
impression that she and Vachon are getting very close.  She may not be
among the ranks of the living for long," Nick mused.  "I think Vachon
would be pushing for it himself if it wasn't for me threatening him."
Nick chuckled.



"You threatened him, Nick?  Why?"  Natalie asked.



"When Tracy discovered Vachon after the plane crash, and he couldn't
make her forget, I was concerned that he might hurt her.  You have to
remember, Natalie; Vachon was not like me at all.  He thrived on being a
vampire, and casual killing was nothing to him.  I let him know that
Tracy was his responsibility and that if he hurt her, or allowed her to
be hurt, he would have to answer to me."



Natalie laughed, picturing Vachon's face when Nick told him that.



"Yes, he wasn't pleased, to say the least."  Nick laughed.  "Anyway, I'm
going to give Mulder a call and I'd like you to pick them up if that is
ok, Nat?"



"You mean I get to drive the Nick-mobile all by myself?  Are you sure
the sexual tension hasn't addled your brain?"



"Hmm, you're diagnoses sounds serious, doctor, what would you prescribe
for this terrible, terrible condition?" he asked, kidding around.



Natalie blushed lightly, but kept a straight face when she replied,
"There is no cure, Nick.  However, with rigorous exercise, and intense
therapy sessions, there is no reason you couldn't lead a normal, healthy
life."



Nick chuckled and picked up the phone to call the plaza.  He told Mulder
that Natalie would have the desk call them when she got there to pick
them up.  As he hung up the phone and turned around to make a comment to
Natalie, he froze, his mouth hanging open at the sight before him.
Natalie had dropped her robe to the ground and stood before him, naked.
She kneeled before him and pulled open his robe, grasping his penis,
already half-erect just at the sight of her nude form.



"Wha-What are you doing, Nat?"



"It's important that you not miss your therapy sessions Nick," she said,
and then lifted his penis and gave it a long lick from the base to the
underside of the head.



Nick groaned and said, "Yes, doctor."



Natalie began a relentless assault on Nick's member.  "Never let it be
said that I am not goal-oriented," she thought.  She varied between
taking him deep into her throat in long strokes, sucking as hard as she
could as she slid onto and off of him; and short bobs of the head,
vigorously rubbing her tongue side-to-side on the sensitive underside of
the head, while stroking the shaft with her hand.  Her other hand
stroked his balls, focusing on the underside and perineum.  When she
felt him getting close, she let go of his balls and thrust her wrist up
to his face for him to sink his teeth into, while she took his penis
deep into her throat and began humming with delight at the incredible
gasps and moans she was eliciting.



Nick took his beloved's proffered wrist and tried to pull away before
biting, but she was locked to his groin, and not letting go.  "I am the
luckiest man in the history of the earth," was his thought as he bit
down and felt the warm blood fill his mouth.



Natalie concentrated on the joy she felt and repeated,
"IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou," in her mind as he bit down.  She wanted him
to know the depth of her feelings, and the pleasure she felt from doing
this for him.



Nick was assaulted with Natalie's love and was surprised at just how
much pleasure she felt, performing this act on him.  "If this is your
idea of therapy, I may need daily sessions," he thought to her through
the bloodlink.



Natalie withdrew from him with a popping sound as he withdrew his fangs
from her wrist.  She chuckled and said "Daily?  I'm afraid your
condition may require more frequent treatment than that."



"Once you come across, Natalie, we will be able to share blood a lot
more often- and for a much longer time," Nick said with naked desire in
his eyes.



"Soon, beloved!" she replied with a thrill running through her.  "I'll
call tonight and arrange for vacation as soon as possible.  Will you
have any trouble getting time off?"



"I never use it, so I don't think it should be a problem.  Besides, I
have an idea."  Nick answered.



"Really?  What?"  Natalie asked



"What would you say to a very short engagement, followed by a long
honeymoon?"  Nick asked.



"Wow.  Exquisite looks and devastating intellect- in one package; I'm
such a lucky girl!"  Natalie said with a smirk on her face.



"Why don't you get dressed and pick up our intrepid Feds?  Maybe later
I'll show just what a lucky girl you really are."  Nick said, smirking
right back.



"What are you going to do while I'm gone?"



"I need to call LaCroix.  We will probably need to see him before the
night is out, and he might even be helpful on this case."  Nick said.



=====
Chapter 5b


 

Room 1013, International Plaza Hotel

 

2:26 p.m. Tuesday

 

"Natalie?  Why is Natalie picking us up, Mulder?"  Scully asked after he
had explained the phone call to her.

 

Mulder tilted his head toward the window and raised his eyebrows with a
slight grin on his face.

 

Scully looked out the window for a moment trying to figure out what was
out there that would prevent…  "Oh" she said, frowning slightly at him
and turning toward the window to collect her thoughts.

 

Mulder watched her for several minutes before he walked up behind her.
He paused for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her, just below
her breasts, pulling her tightly up against his body, chuckling lightly
at his own hesitation.

 

"What's funny, Mulder?"  Scully asked somewhat snappishly, thinking he
was laughing at her skepticism.

 

"I stood there for a moment, wanting you, wishing I could put my arms
around you," Mulder said, still laughing at himself.  "I am so used to
pining after you like a love-sick teenager, that I forgot for a moment
that it's OK now." he said.

 

She smiled at that.  "What a sweet adorable man I have," she thought.
She leaned her head back against his chest, molding herself to him.
"It's more than ok, Mulder," she purred at him.  "However…" she began,
feeling Mulder start to swell against her lower back, "You'd better put
that thing away.  We have to go see your 'vampire cop,' remember?" she
teased.

 

She turned around in his arms and draped her arms around his neck, and
saw him try to stifle a grimace when her arm hit the wound she had made
on his neck last night.  She was instantly solicitous, "Oh, Mulder.  I'm
so sorry about that…" she said, blushing at the memory of it, of how out
of control she had been."

 

Mulder tightened his grip when Scully began to pull away.  "Don't be,
Scully.  I love it," he said sincerely.  When he registered the
skeptical look on her face he continued, "I think it's damn sexy, and
yes it is sore.  However, every time I feel it I remember what led up to
it, what I was doing, how you were responding."  He chuckled at his next
thought, and decided to say it out loud, "It's like a merit badge or
something- I finally got my 'Scully Orgasm' medal.  I hope it never
heals."

 

Scully laughed indulgently.  "Mulder- you are such a dope!" she said
snuggling her head into his chest and hearing his soft, "yeah, but I'm
your dope."

 

"Uh, Mulder?"

 

"Yeah, Scully?"

 

"Have you given any, ah, thought to what we do when we get back to DC?"

 

"You mean how do we handle our new status at work?  Or in public?"

 

"Yeah, either… both.  I guess?"  Scully sighed heavily, "What is our new
status, exactly?  I mean- I don't want Skinner to separate us, but I
don't want to hide either, but I'm worried that *they* might use it
against us, but…"

 

"Scully, I think they already know.  Everyone thinks we have been
sleeping together for years, even Skinner thinks we are together."

 

"What?!" she yelped.  "Skinner thinks we have been sleeping together?"

 

Mulder laughed, "I don't know if he specifically thinks that, but I'm
pretty sure that he thinks we are 'together'."

 

"What makes you say that?"

 

"Remember the last budget meeting, after we walked out I had to go back
in because I forgot my pen?"  Mulder asked.

 

"What about it?"  Scully asked back.

 

"I overheard the tail end of a discussion between Hoynes and Skinner.
Hoynes had said something about you, and Skinner was telling him to keep
it to himself.  Just before they walked out the door Hoynes asked him
why and Skinner said that if I had overheard it I would have torn out
his tongue and… lets just say 'reinserted it, rectally'."

 

Scully absorbed that for a moment and then asked, "What did Hoynes say,
Mulder?"

 

"Nothing," Mulder said.  "That's when they saw me and they both just
shut up.  I explained that I had forgotten my pen and when I got back
out of Skinner's office, Hoynes was gone."

 

"No Mulder, what did he say to Skinner in the first place?"

 

"Oh."  Mulder smiled, "He said your ass looked good enough to lick."

 

Scully blushed slightly and said, "What a jerk!"

 

"Mulder smiled even wider and said, "Actually Scully, I agree with him,
though I certainly would never share it with Skinner."

 

Scully blushed even harder.

 

Mulder added, "But you're right, he is a Jerk."  Mulder slid his hands
up her back to her shoulders, and down her arms until he was holding
both of her hands in his, "I don't want to hide either.  There isn't
really any policy that forbids us from seeing each other.  They can only
separate us if it becomes an issue, if our performance suffers of if
they caught us 'in flagrante delicto'.  What do *you* want to do,
Scully?"

 

"We just won't say anything about it.  At work we should behave like we
always do.  What we do on our own time is none of their business."  She
gave Mulder's hands a squeeze and looked up at his eyes.  "Ok?"

 

"So long as you agree that while we are on the road, time in our hotel
rooms constitutes 'our own time', I think I could abide by that," Mulder
said with a grin.

 

"And lunch!  Lunch time is definitely our own time," Scully growled
suddenly, as though someone was going to contradict her.

 

Mulder laughed out loud, wrapped his arms around her waist and picked
her up, spinning them both around.  He set her down and said, "Agreed,
Agent Scully."  Then he kissed her soundly and held her tight to him.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled against his chest.

 

They stood like that- swaying slightly, as if dancing to music that only
they could hear, until the phone rang.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


2:46 p.m. Tuesday.

 

Nick phoned the Raven right after Natalie left to get Mulder and Scully.
He was a little nervous because his newly found happiness was so
different from his life for the last several centuries.  There was still
a small part of him that believed that it was all going to end, suddenly
and badly.  He put that thought out of his head and focused on his
reconciliation with his father, and his overwhelming love for his
betrothed.

 

"Nicolas."  LaCroix said.  "What is it that could not wait for
nightfall, my son?"

 

Nick still wasn't used to hearing LaCroix call him 'son' either.  "I
wanted… that is, I didn't want…  I want to come by tonight, but I can't
until late."

 

"Certainly, Nicolas, but you do not need my permission for that.  You
may visit as late as you wish."  LaCroix said, wondering what had come
over his son now.

 

"I would like to bring Natalie with me, father," Nick said.

 

"Ah, I see.  Things went well then, I presume?"  He would have thought
he would feel it if Nicolas had brought her across, "Is she mortal
still, Nicolas?"

 

"For now, Yes.  Things went very well, father." Nicolas said.

 

"By all means, Nicolas.  Bring the good doctor along.  I would like an
opportunity to speak to her."  LaCroix wondered if his son was still
hesitant about trying to bring her across.  "Do you need my help with
her transformation, Nicolas?"

 

"Thank you father, but I am not worried about that.  I need your advice
on an unrelated matter, however."  Nick said.  "I had an unusual
encounter Saturday night."  Nick went on to explain the events on the
way back from the airport.  "The presence of the Agents kept me from
using any extraordinary measures to apprehend the individual," he said
at the end.

 

"Most unusual, Nicolas.  I cannot say that I have ever seen such an
event before."

 

Nick knew that LaCroix would eventually find out about the rest, so he
told him up front.  "There is more."  He told LaCroix about last night,
and the two agents coming over as they spoke.

 

"You realize the danger you place them in by revealing yourself,
Nicolas?  Not to mention the danger you face yourself if the enforcers
ever found out."  LaCroix shook his head at his impetuous progeny.

 

"He already knew about The Community, LaCroix.  He has met our kind
twice before."  Nick sighed, "Also, he is a resistor.  I hardly think
that killing him would be in the best interest of The Community.  The
death of an FBI agent would lead to quite an investigation."

 

"What will you do then Nicolas?"

 

"I will just have to persuade them to remain silent.  Either one would
be resistant to such a suggestion; however, there is another factor that
will help our case significantly."  Nick said.

 

"And what is that?" LaCroix asked.

 

"They are deeply in love with each other, though each is trying to hide
it from the other."  Nick replied.  "They will do anything to protect
the other from harm.  I think I can impress on them exactly how much
danger their knowledge places them in.  They will keep silent out of
fear for the other's safety, where they would not for their own."

 

LaCroix laughed.

 

Nick knew why he was laughing and grinned ruefully.  "Yes, they remind
me of Nat and myself.  It is obvious to everyone but them."

 

LaCroix said, "I often wonder how the human race even manages to
continue, in the face of their own folly."

 

Nicolas returned to the matter at hand, "Would you make some discrete
inquiry regarding this man who attacked me last night?  Mulder
postulated that beheading them would render them permanently dead, but
that is based on a single, as yet unexplained, incident.  I am concerned
at what kind of creature I am facing, and how many of them there might
be."

 

"If I have not heard of their kind in 2000 years of existence, I doubt
that any inquiry I could make would be helpful; however, I shall look
into the matter."

 

"Thank you Father.  I will be by with Natalie sometime after the Raven
closes."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Caddie


 


Natalie seemed somewhat withdrawn, Mulder thought, as they drove back to
Nick's place.  Not unhappy, she was smiling most of the time, but it was
as if her focus was inward.  He looked at Scully in the seat next to
him, "This car is big enough for at least 3 in the front," he thought
while watching her.  She was quiet also, stealing glances at Natalie,
but not commenting.

 

Mulder thought the tension needed to be broken, so he said, "So, the
sunlight part is true, huh?  What other myths are true?  Which ones
aren't?"

 

Natalie was having pleasant thoughts about her upcoming wedding and
especially the honeymoon when Mulder's question snapped her out of her
daydream as though she had been slapped.  She floundered for a bit, not
really feeling that it was her place to discuss this with them.  She
said, "I see you chose to disregard Nick's warning, agent Mulder."  She
glanced at him and then Scully for a moment before continuing, "He
wasn't joking you know.  This is extremely dangerous for you both- if
anyone found out…" she sighed, "you should save your questions for
Nick."

 

Scully finally spoke, "You really believe that Detective Knight is…"

 

"If it is OK with Nick, I would be happy to discuss the symptomology
with you Dana, but why don't we just wait until we get to the loft.  I
would feel a lot more comfortable talking about it there- if you don't
mind."

 

Scully shrugged her shoulders and said, "Ok".

 

Mulder just shrugged and thought, with some amusement, of the look he
was sure he was going to see on her face when the question of the
existence of vampires was proven to her satisfaction.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

They arrived at the loft approximately 15 minutes later.  The rest of
the trip had been quiet, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

 

Natalie punched in the code and escorted them into the elevator.  As
they rode up Mulder asked, "You live in a warehouse?"

 

Natalie said, "Uh, I don't exactly live… that is, I have an apartment…
Um, Nick's been here for about 6 years." she finished, blushing.

 

"Oh, sorry.  I thought you guys were…" Mulder gestured to her ring.
"Um, how long have you known him?"

 

"About 6 years, and we are, uh, together- he's my fiancé."

 

"Oh, how long have you been engaged?"  Mulder asked, curious about what
had to be a very unusual relationship.  "If you don't mind my asking,
that is," he added when she hesitated.

 

"Uh, for about," Natalie's eyes dropped down her watch, "eleven hours I
guess."

 

Suddenly Scully burst out laughing.  She remembered Natalie's parting
shot at the bar last night.  "So that's what you meant."

 

Natalie just stared at her.

 

Scully replied to Natalie's look of confusion, "Last night... at the
lounge?  Remember what you said to me?"

 

Comprehension slowly dawned on Natalie just as the elevator reached the
3rd floor.  As she opened the door she asked, "And did you take my
advice?"

 

Just for a moment all thoughts of vampires and unkillable sword-fighters
left their minds and they were two women newly, and madly, in love.
Scully's smile lit up the elevator and Natalie said, "I see that you
did.  Oh, Dana, I am so happy for you!"

 

Mulder was bewildered by this sudden turn of events.  He swore he could
hear Rod Serling whispering in his mind, "Submitted for your approval…"
He looked out of the elevator and noticed Nick approaching.  He shrugged
at the questioning look in Nick's eyes at the antics of the ladies who
were now laughing at the expression on Mulder's face.

 

Nick said, "Mulder, Agent Scully, welcome."  He gestured at the couch by
the fireplace and said, "Please have a seat.  Would you like something
to drink?  I have orange juice, Gatorade… uh, water," he trailed off.
"I have a very nice port that we didn't finish this morning if you would
prefer a glass of wine."

 

"Ah, whatever you're having is fine," Scully said.

 

Mulder just laughed, as did Natalie.  Scully blushed as she realized
why.

 

Nick jumped in quickly, "A glass of wine then?"  He turned away towards
the kitchen at her nod, Natalie joining him.

 

Mulder and Scully went over to the couch, looking over the enormous room
that was the loft as they went.  The sat down closely together and
Scully, who was feeling somewhat chagrined, whispered in Mulder's ear,
"No coffins Mulder."

 

Nick, of course, heard Scully's comment and laughed out loud.  He
repeated it for Natalie's benefit and she laughed as well.  This was
certainly going to be an interesting afternoon; much better than a
boring conference.

 

Nick and Nat sat down in the chairs facing the couch, after placing two
glasses of port on the coffee table for Mulder and Scully.  "Agent
Scully, we don't sleep in coffins," Nick began.

 

Scully blushed furiously.

 

"Nor do we require dirt from our graves," Nick mused.  We don't turn
into bats or vapors.  A bite, or three, will not make you a vampire.
Crosses, garlic, and holy water do work, to a degree, depending on the
individual.  Sunlight and stakes will kill us, as will decapitation.
Our senses are heightened, strength and speed increased, and, yes we can
fly.  Any other questions?"  Nick said with a smile.

 

Mulder of course was brimming over with questions but deferred to
Scully.  She was the one who needed proof positive.

 

"Detective Knight, I have to admit that I have seen things,
extraordinary things, in my life that many people would find difficult
to believe.  I hope you won't take this as an insult, but I don't
believe in vampires."  Scully said.

 

Nick laughed out loud at that.  "Agent Scully, I apologize for laughing,
but you have to understand that this entire conversation is entirely the
opposite of the normal course of events.  I would normally be trying to
convince you that there are no such things as vampires, and that I
certainly am not one myself."  Nick shook his head as his laughter
subsided.  "What do you need to convince yourself?  Short of a full
autopsy that is."

 

Scully was starting to hear the voice of Rod Serling herself.  "This is
ridiculous," she thought.  Out loud she said, "I don't know detective, I
feel silly even having this conversation."

 

"The whole package then," Nick said.  He downed his glass of blood in a
swallow and set it down on the table.  He willed his eyes to change,
then bared his teeth and let his fangs drop.  He saw Scully's eyes
widen, heard her heart start to race.  He slowly stood up out of his
chair and then rose slowly into the air.

 

Scully felt her heart pounding in her chest as she saw Detective
Knight's eyes change and his fangs descend.  She felt like a sparrow
caught in a serpent's gaze and had to restrain herself from drawing her
sidearm and shooting.  She tasted the bitterness in her mouth from the
adrenaline as the fight or flight response kicked in.  When he rose up
into the air she began to look for the wires, like she was watching a
circus magician and trying to figure out the trick.  She began to calm
down with that thought.  "It's like a parlor trick," she told herself-
even though it was obvious that this was no trick.  She looked over at
Mulder and he had a smile of childlike joy on his face- as though he was
a kid who caught Santa in the act as he came down the chimney.

 

It was at that point that Nick let go- unleashing the power and sheer
presence that a vampire of his age had at his command.

 

Natalie was trying to keep her eyes off of her lover floating about the
room.  She wanted to keep watch on Dana to make sure she didn't freak
out.  She succeeded until she felt the power washing over her.  She had
never felt that from Nick before.  Of course, she had never actually
seen him doing 'the whole package' as he called it.  It was awesome.  It
was breathtaking.  It felt like each cell in her body was being
individually filled with the awareness of Nicolas de Brabant, Master
Vampire.  She actually got one word out, "Wow!"

 

Mulder and Scully were rooted in place.  A nuclear explosion could not
have moved them while under the onslaught of that presence.

 

Nick smiled and reined it in, releasing them from the spell.

 

Natalie saw Scully's fright begin to subside and started talking, "I
have thought of it as a virus- it acts like a virus, even though it
isn't really that.  The vampire factor, as it were, acts like an RNA
messenger and makes a small change to the genetic coding.  The factor
itself is only visible under an electron-tunneling microscope.  The
effected blood cells are visibly unique under a normal microscope, and
their effect can be seen when brought into contact with unaffected blood
cells- they attack and consume them."

 

"How long have you been researching it, Natalie?" Scully asked.

 

"Since I met Nick.  He was a patient of mine- first time I ever gained
one on the table," she said lightly.

 

Scully snickered a little.  In response to Mulder's inquisitive look she
said, "Coroner humor."

 

Nick returned to his seat and changed back to 'normal', as Mulder asked,
"Why?  Why the research, Natalie?"

 

Natalie glanced at Nick, clearly wanting him to field that question.

 

Nick thought for a moment on how best to put it.  "I have regrets
Mulder.  There was a time when I reveled in the role of predator, and I
have a lot to make up for.  For a time, I was convinced that I would
only be able to atone if I were able to regain my mortality.  I sought a
cure for my condition."

 

Natalie said, "I thought it was a purely physical condition, and that I
could come up with a way to reverse it."  Natalie shook her head at her
own state of denial, "It has physical manifestations, but obviously,
there is a metaphysical aspect as well that, as a scientist, I had
refused to consider."

 

"What do you mean?"  Scully asked.

 

"Nick was convinced that he was infected with evil- that vampirism was
inherently equivalent to damnation.  I know that that isn't true, but
there are aspects that defy scientific explanation- crosses, holy water,
flying, that 'thing' he just did, etc…"

 

"You don't think vampires are evil, then?"  Mulder asked.

 

Natalie shook her head, "Nick is not evil, Agent Mulder.  He did
terrible things in the distant past, but that person is not the same
person who is here with us today.  I have met many vampires and some are
evil- truly horrifying."  She thought of Vachon, Screed, and Urs and
said, "I have met several that are very nice people, living relatively
normal lives."  Then she thought of LaCroix and said, "Some, I'm not
sure about.  Vampires run the gamut just as mortals do."

 

"Detective Knight, I don't mean to sound prejudiced, but…" Scully began,
not sure exactly how to put it delicately.  "You drink human blood,
don't you?"

 

Nick actually laughed out loud at that.  "First, please call me Nick.  I
don't think I can listen to 'Detective Knight' all night.  Second, yes I
drink human blood.  I have recently returned to it, in fact.  I
subsisted on cow for the last 90 years or so, and let me tell you, it
wasn't pleasant."  Scully and Mulder's eyes widened at that.  Nick
continued; "Think of it like this, you could live on bread and water,
right?  However, it would not be a very healthy diet, and you certainly
wouldn't be at your best, right?"

 

Scully remained silent- her mind whirling.

 

"Agent Scully…" Nick began again.

 

Scully's response was automatic, "Dana's fine…" she whispered.

 

Nick paused and started again "Dana, Mulder, what I drink is donated.
We are able to get blood that has been donated and has expired.  It is
no longer useful for transfusions, and would otherwise be destroyed."
He looked them both in the eye for a moment before continuing.  "I have
not killed for food in a century.  Even before that I only hunted
criminals and killers- not that that is any excuse."  He dropped his
gaze and continued, "I won't lie to you- most in The Community do not
share my reverence for human life.  However, even those of us who are so
inclined rarely hunt these days.  It is far too dangerous in this day
and age, and not just because of the human authorities.  Careless
vampires that cause attention to be turned toward The Community face
action by the enforcers.  Bottled blood is the norm these days."

 

"Enforcers.  They are what you were warning me about last night."
Mulder began, seeking more information.

 

Nick said, "The community has a code, Mulder.  Part of it requires that
we live in secret, not allowing mortal society to know of our existence.
Those mortals who do discover our secret must be dealt with in one of
three ways.  The knowledge is removed from them, they join The Community
permanently, or they die.  There are exceptions, but they are rare."

 

Scully turned to Natalie, "You have survived, Natalie.  You said you
have known about Nick for six years."

 

Natalie dropped her eyes and blushed heavily- clearly embarrassed.

 

Nick explained, "Yes, Natalie is an exception.  At first we just kept
secret the fact that she knew.  By the time the enforcers became aware
of her knowledge, she had already proven valuable to The Community."

 

Mulder thought he knew what that entailed, and was somewhat concerned,
"You covered up things…"

 

"I left justice in those specific cases to the proper 'community'
authorities.  Nothing would have been served by exposing The Community
except to cause more deaths."  Natalie defended her actions, "It was not
in anyone's best interest to initiate a witch-hunt."

 

"Those cases were rare in any case.  Her value was more for her service
as a doctor, believe it or not."  Nick added.

 

Scully was intrigued, "What medical services do vampires need?  Mulder
told me about the sword, and he said you healed automatically."

 

Natalie chuckled at that.  "I could probably make a practice out of just
Nick- 'Natalie Lambert, Foreign Object Removal Specialist; bullets and
shrapnel are my specialty.'"

 

Nick laughed at that and Natalie confided, "Nick seems to get shot or
blown up inordinately often."

 

Nick sobered, "Even with all that, it wouldn't have been long before the
enforcers compelled a decision.  In another five or ten years I will
have to move on; and Natalie would have faced the three options.  As she
is a resistor, it would have been narrowed down to two options."

 

Mulder and Scully spoke simultaneously, "A resistor?" said Scully;
"Would have?" said Mulder.

 

Nick and Natalie both smiled.  "Not everyone is susceptible to a
vampire's mental persuasion," Nick said, answering Scully's question.

 

Natalie answered Mulder's question, "I have made my choice already,
Agent Mulder"

 

"Just Mulder, please."

 

Natalie had a question of her own, "Why does everyone use your last
name?  Dana even calls you that," Natalie was clearly bewildered, "and
why do you call her Scully?"

 

Scully laughed out loud at that and said, "It's complicated.  Besides,
Mulder doesn't like his first name."

 

Nick laughed at that, "I guess it would be hard growing up with the name
Fox."

 

Mulder changed the subject, "Nick, if you don't mind my asking, how long
ago were you, ah I don't know, turned, I guess…  When did you 'join The
Community' as you put it?"

 

Nick laughed lightly at that, "Brought across.  That's how we refer to
it.  I was brought across in 1228.  I was on my way back to my family
holdings in what is now Belgium, from the crusades in Palestine."

 

"That makes you, what 772 years old?"  Mulder mused.

 

"I have been a vampire for 772 years, I have been 'around' for over
800."

 

"Nick is one of the eldest vampires in the Toronto community.  That's
another reason I survived, I think.  Others may not have thought much of
his trying for a cure, but none wanted to challenge him over it,"
Natalie added.

 

Scully was nearly in shock at the thought of this man sitting before her
having been around during the time of the crusades when Natalie's
comment sank in, "One of?  There are people older than you?" she choked
out.

 

Nick looked at her for a moment, "I am old, certainly, by community
standards, but hardly ancient.  There are in this world many vampires
that are older than I am, Dana.  In Toronto, however there were only
two, now there is only one."

 

Mulder asked, "I take it then that the older the vampire, the more
powerful they are?"

 

"In many ways that is true.  However, age alone is not always the
defining factor.  Bloodline and training can make a significant
difference as well."  Nick answered.

 

Nick suddenly looked back and forth between the two agents and leaned
back into his chair.  He wasn't sure why he was in such a sharing mood.
Natalie knew most of this, but it had taken her 6 years to find out.
She had never really asked about some of it, and he had been reticent to
discuss it.  "If there are no more pressing questions about me, let us
discuss this man Mulder and I encountered last night."

 

They settled down into discussion and speculation as to what manner of
men, or creatures, it was that they had stumbled onto.

 

=====
Chapter 6a


 


The Raven


 


12:00 a.m.  Wednesday, December 13th.

 

LaCroix had just completed his monologue for the night and was looking
out at the crowd in the Raven when he saw a face in the shadows of a
back booth that struck him.  He left the broadcast booth and walked out
into the cacophony that was Wednesday night at the Raven.  He wandered
over to the bar where he could get a better look at the man in the back.

 

As he drank his bloodwine and observed the man he suddenly remembered,
"I know where I've seen him before!"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Gaul

 

August 24, 74 AD.

 

Roman might and discipline had, once again, won the day.  General Lucius
looked out over the aftermath of the battle with satisfaction.  The
broken bodies of nearly one hundred score of barbarian vermin who had
sought to defy Rome's conquest lay about the base of the hill on which
he stood.

 

This scum had harried his legion for weeks as they marched.  They would
attack in small groups and at night, striking and retreating like a
cowardly dog nipping at the heels of its master.  At last they had
captured two of their scouts and tortured the location of their village
from them.  His legion had swept over them like the tide, burning and
killing every living thing until only the leader of this pitiful band
remained.

 

Lucius had had him crucified on the apex of the hill so he could see
what his rebellion had wrought.  He turned and looked up at this
barbarian chieftain, memorizing his face so that he could remember this
small, but sweet, victory.  He had to admit that there was something to
admire in the way this enemy stoically accepted his pain, and stared his
hatred towards the Roman General.

 

"We will meet again," the crucified man gasped out.

 

"In hell perhaps," the General said, spurring his horse down the hill
toward his troops.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

The Raven

 

12:10 a.m.  Wednesday, December 13th.

 

Methos was hunting.  He rarely participated in 'The Game' any more, 5000
years of life, most of it spent in violent times, had taught him that
the sidelines were a much safer and happier place to be.  There were,
however, exceptions.

 

He had come to Toronto to meet an old friend.  He hadn't seen Scott in
nearly 175 years, and had looked forward to surprising him when he found
out he had relocated here from South Africa.

 

Unfortunately he arrived here just in time to find out that the reason
Scott had relocated, a headhunter with the unlikely name of Phineas
Froag, had followed. Methos had used his Watcher connections to find out
about him.  Froag lived for the Quickening. He was like a junkie and
once he latched onto a target, he followed until he got what he wanted.

 

Methos knew that this was just the type of club Froag was likely to hang
out at.  He would spend his nights here, and at the two or three other
similar clubs until he caught sight of him- or until he got word that he
had been spotted by a watcher in another city.  He liked Scott, and
wanted to make sure that his killer wasn't allowed to keep his
Quickening.

 

Gazing around the bar was silly, he knew.  He would know it the moment
another immortal entered the front door, but he did it anyway.  "It's
not like I have anything else to look at," he thought.  Suddenly he
noticed a man at the bar staring directly at him.  At first he didn't
recognize him- tall, imposing even, blond crew cut, black Armani suit.
"Where do I know you from, hmm?" he thought.

 

Then he remembered.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Gaul

 

August 24, 74 AD.

 

"Damned Romans," Methos thought as he looked out over the aftermath of
the slaughter.  The broken bodies of nearly 800 of his warriors, along
with their wives and children, lay about the base of the hill on which
he stood.

 

He had settled in this village 10 years ago as he was wandering the
world.  He had met a fine woman and had decided to stay a while- he had
nothing else to do, no obligations or interests to interfere, so why
not.

 

He and his men had harried the legion for weeks as they marched, hoping
to divert them from overrunning the area they called home.  They would
attack in small groups and at night, striking hard, killing 20 or 30 and
then pulling back, while another group would attack from another front.
In this manner they killed hundreds at first, but the Roman General
swiftly countered.  He would cease his march earlier in the day, giving
up distance for the time it took to dig in and make a fortified camp.

 

Suddenly Methos began loosing more men than they were killing.  He had
pulled back to their village to plan their next course of action.  He
never knew how they had found him.  One day he woke up to the sounds of
the Roman charge.  The legion had swept over them like the tide, burning
and killing every living thing they could get their hands on and their
swords into.  He had been killed twice before waking up to find himself
being nailed to a hastily constructed cross on the watch-post hill
overlooking the remains of his village.

 

He looked down at the face of the General whose troops had done this to
his villagers and gasped out through his agony, "We will meet again,"

 

"In hell perhaps," the General had said, while riding away.

 

"Maybe sooner than that" was Methos' final thought before he died,
again.

 

Some of his villagers had escaped into the woods and returned to burn
the dead.  They pulled him down from the cross and threw his body into a
pile with the others.  Fortunately he woke up while they were gathering
fuel for the fire and fled into the woods himself.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

The Raven

 

12:15 a.m.  Wednesday, December 13th.

 

Methos remembered that he had sworn vengeance on the General who had
crucified him, but as the years wore on, he had stopped thinking about
the matter.  By the time Rome was sacked in 455 by Gaiseric, king of the
Vandals, he had forgotten it entirely.

 

He remembered that in 1453 he had been toasting the death of Emperor
Constantine XI and the end of the last vestiges of the Roman Empire when
Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks nearly a thousand years after
the sack of Rome.

 

But surely that couldn't be the same man; he hadn't felt any Quickening…

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

He certainly wasn't a vampire.  LaCroix could see his pulse beating in
his neck from here.  In fact, his pulse rate seemed to have
significantly increased several moments after noticing LaCroix's
attention on him.  He might have dismissed it as patently impossible
except for two things; first, LaCroix could see recognition on the man's
face, and second, his son had just this evening described a man who
survived gunshots and a forty-foot fall, seemingly unscathed.  "Perhaps
such a man could live for two thousand years," he mused.

 

He turned to the bartender, "Miklos."

 

"Yes, General."

 

"The man by himself in the back booth…"

 

"Yes, I see him." Miklos said, barely glancing back for a moment.

 

"If he leaves, I want him followed," LaCroix locked gazes with Miklos
and continued, "Very discretely, Miklos.  He is absolutely not to know
that he is being followed.  Choose someone reliable.  I want to know
where he goes."

 

"Certainly, General."

 

LaCroix pondered for a moment and then decided, "Put his tab on the
house as well, Miklos."

 

"Anything else, sir?"  Miklos asked.

 

"That will do for now.  I expect my son will be here soon.  Please have
him and whomever he has accompanying him join me directly.  And send in
2 bottles of the House Special and two of the plain Bordeaux."  LaCroix
said as he walked away from the bar and towards his office.  He had a
phone call to place.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nicks Loft


 


12:20 a.m. Wednesday

 

One thing had led to another; the conversation had transitioned from
speculation about the swordsman to a variety of topics.  Anecdotes and
stories about strange and unusual cases led to personal stories as
similar experiences were shared.  Each of them was surprised during the
evening not only by what they learned about their new friends, but also
by what they learned about their respective partners.  It was obvious
that none of them were normally very talkative about themselves, but
somehow this evening, which began with such a startling revelation,
turned into something none of them had ever experienced before; a
couple's night out.  Dinner was ordered and eaten (and drank), beverages
were consumed, and fun was had.

 

Nick excused himself as the phone rang.  Natalie was still laughing at
Scully's story about Mulder singing the theme from shaft to her as he
lay on the floor of the hotel after a near miss with a vampire pizza
delivery guy.  Mulder, of course, vehemently denied that any such
incident had occurred, but even he was laughing about it.

 

Natalie said, "I have to say that I have not had this much fun in years.
I am already going to miss you guys when you leave this weekend," as she
wiped away the tears of laughter that were running down her face.

 

Nick smiled indulgently at his betrothed, overjoyed to see her so happy.
He picked up the phone and answered "Knight."

 

"Nicolas."

 

"LaCroix, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon, is something wrong?"

 

"Not at all Nicolas.  However, there is something I think you need to
see.  Why don't you come to the Raven now?"

 

"Of course.  I will be right over."

 

"Oh, Nicolas, you are entertaining guests," LaCroix said, hearing the
conversation in the background.  "Is that the two FBI agents you
mentioned that I hear?"

 

Nicolas was suddenly worried, "Yes…"

 

"Bring them with you.  And Natalie of course."

 

Nick was now very worried, but he knew that he couldn't really refuse,
and he didn't think that now was the time to jeopardize his fragile
reconciliation with his father.  "Of course, father," he whispered.

 

"Do not fret so, Nicolas," LaCroix said.  "There need not be any
permanent, life altering decisions made this night.  I merely wish to
meet these strangers with whom you have decided to share our secret."
LaCroix said.

 

"Very well.  We shall be there, LaCroix."  Nick said, hanging up the
phone.

 

Natalie had caught the whisper and the look of trepidation on her
fiancée's face and her expression suddenly sobered.  Mulder and Scully
caught the change and turned to face Nick as he hung up the phone.

 

"LaCroix has requested that we join him.  He has something he wants me
to see."  Nick said quietly.

 

Natalie's eyes widened slightly and she said, "We as in you and I,
Nick?"

 

Nick turned to Mulder and Scully.  "He wants to meet you two as well."

 

Natalie's hands flew to her mouth involuntarily.  Despite what Nick had
said about the changes in his master, LaCroix was still her own personal
boogey-man; he had been ever since the events at the Azure several years
ago.

 

"Mulder looked back and forth between Nick and Natalie, waiting for
further explanation.  Finally he asked, "Who is LaCroix?"

 

Scully added, "Is he one of these 'enforcers' you mentioned?"

 

Natalie snapped out of her thoughts and said, "No, it's not that bad.
LaCroix is, well, you remember that Nick is the second oldest in the
Toronto community?"

 

"LaCroix is the eldest, I take it," Scully answered.

 

Natalie nodded her head.

 

"How much older?"  Scully asked.  "Nine hundred?  A thousand?" she
asked, still incredulous at Nick's incredible age

 

Nick was lost in thought, but responded "LaCroix watched Vesuvius
swallow his home in Pompeii," Nick said softly.

 

Scully was shocked again, her mouth just hung open.

 

Mulder had been watching Nick during the entire conversation.  "There is
more, isn't there.  What is it, Nick?"  Mulder asked, concerned.

 

"LaCroix is my Father."

 

Scully looked at Natalie, "That's bad news?"  she asked.

 

Natalie and Nick said simultaneously, "It's complicated."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


1:15 a.m. Wednesday

 

Freddie was kicking back at the bar, checking out the crowd.  "This
Raven ain't a bad place," he thought.  "Plenty of likely victims on the
dance floor, and enough vamps around if I want my own for company."
Freddie had rolled into Toronto after nearly getting caught in Buffalo.
He had grown careless about where he took his meals, and had left a
trail even the mortal cops could follow, right to the apartment of his
last meal, while her drained corpse had lay cooling on the floor and he
was taking a shower to wash off the remains.  He had blown out the
window, naked, and flew right across the lake and into the outskirts of
Toronto.

 

"Good thing we don't feel the cold!" he laughed to himself.  He had
found this place a couple of nights ago and was presently in the process
of selecting his next 'meal' from the dancers on the floor.  Bottled
blood had never really satisfied him- he preferred it 'straight from the
tap' as it were.

 

None of the writhing dancers had really stood out to him and he was
about to resort to enie, meanie, minie, moe; when he saw one vamp and
three mortals walk into the club.  "Oh man!  That little red-head looks
delicious!" he whispered to himself.  He watched as they walked across
the club and straight to a door near the end of the bar.  "I may wait a
little longer," he thought.  "Better to sharpen the appetite," he
thought, smiling to himself.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nick led the others directly to LaCroix's office, ignoring the
surreptitious glances from the vampires all around.  He felt slightly
uncomfortable.  Even though he had long ago ceased caring about The
Community's opinion of him, his recent change of heart about himself and
his kind had began to rekindle a desire for ties to The Community.
However, he still didn't think that it was OK to treat mortals as
cattle- nothing more than food.  He wasn't sure how he was going to
reconcile his desire for atonement with his burgeoning desire to belong
once again to The Community he had despised for so long.  "Better to
concentrate on the present, and worry about that later," he decided.

 

Natalie was worried about her new friends.  She still didn't really
trust LaCroix- not 100% any way.

 

Scully's thoughts were chaotic and whirling with the stunning impact
that tonight's revelations had struck upon her.  Not even 12 hours ago,
she would have sworn under oath that there were no such things as
vampires- they were a myth and whatever Mulder had seen, it wasn't
supernatural.  Science would be able to explain it, somehow.  Now, she
not only accepted their existence, she had made friends with an 800 year
old vampire and was about to meet one who had been alive when the New
Testament was written.  "Oh yeah, and he might just kill us tonight,
too." she added.  The impact of that thought suddenly centered her and
allowed her to focus on this encounter, which just might be her last.

 

Mulder was thinking how cool it was that he was walking into a bar full
of vampires for a meeting with a guy who was about 2000 years old, to
talk about guys who only died when you cut off their heads.  It was all
he could do not to laugh out loud.

 

=====
Chapter 6b




LaCroix could feel his son's trepidation as he entered the club.  He
smiled and thought of how he would have, not long ago, used this to
torment Nicolas.  He thought of the two mortals his son was bringing in
with him and his smile was replaced with a slight frown.  If he felt it
was necessary, he would erase these agents knowledge, or kill them.  He
knew that doing so would erase the tentative reconciliation he had found
with his son, and he hoped that it would not become necessary.  He would
have to see if Nicolas had, for once, chosen wisely with his trust.



Nick stopped outside the door to the office and reminded Mulder and
Scully one last time, "Remember- don't lose your temper.  Your reactions
will decide all of our lives tonight."  He knocked on the door and heard
his master bid him enter.  He then opened the door and led them into the
office.



LaCroix had decided on playing the master vampire.  He hoped his son's
estimation of the agent's concern for each other was accurate.  If so,
he thought he could use their fear of the other's safety to guaranty
their silence.  He allowed his not inconsiderable power and presence to
flow outward from him like the tide- washing over these puny mortals
like the surf against the rocks.



Scully remembered the power she felt from Nick this afternoon.  At the
time she thought it was the most impressive thing she could ever have
conceived.  What she felt now snuffed that thought like a candle.  She
felt as though this man seated behind the massive antique desk could
crush her with a thought.  It took every ounce of willpower she had just
to stand upright, and she couldn't have met his gaze if her life
depended on it.



Mulder's cavalier attitude about this meeting was erased in an instant.
He was suddenly worried for Scully's life.  His own he would gladly
forfeit to spare his beloved from the wrath of this vampire.  He would
have offered to do just that but he couldn't breathe, let alone speak.



Natalie was stunned.  She was reminded about how much she didn't know
about The Community she was planning on joining.  She could tell that
this display was not for her benefit, but still found that she was
silently chastising herself for defying this creature, and endangering
Nick in the process, for the last six years.  Her sympathy for the years
Nick had had to endure this man's domination nearly overwhelmed her.  If
this was the changed LaCroix, she couldn't imagine what hell Nick had
gone through before.



Nick understood what his father was trying to do, but felt that much
more and his newfound friends would break.  "Father, please.  I am
certain that they understand your point," he said, respectfully.  He
dropped his barriers on the bloodlink to let LaCroix know that he wasn't
challenging him; he was just concerned for his friends.



LaCroix was satisfied that these mortals had been properly cowed.  He
slowly reeled in his power, not withdrawing entirely, but reducing it to
less intimidating proportions.  He gestured for Nicolas to make
introductions.



"Father, these are Special Agents Dana Scully, and Fox Mulder of the
United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Agents, this is Lucien
LaCroix, my maker."



"Agents, I understand that my son has shared with you the knowledge of
our community."  LaCroix said.



"Yes Sir." Mulder and Scully said in unison.



"And he has told you the consequences of such knowledge."



Mulder and Scully glanced at each other briefly, and softly said "Yes
Sir."



"We will discuss that later."  He turned to Nicolas, "I saw someone
tonight that might be the person you encountered last night."  LaCroix
turned and opened the armoire behind his desk, revealing a CCTV monitor
and control system.  He pushed the playback on the recorder they saw a
man sitting alone at a booth in the club.



Mulder and Nick both leaned forward and simultaneously said, "That's not
him."



LaCroix looked surprised.



Nick said, "Why did you think that was the man?"



LaCroix leaned back in his chair and steepled his hands thoughtfully.
"I met this man a long time ago."



"He isn't a vampire?"  Mulder asked.



"I could clearly see his pulse and hear his heartbeat."  LaCroix
answered.



"How do you know him?"  Nick asked.



"I killed him once, a long time ago" LaCroix answered softly.



"Did you. drink from him, I guess?  Is he a hybrid of some kind,
perhaps?" Mulder asked.



"No, agent Mulder, I didn't *drain* him."  LaCroix mused.



"Can you tell us about it?"  Scully asked.



"Are you sure you want to hear about it?  It was quite barbaric, I
assure you."  LaCroix sneered slightly at the diminutive redhead.



"How long ago, LaCroix?"  Natalie asked.  "Are you sure it is the same
man?"



LaCroix didn't really want to go into details with these strangers.  He
said, "He was a chieftain of a tribe in Gaul.  I led Caesar's legions
into Gaul.  I had him crucified, after I wiped out his tribe.  It was
before I had been brought across."



Mulder's photographic memory kicked in and he remembered studying Roman
history.  Actually he had been more interested in impressing the
devastatingly beautiful grad student who helped the professor teach the
course.  In an attempt to impress her, he had memorized just about every
text in the library dealing with Roman Military Conquest- that being the
subject of her doctoral thesis.  In the end, he found out she was doing
the professor, and had no interest in him, but he did learn a lot about
Roman History.  "Lucian LaCroix.  You were General Lucius the
Crucifier?" he asked, entirely forgetting the threat this man posed to
him and Scully.  "Wow!" he said, amazed at the thought of a piece of
living history sitting before him.



LaCroix was startled momentarily.  "It has been a very long time since I
heard that particular description."  A slow smile grew on his face and
he continued, "You must have a fascination with arcane historical trivia
to know that name."  He changed the subject and said, "In any case, I am
quite certain that this is indeed the same man I crucified in 74 AD.  He
survived crucifixion and lived another 1,926 years, and he is definitely
not a vampire.  I would say that that puts him squarely in the camp of
the man you and my son met on the rooftop last night."



"Where is he now, Father?"  Nick asked.



"He left.  However, he is being followed.  We shall find out where he is
going and perhaps tomorrow night you might visit him in your capacity of
a homicide detective investigating a rather unusual death."



"That is an excellent idea, father."  Nick said with a smile.



"Doctor Lambert, you and I need to have a conversation."  LaCroix said.
He felt his son's sudden rush of concern through their bloodlink.  He
turned to Nicolas and in a very decisive tone of voice suggested, "Why
don't you and your friends go out and have a drink while you wait.  This
shouldn't take too long.



Nick wanted to protest, but caught the tone in LaCroix's voice and knew
he would only make things worse for Natalie if he reacted.  He leaned in
to Natalie and whispered in her ear, "It'll be alright.  I love you.
I'll be right outside."  He then opened the door and indicated to Mulder
and Scully that they should precede him.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Freddie was still sitting at the bar when the three exited the office.
He watched as the vampire led them to a booth overlooking the bar and
the office.  He wasn't going to do anything until he could get the
redhead alone.  He wasn't afraid of the other vampire, after all he was
250 years old, and he didn't think anyone else in here could match that.
He just didn't want to make a scene; that's all.  He ordered another
bloodwine and sat back to wait for his opportunity.



Nick was distracted by the thought of Natalie in there alone with
LaCroix and didn't notice the vamp at the bar who watched as they left
the office and took a booth to wait.



Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, concerned for their new friends.
"Will she be alright, Nick?"  Scully asked.



"What is going to happen?" Mulder added.



"He won't hurt her," Nick said- almost 90% sure he was speaking the
truth.  "I think he wants to test her resolve.  She has spent the last 6
years trying to 'cure' me after all," Nick said quietly.  "He probably
wants to make sure she is really willing to give that up."



"Is she?"  Scully asked.



"There was a time when she wanted me to be mortal, almost as much as I
wanted it.  She thought of marriage, family, that sort of thing."  He
sighed.  "I really didn't want her to have to give up the sun, the
daylight.  However, she wants me more than she wants the sun.  And, even
though I know I am being thoroughly selfish, I'm glad.  I want her to be
with me forever- no matter what.  I would rather have her as a vampire
than to lose her to old age and death."



Mulder understood exactly how Nick felt.  "But you feel guilty about
what she is giving up, don't you," Mulder said.  It was a statement, not
a question.



"Yes."  Nick sighed.



Scully got mad, she knew that Mulder was speaking for himself, thinking
that he was bad for her, that she deserved 'better' than him.  "What is
it that makes you guys think that we are unable to decide what is best
for us?"  She shot them both a withering glare.  "You put us on a
pedestal and think you're looking out for our best interests; but don't
you see?  It's lonely up on that pedestal!"  She was almost overcome
with emotion and actually had to choke back a sob, "I want you, not some
idealized man, 2.5 kids and a white picket fence," she said directly to
Mulder and then turned to Nick and continued, "and I imagine that
Natalie feels the same way!"  She abruptly stood up and said, "Now,
where is the restroom?"



Nick silently pointed toward the back of the club, his eyes wide at her
outburst.



Scully looked back where he had pointed and said, "When I get back I
don't want to hear any more 'I'm not worthy' crap out of either of you,
Ok?"  She looked back and forth between the two men, both sitting
slack-jawed and looking up at her with wide eyes.  "Otherwise I am going
to find a nice chair leg for you," she said- pointing at Nick, "And you,
I'm going to shoot.  *Again*" she said- pointing at Mulder.  She then
walked off, head held high.



Mulder and Nick sat silently for a moment before they both began to
smile.  "Again?"  Nick asked with a slight smirk.



"Long Story" Mulder replied with a teeth-baring smile of his own.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Scully dried her hands and checked her makeup.  The tears that had
threatened to flow she dabbed at lightly with a paper towel.  She took a
couple of deep breaths to calm herself as she marveled at the stupidity
of men in general and her man specifically.  She idolized Mulder.  There
was no one else on the planet she could possibly want to be with.  He
had totally ruined her for other men ever- and that was before last
night's mind-blowing sex- yet he felt inadequate.  She was the one who
was inadequate- Mulder could have any woman he wanted at the drop of a
hat.  She was sure that that little blond waitress was out there even
now chatting him up.  She was glad that she knew her man well enough to
know he wouldn't even notice.  She might feel inadequate, but also knew
her partner.  Though she wasn't sure that she deserved it, she knew he
loved her and only her.  As long as he knew that she wanted him, he
wouldn't even look at another woman.



She was walking out the door thinking of exactly how she was going to
demonstrate just how much she wanted him when she got him back to the
hotel this morning.  It was at that moment that she felt herself grabbed
from behind- one hand around her waist, the other over her mouth as she
was swiftly pulled out of the club through the back door and into the
alley.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Natalie stood before LaCroix.  She was nervous and cursed her heart for
giving it away.  She determined that she would not outwardly show her
fear, even though she knew he would detect it from her heart rate.



LaCroix observed her for a moment.  He heard the fear that her heart
betrayed, but admired her poise, as she outwardly gave no indication of
her feelings.  He briefly considered toying with her for a bit, to see
how far he could push before she would give, but decided against it.  He
would test her resolve, no doubt about it, but he would avoid doing
anything to anger his son.  So long as Nicolas was content to return to
the fold, LaCroix would not be the one to break the peace.



"May I call you Natalie?" he started with.  "Doctor Lambert seems so
formal."



"Yes Sir" Natalie said stiffly.  She remembered the power emanating from
him earlier.  She did not want to do anything to provoke him if she
could avoid it.



"Sit down, Natalie," LaCroix chuckled lightly.  "Relax.  I am no longer
a general, and this is no army.  You need not stand at attention."



Natalie took a seat across from him and tried to relax.  It didn't work.
She was worried about Dana and Mulder. and Nick. and herself. and Nick
and herself. and.



LaCroix broke her reverie.  "Do you not feel as though you have been
betrayed, Natalie?  Nicolas has decided to throw away 6 years of your
work as though it was nothing."



Natalie decided that the only way she would make it through this was by
being brutally honest, both with LaCroix and with herself.  "Nick wanted
to be human.  I wanted Nick, any way I could have him.  So, no, I don't
feel betrayed.  As long as he is satisfied with the way he is, so am I."



"Truly?  You would not prefer him as a human?"  LaCroix pressed.  "You
do not long for children?  To see the sun rise, to feel its warmth on
your face?"



"To grow old, to break down and die?" she countered.  "Each state of
being has advantages and limitations, sir.  Either one would be
satisfactory so long as I could be with Nick.  Neither one is acceptable
without him."



"You care for him that much?"  LaCroix asked, somewhat surprised,
doubtful that this mortal could love Nicolas as much as Nicolas did her.



"He is my life.  My heart."  She replied.



"Easy to say, but you have no real concept of forever, child.  How do I
know that you won't tire of my son after a few decades or a century and
leave him?"



Natalie had an epiphany.  Right there and then she finally understood
Lucien LaCroix.  She had always thought him to be evil and full of
hatred toward Nick.  Suddenly she realized that it wasn't hatred, but
rather desperation.  LaCroix loved Nick, needed him powerfully and when
he couldn't have him he lashed out at whatever he perceived as
separating him from his beloved son.  "Ohhh," she said, sympathizing
with LaCroix's need to have Nick in his life.  She felt exactly the same
way.  Wordlessly she stood up and offered this master vampire her wrist.



LaCroix was taken aback by her offer.  "Why?" he asked.



"You need to know, I need for you to know," she said simply.



LaCroix took her wrist and brought it to his mouth, looking into
Natalie's eyes for any indecision.  He saw that she was afraid, but
resolute.  He bit down and tasted the hot, spiced wine that ran through
the veins of his son's lover.  He felt her devotion and love.  He saw
her conviction.  He knew her understanding of not only his son, but of
his own need for Nicolas.



She spoke to him through the link and with her voice simultaneously, "So
long as you don't hurt him or me, I will make sure he never leaves you
again."



He immediately withdrew from her and broke the link.  "Why would you do
that?" he asked, confused.



"Because he needs you too.  As much as you need him.  He just doesn't
know it," she replied.



"For once in his life, my son has chosen wisely."  LaCroix said.  "I
will gladly have you for a grand-daughter, Natalie."



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Freddie dragged his catch out into the alley, thinking about how much he
was going to enjoy this when he felt her stamp on his instep.  It
surprised him more than it hurt him but he loosened his grip enough for
her to spin around in his grasp and ram her knee into his groin with a
great deal of force.  "What a little firebrand," he thought just as she
snap-kicked him in the nose, breaking it and causing blood to flow
momentarily as it healed.



Scully figured out that she was dealing with a vampire and hoped that
she could hurt him enough quickly enough to get back inside and.



Interrupting her thought process was the back of his hand across her
face, sending her flying down the alley and into a stack of pallets next
to the dumpster.  She was almost unconscious when she felt the bite on
her neck.  She reached out beside her trying to find something to hit
him with.



Freddie was enjoying the wonderful flavor of this delectable morsel,
reveling in the images of her life and the fear he tasted in her blood.
Her heart was slowing almost to a stop when he felt an incredible pain
in his neck.  He reared back was horrified as the slender shard of wood
she had stabbed into his neck, tore his throat out as he pulled away.
His blood, mingled with hers sprayed out of his near fatal wounds and
poured down on her face, and into her mouth.  Her last act before she
blacked out was to convulsively swallow.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Natalie came out of the office walked over to where Nick and Mulder
where sitting in comfortable silence.  They both got sheepish looks on
their faces when she approached and she wondered what was going on.
"Where's Dana?" she asked.  Mulder answered, "She had to go powder her
nose."



Natalie snorted at the thought and Nick said, "Yeah, she worked up a
sweat explaining to Mulder that he was an idiot and that I should pull
my head out of my."



"Nice visual, Nick."  Natalie interrupted.  "I'll go check on her."
Natalie went back to the restroom, but couldn't find Dana there.  She
walked out and across to the alley door just in case Dana had stepped
out for a breather.  She opened the door and looked out just as Freddie
was taking a bite on Dana's neck.  She screamed, "NICK!"



Mulder heard the echo of Natalie's scream and when he looked over, Nick
was already there by Natalie's side.  He felt the blood leave his face
and got up and ran through the crowd on the dance floor to the alley
door.  By the time he got there, and into the alley, Nick and Natalie
were crouched over the broken body of a petite redheaded woman.  There
was blood all over the woman's face.  LaCroix was standing over the body
of a large man who looked like his throat had been ripped out.  "Where
the hell did he come from?"  Mulder thought.  His brain was rejecting
the image of the woman on the ground.  He couldn't even notice her.  He
just stared at the body of the man with the torn throat- watching in
horrified fascination as the flesh slowly re-knit it self.



It wasn't until Natalie sobbed his name that his mind grasped the fact
that the bloodied and broken body lying in the alley was his Scully.  He
went into shock.  He fell to his knees, his eyes locked onto the face of
his beloved Scully.  It felt as if his heart had stopped beating.



LaCroix quickly assessed the situation.  "Nicolas, she has ingested his
blood, you must take her quickly to my quarters.  Natalie, go tell
Miklos about this," he kicked the slowly regenerating body of the
vampire that had assaulted Scully.  "Tell him to have it chained in the
caves, but not killed yet.  Then tell him to deliver a case of uncut
blood to my quarters at once."



Natalie reacted instantly to his command, racing into the club to get
Miklos.



"Come Nicolas, I will bring Agent Mulder," he said, picking up the
silent man and flying him up to the roof.  Nick scooped Dana up and
followed.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



"It must be you, Nicolas.  I doubt that she would come back for me, and
certainly not for that creature that did this to her."  LaCroix
explained.



Nick took one look at Natalie, who had raced up the stairs and was
panting heavily.  She just nodded her head.  She was unwilling to give
up on her friend so soon.  Besides it might be fun having a sister.



Nick bit his wrist open and held it to Dana's mouth waiting, praying
even that she would drink.



LaCroix turned to the other agent, who was still in shock.  He captured
Mulder's eyes with his own gaze and explained to him that Dana might yet
live, but that Mulder would have to call her back.



Mulder was wrapped in a cocoon of agony.  Every breath hurt and all he
could think was "She's gone.  She's gone." over and over.  When
LaCroix's words of hope broke through, it was as though a switch had
been thrown, shocking him out of his stupor.  "What do I do?!  Tell me
how to bring her back!"



"Go.  Hold her and call her back to you.  She stands at the doorway and
must choose either to go into the light, or come back across to you.



Mulder stood up and unsteadily crossed the room to Scully's side where
Nick was drizzling blood into her mouth.  He swallowed his fear and
agony and started to stroke her forehead.  He took her hand in his own
and began calling her, "Scully. Scully, please come back to me.  I love
you.  I *need* you."  He repeated that over and over, tears pouring down
his face and dripping onto hers.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



She looked around her.  She was standing on an arid plain.  It was dry,
flat and featureless in all directions.  "Where am I?" she whispered to
herself.  "WHERE AM I?" she screamed out.



"Where do you think you are?"  a voice said behind her.



Scully whirled around to see a doorway standing in the open plain.  The
door was open and a bright light silhouetted a figure from behind.  She
just stared at it for a moment before walking up to the figure.  "Am I
dead?" she asked, suddenly remembering the attack.



The figure laughed melodiously, "Not quite yet, little sister."



Then Scully could make out the face.  "Missy?" she asked in a whisper.
She ran up and hugged her, "Oh Missy.  I'm so glad to see you."
Suddenly she broke off the hug and stepped back.  "Oh Missy.  I'm so
sorry."



"For what, Dana?"  Melissa asked.



"You died in my place.  It's my fault."  Scully cried.



"Don't you mean Fox's fault?"  Melissa asked.



"Oh, no Missy!  It isn't Mulder's fault, he couldn't have known."



"And you could have?"  Melissa asked her sister with a frown.



"I should have!"  Scully cried.



"Dana, the only one to blame for my death is the man who killed me, and
the man who sent him to kill you."  Melissa said firmly.  "If you take
any blame for it, you have to share it with Fox.  I don't think either
of you're to blame."



Scully realized how surreal this conversation was.  "Missy, where are
we?  You're dead, but you said I wasn't.  What did you mean?"  Scully
was confused.



"You must choose, Dana.  You can come in to the light, with me.  Or, you
can go back."



"What do you mean, I can go back?"  Scully asked.  She thought of
Mulder, of how much she loved him and it was almost as if she could hear
him, calling her.  Telling her he loved and needed her.



"You can go back to your beloved Mulder, Dana.  However, I must warn
you- you won't be the same."  Melissa said.



"You mean I'll be a." Scully began.



"Vampire, Dana.  Say it with me- Vam-pi-er," Melissa teased.  "You will
give up the sun, you will have to drink blood to live, and you will have
to face the hunger.  The desire to kill for food is difficult to
overcome."  The light in the doorway seemed to dim.



Scully's choice was already made, however.  "I can't leave him, Missy.
I love him."  Her voice was full of longing, and she heard Mulder's call
more strongly.  The light on the plain in general seemed to dim, as
though night were falling.



"I know, little sister.  Take care of him.  He needs you."  Melissa said
as the light, the doorway and the plain around Scully went dark
entirely.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Mulder was sobbing out Scully's name, and the blood Nick was giving her
was about to run out the sides of her mouth when she finally swallowed.
She instinctively latched on to Nick's wrist and began to suck
furiously.  Nick was so happy that she had come back that he made no
move to pull away.  Finally it was LaCroix who had to come over and yank
him arm away from her.



Nick stood up, dizzy from the blood loss as Scully dropped her head back
down to the floor and slept.



LaCroix was angry with his son.  He grabbed a bottle of blood and shoved
it into his hands.  "Were you going to let her drain you?"  He demanded.



"Nick, are you alright?" Natalie asked; her concern clear in her voice.



"Yes.  I'm all right.  No.  I wasn't planning on letting her drain me, I
was just happy and relieved that she came back, and wasn't really paying
attention."  Nick said, somewhat chagrined.



LaCroix looked sternly at his son, and then said to Natalie, "My dear,
it would be in your best interests if you allowed me to supervise when
my 'inattentive' son brings you across."



Suddenly Mulder broke in, "Uh, Nick, is she going to be ok?" he said,
gesturing at Scully, lying on the floor, not breathing, no pulse.
Mulder was still a little shocky.  His joy at her response was tempered
by how she responded.  On the whole, however, he would take Scully any
way he could get her.



Nick was abashed at his insensitivity.  "Sorry, Mulder.  Yes she is
going to be ok."  He was suddenly struck with a thought, "You do
realize, Mulder that she is now a vampire, don't you?"



Mulder chuckled a little at that, "Yeah, Nick.  I think I had that
figured when she started sucking you dry."  He sobered and looked at
her, covered in blood and laying dead- "Ok, Undead," he thought- on the
floor.  In a small voice he said, "Scully *is* my life, Nick.  Mortal,
vampire, alien hybrid, whatever- I love her with all that I am."  He
sighed and looked at Nick, "I could no more do with out her than I could
do with out my arms and legs."  Mulder closed his eyes and continued,
"When I thought she was dead, I."



Nick and Natalie actually took a step back as they saw the change come
over his face.  He opened his eyes and the hatred they saw there made
Natalie gasp.



Mulder quickly schooled his features and asked, as calmly as he could,
"Where is the thing that did this to her?"  He turned to LaCroix.  "Is
it alive?"



LaCroix smiled at agent Mulder.  He couldn't help but understand the
desire for vengeance that he saw in Mulder's eyes.  "For now, Agent
Mulder.  Why, did you have something in mind?"



"Are you planning on letting it live?"  Mulder couldn't keep the
question from coming out in a low growl.



"I was planning on staking him out on the roof and allowing the sun to
finish him."  LaCroix said.



"Can I help?"  Mulder asked.  He looked at Natalie and Nick, silently
begging them to understand.



Nat looked a bit green around the gills, but said nothing.  Nick just
looked away and said, "You need to be out of here when she wakes up
anyway."



Mulder began to reply, but Nick overrode his protest, "Listen to me,
Mulder.  When a vampire first wakes up after the change. Well, we call
it first hunger and every vampire remembers it, because it is the most
powerful and overriding feeling we will ever have.  A man would drain
his own wife, a woman her own children.  When we first wake, we are
purely the beast."  He reached up and gently laid his hand on Mulder's
shoulder.  "It would be better if you missed that.  You can see her as
soon as she slakes that thirst."



Mulder was visibly concerned about that.



Nick saw Mulder's look of worry and said, "This is all donated blood,
Mulder.  I won't let your woman turn into a monster, but you must let me
train her my way, and you must respect my requests in order for me to be
successful.  This is going to be a stressful, difficult time for you
both, and if you want 'your Scully' back, you will have to trust me."



When he put it that way, Mulder had no choice.  "I will do anything to
have her back," he said while looking sadly at his beloved.
"*Anything!*"



=====
Chapter 7


 


The Raven


 


8 a.m. Wednesday December 13th

 

Natalie stood near the top of the stairs to the roof above LaCroix's
quarters.  She was waiting for Mulder to come down.  Her feelings were
in turmoil.  Nick had brought Dana across.  He was Dana's master.  There
was a level of intimacy there that she was uncomfortable with.  She
wasn't jealous per se, but she was new to her intimate relationship with
Nick, and didn't really want to share him.  On the other hand, she
really liked Dana, and wasn't entirely displeased with the thought of
closer ties to her, and to Mulder.

 

Mulder was the reason she was standing here.  First thirst had come and
gone without incident, and Mulder had been allowed to see Dana
afterwards.  That had been several hours ago and when Dana went back to
sleep, Mulder had gone off with LaCroix to deal with 'him'.  She was
uncomfortable with what Mulder was doing right now.  She had heard the
screams as the sun rose about 10 minutes ago.  She was somewhat
concerned that Mulder- a cop essentially- was an active participant in a
murder.  Sort of.  This was vampire justice, and she knew when she had
discovered vampire kills in the past, that this was the justice meted
out to those offenders.  Not for the killing, but for being caught.

 

This was The Community she wanted to join.  Not for the first time she
wondered what she was getting herself into.  In the end, however, she
knew that one couldn't judge all vampires by the actions of a few.  And
the harsh Code that governed them wasn't really the final authority on
what a vampire's life was like- God gave free will to mortals and
vampires alike.

 

Her musings were interrupted when the door opened and Mulder came down
the stairs.  "Feel better?" she asked, somewhat more sharply than she
had intended.

 

Mulder looked at her for a moment.  He saw the uncertainty in her eyes,
the chagrin at her tone towards him.  "If a hunter killed Nick, and I
put you in a room with the hunter chained up, handed you a knife and
shut the door, what would I find when I opened the door again?"

 

"I'm sorry, Mulder.  That was unfair of me."  Natalie said, head
hanging.

 

"If it is any consolation, I don't feel good.  But, I have to admit- I
do feel better."

 

Natalie changed the subject, "Nick asked me to talk to you a little
about this whole thing.  I know you believed in vampires before, but
it's a little different to find out that your partner, the woman you
love, is suddenly one."  She stared at him while she continued, "Then
there is the whole master/fledgling relationship."

 

"Explain that to me."  Mulder said, suddenly wary.

 

Natalie led Mulder down the stairs and into the now-silent club.  She
sat down in a chair at one of the tables and took a deep breath.
"First, Mulder, let me tell you that Nick is not like other vampires.
When Dana is adequately trained, he will release her to do as she sees
fit.  He will not stand between the two of you.  However, you will not
be able to see her without him present for at least a week, maybe two,
depending on how quick a study she is," Natalie took another deep breath
and rushed ahead, "and, frankly, on how much you interfere."

 

"Why would I interfere?" Mulder said, darkly.  "What is going to happen
that would make me want to?"

 

"This is difficult for me as well, Mulder.  Honestly, I don't like the
thought of sharing Nick with anybody.  Even Dana."

 

"What do you mean 'sharing'," Mulder asked with a dangerous look in his
eyes.

 

"When Nick brought her across he formed a link with her.  In order to
strengthen that link, which will be necessary for him to train her
quickly, they will have to exchange blood.  They call it a bloodkiss,
and while not inherently sexual, it is very intimate. Nick said he could
feel her intense loyalty to you as well as her love for you when he
brought her across.  If Dana feels that you're jealous, she may resist
the exchange and that could have serious, negative repercussions on her
training, and therefore her ability to integrate into The Community and
human society as well."

 

Mulder wasn't too happy at the thought of Knight and Scully in a
'bloodkiss' whether it was overtly sexual or not.

 

Natalie saw the emotion play on his face and quickly continued.  There
is good news, Mulder.  Nick says she seems remarkably well adjusted to
the change, especially given the complications of dual masters and her
inherent skepticism.

 

Mulder smiled at that.  "I imagine what she would have said last week if
I had told her that not only are vampires real, but by this time next
week, you will have joined their ranks."

 

"Two weeks won't last forever, Mulder."

 

"No, it will just seem like forever."

 

"It will be worth the wait, I guarantee you."

 

"What do you mean by that, Natalie?"  Mulder asked.

 

Natalie blushed slightly, "Well… When I said the bloodkiss wasn't
inherently sexual…"

 

Mulder growled, "Yes?"

 

"Well, it isn't.  But when it is done between two people who love each
other, during…  Well…"

 

Natalie's blush deepened to the point that Mulder could almost feel the
heat rolling off of her.  "That good, huh?" he asked, grinning madly.

 

"Whew, Definitely!" she responded.

 

"Is it dangerous?  What do I need to, you know, do- like, anything
special?"  Mulder asked, clearly unsure of how to broach the subject.

 

"Just make sure she is very well fed beforehand so she doesn't drain
you."  Natalie looked at her watch, "Look, you should go back to the
hotel and get some sleep.  She isn't going to wake up before sundown,
and would probably appreciate some clean clothes when she does.  I'll
call you a Cab, ok?"

 

"Yeah, I'll be back tonight before sundown.  We need to try and see that
guy that was in the bar tonight anyway."

 

"I'd almost forgotten all about the case.  We may want to bring Nick's
partner in on this.  Nick is going to be kind of tied up with Dana for a
while."  Natalie said.

 

"Does she know?"  Mulder asked.

 

"She knows about vampires, she is dating one in fact.  She doesn't know
about Nick specifically, however."  Natalie smiled.  "I don't envy Nick
when he tells her.  She is going to be pissed!"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


4:10 p.m. Wednesday

 

Mulder had brought Scully's luggage with him when he returned, about an
hour before sunset.  He had just finished lugging it up to the room
Scully was staying in.  He went back down to the club, where Nick,
Natalie, and LaCroix were lounging as Miklos, Alma and a few others were
setting up the place for opening at 8 p.m.

 

Mulder joined the trio and asked what they had been discussing.

 

"We were considering how best to approach our 'mystery guest' from last
night." Nick said.  "I think Natalie is right, we should bring Tracy in
on this."  Nick hung his head as he thought of the coming confrontation.

 

"It is high time she joined us in any case.  Certain people in high
places were becoming aware of the Spaniard's indiscretion.  Decision
time is nearly upon her."  LaCroix said.

 

"They would force her to come across?"  Natalie asked, somewhat shocked.

 

"She will be given the standard three choices, Natalie."  LaCroix said.
"When the elders gather here for the solstice next year, all such mortal
confidants in the Toronto area will be given the choice."  LaCroix met
her gaze and said, "It would be better for all concerned if she made the
choice before then."

 

"Conlectio Cruoris is in Toronto this time?"  Nick repeated, surprised.
"Does Vachon know?"

 

"Not so far as I am aware," LaCroix answered.  "You should speak to him;
perhaps have him bring his pet to us for a formal introduction."
LaCroix smiled at the thought.

 

"I think you might want to tell her that you're a vampire, first, Nick."
Natalie said.  "She is going to be pissed off as it is, and you don't
want her reacting during a 'formal introduction' to the elder of
Toronto," she continued, wryly.

 

"Yes.  Tonight, I think."  Nick said.

 

Mulder had remained silent during all of this.  He was suddenly less
concerned with solving the mystery of the swordfighters than he was
concerned about Scully.  He had only been able to speak to her briefly
last night after her change, but she had been somewhat withdrawn from
him.  He refused to allow this change to separate them.

 

He would gladly become a vampire if that's what it took.  They would
have to leave the FBI, but they would survive.  He had quite a bit of
money from his inheritance when his mother had died, plus several houses
he could sell.  They wouldn't suffer for money.

 

More than anything, he wanted to be with Scully.  Everything else came
second- including his quest for the truth about his sister.  She was his
past, and he wanted to know the truth, but Scully was his present and
his future.  "Scully comes first.  Now and always," he thought with
resolve.  "Now, how to convince her of that?" he wondered.

 

He was startled out of his reverie when Nick laid his hand on Mulder's
arm, "She is starting to wake up, Mulder.  Do you want to go see her?"
Nick asked.

 

"Can I?"  Mulder asked.  He was worried, not for his safety but for her
emotional state if she attacked him in hunger.

 

Nick reassured him, "You can bring her breakfast, Mulder.  I will remain
right outside the door in case there is any problem."

 

Mulder was suddenly struck with how much these two were giving up to
help him and Scully.  This should have been Natalie that Nick was caring
for and training.  Their own lives were put on hold so that they could
take care of Scully.  "Nick, Natalie.  I'm sorry that I didn't say thank
you last night.  I know you guys are giving up a lot to help us out
here, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.  I can't thank
you enough."  Mulder turned to LaCroix, "And to you, Sir.  Thank you for
generously sharing your home with Scully and myself.  And thank you for
this morning."  He bowed his head slightly toward the master vampire.

 

LaCroix liked this young man.  His woman as well.  "They will make fine
additions to my extended family," he thought.  He even toyed with the
thought of bringing Mulder across himself.  He was thinking that it
might serve to further bind his son to him if he could give him a
brother to be the mate of Nick's new childé. "It bears contemplation,"
he said to himself.  In response to Mulder's thanks he merely inclined
his head slightly.

 

"Come on, Mulder," Nick said, getting up and walking toward the stairs
with him following close behind.

 

Natalie has watched the exchange between Mulder and LaCroix with
narrowed eyes.  She waited until the two men had gone up the stairs
before commenting.  "You're considering bringing him across yourself,
aren't you?" she saw confirmation in the slight look of surprise on his
face.  "I hope you will let him choose for himself," she said softly as
she got up and followed her fiancée and Mulder.

 

"Yes, she will make an excellent grandchild."  LaCroix said to himself.
"If Dana has even half of her potential, my family is going to be a
force to be reckoned with," he thought with satisfaction.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Scully woke up alone.  She stretched out on the bed and thought for a
moment, trying to figure out where she was.  Just as the thirst hit her,
all the memories came crashing down.  "I'm a vampire," she whispered out
loud.  She could hear whispering outside of her door as clearly as if
they had been shouting.  Nick was telling someone to speak softly,
explaining about her heightened senses, and that he should be careful of
over-stimulation.  She could hear one heartbeat outside the door, and
suddenly knew that it must be Mulder.  Ohhh, she was hungry.  But this
time it wasn't quite as consuming as when she had awakened after the
change last night.  At that point she would have already been up and
through the door, her teeth at Mulder's throat.

 

There was a hesitant knock at the door, and she said, "Come in, Mulder."

 

He came in wearing a shy smile and carrying three bottles.  He handed
her one and the smell of blood coming out of it was overpowering.  Any
thought of moderation or politeness was wiped away as she tipped up the
bottle and downed it in one long draught.  The second bottle quickly
followed and she was part way through the third before she was able to
slow down long enough for speech.  "Sorry about that," she said,
embarrassed by her behavior.

 

"Nick says that it's normal for a new fledgling to do that.  He said it
would pass quickly and you will gain control over your hunger."  Mulder
said quietly.

 

"Oh.  That's something to look forward to, I guess."  Scully felt
herself withdraw a little.

 

Mulder could see the walls between them being rebuilt after only so
recently being torn down.  It felt like a boulder was dropped on his
chest, and his heart was being crushed.  He dropped to his knees before
the woman he loved with every fiber of his being. "Please, Scully!
Don't do this.  I'll die if you leave me again."  Mulder choked back a
sob, "I love you Scully.  I need you.  Please don't shut me out."

 

Scully felt like glass.  She didn't believe he could still love her like
this.  She wasn't the same person she had been when she woke up in his
arms yesterday.  "How can you love me, Mulder?  I'm not even human
anymore," she said, her voice brittle.

 

Nick came in at that moment.  He was angry with her for thinking that,
mostly because it was the same addle-brained sentiment he had foolishly
lived under for centuries.  Miserable centuries.  His anger lashed out
at her through their link and snapped her out of her despair.  "I lived
like that for centuries, Dana, and I have finally given up on my
self-pity.  I'll be damned if I will allow my childé to wallow in
wretched misery!"  He fairly roared in anger.  "I want this fixed now!
I won't train a depressed, moody vampire!"

 

Scully shrank back at the anger she felt in her mind from Nick.  From
her master.  She was getting an instant education in the meaning of the
word master.  To say that she was cowed was an understatement.  All of
that power she had only glimpsed yesterday was back and was whipping her
down like an errant school child.  She dropped to her knees next to
Mulder, facing Nick, "How, Sir?" she whispered, eyes down.

 

Nick instantly cooled.  He would not act like his master had, and he
would make sure his childé would not act like he had been forced to.
"Stand up Dana," he said.

 

She jumped to her feet, but kept her eyes down, looking at Mulder who
was shocked at her submissiveness.

 

"Look at me Dana," Nick commanded.  Meeting her gaze he said, "I am your
maker.  I will be your teacher.  It is important that you obey me while
we are conducting your training.  However, you're not my slave.  You're
a student and you have much to learn, but I would prefer your respect,
not fear.  And call me Nick."

 

Scully relaxed ever so slightly, "Ok, Nick."

 

"Now then, lets get rid of this attitude you have developed- you're
still human, Dana, just not mortal any longer.  You will only give up
your humanity and become a monster if you choose to do so.  I don't see
you doing that, any more than you would have if you had remained mortal.
The only inherent changes you have made are the sensitivity to sunlight,
garlic, and a change in diet.  Think of it like a severe allergy, not an
infection of evil.  And, there are compensations for these deficiencies,
I assure you."

 

Scully didn't look convinced, but neither was she retreating into her
shell of despondency.

 

Mulder stood up as Nick asked him, "Do you still love her?"

 

Mulder answered without hesitation.  "More than anything or anyone else,
ever."

 

Nick continued, "Do you trust her?"

 

"Absolutely" Mulder said.

 

Nick looked at Scully.  "Do you love him?"

 

She dropped her eyes and whispered, "Yes."

 

Nick continued, "But you don't believe that he can still love you as you
are, correct?"

 

She just nodded her head slowly.

 

Mulder groaned, "Oh, Scully."

 

Nick stopped him short, "Words won't do, Mulder.  Are you willing to do
what it takes to prove it to her, and at the same time prove to yourself
that she still loves you?"

 

Again, Mulder didn't hesitate, "Anything.  I already told you, Nick.  I
will do *anything* to have her in my life."

 

"Go get me 3 more bottles, Mulder.  Now."

 

Mulder hurried downstairs to get more blood.  Nick turned to Scully and
said, "Drink the rest of that one," indicating the bottle she held in
her hand.

 

She finished off the bottle and asked, "What will you make him do?"

 

"This is one of those times that I will require your obedience.  You
will have to trust me to help you."  Nick said.

 

Mulder returned with the bottles, out of breath as he had run both ways.

 

Nick commanded Scully, "Drink them all.  Now."  He then watched as she
downed each of them, one right after the other.  Nick then said to
Mulder, "Give me your hand."

 

Mulder blinked once and then stuck out his arm toward Nick.

 

Nick turned to Scully, "Now, bite his wrist, and drink from him and you
will each have the knowledge you need."  When Scully hesitated he said,
"If necessary, I will make sure you stop before you take too much Dana."
He then said with a strong tone of command, "Do it now."

 

Scully moved over to Mulder's wrist, gently taking his hand from Nick.
She could sense the flow of his blood beneath the thin skin on the
inside of his wrist.  The colors around her began to gain a green
luminescence and she could hear the rapid beating of Mulder's heart.
She could smell his blood now; it perfumed the air before her.  She
looked into Mulder's eyes, seeking permission.  She saw love and trust
in his eyes.  "You smell like cardamom, Mulder," she whispered softly,
returning her eyes to his wrist.  She felt an ache in her gums as her
fangs descended fully for the first time.

 

"Do it!" Nick commanded through their link.

 

Despite all of the blood she had ingested moments ago, she felt a fresh
hunger spring up in her then.  She quickly pulled his wrist to her mouth
and bit down.  Her first thought was that it was like biting into a ripe
peach, his blood came quicker than she expected and a little bit came
out around her lips and dripped down her chin.  Then the taste of his
blood filled her senses, deliciously warm, incredibly rich, and heady
with the perfume of cardamom.  As she swallowed the first mouthful the
link was established.  What she felt next wiped out any doubts she could
have ever had.

 

Mulder felt the sharp sting of Scully's fangs in his wrist and was
almost immediately overcome with a surge of emotion.  Scully's emotion.
She loved him desperately, needed him, adored him and cherished him.
She was terrified that he would leave her now, repulsed by what she had
become.  His own fear and despair that she would move on, leaving him
behind now that she had become so much more, seemed silly to him now.
She could never leave him as long as he wanted her.  He felt a sense of
relief and joy that flooded through him like standing in a warm shower
after being out in the icy cold for too long- almost painful in its
overpowering pleasure.  He also began to feel just a bit light headed,
whether from relief or blood-loss, he wasn't sure.

 

"Stupid, I am so stupid!"  Scully thought as the link was established.
She had really expected to find rejection in Mulder's blood.  Well, she
wasn't sure exactly what to expect from this experience, really, but she
had convinced herself that she was unlovable as a vampire.  She had been
so afraid that he didn't want her anymore that she momentarily thought
it was her own fear flooding her mouth.  She quickly realized that it
was Mulder's fear she tasted.  He was worried that she didn't need him
any more, now that she was 'so much more' than she had been.  "Oh
Mulder, I could never leave you," she thought.  "There is no 'me' apart
from you."

 

Nick was about to intervene when Scully felt Mulder's weakness.  She
pulled away from his wrist so abruptly that more blood dripped down her
face, staining the blouse LaCroix had loaned her.  His daughter's, he'd
told her.

 

Through their link Nick gently instructed her on what to do, and Scully
carefully licked the wounds on Mulder's wrist until they scabbed over.
Her heart was full of the love Mulder had for her.  She was filled with
joy and tears were running down her face.

 

Mulder opened his eyes- he hadn't even realized that he had closed them-
and looked at the face of the woman he loved.  Her mouth and chin were
covered in his blood and tracks of blood ran down her face from her
eyes, which were still luminous green.  Her lips were parted and he
could see a little of her fangs.  It was the sweetest, most beautiful,
and downright sexy sight he had ever laid eyes on.  He swept her up into
his embrace and captured her mouth with his own.  Kissing her
thoroughly.  The taste of his own blood did nothing to calm his ardor.

 

This time Nick did intervene.  "Enough, you two!  Mulder, you're not
quite ready to donate again.  Scully, you need more control before
you're ready for that."  He looked sternly at them as they separated
slightly.  "Don't push this too far, too fast, or you will have a
tragedy on your hands."  He shook his head, "Two weeks at most, I
promise.  Less if you diligently apply yourself, Dana."

 

Mulder looked down at Scully and smiled.  "We waited 7 years…"

 

"We can make it two weeks," Scully finished, smiling up at him.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


8 p.m. Wednesday

 

They had decided that Scully wasn't really ready for the Raven when it
was packed with mortals, so the four of them went back to Nick's loft.
LaCroix was going to speak to Vachon about the Tracy situation when he
got in that night.  Nick had called Tracy and invited her over to
discuss the case; of course he was going to be covering a lot more than
that.  He wasn't looking forward to her reaction.  He had asked LaCroix
if he would send Vachon over after speaking with him.  He and Tracy had
some decisions to make.

 

"So what are we going to do about the headhunter thing, Nick?"  Natalie
asked, interrupting his thoughts.

 

"I thought you and Mulder and Tracy could go look up the guy from the
bar.  You could take Vachon as backup, and LaCroix has one of his
bouncers watching him as well.  It should be safe enough."  Nick said.

 

"You aren't coming?"  Natalie asked.

 

"Dana needs to start her training.  We cannot put it off, even for
this."  Nick turned from his fiancée to his new childé and continued,
"You have a lot of potential, Dana.  Really.  Most new fledglings are
unable to even see a mortal this soon, let alone be in their close
proximity for an extended period of time."  He fixed his gaze firmly on
hers and continued sternly, "However, if we put off your training, you
will not survive.  Even now, you feel the pull to hunt, don't you?"

 

Scully dropped her head in shame and nodded.

 

"Don't be ashamed of it, Dana, be aware of it.  We will work together
and you will learn to control it.  Even now, you feel it, but you
obviously don't feel compelled to act on it.  That's what I mean by
potential.  A normal fledgling would be unable to keep from doing so."
Nick said.

 

Scully looked hopeful.

 

"You still need training, though.  If you were dropped into the middle
of a crowd right now, or if something happened to make you feel
threatened, or even if you just got a little too hungry, you would be
tearing into the nearest mortal you could get your hands on- even
Mulder."  Nick said seriously.

 

The other three all blanched at that.

 

"So," he continued, "be patient.  Be diligent."

 

Just then the sound of the lift engaging rang out.  Nick went from
Master Vampire, to a scared little boy as he realized Tracy was on her
way up.  Natalie chuckled at the look on his face and got up to get
everyone a drink.

 

"Bring a bottle for my daughter, if you would dear."  Nick said just for
the humorous effect.

 

Natalie and Mulder laughed and Scully stuck her tongue out at him.  "Gee
thanks, Dad," she said, causing Mulder and Natalie to laugh out loud,
and even Nick smiled.

 

Tracy came bouncing in as she always did (if you look up 'perky' in the
dictionary you will find the definition followed by 'See Vetter, Tracy),
and said, "What's up, Nick?  How come you guys aren't at the
conference?"

 

"Sit down Tracy; I have a lot to tell you."  Nick sighed heavily as she
sat at the table.  "You remember Agents Mulder and Scully from the FBI?"

 

"Yes, we met briefly Saturday night."  She looked at the two agents;
they looked a little worn out.  Agent Scully looked even paler than she
had the other night.  "Please, call me Tracy," she said as they both
welcomed her by her title.

 

"I'm Dana" Scully said.

 

"Actually, everyone just calls me Mulder," Mulder said.

 

"Is this about that decapitated corpse, Nick?"  Tracy asked.  "Because,
we're still nowhere on that.  No ID, no leads."

 

"Yes, Tracy.  This is about that.  We have a couple of leads actually,
but before we can discus them there is something… well… something kind
of awkward that I need to tell you."  Nick said.

 

"What is it Nick?"  Tracy asked.

 

Nick couldn't really think of a good way to broach the subject gently or
easily so he decided on the direct approach.  He looked her straight in
the eye and said, "Tracy, I am a vampire."

 

Tracy paused for a second, "What does that have to do with the
decapitation?" she asked.

 

Nick was stunned.  He just sat there, slack-jawed.  Of all the possible
reactions he had imagined, this wasn't even close to being one of them.
"Huh?  How…"

 

Tracy looked at the four of them; they were all a bit stunned, but
especially Nick.  God, he could be clueless sometimes.  She looked at
Natalie and said, "Honestly Natalie, how do you put up with him?"  She
looked back at Nick, still gaping like a fish out of water, "Well, Duh!
Nick.  I'm a de-tec-tive, I de-tect."  They didn't give me the badge
because I'm perky!"

 

Natalie immediately began screaming in laughter, tears pouring down her
face.  Mulder was laughing out loud as well.  Scully had her hands over
her mouth trying not to laugh at her master, given that she could feel
his annoyance through their link, and didn't quite feel brave enough to
exacerbate it.

 

If Nick could have blushed, his face would be on fire.  "How long…"

 

"That whole sun allergy thing was pretty fishy before I knew about
vampires.  After I met Vachon… well it was pretty obvious."  She paused,
"You two do know each other, don't you?  I mean how could you not,
right?  How many vampires are there in Toronto anyway?  Vachon would
never talk to me about them.  And don't think I'm not going to pay him
back for not telling me about you, even though I already figured it out,
I mean…" Tracy started chattering.

 

"Enough Trace!"  Nick broke through the steady stream-of-consciousness
pouring forth.  "I get the point."  Nick chuckled at his own
cluelessness and looked at the other three.  Mulder was wiping the tears
from his eyes, Natalie had her head down between her knees trying to
catch her breath; she had laughed so hard.  His 'daughter' still had her
hands clasped firmly over her mouth, unshed bloodtears welling in her
eyes.  He felt through their link and saw that it was only the fact that
she was refusing to breath at all that was keeping her from joining
Natalie in her hysterics.

 

"So what is the deal then, Nick?"  Tracy asked.  "Is the killer a
vampire or what?"

 

Nick went on to explain what they had really seen in the alley,
including the facts that didn't make the official report.  He told her
about the fight on the rooftop, and the guy at the bar.  He left off the
part about LaCroix and just said a vamp had killed him a long time ago,
and he was still alive and not a vampire.

 

"So you think this guy you saw in the Raven might be like the guy you
fought on the roof?"  Tracy asked.

 

"It is a possibility, yes."  Nick replied.

 

"And you want us to go talk to him, right?"

 

"Well… you, Mulder and Nat, anyway."  Nick replied.

 

Tracy raised an eyebrow at that, "You're not coming?  You want us to go
see a potentially unkillable, sword-swinging homicidal maniac- but you
and Dana aren't joining us?"  Tracy threw her hands up in the air, "Why
not?"

 

Nick looked at Scully, "Up to you," he said through the link.

 

Scully looked a bit sheepish, "Ahh, I'm not exactly allowed out in
public… not just yet anyway," she said, glancing at Nick the entire
time.

 

It only took Tracy a moment to figure out what she meant by that, "You
brought an FBI Agent across?!  Nick! What were you thinking?"  She was
exasperated.  "I thought the point of the code was *not* to bring
attention to The Community!"

 

"Vachon told you about the code?  Good.  That leads us to the next
topic.  Vachon should be here anytime now.  You and he have something to
discuss.  Something important."  Nick said.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Outside The Raven


 


The subject of their discussion was just leaving the Raven.  Javier
Vachon was more afraid right now than he had been since he was brought
across, almost 470 years ago.  Not long ago he would have cut and run,
rather than let himself get involved with a Code conflict and the
Conlectio Cruoris of the Council of Elders.  "Tracy is worth it." he
told himself.  He knew he was hopelessly in love with her, but he didn't
know how she felt.  Frankly he didn't think she knew either.  One didn't
usually see a lot of perky, upbeat vampires running around, but he was
sure that Tracy wouldn't lose that just because she came across.  Now he
had to convince her of it.

 

When LaCroix told him that Tracy would have to choose, and soon, or face
death; he felt like he had been staked in the gut.  The fact that his
own life was on the line didn't even enter into his thoughts.  If she
chose not to come across, she would die.  Would he even want to live
beyond that day?  It wasn't a subject he had ever considered.  The end
of his own existence.  "Wow," he thought.  He would just have to
convince her that the nightlife was better than no-life.  He took off
for the Loft at top speed.

 

=====
Chapter 8a


 


Terminal 3

 

Lester B Pearson International Airport

 

8:02 p.m.  Wednesday December 13th.

 

Methos was waiting.  "Bloody plane is 2 bloody hours late." he thought
sourly.  "5,000 years of progress and we still can't schedule traffic
any better than we could with Bloody donkeys and carts."

 

An announcement came across the public address system, "Flight 1013 From
Seattle Washington Now Arriving At Gate B10."

 

"About Bloody Time!!" Methos said while jumping up off of his stool at
the bar.  He threw down a $50 and took off for the gate.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Gate B10

 

Duncan MacLeod was pissed off.  He had been woken up at 6 a.m. and had
to pack and get to the airport for an 11 a.m. flight across the country
and into Canada.  With a sword.  Across international boarders with a
three-and-a-half bloody foot-long sword.  Not an easy task when one
plans ahead.  Short notice; customs; sword.  And no explanation why
other than 'It's important, Duncan.'  "That SOB *owes* me for this one,"
he thought.

 

He felt the quickening as soon as he stepped off the plane.  "Hullo
Mac!" he heard from off to his left.  He turned to find a grinning
Methos standing there looking entirely too happy to see him.

 

"Alright, Why the hell am I here, Methos?"  Mac said without preamble.

 

"What…  No 'Hello'; No 'Long time, no see';  Not even a 'How's it going'
for your old pal?"  Methos teased.

 

"How about a 'what-the-hell's-going-on?'"  Mac said sourly.

 

Methos picked up the carryon bag that Mac had dropped and hooked his
free arm in Mac's, pulling him close and whispering, "In the car.  I
have the feeling I'm being watched." and then walked toward the
terminal, dragging Mac along.

 

Mac quickly surveyed the 150 or so people in sight and kept pace with
Methos.

 

As they entered the parking structure, Mac thought he had the tail
spotted.  He was very good, blending in with the crowd, never looking
directly at them, or evenly matching their pace of movement.  However,
he wasn't with anyone, wasn't carrying a bag, and Mac didn't recognize
him from the flight, so why would he be in the group of people heading
toward baggage claim?  If he didn't stop and pick up a bag at the claim,
Mac would be sure- since he himself only had carry-on bags and wouldn't
be stopping.

 

As they came around a bend Mac broke off and gestured for Methos to keep
going while he hid behind a concrete support and waited for their tail
to show.

 

Carter knew it was a trap before he even entered.  However, there was no
way around, and if he doubled back, he might lose the target.  Either he
was already made or they were just being cautious.  All he could do was
move through it and either balls it out or fight through and wait on the
other side for them to come out.

 

He could hear the heartbeat of the mortal behind the pillar, and of his
target up ahead.  He never broke stride as he passed the first, but the
silly mortal whipped out a sword and held it to his neck.  "Nice blade"
he thought.  If he had to kill the guy, at least he would get a nice
souvenir out of it.  "What's your problem, man?" he said out loud,
trying to balls it out.

 

"Nice try, but you forgot your bags." MacLeod rasped out.

 

"Fight it out, I guess" Carter thought as he saw the target coming back
with another sword drawn.

 

Methos came into sight of MacLeod holding a small young man at bay with
his sword against the kid's neck.  He was going to say "Aren't you a
little short to be a thug?" when the kid moved.  It was almost too fast
for the eye to see.  The kid leaned back at an impossible angle away
from Mac's sword then batted it up with one hand while striking a
back-fist against Mac's chest, caving it in with a sickening crunch.
Before he could even blink, he felt something strike his chest with a
force like being shot with a rifle.  He flew several meters down the
ramp they were on and landed on his back.  He was pretty sure he had at
least several broken ribs.

 

As Carter flew away he chastised himself for not pulling his punches
more.  He was pretty sure the target survived, but the other one was
almost certainly dead.  If not, he would be soon, as Carter felt the
ribs give way when he struck, penetrating the lungs and heart.  Miklos
was not going to be pleased.  He wasn't even going to think of how the
general would react.

 

To say that he was surprised when he observed both of them walking into
the parking lot not two minutes later was an understatement.  Neither
moved as though they were injured at all.  He waited until they were in
the car and then pulled out his phone and placed a call before leaping
into the air after them.

 

MacLeod waited until they were in the car before he said a word.  Methos
turned toward him and started to speak, but Mac cut him off.

 

"Short notice, customs, sword, no explanation," he was ticking each
point off of the fingers of his right hand as if counting from 1 to 5,
but on 5 he made a fist and shook it at Methos.  "And dead from a bloody
crushed chest- not the most pleasant way to go, by the way."

 

Methos took a quick breath as if to say something when Mac jumped in
again, "And what the hell was that?  I've been hit by cars with less
damage!"  Mac complained.

 

Methos just started the car and began driving off.  He waited for
MacLeod to stop ranting before even trying to get a word in.  Finally
Mac wound down and Methos said, "I don't know what it was MacLeod.  I
was in a club looking for Froag last night when I saw this guy."

 

MacLeod jumped once more, "You mean the guy that just kicked out butts?
And why are you looking for Phineas Froag?"

 

"Maybe if you would let me finish a sentence, I could explain?"  Methos
said, exasperated.

 

"Well by all means, please do go on," MacLeod said sarcastically.

 

"Thank you," Methos said just as sarcastically.  "I saw a guy in the
club that I recognized from a long time ago.  But, there was no
quickening.  I'm sure it was the same guy, and he recognized me as well,
even put my drinks on the house tab."  Methos shot a quick glance at Mac
to gauge his reaction, before continuing.  "Any way, ever since I left
the club, I felt like I was being followed.  I never could find the guy,
no matter how many times I doubled back or walked in circles.  That's
why I called you this morning."

 

"So the thing that attacked us wasn't the guy from the club?  Are you
sure you were close enough to feel the quickening?"  Mac asked.

 

"No and Yes, respectively."  Methos replied.

 

"How do you know the guy from the club?"  Mac asked.

 

"He had me crucified in Gaul in 74 AD."  Methos responded.

 

"Why?"

 

"He was a Roman General.  He wiped out a tribe I had been living with
for a decade or so."  Methos said.

 

"So why single you out for special treatment?"

 

"I had been leading raids against his troops for a couple of weeks
before they got to our village.  I never did figure out how they found
us- we always escaped away from the direction of the village when we
retreated from our raids.  I left tails and we were never followed even
in the wrong direction, let alone all the way to the village."  Methos
shook his head slowly.  "Any way, I was thinking of going back tonight…"

 

"And you wanted me as backup?"  Mac asked, incredulously.

 

"Yeah, fat lot of good you did so far."  Methos teased.

 

"I didn't see you get any good strikes in, and *you* had time- he
attacked me first!"  Mac complained.

 

"So, you want to go with me?"  Methos asked.

 

"Well, I haven't been killed in at least…" Mac looked at his watch, "10
minutes or so.  Why not?"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


8:30 p.m. Wednesday

 

Vachon landed on the roof of the loft and looked in the skylight.  He
saw Trace, Nick, Natalie, and a Vampire and a mortal that he didn't
know.  He was about to jump off the roof and come in the conventional
way- since he didn't know if Tracy knew about Nick being a vamp, and he
didn't know about the other mortal at all- when Nick looked up and
gestured for him to enter.  "He must have told Tracy.  I'm sorry I
missed that!" he thought.

 

Natalie, Tracy and Mulder all started slightly when they heard the
skylight open and saw Vachon jump down.  Mulder was like a kid in a
candy store, seeing all of the X-Files fodder around and for once being
able to share it with Scully.  "She can't 'scientific explanation' it
all away this time!" he thought, somewhat uncharitably.  He loved her
more than life itself, "but damn!  I get tired of being the only one to
see it every time!"  he thought, remembering all of the supernatural
and/or alien phenomena he had witnessed while Scully was unconscious,
missing, or just plain looking the wrong way.

 

"Hey Trace," Vachon said.

 

Tracy promptly stood up and hugged him.  Then she pulled back and
punched him in the arm as hard as she could.

 

"Ouch!  What was that for?" he asked the madwomen who had just assaulted
him.

 

"That's for not telling me about Nick!"  Tracy said, looking fiercely at
him.

 

Natalie and Nick laughed at the 'little boy caught red-handed' look.
Scully had finally calmed down enough to start breathing again when she
caught Nick's 'whipped' comment through the link and started laughing.
"Better not let Natalie hear you say that," she thought to him.

 

Again, if Nick could have blushed, he would have.  As it was, Natalie
seemed to pick up on the exchange and elbowed Nick in the ribs, just in
case.

 

Tracy transitioned back to perky and introduced Mulder and Scully to
Vachon.  Upon hearing the titles, Vachon commented, "How does one of us
get into the FBI?  Don't they make you take all kinds of physical tests
and such?"

 

Mulder chuckled at Scully's sheepish look and answered for her, "She
only recently, Ahh… joined your ranks."

 

By that time Vachon had detected Knight's scent on her.  He spun around
toward him saying, "You brought across an FBI Agent?!  What were you
thinking?"

 

Inexplicably, Tracy blushed at the comment and the rest laughed.  Vachon
was slightly nonplussed at the reaction and Tracy forged ahead, "Nick
said we needed to talk, Vachon.  So… Talk."

 

Vachon told her what LaCroix had told him.  Tracy paled and looked at
Nick.  "The Nightcrawler?  Why would he be involved at all, and why is
he giving my Boyfriend instructions on my life?"  Tracy practically
shouted.

 

Vachon thought "Well that answers one question."  He noticed that she
was looking back and forth between Knight, Natalie and himself, trying
to figure out why they were all smiling at her.

 

Tracy suddenly blushed when she realized she had slipped.  Before she
could protest, Vachon answered her question.

 

"LaCroix is the oldest vampire in Toronto, Tracy.  He was doing Knight a
favor by telling me before the choice was forced on you."

 

Tracy was overwhelmed with the influx of new information and the
seriousness of the situation that she was in.  "Why would the oldest
vampire in Toronto do me any favors, Nick?"

 

"Because you're my partner, Tracy.  He knows that I care about you."
Nick told her the rest, "He's my Father Tracy."

 

"Your Father?"

 

"Father, Maker, Master- how ever you choose to describe it."  Nick said.

 

Tracy was clearly overwhelmed.  "Oh," she said.

 

Nick looked at Mulder and said, "Why don't you four go see our
'suspect?'  I've got the address of the place where he is apparently
staying from LaCroix.  Nat can drive while you explain the situation to
Vachon, and then Tracy and Vachon can talk on the way?"

 

"Yeah.  I'd like to figure out what these guys are."  Mulder said.
"Plus," he thought to himself, "The sooner he trains Scully, the sooner
we can be together again."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


9:35 p.m.

 

"Irony," was the one word Carter thought of to describe this situation.
He was watching the target for Miklos, for when the General was ready to
find him; however, it seemed that the target was ready to find the
General first.  Carter pulled out his phone.

 

MacLeod and Methos stood in line at the Raven for about 20 minutes when
someone opened the door and the Bouncer stuck his head into the club for
a moment.  When he came back, he immediately opened the rope line and
let everyone in front of them in until they themselves got in.  Mac
noticed that they were the last ones allowed in before the bouncer
closed the line again.

 

Methos and Mac shared a look.  "Quite a coincidence," they both thought
as they went to find a table.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


LaCroix's Office


 


LaCroix was intrigued.  First Miklos informed him of the incident at the
airport, and now this man and his companion had come straight to him.
He made sure they got in immediately, but winced when he noticed that
his incompetent bouncer had been so obvious about it.

 

LaCroix reviewed the facts, such as he had, "They are both like the one
Nicolas and Agent Mulder encountered the other night.  They can be
killed but they don't stay dead.  Unless you take their head, perhaps?"
he thought, remembering Nicolas' description of the first encounter on
Saturday night.  "There are at least three of them in the city.  At
least one of them is as old as I am, perhaps older."

 

LaCroix watched them on the CCTV system for a bit, considering his next
course of action.  He was in no particular hurry.  They would not be
allowed to leave until he was ready for them to do so.  "If that time
should come," he murmured.  He thought it might be amusing to allow Nick
to approach them in his capacity as a member of 'Toronto's Finest' and
see what their reaction was.  Eventually he reached for the phone.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


Nick had decided that quick instruction was needed for a variety of
reasons.  He knew Dana wanted strongly to be with Mulder again- soon.
He himself wanted to bring Natalie across and he didn't want to wait any
longer than necessary.

 

Fortunately there was a way to facilitate the training.  Unfortunately
it involved a level of intimacy that was rather uncomfortable to
consider.  He would have to be as intimate with Dana as he was with
Natalie.  Not physically, but in every other way.  He thought Natalie
would understand once she came across, but might have a more difficult
time from a purely mortal perspective.  That Dana might resist such
intimacy was also a consideration.  He would have to convince her.

 

Scully watched Nick as he considered her.  She didn't care for the new
relationship that she had with this man.  He was her master.  She had
the impression that he didn't really think of her as a slave, but she
could feel the power he wielded over her and, by any other name, she
felt like a slave just the same.  She tried not to resent him; he had
saved her life, after all.  It wasn't his choice that made her what she
was, it was hers.  She could have gone on, not crossed back over.  She
thought of Mulder, and realized that whatever she would have to do, it
would be worth it.

 

Nick felt his new fledgling's turmoil and resolve.  He decided that it
was foolish to wait, and that it was equally foolish to try and reason
and cajole her into what had to be done.  He would play the part of
master to the hilt, demanding what was necessary, and then releasing her
once it was complete.  They would always share a bond, but one not
nearly as strong as the link between him and his own master.  He would
train her and then let her go her own way as she chose.

 

Scully was becoming uncomfortable as Nick continued to stare at her
intently.  He had closed off their link and she couldn't feel what he
was thinking.  Suddenly he seemed to come to a decision.

 

Nick focused on Dana and spoke, "This is going to be uncomfortably
intimate for both of us, but it is the quickest way to cover the basics
and significantly reduce the time we will need to accomplish your
training," Nick sighed.  He then continued with a tone that bore no
argument, "I expect that you will obey me, Dana.  You will feel the
impulse to resist once the link is initiated.  That is normal.  I will
beat down your resistance and completely possess you.  It won't last
long, but it will feel as though it does.  The more you're able to relax
and allow it to happen, the easier and quicker it will be."

 

Before she could even comment, Nick struck.  He had her in his arms and
his teeth buried in her throat in less than an eye blink.  She felt
compelled to bite him as well, so she did.  Intimate didn't begin to
describe it.  Her instinctive resistance to this… Violation seemed to
come the closest… was quashed immediately and she felt herself being
erased and replaced with him.  S/He was being taught by LaCroix.  S/He
experienced every agonizing moment- being repeatedly thrown off of a
cliff until S/He grasped the concept of flight.  Being abandoned in a
maze and forced to focus on the link with her/his master and find him
where he was hidden.

 

Then the killing came through.  S/He was hunting.  Hunting humans,
reveling in the blood and death.  S/He was a killing machine, draining
and destroying wherever she went.  S/He gloried in the power of the
vampire.  Suddenly the guilt began.  S/He began to feel the crushing
remorse that came from realizing that S/He was a monster, and damned for
all eternity.  Finally S/He found forgiveness and the chance for
redemption.

 

Scully slowly came to an awareness of herself as a separate entity.  She
felt the bloodtears dried on her face, and the rawness and
hypersensitivity of her flesh.  She also felt gnawing hunger as though
she hadn't eaten in days.

 

As soon as he felt that she wouldn't collapse, he flew to the fridge and
grabbed several bottles.  He tore the cork out of one and handed it to
her, while biting the cork out of another for himself.  After they each
finished several bottles he reached through their link and compelled her
to follow him.  He took off into the air and through the skylight into
the night.

 

Scully didn't even stop to think but took off after him into the sky.
She had been chasing him for several minutes before she realized what
she was doing.  "Wow!" she thought.  The night was nearly as bright as
it would be during daylight.  Everything was crystal clear, and the
colors were intense!  She was slightly lost in the intensity of the
experience when she heard "Find me" and realized that she no longer saw
Nick anywhere near her.

 

She remembered finding LaCroix this way, "I mean, I remember Nick
finding LaCroix…" Either way, she knew what to do.  It seemed like only
moments later that she came upon Nick hiding in a mausoleum in a
graveyard on the outskirts of the city.

 

"Cliché, I know," he said.  Then he was gone again.

 

This time she couldn't hear him calling her.  This too, she remembered.
She extended her senses, envisioning a cloud around herself that defined
her awareness.  She pictured that cloud growing larger in all
directions.  She could hear the heartbeats of the small mammals in the
cemetery all around her.  She could feel the movement of the trees as
the breeze blew through the leaves.  She felt the still coldness of the
reptiles below the surface, hibernating through the winter months.
Finally as she expanded her awareness to the limits of her ability she
felt him.  He was about 65 meters away from her in a tree.  She laughed
as she focused her attention toward him.  He was hanging by his toes
from a branch in a tall oak.  "More Cliché, Master?" she thought toward
him as hard as she could.  She could hear him laughing with her ears,
though he managed to keep the link shut to her.

 

He whispered to her from across the distance, "to the loft." and then
disappeared again.

 

She laughed again, reveling in the freedom of flight, now that she
wasn't focused on following or finding.  "I can't wait to bring Mulder
for a ride!" she thought.  She flew back to the loft, filled with
excitement and wonder, "Yesterday Vampires were a myth.  Something
Mulder believed in, but didn't really exist," she thought ruefully.
"Poor Mulder.  I owe him an apology."  She smiled again as she thought
of how she would show her repentance, and seek his forgiveness.

 

She hadn't even noticed that the link was open again until she felt Nick
chuckle and say to her, "You're not quite ready for that yet, Dana."

 

She didn't miss the ability to blush, she thought, chagrined.

 

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about Dana," Nick said to her as she
re-entered the loft.  "You just need to know a couple of things about
sex between mortals and vampires."

 

She couldn't meet his gaze as he continued.  She felt exactly like she
had at age 10 when her mother gave her 'the birds and the bees' talk.

 

"Except this is more like the bats and the bees, I guess," Nick answered
her train of thought.  The important thing to remember is that
carelessness on your part could lead to his death, Dana.  That's why it
is important to wait a bit until your control is even better."

 

"I thought you said I had good control now," she complained.

 

"You do, Dana. You remember how wonderful it felt when you drank from
him last night?"  he asked.

 

Scully nodded.

 

"It is even more intense when you drink from here," he said, gesturing
toward his throat.  "It is closer to the heart and mind, and the
imagery, the link, will be deeper, as you discovered with our bloodkiss
not an hour ago."

 

Scully looked at her watch as though her head was being pulled on a
string down toward it.  "Has it only been an hour?" she asked,
incredulously.

 

"The kiss only lasted a few minutes," Nick smiled.  "I told you it would
seem longer."  He continued, "The point is, you could easily get lost,
and Mulder cannot sustain a significant blood loss, like one of us can."

 

"Can't I do it without biting?" Scully asked.

 

"Technically, yes.  However, you cannot personally… well… finish, I
guess, without biting.  Even if you just try to 'be there for him' you
will have an almost irresistible urge to bite."  Nick shook his head
ruefully, "Dana, I am 800 years old.  Even I need to make sure I am well
full before Nat and I, well, you know."

 

"What if Mulder wants to, you know… come across," Scully asked softly.

 

"I would strongly recommend that if the two of you make that choice, you
wait a while- like a year or more- or you get someone else to do it."
He continued on over her protest, "Dana, you will have the basics down
pretty quickly, but you're not ready for a childé of you own, you won't
be for a while.  You could effect the physical change, any of us could,
but it requires a great deal of strength to control a fledgling.  That
kind of strength takes some time to develop."

 

Scully looked crestfallen.

 

"Dana, even in a year, you would need my help to adequately train a
fledgling, especially a strong-willed creature like your partner," he
returned Scully's smile at that comment.  "Frankly, I plan on having my
hands full with my wife.  If you really want to go that route, I would
help you find a suitable master to bring him across.  In any case it is
hardly a decision that needs to be made tonight."

 

At that moment the phone rang.

 

"Nick Knight," he answered.

 

"Nicolas, our friend is back, and he has secured reinforcements."
LaCroix said and then went on to describe the incident at the airport
and them showing up at the raven again.

 

Nick told him he would send Tracy, Vachon, Mulder and Natalie.  LaCroix,
of course, understood why Nick would not be attending.  He inquired as
to how the training was going.

 

"We did it the hard way," Nick said.

 

"You always were impatient, Nicolas," LaCroix said in an indulgent,
though slightly disapproving tone.  "Bring my granddaughter to me
tonight after closing," he commanded and then hung up the phone.

 

Scully, of course, heard the entire discussion.  "Is there a problem?"
she asked, somewhat worried.  LaCroix intimidated the hell out of her.

 

"No.  This method is somewhat frowned upon because weaker individuals
can be entirely overwhelmed and crack under the pressure.  Such
creatures are usually destroyed."  Nick answered the look on her face,
"I had no concerns of that sort whatsoever with you Dana.  You're
anything but weak."

 

Scully shut her open mouth with an audible- even to non-vampires- snap.

 

Nick said, "I'm going to call Nat and tell her what's up."

 

=====
Chapter 8b


 


The Caddie


 


Natalie closed her cell phone with a snap.  "He said that this guy and
another guy like him are at the Raven right now."

 

"What do you mean 'like him'?" Mulder asked.

 

"Nick said the one they had following him had to fight them when he was
detected.  He killed our target's partner and seriously damaged our
target.  Then not two minutes later they walked away like nothing
happened."  Natalie answered.

 

"You've never heard of these people before, Vachon?" Tracy asked.

 

"No.  But think about it, they don't really stand out, you know?  The
General only recognized the guy we are looking for because he had seen
him before.  A long time ago.  Otherwise he would have never known."
Vachon answered.

 

"I couldn't tell anything out of the ordinary when Nick and I fought
that guy on the roof, either."  Mulder paused and then gave a dry
chuckle, "At least not until he got up after Nick shot him several
times.  That was a little unusual."  He said wryly.

 

"Yeah, I guess that would have been strange.  Kind of like finding a guy
walking around holding his right hand in his left hand," Tracy said.

 

Natalie and Vachon laughed, Mulder looked confused.

 

Vachon explained, "I was on a plane that crashed.  I lost my right hand
and was looking for it when Tracy found me.  I had just found it and
picked it up when she told me to put my hands up." He started laughing
when he remembered the look on her face when he did as she asked.

 

"*Not* Funny Vachon!"  Tracy complained, hitting him on the arm, again.

 

Mulder laughed as he imagined the scene.

 

Tracy pouted for a moment, as everyone laughed at her expense.  She
decided to change the subject, kicking herself for having brought it up
in the first place.  "Should we go to the Raven?"

 

Natalie was about to answer yes, when Mulder interrupted her.  "How far
are we from the apartment where this guy is staying?"

 

Natalie said, "About 2 blocks.  Why?"

 

"Well," Mulder began, "If we know this guy is at the Raven, it seems
like this might be an excellent opportunity to check out his place, you
know- see if any useful information might turn up."

 

"We can't do that, Mulder!  It would ruin any case we might…" Tracy
began.

 

"It's not like we can take this case to court, Trace.  Even if this guy
is involved in the death you're investigating.  This can't go to trial
any more than a vampire kill could," Vachon interrupted- rather liking
Mulder's suggestion.

 

"I don't like it," Tracy said.

 

"Look, it would be rather suspicious for all of us to go.  Why don't I
go and you guys can talk about LaCroix's ultimatum while I check it
out."  Mulder said.

 

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Natalie said.

 

"If this guy is at the club, there's no danger, right?"  Mulder began,
"What's to worry about?  I'll go in, see if there is anything worth
further investigation, and then go out."

 

Natalie looked at the others.  No one had a better idea to bring up, so
she just shrugged and looked for a parking spot.

 

She was forced to park around the corner and halfway down the next
street.  Mulder Jumped out of the car and said, "Back in a few," and
then drew his coat tightly about him and briskly walked off.

 

Natalie watched him in the rear view until he rounded the corner.  She
turned in her seat and looked at the two in the back.  "So... What are
you going to do Tracy?"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Outside 3232 Tableau Ave., Apartment C


 


Jimson had been watching the door to the run-down looking brownstone for
almost 2 hours.   Pretty soon it would be Sonny's turn and he could get
a nap.  "God, I'm tired" he thought.  "I wish this freak would show up
so we can get this over with!"

 

He felt his eyelids beginning to droop.  As he forced them back open for
what must have been the hundredth time, he saw a man in a black trench
coat entering the door he had been staring at.  Frantically, he looked
at his watch, "How long was I…  Damn!  almost 10 minutes!"  he
whispered.  He looked over at Sonny, who was in the back of the van
sawing logs.

 

"Sonny!  Sonny!  Wake up!"  Jimson shouted softly.

 

"What?!" Sonny said blinking the sleep out of his eyes.  "Is it my turn
already?  Man!  I was having this incredible dream…"

 

"Shut up, Sonny.  He's here!"

 

"What?  Who's here?"  Sonny was still a little groggy.

 

"The freak we've been waiting for, you idiot!  Let's just grab him and
get him to Perone.  I want to see him chop this guy's head off."

 

"How do you know it's the guy?"  Sonny asked.

 

Jimson looked at Sonny like a monkey trying to solve a math problem.
"Well, let's see, He has short hair, a long black trench coat, and… Oh
yeah!  He's the only guy who walked into the apartment we have been
watching for the last twelve hours!  I think that's what clued me in!"

 

"Ok, ok!  Sheesh!  You don't have to bite my head off."  Sonny whined.

 

"How did you ever make it into the Watchers?"  Jimson asked,
incredulous.

 

"Hey, Fu…" Sonny began.

 

"Shut Up!"  Jimson interrupted, looking back over at the door.  "He's
coming back out."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

"Well… that was a waste of time," Mulder thought.  The place was
entirely empty except for a mattress and blankets on the floor, and next
to it a single wooden chair.  "Talk about traveling light." Mulder
mumbled as he pulled his coat tightly around him and walked out into the
night.  He pulled out his cell phone to call Natalie and let her know he
was on his way back.  "Just don't want her to worry" he thought.

 

As the phone rang he heard the sound of a car starting down the street
behind him.  He started to turn around when she answered.  "Hey Natalie,
the place was empty.  Yeah, there was a mattress and a chair and that's
it.  I'm heading back your…"  Mulder never finished the sentence because
the car he had heard starting drove right into him on the sidewalk.
Blissfully, he was rendered unconscious.  Had he remained conscious he
would have felt the pain of his broken legs, torn back muscles, and
cracked skull.

 

"What the hell did you do that for?"  Sonny yelled at Jimson.  "He's no
good to us dead!"

 

"You really are an idiot, Sonny.  He's *immortal* remember?  This just
gives us time to get him secured.  Now, get him cuffed and put him in
the trunk!"

 

Sonny scrambled to obey.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Caddie


 


Natalie had been listening to Tracy and Vachon discussing the pros and
cons of him bringing her across when the phone rang.  She shook her head
at the two, as they were dancing around the subject of their feelings
for each other.  "Are we really all so clueless?"  she thought,
remembering the tension between herself and Nick, as well as between
Mulder and Dana.  She listened to Mulder tell her there was nothing
there and start to say he was coming back when suddenly she heard the
screech of tires through the phone.  "Mulder?  Mulder, are you still
there?"  She could still hear sounds through the phone, but Mulder
wasn't answering.

 

Vachon heard everything through the phone as well.  He said, "I'll go
check it out," and just like that he was gone.

 

Tracy said, "I hate it when he does that!"

 

Natalie smiled in response.

 

Suddenly she heard Vachon's voice through the phone.

 

"Natalie- I think somebody hit your friend with a car- his blood is on
the ground and his phone was about 15 feet away from the blood, lying in
a flowerbed.  I saw a car spinning off around the corner- I'm going to
follow it.  You go to the Raven.  I'll call when I find him."

 

Damn.  When it rains it pours.  Natalie started the car and pulled away
from the curb.

 

"What happened?  Where are we going?"  Tracy asked.

 

"Let me call Nick and you can both hear it at the same time."  Natalie
replied, hitting the speed dial and pointing the car towards the Raven.

 

When Nick answered she explained what happened, and where they were
going, and that she would call back as soon as she heard from Vachon.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


"Stop right there, Dana."  Nick said as soon as he hung up the phone.
"We will wait right here until we hear anything.  You're not ready to go
out there right now, especially in your current state of control."

 

This was her master speaking with all of the power and authority he
could project.  Scully sat down abruptly on the couch.  She had heard
the entire thing and the words 'hit Mulder with a car' had her ready to
go out and destroy whoever had the temerity to harm her lover.  Once
Nick made her stop, she began to think rationally again.  "Where was I
going to go?"  She wondered.  I don't even know where they are.

 

"You and I are going to practice, and you're going to focus on the task
at hand.  We cannot do anything until we know where they have taken
him."  Nick said sternly.  "Now, Find Me!"  With that, he disappeared
out through the skylight again.

 

Scully sighed, as she felt that he had closed the link again.  She flew
up and out, once again trying to expand her senses.

 

Scully was hovering about 200 feet in the air, trying to focus her
newfound senses outward, trying to find her master.  "Funny how
'master', odious as it is, seems easier than 'father'," she thought.
Nick called his master 'father', and she heard LaCroix refer to her as
his granddaughter, but she still found the concept difficult to wrap her
mind around.  Ahab was her father- no one could ever replace him.

 

Not to mention she was having difficulty focusing on anything right now.
She was terribly worried about Mulder.  "Why is this happening to us?
How many times can I lose him, when I just found him after 7 years of
denial?"

 

Just then she noticed a shadow flit across the sky in the distance,
landing on a building about 1500 meters away.  "She couldn't reach that
far with her vampire senses, but her eyes still worked just fine.  "Who
else could it be?" she thought as she took off toward him.

 

"Talk about dumb luck" Vachon thought.  He was following the car when it
pulled in to a warehouse garage, not even a mile from Nick's loft.  He
settled on the roof across the alley from where the car pulled in.  He
could sense about a dozen heartbeats, including one that seemed thready,
unhealthy.  "Probably Mulder," he thought.  "I feel sorry for those guys
if Knight's childé gets a hold of them."  Actually he didn't feel sorry
for them at all.  He pulled out Mulder's cell phone to call Natalie.

 

As Scully got closer, she realized that it was Vachon, not Nick.  He was
talking on a cell phone, though she was just a little too far away to
hear what he was saying.  Her undead heart beat twice in succession,
"Mulder must be in there!" she thought, looking at the warehouse Vachon
was focused on.  Nick's admonishment fled her mind as she thought of
Mulder injured and hurt in there.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Sam and Sullie's Auto Parts


 


Perone was not impressed when Jimson and Sonny showed up claiming to
have captured the immortal and opened the trunk to reveal their prize.

 

Mulder lay groaning in the trunk.  He was barely conscious, and wracked
with pain.  He was also still bleeding steadily from the wound on the
back of his head.

 

Jimson and Sonny pulled him from the trunk and sat him on a chair in
front of Perone and the others.  "What makes you think that this is the
one I sent you to find?"  Perone asked disdainfully.

 

Jimson realized something was wrong when their quarry was still out of
it.  Sonny forged ahead "We caught him coming out of the apartment you
sent us to.  We hit him with the car and brought him straight here!" he
said excitedly.

 

"If this is an immortal, why is he still *bleeding?*" Perone asked in
clipped tones.  "Get rid of it him, you idiots!"

 

Scully landed in front of a dirty window and peered in just in time to
see a group of men standing around Mulder, who was propped up in a
chair.  Her heart broke to see him, he looked beat to hell, and she
could smell and see his blood covering his face and clothes.

 

Natalie was on the phone with Vachon when she heard him say "Uh oh!"

 

"What is it, Vachon?"  she asked.

 

"Knight's daughter just landed in front of the warehouse." Vachon
answered.

 

"Where's Nick?" Natalie asked.

 

"I don't know."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nick was becoming concerned.  He had felt his daughter when she thought
she had him located, but she had flown the wrong direction.  He popped
up into the air and began looking for her.

 

His cell phone rang and he stopped to answer it.

 

"Nick where the hell are you!?"  Natalie practically screamed at him.

 

"What's wrong Nat?"

 

Natalie began speaking rapidly, "Vachon followed them to a warehouse
about a mile down the road from you, and he just told me Dana is there
now!"

 

"Damn!  She must have seen Vachon, and thought it was me.  I'm on my way
now." he said and then closed the phone and took off toward the loft and
past it.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nat called Vachon right back.  She told him Nick was on the way, so he
popped up into the air to look and saw him in the distance.  Just then
he heard gunfire and then an inhuman scream that sent chills down his
spine.  It was loud enough that Natalie even heard it over the phone.

 

"What was that?!" she demanded.

 

"I think they just killed your friend," he said, stunned.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nick felt a wave of despair/anguish/anger/hatred through his link with
his daughter at the same time he heard the gunshot and her scream.

 

"Oh, no!" he cried.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Scully stood frozen as she watched one of the men pull a pistol and fire
in one smooth motion.  It was as if time came to a near-standstill.  She
saw the bullet impact Mulder's chest directly over his heart.  She saw
the weak spray of blood as his heart gave one last contraction and
stopped.  She waited for a second beat, and when it didn't come she felt
her world end.  Suddenly her vision was red, and her throat was raw and
bleeding from the scream that tore out of her as if of its own volition.

 

Her body reacted without any direction from her mind, which was focused
on Mulder.  The words, "He's dead, they killed him" reverberated in her
mind as her body flung itself through the glass in front of her and
began to rend and destroy.

 

When Nick and Vachon arrived only moments later, it was already over.
The only intact bodies in the room were the corpse of Mulder, who was
hand and foot cuffed in a chair; and the body Dana was just finishing
draining.  The others were in various pieces, strewn all over the room.
Blood was sprayed all over the room and Dana was completely soaked.
There wasn't a square inch of her that wasn't saturated in human blood.

 

Nick hoped she could calm down quickly.  He really didn't want to have
to destroy this childé too.  He was about to say something to her when
his attention was drawn back to Mulder.

 

Scully returned to herself just as she finished draining Perone.  She
knew his name; she knew all of their names.  She had all of his
memories, she remembered Perone instructing the one called Jimson to
kill Mulder.  "Oh, Mulder!" she thought.  She was suddenly aware of Nick
and Vachon in the room.  She was horrified and embarrassed at what she
had done.  She was not sorry that these monsters were dead, but she was
ashamed that she had done it.  She felt her master's sadness and
concern.  He wasn't angry, just disappointed and… "Wondering if he had
to destroy her?"  Her tears began to flow.  "Am I a monster?"  She
didn't really care if she lived or died at that moment.  Mulder was
gone, and her life was over anyway.  Just as the overwhelming sorrow
threatened to drag her back down into insanity, she heard a loud Gasp.

 

Mulder's last memory was one of pain.  He had been in intense pain
already when the bullet ripped through his heart.  His last thought had
been worry about Scully.  He hoped she would be able to overcome the
pain and live.  He didn't think he could be that strong if the positions
were reversed, and he just hoped she was stronger than he was.  Then
blackness…  Until now.  He gasped and began breathing raggedly.

 

As he opened his eyes he saw Scully, Nick and Vachon all standing there,
gaping at him.  He noticed Scully was completely bathed in blood.  "My
blood?" he wondered.  Then he noticed the pile of body parts around him.
He remembered the group of men standing around him before they shot him.

 

"Scully?  Are you ok?  Did they hurt you?"  Mulder asked.  He went to
stand up and reach for her when he discovered his hands were cuffed
behind his back.  He took a step towards her and discovered that his
feet were similarly cuffed.

 

When he started to fall, Scully was snapped out of her stupor.  She was
instantly by his side to catch him.

 

"Scully, I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry I let them do this.  Please tell me
you're ok, Scully.  I was worried about you."

 

Scully didn't even know that she had felt crushed until the weight
lifted off of her.  Mulder's death had been like the weight of the
entire world focused into a point pressing against her heart.  Now that
it was gone she felt exultant.  She didn't even realize she was floating
in the air until Mulder's head softly struck the ceiling.

 

Mulder still didn't realize they were flying.  He was so focused on the
eyes of his love before him that the blood she was covered in
disappeared from his perception.  All he could do was kiss her
thoroughly.  He ran his tongue over her fangs and she moaned in delight.

 

Vachon was still gaping at the pair.  He was sure that they were about
to have sex floating 20 feet in the air above.  He began to laugh at
their antics.  It was either laugh or… "Hell, I don't even know!" he
thought.

 

Nick was glad to feel Dana's sanity return with the return of Mulder.
That return bothered him though.  It was apparent that Mulder was like
the others in which they were interested. "And he didn't know it?" he
wondered.  This needed to be resolved.  He cleared his throat, loudly;
reinforcing the gesture through his link with his daughter.

 

Scully felt the tug and broke off her kiss with Mulder.  She looked down
and couldn't restrain a giggle.

 

Mulder felt a wave of disappointment when she broke the kiss.  When he
looked down, he gasped again and tried to grab on to Scully, but was, of
course, stopped again by the cuffs.  "Scully, why are we up here?" he
asked.

 

She grinned at him and said, "I was just really, really happy to see
you, Mulder."

 

"Can we go down now?  I'd really like to get these cuffs off."

 

"Sure."

 

They slowly floated to the floor and Scully reached around for Mulder's
cuffed hands, tearing the chain apart and bringing them around between
him and her.  She pulled apart the bracelets on each hand, and then
kneeled down and did the same for his ankles.

 

"Wow…  Thanks," was all Mulder said.

 

Suddenly the situation came crashing back down on her.  Mulder could see
it in her eyes when they started darting around at the body parts on the
floor.  He remembered how he felt when he had witnessed the vamp who
attacked Scully burn in the morning sun.  Guilty.  Not because of pity
for the vampire, but because he enjoyed it.  He decided that now would
be a good time to share that with Scully.

 

"Did Nick tell you what we did with Freddie?"  Mulder asked, derailing
Scully's obviously self-recriminating train of thought.

 

"Who?" she asked, suddenly confused.

 

"The one who attacked you…"

 

"Oh.  No, he didn't."  Scully looked at Nick.

 

"LaCroix let me stake him to the roof.  I watched him writhe in agony
for hours.  Then the sun came up.  That's when the screaming began.  It
was like playing a blowtorch over his entire body.  It started to smoke
and turn black, then flames leapt through his skin, as though he was
burning up from the inside.  After a while there was nothing left but
ash, and I watched that blow away in the breeze."  Mulder's tone had
been flat, emotionless; as he continued she could hear passion rising up
in him, "I enjoyed it, Scully.  I only wished I could hurt him more,
make it last longer.  He had attacked you, threatened to take you away
from me.  He failed, but still, he tried."

 

Scully felt compelled to respond, "Mulder, I…"

 

"Afterwards," Mulder interrupted her, "the only thing that I felt bad
about, was that I didn't feel bad about it at all."  Mulder locked his
gaze on hers, "I don't feel the urge to do that sort of thing, except
when it comes to someone hurting you. I'm not a monster Scully, am I?"
Mulder asked.

 

Scully felt relieved.  He understood exactly how she felt.  "No Mulder.
You're not a monster.  Neither am I."

 

Nick broke in at that point.  "You need to go take a shower.  Both of
you," he said, gesturing at their blood-soaked bodies.

 

"I know what they are, Nick." Scully said.

 

Nick blinked at the segue.  "What who are?"

 

"The guy you fought on the rooftop.  Like the one LaCroix showed us at
the bar.  Like Mulder." she answered.

 

"It was in their blood, Nick.  They belong to a group called the
watchers.  They watch 'Immortals,' they record their history, their
lives, and their battles."  She continued angrily, "some of them do more
than watch.  Some of them think immortals are an abomination.  They hunt
them."

 

"How is it that Mulder didn't know he was an immortal?"  Nick asked.

 

"It doesn't seem to kick in until their first death.  Before that, they
are just like mortals in every way.  I can tell you from experience that
Mulder has spent plenty of time in hospitals recovering from beatings,
stabbing, and shootings."  Scully shook her head and looked at Mulder,
"I have spent so many nights worrying about you dying…  If I had known,
I would have killed you six years ago."

 

"Aw, honey, that's the nicest thing you have ever said to me," Mulder
laughed.

 

"What about the lightening show?" Nick asked.

 

"It's called a quickening.  It's their life force.  When one of them
takes another's head, they receive the quickening that is released,
increasing their power.  The more heads, the more power they have.  They
call it 'The Game.'  In the end, there can be only one.  They fight
until there is only one left, and that one gets 'The Prize' whatever
that is.  These mooks didn't know anyway," Scully said.

 

"That's why they cuffed me after they ran me down with the car?  They
thought I would heal quickly."  He realized that these guys were after
the same man they were tailing, but didn't know what he looked like.

 

"Anything else we need to know?"  Nick asked.  "No?  Then you two go
take a shower.  You can keep yourself occupied until 2.  Then come to
the Raven.  We will keep the 'immortals' occupied.

 

"Wait, Nick."  Why do we need to keep them occupied at all?  We know
what's going on already.  Don't we?"  Scully asked.

 

"We still don't know why they are here, and if it is just for this
'Game'…  Well, frankly, as a policeman in this city I don't particularly
like cleaning up after them.  They can take it elsewhere."  Nick said.

 

====
Chapter 9a


 


Nick's Loft


 


10:20 p.m.  Wednesday December 13th

 

Scully stood in the shower with Mulder, washing the blood off of both of
their bodies.  Mulder looked like the victim in a slasher film.  Scully
looked like that scene in Carrie.  When she had seen herself in the
mirror she had almost fainted.  "Can Vampires faint?" she wondered.
"They have almost no blood pressure as it is, not to mention…"  She
broke her own train of thought.  'They.'  Vampires weren't a 'they'
anymore.  "We."  She thought.  "Better get used to it."

 

"I love you, Scully.  No matter what.  Vampire, werewolf, zombie,
whatever.  It wouldn't change the way I feel about you."  Mulder said.
"Well, maybe not as a zombie…" he joked

 

Scully blinked at that for a moment.  "What was that, Mulder?"  she
asked.

 

"You were getting that 'I'm a freak' look."  Mulder was emotionally
exhausted by the events of the evening, and his heart was on his sleeve.
"Please don't ever think it matters to me Scully.  I love you so much it
hurts.  I really can't even fathom existence without you.  Especially
immortal existence."  His voice dropped to a whisper as every last
insecurity he'd ever had ran gibbering through his mind simultaneously,
"please don't leave me.  *please*"

 

As hard a day as she'd had, she knew it had been no picnic for Mulder
either.  She was worried about losing him, and she had allowed that
feeling to make her mentally push him away.  "Enough, Dammit!" she
shouted.  "I'm a blood-sucking vampire, and you're a head-hunting
immortal.  I refuse to allow little things like that to come between us
anymore!"

 

Mulder, at first stunned at her outburst, began laughing hysterically.
He wrapped his blood-sucking girlfriend in his arms and laid into her
lips with a searing kiss, not coming up for air until he began to feel
light headed.

 

Scully smiled impishly and said, "I don't need to breathe anymore
Mulder."

 

Mulder waggled his eyebrows and said, "That could come in very handy,"
while pressing his erection into her stomach.

 

Scully lost her smile for a moment and said, "I'm not sure we should,
Mulder.  Nick said it could be difficult for me to stop once I started."

 

Mulder's smile grew large, "I'm OK with that," he said.

 

Scully rolled her eyes, "I meant drinking from you, Mulder.  Apparently
I have to bite to… you know."

 

"Actually, no.  I don't know.  You have to bite me to… what?"  Mulder
said with a smirk.

 

"Arggh!" she thought.  Mulder could be so exasperating.  "To Cum,
Mulder.  Ok?  I meant that I would have trouble stopping drinking from
you because I have to bite you to cum."

 

"I meant it too, Scully.  I'm OK with that.  Drain me.  Let me be in you
as long as possible, be one with you until the last drop."  Mulder said
sincerely.

 

"Mulder!"  Scully said, shocked.

 

"I'll just come right back, Scully.  Remember?  I'm immortal."

 

"Oh yeah," Scully said, sheepishly.  "I forgot.  It's going to take a
while to get used to that."  Then she smiled and levitated up for
another kiss.  "Oh yeah!  This is going to require some serious
exploration," she said.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


11:00 p.m. Wednesday

 

MacLeod was bored.  "Methos, we've been sitting here for 2 hours…"

 

"Hour and a half, tops."  Methos replied

 

"My point, Methos, is that in the space of that time, we have yet to see
your mystery 'not mortal' anywhere."  MacLeod said with a smirk.

 

"Well, perhaps you've forgotten, Hmm?  Airport, Crushed rib cage?
Aren't you even curious?"  Methos shook his head.  "In my *entire* life
I have never actually met or seen one.  I always thought they were a
myth.  Hell, I still kind of think that they're a myth."

 

"Don't you think if there really were such thing you would have seen
them before.  I mean, you have been around the block a few… thousand…
times."  MacLeod said.

 

"Did you notice anything strange about that young man tonight?  Before
the obvious, I mean."  Methos said.

 

"Not really."  MacLeod thought for a moment.  "He was awfully pale…  I
thought it was the sword at his throat.  I guess it wasn't."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Caddie


 


Natalie and Tracy were still sitting in Nick's caddie, waiting for word
on Mulder and Scully.  They had been discussing the ultimatum regarding
Tracy's future.

 

"I think I am in love with Vachon."  Tracy said, suddenly; as if the
words had been building up and she could no longer contain them.  She
seemed almost as surprised by it as Natalie was.

 

"Did you just figure that out, Tracy?  The rest of us already knew
that."  Natalie said with a chuckle.

 

Tracy was a little indignant at Natalie's amusement.  "Oh, you mean like
you and Nick?" she said; waiting for Natalie's 'just friends' protest.

 

Natalie smiled at that, knowing what Tracy was probably expecting.  "Yes
Tracy.  Exactly like Nick and I."  she laughed again.  "Remember when I
told you it was complicated?"  Natalie asked, seeing Tracy's jaw drop.

 

Tracy still couldn't speak, she just nodded her head.

 

"Well, it recently got uncomplicated," Natalie smiled widely and glanced
at the ring she was wearing.

 

Tracy's eyes followed Natalie's glance and she noticed for the first
time tonight the ring on Natalie's finger.  "Oh My God!" she squealed.
"When…  How…  Does this mean you're coming across?"

 

Natalie's smile grew impossibly larger.  "Yes.  Soon!"  she breathed,
excited and aroused at the thought.

 

Tracy noticed Natalie's arousal and giggled a little, "I take it, then,
that the dry spell has ended?"  she asked.

 

Natalie blushed furiously, "Oh yeah, Big time!"

 

Tracy sighed, "Vachon and I haven't…"

 

Natalie sobered a bit, "It is dangerous Tracy.  Seriously.  We didn't
until we had decided that I was definitely coming across.  Every time
could be the last.  You should be aware of that," Natalie said
seriously.

 

"It would appear that that is inevitable, anyway," Tracy said.

 

"How do you feel about that?"  Natalie asked.

 

"I think I was leaning in that direction anyway.  I love him.  I'm
pretty sure he loves me.  I want to be with him, and this is the only
way to do it."  There was no need to explain who 'him' was.  "I just
think it sucks that the choice has been made for me!  I was no threat to
The Community!"  Tracy said, offended at the thought.

 

Natalie sympathized.  "How would I feel if I had known there was no
choice before I chose to do it?" she wondered.  She suspected that the
answer was 'pretty pissed off'.

 

The phone interrupted their introspection.  It was Nick.  He explained
to Natalie for several minutes about the events at the warehouse, and
told her that he and Vachon were on the way.

 

"Ok Nick.  We are sitting in the caddie in the back alley."  Natalie
said.

 

"We'll be there in a couple minutes.  I love you Natalie."  Nick said.

 

Natalie's radiant smile lit up the interior of the car, "I love you too,
Nick," she replied.

 

"What happened!?"  Tracy asked.

 

"Dana found Mulder."

 

"Oh God, is he alright?"  Tracy asked.

 

"There were about a dozen men, they killed Mulder."  Natalie said, still
digesting the fantastic story.

 

Tracy let out a strangled cry, "Oh no, poor Dana.  What did she do?"

 

"Oh no, Mulder's ok."  Natalie reassured Tracy.

 

"What?  I thought you said…"

 

Natalie explained about immortals.

 

"Mulder's Immortal?"  Tracy was beside herself, "Why didn't he tell
us!?"

 

"Apparently, he didn't know.  I guess it doesn't kick in until they die
the first time."  Natalie said in wonder.  "Hell of a coincidence…" she
thought.

 

"It takes a little bit though, right?"  Tracy said, remembering Mulder
and Nick's encounter on the roof.  "I bet Dana was beside herself."

 

"Uh, yeah.  Nick said she kinda lost it for a minute…"  Natalie trailer
off.

 

"Lost it how?"  Tracy asked.

 

"Nick didn't really go into it, but he said he was going to have to
clean up, so I don't think we will be having to worry about the men who
took Mulder anymore."  Natalie said.

 

"Oh," Tracy whispered, the implication sinking in.

 

"Yeah," Natalie replied, pondering the implications as well.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


LaCroix digested the news Nicolas gave him for a moment.  "Immortals.
How very interesting."

 

"Vachon and I are on the way, father," Nick said.  "I had a check done
on the apartment.  The name of your 'old' adversary is Adam Pierson- at
least that is what he is using presently."

 

"I will call Aristotle and have him see what else he can discover."
LaCroix said.  "Why don't you and your partner approach conventionally,
while Natalie and the Spaniard wait in my office," he suggested.

 

"As you wish.  Would you like to speak with him at all?"  Nick asked.

 

"We shall see."  LaCroix responded, swiveling his chair back to the
monitors and watching his two guests.  "This may prove to be an
entertaining diversion," he thought to himself.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nick and Vachon landed on either side of the caddie.  They smiled at
each other as they knocked on the windows, knowing the reaction they
were going to get.  They were not disappointed.

 

Natalie and Tracy looked at each other after screaming, annoyed with the
antics of their men.  "I hate it when he does that," they said
simultaneously.

 

Nick opened the door on his side of the caddie and swept Natalie out and
into his embrace.  He kissed her thoroughly and then said, "Forgive me?"

 

Natalie laughed, "Maybe.  Maybe not.  I may need more encouragement."

 

Nick moved his lips close to Natalie's ear and softly whispered, "I
think I can arrange that."  He then sucked her earlobe into his mouth
and gently scraped it with one of his fangs, causing her to shiver with
delight.

 

"Hey you two, get a room!"  Tracy said with mock severity as she rose up
out of the car.

 

Vachon grasped her hand and laid a single kiss on her palm.  "Querida,
you and I must speak before this night is over."

 

Tracy shivered a little herself.  "How about now?"

 

"You and I have a couple of immortals to speak to, partner" Nick
interrupted.

 

"Oh.  Yeah.  Them.  Well, lets get to it then, *partner*," Tracy said,
obviously distracted.

 

"Nat, you and Vachon should go in and head for LaCroix's office.  We are
going to approach them in our 'official' capacity.  Depending on how far
LaCroix wants to play this, we might even see if they could identify our
decapitation victim."  Nick said.

 

Natalie was worried about one issue that had nothing to do with
immortals, at least not that kind of immortal, "Uh, Nick- what about…"
she said, holding up her left hand and wiggling her ring finger.  "What
is LaCroix going to say?"

 

Nick smiled.  "I don't know exactly what he will say, but he knows me.
He knows that if I were going to bring you across, I would want you to
be mine; forever.  I don't know that he would approve of the
institution, but I think he approves of you, especially you coming
across.  He isn't going to be surprised, and he isn't going to be angry.
So, don't worry."

 

"Nick!  You have had 800 years to get over being intimidated by LaCroix.
I get to tell a 2000 year old vampire that I am about to become his
granddaughter *and* daughter-in-law.  I'm stealing away his favorite
son, and he doesn't really like me anyway!"

 

Tracy snickered and said, "So what's wrong?  Sounds like a perfectly
normal trailer park wedding to me."

 

"Ok, Tracy.  You're not helping here," Natalie said, exasperated.

 

"Natalie, don't worry.  LaCroix doesn't bi…" Nick began.

 

Tracy and Vachon began laughing as Natalie waggled her finger in Nick's
face, "Don't you dare!"

 

"Besides," Nick added, "he didn't even mention it last night, did he?"

 

"Last night is slipped it off and into my pocked as we went into his
office," she answered.

 

"It will be ok.  I promise."  Nick said, laughing himself.

 

"It had better be…" Natalie warned.

 

"Come on Natalie.  Let's go in first," Vachon said.  Turning to Tracy he
said, "Don't be all night."

 

With that, Natalie and Vachon walked in through the alley exit.

 

Nick and Tracy walked around to the front.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Natalie and Vachon had to walk within 10 feet of Mac and Methos on their
way to the office.  They pretended to ignore them as they passed, but
noticed that conversation stopped as they passed.

 

MacLeod and Methos' eyes followed the pair as they went by, and stayed
on them all of the way to the office door.  They observed them stop,
knock and after a moment enter the office.  During the brief moment when
the door was open enough to see the occupant of the office Methos
recognized the Roman General.

 

Waiting until the door closed, Methos said, "Did you see him MacLeod?"

 

"Those two?" he asked

 

"No, well yes, them as well, but I meant the man in the office."  Methos
clarified.

 

"What about him?"

 

"That was the bloody Roman I told you about."  Methos said.

 

"Ah.  Did you feel what I felt when those…" MacLeod began.

 

"Yes.  One of them any way."  Methos returned his gaze to his young
friend.  "You didn't really have anything better to do anyway, did you?"

 

MacLeod looked sourly at his old friend and sighed heavily.  "What are
you going to do about the Roman?"

 

"He looked right at me.  Smiling."  Methos said, warily.

 

"So he smiled at you."  MacLeod chuckled.  "Maybe he's reminiscing."

 

"Very funny."  Methos replied.

 

"Uh oh, what have you done now?"  MacLeod asked, noticing two official
looking individuals approaching them.

 

Methos turned toward the front doors and saw a tall, slender blond woman
and a medium height medium build blond man approaching them.  Both wore
matching styled trench coats- hers gray, his black.  "No quickening.
They look like cops," he commented.

 

Nick suppressed a smile when he heard the shorter one's comments.
"Gotta love that vampiricly enhanced auditory acuity," he thought,
remembering seeing Natalie write that in her journal when she was trying
to develop a cure for him.  "What a long way we have come since then,"
he mused.

 

"Adam Pierson?"  Tracy asked.  At the blank stare she received, she
withdrew her badge and credentials and stated "I'm Detective Vetter.
This is Detective Knight.  We are with Toronto Metro Homicide.  Are you
Adam Pierson?"

 

Methos looked at MacLeod for half a beat and then back at the
Detectives.  "That's me.  Is there a problem?"

 

"Would you mind if we went someplace a bit quieter?  We would like to
ask you a few questions, if you don't mind,"  Nick said.

 

Methos and MacLeod looked at each other, as if seeking one another's
advice.  MacLeod shrugged and Methos nodded.  "Certainly, detectives.
Lead the way."

 

To Methos surprise, the detective led them not out the door, but into a
back room which was unoccupied and slightly insulated from the music
blaring in the main club.  Detective Vetter trailed the group.

 

Nick gestured to a table and indicated that the two immortals should
sit.  As they did, he began his questions.  "What can you tell me about
a swordfight that took place Saturday night behind an office building
next to the Victoria Café?"

 

Methos very briefly showed surprise before schooling his features and
saying, "A sword-fight?  Surely not in this day and age?"

 

Nick continued, "Yes, a sword-fight.  What can you tell me about it?"

 

"Nothing, detective.  I didn't even arrive in town until Sunday."
Methos said.

 

Nick decided that there was really no reason to adhere to rules of
evidence, as this interview would never be documented in a report.  "I
didn't ask you when you arrived, Mr. Pierson, I asked you what you could
tell me about the sword-fight that happened on Saturday night."

 

"I told you, Detective.  Nothing.  I can tell you nothing about a
sword-fight on Saturday night."

 

Nick pulled out a picture of the victim and laid it out on the table.
He could hear Pierson's heart speed up significantly.  He captured that
beat and spoke hypnotically, "What is his name?"

 

Methos was caught in the Mesmer for just long enough to mutter "Scott
Santeramo."  Then he caught himself- "He looks almost exactly like
someone I used to know," Methos said.  "What the hell was that?!" he
thought furiously at himself.

 

Nick got the feeling that Pierson and Santeramo were friends.  He
decided to play on that.  "I saw him.  I got there just in time to watch
him die.  I saw the man who cut off his head."  When Nick heard
Pierson's heart begin to pound he caught it again and tried to mesmerize
him once again, saying, "What was his name?  Who killed Scott?"

 

"Froag.  That son of…"  Methos once again caught himself spilling the
details that he must not share.  "What is happening to me?!" he screamed
at himself.

 

Nick sensed Pierson tense, and changed tactics.  "Were you aware that
your apartment was broken into tonight, Mr. Pierson?"

 

"What?"  Methos asked, disoriented.

 

"The man who broke in was struck by a car, right on the sidewalk outside
your apartment as he exited."  Nick paused for a moment and then, "The
men who ran him down then got out and put wrist and ankle restraints on
him and loaded him into the trunk."  He cocked his head at Pierson and
asked, "Why would they do that, Mr. Pierson?"

 

"I have no…" Methos began.

 

"They were waiting for you Mr. Pierson.  You were their target."

 

"No, I…" he began.

 

"They took him to a warehouse and gave him to a group of men.  He was
nearly dead already, and certainly would have bled to death, but they
left him in the restraints and took the time to shoot him.  Why would
they do that?"

 

"How the hell should I know?  I was here all night!"  Methos nearly
shouted.

 

Tracy was admiring the way Nick was playing this guy.  If this had been
a real interrogation, this would have been her time to jump in, "Well,
why not?" she thought.

 

"Mr. Pierson, no one is accusing you of anything.  We are trying to
solve a murder, and it is apparent that you have information we need."
Tracy said.

 

"Look I really can't help you…" Methos began.

 

"We are willing to overlook the concealed weapons charges against both
of you if you will cooperate with us."  Nick said, interrupting him
again.

 

"What?!"  Methos said, his train of thought once again derailed.

 

"Your swords, Mr. Pierson.  The ones you have sewn into your coats."
Nick said, smiling.

 

Methos and MacLeod both swiftly glanced at both detectives' wrists, and
then at each other.

 

Nick caught the glance and remembered the tattoos that the watchers had
sported on their wrists.  "No, Mr. Pierson.  We aren't here to *watch*
you.  Although I think there is a group of such individuals in a
warehouse over on Gateway lane.

 

Both Methos and MacLeod visibly paled at Nick's not-so-subtle emphasis
on the word 'watch'.  Neither said anything.

 

"Come now gentlemen."  Tracy said.  "Not all of us can afford to sit
here *forever*"

 

MacLeod spoke for the first time, "Who the hell are you people?"

 

Nick laughed, "Isn't that supposed to be our line?"  He shook his head,
"We are Toronto Homicide detectives, just as we said we were."

 

"If you know what you're talking about, then you have to know that you
can't take this case to court.  Let us handle it.  Your killer will not
cause any further problems."  MacLeod said.

 

"What is his name?"  Nick pressed.  "For that matter, what is yours?"

 

"I am Duncan MacLeod.  The man we are looking for is called Phineas
Froag, believe it or not.  And trust me when I tell you that you cannot
handle him alone."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

LaCroix laughed at that.  He, Vachon and Natalie had been observing and
listening to the interrogation.

 

Natalie wondered aloud if all immortals were resistors.

 

LaCroix asked, "Why do you say that?"

 

Natalie was momentarily startled.  She hadn't realized that she had
spoken out loud.  "Unh, well…  I mean Mulder was a resistor too, and now
this Pierson seems to be.  I just wondered if it was maybe normal for
them."

 

LaCroix thought for a moment.  "Resistors are usually those with very
strong minds- a very strong sense of self.  I imagine that even if not
all immortals are resistors, those who are very old would probably be."

 

Vachon asked, "Do you think they get stronger with age?"

 

"Certainly not on our level at least.  After all, this Pierson fellow is
as old as I am, or older, and Carter was able to take both of them out
quite easily."  LaCroix shook his head.  "In any case, I was not
thinking of them becoming more powerful with age, but rather that only
those with very strong minds could survive as long as this one has.
Even among our kind, few are strong enough to last longer than a century
or two before dying or going mad."

 

LaCroix had been noticing that Natalie had kept Vachon between her and
himself since entering.  She also refused to meet his gaze, and kept her
hands in her lap, out of his sight.  Her heart rate increased markedly
whenever he spoke or looked at her and her breathing was shallow and
rapid.  Clearly she was very nervous.  Nervous about him.  "Natalie.
Child, look at me."

 

Natalie almost gasped.  Her heart was in her throat and she thought,
"Oh, God!  Here we go."  She gulped and looked into the face of the
master vampire.

 

LaCroix turned to Vachon, "Go out and join our friends.  Natalie and I
will be along presently."

 

Vachon merely nodded and left the office, happy to be out of this
discussion.

 

=====
Chapter 9b


 


Nick's Loft


 


12:30 a.m.  Thursday

 

Scully and Mulder had stayed in the shower, making out, until the water
turned cold.  Mulder thought the art of making out didn't receive the
respect that it should.  The anticipation of what was going to come next
had both of them panting, even if Scully didn't need to breathe.

 

They gently toweled one another off and Scully said, "Nick said that I
could use the guest bedroom."

 

"Nick's a great guy."  Mulder responded.  "Where is it?"

 

"Right this way," Scully said, grabbing Mulder's hand and fairly
dragging him behind her.

 

Mulder only held back at all because he really liked the view he got
following a naked, excited Scully.  He noticed that the wetness between
her thighs was red.  Concerned, he asked, "Scully?  Are you alright?"

 

They were almost to the bedroom door when she heard his question.
Sensing the concern in his voice, she turned around, "I'm fine, Mulder,
why?"

 

"I just noticed that you…" he trailed off, gesturing toward the blood
smeared between her thighs.

 

Scully looked down and was suddenly embarrassed.  "Oh, uh…  I kinda
forgot to mention that…"

 

"What, Scully?  Are you Ok?"

 

"Yeah, really I'm just fine, Mulder.  Uh…  Well…  It seems that blood is
the only body fluid that vampires have," she continued quietly.

 

"Oh."  Mulder said.  He could see that this embarrassed her.  He didn't
mind at all, but had been concerned that she might be injured.  "I don't
mind Scully, really!  I just thought you might be hurt."  He could see
that she was still uncomfortable and decided that actions would speak
louder than words.

 

Scully was momentarily surprised when Mulder swept her up in his arms
and carried her through the door.  He threw her onto the bed and
immediately kneeled between her legs.  Throwing one leg over each
shoulder he dove into her with his mouth and tongue.  Any concern she
might have had about Mulder being turned off by her new condition was
erased by the waves of pleasure that poured over her.

 

Mulder was not at all put off by the taste of Scully.  Slightly
metallic, the blood quickly became his new favorite flavor.  The sounds,
the little moans and gasps she made, they were all the encouragement he
needed.  Soon she was crying his name out and when he looked up he saw
that she had changed.  Her eyes were blood red and her fangs were fully
extended.  She seemed on the edge of orgasm, but would not tip over.

 

"Mulder!  Oh, Mulder!  I need…  I need to…" Scully shouted.

 

Mulder suddenly remembered that she would need to bite him to cum.  He
stuck his hand toward her, offering his wrist.  She grabbed his hand and
bit into his wrist, sucking strongly.

 

The link between the two was re-established and the love and concern
they felt for one another rolled into her orgasm.  Mulder felt her tip
over the edge and felt himself follow her.

 

After a few swallows she released him, momentarily spent.  He was spent
as well, and somewhat embarrassed to have cum so prematurely.
"Apparently the link works both ways," he said.

 

She chuckled at his discomfiture.  I'm sure you will be able to make a
comeback, Mulder.

 

Mulder crawled up onto the bed next to her and took her in his arms.  "I
love you so much, Scully," he whispered into her ear, kissing the lobe
and the area of her neck below it.

 

Mulder's lips on her neck were like an instant injection of fire
throughout her body.  She was suddenly ready for round two in a big way.

 

Mulder noticed the instant arousal and thought to himself, "Ok, the neck
is apparently vampire erogenous zone number one."  he was about to be
disappointed that he couldn't respond as rapidly as he would have liked
to, when he noticed that he too was suddenly and overwhelming ready for
the second round.

 

Scully felt Mulder's raging erection pressing into her side and laughed.
"Ahh, the unspoken benefits of immortality, revealed!"

 

Mulder captured her mouth in a searing kiss and then said, "I think I
just figured out what we are going to do with the next century, or ten."

 

Scully smiled at him and decided to test his newfound stamina and show
off her own apparently infinite ability to hold her breath.

 

Thirty minutes and three orgasms later, during which Scully had kept him
in her mouth the entire time, Mulder decided that he now knew what
heaven must be like.  His recovery time was measured in seconds, not
minutes.  "This is definitely worth getting run over and shot!" he said
after screaming out Scully's name for the third time.

 

Scully had waited long enough.  She continued her oral assault until she
felt him harden in her throat once again, then she pulled away from him
and crawled up his body, dragging every inch of herself across his erect
member as she went.  She captured his mouth in a searing kiss and then
impaled her self on him.  She rode slowly at first and then built up
speed until she was pounding him down into the mattress like a
jackhammer.  His hands on her breasts were tentative at first until she
guided him with her own hands on his.  Soft and sweet would come soon
enough.  This session was to be strong, hard and fast.  Soon he was
torturing her nipples, squeezing and pulling, rolling them between his
finger and thumb.  He screamed out her name until his voice was raw,
trying to restrain himself until she reached the point of no return.

 

Finally she had built up the pleasure in herself until she thought she
would go insane with need.  Mulder arched his head back, baring his
neck, instinctively knowing what she needed.  She could resist no
longer.  She plunged her fangs into his throat and drank the hot rush of
blood in huge gulps.  Through the link she felt his encouragement and
this time she didn't stop.  She felt Mulder release inside of her both
physically and through the link.  Her own orgasm rolled through them
both.  She felt his love and adoration pouring out for her in his blood.
She felt his need so strongly that it made her cry, even as she drank.

 

Mulder's last thoughts as he died were filled with the incredible,
absolute love he felt from Scully.  Love for him alone.  "I am going to
really really *really* enjoy living forever," he thought as his
consciousness faded away.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


1 a.m. Thursday

 

Nat and LaCroix sat silently in his office for a bit.  "I thought we had
an understanding, Natalie,"  LaCroix said.  "Why are you so unnerved by
my presence?"

 

Natalie couldn't get her vocal cords to cooperate with her, so she just
lifted her hands out of her lap and presented her left hand to him, palm
down.

 

LaCroix saw the ring and immediately understood its significance.  "Ahh,
I see."  he shook his head, "Nicolas is an impetuous child.  He knows
that marriage ceremonies are not generally practiced among our kind.
Yet Nicolas is not one to conform to the mores of our society."  He
caught Natalie's gaze and continued, "Did you think that I would be
angry with you, child?"

 

"No…  Yes…  I don't know…"  She sighed heavily.  "I guess that I was
just worried that you might think I was trying to take him away from
you." she said in a descending voice, ending in a whisper.  "I'm not,
you know."

 

LaCroix considered her for a moment.  "While the institution of marriage
is not commonly accepted in The Community, we do recognize mates when we
see them.  You must realize Natalie that monogamy has a different
meaning among us.  The bloodkiss is the height of intimacy among our
kind, but it is not seen in the same way as physical sex.  Bloodkiss is
shared among males and females alike with no thought to gender.  You and
Nicolas may remain monogamous, sexually, but I will still expect you to
share him with me in the bloodkiss.  You will find that, sharing the
bloodkiss is quite common, especially between master and childé."

 

"You're telling me that I shouldn't be jealous of Dana."  Natalie
responded.

 

LaCroix nodded his head.  "But not only Dana," LaCroix said.  "Nicolas
has more than one childé, you know."

 

Natalie remained in denial for a moment, "He hasn't seen Serena in
years, and they were hardly close then." she said.

 

LaCroix merely smiled and waited.

 

The thought struck her suddenly.  She knew he had brought her back
across, but she still thought of Janette as his sister/ex-lover.  "I
guess I still think of her as your childé." she said with a sigh.

 

"As do I child.  However, we must both face the fact that she is not.
Nicolas is Janette's master now."  LaCroix said.

 

"If she will ever forgive him," Natalie added.

 

"Oh she will… eventually."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Methos was confused and a little angry.  Something about this policeman
was getting to him.  He knew far too much and seemed able to make him
say things he didn't want to say.  In 5000 years he didn't remember ever
encountering someone quite like this.  He seemed to have presence like
an immortal, but there was no quickening at all, not even what he would
expect to feel from a pre-immortal.

 

Speaking of which, he felt MacLeod nudge him and indicate the
approaching figure with his chin.  It was the longhaired man that had
gone into the office where the roman was.  This time he didn't feel
anything at all.

 

"Excuse us for a moment," Nick said as he and Tracy stood up and walked
several feet away to speak with Vachon.

 

Mac leaned in close to Methos and whispered, "I don't feel it; do you?"

 

"No.  It must have been the woman."  Methos whispered back.

 

Vachon had just told him that LaCroix and Natalie were going to be
joining them when he heard the whispered exchange behind him.
Unthinkingly he whipped around and returned to the table in the blink of
an eye.  "What?!  What about her, what did you feel?"  He exerted every
ounce of power he had, enthralling Pierson beyond even his ability to
break lose.

 

The speed and ferocity of the Detective's approach stunned MacLeod.
"He's just like the guy in the airport," was the first thought to pop
into his head.  It wasn't a quickening, but he could feel the tendrils
of power emanating from this creature like a heavy fog of electricity
sizzling his skin.  He was about to go for his sword when he discovered
that the longhaired man was holding him from behind.  "Damn, I didn't
even see him move," he thought.  He struggled briefly, but it was as if
he was held in place by iron bands.  He couldn't move at all.  He heard
a whisper in his ear.

 

"Relax.  We have no intention of hurting you."  Vachon said.

 

"Yeah?  Well you have a bloody funny way of showing it."  MacLeod
responded.

 

Suddenly another voice startled them all.

 

"If we had wanted you harmed, Mr. MacLeod, you would be harmed already."
LaCroix looked at his son, "Nicolas, I think you might have to relax
your hold slightly.  I do not think that he is able speak at the
moment."

 

Everyone turned to look at the Man and Woman standing at the entrance to
the room they were in.  MacLeod felt once again the gentle wash of
energy that was the quickening of a pre-immortal; so much quieter and
more subtle than the real thing.

 

Methos shook off the cobwebs of his mind, released when Nicolas turned
to look at the newcomers.  He was angry.  He had been absolutely at this
man's mercy.  If Knight had drawn a sword Methos would have been unable
to do more than watch as the blade swung at his neck and took his head.
"Not a pleasant feeling!" he thought.  Then he saw him.  He still felt
nothing, "Wait a minute, what's…" he began thinking.  Then he saw the
woman from earlier and realized that the feeling he had was from her.

 

"Well…  You look different.  Cleaner."  LaCroix jibed.  "Short hair
works for you, I think."

 

Methos resigned himself to the encounter.  He drew himself upright and
looked around somewhat theatrically.  "What, no cross?  I won't know how
to act," he quipped.

 

LaCroix smiled at this man's bravado.  "I suppose something could be
arranged if you wish."

 

"Quite alright, young man.  I think we can do without."

 

LaCroix raised a brow at being described as a young man.

 

Nick became slightly impatient and repeated his question.  "What did you
mean about her?" he said gesturing at Natalie.

 

Methos refused to meet Knight's gaze.

 

"I don't need to see your eyes Pierson, it just makes it easier."  Nick
said.

 

MacLeod jumped in, "What do you know about us?"

 

"We know what the watchers knew."  Nick answered, as he gestured for
Vachon to let him go.

 

"She is like us," MacLeod said.

 

"She will be, anyway.  Someday," Methos said.

 

Tracy asked, "How do you know?"

 

Nick turned to Natalie, "Mulder didn't know he was immortal," He turned
back to Pierson and MacLeod, "How can you tell?"

 

"We can feel each other," Methos began, still not sure exactly what they
knew and didn't know.

 

"Yes, the quickening- the lightning I saw after the beheading, but… you
can feel that even before the first death?"

 

"We can feel the potential quickening.  It isn't as strong, and we need
to be closer, say 3 or 4 meters, compared to about 30 meters for the
real deal," Methos said.

 

Natalie was floored by the news.  She looked at Nick, "But what about…"

 

"I don't know.  We will find out soon."  Nick said, walking over to wrap
his arms around her.

 

MacLeod looked at the collection of people around him and voiced the
question that was on his mind, and he assumed Methos' as well, "Look, I
don't mean to be rude, but are you all vampires?"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


1:30 a.m. Thursday

 

Mulder and Scully had just finished cleaning up, again, and Mulder was
drinking heavily- Gatorade.

 

Scully was feeling somewhat guilty, "I'm really sorry, Mulder" she said.

 

Mulder finished a half-gallon container of Fierce Lime and turned to
Scully, "I'm not."  He walked over to her and wrapped her in a tight
embrace.  "I would be more than willing to wake up thirsty every day for
the rest of my life in return for what you gave me tonight."

 

Scully gave him a smile that lit up the room.  "You're a hopeless
romantic, Mulder."  Scully's smile dimmed as she thought of something.
It's Thursday, Mulder.  We're supposed to fly back to Washington
tomorrow."  She had a brief moment of panic.  "What are we going to do?"

 

"I don't think we should make any decisions immediately, Scully.  I'll
call Skinner and arrange time off.  We can talk to Nick and see what he
thinks.  Maybe we will even talk to these immortals, if they turn out
ok.  We could at least see how things work for them."  Mulder said as he
looked down at the woman in his arms.

 

Scully looked up into Mulder's eyes and saw concern.  Suddenly he looked
down at her and a look of wonder crossed his features.  "What?" she
asked.

 

"I was just thinking about what you were saying, how we handle Skinner,
the FBI, going back; how do we integrate our new situations into our
old."  His smile got wider, "Then I remembered how difficult it was,
going to work with you every day.  I was so in love with you, and so
afraid of loosing you.  Loosing you to the job, loosing you because I
would give myself away and you wouldn't want me.  I was so desperate for
you, and so full of fear,"

 

"Was… and now?" Scully asked.

 

Mulder's smile softened an his eyes were so dilated that they were
almost entirely black.  "And now; you're standing in my arms, and
holding me.  And, I know that you love me more than I could have ever
thought possible.  I'm happy Scully.  Deliriously happy, and I am
looking forward to being with you, not for twenty or thirty years, like
I used to fantasize about, but rather twenty or thirty centuries, or
more!"

 

Scully graced him with another of her thousand-watt smiles and his heart
just melted.

 

"You fantasized about growing old with me?"  Scully pulled his head down
for a long, lingering kiss.  She broke the kiss and hugged herself tight
to his chest.  "That's so sweet Mulder!"

 

He laughed.  "Well, that wasn't the only fantasy I had about you
Scully."  He leered at her lecherously.

 

"Well," she chuckled, "Tell me the rest later, were going to be late to
the Raven as it is."

 

"Ah, we mustn't disappoint your master."  Mulder said dryly.

 

Scully was immediately worried, "Mulder, please tell me you aren't
jealous of Nick."  Scully searched his face for signs of anger.  "I need
him to train me and get me used to this life, not to mention the fact
that I owe him my life."

 

Mulder felt bad about teasing her, "Scully, I was only kidding.  I don't
understand this thing with you and Nick, but I know it is important to
you.  And, I know that you love me, not him."

 

Scully felt a little relief, but wasn't fully reassured.  "Mulder,
you're right.  You don't understand, and I need you to understand.  Our
lives do depend on my standing in the vampire community, unfair as that
is.  The enforcers would have demanded that you either be brought
across, or die.  Since the former is impossible, we will need his and
LaCroix's protection to keep the later from happening."

 

"How do you know that, Scully?"  Mulder asked.

 

"Let me show you Mulder."  Scully reached up and stroked his neck,
seeking permission.

 

Mulder understood what she wanted.  He would never deny her this, "Show
me, Scully."

 

She lifted up into the air and kissed his neck tenderly.  Then she
willed the change, dropping her fangs.  She slowly sank her teeth into
his neck, savoring the rich taste, the cardamom perfume.  She knew she
was only a day old, but she didn't see herself ever tiring of this.  She
poured everything she had learned from Nick into the link.  She knew it
wasn't as strong as the twin bloodlink she and her master shared, but
she was pretty sure he would get most of it.  She finished with images
of the Nick of now, to counteract the images of his violent past; and
finally ended with her undying love for Mulder and desperate need for
him to be in her life.

 

She pulled away, reluctantly.  She watched in fascination as tiny
electrical currents played across the wound, closing it almost
instantly.

 

Mulder thought he felt her reluctance, and then a flash of wonder.

 

She felt surprise, and wondered why she was surprised until she realized
that it wasn't her that was surprised.  "Mulder?"

 

"I can still feel you, Scully.  Barely, but it's there."  He opened his
eyes, which, once again, he didn't remember shutting and looked down
with love at the face of his soul mate.  He laughed with pure joy at the
sight.

 

Scully realized that she hadn't retracted her fangs or changed her eyes
back and was slightly embarrassed.  Then she felt a wave of reassurance
and delight from Mulder.  "Oh my," she whispered.  she couldn't sense
his actual thoughts, but the emotions seemed to be coming through pretty
clearly.

 

"Are you OK with this, Scully?"  Mulder asked, suddenly concerned.

 

She felt his concern and responded hesitantly, "Are you?"

 

Mulder understood that her hesitation was for him, not her.  She was
worried that he would think it an invasion of his privacy because it was
caused by her power.  "Scully, I am one hundred percent delighted."

 

She could feel the truth in his words, the delight in his heart and once
again thanked God for the glorious gift that He had seen fit to give
her.  "I love you Mulder.  More and more with each passing moment."

 

"Yeah?  Feel up to a short flight?  Wouldn't want your master to get
anxious."  Mulder said.

 

This time she could tell that he was teasing.  "Hold on tight!" she
said, and leapt up into the air.

 

=====
Chapter 9c


 


The Raven


 


2 a.m. Thursday

 

The last patron left the club, assisted by the bouncer as he could
barely stand upright.  He was put into a cab and sent on his way.

 

The only ones left in the club were Miklos, Alma, and the party in the
back room.

 

Everyone had ignored MacLeod's question.  Nick had remembered what Froag
said to Mulder when he was about to chop his head off.  "That's what he
meant.  He said it was small, but he would take it.  He could feel
Mulder's pre-immortal quickening."  Turning back to Pierson he asked,
"What would have happened if a pre-immortal were beheaded?

 

"I don't know, why do you ask?"  Methos asked.

 

Nick paused a moment, unsure of how much to reveal to this virtual
stranger.

 

"Look, I think we've been more than helpful here.  You come up to us,
claiming to be police detectives, drag us back into this room, assault
us mentally and physically, and then demand a bunch of answers from us
about a subject we don't normally discuss with anyone, and then you
refuse to explain what the hell is going on!"

 

LaCroix was vastly amused at this man's outburst.  "Come, now.  It could
be worse.  So far no one has been hurt here.  And you did come into my
club, looking for me.  You even went to the trouble of flying in backup
from the other side of the continent." he said, indicating MacLeod.

 

MacLeod was as annoyed as Methos, "Look, how do you know so much about
us?  Who the hell are you people?"

 

"Well it's obvious, isn't it?  We know your movements because I had Mr.
Pierson followed since he appeared in my club the other night.  I know
where you came from because my agent saw you come off of a direct flight
from Seattle Washington, we know you're immortal because that same man
crushed your rib cage earlier this evening, yet you sit here sipping
scotch as we speak."  Turning to Pierson he said, "I had you crucified
over 1900 years ago.  The very fact that you're here at all is a
testament to your immortality.  We know about immortals at all, thanks
to your Mr. Froag.  He attacked Nicolas and an associate of his several
nights ago and returned to life twice after being shot several times and
thrown off of a building."  LaCroix said.  "As for who we are, you've
already guessed that."

 

"This associate is the Mulder that you mentioned?"  MacLeod asked
Knight, "What makes you think that he is pre-immortal?"

 

"Was."  Nick said.

 

"Oh…  How did it happen?"  MacLeod asked.

 

"Remember that group of watchers I mentioned?"  Nick continued when
Pierson and MacLeod nodded their heads, "They thought he was you." he
said, gesturing toward Pierson.

 

"Why would they think that?"  Methos asked, believing he knew the answer
already.  "Let me guess, they saw him go into my apartment."

 

Nick nodded his head.  "When he came out, two men ran him down with a
car, trussed him and threw him in the trunk.  They took him to a
warehouse where they discovered he was not immortal and shot him in the
heart.  Of course, he was nearly dead anyway from the car hitting him."

 

"And you saw all of this?"  Methos asked.  "Why didn't you stop them?"

 

"No.  I didn't see any of it.  Vachon got there after they took off, and
he followed the car."

 

Just then Nick felt his daughter approaching, in flight no less!  And
from the emotion he could feel, he determined that she must be carrying
Mulder.  "Brash, impetuous childé!"  he thought.  She is going to wear
herself out quickly, and be hungry when she gets here.  "Vachon, could
you ask Alma to bring us some beverages?  and bring several bottles of
uncut as well."

 

As Mulder and Scully landed outside the door to the club, MacLeod and
Methos both stood up, their hands going to their swords in their coats.

 

"Relax, gentlemen.  It is just Mulder."  Nick reassured them.

 

"How do you know that?"  MacLeod asked, not at all reassured.

 

"He is with my daughter."  Nick said.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

When she set him down, Mulder was struck by an intense sensation, unlike
anything he had ever felt before.

 

Scully caught part of it through her link and immediately changed.
"What the hell ish that?" she lisped out through her fangs.

 

"I don't know!"  Mulder said.  Slowly the feeling became more bearable,
until it was like a hum in the back of his mind- he was aware of it, but
not distracted by it.

 

Scully figured out that it must be the quickening that the watcher
memories had referred to.  "It's the quickening, Mulder.  It tells you
when other immortals are near."

 

"Early warning radar, huh?"  he responded.  "Well that's just about the
weirdest thing I've ever felt before. Must be Pierson and his partner."
Mulder said.

 

Scully felt her master reach out to her through the link.  "Nick and the
others are with them," she informed Mulder.  "He's mad at me for flying
you here.  I'm not tired, why would he think that?" she trailed off, her
eyes unfocused as she silently communicated with her master.

 

When her focus returned, Mulder asked, "So, he's mad at you?"

 

"He thinks I overexerted myself by bringing you all the way here by
air."  Scully said.

 

"Did you?"  Mulder asked, concerned.

 

"No!  I'm not tired at all.  In fact I'm not even extremely hungry.  He
seemed to think I would be."  she said.

 

"Well, lets go in and face the music.  Why do I feel like a teenager
that is bringing back his date to her father past curfew?"  Mulder asked
her.

 

Scully laughed, but felt not dissimilar at all.  Bracing herself she
entered the Raven, Mulder in tow.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

"Your daughter?"  Methos asked.  Knight didn't look old enough to have a
daughter of sufficient age to be running about by herself.  He couldn't
picture vampires having children, "but what do I know?" he thought

 

"Yes.  Her name is Dana Scully."  Nick said just as she and Mulder
walked into the room, Alma in tow, carrying a tray of glasses and
several bottles.  "Dana, Mulder, this is Adam Pierson and Duncan
MacLeod."

 

Hello's were exchanged and Methos turned back to Knight wanting to press
him to continue the story.

 

Nick watched as Dana took a glass of the uncut blood and sipped at it.
He pressed into the link they had looking for fatigue, hunger, and
making sure she was in control around these mortals "Well, non-vampires,
anyway" he thought.  He found that she was just fine.  "Are you sure you
really flew yourself and Mulder all the way here?" he asked through the
link.

 

Dana was surprised by the question.  "Yes, of course I'm sure!  Do you
think I am lying?"

 

"You should be exhausted by such a trip.  You're only a day old, Dana!"
he practically shouted at her through the link.  "Don't be in such a
hurry to exercise your powers until you and I spend more time together
on them." he rebuked.

 

"Well, I feel fine.  But, I will do as you say." she responded, somewhat
irked.

 

Methos and MacLeod watched the silent exchange with curiosity.  Mulder
was catching all Scully's emotions, as well as some of Nick's.  The
others watched in varying degrees of amusement.

 

Nick realized everyone was watching him.  "Well," he said turning back
to Methos and MacLeod, "as I was saying, these watchers had Mulder
chained up in the trunk, Vachon had followed them to a warehouse not far
from where I live.  By chance Dana and I were outside and she saw
Vachon.  She went to the warehouse and got there in time to see them
shoot Mulder."

 

MacLeod and Methos noticed that Dana had her head down, observing her
hands while Mulder had one arm wrapped around her and his other
caressing her arm.

 

"Anyway," Nick continued, "When Mulder came back we knew he was like the
man we had fought on the rooftop.  Your Phineas Froag."

 

Mulder choked a bit at the name, "Phineas Froag?  What the hell kind of
name is that?" he asked.

 

"South African."  Methos mumbled.

 

MacLeod still didn't think things added up, "That doesn't explain how
you knew about watchers, quickening, and the game."

 

LaCroix smiled widely and commented, "Actually, as I understand it, my
Granddaughter extracted that information," he said, indicating Dana.

 

MacLeod asked, "How exactly do you mean that?  Your granddaughter; can
vampires have children?"

 

"Nicolas is my Childé.  Dana is Nicolas' Childé, my granddaughter."
LaCroix answered.

 

"Well, that's as clear as mud."  MacLeod said.

 

"Nick made me a vampire."  Scully said.  "He's my maker."

 

The two immortals absorbed that information for a moment.

 

"How did you persuade the hunters to tell you about us?"  Methos asked
her.  "And what did you do with them?"

 

Scully dropped her head into her hands.  She was embarrassed.  She was
annoyed with herself for being embarrassed.  "I viciously killed a dozen
men, and I'm embarrassed!" she thought.

 

LaCroix was proud of his granddaughter's instincts and abilities, "One
day old, and she has both power and control.  She may have been made by
chance, but she was a worthy addition to his family.  Far better than
that whelp Serena, whom Nicolas had made through a foolish
misunderstanding," he thought.  If Natalie had even half of Dana's
potential, his family would be one of the most potent in The Community.
"Yes, Dana," he said aloud.  "Tell us what happened, I have only heard
third-hand accounts."

 

It may have been said with humor, but she heard the command behind the
banter.  She looked at Nick and saw resignation on his face.  "Go ahead"
she heard through her link.

 

"I… I don't really…  I didn't really think at the time."  She ran her
hands over her face, rubbing her eyes, and then up over her head,
through her hair.  She decided to approach it clinically, the same way
she would describe an autopsy, divorcing her feelings from the horror of
the situation.  "I had just landed outside the window.  I saw Mulder,
propped up in a chair.  He was severely injured, barely alive.  Then one
of them, Jimson, shot him in the chest.  The one who gave the order, was
named Perone…  Anyway, I saw them shoot Mulder and I lost it.  I went
through the window and…"  She paused and had to take a deep breath.  She
felt Mulder's reassurance through their burgeoning link.  She also felt
Nick's compassion and understanding.  "I…  tore them up, I guess.
Perone was the only one I drained.  That's how I knew about immortals,
from his memories."

 

MacLeod looked at this little slip of a girl before him.  She was
dwarfed by her lover, in whose arms she was wrapped.  He had a hard time
picturing her killing a dozen men with her bare hands.  "You killed them
all?  Why didn't they shoot you?"

 

Nick was himself torn between paternal pride that his childé was so
powerful, and concern over her loss of control.  Of course the cause in
this case was completely understandable.  If Natalie had been attacked
so, he knew without a doubt that he would tear through a hundred men if
necessary.  He responded to MacLeod's question, "They didn't have time,
Mr. MacLeod.  I believe you have seen for yourself the speed at which we
can move when necessary."

 

LaCroix decided to change the subject, "You called me 'young man' Mr.
Pierson.  May I ask why that particular appellation?"

 

"Unless the legends are wrong, your kind cannot go out in the daylight.
It was daylight when we last met, so I assumed that you were not yet a
vampire at that time."  He waited for LaCroix's confirming nod and
continued, "That would make you, what, not quite 2000 years old?"

 

"Whereas you would be…"  LaCroix began.

 

"Older.  Let's just say I was around a long while before that."

 

Mulder asked, "Do we become stronger with age, like vampires?"

 

"No.  The more quickenings we absorb, the stronger we become.  Age of
itself is meaningless." Methos explained.  "One can develop more skill
and experience with age, but it is not automatic.  MacLeod could defeat
me in a fight because I have only infrequently engaged in combat.  In
fact, up until the last several years, I had not been in the game for
over 2 centuries."

 

"How old are you, Mr. MacLeod, if I might ask?"  Tracy said, curious.

 

"I was born in 1591," he said.  "AD." he added.  Then he asked the
group, "How much stronger do vampires get as they age?"

 

LaCroix said, "It depends on the individual, but large differences in
age usually indicate large differences in strength and ability.  So
Nicolas, who is 8 centuries old, is much stronger than Vachon, who is
not quite 5.  A new fledgling is virtually powerless- quite vulnerable
under most circumstances."

 

"Mulder, if I might ask, How is it you became involved in this group?
If you just tonight realized that you are immortal… how long have you
been together?"  he asked, indicating his arm around Dana.

 

"Scully and I work together.  We've been partners for 7 years."  Mulder
answered.

 

"You're cops too?  Toronto PD has a large vampire contingent, does it?"
Methos asked, wryly.

 

Scully responded, "Actually, Mulder and I are agents of the FBI."

 

Mulder added, "We came here for a conference this week."

 

"But you're Nick's childé?  so you knew…"  MacLeod began.

 

"It's a long story, but the short version is that I have been a vampire
for," she looked at her watch, "almost exactly 24 hours."

 

Mulder added, "We only met everybody here this past week."

 

"Fickle fate has brought us all together here today," LaCroix said.

 

MacLeod looked at Tracy, "How long have you…"

 

"I'm still mortal, for now," Tracy answered his unfinished question.
"Mortals aren't allowed to know about Vampires.  Those who find out are
made to forget.  Those who cannot be made to forget either join or die,"
she said, this time answering his unspoken question.

 

He turned to Natalie, "What about you?  You're mortal."

 

She answered, "I was planning on coming across very soon.  We will have
to see what happens when we try," she said reaching for Nick's hand.

 

"Apparently those who have already gone through their first death cannot
be brought across."  Nick added.

 

"How do you know that?" MacLeod asked.

 

Scully couldn't blush anymore, but that wasn't true of Mulder.  Nick
took one look at him and shouted for Alma, "Alma, could you bring Agent
Mulder a glass of Orange Juice?  Better make it a double."  He looked at
Scully and whispered, "How much did you take?"

 

If she could have blushed, she would have been scarlet now.  "Uh, all of
it…  I think."

 

Mulder stepped in to defend her, "I asked her to.  It was the most
incredible experience of my life." he said with a smile.

 

Natalie looked at the two of them, so obviously in love, and was filled
with joyous anticipation for her own transformation, "Either way, we
will have forever, Nick." she said looking into his eyes for acceptance.

 

Nick looked back into Natalie's eyes and answered her unspoken plea,
"Either way, I will love you forever Natalie."

 

"Not to intrude," MacLeod began, "but you will need to find a mentor to
train you, Mulder.  You're in the game now, whether you want to be or
not.  Unless you plan to spend the next thousand years on holy ground,
you will have to fight to survive."

 

"Holy ground?"  Mulder asked.

 

MacLeod looked pointedly at Scully, waiting to see if she knew the
answer.

 

"Uh… the memories are almost gone."  She said, discovering it for the
first time herself.  Concentrating on the fading memories she had taken
from Perone, she said, "Immortals do not fight on consecrated ground."
She thought for a moment more and added, "I don't know why not, but they
don't."  She looked at MacLeod and asked, "Why not?"

 

Methos answered, "We don't really know what will happen if that rule is
broken, legends say that the last time two immortals fought on holy
ground was in the oracle's cave south of Herculaneum in 79AD.  No one
knows if it is true, but I have yet to find an immortal that will break
that rule, even those who break all of the others."

 

LaCroix broke in, "Are you saying that an immortal battle on consecrated
earth caused Vesuvius to erupt?!"  He demanded.

 

"No, I'm saying it is a legend among us.  That's all."  Methos answered.

 

"There are rules to immortality?"  Mulder asked, still thinking about
Methos earlier statement.

 

It was MacLeod who answered, "There are a few, and adherence to them is
demanded by honor, but there are as many dishonorable individuals among
immortals as there are among mortals."  He paused for a moment before
offering, "I would be willing to get you started until a mentor can be
found, but I'm not certain that I am willing to take on a student right
now."  He continued before anyone could question him, "We may need to
find someone for Natalie as well, depending."

 

Methos saw Mulder about to protest and added, "There are those who hunt
the young because they are easy kills.  Their quickening is not as
strong, but they can get more of them.  The good news is that those
people are not very skilled, because they don't have to be.  You will
need training if you want to survive."

 

Tracy was slightly appalled by this attitude, "Is that what you all do?
Go around hunting each other?"

 

"Not at all, Tracy."  MacLeod answered.  "As Adam mentioned, he has not
been in the game for centuries, preferring to avoid conflict and spend
his time studying and doing research.  I only fight when challenged, or
in rare cases when I feel that an immortal is presenting a threat to my
friends or community."  MacLeod chose not to elaborate on that issue.
"Many of us have lives we enjoy, we exist within a segment mortal
society for a decade or so and then move on before it becomes obvious
that we are not aging."

 

Tracy was not reassured, "But you said you were looking for this Froag
person, and you didn't sound like you were looking to sit and have a
pint with him," she pressed.

 

"Scott was my friend.  Froag hunted him down all the way from South
Africa, just because he wanted his quickening.  If someone killed your
friend, wouldn't you want him or her to pay?"  When he saw she was going
to protest, he added, "Froag is immortal, the courts cannot dispense
justice to such as him.  Even if he was convicted, all he has to do is
commit suicide, and he is out.  I imagine it is the same in the vampire
community- justice among immortals is handled by immortals."

 

Tracy, having participated- indirectly- in vampire justice, could'nt say
anything to that.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

By about 4 a.m. Methos and MacLeod could no longer hide their yawns.
LaCroix suggested that they should call it a day.

 

Mulder looked at MacLeod and Pierson and said, "Scully and I have a
couple rooms at the Plaza that we won't be using.  I'll get our stuff
packed up if you two want them.  They are paid through Friday."

 

"I have a place," Methos began.

 

Mulder interrupted, "Yeah, I've seen it, remember?"

 

MacLeod laughed, imagining Methos' rather spare style.  "Let me guess, a
bed and a chair?"  at Methos' annoyed look he continued, "I'll take the
Plaza."

 

Nick said, "Natalie and I will take Dana back to the loft, you can meet
us there, Mulder."

 

Mulder wanted to protest, but felt Scully willing him not to, and
swallowed it back down.  "Ok.  I won't be long," he said to her,
sweeping her up into his arms and planting a deep kiss on her mouth,
leaving her anticipating his return.

 

Vachon grabbed Tracy's hand and placed a sensual kiss on her palm.
"Come home with me?" he whispered to her.

 

Tracy shivered with anticipation; the feel of his cool lips on her hot
palm were like the sensation of fire and ice.  "I- I have to go back to
the precinct and sign out.  I'll meet you at the church."

 

Vachon leaned in close to her ear and said, "Why don't you see if you
can arrange some time off.  I think you and I have some things to
discuss.  Depending on what you decide, you might want to think about
taking a vacation." he growled in her ear.

 

Tracy turned beet-red and felt a shock of electricity shoot straight out
from her center to her extremities.  Her fingers, toes and scalp were
tingling and she was suddenly sweating.  "I'll be there as soon as I
can, Javier," she whispered back, not trusting her voice.  Her decision
was already made, and it only remained to be seen if Vachon felt the
same for her.  If this behavior was any indication, she was pretty
confident that he did.

 

LaCroix watched Vachon and Tracy's behavior and guessed that The
Community would have another addition as early as tonight.

 

=====
Chapter 10a





4:15 a.m. Thursday December 14th



Nick and Natalie were in the front of the caddie while Scully was in the
back.  If Nick was trying to reinforce the whole parent/child feeling,
he was accomplishing it handily.  She felt like a twelve-year-old child.
She had to keep herself from reacting like one.  "Nick, why were you
upset that I flew to the Raven with Mulder?"  She asked.



"Dana, a fledgling vampire shouldn't be able to do what you did.  It
should have exhausted you, and I was concerned that you would lose
control and have to be restrained."  He looked at her in the rearview
mirror for a moment.  She still looked small and fragile, but he knew
that was a mistake, she was very strong for her size and age.  "The only
thing I can guess that might explain it is Mulder.  You said you drained
him?"



She was still embarrassed by this subject matter, but she answered.
"Yes."



"Had you consumed that much vampire blood you would have been similarly
strengthened.  His Immortal blood must have fortified you beyond what a
mortal's would have," Nick said.



Scully smiled, "Well, if he has anything to say about it, I'll be
enjoying a meal like that on a daily basis."



Natalie laughed, "I know how he feels.  Vampire stamina is a wonderful
thing." She said cattily.



Scully laughed at the embarrassment she felt from her master.  "Now you
know how I felt," she thought to him.  Out loud she said, "I have found
that immortals have pretty amazing stamina as well."



"Oh?" Natalie asked, clearly wanting more detail.



"Let's just say that his ability to come back from the dead in seconds
carries over to all aspects of his life now."  Scully said with a leer.



Natalie choked with surprise and laughter.



Nick said, "Alright girls, you're going to make me blush here!"



Natalie and Scully laughed the rest of the way to the loft.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Mulder paid the cabbie an extra $50 to get him there fast.  He quickly
packed up his and Scully's things and went back down to the cab.  He
stopped in the lobby and gave the keys to Pierson and MacLeod.



"Duncan, I appreciate your offer- training, I mean.  If you don't want
to take on a student though, I don't want to impose." Mulder began.



"I don't want you to be alone while Froag is about.  I will get you
started, and then we'll see."  MacLeod smiled and added, "I've never
lived in Toronto before."



That comment stopped Mulder dead in his tracks.  "Uh. How long does it
usually take?"



"What, training?"  MacLeod asked.



"Yeah."



"Well the basics can be covered in eight months to a year.  True
proficiency can take several years," MacLeod said.



"Oh.  Ahh. I still have a job in DC."



"You have to leave that life behind."  MacLeod said gently.



"Why?  No one knows I died."  Mulder said.



Methos laughed, "No one living, you mean."



"That's true.  I have actually never encountered someone who died in
such a way that no-one knew they had died."  MacLeod thought for a
moment.  "You have some decisions to make, Mulder.  You will be very
vulnerable in such a high-profile profession.  And, it will be virtually
impossible for you to be adequately trained while working."



"Scully and I need to talk.  We don't know how it's going to work with
her condition either.  It will be difficult to work as a field agent
when she cannot go out in the daylight."  Mulder said.



"Why don't you think about it for a couple of days.  We will meet you at
the Raven on Sunday, and you can let me know what you have decided.  We
can look into some options in the mean time."  MacLeod added, "If you
see Froag, don't think you can take him, get the hell away from him and
call us."



"Don't worry, I'll save him for you two." Mulder said with a smile.  He
didn't think he had to worry with Scully around.  She would eat him for
lunch. "literally" he thought.



As he turned away to leave Methos asked him one last question.  "By the
way Mulder, why did you have 2 rooms?" Methos asked.



"We still needed 2 rooms when we got here."  Mulder said enigmatically,
and left.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Toronto Homicide, 96th Precinct





The first thing she heard when she went in to the precinct was the voice
of Captain Reece shouting, "Vetter!  Where the hell have you been?"



"I had to hunt down a couple of sources, captain, but I think we may be
able to ID the decapitation victim."  Tracy said as she breezed into his
office, closing the door behind her.



"That's not your case." Reece started to say, raising his eyebrows at
the closed door.



"I know captain, but I already wrapped up all of my paperwork, and with
Nick at the conference we don't have any outstanding cases."  Without
stopping for breath Tracy pressed on, "Actually, captain, I was hoping
to take some vacation, seeing as how things are kind of slow, and I
don't have anything else going on.  Plus, I think Nick is going to be
asking for some time pretty soon as well so now would be perfect."



"Vetter.  Vetter!  Breathe, dammit!  I can't get a word in edgewise with
you."  Reece said, annoyed.  "What makes you think Nick will be asking
for time off?"



Tracy smiled conspiratorially, "Well, you didn't hear it from me, but I
noticed that Natalie is wearing some new jewelry," she said while
holding up her left hand and waggling her ring finger.



Reece leaned back in his chair, "No.  You're kidding me," he said.



"Nope.  Serious as a heart attack, cap," she said with a giant grin on
her face.



"Finally pulled his head out, huh?"  Reece mumbled.  "I wonder who won
the pool?"



"We shouldn't say anything until he goes public, He'd kill me if he knew
I told you."  Tracy said, only half joking.



"All right, I'll see you a week from Monday.  Now get out of here!"
Reece blustered.



Tracy snapped to attention, "Yes Sir!" she said, and then took off
whistling, 'Get Me to the Church on Time' from 'My Fair Lady'.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




Nick's Loft





The cabbie broke a few more traffic laws on his way to the loft.  Mulder
felt like a giddy schoolboy.  He couldn't wait to hold Scully in his
arms again.  His career might be over, the X-files might end up
officially closed down, and his girlfriend might never be able see the
sun again, but he couldn't help thinking in that moment that life was
sweeter than he had ever imagined would be possible.  He decided right
then to dedicate the rest of his long, long life trying to make her as
happy as she made him.



Scully could actually feel Mulder getting closer.  There was an almost
overwhelming sense of joy saturating their link.  Even Nick could feel
it.



He was shocked.  "You have a link with Mulder?" he asked, interrupting
her in the middle of her description of flukeman to Natalie.



Natalie had wondered why Dana was getting a broad, goofy smile on her
face as she was describing the genetic mutation that led to a
human/fluke worm cross that was killing sewer workers and implanting
them with parasitic larvae.



Scully was startled by the abrupt question.  "Was I not supposed to do
that?" she said, bewildered.



Natalie laughed, Dana looked exactly like a guilty teenager who was
caught by her father kissing a boy.



Nick was irked by his own reaction.  "Sorry, Dana.  No, of course you
didn't do anything wrong.  It's just not supposed to be possible.  Even
if Mulder were another vampire, you shouldn't be able to establish a
bloodlink with him, except when you are actually exchanging blood.
Especially in one day!"



Well, it isn't like ours, Nick.  It's mostly just feelings, not actually
thoughts."  Scully said.



Nick continued, "Such links usually only exist within bloodlines, and
take time to develop after sharing the bloodkiss many times.  You
haven't exchanged blood with Mulder.  Have you?"  Nick asked suddenly
curious.



Scully definitely liked one aspect of vampirism.  Her childhood curse of
blushing at the drop of a hat was erased forever.  "Not really," she
said.  "Not like you and I have, if that is what you mean."



"What do you mean not really?"  Nick asked, clueless.  "Either he has
consumed your blood, or he hasn't."  Nick said.



Scully was mortified.  Imagine trying to explain to your father how your
boyfriend went down on you and 'performed cunnilingus' and you might
have the idea.



Natalie actually thought she saw a very brief blush on Dana's cheeks.
She too was baffled as to what could be so emb. "Oh, I get it."  She
thought to herself.



"Nick, remember when you told me that vampires only bodily fluid was
blood?"  Natalie asked.



"Yes, so?"



Natalie arched her eyebrows and waited for comprehension to sink in.



It finally did.  "Oh. Sorry.  Uh, I wonder if a, uh, more conventional
exchange, might strengthen it."



"But Mulder isn't a vampire," Natalie said.  "What if he, I mean, uh."
she trailed off.  There wasn't really any polite way to ask whether
Mulder would enjoy the taste of blood, especially given that he had
already indulged, so to speak.  "Never mind."



Just then Mulder came in from the elevator, carrying an armload of
luggage.  He dropped the bags and swept Scully into his arms, kissing
her soundly.  "Hi." He said.



Scully found herself matching Mulder's exuberance.  "Hi," she said
breathlessly.



Natalie was feeling a little 'exuberant' herself.  "You know, Nick, I
think Dana can broach the subject.  You and I have some very important
issues to discuss.  Upstairs.  NOW!"



Nick turned to Mulder and Scully and said, "You kids have fun.  See you
in the afternoon."  Then he grabbed Natalie, tossed her over her
shoulder and flew upstairs, with Natalie screaming in delight.



Scully held her hand up, interrupting Mulder before he could say a word.
"Mulder, in less than an hour the sun will rise.  I will be out like a
light until sunset.  We can talk or we can." she trailed off with a
smile.



Mulder smiled, leaned in for a soft tender kiss, and then followed
Nick's example- running rather than flying.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====




International Plaza Hotel





6:30 a.m. Thursday.



Methos and MacLeod decided that they would hit the mini-bar and
decompress a bit before crashing for the morning.



"I wonder what I will find out about the world in another five
millennia." Methos commented.



MacLeod chuckled and said, "Well, they say it is the information age."



"No, I am quite serious.  I had always thought of myself as a rather
cosmopolitan fellow.  I've been everywhere, seen everything."  He
sighed, "It's one thing, MacLeod, to see new inventions and innovations,
those have come on and off for my whole life.  It is another thing
entirely to find out about an entire race of beings that has been here
for at least as long as I have and I never knew it.  Not just a couple
of individuals, but an entire race.  How many other myths are true?
Will I be shocked if we meet a werewolf or, I don't know, a Mummy?"



"Come on, Methos.  Do you really think werewolves and animated mummies
really exist?"  MacLeod scoffed.



"Of course not!  But, that's the point, isn't it?  A week ago I would
have given you the same answer about vampires.  I would have laughed at
you for even asking the question."  Methos answered, standing up and
saying "I'm going to go try to sleep."  With that he headed for the door
connecting their rooms.



"Well, you will just have to take comfort in the fact that they
apparently didn't know about us, either."  MacLeod tried to cheer up his
friend.



Methos paused for a moment and looked back, sadly, at his young friend,
"The difference, MacLeod, is that they didn't discover a race of beings,
any one of whom, could kill them without breaking a sweat.  We did."



=====
Chapter 10b


 


Nick's Loft


 


"You want to try what!?" Mulder demanded.

 

He and Scully had worked out their initial sexual tension in a fast and
furious bout that took advantage of the rapid healing properties of both
of them, generating enough force that, had either been mortal, a visit
to the emergency room might have been called for.  Scully had been able
to keep from entirely draining Mulder only because in the ferocity of
his movements he had torn himself away from her mouth after only a few
gulps.  Scully had watched the wound on his neck close itself with a
blue spark and brought up the subject she and Nick had discussed.

 

"I want to exchange blood with you Mulder.  Like vampires do." She
answered.

 

"But, but…"  Mulder began.  He stopped and thought for a moment.  The
concept wasn't repulsive to him, he had already tasted her blood and
didn't mind it at all.  He was confused as to the reason, however.
"Why, Scully?  Do you think it will bring me across?"

 

Actually she hadn't really considered that possibility, and Nick didn't
mention it either.  "I don't know Mulder.  I didn't really think about
that."  She took a moment to do so.  "I don't think it could, if it
hasn't already.  Nick thinks it could strengthen the bond between us.
Maybe we could actually communicate ideas as well as emotions."

 

Mulder slowly smiled, looking at her peculiarly until she said, "What?!"

 

"Trying to get into my head, Scully?  Figure out what's going on in
there?"  he asked with a devilish grin.

 

"I'm hardly that optimistic, Mulder.  If you can't figure it out, how
could I ever hope to?"  She retorted smartly.

 

Mulder mulled over the possibilities.  Not only would she have access to
his deepest feelings and emotions, but his fears as well.  "Of course I
would have the same access to her," he thought.  He knew that she loved
him, he drowned himself in it every time she bit him.  Nevertheless, he
had a couple of deep dark secrets that he was afraid would hurt her.
The old Mulder would have allowed that to stop him.  The new Mulder was
determined to overcome any obstacle to have Scully.  A couple of
skeletons in the closet weren't going to stop him from doing this.

 

Scully watched her lover's face with trepidation.  She was nervous
herself; the thought of anyone, even Mulder, seeing into her deepest
secret places was inherently frightening.  In the end, though, her
deepest secret was her feelings for Mulder.  It couldn't hurt to have
him see that, could it?  Then she remembered Ed Jerse.  She hadn't
actually had sex with him, but it was only because he had been unable to
perform.  She had wanted to; if only to prove to herself that she didn't
need Mulder in her life.  What she had proven was that she could do
something stupid and self destructive in a futile effort to convince
herself that she didn't need him, when it was so obvious that she did.
It would have been like tearing her heart out to prove that she was
strong enough to live without a functioning cardiopulmonary system.
"Talk about short-sighted," she thought.

 

She saw on Mulder's face that he had come to a decision.  She wanted to
rescind the offer before he could tell her no, but he beat her to the
punch.

 

"I want to Scully.  I want to be one with you in every way possible.
Before we do, though, I need to tell you something.  I, I…" he started,
suddenly choking back a sob.  "I betrayed you once Scully."  He looked
at her and quickly dropped his eyes.  "It was while you were… gone."

 

No need for him to explain that reference.  She knew he was talking
about the months she was missing after she had been abducted.

 

"She was involved in a case…" He laughed mirthlessly, "It was the first
experience I had with vampires, actually.  Kristen;  she was a target to
be turned by a trio of vampires who were killing people very publicly."
He reached out to touch her, but pulled back suddenly and dropped his
shoulders in defeat.  "I'm sorry Scully.  I was lonely and desperate,
and I didn't know if you were ever… I know that doesn't come anywhere
close to making it ok, but I'm sorry.  Sorry it happened, sorry I never
told you…"

 

Scully realized that Mulder was really torn up over this, and that
telling him it was alright wouldn't help.  He needed her forgiveness,
even if she thought there was nothing to forgive.  "Shh, Mulder.  I will
forgive you, if you will forgive me."

 

"For what?" he said, startled out of his self-recrimination.

 

"Ed Jerse," Scully said, simply.

 

He looked at her like she had grown a second head.  "How can I forgive
you for that?  I caused it!  I treated you like a piece of furniture and
drove you away from me, right into his arms." He responded.

 

Scully stared at him, jaw dropped.  She had told herself that very thing
after it had happened.  "I was wrong then, and he's wrong now," she
reflected.  "Mulder, I think you and I would have fewer
misunderstandings if we both just shut up and stopped taking the blame
for everything that has ever gone wrong between us.  Let's do this and
eliminate the need for words, because neither of us seems to be very
good at them."

 

Mulder smiled at Scully's highly accurate assessment of their
relationship.  "I agree," he said simply.

 

Scully dragged one sharp fingernail along her throat, slicing it open
and guiding Mulder's head to her neck while she bit down on his
shoulder.

 

Mulder choked a bit at the sensation of Scully's cool, thick blood
filling his mouth, but convulsively swallowed as he felt the sting of
her fangs in his shoulder.  Suddenly his sense of self was ripped away
and replaced with the maelstrom of Scully's thoughts and memories.  It
was like the previous times she had bitten him, except immeasurably more
intense.  "If this is how it feels, no wonder I can't stop," they
thought together in a weird sort of simultaneous thought.

 

Finally, when Mulder's heart stopped beating and the last spark of
consciousness faded out, the link was broken.  Scully felt like she had
died again, except this time there was no plain, no doorway and
certainly no Melissa.  She finally returned to full self-awareness and
opened her eyes, "When did I close them?" she wondered.  She looked down
at the face of her love and patiently waited for him to return.  She
would have gone to get him some juice, but the sun was coming up and a
deep feeling of lethargy was stealing her away.  She lost consciousness
just as Mulder gasped awake.

 

Mulder gasped awake.  He immediately focused on Scully, Visually and
through their link.  He noticed that she was asleep; he could feel
peace, contentment, but no thoughts, no ideas.  "Oh well, either it
didn't work, or it takes more than once," he thought.  Either way, he
planned to do it as often as possible- for in that moment, the two truly
were one.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Vachon's Church


 


Tracy was breathless with anticipation.  She had definitely made her
decision.  She was hoping to make this her last night as a mortal.  When
she was promoted to detective and assigned to the graveyard shift it had
taken a little while to get used to the change in sleeping patterns.
She had stopped missing the daylight after a while, enjoying the
difference in pace and culture that the night offered.

 

That was before she even knew about vampires.

 

She knew that she would not miss the sun.  Even when she had days off
and could spend time in the sun, she didn't anymore.  Those occasions
when she was forced to meet her father somewhere during the day were
more annoying than pleasurable.  Part of that, "Ok, most of it", she
added silently, was due to annoyance with her father, but even when it
wasn't to meet him somewhere, she found daylight to be bothersome.
Always fair-skinned, she had a tendency to burn unless she slathered on
the sunscreen.  While she had done so in her younger days just to spend
time on the beach in a bikini, lately she could rarely bother to
remember, and often burned.  "Now at least I'll have a reason," she
thought.

 

Since meeting Vachon, she had grown to love the night, and she had grown
to love Vachon.  He could be maddeningly cavalier at times, but she
loved that he felt beholden to no one; he wasn't involved in any
political games and he didn't try to use her for any hidden agendas.
Vachon was, in many ways, the ultimate hedonist.  He didn't do anything
unless he enjoyed it.  He spent time with her because he liked her, and
liked being with her.  He put up with her quirks and foibles and never
tried to change her.  He seemed to genuinely care for her.   At first
she had thought of him as a slacker, and definitely too scruffy-
although she had enjoyed watching him from the beginning, especially
when he was walking away from her.  Eventually she found that he was a
wonderfully caring soul, even if he was emotionally immature at times.
She was definitely in love with him.  What she wasn't sure of was if he
felt the same way about her.  She thought that he did, but her innate
insecurity reared its ugly head- after all, Vachon was seriously hot- he
could have almost any woman he wanted at will.

 

As she entered the church, her heart was beating wildly and she was
somewhat embarrassed because she imagined that Vachon could probably
smell her excitement.  She was really looking forward to tonight.

 

Vachon heard her practically running up the steps.  Soon the scent of
her blood washed across his senses- Apricots and lilies- like sweet
perfume on his pallet.  As she got closer he could feel his fangs begin
to ache as her other scent, warm and musky, became apparent.  Though he
always delighted in sneaking up on her and startling her, tonight he
decided that a more direct, and seductive, approach might be in order.
As she stopped in his 'living room' amidst the dozens of lit candles, he
approached her through the doorway in front of her, pausing after
entering to rake his eyes up and down her slender, sexy form.

 

Tracy saw the hunger in his eyes, as they slowly perused her- as though
he were a man who hadn't eaten in days, and she was the buffet.

 

He decided that the one thing he would miss about her mortality was the
delicious blush that covered her entire body when he looked at her like
that.  He did it again just so he could savor it once more before
proceeding.

 

As she watched his eyes turn luminous she knew she had the answer to her
question, he definitely thought of her that way.  "You said we needed to
talk," she whispered.

 

"Do you really want to spend a lot of time talking right now?"  Vachon
asked.

 

"No.  But, it might be good to go over a few things before we do this,"
she answered.

 

Vachon smiled predatorily, "Tell me what you want, Tracy" he slowly
strolled towards her, letting slip his personal presence, enveloping her
in his power, not to threaten, but to entice.

 

Tracy's mouth went dry.  Other parts of her suffered the opposite
reaction.  She had to lick her lips before she could form the words, "I
want you, Javier.  I want to be with you." She paused as he came within
millimeters of her before stopping.  Her voice dropped to a husky growl,
"I want to be like you."  She slowly wrapped her arms around him and
drew his head down for a kiss, "Give me the night, Javier."  Then she
put her mouth on his and began a slow burning kiss.

 

Vachon felt himself stirring at Tracy's demand.  As he opened his mouth
to allow her questing tongue access to his fangs, he felt himself become
fully erect.  He pulled his head back enough to look into her eyes,
"Last chance Tracy, tell me now that you aren't ready or you will never
see the sun again."

 

"Is that a threat?" she asked with a smile.

 

"It's a promise.  Once I start, I won't be able to stop before it is
time to bring you across."  Vachon said seriously.

 

Tracy locked eyes with him and replied, just as seriously, "Bring me
across, Javier.  That is what I want."

 

Vachon smiled broadly and said, "Then that is what you will have!"  And,
saying that, he swept her up into his arms and flew her into his
bedroom.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


The sun was up, but Nick wasn't sleepy yet.  He was so excited by his
fiancée that he couldn't wipe the goofy grin off of his face.  After
satiating their sexual desires- several times- they had decided to talk
about their wedding.  Each had a great deal of time off coming to them
and they couldn't decide to get married before trying to bring Natalie
across, or waiting until after the transformation and initial training
had ended.  Of course, there was the added uncertainty of Natalie's
immortality.  Whether she would actually cross over, or just become
immortal, or?

 

In any case, Nick was still deliriously happy.  Natalie would be his
forever, in darkness, light, or in between.  Not to mention the little
fact that every time they had sex was just as, if not more exciting than
the last.  Nick was looking forward to some of the kinkier games they
could play as soon as the change (whichever it was) was made.

 

"Nicolas Knight!!!"  Natalie yelled at him, startling him out of his
self-absorption.  "You haven't heard a word I have said for the last
five minutes!"  She complained.  "Where were you this time?"

 

"Sorry, Nat.  I was just thinking how wonderful things are right now.  I
was so obsessed with you for so long, and so desperately lonely,
thinking that you and I could never be.  I was despondent, thinking that
I could never be forgiven, thinking that I was the epitome of evil just
because I was a vampire.

 

Natalie looked at him with sad eyes, knowing intimately from the blood
link the sorrow, guilt and despair that Nick had felt.  Added to the
fact that she had shared his loneliness and torment in many ways.

 

Nick continued, "And now, all that has changed!  I have you, I am happy
with my vampirism, I have reconciled with my father, I have a childé who
is showing herself to be an excellent addition to the family, and She
and I both have the loves of our lives forever, whether vampire or not."
Nick drew his naked and sexy woman into his lap, kissing her soundly.
He drew his head back and said, "I love you so much, and I am so looking
forward to living forever with you."

 

"So am I, Nick.  What do you say we figure out what we are going to do
for the next few weeks first?" she said with a smirk.

 

Nick smiled back at his lovely bride-to-be.  "You're right, Nat.  I
don't know if it is the immortal blood, but whatever the cause, Dana is
learning at a very rapid rate.  I think she will have enough of the
basics to be on her own within a couple of days.  She will need to spend
time with me off and on for years to master everything, but that won't
require constant contact."

 

"What about my change, Nick," Natalie asked.  "When do you think we
should try?"  She was concerned and eager at the same time.  She wanted
to know what was going to happen.

 

Nick felt Natalie's impatience and wondered what would result from their
attempt.  He had to admit that he wanted her to be a vampire.  He felt
guilty that his desire meant no more sunshine for his beloved, but he
knew that she also wanted it before they knew about her incipient
immortality.  "Nat, I want you any way I can get you.  I hope you won't
be upset if I tell you that I would really like to see you in fangs."

 

"Oh, Nick, me too.  I really don't think I want to spend eternity
chopping heads off."  Natalie said.

 

"What if that is what happens?"  Nick asked, suddenly picturing his
beloved in a sword fight, "Will you fight?"

 

Natalie thought about it for a moment.  "I don't like the thought of
killing, Nick.  I may not have live patients, but I am still a doctor."
She stopped speaking for a moment and looked at her love, considering
him.  "I couldn't let someone take me away from you.  I won't look for a
fight, but I won't lie down and die, either."  She smiled, trying to
lighten the mood, "Maybe you can train me Nick, how long has it been
since you swung a sword?"

 

"It's like riding a bike, Nat.  You never forget."  Nick said with a
broad smile.  "As to your question, I think we should do it this
weekend.  Saturday night, maybe.  We can plan a wedding for a couple of
weeks after that?  And maybe a honeymoon trip after that.  What do you
think?"

 

Natalie slowly smiled until her teeth showed.  She pulled herself closer
to Nick and said, "Here's to fangs!" grabbing the back of his head and
smashing her mouth against his.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Vachon's Church


 


6:30 a.m. Thursday

 

Vachon had removed all of Tracy's clothes and laid her on her back, on
his bed.  Shedding his own clothes, he had laid beside her on his side,
facing her.  He had stopped her as she tried to roll towards him,
saying, "Patience Querida, lie back and relax.  I will tell you what to
do."  He then proceeded to stroke her body with his free hand, using the
backs of his nails, fingers curled under, alternated with his whole
palm.  His touch was very light, and entirely avoided the primary
erogenous points.  

 

He stroked her belly, circling her navel, up to her breasts, covering
every inch except the nipples.  He stroked her face, ears, and neck-
avoiding her lips.  He stroked her thighs and inner thighs up to her
stomach, while avoiding the place she really wanted him.

 

Tracy was quivering.  Her nipples were rock hard, she was dripping wet
and her lips ached to have his kiss.  She had promised herself that she
wouldn't beg, but had since thrown that decision to the wind.  She was
moaning and begging him to stop teasing her, to touch her where she
needed to be touched.  She had no idea how much time had elapsed, but it
seemed like forever.  She was going crazy with need.

 

Vachon decided that she was finally ready, and moved his head to her
breast, gently scraping one fang across the tip of her nipple.

 

The sudden sensation against the area where she had desperately wanted
to feel him sent her over the edge, causing the roiling feelings in her
to boil over into orgasm.  The feeling increased as Vachon treated her
other nipple to the same sensation.  She felt him enter her and screamed
her release as the orgasm got stronger, causing her whole frame to
shudder and shake.  His movement within her was like being attached to
an electrode- overwhelming sensation of pleasure assaulted her senses,
rendering her almost unconscious.

 

Vachon slipped his fangs into her neck as she was delirious with
sensation.  As the heat of her blood filled his mouth, the link was
established and her earth-shattering orgasm initiated his own.  He was
swallowed up in the images and memories pouring forth from Tracy.  Her
hopes and dreams, her fears and concerns- they all washed over him like
a flood.  He felt her recently discovered love for him- her desire to
love him with all of her heart, tempered by her fear of rejection, her
uncertainty about her own desirability and worthiness to be loved.

 

Tracy became lost in a sea of sight and sound, realizing at last that
she was seeing Vachon's life as he remembered it.  She also felt how he
cherished and adored her.  She saw how, in his eyes, she was desirable,
how he lusted after her body while he had fallen in love with the person
inhabiting it.  She felt his reassurance that he would be there, waiting
for her to return from the crossroads.  Eventually everything else faded
out and she found herself standing on an open plain.  She thought it was
a memory of Vachon's until she realized she couldn't feel him anymore.

 

"Where am I," she whispered, not expecting an answer.

 

She got one anyway.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Vachon felt the moment that her heart stopped and consciousness fled.
Acting quickly, he bit into his wrist and put it to her mouth.  "Come
back to me Tracy." He whispered in her ear.  "Querida, I love you.  I
need you.  Come back to me."  He felt her latch onto his wrist almost
immediately, sucking for all she was worth.  Finally, when he started to
feel light headed he pulled his wrist from her mouth.

 

Before consciousness left her once again, he heard her say, "I love you
too, Vachon."

 

Vachon smiled down at the angelic face of his new Childé, "Welcome to
the night, Trace."

 

=====

Chapter 11a





Nick's Loft





12:00 p.m. Thursday December 14th



He had slept all of four hours.  He spent another thirty minutes
watching his Scully sleeping.  Of course there wasn't much to see.  She
didn't breathe, she didn't move.  If it wasn't for the slight link they
had, he might have thought she was dead.  He reflected on the way their
lives had changed in less than a week.  Last week he was an FBI agent
obsessed with aliens, conspiracies, the supernatural and the occult.
Today he was supernatural- an immortal that was shacking up with a
vampire.



In the end, the whole immortality/vampirism thing was minor.  More
importantly, last week he was desperate, alone, and hopelessly in love
with his partner- with no real hope of ever being with her.  Today they
were one in more ways than he could ever have imagined.  "Life is sweet.
Weird, but sweet," he whispered to himself.



Mulder still hadn't decided exactly what to say to Skinner, yet.  It
depended on how difficult he was going to be about this.  It also
depended on why he and Scully had been sent up here in the first place.
Other things had occupied his thoughts and kept him from wondering why
they were really there.



As Kimberly answered the phone, Mulder reflected that maybe he should
have spent a little more time wondering about these things *before*
calling his boss, "Hi Kimberly.  It's Mulder, is he in?"



"One minute, I'll see if he is available," she said, putting him on
hold.  She came back on after a few seconds, "Ok, Agent Mulder.  I'm
transferring you now."



"What is it, Mulder?"  Skinner sounded slightly annoyed.  "What could
have possibly happened at a simple conference, for Pete's sake?" he
asked, rhetorically.



Mulder's mind was filled with a few dozen different scenarios where he
answered that question honestly- none of them worked out in his head so
he said, "Uh, nothing. that is nothing to be worried about with the
conference."



"What did you need to speak to me about then?" Skinner asked.



"Well, uh, that is I want to request some vacation time.  Actually we
need to request a couple weeks, Scully and I." Mulder said, stumbling
through the answer.



"Fine.  Email a request in and I will approve it.  Anything else?"
Skinner replied brusquely.



Mulder could not have possibly imagined it would go that easily.  "Uh.
No sir."  Something was definitely up, but he was going to take
advantage of it while he could.  "Thank you," he said.



Skinner replied, "You're welcome Agent," and hung up.



"That was too easy." Mulder muttered to himself



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Natalie woke up feeling extremely thirsty and very sore.  However, it
was definitely the good kind of sore.  She had received more physical
gratification in the last 5 days than she had in the rest of her life
combined.  "Of course, that isn't saying much" she reflected.



Even without the knowledge that came from the link when Nick drank from
her, she would have had no doubt that she was beautiful in Nick's eyes.
It was as though he had worshiped her body.  He had touched and stroked
and kissed every square inch of her body this morning.  She looked like
she had been wrestling with a thorn bush, there were little scratches
and bite marks spread over her entire body.  "As if he was marking his
territory," she thought with amusement.  She unequivocally did not mind
being marked as his.  He could put a big sign on her back that said
'Property of Nicolas Knight' as far as she was concerned.  She belonged
to him, just as he belonged to her.  Feeling wanton and decadent, she
covered herself in nothing but a silk robe and went downstairs to get
something to drink.



As she left the bedroom she heard the television.  "Mulder must be up.
No way it's Dana," she thought.  She was no expert on vampires, but it
was hard enough to get Nick up and out of bed before sundown, she didn't
think a fledgling would be anything less than dead to the world.  She
saw him sprawled out on the couch surfing through the channels, not
landing on one for more than a few seconds before moving on.
"Definitely a guy thing," she thought.  "Nick does the same thing, when
he watches TV at all."



Mulder heard her coming down the stairs and stopped surfing for a
moment, "Hey, Natalie.  Good Morning?" he asked.



"I think we have to go with 'good afternoon' Mulder.  How long have you
been up?"



Mulder resumed surfing, "About an hour or so."



"What's the matter, Mulder?  Nothing worth watching?" she asked as she
walked to refrigerator.



"Mostly soaps.  I have enough intrigue, tragedy and suffering in my life
without watching that crap," Mulder responded.  He noticed her
destination and asked, "Hey Natalie, could I impose on you to bring me a
bottle of whatever you're having?"  He smiled, slightly embarrassed at
her knowing look.



"Oh?  Are you thirsty, Mulder?  Feeling a bit. drained?" she teased as
she collapsed into the chair facing the couch Mulder was sprawled out
on.



Mulder noticed that her legs looked like they had lost a fight with a
dull razor, "I'm lucky, I guess.  Mine all healed," he said, gesturing
toward her legs.



It was Natalie's turn to blush as she handed Mulder his bottle of orange
juice.  She had brought herself a glass to go with her bottle.  She got
tired of refilling it after the 3rd time and joined Mulder in drinking
straight from the bottle, upending it and not putting it down until it
was empty.  "Wow.  I was really thirsty!"



Mulder smirked at Natalie and said, "I hope you two weren't planning on
waiting very long before you come across.  It doesn't appear that you'll
be able to hold out much longer."



Natalie blushed furiously at that, but all the same, she was quite happy
that she and Mulder could tease each other like that.  She hadn't had a
close friend outside of Grace and Nick in what felt like ages, and for
her and Nick to have another couple so close, and not have to hide
anything at all, "Well, it feels wonderful!" she mused.  "I hope you and
Dana hang around for a while, Mulder.  I really like you guys."



Mulder's smile faltered slightly at that.



Instantly concerned, Natalie leaned toward him asked, "Mulder?  What's
wrong?"



Mulder sat up and put his face in his hands, resting his elbows on his
knees, "I don't know what we are going to do, Natalie.  For the last
seven years, the X-Files were my whole life.  Scully's too.  I have
spent years searching for the answers to certain questions.  There are
conspiracies that we have been trying to crack for just as long.  I am
not sure how I feel about giving up on that, even for a year or two that
Duncan says I would need to take to train.  Not to mention that Scully
has a whole new life that she needs to prepare for as well."  He leaned
back into the couch and sighed heavily.  "On the other hand, I've spent
most of the last 7 years pining away after my partner too.  If I had to
choose between the two, Scully would win hands down every time."



Natalie nodded her head.  "I always knew Nick would have to leave
someday.  He can't stay in one place for more than a decade or maybe
fifteen years at the outside before people notice that he isn't getting
any older.  I dreaded that time, not knowing where our relationship
would be when it came."



She stopped for a moment and smiled, wistfully.  "I will miss my career,
and my friends.  In the end though, being with Nick is more important
than being the youngest coroner in Toronto history, not to mention being
one of the best despite the 'handicap' of being a woman."  She stood up
and went to the refrigerator to grab two more bottles of OJ and returned
to the chair, passing one bottle to Mulder.  After draining it in two
long pulls, she said, "You know, Mulder- I can be a coroner anywhere I
go.  Just because you leave the FBI, if that is what you decide, that
doesn't mean you can't continue your search for the Truth.  You already
have resources outside of the normal channels, and now you have a couple
of key advantages, especially with Dana's newfound skills and abilities.
The two of you could investigate people and places you could never touch
before.



"I hadn't really thought of it like that," Mulder said in wonder.



"How do you think Nick managed to have the highest solve rate in
Department history?"  Natalie smirked.  "He's a very good cop, but being
essentially impervious to bullets, being able to hypnotize suspects and
witnesses, and preternaturally acute senses all stack the deck in your
favor."  She laughed, "If I had a dollar for every bullet I've removed
from Nick in the years I've known him, I would be almost as rich as he
is."



"Well, that's definitely one more thing to consider," Mulder said.
"When Scully and Nick wake up we need to talk."  Mulder closed his eyes
and clasped his hands on top of his head, sinking down into the couch,
"I need to figure out what I am going to do about my new status.  I am
not sure I want to spend eternity going around chopping off people's
heads.  I know I don't want to spend eternity on holy ground, not to
mention it might be a bit painful for Scully."  He opened his eyes and
smiled at Natalie, "I do know that despite all of the uncertainty
regarding our changes, I am happy. content.  You have no idea how big of
a change that is for me.  I haven't been at peace like this since I was
a young boy.  I am happier right now than I have ever been in my life.
However we move forward, so long as it is together, I will adjust to
whatever else comes.



Natalie felt almost exactly the same way.  Definitely content, whatever
may come.  She was suddenly struck with a thought, "Aren't you supposed
to be flying back tomorrow?" she asked.



"I called our boss and arranged a couple of weeks off," he responded.



"I need to do that, too.  Nick suggested a couple of months," she said.



Mulder raised his brows at that, "Can you get that much?" he asked,
surprised.



Natalie smiled, "We both have tons of leave accrued.  We never really
take any," she said.  "Besides, we have a good excuse," she said,
waggling her left ring finger at him.



"Yeah?  When are you guys tying the knot?" Mulder asked.



"We were thinking about the weekend before New Years," she answered.



"What about the. other event?"  Mulder asked slyly.



Natalie blushed slightly, "Saturday. I can't wait!" she confessed,
sounding like a little kid two days before Christmas.



Mulder laughed out loud.  "Well, I don't know about you, but I am
starved.  How about I buy you breakfast to celebrate your impending
immortality?"  He added, "It's not as if our significant others will
feel left out."



"Ok, let me leave a note, Nick might actually wake up," Natalie said
getting out a piece of paper and a pen from a kitchen drawer and
scrawling a few words.  "Ok, let's go."



"Uh Natalie?  You going in that?" he asked, gesturing at her robe.



"Oh.  I guess I'm a little distracted," she said, blushing again.  "Let
me go throw something on," she said running up the stairs.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Nick slowly achieved consciousness.  He could feel that the sun was
still up, and wondered what had awoken him.  He rolled over to look at
Natalie and saw that she wasn't there.  "That must have been it," he
thought.  Remembering that they had guests, he put on both the top and
pants of his pajamas.  He was about to head out of the bedroom when he
heard Natalie running up the stairs.  She swooped into the room and
suddenly stopped short when she saw him up and dressed, sort of.



"Oh, Nick!  I didn't think you would be up already," she said.



"What's the matter, Nat?" Nick asked, concerned.



Natalie went over to her bag and took out a pair of jeans and a sweater,
as well as a bra and panties, and began getting dressed.  "Nothing's
wrong, Nick.  Mulder and I were going to go grab some breakfast.  Want
to join us?" she asked, pausing with her arms crossed above her head,
about to pull her sweater over her head, and looked at him for a
response.



Nick stared at Natalie, clad in jeans and a bra with her hands
semi-confined above her head and started to get some ideas he wanted to
explore Saturday night prior to her conversion.



Natalie noticed the predatory look he was laying on her and blushed head
to toe, "Nick. Breakfast?"



"Thanks Nat- I'm tempted, but I think you had better eat something
first.  I don't want you getting anemic!" he replied, deliberately
misconstruing her question.



She blushed even harder and pulled her sweater on.  "Nicolas de Brabant!
You are incorrigible!"



"Nat, after you guys eat, why don't you go in to the morgue and see if
you can arrange that time off.  If you can keep Mulder out of Dana's and
my hair until about midnight, I think we can complete the preliminary
stuff and she would be able to move out and among mortals without me
babysitting her." Nick suggested.



"Isn't that awfully fast?  Just a couple of days and she is good to go?"
Natalie asked, concerned.



"I don't know what it is, Nat.  Maybe it's the immortal blood she is
feeding on, but she's advancing faster than I've ever heard of.  Even
with the deep link training I'm using, it should take a several days for
the basics, and she had them mastered the first night."  Nick shook his
head in wonder.  We just need to cover a couple of things and practice
them a little and she should be ok."



"And that's it?" Natalie asked.



"No, she will still need time and practice to master some of the more
challenging skills, but she won't need to be attached to my hip.  First
of all, those lessons will be intermittent, and second, those lessons
can wait. Until we get you caught up to her level."  Nick smiled
tenderly at the love of his life.  "If things go normally, it won't take
more than two or three weeks at the outside, and who knows?  Being
filled with your very own supply of immortal blood may accelerate your
progress as well."



"Or I might not come across at all," Natalie said, somewhat glumly.



Nick refused to let the possibility bring him down, "Then sword lessons
for you, young lady!  Now, go.  Eat.  Keep Mulder occupied.  I'll see
you tonight."  Nick laid into her with a searing kiss, giving her a
taste of just what he had in store for her tonight.



Natalie kissed him back just as thoroughly, letting him know she was
more than ready for whatever he had for her tonight.



===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====



Natalie and Mulder had each consumed 2 entrees and about a gallon of
orange juice before they felt sated.  The bemused waitress had stopped
even asking if there was anything else she could get them, and just
brought them a pitcher of juice.



Mulder was laughing at Natalie's stories, sharing things with her that
he had only shared with Scully.  He was suddenly struck by the fact that
he hadn't sat and talked with a friend, about nothing special, for. "I
can't remember doing this since I joined the FBI."  No conspiracies, no
aliens, no work at all.  It was almost like he was exhaling after
holding his breath for years.  No angst, no emotional investment, just a
nice chat with a friendly person who had no political interest or reason
for betrayal.



Natalie noticed Mulder drifting off into another world and smiled at
him.  He looked relaxed.  "I think this is the first time I've seen you
relax this week, Mulder," she observed.



That was exactly it.  He felt relaxed.  In his anal-retentive
obsessiveness, now that he could put a name on it, he could quit
thinking about it.  "Yeah," he said with a kind of satisfied sigh.
"Actually, I think it's been quite a while longer than a week."



Natalie leaned back and smiled at Mulder.  Outside the sun was setting,
and she could see part of the sunset between the buildings.  She was
enjoying the peaceful companionship.  She suddenly started at the look
of utter shock on Mulder's face.  He looked like he had sat on a tack,
or been touched by a live wire.



=====
Chapter 11b


 


Nick's Loft


 


4:45 p.m. Thursday December 14th

 

Scully came back to life with the setting of the sun.  She could feel it
slipping over the horizon with her newfound senses, "That's strange,"
she thought, she felt as though she had just lain down.  She remembered
the last thing she had done before falling asleep- drinking Mulder's hot
life's-blood as she rode out her own orgasm and, through the link, felt
his as well.  "That's definitely the way I want to fall asleep from now
on!" she thought.

 

[*That* can be arranged] she heard Mulder say.  She rolled over to look
at her lover when she noticed she was alone in bed.  She immediately sat
up and looked around for him, but he was nowhere in sight.  "Mulder!
Where are you?" she asked out loud.

 

[Actually Scully, I am downtown having breakfast with Natalie.]

 

"What?!" she almost shouted.  She suddenly realized that she wasn't
hearing him with her ears, but rather in her head.  She closed her eyes
and saw a table full of empty dishes in front of her and a very
concerned looking Natalie leaning forward and asking her 'what's wrong,
Mulder?'

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder answered Natalie's question, "Nothing, Natalie.  Scully just woke
up, that's all."

 

[Tell her that her theory of the blood exchange was apparently right]
Scully thought to Mulder with a sense of wonder at this new sensation.

 

"Scully says your theory was right.  What theory was that?"  Mulder
asked.

 

Natalie's train of thought was completely derailed.  "You… She???"
Natalie paused and scrubbed at her face with her hands and swept them up
and through her hair, taking a moment to put her thoughts together.
"You can hear her?" she asked, still trying to reorganize mentally.

 

Mulder was starting to feel very hungry suddenly.  *Very* hungry.  He
closed his eyes and groaned at the hunger pangs.  As his eyes closed he
suddenly found himself in Nick's guest bedroom, but only for a moment
and then the scenery whizzed by and he found himself, not half a second
later, wrenching the refrigerator door open, grabbing a bottle, tearing
the cork out and chugging it down.

 

[Sorry, that was me.] Scully thought.  [I felt how full you were and my
own hunger didn't hit me for a moment.]

 

Mulder was momentarily lost in the sensation that came from the blood.
He had a faint impression of a young man laying on a table at the Red
Cross, donating for his school's blood drive.  As he opened his eyes he
came back to himself and noticed that Natalie was looking a little
green, "Actually, everything looks a little green," he thought.

 

Natalie was about to ask Mulder what was wrong when he opened his eyes
and she saw that they had changed to the green/gold of a vampire.  Her
hands flew to cover her mouth as she gasped out loud.  "Mulder! Your
eyes!" she whispered loudly, looking around to see if anyone else
noticed.

 

"What?" he said, blinking rapidly until the greenish tinge everything
had was gone.  "What just happened?" he demanded in a harsh whisper.  He
focused on Natalie who was still staring at him, stunned.  Abruptly he
stood up and pulled out his wallet. Throwing two fifties on the table he
said, "Come on, let's get out of here." He growled.

 

Natalie silently stood up, grabbed her stuff and walked out with Mulder.
As they got outside she explained what she had seen.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Scully had her eyes closed, listening in, but not commenting.  She
didn't know what to think- Mulder's eyes vamping out?  Was it an echo of
her, or was he changing?  What did it mean?  Suddenly she felt something
she had never felt before- like fire in her head and a buzzing in her
ears.

 

[Oh, no.  Not now!] she heard Mulder think.

 

She saw through his eyes an intense man striding through the parking lot
towards Mulder and Natalie with violence written all over him.

 

[It's not Froag.  I don't know who it is.] she heard Mulder tell
Natalie.  [Go get in the car, get it running and I'll jump in.]

 

She heard Natalie answer ask him what he was going to do without a
sword.

 

[I don't think he will try anything here, it's pretty public.  Just go!]

 

Scully saw him pull a sword from his coat and felt Mulder's fear
blossom.  "NO!" she screamed.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Natalie jumped into the driver's seat of the Caddie and started it up.
She pulled out of the parking spot and dropped it into drive with her
shaking hand.  She headed to where Mulder was and saw the immortal
cocking a sword back over his shoulder, getting ready to swing it at
Mulder.  What she saw next almost caused her to wreck the car.

 

Mulder moved faster than the eye could see- he struck the other immortal
in the neck with the edge of his hand like he was trying to crush his
larynx, but he struck with such force that he took his head almost
entirely off.  It remained connected by only a little bit of skin and
muscle on the right side of the neck.  Apparently it was enough, because
within several seconds of the body hitting the ground, the light show
began.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nick was drying off when he heard, and felt, Dana's angry/fearful yell.
He had the impression through the link that she felt threatened with
deadly force, but he couldn't sense anyone else- vampire or mortal.
That didn't stop him from flying down the stairs at top speed.  He was
just in time to see Dana floating, bathed in a crackling blue aura and
screaming like to tear out her throat.  He tried to reach through their
link and it felt like he was opening his mind to an electric current.
He immediately clamped down on the link and watched, helplessly, as she
convulsed in… actually she didn't look like she was in pain anymore, and
suddenly the aura collapsed and she crashed to the ground.

 

"Dana?  Are you alright?" Nick asked softly.  He gingerly reopened the
link between them and felt…  He smiled at the feeling.  "Dana, do you
need a cigarette?"

 

Scully sat up and looked at Nick, confusion written on her face, "Nick,
you know I don't smo…" she suddenly caught the almost smile on his face
and the humor through their link.

 

Nick suddenly laughed out loud, "Now there is something you won't see
again anytime soon.  A vampire blushing!" he crowed.  Suddenly he got
serious again.  "What just happened, Dana?"

 

In the afterglow of the quickening Scully had momentarily forgotten
herself.  She pressed into the link with Mulder and saw him tossing the
body into the trunk of the caddie and yelling at Natalie to drive.  He
was looking around for any witnesses but didn't see anyone.  Natalie
gunned the engine and squealed the tires as they left the parking lot,
on their way back to the loft.

 

Nick only caught about a third of all of that through his link with
Dana, but he could tell that she was completely immersed.  "Wow, Dana.
Wow.  I mean… Wow."  Nick was shaking his head in amazement.  "I've
never heard of a link like that, not even legends.  The master/childé
link is usually as strong as it gets, but it's never like this.  Never
like becoming the other."  He sat down at the table and just stared at
his childé.  "It's like you are in a bloodkiss.  Total immersion!"

 

Scully just said, "We tried out your suggestion."

 

"Well I'd say it worked," Nick said with a loud exhale.  "So I take it
Mulder took his first head?  Was it Froag?  How did he do it?  He
doesn't even have a sword… Does he?"

 

Scully levitated herself up off of the floor and went over to the fridge
and pulled out a couple of bottles.  "That really made me hungry," she
explained at Nick's raised eyebrows.

 

"Tell me what happened, Dana," Nick said.

 

Scully drained about half of a bottle and began, "Well, I woke up and
was talking to Mulder when I noticed that he wasn't in the room," she
began.  She recounted all of the events up until the feeling of the
quickening and seeing the unknown immortal.

 

"Who was it?" Nick interrupted.  How did Mulder beat him without a
sword?

 

"We don't know who.  As to how… I'm not sure, Nick.  It's almost like
when I… That night, when I watched Mulder get shot- it was like that.  I
was seeing through Mulder's eyes, and everything around him slowed to a
crawl and we hit him in the throat… but it was too fast.  Our hand
didn't crush his larynx, it went through his neck…"  She looked up at
Nick with worry in her eyes.  "Mulder shouldn't be able to move that
fast!  It's not possible, is it?"

 

"What's not possible, Dana?"  Nick asked.

 

"He can't have come across?  He ate Pancakes!  I could taste them.  And
he was in the sun, I could feel it and it didn't burn at all!  He can't
be a vampire.  Can he?"  She asked, ranting and throwing her hands in
the air.

 

Nick replied honestly, "Calm down, Dana.  This is new to all of us.  We
will figure it out."  Nick reached over and took her hand, "The
important thing for now is that Mulder is alive.  Focus on the positive,
Dana."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

They had driven about 5 minutes when Natalie finally asked the question.
"Ok Mulder, you want to explain what just happened?"  She continued to
stare straight ahead, made sure she had both hands on the wheel and
tried very, very, hard to keep her voice calm and even.  It was the only
way to keep from falling into a complete panic.

 

Mulder started to laugh, becoming a bit manic before he shut himself up.
He could feel a nagging little thread of panic itching to break free.
"Sorry Natalie.  I would really like to tell you.  I really would.  But
I don't have a clue.  I don't know if that was Scully acting through me,
or if I somehow took some of her attributes, or…  I don't even know
where to begin."  Mulder paused for a moment as if waiting for an answer
and then said, "Nick and Scully don't have a clue either."

 

Natalie gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, and her voice was
just a little more brittle as she asked, "You can hear Nick too?"

 

"Yeah… I mean I can't hear him, but Scully can and I kinda hear what she
hears."  Mulder started to notice that Natalie was more than a little
freaked out and hastened to clarify, "I don't have a link with him if
that is what you're asking.  I mean that I can hear him with Scully's
ears.  They are talking.  Out loud, I mean."  Suddenly he sobered as
both the topic of Nick and Scully's discussion, and the memories that he
could sense Scully recalling came through, "She caught part of the
quickening."

 

"Natalie was distracted from the weirdness of the situation by the
thought of an innocent bystander being injured, "Innocent?  Bystander?"
she wondered.  "Maybe kind of 'not directly involved', 'semi-bystander.'
Maybe." she thought.  "Is she ok?" she asked Mulder.

 

"Yes.  Nick is razzing her about the…  Well, it kind of starts off
really painful, but it ends… Well…  Let's just say I can see how someone
might get addicted to headhunting," he said, blushing.

 

Natalie saw the blush creep up his face out of the corner of her eye and
barked out a short, but genuinely amused laugh.  "Do you need a
cigarette Mulder?"

 

Mulder stared at her goggle eyed for a second, "Do you and Nick have a
link, Natalie?"

 

Confused by the apparent non sequitur, Natalie just gave Mulder a
puzzled look.

 

Mulder said, "That is exactly the same question Nick asked Scully."

 

Now Natalie began to laugh out loud, dispelling all of her tension in a
virtual celebration of the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Room 1013, Plaza Hotel


 


Methos was standing on the deck outside the sliding glass door of the
hotel room Mulder had 'loaned' him when he saw the quickening in the
distance.  He focused on where he could see it, about a quarter mile
away.  As soon as he thought he had the landmarks committed to memory he
ran back into his room and through the door to Mac's room.  He saw him
coming out of the bathroom, pants on and sword in hand- his hair still
damp from the shower.

 

"What the bloody hell?" Mac demanded.  "Methos, I told you I would be
over when I was ready!"

 

Methos interrupted him, saying, "I just saw a quickening, MacLeod.  Not
a quarter mile south of us."

 

MacLeod didn't even pause, "One minute" was all he said as he quickly
finished getting dressed.

 

They were in the car and on the road within 5 minutes.  They both knew
whoever was involved would be long gone, but if it was Froag, he might
leave the body behind.  At least they might be able to tell if it was
Mulder who was involved.  Maybe there would be witnesses from whom they
could find out something.

 

"Here Mac, I'm sure it was here," Methos said, indicating the parking
lot beside a little diner.

 

They parked and began to walk around the parking lot, looking for
anything.  Strangely, there was no one milling about; no police cars,
nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  If this was the place, there must
not have been any witnesses.

 

"Methos."  Mac called.  "Look here."

 

Methos went over to where Mac was standing and looked down at the large
blood puddle at his feet.  "Someone or something died here."  Mac said.

 

"I see a few scorch marks, but no broken glass," Methos added.  He
noticed something lying between two cars across the drive aisle and went
over to it.  "Somebody lost their blade," he said, bending down to pick
up the short, broadsword.

 

"Froag's?"  Mac asked.

 

"Could be, I know he uses a broadsword, but I've never seen it.  The
question is who else is in town?"  Methos frowned.  "Froag is a prick,
but he's pretty darned good.  If someone took him they had to have done
it quickly- you would think the sounds of a prolonged sword fight would
bring someone else out of the diner."

 

"We can't be positive, Methos.  He could have lost his sword and had to
leave quickly," Mac said.

 

"But he had time to grab the body?"  Methos answered.  "Not bloody
likely."

 

MacLeod thought about it for a moment, "Well, Somebody had time to grab
the body and leave the sword.  We shouldn't assume who it was.  We need
to try and find out."

 

"Yeah.  I'll see if his watcher has caught up with him yet."  Methos
said, resignedly.

 

"I have to run an errand across the border.  There's a dealer who claims
to have a 13th century kogarasu-zukuri," MacLeod began.

 

Methos started laughing, "You were going to come out here anyway!  And
you want me to feel guilty about 'dragging you across the continent!'
you…"

 

"I didn't plan on dragging myself out of bed and rushing to the airport
to catch a plane!  I was going to fly in this weekend."  MacLeod said,
indignantly.

 

"Sure, right, whatever." Methos dismissed MacLeod's protest.  "When will
you be back?"

 

"I told Mulder I would meet him Sunday night at the Raven," he answered.
"I'll be there about ten or so."

 

Methos said "Ok," and walked away.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Halfway to the loft Mulder said, "Nick wants you to call him."

 

Natalie wasn't angry, but she was getting a little tired of this silent
communication.  "Alright Kreskin, it's getting a little old already,"
she said as she hit the speed dial.

 

"Yes Nick?  The Amazing Kreskin said you wanted me to call?"

 

"Actually, I was telling Dana that I should call you.  Apparently
speaking to one, is the same as speaking to both," he said as he shot
Scully a dirty look.

 

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled impishly back at him.

 

Natalie shot Mulder a dirty look and received the same impish grin.
"Why were you going to call me?"

 

Nick said, "Dana said that you're coming back to the loft?"

 

"Yeah, why?" Natalie asked.

 

"I think you should go ahead to the morgue, try and get the vacation.  I
want to wrap up Dana's training and…" Nick began

 

"Nick- there's our passenger to think about… Remember, he can't stay
long."

 

As macabre as it was, Mulder couldn't help but laugh at Natalie's
delicate description.  Of course, that set Scully off and both Nick and
Natalie had to listen to laughter in person, and over the phone.

 

Nick sighed at the 'children's' antics.  "Natalie, go to the Raven.
I'll call LaCroix and tell him you're coming."  Nick added, "Be back
here at Midnight and I'll take you for a ride," he said suggestively.

 

This, of course, caused Natalie to blush, while Scully laughed at the
suggestion, and Mulder laughed at Natalie, and then Mulder and Scully
each laughed even harder at what each other was hearing and seeing.
After a few moments they settled down, wiping the tears from their eyes.

 

"All right Nick," Natalie said.  "I think in the future we will have to
avoid phone conversations in these two's presence.  It's distracting."

 

"Absolutely," Nick agreed.  "I will see you at Midnight, Love."

 

"I can't wait!" Natalie replied and then disconnected the call.  She
found the next turn and headed toward the Raven.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

They drove for about 10 minutes before getting to the alley behind the
Raven.  As they stepped out of the car they were almost simultaneously
struck by the situation.

 

"I never thought I would be doing something like this," Mulder began,
quietly.

 

Natalie agreed, saying, "I handle bodies all of the time, but this is
definitely different.  I'm usually trying to catch a murderer, not
helping cover one up and disposing of the body."

 

"I didn't really think of it as a murder, Natalie." Mulder said somewhat
defensively.

 

"Mulder, ritual combat is still murder in the eyes of the law," she
began, but then relented at the hurt look on his face.  "I know you
would have avoided this if it were possible, Mulder.  But you have to
accept that your life now includes behavior that civilized society calls
murder.  Two hundred years ago duels might have been an accepted and
even celebrated activity.  Today, they are considered murder.

 

Times change, but it seems that immortals don't."  She heaved a big
sigh, "It doesn't mean you're a bad person Mulder.  If things don't go
the way I want them to, I will be joining you in this 'game.'  Don't
think for a moment that I won't take someone's head if it comes down to
them or me, but it is still murder in the eyes of the law, and I have
always been on the other side of the fence."

 

Mulder sighed himself.  "Yeah.  I don't think I can live like this and
stay in the Bureau.  I don't think they would look kindly on having a
head-chopping agent in their employ," he said leaning against the car
and scrubbing at his face with both hands.  "Not to mention a mass
murderer with a literal taste for blood," he added with a smile.

 

[Hey!]

 

"Sorry, Scully, but you did kill a dozen men.  It doesn't make you a bad
person." He said, quoting Natalie and chuckling.  He looked at Natalie
and saw the worried look on her face.  "Don't worry Natalie.  I'm not
loosing it, at least I don't think so.  I am just trying to accept my
new reality.  Scully and I are murderers.  We didn't do it out of
malice, or because we are evil, but because it was all we could do under
the circumstances we were in.  And, we will both kill again, for the
same reasons.   So will you.  Watchers, Hunters, the 'Game'; to protect
ourselves- and our friends- in our new reality, we will kill.  I think I
will be better able to accept that if I don't try to deny it or dismiss
it.  I will kill to live, but I don't have to live for the kill."

 

[Boy, talk about 'paradigm shift'.] Scully added.  [Whoops!  Got to go,
Mulder.  Nick's going to try and block our link so we can finish
training.  Don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while, Ok?]

 

"Ok Scully," Mulder said and then felt their link quiet down almost to
nothing.

 

"Ok, Mulder.  I'd just like to go on record saying that this whole
'mental conversation' thing you've got going with Dana is starting to be
really exasperating," Natalie said, facing him with her hands on her
hips and giving him an annoyed look.  "Come on, let's get LaCroix and
get this over with.  I've got to get to the morgue and arrange time
off," she said, heading toward the door to the club.

 

=====
Chapter 12 
Toronto Homicide, 96th Precinct. 
7:00 p.m. Thursday 
After Nick had Scully practice her ‘Whammy’ on a few of the homeless denizens of the street he 
took her with him to the precinct so that he could talk to the captain about some time off. 
As Nick was in the captain’s office, she sat at his desk and looked around the precinct.  She 
wondered how many times she had been in homicide departments, similar to this one, working on a 
case, or following one of Mulder’s far-fetched leads.  “Three hundred and thirty seven,” she 
suddenly realized as her newly found perfect memory quickly shunted through each and every one 
of them in a blur of images. 
“You forgot to mention perfect recall, Nick,” she thought.  She had always envied Mulder’s ability 
to remember everything; whereas he had thought of it almost as a curse.  Thinking back on Nick’s 
memories of the horrors he had committed in his immortal youth, she could see Mulder’s point.  
She herself could remember in exact detail her own recent murderous behavior.  “You were right 
Mulder.  No matter how we dress it up in circumstance, it is still murder,” she thought. 
She closed her eyes and leaned back in Nick’s chair.  He was still blocking her link with Mulder, 
and all she saw was the insides of her eyelids.  The rest of her senses, however, were almost 
overloaded with the activity around her.  She could hear the heartbeats of the detectives working 
around her.  She could smell the perfume of their blood singing in their veins.  Even though it 
called out to the vampire in her, she found that she could easily control it.  She had fed well before 
she and Nick had flown here, “Plus, when you have filet mignon waiting at home, you don’t find 
ground chuck all that tempting,” she thought. 
“What do you mean by that?” Nick asked her as he approached the desk, questioning her unspoken 
comment. 
Scully opened her eyes and regarded her ‘master’ for a moment before answering.  “The stuff in the 
bottle satisfies the hunger, but it is not as good as it is ‘straight from the tap’ as it were,” she 
evaded. 
“That’s true, but you weren’t thinking of the bottled product, were you?” Nick asked as he stood in 
front of her, arms folded across his chest. 
“Even from the source, I can’t imagine regular human blood coming close to Mulder’s,” she mused 
with a sigh, the wonder and desire evident in her voice.  “When I drink from him, it’s like fire 
running through my soul.  He burns into me and it’s as though I can feel him in each individual cell 
in my body.”  She shivered slightly as her perfect memory replayed their last encounter for her.  “I 
don’t know if it’s his love, his immortality, or both; but I think Mulder has spoiled me for anything 
or anyone else; even your blood, Nick.  I know when I drink from you that it is the blood of my 
maker, and I can tell that it’s different, certainly better than human, but it’s just not like Mulder.” 
Nick could feel the pleasure/desire emanating from her.  He was awed at the strength of the bond 
Dana had with her lover.  He hoped that he and Natalie would have something similar. 
Scully shook herself out of her reverie, “Did you get your vacation squared away Nick?” she asked 
as she stood before her Father in Darkness.  She giggled at that thought, ‘Father in Darkness,’  
“Dark Daddy.” She thought to him. 
“Impudent Childé!” he thought back to her with a mock growl.  He couldn’t keep the grin off of his 
face entirely, though.  He was relieved that she and Mulder had so quickly accepted some of the 
darker aspects of their new reality without falling into the despondency that had haunted him for so 
long. 
Scully sobered slightly, saying, “I think the difference might be that Mulder and I have each other 
to remind us that we aren’t monsters.  At that time, LaCroix wanted you to act like a monster, and 
you didn’t have anyone to tell you differently.” 
“Never forget, Dana, that we have that monster inside us and we must keep it under tight control, or 
it will dominate us,” Nick whispered. 
“We had that darkness in us even before we were changed, Nick.  I know it has been so long ago, 
but surely you remember having to fight the darkness in your soul, even before you changed.” 
Scully said. 
“Yes, that’s true, it’s just more powerful now.” He replied. 
“You’re right, Nick.  But now we are more powerful as well,” she replied. 
Nick changed the subject, “Anyway, to answer your question, Yes.  I got the vacation.  Now we 
need to see if Nat can get hers, and we will be set.” 
“What did you tell your captain?” Scully asked. 
“I didn’t have to tell him anything, Tracy was there first,” he said deadpan. 
Scully chortled at that.  “I take it she doesn’t keep secrets well?” she said as they stopped and 
looked around to be sure no one was watching. 
“Oh, she can keep a secret when she thinks it is important, like the truth about vampires.  But for 
everything else, she is an inveterate gossip,” he replied, smiling down at her. 
Scully suddenly realized how close they were to one another, and how their low conversation and 
continuous eye contact must appear to everyone else around them.  She could hear their increased 
pulse-rates, and she could feel everyone in the precinct staring at them. 
Nick heard the sudden lull in conversation around them and realized that he and Dana were 
standing in each other’s personal space, carrying on an intimate conversation.  He closed his eyes 
and groaned softly, “I can hear the rumor mill gearing up now, Dana.” 
Scully laughed and said, “Oh come on, Daddy, lets have some fun with them.  It’s not as if Natalie 
is going to have a problem with it,” she said as she stepped closer to him, until they were almost 
touching.  She wrapped her arm around his waist and tried to lead him out. 
Nick stood there, staring down at his daughter.  “Oh you are a brash, impetuous childé.”  He 
wrapped his arm around her shoulders and allowed her to tug him out of the precinct.  It was all he 
could do not to laugh out-loud at the whispers he heard starting up behind them as they left. 
Scully didn’t restrain herself.  She heard some of the comments and laughed out loud.  When he 
looked at her with eyebrows raised, she said, “No offense intended Nick- Natalie is a lovely 
woman, but the thought of having sex with her doesn’t do anything for me at all; and the idea of 
sex with you seems almost incestuous- let alone having you both at once!” 
Nick did laugh at that.  He then paused for a moment, as if trying to come to a decision.  He had his 
arms crossed, with his left hand against his mouth like ‘The Thinker’.  After a minute, he seemed to 
come to a decision.  He said, “Now, we are going to practice something important; something very 
dangerous as well.  You will need to exercise an enormous amount of control over your hunger, 
and your bloodlust.” 
Scully was intrigued, “What are we going to do?” 
As he took to the sky, Nick answered her question, “Hunt.” 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
Toronto Coroner’s Office, Morgue. 
7:00 p.m. Thursday 
Natalie snuck up on Grace as she was intently looking at some sample slides.  “Evening Grace,” 
Natalie whispered in her ear. 
“Good Lord, Girl!” Grace said after jumping halfway out of her seat.  “You like to have frightened 
a year off my life!”  She stood up and turned around, hands on her hips and mock glaring at the 
unrepentant woman in front of her.  She then noticed the tall good-looking man with Natalie.  
“Who’s this fine young man?  You finally get tired of waiting for Detective Knight to come to his 
senses?” 
Mulder guffawed at that, and at seeing Natalie’s blush.  “No Ma’am, just keeping Nick’s fiancé 
company while she takes care of a few things,” he said, waiting for the look of shock and surprise 
that he expected after Natalie’s briefing on Grace during their ride from the Raven.  He wasn’t 
disappointed. 
“What did he just call you?!” Grace practically shouted, gripping her shoulders and turning Natalie 
to face her. 
Natalie couldn’t keep the big, goofy grin off of her face as she lifted her left hand up for Grace’s 
inspection.  “He finally came to his senses,” She replied. 
Grace grabbed Natalie's hand and brought the ring up for a closer inspection.  “Good Lord, girl.  
That man don’t do anything by halves, does he?” she said as she brought her eyes up from the ring 
to Natalie’s face. 
Even though slightly embarrassed she couldn’t help but say, “No, he does *everything* over-the-
top.” 
Grace laughed at that.  “When’s the wedding, dear?” 
Still bear ing that goofy, tooth-baring grin, Natalie replied, “December 30th, two weeks from 
Saturday.” 
“Lord above, Girl!  That’s awfully fast, isn’t it?  Can you plan a wedding in 2 weeks?” Grace 
asked, stunned. 
“Well, it’s not going to be formal, we will just have a few friends and some extended family, not a 
big church wedding.”  Natalie’s smile turned into a sly grin, “besides, now that he’s pulled his head 
out, I’m not letting him change his mind!” 
Mulder laughed out loud at that, and Grace joined him. 
Natalie realized that she hadn’t even introduced Mulder to Grace.  “I’m sorry; Grace, this is Agent 
Mulder with the FBI; Mulder, this is Grace Balthazar, my assistant.” 
“Oh? Is there a new case you guys are working on?  I hadn’t heard anything.”  Grace began. 
“No, my partner and I are actually on vacation.”  Mulder answered.  We’re going to stick around 
for the wedding.” 
“Friends or extended family?” Grace wondered aloud, arching her brow, clearly interested in this 
faucet of Natalie’s life that she was previously unaware of. 
Natalie jumped in, afraid of what Mulder might say, “Would you like the hot lights and rubber hose 
now, Grace?  Or are you waiting for a more opportune point in the interrogation?” she said with a 
smile and a laugh.  “Dana, Mulder’s partner, is related to Nick.  Kind of like a distant niece.” 
Grace gave Natalie a look, like she was humoring her by dropping it for now, but would be back to 
revisit the subject later, “Mm Hmm.  What are you doing in tonight, Natalie?  I didn’t expect you 
back yet.” 
“I just came in to get some vacation arranged.  We’ve got plans to make, and a honeymoon to enjoy 
afterward.” Natalie said; her goofy grin back in place.  Plus she knew that nothing would sidetrack 
her assistant like sexual innuendo. 
Grace smiled openly and teased, “I bet you’re not waiting for the honeymoon!” 
Natalie put on a straight face and deadpanned, “Well, practice makes perfect.” 
“I heard that!” Grace said, ever the relationship cheerleader.  “You get yourself situated and be sure 
I get an invite when you figure out where you’re having it!  The wedding, I mean.  You can just 
tape the honeymoon.” 
Mulder cackled at that, not able to contain himself at the look on Natalie’s face. 
Natalie rolled her eyes at Mulder’s antics and said, “Oh, you are *bad* Grace!” 
“You know it!” she agreed. 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
Ontario Watcher Chapterhouse 
8:45 p.m. Thursday 
Methos was checking the database, trying to figure out who might have been involved in the fight 
from which he had seen the quickening.  There were actually several in the province besides 
himself, Mac, and Froag.  As he was perusing the db, an update on one Willy Williams came 
through.  His watcher, Ken Baker, was relatively new to the group and this was only his second 
charge.  His first had been a very young one, only a couple of years as an immortal.  He died in the 
first 6 months and Baker had been reassigned to Williams.  Willy was about 250 years old, and was 
a real piece of work.  He had been an indentured servant brought over from England in the 1750s.  
He was a thief and a scoundrel and only came to America to escape the hangman’s noose at home.  
Methos wondered how this guy had survived two years, let alone over two centuries as an 
immortal.  He attacked any immortal he came across, in public or not.  If he found one who was his 
better, he would find a way to escape the fight and run away.  He was apparently in Toronto after 
being chased out of Buffalo , NY by just such a circumstance. 
“I guess he learned his lesson at last,” Methos thought as he read the narrative of the battle that 
ended Willy Williams’ tenure among the Immortals.  As he continued to read, he began to get a 
feeling that this was not entirely right.  The description of the fight seemed pretty routine, but some 
of the details didn’t fit.  By the time he had gotten to the part about the woman with long curly 
black hair in a green Cadillac; and the two taking the body and head with them, Methos began to 
think that this entire narrative was a sham.  He reread the vague description of the immortal that 
took Williams’ head and thought of a new immortal that fit that description perfectly.  “That would 
make the longhaired woman Natalie Lambert,” he thought.  “That can’t be right, Mulder doesn’t 
even have a sword, does he?” he asked himself.  Methos ran a quick check to find out where Baker 
was staying, and took off, deciding to go speak to him face to face. 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
Vachon’s Church 
9:00 p.m. Thursday. 
Tracy sinuously stretched her lissom nude form out on the bed, savoring the sensations she had 
been experiencing.  She had awoken at sunset with a ravenous hunger, quickly satiated by the four 
and a half bottles of blood Vachon had handed her, one after the other, chuckling as she downed 
them as fast as she could. 
Halfway through the fifth bottle, her stomach appeased, a new hunger overtook her.  Through their 
newly forged link, Tracy could feel Vachon’s desire.  His need to possess her ignited her own 
yearning.  What had followed was the most intense four hours in her life.  They had made vigorous, 
ardent love- varying between furious bouts of physical prowess; and long, slow, languid sex that 
drove her insane with need and desire as he teased and tormented her before allowing her release. 
Vachon watched Tracy stretching out on the sheets like a cat waking from a nap.  The sweet taste 
of her blood still lingered in his mouth and he savored it like the finest wine.  “Thank God for 
vampiric stamina,” he thought.  Tracy had been an insatiable sexual monster, seemingly intent on 
draining every last ounce of life out of him. 
Tracy giggled as she caught that thought from her lover.  “You make it sound as though I was 
taking you against your will, Javier,” she said, laughing. 
“Not at all Querida,” he replied.  “I just thought we might want to get out of bed while it is still 
night,” he joked.  “Seriously Trace, We need to get some basics covered if you want to be able to 
go back to work in a week.” 
“Seriously?  When have you ever taken anything seriously, Vachon?” she pouted, clearly wanting 
to lie about for a while longer. 
Vachon realized that they seemed to have switched roles.  Tracy was usually the overly controlled 
one, driven by duty and responsibility; whereas he was the one who was usually carefree and 
easygoing. 
“I take you seriously, Tracy .  I love you,” he answered.  “I want you to be happy, and I know you 
want to keep working as a cop.”  He reached out and tenderly stroked her face, “In order to do that, 
you need to get the basics down and be able to control the blood lust.”  He leaned down and placed 
a soft kiss on her lips, then moved down to her ear and whispered, “If you’re a good girl, and learn 
fast, I might be persuaded to give you a treat,” then he pierced the lobe of her ear with a single 
fang, nearly causing her to have an orgasm just from that. 
Her every nerve ending was hypersensitive to sexual stimulation.  Tracy quivered as Vachon pulled 
away, stood up and walked away toward the shower.  “Oh you fight dirty, Javier!” she moaned, 
watching his delicious butt, actually licking her lips at the thought of sinking her teeth into it. 
Vachon felt the desires and emotions running rampant through his childé, stirring his own, and 
relented slightly.  He looked back over his shoulder and smiled at her when he saw her eyes fixed 
on his backside, “Aren’t you going to join me?” he asked. 
She leapt out of bed and attacked his mouth with a searing kiss, stroking his fangs with her tongue 
and digging her nails into the object of her attention.  She didn’t know what it was about this man, 
but somehow he inflamed her desire like no one else had ever before.  Even in her most erotic 
fantasies she hadn’t imagined being so eager and hungry for sex.  While she wasn’t a prude, she 
hadn’t really been a particularly sexual creature.  She slept with her boyfriends in the past more for 
their benefit than hers.  When she did orgasm it was usually at her own hand.  Typically, it was 
brief and, while pleasant enough, certainly nothing to write home about. 
With Vachon, she *was* sex: hot, steamy, and wet.  When she came, it was like she was on fire, 
burning from the inside out.  No one had ever made her feel like that, and she was very rapidly 
becoming addicted.  These feelings and desires made her want to do things that she had never 
wanted to do before. 
She had never been especially fond of oral sex, usually reserving it for birthdays and Christmas, if 
she was in a relationship at the time.  It wasn’t that she found it especially distasteful, just that she 
didn’t take much pleasure in it.  With Vachon she was learning that it could be just as pleasurable 
to give head as to receive it. 
Vachon felt Tracy slide down the length of his body, dragging her erect nipples down his torso, and 
licking and sucking his skin as she went.  She scraped her fangs across his abdomen and licked the 
droplets of blood from him, causing him to moan.  “I have a feeling that we aren’t going to make it 
to the shower,” he rasped out just as she closed her mouth over his stiff member. 
Vachon heard her respond through their link; “Hmm, do you care?” 
“Nuh Ohhhh,” was all he could reply as she took him all the way into her throat and began to lave 
his balls with her tongue.  Not having to breathe certainly made an already good thing even more 
enjoyable.  She refused to slide more than halfway off of him before gobbling him back down, 
increasing her pace, and grabbing his ass to encourage his thrusts.  Vachon was wracked by guilt 
and desire.  If he had initiated this activity, or even suggested it he would have fully expected to be 
slapped for being a misogynist pig; especially with a ‘modern’ woman like Tracy .  This was, 
however, absolutely the hottest, sexiest thing any woman had ever done for him in nearly 500 years 
of life.  He had absolutely no control, and couldn’t have stopped if someone rammed a wooden 
stake through his heart.  When she offered her left wrist so he could cum, her other hand busy 
driving herself toward orgasm, he thought he would explode. 
She felt like a harlot, but she found his reaction to her attentions so stimulating that she couldn’t 
help herself.  She was enjoying this almost as much as he was.  As Vachon bit down on her wrist, 
Tracy pulled back so that he came right in her mouth, the combination of his blood ejaculate and 
her own ministrations brought her to powerful orgasm of her own. 
Vachon fell back against the doorframe, utterly spent.  Tracy carefully licked him clean and said, 
“You can return the favor in the shower.”  With that she bounced to her feet and sauntered off to 
the bathroom. 
“Woman, You’re going to kill me yet,” Vachon thought as he staggered off after her, waiting for 
the vampire’s recuperative powers to kick in. 
It was after 11 by the time the couple made it outside of the church to begin Tracy ’s training. 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
The Dirty Mick bar and grille 
10:00 p.m. 
She had done it.  It was very hard to stop in time, and she could tell that Nick was just about to pull 
her off forcefully, but she managed to stop.  She could still hear his heart beating rapidly in fear, 
even though he was unconscious.  “Good!  The bastard should be afraid!” she said. 
Nick chuckled, “I almost thought you weren’t going to stop there for a moment, Dana.” 
“I think it was more rage than hunger, Nick.  I was so pissed off that he thought he could do that to 
me!” she answered. 
Nick had taken her to what he described as the seediest bar in Toronto .  “I thought we were going 
hunting Nick,” she had protested upon seeing the dive he was leading her into.  She was still leery 
about the very idea, but he would only say ‘trust me’ when she tried to question him.  In the end, 
she decided that she did trust him.  She knew he didn’t kill for food, and hadn’t in over a century.  
She didn’t think he would make her kill. 
“You are hunting, Dana.  I would never teach you to hunt innocents, and we are not here to kill 
anyone.  However, you will, essentially, be committing assault and battery.  Therefore, we will be 
choosing prey that warrants such treatment, or rather, you will be letting your prey choose you. 
“What do you mean?” Scully asked. 
“Sexual predators are plentiful, easy to find, and who better to suffer a little turnabout?  All you 
have to do is hang out for a while, be seen; be seen to be alone and ‘vulnerable’ and then walk out 
and see who follows.”  Nick said.  “I will be out back.  Come around before you let your prey get 
close and I’ll help you if you need it.” 
She knew that he meant that he would help her to stop from killing her prey, not that she’d require 
any help defending herself.  She went in and nursed a drink for a little while, pretending to drink, 
while she surveyed the crowd.  It didn’t take long to pick out two or three who were eyeing her like 
their next meal.  She would have felt nervous in this place even with a gun before her change.  Now 
she could feel the predator in her becoming excited in anticipation.  She also knew that she could 
control it.  Mulder’s immortal blood had given her control unheard of in a fledgling vampire.  She 
knew from her link with Nick that, with the vibe of barely constrained violence in the air, and the 
smell of mortal blood that filled the room, most newborns would be tearing into the crowd with 
unrestrained ferocity.  She again thanked God for the gift that was her lover.  Not only did he make 
her a happy, well-adjusted person, he also helped her to be a happy, well-adjusted vampire. 
“I think that’s enough for one night,” she said to herself and got up to leave.  She noticed one of the 
lurkers cutting a line to intercept her before she got to the door, and quickened her pace just enough 
to get out ahead of him, but not enough to lose him in the crowd.  “He’s going to be in for a shock,” 
she thought.  She heard Nick admonish her not to get too eager- to maintain control. 
“Hey, darlin’ where you running off to?  The party is inside,” he said. 
Scully put on her best ‘frightened woman’ face and said.  “Just leave me alone!” and ran around the 
building and down the alley. 
“We’re going to party one way or the other!” the man growled and followed her around the back of 
the building.  As he rounded the corner, he stopped short when he saw the hot little redhead he was 
after standing in the back alley, hands on her hips and glaring at him.  He looked around to see if 
anyone else was around, but didn’t see anyone.  “Well, well little lady.  Looks like it’s just you and 
me.  Now why don’t you come over here and let me show you how a real man treats a lady.” 
Scully smirked and said, “Don’t you understand?  No means No!” 
The man, one David Birch- a three time loser who was out on bail, awaiting sentencing for his 
latest conviction for sexual battery (plead down from felony rape) - had never taken no for an 
answer, and didn’t see a need to start now.  It would, of course, be a serious error this time. 
He was faintly surprised that she didn’t try to run as he advanced on her.  A smarter man might 
have realized that he was walking into a trap, but the words ‘smart’ and ‘David Birch’ rarely went 
together in a sentence.  He closed in on her and grabbed the back of her hair, meaning to pull her in 
for a kiss, when she grabbed his hair and pulled his head aside.  He had a brief glimpse of glowing 
red eyes and luminous white fangs before he felt a tearing pain in his neck.  He was so stunned by 
the rapid turn of events that he couldn’t even scream as he felt his heart’s blood being drained from 
him. 
As Scully felt David’s memories and thoughts enter her own mind, she became outraged.  She saw 
his past and saw his plans for her- a quick sodomization and then slitting of her throat as he 
finished.  She was angry and wanted to punish him for presuming that he had the right to do that to 
anyone, let alone her.  It was the anger in the end that almost pushed her to drain him, not the 
hunger or the thrill of the hunt.  In fact, the hunt didn’t really thrill her much at all.  She could feel 
her beast, but it didn’t really fill her with excitement the way she remembered Nick’s experiences 
when he was a fledgling.  “Thank you again, Mulder,” she thought. 
It was the thought of Mulder that helped her to release Birch before she killed him.  She didn’t want 
to sour their relationship with homicidal tendencies, do she dropped Birch. 
“In the end you stopped.  That’s all that matters, Dana,” Nick said.  “It proves to me, and to 
yourself, that you are in control.  Not the beast.  That is important, and will help you deal with 
everything else.” 
Scully wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and spat the taste of his thin, sour blood out of 
her mouth.  “What now, Nick?” she asked. 
“Now we wait until he comes to, and you get to practice your whammy some more,” Nick said with 
a smile. 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
Hénri Duval’s Antiquities 
12:00 a.m. Friday. 
Mac walked into the antiques shop, eagerness and skepticism warring in his heart.  The dealer had 
emailed him photos and details about the sword, but he wouldn’t be certain until he saw it for 
himself.  He had tried to acquire this sword over 200 years ago, “if it’s the same sword,” he 
mumbled to himself.  He had been outbid at an auction in London by some simpering twit of a 
minor noble.  “Bloody idiot had no appreciation of fine steel!” MacLeod thought. “Just wanted to 
show off how wealthy the family was.” 
“Pardon me?” he heard from beside him.  He had been so preoccupied with his memories of that 
event, and the attendant emotions, that he had failed to notice that he was speaking out loud.  He 
turned and looked upon the source of the question.  A dark haired ingénue with pale white skin was 
considering him with a puzzled frown, which caused her full lips to pout ever so slightly.  He was 
instantly entranced with the lovely creature before him.  “My apologies, my lady.  I was lost in 
thought and hadn’t realized that I had spoken aloud,” he said with a courtly half-bow.  He swept her 
hand up to his mouth for a kiss and introduced himself; “I am Duncan MacLeod, at your service.” 
“Janette dúCharme,” she replied with a very slight curtsy.  “A pleasure to make your 
acquaintance,” she said, automatically falling into a pattern of courtly behavior. 
They both stood there for a moment.  He had not released her hand, and she made no motion to 
withdraw it from his.  He was about to speak when they both started at the voice of the shop’s 
owner.  “Monsieur MacLeod, you’re early!” he said in his loud, booming voice. 
Mac dropped her hand and they took half a step away from each other.  He turned to Hénri and 
said, “Not a problem, Hénri, I can wait for a moment.”  He turned back toward the beautiful woman 
he was just meeting but she was gone. 
“No, no.  We had completed our business already,” he boomed.  “Come, come.  I think you will be 
well pleased by what I have to show you.”  He waved Mac back toward the rear of the shop. 
MacLeod stared at the door, wondering why she had so quickly fled his side.  He slowly walked 
back to where Hénri was waiting for him, “Alright Hénri, you had better not have flown me all the 
way out here for nothing…” he trailed off, not able to completely remove his thoughts from the 
lovely Janette dúCharme. 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
Janette walked briskly away from the shop.  She had had to leave lest she turn one of Hénri’s 
customers into a lunch snack.  “He would never forgive me,” she thought.  It was too bad, she 
thought.  Mr. MacLeod was as appetizing a man as she had seen in decades.  With his courtly 
manners and his overwhelming masculinity.  “Enough!” she chastised herself.  “Mortals are too 
fragile to make good playmates,” she told herself.  “And it would be a shame to waste such a fine 
specimen on nothing more than a quick snack.” 
Janette put all thought of him out of her mind and headed back to her club.  She would find 
someone there to play with. 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
MacLeod couldn’t get the girl off of his mind.  He haggled half-heartedly with Hénri over the 
sword.  It was indeed the sword he had tried to acquire over 200 years ago, and as happy as he was 
to find it, he was more interested in finding out about the girl he had met at the shop.  She intrigued 
him greatly. 
“Very well, Monsieur MacLeod.  Shall I ship it to Seattle for you, or would you prefer to take it 
with you?”  Hénri asked. 
“Hmm?”  Mac was shaken from his reverie.  “I’m sorry Hénri, what did you ask?” 
Hénri paused for a moment to consider his old acquaintance, “What is wrong, monsieur?  You 
seem to be distracted.”  He then noticed the look in MacLeod’s eyes.  “Ah ha, it is Mademoiselle 
dúCharme, is it not?  You are taken with her, yes?” 
“She is a very striking girl, Hénri.  Does she often utilize your services?”  Mac asked, hoping to 
appear even slightly nonchalant.  He knew he had failed when Hénri ignored his spoken question 
and answered, instead, his unspoken one. 
“She has a club, ‘Corneille’ it is called.  Here I have a card,” he said as he ambled off toward his 
desk.  “Yes, yes.  Here it is,” he said- waving it over his head as he returned to MacLeod’s side. 
“What do you know of her, Hénri?” Mac asked. 
Hénri smiled, seeing that this man was smitten by the considerable charms of his other late night 
customer.  “She only ever comes here at night.  Never during business hours.  I think she is a very 
private person, I know nothing about her except that her knowledge of fine antique jewelry far 
outstrips my own not inconsiderable talents.  I only know that she has a club, because she usually 
has her purchases shipped there.” 
MacLeod was disappointed that Hénri could not share anything of substance about the intriguing 
girl.  “How long have you known her?” 
“She first came here several years ago, but only in the last eighteen months have I seen here more 
than once a year or so,” Hénri answered.  I think she opened her club here around that time,” he 
added.  He watched as MacLeod pondered for a moment, then added, “There is something about 
her, No?  She has about her an elegance that one rarely sees in today’s youth.  She descends from 
aristocracy, perhaps?  A younger daughter of some European nobility, seeking anonymity in the 
new world?” 
Mac chuckled at his friend’s flights of fancy.  “No doubt you’re correct, Hénri.” 
Sensing that the discussion was at an end, Hénri repeated his question, “The sword Monsieur, shall 
I ship it to Seattle ?” 
“Hmm?  No, Hénri.  I believe I shall take it along with me,” he decided that he wanted to take it to 
his hotel room and examine it in greater detail.  After all, he had wanted to find this sword for a 
long time.  “After that, perhaps a drink,” he thought.  “I’m sure I can find a nice club somewhere in 
Buffalo …” 
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ========== 
Vachon’s Church 
1am 
Had Scully been there to see it, she would have wondered if vampire training came from hidden 
textbook that all master vampires were required to use as a course syllabus.  Though Vachon didn’t 
use the deep imprinting technique Nick used, everything else was very similar.  Vachon encouraged 
her into her first flight, which went quite well until she tried to land.  He drove his fangs entirely 
through his bottom lip in an effort not to laugh out loud when Tracy couldn’t slow down enough 
and ended up crashing and rolling several meters.  It reminded him exactly of that ski-jumper they 
showed at the beginning of ABC’s Wide World of Sports back in the 1980’s while the voice over 
commented on ‘The Agony of Defeat.’ 
She picked up on the hide-and-seek part very quickly.  She could follow Vachon in her mind’s eye 
quite clearly.  She was awe-struck at the keenness of her senses, extremely excited at the 
possibilities. 
“No wonder Nick always catches the bad-guy,” she said excitedly to Vachon. “I feel like 
everything around me is just dying to tell me all about itself.  I can see the energy emanating from 
the tiniest speck of living material, plant or animal!”  She grabbed Vachon in a hug and spun them 
around, “This is so wonderful, Javier!!” she laughed with delight. 
Vachon smiled, basking in the delight he felt from his childé, so unlike his other daughter, Urs.  
“Yes Querida.  I could never understand Knight’s desire to give up all of this.” 
“What do you mean?” Tracy demanded.  “Nick doesn’t want to be a vampire?” she asked 
incredulously. 
“I think that has changed recently,” Javier said.  “You should ask him about it if you’re curious.”  
One thing Javier did not want to do, now that things were going good, was to presume to tell 
Knight’s partner things about his past.  Knight was scary enough on a diet of cow blood.  Now he 
was at full strength and Vachon didn’t care to do anything that would piss him off. 
“I will!” Tracy said, shaking her head.  She couldn’t imagine how someone could have this gift and 
want to give it up. 
“Worry about that later,” Vachon said, wanting to distract her from that line of thinking.  “You 
have learned enough for tonight.  Let’s go upstairs,” he growled softly in her ear.  “I think your 
hard work deserves a reward, don’t you?” he asked, nibbling but not penetrating her earlobe. 
Tracy shivered in delight.  “I always wanted to be the teacher’s pet,” she moaned thickly. 
They entwined their fingers together and gently floated up the stairs and into Vachon’s, now their 
bedroom.  As they set down, He silently asked her to stand still, and then began to undress her. 
Tracy could not restrain herself from trembling as Vachon began to unbutton her blouse.  His eyes 
never left hers as he worked each button free.  He began to whisper to her through their link, telling 
her that she was beautiful, that she haunted his dreams when he was asleep, and his thoughts when 
he was awake. 
Finally he had her shirt open.  He slowly pushed the material over her shoulders, caressing her arms 
as he slid it off of her, letting it fall to the floor behind her.  She could barely stand; the feel of his 
hands tenderly stroking her skin, combined with the raw emotion and desire he was communicating 
were threatening to reduce her to a quivering wreck.  Vachon filled her with smoldering passion 
and her heart and body both ached to have him inside her. 
Vachon paused for a moment after he unhooked the clasp on Tracy ’s bra.  He spoke as he slowly 
slid his hands under the cups of the now loose bra and ran his thumbs over her erect nipples, “No 
one has ever made me feel like you make me feel, Querida.  I burn for you, to be inside you and 
feel you inside me.”  He was virtually panting as he rasped out the words.  “You’re like a drug, 
Tracy , now that I’ve had you, no one else could ever satisfy me. 
Tracy was overwhelmed.  Her pale flesh was coated in a gloss of blood-sweat, blood tears were 
flowing freely down her face, and she was so wet for him that her pants were soaked through.  Her 
ability to speak had fled her entirely. 
“Shh, Querida.  Don’t try to speak; I know,” he whispered as he slid her bra off of her shoulders 
and let it drop.  He finally broke eye contact with her, leaning forward to kiss her throat, collecting 
the blood from her skin as he moved up to her ear and began to work it over with his lips, teeth and 
tongue. 
She didn’t even notice that he had undone the buttons on her jeans when she felt them fall to the 
floor.  She was lost in the sensation of her lover laving her entire body with his tongue, kissing and 
suckling every square inch of her flesh, moving around her body and he moved down.  Where he 
was kissing and tasting her along the graceful curve of her spine, his hands were stroking and 
caressing her breasts and abdomen.  He slid his hands slowly down her flanks to the waistband of 
her panties while he worked the area of the base of her spine with his mouth.  Once he had pulled 
her saturated panties off of her down to the floor, he had her step out of the puddle of clothing she 
was in- turning her to face him. 
Vachon was on his knees in supplication before his angel.  He ran his hands up the backs of her 
slender legs, stroking up and across the crease at the top of her thighs while looking up into her 
wildly red eyes.  Never mind that she didn’t actually need to breathe, Her fangs had fully dropped 
and she was panting like a steam bellows, fanning the flames of his desire.  The smell of her sex 
right in front of him was making him insane with the need to taste her. 
Tracy watched, riveted, as her lover buried his face into the juncture of her thighs.  They were both 
moaning in delight as he licked and suckled her.  His hands on her ass pressed her onto his mouth 
with a great deal of force, as if he were trying to consume her whole.  It was for the best really- it 
was the only thing keeping her upright because her legs had failed her completely the moment his 
mouth latched onto her.  As he worked her over with his lips and tongue, she felt her already 
dizzying arousal climb into the stratosphere.  She was moaning and groaning so loudly that she was 
sure people in the next province could hear her.  She needed to cum like she had never needed 
anything in her life. 
His childé’s need was beating against him like a battering ram.  Finally the combination of her need 
and his own was too much for him to resist any longer.  In an amazing display of speed he released 
her, tore off his own clothes and impaled her before her feet even hit the floor.  He lasted about 
three strokes before he had to bury his fangs in her throat. 
He had moved so quickly that she didn’t even realize that he had let her go before he had sunk into 
her and began pumping rapidly.  Already on the cusp of orgasm for several minutes, she 
immediately drove her fangs into the junction of his neck and shoulder. 
They both came, nearly simultaneously, and harder than either had ever experienced before.  They 
experienced their own, and the other’s at once.  The sensation and emotion were like a standing 
sound wave that gets returned to the source, creating feedback.  The orgasm amplified until each 
was driven into unconsciousness.  “But what a way to go!” one of them thought as darkness 
overcame them. 
========== 

Chapter 13a


 


The Corbeau

 

1 a.m.

 

MacLeod entered the club and stopped for a moment.  He was struck by
déjà vu.  He knew he had never been to this place before, but something
about it seemed very familiar.  He just looked around for several
minutes before moving toward the bar.  It didn't look like anyplace he
could remember, but it still…

 

"What can I get for you?" the bartender asked, jarring him out of his
thoughts.

 

"Springbank, neat; if you have it."  Mac answered, expecting a look of
confusion, followed by 'What?'

 

"12 or 18 year old?" the bartender asked without missing a beat.

 

"18, of course." MacLeod answered, keeping the surprise (mostly) off of
his face.

 

As the bartender handed him his snifter and a small stopper bottle of
water MacLeod smiled.  "I could get to like this place," he said to
himself and turned to watch the dancers on the floor- his eyes roving
around to see if he could spot the girl he had met earlier.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Janette watched the crowd from her table in the shadows of the back of
the club.  It afforded her a measure of privacy while allowing her to
keep abreast of the comings and goings into her club.  Surprisingly the
crowd was mostly human tonight.  There were only half a dozen vampires
in the place; none of them over a century old.  The Buffalo community
was a relatively young group, with no real gathering place until she
arrived.  She hadn't really thought about starting another club so soon
after the fiasco in Toronto, but she found herself without a good place
to spend her time.  She didn't want to stay in the same city as Nicolas,
but she didn't want to go too far either.

 

Her brief stint as a mortal hadn't seemed to lessen her powers as a
vampire, she was certainly no fledgling, but she wasn't comfortable with
the thought of exploring her new relationship with her former sibling
and now master.  "It is ridiculous to have a master who is younger than
I am!" she thought.

 

Not that Nicolas would ever act like her master, she knew.  He brought
her back out of his own selfish desire to 'save' her.  Ironic that he
would want to save her from the very fate he himself had longed for, and
had been trying to attain for nearly two centuries.

 

She had been relieved that Nicolas had not tried to contact her.  Even
now, wasn't sure she was ready to see him.  It hadn't even been two
years yet.  Such a short span of time in her long life, yet it felt much
longer.  She had not taken another lover since her beloved Robert had
been killed.  Nor had she taken another life since she avenged his.  The
events of her leaving and then re-entering immortality had changed her
in many ways.  She did not suffer the self-hatred that her now master
had felt for so long; neither did she revel in the vampire as she did
prior to Robert.

 

Robert McDonagh.  She still missed him, but the pain was finally
subsiding.  Despite her love for Robert she was glad that she was once
again immortal.  It really was her forte.  "I don't do 'mortal' very
well," she thought.  Even if she could have Robert back, she would want
him to be immortal like herself, never to face old age or death.  Having
watched him die, she knew she could never face truly falling in love
again with a mortal, unless she intended to bring him across to be with
her forever.

 

Unfortunately, few mortals had the depth of character that it takes to
live forever.  She had seen many a vampire that didn't survive their
first century.  They couldn't handle the change- seeing loved ones age
and die, moving on every few decades to avoid detection; they weren't
able to sever their mortal ties.  

 

No, immortality was not for the weak willed.  The catch, of course, was
that such personal strength took a long time to develop.  Consequently,
few mortals ever attained it, and those who did were usually old and
gray by the time they did.  It was harder to attain it after the
crossover.  Vampires tended to remain as they were at conversion;
emotionally as well as physically.

 

She realized that these thoughts were stemming from her encounter
earlier at Hénri's.  That man she had briefly met, "Duncan MacLeod," she
whispered to herself.  He was very beautiful.  And, while she had seen
definite attraction in his eyes when he looked upon her, his eyes had
remained on hers, not raking up and down her body as so many of those
pawing, grasping boys who fancied themselves to be men were apt to do.
She had the feeling that when he looked at her, he was wholly focused on
*her*, not her body.  She felt a slight tingle at the thought.  She had
barely met him, but she knew instantly that he would be an attentive
lover.  He had a look of sensuality about him that caused her
millennia's old body react like a virgin bride going to her wedding bed.
"It was well that I left," she told herself.  "Such a man would be
distracting.  I would be unable to stop myself in time, I think," she
tried to convince herself.  Unfortunately, her argument seemed less than
compelling, as she spent another evening sitting in the back of her
club, alone.

 

She sat back in her chair with a soft sigh and began to once again scan
the crowd.  Looking for something to divert her from such melancholy
rumination.  Her eyes roamed over the dancers and then swept along the
bar when she saw him.  "Oh no," was all she said.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


12 a.m.

 

Nick and Scully decided to see LaCroix after the encounter at the Dirty
Mick.  Scully was both pleased and angry about the experience.  Pleased
that she could handle herself without loosing control, but she still
felt residual anger at that pig.  The thought that kept floating into
the periphery of her mind was, "I should have killed him."
Rationalizations kept popping up in her head, 'What if he rapes someone
else and I could have stopped him?'  'He is an animal; I would have been
doing society a service!'  She knew that it would have been wrong to
kill him.  Vigilantism was not the answer to crime, she knew.

 

"This is normal, Dana," Nick told her.  "The vampire wants to kill.  If
you give in to rationalization, you will find yourself on a path to
self-destruction.  I spent a century hunting only the 'guilty.'  I
rationalized it in my mind as being different than hunting innocents."
Nick looked haunted for a moment.  "It isn't.   Murder is Murder.  Who
am I to judge guilt or innocence?"

 

Scully laid her hand on the arm of her master, "I know, Nick.  I won't
give in to the darkness.  I've always felt this way when I dealt with
evil.  I never gave in to it, and I'm not planning to start now."

 

They landed outside the alley entrance and went in.  The music was like
a wall of noise they had to fight through to get to the offices at the
front.  They found LaCroix waiting for them in his office.

 

"Good evening Nicolas," LaCroix said.  "Granddaughter, tell me how your
education is progressing."

 

Scully spared a glance at Nick as they both sat down.  "I think it has
gone very well.  Nick is a good teacher," she said, wondering where he
was going with this.

 

LaCroix raised and eyebrow at that, but refrained from comment.

 

"She has a very good grasp of the basics, Father.  She can control her
bloodlust, even in the heat of attack.  She is far more advanced than
her age would dictate," Nick said, proud of his childé. "Feel her,
Father.  She doesn't even feel like a fledgling."

 

LaCroix leaned back in his chair with his fingers steepled in front of
his mouth and reached out with his senses.  He was surprised at what he
felt.  She didn't feel at all like a fledgling.  He had known vampires
in their second century with less presence.  "This is unprecedented in
my experience.  How is this possible?" he asked, concerned.

 

"We don't know with any certainty, but I think that her consumption of
immortal blood has caused rapid advancement.  She shares a link with
Mulder that is more complete even than our link together," Nick said.
At the deepening of concern that he felt from his master he quickly
added, "I have been able to block it during our training however."

 

"Describe this link," LaCroix instructed Scully.

 

"It is as though we were still in a bloodkiss.  When Nick isn't
blocking, I can see with Mulder's eyes- I sense what he senses.  We are
like one being in two places." Scully answered.

 

Nick leaned forward slightly in his chair, excited by the possibilities,
"She even caught the quickening earlier this evening.  I came down the
stairs and she was wrapped in a blue electric glow and it was like she
was on fire, mentally and physically."  He shook his head at the memory.
"Mulder has undergone some changes as well.  Did you see the body?  Did
he tell you what happened?"

 

"No.  I had Miklos take care of it.  I was taping my show for this
evening.  Why?" LaCroix asked, leaning forward and carefully considering
his son.

 

Nick deferred to Scully, even though she was obviously less than
comfortable with this discussion.  She hemmed and hawed for a moment
when LaCroix asked her a question.

 

"You were in this link with him at the time?"

 

"Yes," she answered.

 

LaCroix stood up and held his hand out to her.  "Show me," he commanded.

 

Scully silently looked at Nick, unsure of what to do.  She was hesitant
about sharing this intimacy with a man she hardly knew.

 

Nick was surprised that LaCroix would want to share with one so young
who wasn't his own.  "It's alright, Dana.  Go ahead." He told her.

 

With some hesitancy she took LaCroix's hand and stood up.  He drew her
to him and bent down to her neck.  He gently sank his fangs into a vein
and silently encouraged her to do the same.

 

Scully felt the mild erotic rush from being bitten, and then complied
with his unspoken command.  As she bit she was assaulted with two
millennia of memories.  It was far too much to process at once and she
was swept up into the maelstrom, helpless to do more than hang on for
the ride.

 

After a moment that seemed like an hour, it was over.  Scully dropped
back down into her chair, bewildered by the experience.  LaCroix merely
stood there considering this newest member of his immediate family.

 

"Fascinating.  Utterly unprecedented." He said at last.  "I am sure that
nothing like this has ever happened before in our history," he said
while returning to his own seat.  "I shall want to see both of you
periodically to see where this progresses.  Nicolas, have you given
consideration as to what this might mean to you and Natalie?"

 

"I think we will find out very soon how this might impact us," Nick
replied.

 

"Yes?  You plan to go ahead with Natalie's conversion then?" LaCroix
asked.

 

"Tomorrow night," Nick said.  "At the latest," he added, thinking that
he might not be able to wait that long.

 

"Why don't you invite the others to join us here, Nicolas?" LaCroix
asked.  "I should like for you and I to spend a moment with Agent Mulder
and perhaps determine what effect this has had on him."

 

"Of course, father," Nick said, getting up and walking away from the
desk to use his cell phone.

 

Scully looked at LaCroix for a moment.  She was worried about this thing
that was happening to her and Mulder, but she didn't know what to say or
ask.  Finally she said, "Thank you, Lucien."

 

"For what, my dear?" he asked.

 

"For taking care of Mulder's mess earlier this evening.  I don't know
what we would have done if we had to deal with a homicide investigation
on top of everything else going on right now." She replied.

 

"As you move through the centuries you will find that I always take care
of my family, Dana." LaCroix responded.  "Always."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

It was almost 1 am by the time Mulder and Natalie got there.  They had
gotten hungry again and had been at another little hole-in-the-wall
diner when Nick had called.  Fortunately, this time they left without
incident.

 

Scully could feel Mulder as they got closer.  She knew it the moment
that he and Natalie entered the club.  She couldn't really touch him
through the link; Nick was still blocking it, but his presence was
leaking through as their physical proximity closed.  She got an enormous
grin on her face and said "Mulder's here!" in a breathlessly excited
voice.

 

LaCroix frowned slightly at his son, "You said that you were blocking
them."

 

"I am!" Nick said, surprised that she could get through his block.

 

"A can't sense him like that," she said.  "It's not like before… I… I'm
just aware that he's here!" she said, standing up and turning toward the
door just as it opened.

 

Mulder followed Natalie into LaCroix's office and was immediately
assaulted by a short redheaded monster that immediately began kissing
him with abandon.  He was startled by his own reaction- not the kissing
part, or the raging hard-on part; those he understood just fine- but the
part where he was feeling like he had lost her and just now found her
after being apart for ages.  That part he didn't understand at all.
"God I missed you!" he said.

 

Scully was feeling a bit confused herself, "Me too!" she said, but her
brow was furrowed and it came out almost like a question.  "Mulder, it's
been less than a day since we saw each-other.  Why do I miss you so
much?" she asked.

 

Mulder just smiled.  "I don't know Scully.  But, I feel exactly the same
way," he answered.

 

Meanwhile, Nick and Natalie had kissed their hello's for several
seconds.

 

LaCroix looked at this group as though they were mad, "Enough!" he said
loudly.  They all snapped their heads toward him, looking like children
with their hands caught in the cookie jar.  "I will thank you to save
your sexual exuberance for a place other than my office!" he mock
growled.

 

The couples each broke apart slightly, "Sorry," they each mumbled, not
looking at all contrite.

 

LaCroix singled out Mulder and Nick with his withering glare, "I can see
that I will not be able to keep your attention for very long this
evening."  He stood up from his chair and very slightly adjusted the
drape of his jet-black Armani suit coat, "I would like to try and
determine what is happening to you Agent Mulder.  You and Nick shall
accompany me."  He regarded Scully and Natalie, "The two of you may wait
in the club.  We shouldn't be long."  He silenced their protests before
they even began with one raised eyebrow.  After waiting half a beat, he
strode purposefully out the door and up the stairs to his apartments,
not even looking back to see if everyone was following his instructions.

 

Mulder gently squeezed Scully's hand and whispered to her, "I miss you
already."  He kissed her hand and walked after the master vampire.

 

Natalie forestalled any protest from Nick by saying, "The sooner you get
this started, the sooner we can go home."  Then she kissed him softly
and turned to collect Scully.  "Come on, Dana.  Let's get a drink."  She
gently dragged Scully by the hand into the club.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

"Nicolas, you are still blocking their connection?" LaCroix asked as
they reached his rooms above the club.

 

"Yes," he replied.

 

Turning to Mulder, LaCroix asked, "Can you sense your partner at all?"

 

Mulder was still somewhat struck by the sense of longing he felt.  He
reached out through their link and said, "Barely.  It feels the same as
it has since Nick started blocking us."  He suddenly realized something,
"You know, we haven't actually been in the same room together since
this… since we…"

 

"Since the link was established," Nick finished for him.  He turned to
LaCroix and said, "That's true, Father.  Natalie and Mulder left the
loft before Dana woke up this afternoon, and they haven't been in
physical contact until just now- and I was blocking them then."

 

"Maybe that's why I feel like this," Mulder whispered.

 

"Feel like what?" LaCroix asked.

 

"I miss her terribly," he replied.  "I feel like we have been separated
for months…" it hit him just then that he had felt exactly like this
once before.  "Actually, it feels exactly like when she was abducted,
and I couldn't find her, and I didn't know what was happening to her,
and I didn't know if I would ever see her again."

 

Suddenly Mulder started smiling, but at the same time, his eyes welled
up and tears began running down his face.

 

"What's wrong Mulder?" Nick asked.

 

Mulder looked a Nick with confusion evident on his face, "What do you
mean?"

 

Nick glanced at LaCroix as if to confirm that he was seeing what he
thought he was seeing.  He said, "Uh, Mulder- you're crying."

 

Mulder reached up to touch his face and was surprised to find wetness
there.

 

LaCroix broke in, "It is obvious that they are influencing one another
even with your block, Nicolas."  He turned to Mulder Let us see if we
can determine anything from your blood."  He held out his hand, clearly
expecting Mulder to acquiesce.

 

Mulder decided that anything he could do to get this over with more
quickly, and get back to Scully, would be worth it.  He wordlessly held
out his wrist.

 

LaCroix took Mulder's hand and brought it to his mouth.  He hesitated a
moment, realizing that this would be his first experience with immortal
blood.  Experiencing something entirely new after two millennia of life
was not to be taken lightly.  Nevertheless, this was about family.  "I
always protect my family," he thought.

 

Mulder gasped a little at the sensation and then was assaulted by the
overwhelming experience of sharing with such a powerful vampire.  It was
vast, dark, and frightening.  This was one vampire who never felt any
regret for his violent past.

 

"Regret is a waste of time, Mulder," LaCroix said as he pulled back from
the link.  "The past is unchangeable and not worth concern.  As for the
present, I must say that I have never tasted anything like that before."
He watched with fascination as the bite sparked with blue energy and
healed before his eyes.

 

"Is he changing?" Nick asked.

 

"There is very little of the vampire in his blood, but it is there,"
LaCroix answered his son.  Turning to Mulder, who was rubbing lightly at
the area where LaCroix had bit his wrist, LaCroix continued, "Not
enough, however, to explain what Dana showed me about your encounter
with the other immortal today."

 

"What do you think it was then?" Mulder asked.  He was mildly curious
about this, though it ranked very low on the concerns he had right now.
Primarily, he wanted to go find Scully and bury himself in her,
mentally, emotionally, and physically.

 

"I imagine your link with Dana operates on more than just a mental
level- spilling over into the physical, as with this afternoon's
quickening, and the emotional, considering your tears a few moments
ago." LaCroix answered.  "It should be interesting to see where the two
of you go with this.  You have shared blood only once so far, I take
it?"

 

"Yeah.  Wow it's only been about 20 hours ago," Mulder said, surprised
as he looked at his watch.  "Hey, Nick- do you think you could… you
know…"

 

Nick smiled knowingly. "Could I stop blocking you and Dana?  Is that
what you're asking?" he said teasingly.

 

"Yeah." Mulder said sheepishly.

 

Both LaCroix and Nick watched with interest as Mulder's eyes unfocused
and his face grew serene.  He closed his eyes for a moment and then
reopened them, focusing on Nick.

 

"Thanks, Nick," he said with such relief in his voice that one might
have thought he were a drug addict getting his 'fix'.

 

Nick felt for his daughter through their link and found her emanating
blissful satisfaction as well.  He shook his head slightly and wondered
what it was going to be like between Natalie and himself.  "Mulder sure
looks happy, though," he thought.

 

LaCroix was amused at Mulder, and at the feelings he was getting from
his son- some concern, a little envy, and a lot of avid anticipation.
He turned to Mulder with a smirk and said, "All better now?"

 

Mulder did feel better; so much so that LaCroix's cut didn't embarrass
him in the slightest.  "Yes, sir.  I feel *much* better now!"  His
feeling of missing Scully was gone, erased as though it had never
existed.  After commenting on one thing she had said, he retreated,
letting the two ladies have an enjoyable 'get-to-know-you' conversation.
"She and Natalie are chatting.  I think they're going to be really good
friends, Nick," he said, smiling.

 

Nick smiled in response, "If all goes well, by this time tomorrow, they
will be sisters."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Scully was sitting in the booth, moping.  It was silly, but since she
had seen him in LaCroix's office, she really missed Mulder.  She noticed
herself repeatedly reaching through their link to reassure herself that
he was still there.  Of course that didn't work, because Nick was
blocking them.  She couldn't restrain herself from whining to Nick
through their link, "Hurry up, Nick.  I need him!"  But Nick was
ignoring her.

 

Scully snapped herself out of her self pity long enough to notice that
Natalie was behaving just like she was.  Morose.  "What's she got to be
down about?" Scully thought.

 

"What's the matter, Natalie?" Scully asked, raising her brow at the
almost pensive look on Natalie's face as she cast sidelong glances at
Scully.

 

"I don't know, Dana.  I… I don't know how to explain how I feel,"
Natalie began.  "Everything is a whirlwind."  She shook her head as if
trying to clear it, "Did you know that less than 1 week ago I was still
trying to help Nick 'cure' his vampirism.  I despaired of his ever
loving me… I couldn't imagine how I was going to go on without him if he
left."  Natalie hugged herself, bewildered at the tears she felt
threaten to well up in her eyes.  Sometimes that seems like a lifetime
ago- time so distant that I can't even remember it clearly.  But I still
wake up in the middle of the day and feel alone.  Then I roll over and
see Nick sleeping next to me and it feels like a vise loosening from my
heart.  And, I didn't even know it was squeezing the life out of me
until it was removed."

 

Scully watched as the tears that were filling Natalie's eyes finally
welled over and rolled down her cheeks.  Really, she had just met this
woman a handful of days ago- how could she feel such empathy for her?
She knew the answer was a combination of her blood link with Nick, and
her own frighteningly similar experience with Mulder.

 

Natalie had stopped talking and was just sitting there, staring off into
space, not even noticing the tears trailing down.  She started suddenly
at the feel of Scully's cool hand cupping her cheek, her thumb gently
wiping away the tears.  She looked into the eyes of this woman- this
vampire, the childé of her lover, closer to him than she herself in some
ways.  She saw the blood tears welling in Scully's eyes and realized,
"She knows exactly how I feel."

 

Scully's words echoed Natalie's thoughts.  "I understand," was all she
said, but the look on her face and the tears in her eyes spoke volumes.

 

Scully was surprised when Natalie copied her own gesture.  She felt the
warm palm and thumb wipe away tears she hadn't even realized were
falling.  "So much, so quickly, after sitting in neutral for years," she
said as she pressed her cheek into Natalie's palm, luxuriating in the
warmth of contact with a like soul.  "I haven't felt like this since
Missy died," she thought.  Out loud she said, "So much pain for so long
that I had forgotten how it felt to be without it.  It's like my heart
was numb and now the return of sensation is almost painful in its
intensity."

 

Natalie found her head nodding in unconscious agreement, "Like pins and
needles.  But, I wouldn't trade it for anything," she said with a
genuine smile.

 

Scully's eyes suddenly lost focus in that way that Natalie was beginning
to realize indicated her silent communication with Mulder.  Scully
laughed and said, "Nick wants to know what we are doing."

 

Natalie was taken aback slightly, "Why?"

 

"Mulder is crying and has a 'ridiculous smile' on his face, as Grandpa
puts it," Scully replied.

 

Natalie laughed heartily at both the image of Mulder as described, and
her own imagination of the look on LaCroix's face at the sight.  Then
the thought of his reaction to hearing Scully call him 'grandpa' made
her laugh even harder.

 

They both calmed down slowly, dropping their hands, but each realizing
the closeness they felt toward each other was another welcome change.
Natalie said, "I didn't have a sister or girlfriend in my life growing
up, but I think it would have been like this."

 

Scully was so happy that the memory of Melissa didn't even sting like it
usually did.  "I had a sister.  We were close, but not like this.  I
feel like you're a best friend I have known for years, but I don't know
that much about you.  Even though I have shared Nick's memories of you."

 

Natalie looked slightly confused.

 

Scully grimaced, "I'm not saying this very well…  It's like I know *you*
very well, but I don't know things about your life."  She paused and
tilted her head slightly, "Does that make any sense?"

 

Natalie got it then.  "Nick and I didn't really ever talk about either
of our pasts.  Before the blood link I knew very little about his life
before Toronto.  I think he would say the same.  I was never very
talkative about my own past."

 

Scully was shaking her head.

 

"What?" Natalie asked.

 

"That's one area where Mulder and I are different.  I know almost
everything about Mulder's past.  Much of the last seven years of our
lives has been spent trying to find answers about Mulder's past,
especially his sister.  In the process I think I have learned most of
Mulder's life… the events anyway."  Scully pondered for a moment,
digging in to her link with her lover.  "Actually, I think I didn't know
him at all.  Not really- I knew the events, but only as biographical
details.  Before the link, I didn't really know how those events really
impacted him.  Not the full extent anyway."

 

Natalie asked, "How do you mean?"

 

"You would never know it to meet him or talk to him.  Or even to work
with him; but he is a very tortured soul.  It wasn't until I had
witnessed some of his recurring nightmares that I even got a glimpse of
how the horrible events in his life have affected him."  Scully's eyes
lost focus again.  "I can't understand how he didn't snap," she said
softly, as if to herself.  "I think I would have had to be
institutionalized if I had gone through that as a child."

 

[Now you know why it was so easy for me to profile all of those
psychotic serial killers and mass murders] Mulder thought to her.  [I
was one step from joining them.  If it hadn't been for you, I probably
would have.]

 

[Oh, Mulder.] She thought back to him with a smile.  [Don't be so
melodramatic.]

 

She and Natalie fell into comfortable conversation, getting to know one
another's past experiences as they already knew their present
personalities.

 

=====
Chapter 13b


 


Terminal 3


 


Lester B Pearson International Airport

 

3:08 a.m.  Friday December 15th.

 

Methos caught up to Ken Baker as he was waiting for a red-eye flight
back to the states.  He introduced himself and began asking questions,
giving Baker the impression that he was on official Chapterhouse
business, investigating the possibility of a new player in the game.
After Baker made some statements that contradicted key areas of his
report, Methos began to press him for the truth.

 

Feeling the relentless pressure of questioning by this Pearson fellow,
finally Ken was at his wit's end, "I couldn't report what I saw!  I had
to be seeing things, it isn't possible!"

 

Methos recognized that Baker was about to lose it, so the toned it down,
"Its ok, Ken.  Just tell me what it looked like to you."

 

"No!  Its crazy, you'll think I'm mad!" Baker moaned, face buried in his
hands.

 

Methos put his hand on Ken's shoulder and reassured him, "Ken.  You
spend your days chasing immortals around the globe, watching them chop
off each other's heads in order to take their quickening.  Why would I
think you're mad?"

 

Baker chuckled slightly at that.  "Alright.  I'll tell you, but
remember- you made me tell you.  I still think I must have been
hallucinating."  He furtively checked the surrounding area for anyone
who might be listening, then leaned in close to Methos and began
speaking.

 

"I was following Willy when he suddenly veered into this parking lot.  I
knew from experience that this usually meant that he had felt a
quickening.  I pulled over across the street from the diner and started
watching.  A man and a woman exited the diner and I could see the man
begin to look around himself- he was the immortal and he was trying to
figure out where the quickening was coming from.  He spotted Willy who
was walking very rapidly toward them.  He sent the woman away just as
Willy drew his sword."  Baker shook his head again, "I waited for him to
draw his sword, but he just stood there.  I got a sick feeling in my
stomach- I mean, its not that I really like seeing anyone get their head
cut off, but at least there is usually a fair fight first.  Both
individuals enter into combat knowingly and the best fighter wins."  His
voice took on a hollow, haunted quality, "I was about to watch Willy
walk up to an unarmed man and chop his head off.  I knew he was a real
bastard, but I never thought…  I guess I didn't know what to think."

 

Baker paused for several moments, obviously reliving his feelings at
that moment in time.  Methos encouraged him to continue, "But that isn't
what happened, is it?"

 

"No.  No, it isn't.  You could see that Willy expected an easy one
because he just walked up to this guy and cocked his sword back behind
his head like he was going to hit a home run or something," Baker said.

 

"It's like pulling bloody teeth!" Methos thought as Baker stopped again.
"And then?" he said aloud.

 

"I'm sure this guy didn't have a sword.  His hands were empty, at his
sides.  I don't know how he did it, but there's Willy standing there in
front of him, about to chop his freakin' head off, and then…" He stopped
and looked Methos right in the eye, "I didn't see him move, man!  I
freakin' blinked and when my eyes opened, this guy is standing behind
Willy like he had walked past him.  Willy is still standing there with
his sword still cocked back, but his head is torn off."

 

"Torn off?  What do you mean?" Methos asked.

 

"I mean its not cut off, because it is still hanging down his back by a
little piece of skin, but his neck is all torn up, like the guy just
tore his head off with his bare hands.  God, I puked my guts out when I
saw his head hanging there like that."  Baker leaned back and slouched
down in his chair.  "Anyway, there was the quickening and then the woman
pulls up in a green Cadillac- old one, early '60s maybe- and the guy
grabs the body and the head- which must have come loose in the
quickening- and throws it in the trunk of the car.  Then he jumps in the
passenger seat and they take off.  End of story."

 

Methos just sat there, absorbing this news.

 

"Now can you see why I couldn't report this?" Baker whined.

 

Methos decided that he would have to get the rest of the story from
Mulder himself.  "Yes, you did the right thing, Ken.  I suggest you keep
this to yourself- it is pretty unbelievable." He said to Baker.  "Good
luck," he said as he stood up and walked away.

 

Baker decided that he would put in for a transfer to research when he
got the states.  "I'll just pretend this whole thing never happened," he
decided.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Corbeau


 


2 a.m. Friday December 15th

 

Mac sat at the bar for an hour, nursing a couple of drinks.  He thought
he had spotted her at a table near the back of the club, but he had
decided to wait a bit and see if she would make any move, either toward
or away from him, before he approached her.  Frankly, he had no idea why
he felt like this.  Certainly, she was lovely- young, charming, and
aristocratic.  He was intrigued that such a young girl would have an
interest, and the money to exercise that interest, in fine antique
jewelry.  He was also intrigued that she owned this club; which- if a
bit on the dark, gothic design- was quite elegant, without being stuffy.
"She barely seems old enough to drink, let alone operate such an
establishment," he thought.

 

Mac looked around the club for a while longer, still struck by that
nagging sense of déjà vu that he had felt upon entering.  He couldn't
put his finger on it.  He hadn't been to this club before, it didn't
appear to be a chain, or copy of anyplace he could remember- yet it felt
eerily familiar.  The entire evening seemed to be a mystery- the girl he
couldn't remove from his thoughts, and the club.  "I should just forget
about this and leave," he decided.  He stood up to walk out, but found
that his steps were taking him across the dance floor, directly towards
her table.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Janette knew that he had seen her.  His gaze returned to her table again
and again.  For one brief moment their gazes had locked, and she thought
her heart might have actually beat twice in succession.  She wondered
why he made no move towards her, at the same time dreading that he might
do that very thing.  She knew that she could leave, and he would
undoubtedly get the message, "Maybe he is waiting to see if I will," she
thought.  She rationalized that it was *her* club, and she would not
allow some pathetic mortal, no matter how beguiling he might be, to
drive her from it.  It had nothing at all to do with her wanting him to
come over to her table and join her.  Absolutely nothing at all.

 

When he stood up, her heart fluttered again.  She berated herself for
acting like a child.  If he did decide to walk over and join her, she
would be calm.  She would be cool.  She would be… Janette; 1000 year-old
vampire seductress.

 

"Oh, my," she said as he began to cross the dance floor.  He walked a
perfectly straight line towards her.  Dancers seemed to move out of his
way inadvertently, as though the sheer presence of him was enough to
part the sea of humanity before him.  They closed behind him without
missing a step, as though it had been carefully choreographed.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

MacLeod wasn't entirely sure what he was doing.  He really had meant to
leave.  Now was not the time for emotional entanglements.  He had more
important things to consider- Mulder, possibly Natalie as well.  Even if
he did not take them as his students, his own sense of honor would
preclude him from simply abandoning them to their fate.  He had never
abandoned a new immortal when he found them.  He would always arrange
for their training if he were unable or unwilling to do it himself.
That not all of them availed themselves of his largess was not his
fault.  He could no more force them to learn than he could turn back
time itself.

 

All of these thoughts ran through his mind at once, encouraging him to
turn away and leave now.  His steps did not falter, however.  He didn't
even notice the dancers parting before him; his attention was on her.
Janette dúCharme.  She alone held captive his attention at this moment.
He tried to think of what he was going to say when he got to her table,
but he found it hard to concentrate.  Normally he had no trouble at all
charming a lady- he had, after all, four centuries of practice.  Tonight
he felt a nervousness he didn't remember having ever felt before.  He
stood in front of her, silent for a moment, overcome by something about
her- though he couldn't tell what.

 

Janette was fascinated by this man.  She stared at him as he stood
before her, silent and still.  Finally she heard him say, "I was going
to leave."  She felt an altogether unreasonable sense of loss hearing
that.  "But, you did not," she replied, unable to think of anything
other than the obvious.

 

Mac didn't know where that came from.  "I was going to leave?" he
thought.  "That probably wasn't the smoothest line."  Her response,
however, did nothing to discourage him.  "I couldn't," he replied.
Again honestly, if not elegantly put.

 

Now she was even more intrigued - he seemed as affected by her, as she
was by him.  "Why?" she asked.

 

"I don't know," he replied.  "I got up to walk out the door, but I ended
up here."

 

"Do you want to leave?" she asked.

 

He shook his head slowly, never breaking eye contact.

 

Janette smiled warmly, truly pleased that she had this effect on him.
He certainly was having a strong effect on her!  She decided to ignore
her earlier advice to herself, "Then let us throw caution to the wind.
Sit down, Mr. MacLeod," she invited.

 

"Please, call me Duncan, Mademoiselle dúCharme," he replied as he
accepted her offer.

 

"Certainly, Duncan.  And please, Mademoiselle dúCharme is so formal; you
must call me Janette," she replied.

 

"Janette.  Of course…" MacLeod paused again for a moment and considered
the lovely girl before him.  "I don't want to give you the wrong
impression, Janette.  I don't generally follow after young ladies whom I
bump into accidentally," he began.

 

"Non?  This is not a habit of yours then?" she teased.  "Should I
consider myself special?" she said with a genuine smile.  She could hear
his heart racing, and his blood had a spicy, peppery smell to it, like a
young American northwest pinot noir.  More than the smell of his blood,
however, his very presence was arousing her, not just the vampire but
the woman as well.

 

Though MacLeod recognized the teasing tone and it would have been easy
to fall into a light, flirtatious banter, he was unable to do so.  In
all seriousness he said, "I must say, Janette, that there is something
very extraordinary about you.  I find myself captivated.  I don't want
to sound trite; we hardly know one another in the least.  However, I
would very much like to rectify that."

 

"You do not sound at all trite, Duncan, though if anyone else had used
such a line on me I would have been offended.  However, you also have
strangely intrigued me.  I would not normally have allowed you to
approach me at all, let alone so openly," she said.

 

Normally MacLeod would have dismissed such a statement as empty bravado;
however, he could feel from this little slip of a girl a sense of
strength and power that belied her frail appearance.  "I must be going
mad," he thought; he became more enchanted by this woman every moment he
spent in her presence.  He could not think of any woman in his past that
had so fascinated him.

 

Janette was amazed.  "I hope I can wait long enough to see if he is
worth bringing across," she thought; one last vestige of reason holding
tenuously under the onslaught of her desire.  Certainly this man must be
a sorcerer to mesmerize her so quickly and so thoroughly.

 

MacLeod wanted to take her away from this place, he felt suddenly
uncomfortable in the club- he felt as though they were being watched.
"Would you come for a walk with me?" he asked.  "It is quite noisy in
here," he added, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse to leave the
club.  He didn't think 'I'm jealous at the thought of anyone else even
looking at you right now' would cut it.

 

She thought that was an extremely apt suggestion.  She felt an absurd
compulsion to separate him from anyone's presence, outside of her own.
Rather than responding verbally, she merely stood up and took his arm,
waiting for him to lead her out.  Rather than going through the crowded
dance floor she then suggested, "let us go out the back, yes?"
indicating the direction with a nod of her head.

 

As MacLeod led her to the rear exit, he marveled at how right this felt,
having this woman on his arm.  He was intellectually aware that this
entire situation was completely ridiculous- both of them were behaving
precipitously at best, they really knew nothing about each other.  He
should have been concerned at her willingness to go along with such
lunacy.  There was no good reason for her to respond as she was unless
she had an ulterior motive.  Yet he could not bring himself to believe
that this was the case.

 

"What is happening to me?" he wondered as they walked out into the
night.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


3:15 am

 

Nick and Nat rode the elevator up to the loft in silence.  They were
holding each other in their arms, kissing.  Soft, languorous kissing,
telling each other without words of their love and adoration for each
other.  Mulder and Dana had decided to go flying for a bit.  Nick had
sternly warned Dana about being in before dawn, and Mulder had quipped
'I'll be sure to have your daughter home at a reasonable hour, Mr.
Knight', annoying Nick, but causing Natalie to laugh.  Dana had
reassured him that she would be sure to be back in plenty of time.

 

Nick cupped Natalie's face in his cool hands and broke the kiss, "Your
eyes are red, Nat.  Why were you crying?" he asked gently, stroking his
thumbs across her cheekbones.

 

Natalie was slightly embarrassed, but it didn't even occur to her to
lie.  "It's hard to explain, Nick."  She took a deep breath as she
paused to consider how to put into words the way she was feeling.  The
elevator stopped and she waited until Nick had opened the door.  She
took him by the hand and led him over to the couch.  She sat him down
and then cuddled up in his lap, resting her head on his chest.

 

"I'm so happy right now Nick.  Sometimes I wake up and think its all
been just a dream.  I wake up in the middle of the day and I almost cry
because I was so happy and it turns out it was just another in a long
series of Nick and Natalie fantasy dreams.  Then I realize where I am,
and I roll over and see you sleeping next to me," she stopped and pulled
away from him slightly to look him in the eyes.  "It's like my heart was
being squeezed in an enormous fist, and I never realized how much pain I
was in until it let go.  I get so overwhelmed with relief and love that
it almost hurts."  She answered the unspoken confusion in Nick's eyes,
"Do you remember when you were mortal and you fell asleep on your arm,
and when you woke up it felt like little pins and needles were jabbing
your flesh as the arm as feeling returned?"  At his nod of comprehension
she continued, "It's not pins and needles, but it is a pain that is
accompanying the return of feeling to my heart."

 

She reached out and ran her hands over his face.  "A week ago I thought
I had lost you forever.  I was despondent.  I cried myself to sleep
almost every night.  I felt like a teenage girl with a crush on the most
popular boy in school.  Oh God Nick, I was such an idiot."

 

"No Natalie, you weren't an idiot. If I had been more open…" Nick began.

 

"Shh, Nick.  This isn't about recriminations.  Both of us were blind."
She laid her head back on his shoulder, pressing her forehead against
his neck, "You barely spoke 3 words to any woman who was near you, and
you were totally oblivious to the advances of some of the more
aggressive ones.  Yes you spent tons of time with me.  You sought me out
for no other reason than to talk to me, you invited me over to watch
movies and let me fall asleep in your arms all the time.  In retrospect,
I was an idiot not to notice how much you wanted me."

 

Nick smiled, "I even choked down those terrible concoctions you made for
me."

 

Natalie slapped him on the chest, "Hey!  I was trying to help you!  They
weren't supposed to taste great," she complained.

 

"One of these days, after you come across, you're going to have to try
one of those, just so you can get the full effect.

 

Natalie sobered at that.  "After I come across… Nick, what if I…"

 

It was Nick's turn to interrupt, "Shh, Whatever happens, you and I will
be together forever.  Even if you don't cross, we won't be denied the
important part- you and I can be linked together.  I know you want to
fly," he had seen that in their sharing together, "and I want that too,
but its more important that neither of us will grow old and leave the
other behind."

 

"What if someone wants my head?" she asked plaintively.

 

"There's no reason you have to fight if you don't want to, Nat.  You can
run away, or I can help protect you until you're strong enough to defend
yourself.  Plus, it's not like you're going to go out looking for a
fight."  Nick stroked his fingers up, across her cheek and into her
hair, "Whatever comes- you and I will face it together."

 

They snuggled together for several minutes before Natalie's caresses
became less soothing, and more arousing.

 

"Nick?"

 

"Yes, Love?"

 

"I don't want to wait for tomorrow," she whispered.

 

Nick's senses were suddenly on overload as the vampire came out in full
force.  He yearned to drink her down to death, stimulating the rebirth
of another daughter, this one to be both daughter and eternal mate.  "Me
neither!" he grunted out around his fully descended fangs.  "Come on!"
he said, getting up and leading her to the stairs.

 

Natalie's heart was hammering in her chest.  Hope and anticipation and
fear and dread were warring inside her.  She didn't think she could wait
another moment to do this.  She wanted so badly to join Nick in his
world, but even if she couldn't, she knew they could be closer when she
shed her mortality one way or the other.

 

Nick stopped them at the foot of the stairs, "Natalie, I wanted to make
this special, for you to have a last meal with all of your favorites,
for you to take one last walk in the sun…" he began.

 

Natalie interrupted, "I want my next meal to come from you Nick.  I want
my next walk to be a flight through the night sky with you."

 

Nick just smiled at his beloved, more in love with her at that moment
than he could have ever conceived of in his long life.  He grabbed her
and flew them up the stairs and into the bedroom.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The CN Tower


 


3:15 am

 

Scully luxuriated in the strength her new incarnation afforded her.  She
flew herself and her lover to the one place she had secretly wanted to
go since landing in Toronto almost a week ago; the CN Tower.  

 

Standing atop tall structures always brought out the childlike
joyfulness in her.  When she was young, being able to look down from a
great height allowed her to fantasize that she could fly.  Now that she
really could, the elation of standing on the edge was sharpened, rather
than diminished.  She leapt off of the edge a couple of times and flew
back in, just for the sheer delight of it.

 

Mulder reveled in his lover's joy.  "God, this feels so amazing!" he
said.

 

Scully threw herself into his arms, giggling like a little girl.  "What
does?" she asked, feeling his echo of her delight, but not catching his
exact thoughts.

 

"This," Mulder replied.  "You, laughing in utter delight, the feel of
flying and the feel of being carried in flight.  Me, wrapping my arms
around you and holding you tight.  All of it- it feels so… so…"

 

"Right.  It feels right.  It feels like home, like belonging," she
finished for him.  She felt his joy surge even more as she spoke.

 

"Yes.  That's exactly how it feels.  I love you *so* much!" Mulder said.

 

Scully could feel the outpouring of love washing over her and flowing
back from her into him.  "Me too," was all she got out before their lips
met.

 

Their kiss was all encompassing, as their focus narrowed to the
sensation of lips and tongue to the exclusion of everything else.
Slowly their awareness expanded to include the whole of their bodies and
they touched, stroked and undressed each other.  Seemingly of their own
volition, their bodies joined together as their mouths had.  They
breathed each other's breath as they moved within and around one
another.  As they neared their climax, Scully sliced into her throat
with one sharp fingernail and moved Mulder's head to her neck to drink.
She then bit into him and they simultaneously came.  As with the last
time the orgasm was amplified in a feedback loop until both passed out
from the pure ecstasy.

 

Mulder died again after the sensation overload rendered them both
unconscious.  Even though Scully didn't drain him entirely, it was
enough to cause his heart to stop.  Nevertheless, he recovered first,
gasping back to life in what he was coming to determine was the 'normal'
manner.  He found himself propped up against the wall of the enclosure,
a naked, boneless vampire sleeping in his arms.    Her head was lolled
back, and he could see the tips of her fangs through her slightly parted
lips.  He suddenly noticed the smell of her blood, still drizzling
slowly out of the wound on her throat.  "Scully, you smell like…
strawberries?" Mulder rasped.  He was suddenly compelled to lick the
blood from her throat.  "Oh my God!" he whispered.  The taste was unlike
anything he had ever had before.  Both of the previous times he had
tasted her blood, last night and just a few minuets ago, it had tasted
like blood- slightly bitter and metallic. Now, it was sweet and rich,
with hints of acidic tartness- like biting into a fresh, just ripened
strawberry.  And, it was definitely Scully.  It tasted like her, as
though- somehow- there was 'essence of Scully' mixed in with the
berries.  He would forever be able to identify that taste as 'Scully's
Blood.'

 

He bent down for another taste, and suddenly he felt a tearing sensation
in his gums.  "Ouch!" he said, loudly enough to wake Scully from her
stupor.

 

Scully came to, just in time to see Mulder staring at her with green
eyes and fangs.  To say she was startled was understating things rather
a bit.  "Mulder?  Are you ok?"

 

"You tashte like shtrawberriesh, Shcully." Mulder lisped through his new
fangs in a husky, sex-roughened voice.

 

The combination of the desire evident in Mulder's voice, his comment
about the flavor of her blood, and the eyes and fangs was too much for
Scully to bear.  She felt her own fangs at full extension and couldn't
help but sink them in Mulder's throat.

 

The sensation of being bitten, previously erotic but painful, was
suddenly a discovery of a whole new erogenous zone.  He felt a hard
slap, as his erection grew rock hard with a single heartbeat.  He drove
himself into Scully at the same time he buried his new teeth into her
neck at the shoulder.  "Oh, dear God!" he thought.  The flavor of
Scully's cool blood in his mouth was almost overpowering.  [You taste so
good, Scully!] he thought to her.

 

[Now you know why I can't keep my fangs off of you, Mulder.] she
replied.  [You taste like cardamom- fragrant and overpowering and
wonderful!]  Suddenly the taste changed and she tasted strawberries.

 

Mulder also noticed the flavor shift to the cardamom Scully was
describing, and they jointly realized that each was experiencing the
sensation of the other, as though their minds had switched places.
Before they could examine this new experience in any more detail, Mulder
died again, dragging Scully back down into unconsciousness as he went.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


3:55 am

 

Natalie never even felt the sting of Nick's fangs in her throat.  He had
worked her to a fever pitch with his hands and mouth.  He had started
gently, slowly removing her clothes and laying her out on the bed-
reverently kissing her everywhere on her body.  Soon he had two fingers
buried in her, stroking her g-spot while his lips and tongue worked her
clitoris.  As she crested over the top and came crashing down into her
orgasm he slid up her body, still working her with his fingers, and
buried his fangs into her throat.

 

Natalie awoke to find herself standing at the crossroads that Dana had
described.  She didn't see a doorway, though.  Dana had mentioned a
doorway.

 

After a bit, she began to grow concerned.  "Uh, Where's the door," she
asked aloud hesitantly.  "Hello!" she shouted a bit louder.  "Anyone
around?"

 

"You're not supposed to be here!"

 

Natalie whirled around to face the speaker.  When she thought about it
later, she couldn't remember anything about him/her/it.  Whatever it
was, it repeated its statement- "You are not supposed to be here!  Your
kind doesn't come this way."

 

"My kind?" Natalie asked.

 

"You have to go back now!" the figure said.

 

Natalie blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself
conscious again, sucking from Nick's bloody wrist.  Oh, it tasted so
good; she couldn't have imagined that anything- let alone blood- could
taste this good.  Not to mention the link that came with it.  She could
feel that Nick was happy and excited that she had crossed over to join
him.  She was happy too.  Finally Nick pulled his arm away from her,
when it was clear she wouldn't be letting go on her own.  She resisted,
but she was too tired to put up more than a token struggle.

 

Nick's heart was overflowing with pure, clear joy.  "My daughter, my
lover, my soul mate!" he exulted.  "We will never be separated again!"
He stroked her hair, savoring this moment.  It was a moment he had
secretly yearned for every minute of the last six years.  He had hidden
it from himself, disgusted with the idea of 'dragging her into his own
hell' as he thought of it.  Now that he had finally accepted that his
misery was of his own making, and not inherent to his existence, he
could rejoice in having his dearest love join with him in eternal night.


 

"Who needs sunlight when I have you, Natalie," he reverently whispered.

 

He was feeling a bit light-headed from the blood Natalie had taken from
him, and went down to get a snack, as well as stocking up so when she
awoke, he would be ready for her.

 

As Nick drank his 'snack' he reached out for his other childé, concerned
that she not find herself stuck outside the loft during the day, even
though he knew Mulder would take care of her.  He really liked Dana.  He
had brought her across out of a sense of responsibility, which he felt
for her because she had been harmed while 'under his protection,' and
out of sympathy for her and Mulder's situation.  If he had ever thought
of bringing someone across, "Not counting Nat, of course," it wouldn't
have been Dana Scully.  Knowing her like he did now, he was glad he had
been in the right place and time to sire a childé like her.  Even though
it had only been a short time since her transformation, he had the
advantage of the deep link, and knew her better than anyone in her life
ever had before, "Except for Mulder, now," he thought.  And Dana Scully
was definitely the stuff a good vampire was made of, as he defined it
anyway.

 

As he reached through their link, he found Dana and Mulder flying on
their way back here.  She expected they would be back around 5:30,
giving them plenty of time before the sun rose.

 

Nick climbed the stairs back up to his room.  He had 6 bottles, and
usually four or five was enough, so he figured he was prepared.  He set
them on the nightstand on his side of the bed, and lay down next to her.
She was still lying on top of the sheets, naked.  Nick marveled at her
form, visually caressing every inch of her voluptuous body.  Her skin,
already pale, had turned marble white, in stark contrast to her thick
mass of brunette hair, and her lips, dark red like a vintage port.

 

"I love you so much, Natalie.  I'm glad we can share it in the
bloodkiss, because I could never find the words to tell you how much,"
Nick whispered softly to his sleeping lover.  Indeed he was himself
amazed.  Not at how much she deserved his love, but rather at his own
capacity for love.  He had been with Janette on and off for centuries,
and he did love her, both then and now.  He had once loved a mortal
enough to marry her, and to try and bring her across to join him.  When
she had died, he had been despondent for months.  He missed her
terribly, and yearned for her greatly, but never once in that time of
mourning, did he ever even consider ending his own life.  He knew even
the moment she had died in his arms that he would get over her
eventually.  He didn't admit it at the time, of course.  But, looking
back, he could now see it.

 

There was no way he could ever go on without Natalie.  He probably loved
her more in the first year they had known each other than he had ever
loved Janette or Alyssa.  By the time 2 years had passed, he could no
sooner have done without her than he could have done without his arms
and legs.  He was happy with everything in his life right now, even
those things that didn't directly involve Natalie; his relationship with
LaCroix, his daughter Dana, just everything.  But, he knew that if
something were to take her away from him, he would be unable to go on.
He couldn't look into the future and not see Natalie there with him.
Thank God, he wouldn't have to face that.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Quick-Mart


 


5:35 am

 

This time they had awoken together, Mulder's fangs had retracted, and
his thirst was not for blood, but for orange juice.  Scully flew them
down from the tower and directly to the closest 24-hr market they could
find.  Scully was torn between mortification and mirth as Mulder
up-ended 3 gallons of orange juice, one after the other.  She was
embarrassed at her lack of control, draining the poor man twice in the
space of ten minutes.

 

Even though she wasn't thinking actual words at him, Mulder could tell
she was upset about draining him twice in such a short space of time.
"I told you Scully…" he paused to take another drink, "Don't feel bad…"
another drink, "I would take this thirst every day…" another drink, "
for the rest of my immortal life…" he finished the bottle, "to have you
make me feel like that."

 

She was still a little embarrassed by it, but she could feel the easy
sincerity in his voice, as well as feel the deep sense of satisfaction
that he felt.  "I just need you so much Mulder, I feel a little, I don't
know, desperate I guess.  Overly needy.  Smothering."

 

"You know that I feel the same way about you Scully.  You can feel it in
me, just like I feel it in you.  Call me an enabler, but you're welcome
to bite whenever you feel the slightest urge," he said with a broad
grin, taking her in his arms and ravaging her mouth with his own.

 

Scully felt the vampire rising to the fore again, and forced herself to
stop.  "Mulder, stop it.  We'll never make it back to the loft at this
rate."

 

"And this is a bad thing because…?" he responded.

 

"We have the rest of our lives, Mulder.  And, if we don't get me inside
in the next hour, the rest of my life will be measured in minutes, not
centuries," she said, mock-exasperated.

 

"Oh, yeah… That." Mulder said thoughtfully.  "I could probably wait long
enough for us to make it to the loft before I have to rip your clothes
off and ravish you again," Mulder said with a deadpan look.

 

"I'll hold you to that, Mulder," Scully said; equally deadpan, as they
took flight for the short trip back to the loft.

 

=== Chapter 14a


 


Vachon's Church

 

3:45 a.m. Friday December 15th

 

Tracy woke up from a light sleep.  She was slightly confused, as she
didn't remember having gone to bed.  She quickly noticed that she was on
the floor, or rather, on Vachon, who was on the floor.  She was naked
and sticky, Vachon was still partially in her.  In the past she would
have been mortified to be in such a state.  "Certainly not 'proper' or
lady-like," she thought.  Instead, she felt deliciously wanton.  She
decided to wake her lover, "And what an amazing lover he is!" in what
she thought would be the most appropriate way possible.

 

Vachon awoke to two competing sensations.  His head ached a little, "I
must have really hit hard," he thought.  He remembered that he passed
out standing up, with Tracy hanging onto him.  He obviously fell and
whacked his head on the hardwood floor.

 

The second sensation Vachon was feeling was Tracy, licking the sticky
blood off of his balls while she stroked his semi-erect member- already
cleaned apparently.  Vachon moaned loudly, and it wasn't the headache!

 

Tracy heard her lover's return to the land of the conscious and
chuckled.  She was savoring the taste of both of their blood mixed with
the taste of his skin.  She felt him lengthening and hardening in her
hand and smiled at her ability to affect him.  As she took him, now
standing at full attention, into her mouth she heard him moan, "God,
Tracy! You're insatiable!"

 

[Yeah, lucky you] she thought to him.

 

"'Lucky me' is right!" Vachon thought as he lay his now-healed head back
on the floor and sunk down into the sensation Tracy was eliciting from
him.  He had wanted Tracy from the first moment he had seen her.
Lately, though his cravings were becoming almost incontrollable.  He had
fantasized about her constantly for the last several months.  Thank God
she had decided to come across.  [I can't even imagine life without you
Tracy,] he thought to her.  [I never imagined I could love someone as
much as I love you.]

 

Tracy pulled away from him and crawled up his supine form until her lips
hovered over his.  She looked down at his angelic face and said, "I
never imagined that I could be loved like that.  I love you, Vachon-
with all my heart."  Their lips met, and he thrust himself up into her.

 

This time their actions were slow, as they cherished one another.  An
hour later they fell asleep in each other's arms again- still never
having made it to the bed.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Corbeau


 


3:45 a.m.

 

Franklin had been waiting for over an hour for her to get back.  He only
lamented that he was too late to save her latest victim.  He had been
watching her when the poor sap just walked right up to her and invited
her out for a bloody walk.  Franklin had been near the front door and by
the time he made it out and around to the back of the building, they
were nowhere in sight.

 

He had figured out that she was one of the unholy ones last weekend when
he had stopped in with a couple of his buddies to try and score some
chicks.  He had seen her with her pale skin and her smug look of
superiority, drinking blood from a glass like it was wine.  He could
tell it wasn't wine- too thick, it stuck to the glass.  He had seen her
kind before- devil spawn, bloodsuckers.  His papa hadn't done much for
him growing up, but he did teach him about vampires.  It was a vampire
what done in his papa when he was fourteen.  He'd seen the aftermath.
He hadn't ever found the bloodsucker that did it, but he figured this
would be as good a chance as ever for a little payback.

 

He knew she would have to come back here before sunrise- she apparently
lived in the club somewhere.  "Must have a coffin in the basement or
something," he thought.  Then he heard footsteps coming.  He could hear
them talking and laughing.  "She must be saving him for a bedtime
snack," he thought.  "Good, I might be able to save him after all."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Janette felt absolutely wonderful.  Duncan was extremely charming.  He
was also very intelligent, funny, well traveled, and knowledgeable about
a wide range of subjects.  They had had serious discussions about
politics and history (about which he had been surprisingly well versed),
he had entertained her with amusing anecdotes and stories, as well as
listened attentively to her when she shared selected stories- though she
told them as third person, not wanting to seem suspicious.

 

They had gone from her hand on his arm to being wrapped in each other's
arms without even noticing it.  It just felt natural.  As they got close
to the club she felt suddenly compelled to kiss him.  Actually, she had
felt that compulsion from the moment he sat down with her at the club,
but she had rigorously suppressed it.  It would be more accurate to say
that she suddenly felt unable to restrain herself any longer.  It was
this distraction that kept her from paying adequate attention to the
sound of the heartbeat in the alley beside the Corbeau.  Hindsight was
indeed 20/20.

 

MacLeod had just brushed her lips with his own when he felt the impact
against her back as the arrow thudded home just under her right
shoulder.  She immediately let out a terrifying scream and spun to face
her attacker.

 

The pain was almost unbearable.  Fortunately the fool had shot her on
the wrong side.  She would survive this wound, assuming she could keep
him from bettering his aim on the next.  Of course this would
undoubtedly be the end of any relationship she would get to have with
Duncan.  That angered her more than the arrow in her back.  She was just
about to counterattack when she noticed Duncan was already more than
halfway across the alley.  He had, of all things, drawn a sword and was
hurling himself at her attacker, who was screaming some cliché about
'Hell-Bitch' and 'Unholy Bloodsucker.'  Her wound kept her from moving
fast enough to save Duncan from his next arrow.

 

She watched with horror as it struck him right in the heart.  He had
already began his down stroke with the sword and, therefore, managed to
avenge his own death- neatly severing the assailant's raised bow in two,
and splitting his head like a giant melon- killing him instantly.

 

The pain in her heart overshadowed the pain in her back when she got to
Duncan's side.  He was fading fast, but not before he saw her eyes and
fangs.

 

Duncan's last thought before he died was one of joy.  He's already
decided that he could easily fall in love with this woman, and a small
part of him dreaded the inevitable death and passing that was inherent
in loving a mortal.  "You won't die," were his last words as blackness
stole over him.

 

Janette wondered at his words, and even more so at his beatific smile.
She was even more heartsick, if that was possible.  He had seen what she
truly was, and not only accepted it, but seemed genuinely happy with it-
even as he died.  She was sure now that Duncan MacLeod would have been
an ideal candidate whom to offer immortality.

 

She managed to pick him up and carry him into the club with her.  It
was, of course empty by this time.  She didn't house any strays here as
she had in Toronto.  She valued her privacy after hours too much right
now.  So it was that she had to figure out how to get the arrow out of
her back by herself.  First she grabbed a bottle of the house special
and drank it down.  Then she managed to remove the arrow by closing it
in a doorframe, holding the door tightly against it with one foot, and
basically falling forward as hard as she could.  The pain was quite
excruciating, causing her to cry out again.  She lay on the floor for
several minutes while the wound healed.  Fortunately it appeared that
there were no splinters from the shaft.  The idiot had actually left the
steel tips on the arrows!

 

She downed another bottle of the house special before going over to
consider Duncan.  She tried to harden herself against the emotional
pain, she tried not to think about the future they could have had
together.  Even though she had only met him that day, the sense of loss
was even greater than when Robert had died.  With Robert, though she
loved him dearly, she had been changing herself to be with him.  At
best, she would have remained mortal, and they would have had twenty or
thirty years together before one or both of them died.  She could
envision bringing Duncan across to be with her for twenty or thirty
centuries.

 

Finally she approached his body, she had left him on a table, on his
back- the arrow sticking straight up into the air.  She angrily yanked
the arrow out and snapped it in half.  "As if that could bring him
back," she thought, furious at the insignificant worm that had
perpetrated this monstrosity upon them out of some misguided religious
fervor.  "Aarghh!" she growled.  She had to restrain herself from going
out into the alley and jumping up and down on what remained of his head,
or perhaps pulling out the sword and chopping him into little bits.

 

The thought of the sword led to other thoughts.  "Why was he carrying a
sword?" she wondered.  She remembered that he had been at Hénri's
muttering about a sword.  Maybe that's what he purchased there.  He did
seem to know how to use it, however.  He also responded to the attack in
a manner that suggested combat experience.  She had never been a
warrior, but she knew that most people tended to react with confusion or
fear when an attack commenced.  She knew this from having been the
attacker, more often than not.  Duncan didn't hesitate- he armed himself
and counter-attacked before she even turned around.  That bespoke
training.  And, it specifically suggested training with a sword- as his
counter attack was weapon specific- not the way one would react if one
were armed with a pistol.

 

Her musings were interrupted by a loud gasp, and the sound of a heart
beating rapidly.  She spun around to see who had invaded her privacy and
was properly shocked to see Duncan MacLeod sitting up on the table, his
hand clutched at his chest where he had been struck by the arrow.
Janette was dumbstruck.

 

MacLeod awoke to find himself sitting on a table in the now-deserted
club.  Janette was standing in front of him, jaw dropped.  He could see
that she had reverted- no fangs and eyes normal.  He could almost
believe that what he had seen had been a pain induced delusion, except
for the fact that he knew- intimately- that vampires did indeed exist,
and that she would not be standing at all if she were not one of them.
His first question was, "Are you alright?  Did you get it out?" he
croaked.  At her blank stare he repeated the question, "The arrow.  Did
you get it out of your back?  Do you need me to get it?"

 

Janette was stunned into silence.  She nodded her head and pointed to
the arrow lying on the floor in the doorway beside the bar.

 

Duncan saw one bloody arrow on the floor where Janette was pointing, and
another- broken in half- at her feet.  "Do you need blood?" he asked,
concerned that she might be in shock "If vampires are susceptible to
that," he thought.

 

Janette slowly shook her head, still unable to formulate the proper
response.

 

Duncan's next question was, "Where is my sword?"

 

Janette managed to reply to that one.  "In the alley," she said,
pointing to the door.

 

Duncan jumped down from the table.  "Janette?  Are you alright?" he
asked, concerned.  "Surely she won't freak out about my immortality," he
thought.  Certainly a vampire wouldn't consider an immortal a monster.
He hoped not, anyway.  His feelings for her had gelled in his mind and
his heart.  He knew he was definitely in love.  "I'll be right back,
Ok?" he said, sprinting into the alley.

 

Janette listened as Duncan recovered his sword.  She was shaken by this
turn of events.  She was definitely happy that Duncan wasn't dead, but
how?  He wasn't a vampire, she was confident of that.  He had undeniably
died.  Heart stopped, breath stilled, dead.  Dead for several minutes.
Also, he didn't seem at all disconcerted to find out that she was a
vampire.  "He has to know! Doesn't he?" she whispered.  He had seen the
wound- had asked if she needed blood.  No, he definitely knew about
vampires, and knew she was one.  She was equally convinced that he
hadn't known previous to the attack.  He had been genuinely surprised
and pleased to see her looming over him as he died.  "As he Died!?" her
mind shouted at her, still having difficulty accepting that he wasn't
dead even yet.  He had even commented that she wasn't going to die.  He
had said it with astonishment and joy.

 

Duncan came back in after recovering his sword.  He wanted to make sure
that Janette was going to be ok, and that she was going to be OK with
him.  He could see her mulling it over as he re-entered the club.  He
walked up to her hesitantly, knowing that she could seriously hurt him
if she freaked out.  He had fallen in love before and faced the pain
when the object of his affection couldn't accept the truth about him.
He really didn't think he could face that again.  "Janette, are you
going to be alright?"

 

She could hear his unspoken question.  She could see the fear of
rejection in his eyes, and her heart broke.  Questions could come later.
She loved this man.  He had fought and died for her, even if it wasn't
permanent.  He obviously accepted her for what she was.  How could she
not do likewise?  Why would she even want to?  As before, she let her
actions answer both his questions.  She stepped to him and wrapped
herself around him, kissing him soundly.

 

When Duncan broke the kiss, he saw bloody tears streaming down her face.
His heart was overcome with relief and love- relief that she was alive,
and that she would accept him.  He said, "When that arrow hit you…"

 

At the same time Janette said, "When I saw you die…"

 

They both laughed.

 

Janette let go of him and stepped back one pace and said, "As you have
clearly surmised, I am a Vampire."  She felt surreal saying those words
out loud.

 

MacLeod responded with, "We call ourselves Immortals.  Not terribly
clever- but I never knew there were any others who could lay claim to
that label."

 

That statement puzzled Janette.  "But, you were not surprised when you
found out what I am."  At his look of protest she clarified, "Not
surprised that we exist, I mean."

 

"You might find this to be an incredible coincidence, but I only
recently had my first meeting with your kind, at least so far as I know
it was my first.  It was, in fact just Wednesday evening," he mused,
remembering the eclectic mix of immortals he had encountered that night.
He was distracted enough that he missed Janette's question.  "Hmm?
Sorry, what was that?"

 

Janette was amused by the far-away stare Duncan had, it reminded her of
Nick when he was reminiscing.  "I said, your meeting must have been
unusually genial.  Most people who meet my kind aren't allowed to
remember it, if they are lucky enough to live through it.  We generally
don't get along well with humans."

 

MacLeod smiled at that.  "Actually, I met several vampires that night.
One was following a friend of mine who met me at the airport.  He killed
us and then ran off."

 

Janette grabbed his arm, concerned.  "Why?  Why would he do that?" she
asked, upset at the thought of Duncan lying dead- regardless of whether
he could recover from it or not.

 

Duncan reached out with his free hand and gently stroked a lock of hair
away from her face, answering, "To make a long story short, he was
following my friend, we detected and confronted him, and he blew through
us like straw in the wind."

 

"Your friend is like you?  He recovered?  Did you encounter that one
again?" she asked.  She was still uncomfortable with the idea of one of
her kind stalking Duncan.

 

Duncan reassured her, "It's all right; we ended up meeting the person
who had put the tail on my friend.  While surreal, that meeting ended up
all right.  We met several vampires and a new immortal, and his lover-
who was a new member of your ranks. And we met someone who will become
immortal, if she doesn't become a vampire first."

 

Suddenly MacLeod knew why this club was giving him déjà vu!  "Janette?
Have you ever heard of a club in Toronto called the Raven?  It reminds
me a lot of this place."  He looked back from the club surrounding them
to Janette.  She looked stunned again.

 

Janette's mind was whirling with the implications.  It seemed fate was
playing a trick on her.  "Oh dear," was all she said for several
moments.  Finally she led them to a table and said, "Tell me everything
that has happened to you since Wednesday," as she sank into her chair.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


4:00 p.m. Friday

 

Mulder woke up first again.  He looked at the clock and saw that he had
a little over half an hour till sunset.  He pressed into the link with
Scully and detected only her presence, no thoughts or any definable
emotions.  "I guess vampires don't dream," he thought.  "I'll have to
ask about that."  He was thirsty again- product of making good on his
promise at the quick-mart.  They had barely made it to their room before
he was tearing her clothes off and going down on her.  This time, the
blood set him off again.  She tasted like strawberries and caused his
fangs to drop.  This development was a joy to them both, he could
definitely see himself spending hours giving head to Scully, the taste
and sensation from the blood was supremely satisfying to him, and so
long as he made one wrist available to her, she could have repeat
orgasms while he serviced her.  Of course, he still enjoyed straight
coitus, a fact which he demonstrated twice before they succumbed to the
pull of death.  This time he lasted a lot longer before dying.  It felt
like heaven, and it just went on and on.  He knew that she was
absolutely addicted to his blood and that she was embarrassed by that
fact, but he was hopelessly addicted to her as well.  "And, this is one
addiction with no downside!" he thought.  Well, there was the thirst.
But, that was a very small price to pay.

 

Once he had come back to life, Scully was out for the day.  He had gone
down to the kitchen and finished off the OJ, making a mental note to get
some more for Natalie, if she still needed it, and himself.  Then he
rejoined his partner in bed, this time bringing a large jug of water
with him, which he now emptied.

 

Mulder thought about their link.  It was a marvel.  In his wildest
imaginings he could never have dreamt of this level of intimacy.
Despite the fact that her vampirism would present many difficulties for
them both- they would probably have to leave the FBI- he was glad that
she was a vampire.  The cause was horrifying; he got cold chills
whenever he remembered walking into that alley and seeing the pile of
broken flesh and bone that was his Scully.  The effect- her vampirism-
was magnificent.  Of course, that effect was definitely affecting him as
well.  He hadn't had a chance to face the sun since the increase in his
change.  It would be interesting to see if he was truly turning, or his
link with her was just allowing some bleed-through.  He didn't think
giving up the sun would be too high a price to pay for being a part of
Scully.  "Flying would be great, too," he thought.  Not to mention, it
would definitely give him an edge in 'The Game'.  He would be able to
avoid most fights, and if not, he would have an advantage in speed and
strength.

 

Thinking about the future inevitably lead back to thoughts of their jobs
with the Bureau.  In some ways it would be a relief to be free of the
restrictions placed on them by their jobs.  Of course, he would also
miss some of the access that came with the badge.  "Maybe they would let
us consult, from time to time," he thought.  Natalie had a point when
she said they could still search for the truth.  He would wait to see
what Scully thought.  Knowing that she would wake up hungry, Mulder went
down to the kitchen and got several bottles from the fridge.  Then, he
finished off the Gatorade, making another mental note to restock the
fridge.  Whether it was for him and Natalie, or just himself, it would
definitely get consumed.

 

Mulder lay on his side, watching her sleep.  He knew she would wake up
soon- sundown was in less than ten minutes now.  He was running his
fingers through her hair when an idea struck him.  "I wonder if Scully
wants to get married," he suddenly thought.  He knew that she wanted to
be with him for the rest of their lives, as did he.  He never even
thought about marriage.  He personally didn't have a strong opinion
about marriage.  He often thought of it as being almost inconsequential
to the relationship.  People who loved each other- truly loved each
other- didn't have to be married to do so.  Some of them did get
married, some of them didn't- but they stayed together and loved each
other for their whole lives.  On the other hand, many, many people were
together- married or otherwise- and didn't love each other like that at
all.  They didn't stay together more than a few years, at best.  Again,
the institution of marriage seemed inconsequential to the relationship's
success or failure.  Scully might feel otherwise, however.  He was
pretty sure Scully's mom would definitely feel otherwise.  "Dana
Mulder," he whispered, trying it on for size.  Of course, Scully was a
modern woman.  She might not want to take his name.  "I'll probably
always call her 'Scully' anyway," he thought.

 

Scully woke up about that time.  Mulder felt his consciousness expand to
include Scully's awareness.  Immediately the hunger hit him and he
wordlessly handed her the first bottle.  It only took two bottles this
time to sate her.  "Does that mean you're getting acclimated?" he asked.

 

"I never asked Nick what was 'normal' for a morning feeding," she
replied.  "Thanks for bringing me breakfast in bed Mulder," she said
with a grin.

 

Mulder sat in front of her and looked at her.  She was deliciously
naked, her eyes still glowing and her fangs just starting to recede.  He
felt arousal, of course, but even more so he felt a deep and abiding joy
suffuse his spirit.

 

Scully watched as Mulder's grin got wider and wider, and felt the
growing joy that he was feeling.  It made her smile and giggle, "What,
Mulder?"

 

"Do you feel that?  Of course you do," he said, answering his own
question.  "That's you, Scully.  You make me feel like that.  So happy,"
he shook his head slowly in amazement.  "I never even knew anyone could
be so genuinely happy, let alone me."  He reached out and gently cupped
her cheek, "Thank you, Dana," he said, trying out her name- something he
rarely did.

 

Scully had never felt more cherished.  Every time they made love, she
could feel his adoration for her, and now with the link, it became
constant- like being wrapped in a warm cloak on a cold day.  Even so,
she couldn't imagine it could grow to more than it already was; yet it
did.  Every day his love for her grew, and hers for him.  "We are going
to be a pretty goofy pair, Fox," she said; and then she giggled- using
his given name seemed strange.

 

"It does, doesn't it," Mulder answered her feeling.  I guess I fell in
love with Scully, and that will probably always be how I think of you,"
he said.

 

Feeling Mulder's unspoken possessiveness when he used her name, she
said, "Don't you mean 'My Scully'?  Isn't that how you think of me?" she
asked with a smile.

 

Mulder nodded his head, moving in to kiss her.  "That's right," he
whispered.  "You are mine, Scully.  Forever."

 

"Forever!" she agreed just before they kissed.

 

The kiss started softly, as they delighted in each other's love.  Soon,
however, the kiss deepened, Mulder's fangs dropped- Scully's had never
fully retracted.  Before they knew it they were each drinking from the
other.  This time Mulder didn't die.  They stopped after about 10
minutes- both of them amazed.  Mulder did feel a little lightheaded,
unlike Scully who felt blissfully sated.

 

"I think you drink faster!" Mulder said.

 

"I only drink as fast as it comes, Mulder," she replied.  "Maybe you
bleed faster."

 

Without any thought, Mulder picked up the remaining bottle of blood,
bypassing the water he had left, and drank it down.

 

Scully was somewhat stunned.  "That's new," was all she said.

 

Mulder stared at the bottle in his hand.  The blood tasted good, not
nearly as good as Scully tasted- this was much less flavorful, but it
still tasted good.  He caught a faint emotional residue from it;
nervousness?  Someone was nervous about donating, a young man?  That
startled him.  "I don't feel like a vampire," he whispered.  Turning to
Scully he asked, "Do I?"

 

Scully considered him for a moment.  "No, not really," she answered.
"You don't feel like any vampire I've met, anyway.  All four of them.
Your heart is beating, but it's really slow… about 20 beats per minute."
She shook her head as if to clear it, "It's kind of hard to tell what
I'm feeling separate from what I'm feeling you feeling.  Does that make
sense?"

 

"No- but, I know exactly what you mean," Mulder said sympathetically.

 

"It's kind of late to ask this, but… Do you want to be a vampire,
Mulder?" Scully asked.  "I never really thought about it when Natalie
suggested it.  I just wanted this thing between us, [this], to get
stronger.  I like feeling like I'm a part of you," she finished
sheepishly.

 

[Every time I think I couldn't possibly love you more than I do at that
moment, I find out that I'm wrong.  And my love for you grows,] he
thought to her as he tightened his arms around her and kissed her.

 

Before their kiss could deepen into something else she pulled away.
"Mulder!  At this rate we will never get out of this bedroom," she
objected.  She cut off his protest with a thought, [You need a shower,
Mister!]

 

Mulder leered back at Scully, "*We* need a shower, Scully."  Sensing
that she really wanted to give in anyway, he added- in his most innocent
tone- "I could wash your back…"

 

Scully did not for a moment have any illusions that washing her back was
all he had in mind.  However, her thoughts were leaning in that
direction as well.  She smiled a coquettish little smile and said, "Ok!"
as she bounded out of the bed, dragging Mulder along with her.

 

=====


Chapter 14b


 


Nick's Loft


 


4:30 p.m. Friday

 

He woke up before Natalie that evening.  He could hear Dana and Mulder
playing and giggling in the guest room.  He smiled to hear the joy they
had in each other.  He was looking forward to a bond with Natalie.  It
might not be as close as the bond his childé had with her lover, but it
would be a wonderful sharing of souls.  Thanks to Mulder, Nick wouldn't
have to worry about Dana being jealous of her new sister.  Especially
since this sister would also be her master's life-mate.

 

Nick also was giddy with anticipation about Natalie's transformation.
It seemed that she was vampire.  "Her reaction last night was certainly
textbook vampire," he thought.  He would be interested in Mulder's
reaction- to see if she exhibited any 'Quickening' once she awoke from
her death-like sleep.  Whatever the case, he could feel her now as he
did Dana, so he was hopeful.  He drank one bottle himself in order to be
properly fortified for the evening ahead, then waited in eager
anticipation for his beloved to awake.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Natalie woke up to the feeling of hunger pains so intense that she was
cramping up into a fetal position.  She heard someone say 'Here Nat,
take this,' and a wine bottle was pressed into her hands.  She could
smell the blood and immediately poured it down her throat as fast as it
would come out.  The moment it was empty it was taken from her and
replaced with a full one.  This continued until she was nearly through
her fourth bottle.  She set it down in her lap and finally took a
breath, "You weren't kidding about the first hunger!"  She licked her
lips and finished off the bottle.  Turning to face Nick she asked, "It
gets better, right?"

 

Nick smiled and replied, "You will always wake up hungry, my dear; but
it will get much easier with time."

 

Now that her thirst was assuaged, she became hungry for something else.
Nick was sitting on the edge of the bed, and they were both naked.  Her
new senses made her more aware of him than she had ever been before- the
smell of him was stronger now, and she could smell herself on him from
last night.  Her own arousal quickly surged and she gave in to the
impulse to attack him.

 

Nick saw the look in her eyes a split second before she leapt on him.
As they fell to the floor he spun them around so that he landed on her,
pinning her wrists above her head and her legs with his.  "Oho! Feeling
playful this evening, are we?" he teased.

 

Natalie felt her fangs tear through her gums for the first time and saw
everything around her through a filter of green.  She felt a need in her
for Nick that was almost as strong as her hunger for blood had been.
She needed to feel him inside of her, thrusting.  She needed to feel his
fangs in her throat and sink her own into the sweet honey she could
smell flowing through his veins.  "Nick!  I need you now!" she said as
she struggled to get to him with her teeth.

 

"Patience love, behave yourself and you will get what you need," he
said.  He saw a subtle change come over her when he told her to behave,
a certain glint in her eye.  He felt himself becoming even more aroused
at the possibilities, but he wasn't certain that she wanted what he was
thinking of, so he tried another tack; "You will have to restrain
yourself, Natalie," he began- emphasizing the word 'restrain.'

 

Natalie suddenly had a picture in her mind of Nick restraining her,
dominating her and driving her wild with ecstasy as she lost all
control.  She didn't know if he was sending the image to her, or she was
sending it to him, but she could see that he was definitely getting it.
This was an aspect of her personality that even she had been unaware of.
She had never played BDSM games before, but the thought of it was making
her wet with anticipation.

 

Nick definitely got the picture.  He didn't have all the hardware they
would need, but he did have handcuffs, and they would do for now.  Plus,
with her new strength, she could easily break free if things went beyond
what she was willing to do.  He swiftly grabbed her, and the handcuffs,
and but her on the bed, on her knees facing the headboard.  He cuffed
her hands together to the headboard and pulled her back towards him
until she was bent over, stretching forward to reach the headboard with
her ass up in the air facing him.  She was softly moaning and demanding
for him to take her now.  Nick stared in silence for a moment at
Natalie's delicious ass wiggling in the air, her lips wet and dripping
for him.  It took all of his self control not to give in to her demands
for satisfaction.  He leaned forward over her, letting the head of his
cock brush her lips, but not enter.  He whispered in her ear, "Is this
what you want?" rubbing the head up and down, wetting it in Natalie's
dripping juices.

 

Natalie was wild with need.  "Yes Nick!  Do it now!" she demanded.  She
tried to push back onto him when she felt a delicious sting as his hand
came down on her ass with a resounding slap.  It made her even more
aroused and desperate for him.

 

"Beg me for it Natalie," he growled in her ear.  "Make me believe that
you need it more than you've ever needed anything before!" he said,
relishing this role, but at the same time hoping she wouldn't hold out
too long.  He didn't think he could wait very long himself.

 

She wanted to beg, but she also wanted the game to go a little longer.
She had never felt this aroused before.  The anticipation was amazing.
She couldn't trust herself to speak so she just shook her head and bit
down on her lower lip.

 

Nick alternated between resounding spanks and gentle licks and kisses on
her pale white ass-cheeks, reddening them delightfully.  After each
spank he would repeat his demand that she beg for her release.  He was
almost to the point where he would be the one begging, himself.  Finally
he ended one kiss by driving his fangs into the smooth ruddy flesh.

 

The sensation of Nick's fangs in her ass drove her over the edge.  She
had already bitten through her lower and upper lips in an effort to
remain silent.  She finally gave in and began begging, crying for her
master to give her what she needed.

 

That was all the encouragement Nick needed.  He immediately drove in to
her, pumping madly as his own need was so great.  She pushed back
against the headboard, meeting his thrusts with bone-shaking impact.
Finally he could take no more and sank his fangs into her neck, while
offering her his wrist so that she could find her way too.

 

Natalie felt the warm jets of his release within her as her own
convulsions wracked her.  She felt the delightful weight of his body as
he collapsed on top of her, the length of his torso warm against her
back.  "Warm?" she muttered.  "Nick, why are you warm?" she asked,
confused momentarily.

 

Nick chuckled, "Some doctor you are!" he teased, whispering in her ear.
He reached over to the nightstand and got the key for the cuffs.

 

As he unlocked the cuffs, understanding dawned on her.  "I should have
expected that, I guess," she said, shaking her head at her foolishness.
"I'm just used to you feeling cool to the touch.  It didn't dawn on me
that that would change."

 

"It's no matter, Love," Nick replied.  "Although, speaking of
surprises…" he began, holding up the cuffs and shaking them in front of
her, "Where did that whole thing come from?"

 

Just looking at the cuffs dangling in front of her was making her hot
again.  She suddenly had an image of herself strapped spread eagle to
the bed while Nick tortured her with his hands and mouth.  Liquid warmth
spread through her at the thought.

 

Nick watched his mate's eyes glaze over at the sight of the handcuffs.
He saw her nipples surge erect and smelled her renewed arousal.  He was
amazed at this response.  "You never told me you were into this,
Natalie," he said seductively.  "I would have been happy to accommodate,
you know," he whispered, drawing closer to her.

 

Natalie was a modern woman.  She believed that women were equal to men
in every way; frankly, they were superior in many ways.  She still
believed that- and if she had thought for one second that Nick
considered her to be anything less than his equal she would have never
allowed him into her life as she had.  That being said, the thought of
Nick dominating her, enslaving her, and utterly possessing her was
driving her wild.  She finally took her eyes off of the cuffs and met
his gaze.  "I never thought I could be, Nick.  I never imagined that I
could trust someone enough to surrender myself wholly to them."  She
smiled at him in delight, "When you possess me, Nick, I feel free."

 

The combination of her words, her scent, and the feelings she was
broadcasting through their link was more than he could stand.  He
dropped the cuffs and grabbed her hands in his own.  "Then feel free, my
love," he said as he pressed her against the bedroom wall, holding her
hands above her head with one of his own.  He ravaged her mouth with
his, while running his free hand over her body.  He reached behind her
and pulled her hips away from the wall until she was hanging by her
hands.

 

She wrapped her legs around his waist for support as he drove himself
home inside her once again.  He began ramming himself into her, pressing
her into the wall with each stroke.  He drew out slowly and slammed back
in forcefully again and again.  She had no real leverage to thrust back,
so she tried to pull him into her with her legs around his waist, but he
ignored her and kept his steady pace- relentlessly driving her insane
with need.  She begged him to go faster, but he paid no heed to her
pleas.

 

Nick was driving himself insane at the same time.  He felt the need to
drive his fangs into her neck and trigger his release but ignored it.
He was going to bring her to the edge slowly, knowing the outcome would
be more intense, the slower he took her there.  So he continued to drive
into her until she was weeping blood tears, thrashing about and crying
his name.  Her eyes were blood red and her fangs were gnashing as she
tried to reach out and sink them into his flesh.  He kept her restrained
and leaned away from her efforts to bite him.  His own eyes were red and
his fangs too itched to be sheathed in her flesh.

 

When she was ready to reach the summit he denied her his blood.  She was
crazy with need, trying to reach him with her mouth, trying to bite him
anywhere she could get to, trying futilely to free her hands from his
grasp.  Finally when she thought she would lose her mind entirely, he
lowered his head to her and allowed her to sink her teeth into his
throat.  The moment his warm blood hit the back of her throat she came
like a supernova- the sensation burning her mind with its intensity.
The pleasure felt like fire searing through her veins and she didn't
even notice his teeth in her shoulder until they had consumed enough of
one another to begin tasting themselves in the blood.

 

Nick released her hands as he pulled away from her.  Then he leaned
forward and kissed her, softly and lovingly.  "I love you Natalie
Lambert," he said simply.

 

Feeling the love flow through to her she luxuriated in its warm embrace.
"I love you too, Nicolas de Brabant Knight," while returning the feeling
through the link.

 

They decided that a shower would be in order, and spent another 45
minutes exploring each other's bodies before the water got too cold for
even them.

 

"We need a bigger hot water tank," Nick said as they returned to their
bedroom to dress- kissing all the way.

 

"Absolutely," Natalie agreed.  "Maybe one of those 'constant demand'
water heaters," she said as she briefly broke the kiss.  "Do you think
we should go downstairs and join Dana and Mulder?" she asked before
planting another kiss on his mouth.

 

Nick slid away from her mouth and began kissing her cheek toward her
ear, which he began licking and biting gently, "I suppose we are being
neglectful hosts," he answered.

 

"Ok," Natalie answered with a shiver.  "But, we will continue this
later, right?"

 

"Ab-so-lutely!" Nick whispered in her ear, before breaking away to
finish dressing.

 

They went down the stairs hand-in-hand and noticed Dana latched on to
Mulder's neck.  Nick smiled at the thought of catching his daughter
'necking' with her boyfriend on the living room couch.

 

Natalie wondered if Mulder was getting used to the flavor of blood, as
she remembered her own distaste for it before coming across.

 

Nick chuckled aloud and said, "Alright you two, get a room."

 

He stopped dead in his tracks when they pulled away from each other
suddenly and turned toward himself and Natalie.

 

Natalie gasped at the look on Mulder's face.  More accurately, she
gasped at the look *of* his face.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


6:00 p.m. Friday

 

After drying off and getting dressed, Mulder and Scully went downstairs
and sat on the couch in front of the fire that Nick seemed to have
perpetually going.  Mulder sat in the corner of the couch, with Scully
curled up against him.  They each had a glass of bloodwine they were
sipping on, and they were discussing their immediate future.  Out of
deference for Nick and Nat, who they could hear were moving about in
Nick's room, they were conversing via thought.  Besides, Mulder thought
it was cool to be able to do it this way.

 

[You're such a boy, Mulder,] Scully thought.

 

[Come on, Scully.  Didn't you ever dream of being telepathic?  We're
living, breathing X-files!] he replied.

 

Scully sighed.  [Speaking of the X-files…]

 

[Yeah.  I've been thinking about that lately.  What do you want to do?]
he asked.

 

[I don't think I can stay in the bureau like this.  Frankly, I don't
know that I want to anyway.]

 

[Really?] Mulder asked, astonished.  He had always thought their work
was just as important to her as to him.

 

[We don't need the Bureau to look for answers, Mulder,] she said. [We
are part of a community now that has resources unlike anything the
bureau could have ever provided.  If we combine that with the links the
gunmen have, we should be able to do even better than we were before.]

 

Mulder was somewhat surprised to hear her echoing Natalie's sentiments
so exactly.

 

Scully continued, warming to her subject, [plus, we won't have to put up
with the crap details, the oversight, the politics…]

 

[The expense reports!  I always hated those,] Mulder added.

 

Mulder's comment took some of the wind out of Scully's sails, [Well…
yeah.  There is that.] she began.  [We could find a way to make it work.
Maybe we could consult, consultants make a lot of money.]

 

Mulder realized that Scully thought he was nay-saying.  [Actually,
Scully.  I've got money.  I was serious about hating those expense
reports.]

 

"What do you mean, 'I've got money?'"] Scully demanded, pushing away and
turning to face him with one brow raised.

 

[The wages of sin pay pretty well, Scully.  Dearest Dad left behind
quite a chunk of change.  Plus there are several houses…] he began.

 

[You mean all this time you were rich?  Why did we always have to stay
in the seediest hotels available?] she demanded.  [If I had known you
were rich, I would have seduced you a long time ago,] she joked.

 

"If I had known you would have seduced me, I would have told you a long
time ago," he whispered.

 

They both laughed softly at that, mostly at their own stupidity for not
seeing how the other felt for so long.  Scully curled back up against
him and they sat in silence for a moment- mental as well as physical.
They could sense each other's emotions intimately, however, it seemed
that they only heard each other's word thoughts, not mental pictures or
images, unless they were sharing blood.  When they were in the same
room, their senses overlapped and everything seemed to be in 5-sense
equivalent of surround sound.  When they were in different environments,
their own senses dominated unless they concentrated on the other's.

 

Suddenly they both thought to each other, [I was thinking…] then they
laughed and Scully thought [go ahead, Mulder]

 

[I love you Scully.  You know that…] he began.

 

She would have been nervous at that except that she felt nothing but
love and adoration from him.  [Yes, I do,] she interjected.

 

Mulder smiled, pulled her a little tighter against him and nuzzled her
hair, luxuriating in the feel, smell, and presence of his Scully.  [I
want to be with you forever.  In ten millennia I want to be holding you
in my arms, just like this.  You're mine- 'My Scully'.]

 

She secretly- although not so secretly anymore- enjoyed Mulder's
possessive streak.  She wanted to be possessed by him, wholly.  Just as
she owned him utterly.  [Yes.  And you belong to me.  I own you,
Mulder.]

 

Mulder reached his hand up and caressed her face with the back of his
fingers, [Completely,] he agreed.  [I want to proclaim it, Scully.  I
want to look at you and think, 'That's my wife',]

 

Scully's breath caught and she spun around in his arms to face him, just
in time to meet his gaze as he said, "Dana Scully, will you marry me?"

 

Immediately tears of joy welled up in her eyes and left bloody streaks
down her cheeks.  She was rendered speechless, but not without thought,
[Every time, Mulder…]

 

Mulder thought that was a funny way to answer his question, [every
time?]

 

[Every time I think 'I couldn't possibly get any happier than I am right
now,' you prove me wrong,] she thought.  Recovering her voice she said,
"Of course I'll marry you, Mulder.  I'll love you forever- and ten
millennia from now I want to be sitting in the arms of my husband.

 

The happiness Mulder felt both in himself, and from his now fiancée,
combined with the smell of her bloodtears sparked Mulder to change.  His
eyes turned, his fangs dropped and he couldn't restrain himself from
leaning forward and licking the tears from Scully's cheeks.

 

Well, that incredibly erotic act broke what little restraint Scully was
showing and she changed too.  Within a heartbeat- his, not hers- their
fangs were buried in each other's necks.  Just in time for Nick and
Natalie to come walking down the stairs.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Corbeau


 


3:00 p.m. Friday

 

Janette woke up to the sound of snoring.  Very faint, but unusual enough
by its very presence to bring her back to consciousness.  Vampires, not
needing to breathe at all, didn't snore.  She hadn't woken up to that
sound since Robert had died.

 

She turned to her side to look at the man who now occupied her bed.  It
was amazing to think that she had met this man less than 24 hours ago,
and yet here he lay in her private chambers below the club; in her bed.
She barely knew him, yet she already loved him.  "At least he is not
mortal," she thought with relief.  She would not have to suffer the
anxiety of the thought that he could die at any moment, car wreck,
illness, random violence, etc…  There was, however, the matter of this
'Game' that he had told her about.  "Ritual Combat seems a silly way to
spend eternity," she thought.  Still, Janette had not fallen in love on
a whim since Nicolas.  She had, on impulse, become infatuated with a
potential new toy from time to time, yes.  But not love.

 

Then, of course, there was the revelation of her family in Toronto.
They had spoken for several hours before they finally both were on the
verge of exhaustion.  She had invited him into her bed, but neither had
the energy to do more than fall asleep in each other's arms.

 

She was still incredulous at the turn of events in Toronto.  Nicolas had
made a childé?  She had expected that he would eventually give in and
turn his precious doctor.  He would never have the control to
successfully try the 'cure' by taking only a little from Natalie.  "No,
he would end up draining her, and bringing her across.  Then he would be
obsessively guilty about it for the next two centuries," she thought.
And now, it turned out that Natalie might be an immortal, or she might
be a vampire- Nicolas was actually willing to bring her across?
"Obviously things have changed since I left Toronto.  Changed
dramatically," she thought.  She wondered what circumstances could have
possibly led to him making a childé other than Natalie in the first
place.  Especially an FBI agent- one whose partner turned out to be an
immortal like Duncan.

 

That thought brought her back to this glorious man who was lying next to
her.  She felt her fangs ache in desire.  She still could not believe
her good fortune to have someone like this quite neatly drop into her
life.  She would have been suspicious if not for the fact that she would
know the truth at the first taste of his blood.  She believed in him
already, but if he were trying to trick her she would know soon enough.
"And what point would there be to such an elaborate ruse?" she wondered.

 

MacLeod awoke, opening his eyes and seeing before him a most beautiful
sight.  Janette was lying there, watching him.  Her hair was
sleep-tousled, her eyes were bright; the irises a deep green that he
imagined he could fall into forever.  "God, Janette. You are lovely!" he
whispered, the words torn from him by her sheer presence.

 

Janette could hear the desire in his voice, his accelerated heart beat
and respiration.  She saw his beautiful eyes dilate with arousal.  "You
look absolutely delicious, Duncan," she replied.  She reached out to
still him momentarily before he moved in on her.  She responded to his
look of confusion by saying, "I doubt that either of your encounters
with my kind involved a discussion of vampire sexual practices."

 

"No.  They did no cover that topic," he replied.  "Is there a great
difference?" he asked, taking her hand from his chest and delicately
kissing her palm.

 

Janette smiled at Duncan's behavior.  Her own arousal was climbing
rapidly, but she felt that he needed to know, even if he didn't really
risk death, "At least not permanently," she thought.  "Vampire sex
involves the exchange of blood in addition to the usual physical
coupling," she explained delicately.  We can not reach our, shall we
say, 'peak' without the blood."

 

"Ah," he replied.  "Do humans usually survive sex with vampires?" he
asked.

 

She hoped he was not getting cold feet, "If sex is all the vampire has
in mind?  Sometimes; if the vampire wants to stop.  Their mortal partner
will survive," she answered.  "Of course it isn't as simple as that.  If
the vampire has a strong emotional attachment to their lover, it can be
especially hard to stop in time," she added.

 

Duncan moved closer to her, stroking his hand up her bare arm, to the
strap of her nightgown.  He looked into her eyes for any sign that she
wanted him to stop.  Finding none, he slowly slid the strap over her
shoulder.  "Why is that?" he asked, casually.

 

Janette smiled even more broadly at the incongruity between Duncan's
questions and his actions.  Obviously his mind was made up.  She ran her
free hand down over his muscled chest and abdomen, exploring, teasing
and tweaking.  "Well, a vampire's bite, and the subsequent consumption
of blood, forms a connection between the two.  A person's thoughts,
feelings and emotions are carried in their blood.  When it is someone
for whom you have deep feelings, you can get caught up in the
experience, distracted."

 

"Hmm, what happens then?" MacLeod asked, sliding the strap off her other
shoulder.

 

Janette was definitely becoming distracted by Duncan's ministrations.
Her breasts ached to be held, and her nipples were diamond hard, begging
to be suckled.  "Ah, well… Hmm, we can take too much; forget ourselves
and fail to stop in time."

 

"And then…" he whispered as he cupped her breast through her gown.

 

Janette was growing slick with arousal.  She thought that she would melt
if she didn't get him inside her soon.  "The mortal will die, or be
brought across," she answered at last.  Her fangs were dropping, and all
the colors around her were turning green.

 

MacLeod looked Janette straight in the eye as he slipped his hand
beneath the now loosened nightgown and gently cupped one breast in his
hand, sliding his palm across the hardened nipple.  His voice dropped to
a husky whisper, "You will no have to worry about that with me, Janette.
I will come back to you."  He closed the rest of the distance between
them and kissed her, gently.  His tongue slid across her teeth, scraping
lightly on her fangs, drawing a drop of blood.

 

Even that tiny drop was enough to show Janette the truth behind his
words.  It was impossible that they could love each other after so brief
a time, yet she tasted echoes of her own feelings in his blood.  She
could feel his erection pressing against her gown, trapped inside his
briefs.  She rolled him onto his back, hitching up the length of her
gown and pulling down his underwear just enough for what she needed.

 

Mac felt himself groan from deep inside his belly as her slick, cool
flesh enveloped him.  It was a sensation entirely unique in his 400
years of life.  He looked up at her as she slowly slid up and down his
length.  Her eyes glowed a golden green, her ruby lips were parted and
her bright white teeth and fangs glistened.  Before he knew of vampires
he would never have imagined that glowing eyes and fangs would be sexy,
but they were.  And how!  He caught a tantalizing glimpse of her breasts
swaying under the gapped nightgown, and suddenly he had a desperate need
to see all of her.  "Janette, please," he moaned.  "I want to see you."

 

She knew instinctively what he meant.  She swooped down on him for a
short, but heated kiss, and then sat up on him, shimmying her gown over
her head and off.

 

MacLeod's breath caught at the sight.  Her flesh was uniformly creamy
white, save for her dark nipples and the triangle of hair on her lower
abdomen where their bodies met.  He hadn't thought it was possible to
become harder than he already was, but he did.  He gasped, "God in
heaven, you are beautiful!"

 

Janette felt his member swelling inside her.  He was like a length of
just forged steel inside her, filling her with heat.  He reached around
her and pulled her down to him, pressing his face into her bosom,
suckling like a newborn.  She hadn't felt this cherished in a long, long
time.  It felt wonderful.

 

Mac felt himself coming close to the edge and began to thrust powerfully
up into her, increasing the tempo of their love.  He remembered that she
would need to take his blood in order to reach her own orgasm, so he
arched his neck and said, "Now, Janette.  Do it now!"

 

She needed no further urging, having been restraining herself since she
awoke.  She buried her fangs into the golden sweep of his neck and drank
strongly.

 

The link was established between them and swept them up into the
whirlwind of thoughts, feelings, and memories attendant to the act.
They jointly felt the hot gush of his orgasm inside her, and the tremors
and contractions of her nearly simultaneous release.  They each felt the
cherishing love that they had for one another.  The lack of time shared
between them was erased in an instant, and they knew one another
completely.  Each was amazed at the other's age, not having known what
to expect.  They instantly forgave one another for past sins, and
gloried in their joy of life, despite dark times.  More importantly they
accepted each other as they were, and could easily see joining for
eternity.

 

In the past, each had lamented the loss of those whom they might have
thought of as soul mates.  Now they saw that each had really been
waiting for this moment.  This relationship was already beyond what
either had ever experienced before, and it was in its infancy.  They
would delight in seeing it grow over the next millennia or two.

 

Inevitably, Janette was unable to stop in time.  MacLeod felt death
approaching, as he had hundreds of times before.  He reassured her
through the link that he would come back for her, and then blackness
took them both.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


6:00 p.m. Friday

 

"Very well," LaCroix said as he put down the phone.  Aristotle hadn't
found out very much about 'Adam Pierson.'  The name was obviously false,
Aristotle had found a birth certificate for him, and a death certificate
dated not long after.  The personal history was quite good, he had said.
Not quite at his own level of expertise, but better than what most
government agencies were doing these days.

 

The only thing Aristotle had found that was of any interest to LaCroix
was a tax record of a research grant to the University of Washington
that listed Pierson as the chief researcher.  The grant came from a
source that was well hidden, but Aristotle had been able to track down
as an obscure historical society based in Bern Switzerland.  The
description of the society sounded to LaCroix as though it might be
affiliated with this Watcher group his granddaughter had run into, "or
run through," he thought with a small smile.  He wondered what Pierson's
affiliation with the Watchers was.  It was too unlikely to be mere
coincidence.

 

LaCroix was, however, hesitant to have Aristotle dig any deeper.  If the
enforcers and the council were to become aware of the existence of
immortals, things could become rather unpleasant.  He needed to bide his
time until he knew more about the situation, until he could guide the
events as he saw fit.

 

=====
Chapter 15a


 


Nick's Loft

 

6:30 p.m. Friday December 15th

 

Mulder and Scully pulled away suddenly at Nick's teasing admonishment
and Natalie's sudden gasp.  They both turned toward the two descending
the stairs with blood dripping from their fangs and their necks, as
neither had taken the time to close the other's wounds.

 

To say that Nick and Nat were surprised was and understatement.  Nick
was embarrassed at having interrupted such a private moment.  Natalie,
being a newborn- unable to control herself- felt her own fangs drop and
saw everything through a green/gold haze as the pheromones of vampire
sex pervaded the room.

 

Fortunately, Nick recovered quickly enough to restrain Natalie from
doing anything to embarrass herself.  He quickly advised Dana through
their link to calm herself and Mulder down.

 

Mulder felt Dana's chagrin at being caught in a compromising position by
her 'father'.  He was unable to keep himself from chortling at the
ridiculousness of the situation.  [Sorry, Scully,] he thought as he
began to laugh out loud.

 

Mulder's humor overwhelmed her own embarrassment and Scully dissolved
into laughter as well.  [I'll get you for this, Mulder!] she thought to
him as she said, "Sorry Nick.  We didn't hear you coming down."

 

Nick felt Natalie calm down as the tension was broken and chuckled
himself.  "I guess I'm not used to having to worry about catching my
daughter making out with her boyfriend in my living room," he teased.
"I'll make sure to walk loudly next time, so you hear me coming."

 

Natalie, now fully recovered, laughed out loud at that, while Mulder
smirked and Scully ducked her head in embarrassment.

 

"Were those fangs I saw, Mulder?" Nick asked, looking at the rapidly
healing bite on Scully's neck.

 

Mulder smiled, showing off his new orthodonture, while he unabashedly
reached over to the side of Scully's neck and wiped up the blood on two
fingers and then licked them clean.

 

Scully melted at the tenderness of Mulder's gesture, and copied it.

 

Nick repeated his earlier admonition, "Alright you two, take it
upstairs!" as he and Natalie continued their descent.

 

Scully smiled warmly at her 'father' and said, "It's not my fault, Nick!
We were just talking and Mulder went and proposed to me.  I can hardly
be held responsible for my subsequent actions!"  The delight on her face
was unmistakable.

 

[I love you so much!] Mulder thought to her, letting his internal joy
wash over her in radiant waves.

 

[I love you too] she replied.  [But I'm still going to make you pay for
this!]

 

[Hurt me, G-woman!] he thought back, only half-teasingly.

 

"Enough Mulder," she said as she turned her attention to Natalie,
noticing the change.  "Natalie!  It worked!" she said joyfully.  She
leapt up and over the couch and flew over to Natalie, wrapping her arms
around her.

 

Mulder was laughing again, as was Nick.  Natalie was hugging Scully
back, feeling a little of her through their joint link with Nick.

 

Mulder, ever the perverse, said "You know, Nick, when all is said and
done, I'll have a sister-in-law who is married to my father-in-law."

 

Everyone laughed at that, and Scully said, "I don't care what you say
Mulder, we are *not* moving into a trailer park!"

 

After the laughter had died down, Nick went to the fridge and grabbed
another bottle of Raven reserve label and two more glasses.  He sat down
in the chair and Natalie took up residence on his lap.  Nick poured each
of them a glass as Mulder and Scully returned to the couch.  "I see your
choice of beverage has changed, Mulder," he said, gesturing to the two
glasses on the coffee table.

 

"Well, it's no Scully special, but it is pretty tasty," he answered,
picking up his glass and sipping.

 

Natalie had been listening raptly to the sound of Mulder's heartbeat
when it occurred to her that she shouldn't be hearing a heartbeat at
all.  "Mulder!  Why is your heart beating?" she demanded.

 

"I can't answer that, Natalie," he said.  "I have no idea what is going
on with me."  He sat back and wrapped his arm around Scully, pulling her
close.  "Whatever it is, I know I like it," he said, hugging her tightly
to him.

 

"It would be interesting to do some tests," Natalie began.  "Just to see
how advanced the vampire factor is."

 

"You don't feel like a vampire, Mulder," Nick added, reaching out to him
with his enhanced senses.  "You also don't feel like any human I've ever
met."

 

"That's normal.  I've never fit in well," Mulder said,
self-deprecatingly.  "I can still feel you though, Natalie," he said.

 

Natalie looked stunned.  Scully looked at her and then back at Mulder,
"What do you mean, Mulder?" she asked, concerned.

 

"The immortal buzzing," he answered.  "It feels the same today as it did
yesterday."

 

"How is that possible?" Natalie whispered, afraid that somehow she would
still have to get involved in this whole 'Game' thing.  She really
didn't want to do that, didn't see herself as a swordfighter.

 

"I don't know.  It's supposed to kick in when you die for the first
time.  At least that's what you got from the Watchers, isn't it Scully?"
he asked.

 

Scully no longer held any of Perone's memories, but she remembered
everything she had discussed or spoken regarding them.  "That's what
they thought, anyway," she answered.  "I don't know how complete their
knowledge is," she added.

 

Nick had been thinking quietly.  He said, "You know- we don't completely
die."

 

Mulder leaned forward, as though he didn't hear him correctly, "What?"

 

"If the heart completely stops, the person cannot be brought across," he
said quietly, remembering Alyssa, whom he thought he had loved.  Whom he
had killed when he tried to bring her across.  "It is a matter of
timing, and it isn't the easiest skill in the world to master."

 

Mulder leaned back, muttering "she didn't die…"

 

Scully and Natalie were remembering their transformations- each so
recent as to be crystal clear in their minds.

 

Nick continued, "We reach the crossroads of life and death.  We are
offered a choice; to go forward or back.  If we go forward, into the
light, death takes us.  The spirit is gone and the body is dead.  If we
go back, we are as you see.  Undead… Vampire," he finished with a smile,
being deliberately melodramatic.

 

"How is the choice offered?" Mulder asked, genuinely curious.  He and
Scully hadn't discussed this.  Suddenly struck that his question might
be inappropriate, he quickly added, "Is it OK to ask that?  Is this
something that isn't discussed?"

 

Nick smiled again at that.  "Actually it isn't usually discussed, just
because it is a relatively constant experience among vampires, and of
course we don't normally discuss anything about ourselves with mortals."

 

Scully looked at Nick and Natalie, sensing Nat's reticence.  "It was
like a vast dry plain- featureless in all directions.  At first there
was nothing around me at all.  Then I turned around and saw…" she paused
remembering the intensity of emotion when she saw her sister.

 

Mulder, sensing the combination of sorrow and joy in her, reached up and
gently stroked the side of her face.  [What did you see, Scully?]

 

" I saw my sister.  I saw Melissa," she started.  "I was so happy to see
her!"

 

Mulder stroked her hair as she burrowed her face against his neck, tears
falling onto his collar.  [You tell them, Mulder.] she silently pleaded,
unable to speak for a moment.

 

Mulder felt torn by the guilt he sensed from her.  Especially when he
felt that he was the one who was guilty.  He wiped an errant tear from
his own eye- clear not bloody- and explained, "Those who we have been
working to expose, they had someone in Scully's apartment…  Melissa went
there to see Scully.  They were waiting for Scully, but they killed her
sister by mistake."

 

"I tried to tell her how sorry I was…" Scully began again, sobbing into
Mulder's shoulder and neck.

 

"Surely she didn't blame you?" Natalie asked, feeling Scully's guilt
through Nick's link.

 

Scully looked up, wiping her eyes, and answered, "No.  She told me I
couldn't blame myself, or let Mulder blame himself either."  Regaining
her composure, she continued, "She offered me the choice- go with her or
back to Mulder.  Of course, you know which I chose," she smiled and
pulled Mulder's face to her own for a kiss.  [There was no choice.  I
could never leave you, Mulder,] she thought to him.

 

"I wasn't offered a choice," Natalie said softly.

 

"What!?" Nick practically shouted.

 

"What happened?" Mulder and Scully chanted in unison, both filled with
overwhelming curiosity- Mulder, given Nick's reaction- and Scully, given
her own experience.

 

"I went to the place you described, Dana.  But there was no door.  I
looked around and finally shouted 'Anybody around?'  Suddenly there was
this…" Natalie paused for several seconds, her brow wrinkling in
concentration.  "I can't remember anything about it except that it told
me that I wasn't supposed to be there.  'Your kind don't come this way,'
it told me.  Then I woke up to the taste of Nick's blood in my mouth."

 

Nick just sat there staring at Natalie, his jaw agape.  He couldn't
formulate any words to say.

 

"I take it that that isn't supposed to happen?" Mulder asked gently.

 

"NO!" Nick exhorted.  "I've never…" he trailed off, shaking his head.

 

"I didn't need a choice, Nick."  Natalie said soothingly.  "I knew what
I wanted.  And, I got it!" she said fiercely, capturing his mouth in a
searing kiss.

 

"Wow," Mulder said.  "We've taken the paranormal to new heights,
Scully!" he said excitedly.

 

For once, she was on exactly the same train of thought when it came to
'work' as Mulder was, "An X-File within an X-File," she said.

 

"X2!" Mulder agreed, laughing.  [Scary, G-Woman…] he began thinking to
her.

 

Scully finished the thought, [operating on the same wavelength, G-Man!]

 

Natalie interrupted their tête-à-tête, "What do you mean by that?
What's an X-File?" she asked, bewildered by their exchange.

 

Mulder and Scully looked at each other for a moment before Scully
answered, "Our division in the FBI is sort of on the fringe- we
investigate anything that 'conventional' investigation is ill-equipped
to deal with."

 

"Paranormal, occult, extraterrestrial…  Any 'inexplicable' phenomena
that 'conventional' investigators wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole,"
Mulder continued.

 

Scully joined in again, "These investigations are filed under X, because
they don't fit into any of the usual categories."

 

Mulder finished, "Thus, X-Files."

 

Nick asked, "What did you mean by an X-File within an X-File?"

 

Scully and Mulder looked at each other again for a moment before
responding.  Scully said, "If things like vampires and immortals are
'paranormal' to general society…" she began, "Then Natalie is in a
'paranormal' category above the general paranormal society."

 

"You're in a class by yourself, Sister-in-law.  Or, is that
stepmother-in-law?" Mulder joked.  Turning to Scully, he asked, "Which
do you think?"

 

Natalie interrupted, "Just Natalie, will be perfectly fine, thank you
very much Fox," she began, shaking her finger at him.  "And I think you
land squarely in the 'superparanormal' right along with me!"

 

Scully and Nick both laughed out loud.  Scully said, "She's got you
there, Mulder!"

 

"Alright, Alright.  No need to take my name in vain, Just Natalie," he
teased, eliciting another mock-scowl from Nat.

 

"We need to go see LaCroix again tonight," Nick said to them all.  "I
need to introduce him to his newest granddaughter and I'm sure he will
be interested in your latest trick, Mulder."

 

"Ok, when?" Scully asked.

 

"Why, Dana, did you have plans for this evening?" Nick asked.

 

"Tentative plans," she answered evasively.

 

Nick looked at Mulder, but he seemed just as surprised as anyone else.

 

"Are we going somewhere, Scully?" Mulder asked aloud.

 

"I want to go somewhere, Mulder.  I want you to come with me, but I
would understand if you didn't," she said cryptically.

 

[There isn't anyplace on this earth I wouldn't go, if I knew you wanted
me there with you, Scully,] he thought to her.  [Even your brother
Bill's] he thought, eliciting a half smile from her.  [You know that,
don't you?]

 

"Yes, Mulder.  I know that," she answered his unspoken question, cupping
his cheek in her palm.  She turned to Nick, who's own questions were
pushing at her through their link.  "I want to go to Mass, Nick."

 

Nick read her determination through the link, and tried to gently
dissuade her, "Dana, Crosses and Holy Water are no laughing matter.  You
could be seriously injured."

 

"Nick, you're still thinking as though we were among the damned," she
said, shaking her head sadly.  "That is a bad habit you need to break."
When she saw that he was about to protest, she reached into her shirt
and pulled out the chain around her neck.  "Look Nick.  I've been
wearing this the whole time," she said, showing him the tiny gold cross
on the chain.

 

"I knew it!" Natalie said.  "I always knew vampires weren't inherently
evil," she said as she reached out to touch the cross Dana was holding.

 

Nick had to restrain himself from grabbing Natalie's hand.  He watched
with wide-eyed anticipation while she reached for the cross, grasped it
unflinchingly and turned to smile at him.  "Maybe the vampire in us
brings our spirit closer to the surface.  The evil in your spirit was
burned by the cross, Nick" Natalie said in quiet wonder.  "But you
aren't evil anymore.  You can be forgiven," she trailed off into a quiet
whisper as Nick reached out to touch the cross.

 

Blood tears streamed down Nick's face as he hesitantly touched, then
grasped the gold cross hanging from the hands of his daughters.  All he
felt was the smooth metal surface.  "Thank you" he whispered to God.
The God he had thought to be forever separated from.

 

"Meet us at the Raven by 2:30," he said to Mulder.  "Natalie and I need
to start training anyway."

 

Scully impulsively snuck a quick kiss on Nick's cheek before dragging
Mulder toward the elevator door.

 

"Dana!" Nick said before they closed the door behind them.  "You might
try St. John's Cathedral.  Father Rochefort."  He turned away from them
toward Natalie, but not before seeing the smile of gratitude on his
daughter's face.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's loft


 


7 pm

 

"Nick, surely you know by now- we aren't evil!  I don't feel evil.  I
don't feel any less good than I did yesterday," Natalie tried to
reassure him.

 

"Nat, you haven't done the things that I have done in my life," he
began.  "I know, I know," he said, overriding her attempted protests, "I
know in my mind that I am not beyond forgiveness."  Tears began to well
up in his eyes, "But I feel such guilt inside me, Nat.  I feel so awful
for the horrible things that I have done.  And, I remember them so
clearly…  It's hard to tell myself that that is all in the past- long
ago and far away.  I remember it like it was yesterday."

 

Natalie felt the depth of her master's pain and remorse and was herself
moved to tears.  "Nick, you can never undo what you have done.  No
matter how you live your life, you can't make up for the sins of the
past; none of us can.  You can only go forward, living now as you might
wish you always had."  She stroked his cheek and softly kissed his lips,
then added, "you can't earn forgiveness, Nick.  Only accept it when it
is offered."

 

Nick smiled at his beloved, feeling through their link the depths of her
love for him.  "Thank you Natalie.  I am so glad that you and Dana were
brought across in an age when it isn't necessary to hunt to live," he
said with a serious look on his face.  "However- it will still take
training before you're ready for the general populace.  And, the fastest
way to accomplish this is…"

 

Natalie interrupted, "Dana told me.  She said it would be strange and
confusing, but I'm ready.  As ready as I can get anyway," she finished
hesitantly.

 

Nick smiled and said, "Good.  Then there is no reason to wait."  With
that he scooped her into his arms and unhesitatingly drove his fangs
into the smooth column of her neck.

 

As the maelstrom of images assaulted her, her last independent thought
was, "she wasn't kidding!"

 

=====
Chapter 15b


 


The Corbeau


 


7 p.m.

 

MacLeod came back to life as he usually did, gasping for air and having
little idea where he was and what had happened.  This brief moment of
confusion was compounded by the fact that he seemed to have a dead body
laying on top of his own.  While this was not the first time he had
experienced that particularly unnerving situation, this was the first
time that he and the body were both naked and apparently in the midst of
sexual congress.  All of that passed through his awareness in the barest
of moments before memories began flooding back.  He began to relax as he
realized that she wasn't dead, she was just a vampire.  That thought
struck him as being surreal, even for him, and he began to chuckle.

 

Janette woke to the sudden sound of a wildly beating heart right below
her ear, swiftly followed by the vibration of laughter across her entire
body.  She opened her eyes to look into those of her fair Duncan, whom
she had known for less than twenty-four hours.  "It feels like I have
always known him," she thought incongruously.  Aloud she asked, "What
has amused you so, Mon Coeur?"

 

An enormous smile broke out on MacLeod's face had when he saw Janette's
eyes open.  He reached up to stroke her face with the backs of his
fingers as he delighted in her mere presence.  It was almost as if he
had to convince himself that she was real.  "Mon Ange," he began, as she
leaned into his caress.  "For a moment when I came to, I wondered how I
had ended up with a dead body on top of me; then my memories came back
and my next thought was, 'She's not dead, she's just a vampire,' and
that thought struck me as being bizarre."

 

"Some believe that we are dead," Janette began.  "That we are evil
spirits animating the bodies of the dead," she said, only half in jest.
It was not always easy to go through life (or unlife) knowing that most
of those around you would be horrified to know what you really were- a
monster.  She didn't often concern herself with what mortals thought of
her- but rejection was an unpleasant facet of her life that had been
with her since she had been mortal herself.

 

"Balderdash!" MacLeod interjected.  "That's pure nonsense," he said,
tucking his fingers below her chin and lifting her face until her eyes
met his.  "As someone who has just gotten to know you rather intimately,
I can assure anyone that you are the furthest thing from dead- and
you're certainly not evil!"

 

Janette averted her gaze from MacLeod's, "Yes, but I have done many
terrible things in my life, Duncan.  I never thought about it before, it
was natural that I should feed on mortals- that is just what we did,"
she said softly.  Returning her eyes to his, she caressed his face and
continued, "I reveled in the hunt, you know.  I laughed in the face of
my victim's terror as I devoured their life.  I treasured the fear that
I could taste in their blood.  I was a monster, Duncan."

 

"We both have things in our past that we regret, Janette," MacLeod
consoled.  "Regrets won't change history.  We can only control what we
will do, not what we have done."

 

She laid her head back down on his chest and said, "I never used to
think of these things- worry about them, or feel guilty for my crimes."

 

"What changed that?" MacLeod asked as he stroked her back with one hand
and ran his fingers through her hair with the other.

 

Janette rubbed her face along Mac's chest, luxuriating in the warmth,
the masculinity of his skin.  She began to tell the tale of Robert
McDonagh.  How she had fallen in love, how she had drank from him over
time- lessening the vampire in her, and how he had been murdered before
her eyes.  She told him how she had seemingly regained her mortality
with his death.

 

"It didn't last?" Mac asked as she paused in her story.

 

"I don't know if it would have been permanent or not," she answered.  "I
was brought back across some months later," she said, pausing again as
the memories of those events played out in her mind once again.

 

MacLeod caught impressions of a fire- a house on fire.  "It must be from
the blood sharing," he thought.  It wasn't a memory of his own, he was
almost certain.  "Janette… a burning house?  Why am I seeing that
particular memory?" he asked.

 

"Yes, you must have caught that out of the bloodkiss," she answered.
She resumed her caress as she continued the story, "I had tracked
Robert's killers back to Toronto, ironically enough.  I killed the
corrupt fire inspector who had set up and killed Robert, but I still
hadn't uncovered the evidence to clear his name.  Those who wanted to
keep that a secret had Robert's son and his sister.  In a rescue
attempt, I ended up lying wounded on the floor with the house on fire
while Nicolas rescued the other two.  When he came back for me, I told
him to let me die.  He, of course, ignored my request and brought me
back across."  She laughed humorlessly at that irony.

 

"Why is that funny?" Mac asked, bewildered.

 

"Nicolas has been trying to 'regain his mortality' for the last century.
He thinks it is the only way he can 'atone for his sins,' yet he would
not allow me to keep the mortality he himself desired so," she answered.
"Such behavior is so like him.  He wants to grow old and die, despite
the wishes of his family, but selfishly would not allow me the same."

 

Duncan felt an ache in his heart at the thought of Janette dying before
he ever met her.  Though he would have never known what he was missing,
now that he had her, he couldn't imagine life without her.  "I hope you
won't be angry if I tell you that I am glad he didn't… whatever his
reasons were," he said staring at the ceiling and trying unsuccessfully
to keep the heartache out of his voice.

 

"Oh, chéri," Janette reached up and placed a kiss on his chin.  "I blame
Nicolas, but the choice was mine in the end.  I didn't have to come
back.  I do much better as a vampire than I would have ever done as a
mortal."  She snuggled into his chest once again and hugged him tightly
to her.  "Besides, I wouldn't have wanted to miss this," she said,
planting a cool kiss on his chest.

 

Mac hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head.  "What do you
mean you didn't have to come back?" he asked, curious about how one
became a vampire.

 

Janette smiled at the thought of discussing this particular subject.
"Trying to find out all of our secrets?" she teased.

 

"Naturellement, mon ange," he teased back.

 

"Well, when one is brought across, one goes to the crossroad of life and
death.  There is a doorway and a doorkeeper.  One is offered the choice-
to go through the door into whatever lies beyond, or to go back.  Heed
one's master's call and return to this world as a vampire," she said.

 

Mac mulled this over for a bit, then asked, "So… Nick is your master?"

 

Janette just nodded her head, wondering how that might make him feel;
that she must call another man Master.

 

"What was he to you before that?" he asked, sensing a mishmash of
confused feelings and remembering snippets of Nick in period dress over
a long time.

 

"Brother… lover… husband…" she began.  "He has been all of those things
to me in the last eight hundred years.  LaCroix brought him across at my
urging early in the thirteenth century.  The three of us traveled
together on and off for six centuries," she said, remembering good and
bad times.  "We were man and wife for 97 years before I left him."

 

Mac wisely chose to leave that discussion for another time.  "You said
he has been trying to become mortal again?" he asked, trying to lead the
discussion in a different direction.

 

"Yes.  It infuriates LaCroix.  They have terrible fights about it, and
Nicolas has spent a great deal of time running from him.  LaCroix always
finds him sooner or later," she whispered.

 

MacLeod frowned slightly, remembering the events of Wednesday night.
"They seemed to get along well enough when I met them," he said.  Nick's
daughter and lover were with him, and LaCroix seemed quite genial
towards them.  He seemed especially, I don't know, proud I guess, of
Dana."

 

Though their discussion was seemingly placid, their caresses had grown
bolder and more stimulating.  Janette could feel the life returning to
Mac's member as it stiffened along side of her thigh.  She was licking
and sucking at his chest, and his hands were wandering over her ass,
stimulating a rise in her own desire.

 

"Hmm, chéri.  Can we discuss this later?  I would rather apply myself to
another pursuit at the moment." She said between licks and kisses.

 

Grasping her ass and sliding her up his body till their faces were
aligned, Mac answered, "Anything Milady wishes."

 

Their lips met in a searing kiss, and Mac suddenly rolled them both over
and broke the kiss.  His mouth moved to her breasts and one hand moved
down to find the cool wetness at the intersection of her thighs.

 

Janette arched her back at the lovely sensation of Mac suckling her
breast and gently dipping into the moisture collecting between her legs.
She ran her hands through his thick, luxurious hair, delighting in his
ministrations.

 

Mac began to move down from her delightful breasts when he felt her
hands clutch in his hair and make as if to pull him back up.  He looked
up into her eyes with a question written on his face.

 

Janette looked down at her lover and said, "It's blood," gesturing with
her chin at his hand buried between her thighs.

 

Mac looked down at his bloody hand and back up at his lover's face.
Seeing the ashamed look he asked, "This is normal?"

 

"It's the only body fluid we have," she explained with some
embarrassment.

 

Mac smiled and placed a kiss on her soft abdomen, "Then don't worry
about it."

 

Janette sighed with relief at the smile on her love's face.  She raised
her hands to her own breasts as the feel of her lover's tongue began to
drive her wild.

 

Mac worked on her for several minutes, stroking the roof of her vagina
while licking and suckling her clitoris.  He heard the fabric ripping as
Janette's nails tore through the sheets she had began to grip.  He heard
her begin to pant, "Oh! Oh!  Oh Duncan…  I need… I need…" when he
realized what she needed.  He reached up with his free hand to her mouth
and she grasped it, biting roughly into the heel of his palm.  MacLeod
winced at the pain, but was immediately rewarded with the contractions
around his fingers as Janette came.

 

The link, while not as intense as the previous one was sufficient for
MacLeod to spend himself onto the foot of the bed as he felt her orgasm
through her blood.  "Oh, no!" he thought.  He was highly embarrassed- he
felt like an adolescent boy. He slowly kissed his way back up Janette's
porcelain white body- turned slightly pink with a fine sheen of
blood-sweat.  He would have been concerned about that as well but for
her earlier comment.  Nevertheless he was still feeling sheepish as he
kissed his way to her mouth.

 

Janette calmed back down from the delightful orgasm Mac had given her,
opening her eyes to meet his down turned gaze.  She imagined that she
knew the cause, having encountered such before when coupling with a
mortal.  She knew that no words would be appropriate, and that she would
just have to work to inspire a 'return to attention' on his part.

 

"I'm sorry, that hasn't happened in a long…" he began.

 

Janette silenced him with a kiss and rolled him onto his back before she
began to take a trip down his body as he had done for her.  She was sure
that she could evoke a response by the time she got there.

 

She needn't have worried about that.  Mac was ready for the next bout
before she made it past his throat.  He was embarrassed because he had
made a mess of the bed spread, not because he was down for the count.
Rapid response was one of the many benefits of immortality after all.

 

Janette was delighted to find that her journey didn't require the
languor she might have thought.  She briefly toyed with his nipples, and
ran her fangs along the muscles of his abdomen before arriving at her
destination.  She grasped him below the balls, encircling them along
with his cock- pulling the sack taught and smooth.  She laved the taught
skin for a few moments before placing small kisses along the entire
shaft of his member.  Each sucking kiss left a mark as she moved toward
the head- which by this time was so engorged as to be almost purple in
color.

 

The remnants of MacLeod's premature expenditure slowly oozed from the
tip as she worked her way up.  She looked up at his eyes, which were
fixed unwavering on her actions, and made one long, sensuous lick,
cleaning the shaft and head.  She watched him stare at her tongue as she
slowly brought this offering into her mouth and swallowed with apparent
relish.

 

MacLeod's eyes rolled up in his head as he let loose a low, guttural
moan.  He would have exploded right then if not for her grip at the root
of his cock.  The sensations that followed as she took him in her mouth
and bobbed her head up and down on him, sucking voraciously, were sweet
agony.  His ardent moans and groans were torn from his lungs as though
against his will, as the feelings of pleasure were nearly painful in
their intensity.  He began to plead with her, hoarsely begging her to
let him cum.  When she finally released him, his orgasm was so explosive
that he didn't even feel the sting of her fangs.  It if it weren't for
the sudden awareness of the link, he would have never noticed anything
beyond pulsing waves of his orgasm and the sensations she elicited as
she gulped down both fluids with abandon.

 

"Sweet Jesus in Heaven, woman.  If I weren't immortal I think you would
be the death of me!" he rasped.

 

The look on Janette's face as she sinuously crawled back up to him was
the look any woman gets when she has reduced her lover to a whimpering
pile of spent flesh; smiling satisfaction.  "Hmm.  You like that?" she
asked, coyly.

 

"If you aren't an angel straight out of heaven, you'll certainly do till
one comes along," he answered with a smile.

 

Janette laughed delightedly.  "I don't think angels do that, Duncan,"
she joked.

 

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure I just saw God," he replied.  Then he
became serious and looked deep into her eyes, "I have never felt for
anyone the love I feel for you Janette dúCharme."  He reached to her and
took her face gently in his hands, "You are the most incredible woman I
have ever met.  You are more wonderful than I could have ever conceived.
I feel like I have found what was missing in my life- as clichéd as that
might sound it is nevertheless the truth."

 

Janette felt a tear slip from her eye as the feelings welled up inside
her- feelings that she had never imagined she could experience.  "I
think that I would stay with you forever, if you would let me, Duncan."
She didn't know where these words were coming from, and frankly it was
scaring her a little.  She had never felt more vulnerable in her life
than at the moment she spoke those words.

 

MacLeod had always fallen for strong, beautiful women.  His enemies, and
even some of his friends would say it was his biggest weakness.  He knew
with certainty, however, that he had never felt like this before in his
life.  Not once in four hundred years had he felt this strongly.  His
own eyes were moist as he said, "Forever would be a fine starting point,
lass."  He saw the warring of hope and doubt in her eyes and added,
"Here, now.  See for yourself," as he tipped his head back and bared his
throat to her.

 

Touched by his gesture, she pulled herself tightly to him and gently
pierced the flesh of his throat over a major vein and began to suck
strongly, thinking, "I love you Duncan MacLeod.  It shouldn't be
possible, but I love you more than I could have ever imagined."

 

Though Janette might have been able to stop, if his life were at stake,
Duncan urged her on- reveling in this joining, which was more intimate
than mere sex ever could be.  Their joint thought as the darkness once
again claimed them was "Forever!"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


St. John's Cathedral


 


8 p.m.

 

As Scully sat through the ritual of Mass, she felt herself become more
centered and focused.  The comfortable familiarity of this service
reminded her of her youth, her family, and of growing up.  No matter how
often they moved, or where they moved to, Roman Catholic Mass was
virtually identical wherever they went.  She felt closer to her family
and to God when she sat in a cathedral and listened to the priests'
solemn intonations from the Word of God.

 

As she sat, she allowed her mind to ponder the events and actions of the
last week.  She never in her life imagined that she could have been on
such an emotional roller coaster ride.  The last seven days contained
more joy and sorrow, peace and torment, laughter and tears than her
entire puberty.  "Things are certainly on the right track now.  Thank
you God for that!" she thought.

 

She was feeling slightly anxious about going into the confessional.  She
wanted absolution for the lives she had taken.  She was penitent for
that night- even though she felt they more than deserved death, she also
truly believed that it was not her place to judge and carry out sentence
on such people.  She didn't feel bad that she had killed them though,
she didn't feel guilt or remorse over their deaths- she just wished that
she hadn't been the one to do it.  She was sure that that didn't make
very much sense; she was wondering how to tell the priest without
confusing him or revealing her vampirism.  Maybe she would see if she
could whammy him, and then if she could, she would just remove the
knowledge from him after she had made her confession and received her
penance.

 

Scully thought about God.  Not long ago her faith had been faltering,
but some of their more recent cases and events had led her back to her
foundering faith- and had strengthened rather than weakened it.  She
couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Nick to have gone for
centuries feeling separated and alone- cut off from God and beyond
forgiveness.  "It must have been truly horrible- beyond imagining," she
thought with a shiver.  It's no wonder he was so angsty all the time, as
Natalie described him.  "Wanting to be good, to atone; but feeling like
the sins of the past couldn't be forgiven," she thought.  That had
obviously made it impossible to forgive himself, and so he had beaten
himself up for every little slip or fall- feeling worse for every
mistake and discounting every success.  She prayed to God that he would
give Nick the strength to accept forgiveness.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder sat through the service as quietly, mentally and physically, as
he could.  He didn't want to disturb Scully as she got whatever it was
she got out of this.  He might not have come to grips with the existence
of God in his own mind, but he wouldn't do anything to inhibit Scully's
faith.  So, he closed his eyes and focused on her impressions of this
service.

 

He experienced her emotions and listened to her inner discussions and
prayers.  He listened to her thoughts about Nick, and even though he
only caught the emotions and a few word-thoughts, he marveled at the
self-loathing that Nick apparently felt.  He could sympathize, even
though Mulder hadn't spent eight hundred years ruining lives and causing
deaths, he knew what it was to see the pain that his actions caused
others; especially those that he cared about, those he loved.

 

Mulder knew from Scully's mental re-hashing of her conversation with
Natalie that Nick's guilt had driven a wedge between them on many
occasions.  That his tendency to blame himself for everything that went
wrong contributed to her own despair.  She loved him and ached for the
pain he felt.  Even though she was willing to forgive him- or more to
the point, felt that his life now was so removed from the harm he had
brought about in the past that forgiveness wasn't even necessary.
Nick's refusal to accept her love and mercy had been a constant source
of pain for Natalie.

 

Mulder found himself sympathizing with both of them- yet he was still in
such denial about his personal feelings of unreasonable guilt that he
didn't make the correlation to his own attitudes and behaviors.  He
watched as Scully stood up at the end of the service and walked toward
the confessional booths.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Chorley Park


 


9 p.m.

 

Tracy had begun her night in what was rapidly becoming her normal
fashion; She attacked Vachon as soon as she had slaked her waking
thirst.  Vachon had, again, been startled by Tracy's sexual appetite.
She was amazed herself.  Part of it was the indisputable fact that
Vachon was the most fabulous lover she'd ever had.  Another contributing
factor was that she felt like a different person now.  The propriety and
seriousness that she had clung to so desperately her whole life long now
seemed inconsequential.  It was as though in shedding her mortality she
had shed all of the self-conscious inhibitions.  She used to define her
self-worth by the approval or disapproval of her father, a tyrannical
bastard who was never satisfied with her, no matter how well she
performed.  "Well, I have a new master now," she thought.  And, this one
wasn't quite the tyrant that her mortal father had been.

 

Following the thoughts of his newest childé, Vachon added aloud, "I
couldn't picture you doing this with your dad!"

 

Tracy looked up from where she was, his cock buried in her throat, one
hand massaging and pulling at his balls, the other with three fingers
plunged into herself.  "Oh, you are Bad!" she thought to him, giving him
a little squeeze before resuming her morning ritual.

 

Vachon tipped his head back and groaned as he approached climax.  Tracy
let go of him and offered her wrist.  Again, she had timed it nearly
perfectly so that she reached her own precipice just as he bit down.  He
filled her mouth just as the bite on her wrist filled his and they came
together once again.

 

Vachon took her other hand and licked her fingers clean as they enjoyed
the afterglow.  He hugged her lithe, responsive body tightly to his own
and gently, but thoroughly kissed her; two thoughts flowing to her
through their link- 'I love you so much!; and, don't ever stop doing
that to me!'

 

Tracy laughed out loud, breaking the kiss.  "Better than an alarm
clock?" she teased.

 

"Much!" he sighed.

 

Tracy remembered those moments as she and Vachon were now flying over
the city of Toronto, 'looking for a place to hunt' he had said.  She was
very nervous and kept thinking of other, more pleasant thoughts to
distract herself.

 

Vachon could feel his daughter's disquiet and reassured her, "You don't
have to kill anyone tonight, Trace.  Trust me."

 

"Of course I trust you, Vachon.  I'm just nervous- I've never done this
before."

 

"Shh, Trace.  We aren't hunting innocents," Vachon reassured her,
hearing the undercurrent of Tracy's thoughts.  "We're hunting the same
kind you have been hunting for years.  Only tonight the hunt doesn't end
with an arrest."

 

Tracy was both nervous and excited as they flew over a wooded area in
Chorley Park.  It was right on the edge of the city areas frequented by
drug dealers and other unsavory characters.  She followed as Vachon
slowed and began to fly just above the trees; listening for the sounds
of the particular prey he was interested in that night.

 

The sounds of a low-voiced conversation carried by the wind attracted
both of their attention and they drifted over to the vicinity from which
it seemed to originate.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Jimmy and Tony were having a familiar argument; which one of them would
be the first.  The concept of taking turns was entirely foreign to them.

 

"I saw her!" was Jimmy's final salvo.

 

"Yeah, but I grabbed her!" was Tony's swift riposte.

 

Stunned by his adversary's skillful repartee, Jimmy could aught but
surrender, "Bite me!" he grumbled.

 

The object of their debate was a homeless woman that they had grabbed
for the purpose of an evening's entertainment.  Jimmy and Tony were
brothers, in their early forties, who had been in and out of prison for
thirty of those years.  After their last 6 year stretch they had not
changed their criminal ways, but rather they had settled on targets that
were less likely to be missed.  Their ideas of entertainment were
torture and rape.  They had never done a stand for murder, but only
because they had been lucky.  They had been in and out for assault and
rape many times each.

 

Tracy and Vachon had landed not far from the two brothers and had
listened to their argument.  Vachon had witnessed this scene a thousand
times in his life.  Tracy had had to clean up the aftermath many times,
but had never been in place to see it go down.  Vachon didn't have to
urge her to act, she zeroed in on Tony and had him up against a tree and
her fangs buried in his throat in less time than it took him to blink.
She stopped drinking long before his life was at risk, as the images in
his blood were repugnant to her.  This one had no remorse for his
atrocities.  He had no thought for the pain he inflicted beyond his own
enjoyment of it.  She held Tony propped up in one hand and turned to see
her lover treating Jimmy to the same.

 

Vachon turned to his childé and said; "Now make him forget."

 

"I can't, Vachon," she began.

 

He interrupted her, "You've done this before, Trace…"

 

"No Vachon," Tracy explained.  "I can't let this piece of crap live.  I
wouldn't be able to sleep tomorrow knowing that these two were out there
raping and killing."

 

"Tracy, are you sure you want to be a killer?" Vachon gently asked.

 

"I've killed before, Vachon... four times in the line of duty.  I never
had a single nightmare and I never felt the slightest guilt."  With that
she spun Tony around gripped him around his neck. Whispering harshly in
his half-conscious ear, "you like to hurt women, do you?  When you wake
up in hell, remember who sent you there!"  Then she snapped his neck
like a rotted branch.

 

The woman on the ground jerked and whimpered at the sound, still
terrified and disorientated.  Vachon silenced the gibbering Jimmy with a
single stare and waited to see what Tracy would do next.

 

Tracy let the body drop and went over to the homeless woman huddled on
the ground.  Capturing her heartbeat as Vachon had taught her to do, she
quieted the woman's whimpers and instructed her to go to the nearest
shelter, forgetting the events of this night.

 

As the woman left Tracy stood up, silently considering the vermin that
Vachon held enthralled.  She was grateful that Vachon had not killed
him.  She wanted to do it herself.  She looked at her lover and master,
asking, "Are you disappointed in me?"

 

"No.  You didn't lose control.  You made a conscious decision; one I
agree with.  You handled the woman fine…  I think you're ready to be
around mortals again."  Then he smiled and added, "Though I wouldn't
want to be a criminal who meets you in a dark alley."

 

Tracy thought about that, "I'll have to make sure I don't kill the ones
I'm supposed to arrest."  She captured Jimmy's heartbeat and did what
Vachon had cautioned her never to do with a mortal- let her anger flow.
She was angry that these animals thought they could prey on innocent
women for their own twisted pleasure.

 

To Jimmy it felt as though his brain and heart were caught in a vice.
He heard this woman screaming in his head so loudly that he thought his
ears were going to explode from the inside out.  The pain was
incredible- a thousand times worse than anything he'd ever felt before.

 

Vachon had never witnessed anything like this.  He had killed for food,
and for fun.  Of course he had killed in battle as well, but he had
never used the whammy to kill someone before.  Never had he killed with
such deliberate intent to punish.  Jimmy's eyes and ears began to bleed,
and then his heart just stopped.  All the breath exhaled out of his body
and he collapsed on the ground, dead.

 

Tracy's hands unclenched and she relaxed.  She hadn't noticed that she
had tensed up every muscle in her body.  She felt a bit drained.

 

Vachon sensed the exhaustion in his Childé and offered his throat,
"Drink, Tracy," he commanded.  Adding, "Next time just break their
neck."

 

Tracy grinned and impishly said, "Ok Dad," as she took his offering.
She felt his acceptance of her decision through the bloodkiss.  She was
relieved, although she didn't know why he would have disagreed; after
all he was a killer too.

 

When she broke away she said, "Lets get rid of these and go to the
Raven!"  She was looking forward to being there as a vampire for the
first time.

 

"We'll dump the bodies in the lake.  Then we'll go home and make sure
you feed well," Vachon started.  When he saw her disappointment he
finished with "Maybe after that you can convince me to take you out."

 

Tracy caught the not-so-subtle proviso, "I think I can come up with a
compelling argument," she said, reaching out to stroke him through his
tight jeans.

 

"I have full confidence in you Querida," Vachon said as he reached down
and grabbed the body of the late Jimmy Jackson.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Dirty Mick


 


9:30 p.m.

 

Methos thought this was probably the worst in the series of dive bars
that he had been to already tonight.  Looking for that bastard Froag was
taking a great deal more time than he had anticipated.  He knew from
reading the watcher chronicles about him that Froag tended to spend his
free time in dark clubs and bars looking for women, or dive bars looking
for fights.  Methos was hitting as many of each as he could, knowing
that Froag wasn't much of a bar hopper and tended to stay in one place
until he found one of his goals- sex or violence.

 

As far as anyone knew, Froag hadn't left town.  The good news was that
his watcher hadn't found him yet, meaning Methos wouldn't have to worry
about being seen.  The bad news, of course, was that his watcher hadn't
found him yet, which meant that he couldn't use that source to track him
down.

 

Methos spent the time while he waited thinking about these vampires.
They had come as a serious shock to his worldview.  He really thought he
had seen it all, and now he wondered if he really knew anything about
anything at all.  Now that he had seen a few of them he noticed that
they seemed to be everywhere.  He was pretty sure he saw one in here
tonight.  It was the stillness.  When they weren't actually in motion,
it was like they were mannequins- they were absolutely unmoving.  It was
like looking at an eerily accurate carving, a moment in time
encapsulated and on display in the midst of the kinetic frenzy around
them.

 

He wondered how Mulder had managed to take out Williams like that.  Was
he something more than immortal?  Had his girlfriend been able to turn
him into a vampire too?  It had happened outside a diner, just minutes
after sunset.  Surely Mulder couldn't be in that place, at that time if
he were a vampire.  How had he torn off someone's head barehanded?
Heads were pretty firmly attached.  Even a blow from a sharp sword, if
not landed at just the right speed and angle, wasn't enough to guarantee
decapitation.  He remembered quite a few embarrassing moments early in
his life where he thought he had made the killing blow only to watch his
sword get stuck part way through.  The human body was at once
marvelously resilient and fragile.  The most horrendous damage could
heal, yet sometimes the least little blow could kill.

 

He would head to the Raven Sunday night with a few questions on his
mind.

 

=====
Chapter 15c


 


St. John's Cathedral


 


9:30 p.m.

 

Scully walked over to the confessional with a strangely light-headed
feeling.  She hadn't been to confession in a while; with work as hectic
as it had been lately, she hadn't been to Mass in about four months.
She recognized father Rochefort from Nick's parting mental shot as they
left the loft earlier in the evening.  She wondered if she should ask
him to forgive her for putting the whammy on him.  "Is it a sin to
whammy a priest?" she asked herself.  "Better than putting his life at
risk I suppose," she rationalized.

 

She paused just before entering, "No, I'd better ask."  She decided that
she could hardly expect absolution if she went into this with less than
pure intentions.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Father Rochefort was properly shocked.  "She is coming into the
confessional!?" his mind shouted at him, incredulous.  He had seen her
in the congregation during the Mass and had actually stopped breathing
for a moment.  As soon as he had recovered his breath he had immediately
given thanks to God that Father Gianninni was giving the service that
night.  He was sure he would have been unable to continue.  A vampire in
the church!  Sitting through Mass!  He was waiting for the flames to
erupt at any moment.  When they didn't he thought surely he must be
wrong, but he had never been wrong about this before.  Even that
homicide detective that had managed to pass an entire day within these
walls had obviously been a vampire.  At the time that had shocked him as
well, but that one had shown signs of serious weakness at the profusion
of holy symbols and relics in the cathedral.

 

Nevertheless, the shock had transmuted into fascination with this little
vampire and her companion who had decided to attend service in his
church tonight.  The companion was definitely more uncomfortable than
the woman, yet he didn't seem to be a vampire.  "Too alive," was how
Rochefort thought of him.  He fidgeted and moved, and breathed too much
to be a vampire, whereas she had that preternatural stillness that was
one obvious indicator of vampirism.  Even a yoga master in silent
meditation had some animation; an eyelash twitch, the slight rise and
fall of the chest in breath.  The beating of the heart and the pulse of
blood through the body carried a subtle sense of vitality to a person,
no matter how still they tried to be.

 

But vampires, they could be so still that they might as well be carved
from living quartz.  Like a DVD on pause, they seemed to occupy a moment
outside of time, and one could be forgiven for thinking that they were
indeed as dead as the legends claimed- until they chose to move.  They
had a fascinating sinuousness to their movement that went beyond feline.
This one had sat through the service like that.  Her movement startled
him every time the congregation went to their knees.  She went from
stillness to motion with mechanical suddenness and smoothness.  She
definitely knew the routine of the Mass; unlike her companion who was
caught by surprise at every ritual motion.  All of these thoughts rushed
through Father Rochefort's head in an instant as Scully stood at the
confessional, entered and sat down.

 

Scully sat down and paused for a moment before speaking, still not sure
exactly how she was going to say this.  She noticed that the priest's
heart was beating rapidly and she could smell the adrenaline coursing
through his veins.  She turned to look at him through the screen and saw
that he was afraid.  She didn't understand why, "Surely he doesn't know
what I am," she thought.  Nick had taught her that mortals were not
allowed to know about vampires, that the enforcers forbade that
knowledge and mortals who couldn't be whammied were brought across or
killed.

 

Rochefort felt the icy grip of panic inside as the vampire just sat
there staring at him in that absolute stillness they had.  The church
did not accept the existence of vampires, but those within the church
who had encountered them knew the truth.  The old priest who had
introduced the truth to Father Rochefort had assured him that the church
would always provide sanctuary against such creatures.  And, even when
the vampire who had inexplicably taken a job as a police officer had
entered this cathedral- against everything his mentor had said was
impossible, Rochefort had felt no fear.  The vampire-detective was so
weakened by being inside the church that he had barely been able to
move.

 

This vampire seemed to have no such vulnerability.

 

Scully noticed that the priest seemed to be about to bolt from the
confessional.  "Father, are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

 

Rochefort asked, "What do you want?" in a quavering voice- angry with
himself for the obvious fear he was projecting.  "This is the house of
God!" he thought.  "I am God's servant, he will protect me."

 

Scully was baffled.  She restrained herself from looking back behind her
to see if the priest was talking to someone else.  "Father… I'm here to
confess," she said very calmly- as though speaking to a madman.  She
still didn't realize that the priest knew she was a vampire- Nick's
knowledge and experience from their deep link overcoming for the moment
her logic and deductive reasoning.

 

Father Rochefort gaped at her.  "Are you serious?" he asked in
disbelief.  As her brows furrowed in confusion he whispered, "How can a
vampire even be in here?"

 

"Well, obviously Nick's information and experience is incomplete," she
thought.  Fortunately her brain kicked back in before her mouth could
spit out the clichéd question, "You know about vampires?"  Clearly he
did.  The next question was whether the priest would be able to treat
with her like a person or would dismiss her as a monster.  Scully hadn't
fully considered the idea that mortals might be prejudiced against
vampires- beyond the whole Witch-Hunt scenario.

 

"Father, we are not evil.  Not all of us anyway," she answered.  Seeing
his disbelief, she showed him the cross hanging from her necklace, "I
believe in God.  I believe that Jesus died for my sins.  I am a
Christian just like you are."

 

If the pope himself had walked up to him and said he was converting to
Jehovah's Witness, Father Rochefort didn't think he would have been more
surprised than he was right now.  In that moment he experienced the
feeling that a child feels when he becomes old enough to realize that
his parents not only didn't know everything about everything, but it
seems that they don't know much about anything at all.  His mentor's
information was obviously far from complete.

 

Scully watched while the priest gaped at her for a bit longer.  "Will
you be alright, Father?" she asked.  The doctor in her worried about the
possibility of shock, but it seemed as though his heartbeat and
respiration were returning to normal.

 

Rochefort suddenly felt mortified.  A child of God had come to him for
forgiveness and he had, in essence, damned her as the devil's spawn.
Not his finest moment, to say the least.  "I apologize, my child.  I…
I…"

 

Scully smiled.  "It's ok, father.  I imagine it was quite a shock if you
knew something of us already."

 

"I didn't think vampires could… I'm sorry," he said, realizing he was
about to make another offensive characterization.  "But I have seen a
vampire repulsed by the cross, child."

 

"We are not all good, either father.  People are people, even those of
us on the night shift," she said with a smile, not wanting to get into a
discussion on a subject she herself knew so little about.

 

Rochefort pulled himself together and said, "I will hear your
confession, child."

 

Scully was relieved- though they would have to have a discussion later
regarding the priest's knowledge of vampires.  She didn't want to
endanger him.  She composed herself and began, "Forgive me Father, for I
have sinned…"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder began to notice that he could think 'aloud,' as it were, without
disturbing or being disturbed by Scully's thoughts.  It was like sitting
next to someone who was speaking on the phone- as long as they weren't
yelling or directing their conversation towards you, you could carry on
your own conversation right next to them without either of you bothering
one another.

 

Mulder pondered thoughts of God, and eternity.  That there was an
afterlife of some kind seemed evident from Scully's experience- one
shared by all vampires, apparently.  Except for Natalie of course.  He
wondered about that as well.  If God did exist and there was a 'Heaven'
or some sort of life after death, were immortals not invited?  Would his
'spirit' be spent feeding the personal power of the one who took his
head?  He had the knowledge of Willy Williams, and all those who's heads
he had taken- perfect recall seemed to be a normal part of the immortal
condition- but he didn't really feel them as actual presences- spirits
or souls or whatever you want to call them.  It was more like watching a
movie.

 

Scully just seemed so sure.  She wasn't threatened by his disbelief, she
didn't seem to be rocked by the pure evil they had witnessed, or the
brutal inhumanity they had seen perpetrated by people upon each other
and themselves.  None of that seemed to shake her faith.  It shook his,
and he didn't even know if he believed in God in the first place.  Once
he had been so certain that God couldn't exist, now he was less certain
about that as well.  "I guess I will have to table that decision for
now," he thought.  Scully was in confession now, and Mulder couldn't
help but listen in a bit.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Corbeau


 


10 p.m.

 

"Why proud?" Janette asked.

 

MacLeod had gasped to life wrapped in the arms of a vampire for the
second time in as many hours.  While he was initially confused, as he
always was when coming back to life, he quickly remembered where he was
and whom he was with.  He decided that this was perhaps the most
enjoyable way to come back to life that he had yet experienced.  Usually
they weren't quite so pleasant.

 

As they lay together in the afterglow of sex and death, Janette had slid
off him until she was laying on his left side, her leg draped over his
and her head snuggled onto his shoulder while he wrapped his left arm
around her.  Janette played with the hair on his chest and then asked
that question.

 

It took Mac a moment to understand to what she was referring.  "I think
it was because she had taken down a group of renegade watchers who had
inflicted Mulder's first death." He answered.  "I think she was
embarrassed about it, because she seemed hesitant to discuss it, but he
pressed her to do so.  Like a parent would when their child had done
something special and they wanted to show the child off to their
friends," he explained.

 

"Nicolas' childé is a killer?" Janette asked rhetorically.  "If I had
not seen him in your blood, I would be certain that we were not speaking
about the same person," she stated emphatically.

 

"Why is that?" Mac asked.

 

Janette continued to stroke Mac's chest, as though she could not get
enough of touching him.  "Nicolas has rejected everything about our
community for a century.  He drinks cow blood, he doesn't kill, he
doesn't do anything that has to do with the vampire," she groused.  "He
wants to be mortal again."  She gently kissed his chest and added, "At
least he did.  It is obvious that things have changed radically since I
left Toronto."

 

MacLeod, not knowing any of the players in Janette's family beyond
meeting them- and a few memories of hers that lingered from the last
bloodkiss- remained silent on the matter.

 

They lay in shared silence for a moment- just enjoying each other's
physical presence before Janette realized, abashed, that Mac must be
very thirsty after being drained twice.  She sat up and moved to get out
of the bed.

 

MacLeod asked, "Where are you going?"

 

Janette looked back over her shoulder at him and answered with a small
grin, "I thought you might be thirsty"

 

As though he just realized it himself Mac agreed whole heartedly and
made as if to get up himself.

 

"Just lay there, love.  I will bring it to you," Janette said,
forestalling him.

 

She didn't bother to put on any clothes, allowing MacLeod a most
wonderful view as she left the chamber to go out to the front room.  She
called the bar and had one of the waitresses deliver a tray to her
quarters, leaving it outside the door.  She waited until she heard the
girl- a fledgling only a decade old- leave before opening the door and
picking up the tray.

 

As she returned to the bedchamber she felt her heart catch at the sight
of him, gloriously nude, laid out on her bed like a virility statue.
She felt his eyes on her own form and watched as he rose to half staff
just looking at her.  She set down the tray beside the bed and handed
him a large bottle of water, "Water first, then we will see about that,"
she said, indicating his evident arousal.

 

Mac greedily drank the water, slaking part of his thirst.  He was glad
that she had brought several as she handed him a second bottle without
any question.  "You were right, I was thirsty!" he said as he set down
the second empty bottle.  He looked at her standing there beside the bed
and couldn't help saying, "You'll probably grow tired of me saying this,
Janette, but God in Heaven!  You are so beautiful."

 

Janette laughed delightedly.  She stopped and struck a pose, crossing
her arms, one finger on her lips, and her face turned up as if in
thought.  After a moment she returned her eyes to meet her lover's gaze
and said, "No… No, I am reasonably certain that I will never get tired
of hearing you say that."  She added teasingly, "Especially if you say
it while lying before me naked and hard like you are now."

 

MacLeod grinned and crooked his finger at her in a 'come hither' motion.

 

Janette played coy, pointing to herself and saying, "Moi?" before
crawling onto the bed and heading straight for Mac's cock.  As she
reached it, MacLeod reached over to her and grabbed her by the hips,
lifting her off of the bed and settling her down over his face so that
he could reciprocate the attention she was about to pay him.

 

MacLeod began to explore the territory before him, licking, sucking and
gently nibbling the contours before delving into the center.  He worked
his way down to Janette's clit and gently stroked and teased the hood
for a minute or two before gently pulling it back to reveal that little
bundle of nerves.  That he circled with his tongue for a while before
pursing his lips around it and sucking it into his mouth.  He began to
stroke it in earnest as he felt her ministrations pushing him closer and
closer to the edge.  He wanted to bring her over first and finish his
journey inside of her.

 

Finally Janette had to pull off of him and sink her teeth into his
thigh.  She came with a muffled scream against his leg.

 

The pain of her bite was enough to help Mac keep from cumming, but even
then it was an exercise in iron will and he had almost lost it several
times.  Fortunately Janette only took a single swallow and the link
wasn't established or else he would have been taken by her orgasm.

 

As she recovered she asked "Why?"

 

"I need to be inside you," He panted.

 

She climbed off of his face and lied down next to him saying, "Then take
me.  Right Now!" she commanded.

 

Needing no further urging he knelt between her legs and penetrated her
in one swift thrust of his hips.  He rested most of his weight on his
knees and elbows, so as not to crush her.  She tried to pull him down
fully onto her and he resisted, "I don't want to hurt you," he said.

 

She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his back and
yanked him down onto her, pressing her into the mattress.  "I am
vampire; you could park a truck on my chest and not hurt me," she
whispered savagely into his ear.  She then began to clean her blood off
of his face with her tongue.

 

MacLeod groaned from someplace deep in his belly at her words and
actions.  He began to violently slam into her with all of the strength
in his body, and she spurred him on with her ankles crossed at the small
of his back.  He suddenly leaned back and thrust his arms between
himself and her legs, then dragged his arms up to her shoulders,
pressing her ankles between his shoulders and hers.  This pulled her
lower torso up off of the bed, and rotated her pelvis so that he
penetrated as deeply as possible on the down thrust and dragged the head
of his cock across her g-spot as he pulled back.  He continued to slam
into her as fast and hard as possible until he couldn't take it any more
and he released into her powerfully.

 

Having been driven to the edge again by his skillful maneuvering and
powerful thrusting, she leaned her head forward and bit into his neck,
just below the ear.  This time the link was established and they felt
the full force of each other's orgasm in addition to their own.  An
entirely delicious feeling, but- due to their positions, Janette had to
end the link before draining MacLeod.  She made up for it, once he had
lifted himself off of her by going down and cleaning her blood off of
his cock and balls.  This, of course lead to a rapid return to full
tumescence and Janette finished what she had started a few minutes
before.

 

MacLeod groaned in sweet agony as she sucked his sensitive head deep
into her throat.  He couldn't help a single involuntary thrust, and
immediately apologized.

 

She shook her head and responded by digging her nails into his ass,
eliciting another involuntary thrust.  After a couple more repetitions,
with her humming in delight and nodding her head, he got the idea that
she wanted him to do that.  He remembered that she didn't need to
breathe, and it would appear that she had no gag reflex.  She looked up
into his eyes and began pulling him into her throat, grinding his crotch
into her face.  And, though he would never dream of doing this with a
mortal woman, he began to deliberately thrust himself up into her mouth
and throat.  She then removed her hands from his ass and began to
massage his balls and perineum.

 

He knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out for very long, but then she
suddenly slipped one finger up inside of him and found his prostate.  He
had never before in his life felt that particular sensation!  He
immediately began to spasm into her, screaming her name as he came.  She
stopped bobbing her head, but kept rubbing his prostate and squeezing
his balls.  He felt like she was squeezing the life out of him as he
continued to cum and cum, while she swallowed it all.  When she finally
stopped, withdrew her finger and slowly slid her head up off of him he
thought he was going to die.  When his head slipped out of her mouth
with a wet popping sound he thought he might not come back this time.
His voice was hoarse and his breathing ragged as he said, "Well, now I
know what heaven feels like!"

 

Janette smiled in delight, glad that she could elicit such reactions
from this man.  She had never done that for a man since becoming a
vampire.  Though forced to learn such techniques as a slave in the
brothel her husband had sold her into, she had never used them on any
man since gaining her freedom.  She had felt degraded at the thought of
such submission to a male's desires in the past- but with MacLeod, she
wanted to do everything and anything she could to please this him.  She
knew from the bloodkiss that he felt the same way towards her- and such
knowledge was the most overwhelming thing she had felt in a thousand
years of immortality.

 

MacLeod was exhausted.  He held her tightly in his arms and looked into
her dark eyes, saying, "I love you Janette."  Then, he kissed her before
finally succumbing to sleep.

 

Janette stroked his hair for a bit before getting up to go into the
club.  As she got dressed, her eyes kept returning to linger on his
sleeping form.  She felt a tenderness towards him that brought a tear to
her eye.  She leaned over him and kissed his forehead, whispering
"l'amour de mon Coeur," before breezing out of the chamber and into her
club for another night- this time absent the melancholy she had been
wearing like a shroud for two years.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


St. John's Cathedral


 


10 p.m.

 

"…it has been 4 months since my last confession," she began, and then
paused, unsure of where to go from there.

 

"Go on my child," Rochefort said gently.

 

"So much has happened to me since then father," Scully hesitantly
started.  "Actually, up until a few days ago my life was as it had been
for years.  Then we came to Toronto for a professional conference; my
partner and I- we're with the FBI."  Scully remembered the feelings she
was experiencing almost a week ago.  Another puzzle laid out before her,
this time in the body of a man who's cause of death was obvious, but
who's cadaver was unlike any she had seen before.

 

"We've been partners for seven years, father.  In many ways we were
already closer than husband and wife, even though we had never had a
romantic relationship," she continued.

 

Father Rochefort had heard this story before, but this time there was
the added element of vampirism that had him literally on the edge of his
seat, his mind whirling with questions.

 

Skipping over a large emotional mess, she jumped right to, "We changed
that this week…  I suppose that it was technically fornication, father.
It wasn't lust though," she was quick to explain.  "Though desire was
definitely a big part of it.  We have loved each other for years; we
have been one person mentally, emotionally, socially- even spiritually I
think.  Just not physically.  Not until this week."  She looked at him
through the screen and asked, "Is that a sin, Father?"

 

"Have you been faithful to each other?" he asked.

 

"For years now, even before we knew we were in love," she answered.

 

"Do you plan on staying together now that you have 'consummated' your
relationship?" he questioned.

 

"We already have plans for our ten millennia anniversary," she answered
with a smile, remembering when Mulder proposed to her.

 

Rochefort almost choked at that, the sheer scale of vampire
relationships was mind-boggling.  "I… I would say that, in God's eyes
you're definitely married," he said, stuttering slightly.

 

Scully smiled even more widely at that.  The thought that God was
smiling down on her and Mulder's relationship sent a tingle of warmth
through her cool body.

 

Rochefort misinterpreted her silence, saying, "Is that all you have to
confess, child?"

 

Scully's smiled dimmed, as she answered, "No father.  There is more."

 

When she didn't say anything more for several seconds he prompted her
again, "Go on then."

 

"Father, you know about my kind already.  That knowledge is dangerous-
mortals aren't allowed to carry that knowledge, and if certain members
of my community found out…"

 

"God protects me, child.  You don't need to worry about that," he
interrupted, forestalling any further discussion of that type.  He knew
that vampires could mentally influence people; he would have none of
that."

 

"Of course, father.  However, there are other… races if you will…"

 

"Your 'partner' whom you brought with you tonight?" he asked.

 

"Well, yes.  Do you know what he is?" she wondered the extent of this
priest's information.

 

"He isn't vampire and he isn't human.  Beyond that…  I've never seen
anyone like him before," he answered truthfully.

 

Scully didn't respond for several moments and Rochefort added, "Child.
What is said in this place remains only here and in the mind of God.  I
am constrained from sharing with anyone- even other priests."

 

Scully needed to get this off of her chest so she took him at his word.
"His kind appears human in every way until their something kills them…"

 

Rochefort again had to prompt her, "Something… or someone?" he guessed
what it was that she had to confess.

 

"You guessed it, father.  A group that was, coincidentally, hunting for
another of his kind kidnapped him.  When they realized their error-
thinking that he was just another human- they shot and killed him… as
though he was a piece of garbage to be thrown away rather than causing
them to be inconvenienced."  She remembered the horror and loss she had
felt- as though someone had reached in and torn her insides out.  Her
voice dropped to a whisper, "I was too late to save him, father… but not
too late to see them kill him."

 

"And…" he gently pressed.

 

She continued to whisper, "I killed them, father.  I killed them all."

 

Father Rochefort could picture the reaction of an angry vampire to
seeing their lover slain before their eyes.  The image in his head
wasn't pretty.  He thought the reality would probably be even worse.

 

"Tell me, child; are you sorry that you killed them?  Are you sorry that
they are dead?" he pressed.

 

"Father…  I am an agent of the FBI.  I firmly believe in justice.  I
believe their punishment was just- so, no; I'm not sorry that they are
dead," she answered firmly.  "However, I also believe that justice is
something that should be decided in a court of law.  I am sorry that I
killed them.  It isn't my place to be judge, jury and executioner."
Scully lowered her head and whispered, "I didn't think, I just reacted."

 

Rochefort asked, "Do you think that that excuses your behavior, child?"

 

"No father.  It doesn't excuse anything," she answered, her expression
doleful.

 

It was a hard question to ask, but Rochefort just had to know, "And if
your lover were permanently dead…"

 

"Would I still by sorry?" she finished the question for him.  "Father, I
don't want to be a murderer.  I don't want to be a killer," she began.
"You have no idea how easy it would be to give in to that desire."  She
paused for several seconds, "I've seen terrible things, father.  I am a
pathologist- I have seen carnage you could never dream of; mass murders,
torture, cannibalism…  I've seen things done to women and children that
would turn a maggot's stomach.  I have hunted down the monsters that
perpetrate such atrocities," she was near sobbing at this point.  "I
wanted to kill them, make them pay for their evil.  I've seen it in
Mulder's eyes as well- that desire to wreak instant and fitting justice
on the wrongdoers…  But we never did.  I never gave in to that impulse
in my life until I watched them kill Mulder."

 

Scully took a few deep breaths and regained her composure, "I still
wouldn't be sorry they were dead, father.  I will always be sorry that I
was the one to take their lives."

 

Father Rochefort was moved by her recitation.  He could hear the
passionate desire to right wrongs.  He had heard it many times before in
the agonized voices of policemen who confessed before him, and it never
failed to move him.  To see such evil every day, and maintain ones
honor, to uphold the law in the face of such provocation was laudable.
He had only one thing left to say, "Child, you are granted absolution.
Your sins are forgiven.  Go with God."

 

It was just a man speaking the words, but she felt God's forgiveness
fill her penitent heart, which might be cool and slow these days- but
was neither cold nor hard.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder was wowed by Scully's confession.  He had really never known the
depths of her desire to exact vengeance.  She always maintained such an
even disposition- on the outside at least.  He was glad that they had
been able to refrain from surrendering to their desires for retribution.
It would have changed the entire dynamic of their relationship for the
worse.

 

He was also encouraged by the lightness in spirit that he felt from her
after receiving absolution.  He had, of late, begun to come up with a
radical new (new for him at least) theory; his guilt over the bad things
that happened to her was causing her pain.  It was also selfish- by
divorcing her from any responsibility for her actions, and the negative
consequences, he was in fact telling her that she was not able to lead
her own life and make her own decisions!  He was treating her like a
child.  Well!  No more of that!  He would put aside his guilt and move
forward.  He would forgive himself, even if it killed him.  And, he
would ask her to forgive him- not for her pain, but for his conceit.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Scully came out of the confessional with a lightness of step that
matched her lightness of heart.  She felt like flying, but knew that
would be a bad idea.  She practically skipped over to Mulder and grabbed
his hand, pulling him up out of the pew.  "Mulder, let's go flying!" she
whispered conspiratorially.

 

[Absolutely!] he thought to her.  He loved to fly with Scully almost as
much as she did.  He took her arm and she basically dragged him out of
the cathedral. [Where are we going?] he added.

 

[Someplace high!] she answered.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


First Canadian Place, 951 feet up


 


11:30 p.m.

 

Scully had taken them for a rollicking ride through the sky.  She
luxuriated in the feeling of freedom and the sensation of the wind in
her hair, as well as the feel of Mulder wrapped up in her arms and legs.
She was happy and horny and they hadn't even landed before she had begun
her assault on him.

 

By the time they had landed on the roof of the tallest building in
Canada, Mulder had one hand down Scully's pants, stroking her clit
through the silky panties, and the other hand under her shirt and bra,
kneading her breasts and tweaking her nipples.  He was caressing her
fangs and suddenly impaled his tongue onto one of them, sending her
crashing down into orgasm.

 

The blood from Mulder's tongue was enough to spark an orgasm, but not
enough to really initiate a bloodkiss- it healed too rapidly.  Scully
was disappointed when, rather than tear her clothes off and ravish her,
Mulder put her back together- so to speak- and stepped back from her.
She could feel a sense of apprehension from her lover and was concerned,
[Mulder, what's wrong?] she asked.

 

Mulder stared into the azure brilliance of her eyes for a moment before
saying, "Scully, I want to confess…  To you.  I want to ask your
forgiveness."  Feeling her ire, he quickly reassured her, "I'm serious,
Scully!  I don't know if there is a God in Heaven, but I do know that I
have faith in you.  I know that I love you.  And, I feel that I have
ill-treated you."

 

[Alright Mulder,] she thought to him hesitantly, wondering where he was
going with this, and feeling anything but ill-treated at that particular
moment.

 

"Scully, I want to ask your forgiveness for all the guilt and self
loathing I have dumped on you for the past seven years.  Every time I
told you that I was responsible for the bad things that happened to you
since you partnered with me," he began.  "I am sorry for presuming that
I was such a dominant influence on your life and your mind that you
couldn't make decisions for yourself.  As though you weren't smart
enough or wise enough to weigh the potential consequences and choose a
course of action that involved risks.  To do everything you did because
it was your resolute choice- rather than my coercion."  Mulder reached
out and wiped the tear from her cheek as he continued, "I'm sorry that I
ever made you imagine for a moment that I thought so poorly of you;
because I didn't," he said with tears in his own eyes.  "I have always
thought you were the stronger of us.  I was just selfish and
self-centered- I only thought of things and events in relationship to my
feelings and my supposed inadequacies.  Can you ever forgive me? "

 

[Oh Mulder.  You have no idea how happy I am to hear that, well maybe
some idea] she corrected, seeing the joy in her heart reflected in the
look on his face.  [That is the one thing that you were actually guilty
of doing to me… and it hurt a lot.  I always knew that it was just a
function of your painful past, and I always forgave you, without you
even needing to ask.]  She pulled him tight and laid a sweet,
compassionate kiss on his lips, [I absolve you of your sin, Mulder.  Go
forth and sin no more!] she said in all seriousness.

 

As Scully let Mulder go, she noticed two things:  One, Mulder was
staring into her eyes, crying with joy, not noticing anything else
around them.  Two, they were floating about ten feet above the roof of
the building, and she wasn't touching him.

 

"Um, Mulder?" she began.

 
=====


Chapter 16a


 


Nick's loft

 

2:00 p.m. Saturday December 16th

 

Mulder woke up feeling like the sahara- dry and dusty.  As he sat up,
his stomach rumbled loudly.  He drew on a pair of boxers and stumbled
down to the kitchen.  He felt very strange- other than the hunger and
thirst, he was physically fine- no aches or pains at all.  "After last
night, I should be feeling like crap," he thought, remembering the
drunken revelry that last night's celebration had turned into.

 

Most of the Toronto Community was there when Mulder and Scully arrived.
They were celebrating the new additions to the community; Natalie and
Tracy.  Mulder and Scully got a lot of strange looks initially, but
everyone saw that they were part of LaCroix's inner circle- and they all
knew that this was not the place or time to wonder too loudly about the
new-comers.  LaCroix was not one to annoy- especially about matters of
family.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


2 a.m.

 

They were laughing like two little kids when they finally made it to the
Raven.  They had been playing hide and seek for over an hour, testing
and honing Mulder's new flying skills.  It was more of a game between
them, much less serious than the training Scully had done with Nick.
First of all, they couldn't block each other at all, so it wasn't too
tough to find each other.  It had degenerated into a glorious game of
flying tag by the time they made it to the club.

 

"Gotcha!" Mulder whispered huskily in her ear as he landed behind her
and roughly pressed her to himself.

 

Scully stopped laughing as she felt evidence of Mulder's arousal in the
small of her back.  She caressed his arms as he held her snugly to him,
one across her hips and the other just below her breasts.  "Then take
me!" she demanded, matching his throaty, breathless growl.

 

They were behind the club, but Mulder didn't even look around to make
sure they were alone before he acted.  He reached inside her coat, and
yanked her pants down to her thighs.  With his other hand he pushed her
down until she was bent over, arms against the rough brick wall
supporting her.  He unzipped his fly with one hand while pushing aside
the material of her panties with the other.

 

She felt him plunge into her and begin thrusting powerfully.  His hands
ran over her body, massaging her breasts through the material of her
shirt, and sliding down under her panties to start rubbing her clit.
This was no long slow love making- this was fast and furious- it was
about overwhelming desire and need- not tenderness and love.

 

It was exactly what they both required right now if they wanted to have
even the slightest chance of acting like civilized human beings once
they walked through the door into the club.

 

When Mulder came, it was so powerful that he thought he would pass out.
He yanked Scully back upright and sank his teeth into the side of her
neck, sucking powerfully at the river of cool blood beneath the skin.

 

Their link was almost as intimate as the bloodkiss already, and when he
bit her- they were so unified that Scully came too- without a single
drop of blood passing her lips.

 

This isn't to say that she didn't want any: as soon as Mulder pulled
out; she spun around in his arms and sank her own teeth into him-
reveling in the purely physical sensation of his hot blood splashing
against the back of her throat, her tongue hungrily lapping at the
perfumed sweetness.

 

She drained him- she couldn't help herself.  While she waited for his
return, she cleaned them both up a little bit and put herself back
together.  "I am definitely buying some new clothes tomorrow!" she
thought.  "Sex in a power suit is too much of a hassle."  She never even
considered the idea that they could just restrict their sexual
encounters to more 'appropriate' times and places.  She was thinking of
short skirts and low cut tops, Lycra and Spandex.

 

Mulder gasped back to life just as Scully was tucking him back into his
pants.  "Sorry about that Scully," he said.  "I just couldn't wait
another second."  He felt a little sheepish at his selfishness.

 

Scully, of course, was having none of it.  "Good!  I want to make you so
hot and bothered that you can't stand to wait another second," she said.
Sometimes she felt like she needed him so badly that it made her want to
scream.  She was glad that she could make him feel the same way.

 

"Are you kidding?  Just seeing you stand in front of me makes me think
about spontaneous human combustion!" he said seriously.  "Let's go
inside before I can't restrain myself from ripping your clothes to
shreds.

 

Scully took his hand and they walked into the club.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder noticed Nick's partner out on the dance floor, grinding her body
against that long-haired vampire that had accompanied them the night he
was killed- for the first time.  He pointed them out to Scully, who was
looking for Nick.  "There's Nick's partner, Tracy.  She's dancing with
Vachon," he shouted over the music.  "Is she…"

 

Scully looked over where Mulder was indicating.  "Oh yeah," she shouted
back- seeing the clear indicators of vampirism.  She reached out with
her senses and could feel her.  She felt very similar to Vachon, "Must
be because he brought her across," she thought.

 

[What 'Must be because he brought her across'?] Mulder asked, hearing
that thought.

 

[They feel similar… alike.  I don't know how to explain it,] she
replied.

 

[You can feel them through all these other people?] he asked,
incredulous.

 

[Well, I can feel everybody around, but I can focus on them,] she
started to explain [It is just like looking at someone in a crowd- you
see everyone peripherally, but you focus on one at a time.  Speaking of
which…] she paused as she considered the crowd.  [I think you're the
only one in this place that isn't a vampire.  At least not entirely.]

 

Vachon felt an awareness brush against his own for a moment and looked
around to see from whom it was coming.  He was surprised to see Nick's
childé and her lover staring at him and Tracy.  "She couldn't be strong
enough to do that," he thought.  He waved at them and was then
distracted from any more thoughts on the matter as Tracy turned around
in his arms and began grinding her ass against his cock.

 

Scully stifled a snicker when she saw Vachon's focus snap back to the
lithe blond vampire that was pressed up against him.  She began to drag
Mulder through the crowd toward LaCroix's office.  She thought that
that's where Nick would probably be.  She tried to tap into her link
with him but found that he was too pre-occupied to answer.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nick had arrived earlier with Natalie to see LaCroix.  They bypassed the
gyrating bodies on the dance floor and went directly to LaCroix's
chambers.  Following a brief welcome from her new grandfather, Nick took
her down into the basement and into one of the hidden rooms below the
Raven.

 

As he was about to open the door, Nick said, "You need a safe word,
Natalie…" he began.

 

She looked confused, "A safe word?"

 

"Yeah…  Casablanca.  That'll do," he said as he opened the door, swept
Natalie off of her feet and in an eye blink had her naked and chained to
a pair of manacles hanging from the ceiling, arms stretched above her
head.

 

"Nick! What…" she began, startled.

 

Nick stood behind her and put his hand over her mouth.  He leaned into
her and whispered in her ear, "If you really want me to stop, just say
Casablanca."  Stepping away from her and around to the front, he
continued in a powerful voice, "Otherwise, slave, you keep your mouth
shut and do as you're told!  Understand?"

 

Natalie's confusion rapidly changed to excitement and she was becoming
very wet just standing there, naked before her fully dressed master.
Her voice quivered as she responded, "Yes master."

 

"Very good, slave."  Nick pulled out a remote control and pressed a
button, causing the chain to lower, giving Natalie enough slack so that
her hands were even with her face.  "On your knees, slave!" he
commanded.

 

Natalie did so, ending up with her hands stretched over her head again.

 

"Now, then.  If you beg nicely, I might allow you to taste me," he said,
unzipping his trousers.

 

Natalie was already on fire; she didn't see any whips or other forms of
punishment in the room, so she deduced that Nick wanted her to be a
totally compliant submissive slave for tonight's game.  She was eager to
play any way he wanted.  "Please! Please master!  Let me suck you, let
me taste you and drink you," she entreated in a pleading voice.

 

"Very good, slave.  You shall have your reward," he said as he pulled
his rapidly swelling member from his trousers and walked forward to her.
He teased her with it for a few moments, eliciting further begging
before he let her suck him into her mouth.  She began to rapidly bob her
head up and down on his cock, straining against her bonds to take as
much of him in as he would allow.  After not too long he began thrusting
into her mouth and throat, His head tipped back in ecstasy, denying
himself a taste of her blood in order to keep from coming.

 

So ardent was her excitement that Natalie was dripping on the floor.
Though her mouth was too full to speak, she implored him through the
link to take her blood, to release himself into her.  Finally he gave in
and tipped his head forward, sinking his fangs into the fleshy part of
her hand above the shackles.  Natalie pulled her head almost off of him
and caught jet after jet in her mouth, holding it there until he was
finished.

 

When at last his spent member slipped out of her mouth, Nick looked down
at the face of his lover.  She flashed him a mischievous grin and opened
her mouth to show him the load he had deposited there.  Then she leaned
her head back, and swallowed with relish; licking and smacking her lips.

 

The sight made Nick hard again almost instantly, and he commanded that
she should stand up.  He then bent her forward so that her torso was
approximately at a 45-degree angle to the floor.  He then stepped behind
her and sank into her in one smooth stroke.  He began a slow, torturous
pace that had Natalie begging and crying for more.  He eventually built
up speed until he was slamming into her, each stroke sending his balls
up to slap her clitoris.

 

It was only the dearth of blood that kept Natalie from cumming like a
freight train.  She would have bitten herself, but her arms were pulled
up and away from her behind her head, and Nick's hand on her back kept
her pressed down and unable to stand upright.  He knew she was on the
edge of orgasm, and he kept her there for several minutes until he gave
in to his own need as well as hers, pulling her upright and driving his
fangs into her neck.  He withdrew after the barest taste- just enough to
send another powerful orgasm ripping through his loins, filling her once
again- but not enough to forge the link, not enough to let her cum.

 

Natalie was on the verge of hysterics- sobbing and begging him to let
her cum.  Her body was wound so tightly that she thought she would
surely die if he didn't let her cum.

 

Nick let himself fall out of her, ignoring her begging for the moment.
He slowly stepped around to stand before her, trailing his fingers
lightly over her supersensitive flesh as he walked.  He slowly stroked
her stomach and up between her breasts to her throat.  He noticed that
her nipples were so erect that they seemed to be trying to reach out to
him from her heavy, swollen breasts.  He whispered in her ear, "To whom
do you belong, slave?  Who owns you?"

 

Natalie could barely stand, her legs felt like they were straining to
hold up the weight of the world.  His fingers on her skin were like
fiery brands, burning and scarring her flesh with pleasure so intense
that it was all she could do not to flinch.  Her thighs were soaked in
the blood of her desire and her face was soaked with blood tears.  She
answered his whispered questions with a hoarse shout, "YOU DO, MASTER!
I BELONG TO YOU!"

 

Nick smiled, not because he was torturing the love of his life, but
because he knew that the orgasm she was about to have would be more
intense than anything she had ever felt before.  He thought about going
minimalist- he could prick his finger on a single fang in her mouth and
it would be enough to send her over the edge- but he wasn't strong
enough to deny himself the pleasure of sharing it with her.  He
whispered once more in her ear, ever so softly, "Should I let you cum,
slave?"

 

Natalie could barely get through the sobs to whisper her answer,
"Please?  Please master?  Oh, please master.  I… I… b-beg you, please!"

 

Nick put his mouth to her throat and, with agonizing slowness, pierced
the taught, flushed skin of her throat with his fangs.  The moment he
gave her permission, she drove her fangs into his shoulder.  His blood
hit her tongue and there was a quarter-second's pause.  

 

It felt like a nova went off in Natalie.  She would later swear that she
could feel each individual cell in her body burst with the intensity of
the orgasm.  She screamed so loudly that, had they not had the benefit
of vampire healing, Natalie would have permanently lost all capacity for
speech, and Nick would have been rendered eternally deaf.

 

Their shared orgasm was so intense that Natalie was hanging boneless
from her manacles- her entire body still quivering- several minutes
later as Nick finished cleaning himself up and went over to release her
from the manacles.

 

Natalie was still basking in the afterglow when Nick un-cuffed her.  She
draped her naked body against his fully clothed one and kissed him for
several moments.  "Thank you Nick.  That was incredible."

 

Nick smiled, "The whole master/slave thing didn't bother you?" he asked.
He had been a little worried about that, despite her easy acceptance of
the past night's bondage.

 

"If you ever treated me like that in public, I'd stake you," she
answered as she continued to come down from the intense high.  "But, in
the bedroom, I will gladly be your sex slave.  Whip me, spank me, tie me
up- just never deny me," she said in all seriousness.

 

"Why Nat, you kinky little hedonist!  I would never have guessed it in a
million years," Nick said, chuckling.

 

"Me neither.  I don't think I came that hard from a single orgasm in my
entire life!" she said, remembering their first night together when he
had made her pass out.  "I think we need to build a playroom back at the
loft- maybe on the second floor?" she asked.

 

"I think that can be arranged," he said, already picturing the
possibilities.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's loft


 


2:15 p.m.

 

Mulder emptied a bottle of bloodwine, and of course it tasted great, but
he was still thirsty.  Orange juice sounded really good right now, "And,
I think I'm hungry for some real food," he said to himself.  It would be
a couple of hours before the sun went down, so he knew none of the other
occupants would mind him taking off for a bit.

 

He still couldn't get over Natalie's conversation with Scully, while he
and Nick were off with LaCroix again.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


2:20 a.m.

 

Mulder and Scully stopped at the bar to get a drink before knocking on
the door to LaCroix's office.  They heard him call them in just as
Scully was knocking.

 

"There is no need for us to knock, Dana," LaCroix began as they entered
the room.  It was evident that by 'us' he was referring to vampires in
general and his own scion in particular.  [Just ask,] he thought to her.

 

Mulder raised a brow at that.  He was well used to hearing from Scully
in his mind, it was strangely shocking to hear LaCroix.

 

LaCroix, seeing Mulder's reaction, arched his own brow, "You heard that,
Agent Mulder?" he asked, while reaching out with his senses as he would
to examine a vampire.

 

"Yes," Mulder answered.  "And I can feel you reaching out to me now," he
said, somewhat surprised at the feeling.  It felt like his body was
being asked a question- indescribable to anyone who had never felt it
themselves.

 

"Obviously you have changed a great deal since last night, Agent
Mulder," LaCroix began.

 

At that moment Nick and Natalie entered through the door on the other
side of the office.  Scully took one look at Natalie and thought "Woman,
freshly laid."

 

Mulder could barely contain his laughter at that thought, and Nick
desperately tried to scowl at his impertinent childé, but he couldn't
wipe the satisfied smirk off of his mouth.

 

Natalie, catching Nick's amusement, took one look at Scully, made a
brief show of sniffing the air and said out loud, "Look who's talking!"
She walked over to Scully and began to hustle her out of the office and
into the club, saying, "Come on, Dana.  We'll let the boys chat for a
bit."  In a much quieter voice she added, "I want details…" as the door
closed behind them.

 

Mulder and Nick shrugged sheepishly while LaCroix let loose a
long-suffering sigh, and said, "Come along then, let us speak while your
intellects yet remain in your skulls- before returning to their native
homes in your trousers!" as he walked out the opposite door into his
private rooms.

 

"Well, Agent Mulder; you still do not feel like a vampire, your heart is
still beating- though quite slowly for a mortal- and your body
temperature does not seem to have lowered greatly- though again, it is
less than a mortal's.  Other than being able to hear me communicate with
Dana, have you noticed any other changes?

 

Mulder smiled at that, "Nick can tell you about the first one- fangs"

 

Nick answered LaCroix's unspoken question, "He and Dana were sharing a
bloodkiss when Nat and I came downstairs this evening.

 

"Fangs and you drink blood now?  Exclusively, or just from Dana?"
LaCroix asked- becoming more and more intrigued.

 

"Actually, I drank from a bottle as well as from Scully.  But I also
drank water, so I don't think it is solely blood.  I could probably
still eat, even though I haven't since yesterday," he answered-
realizing that he hadn't been hungry all day, just thirsty.

 

"Most interesting," LaCroix said.  You will, of course, keep me informed
of any other manifestations?" he asked in a tone indicating that a
positive response was expected.

 

Mulder was a bit lost in thought, and hesitated a moment before
answering, "Hmm?  Oh, certainly," he replied.

 

LaCroix was about to dismiss him when Mulder said, "Oh yes, there was
this one other thing," He then rose up off of the floor an hovered in
the air, centered between the ceiling and the floor.

 

Nick's jaw dropped.

 

Even LaCroix was somewhat stunned.  After gaping for a moment, he said,
"Agent Mulder- if you have a chance tomorrow, I would be very curious to
know what affect sunlight will have on you.  Just be sure, if you choose
to experiment, to expose only the smallest part of your skin at first,
and then only for a moment- in case you react like any of us would.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's loft


 


2:25 p.m.

 

Mulder remembered what LaCroix had been saying in an offhand sort of
way.  He had been distracted when Natalie was recounting her 'dungeon
scene' with Scully in the club.  He had to avoid direct eye contact with
Nick, lest he break out laughing.  Apparently Natalie forgot, or was
ignoring the fact that speaking to Scully was like speaking directly to
Mulder as well.  The little shivers of excitement he was feeling from
Scully were pretty distracting as well.  He thought that he might have
to surprise Scully one of these evenings.

 

The loud growl in his stomach snapped him back into the present and
reminded him again of LaCroix's warning about the sunlight.  Well, there
wasn't any food in Nick's place, so he thought that now would be a fine
time to experiment.

 

He took the elevator down to the ground level and opened the door.  He
was, of course, still shaded from the sun, on the north side of the
building.  Nick obviously planned ahead when remodeling the place for
vampire occupancy.  Even at the height of the summer noon, one could
open this door without any sunlight actually spilling into the
elevator's interior.  "Still, it seems awfully bright out," he thought
as he slipped on his sunglasses- though even as a normal human that
might be true.  He had, after all, spent the past few days without
actually seeing sunshine.  It struck him as somewhat of a surprise- he
hadn't even thought about missing it, and now that he was out seeing the
sunlit street, he wasn't sure it was all that much to write home about.
"Of course, the desolate streets and alleys of Toronto's industrial
sector aren't all that appealing, day or night," he thought.

 

As soon as he finally realized that he was stalling, he pushed himself
towards the line of shade on the ground.  He could see the tiny sparkles
of the dust motes in the air as they drifted back and forth in the air.
He could further see the vapor from his breath as it entered the
sunshine.  The sight of his breath hanging in the air reminded him that
it was cold outside; he hadn't really noticed, though he was wearing his
trench coat, out of habit more than anything, he supposed.  His face
didn't feel cold and neither did his hands.  "Stalling again!" he
thought, disgustedly.  Steeling himself, he extended the pinky finger on
his left hand and slowly moved the tip past the shade line and into the
light of day.

 

"Nothing!" he thought.  He didn't feel any pain, and he didn't see or
smell any burning.  After another moment or two he put the rest of his
hand into the sun.  The same- nothing.  Mulder cautiously stepped out
into the afternoon sun.

 

Mulder supposed that if he had not been able to stand out in the sun for
several hundred years, this would be exciting and amazing.  As it was,
it felt… normal.  He was somewhat interested in the fact that he wasn't
feeling the cold, but other than that, this seemed like any other day.
"Walking out to my car in the daylight is probably the most normal thing
I have done this whole crazy week!" he thought as he unlocked the car
and got in.  He tried to imagine whether Nick would be pleased or upset
by this latest turn of events.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Corbeau


 


3:00 p.m. Saturday

 

MacLeod had gone out for a bite, and was now performing his Kata on the
dance floor in Janette's club.  He had managed to sleep almost until
noon.  "It's going to take a while to grow accustomed to the night
shift," he thought as he woke up next to his new lover.

 

He had joined her in the club just as it had closed the previous night-
after sleeping off the aftereffects of fantastic, though terminal, sex.
Janette had thoughtfully provided several more bottles of water and an
enormous deli sandwich to appease his, by then ravenous appetite.
Afterward, they had again walked the late-night streets of downtown
Buffalo, this time reminiscing without pretense of mortality.  That is,
when they took a break from kissing one another.  MacLeod still could
not have described the downtown area if asked- his attention had been
focused entirely on her.

 

As they approached the club, they both chuckled and Mac asked if there
were any stray heartbeats of which to be wary.  She made a show of
listening closely before answering that there weren't.

 

Their lovemaking this morning had been slow and sweet, as each tried to
demonstrate the aching tenderness that they felt for the other.  MacLeod
marveled at the sweetness of his new lover.  She was more than twice his
age but, far from being jaded, she was as delightfully responsive to his
touch as a virgin being treated to her first sexual encounter.  At the
same time, she was able to do things to him that he had never
encountered before!  That trick with the prostate last night was almost
enough to throw him off-balance during the movements of his morning
exercises. "Well, afternoon exercises today," he thought.

 

Mac was marveling at his rare good fortune- having a person like this
drop into his life out of nowhere- when he was struck by an awful
thought.  It was so terrible that it did throw him off balance, and he
fell to the floor during a high snapping-roundhouse kick.

 

"I am going to owe Methos for this," he whispered as he sat on the
floor.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Janette woke to the sound of the shower being started.  She pouted for a
moment that Mac was not laying by her side in bed, but quickly decided
that a shower would make a most excellent excuse for rubbing down his
entire body- not that she really needed an excuse.

 

She made sure to make a little noise as she opened the door, so not to
incite any violent behavior, and then pressed herself up against him.

 

MacLeod smiled as he heard what was, at that moment, one of the sexiest
sentences in the English language- "I have an enormous water heater."

 

===== 
Chapter 16b


 


Vachon's Church


 


3:45 p.m. Saturday

 

Vachon had managed to wake up before Tracy for once.  He lay propped up
on one elbow while he considered his newest Childé.  He hadn't made that
many of them in his time- most of them on a whim anyway.  Only Ursula
remained, that he knew of, and she had nearly been lost to Divia's
assault.  

 

Sad Urs, who still spent most of her time moody and brooding- she had
wanted him to kill her and instead he had brought her across- because
she was too beautiful to allow death to take.  She had never really
forgiven him for it, though she had gotten better since Divia.  Once
again she had had to choose life over death - even fight for it this
time.  "Perhaps that reminded her that life is something precious-
something worth enjoying," he thought.

 

This one, however, was nothing like Urs.  Tracy was vibrant and alive.
She practically hummed with vitality and energy, even before she came
across- joining him in the eternal night.  She had not lost any vivacity
or exuberance, but had gained a depth of passion and fire that had not
been obvious in the mortal Tracy.  The way she had dispatched those two
last night had impressed him.  Not that he wanted her to turn into some
murdering fiend, but he didn't share her partner's opinion that killing
was inherently wrong, either.  "If one can hunt, and do mortal society a
favor at the same time, why not?" he thought.

 

Her sexual appetite was also noteworthy, of course.  She amazed him with
her depth of desire for him.  She really couldn't seem to get enough of
him- a fact that he would, no doubt, celebrate until the stars fell from
the heavens.  With that in mind, Vachon decided that it was time for
Tracy to wake up to the same glorious feeling she had treated him with
since her transformation.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Tracy woke to the most delightful sensation.  She looked down the length
of her body to find Vachon looking back at her from between her thighs.
Suddenly he slid three fingers into her and moved his tongue up to her
clit, lightly flicking at it with barely enough force to be felt.  He
rapidly slid his fingers in and out while teasing her clit, backing away
as she tried to press her pelvis up into his face.

 

Vachon's smile got wider as Tracy struggled for more friction.  When he
judged that she was just about to go insane, he utilized the vampire's
innate quickness to rise up and plunge himself into her without missing
a stroke.  He pressed his lips against her open mouth and impaled his
tongue on her fangs, giving her enough blood to incite her first orgasm
of the morning.

 

"I love you Javier," Tracy cried out both mentally and verbally as
Vachon began pumping furiously into her.

 

Vachon pierced one of Tracy's sensitive lobes and then whispered, "I
will love you forever, Tracy!"

 

The sting of the bite on her ear was enough for Tracy to reach the peak
once again and she drove her fangs into his shoulder, feeling him
quickly follow suit.

 

Thus they woke up in the same manner as they had fallen asleep- buried
deeply into each other, bodies wracked by orgasm.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Following another romp in the shower, Vachon was sitting with his back
in the corner of his couch, Tracy in his lap.  They were enjoying a
glass of bloodwine and basking in the warm glow of feeling they had for
each other.  Vachon suddenly asked, "Tracy, what do you want to do about
your apartment?"

 

"What do you mean?" she asked with a hint of confusion to her voice.

 

"Well, I didn't know if you would want to keep it for appearance's sake,
or move out entirely," he answered.  "It would be more convenient for
you to have your things here, but I don't know if it would have any
effect on your job if they knew you…" Vachon trailed off as he noticed
Tracy stiffening in his arms.  "What?"

 

"I'm moving in here?" she asked with an annoyed tone to her voice.

 

Vachon almost said out loud what he was thinking; which was, "Of course
you are!" but he caught himself just in time.  He knew that Tracy loved
him and didn't want to be apart from him, but he also remembered that
'modern woman' thing.  As in 'modern *independent* woman.'  It wasn't
that he wanted her in his home; it was that he didn't ask her first.
"Boy, I almost stepped on a mine there!" Vachon thought.  "I guess
watching soap operas has some redeeming value after all."

 

"I love you Tracy.  More than I have ever loved anyone in five
centuries.  I don't want to live apart from you, but I would understand
it if you need to keep your apartment.  That's what I was asking; do you
want to move in here?" Vachon asked.

 

Tracy wasn't entirely fooled, but she was mollified.  "Nice save,
Javier," she said before melting back against him.  "Of course I want to
live with you.  I couldn't imagine going back to a regular alarm clock,"
she teased, wiggling her butt in his lap.  "As for the apartment, I will
give 30 day notice tonight.  We can discuss moving things later."

 

"And your job?  Your co-workers? Your father?" he asked softly.

 

Tracy finished off her drink and set the glass down.  She hugged his
arms around her, loving the feel of his skin against hers.  "It won't
hurt my job, and my coworkers won't do anything more than gossip behind
my back, and that's normal," she answered.  "As for my bastard of a
father- I meant what I told you; you are my master now.  I couldn't care
less what he thinks of me.  He is dead to me from today on.  The only
relationship I have with him is the detective/commissioner one.

 

They lapsed back into a comfortable silence for a minute before Vachon
again spoke.  He was thinking of the relationship pitfall he had skirted
moments ago, "Querida, I don't want any misunderstandings between us- I
haven't been in a real relationship in a long time, and things were very
different then."  He nuzzled her neck before continuing, "I will
probably say something along the line that will be insensitive or rude
or violates some sort of expectation you might have.  If you will
promise to just tell me when I do, I will try to understand why it
upsets you and fix it."  He turned her in his lap so he could see her
eyes, "I don't want us to fight over misunderstandings.  That being
said, we need to discuss a little of the rules of the community."

 

Tracy was very happy to hear the first part- she didn't want
misunderstandings either- felt a slight sense of trepidation at the
second part.  "What rules?" she asked.

 

Vachon smiled reassuringly at his lover, "They aren't really rules-
nothing in writing.  They are more like expectations- but very stringent
ones.  There are times when failing to meet expectations can be a
terminal mistake," he said gravely.

 

She could feel the undercurrent of seriousness to his speech and paid
full attention to what he was saying.

 

"In the community's eyes, you are my childé:  A fledgling vampire, and I
am your master.  In their eyes, you are my property, my slave."  Seeing
the little bit of hurt in her eyes, he plowed ahead before she could
speak, "I love you.  I respect you.  I always will.  I would never treat
you like a slave, like a possession."

 

Tracy just knew that there was a 'but' about to be revealed.

 

"When we are in groups of the community, like the Raven, or the upcoming
gathering at the equinox this spring, everything you do will reflect on
me, as your master," he said.

 

"Ok, what's the part I don't want to hear?" she asked, knowing that he
was holding back.

 

"A fledgling is expected to obey his or her master without question," he
answered.  "It shouldn't be a problem, Trace.  I only bring it up so
that you know about it ahead of time.  If you disagree with something I
say or do when we are among the community, you just have to wait until
we are alone to say anything.  That's all- I don't expect you to blindly
agree with everything I have to say or do, just don't question me in
public- for both our sakes."

 

Tracy didn't like the thought of expected obedience- it reminded her of
her mortal father, and anything that reminded her of him was a bad
thing.  "What do you mean, for both our sakes?" she asked.

 

"I mean that I would be expected to punish any impertinence you display,
and I have no intention of doing that," he said firmly.

 

Tracy could see the resolve in his eyes, and the barest hint of
apprehension.  She stroked his jaw line with her fingers and asked, "And
what happens if you don't?" She sensed that there was more to the story.

 

Vachon sighed, he didn't really want to tell her, because she might see
it as emotional blackmail.  However, he also didn't want to fight about
it or have her be hurt if it should ever come to pass.  "At best, I
would lose face in the community."  Seeing her unwillingness to let it
go, he added, "At worst- depending on who the elder or group was- they
might kill us both; you for overstepping your bounds, and me for
refusing to correct you."

 

Tracy wanted to say, "Are you kidding?" but she could feel the solemnity
of his words through their link.  She sat in silence for a moment,
absorbing the magnitude of the situation.  It would be like being with
her mortal father at a police function.  She didn't like that comparison
at all.

 

Vachon could feel the anger and disapproval rolling off of his childé,
but she didn't say a word.  "Quierda, it won't…" he wanted to reassure
her that this wasn't something he wanted or intended to exercise on her,
but she interrupted.

 

Tracy gently covered his lips with two fingers, "Shhh, Vachon."  She was
still pondering the comparison with her mortal father, and how much she
hated being with him.  He wanted to show her off like a trophy, or a
trained animal- be seen but not heard, unless it was to expound upon
*his* greatness.  She was almost going to say something about it until
she made eye contact.

 

Vachon looked into the eyes of his childé with love and devotion.  He
sent waves of reassurance and adoration through their bloodlink.

 

Tracy realized the fundamental difference in the two situations.  The
form was the same, kowtowing to the supposedly superior male in public,
in order to enhance his position and stature.  But the object of this
magnification- there was no comparison.  In private, her mortal father
had no love for her, no desire to spend time with her and never
supported her efforts.  No matter what she did to please him; no matter
what she did to gain his acceptance and approval, he rejected her.

 

And then, there was Javier Vachon.

 

He loved her enough to want her to be intimately connected to him
forever.  Not because of her efforts, but rather, in spite of her
failings and weaknesses.  He trusted her with a secret that placed both
their lives at risk, and never withheld his approval.  Everything she
did for him was met with acceptance and love.  Her efforts to please him
were always rewarded in the most wonderful way.  He was beautiful and
desirable and could have had almost anyone- but he chose her.  He was
patient and willing to wait until she was ready- reassuring her against
her fears and self-doubt.  He was perfect.

 

"Javier, will you promise me something?" she asked.

 

Vachon knew he would promise her anything, even if it meant endangering
them both.  That didn't keep him from being afraid, though.  Afraid of
the consequences should she act in less than a subservient manner when
required.  He just nodded his head.

 

Tracy gently grasped his face in her hands, staring deep into his eyes
she said, "Promise me that you will do whatever it takes, even if it
means to beat me or bleed me, to keep us safe and alive."  At his look
of astonishment and protest she quickly added, "I can recover from
wounds and beatings, Javier.  I could never recover from loosing you."

 

Vachon could see and feel that she meant it.  He felt his love surge at
the self-sacrifice Tracy was willing to undergo for him.  For them both.

 

Tracy was startled as the world pitched and swayed around her when
Vachon swept her up into his arms and carried her upstairs to their
bedroom.

 

Screams of ecstasy could be heard for nearly a block in every direction
for the next two hours.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Corbeau


 


5:00 p.m. Saturday

 

"Janette?" MacLeod asked as he gently dried her delicious backside.
Their shower had lasted over an hour, during which he had her screaming
his name no less than five times.  Of course, his own immortal healing
was all that kept him from being hoarse for the next month.

 

"Again?  Duncan, you are insatiable," she teased.

 

He didn't even blush, he just smiled and gave her a light spank on the
smooth creamy flesh before him.  "Later, vixen."  He softly kissed the
pale cheek he had struck and then stood up, pulling her freshly washed
and dried body against his own.  He took a moment to smell her wonderful
hair, a warm tremor running down his body from hairline to toes at the
scent.

 

Janette pressed herself back against him, desiring maximum skin contact,
as she hugged his arms around her, just below her breasts.  She took an
unnecessary breath, just to feel those arms tighten against her
expanding ribcage.  "How I love him!" she thought.  "That this simple
touching could make my legs weak."

 

"Janette, I have to go back to Toronto tomorrow night," he said.
Feeling her tense ever so slightly, he reassured her, "Not for long,
love.  But I promised Agent Mulder that I would begin his training and
arrange for a permanent teacher if I decided not to take it on myself."

 

"Why?" she asked, genuinely curious.  "You just met him, didn't you?
Why would you make such a commitment?"

 

"It's who I am, Janette," he said as he gently kissed her neck.  "I
always try to help new immortals when I find them.  If they want my
help.  I couldn't face knowing that they had lost their heads so young,
if I could have helped them."

 

"My hero," Janette teased.  "What if they don't want your help?" she
asked.

 

"I can no force them, Janette.  I can only do what I can," he answered.

 

"My practical hero… I don't think I can let you go for that long," she
said wistfully.

 

MacLeod nuzzled Janette's head, savoring the feel of her soft tresses
against his freshly shaved cheek.  He ignored the nagging voice in the
back of his mind telling him that this wasn't real- that she couldn't
love him; he couldn't really love her.  That voice was getting quieter
every time she drank from him.  In those moments he could feel her
feelings and think her thoughts, and she his.  As unreasonable as it
might sound to anyone to whom he might describe it, he was in love with
this woman, and she felt exactly the same way.

 

Janette wondered at the pause after her comment and was about to break
the silence when she heard his faint, unsure whisper, "Janette?  Would
you come with me?"

 

MacLeod knew she had some issues with her 'family' in Toronto, and he
didn't want to push her to do anything she felt uncomfortable doing, but
he did want her with him, if she were willing.

 

She turned in his arms, deliberately dragging her luscious curves
against him.  She looked up at him, ignoring the stirring member she
felt beginning to harden against her as she moved her body across it.
She gazed into his eyes as though she were examining his soul.

 

"I understand if you don't Janette.  You don't have to on my account if
you don't want to…" he began.

 

"Don't I?" Janette asked in a peculiar voice.

 

"Of course not…" MacLeod hastened to explain before she silenced him
with a finger on his lips.

 

"Yes."  At his raised eyebrow she elucidated, "Where ever you go, I
shall be with you."  Smiling at the look of love in his eyes, she
appended, "For as long as you will have me."

 

"For as long as I live," MacLeod answered.  "Forever if we can both live
that long."  Smiling, he bent down to seal his promise with a kiss that
was tender and adoring.

 

After long moments he broke the kiss.  "I was going to fly back early
tomorrow afternoon, but I will call and get us a flight after sundown,"
he said.

 

Janette smiled, "If it were warmer, I would fly us across myself."  At
his incredulous look she said, "I wouldn't want you to get frostbitten,
even if it would heal quickly.  As it is, I will accompany you on a
lesser form of flight."  She smiled sweetly and mentioned, "That leaves
us almost 24 hours to kill.  What ever shall we do?" she asked coyly.

 

Mac smiled at the pretended artlessness of his lover.  "First, I'm going
to call the airline.  Second, I'm going to call Methos and arrange us a
ride from the airport."  Answering her exaggerated pout, he said in all
seriousness, "Third, I am going to lay you down in that bed over there
and not let you out for the next twelve hours."

 

Feeling a delicious shiver run up and down her spine, and a low,
rumbling warmth in her neither regions, Janette virtually ran to get him
a phone to use.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Wikkid P's Bar and Grill


 


4:00 p.m.

 

The sunlight hadn't hurt him at all.  He drove around for a little while
until he found a restaurant that struck his fancy.  The smell as he
entered assured him that he had chosen well.  He hadn't eaten, other
than blood, for a couple of days and Mulder quickly discovered that he
still enjoyed 'real' food.  He had chowed down a nice thick steak, a
basket of fries and was finishing his second glass of Newcastle brown,
fighting down a very momentary pang of sorrow at the thought of not
being able to share the restaurant experience with Scully anymore, when
he felt it.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Phineas Froag had been walking down the street, thinking about getting
out of this town.  He hadn't encountered another immortal since that
weird guy on the roof the other night.  The one with the quickening that
felt unlike any other he had ever encountered before.  It was weak, and
he didn't really feel it was entirely worth his time.  However, he felt
his honor was at stake now- weird guy had managed to escape him,
shooting him right off of the roof.  "Plus he made me lose my sword!" he
thought angrily.

 

Froag had retraced his steps, hanging out in that area hoping to see
weird guy again, but was almost ready to give it up.  His patience was
limited in the best of times, and this was not one of those times.  He
had managed to acquire another sword, at outrageous cost, and wasn't
entirely happy with it.  He had been using the other one for so long
that it felt like an extension of his own arm, rather than a tool.  If
it wasn't for the hope of finding this guy and getting his sword back-
not to mention killing the weird guy- he would have left already.

 

While these thoughts of anger and vengeance played out in his mind,
Froag suddenly felt the power of another quickening wash over him.
Unlike last time, this was a 'normal' quickening.  Not the most powerful
he had ever felt, "Must be pretty young," he thought.  With a grin on
his face he decided that this would help combat his boredom.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder watched the entrance to the restaurant cautiously.  He wondered
if he were about to see Methos or MacLeod walk through the door, or if
it would be someone new.

 

The black hair and beard framing the sun-browned face brought a quick
flashback to that night on the apartment roof.

 

<"It might be small, but I'll take it!">

 

Now he knew what 'IT' was, and why it was small then.  He also thought
that Froag would undoubtedly want to finish what he started the other
night.  Mulder wondered at the lack of fear he felt- he wasn't certain
what to do, but he didn't feel any trepidation.  He was sure that he
could escape- after all Froag couldn't fly, could he?

 

Mulder formed a plan of action in his mind as Froag walked straight
towards him.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Froag couldn't believe his luck.  Sitting there in the sparsely
populated dining room was that weird guy that he had been looking for
all week!  He was going to get a quickening, get his sword back, and
kill that weird guy; all at the same time.  "Then I can get the hell out
of Canada!" he thought.

 

He smiled as the weird guy made eye contact and stood up.  He watched
the guy pull some money out of his wallet and throw it on the table,
then turn and walk toward the back of the restaurant.

 

"This is going to be easier that I thought!" Froag snickered to himself.
He watched as the guy went through a door and out into the alley.  The
door swung shut behind him and Froag fully expected that the guy would
try to ambush him as soon as he went through the door.  After all,
that's what he would have done himself.

 

Froag shot through the door and rolled on the ground, somersaulting to
his feet, sword out and swinging at… Nothing.

 

"What the hell?" he shouted.  He could feel the guy, but he was nowhere
to be seen.  "He couldn't have run very far, I still feel him," Froag
thought.  He ran around to where the dumpsters were- the only hiding
place for twenty meters in either direction.  Again, nothing.  The light
was dimming as the sun fell behind the horizon, but even in twilight
Froag could see well enough to be sure that the guy wasn't in the alley.
He finally looked up at the buildings on either side, the restaurant
roof was three stories up and no fire escape, the building across the
alley had a fire escape, but it was retracted- if the guy had used it,
it would have been down.

 

He shouted his frustration, "I will find you!"

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder knew that he shouldn't be laughing.  But, it was almost
impossible not to, seeing this immortal throwing a tantrum like a
two-year old child.

 

He had taken advantage of his new skills and leapt for the sky the
moment the door closed behind him.  He had reached the roof of the
building across the street and turned to look back down just in time to
see Froag coming up out of a tumble and strike a blow at the air behind
him, no doubt assuming that Mulder would be there to hit.  Mulder didn't
doubt that he could probably take this guy, what with his new-found
speed and strength, but had decided to do a favor for Adam instead.
"Might as well try to make nice with the other immortals," he thought.
Besides, he could understand that Adam wanted to take his friend's
quickening back from this jagoff for himself.

 

After several minutes of waiting, listening to Froag grumble and curse,
and watching him pace up and down the alley, Mulder began to see a flaw
in his plan.  He couldn't very well follow him back to wherever he was
staying, if he wouldn't leave the alley.  It appeared that Froag was
going to stay as long as he could feel that Mulder was still there.

 

The solution to Mulder's dilemma occurred to him when he began to feel
the hunger-pangs.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's loft


 


4:45 p.m.

 

Scully woke to find herself alone in bed, and hungry of course.  She
quickly made her way to the kitchen to take care of the second problem
before focusing on addressing the first.

 

[Where are you Mulder?] she asked as she saw the scene before him.

 

[I was enjoying a nice lunch when I was rudely interrupted,] he answered
her.

 

Scully asked, [Is that Froag?]

 

[Yep.]

 

Scully thought for a moment and then asked, [Mulder, why are you
watching him walk up and down an alley raving, instead of laying in bed
next to me as I woke up?]

 

Mulder laughed at the question, [I thought we might find out where this
guy lives and tell Adam Pierson where to find him.  But, he won't leave
the alley as long as he can feel me in the area.]

 

Scully interrupted, [So you thought I could follow him?]

 

Mulder smiled [See, I knew you were psychic, Scully,] he teased.

 

[Mulder, why don't you just tell him to meet you somewhere later
tonight, and we can send Adam in your place?] Scully thought to him in a
slightly exasperated tone.  [I want you here.  Now!]

 

Mulder could feel the rising heat in Scully's thoughts.  He could feel
her arousal.  [Great idea Scully!] he thought.

 

Mulder looked around to see if anyone else could see him, then quickly
flew over the restaurant, landing behind some trees so the people in the
parking lot wouldn't see him.  He ran over to his car and got in.  He
quickly scribbled a note on the pad in the car and then drove around the
restaurant to the alley opening.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Froag was furious; he felt the weird guy's quickening fade away for a
minute and was walking to the end of the alley when he felt it return.
He looked up and saw the guy in a tan Ford Taurus stop at the mouth of
the alley, rolling down his window.  He heard the guy yell, 'Sorry pal,
got a hot date, how about a rain check!' and then he threw a balled up
piece of paper out the window before taking off.

 

Froag ran towards the street, hoping to get a look at the license plate,
but by the time he got there the car was shooting around the next corner
and was gone.  He shouted his frustration and spun on his heel, striding
back to the ball of paper on the ground.  He read it and then shoved it
in his pocket.  "Tomorrow you die!" he growled and then strode away.

 

===== 
Chapter 17a


 


Nick's Loft

 

6pm Saturday December 16th

 

By the time Mulder had returned, Scully was feeling very out of sorts.
Mulder had been picking up on that feeling during his drive back and
ended up nearly hitting the garage door as he slid to a stop outside the
loft.  He jumped out of his car and practically ran into the elevator.

 

Nick and Natalie were watching Scully with some concern.  Ever since
they had gotten up that evening and come down stairs, she had been
pacing back and forth in front of the door to the elevator.

 

"Dana, what's wrong?" Natalie asked the pacing redhead.

 

Scully looked up, surprised, at the question, "Nothing's wrong, Nat.
Why do you ask?" she said with confusion in her voice.

 

Her pacing continued unchecked.

 

Nick and Nat shared a glance, the shared question resonating across
their link.

 

"Well, I was just concerned that you might actually wear a trench in the
concrete…" Nick said, pointedly glancing at the floor underneath
Scully's pacing feet.

 

"What are you talking…" Scully began, following his gaze to her feet;
which she just realized were furiously pacing back and forth in front of
the elevator door.  She realized that she had been ignoring their
attempts to engage her in conversation for over 30 minutes.  She looked
back up at her master and his mate- her sister- and apologized
sheepishly, "Sorry Nick.  Sorry Nat, I'm just waiting for Mulder to get
here."

 

"Speaking of Mulder, Where is he?" Natalie voiced the question she had
been trying to have Scully answer for the last half-hour.

 

Scully slowly made her way over to the now-grinning pair.  It was almost
as if she could feel her body's resistance to leaving the elevator.  She
had been entirely focused on Mulder, watching his trip through his eyes,
silently urging him to hurry.  She absentmindedly replied to Natalie's
question- her mind wandering back to the front seat of Mulder's car as
he sped back to the loft- "Oh, he went out for breakfast."

 

Nick and Nat both noted Scully's thoughts wandering away again and
shared another look of concern.  Her body was standing right in front of
them, but her mind was obviously with her lover.

 

Just then they heard the sound of car tires screeching to a halt just
outside the loft.  They saw awareness snap back into Scully's gaze.
They watched in amusement as Scully returned to the elevator and begin
pacing even more furiously in front of the door while the elevator
slowly made its way up to the loft.

 

Mulder was feeling even more frantic as he impatiently waited for the
elevator to reach its destination.  He barely had his hand on the door
when it violently slid open and he was flung to the back of the car.
Scully was wrapped around him, her teeth buried in his throat.

 

She had no rational thought- as soon as the car reached the floor of the
loft; she was tearing at the door to get to him.  She barely even saw
him before she was on him.  She didn't know what she was feeling until
she touched him, then the hunger rolled over her, and she knew
instinctively that only his blood would quell the pangs she was feeling.
She felt his teeth tear into her shoulder before their intertwined
bodies hit the back of the elevator car.

 

Neither would later be able to recall which one of them initiated the
flight to the bedroom, or even the flight itself.  All they knew was
that they needed to bury themselves in one another with all due haste.

 

Nick and Nat stood, jaws agape, as the two flashed out of the elevator
car, fangs still locked into each other's flesh, bits of fabric falling
away from the flying couple as they tore each others clothes off in an
effort to get skin on skin.  The lust they felt through the
master-childé link, combined with the pheromones saturating the air, was
too much for them to take, and Natalie quickly pounced on Nick, tearing
at his clothing and latching onto his shoulder, as he was quicker and
already had his teeth sunk into her throat.

 

Had there been anyone left to witness it, a second mass of
fabric-flinging, snarling vampire flesh would have been seen flying up
into one of the bedrooms.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Tracy Vetter's Apartment


 


7pm Saturday

 

Tracy had wanted to get some of her things to move to the church
immediately, as well as to give notice to her landlord.  Vachon went to
get a few cases of 'provisions' and said he would meet her at her
apartment in a couple of hours or less.  She had to drive, so that she
would have someplace to put things, and so it was that she saw her
father's jaguar parked in the lot outside her building.

 

"This had to happen sooner or later," she thought to herself with a
sigh.  "I was just hoping for later."

 

She noticed with some annoyance that his car was empty, meaning that he
had obviously decided to let himself into her apartment to wait for her.
He would no doubt be angry and just waiting to attack her the moment she
walked through the door.  She decided to speak to her landlord first, so
that she could spend as little time in his presence as possible

 

A week ago she would have been afraid of facing his anger.  Now she was
only afraid that she would give in to the desire to kill him.

 

Commissioner Vetter was extremely angry with his daughter.  He had been
waiting at her apartment for hours, waiting for her to get back.  He had
worked his way through most of the bottle of bourbon she kept around for
his infrequent visits, and was fully primed for confrontation when he
finally heard the key in the lock to the front door.

 

"Where the hell have you been?!" he roared as soon as she walked in the
door.  "Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for you?  Why
haven't you returned my calls?" he began his tirade.  He anticipated
seeing guilty embarrassment on her face, to hear some pathetic excuse
come forth and was prepared to cut her off mid sentence.  What he got
was so far outside of his expectations that he was rendered temporarily
mute.

 

All he saw was annoyance.  All he heard was, "None of your business; No;
and I didn't want to speak to you."

 

Tracy was secretly amused by the response she got from him.  He looked
like a fish out of water, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound
emerging.  She faced him fully, hands on hips, and wearily asked, "What
do you want?"

 

When he didn't respond, she continued into the apartment, walking toward
her bedroom to pack.

 

He followed her into the bedroom and watched her begin packing her
clothes and other personal items into several boxes.  "What the hell are
you doing?" he demanded.

 

Tracy almost laughed in his face.  "I can't believe I used to fear this
man," she thought.  Out loud she answered, "Packing.  I'm moving out."

 

"Where?  What the hell is going on?" he shouted, flustered and confused,
and enraged.

 

He really was a tiresome little man, she observed.  "That also is none
of your business," she answered.  "Now, if you will excuse me…" she said
as she walked past him with two boxes stacked in her arms.

 

He had never been this angry before in his life.  He reached out and
grabbed her arm, meaning to spill the boxes from her hands and spin her
to face him.  He might as well have grabbed onto a passing truck.  Her
momentum was slowed not one bit, and he was yanked forward, face first
onto the floor.  Tracy continued unchecked and set the boxes down on the
floor by the door.  She unhurriedly returned to the bedroom where her
pathetic excuse for a father was just getting up off of the floor.

 

Tracy looked directly into his eyes and said, "Don't ever touch me
again."

 

He felt a chill of fear run up his spine at the tone of her voice and
the coldness in her eyes.  He made one last half-hearted attempt to
intimidate her.  "I am your father, Tracy!  You will…" he began.

 

Tracy cut him off, "Except for sperm donor, there is not one positive
definition of 'father' to which you can lay claim."  She continued in
the same menacing tone, "If you feel the need to communicate with me in
the future, I suggest you go through the chain of command,
commissioner."  As an afterthought she added, "Oh, leave the door key on
the counter on your way out.  The landlord will be wanting it back when
I move."  She then turned her back on him and began loading some more
boxes.

 

Stunned at her dismissal, He silently turned and left the apartment,
slapping the key down loudly on the counter and slamming the door as he
exited.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


7pm Saturday

 

It was a very sheepish Mulder and Scully that made their way down the
stairs to where Nick and Natalie were waiting- their faces a combination
of curiosity, concern, and smirking.

 

"And just what was *that* all about?" Nick asked his daughter.

 

Scully looked to the kitchen, where Natalie was unceremoniously downing
a bottle of blood; Nick was at least using a glass, but he too appeared
to have consumed most of a bottle.  She glanced at Mulder and thought,
[you're not helping, here!] as she saw that he was barely suppressing a
leer.

 

[Sorry, Scully.  But, it's a good question!] he replied silently.  [Mind
you, I'm all for a good ravishing, but I've never seriously considered
doing it in front of our friends.]  Now the leer was no longer hidden.

 

Nick watched this interplay for a moment before asserting a little
authority, "Daughter, I asked you a question!" he said both aloud and
through the link to Scully.

 

"I don't know, Nick!" Scully almost whined.  "I… I've never…  I don't
know!  When I woke up and he wasn't there, I felt… I don't know, antsy I
guess," she said with a sigh.  "We usually… well you know.  When we
first wake up, I mean," she said, embarrassed to be discussing this
topic.

 

Nick smiled at his childé's discomfiture.  "Dana, vampires are very
sensual creatures.  When they live as a pair, it is entirely normal for
them to have sex at least daily."

 

Everyone chuckled when Natalie muttered, "Thank God!"  Now it was her
turn to be self-conscious, as she hadn't meant to say that out loud.

 

Scully was still concerned, though.  "Yes, but… well it was more than
just desire, Nick," she said quietly.  "The past couple of days, it was
like… I can't come up with a good analogy," she muttered.  Suddenly one
occurred to her, "It was like heartburn- where it feels like your
insides are on fire; and Mulder's blood was like antacid putting out the
flames.  Except, the burning was throughout my whole body."  She looked
up at Nick; his face was showing surprise and concern.  She sighed again
and walked with Mulder over to the couch where he sat in the corner and
she draped herself over him like a cat.  Neither had to consult the
other, they just automatically arranged themselves like that.

 

Nick and Nat traded glances before assuming similar positions in the
chair facing them.  "You were literally experiencing physical pain?"
Natalie asked.

 

"Until this afternoon, it was more like mild discomfort.  I didn't
really pay attention to it- like when you are a little hungry and grab a
snack, or feel an itch and you casually scratch it without investing a
great deal of thought."  She turned to Mulder and stroked his cheek as
she said, "I needed you.  You were there, and I took what I needed."

 

[So I'm just your boy-toy now, Scully?] Mulder thought to her with a
grin.

 

[I was thinking more along the lines of sex-slave, Mulder,] she replied,
smiling broadly and leaning in for a gentle kiss.

 

Nick and Nat shared a look at this blatant PDA and simultaneously
cleared their throats loudly.

 

Mulder smirked at them as Scully pulled away.  "Sorry guys, Scully had
an itch," he joked.

 

Scully lightly slapped him on the chest, saying, "You are evil, Fox
Mulder!"

 

Natalie's medical curiosity was re-awakening and she made an
observation, "Today was different, though?"

 

Scully sighed again and answered, "When I woke up, it felt like it has
been- I didn't really even notice it at that point."  She turned back to
Mulder and continued, "If you had been here, I probably would never have
noticed it.  We would have sated that need and moved on as normal- or
what passes for normal these days, anyway."

 

Natalie prompted her to continue, "But he wasn't there."

 

"Right.  It got worse and worse until I felt like… I don't know-
'yawning chasm of emptiness' seems so trite- but I don't quite know how
else to describe it.  I just know I needed him desperately."  She looked
shamefaced at describing this out loud.  "So, after breakfast, I focused
on him and asked him where he was.  I told him to get back here…"

 

"And when he got here you jumped him," Natalie said with a grin.  "Not
only that, but you were broadcasting so strongly on the lust station
that you inspired me to attack Nick as well."

 

"Sorry about that" Scully said, clearly embarrassed.

 

Nick was a little worried at Scully's description of how she felt, it
reminded him of the way opium addicts described withdrawal symptoms.

 

Scully suddenly remembered where Mulder was, and what he was doing when
she recalled him.  "Oh God, Mulder.  I made you leave him when we could
have had him."  She closed her eyes and ducked her head in shame, "He
was right there, and I told you to let him go."  [I'm so sorry, Mulder.]

 

Before Nick or Nat could ask the obvious question, Mulder jumped in,
"Shh, Scully.  It wasn't just you.  I obviously felt it too, or I would
never have acceded."  He gently stroked her cheek, down to her chin, and
lifter her face to meet his gaze, "We don't know what would have
happened if I hadn't come back.  Besides, I'm sure he'll show up for the
challenge."

 

Nick and Nat both spoke at once, "Who?!"  Nick continued with, "Who did
you let go, Mulder?  What are you talking about?"

 

I was having breakfast when our friend from the other night dropped by,"
Mulder answered.

 

"You saw Froag?  And you let him get away?" Nick nearly shouted.

 

Scully ducked her head again and Mulder answered, "Don't worry, Nick.  I
told him to meet me tomorrow afternoon.  He'll show, I'm sure of it.
That's supposedly the way it is between immortals."

 

Nick wasn't entirely placated.  "And what do you plan to do with him if
he does show up?" he asked.

 

Mulder answered, "Nothing."  At Nick's glare, he continued, "We're going
to pay a visit to our friendly multi-millennial man, and see if he wants
to take care of it.  I think he should have first shot, don't you?"

 

Nick snapped, "Since when does the FBI condone vengeance?!"

 

Mulder was stunned by Nick's outburst, as were Scully and Natalie.

 

"Nick, that's hardly fair…" Natalie began.

 

Nick abruptly stood up, catching Natalie in his arms and setting her
into the chair.  He began pacing, saying, "I know, I know.  Immortals
and Vampires are outside the jurisdiction.  I know it, but I don't like
it.  It's wrong; it makes me feel like a hypocrite.  It's my job to
catch killers and incarcerate them so that the court can mete out
justice as defined by the law!  I hate it when I have to cover up
murders because 'The Community' is above the law.  I know it's
necessary, I just don't like it."

 

"And now you have to do the same for Immortals," Mulder added,
sympathetically.  "Believe me when I tell you that I understand.  I know
Scully does too.  I have lived for nothing more than trying to expose
conspiracies and cover-ups for the last 7 years."

 

"Exposing vampires would only lead to more death and destruction,
Mulder," Natalie said sorrowfully.  "I imagine that the revelation of a
race of immortals would create chaos as well," she added.

 

"I imagine it sounds like a thin rationalization, but I think Nick was
right when he said 'Immortals and Vampires are outside the
jurisdiction," Scully began.  "These people are not going unpunished-
they are being dealt with by the communities to which they belong."

 

"That rationalization might work with your community, Scully," Mulder
began.  "But, it doesn't sound like immortals have enforcers or a
council to 'uphold the code' as it were."

 

"You don't know that, Mulder," Natalie said.  "You should ask Adam; if
he is older than LaCroix, surely he has been around long enough to
know."

 

"Even if there is such a group, it is obvious that they don't stop us
from killing each other- any more than your enforcers stop you from
hunting humans.  They only intervene if you endanger the 'community's'
secret, right?"  At Nick's solemn nod, he continued, "So only the sloppy
ones are dealt with.  It's ok to kill humans, so long as you are neat
and tidy about it."

 

"I don't like it either!" Nick shouted.  "What am I supposed to do about
it?" he said wearily as he sat down on the arm of the chair, next to
Natalie.

 

Mulder hugged Scully tightly to his chest.  Scully answered for him,
feeling his pain through the bond.  "We are all of us killers, Nick."
She turned to Natalie and said, "You will have to kill one day as well,
Natalie.  To protect yourself, Nick, or even to uphold the Code.  If you
live long enough you too will be a killer."

 

Mulder added, "We will try to protect the good guys, catch the bad guys,
and deal with the moral quandary of those in between as best we can,
Nick.  That's all we can do."  Mulder sighed resignedly, "Sometimes we
might even accomplish some good- save some lives, stop some evil; but we
won't always win."

 

Scully caressed her lover's hair and said, "We have been losing the
fight against evil ever since we were partnered together, Mulder."  She
smiled brightly and added, "Frankly, I'm looking forward to winning a
few now.  I almost pity Alex Krycheck the next time we encounter him."

 

Mulder's sour mood evaporated in an instant.  "Oh yeah, not to mention
that black-lunged son-of-a-bitch Spender!" he said with a chuckle and a
gleam in his eye as he pictured the event.

 

Natalie decided to play hostess.  She got up and went to the kitchen,
returning with two bottles and four glasses.  She poured the bloodwine
for everybody and then returned to Nick's lap in the chair, saying, "So
Mulder, tell us about your little adventure today."  She leaned forward
with a big smile on her face and whispered excitedly, "You went out into
the sunlight!  Tell me everything!  How did it feel?  Did you use any of
your new abilities?  How did the daylight affect them?"

 

Her child-like questioning caused Mulder to laugh.  "Alright, Natalie.
I'll tell you all about it.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


7pm Saturday

 

LaCroix was waiting.  It wasn't something he did with much forbearance.
He was accustomed to demanding immediate obedience and attendance.  This
one, however, would not respond well to such treatment.  Johannes was
not as old as himself- nearly five hundred years his junior- but he was
stubborn and hard headed.  If LaCroix wanted any cooperation from him,
he would have to be civil; verging on respectful.

 

He had met Johannes several centuries ago, and had not been particularly
impressed.  A vampire who dedicated his life to historical research and
study was not the type with whom LaCroix tended to socialize.  However,
if anyone in the community knew about immortals, or watchers, he would
be the one.

 

Of course LaCroix had to entice him, somehow, to fly to Toronto from his
home in Luxembourg.  It wasn't that Johannes was unwilling to travel,
but to demand his presence on such short notice, without explaining his
reasons… well, some sort of compensation had to be made.  Money was not
a concern for Johannes; his interests were for things of historical
significance.  LaCroix had had to offer him one of his personal journals
from his campaign in Gaul, as well as a promise to spend a day at his
home in Luxembourg discussing the journal once he had had time to study
it.  The latter was, of course, dependant upon the Vampire Scholar's
ability to assist LaCroix with the information he desired.

 

LaCroix was especially intrigued when Johannes had indicated the time
frame of his campaign in which he was most interested; as it
corresponded almost exactly to his experience with the tribe Mr. Pierson
had led.  Never one to believe in coincidence, his attention was
quickened by the thought that Johannes might be interested in
information about a particular immortal.  If necessary, he could use
that as a wedge to pry an admission of knowledge about immortals.

 

Finally LaCroix felt Miklos approach his office escorting the Historian.
"Show him in, Miklos," he said before the bartender could knock.  He
stood and donned a mask of conviviality.

 

"Johannes, welcome to the Raven.  Please sit," he said, indicating the
chair before the desk.  Turning to dismiss Miklos he said, "Thank you
Miklos, you may return to the club."

 

Johannes took the proffered seat and waited for the door to close before
he said a word.  Accepting the silent offer of bloodwine from his host
he spoke, "Well, LaCroix.  What is it you want to know so badly that you
were willing to part with one of your personal journals to bring me
here?"

 

LaCroix almost smiled.  "Right down to it, very well.  I am interested
in an individual I encountered several days ago.  He was very old for
someone who is able to walk in the daylight," he said, watching closely
for Johannes' reaction.

 

Johannes remained impassive, "Why ask me?  How is it that you think I
might know of this 'old man'?"

 

"You are renowned among the community for your knowledge of the
historically arcane Johannes.  This was not an old man in the sense of
aged, but rather in the sense of… not mortal."

 

"Are you saying he was a vampire that walks in the sun?  There is no
such thing, to my knowledge LaCroix."

 

"He was no vampire.  His heart beat like a mortal, but he recovered from
a fatal assault within seconds.  And, I had met him before.  Long enough
ago that no mortal would have survived it, let alone without aging."
Seeing Johannes wanted to protest, he added, "In addition, my son had
two rather unusual encounters this week with a different individual who
also seemed rather… not mortal."

 

The Historian could tell that LaCroix had more information than he was
giving; that he knew some of the answers already to the questions he was
asking.  He seemed to be more interested in finding out whether he
himself was privy to the knowledge, than in seeking answers to his
questions.  "Unusual in what way?" he asked simply.

 

LaCroix knew that Johannes believed that he was giving away nothing with
his answers, but already he had determined that the Scholar knew of
immortals.  Now he would see if he knew anything about these 'watchers'.
"He also recovered from fatal injury.  Twice before my son's own eyes.
Then there is the beheading and subsequent, shall we say 'shocking'
occurrence."  Oh yes, he definitely knew about immortals.  "Then there
is the group that, *observes* these immortals…" "Ahh, that struck a
nerve, he actually almost flinched," LaCroix thought to himself.
"Observes… and *hunts* them."

 

The moment he bristled, ever so slightly, at that comment, Johannes knew
he was lost.  He knew LaCroix had seen it and interpreted it correctly.
"Fortunately he is not so ungracious as to smile at it," he thought to
himself angrily.  "Well, at least I will get the journal with the Methos
information; though it would be better if I didn't hold him to his
obligation to come to Luxembourg to discuss it with me."

 

Seeing and feeling the self-flagellation, followed by the acquiescent
anticipation, LaCroix knew that he had been correct in his estimation of
Johannes' interest in his journal.  He would leave that revelation for
later, if at all.  "So then, Historian, tell me the history of the
Immortals and the Watchers," he said; shocking his guest with the depth
of his knowledge.  "…And I will tell you about the Hunters."

 

===== 
Chapter 17b


 


Nick's Loft


 


9pm Saturday

 

Mulder hadn't been sure how to present the events of the afternoon- not
because of anything he did, but rather because he was concerned about
Nick.  He was worried that Nick would be jealous or angry because Mulder
seemed to be getting the best of both worlds- all the powers of the
vampire, with none of the weaknesses.  Nevertheless, he detailed the
events of the afternoon.  At one point he almost laughed- realizing that
Nick had paid rapt attention to the recounting of driving in the
daylight, eating a steak and drinking a beer, whereas the ladies didn't
bat an eye at that and only wanted to hear about Froag.  "What a
difference eight centuries makes," he thought.

 

[What do you mean by that?] Scully asked silently.

 

[Nick seemed almost excited about the story until I started talking
about Froag.  Whereas that's when you and Nat got interested,] Mulder
explained.  [Being confronted with violent death from a psychopathic
headhunter is far less out of the ordinary than sunlight, food and beer
when you've been a vampire for the better part of the millennia, I
guess.]

 

Nick was sitting back with his hands steepled before him, index fingers
gently tapping his lower lip.  Natalie was off his lap and standing
behind the chair, her hands absent-mindedly toying with his hair.  Nick
was thinking about how Mulder fit into the community and the code.  He
was not a mortal, but not a vampire either.  Any vampire who saw him
would assume he was mortal, and mortals weren't allowed to know about
vampires.  "What would an enforcer do?" he wondered.  "Do they know
about immortals already?  Why would they keep it a secret?"

 

Mulder and Scully were both startled when Nick asked, "What does Dana
get out of it?"

 

"What do you mean by that?" Scully asked, somewhat sharply.

 

Nick hadn't necessarily meant to verbalize that thought, but he
clarified, "I was just wondering what you get out of this bond with
Mulder."  When he saw her 'are you an idiot?' look he hastened to
explain, "I don't mean personally, Dana.  I was referring to the changes
Mulder is undergoing- all of them positive, so far."

 

Natalie caught Nick's train of thought and continued, "And, you don't
seem to be lacking anything, so we can tentatively rule out a parasitic
effect, but are you changing at all, Dana?"

 

Scully thought about the question for a moment as a large grin stole
across her face.  She began to chuckle softly and then louder.  Mulder
could hear her thoughts as she wondered how her family, acquaintances
and co-workers would answer that question if they could see her now.
Soon Mulder was laughing along with her as she imagined Skinner with
smoke pouring from his ears when he walked in to their office and found
Scully planted in Mulder's lap, whispering sweet nothings in his ear and
nibbling on his throat.

 

Finally she answered the question as Mulder wiped the blood tears from
her face and idly licked them from his fingers.  "Nick, if you knew me
before I came to Toronto, you wouldn't know where to begin listing the
changes I have gone through," she said incredulously.  "No more 'Ice
Queen,' that's for certain."

 

Both Nick and Nat showed identically quizzical eyebrow lifts, causing
Mulder to snicker as Scully clarified, "I'm not especially known for
displaying emotion on the job."

 

[That's not true Scully- you never hid your annoyance, frustration,
exasperation, irritation…] Mulder began when Scully cut him off with a
slap on his chest.

 

"Enough from the peanut gallery!" she said aloud.  Turning back to Nick
she said, "Seriously, Nick there have been so many changes… I have no
idea what changes are because Mulder and I finally admitted our
feelings; or because I finally learned that at least some of the,
heretofore paranormal, is real; or because I became a vampire; let alone
if they are because I am drinking immortal blood."

 

"We will just have to deal with anything as it comes- after all, we
aren't going to stop doing it," Mulder said.

 

Scully growled at the thought, "You've got *that* right!"

 

Natalie was concerned about the feeling of disquiet that she was sensing
in her master.  "What is it, Nick?  You seem more than just curious,"
she said, combing her fingers down through his hair.

 

Nick looked up at his lover and smiled softly at her look of concern.
"Nothing important, at least not yet.  Just thinking aloud."   He
reached up and pulled her hands around to his mouth and kissed each palm
before returning his attention to his other daughter.  Changing the
subject entirely, he asked, "Have you and Mulder made any plans about
your immediate future?"

 

Mulder smiled and said, "Trying to get rid of us already, Nick?" while
nuzzling his lover's face with his cheek.

 

Scully was starting to become slightly distracted by Mulder's
attentions- not enough that she was even aware of it yet, but desire was
once again beginning to build in the back of her mind.  She had missed
Nick's question, but heard Mulder's answer, and caught the gist of it.
"We've pretty much ruled out staying in the FBI- at least in any
full-time capacity," she said.

 

"We thought we might be able to consult on occasion," Mulder added.

 

"We definitely need to go back to Washington to get things settled
before deciding where to go from there," Scully said as she
unconsciously began stroking Mulder's chest; the fragrance of his blood
beginning to register on her senses.  "We'll have to deal with our
resignations…"

 

Mulder continued the line of thought, "…Our apartments and such…"

 

Catching Mulder's gaze, Scully resumed "We'll have to deal with the
boys…"

 

"And your mother," Mulder finished.

 

"God, yes.  That's going to be an interesting conversation!" Scully
commented.

 

Mulder grimaced and said, "I just hope your brother Bill is out to sea,
and not home for the holidays."

 

Scully stopped rubbing his chest and laughed out loud.  "He'll probably
burst a vessel, seeing us together."

 

"No 'probably' about it.  I just hope he doesn't piss you off too much.
I don't think your mother would approve of you draining your brother for
Christmas dinner."

 

Scully stiffened slightly and said in a haughty voice, "I have more self
control than that, Mulder.  Besides he'd probably taste funny."  Scully
paused in surprise, and then commented, "I can't believe I even joked
about that."

 

Nick added, "Just so long as it's a joke, Dana."  He sighed somewhat
dramatically, and then leaned forward in his chair. "I hate to be the
obdurate one here, but I have to remind you that you cannot share your
new status with mortals.  Not even your family.  Especially not your
family.  You would be putting them and yourselves at risk of your
lives."

 

"I know, Nick.  Having the enforcers pay a visit on my mother is the
last thing I want to have happen.  We will find a way to be careful.  If
something slips, I'll just have to make sure she doesn't remember it."
She said resignedly.

 

Nick muttered, "Just hope she isn't a resistor."

 

Natalie decided to lighten the subject, "Will you two be able to come to
our wedding?"

 

Scully and Mulder both recognized the change of subject for what it was
and smiled gratefully at Nat.  "That's two weeks, right?" Scully said.
Turning to Mulder she raised an eyebrow in question.

 

Mulder said, "If we leave Monday, take a week to put affairs in order,
spend Christmas with your mother…  We could be back up here in time for
the wedding."  It's where we go and what we do after that that is still
in question."

 

"Why Monday, Mulder?" Scully asked.  "We could probably catch a plane
tomorrow…"

 

"I still want to meet up with MacLeod tomorrow night," Mulder explained.
We need to decide whether or not I will take him up on his offer."

 

That surprised Natalie.  "Why train?" she asked.  "Surely you don't need
it now…" she began.

 

It was Nick who answered.  "If Mulder wants to hide what he has become
from the watchers, he would do well to train in the 'normal' fighting
styles; using his 'extra abilities' only as a last resort."  Though he
was answering Natalie's question, he was clearly making a strong
recommendation to Mulder as well.

 

"I hear you, Nick.  I think I would want to anyway.  If it is going to
be such a large part of my life, it would behoove me to become more
skilled."  He then smiled widely.  Besides, I studied fencing at Oxford,
and I really enjoyed it.  It should be even more enjoyable now."  Seeing
raised eyebrows all around, Mulder clarified, "I mean the study, not the
application.  Besides, Pierson said MacLeod could take him, and he is at
least two thousand years old.  MacLeod must be really good.  Plus, he
can tell me all about being an immortal."  Looking into Scully's eyes
for any sign of dissension, he continued, "The more I consider it, the
more I think that I should train with him."

 

Natalie asked, "Does that mean you will move to Seattle?"

 

Scully remembered, "He said something about not having lived in Toronto
before…  Maybe he was thinking of moving here?"

 

"If it is only six months or a year, I guess it doesn't really matter
where it is.  That isn't a great length of time even for a mortal.  It
will give us time to plan the next decade or two.  Where we will go, and
what we will do," Mulder said.

 

Nick commented, "Remind me to give you Aristotle's contact information
before you go."  At the look on Mulder's face he elucidated, "No not
*the* Aristotle.  He provides a service to the community.  He arranges
new identities- absolutely ironclad.  Much better than the stuff you see
from government agencies."

 

Scully smiled and changed the subject back to the wedding.  "Will you
really be able to put together a wedding in two weeks?"

 

Natalie laughed, remembering what Nick and LaCroix had both said to her
concerns in that very area.  "When I asked Nick that question he said
that I shouldn't worry about it.  He said, 'Anything is possible when
you say the magic words.'"

 

Mulder looked at Nick, who was avoiding anyone's direct gaze.  "What are
the magic words?"

 

Natalie laughed again when Nick ducked his head in obvious
embarrassment.  "Money is no object," she answered for him.

 

"Ah.  How will you explain that on a detective's salary?" Mulder asked.

 

Natalie's smug grin threatened to split her face wide open as she
whispered in a mock-conspiratorial tone, "He's going to acknowledge
LaCroix as his father.  I can't wait to see the looks on everyone's
faces."

 

"You don't have to sound so gleeful, Nat," Nick groused, crossing his
arms and huffing like a little boy.

 

"And you don't have to be so glum!  The gossip and stares will die away…
eventually," she finished with a snicker.

 

"I can hardly wait," Nick grumbled.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Tracy Vetter's Apartment


 


9pm Saturday

 

When Vachon arrived at Tracy's she was clearly furious.  He had felt the
progression from annoyance to the present state begin almost from the
moment she had gotten to the apartment.  He could tell that she had had
an unpleasant confrontation, but he didn't know with whom.  It hadn't
occurred to him that her father might be waiting for her there.  In
Vachon's mind, a reasonable person would have seen that Tracy wasn't
home, and tried again later, let alone that the person would not only
wait for hours, but then blame the absent person for not being there to
greet unexpected visitors.  He didn't know Richard Vetter well enough to
guess that he would be so entirely unreasonable, despite Tracy's
description.  By the time he got to her door he could feel the barely
restrained violence roiling off of his childé in pulsating waves.  He
broadcast love and reassurance as forcefully as he could before he
walked into the apartment.

 

He was almost startled by her appearance when he walked in the door.
She was fully vamped out and her fingers were flexing like an eagles
talons as it rived the flesh from its prey.  "Trace, what happened?"

 

"He was waiting for me,  like a mugger.  An emotional mugger, waiting to
assault me as soon as I opened the door," she seethed, fingers still
flexing, body vibrating as she restrained herself.

 

"Who, Tracy?"

 

Vachon could hear her teeth grind as she growled out the reply, "That
rat-bastard ex-father of mine."  In spite of the fact that she didn't
need to breathe at all, her breath was coming like a bellows between
each word as she continued, "He… makes… me… so…*ANGRY!*"

 

"Tracy, I…" Vachon started

 

Tracy interrupted as she began to slowly stalk across the room towards
him, "I want to lift his body up over me; tear his head off and bathe in
his blood!"

 

"That wouldn't be a good…" he tried to get a word in edgewise, but she
interrupted again.

 

"Vachon, I need you.  I need you to take me, possess me; ravage me and
remind me that I belong to you alone," she whispered loudly.  "I need
you to pound into me until I am insensate; until there is nothing of him
left in me.  Until you are the only thought in my mind."  Her voice took
on a pleading note, "I need you Javier.  Please?"

 

Through the anger and lust he could sense her desperation.  She needed
to be the center of someone's attention; to be valued and desired and
cherished.  He knew that she wanted him to be rough and domineering, but
he could tell that, in the end, she would need him to finish with
tenderness and compassion.  As he grabbed her by the back of her hair
and dragged her throat to his awaiting fangs, he was already looking
forward to both.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

It was just past 1am as Vachon pulled the exhausted body of his childé
into his arms on the floor in front of the fireplace.  He had done
everything in his power to wear her out.  Every trick and technique he
had learned in five centuries of sexual experimentation had been brought
to bear, and still it had almost been himself that had succumbed first
to the need for respite.  She amazed him with her ability to take
everything he had, everything he did, without missing a beat.  Things he
knew she had never even thought of doing before, and she willingly did
it all.  He had ruthlessly possessed her, using her body in ways she had
never imagined. She gave as good as she got, though.  He had lost count
of the number of times she had brought him to peak, and he had been
careful to make sure she had at least two for every one of his.  Even
with vampiric healing, they were likely to be sore when they woke up.

 

It was during the last bout that she had finally broken, emotionally.
As he had predicted, she needed it rough in the beginning to assuage her
rage; however, it was the loving tenderness and gentle affection of the
final coupling that tore down the walls of bitter resentment and anguish
that her erstwhile father had spent her lifetime constructing.  Her last
orgasm had left her tremulous and sobbing in his arms as almost thirty
years worth of tears were shed in the space of ten minutes.

 

Finally she had cried herself out and was now sleeping in his arms.  He
was exhausted, but sleep eluded him.  He had lived for roughly five
centuries as a vampire, but fewer than three decades as a mortal.  In
all that time, he had never felt anything, good or bad, as deeply as the
emotions his childé had been going through while she cried.  He felt the
deeply bitter resentment and sense of betrayal that she suffered as a
result of her father.  He discovered that before meeting him, Tracy had
defined her existence by the approval of her mortal father.  Approval
that he never fully gave, withholding it as a tool to bend this
intelligent, vivacious young woman to his will.  It took the shedding of
her mortality to break away from the emotional shackles with which he
had bound her.  In the end her father had sentenced her to life
imprisonment- she had to die to be freed.

 

The feelings that were pounding through his veins were more intense and
profoundly momentous than he had ever experienced.  His head and heart
were seething with intense and conflicting emotions; heart-rending
compassion for his childé's anguish and stomach-wrenching fury for her
father's abuse.  He was torn between the desire to wrap her in his arms
and never let her go, and the desire to find that man and inflict the
most horrifying demise conceivable upon him.

 

In the end his rage dissipated somewhat, as the sorrow he felt for Tracy
overwhelmed him.  Soon his face was wet with bloodtears as he cried for
the innocent child that had been so viciously abused.  Though Richard
Vetter had never physically harmed his daughter, his mental cruelty had
almost broken her spirit.  Vachon could hardly imagine what Tracy might
have been capable of if she had grown up in a loving and supportive
home.  Selfishly, he was glad that she had not.  He wanted nothing but
the best for her, but he also knew that it was unlikely that he would
ever have met her in the first place under such circumstances, let alone
ended up her sire.  He was so amazingly joyful to have her in his life
that the though of never meeting her in the first place was like a stake
in his chest.  His own past seemed like an insubstantial dream and he
was somewhat discomfited to realize that he had lived for so long with
so little impact on the world or the people in it.  Other than killing a
lot of them, of course.  He had flowed through his existence with no
real purpose or meaning.  Avoiding the responsibility placed on him by
his own sire, fleeing his brother in darkness who wanted him to accept
that responsibility.  His brother, the Inca, who had himself died
upholding their master's charge- to prevent senseless violence and
death.  His shame for his behavior was new to him- do doubt elicited by
his childé's ingrained sense of right and wrong- of duty and
responsibility.

 

Regardless of whatever events in both their lives had occurred to bring
them to this point, he was grateful that they were both here.  Vachon
didn't know how his life was going to change now that he had a
conscience, but he knew that it would.  He laughed when he remembered
that Disney movie where the puppet wanted to become human, and the
powers gave him a guide to show him right and wrong- "something cricket…
Jimmy… Jamie… something like that," he thought.  He knew he would never
call Tracy 'Button' again, but maybe a new Nickname was in order.

 

The last thought on Vachon's mind as he finally succumbed to sleep was,
"Goodnight, Cricket."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


12:30am Sunday

 

Johannes had spoken almost without pause for nearly three hours before
finishing his overview of the history of the watchers, and what was
known of immortals.

 

LaCroix pondered the information silently for several minutes while
Johannes refreshed himself with several glasses of bloodwine.  Finally
he spoke.  "Who else among us knows about this?"

 

Johannes seemed almost taken aback by the question.  "Why, I haven't the
faintest idea, LaCroix.  I have never discussed the subject with anyone
outside of the watchers."

 

"And there are no other vampires among these 'watchers?'" LaCroix asked.
"That seems unlikely, doesn't it?"

 

"I don't know with any certainty; however, I have never seen or heard of
any of us among the watchers," Johannes answered.  "However, vampires in
general aren't particularly avid historians, to my knowledge.  It is not
inconceivable that I am, or was, the only one with this knowledge.  You
have lived longer than I and yet you were ignorant of their existence
until very recently, were you not?"  At LaCroix's acknowledging frown he
pressed on, "Now, LaCroix.  You intimated that the watchers are hunters
of immortals.  I can assure you that that is not the case.  Perhaps you
will explain to me why you have drawn this conclusion."

 

"To your knowledge, watchers have never hunted their charges?" LaCroix
asked.

 

Johannes shook his head and vehemently denied it, "I have been involved
with this group for four centuries, LaCroix.  I have access to every
record they have written- there is not even a hint that this has ever
happened before."

 

LaCroix leaned back in his chair and looked down his nose at the
historian.  "Then this development is either very new, or you and your
'brethren' are blind to the possibility.  I suspect the truth lies
somewhere closer to the latter."

 

He went on to tell him of the events leading to the deaths of the
watchers who had captured Mulder.  He left Mulder's immortality out of
the tale, allowing Johannes to believe that he was merely a mortal toy
of his granddaughter's.  He also left out the age of the immortal that
the watchers were hunting- and the fact that it was the same man
referenced in the journal in which Johannes was so interested.

 

Johannes was shocked.  He wanted to deny that it was possible, but of
course that was shortsighted.  LaCroix would not have dragged him all
the way to Canada just to provide him with false information regarding
the watchers, a group of which he shouldn't even be aware.  "You said
one of them was called Perone?"  At LaCroix's nod he frowned.  "I am not
familiar with that name.  I will have to look into this carefully."  He
stood up abruptly, "If there is nothing else?" he asked, waiting for
LaCroix to give him the journal they had discussed.

 

LaCroix made no expression has he opened the center drawer on his desk
and removed an ancient, leather-bound book.  He handed it over to
Johannes without a word.

 

"I will contact you when I am ready to discuss this," Johannes said,
indicating the journal.

 

"Of course," LaCroix said smoothly, rising from his seat.  "I always
keep my obligations."  Pausing for a moment he added as nonchalantly as
possible, "Perhaps you would inform me of your findings on these
hunters?"  At Johannes' raised eyebrows he explained, "As I now have an
acquaintance among the Immortals."

 

Johannes stiffened, "I must caution you, Immortals are not to know about
the watchers- it would make our task immeasurably difficult if they knew
of us."

 

LaCroix smiled pleasantly, though his eyes more resembled a snake poised
to strike, "I can certainly understand why you would wish to keep such
information in confidence."

 

Johannes, recognizing the precarious nature of the situation he was in,
capitulated without protest, "I will certainly keep you informed of my
findings."  At LaCroix's minute bow, he said, "Then I will bid you good
night, yes?"

 

LaCroix answered in kind and opened the office door for him.  After he
left, LaCroix returned to his chair and sat back, sipping his bloodwine,
as he contemplated the encounter.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


3232 Tableau Ave., Apartment C


 


2:30 a.m. Sunday

 

Methos was walking up the street, back to his apartment after another
fruitless game of 'find Froag.'  "Lousy bugger is not following his
normal pattern," he thought, frustrated.  The watchers still hadn't
found him either and Methos was beginning to get the idea that he must
have left the city.  "Which, again, one wouldn't expect, seeing as how
he had missed out on Mulder's quickening," he thought with annoyance.

 

He was muttering to himself as he walked when he felt it.  He was about
two houses away from his apartment when the quickening impinged upon his
grumbling.  He immediately stopped and did a slow 360-degree turn.  He
then stopped moving and listened- but nothing.  He kept one hand in his
jacket on the hilt of his sword as he resumed walking toward his
temporary home.

 

When he approached the door to unlock it he was surprised when the knob
turned freely.  Now he drew his sword, less concerned with any nosy
neighbors than he was with being unprepared for an attack.  He knew Mac
was still in buffalo, because he had called and asked to be picked up at
the airport tomorrow evening.  It was unlikely that he could be lucky
enough to find Froag waiting for him- he shouldn't even be aware that
Methos was in town.  That left the newly immortal Mulder as the most
likely candidate.  However, Methos had not lived five millennia by
assuming the best.  "Besides, why would Mulder be sitting in my
apartment, in the dark?" he mumbled softly to himself as he opened the
door.

 

Both Mulder and Scully heard the mumbled question and were chagrined to
realize that they had forgotten to turn on the lights, no doubt leading
Mr. Pierson to his somewhat cautious entry.  They had wondered what he
was waiting for, standing outside the door for a length of time.  In an
effort to allay his fears, Mulder softly called out, "It's agents Mulder
and Scully, Mr. Pierson."

 

Methos reached in and turned on the lights, looking about the room to
verify that the two Americans were alone before lowering his sword and
fully entering the apartment.  "Why are you sitting in the dark?" he
asked, still not comfortable with the situation.

 

Mulder gave his best disarming smile.  "We got tired of waiting outside,
so we came in," he said, ignoring the real question.

 

Methos remained where he was just inside the door, still not happy with
finding these two in his place in the dark.  "Yes, but why didn't you
turn on the lights?"

 

Scully chided him, "To see what?  The Mattress?  The Chair?  As
diverting as those were, we covered them pretty quickly."

 

Mulder continued with, "We had to find other things to occupy our time
while we waited."

 

At Methos' somewhat bemused look Scully said, "You're asking the wrong
questions, Mr. Pierson."

 

Mulder was enjoying the tag-team effect and followed up with, "What you
want to know is why we came here at all."  [This is fun, Scully!] he
thought.

 

[You are such a little boy sometimes,] Scully thought back, but she
didn't quit.  "Isn't it?"

 

Now Methos was quite thrown- aggravated with his fruitless search and
the annoying way these two were talking to him, like a bad Gilbert and
Sullivan comedy.  He walked over to the chair and sat in it, elbows on
knees and face buried in his hands he sighed out, "Yes, very well. Why
are you here?" trying to convey his annoyance while sounding like the
soul of longsuffering patience nearing the end of its rope.

 

Mulder smiled and said, "Would you feel better if we told you that we
know where Froag's staying?"  Seeing Pierson perk up he couldn't help
but add, "Unfortunately, we don't."

 

Seeing Pierson's near-homicidal glare, she quashed Mulder's joke.  "We
do, however know where he will be tomorrow evening."

 

Mulder whined, [Spoilsport!]

 

Scully replied, [What are you, five years old?  Just give him the
address.]

 

Mulder pouted a little but rattled off the address to Pierson, adding,
"It used to be an auto parts warehouse.  Now it seems to be abandoned."

 

"Seems to be?" Methos asked.

 

"Well, there were some people using it last week, but they are gone
now." Mulder said, braving Scully's wide-eyed glare.

 

Methos asked, "Are you certain that they…"

 

Scully interrupted. "Quite certain," she said flatly.

 

Methos raised his brows in question, but Scully ignored him.  "Come on,
Mulder.  Lets get out of here, I'm hungry," she said as she dragged him
towards the door.

 

Methos remembered something suddenly and said, "Agent Mulder, could I
impose on you to pick up MacLeod at the airport tomorrow, as it seems I
will be otherwise occupied?"

 

"What time?" he asked.

 

"Their flight is due in at 6pm; Preston Commuter Air flight 63 at Gate
36c" Methos said.

 

Mulder answered, "Sure.  We'll see you at the Raven tomorrow night?"

 

"Yes, I'll be there," he said as they walked out.  "Providing I'm still
alive," he added as he shut the door.

 

===== 
Chapter 18a


 


Terminal 3

 

Lester B Pearson International Airport

 

6:02 p.m.  Sunday December 17th.

 

MacLeod had kept his word; by 7 a.m. they were both so exhausted that
they passed out, their bodies tangled in the sheets, their limbs wrapped
around each other's.

 

As the plane taxied to the gate, MacLeod was reliving the previous night
in his head.  He had marveled at his reaction to her.  He hadn't had
that much sex… well, pretty much ever.  In the short time he had known
Janette, they had loved each other more times than he had done in a
month with any other woman he had ever known.  He had never had
difficulty rising to the occasion before, but with Janette, it seemed
like he was constantly aroused.  A look in her eyes, a soft touch, a
single sultry sentence- that was all it took for him to be ready for the
next bout.  Even more marvelous was the fact that she seemed to feel the
same way.  Her constant delight in his body didn't seem to weaken with
the frequency of their coupling.  He had no doubt that if they had not
succumbed to fatigue, they would have continued all day long.

 

They had stopped for a few moments at a time for Mac to drink and eat,
as he needed to replenish his blood supply frequently.  Neither of them
even considered her not taking his blood- that was the most intense and
intimate part of their union.  For those few moments while she consumed
him, they were joined more completely than mortals, or immortals, could
ever imagine.  To know one another so completely; to feel their deepest
doubts and fears, their greatest joys and delights; to bask in the
warmth of each other's love; it was magnificent.  He had lost count of
the times they had cried at the beauty of this thing between them, it
was second only to the number of times that they had laughed till they
had no breath (figuratively for her).

 

Though they had been fast and furious at times, mostly it was leisurely-
as they explored one another's bodies, learning their secrets.  It
turned out that Janette had the most sensitive legs- from the backsides
of her knees all the way up to the crease at the top of her thighs.
When Mac would caress the backs of her thighs while running his tongue
along the top, just under her glorious cheeks, she would squirm and moan
almost as loudly as if he had been attending directly to her clitoris.

 

Janette had shown Mac his own unexpected erogenous zones- she found that
nibbling on the soft bit of flesh at the crease on the front of his
shoulder, where the arm meets the chest, she could send tingles of
pleasure straight to his groin.  His cock would twitch every time she
nibbled him there.  The insides of his thighs a couple of inches above
his knees were so sensitive that when she bit him there to drink, he
came prematurely.  Any other time, with any other woman, he would have
been mortified.  Instead he and Janette had let fly peals of deep
laughter- both of their bodies shaking with mirth.  Of course the
laughter had ended with a groan when she began to clean the spilled seed
from his lap with her mouth and tongue.

 

MacLeod turned away from his reminiscing and looked at Janette.  He
found that she was staring at him, a small grin on her lips.

 

"Pleasant thoughts my love?" she asked.

 

"Very," he answered.  "I was thinking about how amazing you are, how
unbelievable this thing between us is, and how amazingly much I am in
love with you."

 

Janette's grin softened into a broad smile and she grasped his right
hand in both of hers, bringing it up to her face and nuzzling her cheek
against his palm.  "You are my heart, Duncan.  I love you so much," she
whispered intently.

 

Mac slid his hand along her face and into her hair, gently grasping the
back of her head and drawing her toward him for a slow, languid kiss.  A
kiss that might have turned into something more had the plane not
reached the gate at that moment.

 

As the passengers stood up and began to gather their personal
belongings, MacLeod noticed that Janette seemed hesitant to rise.  Her
bearing when she did rise was just slightly stiff- a noticeable change
from the relaxation she displayed as they kissed.  He imagined that he
knew what the problem was; she was nervous about seeing her family.  He
didn't pretend to understand the full convolution involved in her family
dynamics.  Her brother/master and her father/master/grandfather; not to
mention the new additions that she hadn't even met yet; she had a great
many issues that she needed to resolve- if she could overcome her fear.

 

He kept them standing in front of their seats as the stream of
passengers debarking passed them by.  He drew her into a tender embrace
and softly kissed her lips, never removing his gaze from hers.  Knowing
that the answer was probably 'no,' he whispered, "Is there anything I
can do to help, Janette?"

 

Normally Janette would have been embarrassed by anyone who noticed her
nervousness (or fear, if she were brutally honest with herself) and
pulled away in denial.  This being Duncan, however; her response was to
melt into his arms, warmed by his tender concern- not even for a moment
fearing that he would think poorly of her.  She rested her forehead
against his and gently sighed, "Mon cour, you are sweet for asking, but
there is nothing to be done but to face this and move on.  Knowing that
you are by my side is all that I will need to make it through this
ordeal."

 

"Will it really be so horrible?" he asked gently, stroking her lower
back with his large hands.

 

Janette pulled away from him and collected her purse from the floor in
front of her seat before answering, "Probably not.  Mostly I think, I
did not want to be confronted with his guilty conscience, and self
loathing," she said as she indicated that he should collect their
carry-on from the storage compartment and debark themselves.  "Nicolas
can be so tiresome, with his brooding self-pity, his constant whining
about being damned…" she paused and looked down at her hands, which were
nervously clutching at the straps of her handbag before continuing in a
whisper, "The worst part is that, at the end, when I was with Robert, I
began to believe what Nicolas had been saying for a century.  I thought
we were damned, and as I regained my mortality I thought I had been
saved from that horrible fate."

 

MacLeod simply put his hands on hers, waiting for her to finish.

 

"Then, for him to so callously disregard my request, for him to
selfishly throw away what I had thought of as my salvation because he
couldn't have it!" her whisper had turned into a hiss by this point and
she stopped speaking and took a moment to visibly get hold of herself.

 

MacLeod squeezed her hand gently and asked, "And now?  How do you feel
now?"

 

Janette smiled warmly at him.  "Are you asking if I still believe that
Vampires are damned?  No.  I am grateful to be immortal once again.
What angers me is that he convinced me otherwise…  That he almost made
me give up eternity for a silly notion that immortality was a curse to
be feared, rather than a gift to be savored."  She guided MacLeod out
into the aisle to leave the plane, noticing that everyone else had
already gone.  "I suppose I should be indebted to him for helping me
realize that humans shouldn't be treated like cattle, but I don't think
I needed to give up immortality to learn that lesson.  We don't have to
kill to survive, as I was once taught."

 

MacLeod smiled as he followed her off of the plane.  "Maybe this will be
good for her," he thought.  He felt the quickening of an immortal as
they entered the jet way, but was unconcerned, knowing that Methos was
supposed to be picking them up.  "I think Methos is here," he said.  The
fact that the quickening wasn't as strong as Methos' didn't register
until Janet spoke.

 

"Duncan, there is at least one vampire out there," she said.  She wasn't
terribly concerned; on the one hand, a vampire wouldn't do anything in
such a public place, and on the other, he/she or they didn't feel nearly
as powerful as she knew she was.

 

MacLeod stopped, stilling Janette with a hand on her shoulder.  "Now
that you mention it, that quickening doesn't feel strong enough to be
Methos."

 

Janette lightly gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth, "Could he have
fallen to this Froag person you mentioned?"

 

MacLeod hadn't seriously considered that Methos could loose to Phineas
Froag.  He had never met him, but knew by his reputation that he was an
undisciplined, if vicious, fighter.  He had been training with Methos
ever since he decided to re-enter the game.  He was confident that there
were very few immortals that could defeat Methos; however, he also knew
that in combat anything could, and often did, happen.  "If it is, I will
take care of him," he answered coldly.  Thinking of what she had said,
he asked "Why would he have a vampire with him?"

 

"That would seem to be an odd coincidence," she agreed.  "Perhaps we
should go see?" she asked.  "If necessary, I can handle any interference
from my type," she reassured him.  "They don't feel more than two
hundred years old, if that."

 

"Well then, love of my life, let us indeed go and see for ourselves,"
MacLeod said with a half-bow and a dramatic sweep of his arm.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

"Are you sure this is the right plane, Mulder?" Scully asked as they
watched the line of passengers exiting the plane trickle to nothing.

 

"No.  I'm sure it's the plane Methos said he would be on, but that
doesn't mean that…" he trailed off as he felt the quickening.

 

Scully felt it as well, being intimately tuned in to Mulder's feelings.
She also felt something else.

 

"Is that a vampire?" Mulder asked.

 

"I think so." Scully answered.

 

"Why would MacLeod feel like a vampire?" Mulder asked rhetorically.

 

"We'll have to ask him," Scully answered anyway.

 

Both raised an eyebrow when they saw MacLeod and a lithe, raven-haired
vampire walking out together.  Their body language was very intimate,
even though they weren't actually touching.  There was no doubt that
they were 'together,' they thought.

 

Ironically, that intimate body language was the first thing that Janette
and MacLeod noticed about the duo waiting for them.  MacLeod whispered,
"It's ok, I know those two," as they saw Mulder and Scully standing
outside the gate.

 

Scully reached out to the vampire with her senses and was struck by the
age and power that she bore; much more than her master, but slightly
less than LaCroix.  Strangely, she felt like Nick- the same way Tracy
felt like Vachon.  That didn't make sense; that she could be older than
Nick, yet be his progeny.  Suddenly, she recalled a memory of Nick's and
realized that it must be Janette.  Still, she felt awfully powerful for
someone a thousand years younger than LaCroix- nearly his equal!

 

[That's Janette!] she thought to Mulder.

 

[Who?] he asked, not recognizing the name.

 

[She is Nick's sister… well now she is Nick's childé,] she thought.

 

Mulder was confused.  [He turned his sister?]

 

[Long story, Mulder.  I'll explain later.  I wonder how those two met,]
she wondered.

 

[That's an awfully big coincidence, Scully,] Mulder thought
suspiciously.  Struck by another thought he asked, [How many siblings do
you have, Scully?]

 

Scully spent several seconds culling through the memories she had from
the deep link with Nick before answering, [I think there is another
surviving sister out there, but as I remember, they are estranged.  Of
course, I thought he and Janette were at odds as well, yet here she is.]

 

MacLeod and Janette approached the two FBI agents and Mac wondered to
himself if their appearance was something taught by the Bureau to all of
its agents- they stood nearly motionless, their eyes hidden by
sunglasses, their body language alert but relaxed.  The only movement
they made was for their heads to move slightly toward one another, and
then back toward Janette and himself.  It was almost as if they were
having a conversation without moving their lips.  He found it highly
disconcerting.

 

Janette, for her part, was intrigued by the pair.  She felt the mental
approach by the woman as she exited the jet way, and allowed her own
power to flow forth in answer.  The confusing thing was that Janette
would swear that the woman was childé to Nick, yet she was over a
century old, almost two!  Janette would have instantly known if Nick had
brought anyone across during the previous century when they had shared
blood while she was still living in Toronto.  Nick had never been
skilled at hiding memories during the bloodkiss!

 

Then there was the question of the man by her side- his heart was
beating, but so slowly!  If it weren't for that, she would have thought
he was a fledgling vampire.  Furthermore, he felt like he was the
woman's fledgling.  Had she tried to turn him and he only came across
partially?  Such creatures were always wildly unstable, and had to be
destroyed.  Duncan indicated that he had felt an immortal, was that why
this one felt so strange to her?  Duncan was immortal, but he felt to
her senses exactly like any other human.

 

Duncan said that he knew these two, and he didn't seem concerned.  She
would remain wary, but wouldn't worry about it unless she felt him
change.

 

MacLeod set down his bag and stuck his hand out toward Mulder.  "Agent
Mulder?  What happened to Methos?"

 

Mulder shook his hand and answered, "He had a conflicting engagement.
He said he would meet us at the Raven tonight."

 

MacLeod accepted that for the moment, not wanting to discuss anything of
substance in the public airport concourse.  He offered his hand to
Scully and said, "Agent Scully, this is…"

 

"Janette dúCharme," Scully finished for him.  She decided to offer her
the courtesy due a powerful elder vampire, "It is an honor to meet you,
my sister," she said with a half-bow.  "I am Dana Scully."  [Play along
Mulder! She is an elder, and could kill us both before we even knew what
hit us.  Plus, from what I remember, she was pretty pissed off at Nick
last time she saw him…] she thought to Mulder.

 

[No need for us to bear the brunt of that,] he agreed.  He gave a
half-bow as Scully did and said, "It is an honor to meet you, elder, My
name is Fox Mulder, but everyone calls me Mulder," in what he hoped was
an appropriately respectful tone.

 

Duncan was stunned.  He couldn't think of a single thing to say in
response to the exchange.

 

Janette paused for a moment and then suddenly laughed out loud in
delighted humor.  "Are you sure you are a childé of Nicolas?  I have
never known him to have a polite bone in his body!"

 

Drawing on her memories of Nick and Janette's last encounter, and her
knowledge of Nick's changed outlook on life, "or unlife, as he might
have called it," she thought; she said, "He is not as you remember him,
Janette."

 

She sobered.  "So Duncan tells me," she said as she turned to head
toward the baggage claim, a perplexed MacLeod in tow.

 

[That went well,] Mulder said sarcastically as he and Scully turned to
follow.

 

[Hey, we're not dead!] she answered back with an internal chuckle.

 

[Well, I'm not anyway,] Mulder joked.

 

[Careful, Mister!  Or you will be!] she said as they caught up to
Janette and MacLeod.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Sam and Sullie's Auto Parts


 


6pm Sunday December 17th

 

Methos sat cross-legged on the floor in the center of the largest room
in the building.  He had been waiting for three hours for Froag to show.
Not that Froag was late, but he wanted to be here when he showed up.
Hopefully he wouldn't bolt when he saw it wasn't Mulder waiting for him;
he didn't want to waste time chasing this walking pile of rubbish, he
just wanted to take his head- take back Scott's quickening and get the
hell out of Toronto.  He was well tired of seeing vampires everywhere he
looked.  He wanted to go spend some time someplace sunny- let the
thought of night-stalkers bake out of his system as he lay on the beach,
absorbing the rays.  He knew his attitude towards this situation was
somewhat pusillanimous, but he was having a very difficult time dealing
with this sudden knowledge. That his 5000 years of life could be ended
on a whim by any street punk who was lucky enough to get bitten as a
snack and turned into a vampire.  Not only that they existed, but also
that they had been around as long as he had and he'd been totally
unaware.

 

Methos' musings were interrupted by the feeling of the quickening as
Froag loudly entered the building.

 

Phineas was feeling furious.  "Well, you cowardly bastard, I'm surprised
you actually showed up!  Finally got tired of running?" he shouted as he
entered the building.  He stopped short when he saw the figure sitting
on the floor, a sword across his lap.  "Hey!  You're not the freak I'm
looking for.  Where is that lily-livered sap?  Sent you in his stead,
huh?  You his 'teacher'?  Poor little…"

 

Methos interrupted his rant, "Shut up and fight, or did you plan to wear
me down with your charnel-house breath?"

 

Froag's eyes narrowed and he suddenly charged the seated figure, drawing
his sword from his trench coat.

 

Methos sat, unmoving until he could determine the angle Froag was going
to strike from.  As he swung his sword towards Methos's head, Methos
brought up his sword, deflecting the blow just above his head, and then
rolling forward into a summersault and onto his feet.  He immediately
crouched back down as he sensed Froag's recover and backhand swipe.

 

As the blade whistled above his head, he swept his own sword in a tight
arc around his body and launched a snap cut behind him, calculating that
he would at least partially eviscerate his opponent.  He was surprised
when his sword encountered almost no resistance at all.  When his body
caught up with his swing, bringing him around to face his opponent, he
saw that Froag had been able to pull his abdomen back away from the
strike.  Methos had barely scratched him, drawing blood but leaving him
essentially unhurt.

 

Froag was, however, overextended by his dodge and Methos sought to
capitalize with a quick snapping cut up toward his head.  Froag was able
to block this, barely, and step back to regroup himself.

 

"Damnation! He's quick!" was all Methos had time to think before Froag
again hurled himself toward him with a stabbing lunge.

 

Methos parried the lunge and began to slowly back up as he parried blow
after blow.  He quickly realized that Froag's style- inasmuch as it
could be described as a style- was to utilize his quickness in a
ferocious attack, attempting to overpower or overwhelm his opponent for
a fast kill.  He showed no finesse or skill- just speed and power.
Methos was able to deflect every blow with relative ease, but couldn't
muster a counterattack.  He resigned himself to a defensive role and
waited for him to tire or make a mistake.

 

Froag saw that he wasn't going to be able to break through with brute
force- his favorite method- and so used the one trick he had ever
mastered.

 

Methos parried a series of sweeping criss-crossing slashes bringing
Froag's sword up and over his right shoulder for a strong descending
cross-body hack.  He brought up his sword in both hands to his upper
left to block what he was sure would be a massive strike- presenting his
left shoulder forward, his right arm across his body.  Too late he saw
his mistake as, rather than sweeping out and down, Froag dropped his
hands in front of his stomach and lunged forward, dropping the tip of
his sword into a stabbing blow.

 

Methos was able to keep from taking the strike in the chest by bringing
his right arm further up and taking the strike deep into his right
bicep.

 

Froag saw the wound he had inflicted on his opponent's sword arm and
assumed the battle was over.  Unfortunately for him, Methos didn't even
break stride as he countered- his bicep was out of commission, but he
was able to twist his entire body to the right, bringing his sword
across a horizontal plane toward Froag's head.  The blow wouldn't have
been enough to take his head, but Methos wasn't aiming for a killing
blow.  He sliced across Froag's eyes, blinding him.

 

Froag screamed out in rage and pain, dropping his sword as his hands
came up to his face.  Methos took the time to switch his grip and run
Froag through the abdomen, causing him to drop to his knees and double
over in agony.

 

Before pulling the sword from Froag's gut, Methos harshly whispered in
his ear, "Scott Santeramo was my friend."  He then yanked the sword
free, twisting as he pulled.  Froag would have screamed, but his
diaphragm was shredded.  The last thing he heard was his opponent
shouting the ritual chant, "There can be only one!"

 

Methos swept Froag's head from his shoulders with a single cross-body
swing.  He then had time to gently lay his sword on the warehouse floor
as the quickening began to pour forth from the decapitated corpse that
was Phineas Froag.  Had there been a living observer in the room they
might have heard him whisper, "Welcome back, Scotty," as the energy
snapped into his body, picking him up off of the ground and tossing him
around like a rag doll.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Sheraton Gateway Hotel


 


7:30 p.m. Sunday December 17th

 

Janette and MacLeod had invited Mulder and Scully to join them in their
suite at the Sheraton before leaving for the Raven.  As the hotel was
connected to the terminal, they hadn't even had to go to Mulder and
Scully's car.  They sat in a rather comfortable conversation group,
Mulder and Scully sitting in their customary position on an overstuffed
leather couch, while Janette and MacLeod shared a matching loveseat.
Janette was curled up against Mac, wrapped by his arm, but not actually
in his lap as Scully was with Mulder.

 

MacLeod had gotten the story about Froag, sans Mulder's vampiric
abilities, and was at once glad for, and worried about his friend
Methos.  He imagined that Methos could take Froag with little trouble,
but he was well aware that there are no guarantees in battle.

 

Janette finally began asking the questions that had been bothering her
since she saw the pair in front of her.  "Dana, is Mulder your childé?"

 

"Mulder isn't a vampire, Janette.  He is an immortal, like Duncan." She
answered.

 

Janette just stared at Scully, letting her incredulousness show, and
letting some power slip forth as a subtle reminder of their relative
stations.

 

[Mulder, if she requires me to share with her, she's is going to find
out anyway…] Scully began.

 

[Why not just share then.  Maybe she will keep it quiet that way, if she
understands why we want to…] he responded.

 

[Mulder, I'm pretty sure that what she knows, he knows.  You know?] she
thought.

 

"It's ok with me, Scully."

 

Scully stood up and stood before Janette expectantly.

 

Janette divined Scully's purpose and asked, "Would you like to do this
in private?"

 

Scully shrugged.  "What I know, Mulder knows.  I assume the same is true
for you and Duncan?"

 

Janette smiled and stood, drawing the smaller woman into her arms.

 

Scully bared her throat; as the younger sibling she would play the
submissive part.

 

Janette hadn't shared with a sibling in a long time, and Dana was very
beautiful.  She felt her arousal quicken at the thought of taking this
one and showing her some of the more pleasurable aspects of belonging to
a vampire family.  She hoped Duncan wouldn't be too put off by this, but
he would have to accustom himself to sharing her with her family.  She
licked at Scully's jugular to make it stand out more prominently,
eliciting a shiver of excitement from her just before she struck,
sinking her fangs deep into her younger sister.

 

Scully had to restrain herself from jerking back at the shock of feeling
Janette's warm tongue on her neck.  She was embarrassed by the arousal
she was feeling from this woman, and by the fact that Mulder was feeling
her response.  She sighed as she felt the sting of Janette's fangs in
her throat.  She responded by driving her own into the ivory smoothness
of her neck.

 

Mulder almost embarrassed himself by groaning out loud.  Probably the
most erotic sight he had ever beheld was right in front of him.  Plus,
he could feel everything Scully was feeling, it was almost as if he was
in the bloodkiss along with her.

 

Duncan would have seen Mulder's eyes turn and his fangs drop if he had
been able to tear his eyes away from the vision before him.  He felt
himself stiffening in his slacks and hoped that Janette would forgive
his inherently male response to her behavior.  He thought that this was
probably normal behavior among vampire siblings, and didn't necessarily
have a sexual connotation, but to him it was like watching two beautiful
women kissing and fondling one another.  He didn't know a heterosexual
male who could realistically claim not to be turned on by such a sight.
He hoped he would be able to keep himself from dragging her off to the
bedroom the moment she released Dana.

 

Scully was again overwhelmed by the intensity of sharing with such an
ancient vampire, though she could feel Janette's humor at being
described as ancient.  "One millennium is not ancient, Dana" she heard
Janette think.  Scully saw the events surrounding her meeting Duncan
MacLeod, felt the deep emotion she had for him.  She also flashed back
to Janette's brief stint as a mortal, and the subsequent return to
immortality- age and power intact.  She felt Janette's feelings of
betrayal for the way their master ignored her request, coupled with a
secret relief that he had brought her back across regardless of her
desires.

 

Janette was shocked to see that Dana had indeed only been turned the
previous week.  She felt a pang of sympathy at the events leading up to
her conversion, and understood how it was that Nick came to be her
master.  She saw the changes in Nick and saw that he had brought Natalie
across as well.  She was astounded to see the depth of change in her
brother/master.  She would never have imagined that he would be willing
return to the fold, as it were.  "LaCroix must be so pleased," she
thought.  She was amazed at the depth of the link Dana had with her
lover and partner.  She was also stunned by the changes he had gone
through, while maintaining all of his human abilities.  "You are correct
to worry about the enforcers, Dana.  Mulder's conversion… if that is the
correct term, should be kept hidden if at all possible," she thought to
Dana.  "Duncan will have to know, though," was her last thought to Dana
as she broke the kiss.

 

Scully's head was swimming, and her body was aroused to the point of
pain.  She needed Mulder, and she needed him *right now!*

 

Feeling her sister's need, as well as her own arousal, she whispered,
"You may use that room; gesturing toward the bedroom behind her.  She
then released her hold on Scully and grabbed MacLeod's hand- dragging
him toward the other bedroom.

 

Mulder heard the whisper and lunged forward, tackling Scully into the
loveseat, bowling it over just as MacLeod stood up out of it, pulled by
Janette.  Again, Mac missed the sight of Mulder displaying his vampiric
abilities.  If he hadn't had his eyes glued to Janette's retreating form
as she pulled him toward the bedroom, he would have noticed that the
other two never hit the floor on the other side of the loveseat, but
rather flew across the room and into the bedroom, staying about 3 feet
off of the floor the whole way.  Although, as lust-filled as his mind
was at that moment, even that might not have been enough to move his
thoughts away from getting himself buried inside Janette as soon as
humanly possible.

 

Janette's lust was such that they ended up having sex fully dressed.
She unzipped MacLeod's fly and pulled out his member while he slid her
dress up around her hips and pulled her panties aside just enough to
slide home.  He was already inside her when they fell onto the bed and
within moments he was pounding himself into her as if to drive her
through the mattress.  It took less than two minutes before her fangs
were in his throat and they were wrapped in simultaneous orgasm.
Janette once again licked him clean and put him away while waiting for
him to revive.

 

She was still wrapped in the warm glow of the bloodkiss, reveling in the
depth of feeling and caring that were communicated between them during
those moments, when he 'awoke.'

 

After the standard moment to recover from yet another 'death,' MacLeod
turned to look upon the face of his beloved.  "Thank God for the
bloodkiss," he said as he reached toward her and stroked her lips with
his thumb.

 

"It is one of the very best things about being a vampire, I think,"
Janette said.

 

"There are no words that could adequately convey to you just how much I
love you, Janette.  But I know you can feel it in the bloodkiss- because
I feel your love for me," he said.

 

Janette looked at her lover, his eyes dark with desire and shining with
unshed tears, and felt her heart give an extra beat.  "After they leave,
you and I need to talk, Duncan."

 

Normally when a woman said that to a man, the man would be worried for
the future of their relationship.  Another benefit of the intimacy of
the bloodkiss is that MacLeod felt not even a glimmer of nervousness.
He knew their relationship was secure in that aspect.  "What about?" he
asked, never ceasing his gentle stroking of her cheek and lips as they
lay facing one another on the bed.

 

"There may be a way to establish a more permanent… a continuous link
between us," she said.  Seeing his eyes light up, she hastened to add,
"There would be side effects, and even some risk.  It is something I saw
in the kiss with Dana."

 

Duncan tried to calm the feeling of overwhelming eagerness that he felt
at the thought.  "I can hardly wait for that discussion, Lassie," he
whispered.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Janette and MacLeod had moved back to the living room of the suite and
were each enjoying a beverage- Mac from the room's minibar, and Janette
from her own stock which she had brought from the Corbeau- when Mulder
and Scully came stumbling back into the room.  They were both giddy and
acting just slightly tipsy as they made their way back to the couch, arm
in arm.

 

"Sorry about that," Mulder said- not looking the slightest bit
apologetic.  "Scully gets… needy."

 

"Hey!" Scully shouted, slapping Mulder on the chest.  "That's not true!"
she said in mock indignation.

 

Mulder just stared at her, one eyebrow raised and a goofy grin on his
face, for several moments.

 

Scully's shoulders dropped and she sighed dramatically, "Ok, ok," she
capitulated.  Turning toward Mac and Janette she crinkled her nose and
whispered conspiratorially, "It's true, I do."

 

Mulder pulled her into his chest and nuzzled her hair, saying, "Hey
gorgeous, that was *not* a complaint, just an observation."

 

Changing the subject completely, Scully bounced excitedly and said, "Hey
Mulder!  Are you going to ask Duncan…"

 

As thought just remembering himself, Mulder said "Oh yeah!"  Turning
toward Mac and Janette again, he asked, "Does your offer of training
still stand?  I'd like to take you up on it, if it does."

 

"Well, yes it still stands," MacLeod answered.  "However, it would
appear that I am going to be moving to upstate New York just as soon as
I can make arrangements to do so.  It might be after the holidays before
I can dedicate myself to your training."

 

Mulder and Scully looked unconcerned, and MacLeod thought they might not
be taking things seriously enough.  "This is a dangerous time for you,
Agent Mulder.  You might not meet up with another immortal immediately,
but if you did, you would be unable to defend yourself!  Not all of us
are good people- there are many who would just as soon take your head as
look at you."

 

"I know that MacLeod.  I met one just the other day," Mulder answered.

 

Duncan sat back in the couch and whispered, "The diner.  That was you?"

 

"How did…" Mulder began.

 

"Methos saw the quickening from the hotel room you loaned him.  By the
time we got there you were gone, but we found the blood and a sword."
MacLeod looked into Mulder's eyes, "Who was he?  How did you beat him?
Where did you get a sword?" he finished shaking his head, realizing just
how many questions he had.

 

Mulder looked at his lover, [How much should we tell him?]

 

[Janette said that we have to tell him, plus she knows everything
already,] Scully answered silently.

 

Mulder just nodded.  Turning back to MacLeod he said, "Janette can tell
you about the changes, and what that means to the two of you."  Seeing
MacLeod's confusion he added, "Suffice it to say that I can take care of
myself… I just want to know more about who we are… and I don't want to
have to rely on 'special abilities' every time I meet an immortal who
thinks that I would look better if I were a foot shorter."

 

He smiled broadly at MacLeod and stood up, bringing Scully up with him.
"We are going to go back to DC and close out some things there…" he
began.

 

"Resign from the FBI…" Scully continued.

 

"Sublet our apartments…"

 

"Put our things in storage…"

 

"Spend Christmas with Scully's Mom…"

 

"Then come back here for Nick and Nat's wedding at the end of the
month," Scully finished.

 

Mulder said, "If you are still willing, we will then find a place near
wherever you are and we can begin training.  If you change your mind,
maybe you can give me a lead on someone else to train me."

 

Scully looked at Janette and said, "Will you be going to the Raven
tonight?"  at Janette's hesitation she added, "You know I can't keep
anything from Nick or LaCroix if they want to share blood with me."

 

Janette stood, along with Duncan.  "Of course.  You may tell them that
Duncan and I will be there in a few hours.  We need to see his friend,
and make sure he survived his contest in any case."

 

Duncan stuck his hand out to Mulder and said, "We will see you later
tonight then."

 

Mulder shook his hand with a wry smile, knowing that MacLeod was in for
a surprise when Janette told him everything that was going on.  "Yes,
tonight."  Turning to Janette he gave a half-bow.  "It was an honor to
meet you, elder.  Thank you for… everything," he said, indicating the
bedroom with a tilt of his head and a small grin.

 

Janette smiled widely and said, "Of course.  It was wonderful to meet
you both."  Moving to Scully she hugged her tightly and whispered in her
ear, I will look forward to spending time with you while the 'boys' play
with their swords.  We can shop!"

 

Mulder laughed out loud, hearing the comment through their link, and
thinking to Scully, [Oh, no! sister's shopping- just remember, I'm not
*that* rich!]

 

Scully just chuckled at both comments.  "Thank you for your hospitality,
Janette, Duncan.  We will see you tonight."

 

=====
Chapter 18b


 


Tracy Vetter's Apartment


 


8:30pm Saturday

 

Tracy woke up hungry.  She extricated herself from Vachon's arms and
went to the pack he had brought in with him the previous night.  She
quickly drained one of the four bottles she found therein, and started a
second one as she returned to the couch in the living room.

 

She sat and stared at Vachon who was still asleep on the floor before
her.  She remembered the events of the night before.  She was amazed to
discover that they had slept almost 24 hours straight.  "Good thing for
vampire constitution or I would be almost crippled from lying in the
floor that long," she thought.

 

She was still amazed at the depth of Vachon's love for her; she had used
him last night- taking out her rage on him, drowning him in the tears of
her sorrow- but he took it all with a tender smile and a loving touch.
She was so in love with this man, she knew she would never be able to
adequately express it.  She hoped that he felt it in the bloodkiss, like
she felt his love and passion for her.  She remembered their
conversation about appearances in community gatherings- his hesitancy to
bring it up and his statement that he would never treat her like a
slave, never discipline her physically.

 

She wondered why she suddenly felt a wave of disappointment at that
thought.  She was happy when he had said it, even though she had later
extracted a promise from him to do whatever it took to keep them alive
and together.  She wondered now at the stirrings of arousal she was
feeling at the memory- "Beat me or bleed me," she had said.  She decided
to table that thought for the moment.  Right now, she wanted to crawl
into his arms and remind him just how grateful she was for last night,
how grateful she was just to belong to him.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Vachon had gone to sleep, finally, after several hours of holding his
beloved in his arms and feeing the sorrow and pain of her life- so
evident in the final bloodkiss before she had finally passed out.  He
had felt angry that her father had been so cold and callous to her; he
had felt her pain as though it was his own.  Now he was slowly awakening
to the joy that came from having Tracy for a childé.

 

He looked down his torso to see his childé on her knees, bowed as if in
supplication before his erect member.  She was gently licking and
kissing its length, while her hands were on his balls, gently stroking
and pulling on them.  It was as if she were paying obeisance to his
cock- lavishing attention on him with no thought for her own pleasure.
He was accustomed to her vigorously pumping on him, while driving
herself towards orgasm as well.  That didn't seem to be the goal this
morning.

 

"Tracy, come up here," he whispered, indicating that she should mount
him.

 

Tracy shook her head, "Javier, let me do this for you," she said between
kisses and licks.  "I am the luckiest vampire in the world to have you
for a master.  Let me show you how delighted I am," she pleaded, not
stopping her ministrations, but slowing, almost pausing while awaiting
his permission.

 

Vachon again thought that he didn't know what he had done to deserve
this much pleasure, but he would certainly allow her to continue if that
is what she wanted.

 

Tracy smiled broadly when he nodded his head in consent.  She said,
"Last night, I needed you.  I needed you to possess me, remind me that I
belonged to you alone."  She paused to take him into her mouth and
slowly, inch by inch, slide him down her throat until her nose was
pressed against his abdomen.  She slowly bobbed her head up and down a
few times and then, just as slowly as she swallowed him, she pulled up
and off of him, her cheeks hollowing with the suction she applied.  When
his head came out with a resounding pop, she continued, "You did.  And,
this evening I wanted to show you how grateful I am."

 

She continued her ministrations, switching between long slow strokes
deep into her throat- with little bobbing movements at the base- and
kissing and licking the head, paying special attention to the area just
below and underneath the ridge of the head.  She never put a hand on his
cock, keeping them occupied on his balls, and stroking his perineum and
anus.

 

Vachon thought he was going mad from the pleasure.  His fingers were
tearing into the carpet on the floor, and he it was all he could do to
keep from grabbing her and throwing her to the floor so he could take
her and drive himself into her- fast and deep.  He could see that her
nipples were painfully erect, and he could smell that she was dripping
wet, and yet she didn't touch herself.  She just kept up this
maddeningly slow pace.  He felt as though he had been on the cusp of
cumming for several minutes- he knew if she would just speed up even a
little bit and let him bite her, he could cum; but she refused to do so-
continuing to suck him hard and slow.

 

She felt his orgasm coming before he did, his balls tightening up
against his body and the muscles under his perineum twitching.  She
slowly slid one hand up his torso, caressing his neck and then up to his
mouth.

 

Vachon was desperately restraining himself from grabbing Tracy's hand
and bringing it to his mouth for the bite he needed.  He was trying to
let her guide this session, not sure what her plan was, but wanting to
find out.  When she moved her hand across his body to his neck and chin,
he couldn't wait any longer.  He bit into he heel of her hand like it
was a ripe peach, sucking the blood noisily.  As soon as the blood hit
the back of his throat, he came extremely hard, filling his lover's
mouth.

 

Tracy had her lips locked around the head of Vachon's cock, her cheeks
hollowed with suction, waiting for him to cum.  Instead of swallowing
it, she allowed it to fill her mouth, stream after stream, until her
mouth was nearly full.

 

Vachon came down from his orgasm and released his childé's hand, licking
the bite until it ceased bleeding.  When he looked down at her face she
released his cock with a slight popping sound, causing a shiver to race
up his spine.  She then showed him the load that he had deposited in her
mouth, and slowly let it drizzle down her throat, her mouth open the
entire time so he could see it disappear.  It was one of the most erotic
things he had ever seen.

 

Tracy smiled as her master groaned at the sight of her swallowing his
cum.  She still felt an ache in her chest from the overwhelming desire
to pleasure him, to show him how much she loved him and needed him.  She
dragged her nipples across his abdomen and up his chest as she laid
herself out on top of his supine form.  She brought her head up till her
mouth was at his ear, "Good evening, my master.  You must be thirsty.
Drink me," she said before offering her throat to his mouth.

 

Vachon was slightly taken aback; Tracy seemed to be in a somewhat
strange mood this evening.  He took her up on her offer, hoping the
bloodkiss would show him what he needed to know.  He gently sank his
fangs into the ivory column before him and drank deeply of her.

 

Tracy resisted the urge to bite him, knowing that he would allow it, but
wanting to nourish her master.  She would replenish herself from the
bottled blood he had brought.

 

Vachon drank long and deep, digging down into Tracy's psyche, looking
for the answer to his question.  He found his answer at the same time he
realized that she had not bitten him in return- she was intending to
provide his breakfast from herself, rather than the bottles he had
brought for that purpose.  He was touched by this act of sacrifice and
devotion his childé was displaying.  He was also a little taken aback at
the reason behind this evenings actions; Tracy was giving herself to him
as a gift.  She was making herself his reward for what she felt was the
blessing he had bestowed on her- making her his childé.  Subconsciously,
Tracy wanted to be dominated. She needed for him to take her, to show
her that he owned her.  She wanted to show that she belonged to him.

 

He had sensed this need to be possessed in her subconscious.  She felt
it- knew she needed something but didn't know what it was.  This was
going to require some serious thought- he had never really played D/s
games before, and he had the impression that it wasn't just a game Tracy
was thinking of- she wasn't even thinking in those terms, she hadn't
actually put words to the feelings she was having.  Tracy needed to be
dominated, but hadn't fully realized yet it herself.

 

For now he would leave the subject alone.  He would need to talk to
someone and find out what he needed to do about this.  He wanted to be
anything she needed him to be for her.  Right now, he needed to feed her
and get her, and her stuff, back to the church.  They were expected at
the Raven in a couple of hours.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


Nick's Loft


 


8:30pm Saturday

 

Mulder and Scully arrived at the loft to find Nick and Nat cuddling on
the couch, staring at the fire.  Natalie looked slightly disheveled, her
eyes and face slack with recent pleasure.  Nick looked like the cat who
ate the cream; unable to wipe the smug grin off of his face.  The scent
of sex and blood was heavy in the air.

 

They had left the loft just after sunset, before Nick and Nat had gotten
up for the day, and it seemed that the two had made good use of their
"empty nest."

 

The smell hanging in the air of the room was too much for Scully, she
thought to Mulder, [Upstairs Mulder.  Now!]

 

Mulder was glad that she was able to restrain herself long enough to get
upstairs while still clothed.  He blurted out, "Uh, hey guys… We're
going to go… freshen up.  We'll be back down in a minute, Ok?"

 

Nick and Nat both smirked at the two as they went up the stairs.
Natalie, still basking in the afterglow of another psyche-shattering
'torture-gasm,' as she was coming to think of them, was extremely
emboldened and shouted after them, "Before or after you screw
each-other's brains out?"

 

Nick broke out into laughter as they heard the slightly embarrassed
reply, "Uh, after," that Mulder tossed over his shoulder just before
Scully yanked him into their bedroom.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Natalie sank back into Nick's chest and once again looked into the
flickering flames of the fireplace.  Feeling a vague sense of disquiet
emanating from her lover she said, "Penny for your thoughts, Nick?"

 

Nick buried his face into the wavy mass of brunette hair against his
chest and hugged his lover tightly to him.  He gently sighed and placed
a kiss on the crown of her head.  "I worry about Dana," he said quietly.

 

After a moment with no further elucidation, Natalie turned herself in
his arms until she was sitting sideways in his lap so that she could
look at his face.  "What is it Nick?" she asked.

 

Nick wasn't sure what he thought, exactly.  Or, perhaps it would be more
true to say that he did know what he thought, but not how to explain it,
or even if his concerns were justified.  Finally he asked, "What does
Dana's behavior remind you of, Nat?"

 

Natalie believed that she knew where Nick was going with this; she too
had thought about Dana's seeming addiction to Mulder's blood and body.
She was less concerned though.  "You mean the way she acts when she
hasn't had a dose of Mulder recently?"

 

Nick nodded his head, "Exactly!  It's like she is an…"

 

"Nick," Natalie interrupted.  "You are looking at it from one viewpoint
only- a cop's view.  Instead of picturing a junkie- think of the way a
vampire acts when they're hungry for blood, and think of the way you act
when you're affected by strong emotion."

 

Nick's brow wrinkled at Natalie's words, "What do you mean, Nat?"

 

Natalie gently stroked his cheek and sought out eye-contact before
continuing, "Nick, how many times did I come over here to find your
refrigerator door yanked off of its hinges, and broken bottles all over
the place?  Isn't that the behavior of an addict?"

 

Nick shifted uncomfortably, "Nat, that's…" he began before trailing off;
knowing that what he was about to say was thin rationalization at best.

 

Natalie finished his statement for him, "Different?  Is it Nick?" she
didn't let go his gaze until he answered her.

 

"No.  I suppose it isn't that different at all."

 

"I think the only difference is, that her actions are the result of
overwhelming positive emotion, rather than negative."

 

Nick acknowledged the truth of what Natalie was implying, "You're right,
Nat.  It isn't like a drug addiction, but it isn't entirely the same as
the bloodlust either.  It seems to have a physical component independent
of their emotional bond."

 

"How do you mean?" Natalie asked.

 

"Remember how she was when Mulder was out to breakfast?  She wasn't even
consciously aware that her body was suffering from withdrawal symptoms."

 

Now it was Natalie's turn to crinkle her brow.

 

Nick continued before Natalie could comment, "And remember how she
described the feeling- as a 'yawning chasm of emptiness'.  That's the
way heroin addicts describe their feelings when they need another dose."

 

Natalie didn't have any response to that.

 

Nick kissed his lover's forehead and said, "I'm not saying that there is
a problem.  I don't know if this is a bad thing or not.  I do know that
it is something I have never seen or experienced before and I am
concerned for the well-being of my childé.  That's all."

 

Changing the subject, Natalie asked, "How do you feel about all of these
childér you have suddenly?"  At his questioning look she elucidated,
"You went from one estranged childé for the last eighty years, whose
existence you regretted, to where you are now; four childér, two who are
less than a week old, one who is also your sister- your older sister-
and is also estranged, along with the original estranged childé."

 

Nick chuckled.  "I don't think Serena ever counted as my childé, Nat.  I
never trained her; I never shared blood with her.  She was a mistake, a
victim of my misunderstanding."

 

Natalie frowned, "Ah, ah, ah!  No angsting allowed tonight Nick," she
said, not wanting her lover to start brooding.  "And what about
Janette?" she asked with brows raised.

 

Nick smiled down at Natalie, recognizing her attempt to lighten his
mood.  "Jealous, Nat?"

 

Natalie slid her hand up into his hair behind his ear as she said,
"Hmmm, not any more."  Then she grabbed the hair on the back of his head
in her fist and growled, only half in jest, "You're mine now buster.
Don't forget it!"

 

Nick smiled gently at his love's growl and answered, "I will never
forget it, Natalie."  He then leaned down and kissed her thoroughly.

 

Natalie broke the kiss after several moments.  "Mmm, nice!  But, you're
avoiding the question Nick."

 

Nick sighed heavily.  "I can't think of Janette as my childé, even
though I guess she is, technically.  In my mind she'll always belong to
LaCroix, and I'll always think of her as a sibling."

 

"Will she ever forgive you, do you think, for bringing her back across?"
Natalie asked wistfully as she snuggled into his chest- just a little
sad for her lover's sake.  She truly was no longer jealous of Janette.
She was entirely secure in her relationship now- thanks to the bloodkiss
and the revelation of Nick's undying love that it brought.  She was sad
for Nick that Janette would hate him.  She knew he loved Janette deeply-
though in a different way than he loved her- and that he missed her
presence in his life.  She too looked forward to the day when she might
become friends with the older vampiress, whether she was sister or aunt,
she would be family.

 

Nick was glad that Natalie was secure enough to ask about Janette
without any resentment or distrust.  Even though she would never be his
lover again, he still loved Janette.  "Someday, Nat.  She did have a
choice, after all.  She could have gone into the light and died just the
same as if I hadn't bitten her."

 

Both of them turned as they heard Scully say, "Someday may be sooner
than you think, Nick."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

When they got up to the room, Scully suddenly stopped and turned on the
bemused Mulder.

 

Mulder, feeling the hesitation and disquiet emanating from her, gently
asked, "What is it, Scully?"

 

"I… I feel so… so… I don't know Mulder; out of control I guess?" she
stuttered.

 

Mulder captured her face in his hands and drew her up to meet his eyes,
"And that frightens you?"

 

[A little, bit?] she thought.

 

"Scully, you know that I love you.  You are, literally, a part of me.
You initiate this, but don't think for a moment that I don't need it
just as badly as you do." He answered.  [Frankly, I don't care if that
makes me a freak or not, Scully.]

 

Scully was startled at his thought, "I never thought of you as a freak,
Mulder!"

 

[No, but you were starting to think of yourself that way, weren't you?]

 

Scully just hung her head, realizing that that was exactly what was
scaring her.  She thought she was becoming some kind of freak, laughable
as that description might be given their current circumstances.

 

Mulder pulled her tightly to his body, squeezing her as hard as he
could, knowing it wouldn't hurt her.  "Scully, to the world we are
freaks, and we have been for years.  Now it's just more pronounced."
[This thing we have between us?  It's worth it.  It is worth *anything*
Scully.]

 

Scully whispered into Mulder's chest, "You're right, Mulder.  It is
worth the price."

 

Her anxiety forgotten for the moment, she threw him to the bed and
proceeded to ravish him.  Their joining was fast and furious, neither
wanting to keep Nick and Nat waiting too long for the somewhat momentous
news they had to share.

 

They put themselves back together and were exiting the bedroom just as
Natalie asked Nick if he thought Janette would ever forgive him.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

"What do you mean by that?" Nick asked.  How would Dana know anything
about Janette beyond what she had seen in his blood?

 

"Where did you two take off to this evening?" Natalie asked at the same
time.

 

Scully went to the fridge to get some more blood, and a couple of
glasses- Nick and Nat already had theirs- while Mulder went over and
took up residence on the chair.  "Well," Mulder began, "We had to pick
up MacLeod from the airport for Pierson, since he was going to be busy."

 

Scully was pouring the blood for herself and Mulder and added, "So we
had to hurry out first thing."

 

Mulder couldn't resist needling her just a little, "Well… second thing
maybe."

 

She glared at Mulder for a moment before continuing, "*Any* way…  We
went to the airport and waited at the gate while the passengers
debarked."

 

"We waited while everyone left, but no MacLeod," Mulder added.

 

Scully continued as she handed Mulder a glass and took up residence in
his lap, "We were about to leave when I felt another vampire- a very old
one."

 

"At the same time I felt a quickening," Mulder added.  "Then MacLeod
came off out of the jet way; but he wasn't alone."

 

"Are you saying that MacLeod was with a vampire?" Nick asked, looking
back and forth between the two on the chair.  "Did he know…"

 

"Oh yeah," Scully said.  "It seems that MacLeod found himself a lady
friend while he was away."

 

Natalie was bewildered.  "MacLeod picked up a vampire girl, and brought
her back with him?  Why?" she asked.

 

Mulder and Scully both smiled tenderly at that question.  It was Mulder
who answered, "They are in love, Nat."

 

Nick almost choked at that.  "Love!?  What? How? What?" he sputtered.

 

Mulder smiled a secret smile as he said- in a bad British accent, "Three
very good questions."

 

Scully hiccupped a laugh at that, dribbling a little of the bloodwine
down her chin.

 

Mulder continued as though nothing had happened, "It gets better."  [You
go ahead, Scully.  I know you are dying to tell him,] he thought to his
lover.

 

"I got to meet our sister, Nat," Scully said as she wiped the spilled
bloodwine onto her fingers and then licked them clean.

 

Nick felt himself get a little light-headed.  He carefully set down his
glass, as he thought he might spill it at any moment.

 

Natalie was a little behind the curve and said, "MacLeod is involved
with Serena?"

 

Nick whispered, "No, Nat.  Not Serena."

 

"Oh my Goodness!  You mean Janette is back?" Natalie gasped.

 

Looking into Scully's eyes, Nick asked, "Is she still…"

 

Scully's smile grew wide, "No.  She isn't mad at you Nick."

 

"How can you be sure?" Natalie asked.  She didn't want brood-boy making
a reappearance.

 

"We shared blood," was Scully's answer.  "So, I can be certain that she
and MacLeod are really and truly in love- strange as that seems" she
said, answering the next question she saw forming on Nick's lips.  "And,
I can be certain that she no longer holds a grudge against you, Nick.
In fact, she was happy to hear of your 'return to the fold' as it were."

 

"Would you…" Nick started to ask, but hesitated, looking at Mulder.

 

Mulder instantly knew what Nick was asking for, and felt a momentary
pang of jealousy, but it was gone as soon as it started.  He too was
secure in his relationship, and he knew that this was common among
vampire families.  [It's ok Scully.  I don't mind,] he thought to her,
feeling her concern for him warring with her inherent desire to share
with her master.  [Just so long as he keeps his hands off of your Ass!]
he added, jokingly.

 

Scully stood up.  "You don't *have* to ask, Nick.  You *did* bring me
across," she said.

 

Nick simply said, "You're right, I don't have to ask."  He was reminding
her that there might be times when he would make demands, but this
wasn't one of them.

 

Mulder knew it was a good thing that he could feel Scully's feelings,
and vice versa.  He didn't for a moment believe that he would have
survived all of these changes without that.  For example this; another
man was about to bite his love on her neck and suck her blood.  Despite
knowing and feeling that this was not a threat to him, or to their
relationship, there was that niggling little bit, that tiny smidgen of
jealousy that wanted to rear it's ugly head.

 

[Gee, Mulder.  Where was that jealousy when it was Janette sucking on my
neck?] Scully asked her lover with a knowing smirk.

 

[Ok, so I'm a pig,]  he replied.  [But, it was just a little, little,
tiny bit of jealousy.  Vestigial, really.]

 

[Mm-Hmm, and the lust you felt when it was Janette's teeth in my
throat?]

 

Mulder smiled sheepishly, [Ok, that was bigger, I admit.]

 

Scully didn't have time to answer as Nick drove his fangs into her neck
at that moment.  She returned the bite and shared with him her
experience with Janette.  In return, she saw his memories since waking
up that afternoon.  "And you worried about my appetite?" she thought to
Nick as they broke the link.

 

Scully tried to resist, but finally gave in to the laughter that was
burbling up in her throat.  "My Goodness, Natalie," she choked out as
she wiped the bloodtears from her eyes.  "I can see the piano and the
dining room table, but the Kitchen Sink?"

 

Mulder joined his mate in laughter, while Nick just looked unbearably
smug.  Natalie almost managed to flush with embarrassment, while
fighting her own grin at the memories.  She collected herself long
enough to say, "We need to get ready.  We're supposed to be on our way
to the Raven soon.

 

With that, she grabbed Nick's hand and they went upstairs.

 

=====
Chapter 18c


 


Sheraton Gateway Hotel


 


9:30 p.m. Sunday

 

After walking Mulder and Scully to the door, MacLeod returned to the
love seat and sat down next to Janette, facing her.  "Now then, lass.
Tell me about this link that you saw in Dana.

 

Janette grasped MacLeod's hand and brought it to her lips for a moment
before speaking.  "Dana and her lover share a bond… very much like the
bloodkiss, but it exists all the time."

 

Mac raised his eyebrows at that

 

"It is not entirely as intense; they feel each other's feelings and hear
each other's spoken thoughts, but don't experience each other's
memories," she continued.  "If they concentrate, they can see and hear
what the other is seeing and hearing, but it doesn't seem to intrude."

 

Mac sat back and whispered, "Incredible!" as he considered the
implications.  Remembering what else Janette had mentioned, he asked,
"What side effects?  Was that what Mulder was referring to when he
mentioned 'special abilities'?"

 

Janette nodded her head

 

MacLeod suddenly stiffened; inhaling sharply, he asked, "Is he a
vampire?"

 

Janette smiled at the combined fear and excitement in her lover's voice.
"Non, Mon Cour, he is not.  However, he does have some… actually many of
our abilities- apparently with none of our weaknesses."

 

Mac frowned lightly as he reached back to his lover's cheek, stroking
softly.

 

Janette hummed with pleasure as she leaned into his gentle caress.
"Hmmmm… you know; sunlight, garlic…" she said quietly.

 

"Does he drink blood?" MacLeod asked neutrally.

 

Janette smiled at the absence of tone to MacLeod's voice.  Recognizing
that he might have some qualms about drinking blood, even though he had
none about her consuming his own.  "From a bottle?  Yes, though not
exclusively.  He can, and apparently does, still eat solid food."

 

MacLeod raised a single eyebrow, "And… from other than a bottle?" he
prodded gently.

 

Janette smiled even more widely, turning her face to kiss the palm of
his hand.  She turned back and looked directly into his eyes.  "It is
the sharing of blood with Dana that has created the link."  She waited
to see his response.

 

MacLeod had shuddered lightly at the thought of drinking a bottle of
blood.  Now he imagined himself drinking from Janette.  Sharing blood
with her as he had seen her do with Dana.  The mental image of that
bloodkiss, combined with the thought of drinking in the life of his
lover, caused him to stiffen in his pants with desire.

 

Janette witnessed his eyes dilate, heard the increased heart-rate, and
saw the movement in his slacks.  "Not an entirely unpleasant thought
then?" she asked playfully.

 

"Not entirely," he said- his attempt to remain cool failing somewhat
when his voice broke on the second syllable.  Considering what else she
had said earlier, he asked, "What risks?"

 

Janette pulled slightly back and spoke seriously.  "One is the unknown.
Their link has grown from mild empathy to its present state in only a
week.  This has never happened before in our history- at least so far a
I or even my master, my original master, knows."  She added, "I have no
idea what this could become."

 

"I hardly think that fear of the unknown should stop us from
experiencing anything in life, beloved," Mac said with a gentle smile.
His smile dimmed somewhat as he said, "You said 'one', what is another?"

 

Janette smiled at that, knowing that he would be more distressed at the
thought of this than any potential danger that might befall him
personally- because it would affect her directly and immediately.  "She
has become dependant on his blood."  At his raised brow she clarified,
"Physically dependent.  She becomes discomfited if she goes very long
with out it."

 

MacLeod lost any trace of excitement and became grave.  "I will not do
anything that might hurt you, Love.  I couldn't live with myself," he
said with great feeling.

 

Janette's eyes welled up at the depth of affection emanating from
MacLeod.  "Mon Cour, I agree that we may not want to rush into this
without more thought.  I also know that, even though they entered into
this unknowingly, they wouldn't give up what they have for anything."

 

MacLeod hugged Janette tightly to his chest and whispered, "We'll see,
Love… We'll see."

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 


The Raven


 


11pm Sunday

 

Tracy and Vachon arrived at the Raven hand-in-hand.  Tracy was excited;
she hadn't actually spoken to her partner or Natalie since her
conversion Thursday night.  She wondered what Nick would have to say.

 

Vachon, for his part was still riding on the high of his time with
Tracy.  He had never in his wildest dreams, and there were some pretty
amazing dreams that he had had about Tracy, imagined that she could be
this responsive, this desirable.  She was like a sweet confection and he
couldn't get enough of her.  He was imagining all the things he wanted
to try and do with, or more to the point, to her.  He had never played
with dominance and submission in a relationship, but he would be lying
if he said it didn't interest him.  Tracy's behavior that evening had
aroused him to the extreme.  He would have to find out all he could- but
who to ask…

 

Vachon's musings were interrupted when his childé tugged on his arm and
directed his attention to the back of the club.

 

"Look, Vachon, there's Nick.  Can we go talk to him?  I haven't spoken
to him since…" she trailed off, looking into his eyes hopefully.

 

Vachon said, "You go ahead.  I'm going to find Urs.  You two should
meet, at least.  You're basically sisters now."  He drew her tightly to
him and roughly kissed her, as though reassuring her that he wasn't
looking for his older childé for any other reason than what he had
stated, while also reminding her that she belonged to him, alone.  As
though she needed any reminder!

 

Tracy would have felt breathless after the short but intense kiss- if
she had needed to breathe in the first place.  She was giddy as she
practically skipped across the room to where Nick was seated with
Natalie.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Nick and Natalie were watching, with no little amusement, Mulder and
Scully out on the dance floor. Vampirism seemed to have shed most, if
not all, of Scully's inherent stoicism- as she was flinging herself
about with abandon.  One moment she was grinding herself against Mulder
in a dance that was almost equivalent to actual intercourse, and the
next jumping away from him to convulse her entire body to the high-speed
Techno pumping out of the speakers.

 

Natalie was laughing at the look of astonishment on Mulder's face while
watching Scully dance.  Astonishment, turning quickly to lust as she
once again began to grind herself against him.

 

Nick was amused, but too keyed up to really get into it.  He kept
glancing over to the entrance, waiting impatiently for Janette to
arrive.

 

Natalie finally got tired of Nick's fidgeting and lack of attention
span.  Every time she made a comment or tried to start a conversation,
Nick would stare at her blankly for a moment then ask, "What?"  She was
about to get up and drag him downstairs for a quickie- just to help
settle him down- when Tracy came bouncing up to the table.

 

Nick was startled by Natalie's sudden laughter and looked up to see
Tracy staring down at him with a quizzical look on her face.  "What?" he
asked, confused by Tracy's sudden appearance and questioning stare.

 

"I said, Hello Nick… twice," Tracy answered.  "What century were you in
this time?"

 

Nick sputtered as Natalie's laughter increased in volume.

 

Tracy turned to Natalie and said, "Gosh, Nat.  Is it old age?  In a
century or two do you think our minds will start to go too?"

 

Nick was still a little lost and Natalie took his hand and patted it
gently, as if dealing with a senile old man, "It's ok, Nick."  Turning
to Tracy she added, "You'll have to forgive him, Trace.  Nick's sister
is supposed to be here tonight, and he's a little nervous about seeing
her."  Noting Tracy's change, she said, "I see you and Vachon came to a
decision."

 

Tracy smiled and said, "You too, huh?"

 

Natalie couldn't hide her deep pleasure as she responded, "Oh yeah!  So,
is it everything you imagined it would be?"

 

Tracy said, "I don't think I really knew what I was getting into, not
fully- but I love it.  I love Vachon so much!"  Tracy's grin grew
puckish and she added, "The things he does to me…"

 

Natalie's expression matched Tracy's as she responded, "Tell me about
it!"

 

Nick stood up, saying, "On that note, I think I'll go see LaCroix."  He
bent down and caught Natalie's lips in a quick, but passionate kiss, and
whispered, "Let me know…"

 

"Of course," Natalie answered quietly.  More loudly, and with a wicked
grin she added, "Now shoo!  I have some bragging to do here."

 

Nick mock-shuddered and quickly walked away, not entirely comfortable
with the thought of discussing his sexual prowess with his partner.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder and Scully didn't last more than 45 minutes on the dance floor
until they lost control.  Mulder had enough presence of mind to drag her
to the back door and out into the alley before she began tearing off
clothes.  He quickly looked for witnesses and grabbed her to his chest,
her legs automatically wrapping around his waist and her arms around his
neck as he flew them up to the roof.

 

He had his zipper down and his cock out before they landed and it was
but a moment before her panties were pushed aside and he was inside her.

 

Scully didn't restrain her scream of pleasure as he sheathed himself
into her in a single hard stroke.  He hesitated for a moment, buried
inside the love of his life and thinking in amazement, [I'm so lucky,
Scully.  I still can't believe I get to do this with you!]

 

Scully thought [I Love you so much!]  She began chanting out loud as he
moved within her, "So Good… So Big… So Good… So Big…" over and over.

 

"Ohhhhhhh, here it comes, Scully!" Mulder shouted.

 

She sank her teeth into his neck just as he began to ejaculate.  Mulder
restrained himself, wanting to feel the drain; wanting to feel the onset
of his own death.

 

Scully felt Mulder hold himself back from biting her, and began to feel
him slipping away.  His light-headedness, combined with the shared
sensation of Scully's orgasm prolonged his own.  He continued to gush
into her center, as his blood poured out down her throat.  It was a new
level of intensity for them both, and it didn't stop until his heart
did.

 

Scully withdrew her fangs as his legs buckled and his body collapsed to
the rooftop.  She licked him clean and put him away as she waited for
him to wake up.  "Oh, Mulder," she thought.  ""What you do to me…"

 

Several moments later Mulder woke up to find himself physically,
mentally, and emotionally enveloped in the loving arms of his soul mate.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

LaCroix gave a disapproving glance to his son.  "They are doing *what*
on my roof?"

 

Nick sighed.  He was sitting in his master's office, enjoying a glass of
bloodwine and relaying current events, when LaCroix mentioned that he
would like to speak to Mulder again, following his successful daylight
adventure.  Nick had opened his link to Scully- and immediately shut it
back down, sensing her current activities might be better left in
private.  He instead asked Natalie where the two might be, and she
answered that she saw them leave through the back door.  Nick expanded
his senses, searching for his overly amorous childé; he sensed more of
an 'up' direction than toward the back alley.  Putting two and two
together he regretfully informed his master that Mulder was, at that
moment, otherwise occupied on the roof with his childé.

 

"I will have Natalie send him in when they come back down."  Seeing that
LaCroix was not mollified, he added, "It seems that part of the bond
Mulder and Dana share requires frequent… reinforcement.  Physical
reinforcement."

 

LaCroix raised a brow at that, but remained silent for the moment.

 

Nick continued with the latest news, "It seems that Janette is back in
town, Father."

 

LaCroix was surprised to hear that, "Really.  I would have thought that
we would not see her for at least a decade.  She seemed quite angry with
you when she left."  He couldn't resist needling Nick just a little bit.

 

Nick frowned slightly and fidgeted in his seat.  "Yes.  Well… I didn't
expect to see her for quite a while either.  However, it would seem that
she met someone.  She apparently thinks she is in love," he said with
just the slightest bit of rancor.

 

LaCroix grinned ever so slightly at his son's bitterness.  "Jealous,
Nicolas?  The good doctor isn't enough for you?"

 

Nick would no doubt have flown off the handle at that comment not too
long ago, but he was happy for the first time in several centuries, and
not even his master's needling could get to him.  "I'm not jealous
LaCroix; I'm skeptical.  She only met him a few days ago, yet she
apparently thinks of him as the love of her life!" he shook his head
disbelievingly.

 

LaCroix leaned back in his chair and asked, "And how is it that you know
all of this?   Have you spoken to her?"  His question came out evenly,
giving away nothing; he thought.

 

Nick raised a brow and teasingly asked, "Now who is jealous?"  He
quickly continued before LaCroix could comment, "No.  I haven't spoken
with her, but Dana has."

 

"Why would she seek out Dana?"  LaCroix asked, confused.  "How did she
even know you had another childé?"

 

Nick smirked and let drop the other shoe, "She and Mulder went to the
airport to pick up Duncan McLeod.  He had traveled to Buffalo, NY, where
he met and fell in love with…"

 

LaCroix sat up quickly in he chair, "Surely not…"

 

"Your darling daughter," Nick finished with a barely concealed snicker.

 

LaCroix corrected him.  "She is your daughter now, Nicolas, not mine,"
he grumbled.

 

"In any case… I think there is something compelling about immortals to
vampires.  Look how essentially attached Dana has become." Nick began.

 

LaCroix stood up, and began pacing.  "Are you suggesting that Janette
has become similarly attached?  That she is sharing blood with this
man?"

 

"No.  She is feeding from him, but he is not drinking from her.  She
isn't physically dependant on him like Dana is with Mulder.  But how
else could she have fallen so hard, so fast for him," Nick questioned.
Beginning to pace furiously back and forth, he expanded, "It's more than
just the blood though.  They were drawn to each other at their first
meeting…" he tapered off as he saw the incredulous look on LaCroix's
face.  "She shared with Dana.  Dana shared with me," he explained.

 

LaCroix raised a single eyebrow, clearly indicating that there should be
one more sharing in that chain.

 

Nick knew there would be no point in arguing.  Secretly he wanted this,
but he had resisted it out of habit.  He unbuttoned his collar and
walked into his master's embrace.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder and Scully returned to the table to find Nick gone, and Natalie
sitting with Nick's partner, Tracy.  They were both smirking and
giggling.

 

Scully was still bright-eyed and slightly disoriented from her coupling
with Mulder- The post-coital euphoria took several minutes to wear off
any more.

 

Natalie and Tracy each took in Scully's appearance and scent, coupled
with Mulder's slightly smug grin, and burst out in laughter.

 

Scully shook her head slightly and asked, "What's so funny?"

 

Natalie gave her a salacious grin and teased, "God, Dana!  I thought you
were going to rip his clothes off and take him right out there on the
dance floor!"

 

Scully just smiled guilelessly and said, "I was going to, but he dragged
me outside."  This, of course prompted even more laughter from Tracy and
Nat.

 

Mulder tried to change the subject by asking, "What are you two up to?
Did you run Nick off?"

 

Tracy answered with a broad smile, "Natalie was just telling me how Nick
tied her up and screwed her until she screamed."

 

Mulder blushed ever so slightly and stammered, "Uh, Scully?  You want me
to go get us something to drink?"

 

All three ladies laughed at that.

 

"Don't worry, Mulder; Nick and Lucien want to see you anyway.  They're
in the office."

 

Mulder turned to Scully, but she pre-empted him, saying, "You go ahead
and play with the boys, Mulder."  Turning to Nat and Tracy, she eagerly
took a seat and demanded, "Tell me all about it!"

 

Mulder beat a hasty retreat toward LaCroix's office.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder had just finished recounting his activities since last speaking
with LaCroix, when he noticed both Nick and LaCroix stiffen, and
suddenly stand up.  He was rising to his feet as well when the door to
the office suddenly opened and Janette swept in.

 

"I see that you have gotten rid of those dreadful strippers, LaCroix,"
she spoke into the dumfounded silence that greeted her.

 

Mulder recovered quickly, but wisely kept silent, merely bowing his head
slightly in acknowledgement to her.

 

"Yes, well… they tended to attract a rather boorish crowd,
unfortunately," LaCroix replied- his sardonic tone spoiled by the barest
hitch of emotion.

 

Janette smiled at LaCroix before turning to Mulder and saying, "I left
Duncan at your table; however, rather than abandon him entirely to the
clutches of your lady friends, might I impose on you to chaperone him?"

 

Mulder glanced at LaCroix and raised a brow; seeking permission to
leave, which the Elder Vampire granted with the barest of nods.  He
wasted no time in, once again, beating a hasty retreat from what was no
doubt going to be a rather uncomfortable situation.  On his way out, he
noted that Nick was still standing dumbfounded- rendered speechless by
the presence of his sibling/childé.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

Mulder made it out to the bar to find MacLeod speaking with Adam
Pierson.  "I thought that felt stronger than just MacLeod," he mused to
himself.

 

"Janette said that she left you with the ladies." Mulder stated as he
approached the two immortals.

 

MacLeod chucked and said, "Yes.  Well fortunately, Adam here came in
just in the Nick of time to save me."

 

Adam laughed, "Do you know what those women were talking about?  I don't
think I've ever seen MacLeod blush like that before."

 

Mulder laughed as well, "Why do you think Nick and I were hiding out in
LaCroix's office?"

 

Adam and MacLeod laughed even harder at that.

 

"Everything went alright, then?" Mulder asked Adam.

 

"Yes.  It's over now," he answered simply.  "Time for me to get the hell
out of Canada.  I feel a serious need for sun, sand and surf  in my
immediate future."

 

MacLeod frowned slightly, "I didn't know you were a big beach fan,
Adam."

 

Mulder recognized Adam's feelings right off.  "You mean that you want to
go somewhere where the night life's a little quieter, right?" he said
with a sympathetic smile.

 

Methos wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible.  He felt
paranoid being in a room full of them.  "Yeah, well look- thanks for
coming up here Mac- I owe you one…"

 

MacLeod interrupted, still concerned about his friend's reactions, and
trying to lighten him up, "Actually, I owe you.  I wouldn't have met
Janette if you hadn't called me up here to watch your back."

 

MacLeod had told Methos about Janette in the little bit that they had
been speaking before Mulder came out.  The thought of Mac letting this
'woman' feed off him- actually killing him, repeatedly…  Frankly, it
gave him cold shivers up and down his spine.  He wanted to be happy for
his friend who had been moping ever since Anne had left him, but he was
just too wigged out.  He didn't want MacLeod to know- didn't want things
between them to again be like they were when Mac had discovered that
Methos had been one of the Four Horsemen.  All he could think about was
getting out of Toronto and getting his head together about this whole
Vampire issue.

 

He said, "How about we call it even, Mac."  He drained his drink and
added, "Look, I'll let you know when I figure out where I'm headed, Ok?"
He stuck his hand out to Mulder and added, "Nice to meet you, and good
luck with your training, alright?"

 

Mulder quietly shook Adam's hand and let him make his escape.

 

MacLeod started to follow him when he felt Mulder's hand on his arm,
restraining him.

 

Mulder said, "Let him go, MacLeod.  He needs to deal with this alone."

 

"How would you know what he needs?" MacLeod demanded.

 

"I didn't need a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology to see that the whole
idea of vampires being real was freaking him out," Mulder responded.
"But, hopefully, it gives me some credibility when I tell you that I
know what I'm talking about."

 

Momentarily diverted, Mac asked, "I thought you were a field agent."

 

Mulder began to regale MacLeod with the tale of this career in the FBI.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

"Well, Nicolas.  I see that things have changed significantly since I
left, hmm?"  Janette began, as she gracefully slid onto the couch along
the wall of LaCroix's office.

 

LaCroix chuckled and sat back into his chair behind the desk.  "I didn't
imagine I would find you in Toronto for at least a decade, my dear.
Usually you punish Nicolas with your absence for much longer than two
years.  What brings you back so soon?"  He hastily added, "Not that I am
displeased to see you again."

 

Nick finally recovered sufficiently to take his seat, though he still
had yet to speak.

 

"How could I stay away grand-père?  I have heard that I now have two new
siblings.  When I last saw my dear Nicolas, he was seeking his own
mortality, not taking it away from others," she teased not entirely
ungently.  "What a momentous two years it must have been to change the
beliefs and behavior of two centuries."

 

Finally, Nick brought himself to speak.  "Yes, well… not even two years.
It has only been two weeks… less actually."  He laughed at himself as he
added, "I guess I finally 'pulled my head out,' as Natalie would put
it."

 

"And how is my newest sister..." Janette began, as the three of them
lapsed into catching up on the events that had transpired since they all
last parted.

 

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

 

It was well past two in the morning and once again, all the mortals had
left and the club was officially closed for the night.  Always in the
past that had meant that only vampires populated the dance floor and
bar.  Tonight there was more than one incarnation of immortality in the
mix of bodies moving to the pulse of the music.

 

LaCroix looked upon his family, now an extended family; joyful and
content in their existence.

 

Vachon had Tracy grinding against his front, and Ursula writhing against
his back on one part of the dance floor.  Near them were Janette and
MacLeod, lost in each other's eyes as they moved to the beat.  Nick was
moving Natalie about the floor with all the grace and style that
centuries of formal dance could teach.  Mulder and Scully were on the
other side of the floor from Vachon and his childér- it seemed that
Scully didn't exactly hit it off with Urs.  He thought that he would
have to look into that situation before too much later.

 

As he watched them he realize that this was what he had dreamed of for
centuries- maybe not exactly as he had once hoped it would be, but not
at all bad.

 

"Perhaps," he admitted quietly to himself, "Even better."

 

=====
Epilogue





Somewhere in Toronto



8 a.m. Monday December 18th



A man stood before a desk.  There was a chair there, but he had not been
invited to sit, and- given his failure to acquire what the man behind
the desk wanted- he didn't want to press his luck.



The man behind the desk looked with icy contempt at the flunky before
him.  "I gave you a simple assignment.  I told you where they were
staying, and what they were doing here in Toronto.  All I asked it that
you keep an eye on them and tell me where they were at all times."



The man tried to defend himself, "They haven't been there since the
first day of the conference.  They had someone else check them out of
their rooms, and they haven't been back.  They missed their flight out
of Toronto, and there is no record of them taking any other flight.
There is no movement on their credit cards, they haven't checked in to
any other hotel or motel in the city.  Their rental car hasn't been
turned in yet, so it is possible that they have driven out of town, but
there is no record of them going through any checkpoint into the states,
nor any hotel or flight records anywhere in Canada."



The man behind the desk raised his voice only slightly, "Do you think
you are telling me anything I don't already know?  If I wanted an
explanation for your incompetence, I would have asked for one.  The only
thing I want from you is their present location.  Until you have that,
you have nothing I want."  He leaned forward slightly in his chair and
said in a more normal tone of voice, "Now, I suggest you find out where
they are.  Do it quickly, or I will find someone else to replace you."
The threat of permanent replacement was unspoken, yet clearly
communicated.



The man spun around on his heel and left the room.



Another man, older stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room
and sat before the desk.  "Good help is hard to find, but if you keep
killing them off, you'll make it even harder."



The man behind the desk was not amused.  "You were supposed to be my
backup.  Your daughter is partnered with the ones who were chaperoning
these two, and you are no more help to me than he was!" he growled,
indicating the man who had just left the room.



"My daughter. has chosen this time for one of her inconvenient little
'I'm a grown woman, quit trying to tell me how to run my life' temper
tantrums."




The man behind the desk angrily crushed out his cigarette. "I'm not
interested in your family problems, commissioner.  If you cannot handle
a simple request to keep an eye on two people, doing nothing more
devious than attending a conference, then it may be time for us to
re-evaluate your usefulness to the program as well," he said smoothly as
he removed a pack of Morleys from his coat and lit his next, drawing
deeply and blowing the smoke into the commissioner's face.





The End?





TheBear!

thebear@earthling.net

http://thebear.somewhere.net <http://thebear.somewhere.net/>