Incarnations of Immortality
By The Bear!
Disclaimer: See Prologue
Nicks Loft
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
"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
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 ==========
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 ==========
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 ==========
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 ==========
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 ==========
“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 ==========
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
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.
========== X-FILES ========== FOREVER KNIGHT ========== HIGHLANDER ==========
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
“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
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 ==========
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 ==========
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 ==========
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.