Incarnations of Immortality
By The Bear!
Disclaimer: See Prologue
Nick’s Loft
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 ==========
“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.”
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.
“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.
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.
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 ==========
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 ==========
LaCroix was waiting.
It wasn’t something he did with much for
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
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
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.”
========== X-FILES ==========
FOREVER KNIGHT ==========
HIGHLANDER ==========
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
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
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
Natalie asked, “Does that mean you will move to
Scully remembered, “He said something about not
having lived in
“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 ==========
When Vachon arrived at
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
“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
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,
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
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 ==========
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
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 ==========
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
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.
========== X-FILES ==========
FOREVER KNIGHT ==========
HIGHLANDER ==========