SUSPICIONS -  Jarvinia

Please send all comments, questions, and suggestions to: 
jarvinia@gmx.com


This story is a crossover between Forever Knight and the X-Files.

DISCLAIMER:  The concepts of vampires as used in this story and the 
characters of Forever Knight are the property of James D. Parriott,
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Television, and the
Sci-Fi Channel, and are used without permission.  The concepts and
characters of the X-Files used in this story are the property of
Paramount, and are used without permission.  Other characters not part
of either series are mine, and may not be used without permission. 
This is an amateur publication intended solely for the entertainment of
its readers.  No infringements intended on copyrights, etc.


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Suspicions  -  Part 1/5


Tracy and Nick had just pulled up at a crime scene, the red and blue
lights flashing, casting eerie shadows around the otherwise dark alley. 
Nick quickly walked up to the first officer on the scene and asked,
"What happened?"

The officer, Carlson, answered, "It was a young man, Martin Keller, and
by his drivers license he was seventeen.  There were no witnesses, and
we found a Raven matchbook in his pocket along with a fake ID.  Ask the
coroner for the rest."  Carlson left for one of the other officers and
the two detectives moved toward the body, both getting a bad feeling
about this situation, it sounded a lot like what they'd been told on
another case, just a few days ago.  No details about how they died,
just go ‘ask the coroner for the rest.'

He looked to be about seventeen, and just like the picture, he had
short dark brown hair and couldn't have been more than 5'9".  His skin
was very pale, even considering his current circumstances, and a cut
could be easily seen on his throat, very little blood around it.  The
coroner, Natalie, looked up upon their approach and said in her
professional tone, "Cause of death appears to be a cut to the throat. 
There is not a lot of blood on the scene which does not correspond to
the low level in his body.  Time of death was about three to five hours
ago.  It's the same cause of death as the one three nights ago, and the
other two, the week before.  Now we have four unsolved deaths,
definitely enough to consider it a serial killer."  Nick nodded in
response to her comment.  It definitely did look like a serial 
killer, but that could be argued because of the nature of death, at
least by him.  These killings were really bothering him, and Natalie
was also being affected by them.  They were affecting everyone, and it
didn't matter what knowledge one possessed.  The knowledge just made it
worse.

Tracy noticed something strange about the cut and knelt down to get a
closer look.  Just outside of the cut, were two puncture marks not
quite four centimeters away from each other.  'Damn.  A vampire did
this.  Just like the other three.  We aren't going to find a killer for
this one.  Wish I could tell Nick, but I can't betray Vachon's secret. 
And anyway, he would think I'm crazy.'  Her mind was filled with
thoughts, so she jumped when she felt a light touch on her shoulder. 
She looked up to see her partner, and asked, "Did you say something?"

"I said, we should get back to work, and try to find who's doing this."
 He paused, and said, "Here, go to the Caddy and get in.  I'll be there
in a couple of minutes.  You can start it up if you want, it's pretty
cold out here, and you know how it takes a bit for the heat to start
up."  She hesitated at first, but then nodded and started toward his
car.  It was cold, and although the heat in her partner's car wasn't
the best, at least it was better than being out in the middle of the
alley.  Once she was out of hearing range, Nick turned to Natalie and
said, "I think she saw the puncture marks, and that she knows what is
doing this.  Also the Raven matchbook found on him gave her more
suspicions.  So far that is the second victim to have one with them."

"What do you think she'll do?" Natalie asked, wanting to do something
for her, but knew she couldn't, not without revealing Nick.

"There's nothing she can.  The only vampires she knew about, Screed,
Vachon, and Urs, are all dead.  She has no one to talk to.  She
probably doesn't even suspect me.  Vachon pretended to hypnotize me on
our first case, making me appear to be an ordinary human, and nothing
has happened to make her suspect otherwise.  I just hope we don't get
any more of these.  I mean we can't exactly bring the killers in.  What
would I say, ‘Don't let any sunlight in the cells, and by the way, be
careful, they might have you for dinner.'  I can't find anything using
typical police sources, although through the community I'm trying to
find out what's going on, and either people haven't heard anything, or
they aren't talking.  Both of which are entirely possible."

"Well, go on.  Tracy is probably wondering what happened to you." 
Natalie smiled and watched as Nick left the crime scene, then worked on
wrapping up the on-scene forensic investigation, and then she too left.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


Later that night back at the station, Tracy and Nick were sitting
working on their most recent case, both knowing Reese was probably
watching, seeing if they were actually working.  'I'm tired of
pretending to look for leads,' Nick thought, the pencil in his hand
tapping lightly on the blank form in front of him.  If he had to do
this much longer, the pencil was going to break, into many pieces.

Then as he looked across his desk at his partner, he realized she must
be thinking the same thing, and a smile crossed his face, causing her
to ask, "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing, just remembering something," he lied, letting the smile fade,
and dropping the pencil on top of his desk.  "Have you found any
leads?" he asked knowing she hadn't, or if she had, that she wouldn't
say anything.

"No, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll find any," she said, hoping her

partner wouldn't actually find something, if he did, it could lead him
into trouble he wouldn't be able to handle.

"Why don't we book off early tonight.  It's probably just stress," Nick
said moving a large stack of papers toward the back of his desk, papers
that he had to fill out from other cases.

Tracy faked a yawn, although it wasn't very hard, and lied, "Yeah,
you're probably right."

Before they got a chance to do anything they were both called into the 
Captain's office, both certain it had to do with their most current
case, and after they closed the door, Nick asked, "What do you need,
Captain?"

"Just to tell you that we have two federal agents coming in tomorrow
night."

"The FBI?  But they're American.  Toronto isn't in their jurisdiction,"
Nick protested, not wanting anyone else involved in the case, it would
only make it harder for him to cover up the nature of this case.  The
enforcers were probably already watching him.

"Well, they're coming in to help with the investigation, and as soon as
they are here it is in their jurisdiction.  They are experts in this
type of case and offered their help.  I'm letting them come because you
two have absolutely nothing, and this has been going on for about two
weeks now, with four victims.  Do you know what the paper is calling
these?  ‘The Vampire Murders.'  Now we all know what that means, the
people are getting nervous, and we still have nothing, absolutely
nothing."

"Okay.  What time are they coming?" Nick asked.

"They'll be at the airport, at five thirty tomorrow night.  I expect
both you two and Doctor Lambert will be there."  Reese paused then
suggested, "Why don't you two book off early tonight, that way you have
enough energy for tomorrow night.  You both look like you're going to
fall asleep."

They both nodded in agreement, left the office, then after getting
their stuff, went to their cars, and said goodnight to each other.

Nick drove to the Raven and closed the club, something that had become 
routine for him for the past week.  LaCroix was out of town, and he
wanted him to take care of things - everything.  Then after making sure
everything was secure, headed back to the loft, arriving home early.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


Federal Bureau of Investigations, Basement office


Scully entered their office, and upon seeing her partner, his feet on
the desk, eating absently from a bag of sunflower seeds while looking a
file, half yelled, "What is so important that you tell me to come her
at five thirty in the morning on a Sunday!"

"At two thirty we are getting on a plane to Toronto, to help in a
serial killer case," he told her, smiling as if that explained
everything, which it didn't.

"What!  Why didn't you just tell me that when you called!?"  She was
getting very impatient with her partner, and she thought, almost
voicing it aloud, 'This better be good!'

"Here look at this," Mulder said as he handed her the Toronto sun from
that morning, or at least a fax of the first page.

She read the headline out loud with skepticism in her voice, her
eyebrows raising slightly, "‘Vampire Killer Strikes Yet Again.'  Is
this what you brought me down here to see?!"

"Yes, actually it is.  That article is from the killing last night, the

forth in the past two weeks.  This is the file for the first three
murders," he said handing her the file, complete with pictures.

As she looked at the pictures she could see why they would be called
the vampire killings.  After all if you looked closely, you could see
what appeared to be puncture wounds in the victims' neck, ones which
weren't quite covered by a deep cut.  After reading a little further,
she noticed that according to the reports, they were also drained of
almost all of their blood.  Once she had finished going through the
file, getting the general idea of what was going on, she said, "So,
this guy is pretending to be a vampire.  What do the investigating
officers have on the case?"

"Virtually nothing.  They have the victims names, and their bodies and 
that's about it.  No witnesses, or any kind of evidence left at the
scene other than matchbooks from the Raven, a popular Toronto club,
found at two of the scenes.  They were both found in the victims'
pockets, which means the killer didn't drop it, or it was planted, but
I don't think they were.  That's why both their Captain and Skinner are
letting us go on this case, because they have virtually nothing, and
because it's been going on for two weeks, and doesn't look like it's
going to end."

"Do you seriously think these murders were done by a vampire?" she
asked skeptically, aware of his wild ideas.

"It seems possible, and the most likely explanation, I don't see anyone
else offering one," Mulder said to both her, and the absence of
theories by anyone working on the murders.

"So when do you want to meet?" she said while exhaling, deciding to go
along with him, mainly to see if they could solve the murders, not
because she thought the murderer was a vampire, at least not like the
ones of myth.

"The airport, at one thirty.  And both of the detectives are night
shift, so we'll be working the same shift until it's solved.  That's
the only other common thing about the murders, they all happened at
night, usually between ten and one."

"Who are the investigating officers?" she asked curiously.

"Detectives Tracy Vetter and Nicholas Knight."

"Who's the coroner?"

"A Doctor Natalie Lambert."  He paused then said, "They will all be
meeting us at the airport."

The coroner's name sounded familiar, but at the time she couldn't
remember where from, so she told Mulder, "Well, I guess I'll see you
later, but don't expect to find any real vampires, it's probably just
someone pretending to be one, wanting the publicity."  Scully then left
for her apartment, so she could pack and get some more sleep.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


That night they meet at the precinct at four thirty, just after the sun
had set. They then left for the airport, Nick and Tracy in the Caddy,
Natalie in her own car.  By the time they got to the gate, it was five
fifteen, and they didn't have long to wait for the two FBI agents.

There weren't many people on the plane, and most of the passengers
departed quickly.  Dana recognized Doctor Lambert from a lecture she
had attended, which is why she recognized the name, and walked up to
them and asked, "Detectives Knight and Vetter?"

"Yes.  You must be Agents Mulder and Scully, correct?"

"Yeah.  Do you know a good place for getting a rental car?" Mulder
asked grinning.

Scully jabbed him, and extending her hand said, "I'm Special Agent Dana

Scully, and this is my partner Fox Mulder."

Nick smiled and said, "I'm Detective Nick Knight, this is my partner
Tracy Vetter, and this is the county coroner Natalie Lambert.  And yes,
I do know a good place to get a rental car."

"Okay, well, we need to get one, then we can go to the station," Scully
said eyeing Mulder carefully.

Nick suddenly saw a man moving into a shadow, moving way too fast for a
human, and he didn't just move into the shadow, he became a part of it.
An enforcer.  They were watching him.  Nick quickly turned his
attention back to the two agents and said, "If you would like, I could
get the car and then drive it to the station for you.  It would make it
easier for you."  'Besides, then I could tell the enforcer that they
are no danger, and that I am handling it.'

He was a little surprised at the offer, but decided to take it.  "Sure,
get something like a Ford Taurus, and put it under the name Fox
Mulder."

The four walked toward the exit, until Nick called out, "Trace, I think
you need these," holding up and then tossing the Caddy's keys to her. 
He then turned, and walked toward where the shadow was.

"Thanks," she said blushing slightly, just before he left, and took the
two agents to Nick's car.

"Is this his?" Mulder asked, once they stopped at a sea foam green 1962

Cadillac.

"Yeah, it's a pretty neat car isn't it?" Tracy said.

"Yeah, and it's in showroom condition too.  It's probably worth a
fortune.  Does he drive this on the job?"

"Yep, and it handles real well."

Mulder just whistled and after looking at the car a little more got in,
faintly hearing Scully say something about ‘boys and their toys' and
seeing Detective Vetter, and Doctor Lambert nod, but ignored it.

They drove to the precinct in relative silence, and once there, they
got out of the Caddy and Scully asked, "Why does it have to be so
cold?"

"Actually it's not that cold right now, but you're probably not used to
it.  It's just one of the side effects of living in Toronto, very cold
winters."  Tracy led the group to the precinct entrance.

After entering the precinct, they were immediately taken to briefing,
and about five minutes into it Nick arrived.  He sat through the rest,
then Natalie and Scully decided to go to the morgue, and Mulder went
through what they had so far with the detectives, including the
previous night's murder.

They all meet back at the precinct at nine thirty, and discovered they
still had nothing to go on.  No more new leads, and no theories were
given.  They decided to all take a one hour break and Natalie went back
to the morgue, Tracy took the agents to get something to eat, and Nick
went to the Raven to see how everything was going.  Being in charge of
everything was annoying.  At least he could have said how long he was
going to be gone.  He had to take care of the club, LaCroix' radio
show, the matters of the Community, and do his job, and he didn't know
if LaCroix was going to be back that night, or in a month.

He had asked several of the others who was doing the killing, but no
one would talk.  He sat behind the bar, watching the few vampires and
mortals that came this early in the night as they mingled with each
other.  He now understood why Janette and LaCroix would sit at the bar
almost the entire night.  You could find a lot out about people by
watching them, and in this case, he could learn a lot about things
happening in the community.  After several minutes a young woman, a
vampire, entered the club.  She had raven hair, and was fairly tall. 
She searched the club and when she spotted Nick, approached him.

Nick recognized the woman as one of the clubs regular patrons, he had
seen her three times in the last week.  She was a fairly young vampire,
one that on occasion slept in the basement of the Raven.  She wore a
long black skirt, and a black top with a cape over it, blending into
the crowd easily.  As she walked through, some of the vampires moved
away from her.  Once she was only a few feet from him she began to
collapse.  He caught her, and brought her into the office, and laid her
down on the couch.  He noticed she had been doused with garlic, and was
able to feel it sear his skin.  He could also smell blood, but wasn't
sure if it was hers or not.

"Your name's Caitlin isn't it?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she asked, her voice quivering slightly, both from pain and
fear, her eyes darting around the room.  She knew who Knight was, and
she could sense the power around him.  Most of the younger vampires
laughed at his foolish quest for mortality, but they also kept their
distance.  You didn't live eight centuries if you were weak. 
Especially if you had an opinion that was different than the
Community's.  She hoped he would help her, knew no one else would.

"What happened?"  His voice brought her eyes back to him.

"Me and two of my friends, both mortals, were attacked by two other 
vampires, they killed them, and scratched me, putting garlic in the
wounds."   Her voice conveyed her pain as she spoke, her eyes showing a
hint of gold caused by the pain the garlic was creating.

"Where were you scratched?"

With her left arm she pulled the cape away revealing the large scratch
on her leg, one on her neck, her other arm, and on her stomach.

Once seeing the scratches, each very deep, garlic appearing to have
been rubbed into them, and between four and ten inches in length in
each area, he knew he would need help to make sure the wounds were
cleaned well, and told her as he pulled the phone out of his pocket,
"I'm going to call a friend of mine.  She'll be able to get more of the
garlic out than I could."

"Doctor Lambert?" she asked, having heard of his mortal friend.

Softly he answered, "Yes," and picked up the phone and dialed her
number.

She picked up after the second ring and said, "Doctor Lambert,
coroner's office?"

"It's Nick, I was wondering if you could come by the Raven.  I need
some help.  One of us has been injured and I need your medical
expertise."

"Okay.  I'll be there in about five minutes," she told him, knowing
what the patient was, and wondering why she was needed, but not
questioning him, she could do that later.

"Nat, when you get here tell the bartender who you are, and he'll tell
you where to go, okay?"

"Okay," then she hung up.

He flipped the cell phone closed, then told her, "Caitlin, I'll be
right back, and then I'm going to take you upstairs."  She nodded
quietly in response, then he left and told the bartender what to do
when Natalie arrived.  When he reentered the room, he took the cape and
covered her back up with it, then picked her up and carried her
upstairs and into one of the extra bedrooms.  He took her cape off, and
after folding it up, placed it on one of the chairs.

She was nervous.  She'd never been up here, and had never had any wish
to.  LaCroix would never permit it, and was feared by all in the
Community.  After all, he was an ancient.  Then they both heard the
door opening and someone coming up the stairs, followed by his name
being called by Natalie.

Quickly he went toward the stairs and said, "She's back here," then
lead her back to the room.

Natalie could see the scratches, and once she got closer could smell
the garlic, knew that's why they hadn't healed, and why she was needed.
If she could smell it this strongly, it was a wonder that Nick and the
young vampiress were able to stand it.  "Nick, we're going to have to
clean her wounds.  The easiest way to do that with the number of wounds
she has would be to get her in the shower."

He nodded, agreeing that it was the best thing to do.  "She can't
support herself very well.  Natalie come with me."  He took her to one
of the other rooms, the room LaCroix kept for him, and handed her a
T-shirt and a pajama pants, and got himself a pair, then told her, "Put
those on in the bathroom, down the hall so we don't have to change
before going back to work, then get the shower going."  After she left
the room, he changed into the t-shirt and pajama pants, then went and
got Caitlin, and carried her into the bathroom.

Nick held her under the running water, while Natalie washed out the
wounds with soap and water, carefully getting all of the garlic out,
aware of the pain it was causing.  Twenty minutes later Nick carried
her back into the other room then changed.  Just after he returned so
did Natalie and she noticed the young vampire looked much better, even
in her now torn and soaking clothing.  Caitlin had still barely said a
word since she had arrived, and Natalie wondered if she was nervous. 
She examined the scratches, and was pleased that the redness from the
garlic was almost completely gone, and they were already beginning to
heal.  Nick poured her a cup of blood, human, and after propping her
up, handed it to her. After drinking several glasses, her wounds were
mostly healed, and she looked almost normal.

Everyone was startled when Nick and Natalie's beepers went off at the
same time, calling them back to the world of the living.  Nick went to
the phone and called the precinct, and was told that there was another
murder, and that the two FBI agents, and Tracy, were already on their
way.  He told them that he and Natalie would be on their way in just a
few minutes.

"Nat, we need to go to a scene."  Nick then turned to Caitlin, "It
sounds like the murder you witnessed.  Would you mind telling an edited
version to the police?"

"No, at least it might get them away from the vampire killer."

"Probably not, but it will give the FBI agents something to follow, and
then we need to hope they don't follow it to the Community.  Wait about
an hour and a half, then come to the precinct.  Say something that
would explain why you weren't at the scene, and why it took so long for
you to get there."

"Okay," Caitlin said softly, then watched in silence as Nick and
Natalie left, still feeling slightly nervous in the upper rooms of the
Raven, after all this was where LaCroix lived, she could almost feel
his presence.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


Nick and Natalie each arrived on the scene in their own vehicles, and
the others were just getting out of their vehicle.  Nick went up to one
of the officers on the scene, Tracy and Mulder following, while Scully
and Natalie went toward the bodies.  After getting nothing from the
officer, Nick, Tracy and Mulder, went to the bodies also.

Natalie immediately did what she usually did, this time not quite as 
professional as the others, "Victims are Sharon Benson, and Tanya
Durham, ages 22 and 24.  Cause of death, loss of blood.  There is a
messy cut on their jugular veins, and two small puncture marks nearby.
Time of Death was within the past hour and a half."

"Scully?" Mulder asked, wanting to know if she had anything to add.

"That about sums it up, other than the fact that there is almost no
blood on the scene, even though both victims lost at least half of
theirs, if not more."

"Okay.  I'm going back to the station with the two detectives, are you
going to come with us, or get started on the rest of it?" Mulder asked,
happy he didn't have to do the dirty work, the real dirty work.

"I'll go with Natalie and we can meet back at the station in let's say,
an hour?" Scully told her partner.

"Okay."

They split up into two groups and worked on finding a solution to their

case.  An hour later, when Scully and Natalie arrived at the station, 
nothing new was found out by either group.  Just more of the same 
information.  The only difference between this one and the others was
there were two victims, meaning most likely more than one killer.  A
few minutes after that, a young woman asked for the detectives on the
‘vampire killer' case, mentioning that she had been a witness.  She was
quickly  taken to Nick's desk, and was then taken to one of the
interrogation rooms when she told them she had witnessed the murder. 
The tape recorder was started up, something that was annoying to her
heightened senses in the otherwise quiet room.

"What is your name?" Tracy asked.

"Caitlin Mercer."

"What happened?"

"Me and a couple of my friends, Sharon and Tanya, went to the Raven for
a couple of hours, then we left.  We decided to walk to another club,
we didn't know which one at the time.  After a few minutes these two
guys attacked us.  I couldn't see their faces.  They threw me against
the wall, and that's when I saw them kill my friends, I don't remember
how, just that they did.  That's when I ran.  I suppose they didn't see
me, how I don't know, but I guess I fell soon after, because about ten
minutes ago I woke up in an alley."  By the time she finished, she was
almost crying but not quite.

"Are these Sharon and Tanya?" Nick asked, handing pictures from the
crime scene to Caitlin.

She looked at them, slowly as if horrified, and even though she was a 
vampire, the pictures still horrified her in a way, after all, Sharon
and Tanya were her friends, she had known them both for more than two
years.  She handed them back and slowly answered, "Yes, that's them."

"You said you went to the Raven before this happened, correct?" asked 
Scully.

"Yes, we did."

"Do you think the killer could have followed you from there?"

"Um. . ." Caitlin didn't know what to say, she couldn't deny it, that
would just make them more suspicious.  So she told them, "It's
possible.  It is a very popular club."

Nick nodded, and stopped the tape.  The group then met at his and
Tracy's desks, and they waited for the inevitable question.

"Why don't we go there, to the Raven and talk to the owner.  Perhaps he
has seen something unusual," Mulder suggested, remembering that two of
the other victims had probably gone to the Raven soon before their
death.

"That's going to be hard, the owner is out of town right now," Nick
said, fearing this would happen.  Why did things like this happen at
the most awkward moments?

"Then we can talk to whoever was left in charge," Mulder stated,
wondering how the detective knew that.

"Well. . ." Nick started, then after a few seconds continued, "I'm
afraid that won't help too much either.  I was the one left in charge."
 Mulder had a look on his face asking, ‘Why didn't you say that before,
it is a very important piece of information.'  Nick put his hand up to
his head, knowing the situation had just gotten worse, and then brought
it back down saying, "Nat, take Caitlin home.  The rest of you come
with me."  He headed toward the exit, and once outside the two
detectives and the two agents got into his car and they speed off to
the Raven, the journey spent in silence.


Suspicions  -  Part 2/5


Nick parked where he usually did, on the sidewalk in front of the
Raven, and after the two agents got out Tracy asked, "Why did LaCroix
put you in charge of the Raven while he was gone?  I didn't think he
liked you a whole lot.  Actually, he doesn't seem to like anyone."

"I don't know, I guess he trusts me for some reason," which now that he
thought about it, wasn't exactly a lie.  He could have easily left
someone else in charge of the club and his radio show, but no, it had
to be him.

The four entered the club and went to the bar.  "Is there anything I
can do for you Knight?" the bartender asked, immediately recognizing
the detective.

"Actually, yes there is.  You were here earlier tonight, between eight
and nine, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Did you see these two women between those times?" Nick asked showing
the pictures from the crime scene to the bartender.

He didn't even bat an eye at the pictures of the two dead women, and
said, "Yeah, they were with Caitlin."

"Did you see anyone watching them, or anyone else that seemed
suspicious about that time?"

"I saw no one," was all he got in answer, the man's eyes glazing
slightly, a result of being hypnotized by a vampire.

"Well, I guess that answers that."  Nick knew someone had tampered with
the man's memory since he was last there, but decided to deal with it
later.  He noticed that he wasn't the only one that had noticed, Tracy
seemed dazed as if remembering something, and Mulder had an observing
gaze on both of them and the bartender, knowing something was amiss,
but not what.

"Now we need to think of something else to do to solve this case,"
Scully said, bringing Tracy back to the present.

"Come on into the office.  I'm going to check something, and I'll be
right back."

Tracy watched as Nick walked toward the sound booth, and as she walked
into the office, muttered, "That's probably why."

"‘That's probably why,' what, Detective?" Mulder asked, curious as to
her remark.

She hadn't meant to be heard, but it wouldn't hurt to explain, "Oh, um,
Nick is a big fan of the Nightcrawler, the radio personality that the
Raven's owner, Lucien LaCroix, uses on CERK.  He has his own sound
booth in the club, and Nick has probably meet him before.  That's
probably why LaCroix left Nick in charge of the Raven, although I've
never seen him in here before."

"What's he doing?" Mulder asked.

"He's going to the sound booth, I'll ask him when he gets back."

A few minutes later he returned, and Tracy asked him, "What did you
need to do?"

"The tape was almost done.  I needed to change it, and I'll probably
change it again before we leave.  While LaCroix is absent I am also to
run his radio program."

All seemed to be satisfied with his explanation, and Nick closed the
door to the office and sat down in LaCroix' chair.

"Okay, what are we going to do now.  I'd like to see the victim's
bodies," Mulder said.

"Why?  All of the information is in the reports," Scully asked him.

"You know why," he said softly to his partner.

"Mulder, there is no such thing as vampires, they're just a myth."

Nick and Tracy were too busy trying not to choke to notice each other's
reaction to Scully's words, and Scully was too busy scolding Mulder. 
Nick was glad the office was fairly insulated, with everything that had
happened in the Community lately, if a vampire heard what Scully had
said about her partner, there would definitely be a problem.  He would
probably be treated like a Hunter.

"How do you know that?  There is no evidence proving they don't exist,"
he would have said more, but was cut off by his partner.

"Mulder, at least let us eliminate the other possibilities first,
before you go off on your wild theories."

Nick decided to interrupt them and asked, "What is he talking about?"

"Mulder sees strange solutions to problems, and he believes that it
really is a vampire doing the killings," she explained, her skepticism
clearly evident in her voice.

"Come on lets all talk about rational possibilities first," Tracy said
knowing she couldn't let them find out about the truth, that the
killings probably were done by vampires, and not the ones of myth
either.

"Someone could be taking the blood through some kind of machine,"
Scully suggested.

"But that would take a while, wouldn't it?  I mean to drain the blood. 
The machine would have to be set up, work for a while then be taken
down. No, that's too impractical.  Plus there's no evidence at the
scene that any machines were used, and Caitlin's testimony backs that
up."  Nick stopped and realized he just eliminated proof that it
couldn't be a vampire, and almost winced as a result.  Then he
suggested, "Why don't we get back to the precinct.  This way you can
get settled into your rooms, and get some rest, which you probably both
want, since you are going to be switching from day shift to night
shift."

"Yeah, probably, I know I could sure use the rest after getting up
before five, getting a little more sleep then getting on a plane and
working here for several hours," Scully said, looking at her partner
when she mentioned the time she was up, making it clear it was his
idea.

They went back to the precinct and when they arrived, Natalie was there
waiting for them.  Nick went into the Captain's office and told him
what they were going to do.  He found out there was a little glitch
with their rooms and that someone had forgot to make reservations for
them, and said they would be staying with one or two of them because of
some big auction in town and all of the hotels were full.  'Why did
there have to be an auction this week?' he thought, noticing everything
seemed to be going against him. Nick went back and explained it to the
two FBI agents.  He then said, "I have room at my place if you would
both like to stay there."

"Fine, as long as it's okay with you," Scully said.

"As long as you don't mind having to go shopping first, my cupboards
are completely empty right now."  He almost failed trying to look
slightly embarrassed about that fact, and luckily the two agents were
tired enough that they didn't know it wasn't true embarrassment.

"No, we don't mind," Scully told him.

"Good, then Natalie can take you shopping.  I need to close the Raven,
and then I'll get back."

Natalie and the two agents left the precinct, taking Nick's car.  Nick
took Natalie's car and drove to the Raven, and once everything was
secure he drove to the loft.  Once home he opened the refrigerator and
took a drink from one of the bottles still in there.  He then took that
bottle and another one and put it in the meat drawer, nicely out of
sight.  Just after closing the door, the elevator kicked into motion
and Nick sighed, knowing he finished just in time.  He helped Natalie
with the groceries, and afterwards they talked for a while before Nat
left, mainly about the differences between American and Canadian law
enforcement, and also federal and local.  Natalie and Scully talked
mostly about the many advances in medicine, and did so until the sun
came up.  At that time Natalie said bye, and on her way out closed some
of the blinds.

Scully asked curiously, "What are the metal shutters for?"

"I have a severe allergy to sunlight.  That's the reason I work the
night shift."

Scully walked around, stopping at various items, picking them up
carefully, looking at them and putting them back down. 'These are worth
a fortune, and I don't think they're fakes either.'  Mulder was also
looking around and eventually wondered over to Nick's paints.  Scully
absently asked, "Are you a collector?"

"I guess you could say that.  Most were passed to me from my relatives.
 The rest I gathered on my own."  Scully seemed to believe his
response, and Mulder did nothing to indicate he had heard the question
or answer.

"Do you also paint?" Mulder asked while looking at one of his more
recent works, the paint still drying.

"Yes, usually after work and on my days off.  You may look through them
if you wish.  I will be right back.  I need to prepare your rooms for
your stay."  Mulder nodded and Nick walked up the stairs, looking back
when he reached the top.

"Scully.  What do you think of Knight?" Mulder asked, quietly while
looking through the paintings, stopping and closely studying one with a
sun, appearing half finished on it, then moving on to a more abstract
one.

"Well.  He seems to be honest on first observation, and at the moment
fairly busy, but other than that, I don't know.  Why?" she said, not
sensing anything was wrong about the detective.

"Don't you think the metal shutters are just a bit much.  I know he
said he's allergic to sunlight, but this much?  And this is nice, too
nice, and too expensive for a cop's salary.  I mean, some of this stuff
is probably worth thousands of dollars, if not more!"  He waved his
arms wide, and looked toward the shuttered windows.

"Mulder, many people are allergic to sunlight, some not being able to
stand any whatsoever.  They burn or blister within seconds, and could
possibly even kill them.  Mulder, he probably can't ever go outside
during the day.  As a result he has a lot of free time.  That would
explain his many hobbies.  He probably inherited the money and other
artifacts like he said, he seems to be pretty clean."  She paused and
thought for a moment, then realized where her partner's words were
going.  "Mulder, you can't possibly think he's a vampire.  He probably
gets enough of that from normal people, he doesn't need it from you
too."

"I know.  But don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence.  I mean, he
can't go outside during the day, and all of the murders are happening
at night.  They also all happened close to the Raven, within two miles.
 He was gone from the precinct when tonight's murder occurred.  When we
were working earlier it seemed as though he wasn't even trying to solve
the case, like he already knew who the killer was, or as if he didn't
want the killer found.  His partner also seems to be a bit hesitant
trying to find the killer."

"So in other words, you think he's the killer?" Scully asked
incredulously.

"Well, it is possible isn't it?"

"Mulder, I wouldn't accuse him in his own home, and anyway, do you have
any proof?"

He took a few seconds before he said, "Well, um. . ."

"See!  You have no proof.  If you want to accuse him again, or anyone
else, at least have a plausible theory, something more than just simple
coincidence.  Someone's probably just making it look like a vampire
killed them, I seriously doubt it was a real one."

"Okay, so I should have waited to tell you until I found more out, but
he's hiding something.  What or why, I don't know, but he is definitely
hiding something, I can tell."

Throughout the agents' conversation, Nick listened with his highly
sensitive hearing, and he had a growing concern of possibly being
discovered by them, or at least by Mulder, his partner seemed to be
more skeptical.  He decided he'd been gone long enough, and went to the
stairs, making a noise on the way down, causing the agents to suddenly
cease speaking.  "There are two bedrooms upstairs, you can choose
between yourselves who will take which.  I'll sleep down here on the
couch."  Nick told them as he went to a closet and retrieved a pillow
and blanket, setting them on the couch.

"Are you sure we aren't putting you out?" Scully asked, concerned they
were inconveniencing the detective.

He smiled slightly and answered, "I'm sure.  I usually end up sleeping
on the couch anyway."

Mulder was about to say something when the phone rang.  Nick quickly
picked it up saying, "Knight."

"Nick, it's me, Natalie.  What time do you want me to bring the protein
shake by?"

"Any time between three and six."

"Oh, and Tracy was wondering if everyone could meet at your place, then
go to the Raven to see if we can find anything else out."

"That would be fine.  Tell her to be here about six o'clock.  You
probably want to get here before that, so she doesn't have to watch me
drink your new concoction.  You do have a new one don't you?"

"Yes I do.  Don't worry if you don't like it, I'll bring another one as
backup.  See you tonight, Bye."

Natalie hung up and Nick did the same. When the two agents looked at
him, he said, "That was Natalie.  She'll be coming by sometime between
three and six, and Tracy will be here about six, she thought it would
be good if we went to the Raven first thing tonight and try to find
more out."

"Yeah, and we should probably get some sleep, after all it's already
eight thirty," Scully commented looking down at her watch, then grabbed
her bag and took it to the guest bedroom upstairs.  Mulder looked at
Nick for a few seconds, then took his bag to the other room, Nick's
room, and closed the door.

Nick waited a half hour, both agents had finally fallen asleep, before
he finally poured himself a glass of blood, and after drinking it fell
asleep on the couch, not even bothering with the pillow or blanket.

Several hours later Mulder came down the stairs, and after doing so
walked toward Nick's sleeping form.  He looked at him, noticing he
looked even paler now than when he first met him.  The detective had
not used the blanket, or even the pillow, instead it looked as though
he had just laid back and fallen asleep.  He had his arms crossed above
his heart, and all of his muscles were eerily relaxed, Mulder could not
even see his chest move up and down from breathing.  He also noticed a
slight sheen was forming on Knight's forehead, but dismissed it for the
moment.

Mulder went to the refrigerator, and decided to see what was in the
drawers.  The first one was empty.  In the second one he found two
green bottles, one full, the other half empty.  From looking at the
bottles he could tell the liquid was dark, probably red.  He heard a
movement from Nick's direction and put the bottle back and carefully
closed the drawer, trying not to make any sound.  He then grabbed the
jug of orange juice, and took it to the counter, pouring himself a
glass.  Then after putting the orange juice back, sat in a chair near
the couch.  Mulder thought, 'Well, I know what you are, Knight.  I just
don't know whose side you are on.' He was startled when Knight moved
and mumbled something in French, making Mulder slightly nervous. 
'Nightmares.  I know exactly what your going through,' he thought,
remembering his sister, and the nightmare he had every night.  In fact
it was the very one that had woke him up.

When Mulder finished with the orange juice, he put his glass in the
sink, and noticed there was another in there already, a wine glass,
with a small amount of red liquid at the very bottom.  He decided to
look more closely at it in the morning, hoping it would still be there,
and then he took one more look in the refrigerator, just to make sure
the bottles were real.  He then returned to Nick's room and tried to
fall back to sleep.

Mulder woke up early that night, so when a knock came at his door he
was only slightly startled.  He said, "Who is it?"

"Knight.  I was wondering if I could get a few things so I can take a
shower, I forgot to get them last night."

"Go ahead," Mulder answered.

He watched as Knight entered the room, still in the clothes he had worn
to work the previous night, except he no longer had his jacket on, and
his shirt collar was unbuttoned.  He looked like anyone else that would
have slept on the couch for a night with strange people in his home.

Mulder was snapped of his observations by Knight's voice, "Agent
Mulder, I said, did you get enough sleep?"

"Oh, yes.  Much more than usual actually.  How about you?" he asked,
knowing Knight probably didn't get a lot of restful sleep, at least
from his appearance, and what he saw of him when he got the orange
juice.

"Same as you, more than usual."  Nick finished gathering clothes and
added, "If you want you can make something to eat, or do whatever." 
Nick then left the room and went into the bathroom.

Mulder decided now would be a good time to see what was in the bottles,
so the first thing he did was go to the refrigerator and pull out the
partially filled bottle and brought it over to the kitchen counter.  He
then remembered the wine glass and sure enough, it was still there. 
Mulder took the glass and poured a small amount of the slightly thick
red liquid into the glass.  He'd been to enough crime scenes that he
knew what blood looked like on site, and this was definitely blood.  As
the realization that he had actually found proof entered his mind, he
almost dropped the glass.  Then, quickly he dumped the liquid down the
drain, placed the glass back into the sink, then put the bottle back
into the refrigerator, and walked up the stairs.

Mulder decided he could tell Scully now, but when he saw Knight leave
the bathroom, decided to just ask what she wanted to eat for breakfast,
after all he had already knocked on her door.

"Who is it?!" he heard.

"It's Mulder.  Do you want me to make you anything for breakfast?"

"Um," she thought for a moment, wondering why he was going to make her
breakfast, but decided she might as well take advantage of it and said,
"Bacon, eggs, and toast, with orange juice and coffee.  Is the bathroom
free?"

"Yeah."

"Good, then I can take a shower, and have it ready when I'm out."

Mulder just realized that would mean he would have to skip breakfast or
take one a little later, but that didn't really matter, he'd done so
many times before.  He went back down stairs to see Knight washing both
the wine glass and the other glass he had used for orange juice the
night before, and asked, "Where's your frying pans?"

At first Nick was confused, not expecting the question, then he pointed
to a overhead cupboard and finished drying the glasses.

Mulder took two of the pans out, both virtually new, one for bacon, the
other for eggs, and set them on the stove.  He knew vampires didn't eat
and asked, "Are you going to have anything?"  After receiving a
negative answer, like he expected, he said, "I'm not going to either. 
Most times I skip it anyway.  I guess that means it's only for Scully. 
Do you want to help?"

Nick decided he had nothing better to do, and went along with Mulder's
idea, "What does she want made?"

"Bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee."

"I'll take the eggs and coffee and you can make the rest."

As Nick took the coffee grinds, 'He keeps coffee under the sink? 
Weird,' and put them in the coffee machine, Mulder just stared,
surprised the guy was going to cook at all, and that he appeared to
know what he was doing as well.

Nick carefully started the coffee maker, making sure he didn't do
anything wrong.  In his mind he thought, still tired from the
nightmares he had, 'Is Mulder figuring out what I am, or am I imagining
things.'

They made Scully breakfast in silence, and when the lift kicked on
neither noticed, both distracted by the other, and what they were going
to do about their suspicions.

Natalie got out of the elevator, letting the door shut causing Nick and
Mulder to turn toward her.  For a second she just stared seeing Nick
holding a frying pan, and in her mind she thought, 'He's actually
cooking.'  She realized they were watching her, so she took her coat
off, and laid it over one of the chairs.  "I brought your breakfast
with me," she said while holding a cup up before placing it in the
refrigerator.

Natalie sat down at the table, and watched as Nick made the scrambled
eggs, and was startled when Scully, now sitting at the table with her,
asked, "How are you?"

"Oh, fine.  It's amazing how tired you feel once you actually get some
sleep."

Scully was about to comment on the truthfulness of the statement, when
Nick and Mulder placed breakfast in front of her.  "You know I haven't
been waited on for such a long time, this is almost like a vacation,"
she commented.

A cup of coffee was set in front of Natalie and she said, "It's rare
for Nick to make anything."  She heard the mistake and covered it with,
"Usually he orders out, or comes over to my place.  Which reminds me." 
Natalie got up and retrieved the protein shake from the refrigerator,
and took the top off, "Your breakfast is served."

Mulder was able to see it was a creamy, faintly blue, almost lumpy
substance, and he didn't smell anything, but was curious, so he asked,
"What is it?"

"It's my most recent protein shake.  It's for his allergy, we're trying
to find a way to cure it."  She paused and when Nick made no move
toward the glass, added, "Try it."

Nick hoped Mulder wouldn't get any ideas if his reaction didn't go very
well, and he took the cup and brought it to his lips, taking a small,
cautious, sip.  When the taste registered, it took all of his control
not to run to the sink or garbage can.  Instead, he managed to swallow
it with a sick look on his face, his complexion already pure white,
and beginning to turn green.  "I think you need to make one of the
older ones, this one doesn't seem to agree with me."

Nick then went to the sink and got a glass of water and drank it in one
gulp, then half of another, surprising Natalie, and causing a thought
to enter her mind, 'Well, it's got to be pretty bad if he's drinking
water to get the taste out of his mouth.  Really bad.  At least he
didn't spit it out, or throw up, but that would create problems with
the two agents.'  Natalie made the other one quickly and poured it into
another cup and handed it to Nick.  She watched as the two agents
watched Nick, both surprised of his action, but not commenting on it.

This time he was able to swallow it without even a grimace, the taste
being such a difference between the other he could handle it.  After
drinking half of it, he asked, "Tracy's coming at six, right?"

"Yeah, she should be here any minute now."  True to her words the
buzzer rang and Natalie went to the video screen to see who it was. 
She buzzed Tracy in, telling her to come to the second floor.  At that
instant she realized Tracy had never been inside Nick's home before,
and looked around at all of the candles, antiques, and it's dim
lighting.  'Damn.  I hope she doesn't compare it to Vachon's place, too
many similarities.'

Tracy entered and after looking at the room, took Nick's place at the
table, and he stood behind her.  "What time did you want to go to the
Raven?" Tracy asked, after forcing herself not to look around, there
were just too many things to look at.

"Probably a little early, that way we can find if, and when, who we
want to question works tonight," Scully suggested.

Nick nodded and said, "Then we should leave now.  Some of the employees
will have already arrived.  Whose vehicles should we take?"

"How about yours and ours.  We'll follow you there," Mulder suggested,
wanting to talk to his partner about his discovery.

Nick again nodded and went to his car, Natalie and Tracy following,
wishing he could talk to Natalie in private.

Mulder and Scully went to their rental car and once inside Mulder said,
his eyes alight with his news, "I have proof, he is a vampire!"

Scully just turned to him and said, "What!?"

"In his refrigerator are bottles of blood.  And last night when I got
something to drink, I also observed that he doesn't breath when he
sleeps, and sleeps with his arms crossed above his heart.  And I'm sure
you've noticed, he's extremely pale."

"Mulder, I still can't believe he's a vampire.  Not without proof I can
see with my own eyes."  She looked forward and said, "They're leaving,
you might want to follow them."

Once they were moving, she looked over at her partner's face, and knew
that form the look in his eyes, he was going to prove his theory, no
matter what she said.  He had already proved it to himself.  They drove
in silence toward the Raven, and less than ten minutes later, they were
walking in the front doors.


Suspicions  -  Part 3/5


As they walked in, they were able to see the bartender drying some
glasses and several others getting the club ready to be opened.  They
went into the office and started to decide who they were going to
question and when.  They decided to start with the security, the
bouncers, and see what they had seen.  Nick and Tracy were about to
leave the office when the bartender got into an argument with a
customer.  Nick told Tracy to go back into the office, and under
protest, did so.

She watched as the young man, he appeared to be not much older than
herself, perhaps younger, grabbed the bartender, and looked him strait
in the eye.  From where she was she could see the man, and when he
grabbed the bartender, she saw his eyes appear to go amber, and she
knew he was a vampire.  Tracy realized her partner was going over there
and knew he was walking right into a very dangerous situation and he
wasn't even aware of it.  She tried to leave, but was stopped by
Natalie, being reminded that Nick told her to stay put.  Both of the
FBI agents were standing so they couldn't see the man, and had no idea
what was happening.  Tracy watched as Nick walked up to the man, the
vampire, she reminded herself, and pulled him away from the counter.

To her surprise the vampire did nothing, at least to attack.  She could
see that they were speaking but couldn't tell what they were saying. 
Suddenly the young man's eyes again became amber and they both looked
at each other.  At least the vampire was speaking, she couldn't tell if
Nick was or not, all she could see was his back.  Tracy suspected that
he was being hypnotized, made to forget, either that, or he was about
to die.  Suddenly the vampire left, seeming almost frightened, and soon
after, Nick turned around and reentered the office.

"Nick, what was all of that about?" Tracy asked, wanting to know what
he had been told, and what her partner remembered, if anything.

"That?  Nothing, just wanted to speak to the owner and wouldn't believe
that he was out of town.  I told him I was in charge, and he left,"
Nick told her, partially lying, partially not.  He then said, "Myself
and Natalie are going to go back to the station, give the Captain an
update on what's going on.  Tracy, you help the agents with the
questioning.  We'll be back soon."

Nick then pulled Natalie out with him and they got in the Caddy and
made their way to the precinct.  "Nick, what was that really about?"
she asked, having seen just as much as Tracy.

He looked over at her, and decided he would actually tell her, after
all, Tracy would probably know pretty soon as well.  "It has to do with
the killings.  I knew they were done by more than one, Caitlin
confirmed that, but the worst possibility is true."

"And what's that?"

"A split off in the vampire community.  The young man was a messenger,
he wants to talk to me and a couple of the other elders later tonight. 
They are a group of young vampires, most between their age of
appearance to about one hundred.  They want to go back to the old ways,
being able to kill anytime they want.  Most of the older vampires know
what would happen, we'd be found out and the witch hunts would happen
all over again.  They wish to challenge the elders, and they plan to do
that tonight, expose their purpose."

"What are we going to tell the Captain?"

"That we are conducting interviews right now and that we might not be
in tonight because of them."

"But what are we going to do about the agents and Tracy?" Natalie
asked.  "I know she saw the vampires eyes, she tried to go after you."

"We're definitely going to have to tell Tracy.  For now we are going to
have the agents stay at the loft the rest of the night, but we might
have to tell them too.  Mulder already suspects I am a vampire, I heard
a conversation of their's last night.  He even thinks I could be the
killer."

By this time they were at the precinct.  Quickly they entered and told
Reese of what they were doing, and again left the precinct for the
Raven.  About halfway there Natalie broke the silence, asking, "What
are we going to do?"

"Tell the agents to return to the loft for the night, that we will stay
behind to close the Raven early."

"And Tracy?"

"She'll stay behind with us, that way hopefully we can explain to her
before they arrive."

They quickly parked then got out of the car.  On the way in, Nick told
the bouncer at the door, a vampire, to first get the mortals out of the
club, and then the others.  The vampire immediately told the other
Raven employees, and soon a rumor was heard that the Raven was closing
for the night, and everyone began to leave, except for a few vampires. 
Nick then told another vampire, one of the older ones, that they would
need to meet at the Raven, and to pass the message along to a few
others.  Nick and Natalie then went into the office and told the
others, "I'm going to close the Raven early tonight, you should go back
to my loft, otherwise you are going to be very bored while we clean
up."

"But don't we need to continue the questioning of the employees?"
Mulder asked, after all they had only had enough time to question two
of the bouncers, and their responses weren't very helpful.  It was also
only the beginning of the night.

"We'll have to finish tomorrow night.  When you get there you can
brainstorm on the case, that way we'll have less trouble tomorrow. 
We'll know what to ask and what to expect."

Nick used a little persuasion, but Mulder ignored it, telling him, "We
don't mind helping you. . ."

Scully cut her partner off saying, "Mulder, I want to give my eardrums
a rest, they aren't used to the loud music, and the lights are also 
disorienting, let's just go.  Anyway, it will give you more time to
think about your theories, and you can explain them to me."

Mulder only shook his head and said, "Let's go then."  They turned to
leave, Mulder wondering why the detective didn't want them there, and
decided he would ask later, along with a few other things.

Tracy was going to follow, but was stopped by Nick's hand on her
shoulder, "Could you help us?  I'll give you a ride home afterwards."

Tracy thought about it and decided she should stay in case another
vampire returned, and she new that was a good possibility, most of the
Raven's patrons were vampires, and from what she could tell even some
of the employees.  She shivered slightly, and answered, "Yeah, I'll
help.  So what do you need me to do?"

"Could you and Natalie work on cleaning the glasses?  I'm going to fix
the tables and chairs."  Nick decided to wait a few minutes, they
should be there for a while, it was still early.

Tracy watched Nick walk toward the dance floor and the tables, then
followed Natalie behind the bar.  They took the glasses on the bar and
cleaned them, and Nick brought some more from the tables.  Just as Nick
put some glasses down, she felt and heard a whoosh of air, and felt
Natalie push her in the direction of the sound booth.

They never made it though.  A vampire grabbed each of them, and brought
them to the side, close to a cluster of about ten or fifteen more of
them.  She watched as Nick took a few steps toward the group, most
baring their fangs, and their eyes glowing, but he was unafraid.  All
she could see in her partner's face was anger, pure anger.  She felt
another whoosh of air, and four more vampires appeared, all showing
their nature as well, but they didn't join the other group.  Instead
they joined Nick, and then she realized, Nick wasn't afraid before, or
now because he was a vampire.  Anger started to build, then she
realized she needed to keep calm.  Otherwise, she just might die.

Nick took yet another step closer to the other group of vampires, the
four copying him.  "You're Patrick Connor, aren't you?" Nick asked,
distaste in his voice, recognizing the young vampire from other times
he had been in the Raven.  Then, knowing he was the leader, stated, "We
know why you're here."

"I'm sure you do.  And I know you won't give us what we want," spoke
their leader, a young appearing man with almost pitch black hair as he
also stepped forward.  The tension in the room was rising, rising much
faster than the conversation progressed.

"Well, then, why did you come?  Or are you going to try and persuade me
to change my mind?  You'd be foolish to try."

"We have come to state our wishes, and begin the revolution.  We wish
the restrictions to be lifted from the code, to live like you once did!
To live as our nature allows!"

"It will be no revolution!  It will be a bloodbath!" Nick half growled,
his eyes changing to a golden color, causing an intake of breath from
Tracy.

A smirk appeared on Connor's face, "Yes, it will!  And that is exactly
what we want!  A bloodbath!  Free blood for the taking!"

"No, it will be far more than what you want.  It won't take the mortals
long to figure out we aren't myths.  And when they find out they will
hunt us.  Have you ever experienced a witch hunt?  Of course not, none
of you have lived long enough.  Anyone and everyone is suspected, both
innocent and guilty alike are killed.  But this time, we won't be the
innocent bystanders that were killed, they will know exactly what they
are looking for.  Vampires.  All they need do is shine ultraviolet
light into our eyes, causing them to change, then just to make sure put
a crucifix  in front of us.  If we react, we die.  The whole community
could be wiped out in the matter of a few years."

As Nick spoke some of the young vampire's followers started to get
nervous, and Connor interrupted Nick, "We are stronger than you, and
more numerous, we will be able to escape.  We have not allowed our
skills to weaken as you have.  And just to prove it, we will have a
contest, to see who is stronger, your elders, or us."

His statement hung in the air for several minutes, the only sound being
Natalie and Tracy's breathing and their raised heart rates echoing
through the room.

Nick knew that they had no choice but to accept if they wanted any
chance at averting this disaster.  "We accept your contest."

The young vampire's eyes grew in intensity, pleased at his response,
and said, "Then the oldest vampire in Toronto shall fight me within the
week at an appointed time.  Since LaCroix is away at the moment,
detained and very angry actually, you are the oldest.  Well, well.  It
looks like by the week's end he'll be short a son."  The young vampire
laughed, and stopped, adding, "By the way, if you lose, your allies
will meet a most unpleasant death, just like this."  He motioned, and
another came into the room carrying a young vampiress, and then placed
her on the ground.  Caitlin.  All but one left, who had a small arrow
like device, which fired a wood splinter then he left as well.  It flew
silently forward, and hit Nick, but no one saw, not even the other
vampires, and he did his best to ignore it.

"Leave, I will inform you if anything changes," Nick told the others as
he went toward Caitlin.  She was lying on the ground, blood seeping
from a wound in her neck.  He smelt something strange, something that
shouldn't be there.

Tracy watched transfixed as Nick knelt next to the young woman, the
woman that had given them a testimony the night before, and was almost
certainly a vampire.  He reached out and touched a wound on her neck,
then brought his fingers to his lips and tasted her blood.  "Garlic,"
he said with distaste, pulling her mind back to the present.  Nick
turned and looked at her, his eyes only now changing back to their
normal color.  After gazing at her for a second, he put his keys in her
hand and told her, "Go to the Caddy, unlock the door and the trunk."

Tracy simply stared, her mind was still digesting the reality of what
she had seen.  Her partner, whom she previously believed to be a
skeptic, was a vampire.

"Tracy, I'll explain later, but for now please do as I tell you, her
life depends on it."

At his words, she snapped back to the present, and took the keys and
left the club.

"Nat, wait here," Nick said as he quickly, much faster then a mortal,
went down to the cellar and returned carrying a wooden crate with
sixteen green bottles in it.  He told her, "Take this out to the Caddy
and put it in the trunk."  Natalie did, and Nick took off his long
black duster, and placed it on Caitlin, then carried her limp form in
his arms out of the club.

Tracy was just shutting the trunk when he got outside, and Natalie took
the keys from Tracy and got in, Tracy on the other side, and Nick held
Caitlin in the back.  "Where are we going?" Natalie asked starting the
car up.

"Drive to the loft, it is the safest place.  You do have your medical
bag right?"

"It's already there."

A few seconds later, Tracy still slightly in shock, asked, "Nick,
couldn't you have helped her at the club?"

"No," he answered.

"Why?" she asked, not really knowing what had happened to the vampire.

"Because I don't have medical equipment at the Raven."  The rest of the

drive was silent, with Natalie constantly looking back at Caitlin,
knowing she was pale, but she wouldn't be able to see what she really
looked like until they got to Nick's.

The Caddy slowed to a stop and everyone got out.  Tracy slowly got the 
crate, her mind still not really knowing what was going on, and once to
the elevator, Natalie punched in the security code, and they made their
way up, the ride seeming to take twice as long.

Natalie slid the door open to see that Mulder had just sat down to
watch TV, and Scully was opening a book to read.   They both looked up
and saw Nick carrying the young woman with whom they spoke the night
before.  Distantly, they heard Natalie tell Tracy, "Just set it down
there, and get the bag on the counter."

"Nat, where do you want me to put her?"

She thought a moment, then told him, "The table, it's flat and is big 
enough."  Nick laid her down, and took the duster off, Natalie quietly 
asking, "Did you say garlic when you tasted her blood at the Raven?"

"Yes.  It looks like they injected it directly into her blood stream
here," he said pointing to the inflamed needle marks on both her upper
arms.  Then he continued, "And someone drained much of her blood, most
likely before injecting the garlic, which in turn made the garlic more
potent."

Both Mulder and Scully were now standing beside the table, and Scully
asked, "What are you doing?  Shouldn't you take her to the hospital?"

Looking up at the two FBI agents Nick told them, "Agent Mulder, you
already suspect what I am.  Now you know.  She is like me, and cannot
be taken to the hospital."

"So, then, you're both vampires," Mulder stated with a look of slight 
amusement in his eyes.  Scully stood close by not believing what she
was hearing.  Mulder was being told his suspicions were correct.

"It will be explained later, for now watch or back off," Nick said, his
gaze allowing no protest, and turned back to Natalie.  "We need to get
the garlic out of her system.  Can you drain her of her remaining
blood?"

"What little there is left," Natalie answered, getting ready to do so 
anyway.

"Good.  Do it," Nick told her.  She did so and put the needle in the
woman's arm, the blood flowing slowly.  Then Nick picked up the crate
and put it down next to the refrigerator, taking one of the bottles,
getting a glass, and sitting in one of the chairs next to the table. 
He stared at it for a few moments, as if debating whether or not to
open it, then pulled the cork out and poured the glass full with the
contents of the bottle.

Mulder and Scully watched as Nick hesitantly picked the glass up and
quickly downed three-fourths of the glass with a slight grimace, and
then started to pour more.  Nick drank the same amount from this glass,
then as he poured another Mulder asked, "Is that human blood?"

Nick looked into the agent's eyes, almost turning gold from the amount
of blood he had consumed in such a short amount of time, his body not
used to the pleasure of drinking human blood and the heightened senses
which it amplified.  "Yes, it is human."  Mulder just stared with a
look of amusement in his eyes, excitement radiating from him.  Scully
still had no response, her mind not yet accepting what she was being
told, and watching.  Nick noticed both of their reactions, and said,
"As I said before, I'll explain everything later."  He now drank the
blood more slowly, and by the time Natalie had pulled the needle from
Caitlin's arm, both the bottle and the glass were empty.

Natalie knew that the blood was human, but didn't say anything about
it.  He would need it to counter the affects of losing his own, plus,
she knew it would help the young vampiress recover.  "Nick, I've gotten
as much of her blood out as I could.  What do you want me to do now?"
Natalie asked as Nick moved from the chair on the side of the table to
one on the end, behind Caitlin's head.

"Just watch, but first hand me a scalpel."  Natalie reached into her
medical bag and passed one to Nick.  He took it and after rolling up
his left sleeve, made a very deep cut into his wrist using the scalpel.
 He allowed his blood to pool on his wrist slightly, then placed it
over Caitlin's mouth, and after about a minute, she began to take the
blood on her own.  She drank all she could then stopped, going into a
healing sleep, allowing Nick to stand up and return to his seat.

As he stood, he felt the world begin to black out and he felt himself 
falling.

Natalie and Mulder watched Nick, and when they saw that he was going to
fall, gently sat him back into the chair.  "Nick, what happened?"
Natalie asked.  She got no verbal reply, but after looking at him, she
noticed a small spot of blood on the left side of his chest, almost
unnoticeable against the dark maroon silk of his shirt.  Natalie
unbuttoned his shirt and revealed a tiny hole, bleeding slightly.  "Why
didn't you tell me?  What happened?  Nick?"

"The one that stayed behind for just a second.  He had some kind of
device.  With it a wooden splinter was fired and it hit me.  I didn't
tell you because I didn't want you to worry, besides, we had other
matters to attend to," Nick said, attempting a smile, his voice
slightly weak, and leaned back into the chair, while Natalie examined
the injury.

"Nick, how deep is it do you think?" she said concerned, knowing what
wood could do to his system.

"Probably about a half inch, maybe more."

Natalie lightly touched the area around the wound, but stopped when she
felt Nick wince and simultaneously heard and felt a slight growl
emanate from his chest.  She looked up to see his eyes an amber color,
and pain clearly reflected on his face.  "Sorry," Natalie said, then
went to her doctor's bag and retrieved another scalpel and a pair of
tweezers.  "Nick, this is going to hurt," she paused as she knelt in
front of Nick.  A few seconds later she said, "Agent Mulder, I want you
to hold Nick's shoulders back, try to prevent him from moving." 
Natalie turned back to Nick and told him, "Now, I'm going to cut deep
enough so that I can grab the splinter with the tweezers, then I'm
going to pull it out, okay?"

"Just do it," he told her, now much weaker than before.

Mulder pulled back his shoulders, slightly nervous now having confirmed
what Knight was.  Then Natalie took a deep breath, made the cut, and
pulling the skin back, grabbed the splinter and yanked it out.  Nick
struggled to move, the presence of Mulder's hands reminding him he
should try to control the pain.  Nick lowered his gaze, and opened his
eyes, showing all in the room the crimson hue they had taken on, and
his now descended fangs.  Scully backed up as definite proof showed
itself to her, but she didn't scream.  Mulder was merely more
fascinated by the change than before.  Natalie immediately took a
bottle from the crate and took the cork out, Nick removing it from her
hands almost before she was close enough for him to reach it.

Nick quickly drank the bottle, and moments after he finished it, the
wound healed before everyone's eyes, leaving nothing but smooth skin
behind.  Mulder's eyes widened as he realized that the being before him
really was a vampire, not just someone that drank blood, and had the
outer characteristics, but someone that could heal their own wounds,
one of the undead.  Their eyes met each other, and Nick's slowly
returned to their normal color.  Mulder asked, "Will you now explain
what you are and what is happening?"

"You know what I am Agent Mulder.  A vampire.  What's happening is a 
rebellion within the vampire community, one that is going to cost many 
mortals their lives unless I stop them."

When Nick did not continue, Mulder asked, "Why you?  Why not another of
your. . . community?"

Nick stood up and told him, "I am the oldest presently in Toronto.  I
must fight their leader to prove that those of the older generation are
still strong, that our rules have not weakened us."

"What is their argument?" Scully asked, following him as he walked
across the room.

"They want to go back to the old ways, live like me and the other old 
vampires used to live," Nick paused, then elaborated, "They wish to be
able to feed freely from mortals, from humans, and they have already
started."

"So these killings were done by this group of vampires?" Scully asked,
still unsure of what was happening, her mind still trying to tell her
vampires were only myths, not actual beings, even with one right in
front of her.

"Probably, and if they aren't stopped, the whole community will be 
discovered.  That's what our code, our rules prevent from happening,
and that's why they are obeyed."

"Aren't there members of the community that take care of such problems?
Some kind of police force?" Scully asked.

Suddenly a displacement of air was felt in the room and three men
appeared, one behind Tracy, one behind Mulder, and the other away from
the rest but in clear view of those present.  All possessed dark brown
or black hair, and incredibly pale skin.  The two behind the mortals
had their fangs visible and their eyes were amber.  Now, only a couple
of seconds after Scully asked her question the third, the leader of the
group who appeared normal, answered, "Yes, there is such a group. 
That's who we are, and that's what we're going to do."

The man approached Nick and once he was merely a few feet from him,
Nick said, "You have no right to interfere, and anyway, it is not I
that have broken the code."

"Ah, but you have.  Everyone in this room knows of our existence, and
half are mortals.  You know the code.  You know what must be done," the
vampire said as he walked around the mortals, eyes faintly glowing with
a golden hue, fixed on Knight.

Nick stayed put, and argued, "I will deal with the FBI agents later,
first the problem that brought them here needs to be solved, the
problem that caused their suspicions in the first place."

"Yes, it does.  But you forgot about the other two mortals," the
vampire then nodded to the one behind Tracy.  He pulled Tracy's head to
the side and brushed her hair out of the way, his fangs moving toward
her jugular vein.

Nick reacted quickly, and with vampire speed moved toward his partner,
and took the enforcer and threw him to the ground in front of their
leader.  His eyes now matched the enforcers' in intensity, and his
fangs were clearly visible.  "Leave!  I will deal with this.  If, and
only if I am killed by them, then you can try to stop them.  But if you
interfere now, it will only strengthen their determination, and we will
surely be discovered and destroyed!"  When they did not make any move
to go, Nick grabbed the enforcer and picked him off the ground,
growling into his face, "I said leave!  Now!"  He let the enforcer go,
and after glaring at the older vampire, the three disappeared with
supernatural speed, flying up though the open skylight.

The room became completely quiet, and after about a minute Scully
asked, "What were they!?"

"Enforcers," Natalie said from her position next to Tracy, making sure
she was all right, and other than being a little stunned, was. 
Noticing everyone's confusion she looked toward Nick, and receiving a
nod continued, "They are like a police force.  They enforce the code,
the laws that the vampire community lives by.  Breaking the rules could
mean death."

"He mentioned the code, that you had broken it.  How did you break it?"
Tracy asked, partially knowing the answer, but wanting to know more.

Nick sat down in one of the recliners and said, "Everyone in this room
knows vampires exist.  When a mortal discovers our existence we are
given three choices, they can be made to forget, die, or be made one of
us."

"But I've known for several months, why hasn't anything been done?"
Tracy asked, confused as to why she was still alive, and wondering what
Vachon didn't tell her.

"You were under Vachon's protection, and now mine.  We've prevented the
rest of the community from knowing that you know what we are," he told
her, not really surprised Vachon hadn't said anything.

"And now they know," she stated.

"Yes, they do.  They also know about your knowledge," he said turning
to the two FBI agents, who were now sitting on the couch.

"What's going to happen to us?" Scully asked.

"I'm not completely sure.  When this contest is over, we'll figure that
out."  Nick stared strait ahead, knowing the results of the contest
would have a major determining factor in whether or not the agents
would live or die.

"What exactly is this contest?" Mulder asked.

Nick looked toward him, then told the occupants of the room, "It is a
test of strength.  We fight until one is killed, the winner is declared
the stronger of the two, and will make the decision of what will be
done, and will be in control of Toronto's community."

"What are your chances of winning this contest?" Scully asked.

At first Nick only looked forward, into empty space, then he looked
strait at her and said, "Very low."

"But you're much older than. . ." Scully tried to ask, but trailed off
not knowing who the other was.

"His name's Patrick Connor, and yes I am a lot older than he is, but I
am much weaker than he.  My. . . diet is different," Nick stated,
looking away at the end.  This was not something he wanted to discus.

"What do you mean?  I thought all vampires drank human blood, unless,
are you a carouche?" Tracy asked, remembering what Vachon had told her
when Screed had gotten sick.

At the word Nick turned back to Tracy, eyes with a hint of gold in them
and said, "No, I am not a carouche," the last word said with a hint of
disgust.  "I choose not to drink human blood.  My diet is cow blood and
the protein shakes Natalie makes.  I have not drank human blood as my
main source of food for over a hundred years."

Natalie knew that would not be enough of an explanation, so she further
explained, "The fresher the blood a vampire consumes the more strength
the vampire gets.  Connor and his followers are the ones doing the
killings, they are getting blood strait from the source, the most
satisfying and strengthening they can get.  Bottled human blood is what
the majority of the community lives off of, and because of it being
human it is still strengthening, but not as much because it isn't
fresh.  Cow blood has no satisfying aspects, and is just enough to
survive on."

Nick interrupted her, "It's not even enough to do that.  Basically, for
the last century I've been starving myself."

"So, how are you going to beat Connor?" Scully asked, understanding the
explanation.

"I don't know, I might not be able to."  Nick looked toward her and she
could see the complete loss of hope in his eyes.  Suddenly the buzzer
rang, and everyone's attention was diverted to it.  Nick got up and
went to the view screen, switching it on, and asked, "Who is it?"

A young woman appeared on the screen and asked, "Nicholas de Brabant?"

He hesitated slightly, looking at the others in the room and seeing
their understanding.  The woman was not mistaken of who she wanted to
speak to.  He then told her, "Yes.  What do you want?"

Nervously, the woman responded, "I, I'm supposed to give you
something."

Nick paused, then told her, "Get in the elevator, take it up to the
second floor."  Nick let go of the intercom and turned off the security
system, allowing the lock on the elevator to be released.  The elevator
started up and when it stopped, Nick opened the door, which greatly
startled the woman.  Nick took her by the arm and gently pulled her out
of the elevator.  He then softly asked, "You had something you were
supposed to give me?"

"Yes.  Here," she said handing an envelope to him with a shaking hand. 
She was frightened to death.

Nick opened it, and after quickly reading it handed the letter to
Natalie.  "Do you remember who gave this to you?"

"No.  I only know I'm supposed to give it to you, and for some reason
I'm very scarred."

"Okay," he said, then using his vampiric powers he told her, "You are
going to go home, and you will remember nothing of what happened.  Do
you understand?"

The woman's eyes glazed over slightly, and she absently said, "I'm
going to go home and remember nothing."

"Good.  Now go."  She walked back into the elevator and was gone.

Once the room was again quiet, Tracy asked, slightly annoyed by her 
partner's actions, "What did the letter say?"

"The contest is to take place tomorrow night, midnight."

"That doesn't give us very much time to prepare," Mulder said.

"No, it doesn't.  But you aren't going to be doing much preparing. 
Natalie, Tracy, and myself are going to be doing the planning, and if
you want to live, I would suggest to do as we say."  Nick looked back
toward the others, then looked toward Caitlin.  "Natalie, take Scully
and make sure Caitlin's doing all right, and tell her how to take care
of one of us."

At first Natalie just stood there, knowing that for Nick to trust an
almost complete stranger with his secrets, there really was only a
small chance he would survive the contest.  This trust also reminded
her of the danger she would be in.  The Community had to know she knew
about them, and she would be almost as much of a target as Nick.  If
something happened to her, Nick wanted someone to know what to do.  She
then nodded and led Scully over to Caitlin and showed her what to do,
how to know if she was okay, and what to do and expect when they were
injured.

A few minutes later, Nick told agent Mulder, "Go over with Natalie,
listen to what she is telling your partner."  He then turned to Tracy
and grabbing a bottle out of the crate took her upstairs.

"Natalie," Scully asked, "Why are you telling us all of this?"

"Nick knows his chances are low.  If something were to happen to me, he
wants you to know what to do for him as well as me."

Scully then asked, "Why did he take Tracy upstairs?"

"Probably to explain things a little more."  When Natalie received a 
questioning look, she said, "Tracy already knew about vampires, just
not about Nick.  Until tonight, she was sure Nick was mortal, and
believed he was a skeptic as well."

Scully nodded and said, "Well I guess you should continue."

Natalie did, and after a couple of minutes, they moved to the living
room, and she explained more, and answered many of their questions.


Suspicions  -  Part 4/5


Nick took Tracy over to one of the chairs in his room and told her to
sit down, then after getting a chair for himself, moved to sit in front
of her.  He then told her, "Tracy, I know you have questions to ask."

Tracy looked into his face, her eyes full of tears, and asked, "Why
didn't you tell me?  You know I wouldn't have betrayed your existence."

He knew she would be mad at him, and told her, "Tracy, I didn't tell
you because it would have put you in more danger than you were already
in."

She understood what he was saying, Vachon seemed to have done the same 
thing.  He didn't say anything to her either, and it was Vachon's
actions that kept his secret from her.  "When did you find out I knew? 
Did Vachon tell you?"

"No.  Vachon didn't tell me.  He was very protective of you, when I
asked him about it.  Actually Screed thought I was an enforcer."  He
smiled slightly, remembering the accusation.

"Why would he have thought that?" Tracy asked, her tears now almost
gone.

"Screed has never met an enforcer, and never did.  Neither had Vachon. 
I was worried about your safety, and considering my eyes had changed
and I was holding Vachon immobile several feet off of the ground and
against a wall, what else was he supposed to think?"  Nick had a grin
on his face when he stopped.

She smiled as the image formed in her mind and said, "Yeah, I guess
you're right.  What did he die of anyway?  And why didn't Vachon die? 
I know he was very sick."

Nick sighed, then told her what had happened, "The lab rat we had found
was carrying something that was deadly to vampires, but was almost a
cure for aids.  Within the community it is known as the Fever.  It
wiped out most of the community and no one even knew.  LaCroix found
out who was responsible, and killed him.  Afterwards, he brought his
victim to the morgue, and seeing he wasn't sick, Natalie figured out
what cured LaCroix.  With it, I was cured, and I brought the cure to
the remaining members of the community, starting with Vachon."

"So you were sick, and that would explain why Vachon didn't tell me how
he was cured, he couldn't without me discovering both you and Natalie."
 Tracy bowed her head slightly, then raised it asking, "Why did Vachon
leave anyway?" wanting to know the answer, wanting to know what
happened to him.  'Why did he just leave?  He didn't even take his
things.'

Nick closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, knowing he would have
to tell her what really happened, and that it would be hard.  He and
LaCroix had suppressed her memory of that night, had made her believe
Vachon had left.  He opened his eyes, and after taking a drink from the
bottle he brought stated, "Trace, Vachon didn't leave, he died."

'But he left?!  I remember him leaving!'  "But then how come I don't
remember that?" she asked, knowing she was a resistor, immune to being
hypnotized.

"I asked LaCroix to change your memory of what happened.  Since it was 
something your mind would rather believe, and because of LaCroix'
strength he was able to give you the false memory.  Even resistors can
be hypnotized, it is just more complicated."

Tracy was angry at what he had done, but she understood his reasons. 
He didn't want her to feel the pain from his death.  'But, if he didn't
leave, then how did he die?'  She also still wanted to know what really
happened, the events she couldn't see that happened that night, and
asked, "Nick, can I get my real memories back?"

Nick suspected she was going to ask this, and told her, "Yes, I can
unlock your mind."  He looked at her and said, "Tracy, to do this you
need to completely surrender your will to me."  She nodded in
understanding, then he continued, "Look into my eyes Tracy."  After she
did, his eyes caught hers, and her eyes slowly glazed over, "You will
remember the events of that night, the way they truly happened.  You
will remember Vachon's death, and all that led up to it and its
results.  Remember, Tracy, remember," his voice trailed off and her
memories slowly returned.

As they came faster, she closed her eyes, reliving her suppressed
memories in every detail.  Suddenly she took in a deep breath, and
opened her eyes, now knowing the truth of what happened.  Tracy bowed
her head, letting the tears flow freely, not caring what her partner
was, knowing he had the memories taken away so she wouldn't have to
deal with what happened, and now she had to deal with them, and deal
with them quickly.  Nick sat still while she recomposed herself, his
only movements being to drink more of the blood from the bottle, and
she was glad, she didn't know if she really knew him anymore, or if she
ever did.  But if anything, the returning memories asked more questions
than they answered.  "Nick who did that to him?"

"LaCroix' mortal daughter, Divia.  She also killed Urs, and attempted
to kill myself and LaCroix.  You don't need to worry about her, she's
dead.  She won't be able to harm anyone again, ever."

"Is LaCroix your master, the one that brought you across?" Tracy asked,
even though Vachon told her he wasn't a vampire.  She was now getting
to the questions she really wanted to ask, the ones about her partner.

At her realization he looked away, and told her, "Yes, although we
don't get along very well."

"How old are you, and what is your real name?" she asked, knowing only
that he was fairly old, probably older than Vachon, and that he most
likely didn't go by his real name, it was probably the name the young
woman used.

He waited a few seconds before answering her question.  "I was born in
1193, and brought across in 1228.  My real name is Nicolas de Brabant,
and I was a knight crusader, one who was at one time very faithful. 
The crusades made me see what was really happening, and I lost my
faith.  At that time I met a beautiful woman, she offered me eternal
life, although I didn't know that I would become this.  She took me to
LaCroix, and he made me what I am.  I am now a little more than eight
hundred years old."

It wasn't until his last remark that his age actually registered in her
mind.  "You're a lot older than Vachon," she stated.

"A little more than three hundred years more, but that is nothing
compared to LaCroix' age.  He is nearly two millennia, one of the
oldest of our kind."

Tracy's eyes widened a little more, and she asked several more
questions of Nick's past, where his home was, and did he have any
brothers or sisters.  He answered as many as he could and told her more
about the code, things she apparently wasn't told by Vachon.

A few hours later, two hours after sunrise, they came back downstairs
and found Caitlin laying on the couch, sound asleep, and Natalie and
the two agents were eating a light meal.  Nick put the now empty bottle
in the trash can, and they joined the others at the table.  Natalie got
another plate for Tracy and got a glass and filled it with blood for
Nick, then came back to the table and gave them each their ‘meal.'

Nick was the first to talk, "Did Caitlin wake up?"

"Yes, and as far as I can tell, she's going to be fine," Natalie told
him.

Nick nodded knowing Natalie was probably right, then after seeing the
time, suggested to the agents, "You should probably get some sleep,
you're going to need to go in early because of the contest.  You have
to come to it and watch because it is a part of their conditions."

"Yeah, we probably should," Scully said, looking at Mulder, knowing he
would rather stay and find out more about what Nick was, what he had
seen.  He tried to protest, but her glare stopped him.  He wasn't going
to be able to get away with any questions.  He reluctantly stood up and
left, hopefully he would get another chance later.

Nick watched as they went back upstairs, and after the doors closed he
put his head down and his hands surrounded his head.

"Nick what's wrong?" Natalie asked, then moved toward him when he
didn't answer.  "Nick please tell me, maybe I can help."

"I've got to figure out how to win this, preferably without killing
him!" he said, his eyes ice cold.

"But isn't it a contest to the death?" Tracy reminded him.

"Yes, but if he dies, he could become a martyr and as a result make the
rebellion worse."  Nick paused then said, "Tracy, you should probably
go home as well and get some rest.  Be at work at four thirty, I'll
tell Mulder and Scully to do the same."

She hesitated at first, then nodded and retrieved her coat and went out
into the cold winter air, air that seemed colder than the last time she
left the warehouse.

When Tracy was gone, Natalie said, "You have an idea that might work,
don't you?"

He nodded, then looked at Natalie and said, "Yes, it might work, but it
might have bad side effects."

"What's your idea?" she asked.

"If I drink a large quantity of bottled human blood, I would have the 
strength to defeat Connor."

Natalie knew what it would do to their progress toward a cure, but if
it was the only way, then they'd have to deal with it.  "And the side
effects?"  'Side effects or not, if it works it works.  But what would
they be?'

"Remember what happened when I did the twelve step program?"

She nodded.  She remembered alright, and it had been a big setback in
their search for a cure.  "Yeah, you fell off and basically went on a
binge, all traces of sanity completely gone.  I seriously thought I
wouldn't get you back after that."

Mulder and Scully were each listening to what the two were saying. 
They didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but assumed that
Nick had somehow lost it, and with it his sanity.  All they really
knew, was that it probably wasn't a good thing.  They continued to
listen, each not knowing the other was doing the same.

After listening to her description, Nick said, "Well, as far as I can
tell it is the only way to win this thing, and if it costs me my
humanity, well, that just means one more evil creature walking the
Earth, but at least the killings will stop."

Nick got up and went to the refrigerator, retrieving another bottle,
and used it to fill his glass and was quickly half way through the
bottle.  "Nick, you know you're not an evil creature.  You're more
human than anyone I know, and your quest to become mortal again proves
that.  I can't think of anyone that would willingly risk their sanity,
their entire being, so that a community which they don't even want to
be a part of can stay hidden from view."

By the time she finished talking, the bottle was empty, and he was
about to get up for another one.  This time he didn't sit down, but
told her, "Nat, go get my coat, and come back here."

She did so, and while she was gone, he got a letter out of a drawer,
and came back to the table just before Natalie did.  He pushed the
letter over to her, then passed both his badge and his gun to her.  He
could only be doing this for one reason, but she couldn't help but ask,
"Nick, why are you doing this?"

He took her hands and said, "You know what could happen to me.  If I
die, I don't want the precinct to know.  I want you to hand in my
resignation, and badge, tell them I moved, and go on with your life,
forget about me."

Her expression was filed with shock, and she exclaimed, "Nick!  You
know I won't be able to do that.  I can't live without you, I'd die
first."  By now Natalie was sobbing, and Nick took her and embraced
her, his own blood tears falling down his face.

After several minutes, Nick took her by the shoulders and held her out
at arms length, and told her, "Natalie, you're going to have to.  If I
don't get killed, I will probably be killed by the enforcers or you'll
have to kill me to prevent me from killing others."

She knew he was completely serious, and that she might very well have
to kill him, but she didn't know if she could do it.  Natalie knew that
if her life depended on it she could put a stake through his heart, but
she didn't think she could leave it there, and let it kill him.  She
would take it out.  She knew he knew this, and did not say anything,
just fell into his arms once again and continued to cry.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


That afternoon Mulder was the first to come down the stairs.  He saw
that Caitlin was still sleeping on the couch, and Nick and Natalie were
both sleeping in the recliner next to it, streaks of clear and blood
tears running down each of their faces.  Mulder went to the
refrigerator, and after pouring himself a glass of orange juice, sat
down at the table.  Last night he had heard the entire conversation,
and from what he could tell, the two were definitely in love, but for
obvious reasons could do nothing about it.  He looked at the two
peacefully sleeping in the chair, wondering what the events of tonight
would do to the young doctor.  Mulder noticed the empty wine glass on
the table and the few empty bottles next to the chair, and knew that he
had begun to fill himself, make himself stronger.

Suddenly he heard the shower turn on, and waited for Scully to get out
so he could talk to her, finishing the orange juice and starting a bag
of sunflower seeds he found in his coat pocket.  Several minutes later
she came down the stairs, Nick stirring and waking up, still holding
Natalie in his arms.  She shook her head when she saw the sunflower
seeds, about to say something but was stopped when she saw Mulder put
his finger up to his mouth, pointing at the sleeping forms of Natalie
and Caitlin.

Scully quietly looked for the coffee, but after opening most of the 
cupboards, had to ask, "Mulder, do you know where he keeps the coffee?"

Quietly, he replied back, "It's under the sink."

"What!  He keeps coffee under the sink!" she said, not that loud, but
still with all of the meaning.

"What's he supposed to do?  How often do you think he has people over
that will drink coffee?  He probably doesn't even know where most
people keep the stuff."

Scully just nodded and started the coffee machine, then came and sat
back down at the table.

Nick listened to their conversation, and almost told them that Mulder
was wrong on why he keep the coffee under the sink, but instead started
to wake Natalie up.  She opened her eyes to look at Nick, and when she
did, wiped the blood tears off of his face.  Nick held her, indifferent
to what the agents saw, her head resting on his shoulder, her neck
clearly exposed.  He first kissed her on her cheek, hoping he wouldn't
have to disturb her, then held her tightly.  Unconsciously, he kissed
her on the neck, his fangs came down, and suddenly he was about to sink
them into Natalie's soft skin.  He had almost scratched her skin when
he snapped his head up, and forced Natalie to look at him.  She was
awake, but was still startled by both the suddenness of his action, and
the appearance of his face.  Natalie was aware of what had almost
happened, and felt so weak against what was happening to him.  She knew
he was beginning to lose his sanity, and she could do nothing about it.

"Natalie," he said, his voice low, barely human.  "Go get ready for
work, Mulder and Scully are already up."  She tried to protest, but
Nick stopped her, "Nat, please."

She knew he was doing this to get her out of danger, and after brushing
his hair back, went to take a shower, finding her bag she left just in
case she needed to stay the day, and locking herself in the bathroom
letting her tears silently fall, stunned that she may lose him after
all.

Nick sat, looking away from the others, forcing himself to put the
vampire away, at least for now.  He stood up and joined the two agents
at the table, sitting down at one end, then after a few moments put his
head in his hands.

Scully, not understanding what had occurred only moments before, asked,
"Nick, what's wrong?"

"I just about killed her, that's what's wrong!" he exclaimed, looking
strait at the agents, his eyes hinting on the beast he was trying to
control.

"What's happening to you?" Mulder asked, hoping he wouldn't lose
control.

Their eyes connected, then breaking the connection told them, "I'm
revamping myself."  At their confused expressions he explained, "For
the past hundred years I've been trying to find a way to become human
again, I've stopped drinking human blood, and let my abilities become
weak by not using them.  I am now allowing the vampire full reign, it
will hopefully make me strong enough to live through tonight."

"But at what cost?" Scully asked, knowing the answer, but still asking.

He looked strait at her.  "It could cost me everything, my sanity, my
‘life' here, but most likely it will cost me my existence," he told
them, his eyes once again becoming normal.  He looked back at the table
and said, "When Natalie comes back down, we should probably get ready
to go, it's already three thirty."  Nick then got up from the table and
went to his room.  He came down a few minutes later wearing a pair of
black slacks and a black silk shirt, his skin now actually having color
from the amount of blood he had consumed.

Several minutes later, Natalie came down, dressed for work, but looking
like she had a nightmare while she slept.  She looked at her watch, and
said, "We should probably go, we don't want to be late do we?"

Nick nodded, and told Caitlin, who was now awake, to be at the precinct
at 11:15, and to bring another bottle with her.  He then left, and
everyone got into their vehicles, Natalie and Nick in the Caddy, and
Mulder and Scully in their rented Ford.

Once to the precinct, they pretended to work on the case, really trying
to think of a way to explain it when it was all over.  Around nine
thirty that night, Reese called them all into his office, obviously
wanting an update.

Mulder and Scully sat at the desk, while the others stood behind them, 
waiting for the Captain to speak.

"Have you found out anything?" he finally said, very annoyed that this
case wasn't being solved.

Nick answered him, starting, "Well. . ." and then was cut off by
Mulder.

"We think we found out who is doing it, but they are a very reclusive
cult.  We might be able to stop the killings, but I don't think we will
be able to get any of the cult members, they're very good at keeping
themselves hidden."

"Is this correct?" Reese asked, looking at his detectives.

Nick looked toward Mulder, and told the Captain, "Yes, it is true. 
Tonight we are going to try and meet with them, and hopefully it will
put an end to the killings."

"I want you to take backup, I don't want you risking your lives, and 
becoming victims yourselves.  But, if you can, I still want the killers
taken in," Reese said, making it clear he didn't want anyone to disobey
his orders.

"Of course," Tracy told him.

"Well, you might as well get started on the paperwork, I know you
haven't been here long enough this week to get any of it done before
hand.  When will you be checking out tonight?"

"Around eleven thirty," Nick told his Captain, already starting to lose
control of the vampire he was going to let loose later that night. 
There were too many mortals in the confined room.

"Okay, dismissed."  Reese watched as the group exited his office,
hoping tonight would be the end of these ‘vampire killings.'

Nick and Tracy sat down at their desks, and Nick asked, "How did you
think of that?"

Mulder shrugged saying, "I'm good at making up half truths.  I mean, I 
didn't exactly lie, just said it a different way."

Natalie knew what Nick meant, and asked, "I think we mean, how did you
think of it so easily?"

"It has to do with what we usually investigate, we can never put
everything in the report, so we bend it a little.  It ends up being the
truth, but not everything," Scully told them knowing her explanation
would take less time than her partner's.

"Yeah, the same thing happens to us, but until recently we just didn't
say anything to each other, not knowing or wanting to let know what the
other knew," Tracy said, noticing Nick didn't look like he felt too
good and answering for him.

Mulder nodded, understanding what she meant.  She didn't even know what
her partner was until the previous night.

Natalie also noticed Nick looked paler than usual, and seemed like he
had a headache or something, his head resting on his hands.  "Nick, are
you okay?" she asked, knowing it was probably something to do with
drinking the human blood.  He now needed to keep what control he had
left.

"I'm fine!" he said roughly, his eyes beginning to change, almost
giving himself away.  Many of the other officers turned toward him,
then returned to their work.

Natalie knew to let him be, but she also knew she had to help, he was
very close to the edge, and at least she had to try.  She was glad that
while she was at the morgue, she was able to get some fresh human blood
for him, just in case something like this would happen.  She told the
others she'd be right back, and grabbed the coffee mug on Nick's desk
she used when at the precinct, and walked over to the coffee table.

Reese watched her, and when she did not pick up the coffee pot was
puzzled, until he saw her reach into her coat and grab what looked like
a liquor flask.  She poured its contents into the cup, fairly dark from
what he could tell, and then took it back to Nick's desk, handing it to
him.  Nick seemed to at first not want it, which made sense, he had
never seen Nick eat or drink anything let alone coffee, he had always
complained about the smell.  Then, once Natalie whispered something in
his ear, he took the mug and after smelling it drank it, quickly at
first then slowing down.  Nick finished it, handed the mug back,
muttered something, then resumed his position, head down on his hands
still.

He watched as she returned to the coffee table, then pulled out another
flask, and emptied it, giving the cup again to Nick when she returned. 
This time he merely sipped from the mug, like he didn't need as much as
before, and seemed to thank Natalie.  Reese didn't like what he was
seeing, especially out of Knight.  He was concerned about what was
happening, but from his reaction when Natalie asked to help, he knew he
couldn't do that.  But if this happened later, when they were at this
meeting, he was afraid of what might happen.  He called in one of the
officers, and once the door was closed said, "Jenkins, I want you to
keep an eye on, and if you have to, follow Knight.  If he doesn't
follow orders, I want to know.  Don't tell anyone about this,
Understood?"

"Yes, Captain."  Jenkins turned to leave, but asked, "Um, sir?  Do you
want me to take an unmarked car if he leaves here?"

"If you have no indication of where he is going beforehand, or he
leaves without notice, yes," Reese told the young officer, and once he
left, resumed his silent watch of Knight from his office.

About eleven thirty he saw the young woman that had been helping Knight
with the case, the witness that had denied seeing the attackers.  She
seemed to apologize, and several minutes later Jenkins knocked on the
office door.  He motioned the officer in and asked, "What did you
find?"

"They are meeting someone, they didn't say who, at midnight, in a 
warehouse."  Jenkins then gave the exact address, and waited for
Reese's response.

"That's fairly close to Knight's place isn't it?" Reese asked looking
up toward the officer.

"Yes," he said, then again waited for his Captain to say more, then
asked, "Do you want me to follow Knight there?"

Reese seemed to snap away from watching Nick and the others, and said,
"No, discontinue watching Knight, and don't say anything about this. 
I'll deal with it."

Reese decided to work on his paperwork, and at eleven forty he looked
up to see them all gone, and called the front desk, asking when they
left.  Apparently they had left only a couple of minutes before, and
Reese decided, since he had the address, he would do a little following
on his own, and five minutes later was in his car, on his way to the
warehouse.


Suspicions  -  Part 5/5


They all arrived at the warehouse at the same time, Nick, Natalie Tracy
and the two FBI agents in the Caddy, and Caitlin and the other vampires
that were on his side, landing next to them.

Nick looked at the other vampires, and nodded, then proceeded into the 
warehouse.  "Well, you decided to show.  I welcome you, as this will be
your defeat!" Connor said, he and his followers stepping out of the
shadows as the group entered the warehouse.

"Shall, we begin?  Or do you want to say goodbye to your precious
mortal friends?" Connor again spoke, laughing, and stepping forward.

Reese arrived, unnoticed to those in the warehouse, and moved towards
an entrance with crates scattered around it, and hid behind them,
allowing him a clear view of the center of the warehouse, and the
events occurring inside it.  He watched as Knight stepped forward from
a group, made up of those investigating the case, and several others he
did not recognize.  He then heard Knight's voice, and listened
carefully.

"I was only waiting for you to ask, after all, this contest was your
idea."

Connor took off his leather cape, leaving his leather jacket on, and
handed it to one of his men, his eyes turned golden, shining like an
animals' would in bright lights.  Nick too took off his coat, handing
it to his partner.  They then met in the center of the warehouse, the
others backing out of their way.

Connor took the first swing, trying to punch Nick in the stomach, but
was stopped by Nick's powerful grip on his wrist.  Connor pulled out of
the grip, snarling at the older vampire, trying to make him realize, he
had no chance of winning.  For several minutes, they went on like this,
both barely moving but trying to get some advantage over the other. 
Suddenly, Connor flew a few feet, surprising Nick by the change in
tactic, and was able to throw Nick to the ground.  At this action
Nick's own eyes became amber, and he snarled at his opponent, making it
clear he was going to fight.

Reese instinctively backed up seeing his best detectives eyes change to
an unnatural color, and when he looked closer, he could see what
appeared to be fangs.  It was one thing to see a complete stranger like
that, but to see someone you knew, it was startling in the least. 
Reese now knew why this case had to remain unsolved, and watched as the
fight got more violent, both of their eyes beginning to turn red.  The
two abruptly lifted off the ground and into the air, surprising most of
the mortals present, Reese almost knocking one of the crates over,
completely unaware something like that could happen.

They slammed each other into walls, beams, and anything else that came
in the way.  After hitting a wall harder than he wanted, Connor used
all his strength and flew Nick directly into a pole, causing it to
crack and his opponent to fall thirty feet to the ground.  Connor
quickly landed and grabbed Natalie, pulling her forcibly into the
center of the warehouse.  Nick got up quickly, moving close but
stopping when Connor spoke, "I wouldn't get any closer if you want her
to live."

"If you don't let her go, you will never see another night," Nick
growled at the young vampire.

"Oh, did I say any kind of aggression also warrants her death?" Connor 
returned, laughing, trying to enrage his opponent, make him falter. 
Connor then pulled Natalie's head aside, and sank his fangs into her
neck, the whole action taking less than a second.

Nick's eyes changed once again, to an almost pitch black, with only a
few red flecks left, and in amazing speed, even for a vampire, he took
Connor and threw him across the room.  Everyone backed up several feet,
afraid of what Connor's action would do.  As Natalie fell to the
ground, Tracy tried to step forward, but was stopped by one of the
older vampires, telling her to wait, that the contest was nearly over,
and that her actions could distract Nick.  Nick bent over Natalie,
Reese having a clear view of the events, and Connor picked himself up
near the entrance he was hiding at.  Reese moved slightly causing a
slight noise, which Nick heard loud and clear, causing him to look up,
and directly into Reese's eyes.

Apparently Connor did not hear the noise, but instead took his
advantage, and reaching into his jacket grabbed a wooden stake, and
propelled it toward Nick.  Nick was still looking at Reese, now for
less than three seconds, when the stake hit its target strait on.  He
closed his eyes, and fell to the ground from the pain the injury
caused.

"I have won!  I have proved that the younger generation is stronger,
faster and smarter, and I will now declare the law!" Connor yelled, as
a result of his victory.

Nick reopened his eyes, and while pulling the stake from its position
in his heart and standing up, said, "Don't you think that's a little
premature.  You forget, my age does have advantages.  Remember, you
have to kill me!  Well, as you can see, I am very much alive!"

Connor was completely stunned, and then for a fraction of a second his 
opponent disappeared from even his sight, and impossibly, even for a 
vampire, reappeared directly in front of him, the stake already
embedded in his heart.  Nick let Connor drop to the ground, his body
already beginning to decompose, his young age unable to repair the
damage fast enough.

"It is done!  This is what your actions have resulted in!  Unless you
wish to be the next to die, I would suggest you leave, and return to
the code!"  Within seconds Connor's followers fled the warehouse,
scarred to death that that just might happen.

Tracy and Scully quickly moved to Natalie's motionless form, Scully
saying, "We have to get her to the hospital.  I don't think she lost
enough blood to kill her yet, but she is still losing it."

Nick walked up to Caitlin and told her, "You, Tracy, and one of the
others, take her."  They were about to leave when Nick pulled Tracy
toward him, whispering into her ear, "Trace, take care of Nat, and make
sure she knows I love her."  They left, and then Nick walked toward
Reese, now standing, starring, but before he could do or say anything,
Nick collapsed to the ground.

The other vampires had already left, so the three remaining mortals
gathered around him, and Scully trying to find out what's wrong.  She
discovered several splinters had been left in his heart when he pulled
the stake out, and she couldn't do anything without Natalie's medical
supplies.  Scully muttered, "Yeah, right, age really has its
advantages."

"What?" Reese said.

She looked up at the speaker and said, "He has several splinters
embedded in his heart.  We need to get him to his loft, so I can remove
them.  Here, help me get him in his car," and taking the keys out of
his coat, which Tracy dropped when she went to Natalie, and said,
"Mulder, you start the car, and get ready to go."

Reese took Nick to his car, and once he had been placed in the back
seat, she told him guessing he had no idea about what he had seen,
"Follow us, we might need your help, and anyway you probably want an
explanation."

For a second he just stood there, but soon nodded and went to his car, 
following the agents to Nick's warehouse loft.  He traveled up in the
lift, and helped get Nick to the couch where they laid him down. 
"Mulder, get Natalie's bag, bring it here, I'm going to see if I can
remove these splinters."

Reese decided he really didn't want to watch, and instead looked around
his detective's home, having never been there before.  The decor was a
mixture of old and modern.  The piano, fireplace mantel, artifacts, and
candles were old, some looked like they should be in a museum.  The TV,
phone and kitchen, however, made it seem like a normal, if not
expensive, modern home.   He looked back at the red haired American
agent and wondered at her calmness throughout everything.  Then there
was the other agent, who also seemed amazed by what happened, yet was
perfectly calm, as if he had nothing to fear.

Reese continued to look around at the room, his attention resting on
several paintings, several not finished, and others only appearing so. 
"You do know what he is, correct?" Mulder asked, startling him.

"I think I do, but I thought I did before and I was completely wrong. 
You know what he is though, don't you?"  After receiving a nod, Reese
asked, "Is he a vampire?"

"Yes, although he's nothing like I suspected."

"What do you mean?"

"He's different than the others of his kind.  He doesn't want violence,
he didn't want to kill Connor, but merely to beat him, Nick had to let
the vampire within him completely take over, and hope that would be
enough," Mulder explained.

"What would have happened if Nick lost?" Reese asked, not sure what had
happened in the first place.

"Connor would have taken control of the city's community.  Him and his 
followers, mostly young, were the ones doing the killings.  Nick, and
the other older vampires, were against this, it defies their laws, and
would cause discovery for all of them."

"But what does Nick have to do with this, why did he have to be the one
to stop it?"

"He's the oldest vampire in Toronto.  The only one older is currently
out of the country.  They waited until now because he is considered
weak within their community, too human.  They thought now would be the
easiest time to gain control."

"How old is he anyway?"

"I don't know, we didn't get a chance to ask him, although both Tracy
and Natalie probably do.  Going by the artifacts in the room, I would
say at least six or seven hundred."  The two walked towards Scully, who
was now sitting in the chair resting.  "Scully, how is he?"

"Well, I think I got all of the splinters out, but as to how he is, I
don't know.  I'm not an expert on his physiology, all I know is he's
not breathing, has no heartbeat, yet all of his wounds, except the one
to his heart appear to be healing, which would indicate he's alive. 
Natalie said they appear dead when asleep, and many times will sleep
after being wounded.   He'll probably wake up, but remember what we
heard last night, and what we asked him this afternoon.  He said it
might cause him to lose his sanity.  Natalie said vampires eyes can
turn two colors, a green-gold to amber color at first, then if
extremely enraged, hurt or hungry, a crimson color."

"Yeah, so?" Mulder said not seeing her point.

"At the warehouse, his eyes changed not only those two colors, but also
an almost black one, with only a tiny hint of red in it.  He might have
gotten close to the edge, and there's no guarantee how he'll be when he
wakes up."

"In other words, he might not even recognize us," Reese said, thinking 
aloud.

Scully turned slightly, and nodded, "I'm not going to give him any
blood, if I do he would wake up, he still might without the blood. 
He'll just have to heal on his own for now.  Let's hope Natalie can get
back here before he wakes up."

"Is she going to be okay?" Mulder asked.

"She should be.  Not too much of her blood was taken.  She'll probably
get a transfusion and be released from the hospital by tonight," Scully
told him, then leaned back again and rested.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


Tracy was glad that she was finally allowed in her friends room. 
Natalie had undergone a transfusion, and now was awake.  "Natalie, how
do you feel?"

"Slightly tired, but considering what happened, that would be
expected."  Natalie paused, then asked, "What happened anyway?"

Tracy looked around to make sure no one would overhear, then said,
"After Connor attacked you, Nick's eyes changed again, to almost pitch
black, the red almost completely gone.  He threw him away from you, and
while making sure you were all right, Reese, who I suppose followed us,
moved, catching Nick's attention, but not Connor's.  Connor had a stake
in his jacket and threw it at Nick."  At this Natalie tried to say
something but Tracy stopped her, saying, "Nat, don't worry, he didn't
kill Nick.  Nick pulled the stake out, then he vanished completely from
sight, appearing at almost the same time in front of Connor, killing
him with the stake.  Then he told me and Caitlin to take you to the
hospital."

"How's Nick?" Natalie asked, very concerned, especially by Tracy's 
description of Nick changing, and with the speed at which he had moved.

"Well, I called his place earlier, and found out that shortly after we
left he had collapsed.  Scully found several splinters still embedded
in his heart, and removed them.  He's now sleeping or something, he
hasn't woke up yet, but she wanted to talk to you."

Natalie paused only slightly before asking, "Trace, can you call Nick's
so that I can talk to her now?"

Tracy didn't know what the hospital would say, they probably wouldn't
be all that happy, but she called anyway.  First she got her partner's
answering machine, and she told whoever was there to pick up.  Scully
picked up and asked, "Tracy, how's Natalie?"

"She's awake, here, I'll give her the phone," she said, handing the
phone to her friend.

"Scully?" she asked, not knowing who it was.

"Yeah, it's me.  Natalie, when will you be able to get out of the
hospital?"

"They don't want me to leave until tonight, but from what I heard I
need to get there as soon as possible."

"You might want to.  Nick is still in what seems to be a very deep
sleep, or a coma."

Natalie tried to think of someway to find out what Nick's condition
was, then realizing something, asked, "Scully, what color are Nick's
eyes?"

About a minute later Scully came back to the phone and said, "They are 
almost red, not quite, but very close."

"I've got to get over there as soon as possible," she said, thinking
out loud.  Then said, louder so Scully could hear, "I'll be there as
soon as possible.  Don't do anything until I get there, okay?"

"Yeah, we won't do anything until you arrive.  Bye," Scully said, then
hung up.

Natalie handed the cell phone back to Tracy and said, "I've got to get
there as soon as I can.  Nick could easily kill someone if he wakes up.
 His eyes are almost red, and you know how rare that is."

"Yeah, I only saw Vachon's eyes like that a couple times, when he was 
extremely hungry, hungry enough to kill no matter who it was."  Tracy 
shuddered as she realized that Nick very well could kill someone, and
that someone would most likely be someone Nick knew, someone that is
his friend.

Natalie started to get up and said, "Trace, help me up, then watch the
door.   I'm going to get dressed, then we're going to go to Nick's
after stopping by the morgue to get a couple of things."

Tracy nodded, not asking what they needed to get, then as soon as
Natalie was dressed, they snuck out of the hospital and called a cab to
get to the morgue.

They entered, Natalie immediately getting what she wanted, a
tranquilizer gun she kept there, and a good supply of curare, which she
was glad she had.  They then got back in the cab, and proceeded to
Nick's.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


Mulder and Reese had fallen asleep, but were awakened when the elevator
opened, and Tracy and Natalie walked into the room.  Natalie was
surprised Reese was there, and knew that for him to be there, he had to
have seen Nick.  Natalie asked the wide awake Scully as she approached
Nick, "Has his condition changed at all?"

"No.  Except now his eyes are completely red."

Natalie looked into Nick's eyes, nodded, then tried to gently wake him
up.  When she got no response, she then turned and looked at Captain
Reese, "What were you doing at the warehouse last night?"

"I was watching you in the precinct, Nick didn't seem quite right, 
especially around the time when you pretended to get him coffee.  I was
concerned, I came to make sure he followed directions.  Well, I know he

didn't, but that's not the problem is it?"

She winced, this was just getting more and more complicated.  "No, it
isn't the problem."  She looked back to Nick, then to Reese, and asked,
"Do you know what he is?"

"He's a vampire," Reese stated, hoping everyone in the room knew what
Nick was.

Natalie nodded, then went to the kitchen, pulling out the letter, and 
grabbed Nick's badge and gun, handing them to Reese, saying, "If
anything should happen to either of us, I want you to resign Nick from
the force, and if you have to, me too, there's a very good chance I
won't be able to help him."

Reese looked at the resignation letter, gun, and badge, and when he
glanced up at Natalie, knew she was deadly serious.  He nodded to her,
hoping it wouldn't come to that.

Natalie went over to the crate, still containing two bottles, and
grabbed one of them and a wine glass.  She brought them over by Nick,
and kneeling on the ground, she filled the glass half way with the
blood from the bottle.   After setting both down, she propped Nick up. 
"You might want to back up, I don't know what his reaction to this is
going to be," Natalie said, then after they had done so, picked up the
glass, and poured some into Nick's mouth.

The reaction was almost immediate, Nick's eyes opened, revealing the
scarlet color they were, and he sat up, taking the glass and quickly
drinking it.  He did the same with the bottle, and once he was done
with that, he closed his eyes until Natalie touched him on his
shoulder.  He turned and hissed at her, his eyes scarlet and fangs
descended.  "Nick, it's me, Nat," she said, trying to get him to see
who she was.

After a couple of more tries, she realized it wasn't working and she
slowly got up, backing away from him.  He followed her as she walked
around the couch, slowing just enough to get the cross Nick kept in a
box on the table.  She quickly hid it behind her back, then once they
were both away from the others, she said, "Tracy, get the tranquilizer
gun!"

Once she had it in her hands, Natalie shoved the cross into Nick's
face, causing him much more discomfort than it normally would.  He
snarled at her, and tried to approach again, the cross again halting
his attempt.  "Tracy!  Shoot, now!"

Tracy did so, and the dart flew across the room, hitting Nick in the 
shoulder.  He pulled it out, but the curare had already done its work,
and he slowly crumpled to the ground, unconscious.  Natalie approached
him after placing the cross back in the box, and said, "Well, it's a
good thing I thought to bring those."  She looked at his wounds, all
now healed, and brushed the hair out of his face gently.

Tracy came up to her and asked, "What was that?" pointing to the dart
on the floor with the gun she was holding.

"It's curare, the only thing that will incapacitate a vampire quickly. 
Nick told me about it, and gave me those, just in case I were ever to
be attacked, either by him, or another vampire.  With enough it will
paralyze then, more it'll knock them out."

"So what are we going to do now?" Tracy asked.

"I'm going to try it again, but this time I'm not going to use human
blood.  For the next hour and a half, you can do whatever, I need to
wait for the curare to work out of his system."

Not quite two hours later, Natalie went to the refrigerator, and opened
the bottom drawer, bringing out the full bottle of cow blood.  "Is that
human?" Mulder asked, even though he knew it probably wasn't.

"No, it isn't.  It's cow blood.  Hopefully, he won't have the same
reaction to this as the human blood I gave him earlier."  Natalie then
proceeded to repeat what she had done with the human blood.  This time,
he woke up, but not as hungry, although he did drink almost all of the
blood in the bottle.

"Nick?  Are you all right?" she asked, seeing if he would talk, knowing
he probably would not say anything, or say something that would
immediately tell her he wasn't all there.

"No, I'm not all right!" he half growled.  She jumped back, his eyes
still red and fangs still there.  He realized he had frightened her,
and pulled her close to him, saying, "It's okay Nat, I'll be all right,
just not right now."  When he pulled back his eyes had become amber,
and his fangs were mostly retracted.  He looked at her for a second,
but turned away and taking the bottle he was drinking from and the
other half full one in the fridge went upstairs.

"Is he going to be all right, like he says?" Scully asked, wanting to
know the truth.

"I think he will, but like he said, it will take at least a couple of
days."

"So is the case closed?" Mulder asked.

"Well, that depends upon the Captain.  Are you going to say anything?" 
Natalie asked, hoping he would say no, not knowing what she would do if
he didn't.

Reese looked at her and said, "No, I won't say anything.  What would I
say anyway, and even if I did, who would believe me?  Besides, he's a
good detective and a good person."   Reese smiled, trying to make the
mood a little better, and succeeding for a few minutes.

Reese then left, saying he needed to get at least an hour of sleep
before going back to work, and made sure Tracy, and the others were
coming into work that night, at least for a little while.

That night Natalie didn't go in for a full shift, and she let Mulder
and Scully stay at her apartment until they got done with the case. 
Instead she stayed at Nick's, and brought more cow blood from the Raven
when he told her where it was kept.


Four nights later, the agents were going to fly out, and they were
saying good bye to Tracy, just on their way out of the precinct, when
Nick and Natalie walked in.  He still looked a little ‘off' from when
they first meet him, but he looked a whole lot better than the last
time they saw him.  "Nick, we were just about to leave for the airport.
I see you're feeling better," Scully said.

"I'm better, but not completely back to normal, I don't know if I'll
ever get that close again.," he said, a sad smile making itself visible
on his features.

"Yeah, well I hope we meet again," Mulder said, but was then pulled
closer to Nick by the arm.

"Don't even mention what happened with anyone other than your partner. 
As you saw before, not all of us are concerned with protecting mortals'
lives.  Another thing, don't let anyone know you know about us, you'll
be discovered.  As far as they know, I erased your memories," Nick told
him, whispering in his ear, his voice almost changing, commanding him,
but not.

After the two left, Natalie looked at Nick and exclaimed, "What did you
do that for!?"

"Just to remind him that he can't say anything about this," Nick said, 
walking to his desk.

Natalie followed him, and said, "Sorry.  It's just that I don't want
you to push yourself too much, push your control too close to the
edge."

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to hurt him.  We don't want him to attract
the enforcers, now do we?" Nick told her, a smile forming on his face,
this one almost playful in nature.

She hit him slightly, and said, "Just for that, I'm going to make you
drink some coffee."

"Nat, I thought you didn't want me to push too much?  Besides it smells
terrible."

"You're not.  And anyway, if you want to get back to the way you were 
before, we have to start somewhere.  I've decided that somewhere is
going to be coffee."

She almost took her coffee cup, but remembering what it was last used
for, asked Tracy if she could use hers.  Reese watched Natalie as she
got some coffee, and returned to Nick's desk.  She gave it to him, and
he gave her a slight look of disgust, but all the same he picked up his
partner's mug and drank it.  When he put the mug down after two sips,
she looked at him expectantly, and amazingly he picked it up, and
finished the entire cup.

Nick looked really sick after drinking it, his complexion becoming a
pale, greenish color, and after about five minutes he excused himself. 
Reese walked out of the office, and said smiling, "Is that why you
never make him eat anything in public?"

"Sort of.  Do you think I should have made him drink the whole cup?"
Natalie asked.

Tracy nodded slightly, and Reese left the two to their little game,
shaking his head, a grin making its way into his face, and when Nick
returned they apologized.  He thought to himself, 'I wonder if they'll
stick together like they're supposed to now that they all seem to be on
the same wavelength.'

Soon after they got another case, and they all left together, all
smiling, something he hoped would happen more often now.



~fin~


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