======== Disclaimed in part 1. Warning: Violence, language and the aftermath of sexual assault. Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (part 10/?) Jared watched his charges lead a young woman away. He could pick up their conversation. The young woman was Agent Mulder's daughter. He could see the resemblance. Did that mean she fell under his protection as well? He nodded, as long as they were together. He moved closer, sliding among the shadows. His nose detected the scent of the others, the smell of old blood from the corpse. He frowned. He could follow the scent, the impression they left behind. He thought to Arianna. Not words, nothing as simple as that. A single thought relayed what he had found, what he planned to do. His regret. His first duty had to be to his prince. Old lovers came second. He slipped away from the crowded scene and followed the scent. They had a mortal with them. Her blood scent was faint, but distinctive. XXX Mulder drove to the hotel. Hope was silent in the back seat. She hadn't even argued. She just nodded when he told her she was staying with them. Once there Mulder found the room next to his and Scully's unoccupied and he paid for it. Hope was listless. "Hope, I want you to take these and try to sleep." Scully pressed two small white pills into her hand. "What is it?" Hope looked up. "A very mild sedative." Hope took them without argument. "So what now? Just wait till someone reports a ... a body? Shouldn't you be out there looking for Karen?" Dana looked at Mulder and caught his pained look. "We have no witnesses, no evidence, no idea where she could be right now. The forensic team is pouring over that park. As soon as we know anything I'll let you know. Ok?" Hope nodded and her head began to fall. She lay back and slipped between the covers of the hotel bed. "Promise?" She sounded like a lost little girl, just then. Mulder's heart ached for her. He wanted to be able to make the pain go away, and he couldn't. He was helpless, and it was killing him inside. "I promise." He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, to make up for all the times over the years he'd missed the chance. She was asleep by the time Scully pushed him from the room. "What'd you give her?" He sounded worried as they entered their own room. "Over the counter sleeping pills. Perfectly harmless, Mulder. But it's one thirty in the morning and she's emotionally exhausted. I wouldn't be surprised if she sleeps till noon." She crossed to the bathroom and started to change into her nightgown. When she returned Mulder was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall that separated their rooms, and still in his suit. She knelt before him and tugged his tie loose. She tossed it in the direction of their suitcases. "Mulder, you need to sleep, too." He nodded and managed to change into a pair of old shorts. Once in bed Scully turned off the light and lay on her side. She felt Mulder's cheek on her upper arm and his arm wrap around her to rest lightly on the beginning swell of her stomach. Junior chose that moment to do a rollover. She smiled into the darkness, knowing he had felt it, too. "I can't protect him, Scully." Her heart froze in her chest. Oh no, Mulder. Not now. "Him?" She tried to tease him out of it. "Him." He answered with certainty. "I just have this feeling, it's a him." "Becoming psychic are you?" She placed her hand on top of his. "I doubt it. Even if I were, I couldn't protect him. From the world, from the pain, from things that go bump in the night." "All we can do, as parents, is try. To pick up the pieces. To clean up the scrapes and bruises and to teach him how to handle what life will throw at him. No one can shield us from the pain of life, Mulder. It's part of living. It makes the good things so much better in comparison. It builds us and shapes us into who we are." "Yeah, I guess so. But this one is starting out with the deck stacked against him. We not only have to worry about the average freaks and psychos." "I know." She sighed softly. "I know that, Mulder. I knew that when I took the test, and you know what, I never once considered, despite everything, not going through with it." She rolled onto her back and felt Mulder use her breast as a pillow. His hand didn't move, as if, even now, he was trying to shield the tiny life there. "We have to take it one day at a time, just like any other people. And when the time comes, we get a really big dog and a fancy, Lone Gunmen approved security system." She ruffled his hair. "Oh, goodie, our home will resemble Fort Knox." "If you want it to. But you have to decide if what you want is to lock the world out, or ourselves in. We can't let ourselves become prisoners to fear. If we do, then they've already won." "How do you stop yourself from fearing?" he asked her. "It's not easy. But you replace the fear with vigilance." He didn't answer her. Just held her in silence until she fell asleep. She let sleep steal her away, even though she was aware that he was still awake, contemplating the nature of fear. XXX HECKMAN SAW MILL The trail led him here. He could feel the air, thick with dread. They had split up. Two of them and the mortal were here. Jared pulled his long hair back into a pony tail, tied with a black velvet ribbon. More manageable if he were to enter into battle. He heard a faint scuffing sound behind him and he whirled, peering into the darkness with cat's eyes. He let out a slow breath as he saw the small, slight form emerge from behind a stack of already cut lumber. "How did you find this place?" He asked her in a voice the barest breeze would carry away and render inaudible. "Do you think I've been sitting at my desk filling out paperwork all this time? I went to the storage shed when the police cleared out and caught the scent." Her face was grim, her small hands balled into fists. "They will die, Jared. They have brought Dougie over. A child. A little boy. Never to grow up. To know only the hunger. They will pay a thousand times over." "Ari, this isn't the time for melodramatic speeches. Two are inside. This is a place mortals work in, not their true lair. We have to find out what they're doing." Ari nodded and moved past Jared on silent feet. A small, lost wail cut through the night. Both of them moved in the direction of the cry. Barely human. Both looked into the dusty window. Both saw the abomination. A young woman, naked, bleeding, covered with a score of bites, held in the grip of one of the Sabbat, as another bent over her, burying his head in her neck. Feeding. Ari had only a half a second to curse the fact that she was with a four hundred year old vampire from the days of chivalry. One who tended to act before thinking. Just a half a second, before Jared had thrown himself through the window, filling the night with the sound of breaking glass and the security alarms. Unable to prevent more mayhem she leapt through the broken window after him. Both creatures inside turned to face them, dropping the girl, a forgotten, incidental heap on the floor. "Looky here. It's the Fairy Godmother and Prince fucking Charming come to rescue Sleeping Beauty." The taller of the two sneered. His face covered in blood. "Too late." He laughed then both of them moved in a blur. Ari moved to try and cut them off, but they were not going for the window. They ran out a side door, still laughing. She turned to see Jared bending over their victim. She bit her own lip, tasting the richness of her own blood. She was barely recognizable, her lips split, her eye swollen shut and Ari knew well the signs of rape... but it was Karen Haas, one of her own who was weakly holding her hand to her neck. Trying to stop the blood from seeping through her fingers, futily. Jared saw Ari's hesitation as he gathered the girl up in his arms, smelling her sweet blood as it soaked into his clothing, aware of the scent of the drug she'd be forced to take. "Go! You are older and faster than I. I'll tend to her. Go!" Ari nodded once and tore off through the door, literally. She tore it from its hinges. The sirens blared around him, and Jared stepped back out through the shattered window. The girl in his arms weighing nothing at all, he took her a safe distance from the building. He sat with her, holding her in his lap. Her eyes were large, dark, and clouded with pain, fear and the drug. She was clearly terrified of him. She didn't need to be. She was too pale. He clamped his hand over hers. She had lost too much blood. Her hand was covering an open wound. No neat little precise punctures. The Sabbat fed like animals. The poor child was dead, her body just didn't know it yet. She made a strangled sound in her throat. "Shhhh... look at me... look into my eyes. I will make it easier. I will take away the pain, mon petite. Shhhh... do not fight it any more. Do not prolong the inevitable. I cannot save you. Mine is the taking of life, and always shall be. Look into my eyes and see death as a welcome lover." His eyes bore into hers, commanding her mind to block the pain, to feel free and floating. To feel safe. She fought him. Her mind, confused, hurt, bent near to breaking, raged against dying. She fought it with all that she had. Her soul blazing, she defied death. Was prepared to spit in his face even as he came to embrace her. Brilliant. Her rage, her fighting soul, her courage in the face of what she had surely endured. Jared nodded, admiration plain on his pale features. "Very well, mon petite. We shall see what we can do." XXX They had spilt up as they fled. Ari could hear their mocking laughter. Which to follow? Which one was the leader? Both had flead into the forest. She made her choice and ran. Her feet taking a speed her shoes were never meant to sustain. The soles became hot against her flesh. She ignored it. She saw him up ahead. Reaching out her fingers barely brushed his hair. She grasped his earring instead. He let out a roar as she pulled back. The earring ripped free. She smelled his corrupt blood. He spun. She smiled. Not only had she pulled free his earring, but his nose ring as well. "It was a stupid fashion statement anyway." She dropped into a crouch, her eyes blazing. "Ace will make you fear your own shadow." He sneered. Ari silently cursed that she'd chased down the wrong idiot. He came at her. In the end he really hadn't stood a chance. He realized that just a fraction too late as a small hand connected with his chest and did not stop. His eyes grew wide as she pulled back, holding his unbeating heart before him. She tossed it to the ground, reached forward and closed her hands on either side of his head. One wet hand, one dry, she twisted even as he tried to claw out her eyes. He fell. His heart gone, his neck broken. Yet still, he lived. She took hold of his leather jacket and pulled him along. To a clearing. She smiled as she exacted her final revenge. She found it perfectly fitting considering the way his victims died. XXX She avoided the sound of sirens and followed the blood bond to Jared. She found him, a mile from the sawmill. He was shirtless. His shirt was wrapped around Karen. Arianna froze. Karen's arms and legs were no longer covered in deep bites, only the dark puckered scars of them. She cocked her head and could no longer hear the girl's feeble heartbeat. She walked closer, slowly, and saw Jared's blue eyes watching the girl's face, tenderly. He looked up at Ari. She looked and saw the redness of freshly healed flesh on his wrist. In the shape of a bite. Karen's eyes fluttered, and she moaned. Jared stood, still cradling her in his arms, holding her close. Possesively. Not the possession of a man to a woman, but of a father to a... Childe. "Jared... what have you DONE!" end part 10.... feedback welcome. ======== Disclaimed in part 1. Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (part 11/?) Dana Scully moaned in her sleep. <> Scully thrashed, trying to fight off an invisible opponent. Mulder's eyes snapped open. He knew at once what was wrong. He'd had enough nightmares to know the throes of one. Should he wake her or let her ride it out? Sometimes waking someone from a nightmare was the worse choice. They awoke dazed and confused and still half in the terror. He reached over and stroked her face, making shushing noises. Speaking softly into her ear. "It's a dream, it's only a dream. You're ok. You're safe with me." <> Scully awoke with a gasp. Her heart was no longer pounding, and she felt safe and secure. She felt Mulder's arms around her and he was stroking her hair. "Bad one?" "Yeah," she nodded and reached to touch his face, "but it had a happy ending." "Good." He looked over at the clock near the bed. 3:30am. "Go back to sleep." XXX Arianna fumed the entire trip to the Tyche House. She got out of her car and waited for Jared to park. He emerged from his gleaming, black Porsche carrying the still unconscious Childe in his arms. He had simply pointed out that Karen had been doomed from the damage done, and explained about her ravaged throat. He calmly met Ari's gaze as he related the girl's fight against death. "Chere', I had to admire her spirit. I have a weakness for little females who have a soul of steel wrapped in a soft package." His half-smile and teasing nature did NOT calm Ari. Ari glared as he walked past her now, cradling Karen like a babe. Karen stirred slightly in her weakened state and Ari felt Jared force the fledgling into a deeper sleep. "Shhh, mon petite. It was just a bad dream. All that went before was a bad dream. When you wake it will be to a whole new world." Ari opened the front door to the shelter. "I'm assuming you are keeping her unconscious while YOUR blood cleans the drug out of her system." "Of course. Ari, are you jealous?" Arianna snorted. "Hardly. I am NOT the jealous type. And if you were looking for a Bride and not a Childe... you have just picked the WRONG girl." Jared shook his head. "I saw into her mind. Into her pain. Her distrust of men was great, is greater now. I knew her preferences before I brought her to me. I don't care. I admire her spirit. She will be a great asset to my kind. Do you know that in four hundred years I have never had a daughter?" "So you choose NOW to have paternal urges? Come on, I think I have some clothes here that will fit her. We only have a few hours till dawn and much planning to do. You and she will stay with me this day." Ari walked through the hallway leading from the main room, away from the offices. She pounded heavily on Tom Sullivan's door. He flung it open, his long graying hair a wild mass around his head. He fumbled to put his glasses on. "Ari? What's wrong?" There was fear in his eyes. "Tom, in the morning I want you to get all the kids out of the Tyche House and into different motels. Open the bags of dirty laundry and put one in each room. Stuff the beds with pillows to make it look like the kids are in bed..." "What the Hell is going on?" he demanded. "I always loved chess, Tom. Thinking ahead, anticipating your opponent's moves... I think I've pissed off the Sabbat, and they are going to hit this place fast and hard tomorrow night. Their idea of revenge will be to kill every kid in here. Not MY kids. Now do as I say. I have a trap to set. Oh... and where are the extra fixtures and bulbs for the florescent lights?" Tom was sheet-white and he stumbled back when Jared pushed through his door and lay Karen Haas on Tom's bed. "And get this child some clothing, please." Tom grabbed for his pants. "You know, may you live in interesting times is a CURSE. I should have known hanging out with do-gooder bloodsuckers was gonna give me a coronary." He paused, noticing Karen's condition for the first time. "Oh, no." Ari shook her head. "Don't look at me... he did it. Now move, I want all the residents out of here first thing in the morning. Tomorrow is Sunday... take our bus... make them all go to church and cross themselves with holy water." Tom frowned. "Ari, crosses and holy water won't help..." "I know, but it can't hurt, either. If I could think of a less suspicious way to do it I'd have you take them to a Temple, a Druid and a Mosque just to cover all the bases." Tom shuffled out of his bedroom to go make plans. Tom was the only mortal in nearly three hundred years to know Ari's secret, and through her, Jared's and allowed the privilege of retaining the memory. He didn't fear them, or judge them. For he'd been working at the Tyche House for ten years before making the discovery. He knew good, no matter what face it wore, or what darkness it had buried within it. He also knew enough to keep his mouth shut, because if the Prince or any other Kindred found out he knew he'd be mind-wiped or killed with little thought. "So, what is your plan, oh devious one?" Jared sat on the bed and looked her in the eye. "My friend in the woods was not chosen for his brains. He let something slip. He said that Ace would make me fear my own shadow." She saw Jared shiver and nodded. "Yes, my thoughts exactly. If it means what we think, then he's going to be very dangerous, and I have a plan to stop him." XXX Ace slowly ripped up the Jack of spades as Queenie and Deuce watched. "Ace, she'd killed two already... she's gonna be pissed..." The shadows of the room twisted and reformed, came alive, their darkness surrounded Queenie and lifted her into the air. She let out a growl of rage at the treatment. "Shut up. You whine too much. I might need to get myself another Queen. Maybe that sweet little innocent from tonight, huh?" The shadows released her and she dropped to her hands and knees. They resettled in their proper, logical, places. "Tomorrow first thing we dig up the four stiffs we buried out back. Then we go get some of our own back. The bitch will be out lookin for us, and no guardin the hen house." Queenie snarled. "Dig em up? They're supposed to dig themselves up, or stay there. Ace, you are losin it." "No, we need the new recruits. They'll be hungry enough. It's been five days. The Beast will have hold. And if you question my judgement again you'll be their first chow time." He tossed the card confetti at her. end part 11... Comments? Critiques? Feedback? ======== Disclaimed in part 1. Rating: *****NC-17**** Yes this is the long awaited NC-17 part. Unfortunately it isn't a very big part. I just have these editors hitting me in the head with blunt objects till I write some erotica.... Ow! Deb! Stop that! Ow! Nancy! Stop that! Ow! Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (part 12/?) Dana Scully woke up to the most delightful sensation. Warm lips pressing against the back of her neck, down her shoulder... and a wonderfully skilled hand kneading her breast. Tweaking the nipple, rolling it between thumb and forefinger, shooting delicious jolts of lightening right to her center. "Mmmm... Now I'm having a good dream." she moaned into her pillow. "The dream's just started." Mulder's sexy, smoky voice rolled over her pleasantly as the hand that teased her breast flowed downward, lower, lower, ahhh... right there. He knew just where and how to touch. His fingers pressed against her and she bucked into his hand. "Oh, God..." Her brain shifted back into reality. "Mulder, Hope is right next door." "She's asleep, I checked on her. I've already taken a run, got breakfast, showered and had enough time to watch you sleep. All curled up like a cat, your mouth just the slightest bit open, begging me to kiss you..." She purred just like the cat he'd named her. She reached behind and leaned back for a kiss. He obliged. His mouth toying with hers, his tongue taking little sips before plunging into deeper waters even as his fingers did, his thumb finding the very spot that made the woman in his arms lose all semblance of control. Her hand moved down, feeling behind her to caress his side. He was not kidding. His skin was still shower damp, and he was gloriously naked. Her seeking hand found him where he was pressed against her back. Hot and throbbing. "Have I ever mentioned that I appreciate the fact that you are an early riser?" "On occasion." He gently nibbled her ear and she felt the first little shock emanate from his fingertips. His other arm snaked under her, that hand began to pay attention to her other breast. His tongue traced the path of the tendons in her neck as his hands coaxed her into the storm. It built within her quickly. She had found, of late, that her body seemed to respond much faster than it had before. Her sex drive had increased. Not that their sex life had ever been lacking, but she had been getting turned on at the most inopportune times. Her breasts were more sensitive, and the slightest touch of his hand sent her into a tingling oblivion. In seemingly no time at all, the storm broke over her in waves and she rocked into his hand, then back against him. Her hand squeezed him in time to her movements. He groaned. She shifted, throwing her leg up and over his. Reveling in the contrast of the raspy hair on his leg against the smoothness of hers. He needed no more urging. He entered her slowly, from behind. His hands stayed steadily occupied as he rocked into her. Filling her. Completing her. She pushed back against him, not wanting to lose any of this. The bed creaked slightly as they moved. Soft sighs and muffled cries. She turned to speak but was silenced with his mouth. He was close, she could feel the tensing of his body, the frantic urgency of his thrusts. He tweaked her nipple hard as he pressed down on the knot of nerves made super sensitive by his earlier ministrations. She cried out and stiffened as the second wave took her. And he was there with her. She felt him spill into her. Fill her with his love. With the evidence of his desire for her. She sighed as he held her close. Not moving yet. Still within her, his hands moved to cradle the slight bulge of her stomach, to caress her there. They had done this. They had created this. The two of them, together. In an act just like the one they had just completed. They had created life. If they could do that, together, they could do anything. Scully smiled and leaned her head back against his shoulder. "I definitely like your wake up calls." "Glad to be of service, Mrs. Mulder. Just leave the tip on the nightstand next to the phone." As if on cue the offensive instrument began to ring. With a sigh of regret Mulder disengaged himself and reached for it. "Mulder." He listened intently to the person on the other end, nodding. "We'll be there. Thanks, Detective Sullenburger. Yeah, well I know you are most likely calling me from someplace the others can't see you. Hey, I'm an investigator, that's how I know. See you in a few." He hung up and brushed the back of his fingers up Scully's arm. "Shower and eat, they have another body." "I hope you want me to get dressed too, otherwise I'll be putting on quite a show." She rolled out of bed against the protest of limbs gone languid. "Hope?" "I'll get dressed and wake her, tell her where we're going. I want her to stay here, though, and to keep the door locked." Scully nodded. Wonderful morning wake-ups were pushed to the back of their minds as they once again focused on the case at hand. And the sick dread in both of their stomachs that the body found belonged to Karen Haas. XXX HECKMAN SAW MILL Mulder ignored the hot glares as he moved past the police and forensics teams working around the saw mill. He kept his hand on the small of Scully's back, somehow making the gesture protective as well as courtly. Bill Sullenburger dislodged himself from a knot of uniformed cops and approached the two. "Got a call last night on an apparent break in. Window was smashed and the side door was torn off its hinges. First officers on the scene thought it was just vandals till he saw this." he gestured them to follow and led them to the blood stain on the concrete. It was a large pool. Messy and dried. "We're estimating about five pints just spilled all over. They still thought vandals and pigs blood, but collected evidence anyway. The lab called in this morning. It's human. AB negative in fact, all seemingly from a single source. I don't know anyone who can survive losing five pints. So it looks like a homicide, sans body." He shuffled his feet slightly. "Except for one piece of evidence we can not officially name the victim." He held out an evidence bag. Inside was a single earring. A Marquisette heart with an amethyst teardrop dangling from it. Mulder recongnized it and closed his eyes, passing the bag to Scully. "Karen Haas was wearing earrings like that at the funeral yesterday." Mulder explained. Scully shuddered, remembering the medical history she'd gotten off the college and Hope last night. "Karen is AB negitive. I remember because it's a pretty rare type." Bill nodded. "We also have a ripped up dress. It's also covered in blood. They missed it first time around cause it was tossed up into the rafters. And that isn't all." Mulder looked at Sullenburger questioningly. "Back in the woods. We were combing for a body. We found one all right, just not the one we were looking to find." He led them down a deer path and into a clearing roped off with yellow police tape. They ducked under it. There were no other police here. The body, or what remained of it was well charred. Or, the bones were. Scully bend down and poked at the skull with a pencil. "This appears to be an old corpse, I'd say the person was dead for fifty or more years. But they recently dug him up, dismembered the skeleton and burnt off any remaining flesh." Mulder pointed to the pelvis section which was laying next to the skull. "And what does that tell you?" he asked. "The body was of a male. Ritual desecration, maybe?" She didn't move it, unwilling to tamper with the charred piece of wood protruding from it. "Looks to me, like that wood was there when the body was burnt, sometime around sunrise." Mulder pointed out. "Looks an awful lot like someone shoved a wooden stake up the corpses..." "Mulder! This is the corpse of a man who died years ago by the deterioration of the bones, not of someone killed last night." He shrugged and scanned the area. Wincing he tapped Sullenburger on the shoulder and pointed to a tree just outside of the police tape. On the west side of the tree, in the shade, something hung. Sullenburger cringed when he realized what the charred piece of flesh was. "What the hell?" "Someone was pissed off and nailed his balls to a tree," Mulder explained. He walked closer, with some reluctance, when he caught a sparkle out of the corner of his eye. Draped over the long wooden spike was a chain. One end held a earring, the other a nose ring. The kind of thing a hard rock fan might wear. "This case keeps getting weirder and weirder." Sullenburger muttered. "Why?" Mulder looked at him. "Because of all this..." "No, why did you call us instead of letting us find out about this too late to see for ourselves? Why have you been so helpful? I mean, usually the best we can hope from from local PD is indifference, the times we've actually been facing locals on friendly terms have been few and far between. And after last night, you are risking the censure of your own people to call us in." Sullenburger shrugged and dug his hands in his pockets. "My kid brother was a Fed. Wanted it so bad he could taste it. Got in. Made a hell of an agent. But he was always a sharp shooter, since we were kids. So he joined the SWAT team. We were all proud of him." "Were?" Scully looked up from her examination of the scattered bones. "Yeah. They say he committed suicide. He wasn't the suicidal type. He had a wife and baby on the way. He wouldn't have done it. And he was even afraid of fire." Scully stood her eyes wide. "Fire?" "Yeah." Bill lifted the police tape and moved away from the carnage. "On an assignment they say he doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire." He spoke softly, over his shoulder, before walking away. end part 12... anyone figure out who Bill's brother was? :) Comments welcome. ======== Disclaimed in part 1. Warning: Language, violence and in this part, some distinctly odd erotica that doesn't really involve sex. Hmmmm... Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (part 13/?) The car was a safe heaven. Luckily the press hadn't latched on to the 'vandalism' at the saw mill as being related to the so called 'Butcher Slayings'. Scully closed her eyes and leaned back in the seat. "What are you going to tell Hope?" Mulder shook his head. What could he tell her? Could he face her and coldly, clinically tell her that they'd found five pints of what very well may be her friend's blood, her shredded, bloody clothing and her earring... but no body. No closure. Shit. No fucking certainty. Was Hope doomed to search the faces of dark haired, petite women of Karen's age all her life, looking for a friend, hoping against hope? Would she walk down the street and see a familiar walk or gesture and let her hopes soar... "That's how Karen used to walk. That's how she moves, how she gestures, it must be her..." only to feel her heart hit her toes when she faced a stranger? Mulder had been dancing that dance himself for twenty-five years. Doing double duty two years ago when Scully was simply... gone. No finality. No resolution. Just the eternal hope, the part that never was willing to give up, to let go. And while he never would give up or let go... that was not what he wanted for Hope. Five pints of blood. Karen was dead. She could not survive that much blood loss, or... whatever the hell had been done to her to make her lose so much blood. He liked Karen, even though he didn't know her that well. She was smart, and tough, and she protected Hope as if they were sisters. How many calls, after the disastrous leave taking that ended his first day in the presence of his daughter, had been politely, but oh so smoothly deflected by Karen? An unknown face with a smooth as silk voice telling him Hope was out, or in class, or sleeping or in the bath... never able to come to the phone. Karen, she of a thousand excuses. He hadn't appreciated it then, but he realized what the girl was doing, and that she was doing it for Hope. Being there for her as he was not. Supporting her when he'd callously ripped her heart out and stomped on it for good measure. "Mulder?" Scully's voice brought him back, as always. "I ... I don't know. We both know that Karen is most likely dead. The evidence for it is circumstantial though. Without a body... can Hope ever cope with this? Can she cope with it if there IS a body? Jesus, Scully, she's lost so much already. She had this life... then she learned I was her father, and everything she had was gone. Destroyed. Ripped away." "Don't do this, Mulder. Dr. Jamison was murdered before Hope knew you even existed. YOU saved her. She would still have been kidnapped by that lunatic if she didn't know about you. Only without you, she'd have been raped and tortured to death. Keep thinking of that. It's not a nice image is it? YOU got to her in time. You saved her. You tended to her when she was hurt. You are giving her something to hold on to. You are there for her now. If I hear one more 'I-am-the-bane-of-the universe' piece of crap out of your mouth I will most likely hit you." He nodded as he mentally refuted her assertions. He hadn't saved Hope, some unknown, unseen gunman had. And Hope would not have been in DC, in the path of the lunatic, if she hadn't been looking for HIM. Saying it out loud would just piss Scully off. She had enough to worry about. "So what now?" Scully asked. "Just suppose, for a moment, that the skeleton in the woods is not 50 or more years old. Just go with me on this for a moment, Scully. What if he was one of the people who kidnapped Karen? I'd say tearing him apart, shoving a wooden stake up his ass and nailing his genetailia to a tree is about as subtle as say... sticking a pimp's head to a street sign." "And the burning was due to what? The sunrise? You believe that this victim was a vampire? Ok. So if this person was a vampire, and he kidnapped and killed Karen, then what killed him?" "The same thing that killed Rico Torres, Scully. THAT'S why the killing made no sense when thrown in with the death of Karla Morris. I think we're looking at TWO different killers." Scully frowned, "You already knew that from the post mortem bruising on the alleyway slayings." "Ok we are looking at a whole BUNCH of different killers. And I think Arianna Llewellyn is one of them." Scully leaned her elbow against the car door and rested her temple in her hand. "Not again..." "One group of semi organized vampire killers, like the Trinity Cult. They make the wrong choice of victim, an ex-prostitute under the protection of another vampire. This pisses off the other vampire. I think we are looking at some sort of undead turf war." "The Crypts and the Bloods with fangs?" she smirked. He smiled teasingly. "I think we should pay a visit to Tyche House." "But, Mulder, if your theory, completely beyond the realms of reality as it is, were right, then Arianna wont be at the Tyche House. It's nine in the morning. She'll be sleeping in her coffin somewhere in a old tux and black velvet cape." "Yeah, but we can talk to the kids again, and find out if anyone has seen her during the day." He started the car and pulled away from the death ridden site of the saw mill. XXX TYCHE HOUSE They arrived just as the dull green bus pulled up to the front of the building. The door opened and the kids of all ages and nationalities poured out. Last out was Tom Sullivan. "Ok, go back in, get two changes of clothes and anything you think you might need overnight." He instructed the children as Mulder and Scully approached. "Mr. Sullivan, what's going on?" "Gang war." Kimmy Elko chimed in, flashing Mulder a smile. "This happens to be in the middle of the prospective battleground, so we're clearing out till it's over." "Really?" Mulder looked at Scully, who just raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Yeah." Sullivan gave the ten-year-old a little shove towards the door. "It's safer to know when to retreat and when to stand your ground." "But where is everyone going to go?" Scully gestured to the building. "You have forty six children here, over night accommodations are going to be an expensive proposition." "Emergency fund." Sullivan answered, quickly. "We stopped by to talk to Ms. Llewellyn. She said to contact her here." Mulder stood in Tom Sullivan's way. "Ari isn't here. She is taking care of the center's business. Now if you'll excuse me I have to make sure none of these kids pick a fight over whose hairbrush is whose." He dodged Mulder and headed up the stairs. Mulder and Scully followed. "We'd like to talk to the kids again." Tom shook his head. "No time. I'm moving them into hotel rooms by noon. Try back tomorrow or Tuesday." "You think the gang war will be over by then?" Mulder's face was carefully blank. "One way or the other, Agent Mulder. One way or the other." Tom slipped into the front doors and closed them in Mulder's face. He looked at Scully. She nodded. "Ok, something is going on, and it's happening tonight. Shouldn't we call the local office for back up?" "And tell them what? Two groups of vampires are going to duke it out, bring your Von Helsing Kit and eat lots of garlic?" He shook his head. "No, we stake this place out on our own." XXX Well below the Tyche House the remains of Cleveland's old subway system pass. Long ago, a single industrious individual closed off both ends, leaving a large chamber. Once, long ago, there was an entrance to the subway right next to the Tyche House. When the building expanded to make room for more classrooms and four more boarding rooms it was built over the old closed-off entrance. Arianna's office was put into that corner. If anyone took the time to measure the outside of the Tyche House, and then the inside they would find the inner space was four feet shorter then the outer. Part of her office wall was capable of moving out and sliding to the side. A door that revealed the old subway entrance. Below was her sanctuary. The chamber was large, and the concrete walls had been painted over with frescoes of Greek mythology. The artist had been skilled enough to adorn any gallery. He lay now, on a large, overstuffed couch that was part of an elegant living room suite. A large oriental rug marked the boundaries of the living room area. Beside it, a queen-sized canopy bed, hung with rich velvet of the deepest burgundy. Two woman lay on the bed. The three human forms did not move. No rising and falling of chests marked them as sleepers. No snores or sighes filled the dead quiet. Their stillness would unnerve any viewer not of their blood. Ari's eyes fluttered open. Two hours till sunset. She could feel it, even in the protected darkness. She flicked on the lights, illuminating the room and those in it. She sat up and looked at Karen, sleeping peacefully. Sleeping like the dead. She left the bed and knelt by the sofa. Jared's face was chiseled alabaster. His master had chosen him not only for his artistic talent and sharp mind, but for his beauty as well. In life he had half the women of Elizabeth's court chasing after him. He'd allowed most of them to catch him. She stroked cool fingers down his cheek, running them over the neatly clipped silkiness of his goatee. His hand caught her wrist and his pale blue eyes peered at her, into her. He kissed her fingertips. She bent to kiss him. His lips were cold, but soft and pliant beneath her own. She tasted the salt sweetness of his blood, knowing he had cut his tongue on one retracted fang. She drew back slightly and ran her hands down his arms as he lay, watching her. He was wearing black slacks, a black sports jacket and a dark gray turtle neck. She moved one hand to stroke over the ribbed cotton fabric at his throat. "Arming yourself against me?" He shook his head. "No, never." He sat up, abruptly, and shed the jacket and turtleneck. His body was as finely sculpted as any Greek statue. Ari kissed him again, then brushed her lips along his jaw. Her lips, soft and cool, pressed against his neck. He stiffened and bit back a cry as her sharp fangs dropped and slid delicately into his flesh. The warm sensuality he felt as she drew him into herself was beyond any mortal sex ever experienced. He flowed into her, deeper than any mortal man, becoming one with her in her veins, in her whole being. His eyes flashed gold as he bent his head slightly to lick at her throat, tilted to the side, raised to him, expectantly. He slid into her with his teeth. The rich, hot, sweet taste of her blood sent a thrill through his veins, It burned and invigorated. It was one continuous orgasm, never ending until they chose. The pleasure was so close to pain it crossed the line at times, making them shake and shudder as they each drew from the other. With the blood came memories, visions of each other's past. Nothing hidden, nothing spared. This, surely, was the truest expression of love, of trust, known on earth. Too soon, she drew away, pulling her fangs from him and leaving him feel empty where they had been. One flick of her tongue cleaned the spot on his throat, the wounds gone as soon as she withdrew. He released her and willed the Beast back. It still sparkled slightly, brief flashes of gold in the blueness of his eyes. Ari smiled. "We will need that tonight. We will need the bond. We will need each other." He nodded. They both turned as they heard a delicate cough from the direction of the bed. Karen Haas was awake, and sitting. "I suppose it's pointless to ask what happened. What I want to know is... How?" Jared smiled slightly. "Most of what you need to know is with you, memories transferred with my blood." He caressed Ari's face and then stood, crossing to his Childe. Karen grimaced, bending over slightly and clutching her stomach. When she looked at Jared again her eyes flashed gold. "It hurts." He bit into his wrist and offered it to her. "Drink. Accept. There is much to do tonight, so we will have to delay your first hut. I will have to sustain you for now." Karen looked at his wrist, both fascinated and repelled by the welling redness there. It pulled at her, drew her. She needed it, wanted it, as strongly as any need for heroin had ever been. She leaned forward and attached her mouth to his wrist, part of her screaming in terror, far in the back of her mind. That part was quickly quieted by the clawing, needy THING inside her. The memories came. What she was, how she was, who he was. He would never hurt her. Not like they had, not like any of the men before. She was his. He would protect her, as no one ever had before. As she drank, she wept. For the woman who had died in an old saw mill. For the pain of her life, for those she knew before. She remembered it. She knew and kept each terror, each agony, and cradled it to her heart. She broke away from Jared and looked at him. Her eyes once more a dark brown. There was a thirst in her still. But this beast was not the one she would struggle with for an eternity. This beast had a name. Revenge. end part 13... I'm sure you are tired of reading that I welcome feedback, but I do, so there. :) ======== Disclaimed in part 1. Warning: Rated R for language, violence and all that lovely stuff we claim we never read. The NC-17 chapter is already back there... and was so marked. Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (part 14/?) UNKNOWN FOREST LOCATION 6:30PM The shovel hit the earth with a soft *chick-shhh*. The pile of dirt grew larger with every sound. Ace watched with a small wrinkle of concentration lining his forehead. No one held the shovel. It was surrounded by dark, swirling shadows. Queenie sat on a log looking bored and stroking Deuce's blonde hair, as a human might pet a dog. The shovel stopped when a hand shot through the packed ground. Filthy, nailed broken, thin and curled into a claw. The hand was followed by an arm, then a head. A young man, covered in mud. His eyes wide, red and quite mad slowly emerged. "Diamond." Ace hissed. The newly emerged man snarled and sprang at Ace. Ace laughed and moved aside at the last moment, allowing the creature he had just released to rush past him and strike a tree. The darkness surrounded the snarling, spitting thing, hefting it into the air as it thrashed and convulsed. "Welcome to the night." Ace grinned. "What you want is blood, the thing clawing at your guts and brain demands it. I'm going to give you some, so it that lovely creature over there, and the boy. Then you will be part of us." The man-thing dropped to the ground and Ace hauled hum up by the collar of it's filthy, shredded shirt. "I name you Diamond." The unmanned shovel began to work again, deep under the dirt they could hear the scraping and clawing of the other three struggling to free themselves, mad with the hunger. XXX TYCHE HOUSE 7:00PM Scully had fallen asleep. Mulder looked at her, enjoying her profile in silence. She was sleeping a lot more lately. He'd noticed her twice falling asleep at her desk in the office when they were working on paperwork and reports. She'd often curl up in a chair and be asleep right after they got home from work, leaving him to prepare dinner. When she did, though, she'd wake up looking embarrassed and sheepish. He considered asking her to go back to the hotel and keep a watch on Hope, then tossed the idea out the window. She'd see through that plan before he'd finished saying it. And she'd rip him a new asshole. She was SO determined to prove she could keep up, that she was just as capable an agent now as she was four months ago. She took this obsession of proving herself too far most of the time. He had to chuckle to himself. Like he should talk. Still, there was nothing wrong with admitting you couldn't take certain smells any more, or at getting tired quickly, or even at not being able to run as fast, not when you were four months pregnant. Her poor body was working double duty. She tried hard to keep herself neutral, but she got pissed off more often lately too, and out of no where she'd become much more playful then usual. He had to admit he preferred the playful. He sat up straight when he saw the lights of the Tyche House begin to come on. On three different floors, lights clicked on in windows at random. Someone hadn't cleared out. Three floors. Looked like three someones. He reached over and shook Scully's shoulder. "Hmm?" She blinked sleep out of her eyes and stretched. "Someone's home. Come on." They crossed the street and Mulder banged on the huge, wooden double doors. XXX When the emerged into Ari's office Karen looked a bit sluggish and confused, but her eyes started to dart to everything, as if seeing it all for the first time. Indeed, Ari thought, she was. Everything would seem sharper, more solid, the entire world in focus for the first time. And details, the change made you able to take in painstaking details at a glance. There was three small cracks in one panel of the tiffany style lamp sitting on the desk, Ari had never examined it, just noticed it from the first look. If she looked she could see the dust particles floating in the air, without the aid of sunlight streaming through a window. She was aware of a spider seated in the center of it's web in the far left corner of her office. Awareness permeated the essence of the Kindred. In darkness they moved to the room Ari and Jared had left off working on before. "Karen grab that tool box and pass us anything we ask for." Ari ordered as she started to climb a ladder, in the dark. Once at the top she held her hand down. "Wire cutters." Karen saw the toolbox and found the tool requested as Jared climbed another ladder. "What are you doing?" She asked as she passed up the wire cutters. "Making a nasty surprise." Jared answered from atop his perch. They worked with quick fingers, moving the ladders, lifting aloft the frames, the work going quickly, much faster then humanly possible. That task complete Ari passes out a dozen little tape players to each of them. "Go to each room and put this on the bed, hitting play. It's got the sound of a human heartbeat and breathing recorded. It's continuous play. Just don't touch the volume it's set." Jared looked at the little silver boxes. "How long have you been planning this, chere'?" "Since they killed Karla." She answered quickly and headed out the door. "Oh and turn on some lights. Not all, just enough to make it look convincing from the outside." Jared frowned. "Ari, are you planning to..." he wiggled the fingers of one hand at her. She flashed a smile and fished a small metal flash from her pocket. It looked like one of those old perfume flask necklaces. "I took some blood from last night's asshole. Since we are facing a Sabbat then this will have the elements of the blood of the rest of his pack." Jared nodded and moved away, telling Karen to take the third floor. Jared moved from room to room, each press of a little 'play' button making the Tyche house sound more and more full of life to his ears. Sleeping life. The open bag of dirty laundry in each room made it smell occupied. He was on the last room when he heard the knock at the door. He sent a questioning thought to Ari. He received a negative impression. Not them. X Mulder wasn't surprised to see Arianna open the door, even though he had not seen her enter the building. "Agents Mulder and Scully, why am I not surprised?" She looked up at them. "We have a few more questions." Mulder stepped toward the door to have it half closed by the tiny woman inside. "It would be in your best interests to hold these questions until tomorrow." She met Mulder's eyes. He found himself, perversely, agreeing with her. At least until she stiffened and opened the door wider. "No time. Get in. Did anyone ever tell you your timing stinks?" Mulder waited for Scully to enter first while he shook his head to clear it, unsure why he'd thought they could wait till tomorrow night just moments ago. He was about to ask Ari what she'd been doing all day when a tall blonde man stepped into the reception area. He heard Scully gasp next to him and he looked at her questioningly. She didn't see him. Her attention was focused on the blond, and Mulder felt the irrational urge to smash in the guy's way too perfect face. "Angel." The word was a whispered sigh from Scully's lips, and she was, herself, way too pale. The blond's eyes widened a bit, then he smiled. "Ahhh... I had the feeling we had met before, that I should know you, Agent Scully. You are still the only person to ever make THAT assumption." She shook her head. "What the hell is going on here? I've never seen you before... it was just an old dream. It couldn't have been real. Some sort of hypnotic suggestion?" The blond nodded. "Yes, just not as you think." He looked at Ari who nodded and jerked her thumb to the door. He nodded back. "It was real, Dana. All too real. Unfortunately you will see that for yourself all too soon. This way, hurry." Mulder didn't move, placing a hand on Scully's shoulder he stopped her. "What's going on?" "I'll explain later, Mulder. But... I have the feeling they aren't going to try to harm us, if that's what you're worried about." Jared and Ari led them down a hallway and into a darkened doom. Ari switched on a table lamp and both agents jumped. Standing there, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, was Karen Haas. Alive and well. She looked at them in shock for a moment, then at Jared and Arianna. "Oh, shit," she muttered. XXX Outside shadows gathered. Ace cocked his head to the side. He could hear heartbeats from within the building. Many hear beats, two of the more distant ones were beating fast. He smiled. Behind him stood the expanded House of Cards. Queenie and Deuce, and with them the gaunt, less the human appearing forms of Club, Diamond, Spade and Heart. Three men and a woman. The last four were very hungry indeed. It was time to party down. end part 14... ======== Disclaimed in part 1. Rating: *R* for violence, language and situations. Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (15/?) Mulder looked from Karen to Ari and back. "What the hell is going on here?" "Karen?" Scully reached out to touch the girl, to prove to herself that this was real, somehow. She touched Karen's arm and drew back. "You're cold." "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about all of this. How's Hope? Is she ok?" Karen hugged herself, moving slightly away from them. "She's worried sick about you. Where have you been, Karen?" Mulder stepped toward her and she backed away a bit more. "To the dark side of the moon. To an awful place. A place no one should have to go, ever." Her eyes flickered to the blond man who nodded. "I... Karen Haas is dead. She died in a place that smelled of sawdust and blood. She died afraid and alone and in pain. I'm what's left. I'm what wouldn't let go. I'm... I'm not Karen anymore." The blond cocked his head to the side. "No, YOU are the angel. A dark, beautiful angel of mercy and justice." She smiled slightly. "Then that's who I am. Karen is gone. I'm Angel now." She didn't look at Mulder and Scully, avoiding their eyes. "We don't have much time. Stay in here." Arianna removed the top section of the two tool boxes they had earlier employed. Inside were four guns. Arianna handed one of the guns to Mulder and another to Scully. The guns were pistols, but their size and the circumference of the barrel was more like flare guns. Ari handed them each a box of bullets as well. "Incindiary bullets. You MUST aim for the head or the heart." She handed the other two guns to Karen and Jared. Jared looked at his with distaste and lay it back on the table. "Make time." Mulder made no move to load his gun. "The ones who killed Karla, Dougie and Karen are pissed at me since I rearranged the limbs of two of their pack. Now they are here, their plan is to kill every kid under my care. They don't know I've sent them away. Now you two and your rotten timing have you trapped in here with us. What's coming is called a Sabbat. They are beasts without much humanity left. They kill for pleasure. To them, you'd both make a tasty snack." Arianna pointed to the floor. "You have GOT to stay here. Because their leader is powerful. So much so that I don't know if I can beat him without this room. In here you stand the best chance... PLUS you bait the trap. We need to get him in here." "Bait?" Scully finally tore her gaze off of Jared. "More of those... red eyed things?" Mulder looked at her in shock. "Scully?" "I saw them before, Mulder, when I was a little girl. One tried to kill me. This man saved me." She gestured to Jared. She looked pasty and ill. "I...I thought it was... just a nightmare." "Welcome to my nightmare," Mulder muttered. "Life is a nightmare if we let it be." Jared held up his hand and cocked his head, listening. "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert...Near them, on the sand," Jared slowly began to cross the room. Karen, no, Angel was loading her gun with two bullets as she followed him, a pale wraith, seemingly his shadow. He continued as he walked. "Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculpture well those passions read." He slipped out the door, Karen in his wake. Arianna looked at Mulder and the slightly shell-shocked Scully. She allowed the Beast to show its face. To impress on them the seriousness and precariousness of their situation. Her eyes flashed gold, and she smiled, allowing her fangs to drop. "If anyone but the three of us come through that door, shoot. Head or heart. Do not hesitate, do not try to capture them. If you do, they will kill you. They are fast, and stronger than you could ever hope to be. If you hear me scream NOW, throw this switch." Her cold hand grasped Mulder's and placed it over a wall switch. "It means he is here, and this is all that will keep him from killing us all." "He?" Mulder swallowed and felt the full weight of the gun in his hand. "Ace. The leader. He has... abilities. He is my main concern." Mulder looked down at the gun and raised it slightly. "And what's to keep me from using this to kill you?" "Your sense of honor." Her eyes bore into his. "You know, despite what I am, that I am not the enemy here." "You're using us as bait," he spat. "I'm not your enemy, but I'm practical. I won't be able to fully hide that you two are here. Agent Scully alone has a distinctive sound and scent. Two heartbeats, one soft and very rapid, one strong and growing rapid as we speak. She smells of estrogen and her blood is very rich now, with nutrients for the baby. Ace knows about the two of you. He'll sense her." "Then get her out of here. I'll be your bait." Mulder stepped between Arianna and Scully, aware by Ari's words that she could hear and smell Scully. Maybe be tempted by what she described. "Mulder!" He ignored Scully's angry exclamation. "There IS no way out, but through them. Your best chance is in HERE. Please, if you love her, if you want to keep her safe, stay here." She was gone in an eye blink. "Mulder?" Scully looked at him. She was clearly shaken, but pulling herself quickly together. "I think... it might be a good idea to stay here." He reached for the cartridges on the table. They LOOKED like flares, with pointed heads. "Mulder, they are civilians, Karen's just a kid." He shook his head. "Not any more. And civilians is that last thing I'd call them." Scully reached for two cartridges as well, and quickly loaded her weapon, eyeing it warily. "I can take care of myself, Mulder. I don't need you playing Don Quixote. We are in this together. Besides, you need me." "Always." He managed to summon a soft smile for her. He did need her. Alive and well. He'd gladly sacrifice having her at his side if it assured the safty of her and the baby. But for now they had no choice. "I really think we better do what Arianna said. If nothing else this room is more easily defensible than running around out there. No windows, no way in but the one door." He tried to look confident and reassuring while mentally cursing himself for not somehow convincing Scully to go to the hotel and check on Hope. "Yeah. One door. No way OUT either. Like rats in a trap." She shivered slightly, old memories or an old dream coming to surface. But was it real? Was any of this real? Yes. It was tangible. She'd seen it with her own eyes. "So, what are we gonna do tomorrow night, Brain?" He grinned, it was forced and fierce. She rolled her eyes. "What was the guy with Karen saying? It sounded like poetry." "It was." Mulder leaned against a wall. "Ozymandias. Shelly. Tell that its sculptor well those passions read," he picked up where Jared had left off, "Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and dispair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay, Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away." Scully felt the shiver travel up her spine, leaving a wake of gooseflesh. The poem was NOT reassuring. "Yeah, well I can recite Green Eggs and Ham." She looked at him with both her gun and her brow cocked. XXX Arianna withdrew the metal flask of blood as she walked to her ambush site. She twisted off the top and placed it against her lips. She took a few drops into her mouth. Vile, cold, lifeless, rancid stuff. She forced herself not to gag. She needed the blood in her, in her veins, where she could command it as only her particular breed of vampire could. Jared's finger wiggle came to mind. Hers was the only clan capable of this. The others called it Blood Magic. It was just another use of the power of will and mind. She replaced the tiny lid and let the necklace flask drop once again to her breast. She used her power, now, to cloud the perceptions of those who were coming. Those who shared the blood bond with the creature she'd dispatched last night. They would not hear the whir of the little tape recorders, only the recordings themselves. She would not only smell unwashed laundry, but the scent of those who had worn the clothing. She could not create a complete illusion, but she could enhance what already was there. She could feel Jared in the building, further from the doors. Between Ari and the rec room the FBI agents had hopefully had the brains to stay in. She could not feel Karen. When they came it was not with an explosion of violence, but with the whisper of stealth. Ari held the vial in her hands, using it to sense them, to know where they were. There were seven now. Five of them were Childer newly born. Five male, two female. Two were climbing the very fire escape Karla had used the night of her death. The irony there was so thick she could chew it and spit out nails. Two were in back, at the supply entrance/back door. And three had opened a window in Tom's office and were slipping in as she tracked them. She hear a roar from the second floor. Rage and hunger mixed with madness. It looks like someone tried to take a bite out of a tape recorder. She was smiling as she ran down the hall to Tom's office. XXX They both jumped at the muffled scream. Not one of pain, but of anger. They had been straining to hear something other than their own breathing. Breathing which had suddenly seemed impossibly loud in the murkiness of the room. They looked up. It had come from the floor above them. Mulder looked over at Scully. She was staring at what hung above them, noticing it for the first time. She looked at him, her eyes questioning. The 'hey, you got all the answers what the hell is this' look in her eyes made him want to kick himself. He had no idea. He looked up. No friggin clue. His hand tightened on the gun he'd been given and his eyes settled once again on the door. He felt like he was part of O. Henry's 'The Lady and the Tiger'. Only there was one door, instead of two. And HE was eventually going to learn what was behind this one. XXX Ace could feel the rage of Club. The Childe's hunger was getting the better of him. He'd been promised slaughter, blood, and it had not been delivered. Ace smiled at Heart as she stood beside him. She reminded him of the little whore he'd taken last night. Heart hadn't been a whore though, she'd been a dealer. Under the dirt and filth she was the same size and general build though. And just before he'd fed off the whore, she too had held madness in her eyes. He knew what Club's bellow meant. The tide had turned. Their little ambush was actually a trap. Ok, that was cool. It could prove to be just as much fun. He headed for the door and had taken hold of the knob just in time to have it ripped from his fingers. "Surprise!" She grabbed his wrist and had tossed him down the hallway before he could react. end part 15... ======== Disclaimed in part 1. Warning: Rated R for language, violence and situations. There is an NC-17 chapter already posted and so marked. Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (part 16/?) The female who had been with Ace was a newborne and mad with need. Perhaps that helped push her into the folly of actually rushing Arianna, hands twisted into claws as she snarled her rage. Then again, and more likely, Ace willed her to do it. He'd use his pack as cannon fodder. It was the way of egocentrical little shits like him. Ari dodged and balancing on one leg performed a spinning kick, her heel connecting with the girl's spine. There was a satisfying *crunch* as she fell. Ari left her where she was, her arms trying to pull herself up, the bottom half of her body no longer following the impulses her brain was putting out. She turned to again face Ace, but he was no longer there. "Coward!" Her scream echoed off the walls of the hallway. "Come out, come out, where ever you are." Her words were brave, but inside she shivered. She wanted to draw his attention to herself, because she had the best chance of surviving it. XXX The woman who was once Karen Haas found herself glorying in her new stealth. Never had she moved this smoothly, this fluidly, this silently. Her exhilaration was cut short when she heard a room being noisily trashed. Her heart should be pounding with fear. After all, even in her bravest moments she'd been smart enough to be scared. But her heart was NOT pounding in her ears, and an icy dread wound through her guts as she realized why. Her heart would never beat again. She was dead. She was one of the walking dead. Every vampire movie or book she'd seen raced through her mind. Did she really want to live forever? She stepped to the side of the doorway emitting the noise and pressed her back against the wall. Maybe not. But she wasn't ready to meet her final reward yet. She had a life to life, at least one lifetime. Things to do. Places to go. "People to kill," she whispered to herself. She slid the safety off her gun and spun around the door frame. Aimed down the barrel, found the heart on a ragged, dirty looking bum. An old guy. She didn't hesitate to fire. The shot exploded loudly. His chest exploded louder. Blood sprayed the room as flames erupted from the gaping hole that had been his torso, engulfing the creature as it dropped. Then she was kissing the floor as two hundred pounds of enraged creature knocked her to the ground. He'd once been a big black man, the roundness of his face and slant of his eyes betrayed downs syndrome. The innocent wonder that should have been there was replaced by a snariling demon. He punched her in the gut and it hurt. His fetid breath washed over her as his mouth opened wide. She was trapped as he struck for her throat. Not again! XXX "That was a gunshot." Scully looked up again. It was above them. "Karen. She took the other gun. Arianna took one, but I think she stayed on this floor. The guy didn't take any. I hope Karen's a good shot." Mulder felt his nerves coiling tight. He wanted to get out. He wanted to DO something. To help. Waiting was never his strong point. "I hope she doesn't have a habit of dropping her gun." Mulder looked at Scully, startled. She was smiling at him. She was still a bit pale, but recovering nicely considering her reality had taken a big U turn. XXX Jared had retrieved his weapons of choice from Ari's lair. He was a Hunter, a Justicer for his Prince. The closest thing the Kindred had to law enforcement. He was good at it. But he had a traditional bent. He saw the two enter a room to the left, checking for people, no doubt confused that there weren't any. He hefted his weapon as a modern man might heft a rifle. Brought it up to his shoulder and took aim. Soon enough they emerged. The woman first. He gently squeezed the trigger and a **sssssnap** filled the air with the whisper of death. She screamed as the force of the crossbow bolt flung her backward, as the force of the wooden projectile pinned her to the wall. A broken butterfly in a dark collection. The boy snarled at him but was smart enough to flee. Jared withdrew his second weapon. The kiss of steel on steel sealed her doom. Blood trickled from her mouth. Her eyes blazed with the fury of the beast. She spit defiance at him. In four hundred years his blade had never lost its edge. It didn't disappoint him now. A hiss of it slicing the air, then the dull thud of her head striking the chipped linoleum.. He looked at her pinned remains and shrugged, feeling a smile tug his lips and the thrill of the hunt sang in his veins. "Um... there can be only one?" He looked down the darkened hallway the boy had fled. XXX Ace saw Deuce running for him. "Back there, he killed Queenie." The boys words were garbled around his protruding fangs. "Really, then leave him to me." Ace shoved the little annoyance aside and strode into the shadows. The hunter had ceased to stalk. Ace could feel his stillness. He must have realized he was no longer following a half sized Childe. He smiled to himself and let his mind touch the shadows. Through the shadows he saw. There. Just inside the room to his right, poised to strike. A sword, how archaic. His will touched the shadows and commanded them. They swirled and grew dense. Took substance at his command. They tightened around the fool inside the doorway, lifting him as he struggled ineffectively against nothing. How does one fight a shadow? Ace watched, amused as the shadows pulled the man out. Tall, blond, he thrashed about uselessly, slicing his sword at nothing. His eyes blazed gold. "I believe you were waiting for me." Ace put as much boredom as he could into his voice. The shadows tightened around the man. "I wanted to ask you to dance." The blond man sneered. "You? You are the best the Prince could offer to try and stop me? You and that Fairy Godmother? It's laughable." The blond had ceased struggling, sensing the futility of the situation. "Yeah, well, we're just the janitors. You're no more a threat than a spot of shit on the floor. Just don't want people slippin' in it is all." "Gallows bravado? Interesting. Too late you learn just what a threat I can be." Ace sent a thought to his dark minions. Jared's head swung around with a *snap*. Ace let him crumple to the floor. Neck broken. XXX Arianna turned the corner to face the one she dreaded facing more then Ace. Dougie. He sensed her and spun. Her heart cried out at the injustice, yet her feet never faltered. She tackled him and spun him round, so his back was to her. He struggled in her grip. "I'm sorry, Dougie. I'm so, damned, sorry." The gun she carried pressed into his spine, just behind his heart. He ceased to struggle. "I know you are, Ari. Thank you." She pulled the trigger. His chest exploded outward. She stepped back as his body burst into flame. She had no time to grieve as the bond she shared with Jared suddenly filled with panic. Then pain. Then the absence of pain. "No!" She ran down the hall to him. XXX Not yet. Ace sensed her coming. Felt her as she ran through each shadow. No. He was having too much fun. He cocked his head to the side and heard them. Three heartbeats, not far away. Mortals. He followed the sound. He faced a plain wooden door. The mortals were inside. The double beat from one location identified them as Jako's Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf. They'd be watching the door. His mind followed the shadows, under the door. Yes, both were facing it, mortal weapons in hand. Just waiting for him to come inside. He moved away from the door. Mapping the layout of the building in his head he circled into another office. Its side wall was the back wall of the mortal's hiding place. XXX Mulder heard a rythmic ticking and looked around for its source. He winced inwardly when he realized it was his watch. He was about to tell Scully of his own stupidity when the wall behind them erupted in an explosion of plaster and wood. The center of the explosion was a man. He'd burst through based on speed and brute strength. He swung around just in time to see Scully tossed aside like a rag doll even as she turned to face the threat. His heart leapt to his throat as she thudded against the wall. Mulder aimed for the heart and fired. The man moved impossibly fast, and seemed to dodge. But he howled as a ragged hole opened in his shoulder and his clothing began to burn. He dropped and rolled as Mulder tracked him. The move extinguishing the flames. Scully moaned and began to sit up. Her left arm was held close to her body, and a thin sheen of sweat covered her face. The door burst open and Mulder moved his aim to face the new threat only to sight Arianna. "Now... the switch!" she cried. Mulder backed against the wall and hit the wall switch. The room was suddenly flooded with bright light. The entire ceiling was covered with jury rigged florescent lights. As they came on all the shadows in the room disappeared. end part 16... Feedback? Comments? Go ahead, vent your frustrations on me. ::snicker:: ======== Disclaimed in part 1 Warning: *R* for Violence, language and situations. Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda Lake (part 17/18) Everyone was blinded for a few precious seconds. Ari, however, was prepared. She took aim, only to face Ace, now holding Agent Scully between them. Agent Scully looked half conscious and pasty. Her left arm was curled tight against her body while her other hand clawed weakly at Ace's leather clad arm. "Scully!" Mulder's cry was more in the line of a moan of pain. He was fine. She was not. She was also blocking HIS shot. "Put the guns down or I snap her neck right now. You know I'm not bluffing." Ace tightened his arm and Scully made a choking sound. Ari threw her gun to the floor. "You want to play, Ace. Just you and me. Nothing but our own powers. No weapons." "Big Bad Wolf?" Ace looked at Mulder. Mulder tore his gaze away from his wife with an almost audible ripping sound to look at Ari. She nodded. "Do it. Or she's dead." Mulder held out one hand, whether to show it was empty, or in supplication not even he knew. He slowly lowered the gun to the floor. His training screaming at him not to do it. His hesitation gained him another choked cough from Scully as Ace added pressure. He let the gun go and stood again. "Kick them to me, both of you. I'll accept your little, amusing diversion Fairy Godmother, when I'm sure this asshole won't shoot me in the back." Both guns slid across the floor. Ace tossed Scully right at Mulder and launched himself at Ari. Mulder caught her, the impact knocking them both off their feet. Scully let out a sharp, unintentional cry. He gained a kneeling position and lightly touched Scully's throat. "I'm... shit... no I'm not..." she bit her lip. "My throat is ok. But I think my arm's broken." They both examined her left arm, noting the extra elbow she'd developed. She thought Mulder couldn't get any paler. "I'll live. But I need to get to a hospital. Mulder looked up to see a battle raging between them and the door. It looked like a Bruce Lee movie run at double time. Blows and blocks, kicks and swings, some too fast to follow. Neither opponent looked human anymore. Each tiny muscle of their faces was accentuated, exaggerated. Their eyes blazed impossible colors, and they snarled and hissed, snapping at each other with long, daggered canines. Ace was taller, heavier, should have been the clear winner. But Arianna was fast. She did a spinning kick, connecting solidly with Ace's leg, throwing him off balance. He went down to one knee but managed to block the chop of her hand aimed at his neck as a follow through. Catching her arm he twisted it around, surely breaking it as she raked her nails down his face. Five bloody gouges ripped down the monstrous facsimile of a human face. He brought the heel of his hand up to connect with her sternum. Her ribs had to have cracked or broken with the blow. She stumbled back, her arm still in his grasp before moving in to slam her forehead against his nose. Smashing it in a burst of blood. He let go and they moved back, circling each other. Arianna took hold of her injured arm and with a tug set the bone again, without a flinch. There was little human about her now. Mulder wondered how he had ever thought she was. Ace charged, she dodged and got an elbow into his back. He spun and caught hr other arm. Instead of breaking it, though, he grinned. He hoisted her above him even as she landed a solid kick to his head. With a shout he threw her. Up. Overhead. Into the lights. Mulder threw up his arm and bent over Scully to shield her as shattered bulbs and sparks fell. Tiny glass fragments showered them. The lights flickered. When he dared to look again four of the overhead fixtures were out, one was dangling, one end scraping the floor. Arianna was laying on the floor. Ace approached her and kicked her in the side. She grasped his ankle. He grabbed her hair and hauled her to her feet. He ran to the wall and slammed Arianna's head into the plaster. Once. Twice, Three times. The spot was red with her blood. The force of the blows knocked a hole in the wall at last. Mulder scrambled away from Scully and made a dive for the guns he and Ari had put down. SOMETHING grabbed them and pulled them from his reach. The light in the room had dimmed. What had been the shadow from the ping pong table had moved, swirled, surrounded the guns and pulled them away. Oh SHIT! He barely registered this before a band of iron closed around his throat and he was being hauled upward, his feet leaving the ground. Nothing to his back. He kicked out and as he realized it was a hand around his throat he grabbed Ace's wrist, his own muscles straining to make the monster release him. Pain. Blood thundered in his ears. Spots swam before his eyes. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak. He was being choked to death. "Not yet." The creature's voice was a purr. "First I'm going to fuck Little Red right in front of you. Then I'm going to rip the parasite from her womb. After I eat it, only then will I drain her completely. And then... Then you die." Mulder felt rage well up. He clawed at the arm holding him, then reached for Ace's face, trying to take out his eyes. "I don't think so, motherfucker." Ace spun to face the voice. Karen Haas stood in the doorway. Her gun pointed at his head. "You! You're dead!" "Wrong. You are!" She fired. Ace's head exploded. Showering Mulder with a gruesome spray. Then he erupted into flame. His grip on Mulder released and they both fell to the floor. Mulder frantically backed away from the burning thing, the flames licking at his heels, catching his trenchcoat. His throat was too tight; he couldn't cry out, only frantically try to smother the flames. Karen was there, helping him. Then giving him a hand up. "He killed me. It's only fair I got to kill him back," she muttered under her breath. The room spun. Mulder still saw spots. Dizziness, nausea... "Omigod, your throat." She reached for him as he slid to the floor once more. He was dimly aware of three figures entering the door. All wore suits, impeccably dressed. The central figure was a man. He was incredibly beautiful. Dark and savage in that beauty. The man gestured to the fallen form of Arianna and the man to his left bent over her. "She lives, highness," the man announced. "Then get her out and let her feed. If she awakens in here she'll kill her charges before realizing it." The man's voice was silk over gravel. The man who had checked her lifted Ari up and carried her from the room. The tall imposing man then looked at Karen. Karen felt the overwhelming need to fall to one knee and bow before this man. The memories Jared had given her supplied the information she needed. This was the Prince. The man Jared held loyalty to. Karen, however, refused the impulse. He smiled. "You are a defiant little one, aren't you? I can see why Jared chose you." "Will he be ok?" Karen cocked her head to the side. She had felt Jared's pain, then the nothingness of unconsciousness from him. "Yes. Arianna set his neck and gave him some of her blood. His spine had healed by the time we arrived. He too, has left to feed. These mortals would be far too tempting to an injured Kindred. Karen looked down at Mulder and Scully. Of the two only Mulder seemed at all conscious, and that was doubtful. "They need help. An ambulance." The Prince inclined his head. "We are cleaning up the mess you have left behind. Removing the bodies to have them left to the sun. You alone, my dear, have started two fires in this building. We put them out." The Prince moved to look down at Mulder. Mulder WAS awake. He looked up at the man, struggling for each breath. "What a pity. Do you know, Agent Mulder, you represent the single greatest threat to the Masquerade in over a century? I'm afraid you know too much now. Much too much." The Prince bent over him. Mulder wasn't sure if it was the man over him or the last of the oxygen leaving his brain, but darkness swam up to meet him, then drag him down into a warm embrace. His last thought was of Scully. end part 17... Comments and death threats welcome. :) ========Things are changing at NetForward! http://www.netforward.com/changes.shtml ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARCHIVISTS! PLEASE USE THIS VERSION, AND NOT THE ORIGINAL PART 18. Due to my own stupidity, I am correcting an error in the original part 18 post here. It's mostly the same though. I originally used the names of the LEG bones for Scully's injuries, and it sorta made no sense since she broke her ARM.... Disclosed in part 1. Rated *R* for language, violence and situations. A NC-17 chapter has already been posted and was marked as such. Dogged Determination IV: Suffer the Children by Rhondda (the permanently writers cramped) Lake (Part 18/18) The first thing he became aware of was the pain. It was a raging fire in his throat. Like someone had scoured it with steel wool until nothing but a mass of ragged, abused nerve endings remained. Raw was too tame a word for the pain. And that was only on the inside, where each inhalation burned like acid. Surrounding that pain was another, throbbing heated soreness. He swallowed involuntarily and wanted to scream, but it would hurt too much. Then the scent. The to smell it he had to inhale again, and he wondered how long it would take before he passed out completely again? Into the merciful, painless blackness. But he was rousing now, and that escape was denied him. His nostrils detected the scent of disinfectant, iodine, and an undertone of urine. Ah. Hospital. Next he was aware of someone holding his hand. Fingers entwined with his. Soft, warm, palms pressed together. Scully? He opened his eyes at the thought of her name. The head bent next to him was not Scully's, even though the face was turned away. The person was sitting in a chair, leaning over the gap between the hair and the bed, and sleeping with her head on the mattress. Her hair was a mass of long waves, rich browns of every hue streaked with golden highlights and red undertones. Magnificent hair. Much more interesting then either of her parent's. Hope. Hope Jamison. Ok. He was in a hospital, again. But how had he gotten here? What had happened? And most important of all... where was Scully? Hope shifted, turning her head in his direction. The weave of the hospital blanket was pressed into her face. Her eyes were open and they looked into his. He tried to summon a smile, but was pretty sure it came out a grimace. "Whatever you do don't try to talk." Hope cautioned him as she sat up, stretching a kink out of her back, her voice was soft and whispering. "You have a severely bruised throat and minor crushing damage to your trachea. They had to intubate you when they found you, which I'm sure didn't help the way your throat must feel, but it did keep you breathing. You probably cant talk anyway as your neck has swollen with the bruising and your vocal cords may be limited now. Swollen? Dad, right now you have a better neck girth then Arnie Schwartzenegger." Hope brought a pad and pencil from the bedside tray table and handed it to him. "Lots of people want to know what the hell happened. I'm one of them." She crossed her arms. He wrote one word on the pad. 'Scully?' Hope grinned. "I told them you'd injure yourself further by going on a foolish rampage to find her if they didn't put you in the same room. Then as your next of kin we'd have to sue them for any injury you incurred on such a rampage because they wouldn't listen to my simple request of a common room." She stood and walked to the white curtain to his right. It slid aside softly. He gasped and then choked from the pain of the foolish reflex on his throat. Scully appeared to be asleep in the next bed. Her arm was encased in a cast and held against her chest with a sling. There was a wide belt around her slightly distended stomach with wires running from it to a beeping machine at her side. "Don't worry." Hope moved closer to him. "She's got a broken arm, double fracture of the radius and ulna, but it was a clean break. There are some mild signs of strangulation, but nothing compared to you. The belt thingy is a fetal heart monitor. It's just a precautionary thing. The doctors ran every test they could and the baby seems to be doing fine." As if aware she was being talked about, Scully opened her eyes and turned her head. "You look like shit." Her voice didn't sound any different. He wrote on the pad and passed it to Hope, who read it before passing it to Scully. 'What happened?' Scully looked at him oddly, as if frightened for a moment, quickly concealed. "Mulder, the last thing I remember was sitting with you in the car staking out the Tyche House. I think... I think I fell asleep. I woke up here about three hours ago. I told Sullenburger what I remembered and he's pissed off." Hope sprang in. "An anonymous call for the police and ambulance was made. You were found in the recreation room of Tyche House. There were signs of a struggle all over the place, and signs of a fire in one of the dorm rooms and the hall outside it, but someone had put it out and controlled it." She shivered and held herself. Hope's eyes clouded with pain, and when next she spoke, her voice was tight, strained. "They found Karen's body. On the floor of Tom Sullivan's office. Her back had been broken, and she was burnt almost beyond recognition. Detective Sullenburger at first wouldn't tell me all of it, but he said they couldn't identify her by dental records or finger prints. They... they had shot her in the head with some sort of high caliber weapon. There... wasn't much... left to identify." Hope choked back a sob and the tears spilled over. "Only the remains of the tattoo she'd had on her ankle. A little rose." Mulder was shocked. He could remember nothing past watching the Tyche House. Not how he and Scully had been found hurt and abandoned in the Tyche House, Not about finding Karen's Body, none of it. It was almost like Ellen's Air Force Base all over again. But worse. Scully had been hurt. Her arm broken, choked, her life and that of their baby placed in some nameless danger because he'd had them on a stake out. It was his fault. What had happened that they could not remember? Why couldn't they remember? The questions had to be put to the back of his mind. Hope was shaking now, and Mulder held out his arms. She hesitated for a few seconds, then moved to curl up into the bed next to him. Her tears quickly soaked through the thin hospital gown he was wearing. He felt helpless with her once again. He couldn't even offer words of comfort. Only hold her as she mourned. Scully sat in the other bed, watching them. Her eyes soft. XXX DANA SCULLY'S CASE REPORT I cannot agree with Agent Mulder's theory on the killer(s) being of vampiric nature, unless it is the nature of their own minds. His suspicions of Arianna Llewellyn, however, must be put to rest. The night of our mutual memory loss Arianna was reported to have been at a fund raising party with several of the cities politicians also in attendence. It was given by one of the Mayor of Cleveland's political supporters, Lorcan Germain. She was seen eating and mingling before the sun went down and well into the morning by thirty witnesses, giving her an air tight alibi. In the past week it appears that the death of Karen Haas was the last. As killers of this nature do not suddenly stop killing, we must assume, for now, that those responsible are either deceased themselves or in custody on unrelated charges. Detective Sullenburger will remain on the lookout for any sign of the similar murders and promises to alert us if he comes across any. The damage to the Tyche house has left even more questions. Damage to lighting fixtures, odd holes in the walls, burnt rooms and the body of Karen Haas. These things are being interpreted as terroristic threats connected to the drug syndicate and prostitution rings of Cleveland. To attempt to shut down the shelter and scare off its workers and residents. If this is the case, they have failed. The Tyche House has been cleaned up and donations from several figures at the fund raising dinner has renovations being done. Arianna Llewellyn vows there will be a Tyche House or an institution like it as long as she lives. Agent Mulder and myself are recovering well. We still have no memory of how we came about our injuries, nor can we give insight as to who called the police and ambulance. This will be my last field report. Assistant Director Skinner has called to inform me I will be temporarily reassigned to Quantico until my maternity leave. He expressed concern over my injuries, and considers field assignments too dangerous for my condition. Agent Mulder concurred despite my protests. Special Agent Dana Scully-Mulder XXX HYLAND HALL UNIVERSITY OF OHIO ONE WEEK LATER Hope looked around the empty dorm room. Empty. Like her life. It had once been filled with laughter and girlish giggles. Hours of all night studies and more coffee then was safe for human consumption. She had thought to be gone a week ago. She had thought to leave behind a friend who would write and call. She was wrong. Karen's funeral was much as Karla's had been. She had attended, and had not cried. Her crying had been done in a hospital room in the arms of her feather. Her grief was not for public consumption. Packed among the things she'd take with her to Georgetown were some of Karen's things. Her collection of Shakespeare, her books of poetry, the kewpie doll she'd won at the shooting games at a fund raiser, and a collection of music they had danced to. Hope also kept a album of pictures. Mostly silly, goof off poses from parties and gatherings. A catalog of a two year sisterhood. Hope sat on the bare mattress that had been Karen's bed. She'd dreamed of her last night. The last night she would sleep in this room. She had dreamed she had woken up to find Karen sitting on the edge of her bed. Smiling down at her and stroking her hair. She'd dreamed she spoke. Hope wasn't sure it WAS a dream. After all, she had an inkling that Connie McKenzie, her natural mother, tended to show up when Hope needed her. Even if she never SAW her, and she had been dead for seven years... In her dream Karen had looked sad, even lonely. "Hope, saying goodbye is harder then I thought. I wanted you to know... I never had a family. Not a real one. When you showed up at school, fresh-faced and fifteen, a lost little girl in the great big world... I took you in as my own. You became my little sister. It has been the best two years of my life. What happiness I've known has been found here. In this college. In this room. With you. I love you, Hope. I hope that doesn't make you uncomfortable. Maybe, if you had been the slightest bit inclined..." the dream Karen shrugged. "I came into this world in pain, ripped from the comforting darkness, and was viciously slapped for the effort, to make me cry, before I was handed over to an uncaring mother. My stepfather took from me what no father had the right to. He hit me, and he raped me. My mother named me a whore. I ran away and took the name my mother gave me. It was the only definition of self they had left me. I was rescued not by a knight in shining armor but by a tiny woman with a soft smile. She taught me self respect and determination. But she only half rescued me. You finished the job. You taught me love." The dream Karen smiled slightly. "Love and laughter and that there is innocence in the world, and that it should be protected. I left this world in pain, viciously slapped, but I did not cry. I went into the darkness again, willingly. The family I found there... was and is far from uncaring." "Don't forget me, Hope. But don't let losing me drag you down. Your father and his wife are good people. Trust them. Give them a chance. Let them be there for you. It is NOT a betrayal of the people who raised you. I have only one request to make of you. Live. Live for me. Enjoy life. Become all you can be. You will make a wonderful doctor some day." In her dream Karen had pressed something into her hand. "I've always considered this MY song. Play it, and remember me." Karen had awoke in the morning with a small silver tape player in her hand. She hit play. It was Alanis Morrisette's 'All I really Want'. She'd cried again, alone. The knock at the door brought her out of her memory of a dream. She turned to see Mulder looking at her, his face drawn, pensive. His throat still had a greenish blue bruise in the shape of a hand, but the swelling was gone. His voice sounded funny though. "You ready?" It was gravely, and soft. He'd make a full recovery though. From what... he still couldn't remember. Neither could Scully. "I suppose so. Yeah, I'm ready. For anything." She picked up her last suitcase and wasn't surprised when Mulder took it for her. "Let's go. Scully's in the car." Hope took one last, long look back, then closed the door on that part of her life, forever. end. Feed back welcome. Coming next: Dogged Determination V: Watched Over