Title: About Time Author: Thalia Dos Email: ThaliaDos@juno.com Rating: R (language) Category: C (X Files/ Interview with the Vampire crossover) Spoilers: No large ones Keywords: MSR Summary: Scully begins dreaming about a past life. But it's only a dream... right? *Hey people... I'm back! I guess everyone hated my Scully fights Back stories... but I'm writing the third one anyway. Until then, I wrote an Interview with the Vampire crossover. Enjoy! * Anti-shippers: RUN!!! This is major shippy, so run now! *People... PLEASE WRITE ME!! Even if you hate it, TELL ME! PLEASE! I'm begging you here! I'm at ThaliaDos@juno.com Tell me what you think! * Disclaimer: Jeramiah was a bullfrog. Was a good friend of mine. Never understood a sngle word he said... oh, you're reading it? Oh, in that case... They aren't mine. Mulder and Scully belong to the surfer twit, the number company and the fuzzy animal. Lestat and Louis belong to themselves. Well, and Anne Rice. They aren't mine either. About Time by Thalia Dos 1795: South of New Orleans The man ran into his house. He just received news that the plague that has killed thousands in Europe has made it's way to America. His wife and daughter were reading by the fire. They looked up, startled by the panic in the mans face. "Laurael, we have to get out now!" "What's the matter love? Are we being evicted again?" "No! The plague has come. We have to get to another city, up North somewhere, fast! How soon can you and Claudia be ready?" "Within the hour. But it may be too late. I think the woman next door has it, she took ill and cannot get out of bed. And I was just over there last night." The man paled even more. "It doesn't matter. Get your things together, I'll go to the docks and get passage on the next ship up North." He began to move towards the door. "Wait!" Laurael cried, then ran to him. They embraced, but as the man pulled away, Laurael became almost calmly certain of something. "We won't see you again." He stared at her. "What? What are you talking about? Do you think that I would leave you and Claudia?" She shook her head. "You'll never make it back. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. And if I have the plague, I'll be dead in days." He held her as tight as he could. "We will be together again, I swear it. I love you too much to lose you forever." Tears brimmed in his eyes as he kissed her quickly and then called to Claudia. She came over and the three of them held each other. Then he gave them each a quick kiss, a reassuring smile and left. Two blocks from their house, he was hit over the head, robbed and thrown in the river. He never saw his wife or child again. "Mama, where is pa? He hasn't been back, and he's been gone for two days." "Oh Claudia. I don't think he will come back, love. Something must have happened to him. But I'm still here. I'll watch over you dearest." Not for much longer though, she thought as a series of coughs worked their way through her weak body. She sat down in a chair by the fire, and Claudia crawled into her lap. She rocked her quietly and hummed a song. Claudia finally fell asleep and Laurael looked at her with loving eyes. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. 'It's not fair! We were so happy. Why does it have to be taken away so soon?' Exhausted, her eyes drifted shut. Claudia awoke some time later, shivering. The fire had gone out and her mother had stopped rocking. She hopped down and grabbed a blanket off the ground. Then she turned to wake her mother. "Mama? It's cold and I'm hungry." Her mother didn't answer. "Mama? It's cold. Wake up. Mama? MAMA? WAKE UP!" Claudia shook the womans arm. Her head lolled, but she was silent. Claudia began crying, fell to her knees and clutched at her mothers hand. The sun began to set. When Laurael awoke, she no longer felt cold. She stood, then looked down... at her body. And at her child, holding her hand and sobbing silently. Laurael went to her, but was unable to do anything to calm her. Just as despair set in, the door to their little house opened. She jumped up and turned, hoping against hope that it was her dear husband, but what she saw in the doorway scared her more than death itself. The thing in the doorway was human... but not. He moved to her daughter, and for a moment, she prayed that it was only her eyes deceiving her, that this well dressed man really would help her little girl. Claudias soft voice filled the room, as she made a plea, "Please help us. Pa left us and didn't come back. Please wake Mama, monsieur." She then flung herself into the mans arms. He looked at Lauraels poor body, then at Claudia. She saw him battle with himself, before sinking his teeth in to the soft flesh of her neck. Claudia made a little whimper, but was otherwise quiet. Laurael, however, was furious and tried with all her might to make him stop. But, she could do nothing to save her baby girl. Then laughter filled the room. She spun around at the same time the man did, to see another monster standing in the doorway. This one was tall and blond, where as the other had dark, nearly black hair and green eyes. The blond one laughed and taunted the dark one. Then he picked up Lauraels body and danced around the room with it. The dark one set Claudia on the bed and ran from the house into the rain. The blond followed him, calling his name still, "Louis, Louis!" Laurael ran to the poor girls side, desperate to help her. Nothing she did helped at all. Then, some passers by heard one of Claudias little moans and took her to a nearby hospital. Laurael sat by her side the whole time. She could feel herself losing her grip on this reality, and struggled to hold on, for her child's sake. She bared her teeth and hissed when she saw the two demons that had hurt her child make their way into the hospital. They told the doctor that they were Claudias relatives, and took her limp form to their hotel. As Laurael left this plane, the last thing she saw was her daughter become one of those monsters. And she swore to get her revenge against them. Against the vampires. 1997: Washington DC Dana Scully's residence, 11:23 PM Dana Scully woke in a sweat. Her dream was already beginning to fade from her memory, something about vampires and a pale little girl? She got up to make herself a cup of tea. Even with that, she dreaded the thought of going back to sleep. This dream had been the same for nearly a month, since that Apison case. She decided that she was never going to get to sleep, so she grabbed her gun and keys and went for a jog. Same time, close by Louis was having a hard time in this strange city. He and Lestat had decided to visit, and it had seemed like a good idea at the time. But he had been plagued by strange dreams since their arrival the week before. True, he dreamed of his dear Claudia a lot since her death, but the dreams were not usually this frequent. They were really beginning to bother him. He wandered the dark streets, hoping to find some meaning in this new torture. It was just then that a woman ran into him. Scully was horrified at what she had done. She went out jogging all the time and she never actually hit anyone, that only happened in cheesy stories. She pulled herself off the ground and began apologizing at the same time. "I am SO sorry, sir! I wasn't looking where I was going. I hope I didn't hurt..." Her apology stopped when she looked at him. And the memories came back. The dark house. The sobbing child. The laughter. And she uttered one word. "Louis." Louis' head shot up. Up until then he hadn't really been listening to her, it wasn't like he had been hurt. But now, he stopped to look at her and confusion surfaced on his face. "I'm sorry ma'am. Do I know you? How do you know my name?" Scully's face paled and for a minute Louis thought that she was going to swoon. But not Scully. Instead, she began muttering all the reasons why what she thought was impossible. "No, this can't be. That was only a dream. The only explanation is... a past life, but that isn't even possible. I have to be somehow creating this from information that I read or heard. This can't be happening. The case we were on got to me more than I thought. That has to be it." Meanwhile, Louis was trying to figure out what exactly was going on. "Umm... miss? What is the matter?" Scully looked up and took a few steps back. "Oh my god. It is you. How is this possible? It can't be happening. Then I would have to listen to how Mulder was right about two X-Files. No, this is impossible." She looked back at Louis. "Uh, help me out here. You aren't, by chance, a vampire, are you? I know it sounds rather stupid, but I-" "Actually, I am." There you go breaking vampire rules again, Louis. Lestat would be so proud of you. "Oh no. You can't be. Then my dreams would have to be true." "What dreams, miss?" "A dark house. A little blond girl. A vampire that takes her from me. Sound familiar?" Louis' eyes widened in shock. "That IS impossible. You can't know about that. Only three people know about that, one of which is dead." Scully's stomach flipped over. "Which one?" Louis hung his head. "Her" Scully sank to the ground. "You killed my little girl, you bastard." Then she turned and ran to her apartment, trying not to turn and blow his head off. She ran inside and locked the door. As soon as she turned the deadbolt, she heard someone knock. She screamed and jumped back. She grabbed her gun and aimed it at the door. "Go away!" "Miss, please open the door. I want to talk to you." "Why, so you can kill me the way you killed my daughter? I warn you, I have a gun aimed right where your head will be and I am not afraid to use it. I'd like to see you kill more children with a whole in your head. Now, GO AWAY!" She heard him sigh. "I will come back later, when you are calmer. But please believe, I mean you no harm. I loved Claudia. I only want to explain to you. I will come back." She heard his steps go down the hall, then watched from her window as he left. She sank to the floor and held her head in her hands. She sat that way and rocked herself, trying to figure things out, until morning. As the sun climbed over the horizon, she began to feel safe. She then managed to pull herself up, go over to her desk, and begin pouring everything she remembered into her notebook. At around seven, she called the FBI to say she wouldn't be in due to illness. Hell, it was close enough to the truth. She filled her whole journal by noon. She could recall everything: how Laurael and Sebastion met, their lives, their families, Claudia. She remembered everything. She then went on to include the previous nights encounter and her fears about what tonight would bring. She finally went to bed for a few hours sleep, tossing and turning until the dreams returned. She woke at six o'clock to a banging at her door. She lunged out of bed and grabbed her gun. She carefully walked to the front door. "Who is it?" "Scully? It's me." The air rushed out of her lungs and she pulled open the door. "Mulder, if you come in, you have to stay the rest of the night." "Ho, Scully, you coming on to me?" He shut himself up at her look. She looked terrified. "Of course I'll stay if you want me to, Scully." "That isn't what I said," but she shut the door, locking, bolting and latching it. She then went across the room to check all the locks on her window for the umpteenth time. "Scully, what's going on?" "Mulder, you are going to think I'm insane. But anyway, before I say anything, do you have your gun?" He pulled it out. "Good. A man is coming here tonight, a very dangerous man. I don't know if guns can stop him, but I want to be ready anyway." "Scully, what is going on? First you don't come to work, then you tell me that someone is trying to hurt you. Why didn't you tell me about this before?" "Mulder, everything has been so screwed up, especially since last night. I didn't want you to get involved if you didn't have to." "If someone is trying to hurt you, I want to be here to help you. Your my partner and my friend. For longer than you'll believe." To his surprise, she burst out laughing. "Mulder, you don't know the half of it." Her laughter quickly died as realization dawned in her eyes. "Oh my gods... it's YOU!" She then fell to the couch, barely feeling it underneath her. It all made sense, for some strange reason, it all made sense. Mulder, for his part, had no idea what to think. He sat down next to her and put his hand on her arm. She turned to say something, when there was a knock on the door. Scully's mind snapped back to the present and she got up off the couch. She deliberately made her way to the door. "Who is it?" "Miss Scully, it's Louis. I told you I would come back, didn't you believe me?" "How did you find out my name?" "From your mailbox. Now, will you please open the door? Talking through the wood has to be causing some problems." "No way. How stupid do you think I am? Besides, you can't come in if I don't invite you, can you?" "Well, it would be impolite, but I can do whatever I choose. Now, please open the door." "I said NO! You think I am going to let you in here to kill me the way you killed my little girl? Do you think I am mad?" "I promise not to kill you. And I didn't mean to kill her. If you would let me in, I will explain. Otherwise, Lestat and I will be forced to open the door ourselves." "Damnit!" She said to herself. "They're both here." To them, "Give me a minute to discuss it with someone." She heard Louis sigh, "All right, I suppose I can't ask for more than that." She motioned for Mulder to move into her bedroom, then followed and locked the door. "Well, what are our options?" "I don't see that we have any, although I am completely lost. Explain?" "I have been having this reoccurring nightmare, where I am killed after my husband leaves and my daughter is murdered by vampires. I thought it was just a dream. Then last night I ran into HIM. He's the one that killed her." "Your daughter." "Yes. He killed my baby girl. And now he wants to see me, for some reason. He says it's to explain things." "But you don't think so?" "No. Now, I don't know what we can do. I doubt our guns will hurt them, but I can't just do nothing." "Umm... Scully, why do you believe them? I mean, maybe they're making it up to hurt you." "Mulder, they aren't. Take my word for it. Trust me." Mulder sighed, "I do. Now, what do WE do?" "I think we have to talk to them. There's no other option that I can see. They'll never leave us alone." "Scully, I'm touched that you are involving me, no, I'm not being sarcastic, but why?" "Mulder, don't you get it? She was your daughter too. You have as much a right to hear what happened as I do." She let that sink in, then grabbed his hand and led him out to the living room. "You guys still here?" "Yes." "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to unlock the door. You will count to five, come in, shut the door and stay by it. You will keep your hands were we can see them, or you will live out eternity with large whole in your heads. Got it? Okay." She unlocked the door, then moved to where Mulder was standing and aimed her gun at the door. The two vamps came in, shut the door, and stood there. "Very good. Now, move over to the couch. Sit there and don't move." As soon as this was done, she and Mulder took the chairs opposite them. Scully kept her gun trained on Louis, Mulder on Lestat. "Now, you had better start explaining. Who are you, why are you here, and what do you want?" Louis began talking before Lestat could be obnoxious, "I think you know who I am, but for I suppose we haven't really been introduced. I am Louis du Pointe du Lac, and this is Lestat de Lioncourte. And you are...?" "Special Agent Dana Scully, with the FBI. This is my partner, Fox Mulder. Now, what the hell do you want?" "I think you have a right to know what happened to your daughter after you died. I know that you will think poorly of me for what I have done no matter what, so I might as well try and explain it to you. Since, I'm assuming, we both loved Claudia, we have something in common." "You took her from me!" "You were dead! And I didn't know if your husband would ever come back or not. So..." "So she was fresh meat? Just another victim for you? I ought to kill you where you stand, you murdering son of a bitch!" "Don't you mean right where I sit, Miss Scully?" The look on Scully's face would shut a lesser man up. And it did shut Louis up. But not Lestat. He just picked up where Louis left off. It was a long night. They left just before sunrise. The agents saw them out, though they had little to say. Afterwards, Scully went and sat on the couch while Mulder made coffee. She was silent as he entered the room. She was silent as he handed her the coffee mug. She was sent so long that he began to worry. "Scully? Are you all right? Scully?" He reached over and picked up her hand. The movement seemed to startle her out of reverie. "I'm sorry, Mulder. Did you say something?" "Are you all right?" The concern practically leaked all over the couch and she had to smile. "Yeah, I think I am. Maybe I'll actually be able to sleep tonight. Only", she glanced at her watch, "twelve hours until sunset. Maybe I can stay awake. In the meantime, I would suggest that we call in sick and act like total flakes. We can watch day time TV." Mulder grinned. "I don't know, Scully..." "All right, have it your way. I have the Sci-fi Channel." Mulder was dumbfounded by the complete change in her attitude, but he wasn't dumb enough to question it. "Okay, but you have to explain it to Skinner." Scully chuckled. "Fair enough." She picked up the phone and dialed Skinners voicemail. "Uh, hello sir, this is Agent Scully. Agent Mulder and I were up all night talking to a couple of vampires that knew us in past lives, so we won't be able to come in today. If you have any questions, feel free to call." Mulder stared at her agape. "Scully, he'll have you committed!" She merely shrugged. "He should have had YOU committed about three hundred times by now. He hasn't acted on it." "Scully, I feel like I'm seeing a whole new side of you." "Is that a good thing?" She then caught herself and started laughing. "Mulder, I only act like this after a bottle of liquor or a night without sleep. A night without sleep when I am not trying to save your ass, that is." Mulder took a minute to absorb all that information, then broke into a grin. "Well, I am not going to waste it. Get dressed Scully, we're going out." "But I want to flake out." she whined. He pulled her up from the couch. "Go and get dressed or I'll dress you myself." "Oooh, is that an offer?" The mirth in her eyes suddenly died and she waited for an answer with a serious air. "Well Mulder?" Mulder, for his part, was at a complete loss. One minute she was giddy as a kitten, the next she was herself. He struggled to think of some quick comeback, but came up at a complete blank. Scully stepped closer to him. "You know, I've really only been thinking of myself the past few days, how this is affecting me. I didn't ask you how you were taking it. How are you taking it, Mulder?" His gaze fell to the floor, and he tried to find an excuse to toss everything off. Scully lifted his chin with her hand and looked in his eyes. "Mulder, talk to me. Let me in." He sighed. "Scully, I can't remember. I don't know what to make of the whole thing. When They were talking last night, I could vaguely see what they were describing, I could barely recall what they were talking about. But not like you. You seemed to see everything, know everything that would come out of their mouths. I don't know what to make of it." Scully sat down on the couch and pulled him down as well. She closed her eyes briefly and collected her thoughts. "Mulder, I can tell that you aren't telling me everything. What is it, what are you keeping from me? You can tell me. Trust me, Mulder." "I do trust you, Scully. But these last few months, I've come to realized things, things that could hurt our friendship, our partnership, and last night just furthered them along." Scully felt a knot twist in her stomach. "What things, Mulder? What are you talking about?" He looked down at his shoes again and half mumbled, half whispered, "I love you, Scully." Scully's jaw dropped. "Mulder..." "No, Scully, let me finish. I understand if you can't work with me after this, I didn't want to tell you, I knew you'd be upset, but I had to-" He was cut off when Scully again lifted his chin and touched her lips to his in the lightest of kisses. She sat back and smiled. "Mulder, sometimes you worry too much. And I love you too." She started to rise from the couch when he grabbed her around the waist. He buried his face in her stomach and laughed when she squeaked in surprise. She wrapped her arms around him and laughed along with him. She ran her fingers through his hair and sat down again. He turned over so that his head was pillowed on her legs. She gazed down at him. "Sure took us long enough to figure that out." He reached up and put his hand at the back of her neck and began to pull her head down to his when... The phone rang. Cursing, she reached towards the back of the couch to grab it. "Hello?" Mulder watched her turn three shades of red before she said, "Yes, thank you. I'll tell him." and hang up. "Umm... since it's Thursday, Skinner has decided to give us the weekend off because we obviously are under some stress." With that, she buried her face in her hands and began giggling. Mulder sat up and pulled her to him. "Four whole days, Agent Scully. How will he manage to keep ourselves busy?" She sobered enough to say, "I think we can find a few things. Didn't you say something about undressing me, Agent Mulder?" She leaned up and he leaned down and... There was a knock at the door. Scully practically screamed with frustration, but got up to get the door anyway. It was a deliveryman. With a small package. She signed for it and shut the door. The return address on the box was local, from Louis. She ripped the package open. Inside was a locket, the locket she had worn in her past life. She sank to the floor. "Scully?" Mulder ran to her side. "What is it?" She opened the locket. Inside was the portrait of her child, her darling Claudia. She held the locket to her chest and let the threatening tears stream down her face out of her closed eyes. Mulder put his arms around her and held her as tightly as he could. When she calmed, she let him take the locket from her white hands. He looked down at it, and HE finally remembered. He gasped as the memories flooded back and tears welled in his eyes as well. Scully saw this and reached up to wipe the tears away. "You see, love. We are together again. I knew that we would be." She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the passion built up not only from the last five years, but from life times ago. "It's about time we did this." She led him to her bedroom, where they made up for all the time they had lost. The portrait of their long dead child lay on the floor, part of their past, yet always a part of them. And they learned to live again. The End Whatcha think? Tell me, I can take it! "Why is that watermelon there?" "I'll tell you later." Insanity is fun.