TITLE:    A VAMPIRE'S TALE 5: BLOOD EXCHANGE
AUTHOR:   Donnilee
E-MAIL:   Donnilee@snet.net
WEBSITE:  http://donnilee.tripod.com
RATING:   NC-17
CATEGORY: MSR + Sk/O + Kr/Other-Slash - Kr/O/O (m/m/f)

KEYWORDS: Slash between Krycek and original character, and Kr/Sk/O mild slash.

SUMMARY:  Gareth searches for the remaining vampires in the world and
has to make some difficult decisions.

SPOILERS:   Um, nope.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Takes place near the end of Season 7. Mulder was abducted
but Requiem didn't happen.

DISCLAIMER: I have a list of people to blame for my perversions, so
let's not go there.  Oh, you mean the characters herein?  Nope. Not
mine. Used shamelessly and without remorse. They belong to Chris
Carter, Ten Thirteen, and Fox Broadcasting.

DEDICATION: This one is dedicated to Dani, who has been a faithful
reader of my fics for a long time and always sends feedback, AND visits
my message board regularly, which garners her extra favor points!  Hope
you enjoy it!

THANKS:     Muchas gracias to my beta reader extraordinaire, Fran
Hartman, who always makes me look good!  I've been told my writing has
improved lately in the last few stories and I know it has nothing to do
with me!  Thanks Fran! You are a rose among marigolds.

WARNING:  Here there be M/M slash between Krycek and a secondary
character.  There is M&S horizontal mambo too.  If this isn't your cup
of tea, you can skip those parts.  I've rated each chapter AND marked
the beginning of the descriptive sex, so that you can tell which chapter
contains the descriptive sex and then skip over that part if you wish.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 1:  This a sequel to "Steeped in Blood", and "Trail of
Blood", "Blood Red Rose," and "Undead Rules", A Vampire's Tale 1, 2 3,
and 4, respectively.  You could read this one on its own, but I would
love it if you read the first four beforehand.  If you didn't, you need
to know that Mulder and Scully are lovers now.  There's a new Deputy
Director, Kendall Fair whose real name is Gareth and is a vampire.  He
is also Alex Krycek's lover and maker, as he is a vampire too.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2:  The sex between vampires in this story is "supposed"
to be fantastic and unrealistic.  It is pure fantasy and not meant to
be picked apart with tweezers!  The "endowments" of the participants
are "supposed" to lean toward the ridiculous to give a feel of
separating human sex from vampiric sex.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 3:  When characters speak to each other telepathically,
those words are between asteriks **, rather than quotes.

Synopsis of VT1:  Alex is made a vampire.  D.D. Fair manipulates M&S
into an investigation that leaves them owing Alex their lives after a
narrow escape from a rogue blood drinker.  They return to D.C.  Alex
continues to learn of his abilities and how to control them.  When
Kersh disappears, Skinner is promoted to Deputy Director.

Synopsis of VT2:  M&S investigate D.D. Fair and find some disturbing
information.  They end up witnessing a vampiric battle between Gareth
and an old time enemy, Zebrosia, in which Alex again saves Scully's
life.  Gareth (D.D. Fair) is revealed as the head of the *New*
Consortium whose agenda is X-Files friendly and alien colonization
unfriendly.  Protection is traded for silence.  The story ends with a
new murder, much like the ones before the Zebrosia battle, which Alex
and Gareth claim were not by their hand.

Synopsis of VT3:  Gareth and Alex catch a rogue blood drinker and find
out they have a much bigger problem; a rogue Maker who is building an
army and planning to kill world leaders.  They travel to Egypt where
they find Gareth's family tomb desecrated.  Gareth destroys the Maker
and agrees to become the leader of some 50 fledglings and train them
to survive.

Synopsis of VT4:  Gareth and Alex travel to Egypt and round up the
fledgling vampires after killing their leader and his faithful
followers.  Alex begins training while Gareth rushes back to the States
to help Mulder and Scully when he finds out Pierre has escaped.  He
saves them in time and kills Pierre, but now Walter Skinner also knows
his secret.


PROLOGUE (PG)
GARETH TIY-TETI'S TOWNHOUSE
GEORGETOWN, D.C.
THURSDAY

He kissed me gently and whispered, "See you later, Alex."

"Have a good day, honey," I teased.

He gave me a rakish look and shook his newly shorn hair that just
brushed his collar.  I chuckled as he disappeared through the front
door.  My mind was spinning still over the adventures of the last three
months.

Mauritania, a large, yet little known country in Africa, was our first
stop.  From there, we visited Somalia and the island of Madagascar.
Later we traversed the map, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France,
Spain, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Austria, Australia
and New Zealand.  After that, we went to Canada, making stops in Quebec,
Ontario and British Columbia.  Next stop was South America, with stops
in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.  Our
last stop was Mexico.

At each location, two fledglings were dropped off at a house or dwelling
owned by Gareth in the name of Gary Viking, Kendall Fair or Gareth Teti;
twenty-five dwellings all over the world.  This didn't include any of
Gareth's holdings in the United States, which were considerable.

After inquiring, I was told he owned a beach villa in San Diego, a
Garden District house in New Orleans, a ranch in Montana, a beach house
in Florida, and cabin in Maine.  Of course, there was the estate in
Falls Church and the townhouse in Georgetown.  These last two were
rather recent acquisitions.  He'd bought them for his stay in Washington
as a Deputy Director of the FBI.

Each identity employed a plethora of employees to manage, clean, and pay
bills for his properties.  He made me a list of which names went with
which dwellings.  After reviewing it three times, I had it memorized.  I
couldn't even imagine how many billions he was worth.  I knew he was
rich, but I'd had no idea.

Gareth had extended his leave of absence to place the fledglings and get
them settled.  It had taken a lot of planning and reservations for the
proper times of the evenings so our flights would chase the night across
time zones.  It wouldn't do to have the neophytes burning up in their
seats as the sun came up while we were 30,000 feet up in the clouds.

Now, three months later, we were finally home.  Gareth was returning to
work and I was going to be spending a LOT of time on the phone.  I had
two assignments.

Gareth had charged me with checking on all the consortium members and
getting updates on their progress.  A couple of them were nervous after
not having heard from us in a while.  In addition, I was to find out if
they needed anything.  Within reason, I was to procure it for them
through whatever means necessary.  Money, obviously, was not a factor.
This, however, required me to authorize our accountant to release funds
for various items.  He seemed delighted to be given something to do.  I
got the feeling that Mr. Philip Windemere didn't think he was earning
his exorbitant salary.  He was probably right; then again, silence was
priceless in many cases.

Our main scientist, Dr. Brian Sullivan, wanted another lab assistant to
run some side tests and experiments, separate from the core experiments
to develop the vaccine.  I authorized a new lab assistant and a salary.
I told him to choose whom he wanted as long as his choice could be sworn
to secrecy, and if the man talked, Dr. Sullivan would be held
responsible.  As I suspected, he'd already had someone in mind, an old
college chum that he insisted was reliable and not afraid of bending the
rules.  He was faithful to money.  I made sure his salary would keep him
faithful.  I had Mulder and Scully run a background check on him just to
be on the safe side.  He had no nefarious connections that would
endanger our project, so I gave the O.K.  I called Clyde Vogel here in
Washington and asked him to draw up an employment contract for the new
lab assistant and Fed Ex it to Dr. Brian Sullivan in France.

After making those rounds, my second duty was to call each of the sets
of fledglings and check on them.  This was going to be an ongoing job
for both of us.  In the meantime, Gareth was asking all his employees
around the world to report any deaths involving the draining of blood
from the victims.  They were to send any newspaper articles or news
clips directly to him immediately.  He was attempting to find the last
of our kind and bring them into the fold under his leadership.

Faint stirrings within his instincts told him there were at least five
others.  They were not ancients, but they were old in the blood, at
least several centuries old.  Unfortunately, although he was aware of
their existence, he could not pinpoint their locations.

Scully was now six months pregnant and she and Mulder were planning to
be married this weekend.  They'd waited until Gareth and I came home so
we could attend their small, friends and family only, nighttime
nuptials.  Walter was standing up for Mulder and Walter's secretary,
Kim, was standing up for Scully as witnesses.  The rest of us would be
in the audience, including myself, the three Lone Gunmen, Scully's
mother and brothers, and a couple of select Scully family friends.
Maggie Scully's priest, Father McCue, would be performing the ceremony.

I was happy for them, although melancholy at the same time.  They
deserved happiness.  I was happy now, but I still felt twinges of regret
that I'd never found that kind of love when I was a human being.  I
consoled myself with the thought that I had eternity with Gareth unless
I did something stupid and got myself destroyed.  And face it, sex as a
vampire was ten times more intense than sex as a human.

Skinner had done a wonderful job of running all the departments in the
Bureau in Gareth's absence and was now considered one of the Director's
favorites.  This didn't, however, lessen his popularity among the ranks.
He was known as levelheaded, tough but fair.

I'd only seen him once since our return when he'd shown up to give
Gareth reports on what had gone on in his departments while he was away.
He knew about us now.  Gareth had told me about his inability to avoid
exposing himself to Skinner during the fight with Pierre.

Skinner was jumpy and nervous around me, unable to hide his misgivings
over the changes in me.  To someone who'd never met me, I would appear
very tall, pale and with smooth skin suggesting youth.  To Walter,
however, I was much changed.  I was five inches taller for one thing,
extremely pale compared to my previous ruddy complexion.  My muscles
were bigger and very well defined.  But the most shocking change to
anyone who'd known me before was that I had both arms, perfectly formed
and functional.

Yeas ago, I'd had the arm amputated so I couldn't be tracked through my
vaccine scar by the powers that be that were carrying out their wicked
experiments.  Now, I could barely remember not having it.  Its
restoration was the main enticement for me when immortality was offered.

Only second to that enticement had been my unexplainable attraction to
Gareth, which had both intrigued and disturbed me after a lifetime of
heterosexuality.  I'd since let go of my misgivings about the change in
my sexuality, particularly after being with the fledgling, Sabrina.  I
now considered myself bi-sexual but my heart belonged to Gareth, no
question about that.  But knowing that I could still be aroused by a
woman had been the boost to my flagging identity that I'd needed to tip
me over into acceptance of my love for Gareth, as odd as that seemed.
Many things that had consumed my waking hours as a human being were now
trivial to Alex the Vampire.



PART 1 (PG-13)
GARETH'S TOWNHOUSE
GEORGETOWN, D.C.
THURSDAY EVENING

I had just hung up the phone when Gareth entered the front door.  It was
only 6:00 PM and I was surprised to find him home so early.  He must
have sent Walter ahead of him so that he could fly home quickly and not
be burned by the fading light of the twilight.  Although I was in the
study two doors down the hall, I heard him clearly.  He was not alone.

I heard Skinner say, "Kendall, I don't know if this is a good idea."

"Walter, we're going to put your fears to rest once and for all."

Intrigued, I stood from the obscenely expensive padded leather chair and
made my way down the hall into the living room.

"Hello, Walter," I greeted him.

"Krycek," he said solemnly and nodded.  He still refused to call me
Alex.

Gareth said, "Let's sit down.  Walter, do you want some soda or ice tea
or something?"

"You have that stuff?" he asked.

Gareth smiled at him.  "Yes, we keep a fully stocked kitchen for
guests."

"I'll have some ice tea if you have it," he said finally.

"I'll get it," I said.  I disappeared into the kitchen.  Truth be told,
I enjoyed doing simple things like this now.  It kept me connected to my
humanity.  Gareth had taught me how important it was to do simple things
like this, that though seemingly trivial, kept us connected to human
beings.  We no longer needed to eat and drink in a normal fashion, but
if we did not pay attention to the needs of humans, we would lose our
humanity.  He'd explained that this was essential, for a vampire who
lost his humanity was a 'creature' and no longer a man.

I returned and handed Walter the large glass of ice tea, then sat in the
recliner opposite the sofa he was on with Gareth.  I didn't raise the
footrest, though.  I didn't want to appear too dismissive.

I knew Walter was afraid of me.  Although I could admit to a small
thrill that people were afraid of me now, I was a little baffled by it.
I hadn't said or done anything to threaten him in years.  I figured it
was simply his fear of our vampiric powers.  Yet I could smell his
unease from across the room.  It was palpable.  It made me sad at the
same time.  I didn't want to be at odds with him.

"What's up?" I asked casually.

No one answered and finally Gareth said, "Go ahead, tell him."

Skinner cleared his throat.  "Uh, Kendall said I should talk to you."  I
wondered at his still calling him Kendall, but supposed since he had to
at work, it was the safe thing for him to do, to avoid a slip of the
tongue.

I nodded, encouraging him to continue, holding my silence.

"I need to ask you something first," he said.

"Go ahead," I said softly, trying not to appear intimidating.

"Do you ... I mean, how do you feel about me?"  He looked flustered.  "No
wait.  That didn't come out right."

I nodded and waited, wanting him to relax.

"Do you have any vendetta against me or any reason at all to want to
hurt me?"

My eyebrows raised in surprise.  That had not been what I was expecting.
"No, why would you think that?" I asked honestly.  He gave me a dirty
look that clearly said, 'You know what I'm talking about.'  Slowly, I
said, "I honestly have no idea what you're getting at."

He sighed after holding my gaze for a while.  "I didn't want to remind
you of this, but I can't stand it anymore.  I've lived in fear of what
you could do to me for years," he said quietly through clenched teeth.

I was truly puzzled.  "Walter, what on earth are you talking about?  I
admire you."

He snorted, "For what?" he asked suspiciously.

"Your loyalty to your beliefs, your friends.  You've never wavered.  You
never straddled the fence.  I've always known where you stood on any
issue.  You were never afraid to defend what you believed in."

"But you do straddle the fence, Krycek.  Don't you?"

I sighed.  "Not anymore.  I don't need to.  The people that held me in
their grip are gone.  And of course, my new state of ... existence gives
me a distinct advantage."

We stared at each other for a long moment.  Then he said one word,
"Nanotechnology."

Understanding dawned like a jolt of lightning and I felt the warm rush
of shame flow through me.  I frowned and was embarrassed to feel my
bottom lip quiver slightly.  I sucked in a deep breath and blinked
rapidly.  When I had myself under control, I said, "Oh shit, Walter.  I
should have told you.  I'm so sorry."

"Told me what?" he asked fiercely, clearly angry.

"That technology was destroyed some time ago."

"What do you mean?  When?"

"About four years ago, the records for the technology were destroyed.
It was experimental anyway."

"You almost killed me!" he shouted.

I flinched.  "For someone else's agenda, but ... I know and I'm very
sorry."

"You're fucking sorry?" he spit out at me.  "You're fucking sorry all
right."

"I never would have killed you, but I guess you had no way of knowing
that.  I was threatening you under orders from others.  It wasn't
something I wanted to do.  As I explained to Mulder and Scully some time
ago, I had to do a lot of things for the old Consortium that I didn't
want to do or I would have been killed myself.  The technology was in
two super computers that held all the tests and the two controllers in
existence.  It was all destroyed."

"By whom?" he asked, his voice all the more menacing for it's quiet
control.  I knew he couldn't harm me but I did feel bad that I'd never
thought to tell him the threat was no longer there.

"Me ... and Marita.  We both destroyed it.  I should have told you."

"Jesus Christ, Krycek!  I've lived in constant limbo for years, knowing
you could end my life with the twist of a fucking button and it never
occurred to you to tell me?" he hollered.

I swallowed.  "Honestly, no.  At the time, you probably wouldn't have
believed me.  And later, I forgot about it, to be frank."

"Thanks a lot.  For at least four years, I could have had peace of mind!
Wait a minute ... these things are still in my blood.  So that means the
technology still exists."

"Yes, but the means to control them is dead."

"If I'm ever injured and they take blood, they will be discovered again.
And it only takes one ambitious doctor or unscrupulous scientist to know
they exist in me and I'll be a test subject before I can say 'boo'."

"It's possible, but unlikely.  Unless they were looking for anomalies in
your blood, they probably wouldn't find them."  I hesitated for a long
moment as he looked at his lap, and then said, "They could be removed."

His head snapped up to meet my eyes.  "How?"

I gave him a sad smile and raised my eyebrows, waiting to see if he
would catch on.  Gareth had been silent through all this, but now he
said, "We could take turns, Alex.  That way, neither of us would get ...
carried away."

I nodded at Gareth.  "I'm willing to do it.  I know my system would
destroy them."

Understanding came across Skinner's face and I watched Adam's apple bob
with fear.  "No ..."

"Think about it.  I assume Gareth's told you about the little drink?"

"Yeah, but, to get them all, you'd have to drain me," he said and
shuddered.

"No, we wouldn't.  We do it one mouthful at a time.  Once they're gone,
they don't regenerate, Walter.  So it would just be a matter of removing
them in stages.  We'd each take a mouthful and let the lost blood
regenerate before doing it again."

"How long does it take to regenerate the blood loss from a mouthful?"

"About half a day.  If I took one mouthful and Gareth took one each day,
we could probably do it in about two weeks."

"Jesus," he whispered.

"We could do it quicker, but the way I described would ensure no harm to
you."

"I really wouldn't turn into ..."

I smiled now, indulgent of his ignorance.  "No.  I would have to give
you my blood, and I won't do that."

"You could make a mistake ..." he hesitated.

Gareth cut in again, "No, we wouldn't.  We are quite adept at the little
drink, both of us.  You wouldn't feel a thing but about ten seconds of
intense pleasure, and we wouldn't even leave a mark on you.  I told you
about this."

"Easier to hear about it than it is to consider having it done to you."

"True," Gareth responded.

"And you would have to do it repeatedly."  He shivered involuntarily at
the thought.

"We could do it quicker, but it would take you longer to recover," I
suggested.

"How much longer?"

I shot a look at Gareth and said into his mind. **You answer that one.**

He glanced at me and then at Walter.  "We could take about a third of
your blood in three sittings and you would still not be harmed, but it
would take you about two to three days to regenerate your blood count
after each session and ..."

"And what?" he asked warily.

"The pleasure would be much more intense, for you ... and for us," he
added quietly.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"It wouldn't be clear to you if I hypnotized you, but you would remember
the pleasure.  You will anyway, but with the little drink it is more
like when you remember a vague dream.  If we take that much at once, we
... have a little time for the pleasure to build, and hypnotized or not,
you won't remember the pain, but you will remember the pleasure ... which
will be the most intense you've ever felt ... and you will associate it
with us."

He swallowed.  "You mean sexual pleasure," he croaked.

"Yes," Gareth answered.  "There is a danger there.  No human will ever
give you that kind of pleasure and you'll have to ... live with that
memory.  It's not always an easy thing to do."

"You've done this to people before," he said.  It was a statement.

"Yes, but usually when I wanted to torment them.  I don't want to do
that to you," Gareth answered.  "I have cured special people who were
dear to me of blood diseases in this way."

"Who have you done it to?" he asked.

Gareth raised an eyebrow.  "That's a dangerous piece of information."

Skinner looked at him.  "If I'm going to trust you ... you have to trust
me," he challenged.  "I would keep it to myself."

**Alex?** he whispered in my mind.

**Yeah?**

**Can we trust him?  You know him better than I do.**

**I trust him, at least as much as I trust Mulder,** I replied.

**That's a lot,** Gareth answered.

**Yes.  Go ahead and tell him.  It's not exactly the same though.**

**I know.**

He turned back to Skinner and said, "This isn't exactly the same
situation because I ... well, I didn't give her blood but I did have sex
with her."

"A human?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, and she was hypnotized so she would enjoy it and remember only the
pleasure."

"Why wouldn't she enjoy it?" he asked innocently.

Gareth gave him a cryptic smile, debating how much information to
reveal.  "Because I'm ... inhumanly large when I get aroused," he stated.

Walter's eyes got wide as saucers and he looked away only to find
himself locking eyes with me.  "Are you saying you raped her?"

Gareth shook his head.  "No, she'd been wanting to have sex with me for
a long time.  She just didn't know whom she was dealing with.  She still
doesn't.  But she was hypnotized, so she didn't see my fangs, she didn't
remember any pain or humiliation ... only the pleasure."

"Pleasure," Walter repeated to himself.

"Extreme ... intense ... mind blowing, pleasure," Gareth said slowly.

"You sleep with women?" he asked suddenly.

Gareth laughed then.  "Yes, occasionally."

He turned to me.  "And you?"

"Yes, occasionally," I repeated, even though I'd only been with one
woman since becoming a blood drinker and she was a blood drinker too.  I
added, "But my heart belongs to Gareth."

"And you allow each other to ..."

"Relieve our needs ... yes, we do.  Blood drinkers have a voracious sexual
appetite," he said matter-of-factly.

I watched as Walter's cheeked flushed and he slowly pressed his big
thighs together putting pressure on his dick.  I was careful not to
reveal it but I glanced down and could actually see his dick growing,
sliding down his pants leg at a slow but steady rate.  Inanely, I
wondered if he were wearing underwear.

"Who was the girl?" he asked.

Gareth looked at him.  "My secretary, Kelli."

"You fucked your secretary?" he cried out, incredulous.

Gareth smiled, showing his bright, white, perfect teeth.  "Yes, she
practically begged me to take her on more than one occasion.  She's a
horny woman, Walter.  Make no mistake.  She has the heart of a slut."

"That's an awful thing to say!" Walter reprimanded him.

Gareth smiled again.  "It's the truth.  I don't mean it to be insulting.
I don't look down on women like that.  I don't necessarily respect women
like them much either, but they serve their purpose in the big scheme of
things.  What would men do if there weren't women like that?  They have
their place like everyone else.  Lord knows she's a lousy secretary," he
said slyly.

Skinner chuckled at that, unable to help himself.  "Then how do you stay
so organized if she's so lousy?"

"I take care of everything myself.  I have her type a memo here and
there and answer the phones and I let her think she's more important
than she is.  The reality is that she is little more than window
dressing for my office."

"But you keep her around for sex?" he asked with disdain.

"No, I keep her around because I have to have a secretary.  It's
expected of me, and one's as good as any other.  It actually serves me
to have one that isn't too smart and doesn't interfere.  I have more
control that way anyway and I prefer it that way.  The last thing I need
is an intelligent secretary that would question every thing I do.  I
need to be discreet, remember?"

"But if you had sex with her, wouldn't that ... no, you said just blood
turns people."

"Actually sex is the most fun way to give blood.  Our semen is half
blood, Walter, but no, I didn't turn her.  She's way too weak in the
mind to have our kind of power.  I use condoms."

"But if you can hypnotize, why not just block out the memory of the
pleasure, so I wouldn't remember any of it."

"Then we'd have to have this conversation and convince you all over
again to do it two more times.  And not remembering, you would feel
violated and think we took advantage of you without your consent.  We do
block out the entire experience with the little drink normally, because
we won't be visiting that person again and it doesn't matter.  But in
your case, we will need to take from you more than once.  Your situation
is unique."  Gareth paused.  "It's a double edged sword, Walter.  Of
course, you have the option of living with the little things inside you.
You've done it for a long time anyway."

"But I haven't been hurt to the point where I needed hospitalization.
There's no way I can say that that scenario will never happen."  He
stopped and I watched his Adam's apple bob again around a harsh swallow.
"Damn you ... if I'd not known there was a choice, a way to fix it, this
wouldn't even be an issue."

"I could make you forget it," I offered.  "Then you'd go back the way
things were before I made my offer."

"But then I'd have to live with another fear, that the technology is
inside me and someone could discover it one day and extract the
nanocytes and take them apart and rediscover how they work."

"It would always be a possibility, yes," I said honestly.  He hung his
head.  "Take some time and think about it," I suggested.

He nodded, still looking at his lap and then he shook his head in the
negative, looking up.  "No, I want to do it, be done with this once and
for all."

"Are you sure?" Gareth asked.

He nodded, but seemed hesitant.

I said, "There's no going back.  If we do it once and you don't want to
do it again, the memory will be there, although you'll have the option
of letting us block it."

With great effort, he admitted, "I'm scared.  Shit," he cursed, clearly
embarrassed by this admission.  He stood up and moved in front of the
coffee table, which was between the couch and me.  He began to pace.

We were both silent, letting him wrestle with his decision.  I wouldn't
force him, but I had to admit, the idea of taking him was exciting me.
Tasting the blood of the innocent was the most euphoric.  Gareth warned
me about how easy it was to lose control with an innocent.  But he would
be here to watch and govern my actions and pull me away if I did lose
control.  And I would be able to do the same for him, although, he had
more experience than I, and I assumed he had better control too.

Although I was nearly as strong as he was, I was much less experienced
in managing the pleasure.

I stood slowly so as not to startle him but he saw it and stopped in his
tracks, staring at me.  I took a couple steps toward him, putting myself
about three inches away from him.  I was only an inch taller than him
and I looked into his eyes, summoning all my sincerity.  "I won't hurt
you, Walter.  Neither will Gareth.  I promise you that.  Whatever you
decide ... I won't hurt you.  Don't be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid of you ..." he began and then looked away for a second.
He turned back to meet my gaze.  "Maybe a little afraid of you."

I smiled gently.  "I have no reason to lie to you, Walter."

"You've lied to me in the past," he reminded me.

"I know, and for that I apologize, and for a thousand other things.  But
I'm not the same man I was."

He snorted lightly.  "Obviously."

I smiled.  "I don't mean being a vampire, although that's part of it.  I
don't have men I'm beholden to any longer.  No one holds the threat of
my death over my head.  I can no longer by bribed or manipulated by evil
men.  I am my own man now and I can choose ... to be good or evil.  I
choose to be good ... as good as I can be considering who I am.  Yes, our
existence requires a certain amount of subterfuge.  I won't lie to you
and try to pass myself off as a saint.  But I can be honest now.  I have
no need to deceive you.  Can you see that?"  I didn't wait for an
answer.  "I want you to believe in me ... trust me."

"Considering our history, that's a lot to ask, Krycek."

"I know, but I'm asking anyway.  Give me a chance, Walter.  I'll prove
it to you.  I want to be friends, or at least be able to be cordial and
not have you fear me."

A long minute passed as we stood facing each other, inches apart.
Finally, he nodded sharply and I smiled widely.  "Good."

"I want to do it.  I want it over once and for all.  I'll live with ...
the memory."

Gareth stood now, having not wanted to interrupt before.  He knew this
was something Walter and I needed to resolve between us.  He realized
Walter was afraid and suspicious of him too, but he knew my history with
Walter was more of a threat.  Since he was one of the few that knew of
us, it was important that he trusts us and kept our secret.  Fear was an
odd motivator and could make people do and say things they wouldn't
normally say.  He could reveal us without ever intending to in his
present state of mind.  I could see him softening toward us though.

Spending some time with us and seeing no overt threats to his person, no
pushy pitch to bring him over to our side, he had relaxed somewhat.
Perhaps he had expected us to give him ultimatums, threaten him again.
That was what he was used to from the Consortium, and in his mind, I was
a part of that.  Threats were how the old Consortium controlled people
and manipulated them.  I knew things about Walter I was sure he wasn't
aware that I knew.  He had some skeletons in his closet, like every man.
They weren't horrible, but they were enough to ruin his career.

I would never use them against him.  I liked him.  I hadn't been lying
when I said I admired him.  I always had, him, Mulder and Scully.  I'd
envied their ability to stand fast against the popular tide and threats
to their life.  They went on fighting for the truth and for justice,
while I had collapsed under the threats, and in that way, they were
stronger than I was in the long run.  I had a sudden thought, 'what a
vampire he would make'.  I quickly squashed that thought, knowing that
was a dangerous avenue to go down.

Gareth asked, "When would you like to start?"

"Will it leave me feeling weak?"

"A little.  You may want to rest for a couple hours afterwards.  Other
than that, you will feel fine.  You'll be a little tired is all.  By
morning, you'll feel fine, if a little tired.  By the second day, you
will feel great," Gareth answered him.

He looked from me to Gareth.  "Who will go first?"

"Alex and I will both drink from you all three times, one after the
other."

"You mean you won't alternate?"

"No," Gareth said.  "For one of us to take a third of your blood would
be too euphoric, even for me.  Between the two of us, we'll take a third
... each time."

"How much is that?"

"Judging by your size, about six or seven mouthfuls each."

"Christ," he hissed, shivering again.  "All right then, let's do it."

"Would you rather be home where you can lie down in your own bed when we
are finished and nap?" Gareth asked.

"Yeah, that might be best," he said.

I said, "And that will give you a little more time to think without us
staring you in the face.  Drive home, we'll meet you there in about a
half hour."

He nodded and turned toward the door.  He turned back to look at us,
licking his lips and then turned and went out the door.  Gareth came to
me as soon as he closed the door.

His arms wrapped around me.  "Are you all right?" he whispered.

"Yeah.  Damn, I left a lot of wreckage in my past, Gareth."

"We all did."

"I want to be friends with him.  His trust ... and respect ... it means a
lot to me."

"I know, that's why I encouraged him to talk to you.  I didn't know the
technology was destroyed, by the way."

"You didn't?"

"No, I missed that."

"Probably because it hasn't been on my mind in a long, long time."

"Probably."

"How hard is this going to be?" I asked.

"Hard," he said.  "That's a lot of blood to take in one go ... and he's an
innocent, Alex."

I nodded.  "Which means it's going to be incredible."

"Yes.  You go first, unless he asks me to.  I want a completely clear
head so that I can restrain you if I need to.  We should feed first,
then our craving won't be so strong."

I nodded, knowing that I was the riskiest factor in this endeavor.
"Don't let me hurt him," I whispered.

"I won't, cher.  I won't," he said, using his odd French endearment he
seemed to have taken to calling me.

"Let's go," I said.

We walked outside into the back courtyard and looked at the sky.  I
stepped onto his boots and wrapped my arms around him.  He closed his
arms around my back as well.

He looked up and just before he began to rise, I felt my feet leave his
boot tops.  I exclaimed, "Oh!"

He grinned and let go of his grip on my back and I looked up,
concentrating on feeling light and felt myself rise into the air.  "Holy
shit, Gareth!" I cried.

He motioned me down.  "Come down, now.  This is a bad place."

I broke my concentration and fell abruptly the three feet to the ground.
"Oh my God!" I said again, quietly this time.

"You're going to fly soon.  But this is a bad place to experiment.  I'll
take you somewhere secluded tomorrow and we'll flex your wings, so to
speak."

I grinned and hopped onto his boots again.  We reassumed the position we
used to fly and he looked around, scanning the area for watchers.  When
he found none, he rose into the air swiftly and we were hurtling through
the air, the cool wind buffeting our big bodies.



PART 2 (NC-17)
CAVALIER TRAIL PARK
FALLS CHURCH, VA
THURSDAY - NIGHTTIME

He set down in Cavalier Trail Park in Falls Church.  I stepped off his
boots to the ground and we both tilted our heads, listening.  Even at
this time of night, there were wandering people in the park.  Gareth
nodded to the left with his head and we took off through the grass
toward the tree line.

Within seconds, we came upon a young couple making out.  I could hear
their blood rush through their veins as they excited one another.  We
passed them by and went into the woods.  About fifty feet in we came
upon two young men, exchanging dope for money.

Gareth spoke to me in my head, **You take the one on the right.**

We didn't stop our forward momentum and each grabbed one of the boys
simultaneously.  They yelped as their heads were yanked around.  Five
seconds and they were hypnotized.  I smiled at Gareth over the boy's
head and we both extended our fangs and sank them deeply into their
necks.  I took a long pull, filling my mouth completely, and feeling the
warm, sweet, metallic taste flow into my throat.  My cock throbbed and I
tasted diabetes in his blood.  I swallowed and retracted my fangs,
licking his neck, and watching the small holes close up.  I looked into
his eyes, giving him the suggestion to wake from his trance in about
five seconds as if nothing had happened.

He wouldn't remember a thing, unlike Walter, who would remember
everything.  I felt another rush in my groin at the thought as we sped
away from the boys in search of our next little drink.  I couldn't
suppress the thrill of knowing I was going to give Walter Skinner,
stoic, unflappable Walter Skinner the most mind blowing pleasure he'd
ever known.  Not once, but three times.  Of course, so would Gareth.  We
quickly found two prostitutes hanging out together and took them without
fuss, gulping another fragrant mouthful of ambrosia from their veins,
singing with cocaine.

We left the park and went onto the street.  Five block away, we spotted
a dirty, pot-bellied cop propositioning a young, male street hustler.
Gareth said, **You take the cop.  He's big.  Take two drinks.**

I knew what he meant.  Take two 'little drinks', which meant two
mouthfuls.  The pleasure was more intense but still fairly easy to
control with our strength and power.  I didn't hesitate and we grabbed
them, dragging them quickly to the back of the black alley they were
talking in.  I sucked strongly on his sweaty neck and shuddered as my
mouth filled with his tangy blood, tasting of liquor, Viagra and
Lipitor.  I took a second siphoning suck from his large artery and
swallowed, feeling my groin throb and my body shudder with pleasure.  He
was a closeted homosexual who drank because of it and was sinking
further into the abyss.  I almost felt sorry for him.

We left them standing in the alley and took to the air again.  I was
feeling warm and flush and I pushed my erection into Gareth's stomach as
we flew towards Arlington.  He chuckled.  "I wish we had time," I said.
"Might take the edge off."

He laughed.  "It would be fun, but trust me.  Nothing is going to take
the edge off the pleasure, Alex.  Feeding was the only thing that will
help, and it helps the craving to keep filling yourself.  It won't blunt
the pleasure of innocent blood."

I shivered in his arms and pressed my groin into his stomach again,
unable to help myself.  He chuckled in my ear, looked around and dropped
to the ground at the rear of Skinner's apartment complex.  We
straightened our clothes and walked around to the front of the building.

The street was quiet.  A few lone cars passed as it started to drizzle.
Gareth's hair was down to the bottom of his shoulder blades already.
Before midnight, his morning cut would be gone and his thick mane of
hair would hang to his waist like a shadow cape.  I loved his hair.

We went quickly through the lobby and buzzed the intercom for Walter's
apartment.  He told us to come up and we entered the elevator and
climbed to the third floor.  We walked briskly down the quiet hall and
knocked on his door, numbered 3C.

He opened the door after removing the security chain and waved us in,
locking it behind us.  It was a nice place.  I remembered it from
before.  I'd been in here with Mulder one night when he dragged me here
and Skinner handcuffed me to the railing on his balcony.  Although it
was an apartment, it was spacious with a sunken living room and
breakfast bar separating the living space from the small kitchen.  A set
of stairs rose to the second floor.  It was more like a condo.  I saw a
door off the living room that I knew led to a home office.  It was
probably intended as a second bedroom, but was where Skinner worked from
home.

"Sit down," he said.  "Can I get you ... oops," he finished, realizing
that there was only one thing we were going to drink.  We smiled at him
and took seats on his couch.  He sat in a large overstuffed chair across
from us.

"Have you changed your mind?" I asked, hating to ask, but knowing I had
to.  He couldn't do this unwillingly.  That would create a breach that
would never be repaired.

He said, "No, I'm going to do it."

I released a silent breath of relief and Gareth gave me an odd look,
sensing my excitement.  His look was stern and full of warning.  I
deflated a little but couldn't stop feeling a little jolt of excitement
nonetheless.

"Should we do this down here, or would it better in my bedroom?"  He
blushed, realizing how that sounded like an invitation to his bed.

Gareth smiled easily.  "It's up to you.  You might be more comfortable
in bed.  It may make you a little faint.  So you want to at least be
sitting down if not lying down.  But it doesn't really matter.  We can
always help you upstairs afterwards if you like.  But you shouldn't be
that weak, just very tired."

He nodded and swallowed.  "Well, since I don't really know what to
expect, I guess I'd be comfortable lying down."

We all stood and I said, "Lead the way."

He glanced nervously over his shoulder but then proceeded to the stairs.
We followed him up and I could smell the sweat and fear on him.  He was
really nervous, but I could tell by the set of his shoulders and his
stride that he was resigned and resolute about his decision.

We entered the bedroom and stopped at the edge of his king size bed.  He
sat down gingerly and said, "How does this work?"

"Get comfortable," I said and Gareth and I both took off our trench
coats.  We were both wearing turtlenecks and jeans.  The cold air when
in flight required a little warmer clothing than you would normally see
in the spring.  Fortunately, we didn't sweat so that wasn't an issue.

He took off his shoes, leaving everything else on.  He was wearing a
wife beater tee shirt that was snug against the defined muscles of his
chest.  His chest hair sprouted over the top of the neck hole.  On
bottom he was wearing gray sweatpants.  I could tell he didn't have any
underwear on this time.  I felt my breathing increase and Skinner asked,
"Who goes first?"

Gareth said, "If you don't care, I'd like to have Alex go first."  He
didn't tell him why and for that I was grateful.  He was frightened
enough. I watched as he moved onto the bed and lay back slowly.

He nodded.  "I guess it doesn't matter, right?" he asked, obviously
taking to relieve his tension.

"Not really," Gareth replied.

I crawled onto the bed and stretched out next to him on my side, my head
held in my hand and my elbow resting on the mattress.  He was lying on
his back.  He reached up and took off his glasses.  Gareth took them
from him and set them down on the nightstand.  He then sat on the bed,
propped on one butt cheek behind my back.  He would be there to pull me
away in case I lost control.

I hoped he wouldn't need to do that.  I didn't want to scare Walter with
my aggressiveness, but I also knew that it was very close to the
surface.  I felt my groin tingle in anticipation and I licked my lips.

Walter stared at my lips, his chocolate brown eyes soft and
apprehensive.  Something about that look of hesitancy was so sexy to me
and I smiled as seductively as I could without leering.  He sucked in
his breath.  I knew now that vampires secreted a substance much like
human pheromones, but much stronger when we were aroused.  It made us
nearly irresistible to a human.

I said softly, "I'm going to enter your mind now, just enough to block
any pain you might feel from my ... teeth puncturing your skin.  All
right?"  I didn't want to say 'fangs'.

"All right," he said bravely.

"This part won't hurt either.  It will just feel a little strange," I
clarified.

He nodded.  "O.K., go ahead."

I stared into his eyes and gently nudged my mind against his psyche.  He
resisted for a moment and I whispered, "Relax, I won't hurt you."

He took a deep breath and I felt tension flow out of him and I slipped
inside his head, easy as you please.  I planted the block, suggesting
that he would never even feel a twinge of pain, no matter what happened
to his skin.  In the event I was torn away, I didn't want him to only be
blocked against the puncture.  No matter what happened, I didn't want
him to feel even a speck of pain.

I also planted the suggestion that he was totally relaxed and unafraid
and wanted me to help him.  I knew this was more than I had told him I
would do, but I felt it was necessary, at least for this first time when
his apprehension and distrust were so high.

His body visibly relaxed and his mouth fell slack.  Gareth whispered in
my head, **Easy, Pet.  That's enough.**

I nodded and then cupped my hands to the side of his head.  He stared up
at me trustingly and I felt a warm shiver wash through me.  I tilted his
head up and to the side, exposing the pulsing artery in his neck.  I
concentrated and could hear the sound of his blood:  cachunk, cachunk,
cachunk, as his heart beat strongly and steadily.

I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth and hissed slightly as my
fangs extended to a full inch below my regular teeth.  His eyes went
wide, but I sensed no fear.  I sensed a little fascination and awe and
that was it.

I sank down slowly and couldn't resist licking the sweat from his neck
and kissing him softly there.  He shuddered and I said, "Ready?"

He swallowed hard.  "Yes," he said in a dreamy voice.

I struck quickly and precisely, my fangs sinking deeply into his neck,
slicing cleanly through the layers of skin and straight into his carotid
artery.

We both groaned loudly as I sealed my lips to his skin and felt the
first gush of his warm, sweet blood cascade over my tongue and light my
taste buds on fire. "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm," I hummed.

I felt my cock begin to harden and lift inside my pants.  Holding his
head in place with one hand, I slipped the other down to his thigh,
placing it lightly on the inside of his sweat pants.  He jerked and
groaned but otherwise didn't move as I sucked gently and felt his blood
fill my mouth and swirl around my tongue.

Ripples of excitement washed through me at the taste of his blood. It
was so sweet and tangy.  That indefinable sweetness was the mark of the
innocent, the quality that made innocent blood so euphoric to a vampire.

There was no hint of illness and I felt my nipples harden to hard points
of pleasure, tenting my cotton turtleneck.  I could now detect his penis
starting to straighten out and elongate as I swallowed.  He moaned and
pulsed his hips as his member snaked down the loose leg of his
sweatpants.  I raised my hand slightly, just enough to allow his penis
to snake under my hand.  I was barely touching him but the feel of his
cock hardening under my hand and moving further down his leg as he grew
erect was electric, as it brushed by my palm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My own penis was now totally engorged and swollen with lust as it jerked
straight up and pressed brutally against my zipper.  I groaned and felt
Gareth's hand reach over and undo the top button of my jeans and slide
the zipper down to give me more room.  I grunted in approval as I
swallowed and began to suck again, filling my mouth for the second time.
I was lost in the sensation, feeling streaks of pleasure zip down my
spine.  My skin began to tingle with pleasure from head to toe.

He began to clench his ass muscles and thrust his hips forward gently,
unable to help himself.  I moaned in ecstasy as I swallowed another
mouthful, keeping my lips sealed but licking his skin as I sucked
harder.  He moved his head slightly and my hand held him in place.  I
sucked harder, feeling his nectar race into my mouth at a greater speed.
His right hand dropped between his legs and he began squeezing his
balls.  He stretched the cotton over his ball sack and I could see they
were tight and high against his groin.

I gripped his cock gently as it surged fully erect, holding it against
his leg and squeezing rhythmically in time with my sucking, filling my
mouth again.

My cock was growing, thrusting up against my navel and aching as it grew
thicker.  I pressed it against his hip and he gasped, "Uhhhhh!"

And then his left hand was on my cock and I growled against his skin,
sucking even harder and feeling come filling my balls as they expanded
and bulged over the top of my open zipper.

Gareth was right.  This was fucking exquisite and I sucked even harder,
feeling his skin enter my mouth with the force of my suction.  He moaned
and pumped his hand roughly on my cock.  It throbbed and burned and grew
another inch, now pressing eleven inches against his hip.  He kept
jacking my off and I felt the glans grow tight and sting with the bloat
of the rushing blood in my groin.

Before I knew it, I was sucking in the sixth mouthful of blood, sucking
harder than I should and grinding my cock against his hip as I jacked
his cock, large in its own right at nearly nine inches.

He cried out, his hips surging off the bed, "Ohhhhhhhhhh
fuuuuuuuuuuccccccccckkkkkkkkkk... Yesssssssssssssssss."  I felt cum
surge up his shaft and stiffen him rigid under my hand.  And then he was
coming in his pants, groaning like he was dying.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXX

I hissed and growled and dug my teeth into his neck, knowing nothing but
the extreme pleasure as I felt more blood rush into my mouth.  Suddenly
there were hands on my shoulders, pulling me away.  I growled again and
sucked harder.

Gareth's voice shouted in my mind, **LET HIM GO, ALEX, THAT'S ENOUGH!**

I jerked back to reality and with extreme difficulty, stopped sucking.
I pulled my fangs back slowly, my body quivering with want.  My tongue
snaked out to extending to nearly three inches licking his neck, as
Gareth forcefully yanked back on my shoulders.  Gareth jerked me back
and I rolled onto the floor onto my knees.  I stared at the wet patch
forming on the front of Walter's sweatpants from his cum.

He was dazed and panting and staring at us.  Gareth surprised me when he
yanked his jeans off.  Like me, he was commando.  **Gareth, what are you
doing?** I asked through my haze.

**Fuck me, Pet, while I take him.**

**Are you kidding me?** I asked drunkenly.

**No, you'll lose it otherwise.  Go ahead, release the tension.**

I groaned out loud and Gareth pushed Walter further to the side of the
bed to make room for all three of us. He licked Walter's neck, closing
the wounds and turned his head the other way, enough to reach the other
side of his neck.  He still had his turtleneck on.  He straddled
Walter's legs and bent down to his neck, sticking his muscular ass into
the air.

He said to Walter, "I've got to let him take me or he's going to lose
it.  You were so sweet to him."

Walter lay there in shock, not protesting or consenting. Gareth's thumb
ran over his lips and said, "Let's see how sweet."

With that, he tilted his head a bit more and sank his teeth into his
neck.  It was then I remembered the nanocytes for a brief second, and
felt them in my veins, the tiny machines grinding to halt and beginning
to disintegrate in my body.  I sighed rubbed my erection down the crack
of Gareth's ass as I heard him groan and swallow his first mouthful.

I parted his cheeks wide with my hands, rubbing my cock under his ball
sack and teasing his shaft.  I saw Walter's eyes strain to look down and
then open wide as he saw the size of the two cocks pulsing above his
stomach.  His head was thrown back and he groaned.  I glanced down to
see him hardening again.  Not bad for a man nearly 50, I thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Without further hesitation, I lined up and rammed my now two and a half
inch wide, foot long cock straight up Gareth's ass and deep into his
bowels.  He grunted and groaned as I heard the sizzle of his suction on
Walter's neck.

I began slamming my cock into him in long, deep strokes, hollering, "Oh
fuck, yea!  Take it big man, take my big cock.  Oh fuck yea!"  I went at
Gareth's ass like a thing possessed, ramming myself into him again and
again, feeling my balls swell and ache as they swelled to the breaking
point.

He groaned, squeezing his ass muscles in time with his sucking on
Walter's neck and every squeeze sent jolts of intense pleasure through
my body.  My cock ached, it burned, it felt perversely so fucking
exquisite I screamed, "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,
OOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW,
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK,
GGGAAARRREEETTTHHH!"

And then my balls were exploding, rocketing thick jets of cum up my
shaft, making it twitch and jerk inside the tight walls of his ass.  He
hissed and I pumped gently as I came down, glancing to the side around
his waist as I bent over him, seeing his cock lying on Walter's stomach,
having grown enormous.  He spread his legs and rubbed his cock, now at
least 13 inches long, against Walter's cock which was sticking out of
the top of his sweat pants, having abandoned his leg without the
restraint of my hand and surged into the upright position.

Gareth's cock was leaking bloody precum onto Walter's white tee shirt
and when the glans of their cocks rubbed against one another, Walter
cried out with a blood curdling scream of ecstasy and began shooting cum
up his chest, splashing himself in the chin as Gareth slowly retreated
from his neck, retracted his fangs and licked his neck until the wounds
closed.  Walter lay shuddering underneath him, shaking like a leaf in a
windstorm.  I backed out of Gareth and went to the bathroom, cleaning
myself with toilet paper and zipping back up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXX

I brought a damp cloth into the bedroom and handed it to Walter who was
now sitting shakily on the side of the bed and pulling his tee shirt
over his head with Gareth's help.

Gareth went to toss it in a hamper and Walter croaked.  "Throw it away."

Gareth nodded and tossed it into the wastebasket next to bed.  He had
put his jeans back on but the bulge in his pants was enormous and
unmistakable.  But he was standing calmly, seemingly in total control.
Only I knew by the blackness of his eyes, how turned on he was.

Walter gazed up at him and down at his soiled sweat pants.  "Jesus
Christ ... that was ... "

Gareth licked his lips and said, "We better get going now."

Skinner nodded.   "I'll call you ... in a couple of days.  Shit, I'm
tired."  He was, but his eyes were a bit frantic.

He raised his hand to his neck and felt all over, finding no evidence of
the punctures.  This seemed to calm him somewhat.  "We'll show ourselves
out," I said.

"Good night, Walter," Gareth and I said at the same time.

He whispered, looking at us strangely, "Good night."

Gareth said, "Rest now."

With that, we turned and went downstairs and out into the hall.  We said
nothing as we rode the elevator to the ground floor and then hurried out
the front door and around to the back of the building.  Gareth grabbed
me with urgency and I jumped against his body.  He glanced briefly and
shot into the air.

I felt the cold air whip my face and let it cool my flushed skin.  So
much blood today, four little drinks, and the equivalent of six little
drinks from Walter.

I was buzzed like I was high on that initial kick from booze and felt
energized.  I could feel Gareth, hot and hard against me.  I knew he
needed relief and I admired his restraint.

We didn't go back to Georgetown.  The Falls Church estate was closer and
we came into the compound at a ridiculous speed and landed right in
front of the porch.  We scrambled inside and raced upstairs, our bodies
a blur on the staircase.

We entered the bedroom and I slammed the door shut.  It was reinforced
steel and weighed several tons.  It shut, sealing us into a black tomb.
We stood and our preternatural vision adjusted quickly to the total
dark. Absolute blackness was the only time our eyes would glow a faint
red color at the iris as our night vision took over.

I didn't wait to be told and stripped naked as he did the same.  I lay
down on the bed and asked, "How?"

I didn't need to say anything else.  "On your stomach," he said, his
voice low, gravelly and menacing.

I lay on my stomach, putting my forearms under my head and turning my
face sideways.  I pulled up onto my knees, leaving my ass in the air.
He moaned softly and crawled up behind me, his cock hot, throbbing and
enormous.  He was huge, and though he had deflated some during our
flight back, he was now again, easily a foot long.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He placed his glans at my entrance and shoved hard, the wide mushroom
cap crowning my asshole.  I felt like my ass was being ripped apart and
still he spread me wider and further.  Amazed at his restraint, I
breathed deeply as I felt every glorious inch sink slowly into my
rectum, filling my bowels and stretching my tender tissues to the limit.
He held still for a couple of seconds and then he hissed and growled.

Then I screamed, sounding totally crazed and I felt his cock throb once
hotly.  I felt his cock punch into my bowels at least another two inches
all at once.  His girth stretched another half inch at least.  He had to
be four inches in diameter now and 14 inches long.  It had never grown
that quickly or that much at once.  He'd held back too long and now my
poor ass was going to pay for it.  I let out a whine that sounded like a
balloon opening and being stretched to release the air through its
constricted throat.

My ass was breaking wide open.  He'd been this long before, but not at
the start; I hadn't had time to adjust yet and it hurt.  I couldn't help
squeezing my ass muscles to try and relieve the pressure.  This only
made him groan and swell even more.

It was like nothing I'd ever felt before.  "Oh God, it hurts," I moaned,
knowing he wouldn't care.  The blood of the innocent was singing in both
our veins and we were unusually hot and flushed, a rare thing for us.

He leaned over my back, palming my pecs, and withdrew a few inches,
shoving back in extremely hard. "Uhhhhhhh, huuuuuuhhhhh," I grunted,
unable to do anything else.

Then he started fucking me with reckless abandon, pounding me quicker
and harsher with every stroke.  He began pinching my nipples and I
degenerated into constant wailing as my cock grew and throbbed and my
balls swelled with excitement with the added bonus of absorbing his
precum that was leaking steadily into my bowels.  It was overwhelming.

"Ahhhh, oooowwww, awwwwww, eeeehhhh, gggoooddd, ahhh, oooowwww, awwww,
eeeehhh,  huuuhhhh, huuuhhhh, huuuhhh, ahhh, ooowww, awwww, GOD! OH
FUCK, IT HURTS!  OH FUCK, IT HURTS!  OH FUCK, IT HURTS SO FUCKING
BAD!"
I wailed.

This only seemed to encourage him further.  He pounded me like a
sledgehammer and I felt him swell and grow longer again.  I shrieked as
the pleasure segued into pain, as he pulverized my bowels with his
monster cock.  I felt the tissues inside tear and split under his
assault and he seemed to be growing steadily and surely with every punch
deep into my guts.  The pressure was enormous and I actually felt faint
from the pain.

Then the overlapping sensations washed back into pleasure and I felt his
ramrod steel impaling me balls deep.  It felt like his cock was bumping
my breastbone and maybe it was.  I felt his cock withdrawing and my
sphincter muscle unrolling to a smooth glistening ring as his apple
sized cock head tugged on the muscle and threatened to pop out, just
before he would heave his entire body, violently ramming his gigantic
prick deep into my body.  His thrusts were savage and his balls slapped
against mine with every thrust, jarring them and making them sting and
contract with jolting pleasure that threatened to make me cum on the
spot.

Only the ass ripping pain blending with the mind-boggling pleasure of
penetration and swelling balls kept me from blowing the top right off of
my dick.  He was so fucking huge and hard, like an inanimate object,
hard as stone, straightening my colon as he punched deep again and
again.

He was snarling and drooling and hissing above me, almost as if he
couldn't cum and I wondered if he could, his mind stuck in the loop of
pleasure and unable to push himself over the edge.  With that in mind, I
reached between my legs and latched onto his gigantic ball sac.  I began
squeezing and tugging on it hard.

He howled in triumph and agonized pleasure and I felt the bulging veins
in his cock twitch and surge and he began filling me with his cum.  I
glanced at the clock, not knowing why.  I immediately felt my own cock
jerk and release and begin ejecting all the built up spunk of the last
half hour of pounding.  He was sawing sixteen inches of cock in and out
of my body like an enraged bull.  We both howled and wailed as our balls
emptied.

I became dizzy when it didn't stop and he kept coming in copious amounts
that leaked through my body, refilling my balls and making my orgasm
continue.  He continued to spike his granite hard cock deep into my
belly with unrestrained violence.  The sinews in my entire body seemed
to tighten and I was convulsing, gripped in the throes of never ending
orgasmic pleasure.  Wave upon wave flowed through me as my cock kept
jerking and spurting with the endless supply of his jism as his cock
greased my insides and refilled my aching, spasming balls.

Maybe he had, but I'd never come like this.  Never this hard, never this
long, not and stayed conscious!  It just went on and on, seemingly
without end.  I continued to convulse, feeling my muscles begin to
weaken from the onslaught.

He finally hollered between howls, "OH FUCK ALEX, I'M PUMPING A FUCKING
GALLON OF JISM UP YOUR TIGHT LITTLE GRIPPING ASS!  OH MY FUCKING
GOD, IT'S SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"  He
ended in a scream and collapsed onto my back, driving my hips into the
wet sheets below me, continuing to pump his hips against my sore and
throbbing ass hole, creating cramping in my belly and spiking pain deep
in my bowels as he continued to ejaculate, but slower and with less cum
with each ejaculation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXX

He finally came to a stop but didn't remove himself.  We must have come
for nearly fifteen minutes at least, I thought, and glanced at the
clock.  Holy, shit, we'd been coming for a half and hour.



PART 3 (NC-17)
XAVIER FRANCIS CHURCH
GEORGETOWN, D.C.
SATURDAY EVENING

The bride was a vision in white.  Scully had outdone herself for this
private, little wedding.  I barely stifled a gasp when I saw her.  Even
six months pregnant, she did not appear ungainly.  All the weight of her
pregnancy was in her stomach and that wasn't very large.  She was
radiant, glowing with pink cheeks and her eyes sparkled at Mulder as she
walked slowly down the aisle on Bill Scully's arm.  Even he had summoned
up a smile for the occasion.

We sat in a pew by ourselves, wearing black suits.  In front of us were
the Lone Gunmen.  Even Langley had dredged up a suit for the occasion.
Behind us sat Mulder's only living relatives, a childless aunt and uncle
by the names of Daniel and Melanie Cox.  Melanie was apparently Teena
Mulder's sister and the resemblance was striking.

On the other side of the aisle sat Maggie Scully and a red haired man I
assumed was Charlie Scully, wearing a full Naval dress uniform, cradling
his hat in his lap.  Next to him sat a beautiful oriental woman that I
assumed was his wife.  No one knew much about the mystery brother who
was always out to sea.  Judging by the five pounds of brass on his
shoulder, he was an officer.  Bill Scully was also in dress whites, but
not sporting as much brass as his brother.

Father McCue went through the ceremony with all the pomp and
circumstance of High Mass on Sunday, as though the church was packed.
Apparently a small audience didn't daunt him in the least.

**She's beautiful, isn't she?** Garrett said to me telepathically.

**I've always thought so,** I replied.

**I know,** he responded with a definite smirk in his tone.

I smiled but chose not to respond.  If there was one thing I knew, it
was that Dana Katherine Scully was out of bounds.  She belonged to Fox
Mulder, lock, stock and barrel, there was no question about that.
Neither Mulder nor Scully had a fear of public speaking and their voices
rang out crystal clear in the small church that was lit almost entirely
with white candles.  The smell of paraffin wax was thick in the air and
mingled with the smell of gardenias from the bouquets lining the pews
and the bouquet in Scully's hands.

Walter looked none the worse for wear from his experience as he stood
tall and proud as a witness for Mulder.  He glanced at us once and
blushed to the top of bald pate.  I smiled slyly at him, raising my
eyebrows and he looked away.

Clearly, he was embarrassed by his reaction the other night.  Perhaps he
had been embarrassed by being in the same room while I fucked Gareth.  I
had to admit, that would daunt most people, particularly one as staunch
and staid as Walter Skinner.  I was beginning to think, however, that
perhaps he wasn't as rigid as his image suggested.

Gareth said, **Don't be cocky or tease him, Alex.  He'll cancel the
deal.**

**He wants the nanocytes gone too much,** I countered.

**Don't be so sure.  I wouldn't give him a reason to run.  He wouldn't
need much of a push and I want him on our side, since he knows our
secret.  Your cockiness aggravates him.**

I almost said, 'tough shit', and then thought better of it.  I didn't
need the false bravado that had once sustained me as an enforcer for the
Consortium.  I was a power in my own right and I didn't need to lord it
over those less fortunate or seek false feelings of control anymore.
Gareth was right.  It was immature and I needed to lose the tendency to
tease those who were unsure.  I would do well to learn from Gareth's
generous nature.  He seemed to have a large tolerance for the failings
of others, me included.  Could I do less and feel good about myself?  I
didn't think so.

I was nearly snoozing by the end of the ceremony.  Church had always
bored me, even a wedding.  But I perked up as Mulder kissed Scully
squarely on the lips and chuckled with everyone else when she jammed her
tongue down his throat, soliciting a surprised grunt from him.

They weren't having a real reception.  But Gareth had offered both the
townhouse and the estate if they wanted to invite people back.  They'd
taken him up on the offer.

After the ceremony, we all went back to the estate in Falls Church,
where Gareth's staff put out enough food to feed an army on a buffet,
even though there were few of us.  Gareth and I, of course, didn't eat
and no one seemed to notice.  We all made polite small talk and finally
everyone left.  Even Bill Scully couldn't help but be impressed that
Mulder and Scully had the support of their extremely rich Deputy
Director.

Mulder and Scully thanked us and went back to Georgetown to spend the
night before catching their early flight to the Poconos tomorrow
morning.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN, D.C.

Mulder scooped me up and carried me over the threshold into my
apartment.  I laughed as he set me down and kicked the door closed
behind him, lowering his mouth to mine.

"Lock the door," I murmured and he broke the kiss to follow my
instructions.

We didn't need to talk much as we headed for the bedroom.  He did take a
moment at our bedside to whisper, "Mrs. Mulder."  A huge grin split his
face and I couldn't help returning one of my own.

"God," I whispered.  "I'm Dana Mulder now," I said with a bit of
disbelief in my voice.

He smiled at me and began to undress.  He helped me unzip my dress and
hang it in the closet so it wouldn't get messed up.  He tossed his
rented tux over the chair in the room and climbed gloriously naked into
the bed.

We cuddled up close, laying on our sides and kissed for long minutes, in
no hurry, knowing we had all night.  I'd turned on my answering machine
and turned off the ringer before my mother and I left for the church.
It had been good to see Charlie.  I regretted I wouldn't be able to
spend more time with him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He kissed, licked and trailed his fingers over my body from neck to toes
and back up again.  My body was humming with languid pleasure I hummed
as I felt his engorged penis slide up the inside of my thigh.  I spread
my legs, my hands rubbing his shoulders and biceps.  He guided himself
to my entrance and paused there, seating his swollen glans between my
slick lips.

He whispered, "I love you, Scully."

"Love you too," I whispered back.

And then he was inside me, taking his time, stroking slowly and deeply.
I felt myself climb the to the peak slowly as he slid in and out of my
body.  God, his cock was so hot, or it felt like it inside me.

He began moaning softly, as he hitched his knees up to deliver more
powerful thrusts, but he was still slow and steady, taking his time.  I
grunted my approval, feeling the angle change slightly to catch my clit
between our pubic bones with every stroke.

I was Fox Mulder's WIFE!  I was going to have his baby!  Who would have
thought we could have ever gotten here?  He held himself up on his
elbows and knees, careful not to put pressure on my stomach.  I gasped
and said, "Roll over."

He didn't hesitate, but rolled to the side and onto his back, taking me
with him.  I found myself astride his hips, his considerable length
still embedded in me.  He grasped my hips and guided me as I began
lifting and plunging myself down onto his iron hard shaft, crushing my
clit between us with a little swivel of my hips at the bottom of every
stroke.

He moaned and whispered, "So good, every time, Scully.  God, how I love
you.  You make me crazy."

"You feel fantastic, Mulder," I whimpered as I felt my climax approach,
coiling low in my stomach.

I began the constant toneless humming in the back of my throat that
always preceded a killer orgasm.  Mulder had come to recognize the sound
for what it was and began lifting his hips, impaling me hard on his cock
and speeding up our thrusts.

I cried out as I felt my inner walls contract around him and spasm
tightly.  He shouted, and let go, filling me with his essence.  I was
sweating and panting as I lowered myself to his chest, leaving him
inside me.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He kissed the top of my head and said, "We're married, Scully," like it
was the most amazing thing in the world.

And maybe it was.  Lord knows, we'd been through so much and denied our
feelings for so long, it was a miracle we were here together now.  I
sent a silent prayer to God, thanking him for the blessings in my life.
Mulder and the life growing inside me were at the top of the list.

I couldn't wait to spend a week in the Poconos with no cell phones, no
relatives, no work.  Just the two of us.  I couldn't remember my last
vacation, which meant it had been way too long.

I snuggled into his chest as he wiggled and pulled the comforter over
us, tucking it in under his hips, wrapping us in a cocoon of bedclothes.
"Can I stay here?" I murmured.

Oddly, my stomach didn't feel uncomfortable pressing into his abdomen.
Soon, I wouldn't be able to lie on my stomach at all.  I wanted to enjoy
it while I could.

He said, "Consider me your personal Mulder pillow, Scully."

I chuckled and hugged him tightly.  He returned the squeeze and we
drifted off to sleep.  Good thing I'd set the alarm earlier too.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
KENDALL FAIR ESTATE
FALLS CHURCH, VA
SUNDAY EVENING

I listened to the phone ring as I waited.  Walter had left a message on
our machine to call him as soon as possible.  We had just gotten back
from hunting and feeding.  We were scheduled to go over to his apartment
in about an hour to continue what we'd started.

He picked up on the third ring.  [Walter Skinner.]

"Hello, Walter, its Gareth."

[Oh, hi.]

"You called?  Is there a problem with tonight?"

[Uh no ... but I have something else to discuss with you first when you
get here.]

"What's that?"

[I'd rather not talk on the phone, if you don't mind.]

"Is your line bugged?"

[I don't think so, but you can't be too careful.]

"Same time?"

[You can come now if you want.]

"Is it urgent?"

[I don't think so.]

"You sound upset," I said, hearing uncertainty in his voice.

[Just ... disconcerted a bit.]

"We'll be right over."

I hung up and looked at Alex.  "Let's go.  He has something to tell us.
I don't know what, but it was making him nervous.  We better get over
there."

"Do you think he's changed his mind?" Alex asked.

"No, I think this is something completely unrelated, but I don't want
him to sit and stew about it, whatever it is."

"After you," he said, and followed me out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
WALTER SKINNER'S APARTMENT
ARLINGTON, VA

He answered our knock quickly and ushered us into the room.  "What's up,
Walter?" I asked.

He motioned us to the couch and we sat down.  He picked up a newspaper
that was lying on the coffee table.  "I get newspapers from a bunch of
major cities around the U.S.  The Chicago Tribune, the L.A. Times, the
New York Times, The Times Picayune, Miami Herald ..."

I cut him off.  "What did you find?"

"I get them late, of course, so this is four days old, but there's an
article on the front page of the Times Picayune."  He handed me the
paper.

The headline read:  SECOND BODY FOUND DRAINED OF BLOOD - VOO DOO
SUSPECTED.

I skimmed the article:  ** New Orleans Sheriffs were called to the site
of a local park yesterday afternoon, where a second body was discovered,
dumped and drained of blood.  This is the second body found in a month.
Police are baffled as the body shows no signs of being cut or mutilated,
yet the bodies are void of blood and debris that normally accompanies a
corpse.  There are no suspects at this time.  Sources close to the
police department would only say that they are pursuing leads and have
no further comments at this time.  Veve's found underneath both bodies
indicate that someone practicing Voo-Doo is involved.  Captain Bickard,
and Lieutenant Chatenauf would not comment to the press.  Captain
Bickard is in charge of the investigation. **

I set the paper down carefully and brought my eyes up to meet Walter's.
"I'll check it out."

"It could be Voo-Doo," Walter said.

"It's a false trail," I said with confidence.  "One of us is misleading
the cops.  Why they wouldn't simply dispose of the bodies, I don't
know."

"I thought you said you didn't have to kill to feed."

"We don't.  We've proven that to you.  But someone is.  Not everyone has
always been as responsible as we are now.  I taught the fledglings to
feed on the little drink, but I am still searching for others."

"Others?"

"I feel at least five others but have been unable to locate them."

"Feel them?" he asked skeptically.

I tapped my chest.  "Hard to explain, but I feel them in here.  I know
they exist.  I just can't pinpoint their location.  If I go to New
Orleans, I doubt he or she will be able to hide from me."

"Are you sure it's a ... vampire?" he asked, still uneasy saying the word.

"There's a slim chance it isn't, but doubtful.  I have a home in New
Orleans, it won't be strange for me to show up there."

Walter nodded and said, "I thought I should tell you.  My first thought,
ironically, was to call Mulder but ..."

"They are on their honeymoon," Alex finished for him.

"I know that!" he said a little testily.  "It's just that I always think
X-File when I read about the unexplained.

"I understand," I said.  "Thank you for letting me know.  Maybe I should
start subscribing to these papers."

"Couldn't hurt," Alex added.

Walter said, "Well, that's what I wanted to tell you."

He was beginning to get nervous again.  He didn't show any outward
signs, but I could feel the uneasiness coming off him in waves.  "Are
you all right?" I asked kindly.

He licked his lips nervously.  "Yeah, just ... nervous about tonight."

"Want to get it over with?" Alex asked.

He nodded.  "Yeah, I think that would be best."

Alex said, "You don't have to be embarrassed."

"Shit," he muttered.  "I can't help it.  I got so ... aroused ... I couldn't
control it."

Alex spoke softly.  "Put away the big stick, Walter.  No one can combat
it, not even us, as you saw."

"Still," he said quietly.

Alex surprised me by saying, "I was uncomfortable with it too, at
first."

"With what?" Skinner asked.

"Being aroused by a man.  I'd thought of myself as heterosexual all my
life.  It was ... disconcerting, to say the least, when I found myself so
drawn to another man."

"Then you understand what I'm feeling."

"Perfectly."

Walter nodded and stood up.  "Well, don't hold it against me," he said.

Alex and I both laughed.  I said, "We are the last people that will hold
it against you."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The second session was no less intense than the first.  I went first
again and let myself sink into the bliss of euphoria ... the blood lust,
Gareth called it, when you took more than the little drink.  The craving
and sexual arousal was unbelievable.

I managed not to lose control this time though.  And as before, we left
abruptly afterwards, speeding home so we could slake our lust.  I felt
bad leaving Walter immediately afterwards.  Somehow I felt like we
should stay for a while, that it was rude to bolt so quickly.  However,
it was that or fuck in front of him again, and I didn't want to do that.
It was bad enough that he'd seen what he had.

Gareth and I in full rut would scare the shit out of him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
KENDALL FAIR ESTATE
FALLS CHURCH, VA

We arrived home in record time and once again ran for the bedroom.
Gareth had taken the newspaper and tossed it unceremoniously onto the
couch as we sped by on our way upstairs.

We were naked in no time and he had me flat on my back, knees tucked
firmly into his bent elbows and bent back towards the mattress.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He didn't bother lubing up.  We rarely did anymore.  His massive cock
was pushed up through my rosebud and embedded slowly.  I admired his
restraint though he wasn't as out of control as last night.  I winced
with the initial penetration as it slid into the silky tube of my ass
without meeting any resistance.

In no time, I felt his balls squish up against my ass cheeks as he
ground himself inside me.  I shuddered with the wonderful feeling of
having all that meat inside me.  He began thrusting, but then swaying
his hips from side to side.  This maneuver stretched my tunnel even more
and I squeezed my rectal muscles around his length and delighted in his
heart felt groan.

I began pulsing my hips up to meet him as much as this position would
allow and he began hissing and grunting with every stroke inside.  I
felt a sizzling jolt every time his balls slapped my ass and the top of
his cock ground against my balls.

He kept this up until my balls erupted like a fountain, spraying cum
between us and setting off his orgasm.  It wasn't as intense as last
night, but it was still beyond anything I'd ever experienced as a
mortal.  This had to be one of the best things about immortality.  There
was no pleasure that could equal the lust of a blood drinker.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hello, Clyde," I said when he picked up the phone.

[Alex,] he acknowledged simply, letting me know he recognized my voice.

"Kendall and I need you do something for us."

[Name it,] he said.

"Nothing big.  But I have a list here of newspapers from around the
country.  I would like you to subscribe to them in Kendall Fair's name
and have them sent to the estate in Falls Church."

[Oh sure.  I thought it was going to be something difficult,] he joked.

I chuckled.  "Not this time.  Ready?"

[Fire away.]

"The Chicago Tribune, the L.A. Times, the New York Times, The Times
Picayune, Miami Herald ..."  I listed off a bunch more as he wrote them
down.  "Got all that?"

[Sure do.  No problem.  I can have it done by the end of the day.]

"Great, thanks, Clyde."

[No problem.]

I hung up and then called the airport to book flights for New Orleans.
We still hadn't had a chance to test my flying ability.  I wanted to do
that but I realized that we had to keep our priorities in order.  I
scheduled flights for the following night.

We had to meet with Walter one more time, and neither Gareth or I wanted
to delay that and leave him to fret and anticipate it.  I was feeling a
little guilty about the pleasure I received from him.  Not the physical
part.  I knew I had no control over that.  But I'd be lying if I said I
wasn't mentally thrilled by the idea that I excited Walter Skinner.
Knowing he would carry this memory forever was a slightly sadistic
little boost to my ego.  I did sincerely hope that it didn't ruin his
chances for a fulfilling relationship with a woman ... or man ... of his
choice.  I know being with Gareth changed my preferences in a hurry.
Somehow, I didn't think that would happen with Walter.

Gareth came down the stairs in his usual attire.  "Ready?" he asked.

"Let's go," I replied, standing and following him outside.

"Get the flights booked for tomorrow night?" he asked.

"We're all set," I answered and stepped onto his boots again, wrapping
my arms around him and molding my body against his.

"Here we go," he warned, although at this point, it was unnecessary.  We
lifted into the sky and I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind
whipping across my face.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This third and final session went much like the other two.  I noticed
that the pleasure was slightly less intense each time and was oddly
grateful for that.  There was such a thing as too much of a good thing,
Gareth pointed out.  If you'd said that to me several weeks ago, I would
have laughed.  I had found out that you could overload on pleasure.

The danger was that you could become obsessed with it.  That was a bad
situation when your mind was unable to concentrate on anything but the
pleasure and your desire for more.  The mental obsession was much more
consuming than the physical.  It could take you over.  I was glad that
this would be the last session.  I honestly didn't know if I could take
much more.  Gareth sensed when the last of the nanocytes were out of his
blood and we retreated, leaving him to rest.

We raced home afterwards, as we had before and made love, falling into a
deep sleep afterwards as the night crept toward daylight.  I found these
sessions left me more vulnerable to the coming daylight.  I was
exhausted but sated afterwards and would sleep deeply.

I awoke feeling refreshed.  We packed and found ourselves winging our
way over the U.S. landscape toward Louisiana.  Life with Gareth was
turning out to be an adventure.  It was rarely slow paced, and there was
always something going on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
GARDEN DISTRICT HOME
NEW ORLEANS, LA

After landing, we hailed a cab and went directly to the house in the
Garden District.  I was once again in awe as I stood looking at this
home of his.  House, my foot!  It was another mansion.  Three stories of
gabled roofs and dormers, exquisite wrought iron fence work surrounding
the property, Corinthian pillars supporting the front porch, which
wrapped around three sides of the house.  It was beautiful.

We went in and found everything had been kept in order by the cleaning
woman that Gareth employed.  This particular house was in the name of
Gary Viking.  He had called her at some point and let her know we were
coming.

Dawn was approaching and we went to bed, waking in the evening and
getting dressed in our usual attire of black jeans, turtlenecks, boots
and trench coats.  I finally got to meet the cleaning woman, Mrs.
Croteau.

She was a tiny woman of French descent who chattered like a magpie.  She
seemed genuinely delighted to meet me.  Although our homosexual
relationship was obvious, she did not seem put off by this.  I smiled at
her, amused at her demeanor and her deference to Gareth, and now me.
She called him Master Gary.  I called him Gar in front of her.  It was
short for Gareth and for Gary, this way she wouldn't wonder, and I
wouldn't slip and use the wrong name.  This having properties in three
different names could get confusing.

As soon as she left, Gareth turned to me and said, "I can feel him."

He didn't need to elaborate.  I knew he was talking about our errant
vampire.  I nodded.  "Where do we start?"

"St. Louis Cemetery."

I coughed out a burst of laughter.  "Oh, that's original," I said
sarcastically.

Gareth smiled and shrugged his shoulders.  "Some of them can't resist
the myths.  Let's go find us another rogue, cher."

I let him lead the way as we made our way through the streets of the
city.  We weren't rushing and I took in the sights and sounds.  We
garnered a lot of stares as we strode down the sidewalks.  We were two
imposing figures due to our dress and our height.  People stepped to the
side and let us pass.  I found this curious and mentioned it to Gareth.

"People sense, not consciously, but they sense that we are not human.
There is something different about us, even if they don't know exactly
what it is.  Their natural reaction to the unknown is to step aside."

"It's a little unnerving, sometimes."

"You get used to it," he said.  We finally came upon the cemetery.  We
stood outside the gates looking inside.

There was no sign of anyone.  I could see the above ground crypts lined
up in rows.  Suddenly, I could feel him.  I sucked in my breath and
Gareth smiled at me.  **I feel him,** I whispered, instinctively
switching to telepathy to communicate.

Gareth nodded his acknowledgement.  **Let's hop over the fence.**

I crouched and leaped the eight-foot high fence with ease, landing
softly on the other side.  Gareth touched down beside me.  Neither of us
had made a sound.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
ST. LOUIS CEMETARY
NEW ORLEANS, LA

**Cloak your mind, cher.  Let's see if we can surprise him.**

**O.K.**  I did as told and we began walking toward the center of the
cemetery.  I concentrated on cloaking my presence, and let Gareth do the
searching.  He was still more adept at doing both at the same time.  I
tended to drop the cloaking of my mind when I searched.  I was getting
better, but I still had some practicing to do.  While on an important
mission was not the time to be testing my abilities!

He stopped suddenly and pointed to a crypt about fifty yards ahead of
us.  I nodded and followed behind him as he approached the door.  He
stopped in front of it and cocked his head to one side, listening.  I
admired his full head of long hair as it swung gently around his waist.

**His name is Gerard Roche,** Gareth informed me.

**Great, another Frenchie,** I said facetiously.

He grinned and replied, **We are in New Orleans, Pet.**

I smiled.  **Does it seem an inordinate amount of our problems turn out
to be French?** I teased again.

He shook his head in mock exasperation.  **I'm going to go in.  Follow
closely.**

He gripped the door and was not surprised to find it locked.  It was
barred by a drop down bar from the inside.  He concentrated and I heard
the faint scrape as it lifted from its bracket.  He pushed the door open
gently.  It swung in silently, on obviously oiled hinges.  The current
resident had obviously thought of the noise factor when he moved in.

We went silently down a small corridor only about six feet long and
walked into a large room.  The walls were lined with drawers.  In the
center of the room was a podium with a gigantic bible on it.
Apparently, some graveside services were held right here in this tomb.

**Reminds me of the family tomb in Egypt.**

**Where is he?**

Gareth looked one way and then the other and walked up to a large drawer
against the back wall.  He pointed.  **He's in here.  He hasn't woken up
yet.**

**How come?** I asked.

**He's much younger than I and weaker than you, Alex.  Remember that we
can tolerate the edges of dawn and dusk better than most.**

**That's why you wanted to leave so quickly after we woke up,** I said,
feeling stupid for not having realized it before.

**Yes, I was hoping to catch him still asleep.**

**Are you going to wake him up?**

**Yes,** he said, and smiled a mischievous smile.

I braced myself, knowing that look now and knowing he was going to do
something startling.  He grabbed the handle on the drawer and yanked it
open.  At the same time, the large metal bar that bracketed the doors
shut from the inside slammed down and reverberated through the tomb with
a crash.

The vampire lying in the drawer, lined with white silk, gasped as his
eyes shot open.  He saw Gareth and I looking down at him from opposite
sides of the drawer and he sat up quickly, turning to face us with
inhuman speed.

He had brown hair that hung to just below his shoulders, thick eyebrows
and green eyes.  He had a long, aristocratic face with high cheekbones
and a thin nose.  I estimated he must have been in his mid thirties when
he was made.

He brought his legs under him in a crouch as though he would leap over
our heads.  Gareth said calmly, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

To me he said, **Drop the cloak, cher.**

We dropped the barrier to our presence at the same time.  I belatedly
realized that he thought we were human at first because we had blocked
our presence and our minds.

The force of our presence and strength hit him now and he swallowed
forcefully.  We took a step back at the same time and allowed him room
to dismount from the drawer, which was about chest height.  He hopped
down easily and stood staring at us.

Gareth stared at him, no doubt taking his measure.  He finally asked,
"Who are you?  How dare you disturb me here?  This is my territory."

Gareth smiled easily.  I replied, "I'd show a little more respect if I
were you."

He turned to me and said, "Why?"

Now it was my turn to smile.  "You're talking to your King, Gerard."

He seemed startled that I knew his name.  "What King?" he said with
disdain.

"Ever hear of Zebrosia?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.  "Not in years, though."

**Gareth?**

**Go ahead and tell him,** he instructed.

"We killed her, actually.  And now, Gareth being the oldest and most
powerful of the blood drinkers in the world, took over her mantle."

He was shaking his head slightly.  "You expect me to believe this?"

Gareth took over.  "Zebrosia and I had a long standing feud that went
back to ancient times.  It was never resolved.  Suffice it to say it
finally came to a head and Alex and I came out the victors."

He cleared his throat.  "Who are you?" he whispered, realizing how
powerful he must be to defeat Zebrosia.  He was still doubtful though.

"I am called Gareth now."

"What were you called before?" he asked, sounding afraid of the answer.


PART 4 (PG)
ST. LOUIS CEMETARY
NEW ORLEANS, LA

"Heruben," he said softly.

"Holy shit!" Gerard exclaimed.  "You can't be!  No one's seen Heruben in
... centuries.  What kind of crap is this?  What kind of trick is this?"

"No trick," I said calmly.  "The reason no one has heard of him in
centuries is that he hasn't gone by that name in centuries."

Now he was staring to look nervous.  "There are stories about you," he
said haltingly.

Gareth tilted his head to one side in curiosity.  It was a gesture that
was very endearing to me and I smiled.  "I'll bet there are," he said
with a trace of humor in his voice.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Ah, now that would be the question, wouldn't it?" Gareth asked.

"You've been a bad boy, Gerard," I said.

He shook his head as if to say he didn't understand.

Gareth said, "You are killing people and leaving them to be found.
That's a big no-no," he said sarcastically.

"What else am I supposed to do?  I can't always dispose of them, and I
leave false evidence so they don't suspect me."

"How can they not suspect when you leave a drained corpse, Gerard?"
Gareth asked in a tone that suggested it was ridiculous for him to
suggest otherwise.

"No one believes in vampires," he said.

"No, they don't, and that's our biggest protection.  You risk exposing
all of us."

"All of us?  I didn't even know there were any of us left.  I haven't
see another of our kind in ages."

"There are plenty of us, spread out around the world.  I've found them
all except for five that were unaccounted for.  Now I've found you, so
there are only four left for me to find."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to follow the rules.  Rules I intend to enforce in order to
protect all of us."

Gerard looked warily at Gareth.  "What kind of rules?"

"No killing, no dumping of bodies ... oh, and no living in crypts."

"That's ridiculous.  I won't survive!" he declared.

"Of course you will.  Alex and I will teach you."

He looked at me.  "Who the hell are you anyway?"

Gareth answered, "Alex is my companion and your prince.  Show him the
same respect you show me."

"What?  Am I supposed to bow down?" he asked sarcastically, some of his
bravado making a come back.

"No, but you will not show disrespect to me either, or Alex.  An insult
to Alex I take as an insult to me."

He was silent a moment and said, "How old are you?"

Gareth smiled.  "About 3,500 years old."

"Jesus," he whispered, looking at the ground.  "I'm only ... "

"Five hundred years old," Gareth answered for him.

He head snapped up.  "How did you know that?"

"I scanned you for basic information."

"What?  How?  I didn't feel you enter my ... oh Christ, ... you're that
good?  You're that powerful that I didn't even feel you ... "  He stepped
back a couple of steps and pressed his back to the wall.

Gareth smiled again.  "I don't do it normally.  I just gleaned the
basics, so I could know what I was up against.  If you listen carefully
and do as I say, I'll have no quarrel with you.  Make no mistake,
though.  My rules are absolute, and you WILL follow them.  If you don't
... then we'll have a problem.  I can't risk the exposure of the others or
myself.  If you break the rules after knowing about them ... "

"What?"

Calmly he said, "I will destroy you.  I won't like to do it, but I
will."

Gerard's eyes got big and I knew that he believed him.  I saw a cruel
smile cross Gareth's face and Gerard jerked his head backwards, hitting
the wall of the crypt behind him.  "Don't even try," Gareth said.

I realized he had tried to probe Gareth's mind.  He'd run into a barrier
so strong that the psychic backlash had made him physically wince and
jerk his head back.  His head jerked toward me and I felt the pressure
of his mind on mine.

I threw up my barrier and pushed back, as I'd been taught.  He had the
same reaction to me and I was pleased.  His mouth hung open now and he
said slowly, "You're nearly as strong as he is."

I merely smiled slowly and said nothing.  "All right, what do I have to
do?  Or not do, as the case may be?"

Gareth opened the bar covering the doors with his mind.  I saw Gerard's
eyes get wider and knew that he was unable to perform telekinesis like
this.  He wasn't old enough yet.  He could probably move small objects,
but not big, heavy ones like this metal bar, that easily weighed a
thousand pounds.  "Follow us.  We'll teach you how to take the 'little
drink'."

"The little drink?" he asked, puzzled.

"Watch and learn," Gareth said and he exited the crypt with Gerard and I
close on his heels.  I brought up the rear and followed them as they
leaped the fence, checking to see if anyone was about.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

So began Gerard's lessons of the 'Undead Rules', as we now called them.
We spent a couple of days teaching him to cloak himself, take the little
drink, and use his immolation power to destroy any evidence accidentally
left behind.  He hadn't known he could start fires either.  I was
slightly surprised that this was not a well-known power among the blood
drinkers.  Then again, I supposed it was because we feared fire to a
certain extent, it being one of things that could destroy us.  The
second being that it was a powerful tool that could be dangerous if used
incorrectly.

Gareth set him up in the New Orleans house, introduced him to Mrs.
Croteau and showed him the bedroom on the third floor, reinforced with
soundproof walls and a steel door to block out all the light.  Gerard
was astounded that Gareth was going to let him stay here.

We had returned from feeding on the third night at 3:00 AM.  We were
leaving the following evening, it being too late now to leave and make
it back to Washington or Falls Church before daylight.  We sat around
the dining table, gazing at the three candles that Gareth had lit which
cast a soft glow in the room.

I sensed that Gerard was sorry to see us go.  Unlike David, Pierre and
Roseman, he had not resisted us.  He had seemed grateful for the
instruction.  As we suspected, his Maker was dead now and had not been
especially helpful in training him.  He had learned most things by
instinct, need and experimentation.  The underlying thing that shouted
at me was his loneliness.  I recognized it.  I had been in that lonely
place and I felt sorry for him.  I remembered the aching feeling of
emptiness.

I whispered in Gareth's mind. **He's so lonely, Gareth.**

**I know.  We need to find the others.  Perhaps one would move down here
with him.**

Gareth said, "Gerard, we leave tomorrow evening."

He looked at the table.  "I know.  I wish you didn't have to go.  Do you
know how long it's been since I've even talked to anyone?"

Gareth smiled sadly.  "I know, and I'm sorry.  But we really do have to
go.  I'm trying to find the others.  If I do, I will try to convince one
of them to move down here with you.  Would you like that?"

He smiled and his eyes floated with wetness from unshed tears.  "Yeah, I
would love that.  Just to have someone to talk to ..."

"No one should be alone," Gareth said.  "If I can't find anyone in a
couple of weeks, I'll see if I can relocate a couple of the fledglings I
told you about.  They are fully trained so you wouldn't have to worry
about that.  It's always good to hunt in pairs.  Then you can police
each other and watch each other's back.  It never hurts."

"I can't even tell you how grateful I would be."

I smiled.  "We'll find someone for you, Gerard.  We will.  Just tough it
out for a couple more weeks."

He nodded, a tear sneaking down his cheek.  "I was ready to give up, you
know?"

"Give up?" I asked.

"I was ready to go face the sunrise, my friend.  I'd had enough.  I
simply didn't want to be alone anymore.  When I realized you two were
vampires, I was so excited ... and so scared, all at the same time."

I nodded.  "Don't give up.  We'll find someone to come here and be with
you."

"I have a reason to go on now.  I can never repay you for that."

Gareth said, "Just follow the new rules.  That will be payment enough.
Oh, and don't destroy my house," he added teasingly.

We all laughed then and spent another couple of hours talking about life
in New Orleans and our adventures back home and in Egypt.  Too quickly,
we needed to sleep.  We all shared the bed upstairs, an enormous bed
built specially for Gareth's bulk and size that easily held all three of
us.  We couldn't give him our blood, but we indulged his lust and both
gave him a blowjob at separate times, relieving some of his pent up
lust.  He'd been servicing himself for so long, he was overwhelmed by
the fact that we were willing to have him in our bed.

We woke early the next evening, dressed and packed before Gerard woke.
We left him a note and slipped out into the lavender dusk of the Garden
District and hailed a cab to the airport.  We now had a new mission; to
find a companion for Gerard.  I hoped we found someone soon.  I knew
that Gareth would rather send someone older to him than move the
fledglings.  The fledglings had enough turmoil and upheaval in their
lives in the last year.  But he would if he had to.

We spent the flight home talking about which fledglings would be best to
send there if it turned out we couldn't find another of the 'others'.
We had left Sabrina and Patrick in Ontario, Canada.  We decided since
they were the oldest of the fledglings and the most 'adjusted' to their
lives, they would be the best choice.  We couldn't send just one and
leave a fledgling on their own, so two would need to be sent if we
couldn't find a companion for him.  It wasn't a concern since the house
in New Orleans was plenty big enough for three.

We made it home in plenty of time to go out and hunt.  We spent a longer
time than usual, filling up on little drinks and made our way home to
make love again.  I got on the phone to start checking on some of the
fledglings.  Gareth was on the computer, searching back issues of
newspapers from around the country, and doing Google searches for
mysterious deaths in the last five years.

The days passed quickly.  But before we could find another of our
missing blood drinkers, the aliens came to town.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
HOOVER BUILDING
X-FILES OFFICE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
THE NEXT DAY - 6:00 PM

"It's got to be them, Scully," Mulder said.

"I believe you.  I'm just not sure what to do about it," she replied.

"Nothing," I said, leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Krycek!  Jesus, didn't we tell you make some noise?" Mulder exclaimed.

I smiled.  "Sorry.  I forgot.  What are you two doing here at this time
of night?  I thought 5:00 PM was quitting time."

"This isn't always a nine to five job," Scully deadpanned.

I smiled.  "No, I imagine not.  However, I think you should be taking it
easy."

She looked at me and pursed her lips in annoyance.  "Why?  Because the
little lady is in a delicate condition?" she asked sarcastically.

I looked at Mulder and raised an eyebrow.  "She always this cranky,
lately?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not in the damned room, Krycek!"

I smiled at her again.  "Sorry, couldn't resist.  Look, ..."  I pushed off
the door frame and entered the room, closing the door behind me.  "There
have been some abductions again."

"We know that," Scully said.  She was obviously still annoyed with me.

"I know you know that.  What you don't know is that all three of those
women were pregnant."

Mulder stood up quickly now.  "Oh shit," he said under his breath,
stealing a glance at Scully.

She was already shaking her head.  "Oh, no.  I'm not staying behind."

I looked at Mulder. "Mulder ... "  I remembered her annoyance and turned
to talk to her.  "Look, Scully.  This has nothing to do with your
capabilities, but let's face it.  You've been abducted before and now ...
you're pregnant.  If these other women were too, then we can only assume
that makes you a prime target, especially because of your history.  You
can't risk it.  You have to be protected."

She clenched her jaw and sucked in air through her nose.  "Damn it!" she
cried.

Mulder walked to her and wrapped her in his arms.  He kissed the top of
her head.  "I know how frustrating it is, Scully.  I also know that
we have to keep our eye on the ball here.  Our priority has to be the
baby."

"I know," she said, sounding defeated.  "I just hate being left out."

He smiled gently and kissed the top of her head again.  He spoke softly,
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again, Scully.  We can't risk
it."

"I know.  And I don't know what I'd do if I lost this baby."

"It would destroy you, Scully.  Hell, it would destroy me," he
whispered.

She nodded and hid her face against his chest.  I broke into their
conversation, feeling like an intruder.  "Ah, guys?"

They separated and looked at me. "Sorry," Scully said.

"No problem.  But uh, well, I have a proposal."

"What's that?" Mulder asked.

"Gareth and I would like to take Walter and go to Arizona and check this
one out.  We'd like you two to stay here.  You can ride shotgun.  We'll
call you to scare up info we may need or whatever.  But this way,
Scully's away from the action, and Mulder, you're still here to watch
out for her.  We don't her left alone, do we?"

"I don't," Mulder said.

"And I assume you wouldn't trust anyone else to watch over her."

"Like who?  You?" he said, as if the idea was ridiculous.

I frowned and looked at the floor.  "He didn't mean that the way it
sounded," Scully defended him.

I looked up.  "Yes, he did," I said slowly.  "But I understand it."

I was surprised when Mulder said, "Look, Krycek.  It's not you.  I
wouldn't trust ANYONE, like you said.  Not because no one else is
trustworthy, but because I would go nuts not being able to know for sure
myself that she was all right."

I nodded, feeling a curious thump in my throat.  "Hey, it's O.K.,
Mulder.  Really, I understand.  I haven't been the soul of
trustworthiness in the past.  But I'd hoped ..."  I cut myself off, not
able to keep talking.  This wasn't the time to get into it.

"Look, I'm not patronizing you.  I'm not humoring you," he said.
"You've saved her life twice now.  It took me a while to get used to
that idea, but I've accepted it now.  I know you mean her no harm.  I
know you would never hurt her."

"Do you?" I asked softly.

"Yes, Alex.  I'm not going to lie and tell you that I trust you
completely in all things.  But I know you would never hurt Scully."

I felt tears sting the back of my eyelids and blinked rapidly.  I didn't
let any tears fall, but I was surprised at the depth of my relief and
the emotion that welled up inside.  This small concession from Mulder
meant a great deal.  I knew how hard it was for him to trust anyone,
especially when it came to Scully.  He didn't trust me, but he accepted
that I wouldn't hurt her and that was a start.  I wondered if he
realized he'd called me Alex.  It was the first time he'd ever done
that.  He'd always called me Krycek.  I smiled a tentative smile and
said, "Thanks, Mulder.  That means a lot to me."

He nodded solemnly.  I glanced at Scully and saw she wore a look of
surprise.  I stared back at her and let her look at me, hoping she could
see my sincerity and my gratitude.  I could tell that she was surprised
that Mulder's acceptance meant that much to me.  I nodded to her and she
smiled gently, nodding back.

I cleared my throat.  "Well, if you guys want to come up, we'll discuss
the details.  Gareth is up there too."

"Skinner's office or ... Kendall's office?" Scully asked, referring to
Gareth by his 'FBI name'.

I smiled at the not-so-subtle reminder and said, "Deputy Director Fair's
office, Ma'am."  They both chuckled and I opened the door, turning my
head to say, "See you up there."

I left, closing the door behind me to give them privacy.  I smiled as I
boarded the elevator.  I didn't think Mulder or Scully would ever
totally trust me, but they had definitely softened toward me and I was
glad.  I wasn't the same man I used to be.  I really wasn't.  I wanted
them to realize it and believe it as well.  I knew this would take time,
and I was not by nature a patient man.

It was like the recovering drug addict that wanted his family to
automatically trust him and be proud of him for his sobriety after years
of abuse.  He would say, "Aren't I doing good?"  The family would say,
"Yeah, but for how long?"  Like he who had said, "I'm sorry," so many
times it no longer meant anything to his loved ones, I was the guy that
cheated, stole and bent the truth for so long.  I had to do more than
say I was different now.  It was a 'show me' situation.  I could almost
hear Mulder in my head saying, "Don't tell me, show me."

And I would.  I swore I would.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
WOODRUFF, ARIZONA
THE NEXT EVENING

Skinner had interviewed all the witnesses to the abductions and all the
family members of the abductees.  He'd gone armed with a list of
questions from Mulder that would determine if these women were merely
missing or had really been abducted.  There were questions concerning
the women's backgrounds, fertility problems and previous disappearances
or known abductions.

Three of the four women seemed to be abductees.  The other one we
suspected was a scared run away teen, pregnant and on the lam with her
boyfriend, running from an enraged father.  The other three, though, had
a history.  All were abducted and/or disappeared for a period of months
in the past.  All had returned unannounced at the doorstep of a local
hospital, having no memory of their abductions.  All were returned
barren.  All were now mysteriously pregnant and too happy about it to
question the miracle of their conception.

Now they were gone again.  Gareth had called Dr. Sullivan and had him
Fed Ex the current magnetite solution to the hotel we were staying at.
It arrived before we did.  Scully had sent us with syringes and Gareth
injected Skinner with the solution.  We hoped the magnetite in his blood
would destroy any super soldiers he came in contact with.  We hoped that
we could destroy any aliens we came in contact with.  Gareth had warned
me about the fact that the alien blood would burn our skin but that we
would heal.

As we suspected, we didn't have to go looking for the aliens.  They knew
we were there and came looking for us.  First, a bounty hunter showed
up.  He was waiting in our room when we returned from the hotel
restaurant where we'd sat with Walter while he ate dinner.

I sensed him the moment the door was open and Gareth was moving before I
took a step inside.  He collided with the bounty hunter and they crashed
to the ground.  I heard the bounty hunter grunt in surprise at the
attack.  I stood by waiting to assist and hollered to Skinner to stay
outside.  As usual, he ignored prudent advice and stood in the doorway
to the hotel room.

I watched, knowing the alien was surprised at the strength of his
attacker.  It confused him just long enough.  His hesitation allowed
Gareth to roll him onto his stomach.  He shouted for my assistance and I
straddled his legs, holding him down.  Gareth straddled his torso, bent
down and impaled his neck on his extended fang.  He opened his mouth
wide, trying not to drink any of the green poisonous blood the hissed
from the puncture in the back of his neck.

I heard him grunt in pain as he was hit with some anyway.  Once he knew
the alien was dying, he leapt off and grabbed my arm, hauling me away
and out the door.  He shut it behind him and I looked up and gasped.

The area around his mouth was pocked with burns from the acidic blood.
His lips were pulled back in a grimace and his fangs were still
extended.  "Your fangs," I whispered.

He couldn't talk and I realized his tongue was burnt too.  He spoke
telepathically, **I can't retract them right now.**

I startled realizing that there must be damage on the inside of his
mouth.  I turned to Walter who was staring in horror.  I said, "Walter,
let's get into your room."

He nodded and brushed by us, walking to the next door and opening it
with his key.  He hustled Gareth into the room and he lay down on the
bed, his feet dangling over the edge.  I sat next to him and cringed at
the pain I saw in his eyes.  **Blood - I need your blood,** he said
weakly in my mind.

I nodded and turned to Walter who was watching from the other side of
the bed.  "What can we do?" he asked, his eyes darting to and away from
Gareth's face.

"I have to give him blood.  You don't have to watch if you don't want
to.  There's damage inside his mouth too, that's why he can't retract
his fangs."

Walter nodded and walked to the other side of the room.  I extended my
fangs and held up my wrist.  I jerked my head down, slashing my wrist
and opening the veins.  I squeezed above the wound and let my blood pour
out and onto his face.  It fell into his mouth and I heard a slight
sizzle.  Gareth moaned and I glanced up to see Walter inching closer.
He was fascinated in spite of his horror.

I squeezed again, moving my wrist and letting a stream of blood flow
over his lips and the bottom half of his face.  His skin hissed and
sizzled as it regenerated under the healing kiss of my blood.

I saw him beginning to heal and glanced at Walter again.  He said, "It's
like watching time lapse photography."

I raised my eyebrows and turned back to Gareth.  The pain was dimming in
his eyes and I could see the relief in them as his skin closed the
gaping sores from the acidic burns.  In minutes his face was beautiful
and smooth and serene.  He sighed deeply and I smiled down at him.
"Still hurt?"

"No, I'm fine now.  Thank you, Alex."  He retracted his fangs.

"You're welcome.  Any time."

He grabbed my wrist and brought it to his mouth, sucking gently and then
licking my wrist, his saliva healing the tear in my skin.  I moaned,
"Ohhhhh, God."  Arousal flew through me mixed with relief that he was
all right.

He yanked my arm, telling me to lean down.  I did and he put his hand on
the back of my neck, pulling me forcefully toward him.  He kissed me on
the lips, plunging his tongue into my mouth and I moaned in pleasure,
feeling his praise and gratitude wash over me.  I kissed him back, both
of us forgetting Walter was in the room.

We finally separated and stared at each other.  He rasped out, "We
should check next door.  Make sure he's a smudge."

I laughed at the return of his dry sense of humor and turned to see
Walter staring at us, his hand covering his crotch, pressing his cock
into his abdomen.  He blushed furiously and turned away, going into the
bathroom and slamming the door.

I looked back at Gareth, who was looking sheepish.  "Shit, I didn't even
think about the fact that he was in here with us."

"I didn't think you did.  I forgot it the minute you kissed me."

"We should watch that.  There's no need for us to embarrass him
unnecessarily."

"Looks like it excited him though."

"But that's not necessarily a good thing, Alex.  Remember, he's still
dealing with the memory of the pleasure we gave him.  That's not an easy
thing to live with, knowing you may never feel it again.  It's like a
drug."

I swallowed.  "What should we do?"

"Apologize.  But first, let's check next door."

I nodded and stood up.  He swung his legs over the side of the bed and
stood up next to me.  I walked to the bathroom door and knocked.
"Walter, we're just going to check next door."

"O.K.," he said breathlessly and I tuned in, hearing his heavy
breathing, knowing he was jerking off.

I had the urge to open the door but forced myself to turn away and
follow Gareth out into the hallway and go to our room.  "Is he all
right?" Gareth asked.

I sent him an imagined picture of Walter jerking off and he gasped and
looked at me.  His tone was stern when he asked, "You didn't scan him,
did you?"

"No, I could hear him," I said petulantly.

He shook his head as if I were a recalcitrant child and opened the door
to our room.  We entered cautiously and looked around. We listened to
make sure there was no one else in the room, that another hadn't come
after we left.  There was no one.  There was an odd chemical smell in
the room, which I assumed was the acid blood smell.  We entered and
walked to the spot where the alien had fallen and we had held him down.
The carpet was burned away and there was a green residue on the exposed
floorboards.  Gareth scuffed his boot toe over it and it was dry now,
flaking up off the board.  "We'll have to pay the manager for the
carpet."

"What do we say?" I asked.

"Tell him we dumped an ash tray and some lit butt started the carpet
smoldering.  We didn't realize it right away cause we'd, uh, you'd gone
to the bathroom, not realizing the ash tray fell off the dresser."

I raised my eyebrows.  "Think he'll buy that?"

"If not, I'll hypnotize him and replace the carpet before he sees it."

"O.K., should I go now?"

"Yeah.  I'll go talk to Walter."

"I should be there for that," I protested.

"Not this time, Pet."  He looked at me like an indulgent parent.  I
realized he knew of my attraction to Walter.  He also understood my ego
and how it was giving me a thrill to excite Walter.  Although
intellectually, I knew it wasn't the best thing to do, I was having a
hard time stopping myself.

I nodded, knowing he was right, but still a little stung, not really
knowing why.  His hand landed on my shoulder and he pulled me into his
chest.  I wrapped my arms around him and then looked up.  He smiled
softly into my face and said, "I love you, Alex."

"I know, I love you too, Gareth."

He tipped my chin up.  "But you are still a little bit of a wild child."

I grinned unrepentantly and he chuckled.  "While I may find it
endearing, Pet ... you're scaring the shit out of Walter.  I assume that's
not what you want to do."

"I'm scaring him?"

"Yes, Pet.  His attraction to you is scaring him.  The more you entice
him, unwittingly or not, the worse it is for him.  He is repelled and
attracted at the same time.  This one was my fault.  I shouldn't have
kissed you in front of him.  I was just feeling such relief and so glad
that you were with me."  His eyes became moist as he stared into mine.
He whispered, "I was alone for so long, Pet.  You can't know what it
means to have you by my side; to know that you're here for me, to help
me ... to love me.  God, Alex, you have no idea."

He swallowed a little bolt of emotion and I felt my own emotions rush to
the surface.  "No one's watching now," I said.

"You're so subtle," he joked.  But he leaned down and kissed me again,
pulling me tight against him.  I moaned softly and suckled on his lower
lip.  He hummed in his throat and we made out for a couple of minutes,
until we heard a knock on the door.  We separated and he said, "Go talk
to the manager.  Hypnotize him if you have to.  Give me a few minutes."

He walked to the door and opened up, waving Walter inside.  He stepped
over the threshold and to the side.  He looked at me but his eyes darted
away.  I said, "I'll be back in about ten minutes."

Gareth nodded and closed the door the behind me as I exited the room.



PART 5 (NC-17)
SUPER 8 HOTEL
WOODRUFF, AZ

"Are you all right, Walter?" I asked after Alex left.

He cleared his throat.  "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"

I chuckled and sat on the one chair that was in the room.  I motioned
for him to sit on the bed.  He did, but perched on the edge.  "I'm all
right, thanks to Alex."

"What would have happened if he couldn't ... give you blood?" he asked
tentatively.

"It would have taken me days to heal ... instead of minutes."

He gulped and looked down, putting his hands on his knees and looking at
the floor.  "I'm glad he was here then."

"Me too.  Look, Walter, I owe you an apology."

He looked up and met my eyes.  "For what?"

"I shouldn't have kissed Alex in front of you.  To be honest, I forgot
you were there for a second.  I was just so relieved to be out of pain
and so grateful to Alex for healing me, for just ... being there, I acted
without thinking."

"That's all right," he mumbled and looked around, trying to find
something to look at besides me.

"Not really.  We shouldn't tempt you and bring up those memories any
more than necessary.  It's hard enough without having sexual images to
prompt the reminders."

He swallowed harshly again, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.  He
whispered, his voice a little ragged, "I can't ... get it out of my head."

I knew he didn't mean the kiss.  He meant the pleasure he'd had when
we'd fed on him.  "I was afraid of that.  Now that it's over, I could
try to give you a hypnotic suggestion that would dull the memory."

"You couldn't get rid of the memory?" he asked.

"I could, but then you would forget it entirely and think you still had
the nanocytes in you.  The two memories go together.  I can't get rid of
one without getting rid of the other."

"Oh," he said quietly and looked at the bedspread this time, turning to
hike himself up on the bed, leaning against the headboard.  He stretched
his legs out in front of him and folded his hands in his lap.

"I'm sorry, Walter.  I know it's not easy.  And I didn't make it any
easier.  And ... neither does Alex."

"What do you mean?"

I replied, "Alex ... for all his strength and generosity is still a new
blood drinker.  He's unused to the effect that blood drinkers have on
humans."

"What effect?"

"We are very sexual creatures, and we give off ... a secretion much like a
pheromone when we are aroused.  Only it's about ten times stronger.  No
human can resist it.  They are automatically aroused by it."

"I'm not aroused now," he said skeptically.

"I'm not aroused now," I replied.

"Oh, I get it.  Meaning, when you're excited ..."

"That's when we give off the pheromone, for lack of a better word."

"Is that why I got excited in there?"

"Yes, I wasn't excited at first.  I was just kissing Alex out of
gratitude and relief, but he got excited the second I kissed him.  He
always does.  He has a ... profound reaction to my touch.  He always has.
It scared him at first.  Now he just goes with it.  The minute he got
aroused ... so did you."

"I understand."

"That doesn't make it more comfortable though, does it?"

"In a way it does.  I know there's a scientific reason for it now."

I laughed.  "You sound like Agent Scully!" I teased.

He laughed too, visibly relaxing.  "That's not a bad thing, I don't
think."

"No, it's not.  She's a formidable woman in her own right."

"She's an amazing woman," he said with admiration.  "Mulder's the
luckiest son-of-a-bitch in the world."

"He is a lucky man.  I'm happy for them."

"So am I," he said, but he sounded sad.

"Why do I detect a 'but' in there?"

"It's nothing really.  I guess I'm just feeling a little sorry for
myself."

"Because you haven't found your soul mate?"

"Yeah.  I'm not sure I have one."

"I bet you do.  You should tell her, by the way."

"What are you talking about?" he asked defensively.

I smiled.  "You love her, don't you?"

"Who?  Agent Scully?  No!  And even if I did, she's Mulder's."

"I don't mean Agent Scully."

"Then who do you mean?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and waited.

"I don't know whom you mean," he said quietly.

Without scanning him I couldn't tell if he really wasn't aware of it
himself or if he was bluffing me.  So I said softly, "Kimberly.  You
should tell her."

His eyes snapped up to mine.  "What?" he asked, barely audible to the
human ear, but I heard him just fine.

"I think you'd be surprised.  You should ask her out."

"I'm her boss, for Christ's sake!"

"So?" I shrugged.

"So?  It's against the rules, it's unethical, and it's ..."

"Fuck the rules," I said.

His mouth gaped open.  "How can you say that?"

"Because if you're discreet, it will be fine and by the time people know
about it, you'll find out that they don't care as much as you think they
do.  Besides, look at Mulder and Scully, how happy they are.  It was
against the rules for them too, but they did it anyway, they allowed
themselves to love each other ... with a little push, but still."

"They are they exception.  Everybody already thought they were together,
they just didn't have any proof."

"And now that they do?  Is anyone protesting?  Is anyone screaming to
have them broken up?"

He was silent a minute, licking his lips.  "No, but no one else wants
their jobs either."

I chuckled.  "That's true, but Walter ... love is more important than any
job.  Besides, you're one of the Director's favorites.  I think he would
overlook it even if you were found out."

"There's nothing to find out."

"Yet," I said.

He shook his head.  "You're crazy, you know that?"

"No, I'm not.  I believe in love, Walter.  And she loves you."

"How in the hell do you know that?" he asked, unable to keep the hope
out of his voice.  He was inadvertently admitting that he was
interested.

"I can just tell.  We are very sensitive to human's body language."

"Have you ... entered her head ... or whatever the hell you do?"

"No.  I told you I don't do that without permission, or only in
circumstances where it's necessary for my continued safety."

"Then you don't know," he said firmly.

"Yes, I do, Walter.  Trust me on this one.  Kimberly doesn't have the
greatest self-esteem.  She's confident in her job duties, but on a
personal level, concerning her love life, she's not so confident."

"Why not?  She a beautiful woman," he said.

"Yes, she is, but she's been burned, Walter.  And she doesn't think she
stands a chance with you. I can tell just by the way she looks at you.
She wants you but she thinks you're out of her league."

"That's ridiculous.  Probably more the other way around."

I shrugged.  "I know what I'm talking about."  I wanted him to find a
love interest, and I knew he was in love with Kimberly, even if he
hadn't fully admitted it to himself.  When I drank from him, images of
her were never far from the surface.  We were arousing him, and now he
had our images of those incidents, but he thought of Kimberly often.  If
he were to get romantically involved, it would take the focus off these
incidents with us.  He needed that, or the confusion over his
sexuality might drive him into depression.  I didn't want that to
happen.  "Just think about it, all right?"

"Yeah, I'll think about it."

Two sharp raps sounded on the door.  "Come in," I said.

The door opened and Alex stepped in, closing it behind him.  "He bought
it.  Of course, he hasn't seen it yet.  I think we should get some
carpet and replace it, not leave it for him.  If he sees that spot, he's
never going to believe our story."

"I'll take care of it tomorrow.  Right now, we're all exhausted.  Let's
go to bed."

Walter got up and went to the door.  He turned and looked at me.
"Thanks," he said.  I knew he was thanking me for explaining things to
him and giving him a scientific reason for his reactions to us.  It
would help him cope with it better.

"You're welcome, Walter.  Good night.  We'll see you tomorrow evening."

He nodded.  "I'm tired, even though it's getting light out."

"We've been up all night," I reminded him.

He nodded and went through the door, closing it behind him.  Alex asked,
"How'd it go?"

"Good.  I'll tell you about it later.  In the meantime, try not to do
anything to excite him, all right?"

Alex smiled and said, "Under one condition."

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"You let me make love to you tonight."

I grinned.  "Gee, I don't know, that's a tough one," I said, teasing
him.

He grinned.  "That's the deal.  Take it or leave it."

I smiled and stood up, going to the side of the bed.  I began to strip
my clothes off and watched as his breathing increased along with the
bulge in his pants.  I'd been the taker for quite a few times now and it
was time for him to do the driving.

I was naked in no time and ripping his clothes off.  He seemed amused by
my enthusiasm, but gave up all pretenses of playing it cool once I lay
down on my stomach and stuck my ass up in the air.  He moaned and
crawled over me, kissing my back and muttering words of excitement in my
ear, telling me how gorgeous and sexy I was.

He made love to me with fervor that night, exorcising his own demons
concerning Walter.  I lay with him in my arms afterwards, cuddling and
kissing his gorgeous face.  He hummed in contentment and fell asleep
with his head on my shoulder.

I whispered into the dark room, "I love you so, Alex.  I love you so
much, it scares me sometimes."

He mumbled in his sleep but did not waken.  I squeezed him tighter and
felt him squeeze back, reacting instinctively in his sleep.  Dawn was
coming and I felt its pull.  I closed my eyes and let it pull me under
into sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
THE ARIZONA DESERT
THE FOLLOWING EVENING

The next night we went out into the desert, throwing out our senses,
searching for anomalies.  Alex and I could feel strange vibrations in
the air and we headed toward them.

We felt the ground shake slightly as though there were an earthquake,
but I knew there were no fault lines here.

We heard a crack in the air like thunder and a flash of light.  We
looked toward it when we could open our eyes again and I could see a
figure on the ground.  Alex and I took off toward it, leaving Walter in
the dust, trudging along behind us.  I fell to my knees when I reached
the form, and saw that it was a woman.  I gently took hold of her
shoulder as she lay on her side and eased her onto her back.  She looked
up with frightened eyes and held her hands around her stomach.  She
began to cry and said, "Please, help me."

Two more cracks and two more flashes of light and we had gathered the
three women.  Fortunately, none of them were large women.  They were all
Agent Scully's size and I wondered if there was any significance in
that.  Fortunately, they all were still pregnant, and I probed gently
and determined that the fetuses were still healthy.  The odd thing was
that they were all now carrying twins.  To the best of my knowledge,
they had all been single conceptions before.

I wondered if the aliens were playing with some odd fetus cloning
experiment that would allow each of these women to have two hybrids.
The thought was nauseating that they played with these women like they
were inanimate objects, existing only for their experimentation.

We each carried one woman and made our way back to the hotel where we
called ambulances for all of them.  We called the police and reported
their return and called their husbands who rushed to the hospitals,
profound relief etched on their faces.

We decided not to stick around.  We told the police we'd been out for a
midnight walk, looking for a place to hang out privately and enjoy the
desert.  They'd been skeptical, but we showed them our FBI
identification and they'd backed off, glad that we weren't taking over.

We left on the next evening flight back to Washington and were back home
by 2:00 AM.  We called to check on Mulder and Scully and they were fine.
We agreed to meet the following evening and fill them in on everything
that had happened.  I, for one, was glad we'd had no more run ins with
the aliens.

A thought I had later gave me pause.  Skinner had been injected with the
magnetite.  If the babies the women were carrying were super soldiers,
he may have killed them with his proximity.  It was something I hadn't
considered.  But all the babies were fine to my knowledge, and there was
some relief in that.  Whatever these women were having, they weren't the
super soldiers we knew of.  That was a relief.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN, D.C.
THE NEXT EVENING

"What are you thinking?" Mulder asked me.

I sighed.  "I'm thinking about what they said about the magnetite."

"Yeah, come to think of it, we were injected too, a while ago, but
still."

"Yeah, it's good to know that those babies weren't affected by it."

"Meaning ours won't be either."

"Right, but we would have known about it by now."

"There's nothing to say that our baby is the same as theirs, though,
Scully."

"I know, but what's the likelihood?"

"I don't know, Scully.  I don't know anything and it's frustrating."

I smiled at him and pulled him to me as we lay in bed, our limbs
intertwined.  "I know this.  This baby is OURS, no matter what else was
involved in this miracle.  You started this baby inside me, Mulder.  I
feel it in here."  I tapped my chest over my heart.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.  "I love you so much, Scully." His
lips brushed mine and then became more insistent.  He rolled me onto my
side and spooned up behind me.  He leaned back and angled himself to my
entrance, rubbing his erection back and forth between my legs, feeling
my wetness cover his shaft.

"Oh yeah, you're so wet," he mumbled.

"It's a perpetual state for me lately."  I was on the tail end of the
secondtrimester hornies, I called them.

"No complaints here, Mrs. Mulder," he muttered.  He was still calling me
Mrs. Mulder every chance he got.

I tipped my ass up, giving him better access.  He moaned softly and
pushed inside, making me pull in a gasp at the exquisite feeling of
being filled.

He stroked into me gently, taking his time and kissing the back of my
neck, causing shivers to race up and down my spine.  One arm was under
my neck, pillowing my head, the other was on my hip, holding me in place
as he slid easily in and out.

His hand on my hip slid down in front and found my clitoris.  He rubbed
gentle circles and pushed it against our joining, making me moan with
pleasure.  I felt bolts of excitement rip through me with every stroke
and in no time I was crying out, "Oh yes, Mulder.  Oh God, I'm coming.
It's so good!"

I was nearly sobbing as my vaginal walls contracted around him,
collapsing on his shaft and squeezing him, making him buck into me.  He
shouted, "Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," and let loose, filling me with his
seed, his hips slapping my ass as he made quick strokes, jerking with
each ejaculation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We lay panting and sated and he rubbed my hip and down my leg with the
palm of his hand.  I sighed in contentment, feeling him ooze out of me
as I shifted.

I grabbed some tissues and did a cursory clean up, too tired for
anything else.  He wiped himself and then pulled me back into the cradle
of his pelvis, hugging me tightly.  We relaxed and his hand slid over my
tummy.  I sighed again.  It felt so good.  I drifted off to sleep,
thinking I'd never been this happy and content.



PART 6 (NC-17)
KENDALL FAIR'S ESTATE
FALLS CHURCH, VA
MEANWHILE

We'd finished making love and were laying sated on the bed.  I cuddled
up to Alex and felt a sudden pull in my chest.  I gasped and sat up.

"What is it, Gareth?" Alex asked.

I whispered, "One of us has died."

He frowned.  "Do you know who?"

"No."  I slowly lay back down and pulled him to me.  We'll find out
soon, I thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TWO NIGHTS LATER

Fate has a funny way of working in your favor sometimes.  Gareth and I
were sitting in the study.  His head jerked up and a second later there
was a knock on the door.  He'd known someone was there before they
reached the door.

I reached out and instantly knew that it was a blood drinker.  We were
both on our feet instantly and racing for the door, wondering who it was
and what they were doing here.  No one was supposed to come here unless
it was an emergency.  Gareth could probably figure out who it was by
entering their mind, but he refrained from doing that, explaining that
it was a violation of privacy and that we had to be very careful and not
overuse that power.

He swung the door open and I gasped.  Sabrina was standing on the
doorstep.  Her hair was tangled and her eyes were red from crying.  She
was hugging herself as though cold, although I knew she was probably
just emotional or scared.  I reached out and touched her shoulder,
ushering her inside.  I hustled her into the living room.

Gareth disappeared for about 30 seconds and returned with a blanket.  He
wrapped it around her shoulders and I sat next to her on the couch.  He
turned toward the fireplace and ignited the wood and paper we always
kept ready there.  She started at that, but then looked to Gareth as he
sat in the large wing backed chair across from the couch.

"What's happened, Sabrina?"  We'd last left her in Ontario, Canada.
Something had to be dreadfully wrong for her to have traveled all the
way down here, and without calling first.

"He's gone.  Patrick's gone," she whispered.

"How?" I asked, glancing at Gareth and realizing he wasn't surprised.

"He couldn't take it ... the life ... he didn't want it.  He said he'd
rather be dead.  I tried to talk him out of it, but I couldn't stop him.
He snuck out while I was sleeping.  Somehow he stayed awake when dawn
came and went outside.  I heard his scream ... but I couldn't get up.  I
fell asleep and when I woke up the next evening ... he was gone.  Just
ashes on the lawn."

Tears were streaming down her face.  "I'm so sorry, Sabrina," I
murmured, pulling her toward me.  She collapsed on my chest, crying and
wrapped her arms around me.  I pulled at the blanket that fell away from
her shoulders, tucking it in around her.

"I didn't know what to do!" she cried out.  I sensed she was afraid of
our reaction.

"It's all right.  Don't be afraid," I whispered, oddly feeling no
attraction or arousal even though she was pressed against me.  It was
good to know I could still be a gentleman in the face of a woman's upset
and could suppress my libido from mere physical contact.

Gareth said, "Are you afraid, Sabrina?"

"Yes!" she sobbed.

"Of us?" Gareth asked.

"No!  I just don't know what to do.  I'm afraid of feeling like Patrick
felt.  I'm afraid of being alone ... I don't know what to do!"

"Shhhh," I murmured into her hair, kissing the top of her head and again
noting how tiny she was.

Gareth said, "Don't worry, Sabrina.  We'll take care of you.  We'll
place you somewhere else.  You won't be alone."

"I don't want to be in another country!  It was so lonely up there, even
with Patrick.  It was so cold!"

She was shivering in my arms and I knew she was in shock.  I didn't even
know vampires could go into shock, but I supposed emotionally we could.
She was very fragile right now.  I looked at Gareth and raised my
eyebrow in question.

He said, "Sabrina, you can stay here for a couple of days, but you can't
stay here."

She nodded, but started crying harder.  I petted her hair trying to calm
her down.  She wiped her eyes with her shirtsleeve and took a deep
breath, trying to get herself under control.  In a few minutes, she
seemed to be settling down and she slowly pulled away from me and sat
up, wrapping the blanket around her.  She looked at me and said, "I'm
sorry."

She was obviously embarrassed about breaking down.  "Don't be.  It's all
right," I replied.

Gareth said, "We found another of our kind," he said softly.  I knew
immediately what he was thinking.  We had discussed this before.  We'd
been going to find Gerard an older companion, but this might work out
perfectly for both of them.

"You did?" she asked, not sure what he was saying or how it was relevant
to her.

"Yes, he lives in New Orleans.  He's been alone for a long, long time."

"How could he stand it?"

"He wasn't happy about it," Gareth replied.  "In fact, he was ready to
give up like Patrick, when we found him."

"Oh, no, that's terrible," she responded.

Gareth said, "We were trying to find a companion for him.  We asked him
to hold out a while longer, hoping we would find one of the four others
I have not found yet."

"Is he old in the blood?" she asked.

"Not ancient, but he's about 500 years old."

"That's old to me," she said.  Gareth and I both chuckled.

"Yes, but he's a nice man.  He longs for company."

"New Orleans, huh?" she asked, obviously interested.

"We wouldn't force you or demand that you go there, but it could be a
perfect opportunity.  Would you like to go down there and see if you
like each one another?  It might work out great.  If you decided you
didn't like each other or it wouldn't work for some reason, we could
make other arrangements."

"It's warm down there, huh?" she asked.

Gareth and I both chuckled again.  "Yes, it's very warm, humid too a lot
of the time."

"That would be great.  I feel like I haven't been warm since I left
Egypt."

Gareth smiled at her.  "It's settled then.  We'll send you down there
and you can give it a try."

"What about sex?" she asked suddenly, her tears all dried up now as her
excitement over a warm climate grew.

I smiled.  "What about it?"

"This man ... is he ..."

"Good looking?" I asked.

She smiled shyly.  "That's not what I was going to ask."

"Go ahead and ask," I encouraged her.

She looked at me and then at Gareth.  "Is he too old to give me blood?"
she asked.

Gareth frowned.  "Let me think about that.  He is quite a bit stronger
than you are."

She nodded.  "Is it presumptuous of me to assume he'll want to have
sex?" she asked shyly.

Gareth smiled.  "No, I'll bet he'll be delighted," he deadpanned.

We all laughed then.  She said, "Patrick wouldn't ... I don't know what
the problem was."

That startled me.  "He wouldn't have sex with you?"

She hung her head.  "No ... I don't know if it was his previous religious
beliefs, his emotional state over hating being a vampire, or ... I don't
know why but it made me think ..."

"Think what?" I asked.

"It made me feel bad.  Like I wasn't good enough ... or not pretty enough
... or something.  I mean, I know how horny we get, I couldn't believe he
could turn it off like that."

Gareth sighed.  "There is nothing wrong with you, Sabrina.  In fact,
you're an exceptionally pretty girl.  It happens sometimes when blood
drinkers give up.  They have no interest in anything.  Because they
refuse to feed or participate in the life, they start shutting down,
physically and otherwise.  He wasn't feeding, was he?"

She shook her head in the negative.  "He did in the beginning, but then
he just stopped.  He was getting weaker every day.  I would go out and
feed and come back.  I even offered to let him feed from me.  I think he
was afraid he would get carried away.  With me, I knew I could fend him
off if he got carried away.  I was stronger than he was, but he
refused."

Gareth nodded.  "Don't blame yourself, Sabrina.  There is a reason why
we choose carefully when we bring someone else into the blood.  There
are reasons for all the rules I taught you and the others.  Not everyone
is cut out to be a blood drinker or has the heart for it, and people
should always be willing.  None of you were willing, but some of you are
stronger than the others, able to adapt.  Some just can't adapt and
accept what they have become."

She nodded.  "I understand that up here," she said, pointing to her
temple.  "But in here, I can't."  She pointed to her chest.  "I just
feel so sad."

"Well, let's get you settled.  Alex and I have some things to discuss
and we'll join you shortly."

She nodded and we took her upstairs.  She was in awe of the blackened,
sound proofed room with the steel doors.  She looked like a child in the
gigantic bed and we laughed when she was all covered up with just her
head sticking out.  She said, "I feel like I'm in a boat."

We laughed and said good night and slipped downstairs.  We talked long
into the night about how we would get Sabrina to New Orleans, and what
we would tell Gregory, the pros and cons of letting them have sex.

The blood exchange between an old vampire and a fledgling was a serious
thing.  Gerard was nowhere near as strong as we were but he was quite a
bit stronger than Sabrina.  We decided that one of us should instruct
Gerard in how to instruct Sabrina.  This way he could use condoms, feed
her slowly and coach her through her developing abilities and she could
ease into them, unlike me who had been slammed into my increased powers.
Sabrina was the strongest of the fledglings, but still pretty weak.
Mentally though, despite her upset over Patrick, she was levelheaded and
not prone to panic.  Even through her upset, she hadn't panicked.  She'd
come here to get guidance.

If any of the fledglings could tolerate increased powers, it would be
Sabrina.  She, unlike Patrick, was able to adapt, and she seemed to take
the life of a blood drinker with aplomb.  She accepted her fate and
strived to be good at it.

So it was decided that I would take her to New Orleans and get back here
as soon as possible.  We finally crawled into bed near dawn, one of us
on either side of the little waif-like creature in our bed.

We smiled, both too tired to talk anymore and fell asleep.  Despite our
late bedtime, we awoke before she did and talked quietly in bed.

I stared at her, her blonde hair spread out on the pillow under her
head.  Her pixie like face was serene in sleep and her cupid bow lips
were shining with saliva where she had licked them in her sleep.  At
some point, she'd shed her clothes after we left.  They were lying on
the floor next to the bed.  I knew she was naked and I wanted to see
her.

Gareth whispered, "You want her again, don't you?"

I licked my lips and looked up at him.  "Yeah, I do.  Damn, she's so ...
exquisite, like a little doll."

"You can have her, if she's willing.  And I'm sure she will be.  If
she's been denied any sexual gratification, I'd imagine she's horny as
hell."

I grinned and said, "Why don't you stay?"

"We can't both take her, Alex.  She's too tiny."

"I know, but you could take me, while I take her."

He groaned at the thought.  "Oh God, to watch you take her ..." he trailed
off.  "She's so tiny."

I grinned.  "I know."

He laughed then, louder than he meant too and she hummed and opened her
eyes, finding the both of staring down at her.  She blinked rapidly and
looked from one to the other and said, "What?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I licked my lips again put tugged the covers down, exposing her naked
body.  She gasped and I watched her nipples pull up into tight buds in
the slight coolness in the air.  He breathing increased and she looked
at us.  Her hands came up slowly, hesitantly and cupped her breasts from
underneath.  She lifted the globes, full on her tiny frame and offered
them up to us, still unsure, but obviously excited.  Her tiny pink
tongue darted out and licked her lips again.

I groaned and leaned down to suckle her nipple, my hand going to her
stomach and rubbing gently.  She groaned deeply, and glanced up to see
Gareth leaning down to suckle her other nipple.  She squeaked and then
groaned again, "Ohhhhhh, God, yes.  Oh God, one of you take me.  I need
you so bad.  Alex, please.  I haven't had a proper plowing in months."

Proper plowing.  Jesus, just hearing those words from her sweet mouth
had my cock leaping up and straining at its skin prison and beginning to
throb.

Gareth chuckled and rolled over to get the condoms from the drawer in
the bedside table.  He returned and handed one to me.  I ripped it open
and quickly put it on my growing dick, knowing I had to get inside her
quickly.

I reached down between her legs to find her soaking wet and I grunted in
satisfaction.  She lifted her knees, placing her feet flat on the bed
and I fell between her thighs, my mouth landing on hers and kissing her
ferociously.  She met me with equal passion, sticking her tongue into my
throat.

I reached down and lined myself up with her entrance.  I was now easily
eight inches long and I was just getting started.  I seated myself at
her entrance, put my weight on one elbow and then hooked my arm under
her one knee, lifting her leg high and lifting her hip off the bed.  My
head pushed inside and the feeling was electrifying.  She was so fucking
small.

I reared up into a sitting position, my butt cheeks on my heels, and
lifted her along with me.  The arm under her knee extended around her
back, and my other arm snaked up her back, cupping the back of her head.
She was so small I could practically wrap my body around her.  She was
perched on top of my cock and I groaned as I looked down, seeing my big,
fat shaft between her slender thighs.  It looked like I would break her
in half.  She locked the fingers of her hands together behind my neck.

I felt Gareth behind me as he positioned himself like I was, his big
tree trunk like thighs bracketing mine.  He reached around and put his
big hands on her waist, his fingers nearly meeting, her waist was so
small.  This allowed me not to have to balance her or hold her so tight.
The hand on the back of her head slid down and cupped the top of her
shoulder.

She whispered, "Do it, impale me on this monster."

I grunted and yanked down on her shoulder, Gareth pushing downward from
her hips, literally stuffing her down onto my cock and forcing myself
into her small opening.  As wet as she was, my cock was a massive
invasion to her tiny body.  Her breath left her in a whoosh.

I held still, letting her get used to it for a couple seconds, but
knowing I was going to start growing any second now.  Three seconds was
all it took.  Gareth leaned back, angled his rock hard cock and fired
his pole up my ass to the hilt.

I screamed and started fucking Sabrina with my fat pole, driving deep
into her depths.  Her mouth hung open and her breasts bounced as Gareth
pulled her onto my cock as he arrowed into my guts.

She was so tight and the friction was creating a delicious heat around
my shaft.  I felt myself throb, thicken and grow longer.  She shrieked
as I punched deeper, stretching her cervix taut over the head of my
engorged glans.  "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, God, Alex.  Fuck me!"

I went at her like a jackhammer, fucking her with reckless abandon.  She
bounced like a rag doll, taking everything I had to give. I leaned down
and sucked a nipple into my mouth, sucking harder and harder until she
was shrieking and arching her back, shoving her tit into my mouth.  Then
I bit down and she wailed and her cunt began to spasm tightly around my
shaft.

I kept pumping hard, my cock catching her clit with every stroke and
pushing her deeper into her orgasm.  I slid my hand down from her
shoulder and roughly shoved a finger up her ass.  My cock lengthened and
thickened at the same time.  I felt her tissues tear inside and I
smelled her blood.  She wailed again and began to convulse on my cock.
Every time I pulled back, Gareth was jamming himself into me.  I felt so
full and my cock was so hard it hurt.  But the pain was delicious and
her tight, wet, little cunt was massaging my shaft like a vibrator.

I let go of her raised leg and brought both hands down next to Gareth's.
Our combined strength was able to lift her off my cock, so just the tip
was resting in her puckered opening.  Then we would yank her down.  I
watched as the glass hard tip of my cock disappeared into the impossibly
tight hole.  It was a cork-like fit, with my cock being squeezed as
tight as a cock ring as I bucked, forcing my rock hard cock into her
little body.

She choked out, "Oh God, you cock is like marble.  So fucking hard.  Oh
God, Alex, tear me up."

I groaned and pulled back, feeling Gareth's shaft impale me, stretching
my asshole tight and smooth with his girth.  I groaned and plunged into
her again.  I wasn't getting the right angle to come, so I leaned
forward and eased her down onto the bed.  I hooked her knees with my
elbows again and rested my forearms on the bed next to her torso,
raising her hips in the air.

I began pound her.  Gareth stayed embedded in my ass, thrusting in time
with me and adding force to my strokes.  She groaned, being pressed into
the mattress.

Gareth's cock was so hard and was punishing my prostate.  I howled in
ecstasy and felt Sabrina begin another orgasm.  It pushed me over the
edge, and I felt my bowels fill with Gareth's jism as I began to release
into Sabrina.  I was so lost in the pleasure I nearly didn't feel the
full condom begin slipping off me.  Sabrina reached down as I pulled
out, still stroking her slowly and grabbed my cock, holding it on.  I
panted and my hand joined hers.

I couldn't resist a few more tiny strokes, feeling her cunt suck on my
end of my cock.  I grunted and pulled out, pushing up on one arm and
carefully removed the condom, leaning over to put it in the trash.  As I
leaned forward, Gareth's cock slid out of my ass and I groaned.  We all
collapsed on the bed, Sabrina in the middle again.  She kissed Gareth on
the mouth, and he gently kissed her back.  Then she rolled toward me and
kissed me, sucking on my lower lip and making my cock jerk again.  I
stopped her, knowing she couldn't handle it again should I get excited.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She flopped back and sighed with contentment.  She was bleeding and I
could see smears of blood between her thighs.  I looked at Gareth and he
nodded.  I went down between her legs and licked her clean, sticking my
long tongue up her tunnel and healing her torn tissues.

She sighed and her eyelids drooped.  "God, I'm tired.  And I just woke
up!"

"We woke you up earlier than you're used to.  Sleep for a little while
longer, as long as you need," Gareth said.  She nodded and hummed again
and pulled the covers up to her chin.

Gareth smiled at her and then at me.  Gareth and I got up and took
showers.  I packed an overnight bag and called the airline to book
another flight to New Orleans.

Once Sabrina was up and dressed, we took off for the airport and boarded
at the last second.  We landed in New Orleans a couple of hours later
and I was anxious to get this over with and get back to Gareth.  I
enjoyed Sabrina's company, in and out of the bedroom, but I never felt
quite right when I wasn't with Gareth.

We went to the Garden District and she exclaimed over the house like I
had.  We knocked on the door and there was no answer.  I tried the
handle and it was locked.  I easily unlocked it with telekinesis and we
went inside.  I set her bags down in the hall, and showed her around the
house.  We had retired to the living room and lit the fire in the
fireplace when Gerard appeared in the doorway.  Sabrina was slouching on
the couch, relaxed and happy and he didn't see her at first, as the back
of the couch faced the doorway.  "What are you doing here again?" he
asked, seemingly not unnerved to find me here.

"I brought you a present," I said.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.  "Who's with you?  I feel them.
Is Gareth here?"

I said, "Come in here, Gerard, I have someone I want you to meet."

He walked quickly into the room as Sabrina sat up and smiled at him, her
soft blonde waves cascading around her shoulders.  She stood up, all
five foot of her and he stopped and stared at her, his mouth open in
surprise.  He tentatively stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Gerard."

She smiled, "I'm Sabrina.  Nice to meet you."

"Where did he find someone as exquisite as you?" Gerard asked.

She blushed and tipped her head down, looking at him from under her
lashes.  He was a charmer and despite his obvious overture, I could tell
she was flattered and I chuckled.  Yeah, I didn't think sex was going to
be problem.  He would be on her like white on rice as soon as I left.

"Her partner killed himself, Gerard.  She's on her own too."

His face dropped.  "Oh, I'm so sorry.  That's awful," he sympathized,
and took her little hand between both of his.  He couldn't take his
eyes off her.

I said, "She wants to try and stay here, Gerard, and see if you two get
along.  She's a fledgling, so you'll have things to teach her.  And
Gareth sent me with a list of rules.  I have to go over them with you
tonight, because I'm leaving tomorrow evening at dusk."

He finally dropped her hand reluctantly and nodded eagerly at me.
"Sure.  Let's get started."

I chuckled at his enthusiasm and winked at Sabrina.  He said, "Let me
just hang up my coat."  He hadn't taken it off when he came in.  He left
the room.

Sabrina whispered, "He's so handsome!"

I smiled and showed my amusement.  She looked sheepish but then
shrugged.  He came back in and we all sat down.  He sat next to Sabrina
and kept stealing glances at her.  I know he was dumb founded that I had
brought someone so beautiful.  I think he'd been expecting a male
companion, or an older female.  Sabrina truly did look like a little
Barbie doll.

We talked for several hours until I had relayed all of Gareth's
instructions and Gerard had committed them to his eidetic memory.  I
ended the conversation on a high note by saying, "Do you have any
condoms?"

He looked stricken.  "No, I haven't needed them."

I smiled and said, "I have some I can give you, but go get some
tomorrow.  Get magnums."

He nodded, "I will."

I grinned again and said, "Let's sleep.  I'll be gone when you two rise
tomorrow.  Good luck, and let us know if you have any questions or there
are any problems."

We all retired to the bedroom on the third floor.  Gareth had said he
would call the housekeeper and inform her of the new resident.  She was
being overpaid and didn't question her charges' nocturnal habits.  I had
called Clyde Vogel and told him to wire some money to Gerard.  I told
him to pick it up at the Western Union tomorrow.  He was clearly stunned
at Gareth's generosity and was almost annoying with his fumbling thanks.

I woke early, dusk just descending on the city.  I showered and dressed
quickly, grabbing my overnight bag, and slipping out of the house.  I
couldn't wait to be back on the east coast.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

I didn't say anything to Gareth when I came into the house.  I just
dropped my bag and grabbed him.  He chuckled but kissed me back and led
me up to the bedroom.

We made slow, passionate love to one another and then got up and went
out to feed.  We returned and slept.  He rose and cut his hair for work
and left.  I slept for the rest of day, exhausted from my travels and
woke as he was arriving home.  We went out to feed again and I was happy
to be back into a routine.  We resumed our search and spent the early
evenings scouring the papers we were now receiving for hints of unusual
deaths.  Weeks passed with no luck.

Then everything happened at once.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
THREE WEEKS LATER
KENDALL FAIR'S ESTATE
FALLS CHURCH, VA

First a letter arrived addressed to Kendall Fair.  It was from a man who
called himself Liam Markov.  It was short and sweet:

[[Kendall -

I heard you are looking for me.
I am not in hiding. I live at the following address:
148 Woodville Road
Warren, CT

It's a small hamlet in Connecticut, outside of Litchfield.  So small in
fact, that it doesn't have its own post office.  The mailing address is
New Preston, CT, 06777, the location is Warren.  Mail goes through New
Preston.

My phone is:  860-868-5492.  I know where the others are.

Yours,
Liam Markov  ]]

Next to his signature was a drop of blood that had bled through the
paper, letting us know that he was a blood drinker.  I waited anxiously
for Gareth to arrive home.  I debated going to him at work, but decided
against it.  I had risen only a half hour earlier and checked the mail.
He would be home soon.

This could be the break we'd been waiting for.  He came through the door
around 6:30 PM, and knew immediately that something was going on.

"What's wrong, Alex?"

"Nothing, yet.  But we got an interesting piece of mail."

"Oh?"

I simply handed him the letter after he'd taken off his coat and hung it
on the coat rack, and divested himself of his suit coat, which he slung
over the back of the living room couch.

He read it quickly and silently and then looked up at me.  "Interesting,
indeed."

"Should we call him?"

"No, I think we should pay him a visit."

"Tonight?"

He paused.  "I'm not sure yet.  Let's see what we can dig up on him, if
anything.  This may not be the name he uses in real life."

"Or it may be the name, and his real name is something entirely
different."

"Too true," he said simply.

I followed him into the study.  He sat down and his fingers flew over
the keyboard, doing searches on several search engines under each name
separately and the two names together.  He found a website on the town,
www.warrenct.com.

Quaint little place, very rural, about 1,000 inhabitants.  I hoped he
didn't feed in that town.  It was the type of town where everyone knew
everyone and also knew what everyone else was doing.

I called Mulder and Scully to ask if they were familiar with that area.
Mulder said that his father had lived in Greenwich about an hour away.
He didn't know it intimately, but he knew of the town.  They had a great
Fall Festival every year to raise money for their volunteer fire company
and volunteer ambulance service.  Vendors from all over the tri-state
area came to hawk their wares.  There was usually an auction.  It was
held at Warren Woods, a town park, which was why he knew of the place.
I thanked him, telling him only that we might have a lead on one of our
missing family.  He grunted and told me to ask if we needed their help
with anything.

Gareth found little information on the man other than his name and
address and a few purchases he had made on the internet.  He estimated
that we could make the flight ourselves in three hours.  That was a lot
of flying, but we decided to risk it.  Hopefully, he would be
cooperative and we could spend the night and not have to come back
tonight, which might be cutting our window a little close.

Gareth called Skinner, telling him he wouldn't be in to work the next
day and asking him to tell Kelli and check to see if anything critical
needed attention.  He would be back the day after tomorrow.  Skinner
readily agreed and told us he was taking Kimberly out to dinner the
following night.

We packed one knapsack with clean underwear and two clean shirts, which
I strapped on my back, and at 8:00 PM, we were in the air and away we
went.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
148 WOODVILLE ROAD
WARREN, CT

We touched down in a corn field on Route 341 in Warren, CT, and
proceeded to run the rest of the way, until we found the house with the
mailbox marked '148'.  We stood outside and listened first, hearing
nothing.  We could both feel him inside though.  He was an old vampire,
older than we had anticipated.  Gareth said he was at least 1,000 years
old.  We scanned the property, seeing an old horse barn in the back
yard.  The white clapboard house itself was a two story colonial fronted
by a row of hemlocks.  We approached the front door.  I raised my hand
to knock when the door swung open.  A man who appeared to be in his
early fifties opened the door.  He was tall, at least six foot, but we
both were taller.  He had black salt and pepper hair and brown eyes.
His skin was smooth as glass and pale as the moonlight.  He was dressed
in jeans and a polo shirt.

He merely smiled and stood back, opening his door wider and motioning us
inside.  Gareth nodded acknowledgement and crossed the threshold.  I
followed warily, keeping my eye on Gareth's back.  We said nothing as
Gareth walked the perimeter of the house.  I assumed he was making sure
no one else was there and was reaching out with his senses to make sure
we were alone.  The house was a rambling, old thing with low ceilings.
Both Gareth and I had to duck to go through a couple of the archways
that separated the living room from the dining room, and another that
separated the dining room from the kitchen.  We finally retired to the
den and sat down on a sofa.  Liam sat in a recliner and lifted the leg
rest casually.  We all stared in silence for several moments and finally
Gareth broke the silence.

"Hello, Liam."

"Hello.  I must admit I'm surprised at the speed of your arrival.  I
only sent that letter three days ago."

"We just got it tonight," Gareth replied.

One eyebrow shot up and he said.  "Did you take a flight from D.C.?"

Gareth met his stare and calmly said, "No, we flew."

He looked puzzled for a moment and then understanding dawned on him.
"Holy Christ.  That's a long flight."

"Yes, it was.  Can you fly?"

"Some, not that far though."

"You are old," Gareth said simply.

"You are older," Liam rejoined, smiling at the word play.

Gareth smiled and said, "This is my companion, Alex."

Liam nodded his acknowledgement.  "Hello, Alex.  To answer your question
properly, yes, I'm 1,200 years old.  Why were you looking for me?"

"There's been a change in leadership, and I wanted to know where
everyone was, so they could be accounted for."

"Change in leadership.  I assume that means the old witch, Zebrosia, took
the sun walk?" he asked casually.

He knew of Zebrosia, which validated his age, not that we needed it.
The texture of his skin alone would have given him away.  Gareth said,
"I'm afraid we killed her."

His footrest slammed down and we both tensed.  All he did was lean
forward, very interested now.  "You killed her?" he asked slowly with a
hint of disbelief.  When neither of us said anything, he asked, "Why?"

Gareth shrugged.  "Old feud.  She wouldn't come to my call and hid
herself from me.  I'd been alone too long.  She came after my fledgling
and me ... and I killed her."

He pressed his lips together into a bloodless line and said, "Must have
been quite a fight.  Zebrosia was the oldest to my knowledge.  Now you,
I can tell you are old, but not as old as she was."

"True, but she only had about 50 years on me."

He nodded and looked at Alex.  "You're an enigma.  You're incredibly
strong, but you aren't that old."

I smiled.  "I got to drink from the fount, so to speak."

Understanding dawned.  "Ah, so you are the fledgling."

I nodded.  I figured I'd let Gareth do the talking with this old one.

Gareth said, "I found a rogue Maker in Egypt making fledglings left and
right.  He'd managed to make fifty by the time I found him.  We
destroyed him and fifteen of his loyal followers."

"Jesus.  What did you do with all those fledglings?" he asked.  He
seemed genuinely distressed that they had been made, which was a good
thing.

"We trained them and placed them in my properties around the world.
Alex did most of the training.  You know of the little drink?"  he
asked, changing the subject abruptly.

"Of course, it's how I've lived for years.  Too messy to be disposing of
bodies.  In the old days you could get away with that.  Nowadays, it's
much harder.  Technology and investigations ... too much risk of
exposure."

"That's good to hear.  I'm finding the younger ones were never taught.
We've been following a trail of bodies all over the world, trying to put
a lid on the practice of draining people dry."

"That bad, huh?  I wouldn't have thought there were that many of us
left."

"There wasn't, until Roseman came along."

"He was the rogue Maker?"

"Yes, but he's gone now.  But we had to train the fledglings.  It was no
easy task."

"I'll bet not.  You said properties.  You own that much property?"

"Don't you?" Gareth asked slyly.

He smiled slowly and nodded.  "I own my fair share."

"As Liam Markov?"

"Mostly, but I bury my purchases under dummy corporations."

"Would it be intrusive of me to ask for a list of your properties?"

He laughed now.  "Yes, but I'll tell you anyway.  I don't think you have
any nefarious purpose."

"No, I don't.  I just want to get a handle on our population and what we
own.  This way I can monitor everything.  I have no intention of digging
into your business.  As long as you don't risk exposure of yourself or
others, I really don't care what you do, business-wise."

Liam nodded and stood, leaving the room and returning with a typed sheet
that listed all the properties, addresses, corporations he had created,
officers he had set up for those corporations and various other bits of
miscellaneous information, such as what the properties were worth.
"That was fast," I commented.

"I keep it on my computer," he said.

"Not afraid someone will discover it?" I asked.

He smiled again.  "They'd have to be a master hacker to get into my
computer.  Highly unlikely."

I smiled.  Then he handed Gareth another sheet of paper.  This one
listed three names and addresses.  Gareth tipped it toward me so I could
read it.

Jeremy Coldwell & Leticia Myers
40 Moosehead Lake Trail
Greenville, ME 04441

Chen Saito
Lake Winnipesaukee
1000 Weirs Blvd.
Laconia, NH 03247

Gareth looked up at him and said, "These are the names of the others?"

Liam nodded.  "I've kept track of them.  I knew there were others, but I
never was able to find them.  Of course, I knew of Zebrosia, but she hid
herself well.  And, I knew of you ... Heruben, but again, never could find
you."

Gareth nodded.  "I work at the FBI as Kendall Fair.  Most of my
properties other than the ones in D.C. are in other names.  I mostly go
by Gareth Teti, or Gary Viking."

"Ah, I see.  Short for Heruben Tiy-Teti."

Gareth nodded.  "Someone taught you history."

"My Maker, Cameron.  He was made by Amet."

Gareth frowned.  "I'm sorry to say I killed Amet as well."

"I know.  Cameron survived though.  I don't think Zebrosia knew of him
or she didn't care because she favored Amet.  He'd hidden him away, way
back when.  When Amet died, Cameron was a loner for a long time.  Then
he made me, taught me, schooled me, and then proceeded to kill himself."

"He was replacing himself," Gareth concluded.  It was a statement.

Liam nodded.  "I'm not sure I ever forgave him for that.  But he told me
of Zebrosia and Amet.  He told me of Vanessa and the feud that started
between you too, all the history.  When he died, he had no idea where
Zebrosia or you were located.  He knew of those three on that paper
there, and he gave me their names.  I've kept track of them.  Jeremy and
Leticia have been together for centuries."

"Are they as old as you?"

"Nearly.  I believe Jeremy and Leticia are of an age, probably a
thousand years old.  Chen is younger, maybe eight hundred."

"Still formidable blood drinkers," I added.

He nodded.  "They know of the little drink.  I made sure of it.  They
knew of Zebrosia's prohibition on making fledglings.  None of them has
ever violated it."

"I hold the same rule."

"Understandable."

"However, I'm not as cruel as Zebrosia."

"How so?"

"I don't believe anyone should be alone.  It's too lonely and is what
generally made the ancients take the 'sun walk', as you put it."

He chuckled.  "I'm content ... but I won't lie.  I am lonely."

"Could you and Chen hook up?" I asked.

He smiled.  "Maybe.  We've talked about it, but neither of us wants to
leave our present digs."

I nodded and turned to Gareth.  "What about moving some fledglings?"

Gareth nodded.  "Do you wish for a companion, Liam?"

"Yes," he said roughly.

"Would you care if it was a fledgling?" I asked.

He shook his head.  "No, I know how to teach the young ones."

Gareth held his gaze.  "Would you promise to keep your blood from them
unless I gave you permission?"

He nodded.  "Of course.  I am old, and strong.  I understand the fear."

Gareth nodded.  "This is not to say that if the fledgling proves worthy
or able to handle the power, that I will not give you that permission."

"Understood."

"Do you prefer male or female?" I asked.

He shrugged.  "I don't care either way."

"Who did you have in mind, Alex?" Gareth asked me.

"Tracy or Christina.  They were placed together with Depak, but I think
Tracy and Depak was a pair.  I don't know, but I sensed that Christina
felt like a third wheel."

Gareth nodded.  "Where were they placed?"

"Mexico."  He probably knew this if he thought about it.  He'd given me
the list of his properties.  I knew the fledglings better so I'd talked
to them and decided on the location placements, according to choices and
language and several other factors.

Gareth turned to Liam.  "Christina is a lovely girl.  She was young,
merely 18 when she was made."

"That's barbaric," he said.

We nodded in agreement.  Gareth said, "Nonetheless, she has accepted her
fate, but I will call her and ask if she would mind a replacement with
you.  I've a feeling she'll be delighted.  And you will have your
companion, and Christina will have a companion to call her own, instead
of having to share with Tracy."

His eyes were lit with anticipation already.  "I would be most grateful,
Heruben."

"Call me Gareth, please."

"Or King," I teased.

Liam laughed and Gareth scowled at me.  He turned back to Liam, "He can
be rather precocious in case you hadn't noticed."  We all laughed now
and I found I liked this blood drinker.  He was handsome and well put
together.  He was self-assured.  However, I sensed the loneliness
underneath all that.  It was a look that haunted the eyes.  I was
finding that many blood drinkers, particularly the old ones, had this
loneliness about them.  It was one of the things that struck me about
Gareth when I had met him.  His loneliness spoke to something deep
inside me.  The ones that were alone had that sense of being always
apart, and never really having a love to call your own.

We had each other now and I realized how lucky we were.  Hopefully, we
could alleviate this loneliness for all the blood drinkers in the world.
This Chen would need a companion too.  There were no other threesomes,
but perhaps we could send him two fledglings.  They would have to be
careful and hunt in a wider radius and be sure to use the little drink
always, but it could work.  My mind was flying over the possibilities as
we sat there.

Gareth and Liam made some more small talk and then Gareth picked up the
phone.  He called Clyde Vogel and got the phone number for his property
in Mexico.  We waited in silence while the phone rang.

Our acute hearing picked up the voice on the other end of the line, even
though we were not the ones holding the portable phone.

Gareth said, "Hi, this Gareth."

[Gareth!  How are you?  Good to hear from you.  Is anything wrong?]

"No.  I'm sorry to ask, but is this Christina or Tracy?"

[This is Christina.]

"Just the one I wanted to talk to."

[Why do you want to talk to me?]

Liam and I both smiled, hearing the shyness in her voice.  I'd bet she
was blushing right now.  Gareth had that effect on all the female
fledglings.

"How are things going down there in Mexico?"

[All right,] she said.  We all detected a small note of hesitancy.

"How are Tracy and Depak?"

[Oh, they're fine, like two peas in a pod.]

"Are you inside the pod, or outside the pod?" Gareth asked gently.

She hesitated but then said, [I believe I'm outside the pod, King
Gareth.]

"Just Gareth, darling, please."

[O.K.] she said timidly.

"I know of a blood drinker.  He lives in the States, in Connecticut to
be exact.  He's pretty old."

She laughed.  [That means nothing to us, does it?]

"No, not really, but he's been alone a long time."

We heard her small intake of breath.  [And?]

"And I was wondering if you would be interested in moving again?  I know
you probably haven't even gotten really settled down there, but ..."

[Oh, please!  Yes!  Oh, Kin ... I mean Gareth, that would be great!]

I smiled at Liam who was beaming.  "His name is Liam Markov," Gareth
continued.  "He'd love to have you come live with him.  Shall I make the
arrangements?"

[Yes!  I feel so ... I don't know, left out down here.  And I don't know
the people.  I mean, I speak Spanish but ...]

"I understand, Christina.  I'll call you when I've made arrangements for
your flight.  I'll give your picture to Liam and he will pick you up at
the airport.  All right?"

[That's fine.  What does he look like?] she asked, unable to contain her
curiosity.

Gareth chuckled.  "He was made when he was about 50, Christina, but he's
in fine form, salt and pepper hair, brown eyes.  He's very handsome."

She giggled a little.  [Honestly, I wouldn't care either way.  I just
wanted a description so I would recognize him.]

"You'll know him, little one.  You know how you can feel Tracy and Depak
when they are near?"

[Yeah.]

"Well, the older we are, the more our presence is obvious.  The feeling
is stronger and unless we cloak it, other blood drinkers can feel us
instantly.  He is 1,200 years old, Christina.  You will feel him, and
know he is the one."

She sighed.  [O.K., then, I guess ... what do I have to do?]

"Just pack, Christina.  We'll call you tomorrow with the arrangements."

[Thank you.  I can never repay ...]

"Don't worry about it, little one.  Follow the rules and that's
repayment enough.  Let Liam guide you."

[I can't wait.]

"Good night now, little one.  Better go tell your roommates."

[I will.  I think they will be glad to be rid of me.]

"Oh I doubt that."

[They feel obligated to include me ... I cramp their style.]

Gareth chuckled now.  "Well, you won't be cramping it anymore."

She laughed again.  [Good night, Gareth.  And thank you again.]

"Good night, Christina."  He hung up and returned to the couch.  "I
assume you heard all that?"

Liam was smiling so hard, he almost had a laugh line around the corner
of his mouth.  "Thank you, Gareth.  I'm in your debt."

"Nonsense.  Just watch out for her.  Teach her and protect her."

"Count on it."  He paused and said, "Can I have a picture of her?"

Gareth turned to me.  "You know them better, the details of their
features."

I nodded and closed my eyes, conjuring a picture of Christina as she
practiced her jumps.  I pictured her from the front, arms spread, feet
off the ground, crouching as she came in for landing, her light blonde
hair tumbling softly over the back of her shoulders, her plump breasts
straining the cotton of her tight tee shirt, her hip hugger pants
showing just a hint of her tiny hip bones.  When I had the image fixed
in my mind, I opened my eyes and looked straight at Liam, locking my
eyes with his and sent him the image.  He was not blocking me, so I slid
into his head easily.  I left the image and retreated, not looking
around at all, or invading further.

He gasped slightly.  "She's lovely."

I smiled.  "She's an eager pupil too.  She wants to learn."

He grinned.  "I'll teach whatever she wants to know," he said gaily.

We all chuckled and Gareth asked, "Can we stay the night?"

"Yes, of course.  I have my bedroom blacked out upstairs.  We'll have to
share the bed."

"That's all right," I commented.


PART 7 (PG)
KENDALL FAIR'S ESTATE
FALLS CHURCH, VA
THE NEXT EVENING

So we spent the night and left early the next evening to fly home.  We
arrived home around 9:00 PM.  I went about booking a flight for
Christina from Mexico to Bradley International Airport.  When it was
set, I called and gave her the information, and then called Liam.

I then booked flights for New Hampshire and Maine.  Gareth had a cabin
in Maine, so we could set up shop there, but I had to rent a cabin on
Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.

Before we could pack up for that trip though, we received a frantic
phone call.

I picked up the phone and Scully's voice exploded into my ear.  [Oh my
God, you have to get over here to Skinner's place, right now!]

"Scully?" I asked.

Gareth was on his feet and standing next to me as I talked on the phone
from our desk in the Study.

[Alex, there was a bounty hunter here, when he got home from his date
with Kim.]

"What happened?"

[They fought.  We were coming over to have drinks with him and Kim and
walked in on it.  Mulder always carries his ice pick now.]

I knew what she meant, the alien device that was like a switchblade ice
pick.  It killed them instantly if you could find the right spot on the
back of their neck.

"Is he dead?" I asked, a lump forming in my throat.  I sent up a silent
prayer.  'Please God, no, don't let him be dead.'

[No, but he's hurt bad, Alex.  He's burned bad ... oh God, please get over
here.]

"On my way," I said and hung up.

Gareth had heard the entire exchange.  We raced for the door, not even
bothering with coats and were in the air five seconds later.  We made it
to Skinner's apartment building in less than ten minutes and bypassed the elevator, taking the stairs and racing to the third floor.  The door to 3C was closed, but we turned the handle and burst into the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
WALTER SKINNER'S APARTMENT
ARLINGTON, VA

Kimberly was there and she screamed involuntarily at our sudden arrival.
I kicked the door closed behind me and zeroed in on Walter, lying on the
couch.  Scully looked up from hovering over him.  Her eyes said it all.
It was hopeless.  There was nothing she could do for him.  Mulder came
in from the kitchen with zip lock bags full of ice, which they were
putting on various parts of his body to try and numb the sting of the
acid burns.

I walked to him and Scully backed away.  I met his eyes.  They were
frightened but resigned.  A large patch of skin on the side of his right
cheek was burned away, leaving the gaping wound of raw flesh exposed.

Gareth stood beside me.  I looked at Kim and then at Scully.  Scully got
the hint and said, "Kim, let's go upstairs for a minute."

"No!" she hollered.  "I'm not leaving him!"

Scully took her gently by the shoulders.  Kim was visibly trembling from
shock.  "Kim, let's go, honey.  If anyone can help, Alex can."

"I don't trust him!" she shouted.  But she yielded to Scully's gentle
guidance and they made their way upstairs.

He looked awful.  I asked Gareth, "What first?"

"Take a little drink, Alex, about a half a mouthful.  See what the
damage is."

I nodded and sat my butt cheek on the edge of the couch.  I looked into
his eyes.  "I have to drink, Walter, to see how bad it is."

He nodded slightly, no fear in his eyes toward me, only for the acid
continuing to eat away his skin.  I gently cradled his head and tipped
it sideways.  I struck quickly, hoping to lessen the pain.  My fangs
were razor sharp and it was like getting a needle, but it didn't really
hurt.  The neck was sensitive though and he grunted slightly as I
penetrated the skin.  I sank into his mind, which had no barrier against
me.  I sucked in his blood, tasting awful from the acid in his blood
stream.  I felt it burn my mouth and nearly choked.

I saw in my head what was happening.  There was too much, it was all
through his blood stream and was eating through his veins and arteries.
They would erode any minute now and he would bleed to death internally.

I gently pulled back and looked up at Gareth and shook my head.  "It's
all through him, his blood - it's eating away the vessels.  He hasn't
got much time left."

I couldn't believe he was still conscious.  Gareth swallowed hard and
shooed me away.  He took my place and stared into Walter's eyes.  "How
long?" he asked me.

"Ten minutes at the most," I said quietly and glanced at Mulder.  He was
making no effort to hide the tears running down his cheeks.  He wiped
them with his sleeve and sniffled.

Gareth turned back to Walter.  "You have ten minutes, Walter. I can hear
you if you talk in your head.  Tell me what you want."

No one else knew what was happening, but I knew Gareth had slipping into
his mind.  "Do you need to tell anyone anything?"

We were all surprised when he moved his deteriorating mouth and croaked,
"Save me.  I'm begging you."

Gareth's eyes slammed shut, but then he swallowed hard and opened them.
"Do you know what you're asking?"

"Y...eesss ... please ... don't let it ... end like this," he croaked.

"It's eternity, Walter."

"I know ... " his ragged voice whispered into the room.  Then he started
choking.

Gareth looked at me, silently asking my opinion.

**Your call, Gareth.**

**His blood will wound us too much and we won't be able to heal if we
both feed.**

**I'll help.  We can slash our wrists, let him drink that way.  Get the
process started.  Once it's started, it can't be reversed, right?**

**Right.  He'll be in a lot of pain.**

**He's in a lot of pain now.  I can't believe he's conscious.**

Gareth nodded.  Out loud, he asked, "One more time, Walter.  Are you
sure?  There's no going back."

His head nodded ever so slightly and he croaked.  "Pleeeaaaassseeee."

Gareth's fangs extended quickly and he slashed his wrist all in one
motion.  I heard Mulder gasp behind me, "Jesus."

He ripped at his wrist again, creating a huge slash, and squeezed behind
his wrist.  Blood poured from the wound and over Walter's exposed face.
It sizzled and Walter screamed.  The sound was eerie, the screaming and
the sizzling.

I pulled his pants down and saw the wounds on his legs where the skin
was turning a mottled green color.  I followed suit and slashed my
wrist, letting the blood drip into the few open sores on his legs.

"His mouth?" I asked.

"I'm afraid he'll choke," Gareth said.  He said to Walter, "Can you
swallow?"

"..eeesss," he croaked.

I moved around to stand at the arm of the couch and look down from above
his head.  I ripped my wrist open wider and quickly moved it to his
mouth, feeling the acid that was on his lips burn my skin.  I flinched
but said, "Drink, Walter."

I felt him suck lightly and swallow.  He gagged a little, but then got
into a rhythm.  Apparently, his scream had been the last straw for
Kimberly and she broke away from Scully and can running into the room.

"What you are doing?" she shrieked, heading straight for me.
Fortunately, Mulder was quicker than she was and wrapped his arms around
her from behind as she raced by him and lifted her feet right off the
floor.  "Put me down you bastard!" she shrieked again.

Scully, now seven months pregnant, made it the bottom of the stairs and
went briskly to Kim, taking her by the shoulders, while Mulder continued
to restrain her.

Scully took her cheeks in her hands and forced Kim to meet her gaze.
"If they don't help, Kim, he will DIE.  Do you understand?  He's going
to DIE if they don't help.  You HAVE to trust me on this."

Kimberly's face crumpled into a mask of despair, her mouth hung open and
a sound like a wounded animal left her throat.  It sent chills down my
spine.  Then she was sobbing, her body wracked with the shuddering
convulsions of the truly grief stricken.  I realized this had been their
first date.

Hell of a first date, Walter.  Way to show the lady a good time, I
thought ironically.  She'd just found out Walter was interested in her,
and now she might lose him.  When she realized what he was, if she
realized it later, she might lose him anyway.  We'd have to see how that
worked out.  I knew Gareth wouldn't be comfortable with yet another
person knowing who and what we were, but if Walter wanted Kimberly in
his life, there might be no avoiding it.

I turned back to the task at hand, convinced Scully and Mulder had Kim
under control.  Her eyes were darting to us, and I realized she would
realize in a second what we were doing.  The couch partially blocked her
view, but not entirely.  My wound was closing up, so I pulled my wrist
away and Walter moaned.

"Don't worry, just gotta open it up again, Walt," I assured him.

Gareth said, "I'll do the mouth this time.  Lick those burns."

I held up my wrist and realized the skin around the wound was mottled
and burnt from the acid and stinging like a son-of-a-bitch.  I let
saliva collect in my mouth and then began licking the area over and over
until the wound closed.

Gareth slashed his wrist again.  His wounds healed even faster than mine
and put his wrist to Walter's mouth, hissing slightly as he felt the
burn of the acid for the first time.

When he hissed, his fangs were clearly visible and I heard Kim gasp and
mutter, "Oh Jesus Christ, what is he?"

I turned and said, "Get her out of here, Scully."

She nodded and she and Mulder began taking Kimberly into the kitchen.
She tried to protest, twisting in Mulder's arms, but she was no match
for Mulder's iron grip around her waist.  He had her in a bear hug from
behind.

I tuned in and could hear Scully talking softly.  "Kim, I know what you
saw was frightening, but you have to believe me.  They are helping him."

"What the fuck are they?" she asked, her voice a frightened whine.

Scully said, "I can't tell you that, Kim.  It's not my place, but I
think they will tell you later.  They know you saw them ... as they really
are."

"There's no such things as ..."

I heard Mulder say, "Sound familiar?"

Scully snorted and Kim said, "I don't think this is funny!"

"We're not laughing at the situation, Kim," Scully quickly assured her.
"Mulder is just commenting on my proclivity to be skeptical, even when
my eyes tell me something ... I can doubt it."

There was silence for several moments and then she said, "Is he going to
die?"

Mulder said softly, "No, but he won't be exactly the same man, Kim."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll let him tell you, all right?  Just know that he isn't going to
die."

He was going to die actually, or his human physicality was going to die,
but that was splitting hairs.  He had a lot of our blood in him now,
both mine, and Gareth's.  We took turns feeding him until we were
slightly weak.  His wounds had closed, but the healing was still going
on inside, and the dying of his human body was taking place at the same
time.  He was in a lot of pain, but he was taking it stoically, as he
took everything else.

An occasional moan did escape him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

We helped them clean up the burnt carpet where the alien had fallen.
Gareth and I moved Walter up to his bed.  We stayed with him through the
night, and then returned home to catch some sleep.  Gareth slept his
requisite three hours and returned to Walter, asking Mulder to buy black
out blinds for all the windows in his apartment.  Mulder did and Scully
hung them all.

When night fell, I woke up, went out and fed till I was stuffed to the
gills, and then I went to his apartment and joined Gareth.  He needed
another night before we could move him.  Then we were taking him to
Falls Church, where we could better take care of him and not worry about
the sunlight.

We were both aware that we were breaking our own rules.  It was an easy
trap to fall into, steeping humans in the blood because they were going
to die.  Who was to say who was worthy and who was not?  Gareth wore his
guilt like a mantle.  He felt like a hypocrite.

"God, Alex, maybe this was a mistake," he said quietly, while Walter
finally slept, infused with our blood once again.

"I don't think so," I replied.  We were whispering so softly, the human
ear wouldn't even hear us.

He swallowed.  "I don't know ... I just couldn't let him die, Alex.  I
looked into his eyes and I saw something there ... a will so strong ... and
a ... faith in me that was scary."

I stood behind the chair he was sitting in at the side of the bed.  I
rubbed his shoulders and caressed him, letting him know I was there for
him.  "He knew you wouldn't let him die if you could help it."

"Yeah, but where does it end, Alex?  Do I save every human in my life?"

I sighed.  I knew what he was saying.  "No, but some of them are
special.  Would you let Mulder or Scully die if they'd been in the same
situation?"

"I don't think I could."

"Exactly."

"But how can I tell the others they can't make a fledgling?"

"You didn't say that, you just said they needed your permission," I
reminded him.

"But what if there wasn't time?  Like this, no one could have time to
contact me and still save the person."

I sighed again.  "You're playing the 'what-if' game, Gareth, and you'll
drive yourself crazy if you continue.  IF someone were to make a
fledgling without permission, and IF there were extenuating
circumstances, I'm sure you would not punish them as long as they were
honest about it."

He was silent so I continued.  "We both know there are exceptions to
EVERY rule.  Don't beat yourself up, Gareth.  I confess to having wild
thoughts about what a great vampire Walter would make."

He turned to look at me over his shoulder.  "You would," he said, a
twinkle in his eye.  I smiled at him, feeling affection steal over me.

"What's done is done, Gareth.  Like you said, there's no going back
now."

"I know.  I'll get over it," he said.

"When can we move him?"

"Not tonight, I don't think.  Probably tomorrow."

"Where's Kim?" I asked.

"Downstairs in the kitchen, fixing herself a sandwich.  She hasn't left
his side, Alex."

"She really loves him, doesn't she?"

"Yes, and that's another problem.  Will he be able to watch her grow old
and die?  This is where getting emotionally involved with humans gets
real sticky."

"Are you already anticipating him asking to steep her in the blood?"

"Eventually, he will ask that question.  Or, he will just do it, because
his heart won't let him do anything else."  I sidestepped the chair to
walk in front of him.  I sat in his lap sideways and he put his arms
around my waist.  "I can't imagine being without you now, Alex."

I smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.  "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know.  So I ask myself ... how can I deny this to anyone else?"

"Maybe you can't.  But that doesn't mean you don't need to be cautious
or that you need to retract that rule for the others.  Maybe just take
up those extenuating circumstances one by one.  If it bothers you THAT
much, put out the word that you won't punish them for extenuating
circumstances."

"That wouldn't work.  Everybody may have a different idea of
'extenuating circumstances.'"

"True.  I don't know what to tell you there.  Sometimes ... it sucks to be
the King," I teased.

He chuckled finally and I was glad I could pull him out of the black
hole he'd been sinking into.  He kissed me hard on the lips and shoved
me off his lap.  "You're a treasure, Pet."

He stood and went to the bed, pulling the covers down and checking
Walter's naked body.  All his external wounds were healed now except for
a tiny spot on his cheek.  What little hair he had had turned to a
glossy sheen and his wrinkles were still visible, but were smoothing
out.  You could still see the laugh lines around the corners of his
mouth and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes.

Gareth put the covers back up and Kim came into the room.  "How's he
doing?" she asked.  She didn't know what to make of us being here.  She
knew in her heart what had happened, but she was having hard time
accepting it.  She was fascinated and afraid all at the same time.  All
this I read in her without ever having to scan her.  She wore her heart
and feelings on her sleeve and her body language was like an open book.

Gareth turned to her, his mane of hair, having not been shorn that day,
hanging to his waist. I saw her eyes travel over it where it cascaded
down his back.  She was not used to seeing all that hair.  It startled
most people.  It was so beautiful.  "He's doing well.  He's sleeping
now.  He's healed enough that the major pain is passed.  He'll still
hurt for a couple of weeks, but it will be tolerable.  He won't be in
agony ... unless ..."

"Unless what?" she asked.

He held her eyes for a moment.  "Unless the sun hits him.  Be sure to
keep these blinds closed at all times."

She nodded warily.  "Is he ... God, I can't even comprehend it."

Gareth said, "We might as well answer your questions now.  I know you
won't be satisfied unless we do.  I'd rather you have the truth than
imagine all sorts of horrors.  And I need something from you too."

"What could you possibly need from me?"

"An oath," he said simply.

"You'd better explain," she said.

"Do you know what we are, Kimberly?"

She nodded hesitantly.  "I didn't want to believe it, but ... I saw it
with my own eyes.  I don't understand it, but I saw it."

Gareth nodded.  "We're blood drinkers.  What you humans in your
mythology call vampires.  Problem is that many of the myths are untrue."

"Which ones?" she asked innocently.

Gareth laughed at this quietly and said.  "We'll get to that.  The main
point is that we need for you to know that we are not vicious killers.
We do need blood, but we don't kill to get it.  We have other ways.  And
our main protection is that most humans don't believe we exist."

"Obviously, somebody knows you exist."

"Yes, and they are few, and they have all sworn oaths of silence.  We
need to extract that promise from you, Kimberly.  You can never tell
another soul about what you know or saw here the other night."

She nodded.  "Who would believe me?"

"That may be a point, however, it wouldn't take much for some people to
hunt us down for experiments and we don't want that.  Exposure is our
greatest enemy.  You can talk only to others that know what you know,
and that circle is very small."

"Agents Mulder and Scully," she said.

"Yes, and Walter, of course, and us.  We will answer any questions you
have within reason, but I need you to swear your silence about our
existence."

She nodded.

"Say it," he prompted.

She gulped and then said, "I swear I'll never tell another soul that
doesn't already know who or what you are."

He nodded and smiled.  "Thank you.  I do have to tell you that I'm a
generous man, however, on the subject of our exposure, I'm not."

"Meaning?"

"I never want to hurt humans, Kim, but if we are in danger of being
exposed, I have no choice."

"In other words, you'd kill me."

He held her gaze for a moment and then nodded firmly.  "Yes, I'm afraid
I would.  I wouldn't want to do it and I wouldn't be happy about it, but
the welfare of our race has to come first.  But as long as you stay
silent, you have nothing to fear from me, Kim.  I will protect you as I
protect Mulder and Scully, and as I've protected Walter."

"I understand.  What does this mean for ... us?" She was looking at
Walter.

"I'm afraid that will be his decision."

"You are capable though of ..."

I smiled.  "Being with a human?  Yes, we are, but we are ... uh ... larger
than a human, and so some precautions have to be taken."

"We haven't been intimate yet," she said, blushing, obviously
embarrassed about the topic, but needing to know.

Gareth said simply.  "He'll have to wear a condom, otherwise he could
accidentally turn you.  You can never receive his blood.  That will turn
you.  His saliva cannot hurt you, it will heal you in fact.  He will
probably need to partially hypnotize you to have sex with you."

"Why?" she asked, sounding distressed about that.

"So he doesn't hurt you," I said.

Her brow puckered and I wondered how much of this Gareth would explain
to her.  Finally, he said.  "Look, you want it straight?"

She nodded, still looking slightly embarrassed.  "Yeah, I need to know
if we have a future."

Gareth nodded.  "Kimberly, his equipment will be huge, and it grows
bigger as we stay aroused, so big in fact, that we can tear tissues in a
human.  Do you understand?"

She nodded, looking slightly fearful now.

"But if the woman is excited first and we can start before we grow too
large, sex is possible.  If we do tear someone, then we can heal them
with our saliva.  Hypnosis is necessary so that you feel no pain, only
pleasure, even if you tear.  The tear is not permanent and can be healed
immediately afterwards.  You do not need to be hypnotized to the point
where you don't know what's going on, or that you won't remember the
experience.  But the hypnosis for the pain is for your protection.  I
will teach Walter how to do this.  Do you understand?"

She gulped again and nodded.  "Sounds complicated."

He smiled.  "It is, a little bit, but not to us.  We get used to it.
The thing is, when we get excited ... our true nature comes out."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Our fangs extend, we hiss, which is an unearthly sound to most humans
and can scare the bejesus out of them."

She smiled quickly but couldn't hold it.  He continued.  "And we can
become rather ... feral, for lack of a better word.  And our sexual
appetite is ... well, let's just say our libido is in overdrive, 24/7."

She did laugh softly at that.  "What would that mean for me?"

"It will be Walter's problem.  I do have to warn you though.  It's hard
for a blood drinker to ... have only one person to satisfy his needs."

Her face fell.  "Are you saying he would need more than one woman?"

Gareth hesitated.  "He might.  Or another man," he added quietly.

Her eyes widened at that.  "Walter is not homosexual!"

I grinned.  "Neither was I," said plainly.  She knew we were a couple.

"Oh, Christ," she muttered.

Gareth said, "Another blood drinker can handle the lust of a blood
drinker, but a human often cannot.  I'm just warning you, Kimberly, of
the potential problems you could run into if you decide to have a
relationship with Walter."

"I have to think about all you've told me."

"I understand," Gareth replied.  It was about 3:00 AM now.

She said, "I'm tired, but ..."

"You can lie with him.  He is healed for the most part.  He will
experience discomfort as his body changes, but our strong blood will
make it bearable."

"He wouldn't ... need to ... "

I smiled gently at her.  "No.  He won't need to feed.  And he wouldn't
attack you.  We do have control over our impulses.  We are feeding him,
so he won't be craving blood.  You have no fears there.  You can lie
with him if you wish."

"Could you leave for a bit?"

We nodded, knowing she probably wanted to undress.  We left without
saying anything more and went downstairs to sit on the couch.  I saw
that Mulder and Scully or maybe Kim had already replaced the remnant
carpet in the living room.

"What do you think?" I asked Gareth.

"About Kim?" he clarified.

"Yeah, is she a danger?"

"I don't think she'll talk if that's what you mean.  She's not a gossip
anyway.  Although this is traumatic for her, she loves him, Alex.  I
think she's way past the point where she could walk away from him.  I'm
just afraid she'll be hurt, emotionally, by his needs."

"You never know.  It's amazing what the human psyche can adjust to if
given a little time."

"True.  Maybe he will be able to slake his lust with her.  It will
depend on how willing she is to do it, knowing she may be hurt.  Even
knowing you're going to be healed and knowing you won't feel the pain,
the thought of being hurt is daunting."

"Especially for women," I added.

He nodded.  "Yes, especially for women."


PART 8 (NC-17)
KENDALL FAIR'S ESTATE
FALLS CHURCH, VA

We moved Walter the next night and set him up in our bedroom.  I stayed
with him constantly, while Kendall returned to work.  If he was away too
much, people asked too many questions.  He was beginning to wonder if he
should bother working there anymore, or if he should quit and tend to
all the other business going on in our lives.  We still had to visit the
three other blood drinkers and talk with them.

We still had to check on the progress of the Consortium members and make
trips to see them too.  He was out of vacation time and wondering if the
pretense was worth the effort at this point.  The plus side was that he
had the inside track on what was going on in the FBI.  Then again, once
Walter was on his feet, perhaps they could have him transferred into
Kendall's position and he would have all the safeguards of Kendall's
office that were installed against the sunlight, and they could hire
another D.D. to replace Skinner.

We considered approaching Mulder and seeing if he would like to be an
A.D. or a D.D.  We knew we could put him there with a little selective
hypnosis.  With the baby coming, he might want to be more of a homebody
and not so much in the field.  These were all things we needed to talk
about and take care of.  If Skinner remained, we would still have an
inside track in the Bureau.

We finally made our trips to see the 'others'.  They were cooperative
and we were relieved that there had been no struggles like the ones we'd
encountered in Egypt.  These were blood drinkers that simply wanted to
live their lives in peace.  We transferred two more fledglings down from
Canada to stay with Chen.  He was as delighted as Liam had been.

Liam and Christine had called to tell us how wonderfully everything was
working out and that they loved being together.  That had made us feel
good.  We continued to get the papers and skim them for unusual deaths.
Gareth was sure we had located all the blood drinkers now, but you never
knew when one of the fledglings might lose control and overstep their
bounds.  He was duty bound now to keep an eye on their activities and
make sure this now large population of blood drinkers didn't endanger
our existence.  It was a daunting task at best, but he seemed to fall
into the role of teacher/protector/King with ease.

Walter improved steadily, and was on his feet by the time we left for
New Hampshire.  We'd helped him to move into Gareth's townhouse in
Georgetown.  It didn't make sense to convert his apartment when he
didn't own it.  Plus, the townhouse was already equipped with the black
out room with the steel door.  He insisted on paying rent, and Gareth
had laughed at him, saying, "Don't be ridiculous."

We made him promise not to do anything while we were away for a few
days.  We'd drained our blood into IV bags and left enough for him to
use while we were gone.  We didn't want him hunting by himself.  We
hadn't had time to teach him all the nuances yet.

We returned as quickly as we could and took up our nightly training with
Walter.  He was alternately amazed and fearful of his newfound strength
and powers.  He was incredibly strong, having taken blood from both
Gareth and I.  We were still stronger, having drunk each other's
'steeped' blood.  We'd agreed not to do that with Walter.

I remembered the first time I'd sunk my fangs into Gareth's breast and
sucked the nearly crystallized blood from his muscle tissue.  The
euphoria that had swept through me nearly made me swoon.  It was this
ancient, crystallized, steeped blood that gave us the porcelain texture
to our skin, the hard feel of our muscles.  It was this blood that was
the strongest and most powerful.  It was this blood that enabled me to
increase my powers ten fold in a matter of weeks when we were preparing
for the battle with Zebrosia.  It was this blood from Zebrosia that made
Gareth and I the King and Prince of the Blood Drinkers.  It was this
blood that made us the undisputed Rulers of the Undead.

We would share it with no one.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
WALTER SKINNER'S TOWNHOUSE
GEORGETOWN, D.C.

"I can't get used to calling this place mine," I said to Kimberly.

She smiled and relaxed on the couch with a cup of tea.  She still hadn't
left my side since this whole thing happened.  I found that rather
amazing.  "Come sit with me, Walter."

I crossed the room, having to consciously slow myself down.  It was
tempting to rush everywhere and feel the rush of speed that I could
experience now, moving faster than the eye could see.  But I didn't want
to frighten Kimberly.  She was important to me.  Whether or not I could
have her in my life romantically now, her friendship was important to
me.

I sat down next to her, ever conscious of my newfound strength and
weight.  My body felt denser and heavier, but I could walk without a
sound.  It was eerie to me at first, but I was getting used to it.  I
looked younger, all the wrinkles having smoothed away with the infusion
of this immortal blood.  All my senses were now acute, and I could hear
the whoosh of her blood in her veins if I listened.  I could hear the
beat of her heart, and the whisper of her breaths as she breathed in and
out.

She sat her cup down on the table and turned sideways towards me.  "I
talked with Kendall ... uh, Gareth and Alex."

"About what?" I asked.

"About us," she said simply.

I knew I looked surprised, but couldn't help it.  "About us?"

"Yeah.  I asked if we had a future and they ... "

"What did they say?"

"They said it was up to us, but that it wouldn't be easy."

"Kim, we'd only had one date.  I'll understand if you can't continue
this with me being ... what I am now.  Lord knows it's a shock to me and I
wanted it ... begged for it even, but ..."

"I want you, Walter," she said plainly.

I sucked in a breath, feeling my cock stiffen inside my jeans.  "Oh
God," I moaned softly.

"I want to find a way to make it work.  Did they talk to you about ...
vampire ... and human sex?" she finished finally.

I nodded.  "Yes, but I thought they were wasting their time.  I didn't
think you'd want to continue that part of our relationship.  We hadn't
gotten anywhere near that part ... one date for Christ's sake.  And look
how it ended!"

She laughed.  "Never a dull moment with you, Walter, I will say that,"
she deadpanned.

We laughed together this time.  Our mirth died and she reached out to
palm my face.  I sucked in a breath, feeling arousal tingle through me.
She said, "I'm in love with you, Walter.  I have been for a long time.
I can't just turn that off, no matter what's happened to you."

"I'm not the same anymore, Kim, but in here I am," I said, pointing to
my chest.  "I didn't want to admit it, but ... I did."

"What?"

"I love you, Kim.  What I've become ... it doesn't shut that off either."

She smiled sadly but then we drifted closer.  My hands cradled her waist
as she brought her lips to brush against mine.  The feeling was electric
and I felt it zip through me, stiffening me again.  I groaned into her
mouth and fell into her, kissing her harshly, then pulling back, trying
not to be too rough.

She didn't seem to mind though, and kissed me back just as ferociously,
her tongue dancing with mine.  Her lips moved against mine, sending
bolts of sensation through me.  She pulled away, panting.  "I want to
try this."

I blinked, trying to rein in my arousal.  "I'm afraid."

"Have you hypnotized before?"

"I practiced when they were training me.  They took me out and taught me
how to ..."

"It's all right, you can say it."

"They taught me how to feed ... and how to hypnotize them so they wouldn't
remember or feel anything."

"Did it work?"

"It seemed to," I said quietly.

She laughed at my hesitancy.  "I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose,
Walter."

"If it hurts, you have to tell me, Kim.  I'll do everything I can to
stop.  Please don't let me hurt you."

She smiled gently and kissed me softly.  She stood up and held out her
hand.  I took it and followed her up the stairs to the darkened bedroom.
I could see in the blackness but she couldn't and so I lit a candle on
the bedside table.  It flickered and made shadows on the walls.  I
slowly undressed her, caressing her with my eyes.

She asked suddenly, "What happened to your glasses?"

I smiled.  "I don't need them anymore.  My eyesight is perfect."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I need to get a pair that are clear, no script, to wear at work."

"Yeah, I guess people would wonder why you suddenly no longer needed
them."

"Exactly.  I could put out a rumor about having eye surgery and then get
rid of them."

"More work than it's worth, I think," she said, her hands sliding up my
torso.

"Ohhhh, Kim, touch me."

Her hands began to wander once we were naked, and she gasped at the
sight of my cock.  It was its normal length of nine inches, but I knew
it would grow.  I had already experienced that while masturbating.
"You're magnificent, Walter."

"I need to start soon, Kim, or I won't be able to."

She nodded and crawled onto the bed, lying on her back.  I straddled
her, my cock lying on her stomach and leaned over to suckle her breasts.
She moaned and arched her back.  I slid a hand down to her juncture and
hissed when I felt her slick folds part like a flower at the coaxing of
my fingers. "I'm ready," she whispered.

I reached over to the nightstand and pulled out the condoms I'd recently
bought.  I ripped one off the strip, used my teeth to open it and
quickly slid it over my heated, engorged flesh.  I took up a position
between her legs and she raised them to wrap them around my hips.

"Look at me," I said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She did and I stared into her eyes, sending her the hypnotic suggestion.
**All you will see are my normal teeth, all you will feel is pleasure.
Any pain will turn to pleasure.  Every time I grow, you will orgasm.
Any tearing will cause an orgasm.**

I almost felt guilty planting that last one, but that's what I'd been
told to do.  She smiled and said, "Now, Walter."

I put the enormous glans of my cock against her tiny cunt and pressed
inside, feeling myself throb and grow longer and wider.  She moaned and
a quick orgasm shot through her, as I pushed steadily inside.  A warm,
hard pulse went through me, ending in my cock and I felt myself lengthen
and grow wider still.  She choked on a sob, "Oh, fuck, Walter."  And her
sheath vibrated on my penetrating rod.

I slid into her mind, unable to resist and felt her being seized by a
lust so terrible that she was determined to take me.  She would die just
for this moment with me.  I felt her warmth and love too. She couldn't
believe she was here with me.  I moaned at her adoration, knowing I
didn't deserve it.  She lifted her hips suddenly and thrust herself up
onto my throbbing cock and I slid further inside, stretching her,
hurting her.  My hips jerked in reaction to her lust and punched further
inside, ripping her and she screamed.  But the pain wasn't there and her
ecstasy was immediate as she climaxed again.

I filled her with my cock, stuffed her to bursting and bottomed out
against cervix, feeling her walls clench and release again.  She had
climaxed four times just from my penetration.  My head swam with lust.
I was now about eleven inches long, and had fit most of myself inside.
I began to pump, moaning at the tightness of her walls around my girth.
She seemed to suck on me as I retreated, trying to hold me in.

I felt my nipples harden and my spine tingle as I sent my cock rushing
home into her, over and again. I opened my mouth to moan and a loud hiss
emerged, "Hhhhhhhhgggggggggggggggkkkkkkkkkkkkkk."  My fangs extended at
the same moment and I snapped my head down to look at her. I had
startled myself.  She had no reaction so I assumed my hypnosis had
worked.

I was rapidly losing my control and began to pump in and out of her more
quickly, tempering my impact as best I could.  My heavy balls slapped
against her ass as I drilled her hard and deep. I howled when I felt
another throb and felt my cock extend another half inch or so.  I
swelled wider and felt her walls constrict tighter around my stretched
skin.

She wailed and began to orgasm, her muscles clamping onto my rock hard
cock.  She was stretched to the limit and every muscle spasm gripped my
entire length with the strength of a cock ring.

I shoved myself into her with terrible force, feeling my grip loosening
on my control.  I was burying myself to the balls and I knew I was too
large.  I felt something let loose and I sunk deeper.  She screamed and
had another orgasm.  I realized something inside had torn.

I felt remorse but it was overridden by my incredible lust.  I was
moving in and out of her like a battering ram, feeling my rock hard
glans, the size of a big apple stretching her cervix to a thin membrane
as my cock punched up towards her womb.  I took a deep breath and slowed
down.  I could smell her blood from the torn tissue and I inhaled deeply
and growled around my new protruding fangs.

She was panting and flushed as she slowed with me to match my stride.  I
croaked out, "I have to cum soon."

She nodded, clearly not feeling the pain and for that I was grateful.
She said in a breathless voice, "Let me turn over."

I groaned as I retreated from her tunnel, watching my blood streaked
cock emerge inch and after inch.  I was huge now, pushing a foot long.
She moaned and rolled over, offering her ass to me.

I lowered myself, shaking with lust, and my cock forged a burning path
back into her tight sheath, opening her body without mercy.  I was
careful not to ram into her and I bottomed out against her cervix again.
I could push deeper this way and the feeling was exquisite.  I pushed
hard, pinning her hips to the mattress and stretching her cervix to the
limit.  I felt that near painful throb again and felt my skin stretch ...
wider, longer.  I was hard as steel.  She screamed and peaked again.

She suddenly reached between us and cupped my aching balls in her tiny
hand.  She squeezed and I roared and plunged in and out of her.  Thirty
seconds later, I felt my cock ejaculate like a fire hose.  She began to
orgasm again.  My thrusts pushed her deeper into her orgasm and it went
on and on as I emptied my gigantic balls into her little body.  She
trembled with me till the last drop and I collapsed on top of her.

I realized I was about to lose the condom, and carefully retracted
myself, holding it gently and removed it, throwing it in the trash.  She
rolled over looking content.

I grabbed some tissues and cleaned myself off.  Then I settled between
her thighs, lifting them over my shoulders.  She gazed at me with such
love and trust, I felt my eyes sting with unshed tears.

I lowered my mouth to her tender lips and began licking, groaning at the
taste of her innocent blood.  I elongated my tongue and snaked it inside
her, carefully licking her walls.  She moaned and writhed under my
mouth, bucking into me.  Before I was done with clean up, she vibrated
on my tongue, finding another release.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I didn't even remember it, but I realized my fangs were not extended.  I
wondered if they retracted after I came.  They'd warned me to be careful
kissing her after my fangs extended.

I slid up her body and off to the side.  I rolled onto my back and
pulled her up to lie on my body.  She kissed me tenderly, her eyelids
drooping.  "That was the best sex I've ever had," she muttered.  "God,
Walter, that was mind-blowing.  I think once before I came twice.  That
was, Christ I had nine orgasms.  I was counting.  And that last one;
Jesus Christ, I almost passed out."

"I don't deserve you, Kim."

She slapped my hard chest gently.  "Shush.  I won't hear any more of
that talk.  You may be, uh, enhanced."  We both chuckled.  "But you're
still my Walter."

My Walter.  I felt tears sting the back of my eyelids again.  I pulled
her up and kissed her gently, feeling my cock stir and willing it to
stay down.  "I love you, Kimberly," I said roughly.

"I love you too, Walter.  We'll make this work."

I smiled tenderly at her, kissed her again and watched as her head went
to my chest and she fell into a deep sleep.  I hummed with contentment.
Maybe things could work out after all.



EPILOGUE (PG)
TWO MONTHS LATER
KENDALL FAIR'S OFFICE
HOOVER BUILDING
WASHINGTON, D.C.
6:00 PM

I picked up my cell phone on the first ring.  "Hi," I answered, having
seen the home number on the Caller I.D. readout.

[Hi.  Can you come home early tonight?]

"What's going on, Alex?" I asked, hearing the urgency in his voice.

[I just got a call from Dr. Sullivan.  We may have had a breakthrough
with the vaccine.  I don't want to go into it over the phone, but I took
down the data.  I want you to look at it as soon as possible and call
him back.]

I looked at my watch.  "I have one more appointment.  I can leave in
about a half an hour.  It will be dusk by then anyway."

[See you soon.]  He hung up without saying goodbye.  I stared at the
handset a moment, shaking my head at his impatience.  Then I smiled.
God, I loved him so, more every day.  His youthful enthusiasm kept me
fresh and alive and feeling like I could conquer the world.

A knock sounded on the outer door and I called out, "Come in."

Kelli stuck her head in the door.  "Sorry to disturb you, Sir."

"No problem.  What is it?"

"I just got a call from Agent Mulder."

I sat up straighter in my chair.  "Is something wrong?" I asked,
genuinely concerned.

She smiled.  "No, something's right.  Agent Scully just went into labor.
He's leaving to take her to the hospital."

I smiled broadly.  "O.K.  Thanks for telling me, Kelli.  Did they go to
D.C. General?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't go there if I were you, Sir."

"Why not?" I asked.

"It will be hours yet.  It is her first baby, after all.  They'll
probably want some time alone at first anyway.  Most mothers don't want
people seeing them all messed up from childbirth.  If she delivers
tonight, give it till tomorrow and go visit then.

I smiled again.  "Good advice, Kelli.  Thank you."  She blushed and
nodded, closing the door behind her.

"Way to go, Agents.  Way to go," I whispered into my empty office.

THE END.