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The Y-Files

Case File #1Y8-1064: Blood Bond

Part III

Elisheva had only been in New York City ten minutes before she put a call into Samantha Jaythree, only to find she was about to be transported to the emergency room at St. Michael’s. The morning was going from bad to worse.

She sprinted to the car rental counter cutting off an elderly couple and a family with three small children in the process. Flashing her badge at the attendant for no good reason other than trying justify her actions by looking official, Elisheva picked up her contract and headed for the pickup garage. She thanked the heavens for express pickup, and said a little prayer that the directions the attendant gave her for St. Michaels were correct. It had often been her  experience that they weren't always accurate.

Boston traffic had been bad, but it was nothing compared to New York City. Elisheva’s  grandmother had taught her from her early teenage years that four letter words were only used by people with a limited vocabulary. Educated people could express themselves far more eloquently and accurately without the use of such words. It was rare that Elisheva disagreed with Grandma Margaret, but this was one of those times a choice selection of four letter words seemed befitting of the situation. She crawled along the with the lunch hour traffic, until she  finally pulled into the parking garage of St. Michael’s an hour and twenty minutes after leaving the airport.

Elisheva’s stress level was quickly rising as she bypassed the elevator and took the stairs up to the hospital lobby. She was not in the mood for waiting. Making a v-line for the registration desk, she flashed her badge and asked for the direction to the ER. Jogging down the hallway, she found myself in the middle of a swarm of white coats, scrubs and gurneys.

Directing her remarks towards a young doctor headed in her direction, flashing her badge for the third time that morning she said, "Excuse me, I'm Special Agent Toews, I'm looking for..." He waved her off as he passed by, his attention focused on the clip board he held in his hand. Elisheva made three more attempts at conversation, one with a nurse, and then with two orderlies, but to no avail. For a brief moment she was tempted to draw my gun and fire once into the air just so she could get a little attention. That would truly pi$$ off Skinner, making it all the more tempting.

Briefly pondering the repercussions of such a decision, Elisheva noticed a young woman dressed in a lab coat, walking in her direction. Elisheva stepped into her path, virtually forcing her into a collision. “Excuse me,”  her words reflecting her impatience with the situation, “I am Special Agent Toews with the FBI and I am looking for one of my fellow agents that I was told was brought here. Her name is Jaythree, Samantha Jaythree.”

“Over there,” she said pointing to the third curtained compartment. “The doctor is still in with her. You will need to wait...”

Elisheva nodded an acknowledgement of her words, and quickly made her way towards Samantha’s cubical. She pulled the curtain back to find Samantha lying on the bed, eyes closed. Elisheva had to take a long hard look at her to see that Samantha was still breathing. Her face was so pale, almost like death itself.

Elisheva’s attention turned to the doctor at her beside. “What the hell happened to her?”

"May I help you?“ The Oriental woman in green scrubs and a white doctor's coat approached Elisheva. "I'm Dr. Ng. You're here about Ms. Jaythree?"

"Yes," Elisheva nodded, her face puckered with concern. "How is she?"

"She's fine. Or she will be. Once we can get her body temperature a little closer to normal."

Elisheva shook her head. "I'm sorry? I don't think I understand what you mean."

Dr. Ng shook her head. "I don't think I understand it either. The paramedics brought her in, and my initial assessment of her condition was that she was in shock from internal injuries. But we can't find any signs of injuries at all, outside of a mild concussion and some severe lacerations and contusions of the left foot."

"Then what is her condition?"

"The closest thing I can think of to describe it is hypothermia. That's where your body's heat is simply drained away, usually from exposure to the elements. That wasn't the case here, but that's the best I can do for an explanation at the moment."

Elisheva considered a moment. "What if your explanation didn't have to make sense? What would you say then?"

Dr. Ng looked up and down the hallway before she stepped closer to Elisheva. "If I didn't have to write a report of my medical findings, I'd say that her symptoms appear to be closer to someone who went into hibernation. Of course, humans don't hibernate, but it was as if all her body's systems had shut down to the point where she was barely alive. Tox screens came back negative, so I can't even blame it on alcohol or drugs. If I had to guess, I'd say this 'shut down' happened prior to the crash."

"What makes you say that?"

"Her body must have been completely relaxed at the time of the crash, or her injuries would have been more severe."

************

"Look, I'm NOT crazy!" Sara yelled at the officer blocking the door. At least they hadn't thrown her in a jail cell.

She looked at her watch. It had been quite awhile since she'd had Samantha called.

"Are you SURE you called her? She should have been here by now." Sara started pacing the floors. Another officer knocked on the door, and her "arresting" officer stepped out for a moment, before coming back in.

"It seems your fellow agent has been involved in a car accident."

"What?? Is she okay? What happened?" Sara realized she was very close to grabbing the man by his shirt, and backed off. She needed to calm down.

"I don't know. It seems she's as crazy a driver as you are."

She sighed, falling into a chair. "Look. I need my cell phone back. I have to make a call. I have to get to Agent Malone, I'm the only one who knows where she is. Please, please." Sara  spoke calmly, never breaking eye contact, and tried very hard to look as worried as she felt instead of looking like a raving lunatic.

The officer sighed. Sara wished she remembered his name. "Fine," he said, "One call." He handed her the cell phone. She figured her best bet was Scham. She hadn't yet put Sabalore's number in her memory.

"Scham!" Sara said as soon as he answered. "I need you to come get me, NOW."

"Sara," he said, sounding somewhat relieved to hear from me. "Sam's been in an accident. And Agent Mulder is here."

Sara debated with herself for a moment. People tended to think Mulder was crazy too. She  wasn't sure he could help much. They might lock the both of them up. On the other hand, he tended to sound a little more convincing than Sara.

"Look, I need you and Mulder over here, NOW. We don't have time to waste. Send Sab to go get anything sharp and wooden. Maybe some crossbows. I don't know. Tell her to use her imagination. Do silver bullets work on vampire? Damn where in the hell would we get silver bullets. Okay, just--"

Scham cut her off. "Sara, you're babbling. We need a plan, we can't just go in with... with I don't know."

"I don't know if we have time for a plan. Just get over here. Have Sab go get us some supplies, then have her get us some backup. Lots of it. And hurr--" The officer took the phone away then. Sara looked at him. "Perhaps *you'd* like to accompany us? We'll see who's crazy then."

He shook his head. "I don't know what kind of game you kids are playing, and frankly, I don't really want to know."

Sara started chewing on her fingernails. She could have him call Skinner, she thought. Sara  really didn't want to do that. Suddenly she was really wishing Ellie was around. No one ever thought *she* was crazy.

************

After Elisheva’s conversation with Dr. Ng, she pulled out her cell phone, hitting the speed dial for Sara. A man's voice answered. "This is Officer Johnson. You have reached the cell phone of a raging lunatic named Special Agent Sara Zeuty. Can I help you?"

She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it momentarily. Replacing it, Elisheva  asked, "May I please speak with Agent Zeuty, please."

"Yea, what the hell. This should be interesting." She heard muffled voices and finally the voice of Sara.

"Well, thank my lucky stars," Sara’s voice was sounding a little wired. Elisheva wondered how many cups of coffee she had had that morning. "Look Toews, Samantha was in a car accident, Kiwi is ..."

"I'm here with Samantha as we are speaking, Agent Zeuty. According to the doctor, she should be back on her feet soon."

"Great, glad to hear it. Now quit cutting me off, I wasn't finished. Kiwiphile is trapped in the basement of Bledisoe Building. It is like a dungeon down there, and there are dozens of vampires hanging from the ceiling. I just talked with Scham and Mulder. They are on their way to her location. Sabalore is tracking down some wooden stakes and crossbows, but I'm stuck at this damned police station, and Officer Johnson here thinks I'm off my rocker." She finally stopped and took a long breath. Could Elisheva blame the man for thinking Sara was missing more than just a few of her marbles? Not for a moment, but Elisheva knew Sara. She was making complete sense to Ellie, and that was a scary thought. "Elisheva, get me the hell out of here. Kiwi needs us NOW."

"Give the phone back to Officer Johnson and let me see what I can do."

Elisheva spent the next ten minutes sweet talking Officer Johnson, eventually getting him to agree to release Sara to her custody. He made Elisheva promise that she would personally guarantee her behavior while she remained in the city, and that all damage to public property would be paid for in full. Elisheva had reluctantly agreed. He promised her immediate release and handed her the phone again.

"Sara, you are a free woman, but you owe me a big one! Your first born child will be named after me, do you understand?"

"Yea, whatever. I'm on the way to Bledisoe now. I'll meet you there." A second later, there was nothing but a dial tone in Elisheva’s ear. She closed her phone and started looking for Dr. Ng.

She located Dr. Ng standing in the hallway just outside Sam's cubical, filling out some paperwork. "How soon can she be released?"

"I'd like to see her stay off her feet for the next few days..."

From behind the curtain, Elisheva could hear Samantha's voice. "I'm fine. Just hand me the forms so I can check myself out of here."

Elisheva walked into her cubical and looked her square in the eye. Her face was so pale. "Samantha, if you're not up to this..."

"Just give me the damned paperwork!" There was no doubt in Elisheva’s mind she was going to be joining the rest of them at the Bledisoe Building.

************

Scham clicked off his phone and turned to Sabalore.

 
"That was Sara," he said. "She wants Mulder and I to go and get her. I'm supposed to tell you - her exact words were: 'get anything sharp and wooden. Maybe some crossbows. I don't know. Tell her to use her imagination. Do silver bullets work on vampire? Damn where in the hell would we get silver bullets.' And LOTS of back up."

 
Sabalore bit her lower lip.

 
"I think I know what to do," she told them. "Pull over." Scham pulled over, and Sabalore  jumped out of the car. "You take my car, just try not to wreck it too bad, my insurance company is already pissy."

"Nu uh," He shook his head. "We can take a cab to where Sara is, you'll need it to gather supplies."

"No I won't, trust me. Be safe, you two." She slammed the door, and sprinted off in search of a cab, as Scham pulled out fast.

Great for the shocks," she muttered, shaking her head.

 
Sabalore flagged a cab, and rushed to the motel as fast as possible.  She paid the driver, and rushed into her room.

 
She took out her cell, and spent a minute punching in the number to a friend in LA, whom she  trusted with her life.

 
"Hello?" A voice answered.

"Hallie, it's me," Sabalore breathed. "Turn off the machine."

"Okay, It's off. What's up, Saba? I haven't heard from you in ages! How's your job?"

"No time, Hallie. I need information."

"Okay, on what, my friend?"

"Vampires."

"Again? I thought you vowed never to deal with them again."

Sabalore laughed bitterly. "Yeah, well, times change. I have to. They've got an agent."

"Okay. What do you need? Where are you?"

"New York."

"Damnit, Saba, You sure pick your places. I can't even get out there fast. Even on the jet It'd take 41/2 hours, weather permitting."

"I know. I need a complete list of weapons that work quickly and efficiently on them."

"Stakes, crossbows, the works?"

"Yeah, e-mail it now. My laptop is booting up."

"Okay, I'm on. Sending." She told me a few minutes later.

"Hallie, get Chris to look up a list of shops in NY that sell this stuff."

"Okay, I will. I'll send it in a minute. Do you want me to come out?"

"As fast as you can, girl," Sabalore shook her head.

 
"Yeah. I'll bring the heavy duty equip."

"Yes, Do that. Hurry!" Sabalore told her, clicking the phone off.  She logged on, and got her  mail.

She scanned the letter, reading quietly.  "Stakes, crossbows, pure silver knives, sunlight, crosses burn skin, holy water..." The list went on. She copied down the address of the store Chris sent, and shut down, darting out the door. Sabalore hailed another cab, and gave them the address.

The store was closed. She banged on the door, and someone opened it.

"I'm sorry, We're-"

Sabalore pushed her way inside, cutting the red haired girl off.  "I have a list of things I need, I need it now." Sabalore flashed her badge, and the girl nodded.

"Fine." Sabalore handed her the list, and her eyes widened.

"Why the hell does the FBI need this stuff?" she wondered.

"Business," Sabalore said sharply. Her cell trilled. She grabbed it.  "Sabalore," she answered.

"It's me."

"Hallie, hi. You coming?"

 
"Yes, I'm fueling up the jet now. Keep in touch, Let me know where to meet you when you know."

"Okay," Sabalore said, hanging up.

"Hallie? Halloween Johnson?" the women asked.

Sabalore did a double take. "Yeah, that's her."

 
She broke out into a grin.  "If Hallie's involved, I'll give you everything we've got."  She led Sabalore into a bolted back room, and typed in a security code.  "How do you know Hallie?" she asked.

 
"I worked as an intern at the OSIR for a year. She was working there with Chris Brown."

"I'm Val," she told me. "I've know Hallie and Chris for ages."

Sabalore nodded.

"You'll want these." She turned to Sabalore, handing her a crossbow.

"How many you got?"

"Six."

"I'll take em all. Also eight stakes, two..." she glanced at her list, "silver knives, and a lot of luck."

She smiled, handing Sabalore a pile of stakes. In the end, the weapons ended up on the counter.

"You want a pack to carry that in?"

"Yeah, please."

She grabbed a big backpack, and quickly showed Sabalore how to hook all the equipment into the loops and pouches.  In the end, in was a compact backpack.

"Great," Sabalore said.  "Thanks. Now, to find a cab."

"Take my car," she handed Sabalore the keys.

"Are you serious?"

"It'll be easier. And if you know Hallie well enough to get her to drop everything to bring you weapons on a 4 hour flight, you must be okay."

"Thanks, Val," Sabalore smiled and dashed out of the shop. She jumped into the Ford Explorer and pulled out, heading to where she was to meet Scham, Mulder, and Sara.

************

Kiwi lay in the darkness, slowly pumping her hands open and shut to try and keep the circulation going. She had lost track of time. It had been after noon when Sara and she had come down here, and maybe an hour had passed since then. She didn't really know, but it felt like a long time.

Her face was resting on cool stone. She tried not to imagine that it was some kind of crypt. It was probably just a bench, Kiwi told herself. The vampires had retreated to the ceiling some time ago. She had listened to the light rustlings for a while, then the room had stilled into absolute silence. She wondered how they traveled up there, they seemed to have no wings.

Kiwi was thinking idly, trying to stop herself from falling into the grip of panic that skirted her  like a hungry cat. She was safe for now, she told herself. Death postponed by a misunderstanding. Kiwi felt a surge of guilt. Only six weeks old, and already the tiny spark of life inside had saved her life.

She wondered if Sara had reached Daniel. Or if anyone even knew Kiwi was down here. The detour she had sent Katherine Ives and Willmore on would have been blown open by now. Kiwi didn't relish the thought of her turning up to find Agent Malone at her mercy. Ives  seemed to give no second thought to dispatching her obstacles, and then pointing the finger elsewhere. Kiwi imagined Willmore would be number one on the suspect list, he was in Ives’  power so completely. Kiwi promised that if she ever got out of here alive, she was getting out of this line of work. Permanently.

There was a noise to my left. Kiwi froze, holding her breath, and strained with her ears to hear it. A slight scuffling, it would start and then stop suddenly. She hoped with all her heart that it wasn't a rat. She didn't mind pet rats, but a New York local coming to see Kiwi while she was tied up didn't appeal one little bit. The noises came closer, and she stifled the urge to start kicking and screaming. There was a soft touch on her face, and Kiwi jerked her head away sharply.

“Shhh, I won't hurt you.” Kiwi heard the scrape of a match and smelt the phosphorous as a small candle was lit. She found herself looking into the eyes of a young girl, no more than twelve or thirteen, her hair was ragged and put up wildly on her head. She wore pale make-up and her lips were red. It had a disturbingly rococo effect on her young features. Kiwi wasn't able to see what she was wearing, but she heard the creaking of a leather jacket as the girl  moved.

“Who are you?” Kiwi whispered. Her mouth was dry again, and her throat burned from the bile she had swallowed earlier. The girl leaned her chin on the stone in front of Kiwi and smiled softly.

“Rebecca.” Her voice was light, and Kiwi noticed that her diction was good, she didn't sound like the typical kind of child living on the streets in this city.

“What are you doing here? You know what is in this room?”

“Yes, my family.”

“Oh, are you...”

“No. Too young. But Adrian promised that as soon as I am old enough, I will be embraced by him.” She spoke of it excitedly, as if she were describing her debutante ball. Kiwi’s heart went cold at the thought.

“You want that?”

“Yes. I have lived here for five years now. When I came, I had nothing. Now, I have a family that loves me.”

Kiwi pondered it. The neighborhood was rife with crack houses and prostitution. She guessed that if she had been born locally, this was a step up from her other options. Kiwi shifted slightly. The bonds on her wrists were tight. “There are other choices, you know. I have friends coming to help me, we could get you--”

“I don't want their help. I just came to see you. I was curious, about the child.”

“What chi--”  Kiwi stopped herself. She must mean 'Gabriel's'. Kiwi tried a different tack. She  had heard the scrape of a metal object being put down when she arrived. “Did you bring me some water?”

Rebecca reached down and brought a cup to Kiwi’s lips. The water was cold, and fresh. Kiwi  hadn't realized how thirsty she was until she started to drink. “What was it like, with him?”  Rebecca spoke confidentially, as if they were sisters talking after lights out.

Kiwi was confused, “What? What was what like?”

“You know, with Gabriel.” She lowered her voice when she spoke his name. Kiwi realized what Rebecca meant and shook her head.

“I'm not going to talk about this with a twelve year old. It's inappropriate.”

A sculpted eyebrow rose. “There are children younger than I selling themselves on the streets. I know more than you about these things, I guarantee it.”

“Not from personal experience, I hope.“ Rebecca shook her head, the candlelight reflecting off her earrings. She was very beautiful. Kiwi wondered what Adrian had planned for her, and knew that it would be nothing good.

“No, but I am to be his you see. He is waiting for me. One day, I will have his child. Even if she doesn't want it.”

“She?”

“There's a woman, she comes here a lot now. For the past few months, she has been insinuating herself into Adrian’s company, trying to attract his attention.” For the first time, her tone took on something approaching a normal teenager’s. She sounded peeved, jealous even.

“What does this woman look like?”

“Tall, chestnut colored hair, green eyes. I think Adrian likes her. But it's just a phase.” Rebecca  looked at Kiwi, her expression suddenly worried. “Isn't it?”

Kiwi felt for her. Rebecca was in so deep that she knew nothing else. But Kiwi’s mind reeled at the thought of a child growing up promised to a monster. “This woman, does she call herself Katherine?”

Rebecca nodded.

“And she wants to be...'embraced' by Adrian?”

“Yes, if she is, she will be almost as powerful as him.”

“And you would be left without a future here?”

Rebecca nodded again, her eyes filling with tears. “She will kill me. I know it. She would not want anyone to get in her way.”

“I am trying to stop her myself. If you untie me, I can get out and finish my job.”  Kiwi didn't mention that she also intended to kill Adrian, and any other vampire that got in the way. She hoped that Rebecca would see her as a friend.

“No, you would not make it to the door. There is only one thing you can do. Wait for Gab-- for him, and then escape. But I want you to promise me something.”

“What?”

“That you will tell him to let Adrian live. Please, I can't imagine life--” She stopped. There was another presence in the room suddenly, and she blew the candle out.

“Rebecca?” Kiwi heard her slip away, and listened as whoever it was stepped slowly towards her in the inky blackness.

Kiwi tried to move, even if she could somehow sit up, she would feel that she had an advantage. The figure came closer, Kiwi recognized something about it, and her heart sank when she heard the voice.

“Well, well, well. What've we got here? The little Dutch girl?” Pig-pen shoved his face close to Kiwi‘s. She couldn't see him, but his oily breath made her gag.

“New Zealander,” she spat out.

A hand grabbed her roughly. “The boss told me you were here, he said I should keep an eye on you. Put you somewhere nice and safe until nightfall.”

Kiwi wasn't able to answer, he picked her up and hefted her over his shoulder, winding her. A fat hand grasped Kiwi’s thigh. “They make girls big and strong where you're from, huh?” The insinuation in his voice was nasty. She closed her eyes and wondered if the vampires were her biggest worry after all.

He took Kiwi further back into the cavernous basement, where there was a stained mattress in the corner. She was unceremoniously dumped onto it. Her head cracked against the wall, and she saw stars briefly. He stuck a match and lit a candle that cast a gloomy and insipid light. She noted several iron shackles on the walls. Mueller’s eyes followed hers and he smiled: a nasty little grin that pushed his eyes further back in his head.

“This is where he keeps the fresh catches. I call it the fun and games area.” Kiwi didn't like the look that was creeping into his eyes. He ran a hand up her leg, pinching her thigh. “He pretty much doesn't mind what happens to them before he gets them, as long as they're still alive.”

She tried to move, but he pinned Kiwi’s legs by leaning over her. ‘I truly will be sick if he tries to kiss me‘, she thought, as he started to move in closer.

The moment was broken by the sound of voices in the corridor. Ives, Kiwi thought, recognizing the light throaty laugh. The other voice was Willmore's. Kiwi opened her  mouth to scream, and Mueller covered it with his own. She bit down hard and he slapped her, cutting her lip on her teeth. He grabbed a greasy rag and stuffed it into Kiwi’s mouth as a gag. She had to relax her throat so that she could breathe.

The door was still ajar, and she listened as Willmore and Katherine spoke. “Did you hear that?” he said.

“No, it was probably just a rat.” Her voice was almost a purr. “Lets go back, there’s nothing down here.”

“But Sara said Kiwi was in this building. I don't get it, when we came here earlier you said you knew the people here, that they weren’t involved--”

“Sara and Kiwi,” she hissed the names almost, “just sent us across town on a fabricated evidence search. I think its about time you realized that the only person you can trust is me.”

Kiwi struggled again, but Mueller was over two hundred pounds, it was like being under a piano.

“Well, we better get outside and meet the others, let them know we already searched the building,” Willmore spoke as though he were reciting a speech. Ives had him completely under her spell. Kiwi had a moment’s panic as they left. Then her spirits rose as she heard the sound of sirens in the distance.

Mueller looked back at Kiwi. “They won't come looking in here. Detective Ives will take care of that.” She closed her eyes as he leaned over her again, trying to concentrate on the sounds of footsteps and voices above on the first floor. It had to be them. There was an hour at most before daylights end. If they wanted to avoid an out and out bloodbath, they had better come now. <I'm here, I'm down here!>

Mueller tied the rag around her mouth tightly. Kiwi used all her concentration to stop her  tongue from being forced back into her throat. He traced a line down Kiwi’s cheek with one finger. “Let’s have some fun, huh Agent?”

This was not going to happen, Kiwi thought, and ten years worth of martial arts training came flooding to her. She moved her head up, forcing herself to nuzzle at his neck through the gag, and relaxing her body.

“Oh? You wanna play nice?” He leered at her.

She nodded her head, and he removed the gag, covering Kiwi’s mouth with his. Thirty disgusting seconds later he came up for air, and she tried tactic number two. “Untie my ankles.” Kiwi tried to sound seductive, but her voice came out a little shaky. She was worried he might not fall for it, but she hoped all the blood had left his brain for other areas, it generally lowered men’s IQs considerably. He kept his left hand pressed down hard on her as he cut the bonds, then pressed his face onto Kiwi’s again.

************

Sabalore had arrived at the station in record time where she met Scham, Sara, and Mulder.
They were just about to leave, the officer mumbling something about "Owing him big time.”

They stopped by the jeep Sabalore had borrowed, and she pulled off the pack, showing them the weapons she'd gathered.

"Eight stakes, two knives, six crossbows," Sabalore counted off.  "All have to be inserted directly into the heart to kill the vampire."

Scham nodded.  "That's all?" Sara asked.

 
"Everything the shop had," Sabalore told her. "I have a friend flying in from LA with heavy artillery for this cause. She left about an hour ago. It's a five hour flight, but we'll have better equipment."

Mulder spoke up. "What about crosses, garlic and holy water?"

Sabalore rolled her eyes at the garlic comment. "REAL crosses burn their skin, but it doesn't necessarily stop them. The garlic is a load of crap," she said, "But the holy water can harm them. Hey, if you can get them to digest it, it cause internal bleeding and injury. Very painful."

"Do you have any?" Sara asked.

 
Sabalore shook her head. "I have one large metal cross," she waved it, "But didn't have time to get any holy water. That, and I couldn't find a place to get it. I don't know where I'm going."

"I'll get some holy water, and meet you guys at the hospital." Scham spoke up.

All eyes turned to him.

"Okay," Mulder agreed, "We'll meet you there."

 
Scham turned to leave, then turned back. "Do you wanna switch cars, Agent Sabalore?"  he asked.

 
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Go, we'll meet you there. Then we can switch or whatever." Sabalore called after his retreating form.

 
She hopped into the driver’s seat of the red Ford Explorer, and started the engine. Sara climbed into the passenger, and Mulder once again took the backseat.

 
"Did you get back up?" Sara asked.

 
Sabalore squeezed her eyes shut. "No, oh my god, I'm sorry, I forgot to call, I was so busy with the weapons--"

 
"I'll call the local field office for backup," Mulder cut in, pulling out his cell.

 
"Thanks," Sabalore told him, adjusting the review mirror.

 
A horn honked, and Sabalore glared behind her. She inched the jeep forward, and impatiently tapped her hand against the steering wheel, waiting for the busy traffic to speed up.

 
After only forty five minutes (for what should have been a thirty minute drive) they pulled into the hospital parking lot. Sabalore noticed her car parked near the entrance.

 
"Scham's here already," she told the others.

 
"Let's get Samantha and Elisheva and go," Sara said, opening the door and jumping out, followed by Sabalore and Mulder.

 
They entered, and approached Scham, Elisheva, and Samantha.

************

"Sara, do you think you can retrace..." Elisheva started. Sara had already broken into a flat out run as soon as Sabalore placed a few anti-vampire necessities in her eager little hands.

"Mulder, Sabalore, you're with me. Scham you and Samantha stay here and watch the building. The sun should be setting in the next thirty minutes or so, and activity around here should be picking up." Elisheva looked Scham in the eye, knowing he would welcome her next order. "Scham, you take good care of her. She'll try to tell you she is just fine, don't believe her."  Elisheva winked at Samantha, turned and took off after Sara, Sabalore and Mulder close behind.

Sara quickly found her way back to the passage where they had entered the building. Each agent made their way through the opening and followed Sara as she retraced her earlier venture into the building. Sara came to a sudden stop. "Damn, Kiwi was right here when I left her."

"Obviously they have taken her," Mulder said. "Sara, you said there was a place where there were a large number of vampires hanging from the ceiling. They must have moved her there to keep an eye on her until nightfall. Do you think you can find it again?"

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Sara's look at Mulder would have said, 'do you think I'm an idiot or what?'

 
She turned and started walking further back into the basement. Elisheva put her hand on her gun as the light from outside began to dissipate, and they were soon surrounded by darkness. Oh yea, kinda of worthless to use a gun on vampires. Instead, Elisheva pulled the wooden stake from her belt loop and held it like a dagger, ready to plunge it into anyone or anything that had a body temperature lower than her own. She made another mental note to do a little research to find out if there were any paranormal activities that took place in daylight.

"Kiwi, are you here?" Sara yelled into the thick darkness. Not standard procedure but highly effective under the circumstances. Elisheva knew daylight was fading outside, and there were only four of them and a few dozen well rested vampires hanging from a ceiling not to far away from their present location.

************

Kiwi was trying to maneuver her right leg out from under him when the others burst in. Mueller tensed, and Kiwi heard Sara call out, “Kiwi? Are you here?”

“I'm over here!” she replied, and at the same moment Mueller raised himself, only to be greeted by Kiwi’s right knee making contact where it could do the most damage. He cried out in agony, doubling over Kiwi and pinning her down.

Kiwi heard the sound of footsteps, and felt a pair of hands pulling her up. Sara was fumbling at the rope around her hands, but Kiwi shooed her off. There was a rustling sound from above, they had seconds to spare. “Just run! Fast!” Mulder took Kiwi under one arm and helped her to balance as they sprinted back towards the doorway.

“What about him?” said Sara. Kiwi guess she meant Mueller, who was moaning in agony.

They kept running.

Mulder managed to reply as he ducked around Sabalore and Elisheva. “I think he may be in trouble for letting the prisoner go, and I hear vampires like to eat a good hearty breakfast.”

Elisheva led the way upstairs, Kiwi pumped one leg after the other mindlessly. Sara looked like she had the Devil snapping at her ankles; if they had a stop-watch Kiwi would've bet they were all running a four minute mile. Sabalore took the rear, taking the stairs two at a time. She kept throwing some kind of liquid behind them.

They reached the street level window, and despite Kiwi’s protests they hoisted her out first. Sara followed, then Elisheva and Sabalore. Mulder came up last. From behind them, Kiwi heard the sounds of screams. Mueller. She guessed he was first on the menu tonight.

There was a hissing sound, and then more screams, this time less human in quality. Kiwi  looked at Sabalore who was grinning and holding up a water bottle, the kind you take to the gym. “Holy water!” she announced. “They won't be able to get past it for a while, not without burning their little vampire tootsies.”

“Vampire tootsies?” said Mulder wryly, “Where did you pick that up, Buffy’s charm school?”

Sab laughed and gave a shrug. “In high school, I was a--”

“A cheerleader. Yeah, I heard,” Mulder finished, laughing.

************

Watching the building where Kiwiphile was being held, Samantha felt completely useless, but she told herself that even if she felt horrible, she could still shoot or -- if worst came to worst -- Sam could shoot out tires of vehicles. Sara had recently reminded them all how important that skill could be.

Scham's eyes were fixed on the building, but Sam noticed his head turning slightly as she shivered again. "You shouldn't be here if you aren't in any shape to work."

It sounded matter of fact, but she knew Scham was right. In fact, Sam had delivered that same speech or a similar one before in her career. "You're right, Scham," she replied and tried to lean against the brick wall of the building beside the car. "But I think I would be an even greater liability if I tried to drive right this minute."

Scham made a slight noise - a cross between a snort and a laugh. This was as good a time as any. "Scham, I'm sorry about your car."

"We've already discussed this twice since we've been here, Sam. Drop it."

She sighed. Samantha wasn't thinking straight, and her head still ached. Sheesh...if this was a mild concussion, she'd hate to think of a major one. Sam forced herself to concentrate. People's lives might depend on it. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to babble. I just keep thinking that if I say it often enough, I'll stop feeling so badly about what happened."

This time Scham turned his head as if to reply, but then they heard a noise. The team appeared from the target building, and Sam was relieved to see Kiwiphile among them.

They were on their way out to the street, the last of the sun’s rays disappearing behind the Manhattan Skyline. Kiwi saw Samantha and Scham. She noticed that Sam looked pale, and went up to her. “Hey, are you OK? What happened to you?”

Elisheva interrupted. “OK, let’s all just regroup here. Mulder, why don't you untie Kiwi. And Scham, you can drive one car, I'll take the other. There isn't any sense in standing on the doorstep when its getting dark. We meet in my room at the motel as soon as we get back. Samantha, can you try and get hold of Special Agent Willmore? I noticed he didn't make it.”

After hustling back into the cars, Sam picked up her cell phone to see if she could reach Willmore.

Craig answered on the fourth ring. "Willmore."

"Agent Willmore, this is SAC Jaythree." Samantha didn't know what his problem was, but he still seemed to respond to her authority. If he didn't, she would simply call AD Skinner. Skinner would fix Willmore's sorry little attitude in no time. "I need you at the motel in an hour or less."

"I'm with Katherine right now. We were checking out a lead on Fenton, but it turned out to be a dead end."

‘I'll bet it was a dead end,’ Sam thought wearily. She shivered in spite of herself. She just couldn't seem to get warm. "Fine. Say good night to Detective Ives and get back to the motel. SAC Elisheva has called a meeting --"

The conversation went back and forth for a moment and concluded with Craig telling Samantha that he'd call her back. She made a mental note to call Skinner first thing in the morning and have Willmore reassigned.

************

Kiwi found herself pushed into Elisheva’s car, Elisheva shook her head when Sabalore went to  hop in the back. “I'll take ASAC Kiwi alone, we have some matters to discuss.”

Sabalore gave Kiwi a sympathetic look and joined the others. Elisheva pulled out into the traffic and sighed once, deeply. “OK, Kiwi. I'm not here to take over this case, and I'm not here to ream you out either. But I do need you to tell me what's been going on, starting from day one.”

Kiwi explained it all as best she could, feeling more and more crazy as she did. Elisheva  didn't interrupt, just raised her eyebrows occasionally. Kiwi left out only one thing, her  current condition. She knew it would buy a one way ticket back to DC.

“So, your theory is that Agent Willmore in under the... control of this Detective?”

“Yes, you know Craig. He would never behave this way. Never.” Kiwi thought of their  relationship. When they were working, they kept a distance, it had never even been discussed. They both behaved properly on federal time. “I know this case is strange, Eli, but you have to believe me. He's not himself.”

Elisheva nodded. “Well, I still want to talk to him, if we can get him to show up.”

“He was at the Bledisoe, I heard him and Katherine. He wanted to search but she talked him out of it.'“

“Did she say where they were going?”

“No, but I'm surprised you missed them. They must have left just as you were arriving.”

Elisheva frowned slightly. “Does Ives drive a red Taurus?”

“Yeah.” Kiwi’s arm was aching again, and she felt dirty. She wanted to shower badly.

“I saw one take off as we pulled up. I didn't see who was in it, but my guess is she's taken him on a goose hunt.”

Kiwi nodded, suddenly cold. Elisheva shot a sharp glance at her. “What was Mueller doing down there?”

Kiwi had no answer, nothing had really happened, but she still felt violated somehow. Elisheva was pulling into the parking garage underneath the motel. “Lets get you cleaned up before the meeting, we can spare some time.”

*************

Sara’s heart was still racing when they got back to the motel. She was hoping for a quick shower before the meeting. When she opened the door, Daniel was awake, sitting on her  bed. Had it been anyone else but this creature, Sara would have been screaming at them. Throwing blame, trying to make sense of this whole situation. But there was something about Daniel...she didn't know what it was. He looked so young, yet he had lived lifetimes. He was hauntingly beautiful. Sara was glad to see him, and to see that he was okay. And still in her room.

"Hey," she said, throwing her keys on the dresser. He stood up, came close to her

.

"You've been there," he said.

"Yeah. Almost didn't make it back." Sara gave a slight smile.

"I knew that you would make it home safely, that you will make it home safely. Were it not for this knowledge, I would not have sent you."

Sara nodded. For some reason she trusted him. She felt safe in his presence.

"And you?" she said. "What will you do? When this is over?"

"When this is over, it will be over."

Sara looked up into his eyes. Clear, blue and deep as... and deep as nothing so much as his eyes. There was no comparison. He took another step toward her, reaching out his hands. She wondered what he meant by that.

Then there was a knock at the door, which pushed it open easily, as if she hadn't shut it completely.

"Holy cow, a vampire!" Came Mulder's voice. He was reaching for his gun. "Get down!"

"Do you mind?!?" Sara said, whirling around. She started pushing Mulder out of the room. "This is DANIEL. One of the good vampires." She stopped. Sara still couldn't shake the feeling that this entire experience was just a very bizarre dream.

"Uh, just wanted to tell you, we're having a little strategy meeting in about half an hour. May as well bring your, uh, friend there," came Mulder's voice, from behind the door.

Sara turned back to Daniel. "What did you mean, when you said that when it's over, it will be over?" she asked.

 Not a single muscle in his face moved, yet the expression turned to sadness. Sadness so strong Sara felt it inside of herself.

"Your strategy should be to kill Methuselah, Adrian. When he is gone, they are all gone. We are all gone."

She stared up at him. "You...?"

He nodded. She turned away from him. Suddenly she felt the sort of panic you feel when you realize you've just slept through your alarm clock, missing something very important. The feeling you get when you know you are about to get into a car accident. The feeling you get when you wake up the day after your parent's funeral feeling just fine, and then it hits you that they are not just fine, that they are buried under six feet of dirt in little boxes. She blinked back tears, and regained her composure quickly as she had taught herself to do over many years.

"There must be another way," she said.

"No." Daniel wrapped his arms around her from behind. Sara stood there for a moment, silently, before pushing him away.

"Then let's tell the others," she said, opening the door to the bathroom and locking it behind her.

*************

Back at the motel, Samantha changed into another professional, yet comfortable outfit. She looked at the prescription bottle which the doctor had given me. Ibuprofen 800 mg. That should fix anything, she hoped. She took one with a glass of water, but she was still so cold, inside and outside.

Sam had not told anyone about her strange dream when she had had the accident. She still wasn't sure if she had the dream before, during, or after the event. Sam wasn't even positive it had been a dream, but what else could it be? The thought of Gabriel made her  shiver uncontrollably again, but she didn't want to tell anyone. Despite all that Sam had heard of the day’s experiences, she was afraid that the rest of the team would think she had completely lost all touch with reality.

Except for Kiwiphile. She had seen this Gabriel, and she could tell Samantha if she had seen him in some sort of vision or if it were merely a delusion inspired by Sam’s concussion.

She pulled her overcoat on top of her burgundy tweed jacket, and headed back towards Kiwiphile's room. Sam needed to see how Kiwi was feeling after her ordeal, and while she  was there...maybe Sam could ask her about Gabriel.

************

Kiwi hardly paid attention to the rest of the team as she opened the door to her room and pointed herself at the bed. Her legs were wobbly, and she didn't want people to think she  couldn't handle the pace any more. She overheard Elisheva talking softly to Samantha, Mulder, Scham and Sabalore. Sara had gone directly to her room, no doubt to check on Daniel. Then Elisheva came in.

“Do you want company for a while? I just told everyone to take an hour before we meet, I can order food for us.”

Kiwi sat on the bed, not sure what she wanted. “I'm not sure if I'm hungry,” she  murmured, her stomach had clamped tight and thought of eating made her nervous.

Samantha interrupted the exchange. “Kiwi, you get in the shower, Elisheva and I are ordering dinner.”  She raised her hand at Kiwi’s opening mouth. “Then you are going to eat it, understood?”

Kiwi ran the shower, washing off every trace of that slime, Mueller. She had to stop herself from making the water too hot, from scrubbing furiously at herself. By the time she returned to the room, Elisheva and Sam were deep in conversation.

Kiwi had dressed in jeans and a sweater. No more suits for today, she wanted a civilian night. Flopping into a chair she accepted the plate Elisheva handed her and dutifully tucked in. “Did I mention how good it is to have you here?” she said.

“No, but feel free.” Elisheva was smiling. She turned to Sam. “Any news on Willmore?”

Samantha glanced at Kiwi quickly. “He's coming back now. He and Detective Ives were on their way to the Bledisoe when they received a call from the Medical Examiners Office.”

“But, he was at the Bledisoe, I heard him.“ Kiwi explained the overheard conversation, and Elisheva added her sighting of the car. Sam was less than impressed.

“Well, he lied. Or he genuinely doesn't remember. I think we should try to separate him from Ives and get his head cleared.”

Elisheva nodded. “What was the diversion about?”

“Bad news. One of the forensics team was found murdered at the laboratory. The evidence for this case has been tampered with, some of it is missing.”

Kiwi reeled. “Who? Who was the victim?”

Sam looked at her sympathetically. “John Martinez. I'm sorry Kiwi.”

“I hardly knew the guy.” Kiwi put a hand to her mouth in horror. “I don't know why I said that. That was awful. I...”

Elisheva took over. “That's a normal reaction. You've had a stressful day.”

Kiwi told them about Mueller, the whole sordid experience. “He's dead I think, they would have been pretty annoyed about my escape.”

“Well, at least we have a legitimate reason for a warrant,” said Elisheva. “We'll go back with a full team.”

Samantha looked at them both. “There is one other thing.”

They looked at her expectantly. “I called the security at the lab where Martinez was found. The guard told me that he hadn't even put in a call to the PD when Willmore and Ives arrived. In fact, he didn't even know there was a body.”

“What are you saying?”  Kiwi could feel my face draining of color.

“According to the guard, Willmore and Ives arrived saying the Medical Examiner, David Haskell had called it in. He let them go ahead and began to seal the area as they requested. But when he checked the roster, Haskell wasn't even on call. Plus, he recalls that the room smelt as though a gun had been recently fired. Haskell arrived saying that he had been working on his own time, and he put the time of death at six hours earlier. The guard said it looked to him like the body was still bleeding.”

Kiwi told them about Sara and herself seeing David Haskell at the Bledisoe earlier, just before Willmore and Ives had arrived in fact.

“You don't think Willmore was involved, do you?” Kiwi looked from one to the other. This day had gone from bad to very bad and then straight to hell. She stood, misinterpreting the stares from the other two women. Turning, she saw that Gabriel had joined them, leaning gracefully in the doorway.

“Ladies, allow me to introduce myself.” He said, moving lithely to take Elisheva’s hand.

Elisheva’s eyes widened slightly, as Gabriel placed her hand in his own and kissed it. He held it gently, looking into her eyes. “Liszt, a favorite of mine as well. The Faust and Dante Symphonies have a particular appeal to me of course.”

She pulled her hand away, surprised. “How did you--?”

“I can read thoughts, should I wish. But have no fear. I am merely hoping to prove to you that I am what I claim to be, without resorting to the obvious.” He smiled, and his fangs became prominent in his face. “I hope you enjoy the edition of Hugo, he was a charming man. I spent some time with him during his exile.”

He turned to Samantha. “I must offer you my deepest apology. But I am sure you are glad to have your friend returned to you safely.” He kissed her hand as well, bowing over it deeply. “You have an old soul, Samantha. you remind me of someone I knew in Carthage, before the Romans destroyed it.”

Suddenly, Kiwi was sick of all this courtly behavior. She come from a land that didn’t  tolerate a lot of airs and graces, and the after day she’d had, she was ready for answers. “Lets just cut out all the Lord of the Dark Realms stuff, huh? I want to talk to you, and I don't want any more of your cryptic replies and half answers.”

He smiled at her, a deep laugh rising out of him. “You are so amusing Agent Malone. Your soul is newborn I think, refreshing. I know now my instincts served me well, you are not easily distracted. Let me see, what can I tell you?”

He walked to the window. “I can tell you that tonight is the last night this city will have peace. By tomorrow, Methuselah will have regained enough strength to leave his lair and hunt for me. The injuries I gave him have almost healed.”

Kiwi thought of the long scar. “Why ask us to help? Why not just fight it out amongst yourselves?”

He turned and faced her. “Because he will be more powerful than me. Because when we last met, it was I who nearly died. And it was Daniel who saved me. He took my body and hid it before the sun could claim me. I have no clan. I am alone, apart from my servants. They know little of me, and nothing of my true nature.”

Samantha spoke softly. “Can't you just... make more... more like yourself?”

He shook his head. “No, I would not do that again. One of the reasons I have always opposed Adrian, is his tendency to empire build. I saw the Roman Empire fall first-hand. It is a futile road that leads to Rome. I have only a few mortal friends, and I live on very little. What I do drink is freely given to me.

“I believe that no vampires should be made, that the few oldest who walk this earth should remain the only ones.” He examined his nails carefully. “It is a heavy burden, and no one should be cursed so.”

Kiwi knew he was telling the truth, but she was still unsettled that he needed them to help. She could barely keep her agents from straying now, let alone under a full onslaught of vampires.

“Then you must trust us, tell us everything you know, from the beginning. And then you must give the others the same protection you gave me. I will not send anyone into this without all the means of survival at their disposal.”

He studied me. “Agreed. I can offer you protection from entrancement. But not anything else.”

Kiwi looked at Elisheva. “Why don't you go to the meeting, then get everyone to come here, but send Willmore last.”

Samantha spoke up. “But Willmore is under her control, how will he--”

Gabriel cut her off gently. “I can help you know what she has been doing. But all I can promise is that he will be less susceptible. Until she breaks with him herself, he will still be swayed by her.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing I suppose. Elisheva, Sam? What do you think?”

“I'll go and get the others.” Before Elisheva could leave, Gabriel approached her. Kiwi  saw him lean in towards her, and her eyes fluttered closed and then open again. He stood upright.

“It is done,” he said, and then walked over to Samantha. As Elisheva left, Kiwi wondered what help we could offer Craig, and what we would find out about the death of Martinez. If he had been holding that gun, she thought, there was no saving him.

After a few minutes, the others filed in. Daniel and Gabriel greeted each other warmly, the bond between them clear to see. The team took it all in stride. Sabalore stared at Gabriel openly, her eyes wide. Obviously she was used to a different class of vampire. Kiwi  reminded her that discretion was paramount.

Mulder was cool, at first suggesting that it wasn't necessary, but eventually warming to the idea. Scham was more worried about Samantha, he seemed unphased by the presence of a supernatural being in the room. Sara looked sad, Kiwi made a mental note to have a talk with her. It was unusual for her not to wisecrack her way through a situation like this.

Samantha got up to leave, and Kiwi put a hand on her arm. “Tell me I'm doing the right thing. I could close this case and have us all home by dinner time tomorrow.”

She looked at Kiwi sadly. “I know you don't mean that, this is what we do Kiwi. How could we leave?”

She was right. A few seconds after Sam closed the door, there was a knock. “ASAC Kiwiphile? It’s Agent Willmore.”

Gabriel touched her shoulder as Kiwi stepped forwards. “It will take a few minutes. Try to keep him in here until I have some control.”

She went to the door and opened it. As Doc McCoy would say, it was Craig, but not as she knew him.

His eyes slid past her, focusing in the mid distance, Kiwi stepped aside and he wandered in. “What’s this about? SAC Elisheva told me to wait until the others were finished, then come in here.”

Kiwi looked in surprise as she noted Daniel and Gabriel were both missing from the room. Where were they? She looked over to the corner, then something bid her eyes go up. There, spread-eagled lazily against the ceiling, were their two new companions. Of course, if Willmore was going to be seeing Katherine, there was no sense in letting her know everything. Kiwi looked back to Craig, who didn't seem in a position to know much of anything.

“Willmore... Craig, sit down.”

He sat on the end of the bed. She noticed his expression flicker, a moment of confusion. The air was fairly humming around us, she wondered if Gabriel was trying to unravel whatever shroud had been put on him.

“Is this about my conduct? Because I'm sorry. It's just that...that”  He shook his head slightly.

“Craig, what happened at the lab this afternoon. Where Martinez was found?”

He told Kiwi the same version of events that Samantha had gotten.

“The trouble is Craig, it seems that isn't quite true.”

The change was startling. He stood up, his face angry. “Why? because I was with Katherine?”

“Partly. I want you to stop teaming up with her. She has to do her work with Jansson. She is no longer investigating this case.” Not after tomorrow, Kiwi thought. She would make sure of it.

“What? She's been working on it for weeks, sh--”

Kiwi cut him off. “She is currently under investigation by the IAD. Did you know that? She is suspected of a first degree murder. I will not have any Bureau agents risking involvement with a felon. And no, since you are bound to ask, this has nothing to do with 'us'. I don't know what's happened there, but this comes from higher up than me, Willmore. You should count yourself lucky you haven't received official notice and had your behind shipped back to DC.”

It was more than Kiwi had intended saying. She watched his face darken, a subtle change in his expression. For a moment, she had the strangest feeling that she was looking into Katherine’s eyes. Kiwi broke her gaze, looking towards the window. In the glass, she saw a movement, and turned back to meet the full force of his fist hitting her jaw.

She staggered back against the dresser, shock flooding her. Without thinking, she ducked the second punch and slapped him hard. Her hand stung, and Kiwi was relieved to see both Gabriel and Daniel behind him. Willmore stood in front of her, his face confused. “Kiwi? What...what happened to your face?”

There was blood pouring out of her mouth. He had reopened the split lip that Mueller had given her. It was lucky Kiwi had seen the throw out of the corner of her eye. If he had caught her square on, she would be out cold. “You just hit me, Craig.”

“I hit you?”

“Yes, now sit down. There isn't much time, and I need to ask you some questions.”

He sat, oblivious to anyone else in the room. “I would never hit you. Why would I do that?”

“Craig, you have been doing a lot of stuff you wouldn't normally do. Ever since you met Katherine Ives. Give me your gun.”

He handed it over. Kiwi flipped out the magazine and counted the shells. One missing.
“Willmore, can you tell me if you've had reason to fire this weapon at any stage during the investigation?”

He shook his head numbly. She looked to Gabriel, who nodded slightly.

“This gun has been fired Craig, do you know that?”

“I, I remember... what the hell is happening? I can't remember anything after yesterday morning. Or was that this morning?”

“Do you remember Katherine Ives being in your room last night?” She regretted it as soon as she said it. It was petty and cruel. He looked at Kiwi in shock. “Why would she be in my room?”

“Never mind.”  She knelt down and faced him. “Willmore, you have to promise me something. When you feel her in your mind, you have to fight it. OK? Can you try to fight it?”

He looked at her, for the first time in two days Kiwi felt she was looking at the man she  knew. “I do remember something. Her voice, it seemed to go right through me. And her eyes, I can see her eyes.” He stopped, holding Kiwi’s face in his hands. “What have I done? I think I may have done something terrible.”

“No, not so terrible. But she is controlling you somehow. I have some friends who will help you, but after sunrise you are going to have to fight harder. Its important Craig, she's trying to destroy us.”

He relaxed suddenly, and Kiwi lay him back on the bed. He was asleep by the time she had covered him with the quilt.

Kiwi sat down herself, exhausted, and faced Gabriel. “Did you find anything out?”

“He is not as far gone as he seems. She wanted him to shoot Martinez and he refused. She did it, but I am afraid she used his weapon. It will not take much for her to fabricate a story. I suggest you keep things as they are, or she will act accordingly.”

Kiwi had hoped to have Katherine off the case, maybe she should let the female detective  tag along, to keep tabs on her. Kiwi would team them with someone else.

“We only need one day right? She'll be with Adrian tomorrow night, won't she?”

“Yes, she wants to be embraced. She will do everything in her power to protect him.”

“I have to sleep. I'm too tired to think this all through.”

Daniel picked Willmore up easily and moved to the door. “He should be in his room, in case she comes. I will be in Sara’s room, if you need help. I will keep watch over the others as well.”

Kiwi nodded. She felt Gabriel’s hand brush her cheek, and when she looked up, the room was empty.

************

After going back to her room, Sara took another shower. Showers always made her feel better when she was stressed out. Quite often she took three or more showers a day. Especially lately.

She was curious to know how Willmore's de-monsterfication was going. If it was going at all. But Sara was tired, and she wanted to sleep. She slipped into some pajamas, and crawled under the covers. She felt numb. She was sick of being here. Sara considered asking ASAC Malone to send her back to DC. She was starting to feel too personally involved.

Sara bit that back. She would do what had to be done, she always did. She should never have let Daniel get under her skin in the first place. It was easy, somehow... but she would have to push it down. Detach herself.

She rolled over, and came face to face with Daniel lying next to her. Sara’s eyes met his, and she wasn't even startled, though she had no idea how they moved so quickly and quietly, or materialized, or whatever it was they did. She didn't ask. She didn't really want to know.

As Sara stared into his eyes, she felt that inescapable sadness overwhelming her again. She  tried to tell herself that it was coming from him, and not from within herself, but she couldn't be sure of it. Sara didn't feel sure of anything anymore. Somehow he was breaking down her walls, she was letting things in, and letting things out.

In a day, she would think of it as a weakness once again. For now, Sara just let it be.

"Are you afraid?" she finally asked.

Daniel shook his head. "I have been alive, or... like this, for so long. I am not afraid to move on. I will miss this place... the people... but in a way, I will be glad."

Sara shook her head, looking away. Death was something she saw a lot of. Death, in fact, seemed a regular visitor to her life. All she had left of her family was a sister. One sister out of two. Sara had lost patients, she had seen children die, she had seen partners die. Some say you never get used to it. But it wasn't very difficult for Sara to. Broken down into medical components, bodies, not people... It was easy enough to push it down. And easier still to turn her anger on the cause.

This time, the cause would be herself.

She sighed, rolling over to her other side, turning her back to Daniel, only to find he was now on the other side of her. Sara was looking into his eyes again. He placed a hand on her cheek. It was cold, yet somehow not. Suddenly she felt displaced from time, she was listening to him tell her things, but he was not speaking, and his thoughts were not in words. He told Sara things about himself, he told her things about herself. She felt drugged, or delirious. She lived in that moment for a thousand years and knew that she  would never quite remember it, never quite be able to grasp it or what had happened. But Sara lived in it.

Then she watched her hands reach for his face, felt her body sliding close to him, and ignored the voice in her head screaming at her that this was a very, very bad idea. As Sara’s lips met his lips, she let that voice fall to a whisper and die. ‘Just for tonight,’ she told it, ‘just this once, let me let it mean something...’

Sara felt him in her mind, she had let him in. She knew what he wanted, and offered it to him, throwing back her head, exposing her throat. Any fear had left her, and she wished that somehow she could stay here like this, forever.

Had Sara been anywhere near herself, the way she normally was, she would have been giggling insanely about what a hickey she would have in the morning.

His teeth pierced her skin, and she felt herself flowing into him. His body became warm with her blood. It felt like hours, maybe even days, but it was only a few precious moments, a few precious drops of her life.

As Sara looked back into his eyes, she felt the sadness again.

"Shhh," he said, placing a hand on her cheek again. "Think not on that tonight. Just sleep, and dream."

She sighed, deeply and shakily, and felt herself become very drowsy. Sara slept, and dreamed.

************

The motel was full, so Elisheva found herself bunking with Samantha for the night. It had been a long day, and her head was heavy from the whirlwind of events that had taken place in less than twenty-four hours.

Samantha claimed the bathroom first. Elisheva settled in front of her laptop and began tapping out her field notes for the day. Every sentence seemed more bizarre than the one before it. Normally she would make a effort to sand off the rough edges, making the report more acceptable. Tonight it was a different story; she was going to do her best to make Skinner's life as uncomfortable as possible and if writing an outrageous report about vampires hanging from the ceiling, wooden stakes and holy water was the most convenient vehicle...well so be it.

Elisheva played on the dramatic, making each scene as visual as possible, painting a vivid picture of each turn of events, being certain to make Sara and Kiwi the perfect pictures of professionalism. This was almost feeling too good.  Almost. She envisioned his face as he read her report. The repeated clenching of his jaw, the nose pinching...the entire collection of his nasty little habits that indicated his level of frustration...

The bathroom door opened and a billow of steam followed Sam out the door. "It's all yours Ellie."

"Thanks." Elisheva saved the file and shutdown her laptop. She walked to the bathroom, humming The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Strange, but the melody was stuck in her head so she just went with it.

Stepping into the shower, Elisheva changed her internal tuner and started belting out Billy Joel's 'You May be Right'.

'...You may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic looking for. It's too late to fight, it's too late to change me. You may be wrong for all I know, but you may be right...'

Elisheva was exhausted and feeling punchy, but she was enjoying her moment of insanity.

'...Now think of all the years you tried to find someone to satisfy you, I might be crazy as you say, if I'm crazy then its true, that its all because of you, and you wouldn't want me any other way...'

She turned off the shower and pulled back the shower curtain to find Samantha's arm extended through the partially opened door, Elisheva’s cell phone held in Sam’s hand. "Elisheva...hello, I know you're in there...you have a phone call."

Elisheva grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped it around herself, carefully tucking the corner in to hold it in place, as she half said under her breath, "You couldn't take a message?"

"Nope," Samantha had a wildly mischievous grin on her face, "its A.D. Skinner."

Another four letter word escaped Elisheva's lips for the countless time today. Grandma Margaret would not be proud of the way she was wasting a very expensive college education. She took the phone from Samantha, using her free hand to first point at Sam and then drew a line across her neck, indicting Sam’s fate once Elisheva finished the phone call.

"Toews here." She was making a valiant effort at sounding professional as she shoved wet strings of hair from her face, but Elisheva could tell she was failing miserably.

"Agent Toews, its Skinner."

Yea, tell me something I don't know you jerk, Elisheva fumed. "Uh huh."

"I haven't received a report from you today and I wanted to find out if the situations with Agents Zeuty and Malone are resolved."

Resolved, Elisheva thought, what the hell was there to resolve? "Sir, I was just about to put the finishing touches on my report and send it out to you." She grinned at herself in the bathroom mirror as she remembered her masterpiece saved on the hard drive of her laptop. "But if you want the gist of it, Sir, both Agent Zeuty and Agent Malone acted appropriately under the circumstances. I'm sure my report will make the details *very* clear."

"Toews..."

"Yes, Sir..."

"About this morning," his voice softened ever so slightly.

No, no, no!!! Don't you dare apologize! Elisheva was enjoying being pi$$ed at him far too much. ‘Don't you burst my bubble,’ she thought,  ‘don't say...’

"My behavior was inappropriate. Please accept my apology."

"Sh*t," the word escaped her lips before Elisheva could censor herself.

"Excuse me, Agent Toews?"

"Ummm...I said *shoot* sir. I accidentally hit the delete key instead of the send button." Lame, very lame. Here she was standing in the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, lying to her  boss about working at her computer. "You'll have to give me a few minutes to recover the file and send it on."

Elisheva half expected his voice to be express his impatience. She was mistaken. "I'll be expecting it," he simply said.

"Yes, Sir." There was a moment of silence on both ends.

"And personally, Ellie, I think you do a much nicer version of 'Just the Way You Are'."

She was dumbfounded. What did a woman say to a statement like that?

She stifled a chuckle and said, "Good night, Sir."

"Good night, Agent Toews."

She pushed the off button and set the phone next to the sink. Where was Sam...Elisheva  was going to kill her!

Elisheva finished her bedtime preparations while Samantha snuggled deeper under the blankets. The hot shower which she thought would warm her considerably had done nothing of the kind. She still felt miserably cold, inside and outside, and sleep eluded her.

She heard Elisheva's fingers busily tapping on the keys of her laptop, and Sam rolled over. "Ellie, don't be mad at me." She giggled in spite of herself. "I mean, how many of AD Skinner's agents..." Samantha laughed out loud and then laughed harder as -- one, two -- of Elisheva's slippers went flying in dangerously close proximity to Sam’s head.

::knock, knock::

"Who could that be?" Sam was pushing herself up into a sitting position in the bed and reaching for her robe.

"I don't know," Elisheva picked up her gun and walked softly to the door to look outside through the security peephole. She turned back towards Sam in mild confusion. "It's Agent Mulder."

Unlocking the door, Sam heard Elisheva saying, "Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all," she heard Mulder's voice. "Isn't this Agent Jaythree's room?"

"Yes, but we're doubling up since the motel was full."

Samantha was out of bed at this point and standing beside Elisheva. "May I help you, Agent Mulder?" She barely knew Mulder, and what she did know was mostly of his reputation within the Bureau. Then again, if it weren't for Mulder's reputation and work on the X-Files, the Y-Files division would not have existed. So in a sense, they owed him something. "Did you need to speak to me about something?"

"Do you mind if I come inside?" Mulder was wearing a black leather jacket and a black turtleneck, but he did look a little chilled.

Sam glanced at Elisheva who shrugged slightly out of Mulder's line of vision. "Sure, come in," she opened the door wider and Mulder slipped inside the room.

Samantha shivered visibly as she sat down on the bed. Elisheva went back to her laptop for a moment, and Mulder sat down on a chair beside the table. "I wanted to ask you about your accident today, Agent Jaythree," Mulder began, and then he looked at Sam  curiously. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she replied automatically. She hear Ellie snort. "I'm almost fine," she amended. "I'm just a little sore." Sam shrugged. "That's normal for something like that."

"And you're still cold?" Mulder's eyes were friendly, but he must have sensed Sam’s  confusion for he added, "I had them fax your medical report to Agent Scully for review. I was curious. What's the last thing you remember?"

Sam looked away for a moment. She hadn't told anyone about her little experience, although the brief encounter with Gabriel in Kiwi's room made Sam now wonder if perhaps she hadn't imagined the whole thing. Perhaps something *had* happened, some form of psychic communication --

"Sam?" Elisheva was suddenly standing beside her. "Are you okay?"

"You saw something," Mulder encouraged and then frowned slightly as she shivered again. He looked around the room. "Let's get some coffee inside of you, it might help a little."

Finally, wrapped in a blanket and sipping coffee, Samantha told both Ellie and Mulder about the strange thing that had happened to her at the intersection. "I'm sure it was just a dream," she ended the story. "I mean...what else could it be?"

"Agent Scully had a theory," Mulder sipped his own coffee while Elisheva had somehow managed to make hot tea for herself. "You were having a headache right before this happened?"

Samantha nodded. That was in the report.

"Agent Scully believes that you had a severe migraine with a preceding aura, a headache so severe it can cause someone to pass out. The preceding aura is not always found in migraines, but some people who experience it report having seen colors, lights, or even visions."

"That doesn't explain the condition the paramedics found her in," Elisheva protested.

"No, it doesn't," Agent Mulder nodded his head. "But 'my' theory accounts for the whole thing."

"And what is 'your' theory, Agent Mulder?" Sam heard herself asking.

Mulder's eyes sparkled with amusement. "I believe you had an out-of-body experience which took you in direct contact with a sleeping vampire." He looked at their faces. Samantha knew she didn't feel half as skeptical as the expression she was trying to muster in response to his statement. "I believe that this close contact with someone whose metabolic state is just one pulse above death affected you in this manner, and that explains not only your accident, your 'vision', but also your subsequent physical condition."

Nodding his head as if satisfied, Mulder rose to leave. "Thank you, Agents, for letting me barge in and compare notes with you." He smiled slightly. "And I'd love to read the field report on this one."

"So would AD Skinner," Samantha suddenly smiled in return.

Elisheva threw her a dark glance as Mulder left the room. Sam turned to Ellie. "Do you believe him? About what happened to me?"

"Not in my report," Elisheva replied in a distracted tone which let Samantha know that Ellie had at least two other trains of thought going at once. "Get some sleep, Sam. Good night."

"Night, Ellie," Sam put her coffee cup down. She was so tired that all of the caffeine in the world could not have kept her awake.

************

"Vampires... Certainly it was something different from chasing drug dealers or crazy terrorists; or negotiating in hostage situations. Who was that man at the motel anyway?" These ideas circled in Scham’s mind as he walked towards the motel's parking lot, when he suddenly stopped.

"Don't you remember that you no longer own a car?" Scham said in loud voice to himself. He couldn't blame Sam, she had to do her work. Besides Scham was getting this feeling he  was becoming more and more interested in her. He actually was... Scham checked his  wallet. Damn! One dollar. "Now what?" He was starving, cold, without money... And as soon as he arrived home, he would have to meet with the pleasant insurance paperwork.

"Well, I think I would have to get some help from my fellow agents." But from whom?

Kiwi? She needed some sleep; so did Sara; so did Samantha! God, as if he didn't.

Willmore? With that behavior Scham should expect a "Go to hell" rather than help.

Sabalore? She had to leave to pick up her friends at the JFK. Elisheva!? But she was staying in Samantha's room, and he didn't want to disturb her dream.

"So what? Are you gonna stay in here?" That internal voice was right. His last option was Agent Mulder. Scham had just met him a few hours ago... he hoped Mulder could help him.

Scham stood right in front of Mulder's door, knocking at it, for about five minutes. No answer. He might have other things to do.

"Well, I guess I should get a taxi cab and wait for the driver to be a nice person."  And Scham began his way through the mysterious streets of New York.

************

After their arrival at the motel, Sabalore had headed to her room.  She had already returned Val's car after their escapade.

 
Elisheva had dismissed them for the evening, and Sabalore was headed out to pick up Hallie and Chris from the airport.  She had earlier gotten directions from Scham, so hopefully she could find it all right.

 
Sabalore changed out of her suit into a pair of flared jeans and a tee shirt. She grabbed her  jacket, and pulled it on as she left the motel room.  She unlocked her car and climbed in, readjusting the seat to fit her.  Sabalore pulled out of the hotel, and drove through the busy NY streets.

She tapped her hand on the steering wheel and glanced behind me. The silence was unnerving. Sabalore turned on the radio, and flipped through various stations, but she  couldn't seem to find one to her liking, and in her rush to leave she hadn't bothered to pack any CD's.   Sighing, she flipped off the radio and continued her drive.

Somehow, she got turned around backwards, and ended up on a dark side road in, obviously, the wrong part of the large city.  "Great going, Sabalore," she told herself.
"NOW where are you?"

She tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear, and pulled a map out of the glove box. She had bought one of New York, earlier, so she might have a bit more luck trying to get somewhere.

Sabalore pulled over to the side of the road, and turned on an overhead light, opening the map.  She quickly located the airport, and traced her way backwards, trying to figure out where she was.

There was a sound from outside the car, causing her head to snap up.

She looked around, but the only light was the iridescent glow from the streetlights. Sabalore shivered, and decided to retrace her drive backwards. Hopefully, she could find a main road.

She restarted the car, and pulled out, pulled a U turn, and sped back down the dark road.
She drove down a brightly lit street filled with shops and clubs. She decided to ask for directions from someone.

Sabalore pulled into a parking space and entered a small liquor store. She walked up to the counter.

"Hi," she smiled at the burly, balding man behind the counter. "Could you help me out? I'm visiting the town, and need to pick up some friends at the JFK. I seem to be a bit lost."

The man smiled. "Sure thing, honey."

She suppressed a gag at his remark, and listened carefully as he directed her to the airport. Sabalore thanked him and headed out again.

Once she reached JFK, Sabalore jumped out of the car and looked around the busy airport for Hallie and Chris. She found them sitting at a restaurant's table, chatting with one of the people who work there.

"No way," Sabalore heard him say. "Those are really your names?"

"Yeah, Really," Chris said, smiling at him.

"Woah, dude. No offense, but those are whacked names." Sabalore smiled as she approached them. She'd thought the same thing when she'd first met them.

"Hi guys," Sabalore said, coming up behind Chris.

"Sab!" Hallie cried, jumping up and hugging her. "It's so good to see you again!" She pulled back, and Sabalore hugged Chris. "It's too bad it couldn't be under better circumstances, though," he said.

"Did you get the other agent okay?" Hallie asked, her unique violet eyes clouded over with worry.

"Yeah, we got her okay. Holy water works when they don't know you've dumped it over the steps. It hurts their vampire tootsies," Sabalore said, repeating her earlier remark.

Hallie rolled her eyes. "You never did get over being co-captain of the cheerleading squad, did you?"

"Nope."

"I hate to ruin your gab fest, girls," Chris spoke up, running a hand through his red hair, "But can we get going?"

"Oh, yeah. My car’s over there." Sabalore pointed, and they headed over to it.  "Oh, by the way," she said, starting the engine. Sabalore twisted around and looked at Chris, then  at Hallie next to her, before turning back to the road. "The motel is booked solid, so I guess we've gotta get you all into my room."

 
"Great," Chris said. "I am NOT sleeping on the floor like we had to do in BC."

Sabalore shook her head. "It wasn't MY fault they overbooked the hotel."

Hallie laughed, "That was funny, Chris."

"Was not," he retorted.

They drove the rest of the way chattering about old times, none of them really wanting to get into vampire matters.

Arriving back at the motel a while later, Sabalore parked the car, and Chris and Hallie grabbed their bags. Sabalore took in both of Hallie’s duffle bags. "Some things never change," Sabalore told her.

"No, they don't," she replied, sounding almost wistful.

Sabalore decided to ask her what she meant by that later. Sabalore grabbed the large bag with the weapons, and they headed to the rooms the agents had reserved. On their way, they bumped into Mulder.  "Hey, Sabalore," he said.

 
"Hi, Mulder," she replied. "These are my friends, Hallie Johnson and Chris Brown.  Hallie, Chris, this is Fox Mulder."

They exchanged greetings, and Mulder turned to Sabalore. "Are they the ones who brought the stuff?" he asked.

 
"Yeah," she replied. Sabalore gestured to the bag she was carrying. "They're in here."

"Great," he said.

 
They headed to Sabalore’s room, then Mulder called after them.  "Where are you guys staying?"

Sabalore handed Hallie the key to unlock the room and turned around. "They're staying with me," she called.

 
"You think you can fit all three of you into that room?” Mulder asked.

"There's twin beds," Sabalore replied, then smirked when Chris shouted.

"I'm on the floor *again*."

"Why don't you stay with me, Chris? Until more rooms free up?" Mulder asked.  "There's a pullout couch in my room," he finished.

 
Chris shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Anything beats sharing a room with THESE two," he jerked his thumb at Sabalore and Hallie. "All they talk about is guys and Soap operas and girl stuff."

Hallie punched his shoulder lightly. "Not true," she called after him as he went and joined Mulder.

"Just you and me, Hal," Sabalore told her as they entered the room, to hopefully get some rest.   Sabalore somehow doubted they would.

************

Grudgingly, Elisheva clicked on the 'send' button. Her *revised* report was on its way to A.D. Skinner. Sometimes she felt like a 'yes man'. Or was the politically correct term 'yes person'?

'Yes A.D. Skinner, I'll have that report right to you...Yes, Sir, I'll handle that for you, no problem.' As adorable as some of her fellow agents felt Skinner’s backside was, Elisheva  never set out to be as @SS kisser, especially to a man who had once been her partner for goodness sake. Okay, Elisheva would admit, Skinner did have a nice backside, but she thought it was in the Bureau's Standard of Ethics somewhere, that you should never, ever gaze longingly at your boss's buttocks.

She needed to get a life! She spent her days chasing well dressed and extremely handsome vampires... or sometimes they chased Elisheva. Today, case in point. Hell, that dead guy Gabriel had more charm in his cold clammy little finger than Elisheva’s last three dates combined. She wondered momentarily if Gabriel was single. She needed to get a boyfriend!!!!

Thirty-four years old, single, celibate since she broke off my engagement to Doug some...let me see, how long ago was that...never mind, too many years to count. Biological clock ticking away...tick, tick, tick. Oh my gosh, she was turning into Ally McBeal! Next thing I know I'll be seeing dancing babies! ARGHHHHHHH!

May the heavens help her, Elisheva was loosing it! Sleep, sleep, please blessed sandman, be kind tonight and let her sleep! She quickly said her prayers like a good little agent and then climbed into the welcomed sagginess of the well worn motel bed.

Dreams...strange dreams. Skinner. Yes, that was Skinner hanging from the ceiling of his office. Elisheva could hear Billy Joel's lyrics from the song 'Pressure' screaming,

"...but you will come to a place, where the only thing you feel, are loaded guns in your face, and you'll have to deal with...PRESSURE!"

Sam and Kiwi were gleefully dancing around the office in nothing but diapers. (Don't worry Sam, they came up to your armpits, so everything was covered!) Sam had Ellie’s cell phone in her hand waving it playfully in Elisheva’s direction, smiling wickedly at her  the whole time. 'Nah, nah, nahnah nah...you can't catch me' Samantha giggled.

Chaos...Elisheva was completely and totally surrounded by chaos! She couldn’t even hear herself think!

'I'm sorry, Sir. What was that you said, Sir?' Elisheva heard herself saying. Now she was  staring up at the ceiling, giving her a very interesting view of Skinner's bald head. 'You want me to do what, Sir? Yes Sir, if you think it is in the best interest of the investigation Sir. But I don't think I can climb up there and kiss your....'

Elisheva sat bolt upright in bed, completely confused about where she was. She looked  around and saw Sam as she slowly rolled over, a soft sigh escaping her. New York...Elisheva was in New York. Yes...vampires...investigation. She took a deep breath, and let it out very slowly.

“It's okay, Ellie, it was just a dream,” she repeated over and over. She cursed the sandman for his demented sense of humor.

Reaching for the alarm clock Elisheva turned it in her direction to find it is already 5:37 a.m. Did she dare go back to sleep? No, thank you! Deciding to check her email instead, Elisheva climbed out of bed to the safety and comfort of her loyal laptop and logged onto the server. She truly welcomed the world of modern technology at moment.

The morning sun soon came streaming through the cracks of the curtain, hitting smack dab in the middle of the screen of Elisheva’s laptop, making it impossible to read another email. Instead of moving, like an intelligent person would, she took the inconvenience as a sign from the heavens that it was time to get out into the real world. Besides, there was nothing from HIM anyway. Not even a thank you for staying up late, very late she might add, and getting that blasted report out to him. Jerk! *sigh*

The phone rang, and Elisheva’s first impulse was to pick it up. She decided against it. There was nothing more annoying that being awakened from a dead sleep by the sound of a ringing phone. She would make Samantha suffer for her little discretion from the night before.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Sam managed to mumble before pulling the pillow over her head.

“Nope.” Elisheva walked over to the curtains and yanked them open, the room suddenly filling with bright sunlight.

“I hate you, Ellie.”

“Right back at you babe!” she chuckled. “Ummm, Sam, don’t you think you should get

the phone? I think is must be going on its tenth ring by now.”

Samantha flung her pillow at Elisheva as she rolled out off the bed and made her way to the phone. Ellie wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at Sam in response.

“Oh, how dignified you are Ellie! Love to see that picture pasted to your badge!”

Samantha picked up the phone and cleared her throat. “Jaythree...and company.”

There was a series of ‘uh huhs’, ‘yeps’, and ‘I sees’ before she hung up. When she turned to face Elisheva, all playfulness had left her face.

“That was Kiwi. We’re meeting at the diner for breakfast in a half an hour. She has our assignments for the day and she is ready to dole them out. She sounded focused.”

Good, Elisheva needed focused! A favorite trait of any AR (anal retentive) challenged person.

************

Sara awoke to complete darkness and the alarm clock blaring. She couldn't believe it was morning, as no sunlight was filtering through the window. Sara fumbled and switched on the light on the nightstand, to see Daniel sleeping next to her. She was fascinated for quite some time, staring at him. He didn't breath. He was cool to the touch. If it wasn't for his eyes darting around beneath their lids, Sara would have been convinced he was dead.

Evidently vampire dreamed when they slept, too.

She looked over at the window. It had been covered by a thick black tarp. Daniel must have put it up while she had been sleeping, the previous day he had stayed in the bathroom, where there was no window. Sara had been too afraid to open the door, and hadn't showered in the morning. At least the building they'd been staking out had smelled worse than she had.

Sara went into the bathroom, showered, and brushed her teeth. As she was drying her hair, Sara noticed the bite marks on her neck. They weren't very big, but they were still noticeable.

"Damn," she said to herself. She rifled through her suitcase, trying to find a shirt that would cover them up. Unfortunately, Sara had this thing about things being too tight around her throat. She didn't own any turtlenecks, the last time she had worn one she had  spent the whole day tugging at the neck, feeling as if she were strangling. Sara never even buttoned her blouses up the whole way.

There was a knock at the door. "Agent Zeuty?" A man's voice called. It was Mulder. "Just wanted to let you know, breakfast across the street in half an hour."

She rushed to the door, wearing only a bathrobe, opened it a crack, and slid out into the hallway. "Mulder," she said. "Help."

He walked back over to Sara, a slight look of concern on his face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

She stared down at his feet, unable to meet his eyes. "I need to, uh, borrow a turtleneck."

"You what?"

"Look," Sara said, finally looking him in the eye. "Can you help me or not?"

His gaze moved down to Sara’s throat, and his fingers grazed her marks. She was waiting for some sort of lecture, and was surprised when he said, "Sure. I wore it last night, though, so it's not April fresh." He winked at her, went to his room, and came back with a black turtleneck in hand.

"Thanks," she said, going back into her room.

It was pretty big on her, but Sara tucked it into a skirt, threw a jacket on top, and managed not to look like a bag lady.

*************

Kiwi woke early the next morning, her lip swollen and tender, and the rest of her filled with the kind of dull ache that comes with exhaustion.

She looked at the clock, five a.m. Great, she thought. Then she had to make what was becoming a familiar dash to the bathroom. The cut on the inside of her lip made that a real treat.

Kiwi decided to file some paperwork, and get a handle on what they would do. Then, feeling restless, she simply dressed and went down to the diner to work there. If she beat Samantha, she figured she could get away with some coffee before Sam made her feel guilty.

Al’s Diner was warm and full of early morning office workers. Each one blissfully unaware of the impending show down between clans of rival vampires. Kiwi spotted a booth emptying, and pushed her way through the crowd.

Kiwi noticed a few stares, and wondered if she had her shirt on inside out. It had happened before when she was this tired. She slid into the booth and gave herself a glance in the mirror behind the counter. Kiwi saw immediately why people's expressions were so startled.

Her face was almost white, and she had shadows under her eyes. Her clothes hung off her  oddly, she looked small in them suddenly. But the worst part was the bruising on Kiwi’s  face. Mueller had gripped her so hard that there were black and blue dots lining my neck and cheeks. Plus, the split lip had puffed up into an ugly discolored lump.

The waitress approached and poured coffee. Kiwi looked at it, and noticed a fat tear drop into it. When, she thought, did her life suddenly decide to become a train-wreck?

“You want some free advice, honey?”

It was the waitress, 'Flo'. Kiwi stared at the cup, willing her to leave. Flo leaned over and put her hand softly on Kiwi’s left forearm. The sudden pain from her stitches made Kiwi  jerk, and Flo apologized.

“Jeez, sorry sweetie. I was just gonna say leave him.”

Kiwi looked at her in confusion.

“The jerk that did that to you, leave him. I bin there, it’s a one way street.”

Kiwi nodded. The waitress was being kind. But she could hardly explain that a vampire’s servant had done half the damage, and the rest was done by a 'jerk' under the mind control of a crooked cop.

After she left Kiwi sat and stared out the window, waiting for the others to come. When they did, Kiwi found myself immersed in the case again, thinking about assignments for the day. Keeping an eye out for Craig. As soon as she had a moment, Kiwi wanted to tell Samantha about Gabriel's revelations.

There seemed to be a lot of extra people here.  Samantha was squashed into a corner between Elisheva and Kiwiphile. Kiwi nearly passed on breakfast, but Sam glared using her best imitation of Skinner. That did the trick and Kiwi ordered a muffin and juice to go with her coffee. Sam nodded her silent approval, and then turned to Scham.

"By the way, what happened yesterday to the surveillance on Rachel Montgomery? Weren't you and Agent Sabalore supposed to be following her and then interviewing her?"

Scham looked at Samantha, his eyes intense as always. "We were called away to meet Agent Mulder at the field office. At that point, I didn't know who we were meeting. Then afterwards, we were rescuing Kiwiphile and attending meetings..."

Elisheva was glad Samantha brought up the fact that the ball had been dropped, although not intentionally, with Rachel Montgomery. Ellie was sure that Scham and Sabalore would be on it first thing.

Sam thought about that for the moment and started to say something when she saw Agent Mulder crossing the street with an unknown man. "Who's that with Mulder?" Sam nodded in their direction.  Kiwi tuned back in to Elisheva and Samantha as they discussed the new arrivals.

"I have no idea," Scham replied.

Kiwiphile and Elisheva both shook their heads negatively as well. Just then Elisheva gestured discreetly towards our motel. "And who's *that* coming out with Sabalore?"

Scham looked at the two women crossing the street with Agent Mulder and the unknown man. "I'd guess that they all know each other."

"Agreed," Kiwiphile murmured. "Do we know them?"

"They don't look like Federal agents," Elisheva added.

"Neither does Mulder lately," Sam replied and took a long sip of my coffee, looking around the diner. "Where's Sara? Anybody coming across the street with her?"

"Not in broad daylight," Kiwi replied.

Elisheva and Sam exchanged a careful glance and busied themselves with their food until

something caught Elisheva’s eye. It was Agent Willmore leaving his room. She watched him carefully, remembering how Kiwi had described his odd behavior on this case. Not that she could tell a thing by the way a man walked...okay, sometimes she could, but that wasn’t the case today.

As Willmore approached the diner, Elisheva noticed a very long legged, attractive, well dressed woman approach him and proceed to entwine him in her embrace. Elisheva glanced at Kiwi, who had obviously seen what she had just witnessed. This woman was definitely Ives. Ellie’s and Kiwi’s eyes met for a moment, and then Kiwi switched her attention to the muffin and OJ that had just been placed in front of her by Flo, their waitress.

Willmore made a valiant effort at peeling the woman’s arms from around his neck just before she planted a huge and somewhat sloppy kiss on his lips. Ellie know it was sloppy because he used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth afterwards.

Standing up, Elisheva excused herself from the others and headed for the door. She was going to have a little chat with Ms. Ives.

She met Willmore and Ives as the door and flashed a smile at the both of them. “Good morning, Agent Willmore.”

“Morning Agent Toews.” He looked at Elisheva, then Ives, and then back at Ellie. “Ummm, Agent Toews, this is Det. Katherine Ives, with the NYPD.” She smiled, revealing a set of beautiful white, straight and impeccably clean teeth.

Elisheva had tried to come into this situation with an objective mind, without any preconceived notions of what this woman was about. Skinner had sent her as a diplomat of sorts, and she was going to act accordingly. Yea, right...Elisheva strongly disliked her from the moment she flashed them pearly whites!

Ellie extended a hand, offering a firm, but friendly, handshake. Det. Ives placed her hand in Elisheva‘s; it was like shaking hands with a limp noodle. Why did women shake hands like that! Yuck. “Det. Ives, I’m so glad to meet you.” Elisheva shot a look at Willmore and nodded her head in the direction of the others. “We’re having a working breakfast this morning, and the others are waiting for you.”

“Yes Ma’am.” He began to move through the morning crowd, Det. Ives making an effort to follow him.

Elisheva stepped in Katherine’s way, gently took her by the arm, and turned her in the opposite direction. “Excuse me, Det. Ives...”

“Please, call me Katherine.” She smiled  as her green eyes stared into Elisheva‘s.

“Det. Ives, I was hoping to have word with you in private.” Elisheva smiled back at her, Ellie’s gaze never faltering from Katherine‘s. “Yesterday, Assistant Director Skinner asked me to join this investigation. He had been made aware of your complaints regarding the actions of a couple of our agents and asked me to look into it.”

“Oh, yes.” She turned her head to look in the direction of Agent Willmore. “Mmmm, about that phone call. I was a little upset at the time. You know how it is when you are investigating a case like this.”

“A little territorial?” Elisheva offered, hoping to bring Katherine’s attention back in her  direction.

“Yes, territorial,” she agreed as she turned to face Elisheva once again. “I think it was all just a huge misunderstanding. Everything is fine now. Agent Zeuty has been on her best behavior for almost twenty-four hours now, and Agent Kiwi and I mended our difference quite some time ago.”

Elisheva had the distinct feeling she was being blown off. “Well, Det. Ives, if you want to file an official complaint with the Bureau, it certainly is within your rights.” Elisheva stared hard into her eyes, daring Ives to consider it. Ellie could play chicken via a staring contest with the best of them. Katherine weakened first and broke eye contact.

Smiling nervously, Det. Ives said, “That won’t be necessary Agent Toews. It is all water under the bridge now.”

“Fine, I’m glad we were able to clear up this little misunderstanding.” Elisheva reached into her trench coat pocket, removed a name card, and handed it to her. “If, for some unforeseen reason you change your mind, I would appreciate it if you would contact me first.” Elisheva had to play the diplomat to the end.

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary.” Det. Ives started to walk in the direction of the agents’  table. Again, Elisheva gently grabbed her arm.

“I’m sorry Det. Ives. This morning’s meeting is for our agents only.” Ellie flashed a pearly white smile of her own. “I’m sure you understand. I will be the acting liaison between the Bureau and your office. I assure you I will contact you immediately when we turn up any relevant information on this investigation.”

Katherine stared at her blankly.

“Now, if you will excuse me, I have some matters to attend to. The others are waiting for me.” Elisheva opened the door to the diner and made a slight gesture with her hand, waving Det. Ives in the direction of the parking lot.

Katherine calmly turned on her heels and walked out the door. If she was ticked, she didn’t show it. She was good, very good...

But Elisheva was better.

Kiwi had seen Ives approaching Craig as he was about to enter the diner. She didn't have any plan as to what she might do, although shooting Det. Katherine Ives was an option.  Kiwi was detained by Elisheva as she stood and went over. She spoke briefly to Willmore before turning to Ives. It was a relief. Kiwi knew Katherine wouldn't get around Eli, she was like the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City combined. Impassable, inscrutable, and unflappable.

Mulder came up to the table and nodded. His eyes widening slightly at Kiwi’s face. “Mueller got off easy,” he said, a quiet anger in his tone.

“Yeah,” she winced, it hurt to talk.

“I have to go back to DC, I think you guys can manage here.” Kiwi nodded and thanked him for his help.

“Anytime, call if you need anything, OK?” He smiled as he said it.

Kiwi was sorry to see him go, but he had told her he only had a day to spare. She wondered briefly what he was working on, then Kiwi’s eyes settled on the two newcomers with Sabalore.  “SA Sabalore?” Kiwi said, standing and pulling Sabalore to one side.

“Yes ma'am?”  Sabalore still looked chirpy, despite the lack of sleep.

“Who are they?”

“Oh, you mean Chris and Hallie? They're friends of mine from--”

Maybe it was the hour, or maybe it was just that Kiwi had already had too many agents deciding what and when they were going to do things. She kept her tone as even as she  could manage.

“One, we do not work with civilians. Two, you do not have the authority to employ people on investigations without prior approval from the acting SAC. That's me. Three, you do not ever share details of an investigation with any of the aforementioned. Four, you do not give the aforementioned accommodations in federally funded rooms. Five, if you do decide to do any of the above things, you see the error of your ways and get them out of my sight before I decide to write a report on your personnel file.  Understood?”

Sabalore blinked and nodded. Kiwi felt for her, but the last thing she wanted was a couple of cowboys coming along for fun. “You're a good Agent Sabalore. I just need you help me do my job, OK?”

Kiwi watched as Sabalore headed over to their table, her bubbliness slightly deflated. Kiwi  felt bad, but that was nothing new today. She turned back to the table and sat down again. “So, who wants what?” She eyed my muffin queasily, and tried not to think about eating it.

Agent Willmore approached the table and gestured to the empty place. "Is this seat taken?" he smiled and raised his eyebrows in a gesture of mock suspense.

Kiwiphile glanced at him and then looked away. To the best of Samantha’s knowledge, she still had not been able to tell him about her pregnancy or the fact that he was going to be a father. Sam tried to remind herself that Craig had been under the spell of some vampire's helper -- a.k.a. Katherine Ives.

Sam glared at him and gestured to the seat without saying a word. Kiwi had turned to speak with the others. Her body language most definitely said, 'leave me alone.'

Samantha glared at Craig again.

"Agent Jaythree," Willmore leaned towards Sam after he had ordered his breakfast. "I haven't had the opportunity yet to apologize for my unprofessional attitude earlier."

It was Elisheva's turn to glare as she returned to the table and reclaimed her seat. Nobody appreciated a professional attitude more than she.

Samantha gave him another cold stare in return while she slowly chewed her toast. She debated whether she should go into this here and now -- or later. Later, in private, would probably be better. Sam swallowed her food and looked at Craig's waiting expression.

Then again, if she were shot or stabbed or bitten or whatevered tonight...there might not be a later.

"Which attitude would that be, Agent Willmore?" Sam leaned in towards him as well, but she noticed that Elisheva was still giving Willmore a rather cold eye. "The way you 'snapped' at me when I asked you for a description of a suspect? The way you 'failed' to follow proper protocol and procedures when registering a complaint about an investigation? Or your 'complete' and 'utter' disregard for your fellow agents by 'actively' pursuing matters of a 'personal' nature while on the job?"

Samantha heard Scham's sharp intake of breath from across the table. She guessed Scham  had heard her. Well, it was Willmore's own fault for bringing this up at breakfast.

Craig looked at her, momentarily at a loss for words. Then he nodded his head earnestly. "Any of those. All of those. Whatever you'd like, Agent Jaythree."

"What I'd like is to have you ---"

Elisheva halted Sam’s ready flow of words by raising a hand and interjecting a soft comment. "This is really not the place for this."

This time Samantha nearly glared at Elisheva, but Agent Willmore continued. "Ma'am, you don't understand, but I've been acting like --"

"A rookie agent," Sam filled in for him. Willmore stopped, and she continued. "I very nearly had you wrapped and sent in a box back to AD Skinner's office. We will finish this discussion later, but for the remainder of this case, I expect you to act like the professional agent whom you are."

"But Agent Jaythree, I'm just trying to expl--"

"Agent Willmore," Elisheva's voice was rather cool and formal. "I would drop the conversation now if I were you."

The waitress returned with Craig's breakfast, and he promptly busied himself with eating it.

Sara arrived, sliding into a seat next to Scham. She looked almost peaceful. Kiwi hoped that she had gotten a good nights rest. She was wearing a turtle-neck, unusual for her as she normally stuck to the conservative shirt or blouse they were all expected to wear. It didn't bother Kiwi who hated suits herself.

“OK, people. Here's the plan. Sara, I'd like you and Scham to find Rachel Montgomery.” Kiwi looked at Scham, “And SA Scham, this time please try to continue with the assignment, unless you hear from an SAC, or Sara issues orders, consider yourself stuck to this like glue.” He ducked his head slightly and nodded. Kiwi figured everyone would be giving me plenty of personal space today.

“Elisheva, can you partner up with SA Sabalore?” Kiwi sent a silent message with her eyes. <and keep tabs on her please?>  “I want to find Matthew Fenton. Its possible he's in hiding, but he could be in trouble.” Kiwi handed her notes to Elisheva who started reading them immediately. Kiwi knew that she would look after our newest addition well.

Samantha put down her coffee, a little color had returned to her cheeks. “What about us?” Kiwi noticed that Sam excluded Willmore from the 'us', and that he had remained silent, avoiding eye contact with Kiwi.

“You, me and Willmore will check on the Martinez murder.” Kiwi looked around and waved for the check. “This morning, breakfast is on me.” A few smiles at last. “OK, lets move it folks.”

She waved Samantha and Willmore back into their seats. “Sam, can you call Det Jansson? I want you to check on his work-load, make sure he has enough to keep him and his partner busy.”

She caught the drift and moved to one side to make the call. Kiwi sat, facing Willmore, a long silence between us.

Finally, he looked at her. Kiwi gazed back, not sure how to decipher his expression. He reached forward with his hand towards her, and Kiwi pulled back a little faster than she had intended.

“Don't.”

“Your face... that lip must be killing you.”

“What kills me is that you did it.”

He looked shocked for a moment. Then sad. “You're wrong about her, you know. I know I've been under some kind of... that...” He clenched his fists. “I think someone else, like this Adrian guy, was responsible. I don't remember anything about Katherine except that she's sweet, and kind, an she would nev--”

Kiwi’s voice was cold. “If I'm wrong about her, then you can say ‘I told you so’ tomorrow. But don't mention her to me again. Ever.”

She knew that he was still partly under her influence. She knew also that he would need a few days to fully remember what had happened. Gabriel had filled her in. But it didn't help; sitting opposite him and seeing the graze on his knuckles where her teeth had cut them on his fist. He looked at Kiwi with an air of panic. She leaned forwards slightly to give them  privacy. She felt a surge of emotion hit as she spoke.

“Look at me, Craig. See this face? These bruises?” He kept his eyes on hers. “You were right outside the room with her while Mueller was doing this handiwork. Then she told you to go, and you left without so much as glancing into the room. I lay there under that fat scum fighting for my life and you just followed her like she was the goddamned pied-piper.” She kept going, tears of anger flooding her eyes. “If Mulder and the others hadn't turned up, I wouldn't be sitting here now. I'd be--”

Samantha cut her off softly. “Kiwi? Come on, we have to get to work now.”

Kiwi wiped her face angrily, and Craig had the sense to keep his mouth shut. She looked at him. “You better hope we find a witness down there, Willmore, because she has painted you into a very small corner.”

************

Agent Sabalore Smith and SAC Elisheva Toews left the diner, both deep in thought. Elisheva could tell from Sabalore’s expression that she was less than pleased by Agent Malone’s remarks.

Elisheva put the keys in the ignition, started the engine, slipped the gear into reverse and then drive, easing into the traffic. She was heading for the courthouse, wanting to secure a search warrant for Fenton’s apartment. She had a strong hunch there would be a lead to his whereabouts there.

“Look Sabalore, I know Kiwi seemed harsh,” Elisheva started her pep talk. She did not want to spend my day with a sulking S.A. “She is the Special Agent in Charge on this case, and that is a heavy responsibility.”

Sabalore stared out the window, and nodded. Not much of a response.

“I’ll admit this case is a little unusual, and it might require a little unorthodox investigative techniques. It was a good move to get in touch with your contact regarding the appropriate defenses against vampires...” Was Elisheva really saying this? She shook her  head and continued. “However, it was not a good move to bring them on board. Sabalore, don’t let the excitement of the chase cloud your judgment. If anything would have happened to your friends, I guarantee it would have cost you your career, no matter the outcome, no matter how good your intentions were.”

Sabalore continued to stare out the window as she said, “Yes Agent Toews, I understand.” She had had enough of Elisheva’s little lecture.

Ellie could have continued the lecture during the entire drive, pointing out the fact that a reaming was part of any good agents daily diet, or that you just can not make everyone happy no matter how hard you try, but instead she took her cue and finished the drive in silence. With any luck, Sabalore would have a long career to learn all these things for herself.

* * * * * * *

Warrant in hand, Sabalore knocked on the door to Mathew Fenton’s apartment. There was no response, not that they expected one. She tried a second time, but to no avail. They stepped back as the apartment manager used the master key to unlock the door. Elisheva gave him a nod to express her thanks and then followed Sab into the flat.

“What exactly are we looking for Toews?”

“Anything that will give us a clue where Fenton is. It is as if he just evaporated from the hospital, but nothing is that simple.” Elisheva looked at Sabalore and gave her a wink. “You’ll know it if you find it Sab.”

It struck Elisheva as strange that the NYPD hadn’t been to his place since his disappearance. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps a certain long-legged female detective with the NYPD was responsible for that oversight.

They methodically went from room to room, looking for something, looking for anything. Elisheva read the various titles on the book shelf. Fenton had a thing for the occult, a number of volumes focusing on vampirism. She pulled one off the shelf titled Vampires and Sexual Magnetism  and started thumbing through it.

“Hey Sab, get this.” Elisheva started reading out loud. “The fact that vampires are known to possess a hypnotic sexual presence is well documented.” She stopped and smiled. “I think we have all experienced that ‘presence’ lately.” They both chuckled, and then Elisheva continued. “Often the person or persons who are the object of a vampires desires....” She stopped to turn the page, when suddenly a piece of paper slid out of the book and hit the floor. Sabalore bent over and picked it up. She turned it over, and to their  surprise, it was photograph of Fenton, Elstree and woman who was only half turned to the camera and was slightly out of focus.

It was Katherine Ives, there was no doubt in Elisheva’s mind.

“I know this is not the best picture, but I would swear that was Det. Ives,” Sabalore said as she pointed to the blurred figure.

Ellie stared at the picture and tried to fit this new piece of information into the equation of this case. Kiwi had said that there was a power struggle going on between the leaders of the various vampire clans. Was Katherine Ives the person behind the recruiting of players for this game of Blood Bond? Was she hoping to find some unsuspecting victims to make an offering of sorts to win the favor with Gabriel or Daniel? Elisheva’s impression from the night before was that neither of them were looking for fresh blood. Although Adrian aka Methusala appeared to have the upper hand in this power struggle, new recruits would help solidify their position.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Katherine Ives was playing both sides of this power struggle. The thought of immortality could be a strong motivation for someone. As long as she ended up on the side that won, her immortality would be guaranteed. Swearing allegiance to both sides would secure her position, as long as the other side didn’t realize what she was doing. Ellie knew from their one meeting that Katherine Ives was a strong woman, but was she strong enough to deal with so many vampires probing her thoughts?

Elisheva pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial for Kiwi.

************

Sara had to force herself to focus, but once she was, she felt that she would not lose it.  "Do you want to drive, or shall I?" Sara asked Scham, walking out of the diner. He got a rather sad look on his face. "Oh," she said, feeling like a moron, "Sorry. I forgot. I'll drive."

They arrived at Rachel Montgomery's apartment complex in about twenty minutes. Then they sat and waited. And waited.

And waited.

Finally, Rachel came out. Sara and Scham followed her. They watched her shop. They  watched her go out for lunch. They watched her pick up her dry cleaning. They watched her go home.

Then Sara and Scham sat and waited. Even though it was cold outside, the sun beating down on the car was making Sara extremely warm. She kept tugging on the neck of her  shirt. Ten more minutes of this and she would lose her mind.

"Alright," Sara said, finally, "Enough is enough." She got out of the car. "Wait here," she  told Scham. “If I'm not back in a reasonable amount of time, come up. I've spoken with her before, and I get the feeling she doesn't much trust anyone. At least she's seen me before." Scham nodded, then turned up the radio as Sara walked away.

She knocked on Rachel's door, and this time Rachel opened it as soon as she saw it was Sara.

"Miss Montgomery," she said, "I wanted to ask you some more questions."

Rachel let her in, and brought a cup of tea while Sara made myself comfortable on the couch.

"Have you heard that we found your friend Elstree, murdered, and that we found Fenton as well? And that he disappeared from his room at the hospital?"

Rachel nodded.

"Anything you want to tell me that you may have left out the last time we spoke?" Sara  asked.

"I don't know what you mean..." she said, shakily, her eyes not meeting Sara‘s.

"Why don't you tell me about the ring, Rachel."

Rachel sat silently, not moving, for at least a minute. Then she took a long, deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"It's the sigil for the Temple of the Vampire," she said, "But I assume you already knew that."

Sara nodded. "So is there anything you'd like to tell me now?"

Rachel shook her head, tears falling from her face. "You would never believe me."

Sara pulled at the neck of her shirt, exposing her marks to Rachel. "Try me," Sara said.

Suddenly Rachel stood up quickly, tipping over her chair. "Stay away from me!" She screamed. "You're one of them!"

Sara was shocked for a moment, and at a loss for words. "Rachel, aren't you a member of this vampire religion? Isn't that why you wear the ring? What don't you think I would believe? I'm hear to help you. Please, trust me. I know what's going on here, I know about the showdown that is supposed to take place tonight. I'm not going to let the bad guys win."

"Don't you see?" Rachel said, "They're all 'bad guys.' You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Then why don't you tell me," Sara said. Finally, Rachel sat back down.

"They stole our name. They turned something beautiful into a sick game of death and murder," Rachel said. She continued on to tell that this religion of theirs, the *original* religion, as Rachel kept stressing, had existed thousands of years ago. The idea that one could improve one's own life force by drawing off the lives of others, consensually, taking from a collective vitality of all life from earth.

This Vampire religion that she belonged to now, was a modern from of that. They did not drink blood, they did not hurt people. The Vampires that we had been dealing with were, according to Rachel, the offspring of a part of the religion that had broken away thousands of years before. A denomination that believed in taking things one step further, actually drinking the blood of others. Rachel told Sara that because of their disobedience, they were punished by having to forever roam the earth in darkness, now needing this blood to survive at all, as opposed to making their lives all the more richer. They had, however, in their own minds triumphed, growing more powerful the longer they lived.

When Rachel was finished, Sara looked at her for a long while. On the one hand, she wanted to believe her, but on the other hand, the girl sounded a lot like a Nazi explaining why Jews were evil. Sara didn't quite know what to make of it, and finally decided that none of it was really relevant.

"So," Sara said, "What does all of this have to do with the murder of Tony Elstree and the disappearance of Mathew Fenton?"

"I knew what was going on in this town," Rachel said, "I knew about the recruiting. When I saw their names on the sign up sheet, I called them. I told them when and where to meet, trying to throw them off, keep them out of it. Then I got that letter. Telling me to be there at the time I had told them. Somehow they had found out what I knew, what I had done. So I went, I went to try to stop them, to stop whatever was going to happen. But nothing happened. I thought that maybe it was a joke, and I went home. Then I noticed the people following me, and Tony disappeared. His murder, it was a warning to me, I know it was. They know we're going to get rid of them, once and for all."

"What do you mean?" Sara asked, sitting up straight. "You're going to get rid of them?"

"Tonight. The showdown. The people in my church. We're going to get rid of them all. They can't scare us off."

"Oh, Christ," Sara said, standing up and preparing to leave and get into contact with the rest of the group. "Rachel, you are to stay home tonight. You and all these other people with you. You're going to get yourselves killed."

Sara walked toward the door, already getting her cell phone out of her pocket, when she  heard a crash from somewhere within the apartment. Sara turned quickly. Rachel had stood up, glancing nervously at a door.

"What was that?" Sara asked.

"Uh, nothing," she said, "probably just the cat."

"Really? A cat? I love cats, can I see it?"

"Well, he doesn't like people very much, you see, and.."

"Cut the crap," Sara said. "Who's here?"

Rachel stood up straight, defiantly. "That's none of your business. And if you want to

search the place, you'll just have to get a warrant."

"I don't need a warrant. I have probable cause, and besides, it's a person. A person I have a feeling is involved in this case, which means you could be liable for all sorts of charges by covering this person up."

Just then, the door opened and out came Matthew Fenton.

"Well," Sara said, "A lot of people have been looking for you, Mr. Fenton. You do understand that you're a witness in this case?" She assumed that he had run of his own free will, as he didn't seem to look very kidnapped. Sara was relieved that Ives hadn't gotten to him.

"Mostly people I don't want to find me," he said.

"Have you been here the whole time?" Sara asked. "What happened?"

"Rachel came for me," he said, sitting down. "She believed I was in danger."

You probably were, Sara thought.

"And after I saw that guy... Martinez? Get shot, I had to--"

"Wait a minute," Sara said, "You saw him get shot? Why didn't you go to the police immediately? And how did you see him?"

"I went to talk to see Brian. What was left of him, anyway, I wanted to make sure he stayed dead. I was going to... to stake him. Rachel said it would be best. So I went there, to the lab, and just as I was about to do it, Martinez walked in. So I hid. And then... he got shot."

"So why didn't you go to the police?" Sara was pacing and furious.

"Well, seeing as it was the police who shot him and all, I didn't think it was a very good idea at the time!" He was practically sobbing now.

Sara sighed. "Who shot him?"

He looked up with tears in his eyes. "Katherine. Katherine Ives. Rachel told me not to trust her... I didn't know..." Now he was sobbing, and completely incoherent, mumbling about Katherine this or that. Sara gave him a few minutes to calm down.

"What happened next?" she asked.

"There was another guy," he said, "He looked like a doctor, or something. He watched the whole thing. Then he took all these, blood samples, or something, and gave them to her. And they took some papers, then she left. She came back in, later, with another guy. Black trench coat, some kind of detective. I stayed there for hours, until everyone was gone, before I could leave. Hours." He started sobbing again.

Sara looked over at Rachel. "I want you to stay right here, you are to leave under no circumstances. Not now, not in an hour, not until tomorrow morning. After sunrise. Mr. Fenton, I need you to come with me. I'm placing you in protective custody, we're going to find a safe place for you."

She then called Kiwi. "Malone," Sara said, "I've got Fenton. Based on his story, I think you can have Ives' gun taken for a ballistics test. Then I think we'll have enough evidence to keep her out of our hair for a good long while."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Kiwi?" Sara said.

"There might be a problem with that," Kiwi said.

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