Date: Wed, 7 Feb 1996 08:52:48 -0700 Reply-To: Hank Wyckoff Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Hank Wyckoff Subject: NEW (4B/10) The Duplicity This chapter has been split because of the maximum line rule. The Duplicity (4B/10) -- By Henry Wyckoff A Crossover between Highlander/Forever Knight/X-Files/A Poem by Rudyard Kipling/and Sharpe's Rifles A continuation of When the Veil is Lifted Disclaimer -- The "worlds" of Highlander et al are not of my own creation -- however, the plot and general story is mine, as are the characters Axer Carrick, Coleen, and Patrick Morgan (even though he does become Krycek in the last part, the P.M. part is not property of the series writers). Anybody who wants to look up who produced the shows can look it up on their own time. Now, on with the show. Chapter 4B ******************************************** Sharpe opened his eyes. The plane had landed in Toronto,and was approaching the entrance gate. "You two look like newcomers to Toronto," said Sharpe to Duncan and Richie. "Perhaps I can help you find your way around." "That's nice of you," said Duncan. He personally felt that this subtle language and acting was a bit unnecessary, but he also knew that Sharpe was an efficient man who would do what was necessary to get the job done. If he felt it was necessary, then it wouldn't hurt to play along. They left the plane in an orderly fashion. Duncan and Richie even looked relaxed, which they probably were. It was Sharpe who was not relaxed. Keeping his eyes forward, he was searching all around for anything that seemed odd somehow. They entered the terminal and saw a whole mob of people. That was good and bad. Even Sharpe didn't notice the man who perked up as they walked by and kept pace with them. ****************************************** Scully and Mulder walked off the plane, along with Alan Powys -- who had introduced himself to Mulder. Mulder knew the name, and eyed the man suspiciously. "Once we get to a better place," vowed Mulder. "We're going to have a LONG talk." Powys shook his head. "We won't have the time. Things have already hit critical mass." "What do you mean?" "Like you said, this isn't a good place." Mulder could have had that long talk if he had only been awake on the plane. Scully DID have that talk with him, and looked as if she was going to be sick. Whatever he said had seriously affected her, but Mulder was too preoccupied to notice. They entered the terminal and headed for the exit. ******************************************** Nick followed Axer and Coleen as they entered the airport. He was taking a big risk, since sunrise was an hour away, but his instincts came into play and compelled him to follow. He even followed to the coffee place, where he overheard every word of the conversation, and listened in absolute amazement. He had been there with Axer, but was amazed at the richness of Axer's side of the story. There were a lot of details that he had caught, interpretations made, and information long-since known by him that seemed to turn everything around. The question that raged through Nick's mind was: why did the immortals seem to have this instinctive need to kill one another? Vampires were known to kill one another, but usually for emotional reasons, much as mortals often killed one another. Axer seemed to believe vampires to be immature brats or melodramatic fools who deserved to be locked forever in some opera house, forced to watch plays based on the very natures that the immortals despised. Nick thought that this viewpoint was highly conceited and puzzling. He never thought vampires to be petty or melodramatic. Axer and Patrick Morgan were the only two immortals that Nick had met, but based on what he had seen and the unconscious hints left by Axer, the reasons for this violence had nothing to do with such things as emotion. It was something colder, sharper, and basic. Coleen appeared to be very subdued and fearful -- whatever Axer had told her had made her age a few years. Gone was the innocence, perhaps for good. Axer's expression had been one of frustration, because of the hassle in getting a plane, but it suddenly became focused, as if he were trying to listen for something. "What is it?" asked Coleen. "Shh!" whispered Axer. "I don't know yet -- but it's several immortals in a group." Nick felt exhilarated! He would see more immortals. Perhaps he would recognize a few. ********************************************* Krycek smiled as he entered the airport. He had it on good authority that Scully and Mulder were on their way here. He was now a free agent, now that Cancerman had betrayed him, and decided to completely free himself of the few souls on earth who could tie him to anything. Scully's sister had died when he shot her, in the mistaken belief she was Scully. Scully had reason to go after Krycek. Mulder was a more serious threat... The plan was simple: he would find Mulder and Scully as they were in the airport and kill them. He didn't care if anyone saw him, because they would be too preoccupied with the murder to identify the murderer. The rent-a-cops were no problem, Krycek knew, because they would probably be more preoccupied with their coffee and doughnuts. He suddenly felt a sickening buzz. It was a hell of a lot of immortals converging around him at once. //What the hell is going on?!// he asked himself. ******************************************* Alan Powys felt it too, and he smiled. Mulder felt nervous for some reason. ******************************************* By some astronomically rare throw of the dice, Duncan, Richie, Sharpe, Powys, Scully, Mulder, Axer Carrick, Coleen, Krycek, and Nick converged on the same spot. The following is a summary of their dialogue in real time as sudden comprehension dawned: Axer: "Powys!?" Sharpe: "Axer!?" Scully and Mulder: "Krycek!" Nick: "Morgan!" Duncan: "You!!" Krycek: "You died!!" Scully and Mulder: "Nick?!" Coleen, looking at Axer: "Axer?" Richie, looking at Duncan: "Duncan?" Although there were several permutations, as everyone got a good look at everyone else, and a few more identifications were made, it didn't take too long to get through this little exchange. Nick and Powys immediately charged after Krycek, who did a pretty good imitation of a Homer Simpson scream as he turned and ran into the crowd. Mulder chased after them too, and Scully wasn't too far behind. At that instant, a few dozen men in suits and sunglasses came onto the scene, firing their guns into the crowd, turning a confusing situation into a totally chaotic one. The remaining immortals looked at one another and chased after Krycek as well -- it seemed they were going in the right direction: away from the suits with guns. ***************************************** LaCroix cradled his head in his hands, trying to keep from laughing hysterically. Scenes like that were so rare. He had followed Nick, just as Nick had followed Axer and Coleen, and listened to the conversation in the coffee house. LaCroix wasn't amazed, but he was intrigued. Nick had kept his mouth shut about the whole incident -- so what he had heard was news. It certainly filled in a lot of pieces. Shaking his head, he made ready to fly away, since dawn was coming. "Excuse me," said a voice from behind him. It was some grimy bum. "Spare a dollar?" LaCroix smiled. "I can take away your need for money." He made ready to put this man out of his misery. A wooden spike found itself in LaCroix' heart, seemingly from nowhere. He looked at the man in shock as he sank to his knees, seeing that the spike had been shoved into his chest by the man. An unimaginable pain flooding his whole being. "Should have stuck with the dollar," muttered the man, walking off. LaCroix collapsed. Day was around the corner. ***************************************** Stay tuned for chapter 5! Comments? -- No flames! -- Write to: wyckoff@ag.arizona.edu To get back issues, check out my fanfic page at http://ag.arizona.edu/~wyckoff/fanfic.html *********************************************************************** ** e-mail: wyckoff@ag.arizona.edu ** homepage: http://ag.arizona.edu/~wyckoff ** My fanfics are now archived in pkzip format on my fanfic page ** at http://ag.arizona/edu/~wyckoff/fanfic.html ** Also: check out the X-files creative archive at Gossamer ******************************************************************* ** ERROR: You just deleted 6 years of work -- MERCY KILL ? ******************************************************************* =========================================================================