Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 11:58:00 PDT Reply-To: Julia Frizzell Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Julia Frizzell Subject: Witness Part 25 [Michele Martin didn't realize that the last parts never made it to our fiction list, and has given me permission to repost them for her here. (no, as far as I can tell, they never were posted *here*, so Debbie, this isn't really a repost!) To get other parts of this story, send a message to fiction@tagsys.com. Put "Witness part N" in the subject, where N= the part you need. "Witness" alone in the subject should get all the parts to you. No message necessary in the main body of the mail.] scene 32 Nick Knight's apartment 5:20 am Natalie was dozing on the couch in Nick's apartment in front of the tv. There was a documentary on carnivorous plants playing, which somehow worked it's way into Nat's subconscious along with everything else that had happened that day. It made for a very odd dream involving holographic Venus fly-traps (that actually _were_ from Venus), glowing blue swords, headless vampires, time-traveling FBI agents, and Scottish quantum physicists. Which just goes to show what sorts of weird things go on in dreams. She tossed and turned restlessly, mentally trying to fend off the advances of the evil Darth LaCroix, when she was (mercifully) awakened by the ringing of the phone. It rang only twice before Nick's machine picked it up. She rubbed her eyes as Nick's terse message played out, followed by the beep. The voice on the other end was one she recognized immediately. "Ah, Nicholas! I see you are still galavanting about with your new little friends. Too bad--I had hoped for the chance to chat with you about all the interesting new things I've learned today. Too bad I didn't get that chance with poor Gregory..but you probably guessed what happened with Gregory. I should warn you, Nicholas, that the Enforcers will not be happy if they find out that you are associated with the, shall we say, _being_ who incapacitated our mutual friend. Ah, but who cares about them, hmm? Actually, I wanted to talk with you about certain _other_ acquaintances of yours...I'm sure you know who I mean. Until later...." LaCroix hung up. Nat was puzzled not so much by the content of the message, but by the tone in which it was delivered. If she didn't know any better, she'd say LaCroix was, well, drunk. Or stoned. Possibly both. She wondered what could have happened to him. She almost hoped it was permanent. Looking down at watch she wondered how the rescue operation was going. >From his message, she inferred that LaCroix knew at least part of what was going on. Which wasn't good. Hopefully he wouldn't interfere. She swung herself off the couch and headed over toward the kitchen area of the apartment. Bags of chips sat along the counter. The refrigerator, normally devoid of anything except wine bottles of cow's blood, was now stocked with sodas, dip, and fresh vegetables. She'd even gotten some frozen pizzas. There really wasn't much of anything to do except wait. And hope. She wandered out of the kitchen area and drifted around the apartment. She idly ran her hands along the motorcycle in the corner wondering, as she often did, where Nick had gotten it and when he ever _rode_ it. He certainly kept it in good enough condition, but he almost never seemed to _do_ anything with it. She wondered back to the sofa and picked up the tv remote. The documentary on carnivorous plants had changed into a show about Komodo dragons. She watched for a few minutes until it was obvious that the Komodo dragons weren't actually going to do anything interesting, then she began channel flipping. At that moment, the doorbell buzzed. *Finally! I hope that's them.* She hit the call button near the door of the large elevator that served as the entrance to Nick's loft. "Hello?" "Federal agents and company," replied the rather distinctive voice of Agent Mulder. Nat sighed with relief, though she wondered where Nick was. "Come on up," she replied as she sent the elevator back down to get them. In a few moments it returned with Mulder, Scully, Scott, Paul, and Jenny. Mulder opened the elevator grating and announced, "Second floor. Vampires, ghouls, goblins, coroners, and all manner of creepy things." Paul looked inquisitively at Mulder and said, "Define 'ghouls'." Scott just shook his head, then turned to Scully. "Is he," indicating Mulder, "always like this?" "You've no idea," replied Scully, rolling her eyes. Mulder just grinned impishly. "Are you okay, Scott?" Natalie asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, more than anything else. And hungry." "Well, I've got some frozen pizzas, vegetables, chips, dip and sodas. Where's Nick, Sam, and the MacLeods?" Mulder replied, "Sam apparantly leaped out, leaving a very confused Detective Schanke in our midst. Fortunately not until after we finished being weird. Nick was planning to drive Schanke home, then pick up our rental car from the local pizza delivery place...don't ask...before coming back here. I don't know exactly where the MacLeods have gotten to. I'd kind of like to speak to them myself." "I think I heard Nick say something about trying to find them and pick them up himself so that don't have to walk all the way back. I get the impression he wants a chance to talk to them as well," Scully finished. Meanwhile, Paul was preparing the pizzas. Jenny and Scott had tried to help him, but he'd shooed them over to the couch. Natalie got out the dip and the vegetables and offered some to Mulder and Scully, then to Jenny and Scott. Everyone except Mulder accepted the offer of food. Mulder was too busy investigating the apartment. "So this is how the other half lives," he said as he glanced at some of Nick's collection of artwork and antiques...at least, the things that Nick actually left out. Nat hoped she wouldn't have to physically restrain him from digging through the drawers and cabinets. "Well, what exactly were you expecting, Mulder?" Scully asked as she munched on some carrot sticks. "Black and red art deco? Gargoyles on the ceiling?" That earned her another smirk. Mulder wondered over to the refrigerator, ostensibly to get a soda. As he peered in side, he noticed the green bottles Nat had shoved to the back of the frig. He pulled one out and examined the contents through the tinted glass. Before Natalie could say anything, he asked, "Human?" "Ah, no. It's cow, actually," she replied. "Yummy," he replied. "I've been trying to get him to quit. You see, I have a theory that the blood is part of what keeps him from coming back across?" "Back across?" "I don't think Nick likes being a vampire..and I don't think he'd really like you going through his things, Agent Mulder," Paul scolded as he tended the oven. Nick carefully put the bottle back in the refrigerator. "You'll have to excuse him, Paul. He really can't help himself. Mulder is an irrepressible butinsky," Scully remarked. "Butinsky?" Paul replied, confused. "It means I like to know what's going on, even if everyone else thinks it's none of my business. It's probably why I joined the FBI," Mulder explained. "And I thought it was just because you liked wearing dark suits, trenchcoats, sunglasses and unimaginative neckties," Scully said. "You know, I've had...encounters...with alot of government people and I have to admit that you two are totally unlike any of them," Jenny observed. "Then again, nothing that's happened tonight is like anything I've ever encountered before...I thought my life was strange being married to an alien. But all this about vampires, Immortals, time-travel...I keep expecting to wake up at any minute and find out it's all been a dream." "A good dream or a bad dream?" Paul asked. "I haven't decided yet. Paul, what are we going to do now?" Jenny sounded concerned and frightened. Nat understood why--they obviously couldn't stay in Toronto, not if there were people still out to get them. Like the vampires...and the Immortals...they'd have to move on now that their life here was over. It was a serious concern, acknowledgement of which crossed Paul's face. However, his concern changed to a distinctly Mulderish grin as the timer on the oven went off. "Now..I think we're going to eat the pizza," he said with a smile. scene 33 Streets of Toronto 5:45 am Nick had dropped Schanke off after answering the myriad of questions surrounding the case and it's apparant resolution. He'd finally resorted to using his vampiric abilities to hypnotize his partner and place a highly edited version of the events of that night into his memory. That way if Captain Cohen asked him any questions before Nick got to work he'd have some sort of answer to give. And their stories would match. He wondered if it just wouldn't be easier to tell Schanke the whole truth. It would certainly cut down on some of the hassle...at the very least, he wouldn't have to deal with Schanke's constant attempts to get him to come to dinner some night. He'd also managed to recover Mulder and Scully's rental car from the pizza place. There'd been alot of questions and complaints, but he'd managed to quell them with the ever-popular 'police business...I'm sorry the details are confidential' excuse. Well, it wasn't terribly popular with the average citizens, but police certainly liked it. At any rate, he was now driving the rental car back toward the house that had recently been the scene of a rather interesting night's work. Mostly for the purpose of finding the MacLeods. Paul had informed them that he'd interrupted Connor and Hanson in their sword fight (just as well--he didn't want another headless body to explain just when they were assuring Cohen that the case was solved) and that Connor had headed off into the woods. He himself had seen Duncan sneak off just after Scott had been rescued, much to the chagrin of George Fox who he'd last heard insisting to one of his captors that there had been a dead man with a sword menacing him earlier. He suspected that they'd met up with one another by one of the streets behind the house, as planned. They were supposed to head back towards the city and wait for someone to swing by and pick them up. Nick wasn't sure if they'd actually do that or try to head back to whatever hotels or houses they were staying in while in town. He hoped not--he _really_ wanted to talk to them alone. As he turned on one of the side streets in this lonely part of town, he listened intently for their voices. There. He turned down a few more streets, following the sound of slightly accented voices. In a few moments, his headlights caught the glint of a sword, then the shape of Connor and Duncan MacLeod. He pulled up alongside. "Need a lift?" he asked as the two turned towards him. Relief followed recognition in their faces. "It's about time you showed up! We weren't terribly thrilled with the idea of walking all the way back to the city," Duncan remarked as he got into the passenger's seat. Connor slipped into the back seat, carefully laying the sword he was carrying down beside him. "I take it that's Hanson's sword?" Nick asked, as he turned the car around. "Yes. Since I couldn't kill him, I thought I'd just leave him defenseless. Good thing, too. I ran into one of your friends," Connor replied. He relayed the story of his encounter to Nick as they drove back toward the apartment. "LaCroix. I should have known he'd try something like that," Nick said as Connor finished. "So you do know him?" Duncan asked. "He's the one who made me what I am. We're not one the best of terms. You were extremely lucky..but I have a suspicion that Hanson might not have been. When LaCroix is thwarted, he becomes _very_ nasty. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he isn't thwarted very often...." Nick's voice trailed off as he began to feel a flashback coming on. Suddenly he snapped out of it, realizing that it was the first one he'd had since he and Duncan had recognized each other back at the station. Several hours ago. Very unusual. He remembered the faraway look Duncan had also had on his face at the time. "Um, this is kind of a strange questions, but do Immortals ever experience, well, really vivid memories of things that happened in the past? Sometimes centuries in the past?" "You mean flashbacks?" replied Duncan. "Yes, as a matter of fact, when we first ran into each other at the station I remembered that incident in the Civil War _very_ clearly. That's how I knew something was up with you." "Right--I remembered the same thing. Usually I get them during almost every case. You live so long, it seems like everything that happens now has happened before in one way or another. But tonight...I haven't had any since the one with you in it." "You know...I haven't had any either? Kind of odd..." "Not really," Connor remarked from the back seat. "Think about it. In all the centuries you've been alive, has you ever experienced anything that is remotely as bizarre as what happened tonight? I know I haven't." Nick thought about it. He looked at Duncan. They both nodded. Connor was absolutely right. scene 34 Nick's apartment 6:00 am Paul was slowly working his way through his third piece of pizza. The evening's events had been very draining, but he wasn't ready to sleep just yet. There were still a few things to wrap up--most importantly, what he and his family would do. He knew they would have to leave. Soon. That might present problems for the detectives if they needed Scott's testimony about the kidnapping or even the murder he'd witnessed, but it couldn't be helped. Now that the government men...the _evil_ government men, as opposed to good government people like Mulder and Scully...knew where they were, it wasn't safe. Too bad, really. Toronto was just getting really interesting. He'd like to learn more about Immortals and vampires and how they were different from the other people he'd met in his time on Earth. But his family came first. Right now the rest of his family was asleep. Scott had gotten through two pieces of pizza and some chips before dozing off. He was obviously quite exhausted. Fortunately, Dr. Lambert had assured them that he was none the worse for wear. Even the wounds on his neck from where the vampire had bitten him had faded. Paul suspected that Scott had at some point healed them on his own. Jenny had fallen asleep at about the same time, emotionally, mentally, and physically drained. Paul suspected she was still having alot of trouble accepting totally what had happened. And he didn't blame her. Maybe later he'd tell her it was really all a dream. So now he watched as Mulder, Scully, and Natalie were having a discussion about vampires, medicine, and other topics of mutual interest. Mulder had spent a few minutes vainly trying to, as he understood it, 'gross out' Natalie while she ate with stories of all the things he and Scully had encountered while working on the X-files. Apparantly it was almost impossible to do that to a coroner. In fact, Natalie and Scully had teamed up on Mulder by telling graphic stories about some of the things they'd seen in autopsies. They'd won. Paul had joined in the discussion occassionally, offering his observations on the things he'd sensed throughout the evening. Mulder had been fascinated, and had asked him to describe as thoroughly as he could the range of his "powers". Paul had complied to the best of his abilities, to which Mulder had responded that it was no wonder Fox and 'Cancer Man' were leery of him. And that he was glad Paul was on their side. Eventually Nick, Duncan, and Connor arrived. Duncan and Connor both looked more than a little ragged. Connor relayed the story of his encounter with LaCroix once again. "Nick! That reminds me--LaCroix called just before everyone else got here. He sounded really weird, like he was on amphetimines or something," Nat exclaimed as Connor finished. Nick looked puzzled, then played the message. His confusion seemed to increase. "Who is this guy?" Mulder asked. "The one who made me what I am...the vampire who brought me across. A very old and dangerous person," Nick replied. "Not someone you'd like to meet in a dark alley, I take it," mused Mulder. "You wouldn't want to meet him in a well-lighted alley," said Natalie. "When, exactly did he 'bring you across', if you don't mind my asking?" queried Scully. "1228," Nick responded. Mulder whistled and Scully looked surprised. Even Duncan and Connor looked impressed. "800 years? And you called this LaCroix old? I'm afraid to even ask how old _he_ is," remarked Scully. "Something else I think you should know about LaCroix. I believe he's the one who stole your file." "Wait a minute---which file? Scully, you didn't tell me a file was missing." Mulder looked accusingly at Scully. "In all the excitement it slipped my mind. The file on Paul and Scott--that's the one he took." This was cause for some concern to Paul. If this old and powerful vampire had a file on him and his son it was another reason to leave the area. This LaCroix sounded dangerous, and it wasn't a good idea to be too close to dangerous people who knew about him. Mulder didn't look very pleased either. "This always happens! Whenever I get positive proof of extraterrestrial activity on Earth it vanishes!" "Well, look at it this way--at least it's not government conspirators. For all we know, _they_ still have no idea that you and I were involved in the rescue of Scott Hayden," Scully said. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, if I still had the file, it would just disappear next time they ransacked my apartment." The topic of discussion drifted away from LaCroix and on to more practical matters. Paul voiced his desire to leave the area as soon as possible. Connor, Duncan and Nick all offered advice on relocation, speaking as experts on the subject. It was decided that Paul, Jenny and Scott would stay at Nick's until nightfall. Connor knew someone in the area who could produce false IDs for the family. Nick suggested passports as well. Neither Canada or the US would be especially safe, considering that the US government officials who were after the family now had positive proof that the real Paul Forrester was deceased and had been for some time, which lent enough proof to George Fox's claims for action to be taken. Serious action, of which tonight had just been a foretaste. Paul expressed some concern about Scott's continuing education. In response, Mulder gave him the name of people he knew at Oxford. "There's no guarantee that Scott will be accepted, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have contacts," he pointed out. Nick offered to have Scott's records forwarded to whereever they ended up. Duncan, as it turned out, had some property in Scotland that was currently between tenants, and Connor, who needed to leave the area anyway (being a dead murder suspect) offered to escort them that far. Nat said that she would pick up Jenny's car from the station later that morning and drive it to Nick's. In the car were all the belongings Jenny had packed up before coming to alert them of Scott's kidnapping. In an amazingly short time, they'd managed to plan Paul's family's exodus from Toronto. Paul was amazed, and extremely grateful. "I don't know how I can thank you all," he said. "Look, it's the least we can do after the incredibly crappy way you've been treated since you came to our planet. Think of us as the planetary Welcome Wagon...albeit a few years tardy," Nat responded. "Well, you could answer a few questions for us about life, the universe, and everything," Mulder said. "Hmm...I don't know about everything, but I could tell you a few things about life and the universe," replied Paul. "You go right ahead and ask, Mulder, but I'm beat. And I think Paul could use some sleep as well," Scully interjected. Duncan, Connor, Nick and Natalie all expressed similar feelings. "What time is it?" Duncan asked. "7:30" Nick replied. "Oh no....what am I going to tell Anne?" "I gave her a call as soon as I got here and told her that you were helping the police and the FBI with this case and that you might be out for a long time. I'm not sure if she was really satisfied with what I told her, though. You may still have some explaining to do," Nat told him. Duncan groaned as he, Connor, Nat, Mulder, and Scully made ready to leave. Nick showed Paul where he could bed down for the night. They decided to leave Jenny and Scott, who hadn't stirred for over an hour, where they were. As everyone headed into the elevator, Nick called out. "Agent Mulder?" "Yes?" "I think this time you've got _my_ trenchcoat." =========================================================================