From: Tesla1321@aol.com   
      
   In which we meet more lawyers.   
      
      
   "What have you got, McArthur?" asked a woman behind Mulder.   
      
   He sniffed. Interest, excitement. He smelled the notes of Cognac and   
   Alfred Sung and MAC lipstick.   
      
   "The vamp detectors went off, Miss Morgan. These two."   
      
   Mulder and Spike turned around.   
      
   The woman's eyes widened slightly. "I think these gentlemen may have   
   come looking for Mr. McDonald," she said.   
      
   "Is Mr. McDonald in charge of Special Projects?" Mulder   
   asked. "Because I was, apparently, one of them."   
      
   She wasn't looking at Mulder, though. He glanced at Spike, who, after   
   tilting his head slightly, went into the default mode of getting out   
   his Marlboros and Zippo. He bent his bland, blue gaze at Miss Morgan.   
      
   The woman's tongue flicked over her lips.   
      
   "So, you're....Spike. Tell me, do you think Angel is still mad at you   
   for torturing him last year?"   
      
   Spike shrugged. "The poof c'n hold a grudge for quite a while."   
      
   (Mulder mouthed "Poof?" to himself.)   
      
   "How about you? Heard about Angel setting fire to Darla and Drusilla?"   
      
   Spike didn't blink. "Heard about him locking them in a wine cellar   
   full o' lawyers. The girls must've had a fine old time."   
      
   The woman's pulse increased, her breathing grew a little   
   ragged. "They did. I was one of them."   
      
   Spike cocked his head. "That's interestin'. Girls don't usually leave   
   survivors. See, it's like Jello. Always room for more. Once any of us   
   start, we don't stop until everyone's dead. So, girl," (and here,   
   Mulder was reminded how very old Spike was) "who was it that thought   
   you were special?"   
      
   "Drusilla."   
      
   "Ah," Spike said. He glanced at the security men. "Call off your   
   cops. We can have a friendly discussion."   
      
   "All right. We can go to my office."   
      
      
      
   Scully heard the low murmur of voices, and got out of bed and opened   
   the door a crack. Across the hall, she saw Angel leaning on the   
   doorjamb of Krycek's room. They were having a conversation, with   
   Krycek standing in the doorway, the chain stretched to the limit.   
      
   "-----it's not what the groupies call thrall," Angel was   
   saying. "It's a simple addiction. It's a sex addiction, actually.   
   Blood brothel clients get off on the danger and the physical   
   sensation of being bitten. Most of them don't even have sex with the   
   vampires. The bite is enough."   
      
   She saw Krycek raise his hand to his neck and touch what she knew was   
   Mulder's bite scar. "Why don't the vampires kill them?"   
      
   "Pimps. If they were strong enough or smart enough, they could kill.   
   It's a pecking order in other towns. If you don't have the strength   
   or the age, you don't survive long. If you don't have the stomach for   
   fighting or hunting, if you don't want to be a minion,   
   then they become blood whores."   
      
   "In other towns?" Krycek asked.   
      
   Angel's tone was uncompromising. "This is my town. I kill them where   
   I find them."   
      
   "But there is such a thing as thrall?" Krycek asked smoothly.   
      
   "More like hypnosis. One of my old family was very good at it."   
   Without turning his head, Angel said, "Can I help you, Agent Scully?"   
      
   "So you kill vampires?" she asked, coming into the hall. "No   
   questions asked?"   
      
   "I'll kill your friend if I find him," he said, and walked down the   
   hall and the stairs.   
      
   Krycek and Scully exchanged a look. "Direct and to the point."   
      
   "Yeah," Scully said thoughtfully. "Funny, Krycek. How did he start   
   talking to you?"   
      
   Krycek went back inside his room, dragging his chain. "Because I was   
   trying to pull the toilet out of the wall. He told me to stop or he'd   
   knock me unconscious."   
      
   Scully closed the door. She bent and looked at the padlock on   
   Krycek's ankle shackle. "But something like this, shouldn't be a   
   problem for an Russian double agent, should it?"   
      
   "Not if I had my picks," Krycek grinned.   
      
   "Good thing you don't," Scully said, straight-faced. She looked at   
   him. "So, Mulder bit you to prove a point, you said. And he didn't   
   kill you because he didn't like the taste?"   
      
   All the good humor was gone from Krycek's face. "He bit me because he   
   knew I'd like it," Krycek said. "He knows I won't kill him, now."   
      
   "That makes two of us," Scully said. She reached in her pants pocket,   
   and found a little leather case. "This was Mulder's," she said. She   
   unzipped the case.   
      
   "Maybe you can give it back to him," Krycek said, taking the lock-   
   picks.   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->   
   $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.   
   http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/QsMolB/TM   
   --------------------------------------------------------------------~->   
      
   AXF is your list for ALL X-Files Fanfic... all genres, all characters, all   
   ratings.   
      
    Automatic newsgroup posting too! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/all-xf   
   Yahoo! Groups Links   
      
   <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:   
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/all-xf/   
      
   <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:   
       all-xf-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com   
      
   <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:   
       http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)