Date: Sat, 14 Sep 1996 20:10:00 EST From: John Stroud The Desire for Mortality (1/1) (FK/?? Xover) By Katherine Stroud jstroud@iquest.net Katie 725@aol.com I suppose someone out there is waiting for Forgiven Sins, the sequel to Enough, but it appears you may have to wait a little longer. In the mean time, here's a crossover between FK and ??. It's dedicated to mi cybermadre, TP 81Kilo, for reasons I shall not go into. If you like this, wonderful. If you do not, I disavow any participation in any shape, way, or form with the writing of this story. :) Still, ALL comments are welcomed, good or bad. On to the story.... He had sought this one for so long that he was faintly surprised when he did indeed find him. This was the one that would lead him back, to his former condition he thought lost to him over fifteen hundred years ago. The year was 2804 AD, and Nicholas DeBrabant's search for mortality was coming to a head on the distant planet of Surnac. This one could grant mortality to those of darkness, it is said by those as equally wise and ancient. It had taken courage to wade through the centuries after the death of Natalie. She had been his inspiration, the one he wanted to spend his mortality with. Alas, the incidents leading up to this moment could only have occured in this year, in this place, without his Natalie. How was he to know that one day a sophisticated space vessel would take him to the one with the answer Natalie never found? Nicholas found himself wondering, "Was it worth it?" To find mortality had been his goal for centuries before meeting a beautiful Medical Examiner named Natalie Lambert, but she had changed his view completely. After her death in 2028, he had sought death fiercely. Yet, he could never take the task into his own hands, and so he never found death. Now he wondered if he wanted his mortality at all. Nicholas surveyed Surnac with a detective's eye, a habit he had never completely forgot. It was a desert planet, half of which remained shrouded in darkness forever, incapable of sustaining any human life. Naturally, it was the chosen place of the One, where he could dictate new philosophies and help his students without interference. The actual abode of the One was well hidden within the rugged mountains and craters covering the planet's surface. Nicholas located it within a few minutes, simply be following the natural link all vampires had. He was welcomed into the abode by several followers of the One, all of whom were ancient vampires, possibly even Enforcers. They extended no hostility, yet they eyed him as if recognition had dawned upon them. Yes, Nicholas DeBrabant had acquired a reputation over the years, and especially with the Enforcers. These particular Enforcers, they had to be, ushered Nicholas into the study of the One. Nicholas held his breath as he took in the magnificence of the One. His milky white skin shone with brilliance and his yellowed eyes seemed detached, unfeeling. Yet this one held something human inside of him, despite his appearance to the contrary. "You have found me at last, Nicholas. Tell me why," the One's voice penetrated the silence that had encased the room. "Why..." Nicholas rolled the word around in his mouth, as if it were very foreign to him. "Love is something I never found in my years as a human. I was loved, yes, a brave, valiant Crusader could expect no less. Though for me to love anyone, it seemed an impossible task. Even as a human I was dark and brooding, and love was just too difficult a transition." The One bowed his head in acceptance. It was good that Nicholas knew why he sought. "Needless to say, Janette was inticing to the eye, and for her to be interested deeply in me was like an aphrodisiac. I went with her, and she brought me to LaCroix, her master, a vampire like her. LaCroix offered me immortality, and I accepted. Even as LaCroix fed me his blood, my eyes were fixed on Janette. I felt I could be with her, and one day love her." "We did find happiness in each other's arms and hearts. She was my wife for a century, and yet I never loved her. I never loved another, either. So I remained with her until the day she left me. She knew, in and of and by my blood she knew. She couldn't handle it. She could not be the wife of someone who could not lover her in return," Nicholas finished the sentence with a twinge of sadness, shown throughout his face. It seemed to the One that he appeared very old, very wise, and very weary. "I blamed our failure on our very nature as vampires. Because love was impossible for such creatures of darkness, I sought to regain my mortality, and in turn feel love. My search bore little fruit, until the year 1990. Natalie never feared me, accepted my darkness with little protest, and swore to find a cure to my infliction. For thirty years we sought. For thirty years we failed. And in this time, I fell in love with her," Nicholas's voice waned as bloody tears traced down his cheeks. "In 2028, she passed away. I wanted to die with her, but I didn't because a part of me knew that I would be betraying her. I wandered for centuries more, and pretended to love others, tried to love others, but nothing ever could equal what I felt with her. It was her dream for me to regain my mortality, for us to wed and have children. I promised to keep my end of the bargain, to keep searching for the cure. That is why I am here." "This is all I have asked from you, Nicholas. Here is what you seek." The One held out a vial of liquid, a blue deeper than the oceans. Nicholas could barely contain his excitement as he took the vial from the One's hands. "Why do you do this, you have no need of the cure yourself," Nicholas questioned as he peered through the glass of the vial, weeping inside for his Natalie that should be here. "This is true. As an android, I have no need for a cure for vampires. Yet, it is our duty, as people, to do all we can for our fellow man. In this, we find our humanity," Data slowly articulated. He peered as curiously at Nicholas as Nicholas peered at the elixir. Nicholas removed the vial's cork, contemplating his desicion. The contents of the vial swirled, making various patterns, and for one instant Nicholas believed he could make out Natalie's face in the liquid. Nicholas drank... Nicholas drank... Nicholas drank.... THE END