This is a FK/HL xover. All the FK characters and concept belong 
to TriStar, Inc. and the HL characters and concept belong to 
Davis/Panzer Productions, Inc. No infringement is intended. Rest 
of the cast and this story are created and copyrighted by me. 
This story follows, sort of, my previous stories of LaCroix and 
Antonia. I don’t know where I got the idea for this, but 
it stuck with me and I had to write it down. 
As always, all the characters are bent to fit the story, not the 
other way around. All comments are welcome. 
You can get the previous stories from my web page at: 
http://www.dlc.fi/~dce/fic/index.html 
And again, I owe a big thank you to my beta readers Bob and Corie.



WHAT FUTURE?  (1/4)
by Claudia Bart
c.1997


Year 2097
Somewhere in the Federation Territory, a few hours before sunrise

The deafening sounds of dozens of weapons was over as abruptly as 
it had begun. There were dead bodies lying all around, but none of 
those who reamined alive seemed to notice them. They had seen 
hundreds, thousands, to die, and they hardly had time to mourn those 
they called friends - they would not mourn over a dead enemy. 

"All is secured, General."
The cold, blue eyes of General LaCroix swept over the room they 
were in. 
"Good. Proceed."

Suddenly a sharp cry of a child cut the air. Colonel Jones turned her 
gray eyes to see Lieutenant Lopez enter the room. In his arms, he 
carried a blond-haired baby who was wailing loudly. 

"Colonel", Lieutenant Lopez wasn’t quite sure what to say, "This 
infant was found in one of the lower rooms..."
"Where there any other survivors?" the Colonel cut his hesitating 
explanation.
"No. The infant is the only one, Colonel", Lopez answered growing more 
uncomfortable by the second. 
He was a soldier, not a nanny, and he wasn’t accustomed to take care 
of babies. 

Antonia took the baby from him and lifted it with straight arms, 
until she was face to face with the baby. She looked at that miserable, 
little face, with her eyes narrowed, when suddenly the baby opened his 
brown eyes and silently matched her inspection. He stopped crying and 
reached towards her with his chubby, little arms.  Antonia looked 
expressionless at the infant. 

How could someone have been irresponsible enough to bring a baby with 
them into this place, she thought silently, or maybe those idiots had 
actually thought that they’d be safe in here. 
What ever the case may have been, they had left her with a problem. 
She looked at the child who was now gurgling contentedly. 

"Lieutenant. Take care of this baby", she ordered handing the baby 
back to Lopez.
As soon as he took the child, it began crying anew. 
"And keep him quiet", Antonia snapped as she went to check the room’s 
control panel.
"Yes, Colonel", Lopez answered and tried to follow her order.

He patted the baby’s back lightly and rocked him in his arms. He even 
tried baby-talk, but nothing seemed to help. The infant was wailing 
again, red-faced, in his arms and he was getting desperate. He glanced 
at the General and then at the Colonel, but they both were busy with 
the control panel and seemed oblivious to the crying. 

Lopez only hoped that it would stay that way. He had no desire to face 
either of their dissatisfaction. He had heard all the stories of what 
happened to those who did not meet with their requirements. They were 
all only rumors, of course, but it was precisely because they were 
vague rumors, that they worked wonders. 

Never underestimate the power of your imagination, Lopez thought with 
his heart pounding, as he tried to make the baby stop crying. 

He had only recently joined their team, the Nightcrawlers, and this 
was his first mission with them. He had hoped to get through this 
with honors, to prove to them, and to himself, that he had what it took 
to be one of them. But he had not counted on having to take care of 
a baby, who simply refused to be quiet. 

He had considered himself lucky when he had found out that he had 
been accepted into their training team. The training had been hard, 
and most of those who had made it even that far, had dropped out. 
Those who made it through, were few and far apart, but they knew that 
they were considered to be the best the Alliance had. 

They all were ready to die for the Alliance, General LaCroix and 
Colonel Jones, and not necessarily in that order, and many of them 
had. The Nightcrawlers were fiercely loyal to their General and 
Colonel. 
Those two were known to have made the toughest of soldiers shiver 
inside by merely looking at them, but they were also known to have 
turned heaven and hell for their men. There were few Nightcrawlers 
who hadn’t had their butt saved by one or the other of them.


"Lieutenant Lopez", the Colonel’s cold voice cut his thoughts, 
"since you have trouble silencing the child, give him to Lieutenant 
Ramos, maybe she has better luck with it than you do."

Lopez swallowed and felt a cold sweat forming on his upper lip: 
"Yes, Colonel."
He handed the crying baby to the dark-haired woman who had just 
entered the room. 

Lieutenant Ramos felt awkward holding the baby. She was used to 
babies, she had helped her mother take care of her little brother, 
but now she was acutely aware of the weight of her weapon hanging 
on her shoulder and the blood stains on her uniform. 

She gave a sympathetic look at Lieutenant Lopez, who had backed 
several steps from them as if the child had been some kind of bad 
luck charm, and he couldn’t get far enough from them.  

She lifted the baby on her other shoulder and patted his back lightly 
while whispering to him softly. For a moment it seemed that it worked, 
the crying lost some of it’s considerable volume, but then the wailing 
returned to it’s previous noise level. 

Lieutenant Ramos looked at the Colonel, who had turned her back to 
the control panel and was now looking at her and the baby. She blinked 
once, and wished right away that she hadn’t. 

Never show your fear, or your uncertainty. That was one of the first 
things she had learned when she had entered the service, and it had 
been permanently burned into her mind as she had been accepted to the 
Nightcrawlers’ training team.

"Is everything ready in the lower rooms, Lieutenant?"
Ramos turned her eyes to the General: "Yes, Sir. Ready to proceed on 
your command, Sir."

She made sure her voice was loud and clear over the baby’s wailing, 
even though it was a well known fact that the General had more than 
perfect hearing. Now under both the General’s and the Colonel’s 
gazes, she rapidly begun to understand why Lopez had backed away 
from them. She too, was more than ready to pass the baby to someone, 
anyone, else. 

The General nodded: "Proceed."

Ramos looked uncertain for a second. Was she supposed to take the 
baby with her or... The decision was made for her as the Colonel 
stepped towards them and took the baby from her. Relieved, Lieutenant 
Ramos hurried to carry out her orders.


LaCroix looked at Antonia, and the baby in her arms. He knew he was 
the only one who could tell that she wasn’t as calm and detached as 
she seemed to be. He saw the baby reach out and grab Antonia’s finger 
in his tiny fist. He heard her heart beating faster and saw the look 
in her gray eyes as she watched the now silent baby. 

As he watched them, he remembered the last time they had found a 
child in the midst of ruins....


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Flashback^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Five years ago

The Third World War had been going on for six years now, and there 
was no end in sight to it. The world had been ripped in to two 
battling forces, to the Alliance and to the Federation, and even 
though there were still certain areas which were relatively untouched 
by the war, most parts of the world were, more or less, active 
battlefields. There were however, several so called neutral cities 
around the globe, which both parties had recognized. They were there 
mostly to give the frequent travelers a somewhat safe resting place. 
Only the ones who had lived in those cities before the war, were 
allowed to live in them permanently, others could stay in them for a 
while, a few months at the most, and then they either left voluntarily, 
or they were removed by the local authorities. 

For some unknown sensibility, or mercy, neither party had used their 
nuclear weapons. Then again, that probably was what allowed the war 
to go on indefinitely. 

For the vampires the war was more like a field day - lots of fresh 
food to take as they pleased. The Community still made sure that 
no-one got overly sloppy, but there really was no need to be nearly 
as careful as before the war. People went missing, and the enemy got 
the blame. Even when someone had been too careless, and a few 
bloodless bodies were found, it was said to be the enemy’s handiwork. 

The Immortals stayed mostly out of the war’s way, they had enough in 
their own battles. There were, of course, also those, who chose a 
side and fought valiantly for the cause they believed in. 


LaCroix and Antonia had come to Lyon to visit Richie, or Richard as he 
preferred to be called nowadays, Ryan. But when they had arrived there, 
they had only found his headless body in his apartment, and they never 
found out who had taken his Quickening.
Judging from the smell, it had happened quite some time ago.

LaCroix had actually been surprised that he had lasted even that long. 
Then again, MacLeod was a good teacher, and evidently the boy had had 
some talent in handling the sword. 

LaCroix hadn’t repeated his thoughts to Antonia, who had always been 
quite fond of the boy. Richie had been one of the few Immortals she 
had befriended and stayed in contact with. She didn’t have many mortal 
friends nowadays either, since it hurt too much to see them die, so 
the loss was quite profound for her.

They had made sure that Richie was buried decently, and then they had 
decided that they might as well spend a few days in Lyon. 


They had been on a walk when the air-raid had started. It had lasted 
several hours, and when they finally had come out of the shelter the 
city was almost unrecognizable. 

There were dead bodies and wounded everywhere, people were crying and 
running around in shock. It seemed to LaCroix, that he and Antonia 
were the only ones left calm and sensible in the middle of chaos. 

They were walking across the ruins to get back at their lodgings, or 
what ever might be left of it, when they heard a child’s cry. It came 
from under a collapsed building. No-one else seemed to hear it, or 
care about it. 

Antonia touched his arm: "Lucien..., please..."
LaCroix looked at her and saw that the detached look on her face had 
been replaced by concern. He smiled at her; after all they had seen 
and been through, she still had a tender heart. 

He went to the ruins of the building and started digging carefully. 
Finally he got the child out, and by some miracle, she seemed to be 
relatively unharmed. There were a few minor cuts and bruises on her, 
but that was all. She looked to be about two years old and she had  
dark, curly hair and shiny blue eyes. Right now, though, her eyes 
were more reddish than blue from all her crying. 

LaCroix took the child to Antonia, who carefully lifted her in her 
arms. 
"Shh, it’s all right. Don’t be afraid", she said softly to the child. 
She looked a little helplessly at LaCroix as the child buried her 
head in her hair and continued to cry. 

Antonia didn’t have too much experience with children. She had gone 
through her own little crisis of wanting a child of her own, knowing 
that it would never be, about fifty years ago. It had taken a while 
to come to terms with that fact, to learn to accept that there would 
never be any medical miracles for her. 

She liked children, but they didn’t seem to much care for her. 
Usually, when she had tried to pick up or to play with one of her 
friends’ children, the child would start crying after a moment  or 
two. As a result, she had learned to keep her distance with children.


Antonia gently stroked the child’s hair in steady rhythm, and was 
somewhat surprised as the sobs finally started to subside. 

"What can we do? We can’t just leave her here", she said to LaCroix. 

*********
end of part 1



-- 
Claude
*NatPacker**N&NPacker**HB**shades of NA*

What Future? (2/4)
by Claudia Bart
c.1997


They went to the nearest Police station, which, amazingly enough, 
was still in one piece. There the officer on duty informed them that 
‘these cases’ belonged to the Child Welfare Authorities, and gave 
them the address to their office.


The office in question had suffered considerable damage by the 
air-raid. Luckily they were still able to find an official on duty, 
who gave them another address to go to.


Three more addresses and a few hours later they finally found 
themselves at the entrance to an underground bunker. 
Antonia looked around them doubtfully: "Are you sure we have the 
right address?"
LaCroix simply knocked on the door in response.

A moment later a small, thin, gray-haired woman opened the door.
"Yes?"
"Is this the St. Dominic’s Orphanage, Madam?" LaCroix asked politely.
"Yes", the woman nodded her head.
"May we come in?" LaCroix continued politely.

The woman looked at Antonia and then at LaCroix, again. Then she 
glanced at the huge eyed child in LaCroix’ arms, and stepped aside 
to let them in.

"We were told to bring this child here. We found her after the 
air-raid..." Antonia began to explain, but the woman cut her off.
"Yes", she sighed tiredly, "that’s the way it goes these days. 
Well, you will have to fill in a few forms, and then she will be 
our problem."
Antonia lifted her brow at that, but she only said: "Before we do 
that, may we look around a little?"
"Of course, this way."


It wasn’t quite as bad as some refugee camps they had seen, but it 
still wasn’t suitable for any human being, Antonia decided. There 
were two or three children sleeping together on each of the beds, 
wrapped in thin blankets. It was also painfully evident that the 
orphanage could not feed the children properly. Granted, everything 
was as clean as it could possibly be in such conditions, but the 
place still made Antonia’s skin crawl. No-one should have to live 
like this, children least of all, and if she had anything to say in 
the matter, this little girl would not stay here.


"Madam, could we have a moment, please?"
As soon as they were alone Antonia turned to LaCroix, but before 
she managed to say anything he spoke up.
"You do not want to leave her here."
It wasn’t a question, it was a calm statement.
Antonia looked at him trying to see what he was thinking, but 
his face was unreadable.
"No, I don’t", she agreed, then she continued with a more pleading 
tone, "Lucien, look at this place. If we leave her here, we might 
as well have left her under that collapsed building. At least that 
way the end would have been quicker."

LaCroix saw the look in her gray eyes, and he knew that he had 
already lost. He seldom could deny her anything, and this obviously 
wasn’t one of those times.

"You do understand, my dear", he said almost conversationally, 
"that we cannot keep on calling her ’the child'."
Antonia’s eyes began to shine and she tried to repress the broad 
smile which was creeping on her lips: "I know. I was thinking of 
‘Elaine Fleur LaCroix’." 
She looked at LaCroix and hastened to add: "Or, Jones , if you’d 
prefer that."

"He’s doing this for you, Jones, so don’t push it", Antonia 
reminded herself silently.

LaCroix looked as if he was contemplating the matter seriously.
Finally he declared: "I think ‘Elaine Fleur LaCroix’ has a nice 
ring to it."

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

Antonia closed the bedroom door quietly behind her. They had 
celebrated Lainey’s first anniversary with them tonight, and it had 
taken ages to get her to bed this morning. Antonia went to the 
living room and sat on the couch beside LaCroix. She snuggled close 
to him and sighed contentedly.

"Do you know how much I love you?"
"Oh, I think I have a vague idea", LaCroix answered with a dry smile.
"Good", Antonia said smiling back at him. 
After a moment she continued: "She was great tonight, wasn’t she?"
"Yes, she was", LaCroix couldn’t help sounding a little like a 
proud parent.

Antonia stared to the fireplace and bit her lower lip softly: 
"You know, I’ve been thinking...."
She turned to look at LaCroix and stifled a laugh: "And you can 
just wipe that look off your face, mister. Like I said , I’ve been 
thinking, when Lainey is old enough, and if she so chooses, you 
should bring her across - make her eternal."

Her tone had grown serious at the end, and LaCroix looked at her, 
trying to see what it was that she wasn’t saying. He knew that she 
had no qualms about him being a vampire, and he wasn’t really 
surprised that she wanted him to make Lainey into one, as well. 
What surprised him, was that she had chosen tonight to bring the 
subject up.

Antonia saw the look he gave her: "Only, if she wants it herself.  
If she became one of you, she’d be safe...., even if something 
happened to us."

LaCroix studied her face carefully as he asked: "And what makes 
you think that something will happen to either of us?"
Antonia sighed a little: "It’s probably nothing...."
LaCroix lifted his brow slightly, and she continued: "When I went 
to the city the other day, to make arrangements for Lainey’s birthday 
party,.... I felt another one."
She stopped for a second to take a deep breath: "I know it’s stupid, 
and like I said , it’s probably nothing, but.... It’s just been so 
long since I last felt another Immortal,... I guess, I’m 
afraid that I have lost my edge."

LaCroix gave a silent sigh of relief when he heard her explanation. 
He knew that another Immortal could mean slight trouble, but she had 
really made him think there was something seriously wrong. 

Now he smiled warmly at her: "You? Lose your edge? - Never."
Antonia gave him a small, crooked smile and he continued: "Simply 
because you haven’t taken a head for a while doesn’t mean that you 
are loosing your edge, my dear. It is like flying - once you learn 
it, you’ll never forget it. You still practice nearly every day, 
and you are in excellent shape, my dear."
He said the last part with a meaningful grin. 
Antonia punched him playfully on his upper arm but couldn’t help 
grinning back at him: "I was serious."
"So was I", LaCroix said wickedly.

Antonia shook her head and snuggled close to him again. She knew 
he was right. She had trained diligently, and she was as ready for 
the Game as she ever had been, but the thought of it still made 
her adrenaline flow.

LaCroix placed a small kiss on the top of Antonia’s head and held 
her gently. He knew she was serious about being worried about this 
Immortal she had felt, but he knew her, and what she was capable of. 
He was confident that she could manage just about any situation she 
would ever meet with another Immortal.

To get her mind off of the subject, he said: "Don’t you think it 
would be about time to get Lainey a real sword one of these days?"
Antonia looked at his blank expression and answered dryly: 
"I *don’t* think so."

Lainey had been intrigued by Antonia’s training sessions from the 
start and, after a while, tried to mimic her movements as best she 
could. She had been ecstatic when LaCroix had made her a cardboard 
sword, and after that, she hadn’t missed Antonia’s training even 
once.

LaCroix smiled a little when he remembered their last session. 
Lainey had truly outdone herself that night. 
"She really is quite good", he remarked.
"Yes, she is. And one day, if she keeps it up, she will kick 
my butt", Antonia grinned.
LaCroix laughed at that and squeezed her lightly: "Now, *that* 
is something I would like to see."
Then he grew serious again, and said with a sigh: "At times, she 
reminds me of Janette, somehow."

Janette had died in the first year of the war. An air-raid had 
destroyed the building she had been in, and set it on fire. She 
had died almost instantly. He knew that, because he had felt it. 
He had woken up in the middle of the day to her pain. And then, 
suddenly, it had been over, and he had known - his beautiful 
daughter was no more.

Antonia saw the distant look on his face. She still missed 
Janette, and she could only imagine how much more so he did. 
She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes: 
"I know... I know."

***********

Two years later.

The battle fronts had changed so much that they had decided 
to move. Because of Lainey, they wanted to settle in a place 
as far away from the war as possible. They decided to go south, 
where there were several areas which were considered to be safe. 
And as a bonus, the place they had chosen was not far from where 
Nick and Natalie were living. 

They traveled quite slowly and tried to take advantage of every 
neutral city on their way, for Lainey’s sake. When they reached 
the last one of them, just an hour before the sunrise, they knew 
they had almost made it, already. Only a couple of nights more, 
and they would be at home.


They were only a few blocks away from their inn, when it happened.
A series of gunshots, and then all pandemonium broke loose. The 
machine guns rattled for what seemed like an eternity. 

LaCroix felt the bullets as they went through him. The smell of 
blood attacked his senses, and he saw how his wife and child fell 
down. His eyes blazed red as he bent down to help them. 

Antonia was dead. She had been hit several times, and she had 
died instantly, but she was still clenching Lainey in her arms. 
LaCroix tried to hear his daughter’s heartbeat. He would bring her 
across now, no matter what her age, and she would be safe. But he 
knew, even before he turned her around, that it was too late. The 
bullets which had killed Antonia, had went through her, and killed 
Lainey as well. She was already dead, and there was nothing he 
could do. 

Wrong. 
He turned his head sharply towards the rooftop where the bullets 
had come from, and took to the air. There were three of them, and 
they hadn’t a prayer to make it out of there alive. He drained them 
ferociously and practically tore them into little pieces in the 
process. Then he dropped their bloodless bodies from the roof to 
the street below.

***********

end of part 2 



-- 
Claude
*NatPacker**N&NPacker**HB**shades of NA*

What Future? (3/4)
by Claudia Bart
c.1997


Antonia woke up in a strange, little room. She was lying on a bed 
and she could see LaCroix standing in front of the window. 
Then she remembered. She had heard something just before.... 
She looked down at herself and saw the blood on her shredded shirt.

"Lainey?" she whispered, holding her breath.

LaCroix turned slowly to meet her eyes, and saw the tears flowing 
down her cheeks. She knew. He saw her shake her head in denial as 
she whispered ‘no’, over and over again. He would have given anything 
to spare her this pain, to make her forget this.

>From the corner of her eye Antonia saw a shadowy figure, lying on a 
bed in the darkest corner of the room. Gingerly, she got up and 
walked next to it.

Her little girl lay there as if she was merely sleeping. Then 
Antonia saw the blood on the other side of her head. The bullet 
had went straight through her little skull.

Antonia whimpered and dropped to her knees. In an instant, she 
felt LaCroix’s arms drape around her shoulders. She closed her 
eyes tightly and rocked herself back and forth. 
"No. Not Lainey. Not again", she cried almost inaudibly.

LaCroix could feel his eyes shift to gold and he held her tighter. 
He felt the tremors running through her body as she cried. 
He barely heard her mumble: "This is a neutral city. Who did this?"
"Federation snipers. But they have already paid for this with their 
lives", he answered her in a low voice.
He heard her hold her breath for a while, and then her heart started 
pounding faster. 
"No", she lifted her head and he could see her eyes. 
They were cold and steely, and he remembered the first time he had 
met her at the Raven. She looked as deadly now, as she had then.
"No. They haven’t even *began* to pay, yet."

***********

LaCroix had used his vast net of contacts and resources, as well 
as his own special ‘persuasive powers’ to get them both into the 
Allied Corps. He had made sure they got into a position which 
enabled them to pretty much do what they wanted. He couldn’t bring 
Lainey back, but he could make sure that Antonia got her revenge. 
He knew it was all slightly easier for him, because he had taken his   
revenge, but a little extra never hurt matters.

They had formed their own unit, the Nightcrawlers. The name had been 
Antonia’s idea. She said it reminded her of how he used to verbally 
shred his listeners into pieces, and that was what she wanted their 
unit to do to the Federation, literally.

They personally trained every member of the Nightcrawlers, to make 
sure they got what they wanted. They chose their own missions and 
their own targets. Usually, they were the ones which were said to 
be impossible to achieve. Many of the Nightcrawlers died in those 
missions, but since they always returned with at least some of their 
men, they became somewhat of a legend. LaCroix didn’t really mind 
being a legend, and Antonia couldn’t have cared less what they were 
called, as long as she got to carry on her private war against the 
Federation. 


As time went on, LaCroix began to worry about Antonia. Nothing 
they did seemed to be enough for her. She was determined to do 
as much damage to the Federation as possible, and she risked her 
life time and time again. LaCroix knew she would survive almost 
anything, but even an Immortal could get killed in the right 
circumstances. 

She had changed, and as much as LaCroix hated to admit it, even 
to himself, he began to think that there was such a thing as 
going too far with a revenge. She hardly ever smiled, yet alone 
laughed, anymore. And her eyes had lost their warm shine. Now, 
they seemed cold and unbending, all the time. With the exception 
of the times when they made love. Then, and only then, she seemed 
like her old self, again. Then her eyes shone to him, for a little 
while, and he knew that it wasn’t all lost, yet. 

Through her blood he knew that she hurt inside, terribly, and 
nothing he did could make it go away. She still loved him, more 
than anything, he knew that, but she had lost too much. He could 
only curse this blasted war which had done this to her, and to 
hope that one day, the pain would subside, and she would start 
living again.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

LaCroix was brought back to the present by Lieutenant Ramos.
"Everything is ready, Sir."
LaCroix nodded shortly: "Clear out."
"Everybody, clear out!"

As the Nightcrawlers hurried out of the bunker and back to the 
carrier, LaCroix turned to Antonia.
"Five minutes", he said quietly.

Antonia nodded and looked at the baby again, he was still calm 
in her arms. Suddenly he reached out with his little hand, and 
touched her face. Antonia held her breath and closed her eyes 
for a moment. Then she got a hold of herself again and she pulled 
back. The bunker was about to blow up in five minutes, she had no 
time for this.

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

LaCroix held the baby when they got back to the Alliance’s Territory, 
and to their quarters at the base.

Antonia looked at him steadily: "I thought you were going to take the 
baby to the authorities."
"I don’t think they would appreciate us showing up at such a late, or 
early, hour, my dear", LaCroix answered calmly.
Antonia stared at him for a few moments.
"Fine", she finally said, and went to their bedroom to change her 
black uniform into something more comfortable.

LaCroix watched her retreat, and smiled slightly. Then he looked at 
the child who was sound asleep in his arms. Yes, this little one 
definitely made her nervous. Maybe the child was the chance he had 
been waiting for.

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

LaCroix woke up to Antonia’s tossing and turning. She was covered 
with cold sweat and he could hear her mumble something about Lainey. 
She was having the daymare again.

She had told him it was always the same dream: the three of them 
were walking towards the inn when the shooting started, but in her 
dream she never died. She always felt the bullets go through her, 
and then she saw them hit Lainey. And the only sound she ever heard 
was Lainey’s cry.

She hadn’t had the dream in nearly six months, until now. Maybe 
his idea about this baby wasn’t so great after all.
He shook her gently: "Antonia, wake up. It’s only a dream."


She woke up with a start. Her heart was racing and her breathing 
came in short gasps. It took her a while to become aware of her 
surroundings. When she finally was fully awake she sagged against 
LaCroix, wasted out of all of her energy.

He held her close until she managed to collect herself again.
"I’m okay, now", she finally breathed and pulled back a little. 

Just then the baby began to cry, startling them both.
After her heart had settled again, Antonia gave her full attention 
to the domestic scene in front of her. LaCroix held the baby in his 
arms, rocking him gently, trying to end the crying. 

Antonia felt a longing in her heart as she watched the two of them. 
Her ancient vampire was so gentle with this fragile, little baby, 
that it would have been almost comical to watch, if it hadn’t, at 
the same time, been so heart aching. She remembered how loving and 
patient he had been with Lainey, and she felt like crying. 

No. Never again. She had already cried enough to last a lifetime. 

Her reminiscing was interrupted when LaCroix said: "I believe he is 
hungry."
"Well, don’t look at me. You’re the one who brought him here. You 
deal with it", she said rather courtly.

Then she tossed aside her blanket and hurried to the bathroom. She 
needed a shower, to wash away the remnants of the dream and any 
stupid ideas she might have just gotten.

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

When Antonia woke up again that evening, LaCroix was nowhere to be 
seen, but the baby was sleeping peacefully in the temporary crib 
LaCroix had managed to find somewhere.

Antonia got dressed and went to the kitchenette to get something to 
eat. There, on the counter, she found LaCroix’s note stating briefly 
that he had ‘gone to take care of a few things’ and that he wouldn’t 
be gone for too long.

"Great", Antonia muttered to herself. Now she would be stuck with 
the baby. She grabbed an apple from the counter and strolled back 
to the bedroom.

She stood by the crib and stared at the sleeping infant with dark, 
almost hostile eyes. She took a bite of the apple and chew it slowly. 
"He looks so -- innocent-- and fragile", she thought to herself. 

Then she took a deep breath. She didn’t like the direction her 
thoughts were heading. 
"Okay. It’s gonna be okay. Lucien will be here soon, and then you 
don’t have to deal with the kid anymore", she calmed herself.

********

Two hours later LaCroix still hadn’t returned. Antonia was pacing 
back and forth holding the baby in her arms, trying to calm him down. 

"All right, already", she finally snapped when the crying just 
seemed to gain in volume, "If you don’t shut up this minute, I’m 
gonna put you back in your crib and close the door. *Then* you can 
scream your head off, for all I care."

She clenched her teeth and tried to calm down. She knew she couldn’t 
afford to loose her temper, after all, she was the adult here, so 
she had to stay in control. Too bad that the baby didn’t know that. 
He obviously was under the false impression, that *he* was the one 
in control. And the crying went on.

********

An hour later the baby had cried himself to sleep and Antonia got a 
breathing spell. She placed the baby gingerly into the crib, being 
careful not to wake him up, and tiptoed out of the bedroom, leaving 
the door ajar. 

She dropped herself on the couch and wiped her brow, sighing tiredly. 
She closed her eyes for a while and relaxed. Then, after a moment, 
she straightened her posture and arranged her thoughts. She narrowed 
her eyes as she thought of Lucien. Oh yes, he was definitely up to 
something. She wasn’t exactly sure what he hoped to gain with this 
little arrangement, but she had a feeling that she wouldn’t be too 
thrilled about it. Especially, since it seemed to involve the baby. 

********

Three hours later, and still no LaCroix. Antonia swore under her 
breath that she was going to stake him as soon as he would have 
the grace to return.

She was sitting on the floor, playing with the baby, who squealed 
out of delight as she slightly tickled his soft soles. Antonia 
looked at his smiling, little face and she felt her own features 
soften, ever so slightly. Then, almost without a warning, she felt 
tears forming into the corners of her eyes, and she struggled to 
gain control again. She pinched her lips tightly together and 
swallowed. 

"No, never again", she whispered tightly to herself, and waited 
until the moment of weakness was over.

********

When LaCroix finally returned it was almost dawn already. He didn’t 
explain what had kept him and Antonia didn’t ask. She was in a 
hurry to get out, to get some much needed distance to the baby. 

She left without a word, and decided to take her time. She was in 
no hurry to get back to their quarters. 
"Let Lucien take care of the kid, he’s the one who insisted on him 
staying with us", she muttered to herself as she walked up and down 
the streets.

But walking left her way too much time to think, and that was the 
last thing she wanted to do right now. So, she went to the 
Nightcrawlers’ training building, in hopes to exhaust herself to 
the point where she would be beyond thinking anything at all. 

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

end of part 3


-- 
Claude
*NatPacker**N&NPacker**HB**shades of NA*

What Future? (4/4)
by Claudia Bart
c.1997


The next evening was almost déja vu for Antonia. She had 
overslept, and when she finally dragged herself out of the bed, 
she again found a note from Lucien. She crumpled it into a little 
ball and tossed it into the garbage can.

"So, he’s left me alone with the kid, again", she said out loud 
to no-one in particular. 
"Okay, I’m not stupid, I can take a hint as well as the next 
person", she thought a little grumpily, "if he wants me to deal 
with having a kid in the house - fine. I can do that. Piece of cake."

She gulped down a glass of icy water and felt a little more awake 
now. Then she leaned against the kitchenette wall and closed her eyes. 
"Oh, yeah. Piece of cake. Who do I think I’m fooling?" she wondered 
silently. 

The truth was, she was afraid. 
"Okay, so you’re afraid. Now, deal with it. It’s about time you did", 
she ordered herself, "Just think of it as if it were the enemy. Find 
it - and destroy it."


With new found determination she marched to the bedroom. She took a 
deep breath and forced herself to calm down a bit. This was a little 
child she was going to have to deal with. *He* wasn’t the enemy, the 
*fear* was.

Almost grudgingly she had to admit, the baby was adorable. He was 
sleeping on his stomach, his head turned to her way, and he was 
drooling on his pillow. Antonia sighed slightly, and she allowed a 
faint smile creep on her lips. 

"Now, that didn’t hurt a bit. So far so good", she encouraged 
herself.

Her hand stretched out, as if it had a will of it’s own, to brush 
the baby’s golden hair. Then Antonia realized what she was doing, 
and she quickly pulled her hand away. She looked at the baby again 
and found herself being stared at by a pair of warm, brown eyes. 
She felt embarrassed, as if she had been caught doing something 
forbidden. Then she scolded herself for being stupid; the baby 
couldn’t read her mind, or anything else, for that matter.

"Hi."
The baby gurgled in response.
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly", Antonia smiled a little, and even if 
her smile was still somewhat forced, the baby didn’t seem to mind.
"Well, it seems that you’re stuck with me again, so what do you 
want to do?" she asked as if the baby could’ve understood her.
More gurgling.
"Aha, okay. Are you hungry? Come on, let’s get you something to 
eat", Antonia said as she lifted the baby from the crib.
Then she grimaced a little: "But, I guess we better change you 
first, eh."

**********

"Wanna listen to some *really* old music?"

Antonia went to turn on the old fashioned cassette player and the 
room was filled with a familiar melody from the 1950’s. The baby 
made an approving sound.
"Yeah, I like it, too."

She lifted the baby against her shoulder and patted his back lightly. 
"This is kinda nice", she thought. 
She liked to feel the baby’s weight on her arms, and she loved his 
‘baby-smell’.

After a while her mind began to wander. She remembered how much 
Elaine had always liked this kind of music. Then she smiled a little 
as she remembered how their mother had tried to teach them to dance 
to this very song. They had been terrible, but very eager to try 
their best. Elaine had been five and she....

It didn’t hurt to think about Elaine, anymore. After all, it had 
all happened so long ago... Now, when she thought of her family, 
she remembered all the good times they had had together. It was 
true what they said, time did heal all wounds.

And then she remembered Lainey. The thought of her little daughter 
still hurt, time *hadn’t* lessened it one bit.

Antonia sighed as she felt the familiar ache inside her. This was 
what she feared, and this was what she would finally have to deal 
with. She knew Lucien worried about her, but there was nothing she 
could do about it. She sighed again. 

She was still lying to herself. There was something she could do.  
Maybe it was time to, at least, *try* to let go. But, it was just 
so *hard*. The anger and vengeance were all she had left of Lainey. 
If she let go of them....

But was it really so? Lainey had been with them for three years, 
surely there had to be something more left....

Antonia had avoided thinking about Lainey, because it hurt too 
much, but now she deliberately sought out the memories of her. And 
it hurt, terribly. She could still see her lying on the bed, dead, 
as if it had all happened yesterday. But behind that image, there 
were others. She remembered Lainey’s laugh, her excitement when she 
had patted a dog for the very first time, her absolute trust in 
both her and Lucien....

Antonia closed her eyes and stopped the flow of the memories. It 
was  all still too much, too soon. She couldn’t handle it, not 
just yet. She took a deep breath and blinked a few times to clear 
out the threatening tears from her eyes.

*********

As the baby started to doze off, Antonia decided to put him back 
in the crib. But every time she tried to remove him away from her 
shoulder he expressed his discontentment by crying out loudly. 
Finally she gave up.

"Okay, you can stay where you are. Just don’t drool on my shirt."
She lifted him on a better position and felt something cold and wet 
against her arm.
She looked down at her sleeve: "You did that on purpose, didn’t you?"

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

LaCroix returned a few hours after midnight. He stopped at the 
doorway and watched silently the scene in front of him. 

Antonia held the baby in her arms, murmuring softly something in 
baby-talk. She had a faint, but definite smile on her lips, and 
her face was soft as she looked at the baby. 

To LaCroix, the whole scene looked - right, somehow.

Just then Antonia looked up and saw him standing there. She smiled 
at him, and for a brief moment, she looked like she had done 
before....

"So, you got everything done, already?" she asked lifting her 
brow.
"Yes. And you will be glad to hear that we have an appointment in 
an hour to deliver the child to the appropriate authorities."

Antonia blinked at that.
"Oh... Yeah... That’s.. that’s good news", she finally said, but 
didn’t sound at all convincing. Then, after a moment, she continued: 
"Well, I better get him ready, then."

LaCroix looked at her thoughtfully. He knew that what he was trying 
to do was a gamble, but then, *life* was a gamble. Besides, he had 
always believed Antonia to be a winner, and he didn’t expect her to 
be anything less than that tonight, either.

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


Mister Leopold Kaiser was not looking forward to this meeting. He 
did not like to get involved with the military personnel, but in 
his position, that was sometimes unavoidable. Like tonight. Mister 
Kaiser didn’t gave a clear memory of what exactly had made him 
agree to a meeting at this time of the night, but General LaCroix 
had been most persistent. So, here he was, against his better 
judgment, waiting for the General and Colonel Jones to show up.

Just then the door opened and they entered his tiny office.

********

"So, what will happen to him, now?" Antonia asked after they had 
signed all the necessary documents.
"He will be placed into an orphanage, as crammed as they are, and 
eventually, we hope, he will be adopted. It is a good thing that 
he is still a baby. Most couples aren’t interested in the older 
children. Though, even babies are difficult enough to place these 
days, and with this one’s special circumstances...." Mister Kaiser 
let his voice trail off.
Antonia looked at the little man sharply: "What do you mean by 
‘special circumstances’?"
Mister Kaiser looked somewhat surprised that she didn’t understand 
it without saying: "He’s a *Federation* baby, Colonel."
Antonia looked at him, astonished: "What does *that* have to do with 
anything? He’s a baby, period. He doesn’t have a clue about the 
Federation *or* the Alliance."
"Well, unfortunately, Colonel Jones, the people who do the adopting, 
*do* have a clue. And I do not believe many of them are willing to 
welcome an enemy, even if the enemy comes in the form of an infant", 
Mister Kaiser answered fingering his glasses nervously.

Antonia stared him coldly for what, to Mister Kaiser, seemed like 
a nerve-racking eternity. Then she looked at LaCroix, who was sitting 
expressionless beside her. He had planned this whole thing, she was 
certain of that. He knew her too well. He had known that she could 
never leave the baby to this man, to face the future he had just 
described to them.

She turned her gaze back to Mister Kaiser, who was wiping his high 
forehead with a big, white handkerchief.
"I apologize for having wasted your time, Mister Kaiser, but I’m 
afraid we cannot leave the baby to you under these circumstances", 
she said in her best formal, military tone.
"But...But you both already signed the documents, Colonel. I’m 
afraid the matter is now out of your hands", Mister Kaiser stammered, 
trying hard not to sound as nervous as he actually was.

This whiny, little man was really annoying Antonia at this point. 
She gave him a steely glance and said to LaCroix: "Lucien, this 
meeting never took place."

Mister Kaiser was about to object to the absurdity of her statement, 
when suddenly, all that he was aware of, were the General’s piercing 
eyes. All thought escaped him as the General’s voice filled his mind.

********

Mister Leopold Kaiser sat alone in his tiny office. He blinked a 
few times and wondered what an earth he was doing there in the 
middle of the night. He shook his head and decided that he truly 
needed a vacation.

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

Back in their quarters Antonia was pacing back and forth while 
LaCroix took the baby to the bedroom. When he emerged from there 
she stopped and just stared at him for a long while.
"Now what do we do?" she finally asked with a slightly accusing 
tone of voice.
LaCroix regarded her pale face calmly: "What ever do you mean?"
Antonia shook her head: "Don’t give me that. You know exactly what 
I’m talking about."
LaCroix simply lifted his brow, and said nothing.
Antonia took a deep breath and then she asked quietly: "What if I 
can’t do this?"
LaCroix stood in front of her and looked deep in her eyes: 
"You do not have to do anything you do not want to do, my dear."
"And what would you call this, then?" Antonia asked with a small, 
crooked smile.
"Persuasion", LaCroix answered solemnly.
A faint laugh escaped from Antonia and she felt her tension 
lessen, a little.
"You know that we can’t stay here, if we are going to keep the 
baby."
"I am aware of that. I hear the South is still quite beautiful...."

Then Antonia got serious again and said slowly, wanting to find 
just the right words: "I know you worry about me, Lucien, and I 
know that you hope that this baby will help me let go.... And I 
*want* to let go..., but what if I can’t? What then?"

LaCroix looked at her beautiful, but at the moment, anguished face.
"Then, there is only one thing left to do", he said placidly, 
"We will have to make sure that the Federation is destroyed, swiftly 
and thoroughly."

Antonia’s pulse had risen considerably at the beginning of his 
answer, but now she could only look at him in amazement. He was 
completely serious. He would do it - for her. Antonia didn’t 
think she had ever loved him more than she did at that moment. 

She pressed herself close to him and wrapped her arms around him 
tightly.

LaCroix felt her warmth against him and enveloped her in his arms. 
He could hear, and feel, her heart fluttering. The moment of truth 
was at hand. 

"I miss her, so much...." she whispered against his chest.
He gently smoothed down her hair. 
"Shh."
"I don’t think I can care for another one, again...."
"And I do not believe that for a moment. Indeed, I believe you 
are ready to defeat your demons, my love."
"I hope you’re right."


The End



-- 
Claude
*NatPacker**N&NPacker**HB**shades of NA*