TITLE: The Power of Love at the Moulin Rouge

AUTHOR: Lady Sirius

PAIRING: many, in many fandoms

RATING: PG13

FEEDBACK: Of course all rights to XFiles, As the World Turns, Moulin Rouge, etc, belong to their creators, I am just having fun with them, although the characters of Sarah, Washu and Julie are indeed my own.

DEDICATION: To my two beautiful daughters - Katie and Sarah - who inspired me to write this, with great love.

The Power of Love - At the Moulin Rouge

- 1 - And in the beginning there was Fox Mulder...

"Mulder? Mulder? Wake up, man!"

Fox Mulder raises his sleepy head from the back of his porch swing, momentarily dislocated. He must have been dreaming again. In his mind's eye lingers the image of the girl, lush auburn hair, green eyes, bewitching smile. It is the same girl, night after night. She visits him constantly during his night's repose, laughing and skipping but always tantalizingly just out of reach. Why can't he get her out of his mind?

"Mulder!"

The voice is insistent and draws Mulder unwillingly back into the real world. He opens his eyes and sees standing before him a short angry man garbed in blue spandex and white boots with fantastically stiff hair. Mulder wonders if he spends a fortune on hair spray.

It comes as quite a surprise to Mulder to discover that the irate little man is speaking in Japanese, and that he can understand him perfectly. But he accepts it as he does everything else in his not-quite-normal life. "Why are you yelling at me?" he asks in his mild voice.

The man does not deign to answer the question. He puffs himself up with pride as he announces, "I am Prince Vegeta - prince of all Saiyans and ruler of Planet Vegeta, formerly Planet Plant."

"Is that so?" Fox murmurs politely.

"Yes, it is so, insolent Earthman!" thunders the belligerent prince.

"And just what can I do for you, er, prince?"

"At last! To the point!" Vegeta grumpily throws himself onto the swing beside Mulder. "Trunks is missing!"

"I beg your pardon?" Mulder isn't sure he has heard correctly.

"Trunks is missing, I said!"

"You mean your trunks are missing?" Mulder corrects him. " Did you look around the airport very carefully?"

Vegeta glares at him in disgust. "What are you talking about?"

"I assume you must have been at the airport, or at the dock or something. Why else would you have your trunks with you? Or did I misunderstand you? Is it your swimming trunks you are looking for?" He eyes the prince of all Saiyans leerily.

"No, not what, who!" Vegeta screams. "It is my son, Trunks!"

"Oh, I see," Mulder replies, "you have a son named Trunks and he's missing?"

"For an Earthling, you are not very bright, are you?"

Fox smiles at the strange man. He never gets upset, not if he can help it, remaining cool and levelheaded in all situations. "Let me see if I've got the situation correct now, Prince... Vegetable, was it?"

"Vegeta! Vegeta! Vegeta!"

"Yeah, whatever. You have a son, his name is Trunks, and he is missing. Does that about sum things up in a nutshell?"

"Do not speak to me of nuts when I am in the middle of a crisis! My son, little Baby Trunks is missing, and I need you to find him."

Mulder shakes his head slowly. "I'm afraid that you've come to the wrong place, prince. I can't help you there."

"Are you not Fox Mulder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation?"

"Yes, I am, but I don't do missing persons. I do X-Files, which is something altogether different."

Vegeta nods rapidly, even as the other man speaks. "Yes, I am aware of all that. That is why I need you, Mr. Mulder, because this is not just an ordinary case of a missing child."

"It isn't? What makes you think so?"

"Because of this!" In his large hand, Vegeta holds a strange object out towards the other man. At the sight of it, Mulder suddenly sits up straight on his porch swing and lets out a low whistle.

"Now you see why I need you?"

"Yeah, now I see," Mulder agrees readily. "Prince Vegeta, I am at your disposal, and my partner and I will start working on this case immediately!"

Dana Scully raises her sleepy red head from the depths of her pillow, wondering what has happened to disturb her peaceful slumber, to confront the shining visage of her friend and partner, Fox Mulder. She gazes up at him with slitted eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry to disturb your sweet dreams, Dana, but we have an X-File here and we need to get working on it right away!"

Scully groans and rolls over. She doesn't want to wake up, not yet. She has been dreaming of a dark-haired man, handsome and mysterious, in a top hat and cape. He carries a single red rose, which he offers to her from bended knee. She has the feeling that if the situation had lasted only a few more seconds, she would have received a kiss from his gorgeous lips. Damn that Mulder and his X Files!

"Mulder, Mulder," she moans grumpily, "whatever it is can wait. There is nothing so urgent that I can't get some more sleep so I can tackle it with a clear mind and better disposition."

"I don't know if we've got that kind of time." Mulder grins wickedly, then gets serious once more. "Look at this and let me know if you still feel the same way." He thrusts his hand into her face. When Dana can focus her eyes on the object within his grasp, she gasps.

"You see what I mean, Dana?" he asks.

She jumps up, racing for her huge walk-in closet, shedding clothes as she goes. "Let's get right on that!" she calls over her shoulder, unable to see the self-satisfied look on Mulder's face.

They stop for breakfast and to fuel themselves before beginning what could possibly be a very long adventure. The name of the diner is Zorg's Place, and it is decorated in a very Fifth Element style. Peppered about the room are numerous photos from the film, as well as memorabilia, including Leelu's bandages and Zorg's shoulder pet. Prominent among all of these is a large full-length photograph of Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, with flashing neon bulbs which race around the frame, signed by the great man himself. Mulder orders a Zorg's Delight, an intense cappuccino laced with bourbon, as well as an order of Leelu's Chicken, while Scully contents herself with Ruby Rod's Rainbow, a colorful iced tea mixed with assorted fruit juices, and a bagel smeared with Korben Dallas cream cheese and strawberries.

As they eat, they talk. Mulder tells his partner about the angry little Saiyan prince and his missing son Baby Trunks, finishing with a flourish by producing the item given to him by Prince Vegeta and wafting it onto the table. Resplendent in red lettering and gilt borders, it is a playbill advertising that well-known Parisian den of iniquity and fun, the Moulin Rouge. Prominently featured at the top is the name of the flamboyant owner, Harry Zidler, and beneath that the promise of many beautiful young ladies "trained in the art of delighting men" with "dancing and more", including the scandalous can-can.

"I believe this to be highly significant," Mulder proclaims.

"Not to mention that this same thing was found at other recent disappearances," Scully points out, as Mulder nods his acknowledgment of this fact. "What do you think it means?"

"I'm not sure, but I think that we should go there to investigate!"

"To Paris, Mulder?"

"To Paris, Scully!" he agrees, with a small twinkle in his green eyes. "To the very Moulin Rouge itself, til we get to the bottom of this!"

And so it begins.