I wrote this ten years ago, when the media was really focused on school shootings and violence. No spoilers, no romance or mythology – just a stand-alone conspiracy X-File. Enjoy!

Rating: PG for some language.

Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, the Lone Gunmen, AD Skinner, and the Cigarette Smoking Man are all property of Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. Other characters (Casey Byers, Bill Akely, etc) are mine.

Gestörte Kinder

Cedar Grove High School

Seat Pleasant, MD

Monday, 9:45 a.m.

A piercing school bell broke the silence of an early fall morning, awaking its high school students from first period. It was also the signal for the school's street hockey team to hit the showers. Street hockey had been added that year as a P.E. class, and quite a few teens had signed up, even though it meant doing something besides sleeping during first period.

One 17-year-old hockey player, Bill Akely, picked up speed and wheeled by his female teammate, Casey Byers. She was unlacing her roller blades, her straight brown hair hanging in front of her face as she knelt over. Bill came to a sudden stop just inches from her face and smiled at her cockily.

"Dammit Bill!" Casey hissed. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

Bill began to skate circles around Casey. "I'd hate to do that," he said acerbically. "It'd sure be a loss to your scrimmage team."

Casey playfully stuck her well-worn hockey stick in his path, and he quickly maneuvered around it. "You talk big for someone who hasn't scored a goal yet." She smirked at him, knowing she had won the battle.

Bill narrowed his eyes. "We scrimmage this Friday. We'll see who the 'big-talker' is then."

Casey smiled sweetly as he skated away. Although their one-month friendship consisted of street hockey "trash talk" and one-upmanship, it was fun. They both knew that the other never meant anything that was said on the court, so no feelings were ever hurt. Besides, they knew where the unspoken line was drawn, and neither dared to cross it.

Skates and stick in hand, Casey ran to the girl's locker room to change. Checking her watch, she opted not to shower, and instead washed her face in the sink. On her way out, she passed a younger acquaintance in the hall, drinking from the school water fountain. Like most of her classmates, Casey had never cared for the school water. She and her friends often joked about it, saying "one-in-five drinks contains mono!" Since joining the street hockey team, Casey had to remember to bring water from home to stay hydrated. She pulled her water bottle out of her mesh backpack and squirted the cool liquid into her mouth. She ran up the stairs and into the school building, heading for the math hall to sit through another lecture in Mr. Cox's Algebra II for juniors.

By lunchtime, Casey had begun to wish she had taken that shower. She had never cooled down from practice, and as the air-conditioner was often on the fritz, there was no chance in feeling better. She downed the last of her water, and headed toward the lunchroom to get some food. She passed by the same acquaintance she had seen in the hall, and said hello. The girl, Shelly Brington, only scowled back. Casey went on without saying anything; had it been one of her close friends she would have asked what was wrong, but filling her empty stomach was more important at the time.

Casey sat down with a group of other girls her age and began to eat the school's version of beef stroganoff. The conversation consisted of regular high school topics: boys, classes, the hockey team, and how bad the food was. Halfway through the lunch, Casey noticed Shelly storm into the lunchroom.

"Hey, do you guys know what's wrong with Shelly?" Casey asked her friends.

The other girls shook their heads. Casey shrugged, but watched Shelly to see if she would give any indication of the problem.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Shelly had gone over to another table of girls, grabbed one girl by the hair, pulled her out of her seat, and punched her in the face.

"Jeez, look at that!" Casey yelled, getting her friends' attention.

By now the entire lunchroom was standing to get a better view. Shelly and the other girl were on the floor, with Shelly violently hitting the girl over and over. Finally, a principal and two Student Resource Officers made their way through the crowd to break them apart.

"They'll never get Shelly off of her," muttered one of Casey's friends. "She's going berserk."

After what seemed like an eternity, Shelly was pulled away and hauled to the office, still kicking and flailing to the office. The other girl was still lying on the ground. Casey stood on a chair to get a better look, and gasped in shock.

"I-I think she's unconscious," Casey whispered as two more teachers stooped down to revive the girl, whose face was bloody and bruised from the unseen beating given by a normally calm teenage girl.