Sure enough, by the time the trio had walked the two blocks and reached the meeting site, a giant black Winnebago was there to greet them. Blair and Jim looked at each other in confusion, but Mulder simply chuckled and motioned for the guys to follow him. They walked up to the side door, and before anyone could have possibly had the chance to knock, a skinny, pale man with long blond hair and glasses practically yanked them into the trailer.

Jim was thoroughly unprepared for the sight before him, and he gawked for a split second at the three sophisticated computer units, video camera, and communication station they were standing in the middle of. He noticed the open door, and glanced over to find the room stocked with an arsenal large enough for the six of them to start their own little war. He wondered why he didn't hear anything while they were on the street that would clue him in to this setup, until he recognized the familiar hum of a large white noise generator in the background.

Blair stood close to Jim, dumbfounded and silent. He could see a little from the light coming off of the computer monitors, but the darkness of the room blinded him to the point where he was unable to notice anything else. He knew that Mulder and Jim would both have no problem with the levels of light in the room, but he wondered how the other three men could find their way around, much less do any work. He guessed that they were used to working in a dark environment and their eyes had adjusted to the limited level of light in the room. Still, he silently hoped that he would get a chance to interview the three men thoroughly when this whole thing was over.

Mulder walked through the chaos to a red-haired, bearded man who appeared to be the leader of the group. The man greeted him, "Agent Mulder! Good to see you, as always. Who are your friends?"

By this point Jim had composed himself, so he walked over to Mulder and the bearded man. Blair followed him closely, as Mulder introduced them to the three Gunmen: Byers (the bearded man), Langley (the pale one with long blond hair), and Frohike, a short man with glasses who was sitting in the driver's seat of the trailer, feet up, using a set of high-powered binoculars to observe the scene at the Towers. Byers looked thoughtfully at Blair, then asked, "have we met before, Mr. Sandburg? Your name sounds very familiar to me."

Before Blair had a chance to open his mouth, Frohike called out from the front of the trailer, "I think Kelso mentioned him a couple of times in his e-mails."

Byers exclaimed, "Ah yes, that's right! When you see the old man, tell him we said hello."

Blair simply smiled and nodded. In his mind, things were getting stranger by the minute.

By this point, Mulder was impatient to get past the pleasantries and get down to business. "Now that we know each other, gentlemen, what do you have for us on this group?"

Langley pulled up a web site on his computer and motioned for the group to gather around him. "We've actually found quite a bit of information on this group, but I don't think you're going to like what you hear. This is a worldwide organization, led by a guy named Tyson Costelwaite. They have their own site on the web, very similar to Heaven's Gate. Unlike Heaven's Gate, though, they believe very strongly in using force to get their message across. They've posted several encoded messages to a newsgroup, -burning-heart. When I decoded the messages, I found out that they have been planning this siege for about a year and a half. Almost every message has a reference to either David Koresh or Waco, and how they must 'carry on the work' which means…"

Jim completed the thought, "…they're not afraid to die."

Langley added, "in fact, they're counting on it."

Mulder stood up, ran his hands through his hair, and started pacing. "We need to get those hostages out of there before they have a chance to 'carry on the work'." He pulled out the map that the three men had been working from and went over to the 'dining room' table. The other men quickly followed, crowding into the remaining space around the table. Mulder reviewed the layout of the room and the positioning of the guards and 'poison' plants, then opened the floor to suggestions.

Byers spoke up first. "There are six of us, so I suggest that we come in from the three sides: the service entrances on the north and south sides, and the main entrances to the east. That leaves each of us no more than two men to deal with at a time, and we should be able to dispatch them pretty quickly."

Blair shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then voiced his objections. "While it sounds like a good idea, I have two problems with it." Once this got the attention of the others in the room, he continued, "first of all, while this takes out the main guards, that still leaves us with at least two guards and Costelwaite to deal with. Remember, Costelwaite is the one with the detonator-he pushes one button and this all becomes moot. Any plan we come up with has to be sure to get rid of that threat right at the beginning, so there is only a secondary chance of that chemical bomb going off."

While Jim agreed with that, he was curious to know something. "What's your second objection?"

Blair knew that Jim could see this one coming. "I don't like guns. I don't carry one, and I don't like to use one unless absolutely necessary. If I don't carry a weapon, that leaves me and whoever is with me vulnerable."

Jim was about to launch into a speech about how this was a time when it was absolutely necessary for him to carry a gun when he caught a glimpse of the mischievous grin on Byers' face. The gunman replied, "I'm a pacifist as well, Mr. Sandburg. I think I have something back here that you should be able to use without hesitation." He walked back to the weapons room and brought out a gun that looked similar to a .38 with a silencer, although it was slightly bigger. Mulder asked, "what is that?"

"This, Agent Mulder, is something that a good friend of ours risked his life to smuggle out of Nevada. It's a prototype weapon with surprising versatility. Have any of you ever watched an episode of Star Trek?" All five heads nodded.

If possible, Byers smile grew even wider. "Gentlemen, may I present to you what we are calling the first modern phaser."

Blair, Jim and Mulder stared at Byers in disbelief, while Langley and Frohike looked like cats who had just swallowed a flock of canaries. As Byers handed the weapon to Blair so he could get a closer look, he began to explain, "instead of a bullet, this weapon delivered a controlled electromagnetic charge." He pointed to the barrel of the 'silencer' and continued, "the strength of the charge is controlled by the level at which you set this barrel. At it's lowest power discharge, it will render your opponent unconscious for twelve hours, with no adverse side effects"

Frohike joked, "other than a nasty headache."

Mulder then asked, "and at its highest levels?"

Langley replied, "total disintegration. In a matter of seconds, you reduce your opponent to a pile of dust."

Mulder let out a low whistle, impressed at the power of the weapon as Blair handed it to him. Even at rest, he could still feel the power flowing through it. It made his fingers tingle. Yet, the weapon was lighter than the corresponding .38 would be. He passed it on to Jim, who looked at the agent with a slight expression of disbelief on his face. Apparently, he felt the same things when he touched the weapon. Blair noticed the brief exchange between the two Sentinels, and grew concerned. "Is the weapon safe for the shooter?"

Byers nodded, "Completely. Even at rest, the body of the weapon emits a slight electrical discharge, but it is only detectable by highly sensitive equipment-nothing that could be considered potentially harmful. Upon firing, the discharge increases slightly, but it simply feels like your normal level of weapons kickback."

Jim handed the weapon back to Byers, who offered it to Blair. "It's yours to use if you want it. Oh by the way," he directed his attention to Jim and Mulder, "our friend in Nevada was able to get his hand on two dozen of these, so if either of you want to test drive our little toy here, just say the word." Both men nodded.

Blair took the weapon from Byers, hefted it in his hand briefly, then set it down on the table in front of him. "Thank you. I'll try not to miss."

Byers then went back to get two more 'phasers', which he passed on to Jim and Mulder. He then returned to his seat and addressed Blair's first concern. "That leaves us with the problem of Costelwaite and the bomb. I don't think that the two guards will be an issue. We have enough of the element of surprise on our side that we should be able to dispatch the additional guards rather quickly. However, I agree that we would not be able to get to the other two guards and Costelwaite before he had a chance to set off the bomb."

An idea lit up Blair's face as he noticed Scully's location in relation to Costelwaite. Excited, he declared to Jim and Mulder, "what if we can send Scully some sort of signal, and she can distract Costelwaite long enough for us to come in and take control of the situation?"

Mulder objected, "I'm not comfortable with the idea of Scully doing that without a weapon to defend herself. Too dangerous." Mulder then came up with an idea himself, and whispered low enough for only Jim to hear, "distract the guys. I have an idea I need to talk over with Scully." Jim's barely perceptible nod told Mulder the other Sentinel had heard him.

As Jim asked the Gunmen, "all right, can we go over this again, just to make sure?", Mulder slipped into a light trance that would only be recognizable to Blair and Jim, and contacted his partner. 'Scully?'

In the Main Ballroom, Scully had to take a deep breath in order for the slight surprise not to register on her face. [This mind-talk stuff is going to take some getting used to,] she thought to herself. 'Yeah Mulder?'

Mulder reviewed with her the information they had received from the Gunmen, and their tentative plan. 'Is there any way you can get your hands on a weapon without attracting attention?'

'I don't see how,' replied Scully. As she glanced around the room at her captors, she wondered where they kept the service revolvers they had taken from herself, Skinner and the other law enforcement personnel in the room. As an idea dawned on her, she asked in her mind, 'Mulder?'

'Yeah?'

'I have an idea of how I might be able to get a weapon from one of the guards, but I can't see everything I need to see from here. Can we try that sense thing again?'

'Done.' Immediately her senses magnified, and she felt Mulder's intensified presence in her mind. He asked, 'what are we looking for?'

'They took all of our service revolvers when they first locked down the room, but no one ever left with them. I want to see who has what weapons.' They scanned the room, and quickly discovered that each man, in addition to the automatic weapons they visibly carried, also carried two of the service revolvers in holsters under their uniform jackets. In addition, they noticed that the two head table guards, once they turned around, had slight bulges in their jackets at the small of their backs. Scully asked in her mind, 'do you think those are what I think those are, Mulder?'

'Apparently these guys didn't pack enough shoulder holsters in their suitcases.'

'The guys with the guns in their backs are the easiest targets. Play this right, and the guy will never even realize the gun's been taken from him.'

'Why do you say that?'

'How often do _you_ notice when _you_ lose _your_ gun?'

'Touché, Scully. Touché. So when do you want to do this?'

'Not yet. Let me know when you guys are ready, and I'll let you know when I'm in position.'

Mulder was about to pull back into his own mind when Scully asked, 'Mulder?'

'Yeah Scully?'

'I have one problem here. Skinner's been watching me like a hawk ever since this link kicked in. I don't know what he's going to do when I have to get away from him to try and get the gun. What should I tell him?'

Mulder quickly weighed their options. Skinner reported to the Cigarette-Smoking man, who, if he ever got wind of Mulder and Jim's abilities, would have no qualms about turning the four of them into living guinea pigs for the rest of their lives. But at the same time, Skinner had also stuck his neck out repeatedly in the defense of the two agents, even so far as risking his life and career to protect them when they were in possession of the digital tape. Mulder decided to take a chance. 'Scully, I trust you. Tell him whatever you have to-even our secret if it comes to that. If you can, get him to help you. But whatever you do, make sure that you don't tell us to go before you're sure you can distract Costelwaite.'

'I understand. Good Luck, Mulder.'

'You too.'

Mulder pulled back into his own mind, and realized that Byers, Langley and Frohike were all staring at him with expressions of great concern on their faces, while Blair and Jim were deliberately trying to avoid looking him in the eye. He began to wonder what was going on, then he realized what he had just been doing. Not for the first time since he had met the three men, he wondered what was going through the heads of the three Lone Gunmen.

Once they had realized Mulder had gained awareness again, Byers asked him, "Mulder, you okay? We thought you were off on another planet there for a while."

Mulder shrugged it off. "I'm fine, guys. My mind was just somewhere else for a minute." He heard both Blair and Jim stifle a laugh, then continued, "so where were we?"

Langley stared at Mulder again for a minute, then glanced over at Blair. Something was tickling at the edge of his memory, something he read once, that he was sure was somehow connected to Blair Sandburg, and to this whole nightmare. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember it for the life of him. He shook off the feeling, knowing full well that it would come to him eventually, then leaned in to pay attention as the other men discussed their strategy for rescuing Scully and the other hostages.

For the eight hundredth time since this long night began, Skinner took off his glasses, rubbed them with the handkerchief in his suit coat pocket, then put them on and glanced over at Scully. It was often hard for him to understand his two most troublesome agents on a good day. Today, trying to understand Scully was getting to be almost impossible. First the initial seizure right after they were captured, then another set of seizures two hours later. There were times she would jump at his slightest touch, other times when he probably could have thrown a glass of cold water in her face and gotten no response from her whatsoever. Then there were the things she was muttering under her breath about the explosives really being a "chemical bomb" and how she needed to "get the gun" from one of the guards.

By now, most of the other captives were sleeping, although somewhat restlessly. Scully, on the other hand, was wide awake, either talking to herself, to 'Mulder', or just wildly letting her eyes dart around the room. The only other people awake in the room, unfortunately, were the guards and their 'leader', all of whom had not moved from their positions since they had taken them almost eight hours earlier.

He noticed Scully drop a crumpled-up piece of paper on the floor as she stretched her arms back toward him. It was close enough that he acted like he dropped something on the floor in order to bend down and pick it up. As he came back up, he looked over to the 'leader', who was staring out the window with his back facing him, and cautiously smoothed out the note. It said simply:

We're going to be rescued soon. I need your help.

[How does she know this?] he thought. She turned her head just enough so she could look him in the eye, and he nodded.

Unbeknownst to them, Tyson Costelwaite _had_ been watching the whole exchange through the reflection in the window. He saw Skinner smooth out the piece of paper, and nod his response. [Enough is enough,] he thought, [it's time to make an example of these two.] He got up from his chair, walked over to Skinner and Scully, and loudly declared, "Well, well! What do we have here?" He grabbed the note from Skinner's hand and read it out loud, laughing. His laughter caused the other guards to convulse in laughter as well.

Tyson went quickly from riotous laughter to uncontrolled rage. He pulled Scully violently to her feet and looked her straight in the eye. "You seem to have quite a lot of faith, lady. Do you actually think someone's going to come and rescue you soon? Maybe your punk Fed pals?" He took one of the cellular phones on the table, punched out one of the hotel windows, and sent the phone flying to the ground below, continuing, "this is what I think of your punk Fed pals! Maybe you should follow the phone, huh!"

Even though she looked afraid, she was far from it in her heart. In fact, Scully had planned this whole charade from the minute she noticed Costelwaite force his gun down the back of his pants and the detonator in front of it. [Now,] she thought to herself, [comes stage two. All I have to do is find a way to be able to reach around to his back…]

She did a very good impersonation of faking another blackout spell, falling forward into his chest. As her arm reached around and felt for the handle of Costelwaite's gun she sent a mental signal to her partner. 'Mulder! Now!'

Tyson looked with annoyance at the red-haired woman who was falling on him. [Not another blackout,] he thought. Before he could continue, or even push the red-haired woman away from him, he heard the commotion of all of his men on the attack.

Then he noticed the first blue streak. Lightning? Indoors? Couldn't be?

Another blue streak. And another. They filled the room, hitting more and more of his men. The few seconds he stood looking at the scene dumbfounded were enough to send all but three or four of his men to the floor, whether unconscious or dead he couldn't be sure. He reached for his gun as more blue streaks sent the four men still standing to the floor…

and found only the cloth from his jeans and shirt. He turned to see the woman he was so sure was about to pass out, fully conscious and grounded to the floor, his gun in her hands. He grabbed the detonator and raised it in the air just as she yelled, "freeze, Costelwaite! Drop it or you're a dead man!"

Both Mulder and Jim heard Scully yell at Costelwaite, and turned to see her leveling a gun at him, and Costelwaite holding the detonator in the air. There was no way either man could communicate with the other through the screams of the panicked hostages, but both men knew that if Costelwaite pushed that button… Getting the detonator away from him was going to be tricky, but it had to be done. Jim still wasn't comfortable with the phaser, so he pulled his gun from the shoulder holster, aiming for the detonator hand. On the other side of the room, Mulder aimed his phaser for the back of Costelwaite's head.

Both men heard Costelwaite declare, "Drop it or I'm a dead man? I got news for you, lady. I'm already a dead man!"

Both Sentinels fired.

The last thing Tyson Costelwaite remembered from that night was a blue flash of light, a feeling of falling and the sound of breaking glass.

[Scully.] Reaching Scully was all he could think of. He moved through the panicked crowd like they weren't even there, finally reaching her as she sat in the nearest chair, stunned, exhausted and bewildered; the events of the day finally catching up with her. She looked up into the eyes of her partner, and, barely able to trust her voice or her eyes, asked, "Mulder?"

"Yeah, it's me, Scully. You okay?"

She nodded, although weakly. First lesson she had learned ten months ago: no sense lying to a Sentinel. They can always tell.

Mulder reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair away from Scully's face. She took his hand in her own, and both felt a slight tingly, cooling sensation wash over them, like a gentle breeze on a summer night.

As they looked into each other's eyes for a brief second, the link that had been so alive to that point faded to background noise, no longer needed, but still there should another danger threaten the Sentinel and his Guide.