The confused crowed milled about, some stepping over bodies trying to get out the doors, some sitting still, crying out of nervous frustration and not knowing if these were their rescuers or just more terrorists. By this point, Jim and Blair had made their way up to the head table, and each put a hand on the shoulder of their fellow Sentinel or Guide, shaking them out of their reverie. Scully looked up to the new and familiar faces, and got up to embrace both men. "Blair! Jim! It's good to see you both."

Blair greeted her, "it's good to see you too, Dana. Especially alive and well."

Scully smiled at him, then turned to Jim, who for some reason was looking unusually pale. Blair noticed the change in the Sentinel's demeanor, and wondered what could be causing it. "Jim, you okay man?"

Mulder watched his fellow Sentinel with concern, then bewilderment as the person who Jim paled upon seeing walked over to them.

For once in his life, Walter Skinner was at a total loss. One minute, he's trying to keep himself from nodding off while listening to the Director's speech, the next minute the Director is dead and they're being held hostage by a madman. Then Scully starts acting strangely, and refusing almost all help from him. He spends the next few hours alternating between worrying about her and trying to figure out a possible way to escape without getting any of the other hostages hurt. Then Mulder, of all people, storms in with that weird bunch of guys he calls sources, all of them blasting some sort of weapon at any guard within five feet of them. After all the guards are down, he sees Scully going after the 'leader' who's holding the detonator in his hand. She screams out his name [how did she know who he was?], and apparently shoots the detonator out of his hand just as one of those blue lightning bolts hits him in the head, sending him flying out the window.

Amazed that the whole ordeal was over so quickly, he started to make his way through the crowd to the two agents, hoping he could finally get some answers. Then, he noticed the other two men hovering over Agent Scully-one of them he didn't recognize, but the other one brought a gasp to his lips. Once, years ago, he thought he had helped send the man to his death. Later, when news of his 'miraculous' survival hit the papers, he was relieved that one less life's blood fell on his hands, and even more relieved when that man was able to make his way out of Covert Ops and retire to work for some police department out in Washington.

So what was Jim Ellison doing hovering over Mulder and Scully like some kind of mother hen?

[What in God's name is _he_ doing here?] thought Jim. Black-tie political dinners were not something the 'Shadow men', as he used to call them, did unless they wanted something. [So what does he want?] His jaw tensed slightly, and he tried to breathe deep to return the color to his face. Skinner walked over to him, flashed his badge, and play-acted, "Gentlemen, I'm Assistant Director Walter Skinner of the FBI, I'd like to speak to my agents alone for a few minutes if you don't mind."

[I haven't been out of the game that long, Skinner. I can play too.] Out loud he declared, "all right. We'll be over there if you need us. Come on, chief." He walked over in the direction of the area where the Gunmen had congregated, Blair closely following. The Guide could tell by the look on Jim's face and the set of Jim's jaw that he was still focused on the conversation between Mulder, Scully and Skinner behind him, so Blair led him halfway between the Gunmen and the agents, directing him into two available chairs. He started to pretend he was babbling, so convincingly that only people within three feet of the young man would know that they weren't having an actual conversation. Jim looked intently at his partner, eyes focused on the animated gestures of his Guide, ears focused on the conversation going on behind him.

With Ellison out of his thoughts for the moment, Skinner was able to focus his attention on his two agents. "All right, would someone _please_ tell me what went on here tonight? And I want the _real_ truth, not the politically correct version I know you're going to give the powers that be later on."

Mulder and Scully gave each other a look that didn't need to be communicated through any sort of telepathic link. Mulder started, "I heard about the attack on CNN earlier tonight, sir. I called my usual sources, and received some disturbing information about the group that was holding you hostage. Together, we were able to use that information to plan the rescue you just witnessed."

He looked over to the one he normally considered the level- headed partner for confirmation. "Agent Scully?"

"Don't look at me, sir. I was in here with you the whole time."

Skinner moved his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to ease the tension headache that was starting to build. "And your unusual behavior tonight, Agent Scully?"

Agent Mulder looked at her with practiced surprise, and Scully tried to cover, "I guess the shock and stress of the night just got to me, sir."

[Somehow I knew she was going to say that,] thought Skinner. He pulled up a chair in front of the two agents, sat down and leaned in, telling them both, "Look, I know the two of you well enough by now to know that you just handed me a plate full of lies. Give them to Blevins if you want, but I'm not swallowing them this time." He looked over at Ellison, who seemed to be listening to the man he called "chief" in an animated conversation, then returned his gaze to the two agents and added, "I had hoped by now that the two of you would have realized that I'm on your side in this whole thing. Now, I can understand if you're trying to protect someone else in addition to yourselves, but I need to know the truth-especially if it will help me to protect both of you in the future."

Jim took in another deep breath, and let it out slowly. Apparently, the Walter Skinner he knew from his pre- Sentinel days had turned over a new leaf. He still wasn't entirely sure if the guy could be trusted, but part of him was willing to take the chance, for Mulder and Scully's sake. He remembered how many times Simon had been willing to go out on a limb with him, or Blair, or (usually) both of them, sometimes solely based on 'hunches' Jim got from his heightened senses. He knew that it would be good for them to have their supervisor on their side like that, and it would be good for them all to have someone on their side who knew the 'Shadow Forces', should anything ever happen. However, he also knew the type of men that Skinner used to answer to.

Whatever his opinions on the subject, though, this was a decision for Mulder to make, so he spoke in Blair's direction, hoping Mulder could hear him, "Mulder, if you hear me, and if you can trust him, then I think the five of us should set up a meeting. If you want to tell him, we should tell him together. Knowing the men Skinner knows, this affects Blair and I just as much as it affects the two of you."

[How does _he_ know who Skinner knows?] thought Mulder. He had indeed heard Jim, having considered it a fairly safe assumption that the Sentinel would not have given in to Skinner so easily if he didn't plan on listening in on the entire conversation. It was also apparent from the initial look on Jim's face when he saw Skinner that the two men knew each other, but how? Since he agreed with Jim about the meeting, he decided to arrange it, but he made a mental note to _definitely_ find out more about Jim's past…and soon. He looked at Scully, who seemed to be willing to go along with anything Mulder was willing to do, then told Skinner, "all right, but we can't talk here." He took out a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled down an address. "Meet us at this address at 7 p.m. tonight. We'll tell you everything then."

Skinner looked down at the paper and nodded. This had to be some secret for Mulder and Scully to go to such great lengths to keep it quiet. He stole a quick glance over at Ellison, and wondered briefly what he had to do with it. He put those thoughts aside, knowing he would find out later, and went to deal with his 'normal' nightmare: defending Mulder and Scully to his underlings and the standing "powers that be".

It was three o'clock in the afternoon before Mulder, Blair, Jim and the Gunmen were allowed to leave the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Building. All of the men were frustrated and exhausted, but relieved that their ordeal had finally come to a close. Mulder, Jim and Blair were immensely grateful that the group was questioned together instead of separately, since none of them had a chance to put together a believable story before they were all hauled away for questioning, and keeping them together helped them all to keep their half-truths straight 'on the fly'. Byers was rather disappointed that the Bureau confiscated their phasers, but he considered it an acceptable loss in the face of the fact that there were no lives lost in the rescue. All of the guards awoke in the hospital two hours earlier to find themselves with unbelievable headaches and two National Guardsmen standing outside their doors. Costelwaite had sustained several broken bones in the fall from the second story window, but was expected to be released into custody in about a week or so.

Scully, who was the only one who had been allowed to get any sleep (having been released shortly after Skinner forced Blevins to stop questioning her and let her go home), rescued the truck from it's parking place near the hotel, and brought it over to pick up the group, once Mulder had called her to let her know they had been "granted the final pardon", as he so tactfully put it. As she pulled up, the six men piled in and collapsed, exhausted around the table they had used to plan the rescue less than a day earlier. Blair exclaimed, "Man, am I glad that's over! If I get asked another question today I'm going to scream!"

Mulder, who had been in a bit of a brooding mood ever since the incident with Skinner at the hotel, chuckled a bit at that remark. "I know what you mean. But, there is one question I do have to ask." Trying to keep an accusing look off his face, he looked straight at Jim and asked, "how in the world does a Major Crimes detective from Cascade, Washington know one of the Assistant Directors of the FBI?"

[Should've seen that one coming,] thought Jim, [this is, after all, 'Spooky' Mulder we're talking about here.] "I was in the military before I went to work for the Cascade PD. Covert ops." At hearing the dreaded words 'covert ops', the faces of the two agents and three gunmen turned grim and angry. He could even see Mulder and Scully start to reach for their guns. He tried to get the lynch mob to back down, declaring, "whoa, whoa, guys! Take it easy! I haven't been in the game for almost eight years now. And at this point, I think they'd be rather happy if I simply faded into obscurity." He continued, directing his next comment mostly at Blair, "The now Assistant Director Skinner was one of the men who signed the orders for the mission to Peru." Blair's eyes widened in recognition, then darkened with the grim recollections of the things Jim told him about the mission from which his Sentinel senses emerged.

Jim continued, "Several years ago, I was ordered to bring a team down to Peru. Very top secret hush-hush mission." Mulder and Scully nodded. They knew the covert ops drill as well as anyone. Jim went on, "The helicopter that carried my team crashed. I was the only one to survive, and I ended up living in the jungle for over a year with the natives before I was finally rescued. I have a feeling that the delay in my rescue was because 'the powers that be', including your man Skinner, assumed that I was dead. When I returned, I didn't hear from any of them, I was given an honorable discharge and sent on my way. Guess they pretty much wished I was still dead."

Mulder asked, "So they don't know about your…?"

Jim finished the thought, "If they did, do you think I would be sitting here talking to you?" Mulder stared down at his shoes briefly. Jim did have a point.

Jim added, "Which brings me to my main concern. Mulder, do you really think we can trust Skinner?"

Mulder began to find his shoes quite fascinating again. "Honestly, I'm never entirely sure that I can trust Skinner." He brought his focus up off his shoes, looked Jim straight in the eye, and continued, "however, he has protected us several times in the past, and I do believe he has had to go to the mat for us more times than he's told us about. Do I know what he's going to do with the information we're about to give him? No. But I'm about ninety percent certain that the last thing he would do with it is pass it on to 'the powers that be'."

"I hope your right, Mulder. For both our sakes."

Langley listened to the conversation, fascinated. It was as if the information he remembered about Sandburg was trying to push its way to the front of his mind again. All the talk about Peru and information and living alone in the jungle was continuing to fire triggers in his brain. Brooding, he told the group, "excuse me, I just need to check on something…" and went over to his computer.

Blair asked, "what's with him?"

Scully just laughed, "trust me Blair, if you have to ask, you probably wouldn't want to know."

Langley typed furiously, searching the net for the information that he was now trying desperately to recall. He finally found the Rainier University mainframe, and searched for anything related to Blair. As the gunman read the title and briefly skimmed parts of Blair's Master's thesis, the pieces fell into place, and he looked over at the table in shock. He whispered only loud enough for the Sentinels to hear, "can you hear me right now, Mr. Sandburg?"

Jim and Mulder looked at each other and sighed. If they didn't explain it, knowing the three paranoid information hounds sitting in the truck with them, they'd find out somehow anyway. Mulder replied, "Blair can't hear you, Langley. But we can."

He looked at the pale expressions of the three gunmen, then turned to the other Sentinel sitting across from him and asked, "do you want to start the explanation or shall I?"

Not surprisingly, the three gunmen seemed to take the truth pretty much in stride. In fact, to Byers, many of the events of the previous night started to make more sense, particularly in light of the idea of Mulder being telepathically 'linked' to Scully. The three men even offered to keep a protective eye on their mutual enemies so that if anyone ever found out about the Sentinels' 'abilities', the two men and their Guides would be given plenty of lead time to, say, leave the country if necessary. It felt good, thought Mulder, to finally have allies on their side, the way that Blair and Jim had Simon back in Cascade.

He wondered if Skinner was going to be an ally as well, or if this would be the biggest mistake of his life. The meeting place he had suggested was an abandoned farm he knew of just outside of town. Scully had suggested that the group of them go out in the truck, which would be the best way to insure that they were not followed, and the group agreed. They pulled up next to a Bureau Motor Pool Taurus, and the group got out, Mulder going straight over to the battered wire mesh fence where Skinner had been pacing waiting for them. The others held back at a distance, waiting for a cue from Mulder as to when they should come over.

Skinner watched the truck with concern as it pulled in. He had taken great pains to make sure he wasn't followed, and it appeared that Mulder had done the same. So why was the whole group of them, including Scully and Ellison, with him? This must affect them all. [Some secret,] he thought.

Mulder walked up and stood next to Skinner at the fence, asking, "were you followed?"

Skinner shook his head. "What is this about Mulder? I haven't seen you so paranoid about security since I had the digital tape."

Mulder drew in a deep breath and released it. "As you know, sir, there are several things that Scully and I neglected to mention in our testimony about what happened at the Washington Towers last night." Skinner nodded, encouraging him to continue. "If this information were made public, sir, it would put my life, and possibly the lives of Agent Scully, Blair Sandburg and Jim Ellison at risk as well." Skinner nodded his understanding, and Mulder began his explanation.

"In order to explain what happened at the Washington Towers, sir, I need to start at the beginning. Ten months ago, I was working on the Marcus Christopher murders, when a lead in the case brought Scully and I to Cascade, Washington. While there, I began to suffer from unusual episodes…"

"Episodes?"

"Yes sir, where I would begin to see or hear things that I thought weren't there. At first, I thought it was an aftermath of the trauma I suffered in New Mexico. And then the accident happened."

Skinner remembered the case well. "Agent Scully narrowly missed getting hit on the head by a sandbag while she was interviewing the drummer on stage."

"Yes sir. What the report neglected to mention was that I heard the fibers of rope as they were breaking and was able to move Agent Scully out of the way before she could have been injured."

Skinner ran his hand over his scalp as he tried to absorb the implications of Mulder's words. "You heard the individual threads in the rope as they were breaking?" Mulder nodded. "And how high up was the bag?"

"At least a good 50 feet above the ground, sir. The Mystic Center had very high ceilings."

Only one word ran through Skinner's mind. "How?"

"I really couldn't begin to tell you, sir. Apparently I was born with a genetic predisposition to having enhanced senses, and the near-death experience I had in New Mexico caused those senses to emerge. Actually Scully and Blair suspect that they might have started to emerge after my sister's disappearance, but that all but my sixth sense were repressed to avoid any other prolonged shock to my system."

[Sixth sense?] "How many of your senses are enhanced, Mulder?"

"All of them."

"And what do Ellison and that other guy have to do with this?"

"Detective Ellison developed the same abilities after…"

Skinner completed the thought as he muttered under his breath, "Peru."

"Yes sir. In Peru, he was able to deal with them because of an old tribal legend. Apparently, being born with heightened senses was not unusual in their culture. Those who possessed such heightened senses were called Sentinels, and they were trained to use their abilities to protect the tribe and warn of impending danger. The elders of the tribes Detective Ellison encountered recognized his abilities and help him to deal with them. When he left Peru, he met Mr. Sandburg, who is a cultural anthropologist who studies Sentinels. The two men, in turn, helped me to control my abilities as they emerged during the course of the investigation in Cascade."

Skinner tried to imagine what it would be like to go through something like that. He couldn't imagine coming out sane on the other end. "And the training they gave you keeps you from losing your mind?"

Mulder chuckled a little at the thought. "No sir. The training they gave me was just the beginning. Working with Agent Scully is what's kept me from losing my mind the past ten months."

Now Skinner was really confused. Did Mulder admit to what he thought Mulder just admitted to?

Mulder took one look at Skinner's face and could immediately tell what the implications were. He told Skinner, "I have a feeling I know what you're thinking, sir, and I can tell you without hesitation that Agent Scully and I are _not_ involved in a romantic relationship." As Skinner let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, Mulder continued, "A Sentinel needs someone who can continually help him to control and focus his senses to the best of his ability, as well as to be there to help him pull out if he focuses too much and loses touch with reality, which has been known to happen. Mr. Sandburg does that for Detective Ellison, and Agent Scully does that for me. If I didn't have her around, sir, I might definitely have gone insane."

[Okay,] thought Skinner, [that helps to explain some things, but…] Out loud he asked Mulder, "does this whole Sentinel thing account for Agent Scully's problems in the Ballroom last night?"

"In a way, yes," replied Mulder. This was the part he dreaded talking about, mostly because it was the least believable, even for him. "Apparently, when either Agent Scully or I find ourselves in an extremely life-threatening situation, a sort of 'link' kicks in that we are able to communicate through telepathically."

[Great,] thought Skinner, [now I've _really_ heard everything.] "So that accounts for Agent Scully's behavior: the blackout spells, her knowing Costelwaite's name when he took great pains not to tell the hostages who he was, her knowing that we were about to be rescued minutes before you barged in?"

Mulder nodded, "Everything you just described can be explained either by the physical demands the link can place on us, or by communication she was receiving, from me, through the link."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Two reasons," explained Mulder. "One, it will be helpful to us in the future if you have some possible explanation for when Scully or I do something that might seem 'unusual'."

"And the second reason?"

"The second reason has to do with the history you have with Detective Ellison."

Skinner nodded. He could see where this train of thought was going.

"If, for some reason, either Detective Ellison or Mr. Sandburg, or Scully or I, should happen to 'mysteriously' disappear, you now have a reason why."

Skinner nodded his understanding. He then walked over to where his car and the Gunmen's 'truck' were parked side-by- side. The group nodded their greetings to the Assistant Director. He, in turn, nodded greetings to them, adding an acknowledgment, "Ellison," to Jim, confirming his acceptance that the group already knew of the previous relationship between them. He then announced to the group, "I just wanted you all to know that if anything should happen to either of you," he motioned to both Jim and Mulder, "it will not be as a direct result of this conversation tonight. I'll keep your secret."

Mulder and Scully acknowledged, "Thank you, sir."

Not wanting to jeopardize their position by continuing on any longer, Skinner wordlessly got in his car, started the engine, and drove away.

Alone, a solitary figure sat in shadow behind the abandoned farmhouse. He put out his cigarette, the last of his pack of Morleys, and smiled. "Yes, yes, Mr. Skinner. You will keep their secrets. But will there be secrets to keep?"

He cleared away all traces of the listening equipment he brought with him and hid in the nearby field, waiting for the truck to drive away before he made his exit.

-end-