FBI HEADQUARTERS

It was near noon before Doggett managed to make it to his office. Upon his arrival at the Hoover Building that morning, he had been summoned to Kersh's office for a meeting regarding a recent case Doggett had consulted on for D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department. Piqued because Doggett had not informed him about the case, Kersh had spent twenty minutes lecturing the agent about the 'importance of the chain of command'. No sooner had the Deputy Director finished his dressing down than the evidence lab had called to inform him that the specimen he had submitted last week for a DNA test on the bloodstains had accidentally been contaminated when one of the forensics experts had spilled coffee on the clothing. All in all, Doggett's day was not off to an auspicious start.

Walking into his office, he found only Mulder there, reviewing the file they had started for what they had dubbed the "Triad" case: Scott's death, Christina's kidnapping and Jessica's adoption.

"Mornin', Mulder," Doggett greeted.

Mulder glanced up. "Good morning, Agent Doggett," he returned.

"Where's Dana?"

"She took Will to the doctor this morning for his first-year check-up," Mulder said. "She should be in any time now."

Doggett gestured at the file on Mulder's desk as he settled behind his own. "Any new information on the Triad case?"

"I'm waiting for a return call from one of the archivists at the Bureau's Boston division. She's going to try and track down the file on my sister's kidnapping."

As if on cue, the telephone rang then and Mulder picked up the receiver. "Fox Mulder."

"Agent Mulder, this is Janet Schimmel from the Boston office. We spoke earlier this morning about a case file involving your sister's kidnapping."

"Yes. Were you able to find it?"

"It took some doing, but I did manage to track it down," Schimmel told him. "Unfortunately, I don't think that there is anything in here that will be of any use. The file has a copy of the original police report when your parents reported Christina missing, as well as affidavits from neighbors who were questioned about the abduction. If I'm reading this correctly, the case was closed after six months and your sister was officially declared 'Missing-Presumed Dead'."

"Does it state the name of the agent who was in charge of the original investigation?" Mulder questioned.

"Yes. His name was Carl Spender and apparently he quit the FBI a few years ago after developing cancer."

"Spender," Mulder muttered to himself. "I should have known."

"I'm sorry, Agent Mulder; I didn't understand that."

"I apologize, Mrs. Schimmel. I was talking to myself. I appreciate you taking the time to check on this for me. Would you please fax what you have to me at 202-555-1101?"

"Certainly. I'll send it over in just a few minutes."

"Thank you very much."

Hanging up the phone, Mulder met Doggett's inquiring gaze. "Apparently the agent in charge of investigating Christina's kidnapping all those years ago is the same man who was responsible for my sister Samantha's abduction five years later," he revealed.

"The guy you call the Cigarette Smoking Man?" Doggett prompted.

"That's him."

"He must have been pretty desperate to abduct two girls from the same family."

"Deranged would be my adjective of choice," Mulder countered dryly. "So what about you? Any luck finding the source of Lieutenant Doggett's adoption certificate?"

"Not yet. I was thinkin' that maybe we should take what we have to the Gunmen and see what they can come up with."

"I suggest you tell Lieutenant Doggett what's going on first. I know from personal experience that keeping secrets from the people you care about only does more harm than good, regardless of how good your intentions are."

Doggett smiled at that. "I see Agent Scully's finally rubbin' off on you," he chided.

Mulder smiled back. "Just don't tell her," he said. "It would ruin all my fun."

The other man shook his head as he reached into his desk drawer and withdrew a business card, then flipped it over and picked up the phone to dial the number printed there. A clearly distracted Jessica answered it on the second ring.

"Jessica Doggett."

"Good mornin' beautiful," Doggett greeted.

"Hi, John," she returned hurriedly. "I'm on my way into a meeting with Captain Phillips. May I call you back in about an hour?"

"Actually I was hopin' you could swing by my office this afternoon. There's something I need to talk to you about."

Jessica paused. "That sounds ominous," she remarked. "May I ask what it's regarding?"

"It's somethin' relating to Scott's death."

"Ah. Well you should have just said so. For a minute there I was worried you were going to say that last night was too much too soon."

Doggett smiled. "On the contrary, Lieutenant, I have every intention of finishin' what we started when time and opportunity permit," he told her.

"I hope so," Jessica responded pointedly. "I've got some things to finish up here after my meeting, but I should be able to make it into D.C. by four o'clock."

"I'll see you then."

He hated being summoned like this, as if he were a dog that was required to heel upon command and come when called. Yet he knew all too well the choice to disobey would a fatal one, and he held his tongue as he entered the smoke-filled room.

"You have a task for me?"

"Yes," came the raspy response. "It seems that Lieutenant Doggett and her friends from the FBI are more resourceful than I gave them credit for and have managed to uncover my role in the events in Boston thirty-eight years ago."

"I thought you wanted them to uncover the truth."

"I do, but I wasn't prepared for them to do so as quickly as they have. If Mister Grant and Senator Caldwell are taken to task for their parts in this plan, then we must be ready to have our people fill in the gaps."

"What do you require of me?"

He took a drag from his cigarette before responding. "I think it's time to remind Lieutenant Doggett what fate befalls the curious," he said.

"You want her killed?"

"Not killed, but taken out of commission long enough for us to put our replacements into position."

"That will take an outsider's experience."

"Fine, but make it someone expendable. Once the deed is done, I don't want our 'outsider' getting an attack of conscience and confessing to the crime."

"I'll make certain all loose ends are tied together."

"See that you do. Once everything is in place, we can reveal the rest of the puzzle to Lieutenant Doggett and Agent Mulder."

HOOVER BUILDING

A few minutes before four o'clock, Jessica walked into the office occupied by the X files agents and found only Scully and Will present.

"Lieutenant Doggett," Scully greeted. "I'm Dana Scully."

"Nice to meet you, Agent Scully," Jessica responded. "John speaks very fondly of you."

"I could say the same to you."

The other woman gave her a curious look. "He's told you about me?"

"He filled me in on the basics, yes."

"He obviously places a great deal of faith in you to trust you with our history," Jessica remarked. "So where did John disappear to?"

"He and Mulder will be right back," Scully said. "They had to talk to our boss about a case they're working on."

The lieutenant nodded, then shifted her attention to Will. "This handsome little fellow must be Will."

Scully smiled. "Yes. My mom was spending the day with friends and couldn't watch him, so I brought him to work."

"He's a beautiful boy."

"Thank you."

Scully watched Jessica watch Will and saw a brief flash of anguished longing pass across the other woman's face before vanishing. She still misses Luke, she observed silently. Aloud she said, "You're welcome to hold him if you want. He likes people."

The lieutenant graced Scully with a grateful smile and set her purse on Doggett's desk before bending over to pick up Will. "Hello there little Mister," she greeted. "You're quite the looker, aren't you?"

Will eyed Jessica with typical infant's curiosity, and Jessica handled him with the ease of someone who knew and loved children.

"You're very good with him," Scully remarked.

"I've had a lot of practice," Jessica demurred. "Even before I had Luke, John and I used to baby-sit my brother's kids. We wanted a large family of our own, but unfortunately it didn't work out that way, so instead of a sibling, Luke got Trouble."

"Trouble?" Scully echoed questioningly.

"Trouble is my dog," Jessica clarified. "Or a pony in dog's clothing, as John used to say. After I suffered my second miscarriage, John decided to get me a puppy to help ease the pain. I've always been partial to large dogs, and so one of our friends on the force that bred Mastiffs gave one of his puppies to John to give to me. The first night we had him, he chewed through two pairs of John's shoes, one of mine, marked his territory on every rug in the house and shredded Luke's bedding. John made a comment about the puppy being more trouble than he was worth, and Luke promptly announced that he was naming him Trouble. He's lived up to his name ever since."

"With a dog that size I imagine that's easy to do."

The sound of muffed voices in the hallway signaled the return of Mulder and Doggett, and the women glanced over expectantly as they walked into the office. Spotting Jessica holding Will, Doggett felt his heart skip a beat as old memories threatened to overwhelm him.

Even after all this time the sight of Jess holdin' a baby still makes my heart ache, he mused.

As if sensing his thoughts, Jessica flashed him a faint smile tinged with sadness before returning Will to his mother. As Scully placed him in his stroller, the lieutenant addressed the men.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked.

Mulder and Doggett exchanged a look, then Mulder answered the question. "While we were at your brother's office the other day, I found a folder in his filing cabinet labeled with your name that contained information about you," he revealed.

She frowned. "What kind of information?"

"Most of it was personal stuff, like what you'd find in a standard personnel file," Doggett said, then crossed over to his desk and retrieved a folded paper, which he handed to Jessica. "This was at the back of the file."

Jessica took the paper and unfolded it, her confusion turning to disbelief as she scanned the copy of the adoption certificate. Once she was done, she glanced at Doggett, shock etched in her elegant features. "I assume you've validated the authenticity of this," she said.

"Not officially," Doggett demurred. "But the date of the certificate is your birthday, and I can't imagine Scott botherin' to hang onto it if it were a forgery."

"Maybe it is fake, and he was keeping it so he could find the person responsible for creating it and pursue legal action," Jessica suggested.

"Then why would it be stashed in a file in the back of his filing cabinet?" Mulder countered. "You're a police officer; why would he not tell you about it and enlist your help in finding the forger?"

"Why didn't you tell me about it when we were at his office two days ago?" the lieutenant shot back.

"I wanted to show it to Agent Doggett because if it was authentic, I felt he should be the one to present it to you," Mulder responded.

She couldn't argue that. "This makes no sense. If I am adopted, why wouldn't my parents have told me? Why keep it a secret?"

"We think it has something to do with the abduction of Christina Mulder thirty-eight years ago," Scully told her. "According to the adoption certificate, you were adopted in Boston shortly after Christina was kidnapped in Martha's Vineyard. Our theory is that there was some kind of black market for baby girls at that time, and you and Christina were victims of it."

"You're telling me that I was stolen from my birth parents so the Caldwells could adopt me?" Jessica prompted incredulously. "That's absurd. I come from one of the richest families in the country. Why would they need to resort to being accessories to kidnapping to adopt a child?"

"That's not what we're sayin' Jess," Doggett interjected. "It's entirely possible that your parents thought they were obtainin' you through legitimate means. But whoever they went through to get you may have been involved with the kidnappers."

"And I'm supposed to be relieved that my parents aren't the criminals, just their associates are?"

Doggett winced at the angry sarcasm in her voice, but wisely remained silent, knowing all too well how futile it would be to try reasoning with her when she was in a temper. Mulder, however, did not have the benefit of Doggett's history with Jessica and made an attempt to calm her down.

"Don't shoot the messengers, Lieutenant," he said. "We're only trying to discover the truth."

The lieutenant shot him a look that would have curdled milk. "Don't pacify me, Agent Mulder," she snapped. "If your 'truth' is indeed just that, then it cost my brother his life. Someone is going to answer for that."

The ring of the telephone interrupted the heated discussion and being the closest, Scully picked it up. "Dana Scully."

"Agent Scully, its John Byers. Is Mulder there?"

"Hold on." Scully handed the receiver to Mulder. "It's for you."

Mulder took the phone. "Hello?"

"Mulder, its Byers. It took some digging, but I think Langley may have found some information that may prove useful in verifying that adoption certificate you faxed us."

"Good. We'll be there shortly."

Mulder hung up the phone and met the others' inquiring looks. "Byers says they may have some information about the validity of the adoption certificate," he revealed.

"Who's Byers?" Jessica asked.

"Ever heard of the Lone Gunmen?" Mulder asked.

"With a mother who works in D.C.? Yes, I've heard of them." She glanced at Doggett. "These are the men you're trusting with my life secrets?"

"They're a bit unconventional," Doggett allowed, "but they are trustworthy."

"Well then, let's go hear what they have to say."

Half an hour later, Jessica and Doggett reached the Lone Gunmen's headquarters. Mulder and Scully had taken her car, as Doggett's truck could not hold four adults and Will's car seat. The drive to the Gunmen's had been made in silence, with Jessica attempting to absorb what she had learned and Doggett knowing what to say to make it easier to bear. The foursome arrived almost simultaneously and made their way to the front door. Mulder knocked twice, paused, then knocked twice more. A moment later the door swung open and the Gunmen stood there, eyeing Jessica in open curiosity and admiration. After a lengthy, awkward silence, Langley was the first to speak and simply said, "Wow."

Jessica permitted herself a small smile at that as Mulder and Scully exchanged amused looks. Doggett was long used to the reactions Jessica received, but today had little patience for it.

"Are you boys goin' to let us in, or shall we stand here a little longer and let you keep droolin' on your shoes?" Doggett asked dryly.

"Sorry," Frohike apologized, and the trio stepped aside to permit their visitors entry. Once they were inside, Mulder made the formal introductions.

"Lieutenant, this is John Byers, Melvin Frohike and Ringo Langley, aka The Lone Gunmen. Gentlemen, Lieutenant Jessica Caldwell Doggett."

"The mysterious former Mrs. John J. Doggett," Byers said.

"That's me," Jessica confirmed.

"I take back everything I ever said about you, Agent Doggett," Frohike said.

"I take back everything I ever thought about you," Langley added.

Jessica shot her ex-husband an amused look but said nothing, and the attention shifted to Will. They cooed over him for a couple of moments before Mulder brought them back to the reason for their presence.

"So what did you find out?" Mulder asked.

The Gunmen immediately became all business, and Byers answered Mulder's query.

"We took the information you gave us regarding Lieutenant Doggett's alleged date and place of birth and ran a cross check against the birth records for the New England Medical Center," he said. "There was no birth certificate filed on May 2, 1964 or any other date for a baby girl born to Edward and Elizabeth Caldwell."

Jessica paled visibly at the revelation but said nothing, and Doggett gently placed his hand against the small of her back in a silent gesture of comfort.

"I also ran a cross check for any babies that were brought into the hospital around that time and were considered orphaned or abandoned," Langley told them. "There was one file on a baby Jane Doe who was brought in on April 30, 1964 for dehydration and hypothermia, and she was discharged two days later to the custody of an FBI agent named Carl Spender."

Mulder and Doggett exchanged a look at that. "Quite a coincidence that the agent investigatin' your sister's abduction also happens to be granted custody of another abandoned baby girl in the middle of the case," the latter remarked.

"It gets better," Byers told them. "I scanned the signature of the attorney who signed the adoption certificate and ran it through the system to see if any matching signatures were found for attorneys on the East Coast, and it came up as an 89% match to an Alan Grant of Caldwell & Grant in Alexandria, Virginia."

The lieutenant released a heavy sigh before muttering, "Damn."

"Given how closely your sister's abduction mirrored Lieutenant Doggett's adoption, we played a hunch that the connection was something other than a baby stealing ring," Langley continued. "I tapped into the medical files for the Bureau and Alexandria P.D., and did a DNA probability match against your blood types."

"You think Lieutenant Doggett is actually my sister?" Mulder prompted, torn between incredulity and amusement at the thought.

"She is," Frohike replied softly, and handed a printout he was holding to Scully.

"That's impossible," Jessica blurted out.

"Not according to this," Scully countered, and stole a quick look at Mulder before glancing at Jessica. "DNA doesn't lie, Lieutenant; you are Christina Mulder."

What color remained in Jessica's complexion quickly vanished as the full import of the revelation hit her, and she fought the urge to sit in the nearest chair and just sob. "This is unbelievable," she muttered. "I don't even know who to confront first – my mother or Alan Grant. Although maybe I should be talking to the agent that apparently started it all. What's his name, 'Spender'?"

"Actually, talking to Spender isn't an option," Mulder replied. "He's dead. Or at least that's what the word on the street is. I haven't been able to verify it one way or another."

"Well under the circumstances I think it would be a good idea to put that back on your list of things to do," came her sardonic reply. "In the meantime, I intend to have a little chat with Mommy."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea right now, Jess," Doggett cautioned.

"I think it's an excellent idea," Mulder countered.

Doggett shot him a quelling glance before returning his attention to Jessica. "Whoever sent you the note and the article the other day was obviously warnin' you that they're willin' to kill to keep your real identity a secret. That seems to be why Scott was taken out, and until we know exactly who we're dealin' with, I don't want you becomin' the next victim."

"My mother may be a liar, John, but she's not capable of committing murder," Jessica chided.

"It's not your mother I'm worried about; it's Grant or whoever else they were conspiring with that concerns me."

"He has a point, Lieutenant," Scully interjected. "Mulder and I have dealt with Spender in the past and he no qualms about using lethal means to justify his own ends. if he is still alive and involved in this, you could be in real danger."

She released a resigned sigh. "Fine; I'm not up to arguing about it anymore. Just take me back to the Bureau so I can get my car and go home."

Doggett nodded in silent agreement and glanced at the Gunmen. "Thanks for your help, boys," he said. "I appreciate you sheddin' some light on all of this."

"Glad we could help, Agent Doggett," Byers replied.

"I'm sorry we had to be the bearers of bad news, Lieutenant," Frohike said.

Jessica managed a small smile. "Thank you for taking the time to help uncover the truth," she responded.

"I'll ride back with Scully," Mulder said, and waited until Jessica and John were out of earshot before addressing his friends. "I know this goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway. Nothing we discussed here leaves this room. I don't want you guys to put yourselves at risk, or further jeopardize Jessica."

"Our lips are sealed, Mulder," Byers assured him.

"You seem to be taking the revelation that Lieutenant Doggett is your sister rather well," Scully observed.

"I'm used to living with conspiracies and lies," Mulder pointed out.

"Well it doesn't look like Lieutenant Doggett is as comfortable with the deception as you are," Langley replied. "Although at least we know now who got the looks in your family."

Scully smiled as Mulder rolled his eyes.