Tipping The Balance
It was impossible to tell how long he had been lying in the motel room playing with the knife. Mulder willed himself to go deeper into the nether regions of his soul. A dark place where he never allowed himself to go anymore and sure as hell dangerous considering the state of mind he knew he was in, "I'm going to kill people who I think are good… Where will I start?" Mulder mumbled to himself. The church? Too easy, too predictable but they are connected to the church. What had he done with the list? "Who am I to target?" Mulder asked, "Former church members, current church members?" No answers seemed ready to come to his mind. He sat up in bed and placed the knife carefully beside him, "Today I find a target."
Maggie Scully's Residence
Scully was surprised to see Monica sitting on the front porch of the house waiting for her. There was an air of urgency that surrounded her, something that meant something needed to be talked about, "I need to talk to you about Mulder." Monica stood up.
Bill had followed Scully to Maggie's house, "It's best you not mention that bastard's name here." He said in an angry tone.
Monica looked at Scully's older brother and she could match any angry tone with him, "You shut up." She slightly raised her voice, "I know you're protecting Dana but you don't understand what is happening. So I suggest that you take your overprotective little feet inside and stay the hell out of our way!"
"But-." Bill was about to say.
"I heard a saying somewhere, not sure where, that you should never piss off a pregnant woman who's licensed to carry a gun." Scully smirked, "Go inside Bill."
"Right." Bill said before he entered the house.
Scully stood in front of Monica and shrugged her shoulders, "Mulder's wounded." Monica said.
"Wounded… When?" She asked loudly.
"Not like that." Monica answered, "I mean wounded to the soul. He knows he hurt you and he's tearing himself apart over it. Mulder needs you right now."
"I know." Why'd she suddenly feel guilty over it?
"I'm not saying it to make you feel guilty." Monica saw the guilt building up, "He was at our place last night… He was down on himself hard." She refused to divulge where Doggett had found him, "You got to come back for him."
"Well, I'm going back to Falls Church anyway." Scully said as she entered the house, "You want to come in?"
"I just want to stay here and I will be ready to leave when you are." Mulder had taken their transport and therefore Monica needed to take her back.
Falls Church Park
Mulder watched people as they walked by from his position of the park bench. Observing their behavior in the same way a cat slowly stalks it's prey. He watches a father playing catch with his son. Good father, bad father… Good person, bad person. How could they possibly know? He asked himself. A woman jogging with her dog, looking carefree without a care in the world things had to be going good for her.
"Hey can you stop our dog?" A frantic mother called out.
Mulder stood up and scooped up the escaping dog in his arms, it's run for freedom was over… Ended in one foul swoop.
"Hey there boy." Mulder said as he approached the mother and young daughter.
"Thank you kindly Mister." The woman extended her hand, "He got away from us."
"Hey call me Mulder." Mulder shook the hand of the potential victim.
"Thank you Mulder." The woman said, "My name's Jane." Introducing herself.
The first name wasn't good enough. There had to be a second name attached to it. Make things easier to find out about the potential target, "That's such a nice name." Gain the trust by flattering and just a touch of flirtation, "I bet your last name's as pretty as your first."
"It's Melony." The woman was almost blushing as she slapped him on the chest somewhat playfully.
"Jane Melony." Mulder said, it sounds so rhythmic, "Really good name."
Mulder patted the dog and left them alone with a specific target in mind.
Falls Church PD
He had noticed Scully watching him walk into the police station but they didn't look at each other. Mulder wasn't sure if she'd noticed him or not and in the frame of mind, didn't much care, one way to find out if someone was good or not was to check out the records. Are one or more of the killers cops? Could they have come here to pick look at their records? Nothing came up on the database search, no warrants, parking tickets or traffic infringements. She was on the good side of the law.
Scully watched him walk in b-line again and this time followed him out, "Mulder!" She called out, "What are you doing?"
He turned around and looked at her… His hazel eyes meeting her blue eyes, "Working." Mulder said coldly, "Solving this case before anyone else gets hurt." Mulder looked at her with concern, slightly tilting his head to the left to actually get a good look at her throat and was thankful not to see a big scar. Scully stared back and shrugged. Letting him know that she was alright, he managed to smile back before leaving.
Scully went back inside and looked through some notes that her and Mulder had taken and tried to piece them together into one legible set. Perhaps because they hadn't collaborated yet, they'd been missing something important. Every time she got deep into work, she was yanked out with her worries about Mulder. The thoughts were dark and troubling and their brief interception earlier. There was only one time she'd ever seen him behave like that and even then she hated it.
Falls Church Church
They allowed Mulder through only after he showed his badge. He was relieved when they didn't ask him for a warrant. Sure he could have gotten one eventually with drummed up accusations, but this was a much friendlier way. They didn't offer him any grief about showing Mulder to the church's administration, "Thank you." Mulder said, "I want you to give me the names of all people who had access to the records."
"I don't think I -." The secretary began to say.
"You want to hinder an investigation to catch a serial killer?" Mulder looked down at her, "I'm sure it'll reflect kindly on your church if the killer strikes again. I expected better."
"Look." The secretary said shocked by the words.
"Well then get it done." Mulder said, "Go… Go."
Mulder sat behind the computer after he was given the access code. Now to find out Jane Melony's standing in the community, "If you want to check if they're good… Go to church." Mulder smirked. Willing, daring the computer to show him anything and he didn't have to wait long… There was a huge write up on her dossier but it seemed only the previous month she had taken part in every church fete there was. Not huge parts at a glance but good vital parts, "Perfect…" He printed out the church's dossier as well as some others.
"Here's the list." The Secretary gave him the lift of names. Mulder stood up and grabbed the list and pocketed them before leaving.
Doggett residence
Doggett sat alone in his car… He'd spent most of the afternoon interviewing acquaintances and family once again but it all seemed to be going nowhere. He rested his forearms against the steering wheel and rested his head there. There was no way he could let down a family once again he punched the wheel hard, they had two great cops and two experienced FBI agents on the case and still they had reached nowhere.
"Damnit." Doggett allowed his rage to take over as he took it out on the steering wheel and the dashboard. When it came to being the man of the family, he'd always taken the role as protector very seriously, but why was that role failing? Taking the pent up anger out on an inanimate object actually did make him feel better he adjusted his clothes before calmly stepping out of the car.
The keys jingled loudly as he placed them on the counter. This cause Monica to look up from the lounge room sifting through a lot of information gathered from online, "Are you alright John?" She asked with concern.
"I'm going to have a shower and head out earlier." John answered.
Monica stood up, "You want to talk about anything first?" She held her arms around over his shoulders to embrace him, to trap him. John just shook his head slowly, "John… You know you can talk to me about anything right." Monica said but earned a slow, quiet nod.
"I'm going to have a shower." John said, "Oh and is there anything I can pick you up in the way over?"
"No." Monica eyed him.
"Just look after yourselves ok?" John said, "I love you both remember that."
"We know." Monica said as John pulled out from her embrace, "But are you alright?"
There was so much he wanted to say. It took every bit of self control he had to not break down into her arms for the comfort he longed for. This was one walk he had to walk alone. After all, he was her protector and they sure as hell didn't need him adding anymore stress.
Jane Melony's Residence, Falls Church
Mulder couldn't remember bringing the knife with him. He'd thought that he had left it on the bed. Since it was night time, it was easy to sit in the car and observe Jane Melony's house. How long would they watch their target? Would they watch their target over days, hours or not at all? What would they be wanting for?
Mulder stepped out of the car and approached the house and knocked on the door. Perhaps the targets and the group knew each other. That's probably why they were able to enter the houses so easily. Easy access.
Jane opened the door, "Mulder?" She remembered him from the park.
Mulder reached into his pocket and showed him his ID, "Special Agent Mulder." He introduced himself as a man that could be trusted. A person in law enforcement could easily be trusted.
"Come in." Jane said, "I know who you are… You made the news." She smiled.
"I was hoping nobody noticed." Mulder smiled back as he stepped inside he covered the knife's handle with the back of his shirt, "Bit too much to hope for I guess."
"Especially in Falls Church Mulder." Jane called out from the kitchen, "Coffee… Tea."
He sat on the chair… How do they do it? Where does it start?
Doggett drove around trying to picture which area of the neighborhood could the next murder possibly occur? There seemed to be no real pattern to the murders. Nothing was making any sense. Nonsense was a strange thing so was feeling the heartbeat in a warm summer's breeze. Doggett shook his head, "Where'd that come from?" He muttered.
"Did you say something?" Officer Drake asked him.
"No… Just kind of thinking out loud." Doggett said.
Patterns were everything he'd heard. It was just too difficult to see. John Nash could see them everywhere. He'd probably be able to find a pattern in the last song in the radio today was not a song that was usually played last. He blinked his eyes, his thoughts were rolling into one.
"John!" Drake screamed at him.
He lifted his head up to see the patrol car going out of control. But before he could regain the control he slammed sideways into the lamp post at full speed. Glass shattered over the side of his face. A split second later, everything fell into darkness.
A/N: Sorry about the shortness of this chapter… Happy reading. Oh and I just love the line, "Don't piss off a pregnant woman who's licensed to carry a gun."