Title: The Answer Is Out There
Disclaimer: Anyone you've heard of isn't mine. Since I can't make any money
from them, legally, I'm not even going to try...no lawsuits, please.
Ch.4
"What do we do now, Mulder? This is just another X-File. These people know what they're doing." Scully rubbed her sore forehead. Mulder lay on his back, stretched diagonally across his double bed. Under him, a forest's worth of paper crinkled as he rolled off to lean against the foot of the bed. It had not been an easy week in the windy city. Their meeting with the subject of their mission three days ago had marked the end of the revelations. Mulder had run the name "Morpheus" through the FBI database and had contacted the head agent of the computer crimes division. So far, the database was sparse, and the CCD agent had yet to contact them.
"Scully, do you think they handed this file to the wrong people?"
"No, actually I am beginning to believe this is our type of case. You know, the type where we find out something amazing, which, of course, we can't explain, and then we are left grasping for evidence. Isn't that the norm these days? Why don't you just write a preliminary profile on him, Mulder? Then we can get out of here." Mulder regarded his partner with a look that mingled hurt, disappointment, and obstinacy. At once, Scully realized that he meant to pursue this case.
"I can't write anything. I don't have enough to really pull together a coherent report. What I have to go on can only suffice to help us investigate. I think that's why we're really here." Scully pondered that idea for a moment. Neo had been the one who voiced the question, and now they were left looking for an answer. If they had been sent out to do more than just profile their subject, they deserved to know what that was, why they were selected to do it, and who had sent it to them. From that frustration, Scully moved onto another that buzzed around her head like a gnat.
"Mulder, do you get the feeling that Neo and Trinity only showed up to humor us?" Mulder gave her a raised eyebrow instead of voicing his confusion. "They found us, at great personal risk, I might add. Then they up and disappear, letting us live to do what? Run around looking for them. I think they were toying with us. It's obvious that Anderson was amused at our assumptions about him. Why?"
"Scully, I told you, I don't know that yet. I think we need to go after what we can actually get. I want to find out the connection they have to this 'Morpheus' character. I'm betting he's in the CCD's server somewhere. As soon as they get in touch with us..." Mulder was cut off by the phone. Scully picked it up and handed it to him a second later.
"Mulder." Nodding his head, Mulder scratched down some notes and dictated a fax number to the agent on the other end. As soon as he had done so, his face contorted in surprise and anger. "No, that will not be necessary." Slowly, his face clouded with rage. Mulder never expressed much, but Scully had seen this mad frustration in him before. It usually boiled out when his control over a case was being undermined. Through gritted teeth, Mulder finished the call. "Yes, I understand. I'll see you in an hour, Agent...?" A pause. "I'll see you then, Agent Jones." Instead of hanging up the phone, Mulder threw it aside.
"I'm guessing that wasn't good news."
"Is it ever?" Mulder shook his head. "That was Agent Jones of the computer crimes division. He got our notice yesterday and summarily made arrangements to fly out to meet us. Says he's got our guy. Jesus, I hate this crap. Somehow, Agent Jones knows about our guy, but he claims that the file was marked dead after the suspect was reported terminated."
"What?" Scully's jaw fell open as the latest strange development connected. "Dead? He's down in the CCD as deceased?"
"That's the story from Agent Jones, who just called us from the road. He'll be here in ten minutes or less. I offered to pick him up, but he said 'it wasn't necessary'. Nice of him to at least call before showing up, though." Rifling through the papers, Mulder separated their official file from the additional information the Lone Gunmen had attained.
"What if we left now, Mulder? We could try to attract Anderson's attention again and talk to him without another agent." No sooner had the words left her mouth then someone rapped at the door. Mulder shoved the loose pile under the motel bed and shuffled the original into order as Scully went to open the door. On the other side of the door stood a man dressed in a crisp suit that showed no signs of imperfection. The black pants appeared to have been taken right from the cleaners. They were pressed and unwrinkled. The collar on his pure white dress shirt was starched and rigid. The black tie was held in place by the buttoned coat and gold tie clip. In all, the effect was eerie for Scully. His image evoked memories of the men in suits who had been present at her abduction. For his part, Agent Jones remained immobile, staring back at Scully from behind dark sunglasses.
"Agent Jones?" He nodded and entered as Scully stood aside to let him pass. As he did, his earpiece was clearly visible. Scully stared at the attachment with confusion. Mulder had said he was a member of the CCD, but the radio headpiece was only used in FBI sting or surveillance operations. Otherwise, that equipment was reserved to the secret service. Agent Jones made no attempt to explain or even address her apparent concerns. Mulder stood up and offered his hand, but the other agent only stared at it.
"Fox Mulder. Agent Jones, I tried to explain to you over the phone that this is not a case for the CCD. I only requested the information to facilitate our job. We are not pursuing this subject on the charges listed in his file."
"I am aware of that, Mr. Mulder. I am here to help you by providing the information in person. I have had several opportunities to meet Mr. Anderson, and it was judged that my knowledge would be of considerable importance to you." Scully locked eyes with Mulder. This man had actually met the suspect, but why hadn't he been interviewed? They passed the questions back and forth without words as Mulder invited Agent Jones to sit.
"Excuse me, Agent Jones, but why didn't you come forward earlier? Are you aware that the file on our subject came from outside the bureau?" Agent Jones nodded. Scully felt a shiver tickle her spine at the move. The man was rigid, inhumanly so. At the same time, she couldn't erase a creeping feeling that she had seen this agent before...a feeling best labeled as déjà vu.
"Mr. Mulder, I know who handed you that file." Both agents started at that admission. They waited for him to continue. "Mr. Mulder, I had that file sent to you. My partner and I wished to obtain a more removed opinion on the subject so that we might capture him successfully in the near future." The dripping of the faucet was a rushing geyser in the silence of the hotel room. This was it. The explanation that had never been provided. Scully was the first to recover.
"Agent Jones, we were under the impression that the NSA had passed this file to the director. Why was it necessary for you to employ that deception?" Jones turned to Scully, waking new shivers in her muscles.
"Ms. Scully, it is not relevant at this time. I can not provide you with any of that information. It might as well be said that I do not believe your help is necessary, but my colleague convinced me. I might also mention that such intervention has not worked before. I was instructed to come and give you any necessary details to aid in the completion of your profile on the subject. I am here to answer questions relevant to this man only, so that you may provide us with an insight into this man's motivation. Without such insight, he may never be caught. I believe you understand what that could imply?"
"He'd commit more crimes." Scully droned. The agent's answers were too simple. Those sunglasses were covering something. Just then, it struck her as odd that Agent Jones had yet to remove his sunglasses. As Mulder set up to record the Q&A, Scully felt herself becoming more and more unnerved by those sunglasses. The déjà vu also gained ground in her mind. Thinking back to their file, Scully lighted upon the reason for the déjà vu; she had seen this man in some of the pictures that Frohike had provided. The suit, the sunglasses, even the tie clip were the same as those worn in the picture. This agent was one of the men who had been present upon the arrest of Anderson at his office.
The next hour was spent interrogating the agent. Scully noted that Mulder, too, had realized who this man was. The first ten minutes were spent on formalities, asking how Agent Jones had ever gotten involved in the case, whether or not he had met the suspect or his accomplices, and so on. As Jones revealed more, Mulder pressed him with some of the questions that had arisen from the added material they had received. The agent didn't question their origin and his answers to those questions were as straightforward as any of his other answers. Finally, tired of not surprising his interviewee, Mulder played out his last card.
"Agent Jones, are you aware that Anderson is in the Chicago area, or that he has been in the past week?" Though there was no observable change in Jones' demeanor, it was clear from his silence that this was new information. His gaze changed direction to focus on Scully. Again, chills danced along her spine as she tried to return his steady stare. Remaining focused on Scully, Agent Jones raised his hand to finger his earpiece. Mulder and Scully watched as he listened to some news, the content of which they could only guess.
"I have not had that passed on to me, Mr. Mulder. May I assume that you established visual contact personally?" Agent Jones spoke with his hand still at his ear as he turned to look at Mulder again.
"Yes, Scully and I discovered the suspect at a bar. Given the background you have provided, I'm glad we didn't try to arrest him." Mulder swallowed, giving his feigned look of sudden relief more credence.
"You were told not to try and contact the subject in any way."
"Right, so we didn't. We followed him for a few blocks after he left the bar, but we lost him within five minutes." Agent Jones seemed to accept this answer.
"Did he try to contact you?" Mulder shook his head, and Scully seconded the negative response. "Then there should be no trouble. If that is all, Mr. Mulder, I will leave you to finish your analysis. I do not wish to interfere with that process any more than I may have already." Agent Jones stood to leave.
"Wait a minute, what are you talking about? You've given us more on him than anything in that file. Why would that be interfering?"
"Because the purpose of attaining a profile outside my division was to keep our information from tainting your findings." Mulder scratched his chin, desperately trying to think of something else to say. The words of the superintendent came back to him. On the day that Agent Smith had waylaid the super, he claimed that two other men had entered in pursuit of the suspect. Two other men in suits.
"Agent Jones? Are you familiar with or do you know of an Agent Smith in your division?" Agent Jones was again suspiciously silent. Scully managed to catch Mulder's eye for a moment. She saw the pieces clicking behind his dull façade.
"Agent Smith is no longer in service, Mr. Mulder."
"He's dead?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?" Agent Jones remained silent. "I only ask because you claimed that the suspect, one Thomas Anderson, was also deceased. So which is it?"
"Agent Smith is gone. Our report on Anderson was never completed after the confrontation in which Agent Smith was destroyed. It was deemed unnecessary to update the file without proven evidence that he had survived the encounter."
"You didn't mention this encounter. Does this have to do with the destruction of a military building in the Chicago area? We are certain Anderson had something to do with that." Jones sat again, as did the agents.
"Yes, he was responsible. After that incident, he was pursued. In that pursuit, Agent Smith was eliminated. My partner and I evacuated before we could suffer a similar fate. Anderson had been wounded severely, we assumed it had been fatal. That is all. That is why the file claimed he was dead."
"Oh, well, then I guess I don't have any more. Thank you, Agent Jones for your time." Without any recognition of that comment, Agent Jones exited the room. At the door he handed Mulder another manila folder and left without a word. Mulder bolted the door after their guest and turned to Scully.
"He's lying, Mulder. There's more that he's not saying."
"Well, duh." Scully chuckled as Mulder perused the new file. Indeed, Anderson was listed as deceased. Cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds to the chest area at close range. A side note claimed that head trauma could also have killed him. No autopsy was filed as the body had never been recovered, but there was a location where the death had supposedly occurred.
"The Heart O'the City Hotel. Sounds like it's worth a look, Mulder." Scully commented as she read the file from his side. Nodding, Mulder retrieved his coat and tossed Scully the car keys. She had the engine started by the time he appeared, clutching the three separate files in his arms.
"Let's go."
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"Okay, so let's see if this makes sense, Scully." Scully rolled her eyes. Knowing Mulder, it wouldn't make anything even resembling sense. "I'm Anderson, okay?" She nodded and motioned for him to continue. "I get this message on my computer from someone one night. That same night, Trinity kills four policemen and gets away."
"Do you know about that?"
"Let's say I don't. So, coincidence then? That's a stretch. But, if I do know about Trinity, wouldn't I be worried about also being discovered?"
"If you were smart."
"I am, so that's out. So, where does that leave me? I either do or do not know Trinity. These people don't seem to surface a lot, so what possible connection could her murders have with the message on my computer?" Scully thought about it for a second.
"She's into computers, too, right? Maybe she sent the message, and she had to surface, expose herself to do so." A glance at Mulder told her that he had been thinking along those lines as well.
"Right, so I don't know Trinity yet. So why does she contact me?"
"She needs you for something?"
"That fits. After she evades capture, she does talk to me and convinces me to do whatever it is. And I trust her because, I don't know, maybe I'm impressed with her work in the same field."
"Makes sense. Go on." Mulder shook his head.
"Okay, so I get this weird message, but I still go to work the next day, where I am then arrested for my computer piracy and tax evasion. Agent Jones and Agent Smith and the third guy arrest me, and take me somewhere, but they never log me in, never sign any papers to say I was ever in custody. Then what happens to me?"
"I was hoping you had a theory, Mulder."
"We know certain things, Scully. The CCD had this guy hauled in on one day, and then weeks later, he shows up in Chicago again, completely free and in the company of this Trinity. They walk into a military building, and they are the only ones to walk out, save for our agents, who, according to Agent Jones were there at some point."
"Hold it, Mulder. He never said they were there."
"But it was obvious that's what he meant, yes?" Scully had to concede the point. She had assumed that was what Agent Jones had hinted at as well. Mulder paused for a moment to check their map and detail the next set of directions. Once that was settled, Scully pulled onto Lakeside Drive and straight into rush hour traffic. Firmly stuck in the motionless sea of automobiles, Scully returned to Mulder's synopsis.
"Okay, so where were we?"
"Right, so, I'm still Anderson. I have just shot a squad of reserves and blown up the building with incredible ease. Now, all of a sudden, I'm on the run? Where is my back up? What happened to Trinity? After the building, all that is mentioned is the pursuit of, well, me. Why attack the building in the first place? If it was a random act of terrorism, why bother hanging around?"
"Mulder, terrorists are highly unpredictable, especially those suffering from mental illnesses. There are a hundred and one reasons why Anderson stayed around."
"Yeah, but what is the point exactly? I gather that if I'm being chased that I have to give chase in the first place. If he's suicidal, he'd have let himself be blown up, or let our buddy, Agent Jones, blow him away. If straight terrorism was the goal, why stay in the building? You saw the photo, Scully. Anderson and Trinity got into the elevator. The next report we have says the lobby was blown to high heaven."
"They were looking for something, Mulder. They could have blown up the building after they got what they wanted." Nodding, Mulder continued his story.
"That's what I figure, but what were they after?" Scully shook her head as her partner sighed. "Okay, forget it. We know they were after something, they either got it or they didn't, it doesn't matter. All we know is that afterwards, Anderson is tearing ass away from the agents on his tail. In the process, he kills one agent, Smith, and is wounded in the chest..."
"Hold it." Scully cut her partner off. Part of the new file jumped out in her memory. "Mulder, read me the cause of death again." Fumbling through the file, Mulder found the page.
"Says several gunshots to the chest at close range and/or head trauma." Mulder waited for Scully to process that information. When it came to stringing together postmortem evidence, Scully was his superior. She had the medical training and years of experience to make connections that went over his head.
"There is no way he could have died that way, if we believe Agent Jones' story."
"How so?"
"Simple. Agent Jones said that Anderson killed Agent Smith before he died. Okay, that can work. Anderson gets the drop on Agent Smith, shoots him, breaks his neck, whatever. When does Anderson get shot?"
"Either Agent Smith got off a lucky couple of shots, or the other agents interceded at that point."
"Try the first scenario, Mulder. You're Anderson. You face off against Agent Smith. You manage to kill him, but in the process, you wind up shot, let's say three times in the chest. You are in a lot of pain, right?" Mulder nodded. "How does a man, possibly dying, but definitely suffering from serious injuries, scare two other agents so that they do not move in to finish the job?"
"Maybe they backed off after witnessing him kill Smith."
"But if that were true, they would have seen Anderson get shot, and they would know he was hurting."
"Okay, so that doesn't work. What about the other option?"
"The other scenario has even more holes in it, Mulder. If Anderson killed Agent Smith, without being injured in the process, then the other agents would have had to have been the ones to shoot him. If Anderson was so efficient at avoiding injury, how would the other two agents get close enough to inflict multiple chest wounds at close range?"
"Interesting question." Scully rubbed her forehead, fighting her ever-present headache.
"Oh yeah? I've got an even better set of questions to impress you with. One, how does the maker of this report know the wounds were close range without a body? Two, if the agents told the coroner that the wounds were inflicted at close range, and that they assumed he died as a result, why wasn't the body retrieved once they were certain he would be dead? Three is a new scenario. Say the other two got close enough to kill Anderson. Why then run from him? Another bomb? Perhaps, but the hotel is still there, Mulder, so that rules that out. How does a man get shot and still scare two agents enough that they run, leaving Anderson to die or not?"
"What about the head trauma, Scully? Why is that in here?" For once, Scully had no answer. There hadn't been anything to suggest that Anderson had received head trauma.
"That goes back to the gunshots. Unless he'd been knocked severely enough, the gunshots would have killed him before most common head injuries could have. It's almost like head trauma is thrown in for a possible explanation just in case."
"In case of what?"
"In case the body was ever found. But why head trauma, I have no idea."
"We should make that our theme song." Scully chuckled, shaking her head. Mulder switched on the radio to a classical station and began to compose their theme song to the first tune that came on. In a few minutes, he had Scully laughing so hard that she could barely see through her tears of mirth.
"Very good questions you two have." The music died on their radio to leave a voice all on its own. "Keep looking, Agent Mulder, Agent Scully. Your truth is out there." Mulder sat, mouth open in mid song as he listened to the placidly mysterious voice on their radio.
"Anderson?"
"It's Neo, but whatever." With that, the music recommenced as if it had never been interrupted. The rest of the drive to the hotel was spent in stunned silence. Mulder sat mute while Scully pulled into a parking garage a block away from the location. Killing the ignition and removing the keys, she sat back in her seat, just staring out the windshield. Mulder's eyes were riveted on the radio. They sat for a minute that way before Mulder finally spoke.
"I guess we should do as he says." Scully unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. Once outside, she looked across the roof of the car at her partner. Fear and excitement were crossing his lazy features.
"What have we got to lose?"
End of Chapter 4