Title: The Answer Is Out There
Disclaimer: I have just three words for you guys and gals out there: THEY'RE
NOT MINE!!!!!!
Ch.9
"Hey, watch it buddy!" Yet another anonymous stranger, tired of being shoved aside by this brooding figure, yelled and cursed more than was necessary. None of it registered to the silent man with his eyes focused on the ground beneath his feet. How many days now? He couldn't remember. What am I doing here? He had no idea, but he kept walking. The public library was only a few more blocks away.
"Good morning again, Mr. Fenig!" The chipper blonde, whom he had discovered to be a constant irritation, greeted him as she opened the doors. He had been coming by often enough, early enough to have learned her routine. Cynthia, the blonde, came fifteen minutes after the cleaning crew and thirty minutes before the rest of the library staff. Taking a shine to him, she allowed him to start in on his work and research as soon as she got the computers up and running. After the first week, she had given up trying to talk to him while they were alone, despite some rather desperate overtures. Mr. Fenig had no interest in her.
He walked over to the farthest station, which Cynthia obligingly turned on for him. Then she left, as she always did, letting him work until the library closed, which he always did. He could imagine that the terminal was still warm from its previous use, which had been twelve hours ago when he had signed off the night before. Cynthia whistled as she fired up the various other machines: the other computer stations, the children's room's computer, the copiers, and the checkout reader. He paid her all due attention, which is to say he ignored her completely.
The computer hummed, starting its familiar process for the seventh day of this week, which was also the nth day in a row, period. Blue and white, a background of happy clouds, marred by the Microsoft logo, let him know that the computer was working on starting up for him. He waited for the usual procedures to finalize, waited desperately for the setup to finish so he could hit the internet and surf for the next twelve hours.
This time was different. The screen glowed a teal green, displaying all the icons of the various downloaded programs, then it morphed. The teal faded into black, the icons became green letters, and the entire computer stopped vibrating, almost as if it had been shut off. But the sharp contrast of the letters on the black indicated that the computer was indeed still on.
[I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR US, MULDER.]
It had been too long since someone had called him that. He was used to giving his name as Fenig, Max Fenig, a name he pulled from a memory of a dream. Maybe he had known the owner of that name once, or maybe he had fabricated the entire pseudonym. Whoever was writing hadn't forgotten. Unbeknownst to himself, Mulder spoke aloud, startling Cynthia at the desk.
"Who are you?" Cynthia looked up and peered at her unusual customer. The screen blinked and changed.
[MIND NOT SPEAKING ALOUD? YOU'RE IN A PUBLIC PLACE, AFTER ALL. YOU DON'T WANT TO ATTRACT ANY ATTENTION TO YOURSELF, DO YOU?]
"No." Mulder whispered. Curiosity overtook her, and Cynthia had to see what was so fascinating. Mulder noticed her approaching and started to panic. If she saw this, what would she think? That he was a criminal?
"Whatcha working on there, sweetie? Something wrong?" Cynthia patted him on the shoulder and bent to look at his screen. Mulder pinched his eyes shut and held his breath. What would she do? "Aw, it's okay, sugar. That happens all the time." Mulder peeked out at the screen. There it was, as it always had been, teal background, intrusive logos and icons and all. A gray box protested against the sea color behind it, saying ERROR and more, but after 'error', he didn't understand a word.
"Here, press this and this at the same time, and you should be able to get back what you were working on." Cynthia gave his hand a quick squeeze as she pointed out the correction process. Even after she had keyed in the right sequence to return him to where he had originated, the words didn't come back. Instead, a long document on the importance of determining population growth over time in third world countries popped up. Mulder faked a relieved smile, and thanked her under his breath. She winked and walked away.
[I TOLD YOU.]
Fingers shaking, Mulder typed his response, as he was unable to think of any other way to communicate.
[What do you want?]
[IT'S WHAT YOU WANT, MULDER. IT'S WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED.]
Without hesitation, Mulder typed in his response. The first word that sprang to his mind...
[The truth.]
[IT'S ONLY A QUESTION OF WHEN AND WHERE.]
[Now and here.]
[SOONER THAN THAT AND MUCH CLOSER.]
Mulder held his breath again. Before he agreed to what could only be another dead end, he needed to know to whom he was talking. So many hours had already been wasted on wild goose chases, net searches that ended without revelation. Was this the one?
[Can I say who you are? Are you who you say?]
A pause.
[DON'T TALK. THE TIME FOR THAT IS OVER. THE REAL QUESTION IS: DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT I'VE TOLD YOU...WHAT I TOLD YOU WHILE YOU SAT IN THAT ARMCHAIR? DO YOU BELIEVE?]
The answer was simple. It was 'yes'. But it was too hard to just agree. He wanted to say it. Instead, he said what fit the situation, what made sense for him to say.
[I want to believe.]
[THEN I...WE'LL BE SEEING YOU. SHORTLY. TIME TO GIVE THE LIBRARY GIRL WHAT SHE'S BEEN AFTER ALL THESE WEEKS, YES?]
Mulder chuckled and nodded, which seemed to be all the reply necessary. As soon as he had finished the gesture, the computer screen swirled away and shut itself off. He stood, slowly, unsure whether or not to follow this suggestion.
"Finished already? Oh, then you're all done with your research?" Cynthia sounded disappointed, but she put a good face on it. It was clear that she would miss her regular customer, but she felt obligated to celebrate his success as a friend. Mulder smiled, which prompted her to smile back.
"I feel like a big breakfast. I'm still new in town. Think you could help me out? My treat?" Cynthia's smile brightened considerably. In record time, she scribbled a note excusing her from work. They still had five minutes until the library officially opened, and still, they were the only people present, besides the cleaning crew. No one was around to object, and they stepped out unmolested.
************************
"This is such a great little place to stop and go. I come here whenever I can." Cynthia prattled on, so Mulder tuned her out. To whatever she asked, the answer was invariably 'uh-huh' or 'uh-uh', which he could handle without too much trouble. His eye kept scanning the immediate area for some sign of the people he had come to meet. How had they...no, how had Neo known about Cynthia? Did it matter? Not compared to the truth...the truth was all that mattered.
Was the truth what Neo had told him, though? The story was unbelievable. Neo had to be more tight-lipped than any of his previous inside sources, and considering that most of them had been killed because of leaking information, Neo was the best off. Yet, despite his comfortable ability to evade the law, Neo was mum on the particulars, the details he wanted to hear the most.
The story wasn't much different from what he had already learned through all his years working on the X-Files. The surface world was a lie, a lie covering something severe underneath, something secret. He had believed it to be a covert government, but Neo had laughed at that idea, but he hadn't elaborated too much beyond that. The world was fake, according to Neo, but more so than Mulder could imagine. And to discover the real world, one had to see to believe, a concept Mulder had no trouble accepting. He believed, concrete evidence or no, witnesses or no, so faith was definitely his forte.
That faith had lead him to the X-Files. The X-Files had lead him to Neo and his friends, although indirectly, and now, finally, Neo would lead him to the truth.
"I'd like a croissant." Mulder shook himself from his reverie. He looked up to place his order after Cynthia. But she wasn't there. In place of the chipper, tanned, blonde woman, stood a recognizable, dour, pale, dark, and altogether stoic woman. A woman whose form he had admired once before.
"Trin..." His words were a catalyst, and she spun to cover his mouth before he could finish. From the corner of his eye, Mulder saw Cynthia gasp.
"What are you doing?" Trinity dropped her hand from Mulder's mouth and turned to face this intruder.
"Nothing. Your friend here just happened to almost shoot himself in the foot. Happy to be of service, see you later." Trinity smiled and walked away, slowly enough for Mulder to catalog her direction and memorize it. The hint was taken. He had to get rid of Cynthia without being too obvious about doing so.
"Just a friend of mine, trying to get me into trouble more than anything else." Mulder smiled sheepishly. Cynthia smiled, and placed her own order. Eating quickly, Mulder made as polite a conversation as he could have, given the circumstances. As dates went, Mulder had to consider those ten minutes some of the best of his life, which didn't say much. Having little to no experience with good-byes, Mulder decided to scratch out a note on a napkin for Cynthia and made his escape while she was detained in the ladies room.
************************
"What took you so long?" Neo crossed his arms and leveled 'the look' at Mulder as he approached the car. Inside, despite the tinted windows, Mulder could identify two silhouettes.
"I thought the idea was not to attract attention." Neo nodded.
"Want to see a magic trick, Mulder?" Mulder sighed and let him go ahead. "Watch." Neo held out his hand, palm up to show it to Mulder. He closed his fingers into a fist. After a minute, he opened it again. Resting in his hand was a red pill. Mulder stared at it, the contents of the pill fascinating him beyond the simplicity of the trick he had just seen performed. A fire burned in liquid form and was contained within the shell of the pill. Mulder wanted to touch it, to feel it, to know whether it would set his fingers burning.
"Take it, and let's go." Pulling Mulder's hand out, Neo dropped the pill and waited. Mulder nearly let the pill fall out of his hands. Once he had a grip on both himself and the pill, Mulder swallowed it dry. Satisfied, Neo opened the back door to reveal Scully sitting right inside, her eyes fastened upon her partner.
He looks so pale...so thin...Scully scoured Mulder's visage with interest. What had he been through? Was it worth it? Neo had come back for her. Didn't it stand to reason that he would have done the same, eventually, for Mulder too? Mulder hadn't thought so, apparently. She slid over to let him sit, while Neo climbed into the front.
"All ready?" Neo smiled as pleasantly as possible, a response that seemed out of place with the gun he kept on them. Trinity started the car, and they were off.
************************
The ride passed without a word. Neo and Trinity, the only two people in the car who might have been capable of speech, remained silent. Not to say that Scully hadn't detected some unspoken signals between the two over the trip. Though, in reality, the trip was short, it was decades later that they reached their destination. Throughout the entire journey, Scully fought to keep her sanity by playing games, her favorite being "guess what they're saying" using Trinity and Neo. Every gesture they made toward one another was broken down. A sideways glance from Trinity meant that she was only checking up on the situation that the necessities of driving kept her from observing more closely. A sideways and lingering glance from Neo meant either that he wanted to check to see if he was doing right, to gauge their next move from her reactions, or most simply to satisfy some dirty fantasy.
That last explanation was the most humorous; thus she stuck with it. Scully killed the majority of the time trying to imagine Neo and Trinity together, trying to figure out how either one would possibly make any sort of romantic overture to the other. Neo was mired in his sarcasm and occasional mystery, and Trinity emoted nothing but confidence, menace, and power. Strange, then, that it should be Neo to whom Trinity showed deference. Sort of, Scully smiled.
"We're here, folks." Neo waved his gun to the door, indicating to Mulder that he should open it. Mulder did so, and everyone piled out of the car. Mulder stood next to Scully, not ready to talk to her, but not wanting to leave her either. They might have been separated for almost a month, but they were still closer to one another than either was to Trinity or Neo.
Proceeding from here was simple enough. They were back at 115 Lake Avenue. Neo followed behind the agents, who were following Trinity's lead. After three flights, the irritating ringing of a high-frequency cell phone interrupted the silence. Trinity stopped on a landing and whipped out her phone from a pocket inside the lining of the back of her jacket. She didn't speak but only listened. If Scully had had to guess, she'd say that the expression on Trinity's face was closest to alarm or panic. Neo pulled up closer, two guns now in his hands, all his joviality gone.
"They're closing in, Neo. They must be bugged." Trinity leveled an accusing glare at the two FBI agents. Neo shot up between the pair and shoved them apart. Mulder hit the railing of the stairs and had to steady himself to keep from falling over. Scully collided with the wall, letting out a yelp of surprise. Neo placed one of his handguns back into a hip holster, and with his free hand, he began to pat Scully down. As Mulder moved to pull Neo away, Trinity came from behind to hold him back.
"What are you doing?" Scully whimpered. Fear seized her vocal chords and froze her muscles. Neo paid her gasps no mind and continued to run his hand along her body. Afraid more of the 'bug' than of Neo, Scully let him finish his sweep. He seemed particularly interested in her abdomen. When he stopped his light probe, Neo turned to shake his head at Trinity.
"Not her." Trinity nodded and kicked Mulder's knees out from under him. For the moment he was stunned, Trinity had full access to search him. Her examination proved likewise futile. A question flared in her glance at Neo. Scully stood against the wall, working to eradicate her fear so she could think logically. If they had been bugged, where and when could it have taken place?
"This...this bug...is it internal?" Neo looked up with sudden interest at Scully. After he confirmed her question with a nod, Scully paled considerably. Her nervous fingers crept along her throat and made their way to the back of her neck. Neo followed their tense dancing movements and watched realization crawl over her face. "My implant..." No more words were necessary. Neo tossed his weapon over his shoulder, which Trinity caught amidst trying to help Mulder to his feet.
"Turn around," Neo commanded, and Scully did as he asked. The unmistakable sound of a switchblade opening awoke her panic.
"No, you can't...I'll die if you take that out..." Scully pleaded as the cold metal grazed her skin.
"The only way you're going to die is if I leave it in." And then there was no more coldness of the steel...it was only the warmth of blood. Light pressure and the sensation of something digging at her neck, and then it was over. Any trace of blood was missing when she put her hand to the wound a second later. Neo threw the blade away, waiting for Scully to recover. The definite plink of the blade hitting the floor disturbed her concentration, and Scully refocused on Neo.
"I don't understand."
"You're not meant to, not yet. We need to get you both out of here." Trinity nodded her assent, released Mulder, and vaulted up the last flights of stairs with the innate grace of a cat, only twice as nimble and three times as fast. Mulder and Scully barely had time to take it all in before a huge crash came from below. Jumping into alertness, Neo bent over the railing to check on the situation.
"Go! Get out of here! Follow Trinity. I'll be right behind you." Mulder took off without a word, but Scully hesitated. As Neo made an insanely impossible leap off the railing, she watched the lights below. There had to be at least ten lights, which meant there were at least ten men down there, maybe more. What good was Neo going to do?
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Neo barked as he fell. Scully turned and ran. In a far corner of her mind, she knew that Neo should be dead, yet she had complete confidence that she'd see him again. With that thought driving her, Scully made it to the landing where the humming of machines began to drown out the preliminary shots fired floors below. This was the same floor they had been on earlier, so Scully didn't hesitate; she flew through the first room, not giving the armchairs or the fireplace a second glance. Her path was direct to the second room.
"Mulder?" Scully burst in half-expecting to see he and Trinity had been captured despite Neo's desperate act. Instead, her eyes fell upon her partner sitting nervous, but quite alive, in a strange, chair-like contraption. Trinity buzzed about, attaching nodes to major pulse zones. Scully watched for a second then moved to help.
"Here?" Scully held up one of the wires, and Trinity nodded to the place on his arm to which she gestured.
"You're a doctor, I forgot." Trinity smiled lightly, a smile which Scully returned. Mulder regarded Trinity with a look of skeptic disbelief, at which Scully had to laugh. Mulder could believe anything, but Trinity smiling was too much. "Are we ready, Mulder?" Mulder tried to indicate yes, but his muscles refused to make any gesture that might have conveyed that answer.
"He's been ready for six years." Scully whispered. Trinity backed away, giving them some space to talk privately. Scully bent down to be on Mulder's level. "Hey, Fox."
"Don't call me that." Mulder chuckled tensely.
"I know, even your parents had to call you 'Mulder'. I remember, and I'm still going to call you Fox. I think it suits you more than Mulder, especially if you're going to be a terrorist now." Scully laughed, her tension dissipating.
"What about you, Scully? What will we call you?"
" 'Chopped Liver' or 'Jail Bait' if we don't get out of here." Scully stood, sending Trinity a look, which Trinity returned with a nod.
"It's time. We've got his position." Trinity took out her cell phone. While she busied herself with the recipient of the call, Mulder reached to hold Scully's hand and to give it one last squeeze before she walked over to join Trinity by the monitors. Trinity acknowledged Scully and gave her a few directions. At Mulder's "Oh my God," both women looked up. Scully gasped. A sinuous, silvery substance was slowly covering Mulder.
"The black oil..." Trinity gave Scully a sharp look.
"It's not what you think, Scully. You have to trust me." She looked as though she had more to say, but a new piece of information from the cell connection halted her speech. "Now, Tank." Trinity pointed to Mulder, and Scully followed her gesture. In front of her eyes, Mulder faded away. It was a quick and yet exceedingly gradual process at the same time. Time was a missing element in his disappearance. From beginning to end, Scully would have described the event as Mulder's evaporation. Simply put, that's what it was. He was there, then he was gone, and throughout he grew more and more transparent.
"Mulder?"
"He's gone, Scully. Not to worry, we'll be there shortly to pick him up." Trinity pushed Scully towards the chair Mulder had only recently vacated. Scully moved toward it. Trinity had to force her to sit, but after that was done, attaching the nodes was no difficult task. As she realized that the setup was almost completed, Scully felt terror crawl along her skin.
"Where am I going?" Trinity gave Scully's hand a squeeze.
"The real world."
"Is that where Mulder is? Will we be safe there?"
"Yes, and not entirely. You can back out now, Scully, but your life wouldn't be worth betting on if we left you here for the agents."
"Agents? Agent Jones..." Trinity smiled and nodded.
"You're too bright to back out now, Scully. Ready?" Trinity returned to the machines, completing the setup and then waiting for Scully's signal that she was prepared. She closed her eyes, and, one deep breath later, she opened them again, this time, with determination firmly set in her expression.
"As I'll ever be."
End of Part 9