Kismet

by Jaimee

Mulder and Scully investigate a seemingly meaningless murder in a small farming town in Alabama and find themselves caught in the middle of events that could lead to the end. (I swear it's not as long as the kb listing says..i had a 1/2pg story on here an

2. Kismet: Resolved...

Title - Kismet

Author - Jaimee Kidder

Email - invisibleshining@ivillage.com

Rating - PG-13 (for violence)

Classification - XRA

Spoilers - Herrenvolk/Talitha Cumi, Fight the Future, Triangle, Two Fathers/One Son, Three of a Kind

Keywords - Mulder/Scully romance

Summary - Mulder and Scully investigate a seemingly meaningless murder in a small farming town in Alabama and suddenly find themselves caught in the middle of events that could lead to the end.

::whirrrrr:: "I made this!"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. I wish I was Scully and owned Mulder, but such is not the case. If I did, this would be an episode -- or two, or five -- of the show, not some story that Chris Carter will prob'ly never read. :) The secondary characters are mine (so there!). But Mulder, Scully, and the rest are all CC's (hail to the man!), 1013's, and Fox's. Too bad for me. ;-)

Oh yeah...and I borrowed Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me"...so thank you, Celine, for singing such a lovely (and shippery) song!

.kismet.

.resolved.

Sunday, August 15

9:41 a.m.

Mulder was awakened by Scully's gentle shaking. "Wake up, sleepyhead," she teased.

"Ohhhhhhhh...I'm awake, I'm awake..." Mulder opened his eyes to see Scully smiling at him, her big green eyes holding the barest hint of reproach.

"Pleasant dreams?" she quipped, turning to walk into her room.

Mulder rolled out of bed, smiling hazily at her words. Suddenly, Scully's friendly remark struck a chord somewhere in his mind. The sensation was strong enough to make Mulder sit back down on the bed and make the comment, "Wow...that is so strange...I've got this really strong feeling that there's something I should remember."

Scully turned around, staring quizzically at Mulder and wondering whether she should devote too much thought to this newest quirk in her partner. Then she remembered why she had woken him up, and checked her watch with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, you'd better get changed. We have to go see the manager of the Nature's Best plant, remember? And then at noon I'm scheduled to do the autopsy...." She trailed off, seeing her partner's blank look. "Mulder?"

"Hmmm?" Mulder looked dazed.

"Is everything all right?"

"No...I just haven't been able to shake this feeling; it's like I'm missing something," he said distantly, trying to figure out what he could have forgotten.

"Well, we may be missing our chance to get to Nature's Best if you don't hurry up," she admonished. "I'll finish getting ready in the other room."

Nature's Best management office

10:51 a.m.

The receptionist at the desk was filing her nails when the two F.B.I. agents strode in.

"Special Agents Mulder and Scully to see Mr. Kahn," Mulder announced, the two of them flashing their IDs.

The girl looked the pair up and down suspiciously, and, chewing her gum contemplatively, buzzed Mr. Kahn's office. "Two F.B.I. agents are here, sir," and in a lower tone of voice, "What do you want me to do?"

There was a pause, then, "Send them in to see me, Ms. Nichols,"

"Yes, sir," Ms. Nichols acquiesced. "You can go on in," she said, obviously suspicious.

Mulder smiled and gave the girl a mock salute. Scully nudged him, a small smile playing on the edges of her lips. "Let's go, Mulder," she muttered.

Mulder swung open the door and strode through, Scully on his heels. "Mr. Kahn? I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder; this is Agent Scully. Can we have a word with you?"

"Of course." Mr. Kahn reached forward to shake the agents' hands. He was a tall, powerful man who looked wasted in such a small job as managing a tiny branch of an agricultural plant. "Please, have a seat."

Scully seated herself at the desk, while Mulder, preferring to win the interview through psychological means, paced slowly back and forth behind Scully, summing up Kahn's office with casual, critical glances around the room.

"Pretty far out in the country, aren't you, Mr. Kahn?" Mulder asked easily.

"Oh yes, we find that the remote location well serves our agricultural needs," he answered, professionally.

Mulder nodded musingly and leaned casually against the wall.

Kahn glanced from one agent to the other, waiting for someone to speak. Finally, when no one did, he asked, with a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice, "Is there a problem, agents? I've never had the F.B.I. in here before. We're such a small plant..."

"Nothing's wrong with your management, sir," Scully was quick to amend. "We're here to obtain some information about an employee of yours."

"An employee?" Mr. Kahn looked genuinely confused.

"Former employee, actually," Mulder spoke up suddenly.

"Mr. Kahn," Scully began coolly, "an employee of yours, Robert Harris, was found dead a few days ago." He nodded slowly, looking quietly at Scully. "We won't know until the autopsy later today," she continued, "but most of the evidence points to murder. Can you tell us why someone would want to kill Rob Harris?"

Kahn looked surprised and stunned at the mention of the word 'murder.' He paused for a moment, his lips pursed as he thought. Finally he looked up. "No...I really can't think of a thing. I'm sorry."

"Are you sure," Mulder spoke up. It was clearly not a question. "Think. Did he ever have a meeting with you or another one of his superiors that didn't go well? Disagreements between himself and another member of the company that seemed more threatening than usual?" Mulder leaned forward. "Mr. Kahn. Did you ever hear Rob Harris talking about concerns about the company? Any worries or --"

"Agent Mulder, are you implying that Nature's Best is responsible for Rob Harris's death? And if you are, I'll tell you right now --"

Scully quickly took over. "Mr. Kahn, we're not implying anything; these are just routine questions that we have to ask. We only want to get to the bottom of this. Do you know anything that might help us in this case?"

Just then her cell phone rang. "Just a minute please..." Scully murmured, pulling out her phone. "Scully. Yes? What?! When? Yeah, we'll be right over."

"What is it?" Mulder asked, shooting Scully a concerned look.

Scully looked at Mulder, communicating wordlessly to him that she'd tell him in the car. "Mr. Kahn, thank you for your time, and we'll get back to you on this," Scully stood and nudged Mulder to do the same.

"Will one of you please tell me what's going on?" Mr. Kahn asked, now looking irritated.

"We'll contact you in a few days, Mr. Kahn. Thank you," Mulder nodded, then closed the office door and ran to catch up with Scully as she stalked out to their car.

The two got back out to the Camry, hurriedly climbed in and slammed the door. Mulder slipped the keys into the ignition and started up the car.

"Floor it," Scully said urgently.

"Scully? What happened?"

"They stole the body," Scully said shortly, while, like her partner, trying to put the pieces together.

"What??"

"Rob Harris. His body is gone."

Jacksonville Hospital

11:44 a.m.

The two agents made an impressive entry into the tiny hospital. Mulder's trenchcoat swished around his ankles as he walked, his height contrasting Scully's shorter frame, and their black coats accenting her sunrise hair. She kept stride with him, walking quickly, efficiently, and professionally. The two rounded the corner and were met by Dr. Cambrell, the attendant in charge.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cambrell," the small, balding man said, outstretching his hand. "Thank you both for getting over here so soon. Let me show you where the body was being kept."

"Who was the last person to see the body?" Mulder asked.

"As far as I know, I was. I'm almost always the last to leave."

"You locked up when you left?"

"Yes, I did, but the security system here is pretty old."

"Is it possible someone could've been hiding somewhere in the building without your knowledge?"

"I think that's entirely possible."

"And when would you have left last night?"

"I think around 11. I had a last bit of paperwork to finish up. When I got in this morning, I didn't immediately notice that the body was missing. I don't usually check...they almost always stay put," he said with an ironic smile.

"When did you first notice?" Scully continued.

"I had been told that you two would be coming over around 12 this afternoon to perform an autopsy, so I opened up the autopsy room and got it equipped with the necessary supplies. We don't have too many autopsies here. When I finished with that, around 10:00 or 10:15, I guess, I checked on the body and found it was gone."

"Why would you check on the body?"

"Due to the...somewhat odd nature of the case, I've been a bit intrigued by it. And frankly, I've heard about what you do. You work with paranormal cases, right?" Mulder threw Scully a questioning look. "I wanted to make sure, you know, that nothing had happened. Nothing weird. And I'm glad I did," he finished, his voice carrying a hint of defensiveness.

By this time, they had reached the small morgue and autopsy room. The agents took up searching -- first summing up the room in a glance or two, then walking the perimeter of the room looking for anything eye-catching or otherwise out of the ordinary. Scully then headed over to the shelf where Rob Harris's body had been kept, inspecting the stainless steel handle and surface of the cabinet for prints or other odd marks. Mulder, not seeing anything abnormal, joined her.

"This was a clean job," Scully murmured. "There's nothing here, Mulder."

"Yeah...whoever did this knew what they were doing."

Scully opened the drawer. The interior of the shelf was clean too; it looked almost polished. The two agents glanced quickly inside for a few seconds then Mulder slammed it shut in disgust. He turned around sharply to look intently at Dr. Cambrell.

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary last night? Anyone here who isn't usually? A car parked outside the window of the morgue with people waiting in it? Anything like that?"

Dr. Cambrell frowned in thought. "Well, I remember that there was this jeep that kept driving back and forth in front of the building. One of the times it passed, I thought I saw something metal sticking out of the window. Binoculars, I think. Anyway, I had thought it was odd, but didn't give it much thought -- I was working pretty hard on my paperwork."

Mulder looked closely at Dr. Cambrell, his barely contained frustration changing instantly to interest. "Did you see any of the occupants of the car?"

"No, but like I said, it was pretty late...this was around 10 last night, I'd say. It was fairly dark, and the streetlights aren't what they could be. And I wasn't looking too closely. The only reason I saw the binoculars -- or whatever they were -- was because the shape of the metal caught the light. I'm sorry."

Mulder turned to glance at Scully. She stared back, her features holding that sharp look that usually meant that she was trying to fit the pieces together. He turned back around, his sudden smile conveying the beginnings of comprehension. Then Scully remembered something.

"Do you have his medical file, sir? I'd like to look over it."

"Sure," he said, walking quickly to the desk and picking up a file. "I had a copy made in case you wanted it."

"Thanks," she said, surprised at his genuine eagerness to help.

"Thanks, Dr. Cambrell. If we need your help again, we'll get in touch with you," Mulder said.

Scully took the cue, and nodded politely to Cambrell as she followed Mulder out the door and into the quiet hall.

"It's beginning to make sense, Scully," Mulder announced quietly and confidently. "The jeep? It could have been military issue...it was too dark for Cambrell to have noticed that."

"Mulder --"

"Did you hear Cambrell? He told us he had heard that we investigate cases relating to the paranormal. Doesn't that strike you as odd? How would some doctor in a little farming town in Alabama know that?"

Scully stopped what she was going to say, and nodded reluctantly. "Yes, I remember that. And yes, that is odd."

Mulder continued, quiet triumphance showing in his eyes. "And I finally realized what I was missing. Remember, I woke up this morning feeling like I'd forgotten something? Last night, I had the TV on. An ad came on for the Nature's Best company. It mentioned something about employment offers. In Dallas, among other places."

Scully had that look again.

Mulder continued. "Dallas. Corn products -- that means cornfields. Jeeps driving around the streets late at night. I did some checking. Turns out Four Mile is within two miles of the Fort McClellan military base and nine miles away from the Anniston Army Depot."

"What?"

"Last night I saw a tanker truck drive past the motel...there isn't exactly a big highway going through here. And let's not forget Robert Harris, whose body is mysteriously missing from the morgue -- in a tiny city that's had virtually no crimes to its name until now -- and who died possibly as the result of that little puncture mark in his neck. The officer I talked to said it could've been made by an insect bite. What does that bring to mind, Scully? Don't tell me that there's nothing going on here. The only thing that's missing are ashes and a Morley butt in the ashtray in Kahn's office."

Scully stopped walking and looked Mulder in the eyes for a full 15 seconds. Mulder suddenly wondered if he had gone too far -- he knew this subject was difficult for her to talk about. Then Scully spoke. "You're right. I...this isn't easy for me." She sighed deeply, looking straight ahead; her defenses had been weakened almost imperceptibly for a moment. Mulder began walking again, quicker this time. He looked down at Scully walking beside him, noting again her strength, her courage. Something she had said to him a long time ago suddenly came back to Mulder's memory.

"...I had the strength of your beliefs...."

The pair made their way back to the car in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Mulder opened the passenger door for Scully. She seemed vaguely surprised, and snapped herself out of her thoughts long enough to half-smilingly murmur, "Oh...thank you, Mulder." He smiled at her and slid into the driver's seat.

Mulder pulled the car out of the garage and onto the main road. He took a deep breath and turned to look at his friend. "Scully,"

She shook herself visibly, and looked over at him.

"Uh," Mulder fumbled, unsure of where to begin, "Scully, I know that this is hard for you...but still, I think it's a good bet that we're dealing with the same people here. Possibly even a...a minor use of the bee carrier system that we saw in Dallas."

"You think Rob Harris knew too much so they had him killed?"

Mulder nodded. "And they found a way that they could get rid of Harris and test the reliability of the bees at the same time. Not to mention the fact that they must've developed a much stronger strain of the virus than the one that...stung you." He heard the words come out of his mouth and was instantly kicking himself for the complete lack of tact.

Scully winced inside, instantly and almost completely stifling the memory that rose to her mind. She continued listening, trying not to let her distraction show.

"At any rate," Mulder continued after a moment, "they're coming out of the closet little by little...getting bolder with their use of the virus. All I know is that I wish we had taken more precautions to keep our presence here more of a secret."

"Well, Mulder, this is a small town...they most likely haven't seen this much excitement since color TV was invented." Scully said, smiling distractedly. Mulder looked at her once again, then plunged back into his thoughts.

The car cruised down the empty, dusty road. The two drove along in silence. Mulder almost didn't see the stoplight, but in spite of the fact that there were no cars on the road, and probably hadn't been all morning, he pulled to a stop at the red light. Looking back at his partner again, he felt compelled to speak.

"Scully...I know I don't tell you this enough, but --"

Mulder suddenly forgot the words he had intended to say as Scully turned to look at him again. For an unguarded moment, her eyes held all the feelings that Mulder knew were also his. He loved her. And for the first time since that day last summer, he knew beyond a doubt that she loved him in return.

Abruptly, the memory of his encounter on the Queen Anne came crashing back. And what had happened after.

You told her you loved her when you were in the hospital, and she laughed in your face.

You two aren't meant to love each other.

That's why you haven't been able to tell her.

Mulder sighed, resolving reluctantly to once again remain silent. Suddenly his dismal thoughts dissolved.

You love her. There's no denying that.

You know she loves you.

And there's no putting it off any longer.

You'll hate yourself if you don't speak now.

You may not have another chance.

Knowing that these were his real thoughts, Mulder felt a sudden surge of peace. This is right. He took a deep breath, and reached over and took Scully's hand.

"Dana...I love you." Fox Mulder said.

The look in her eyes changed to a look of amazement mixed with shock. She stared into his eyes for what seemed to Mulder eternity. He could see her considering this revelation, a mixture of expressions flitting across her face. Then she smiled, with tears beginning to form in her beautiful eyes, a smile of pure joy. Mulder had just enough time to think that he had never seen such a beautiful smile in his life before...and then he found himself kissing her, and all other thoughts faded away.