**Disclaimer in part one**
Potosi Sheriff's Office
Mulder hit the off button and tucked the phone back into his pocket.
"How's your partner?"
"I don't know. She says she's fine, but..."
"But you're worried about her anyway."
Mulder nodded his head and frowned.
"You two…this is more than just a working relationship?"
Mulder reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything. This is new to both of us. Everyone at the Bureau thinks we've been…for a long time. They must be smarter than either of us, we just recently figured it out for ourselves."
"So you're not…?"
"No, not yet. This case of yours dropped a little rain on our parade, so to speak."
"OK, let's do something about catching this guy then, so you can get back where you belong."
Mulder smiled, relieved to be changing the subject. "The suspect's name is Douglas Gale Longford." He opened his briefcase and pulled out his notes, handing a copy to the sheriff. "Last know address is a residence in Bonne Terre; same hometown as Gail Hammond, by the way. No priors, so he's either been very careful, very lucky or he's just now branching out into violence against people."
"What do you mean by 'branching out'?
"Serial killers aren't made overnight. They generally start out as disturbed children who take out their anger by mutilating animals. I'd be willing to bet that a number of small animals went missing in Mr. Longford's neighborhood, when he was a child. After a while, animals don't satisfy their need to hurt, so they move on to those they can intimidate. Some find a sexual release in killing that they can't experience in their own lives, so you can figure that he's not Mr. Popularity with the ladies. Most likely, he lives alone, has a menial job and few, if any, friends. Neighbors will say that he's a nice young man, never caused any trouble, always paid his rent on time…you know the speech. Same one you hear on the six o'clock news every time one of these guys gets caught."
Lee picked up the picture of Longford, giving it a good once over. "Look at this guy. He looks like the type you wouldn't mind your daughter dating. Good looking, clean-cut, all-American boy next door."
"Too bad people don't come with ingredient labels."
6 PMScully's apartment
Byers and Langly took kitchen detail, leaving Frohike to entertain Scully in the interim. Byers chose to wash the dishes, in order to give both he and Dana a break from one another. Langly, however, was bullied into service by Frohike's evil eye. He seemed like an easy-going kind of guy, but when Melvin Frohike put his mind to something, the best course of action was to get out of the way. Hell hath no fury like a Frohike scorned, a lesson Langly had learned the hard way many years ago.
Frohike helped Scully to couch, then sat down beside her. He wanted to say something comforting, something helpful, something to make her smile. He wanted to say all those things, what he finally said was something entirely different. "Hey, back off on Byers, will you? He's only trying to help you out. I know he can be a real pain sometimes, but I'm fond of the little tightass and I'd like to see him come home with his ego intact."
Scully glared at him. Her face tightened visibly, her mouth became a barely perceptible line on her face. He watched her good hand clench at her side and begin to shake. *Oh 'Hike, you've really stepped in it this time. * He braced himself for the tongue-lashing to come. Then, as quickly as it flared, her hand unclenched, her face relaxed and her mouth regained its familiar shape. "You're right, Frohike. He's been a real friend and I've rewarded that by behaving badly and acting unappreciative. He doesn't deserve that. I don't know what's wrong with me. My emotions are out of control and the people I care about keep getting caught in the crossfire."
"So we've heard. How's Mulder?"
"Byers told you about that?"
"No details, he said that you'd ended your last conversation with him on a bad note."
"You could say that. I talked to him about it. We're fine now."
"He may be fine, Dana, but you're not. You look lousy. Are you sure you don't belong in the hospital?"
"So that's where Byers gets his charm. Careful, you're likely to turn my head with all those platitudes."
"Sorry, I call 'em as I see 'em. Call Mulder; tell him you need him to come home. He'll be here in a flash; all you have to do is ask. You know that, don't you?"
"Of course I know that. It's precisely the reason I won't call him. He doesn't have to protect me, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"Oh yeah, you're doing a heck of job, so far. What are you going to do for an encore?"
Scully began to shake. Her face reddened and her eyes went black. *Uh oh, she's gonna blow. * He slid toward the opposite end of the couch, preparing to bolt before she unleashed the tiger.
Langly entered the room carrying two bowls. "So, anyone for ice cream?" He watched as Frohike jumped up and headed toward the kitchen.
"Great, thanks Langly. You and Scully start without me, I'll go give Byers a hand in the kitchen."
Langly started to protest, but before he could form the words, Frohike was gone. He turned back to Scully and for a moment, caught a glimpse of what had sent Frohike running. Langly blinked his eyes, to be sure he'd seen what he'd thought he'd seen. When he looked at her again, the anger was gone.
"Langly?" She motioned for him to come over to the couch.
"Oh, right. Here, thought you might want something sweet to snack on. It's Death by Chocolate."
Scully raised her eyebrows, sighed, then rubbed her eyes. When her hand dropped to her side, Langly caught a glimmer of her previous face. *Uh, oh. *
"Chocolate, the cure-all for every woman's problem, is that it? You men think that everything can be fixed by offering up some chocolate, don't you? Did it ever occur to you that I might not like chocolate?"
Langly suddenly got an idea as to why Frohike had fled the scene. He was ready to do that himself and all he'd done was try to hand her a bowl of ice cream.
"Um...Scully, you do like chocolate. As a matter of fact, you told us this was one of your favorite flavors. That's why we bought it. Did we miss a memo or something?"
"Just forget it." She took the bowl from his hands and tossed it onto the coffee table. "I'm going to bed." Pushing off the couch with her one good hand, Scully stood and took a step toward the bedroom. She made it as far as the end of the couch, before falling to the floor, her head just missing the edge of the table behind the couch.
Langly jumped up, dumping his bowl onto the floor. "Byers, Frohike, hurry up!"
The boys were out before Langly finished calling their names. Byers dropped to the floor beside Scully. "Dana? Can you hear me, Dana?"
Scully's eyes fluttered open. "What happened?"
Frohike reached out and stroked her hair, both as an act of affection and to check for contusions. "You took a header, party girl. I think we wore you out."
Byers stepped in, nudging Frohike aside. "Langly, go get a rag and clean up the ice cream by the couch. Frohike, go get a glass of water and the two bottles of pills on the counter and bring them into the bedroom."
The two men set out to complete their assigned tasks, while Byers carefully helped Scully up off the floor and half-carried her into the bedroom. Frohike followed, pill bottles and water in hand. He gave them to Byers, then beat a hasty retreat out of the room. Scully didn't protest when John handed her pills, simply popped them in her mouth, before reaching for the glass of water.
"Sorry about all this. I guess having them over was too much tonight. Get some rest. I'll be in the living room, if you need anything."
Scully shook her head, then rolled over and closed her eyes. Byers got up and started toward the door. "John?" He turned. "I'm sorry."
He gave her a look he hoped resembled a smile, before closing the door behind him. Frohike met him just inside the living room.
"You weren't kidding about Scully being on edge, Byers. She damned near took my head off before Langly got out here with the ice cream."
"Almost a double beheading then, dude. She tried to tear me a new one just for telling her what flavor the ice cream was."
"See? That's what I've been trying to tell you. Scully's losing it."
Scully drifted off, unaware of the conversation in the next room. As she hit REM, the dream catcher began to glow.
9:45 PMOutside the Longford residence, Bonne Terre
Mulder and Dryden watched for signs of life in the house belonging to Douglas Gale Longford. Earlier, an undercover officer, posing as a UPS carrier, had ascertained that Longford was at home. No one had entered or exited the house since, but it had been an hour since they'd seen any movement. Dryden was getting impatient. "Where is he? If he doesn't make some noise soon, I'm going up there and peek in some of those windows."
"No you're not. He's in there."
"How do you know he hasn't snuck out the back door? He could be gone, for all we know."
"He's in there. He's planning his next move. Probably in the basement or in a back room, but he won't leave until he's ready to strike."
"How do you know that? How do you know that he's still in there?"
"I feel it. He's in the final planning stage; going over everything to make sure he makes no mistakes. He won't leave tonight; it's too soon. Wednesday, that's when he'll make his move."
"Then why the Hell are we sitting out here on a Monday night?"
"I could be wrong."
Dryden growled and shook his head. "You know, Mulder, you're a real pain-the-ass."
"So I've been told. Look, I said I could be wrong, that's why we have men positioned at the homes of each of the potential victims on the list. I'm not taking any chances with their lives. My instincts tell me that he's still in the house and that he won't leave until he's ready to capture his next victim. It's coming down Wednesday, of that, I'm sure."
"You still think that Gail Hammond is next?"
Mulder nodded and opened up his laptop.
"What are you doing now?"
"Checking in on the websites of the targeted women. I'm hoping to find Longford's signature on one of them. As far as we've been able to determine, the signature appears within twenty-four hours of the abductions. If we catch the signature in time, we can be sure to concentrate our efforts on one person, instead of spreading ourselves out watching all three."
"So, if you find that signature, you're going to pull the men off of the other stakeouts? What if he changes his mind and goes after one of the other women?"
"We're not going to leave them alone. I've arranged for them to be taken to a safe house while we wait for Longford to make his move. He's working on his own specific pattern; I don't see any reason for him to make any changes now. But, just to be sure, we can have the other women in one place, freeing up a few more men to help us protect the most probable victim."
"Anything on the sites yet?"
Mulder closed the laptop and placed it on the seat next to him. "Not yet. Look up there." He pointed to a room on the second floor. The light was on and they could see a shape moving around. They watched as the shape moved from one end to the other. Finally, the light went out. "We won't find that skull and crossbones tonight."
"Why don't you give that partner of yours a call? It's gonna be a long night and it might do you some good to take your mind off things for a while."
"No, not while I'm on duty. If this is going to work, we have to learn to keep business and our personal lives separate. I'll call her when we get breakfast tomorrow."
"I don't know, Mulder, you said she didn't sound right. You sure you want to wait that long?"
"No, but it's what I have to do. If I call her, she'll want to know what I'm doing. I'd have to tell her and she'd start quoting rules and regs. Then I'd have to listen to chapter and verse on how I don't need to check up on her and that she can take care of herself. No, believe me, this is one call that will have to wait."
11:52 PMScully's apartment
The boys sat on the couch watching American Gothic on the SciFi Channel. Langly had tried to get them interested in the show when it ran on network television, but Frohike and Byers never quite understood the appeal. A few years later, when SciFi started running it, they couldn't understand how they'd let it slip by. Byers and Langly had a secret desire to hold power over everything, just like Lucas, while Frohike wanted to get his hands on Selena. None of this was shared with the others, but it was there, nonetheless. The one thing they did share, was the credo of Lucas Buck: All truth is relative. Loyalty counts. Never let your conscience be your guide.
"You know, I'm not so sure I agree with that last part. Why shouldn't you let your conscience be your guide?"
"Oh man. C'mon Byers, we've been over this before." Frohike rolled eyes. "OK, look, your conscience is a faulty way to measure right and wrong. Faulty because what is frequently regarded as conscience is really fear. Fear, posing as conscience, keeps you from testing your limits; it keeps you down and doesn't allow you to grow. I'm not saying that you should completely disregard conscience, you just need to be able to recognize which one's doing the talking."
Langly sighed. "No way, Frohike, you completely missed the point again. What he's really saying is..."
Byers put his hand up. "Quiet." He listened, leaning toward Scully's door. "Hear that?"
Langly stood up. "Should we go in there and check on her?"
"No, not yet. Let's wait it out, maybe it's nothing."
Dana reached for a tissue. Reflex made her look at it after she wiped her nose. Blood. Just a drop, but blood all the same. * Don't panic, no big deal. People have bloody noses all the time. * Reaching for another tissue. More blood than before. Grabbing the whole box. Blood coming faster and faster, puddling all around her. Deeper and deeper. Whirling and swirling around her, sucking her down into the middle of it all.
Scully cried out. "No, no, no!"
Byers shot up off the couch and ran to the bedroom door.
Frohike looked at Langly. "I guess this is when we go in."
When they got to the door, they saw Byers holding a distraught Scully. She was clinging to him like she'd never let go. He was gently rocking her and whispering something they couldn't hear.
"Now there's a scene you don't want Mulder to see."
"Shut up, Frohike. Look at her, she's totally freaked."
"Oh yeah, get a load of that dream catcher. Damn thing looks like it's glowing."
Byers reached for a tissue and handed it to Scully. "Here, see for yourself. No blood, Dana, I promise. It's just a dream."
Scully wiped her nose. No blood. No blood. She put her head back on Byers shoulders. "Just a dream?"
He held her close. "Just a dream."
Langly and Frohike watched the little drama unfold before them. They watched as Scully checked for blood. They watched as Byers held and rocked her in his arms. They watched as Byers gently lowered her head back to the pillow after she fell asleep.
When Byers got up, they quietly left the room and went back to the couch.
"See what I mean? At least she went back to sleep this time. Although, I don't know if that's good or bad; every other time, I've had to help her come out here."
"This may sounds nuts, Byers, but I swear I saw that dream catcher glowing."
"You saw it glowing? I thought I saw the same thing a few nights ago."
"That's really weird. You know, that guy at the bookstore said that there was some freaky stuff about it in that diary."
"What diary?"
"Oh man, I'm sorry Byers. Frohike picked me up at that bookstore after D and D. The owner gave me this diary to give to you. Said the guy who owned the dream catcher had written a bunch of weird things and he thought that you might want to have it. I left it at home. Didn't think you'd have time to do any reading over here."
"I think you better go home and read that book, just to be sure. Sounds too much like one of Mulder's x-files to me, but I'm willing to give anything a try now."
"You sure you'll be all right here, Byers? I could stay, if you want."
"No thanks, Frohike. I'll be fine. You two go home and see what you find in the diary. Maybe I'll go in and take that dream catcher down, just in case."
"Good idea. You ready, Langly?"
"Yeah, let's get going. Thanks for dinner, dude. It's been...an experience."
"Night, guys."
Byers considered taking down the dream catcher right after the boys left, but decided to wait until he was sure Scully was asleep. He looked in around one, but she looked so peaceful, that he decided to leave well enough alone. He was afraid that any attempt to remove it now would wake her up and waking her was the last thing he wanted to do. Besides, he couldn't quite believe in a haunted dream catcher; the very idea was ridiculous. In the morning, when the sun was up and his mind clear, he was sure that a rational explanation would present itself. He gave her one last glance, before closing the door; just missing the early seconds of the dream catcher's renewed glow.
2:45 AMOutside the Longford residence, BonneTerre
Mulder was rapidly losing his sense of humor. Stakeouts were terminally dull at best and nearing intolerable without Scully to keep him going. Lee had fallen asleep an hour ago and was busy snoring loud enough to wake to the dead. At least Scully didn't snore; she drooled, but she didn't snore. He fought the urge to get out of the car and run screaming down the quiet street, deciding instead, to check on the status of the websites. It had been almost three hours since he'd last looked and he didn't think he'd find anything now either, but at least it would keep him occupied for fifteen minutes or so. Pulling down his bookmark menu, he clicked on Gloria Martin's site first. Her webpage was smaller than the others and loaded quickly. No new entries in the guest book. Next, he clicked on Ginger Loethan's page. A few new entries, but not the one he was looking for. On to Gail Hammond's page. His finger hesitated before making the connection. *It's too early. It won't be there. * The page took a few seconds to load. He scrolled down to the guest book link and clicked on it. *Oh, shit! *
3:45 AMScully's apartment
Cold. Very cold. Can't breathe, can't move. Mulder. Mulder's banging on the door? Wall? He's yelling something. *I can't hear you, Mulder. Help me. Get me out of here. * He can't hear me. Lips won't move; can't move. Head screaming, but no sound. *Please, Mulder, get me out! * Shooting pain in my stomach. *It hurts, Mulder, it hurts. * Ripping, searing pain. Mulder's eyes widen. He backs away from me. Another long tearing noise, intense pain. Screams. His, mine, ours. *Oh my God! * Claws reach for the door. Glass breaks. Blackness.
Scully woke up with a start, feeling her abdomen for signs of... Feeling nothing out of the ordinary, she began to shake. Tears, involuntary and uncontrollable, streamed down her face. She heard herself sobbing, but was helpless to stop the noise.
Byers woke to the sound of Scully crying. He pulled himself off the couch and stumbled into her room. Stopping just inside the door, he watched her shake until he could stand it no longer. He went to the bedside and touched her hair. The look she gave him broke his heart. Without thinking, he crawled into bed, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as he could, determined to stay with her until the shaking had subsided.
8 AMOutside the Longford residence
Gail Hammond had more company than she'd ever wanted. There were men stationed outside her house and outside her place of employment. She had two officers assigned to her, Stanton and Officer Angela Hamilton. Her phones were tapped, the car was bugged and she was wearing a wire, for good measure. Right now, she couldn't break wind without God, the police and the FBI knowing about it.
Mulder hated using her as a decoy, but there was no other choice; Longford knew his prey too well. Any change to the norm would send him running and put the investigation back to square one, not to mention endangering the lives of other women.
Lee reached over and tapped Mulder on the arm. "Look."
The garage door of the Longford house opened and he could see Longford standing behind the car, peering into the trunk. He stood back, hands on his hips, looking first inside the trunk, then into the garage. Seemingly satisfied with its contents, he lowered the hood, then got into the car.
Lee notified the officers that Longford was on the move. When the car was out of the driveway, Mulder started their car and followed at a safe distance. The game was afoot, he only hoped that his "Watsons" were up to the challenge.
9:03 AMScully's apartment
Scully woke up first, startled to find herself unable to move. When she opened her eyes, she found that she was tucked securely in Byers' arms.
"Morning."
"Morning to you, too. Would you mind explaining why we're in this particular position?"
Byers yawned and reluctantly let go of Scully. She immediately scooted to the edge of the bed.
"Well?"
He rubbed his eyes and yawned again. "Do you remember what you were dreaming last night?"
"No. Why?"
"You woke up a little before four. I came in to see if you were all right and found you sobbing and shaking like a leaf. The look on your face...Dana, you were so frightened and so upset. I didn't think, I crawled in here and held you. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Looks like we both fell asleep."
She glared at him. "That's it? That's the entire explanation?"
Irritated from nights of little sleep and exasperated by her attitude, he let his mouth run before considering his words. "No, Dana, that's not it at all. I really slipped in here in the middle of the night to take advantage of your weakened condition. That's been my sole purpose for staying here all this time and putting up with your crap." He slid off the opposite side of the bed and stood up. "I'm going to go make some breakfast. Eat, don't eat, it's up to you." He left the room, not bothering to shut the door on his way out.
A huge case of 'the guilts' hit him as he busied himself preparing the morning meal. *Nice bedside manner you got there, Byers. What're you going to do next, find a puppy to kick? * He opened the refrigerator, pulled out ingredients for omelets and tossed them on the counter. Not that he really felt like eating, but going through the motions would give him some time to regain his composure and formulate an apology. *I'll apologize, but she deserved everything I said, damn it. * He slammed the pan down on the stove. Placing the cutting board in front of him, he picked up a knife and hacked up onion until it was reduced to a pulpy mass. The green pepper and mushrooms met the same fate, but he didn't seem to notice. He stopped the vegetable slaughter when he heard the sound of shuffling coming from the other room. Scully seemed to be slowly making her way somewhere. *Oh well, she's on her own this time. * But even though he tried to convince himself that he didn't care, he kept his ears open, just in case. The sound got closer and closer, until he was sure she was coming toward the kitchen. He put butter in the pan to melt and began breaking eggs for the omelets. She wasn't going to catch him showing any concern. No way, no how.
Scully made her way to the kitchen inch by inch, using every available piece of furniture to help remain upright. The dizziness was bad this morning, worse than yesterday, but she wasn't going to give John the satisfaction of knowing she needed his help. *I can manage just fine without you, John Fitzgerald Byers! * Even as the thought passed through her mind, she knew that it wasn't true. She did need him. With Mulder away, he was the only one she could trust completely and without hesitation. He'd proven that many times over the last few days. An apology was needed, a big one. Now, if she could just reach the kitchen without killing herself.
She made it as far as the dining room table, then stopped. The kitchen door loomed ominously in the distance. There was probably all of an eight to ten foot gap, but with no furniture or walls for support, it may as well have been a mile. Scully closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. *I can do this. * She opened her eyes and pushed off from the table, feeling somewhat like the little engine that could. *Come on, just a little bit more. You can do it. Almost there now. * Measured steps, continued self-encouragement and sheer determination got her to the doorframe, just as a heavy wave of dizziness hit. Her body tried its best to force her to the floor, but Scully held on, refusing to give in. She was too close to let it win; too close to let him win.
Byers heard her hit the doorframe with a thud. *Ouch! That had to hurt. * His first instinct was to turn around, but he resisted. *She's not on the floor, she's not asking for help, just keep making breakfast. * He poured the first of the eggs into the heated pan and waited for her next move.
Scully winced and rubbed the small knot forming on her forehead. *Great, that's gonna bruise. * She looked over at Byers as he continued preparing their meal. Believing that he wasn't aware of her presence made her feel a little better and gave her the strength to continue her final approach to the waiting kitchen stool.
Byers reached for the remains of the mushrooms and tossed some into the pan. He heard her push off the wall and start toward him. The green pepper and onion mush was on its way into the pan as he heard the kitchen stool squeak.
"I was going to add cheese to these omelets, but all I found was the fat-free variety that refuses to melt." He kept his back to her as he said this, unwilling to look at her just yet.
"I'm not big on cheesy omelets anyway, the cheese tends to overpower the flavor of the vegetables."
Byers folded the egg over, gently slipped the first omelet onto a plate, then added the eggs for the second omelet. He thought about offering to let her get started, but decided to make her wait another minute or two, while the second one cooked. *We're going to eat these damn things together, at the table, and she's going to have to figure out how to get there on her own. Little Miss "I don't need you" is going to have to beg for help, if she wants it. * He tossed in the veggies and reached for the forks while the omelet finished its last few seconds of cooking. He turned off the burner, then slid the second omelet onto a plate. Picking up the forks and the plates, he turned to Scully. "OK, everything's ready. Let's eat." Then he walked out to the table, put the plates down and sat in a chair, without a look back in her direction.
Scully sighed. *I just got in here and now he expects me to go back out to the table? Fine, I'll go back out to the damned table. * Scooting the stool to the doorframe, then using the doorframe to pull herself, cut her arrival time in half.
As she stood in the doorway, she seriously considered asking John to help. She opened her mouth, just as he pushed his chair away from the table. Thinking that he was coming to help her, she readied herself to be gracious. He waltzed past her to the far side of the kitchen, where he picked up two mugs of tea. As he passed, he raised the mugs. "Almost forgot the tea." He placed one mug next to each plate, then took his seat and waited for her to join him. He chuckled to himself and as he felt her eyes searing holes in the back of his head. *Game, set and match. *
9:05 AMBonne Terre
Longford made numerous stops after leaving his house. First, he stopped at a fast food restaurant for breakfast. Mulder and Sheriff Dryden went through the drive-thru window to grab some breakfast of their own, then parked so they could keep an eye on their suspect. After breakfast, Longford made a stop at a gas station to fuel up. He went inside to pay his bill and returned carrying a can of soda and a bag of chips. From the gas station, he made a stop at the library to drop off a couple of books. "Get a load of that, a serial killer and a responsible library patron. Go figure," Lee said, as they watched with disbelief.
"Wouldn't want to incur a fine and mess up his spotless record."
From the library, Longford went to a sporting goods store. He came out a few minutes later carrying a small paper bag.
"Fishing line, right Mulder?"
"That would be my guess."
Longford started his car and pulled out of the parking lot. His errands for the morning were almost complete. Next on his list was Gail Hammond. He looked at his watch. According to the schedule, he had twenty-five minutes before she made her mid-morning doughnut run.
Mulder followed Longford downtown to the law firm where Gail Hammond worked as a legal secretary. At ten every morning, she made a trip across the street to the bakery to pick up doughnuts for the office staff. Dryden felt sure that was when Longford was planning to make his move; Mulder wasn't quite as positive. An open grab in the middle of the morning seemed like too much of a risk for Longford to take; too many people around to witness the abduction. However, he'd been wrong about the day, so he was willing to accept the possibility that he was also wrong about the time.
Lee radioed the others that they were on their way. Two men were already in the bakery, one posing as a customer, the other working the counter. Four others were waiting in various locations outside the office building. All had been cautioned to be extremely careful not to call attention to themselves. Mulder was still concerned that Longford would catch on and run before they could make the arrest, but he had to put his faith in the abilities of the officers on site.
Longford arrived at the bakery at ten-fifteen. He parked his car directly in front, turned off the ignition and waited.
Gail snuck a peak out the window. She turned to the officers assigned to protect her. "Is that him?"
They both nodded. Officer Hamilton pulled Gail away from the window.
"So what happens now? I just go over to the bakery, as usual, and let him grab me?"
Officer Stanton tested the wire one more time; just to be sure everything was working properly. "Scared?"
"Terrified."
"Good, that means you won't try to do something stupid. Just follow your normal routine. If Longford tries to talk to you, respond as you would to anyone else. Don't let him know that you're aware of his motives. I know that's asking a lot, but it's our best chance at getting this guy before he hurts anyone else."
Gail gave him a tight-lipped smile. "You will be close behind me, right?"
Stanton squeezed her hand. "I'll be there. So will the six other officers already in position, as well as Sheriff Dryden and Agent Mulder. Officer Hamilton will be in here listening to every word. Don't worry, we've got you covered. Ready?"
Gail closed her eyes and said a not so silent prayer to the Almighty. When she finished, she opened her eyes. "Let's go."
11 AMScully's apartment
She'd made it to the table without further incident and the two ate their omelets in a tense silence. Scully's resolve to apologize disappeared when he blew past her to get the tea. Byers' resolve disappeared when...well, he didn't know when it disappeared, but he was sure he wasn't going to be the one to break first, not this time. He had, however, cleared both their plates from the table, instead of making her clear her own place. Not helping her get to the table had been a petty move, he wasn't going to stoop that low again.
While he was in the kitchen cleaning up, she made her way to the couch and turned on the TV. The dizziness was barely noticeable right now. *Maybe I need to eat more. * She flipped channels, passing the morning array of talk shows and syndicated sitcoms, finally stopping on TVLand and a rerun of St. Elsewhere. The show had been her only indulgence in medical school and now, a return visit to the halls of St. Eligius brought back memories of more innocent times. Back then, liver-eating mutants and aliens were the stuff of science fiction and the only fat suckers around were liposuction machines. Now, they were her life's work. She'd secretly dreamed of finding a hospital like St. Eligius to work in. It was under-manned, under-funded, and the staff consisted of misfits and socially dysfunctional individuals, but somehow, when you mixed it all together, it worked. *Well, I managed to get half of it right. I'm definitely surrounded by misfits and socially dysfunctional individuals. * The thought made her smile, then giggle.
Byers wiped his hands on the kitchen towel. As he was hanging it up to dry, he heard a strange sound coming from the living room. He peered around the corner. Scully's giggles had turned to almost hysterical laughter. The sight and sound of her laughter lightened his heart and concerned him at the same time. When he realized what she was watching, he knew the laughter was wrong, or at least out of proportion. St. Elsewhere had its moments, but at its most humorous, it wasn't deserving of that kind of laughter. It was time to break the silence. "Care to share the joke?"
Scully looked up at Byers and exploded into another round of giggles.