"No one ever became extremely wicked suddenly." Juvenal

Chapter 9:
Some Answers

Caviare grinned like a fox in the henhouse.

"What's going on?" Scully asked.

She'd come out of the autopsy room. She'd settled Blake in there.

Mulder held Caviare by the collar. He didn't struggle. Caviare's hands were cuffed behind his back. He even smirked. But Mulder's eyes simmered like coals. He only barely contained his anger. He just needed an excuse. Then Caviare would need tubes to eat.

"I guess I didn't finish the job, Scully. This is the garbage that was going to kill you."

Mulder threw Caviare against the main desk. He bounced with a thud. Then he fell to the floor. His face still had its coy grin.

"Tut, tut, Agent Mulder. I might have to file a lawsuit."

Caviare chuckled. The coals burst into flames. Mulder had his excuse.

"You sonofabitch-"

He stepped forward. His hand went for his gun. But he felt something else there. It was Scully. He turned to her. Her calm blue eyes soothed him. For an instant, he was lost in them. He forgot about all his anger. About all his aching. About everything. There was only Her.

"Mulder."

Her voice was cool. Calm. Reassuring.

"Mulder, forget about him." -she moved her hand from his waist to his arm- "Come on, help me with Blake."

Mulder broke from Scully's eyes. He didn't want her to see him blushing. He didn't want to be blushing. But he couldn't help it.

"You two ok? Or do you need a motel room?"

The fire didn't return to Mulder's eyes. Instead there was darkness. A simple, cold understanding of the situation.

"You go ahead to Blake. I want to ask some questions."

Scully tried to look at Mulder. But he wouldn't face her. Was he hiding something?

"Mulder, I-"

"Go, Scully. I'll be right there."

Scully walked towards the autopsy room. But she stopped. She looked over her shoulder. Mulder still wouldn't meet her eyes. She started to say something. But she stopped herself. *No, now's not the time.* She left the office. The door swung rhythmically behind her.

Mulder went over to the desk. He pulled Caviare to his feet. Caviare's face was close to Mulder's. He could see the arctic look of Mulder's eyes. For a moment, he wondered how far Mulder would go. But that didn't show in his attitude.

"You got a cute partner there, G-Man. She's lookin' out for you, you know. Wouldn't want her partner to get in trouble, would she?"

Mulder ignored him. He pushed him through the office to a body storage room. They went through the swinging doors. Mulder threw Caviare against the wall. He hit it with a metallic ring. But Caviare took it in good stride. He thought he knew the system well enough.

"I'm beginning to feel like a tennis ball."

Mulder stepped back. He was on the brink. Would he jump?

"But then when I beat the rap, I'll forgive you."

The fire was back. Mulder stepped in close to Caviare. He hit him in the gut. Hard. Caviare slumped over on the floor. He had a coughing fit.

"You got a lotta balls, G-Man! But in this town those'll get you killed!" Caviare finally said.

He looked up at Mulder. There was burning fury. Caviare wasn't used to being on his knees. And he didn't like it.

Mulder didn't care. He stood over Caviare. He wanted answers. At any cost.

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She looked into Blake's blue eyes. They were an odd tint. Like a wounded wolf. *I've got to do something.* She ripped open Blake's pant leg.

"Why, Miss Scully, are you trying to seduce me?" Blake rambled out.

She smiled and blushed. But she continued about her work. She was a doctor first and foremost. She took care of people. And Blake needed some care.

"It looks like the bullet's gone straight through, Blake. That's a good sign. But it is a deep wound."

Blake looked up from his cadaver table. The irony was not lost on him.

"Well, ma'am, I'll take any good sign I can."

Scully smiled again. She went over to a cabinet. She found some alcohol and gauze. She came back to Blake. Scully checked his wound again.

"Now this may sting a bit, Blake-"

His yelling cut her off.

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"Jesus! I'll tell you what you want! I'll tell you what you want!"

Mulder took his foot off. He'd seen Caviare favor his ass when he sat. Mulder knew how to exploit a weakness. Once he'd applied enough pressure (literally and symbolically), Caviare was broken. Mulder stepped back. He had a look of satisfaction. *You go after Scully, and I go after you.* Now he'd get answers.

"What's the 'rock'?"

Caviare regained his composure. He tried to put up a cool front. But the hints of tears belied that.

"The stuff that dreams are made of, G-Man. The 'rock' is just that, a rock. The records are shoddy, but we could trace it back to the Inca."

Mulder's mind started making connections.

"They cursed the rock, didn't they?"

Caviare started to laugh. But a glare form Mulder cut him off. Then pain in his ass told his mouth to wise up.

"No, no, nothing that romantic. We only know what the Spaniards could torture from the Inca. But they learned of a god that fell from the sky. A god the Inca worshipped from afar, because to be near it was certain death."

"From the sky- a meteor?"

"You're quick, G-Man. That's why the rock's all burnt up on the outside. It's got elements that certainly aren't of this world. That probably has something to do with the magic the rock works."- Caviare paused, thinking to himself-"Well, that, and the radiation."

"There was radiation on Sampson."

"He was a fool. He took the rock out of the lead case. The Spaniards were clever enough to figure out lead blocked the rock's radiation."

Mulder was working everything out, "Radiation changes the composition of atoms. The number of protons changes. When that changes, atoms themselves change."

"Bingo, you get a new element. They've done all this in labs before. But it's an incredibly expensive process. Now the rock"- Caviare shook his head in amazement-"it could do all this on its own. And the result is always gold."

Mulder's voice went cold, "And that's why Deger is after it, isn't it? That's why he sent you after it. That's why you killed Sampson for him."

Caviare looked away. Mulder leaned in closer to him.

"That's why he sent you and Morgan to deal with us."

Caviare looked back. He looked puzzled.

"Morgan?"

Caviare's question angered Mulder. He quickly went through his pockets. Mulder pulled out Morgan's badge. He'd taken it with him. He flashed it to Caviare.

"This bastard that tried to kill me and Sheriff Blake. Don't tell me you don't know him."

Mulder pulled Caviare forward. Then he shoved him back to the wall. Caviare still looked confused. And now pained.

"No. No. He's not with us. He's the one who shot me. He must be another spook."

"What?"

"You don't think we're the only ones after the rock. Governments would kill to get their hands on it. Especially gold producing countries. They don't want something like this to get to the open market. Gold's price would tumble. I know at least the New Zealanders are after this too. They tried to break into our office already. They've been tailing me, and they oughta be here too."

"Mulder?"

Mulder spun around. Scully stood in the doorway. He didn't know how long she'd been there. Had she seen him rough up Caviare? God, he hoped not. That would've been like breaking a promise to her. And the last thing he wanted was to damage her trust.

He stepped away from Caviare. Mulder walked out to the hall. Scully stood without her labcoat. Her tee shirt was still wet from the rain. It clung tightly to her. Mulder found his eyes drifting. *She's actually pretty cute. I'd like-*

Scully's voice cut into a thought he'd never finish.

"Mulder I called 911. They said with the storm it would be some time before an ambulance got here. Mulder?"

Mulder looked back at her face. He'd been caught, and he blushed. What would she think of him?

Scully knew Mulder was exhausted. She understood he wouldn't be thinking clearly. His mind would wander. She could forgive a glance. After all, it wasn't very Mulder-like of Mulder to notice her body. Still, in the back of her mind, dangerous thoughts whispered bad things.

Mulder tried to act smooth. Like he hadn't been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"What's that Scully?"

She turned her head to the office entrance.

"Then why are there cars here?"

Mulder saw the lights through the rain. He took a step toward the doorway. *What the hell-*

Then the glass exploded in bullets.

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Caviare = Avarice. Good job if you noticed that. I originally wanted this to go with the next chapter. But I'm too tired to keep on writing, so I'll just break up the chapter. In fact, I'm too tired to even finish this paragra