Chapter Seven - I'm Fine Mulder
Mulder put down the phone and turned to Scully who had regained her normal
color and was looking at the pictures with the dispassionate eyes of a
professional.
"The Gunmen will be over here shortly" he said walking over to the couch
and taking the pictures from her. "Are you sure you are up to this?" he
asked waving the pictures at her.
"I'm fine Mulder." Scully said seeing him frowning at her. "Really.
Seeing these pictures just makes me more determined to figure out who is
sending them."
Mulder didn't look very convinced but knew that she would not be deterred.
"These pictures prove that we are dealing with someone with great technical
know-how. That should make narrowing down the suspects a bit easier."
Scully took the pictures from Mulder and placed them gently on the coffee
table. She rubbed her eyes for a moment before turning to him.
"Did you get the list from Smith yet?"
"No, not yet but I assume the list is there. I just haven't had a chance
to logon and get it yet."
He was interrupted by the sound of discreet knocking on the door. Mulder
opened the door to find the Lone Gunmen standing there looking even more
paranoid than normal.
They were armed to the hilt will all sorts of technical gear and after
hugging Scully in greeting, went about sweeping Mulder's apartment for
bugs.
A half an hour later they were finished finding absolutely nothing. "Looks
like your friend hasn't had time to set up shop here yet." Langley said
putting away his equipment.
"Thank goodness" Scully said not realizing until that moment that she had
been even more tense than normal.
Frohike looked over at Scully and smiled at her. "As delightful as it
would be to spend the rest of the evening with you Dr. Scully, I am afraid
my partners and I must break into your former hotel room and office and
take a look around."
Scully laughed at him and promised him that they would all go out for
drinks after the case was solved.
"You promise you won't leave town without saying goodbye" Frohike said
bending over her hand to kiss it.
Scully held back her laugh this time and promised him. The Lone Gunmen
left constantly looking over their shoulders as they walked down the hall.
Mulder closed the door behind them and looked intently at Scully. "Are you
going to make me that promise too Scully?"
"What promise is that?"
"Not to leave without saying goodbye." Mulder said barely above a whisper.
Scully walked over to where he stood back against the door. She stood
right in front of him looking up at him with her blue eyes asking questions
he was not ready to answer.
She smiled a little smile and caressed his cheek. "Yes Mulder, I promise"
Outside of Mulder's apartment the man in the dark car watched the Lone
Gunmen leave the building and get into their van. He smiled as he watched
them leaving knowing that they had missed the small camera he had hidden in
Mulder's blinds that very afternoon.
He gazed back at the screen in front of him watching the touching
interchange between Scully and Mulder.
"I must remember to thank you Agent Mulder for raising such high emotions
in her. Every heart retching moment with you just makes us stronger.
Feeling relieved Mulder ordered in some Indian food and sat down on his
computer to look for his reports while Scully jotted down some notes on the
pictures.
"Mulder" she said looking up from her work. "You said you had some sort of
theory about all of this."
"Uh-huh" Mulder mumbled as he kept scanning his screen.
"Well, aren't you going to share it with me?"
"In a second Scully. I just want to check out one thing first."
Scully sat back and rolled her eyes. The second turned into more like an
hour with Mulder only pulling his eyes away from the computer long enough
to grab a plate full of Indian food and sit back down again.
Scully had finished off her dinner and was considering turning on the
television when Mulder finally said "Got it!"
"Got what?" she said getting up and walking over to stand behind him at his
desk.
"What I hope is the missing link." Mulder said pointing to a picture of a
man on the screen.
"That's Robert Holton" Scully said not understanding at all what the big
fuss was about. "We already know that he has something to do with this."
"Oh but you're wrong Scully" Mulder said looking up at her and beaming like
a child who just brought a straight "A" report card home. "It's his twin
Ryan."
"His twin?" Scully said bending over Mulder to take a closer look at him.
Mulder felt the brushing of her against him and tried not to get
distracted.
"Identical" Mulder said. He sighed then before spinning his chair around
and facing her. "Except for his fingerprints."
He stopped then and looked up at her wanting desperately to wrap his arms
around her and nuzzle her stomach. She must have seen something in his
eyes for she looked a bit startled and stepped back allowing him room to
get up.
Mulder did so and began pacing the room. "I do have a theory Scully." He
began. "I remember during the original Holton case being surprised at how
strong he appeared to be - compared to his size and build."
Scully nodded remembering that he had mentioned that to her before.
"Holton seemed to grow stronger with every act of violence and murder he
committed. The more horrible the torture of the victim, the more strength
he seemed to have to use on the next."
"Are you trying to say that Holton got his strength from his victims?"
Scully asked sitting down on the couch and looking totally confused.
"When a person is truly scared their bodies expend a great amount of energy
trying to escape the danger - real or not. I think that Holton, somehow,
figured out how to harness that energy for his own use."
Scully rolled her eyes at him but said nothing. "You said yourself that
you were surprised how easily he was able to overcome you. I saw for myself
when I broke into his apartment and found you two. He was handling you
like you were made of air."
Scully paled a bit at the memory "Yes, I did. But even if Holton was able
to harness this sort of energy how come he hasn't used this talent to
escape the prison?"
"I think he needs to connect in some way with his victims something that is
pretty hard to do when you spend 99 percent of your time in isolation. I
think, though, that he still feels a very strong connection to you and may
be trying to use that to give him back his strength."
"Okay Mulder, I am not saying that I buy any of this, but even if it were
the case the man is in prison. His only exposure to me was the hearing.
And besides that, how could he possibly be taking these?" Scully waved the
pictures at him.
"Well" Mulder said pausing long enough to grab two beers from the fridge.
"That's where Ryan comes in."
He handed Scully a beer, thought about sitting down next to her but then
decided he would rather keep pacing. "You know how twins seem to have some
sort of psychic bound between them?"
Scully nodded while sipping her beer. "I think that in this case the bond
goes beyond the norm. I think that Ryan is the one harassing you and try
to terrorize you but Robert is the one benefiting."
"But to what purpose?" Scully said setting down the beer and picking up
the pictures.
"Either he wants to break out of prison - like you suggested. Or" Mulder
said sitting down next to Scully and taking her hand "He just wants his
revenge on you."
Scully's eyes widened at this. "You are the only person that ever got
away" Mulder said so softly she could barely hear him. "I would think that
he thinks about that quite a bit and perhaps thinks that by breaking that
last connection he will be at peace."
Scully closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again.
"It's rather ironic, don't you think" she said giving him a wry smile.
"That Holton would target me - the one who has made her reputation being
the 'Ice Queen' because everyone thinks I have no feelings."
Mulder frowned at this and took her face between his hands. "Those people
don't know you like I do Scully. I know how deep your feelings run. I
know you are capable of both loving and being hurt by love."
Scully's eyes welled with tears and he brushed a stray one away. "I am
sorry" he said leaning forward to place a kiss on her forehead.
Scully's smiled weakly knowing perfectly well that they were no longer
talking about Robert Holton.
"My ego kept me from looking for you - I thought if I found you that you
would just reject me. I was too scared to take the chance."
Scully wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at him shaking her head a
bit. "How could someone so smart be so stupid" she said turning from him
and giving her attention back to her beer.
"Just lucky I guess" Mulder said taking a long drink of his own beer. "Is
the injury a fatal one" he asked not wanting to look her directly in the
eye.
"Perhaps" Scully said finishing off her beer "but luckily for you, I am a
Doctor."
Scully saw Mulder's shoulders relax with this statement. "Why don't you
get us another couple of beers Mulder and we will figure out what we are
going to do about these Holton twins."
Mulder did so and he and Scully fell into easy conversation about what to
do next. Mulder wanted her to leave town immediately but Scully pointed
out that the person stalking her already knew where she lived and she would
not give the twins the satisfaction of scaring her away. They decided she
was probably safer in DC.
Mulder reluctantly agreed but only on the condition that she not remain
alone. He would talk to Skinner about assigning someone to her around the
clock.
"With a bit of luck Dr. Scully" Mulder said waggling his eyebrows at her "I
will get the night shift."
Scully laughed at this and they agreed to head over to the Lone Gunmen's
place first thing in the morning to go over what they had found and to see
what the Gunmen could dig up on Ryan Holton.
Scully found herself stifling a yawn and looked at her watch. "Mulder, I
had no idea it was so late." She said getting up. "No wonder I am so
tired. Would you like me to take the couch tonight so you can get a good
night's sleep?"
"No, I'll sleep out here unless you would like some company?" Mulder said
getting up to fetch his blanket and pillow from the cupboard.
"I'll think I will pass on that kind offer tonight" she said walking
towards the bedroom door. She was halfway in when she turned and walked
over to where Mulder stood arms full of blanket and pillows.
Scully stretched up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "but keep asking,
okay?"
With that she turned and went into the bedroom shutting the door behind
her.
Mulder looked at the door and then raised a hand to his cheek. It was a
very good thing that Holton wasn't tuned into his feelings because Scully's
simple little gesture had unleashed a ton of them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of chapter seven - I write much quicker when I get reviews so keep them
coming!
Mulder put down the phone and turned to Scully who had regained her normal
color and was looking at the pictures with the dispassionate eyes of a
professional.
"The Gunmen will be over here shortly" he said walking over to the couch
and taking the pictures from her. "Are you sure you are up to this?" he
asked waving the pictures at her.
"I'm fine Mulder." Scully said seeing him frowning at her. "Really.
Seeing these pictures just makes me more determined to figure out who is
sending them."
Mulder didn't look very convinced but knew that she would not be deterred.
"These pictures prove that we are dealing with someone with great technical
know-how. That should make narrowing down the suspects a bit easier."
Scully took the pictures from Mulder and placed them gently on the coffee
table. She rubbed her eyes for a moment before turning to him.
"Did you get the list from Smith yet?"
"No, not yet but I assume the list is there. I just haven't had a chance
to logon and get it yet."
He was interrupted by the sound of discreet knocking on the door. Mulder
opened the door to find the Lone Gunmen standing there looking even more
paranoid than normal.
They were armed to the hilt will all sorts of technical gear and after
hugging Scully in greeting, went about sweeping Mulder's apartment for
bugs.
A half an hour later they were finished finding absolutely nothing. "Looks
like your friend hasn't had time to set up shop here yet." Langley said
putting away his equipment.
"Thank goodness" Scully said not realizing until that moment that she had
been even more tense than normal.
Frohike looked over at Scully and smiled at her. "As delightful as it
would be to spend the rest of the evening with you Dr. Scully, I am afraid
my partners and I must break into your former hotel room and office and
take a look around."
Scully laughed at him and promised him that they would all go out for
drinks after the case was solved.
"You promise you won't leave town without saying goodbye" Frohike said
bending over her hand to kiss it.
Scully held back her laugh this time and promised him. The Lone Gunmen
left constantly looking over their shoulders as they walked down the hall.
Mulder closed the door behind them and looked intently at Scully. "Are you
going to make me that promise too Scully?"
"What promise is that?"
"Not to leave without saying goodbye." Mulder said barely above a whisper.
Scully walked over to where he stood back against the door. She stood
right in front of him looking up at him with her blue eyes asking questions
he was not ready to answer.
She smiled a little smile and caressed his cheek. "Yes Mulder, I promise"
Outside of Mulder's apartment the man in the dark car watched the Lone
Gunmen leave the building and get into their van. He smiled as he watched
them leaving knowing that they had missed the small camera he had hidden in
Mulder's blinds that very afternoon.
He gazed back at the screen in front of him watching the touching
interchange between Scully and Mulder.
"I must remember to thank you Agent Mulder for raising such high emotions
in her. Every heart retching moment with you just makes us stronger.
Feeling relieved Mulder ordered in some Indian food and sat down on his
computer to look for his reports while Scully jotted down some notes on the
pictures.
"Mulder" she said looking up from her work. "You said you had some sort of
theory about all of this."
"Uh-huh" Mulder mumbled as he kept scanning his screen.
"Well, aren't you going to share it with me?"
"In a second Scully. I just want to check out one thing first."
Scully sat back and rolled her eyes. The second turned into more like an
hour with Mulder only pulling his eyes away from the computer long enough
to grab a plate full of Indian food and sit back down again.
Scully had finished off her dinner and was considering turning on the
television when Mulder finally said "Got it!"
"Got what?" she said getting up and walking over to stand behind him at his
desk.
"What I hope is the missing link." Mulder said pointing to a picture of a
man on the screen.
"That's Robert Holton" Scully said not understanding at all what the big
fuss was about. "We already know that he has something to do with this."
"Oh but you're wrong Scully" Mulder said looking up at her and beaming like
a child who just brought a straight "A" report card home. "It's his twin
Ryan."
"His twin?" Scully said bending over Mulder to take a closer look at him.
Mulder felt the brushing of her against him and tried not to get
distracted.
"Identical" Mulder said. He sighed then before spinning his chair around
and facing her. "Except for his fingerprints."
He stopped then and looked up at her wanting desperately to wrap his arms
around her and nuzzle her stomach. She must have seen something in his
eyes for she looked a bit startled and stepped back allowing him room to
get up.
Mulder did so and began pacing the room. "I do have a theory Scully." He
began. "I remember during the original Holton case being surprised at how
strong he appeared to be - compared to his size and build."
Scully nodded remembering that he had mentioned that to her before.
"Holton seemed to grow stronger with every act of violence and murder he
committed. The more horrible the torture of the victim, the more strength
he seemed to have to use on the next."
"Are you trying to say that Holton got his strength from his victims?"
Scully asked sitting down on the couch and looking totally confused.
"When a person is truly scared their bodies expend a great amount of energy
trying to escape the danger - real or not. I think that Holton, somehow,
figured out how to harness that energy for his own use."
Scully rolled her eyes at him but said nothing. "You said yourself that
you were surprised how easily he was able to overcome you. I saw for myself
when I broke into his apartment and found you two. He was handling you
like you were made of air."
Scully paled a bit at the memory "Yes, I did. But even if Holton was able
to harness this sort of energy how come he hasn't used this talent to
escape the prison?"
"I think he needs to connect in some way with his victims something that is
pretty hard to do when you spend 99 percent of your time in isolation. I
think, though, that he still feels a very strong connection to you and may
be trying to use that to give him back his strength."
"Okay Mulder, I am not saying that I buy any of this, but even if it were
the case the man is in prison. His only exposure to me was the hearing.
And besides that, how could he possibly be taking these?" Scully waved the
pictures at him.
"Well" Mulder said pausing long enough to grab two beers from the fridge.
"That's where Ryan comes in."
He handed Scully a beer, thought about sitting down next to her but then
decided he would rather keep pacing. "You know how twins seem to have some
sort of psychic bound between them?"
Scully nodded while sipping her beer. "I think that in this case the bond
goes beyond the norm. I think that Ryan is the one harassing you and try
to terrorize you but Robert is the one benefiting."
"But to what purpose?" Scully said setting down the beer and picking up
the pictures.
"Either he wants to break out of prison - like you suggested. Or" Mulder
said sitting down next to Scully and taking her hand "He just wants his
revenge on you."
Scully's eyes widened at this. "You are the only person that ever got
away" Mulder said so softly she could barely hear him. "I would think that
he thinks about that quite a bit and perhaps thinks that by breaking that
last connection he will be at peace."
Scully closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again.
"It's rather ironic, don't you think" she said giving him a wry smile.
"That Holton would target me - the one who has made her reputation being
the 'Ice Queen' because everyone thinks I have no feelings."
Mulder frowned at this and took her face between his hands. "Those people
don't know you like I do Scully. I know how deep your feelings run. I
know you are capable of both loving and being hurt by love."
Scully's eyes welled with tears and he brushed a stray one away. "I am
sorry" he said leaning forward to place a kiss on her forehead.
Scully's smiled weakly knowing perfectly well that they were no longer
talking about Robert Holton.
"My ego kept me from looking for you - I thought if I found you that you
would just reject me. I was too scared to take the chance."
Scully wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at him shaking her head a
bit. "How could someone so smart be so stupid" she said turning from him
and giving her attention back to her beer.
"Just lucky I guess" Mulder said taking a long drink of his own beer. "Is
the injury a fatal one" he asked not wanting to look her directly in the
eye.
"Perhaps" Scully said finishing off her beer "but luckily for you, I am a
Doctor."
Scully saw Mulder's shoulders relax with this statement. "Why don't you
get us another couple of beers Mulder and we will figure out what we are
going to do about these Holton twins."
Mulder did so and he and Scully fell into easy conversation about what to
do next. Mulder wanted her to leave town immediately but Scully pointed
out that the person stalking her already knew where she lived and she would
not give the twins the satisfaction of scaring her away. They decided she
was probably safer in DC.
Mulder reluctantly agreed but only on the condition that she not remain
alone. He would talk to Skinner about assigning someone to her around the
clock.
"With a bit of luck Dr. Scully" Mulder said waggling his eyebrows at her "I
will get the night shift."
Scully laughed at this and they agreed to head over to the Lone Gunmen's
place first thing in the morning to go over what they had found and to see
what the Gunmen could dig up on Ryan Holton.
Scully found herself stifling a yawn and looked at her watch. "Mulder, I
had no idea it was so late." She said getting up. "No wonder I am so
tired. Would you like me to take the couch tonight so you can get a good
night's sleep?"
"No, I'll sleep out here unless you would like some company?" Mulder said
getting up to fetch his blanket and pillow from the cupboard.
"I'll think I will pass on that kind offer tonight" she said walking
towards the bedroom door. She was halfway in when she turned and walked
over to where Mulder stood arms full of blanket and pillows.
Scully stretched up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "but keep asking,
okay?"
With that she turned and went into the bedroom shutting the door behind
her.
Mulder looked at the door and then raised a hand to his cheek. It was a
very good thing that Holton wasn't tuned into his feelings because Scully's
simple little gesture had unleashed a ton of them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of chapter seven - I write much quicker when I get reviews so keep them
coming!