Chapter Five.
Both women stared at Skinner, stunned at what they'd just heard. Skinner waited for some reaction, but soon decided to continue with his report, "I know this is a huge shock. It's not something the FBI is proud of. We've allowed an enormous security breach to climb up through high levels of this organization and now we have to put an end to it."
"That's fine for later, but right now I need to know more about Follmer and his connection to Krycek and the people who have taken William." Scully said, still very tense and impatient about the lack of breaks they've been getting.
"I realize that Scully, but we're just now learning of all this." Skinner then flipped through the large folder of papers on his desk and then pulled out one and handed it to Scully, "This is a picture of Follmer with Krycek, the cigarette smoking man, the bounty hunter. It was taken in 06/21/99 in Moscow. Now the reason this is important is that it was on that day that we had one of the worst security breach in US history as did our closest allies. All at once, like clockwork, the US embassy, the Russian secret service, the CIA office in Moscow and the British Secret Service office in Moscow were all raided by some type of super soldiers. They removed hundreds upon thousands of vital files and information, stole computers and killed hundreds of agents in the process. Now at the time we thought it was terrorism and were not even thinking of some possible alien threat, because quite honestly nobody took that seriously. Obviously we have changed our view on this in the past couple years."
"How could an attack of this magnitude stay out of the press?" Monica asked, still not sure about what she was hearing.
"You'd be amazed at what government's can do when it's in their best interest." Skinner said with a laugh, "Anyway, we were sent a video tape from a surveillance camera that was somehow missed by the intruders and only now coming to our attention. In it we see Follmer along with Krycek standing guard on the outside of our US embassy and have now issued a warrant for his and Krycek's arrest."
"Wait!" Dana said loudly, "We need Follmer. He has to lead us to these men. The cigarette smoking man is using these people. He is the man in charge. We need Follmer and Krycek to lead us to him and find out what or who he is."
Monica was standing right beside Scully and was quick to back Scully up, "I agree with Dana. I also think we need to do some DNA tests on Follmer and Krycek if we can, to determine if they are in fact human. I know it sounds far fetched, but there has to be some reason they are working with these suspected aliens. It's sounding more and more like there are more than one group of these so called aliens out there, perhaps with different agenda's."
"That's quite possible agent Reyes." Skinner agreed then flipped through a couple more files on his desk, "There are many conflicting reports out there right now and we do need to find out who is who and just what their plans are. We also had a meeting just last night with all the major security agencies on how to best deal with this threat and the question came up about what to do with them if we in fact catch them. There are no laws that govern possible alien prisoners. It's just not something anyone thought they'd ever have to deal with. So there is a lot of concern about how to get laws in place that won't cause wide spread panic, since the public will then know or will suspect that we have some kind of alien threat on our hands."
"I understand that." Scully said softly, "And I don't mean to minimize all these concerns, but I have to concentrate on finding my son first. Is there anything you can tell me about why someone would take my son when he was cleared of having any alien DNA in him?"
"I was getting to that." Skinner again was sifting through the files and papers on his desk looking for something, "We believe you were given false information. We also believe that the cigarette smoking man is either an alien or he is filled with alien DNA, which would mean Mulder has that same DNA in him, which would then mean if Mulder is the father of the child, he to has it in him as well. Now the reason they want the child is still unclear. We are however working non stop to try and find him."
"This is getting ridiculous." Scully stood up and shook her head, "These tests were conducted by our own FBI labs. How could there be a mistake? Again I might add."
Skinner focused on getting as much information to Scully as he could, "The general consensus is Follmer was in on it. He did have access to the test results and was aware of the date and time you were to have them done."
"I can't believe this. How are we supposed to believe that Follmer is the only one who slipped past FBI screening? For all we know half the department could be part alien." Scully threw her arms in the air in disgust.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Skinner said, trying to keep things moving, "I know you're angry and you have every right to be. But, we our in the process of doing DNA testing on every employee of the FBI, CIA and even every politician. If we get our way we will be testing every citizen as well."
"That'll take forever. I need answers now." Scully got up and was about to walk out the door and Monica got up and stopped her.
"We should tell him about this meeting. I feel we can trust him. I think we need backup on this."
Scully was not feeling very trustworthy at the time and fought the urge to agree to this as long as she could, but something about the way Monica was looking at her with so much concern and compassion changed her mind, "Fine. I know you're right Monica. You set up the details with Skinner. I need to get some fresh air." Scully then walked out the door and took the elevator to the main floor lobby.
She walked outside, took a deep breath of the fresh air and just started walking down the sidewalk. She continued on to the park where a group of children were playing. She couldn't help but smile at how happy they looked and how much fun they were having, but it also made her think of how William is just about ready to enjoy parks just like this and how she wanted the opportunity to bring him to a park just like this one day.
She sat on a bench and just watched the kids play for about 15 minutes. Soon her mind was racing through so many thoughts and emotions and she began to think back to the conversation she had this morning with the man who said he had information on William's whereabouts and she began to hear his voice over and over in her head and it something clicked. She recognized the voice. She knew it from somewhere.
She closed her eyes and tried to block out all other sounds and concentrate on the sound of that voice and just then her eyes opened wide and she stood up with a huge smile on her face and ran back to get Monica.
As she ran towards the main lobby a van came flying around the corner, two men jumped out, grabbed Scully and pulled her inside and it took off, squealing violently as it did.
Monica had just come out to talk to Scully and saw the tail end of her being taken away and had pulled out her gun, but knew she couldn't do a thing for fear of hitting Scully or an innocent bystander.
Reyes told two agents who had just pulled in to follow that van. She then called Skinner, gave a description of the van and told him what had just taken place and got in her car and began the pursuit as well.
The van with Scully inside, was moving at well over 100 MPH and had increased it's lead on the agent following them and it was quite obvious this was no ordinary van. The van headed straight towards the peer and did not slow down one bit as it came to the edge and soon it was flying through the air over the water. As it did, some kind of landing gear was released and the car tires disappeared back up under the hubcaps. When it landed, it didn't go into the water, but instead, floated on the surface. After gaining it's balance from the impact, it was soon speeding off towards the ocean with the agents and
Monica, standing at the peer, looked on. She was quick to get back in her car, grabbed her cell and called Skinner. "Skinner, it's Monica. Scully's gone. You need to call the coast guard. The van was some kind of all terrain vehicle, and it went from the peer to the water without missing a beat. We can still see the van but it's going to be out of our range soon."
"I'm on it. We'll find her Monica. Head over to the coast guard's office on peer 22. I will have them take you with them on the search."
"Alright. I'm on my way." Monica was trying to stay calm and not panic or let her emotions take over, but it was just so different when she was so personally involved with Scully and her child. She wiped the tears away as she drove up to the coast guard's office and was told to get onboard the very large ship at the end of the dock and she ran towards it and climbed aboard and they took off in a hurry and headed off towards where the van was last seen.
There was a report called in that the van was spotted coming to shore just around the bend. Monica called the information into the FBI and people from all over the area mobilized and put an alert out for the vehicle.
Monica was inside the cabin and looking out the large window and spotted the van trying to climb onto land from the water but it seemed stalled or was having trouble getting the water gear put away so the tires could come back out. They caught up to it within a minute and there were FBI cars all around the front of it and as the coast guard cutter pulled up alongside the van Monica grabbed the bullhorn and told the people inside the van to come out with their hands in the air.
There was no movement for a couple minutes and then someone opened the side door, held up their hands and said they were coming out. Two men stepped into the water and then were grabbed and taken to the ground by the numerous agents and they pulled out the wallets of both men and read the names off to Monica.
"This one has a Russian passport and his name is, Alexei Salionov. The other also has a Russian passport and his name is, Vladimir Salionov. Do you know them agent Reyes?" the man asked.
Monica made her way down the side of the cutter and walked over to the van to look for Scully. She looked inside and was so relieved to see Scully sitting in a corner, hands tied up and mouth covered with tape, but still alive. She raced inside, untied her and Scully ripped the tape from her mouth and pulled her into a very long, very tender hug. After a couple minutes, they walked through the water and onto the shore.
Scully walked up to the agents who were holding the two men, "Take these two back to headquarters. We'll follow and interrogate them later. Oh and keep them separate. Don't let them talk to each other or anyone else until we get there."
Scully and Reyes were driven back to the peer, where they got back into Reyes' car and drove back to the bureau.
Once inside, Reyes went into the room with Vladimir while Scully took Alexei and they each sat down and began to interview the two men.
The initial interview was filled with double talk and refusals to talk and neither was saying a thing. Scully got up and went to get Monica. They walked into a small room across the hallway and Scully shook her head, "I think we should let them know that their brother or relative Igor is dead. It might make them more willing to talk. If they think someone has double crossed them and they might be next it just might be enough to get them talking."
"It's worth a try. I'm going to go find out if Skinner has found any information on these two. You go back, talk to Alexei, and see what he says. If I find anything important I'll let you know."
Scully nodded and watched Monica walk down the hall and she took a breath and walked back in and sat down across from Alexei and pulled out a report that confirmed Igor's death and there was an immediate reaction by Alexei and Dana used this as an opportunity to use this emotion to get him to talk. "Was Igor your brother?"
The man was obviously upset and was still not willing to say a thing.
"Fine. Let me talk then. You can listen and tell me if I'm wrong." Scully said as she stood up and began to walk in a circle around Alexei. "Here's what I think happened. You and your brothers were either working with or for two men named Krycek and Follmer. When Igor got greedy or got cold feet they killed him and now you two know your next."
Still no reaction from the man.
"Okay then. Well, I'm still not clear on why you tried to kidnap me. I'm not who they want." as soon as she said it she began to see what they were doing, "You weren't taking me to them were you? I think you were going to use me as leverage, to get the FBI to help you. You are both afraid for your lives and think the only way to get protection is to bargain for it."
"You don't know what your talking about." he said as he sat back in his chair and tried to look away.
"Really?" Scully asked, knowing she had hit a nerve, "Well, I would disagree. If I'm wrong, why did you try and kidnap me then?"
"It does not matter. We failed. We will accept the punishment."
"I see. I'm starting to think you also might have wanted to get caught. Perhaps even prison is a safer place to be than on the streets with Krycek on the loose."
Alexei began to get even more nervous, "I want a lawyer."
"Do you? What if he gets you off? Then what?" Scully watched the man as he fumed, yet still refused to talk.
"How about this." Scully offered, "I'm not going to press charges. You're free to go. When Krycek finds out you were here and then released he just might think you talked. Anyway, I sure wouldn't want to be you."
The man sat there trying to remain somewhat calm and as Scully got up and grabbed the door knob he stood up, "Wait! You can't do this. I committed a crime. You have to arrest me!"
"No, I don't think we do." Scully said with a smile, "I thought you were just driving me to the beach. I appreciated the ride. You can go. If you think life on the streets is better than just a simple talk with me than you'll get your wish."
"I don't know anything. Honest. We were hired by Krycek to do some small time crimes. We laundered money for him. We sent out false information to people on the streets. We would create diversions for his people and keep any security or police in an area busy so he and his men could do a job more freely. But, we do not know who he works for or what his plans are."
"Perhaps you don't, but I think you know more than you've told me." Scully said and then leaned in close to Alexei, "Now, my son is missing and I'm getting very impatient with you. If you know anything about this it would be wise to let me know before I actually get angry."
Alexei was getting very anxious and the fear of facing Krycek's wrath was not sitting well with him all of a sudden, "Listen to me. They will kill me if I talk. You've seen what they do. My brother is dead. My friend Boris is dead. We are next."
"We can provide you with protection. Your best protection is helping us catch them so they don't pose a threat to you anymore."
"I don't know. How can we trust you?" Alexei asked nervously.
"I'm giving you my word. I want my son back. I'll make sure you're both safe." Scully promised, "Now help me or I'm out of here."
After pondering Scully's request for less than a second he sat forward very willing to cooperate, "Okay, okay. We helped do reconnaissance for Krycek when he abducted your son. We learned your work patterns. When the best time would be to take him. Everything. But, we did not know why he wanted the child. He only said the child was vital to his plan."
"What plan?" Scully asked, "Be more specific with these details."
The man looked noticeably irritated by the question, "You don't ask a lot of questions from a guy like Krycek you know? I don't even know if he's human."
Scully was very intrigued by this last comment, "What? Why do you say that?"
"I've seen him get shot more than once now. I've seen him get burned in a fire. I've seen him be injected with poison and survive it all. I've seen him when he had this black liquid flowing in his blood. In his eyes . Everywhere. It was just not normal. It was creepy." Alexei said, his face all contorted from talking about Krycek.
"Who else did you see with this liquid in their body?"
"The other man, Follmer, oh and their boss. I don't know his name."
"Where are they?"
"I don't know." he said, throwing his arms up in frustration, "They are very careful to move locations almost weekly. They are the most paranoid and yet thorough people I've met. Nothing is left to chance."
"Give me some of their known locations. We can try and find a pattern to their movements at least."
"Fine. I can do that." Alexei willingly agreed and began to talk, "I only know of three. All at different sections of the city. Usually underground. Usually in a place nobody would think of looking. Schools, banks, churches it doesn't matter. The underground in this city is like a mini city really. I don't think many people know this."
Scully smiled at her earlier trip through one section of the underground, "I've got some idea of it now. You must have overheard some conversations that might be helpful. I need more information."
"Half of what they talked about made no sense to us." he added, looking very confused about much of what he saw and heard, "They talked about harvests. They talked about energy supplies running low. They talked about underground mining. None of it seemed all that sinister."
"Maybe not at the time, but trust me when I say they are more dangerous than you will ever know and if we don't stop them many people will die. I'm talking everyone."
"I'm telling you everything I know. What else do you want?" he pleaded.
Scully wasn't done yet and would not give up until she got something more, "What do you know about Follmer?"
"Just that he's a high placed FBI official. I've only seen him a couple times. Usually with Krycek. They both were highly volatile people. They took orders from only one man. The old guy who never stopped smoking. He was only around a couple times, but, he did seem to keep them in line."
"We do know of him." Scully acknowledged, "Listen, you mentioned this black liquid. Do you know where they keep it? Or anything about it?"
"I've seen them take it from small vials they keep in this locked portable safe. Not sure how many vials are in there, but I'd guess about 30 or so. That's just in the one place. I would assume they have some all over the world. They guard it like it's gold so I knew it was important, just not why."
Scully relaxed and walked towards the door, but turned back to face Alexei, "One last question. Have you ever seen others with this black liquid in their eyes?"
"Just one man. He was having a meeting with Krycek, Follmer and the smoking guy and they were sure not agreeing on something. I was surprised they let him go really. Anyone else who argued or didn't agree with them usually ended up dead."
Scully felt she finally had a lead to work with, "Describe him."
"I guess he was average height, 50-55 years old. He seemed familiar, like I'd seen him on TV or something. He looked like a politician really, silver hair, expensive suits, the obviously fake smile. Whoever he was, they didn't like him and he didn't like them."
"Did you catch a name at all? First? Last?" Scully questioned, wanting as much information as possible to work with.
"Let me think." the man was searching for a name and finally he remembered something very important, "Actually he may have been a Senator. Yes that's where I remember seeing him. He had commercials out all during the election year. I couldn't stand him though. Matheson was his name."
"Richard Matheson?"
"Yes, that's him." Scully felt a rush of adrenaline flowing through her blood, and it was just what she needed. "Okay. If these leads pan out I will see to it that you get set up in the witness protection program. Assuming you have no murder charges or convictions on your rap sheet."
"Of course not. What about my brother?"
"That's up to him. If he helps us he will get the same deal you did."
"I already told you everything." Alexei said yet again.
Scully turned to Alexei with a smile, "No, you told me everything you know. Your brother may have additional information. And he needs to show us he is willing to help."
"Let me talk to him first." he said, actually assuming this would happen.
"If he doesn't come through we will give you one meeting with him. Right now, I have to go see how my partner is doing with him. I'll be back." Scully got up and took her notes with her and walked back out into the corridor and walked over to see if Monica was back interrogating Vladimir and was happy to see that she was and turned on the speaker and listened to what was going on.
"I told you before I wasn't going to talk." the man kept saying it over and over again.
Scully walked over to the door and opened it and motioned for Reyes to come outside and Reyes got up and came out to talk to Scully. "I think I know a way to get him to talk. His brother just gave us some very interesting information. I'm not even sure if this one knows anything more than what his brother told us, but they do want to stay in custody and are afraid of what Krycek and company will do to them if they are let back on the streets, so we tell him he's free to go. That worked with his brother."
"It's worth a try." Reyes walked back into the room and Scully watched from the window as the man's face turned from stone cold defiance to fear in a millisecond. About 15 minutes later Reyes emerged from the room with a notepad filled with information and the two women then headed back to Skinner's office.
Inside they briefed Skinner on the information they had learned from the two brothers, including the one new piece that Monica managed to get from Vladimir.
"Depending on how credible this information is it could be quite valuable. He said he overheard Krycek talking about the next location move and said it was to a small warehouse on the south side. He even gave the name of the warehouse. Possum & Barnett's Fine Wine's."
"I'll check into that and get a team ready." Skinner said as he waved his hand at an agent close by, then turned back to the two women, "We did uncover some minor criminal convictions for both men. Some break & enter a couple assaults, but nothing major. They are both from Russia and are here on illegal work visa's. The only other interesting piece of information we discovered was they both have vast chemistry backgrounds. We believe they were hired to work on a formula for the black liquid. If this is the case there is still a lot they haven't told us."
"Reyes and I have to meet a source at 2, so you see if you can get anything else out of these two and let us know if you do. After the meeting we will go check out that warehouse as well" Scully said then was ready to take off.
"Should I know about this meeting?" Skinner asked, not pleased to be left out of loop on what the agents were up to.
"Not right now." Scully snapped then took Skinner aside, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that. Right now were in a very tense situation and the less you know about the better. There is no need for you to get caught in the middle of this. I'll tell you where the meeting is just in case something goes wrong, but I do not want any agents within a mile of the actual location. Not until I know about my son."
Skinner looked around the room, leaned down and began whispering in Scully's ear, "I either follow procedure on this or it will have to be done in an unofficial capacity."
"Meaning what exactly?" "I do have some men I trust that can be off duty at around the same time this meeting is and just happen to be in the vicinity and that way you're covered without the cars and sirens getting in the way."
"Okay, that sounds good. Here's the location, but please make sure they are discreet and do not make any moves until I give a signal." Scully asked with a sense of relief at Skinner's suggestion.
"Will do. I will have them contact you when they get in position."
"Thanks Skinner." Scully said warmly and then walked back out and she and Reyes left the building, got in a new car and headed out to the meeting.
Both women stared at Skinner, stunned at what they'd just heard. Skinner waited for some reaction, but soon decided to continue with his report, "I know this is a huge shock. It's not something the FBI is proud of. We've allowed an enormous security breach to climb up through high levels of this organization and now we have to put an end to it."
"That's fine for later, but right now I need to know more about Follmer and his connection to Krycek and the people who have taken William." Scully said, still very tense and impatient about the lack of breaks they've been getting.
"I realize that Scully, but we're just now learning of all this." Skinner then flipped through the large folder of papers on his desk and then pulled out one and handed it to Scully, "This is a picture of Follmer with Krycek, the cigarette smoking man, the bounty hunter. It was taken in 06/21/99 in Moscow. Now the reason this is important is that it was on that day that we had one of the worst security breach in US history as did our closest allies. All at once, like clockwork, the US embassy, the Russian secret service, the CIA office in Moscow and the British Secret Service office in Moscow were all raided by some type of super soldiers. They removed hundreds upon thousands of vital files and information, stole computers and killed hundreds of agents in the process. Now at the time we thought it was terrorism and were not even thinking of some possible alien threat, because quite honestly nobody took that seriously. Obviously we have changed our view on this in the past couple years."
"How could an attack of this magnitude stay out of the press?" Monica asked, still not sure about what she was hearing.
"You'd be amazed at what government's can do when it's in their best interest." Skinner said with a laugh, "Anyway, we were sent a video tape from a surveillance camera that was somehow missed by the intruders and only now coming to our attention. In it we see Follmer along with Krycek standing guard on the outside of our US embassy and have now issued a warrant for his and Krycek's arrest."
"Wait!" Dana said loudly, "We need Follmer. He has to lead us to these men. The cigarette smoking man is using these people. He is the man in charge. We need Follmer and Krycek to lead us to him and find out what or who he is."
Monica was standing right beside Scully and was quick to back Scully up, "I agree with Dana. I also think we need to do some DNA tests on Follmer and Krycek if we can, to determine if they are in fact human. I know it sounds far fetched, but there has to be some reason they are working with these suspected aliens. It's sounding more and more like there are more than one group of these so called aliens out there, perhaps with different agenda's."
"That's quite possible agent Reyes." Skinner agreed then flipped through a couple more files on his desk, "There are many conflicting reports out there right now and we do need to find out who is who and just what their plans are. We also had a meeting just last night with all the major security agencies on how to best deal with this threat and the question came up about what to do with them if we in fact catch them. There are no laws that govern possible alien prisoners. It's just not something anyone thought they'd ever have to deal with. So there is a lot of concern about how to get laws in place that won't cause wide spread panic, since the public will then know or will suspect that we have some kind of alien threat on our hands."
"I understand that." Scully said softly, "And I don't mean to minimize all these concerns, but I have to concentrate on finding my son first. Is there anything you can tell me about why someone would take my son when he was cleared of having any alien DNA in him?"
"I was getting to that." Skinner again was sifting through the files and papers on his desk looking for something, "We believe you were given false information. We also believe that the cigarette smoking man is either an alien or he is filled with alien DNA, which would mean Mulder has that same DNA in him, which would then mean if Mulder is the father of the child, he to has it in him as well. Now the reason they want the child is still unclear. We are however working non stop to try and find him."
"This is getting ridiculous." Scully stood up and shook her head, "These tests were conducted by our own FBI labs. How could there be a mistake? Again I might add."
Skinner focused on getting as much information to Scully as he could, "The general consensus is Follmer was in on it. He did have access to the test results and was aware of the date and time you were to have them done."
"I can't believe this. How are we supposed to believe that Follmer is the only one who slipped past FBI screening? For all we know half the department could be part alien." Scully threw her arms in the air in disgust.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Skinner said, trying to keep things moving, "I know you're angry and you have every right to be. But, we our in the process of doing DNA testing on every employee of the FBI, CIA and even every politician. If we get our way we will be testing every citizen as well."
"That'll take forever. I need answers now." Scully got up and was about to walk out the door and Monica got up and stopped her.
"We should tell him about this meeting. I feel we can trust him. I think we need backup on this."
Scully was not feeling very trustworthy at the time and fought the urge to agree to this as long as she could, but something about the way Monica was looking at her with so much concern and compassion changed her mind, "Fine. I know you're right Monica. You set up the details with Skinner. I need to get some fresh air." Scully then walked out the door and took the elevator to the main floor lobby.
She walked outside, took a deep breath of the fresh air and just started walking down the sidewalk. She continued on to the park where a group of children were playing. She couldn't help but smile at how happy they looked and how much fun they were having, but it also made her think of how William is just about ready to enjoy parks just like this and how she wanted the opportunity to bring him to a park just like this one day.
She sat on a bench and just watched the kids play for about 15 minutes. Soon her mind was racing through so many thoughts and emotions and she began to think back to the conversation she had this morning with the man who said he had information on William's whereabouts and she began to hear his voice over and over in her head and it something clicked. She recognized the voice. She knew it from somewhere.
She closed her eyes and tried to block out all other sounds and concentrate on the sound of that voice and just then her eyes opened wide and she stood up with a huge smile on her face and ran back to get Monica.
As she ran towards the main lobby a van came flying around the corner, two men jumped out, grabbed Scully and pulled her inside and it took off, squealing violently as it did.
Monica had just come out to talk to Scully and saw the tail end of her being taken away and had pulled out her gun, but knew she couldn't do a thing for fear of hitting Scully or an innocent bystander.
Reyes told two agents who had just pulled in to follow that van. She then called Skinner, gave a description of the van and told him what had just taken place and got in her car and began the pursuit as well.
The van with Scully inside, was moving at well over 100 MPH and had increased it's lead on the agent following them and it was quite obvious this was no ordinary van. The van headed straight towards the peer and did not slow down one bit as it came to the edge and soon it was flying through the air over the water. As it did, some kind of landing gear was released and the car tires disappeared back up under the hubcaps. When it landed, it didn't go into the water, but instead, floated on the surface. After gaining it's balance from the impact, it was soon speeding off towards the ocean with the agents and
Monica, standing at the peer, looked on. She was quick to get back in her car, grabbed her cell and called Skinner. "Skinner, it's Monica. Scully's gone. You need to call the coast guard. The van was some kind of all terrain vehicle, and it went from the peer to the water without missing a beat. We can still see the van but it's going to be out of our range soon."
"I'm on it. We'll find her Monica. Head over to the coast guard's office on peer 22. I will have them take you with them on the search."
"Alright. I'm on my way." Monica was trying to stay calm and not panic or let her emotions take over, but it was just so different when she was so personally involved with Scully and her child. She wiped the tears away as she drove up to the coast guard's office and was told to get onboard the very large ship at the end of the dock and she ran towards it and climbed aboard and they took off in a hurry and headed off towards where the van was last seen.
There was a report called in that the van was spotted coming to shore just around the bend. Monica called the information into the FBI and people from all over the area mobilized and put an alert out for the vehicle.
Monica was inside the cabin and looking out the large window and spotted the van trying to climb onto land from the water but it seemed stalled or was having trouble getting the water gear put away so the tires could come back out. They caught up to it within a minute and there were FBI cars all around the front of it and as the coast guard cutter pulled up alongside the van Monica grabbed the bullhorn and told the people inside the van to come out with their hands in the air.
There was no movement for a couple minutes and then someone opened the side door, held up their hands and said they were coming out. Two men stepped into the water and then were grabbed and taken to the ground by the numerous agents and they pulled out the wallets of both men and read the names off to Monica.
"This one has a Russian passport and his name is, Alexei Salionov. The other also has a Russian passport and his name is, Vladimir Salionov. Do you know them agent Reyes?" the man asked.
Monica made her way down the side of the cutter and walked over to the van to look for Scully. She looked inside and was so relieved to see Scully sitting in a corner, hands tied up and mouth covered with tape, but still alive. She raced inside, untied her and Scully ripped the tape from her mouth and pulled her into a very long, very tender hug. After a couple minutes, they walked through the water and onto the shore.
Scully walked up to the agents who were holding the two men, "Take these two back to headquarters. We'll follow and interrogate them later. Oh and keep them separate. Don't let them talk to each other or anyone else until we get there."
Scully and Reyes were driven back to the peer, where they got back into Reyes' car and drove back to the bureau.
Once inside, Reyes went into the room with Vladimir while Scully took Alexei and they each sat down and began to interview the two men.
The initial interview was filled with double talk and refusals to talk and neither was saying a thing. Scully got up and went to get Monica. They walked into a small room across the hallway and Scully shook her head, "I think we should let them know that their brother or relative Igor is dead. It might make them more willing to talk. If they think someone has double crossed them and they might be next it just might be enough to get them talking."
"It's worth a try. I'm going to go find out if Skinner has found any information on these two. You go back, talk to Alexei, and see what he says. If I find anything important I'll let you know."
Scully nodded and watched Monica walk down the hall and she took a breath and walked back in and sat down across from Alexei and pulled out a report that confirmed Igor's death and there was an immediate reaction by Alexei and Dana used this as an opportunity to use this emotion to get him to talk. "Was Igor your brother?"
The man was obviously upset and was still not willing to say a thing.
"Fine. Let me talk then. You can listen and tell me if I'm wrong." Scully said as she stood up and began to walk in a circle around Alexei. "Here's what I think happened. You and your brothers were either working with or for two men named Krycek and Follmer. When Igor got greedy or got cold feet they killed him and now you two know your next."
Still no reaction from the man.
"Okay then. Well, I'm still not clear on why you tried to kidnap me. I'm not who they want." as soon as she said it she began to see what they were doing, "You weren't taking me to them were you? I think you were going to use me as leverage, to get the FBI to help you. You are both afraid for your lives and think the only way to get protection is to bargain for it."
"You don't know what your talking about." he said as he sat back in his chair and tried to look away.
"Really?" Scully asked, knowing she had hit a nerve, "Well, I would disagree. If I'm wrong, why did you try and kidnap me then?"
"It does not matter. We failed. We will accept the punishment."
"I see. I'm starting to think you also might have wanted to get caught. Perhaps even prison is a safer place to be than on the streets with Krycek on the loose."
Alexei began to get even more nervous, "I want a lawyer."
"Do you? What if he gets you off? Then what?" Scully watched the man as he fumed, yet still refused to talk.
"How about this." Scully offered, "I'm not going to press charges. You're free to go. When Krycek finds out you were here and then released he just might think you talked. Anyway, I sure wouldn't want to be you."
The man sat there trying to remain somewhat calm and as Scully got up and grabbed the door knob he stood up, "Wait! You can't do this. I committed a crime. You have to arrest me!"
"No, I don't think we do." Scully said with a smile, "I thought you were just driving me to the beach. I appreciated the ride. You can go. If you think life on the streets is better than just a simple talk with me than you'll get your wish."
"I don't know anything. Honest. We were hired by Krycek to do some small time crimes. We laundered money for him. We sent out false information to people on the streets. We would create diversions for his people and keep any security or police in an area busy so he and his men could do a job more freely. But, we do not know who he works for or what his plans are."
"Perhaps you don't, but I think you know more than you've told me." Scully said and then leaned in close to Alexei, "Now, my son is missing and I'm getting very impatient with you. If you know anything about this it would be wise to let me know before I actually get angry."
Alexei was getting very anxious and the fear of facing Krycek's wrath was not sitting well with him all of a sudden, "Listen to me. They will kill me if I talk. You've seen what they do. My brother is dead. My friend Boris is dead. We are next."
"We can provide you with protection. Your best protection is helping us catch them so they don't pose a threat to you anymore."
"I don't know. How can we trust you?" Alexei asked nervously.
"I'm giving you my word. I want my son back. I'll make sure you're both safe." Scully promised, "Now help me or I'm out of here."
After pondering Scully's request for less than a second he sat forward very willing to cooperate, "Okay, okay. We helped do reconnaissance for Krycek when he abducted your son. We learned your work patterns. When the best time would be to take him. Everything. But, we did not know why he wanted the child. He only said the child was vital to his plan."
"What plan?" Scully asked, "Be more specific with these details."
The man looked noticeably irritated by the question, "You don't ask a lot of questions from a guy like Krycek you know? I don't even know if he's human."
Scully was very intrigued by this last comment, "What? Why do you say that?"
"I've seen him get shot more than once now. I've seen him get burned in a fire. I've seen him be injected with poison and survive it all. I've seen him when he had this black liquid flowing in his blood. In his eyes . Everywhere. It was just not normal. It was creepy." Alexei said, his face all contorted from talking about Krycek.
"Who else did you see with this liquid in their body?"
"The other man, Follmer, oh and their boss. I don't know his name."
"Where are they?"
"I don't know." he said, throwing his arms up in frustration, "They are very careful to move locations almost weekly. They are the most paranoid and yet thorough people I've met. Nothing is left to chance."
"Give me some of their known locations. We can try and find a pattern to their movements at least."
"Fine. I can do that." Alexei willingly agreed and began to talk, "I only know of three. All at different sections of the city. Usually underground. Usually in a place nobody would think of looking. Schools, banks, churches it doesn't matter. The underground in this city is like a mini city really. I don't think many people know this."
Scully smiled at her earlier trip through one section of the underground, "I've got some idea of it now. You must have overheard some conversations that might be helpful. I need more information."
"Half of what they talked about made no sense to us." he added, looking very confused about much of what he saw and heard, "They talked about harvests. They talked about energy supplies running low. They talked about underground mining. None of it seemed all that sinister."
"Maybe not at the time, but trust me when I say they are more dangerous than you will ever know and if we don't stop them many people will die. I'm talking everyone."
"I'm telling you everything I know. What else do you want?" he pleaded.
Scully wasn't done yet and would not give up until she got something more, "What do you know about Follmer?"
"Just that he's a high placed FBI official. I've only seen him a couple times. Usually with Krycek. They both were highly volatile people. They took orders from only one man. The old guy who never stopped smoking. He was only around a couple times, but, he did seem to keep them in line."
"We do know of him." Scully acknowledged, "Listen, you mentioned this black liquid. Do you know where they keep it? Or anything about it?"
"I've seen them take it from small vials they keep in this locked portable safe. Not sure how many vials are in there, but I'd guess about 30 or so. That's just in the one place. I would assume they have some all over the world. They guard it like it's gold so I knew it was important, just not why."
Scully relaxed and walked towards the door, but turned back to face Alexei, "One last question. Have you ever seen others with this black liquid in their eyes?"
"Just one man. He was having a meeting with Krycek, Follmer and the smoking guy and they were sure not agreeing on something. I was surprised they let him go really. Anyone else who argued or didn't agree with them usually ended up dead."
Scully felt she finally had a lead to work with, "Describe him."
"I guess he was average height, 50-55 years old. He seemed familiar, like I'd seen him on TV or something. He looked like a politician really, silver hair, expensive suits, the obviously fake smile. Whoever he was, they didn't like him and he didn't like them."
"Did you catch a name at all? First? Last?" Scully questioned, wanting as much information as possible to work with.
"Let me think." the man was searching for a name and finally he remembered something very important, "Actually he may have been a Senator. Yes that's where I remember seeing him. He had commercials out all during the election year. I couldn't stand him though. Matheson was his name."
"Richard Matheson?"
"Yes, that's him." Scully felt a rush of adrenaline flowing through her blood, and it was just what she needed. "Okay. If these leads pan out I will see to it that you get set up in the witness protection program. Assuming you have no murder charges or convictions on your rap sheet."
"Of course not. What about my brother?"
"That's up to him. If he helps us he will get the same deal you did."
"I already told you everything." Alexei said yet again.
Scully turned to Alexei with a smile, "No, you told me everything you know. Your brother may have additional information. And he needs to show us he is willing to help."
"Let me talk to him first." he said, actually assuming this would happen.
"If he doesn't come through we will give you one meeting with him. Right now, I have to go see how my partner is doing with him. I'll be back." Scully got up and took her notes with her and walked back out into the corridor and walked over to see if Monica was back interrogating Vladimir and was happy to see that she was and turned on the speaker and listened to what was going on.
"I told you before I wasn't going to talk." the man kept saying it over and over again.
Scully walked over to the door and opened it and motioned for Reyes to come outside and Reyes got up and came out to talk to Scully. "I think I know a way to get him to talk. His brother just gave us some very interesting information. I'm not even sure if this one knows anything more than what his brother told us, but they do want to stay in custody and are afraid of what Krycek and company will do to them if they are let back on the streets, so we tell him he's free to go. That worked with his brother."
"It's worth a try." Reyes walked back into the room and Scully watched from the window as the man's face turned from stone cold defiance to fear in a millisecond. About 15 minutes later Reyes emerged from the room with a notepad filled with information and the two women then headed back to Skinner's office.
Inside they briefed Skinner on the information they had learned from the two brothers, including the one new piece that Monica managed to get from Vladimir.
"Depending on how credible this information is it could be quite valuable. He said he overheard Krycek talking about the next location move and said it was to a small warehouse on the south side. He even gave the name of the warehouse. Possum & Barnett's Fine Wine's."
"I'll check into that and get a team ready." Skinner said as he waved his hand at an agent close by, then turned back to the two women, "We did uncover some minor criminal convictions for both men. Some break & enter a couple assaults, but nothing major. They are both from Russia and are here on illegal work visa's. The only other interesting piece of information we discovered was they both have vast chemistry backgrounds. We believe they were hired to work on a formula for the black liquid. If this is the case there is still a lot they haven't told us."
"Reyes and I have to meet a source at 2, so you see if you can get anything else out of these two and let us know if you do. After the meeting we will go check out that warehouse as well" Scully said then was ready to take off.
"Should I know about this meeting?" Skinner asked, not pleased to be left out of loop on what the agents were up to.
"Not right now." Scully snapped then took Skinner aside, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that. Right now were in a very tense situation and the less you know about the better. There is no need for you to get caught in the middle of this. I'll tell you where the meeting is just in case something goes wrong, but I do not want any agents within a mile of the actual location. Not until I know about my son."
Skinner looked around the room, leaned down and began whispering in Scully's ear, "I either follow procedure on this or it will have to be done in an unofficial capacity."
"Meaning what exactly?" "I do have some men I trust that can be off duty at around the same time this meeting is and just happen to be in the vicinity and that way you're covered without the cars and sirens getting in the way."
"Okay, that sounds good. Here's the location, but please make sure they are discreet and do not make any moves until I give a signal." Scully asked with a sense of relief at Skinner's suggestion.
"Will do. I will have them contact you when they get in position."
"Thanks Skinner." Scully said warmly and then walked back out and she and Reyes left the building, got in a new car and headed out to the meeting.