"Sometimes I know that it's never enough. Survival is fine but satisfaction
is rough, oh. Ain't the night Heavy."
-- From "Ain't it Heavy" by Melissa Etheridge
When Scully woke up the next morning, Mulder was already up. She rubbed the sleepy seed out of her eyes...a product of the previous night's tears, and pulled a pair of shorts on under the T-shirt she had slept in. Maria had left a loaf of fresh baked bread for breakfast, and they would get coffee at the mission. The mission and the clinic were the only buildings in town that had electricity, and the coffeepot at the mission was envied by many. Mulder was standing outside. It had rained overnight, and the air seemed cool, almost chilly. Everything seemed fresh and new. Their house was on a bit of a hill, and from their door they could see the entire village waking up. Children, sent outside and out of their mother's way, filled the streets and soon their voices could be heard throughout the town. A street vendor's call could be heard. For a moment, everything seemed peaceful. Mulder pulled Scully in for a good morning hug. "Did you sleep well, Dana?" he asked. She blinked once or twice and answered, "Yes. You know, it still feels strange having you call me that. Especially when I'm not allowed to call you Fox."
"Ugh. I still cringe when I hear that name. What were my parent's thinking?"
They stood there a moment longer, then Mulder said, "I'd better get down to the mission, we have a lot of work to do today. Got to earn my keep, you know."
Later, brother Jose, a native who worked for the church, approached Mulder with a letter. "Dis came for you, hermano, Es from America!" The letter was made out to Nathan Grines, Mulder's alias. Scully had been going as Dana Grines. The only person who knew who they really were was sister Noel, Scully's high-school friend who had agreed to hide them at the mission.
"I know who you are" was all the letter said.
***At a pay phone some 50 miles outside of Toronto, Doggett waited for the phone to ring. Skinner called him once a week, Friday nights between 11:30 and Midnight. Skinner had been able to feign innocence and get into the witness protection program by claiming that Mulder had threatened him. Now he was the key figure in keeping Mulder, Scully, Reyes and Doggett safe.
Doggett told skinner about the note and the man following Reyes.
"I want you and Reyes to be all packed up and ready to leave at a moment's notice. The moment you even think that you feel like you're in danger, I want you on a plane to London. Use the credit cards I gave you. Book flights on several different planes to many different places using cards that you've used before, then use one you haven't used before to book the plane to London. How many unused identities do you have left?"
"Three, if you count the one I used to get into that hotel in Boston. That's the only time I used it."
"Save that one for an emergency."
"So, have you heard from Mulder yet?"
"No. He knows where to send a letter, but I haven't gotten one yet. Normally no news is good news but..." Skinner trailed off.
"I'm sure they're fine. They're smart, those two."
"I know that. But until I'm sure that you are all safe, I won't sleep well at night."
At about 2:00 A.M., Reyes was awakened by a noise coming from outside her bedroom door. Grabbing her gun from under her pillow, she slipped out of bed and cracked her door open. Across the hall she could see Doggett, who always slept with his door wide open, sound asleep. Hugging the wall, she crept toward the living room. Everything was dark, and the room was still and silent. Suddenly she felt a cool breeze touch the back of her neck. She turned and saw the curtain hanging over the kitchen window move. She moved to shut it, when she was tackled to the ground from behind. The barrel of a gun was pushed violently into her temple.
"Don't move." The whisper was familiar. Very familiar.
"John?" She asked.
"Monica?" He rolled off of her and reached for a light.
Then they both spoke at the same time. "You scared the..." They both chuckled a nervous laugh. Reyes was breathing hard, and leaned up against the counter to recover. Doggett, who had also noticed the open window reached to shut it. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What the...?" He motioned for Reyes to join him. The window frame was still shut, as it had been the night before, and locked. The glass pane had been sliced out of the frame. Some sharp, jagged pieces remained. Doggett was sucking on his cut finger. He removed it from his mouth. "Time to go."
***"Brother Jose, wait" Mulder ran a few paces and caught up with the man who had just handed him the letter. "You say this came from America?"
"Si, hermano. Was wid da packages from da church dat sponsors us. De forwarded it to us."
At the clinic, the woman Scully had seen the day before had gone into premature labor. Now in her seventh month, the children would probably survive, but things were tense. Her husband, who was rumored to beat his wife and supposedly had even made her miscarry once, was standing in a corner with his arms crossed over his chest, just watching. Trinidad was holding the terrified woman's hand, coaching her to breathe. Dr. Rogers had two incubators (the only two in the whole clinic) all set up to take the children. Scully was standing at the foot of the bed, ready to receive the babies.
Later, when the mother was standing over the incubators, admiring her twin daughters, the husband stormed out of the room. Obviously, as long as they were girls, he didn't care.
Mulder had been watching from the doorway. Scully had noticed him, but only now acknowledged him.
"M...Nathan" she remembered to use his alias since Dr. Rogers was still in the room.
"Dr. Rogers, can you spare her for a moment?" Without waiting for an answer, he took her by the arm and pulled her outside.
"What is it?"
He pulled the letter out of his pocket. "This was forwarded here by the church that sponsors this mission."
Scully read the note. "Sent to the church, so do they know where we are? Or just know that we're working for a mission sponsored by that church."
"I don't know. We can't exactly leave...where would we go?"
"So what are you suggesting?"
"I think that they're trying to scare us into moving again so they can catch us. I think we should stay here. If need be, we can hide in the jungle. We have that emergency kit we prepared, we could take it and survive for weeks out there if need be. They'd never find us."
"Right. Do you think we should tell the other people around here? Have them be on the lookout for anyone new in town?"
"No, probably not. We don't want to risk having one of them blow our cover. Tell your friend Noel, but no one else."
"Right." Scully reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "I have work to do." Then she retreated back inside.
When Scully woke up the next morning, Mulder was already up. She rubbed the sleepy seed out of her eyes...a product of the previous night's tears, and pulled a pair of shorts on under the T-shirt she had slept in. Maria had left a loaf of fresh baked bread for breakfast, and they would get coffee at the mission. The mission and the clinic were the only buildings in town that had electricity, and the coffeepot at the mission was envied by many. Mulder was standing outside. It had rained overnight, and the air seemed cool, almost chilly. Everything seemed fresh and new. Their house was on a bit of a hill, and from their door they could see the entire village waking up. Children, sent outside and out of their mother's way, filled the streets and soon their voices could be heard throughout the town. A street vendor's call could be heard. For a moment, everything seemed peaceful. Mulder pulled Scully in for a good morning hug. "Did you sleep well, Dana?" he asked. She blinked once or twice and answered, "Yes. You know, it still feels strange having you call me that. Especially when I'm not allowed to call you Fox."
"Ugh. I still cringe when I hear that name. What were my parent's thinking?"
They stood there a moment longer, then Mulder said, "I'd better get down to the mission, we have a lot of work to do today. Got to earn my keep, you know."
Later, brother Jose, a native who worked for the church, approached Mulder with a letter. "Dis came for you, hermano, Es from America!" The letter was made out to Nathan Grines, Mulder's alias. Scully had been going as Dana Grines. The only person who knew who they really were was sister Noel, Scully's high-school friend who had agreed to hide them at the mission.
"I know who you are" was all the letter said.
***At a pay phone some 50 miles outside of Toronto, Doggett waited for the phone to ring. Skinner called him once a week, Friday nights between 11:30 and Midnight. Skinner had been able to feign innocence and get into the witness protection program by claiming that Mulder had threatened him. Now he was the key figure in keeping Mulder, Scully, Reyes and Doggett safe.
Doggett told skinner about the note and the man following Reyes.
"I want you and Reyes to be all packed up and ready to leave at a moment's notice. The moment you even think that you feel like you're in danger, I want you on a plane to London. Use the credit cards I gave you. Book flights on several different planes to many different places using cards that you've used before, then use one you haven't used before to book the plane to London. How many unused identities do you have left?"
"Three, if you count the one I used to get into that hotel in Boston. That's the only time I used it."
"Save that one for an emergency."
"So, have you heard from Mulder yet?"
"No. He knows where to send a letter, but I haven't gotten one yet. Normally no news is good news but..." Skinner trailed off.
"I'm sure they're fine. They're smart, those two."
"I know that. But until I'm sure that you are all safe, I won't sleep well at night."
At about 2:00 A.M., Reyes was awakened by a noise coming from outside her bedroom door. Grabbing her gun from under her pillow, she slipped out of bed and cracked her door open. Across the hall she could see Doggett, who always slept with his door wide open, sound asleep. Hugging the wall, she crept toward the living room. Everything was dark, and the room was still and silent. Suddenly she felt a cool breeze touch the back of her neck. She turned and saw the curtain hanging over the kitchen window move. She moved to shut it, when she was tackled to the ground from behind. The barrel of a gun was pushed violently into her temple.
"Don't move." The whisper was familiar. Very familiar.
"John?" She asked.
"Monica?" He rolled off of her and reached for a light.
Then they both spoke at the same time. "You scared the..." They both chuckled a nervous laugh. Reyes was breathing hard, and leaned up against the counter to recover. Doggett, who had also noticed the open window reached to shut it. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What the...?" He motioned for Reyes to join him. The window frame was still shut, as it had been the night before, and locked. The glass pane had been sliced out of the frame. Some sharp, jagged pieces remained. Doggett was sucking on his cut finger. He removed it from his mouth. "Time to go."
***"Brother Jose, wait" Mulder ran a few paces and caught up with the man who had just handed him the letter. "You say this came from America?"
"Si, hermano. Was wid da packages from da church dat sponsors us. De forwarded it to us."
At the clinic, the woman Scully had seen the day before had gone into premature labor. Now in her seventh month, the children would probably survive, but things were tense. Her husband, who was rumored to beat his wife and supposedly had even made her miscarry once, was standing in a corner with his arms crossed over his chest, just watching. Trinidad was holding the terrified woman's hand, coaching her to breathe. Dr. Rogers had two incubators (the only two in the whole clinic) all set up to take the children. Scully was standing at the foot of the bed, ready to receive the babies.
Later, when the mother was standing over the incubators, admiring her twin daughters, the husband stormed out of the room. Obviously, as long as they were girls, he didn't care.
Mulder had been watching from the doorway. Scully had noticed him, but only now acknowledged him.
"M...Nathan" she remembered to use his alias since Dr. Rogers was still in the room.
"Dr. Rogers, can you spare her for a moment?" Without waiting for an answer, he took her by the arm and pulled her outside.
"What is it?"
He pulled the letter out of his pocket. "This was forwarded here by the church that sponsors this mission."
Scully read the note. "Sent to the church, so do they know where we are? Or just know that we're working for a mission sponsored by that church."
"I don't know. We can't exactly leave...where would we go?"
"So what are you suggesting?"
"I think that they're trying to scare us into moving again so they can catch us. I think we should stay here. If need be, we can hide in the jungle. We have that emergency kit we prepared, we could take it and survive for weeks out there if need be. They'd never find us."
"Right. Do you think we should tell the other people around here? Have them be on the lookout for anyone new in town?"
"No, probably not. We don't want to risk having one of them blow our cover. Tell your friend Noel, but no one else."
"Right." Scully reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "I have work to do." Then she retreated back inside.