Disclaimer: I don't own the x-files or any of it's characters...but with all that money, do ya think I could build my OWN hotel on South Beach?...man wouldn't that be sweet!...lol
author's note: worry not, my wonderful reviewers, for I too am a shipper (just not a fluffy one) ! Just be patient and you'll see what I mean. .
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2:15pm
Mulder and Scully settled for a Cuban cafeteria that was close to their hotel. They had already ordered their food, and Mulder was sipping some Cuban coffee that he had ordered while Scully began to speak.
"I spoke with Victoria about her relationship to her cousins." said Scully
Mulder put down his cup. "And?"
"It turns out that she wasn't too fond of them after all, especially with Luisa Martinez." Scully sipped her iced tea.
"Wow, it seems as if no one has anything good to say about her. So what did Victoria tell you?" said Mulder.
"Well, it went something like this..." Scully began.
---------------flash back of Scully questioning Victoria----------------
"What can you tell me about your cousins, Victoria?" asked Scully
"We all got along growing up, but it seems as if the older they got, the worse they became." said Victoria.
"How so?" Scully asked.
"Yamil was about my age, maybe a year or two older, and I'll be 31 this May. Luisa was almost ten years younger than me. She mostly hung around Yanina, who's 6 years younger than me." she told Scully.
"Did you ever have any problems with Luisa?" Scully asked her.
"I used to be fond of Luisa, she was my god daughter. We got along fine until a few months back." Victoria's eyes met the floor.
"What happened?" asked Scully.
"I had been dating my ex-boyfriend for over five years. His name is Roberto Suarez, and he was only a couple of years younger than me. Anyway, one night, a few months back, he was running late for our date that evening, it was our five year anniversary. I called his cell phone, but no one answered, so I decided to drive over to his place to see what was the matter. I knocked on the door of his apartment, but no one answered either, so I tried the door and it was unlocked and..." Victoria was still looking down.
Scully could see the tears welling up in Victoria's eyes. "Then what happened?" she asked her.
"I went over to his bedroom. The door was closed, so I opened it...and..." Victoria began to cry and looked up at her. "Do you what it's like to have your own cousin and goddaughter betray you in the cruelest of ways, Agent Scully? I loved that man, with all of my heart. I even planned on marrying him, and she knew that!"
"I'm sorry, you must've been really hurt." said Scully placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Hurt? Hurt is not the word for how I felt...especially when I found out that Roberto had been cheating on me with Luisa for almost two years already...I mean, how could she be so damn heartless? The whole time she acted like nothing was going on. She didn't even feel guilty about what she was doing. She just hightailed out of his apartment that night." Victoria was still crying.
"Did anyone else know about this?" asked Scully.
"I'm pretty sure that Yanina knew about it from the beginning. Though at the time I found out, Yanina and her hadn't been talking for a while." said Victoria getting back to normal.
"Do you know why they stopped talking?" asked Scully.
"I don't know. It had been a while." said Victoria.
"Were you still angry with her prior to the incident?" asked Scully.
"Well, of course I was! Do you think I could just get over the whole thing THAT fast? After I broke up with him, they still fooled around." said Victoria.
"I see..." said Scully getting up.
"I'm sorry if I wasn't of any help." Victoria apologized.
"No, you were plenty of help actually, thanks." said Scully, getting out her phone to call Mulder.
-------------------------------end of flashback----------------------------- -
"So...Luisa wasn't so innocent after all." noted Mulder.
"Did Yanina mention any of this to you?" asked Scully.
"No, she didn't actually. She only told me that her and Luisa grew apart for religious and maturity differences." said Mulder.
"Maybe she doesn't want us to know the darker side of her." said Scully.
"Maybe..." Mulder was still fixed on his 'el monstruo de Chango' theory.
Their food arrived.
"I think we should do some background checks on all of the family members to see if we find anything that might shed some light on this case." suggested Scully.
"Good idea." Mulder took a bite of his food. "We should check up on that after this."
Scully nodded.
After they finished up their food and paid the bill, they headed for the criminal records office in downtown Miami. Once they got there, Scully had an idea.
"Mulder, we should check to see if any of the family members were involved with drugs. Miami is a hot spot for drug lords." said Scully.
"Good idea." Mulder replied as the headed over to speak to the person in charge of that section.
Several different agents in the Miami PD were assigned specifically to certain areas of crime. They met up with the person in charge of the illegal substances unit. The man's back was facing them.
"Hello, sir?" Scully started.
The man turned around. Though he was sitting down, he was clearly tall and was African American. He looked fairly young.
"What can I do for you?" he said getting up.
"I'm agent Fox Mulder with the FBI and this is my partner agent Dana Scully." Mulder introduced them both.
"Mike Larry, Miami PD." he said shaking both of their hands. "Hey hey now wait a sec. Did you just say your name was Mulder...as in Spooky Mulder?" Mike Larry recognized him immediately.
"I was hoping you'd remember me." said Mulder with a slight grin.
"Wut up G-man? Brotha it's been a LONG time!" said Mike doing some handshake with him that he had taught Mulder many years ago.
"It certainly has, Bad Boy. I didn't know you were working down here in Miami?" said Mulder.
"Yeah, after my training back in DC, I came back to my home city, you know how that is. You still investigating them little green men?...no wait...my bad... them little gray men." Mike said correcting himself.
Scully was very confused. "How do you two know each other again?"
"I was working in the VCU, this was right before I was assigned to the X- Files. Mike here was training to be a federal agent. I was sort of his mentor I guess you could say. He knew about my side work in the paranormal." Mulder explained.
"Yeah, I finally got promoted to a federal agent, but I stayed in the PD. I specialize in the more tough cases though, stuff that involves the FBI. This is my unit here." said Mike.
"Do you work on your own?" asked Mulder.
"No, I've had a partner for many years now, but right now he's on vacation with his family, so I'm on my own for 2 weeks." he said.
"Oh I see. Anyway, I was wondering if you could help us out with something. My partner and I are investigating a series of 3 murders that took place a couple weeks ago, and we'd like to do some background checks on the family members." said Mulder.
"Of course, anything for you, g-man. By the way, smart move for starting out with illegal substances, because down here, you never know what people are into, and usually a lot of the crimes committed here involves drug dealers and bad money." said Mike.
"Yeah, this was my partner's idea actually. Don't know what I'd do without her." said Mulder lightly patting her on the back.
"Heh, anyway, just give me the names of the family members and I'll look up to see if anything is on file." said Mike.
Scully gave him the names of all of the family members, and Mike placed them through to the computer system's data bank of records. Two of the names showed up.
"Ooh, here we go." said Mike pulling up one of the names. "Yamil Martinez. Boy did he get himself in deep."
Mulder and Scully moved closer to the computer screen.
"It says here that Yamil was involved in a major gang a few years back, I remember I had to bust all of these damn punks...what a pain in the ass. He dealt xtasy, marijuana, cocaine, and other goodies. There wasn't enough evidence to give him a jail sentence, but he was one of the ring leaders alright, cause they cover up their tracks well. It says here that he was placed under house arrest though for a long time. In fact, he was relieved of it 6 months ago." he explained.
"Hmm, I see. He wasn't so innocent either, Scully." said Mulder.
"Are there any more names?" asked Scully.
"Yeah, there's a...Juan Carlos Perez. His record isn't so dirty. He was arrested for being in possession of marijuana." said Mike.
"What about Victoria Cortez, Luisa Martinez, or Yanina Perez?" asked Scully.
Mike shook his head. "Nope, I don't see nothing; at least not here anyway." said Mike. "Anything else you wanna look up?" he asked.
"Nah, I think that'll do it. thanks again, Bad Boy." Mulder and Mike both did their handshake.
"Anytime, G-man. Yo, hit me up next time you come down man. I'll show ya around town." Mike offered.
"Sure will." said Mulder.
Scully thanked Mike Larry as well before her and Mulder left.
They left downtown and decided to head back over to the family's residence. Things were starting to get pretty twisted now.
"Why does it seem like the more we find out about the victims, the further away we get from solving this case?" asked Mulder.
"It's like I said before, there's obviously a darker side to these people then we thought." said Scully.
Mulder thought for a moment. "So what's your theory now?" asked Mulder.
"Well, considering the fact that Yamil was the leader of a gang and dealt lot's of drugs, I think that maybe a gang rival of sorts did this as revenge for something." said Scully.
"But why wait 3 years later to take revenge? Even though they could've planned it out over that period of time, they would've certainly robbed the family...which the killer didn't. No valuables were missing from the crime scene." noted Mulder.
"Then, perhaps a family member is responsible for this." said Scully.
"But with what motive?" asked Mulder.
"Luisa did have an affair with Victoria's former boyfriend for over 2 years, and she was very upset about it." said Scully.
"Why not only kill Luisa then instead of the entire family? That still doesn't make sense." said Mulder.
"Then what's YOUR theory?" Scully was getting annoyed.
"Well, according to legend, el monstruo de Chango attacks those who commit horrible sins and disrespect the gods." said Mulder.
"Then why not kill every criminal or person who commits a hideous sin? If you ask me, that's even more far fetched then my theory." said Scully.
"No, it only attacks followers of Santeria." said Mulder.
Scully raised an eyebrow at him.
"Scully, the footprints I saw at the crime scene were most definitely NOT human." said Mulder.
"Mulder, the killer could've planted those there to ward off people and to lose the blame. They're using these superstitions to their advantage. The killer obviously knows a lot about the religion. Look, let's just ask them more questions, I'm sure something more will turn up." said Scully.
They then pulled up in front of the Perez's house. Juan Carlos answered the door.
"Oh, hello again." he said. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
Mulder and Scully stepped inside the house and sat down at the dinner table with Juan Carlos. Mulder spoke.
"My partner and I did some research today and we found some interesting things out about Yamil and you. I find this funny, because you never mentioned any of this." said Mulder.
Juan Carlos diverted his eyes from them.
"How long was he in that gang dealing drugs?" asked Scully.
He paused before speaking. "Six years. He got busted a few years ago, but he never got put in jail, they didn't find any evidence that he was a drug dealer. He was good at keepings things low key." said Juan Carlos.
"Apparently so was his sister." said Scully.
he got quiet again before speaking. "Now I swear I didn't know a thing about anything going on between Luisa and Roberto. I didn't find out until my mother told me." he replied.
"What about you?" asked Mulder. "You were arrested for being in possession of marijuana."
"Yamil gave it to me, and it was only a little. A tiny little bag, just to try it out." Juan Carlos was speaking nervously.
"What about your sister, Yanina? Was she involved in this too?" asked Scully.
She didn't notice that Yanina was watching them the entire time in the hallway. Yanina spoke.
"If you have any questions concerning me, why don't you just ask me yourself, agent Scully?" Yanina spoke with an attitude in her voice. "No, I wasn't involved with any of that. I thought the whole thing was idiotic. I even lectured my brother for it."
Juan Carlos looked down.
"So you resented your cousins, and your aunt too...am I right? asked Scully in a cocky tone.
"What exactly are you suggesting? Cause if you're suggesting what I think you are, then the answer is NO." Yanina was not a happy camper.
Mulder interrupted their conversation. "That'll be all for right now, thanks. If we have any further questions we'll be back." said Mulder getting up.
Scully followed him out the door.
"Mulder, that girl is nothing but trouble." said Scully now a bit angry. "She's been a problem since we got here, and CLEARLY before then.".
Mulder started walking to the Cortez residence.
"Mulder, where are you going?" asked Scully already having started up the engine.
"I'm going to speak to Joseffina and Gisela. We need more answers." said Mulder.
"What more would they have to tell us?" asked Scully.
"I'm not sure, but I truly believe that this Santeria legend plays a big role in this." said Mulder.
"While you speak to them, I'll speak with Victoria about her cousins." said Scully as she knocked on the door.
Victoria answered. "Back yet again I see." she said.
"Yes, we'd like to speak to your mother and aunt." said Scully.
"Not a problem." Victoria invited them inside.
Scully stayed in the living room with Victoria and asked about her cousins' criminal records and what not. Mulder went towards the back of the house to speak to Joseffina and Gisela, who were preparing for a ceremony to take place later that evening. He entered a room that was painted a goldish color from what he could tell, and had statues and other symbolic things everywhere. The room was dark, filled with the aroma of incense, and the light of candles. Joseffina and Gisela saw him enter.
"Senior, take eh off your shoes, por favor." said Gisela.
"This is eh holy room of los santos." Joseffina explained.
Mulder removed his shoes before going any further.
"Permiso, I don't mean to bother you, but I have some questions for you both." said Mulder walking towards them.
"Si si, sientate" said Joseffina, motioning with her hands for him to sit down with them on the floor.
Mulder sat down. "I'm sorry to bring this up again, but I need to know. I found out some information about your niece and nephew. I want to know if you think that they were punished by Chango for disrespecting and displeasing the saints?" asked Mulder.
They remained quiet.
Mulder tried to simplify his question. "Your sister, Marta, she abandoned Santeria. Yamil was a gang leader and drug dealer, and Luisa was an adulterer...she betrayed her older cousin...Do you think that the saints sent down el monstruo de Chango as revenge?" asked Mulder, hoping they'd understand him.
Joseffina understood him. "We eh try to protect them, but it no work, senior. El monstruo de Chango eh punish them for doing malo cosas...eh very bad things... y se mato." said Joseffina.
"So you believe that this creature murdered your sister and her children to punish them?" asked Mulder.
They both nodded.
Gisela told Joseffina in Spanish to read his tarot. She agreed.
"Senior, su mano, por favor." Gisela asked, pointing to his left hand to pick out the first card from the deck after she shuffled it.
Mulder pulled out a card.
"El Magicion...The eh Magician." said Joseffina. "You are eh very smart and do good in your work." she told him.
She turned over 9 more cards and read them carefully. "Strength...your mind is eh very strong."
Mulder watched in amusement.
"Los santos, no have problem with you...they eh...how you say?...they like eh you very much." said Joseffina. "You look for answer to truth, y senior, you will eh find eh truth, and you will eh conquer it." said Joseffina.
Mulder stayed quiet. Gisela pointed out the meanings to a few other cards.
"The Lovers...and eh...Two of Cups." Joseffina started. "You love eh someone very much, and eh share eh...connection with that eh person.
Mulder stiffened up for a moment.
"No puedo, repressad los carinos. No necessitas." said Gisela, saying he shouldn't repress his feelings or affection, because there was no need to.
Mulder spoke up to change the subject. "How do I find this creature? Or stop it from harming anyone else?" he asked.
"No puedo." said Gisela, saying that he can't.
"I don't eh know how it eh came here, senior. The eh only way it can eh come is if "Joseffina was cut off by Yanina opening the door.
"Mami, Tia, ayuda me a consinar la comida." Yanina asked her mother and aunt to help her cook dinner.
They got up and apologized for the sudden departure.
"Joseffina, Gisela, it's alright. I can come back later." said Mulder.
"No no, senior, queda aca a comer." said Gisela, insisting that he stay for dinner.
He understood what she said. "Well, I don't want to impose."
"No me importa, por favor, queda aqui." said Joseffina, saying that it bother her, and for him to please stay.
Mulder nodded. "I guess I'm staying for dinner then." not that he minded at all.
He put his shoes back on and left the room, and entered the living room, where Scully and Victoria were still talking, but not about anything concerning the case anymore. Juan Carlos was also now in the living room. Scully, seeing Mulder come out, got up.
"No, Scully, sit back down. We're staying for dinner." said Mulder sitting down next to her.
Scully was a bit surprised at the invitation. "Ok, that's fine with me."
Victoria and Scully continued their conversation. Mulder didn't pay attention what they were discussing. He was too busy pondering about what Gisela and Joseffina had just finished explaining to him. He was eager to learn more. If only they hadn't been interrupted by Yanina...he could've found out more. Scully interrupted his train of thought.
"Mulder, did you hear what I said?" asked Scully.
"Oh, sorry. No, I was thinking about something else. What were you saying?" asked Mulder.
"I asked if you thought that traffic was worse here or in DC. said Scully.
He thought for a moment, and remembered how long it was taking them to get from place to place. Not to mention how horrible many of the people drive. DC was nowhere near as bad as Miami.
"Here." he said quickly.
"Yeah, that's what I was saying." said Scully, continuing to converse with Victoria, though she knew her partner was up to something.
Mulder's thoughts fell back to his previous ones. He hadn't had his cards read in years. Of course when he last has them read for him, most of the same cards came up. Only, he had never come up as The Magician before; he came up as The Fool (someone in search of; a beginner exploring new things unknown to them.) The Magician meant that the he had mastered the very things he was looking for. That definitely encouraged him and boosted his ego...that is, until he thought about the last part of the cards that were read to him. Those had never come up either. He felt uncomfortable with that subject, so he avoided the thought. The aroma of the food about to be served aided him in doing so.
The table was rather large. He assumed the entire family had eaten together often in the Cortez house hold. Victoria put on some Cuban music and Joseffina came around and served all of the men their Cuban coffee, including Mulder, followed by the women. He knew this coffee was growing on him. Too bad he wouldn't be able to have it back in DC he thought. Thus, he enjoyed the coffee while it was still available to him. Yanina passed around the plates and utensils to everyone. Then, Joseffina came out with the food. The food was even better than what they had eaten at the Cuban restaurant...which was saying a lot. The husbands told many Cuban jokes, and Victoria would translate to Mulder and Scully. They surprisingly had a good time. The once grumpy Humberto and Sergio, were now very laid back and open. Mulder and Scully were both flattered that the family felt so comfortable around them in so little time.
They stayed there for about two hours. Before their departure, Joseffina sneakily hand Mulder a thin book. He looked at the title. 'El Monstruo de Chango'. She gave him a knowing look.
The family said their good byes, and then Mulder and Scully left for their hotel.
Scully smiled for a moment. "Well, that was nice for a change. It's not everyday that we get invited to stay for dinner by people we're investigating."
"Yeah, I definitely have no complaints about that." said Mulder.
The remainder of the drive back to their hotel was a very quiet one. For some unknown reason to him, Mulder felt uncomfortable. This feeling was foreign to him, well, with Scully anyway. He didn't want to admit it, but what Joseffina and Gisela told him earlier about his love life was really bothering him. He continued to shake off the feeling before arriving at the hotel. When they got out of the car he glanced at his watch.
"Wow, 8:45 already?" he was surprised. "Where does the time go?" he asked.
"It gets stuck in Miami's 24/7 rush hour traffic." she joked.
They approached the building fast, and in less than a minute, were in the elevator.
"So, did you find out anything useful from Joseffina Cortez and Gisela Perez?" asked Scully.
"Well, kind of. Not what I was expecting though." he replied.
"Oh, well, Victoria didn't have much to say about her cousins' criminal records. She apparently was never involved with any of that. I didn't really get that impression from her anyway. Then again, looks can be deceiving sometimes." Scully noted.
"Yes, they sure can." he added, as the elevator door opened to their floor.
Scully noticed the small book in his right hand.
"So what did Joseffina give you?" she asked, trying to get a good look at it.
"Something to help me better understand this case." he replied.
They stopped in front of their rooms.
"Let me see that." Scully took the book from his hand.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm just being open to every possibility." he said.
"I think you're ONLY open to that single possibility." Scully unlocked her room and went in.
He remained quiet and unlocked his room as well. Mulder took off his shirt and shoes and plopped on the bed. He was eager to read the small book. His instincts told him that only in there would he find answers to solving this case.
Mulder opened the book and began to read. He didn't get very far when his thoughts drifted back to his tarot reading earlier. Why was it bothering him so much? It's not like any of that should matter to him anyway. He was Fox Mulder, the numb and apathetic seeker of the truth. Deep inside he knew that he wasn't really apathetic, but he tried his best to be. It was his way of protecting himself from everything.
However, no matter how apathetic he tried to be, he couldn't get his mind off of Scully. He laid there for 15 minutes trying to recollect his thoughts and forget about what Joseffina and Gisela had read to him earlier in their tarot deck...until finally...he couldn't take it anymore.
Mulder got up and opened the connecting door to Scully's room. His sudden entrance startled her while she was reading.
"Scully...we need to talk."
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(Oh...you ain't seen nothin' yet . I'll be updating soon! Please continue reviewing! Muchos Gracias! )
author's note: worry not, my wonderful reviewers, for I too am a shipper (just not a fluffy one) ! Just be patient and you'll see what I mean. .
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2:15pm
Mulder and Scully settled for a Cuban cafeteria that was close to their hotel. They had already ordered their food, and Mulder was sipping some Cuban coffee that he had ordered while Scully began to speak.
"I spoke with Victoria about her relationship to her cousins." said Scully
Mulder put down his cup. "And?"
"It turns out that she wasn't too fond of them after all, especially with Luisa Martinez." Scully sipped her iced tea.
"Wow, it seems as if no one has anything good to say about her. So what did Victoria tell you?" said Mulder.
"Well, it went something like this..." Scully began.
---------------flash back of Scully questioning Victoria----------------
"What can you tell me about your cousins, Victoria?" asked Scully
"We all got along growing up, but it seems as if the older they got, the worse they became." said Victoria.
"How so?" Scully asked.
"Yamil was about my age, maybe a year or two older, and I'll be 31 this May. Luisa was almost ten years younger than me. She mostly hung around Yanina, who's 6 years younger than me." she told Scully.
"Did you ever have any problems with Luisa?" Scully asked her.
"I used to be fond of Luisa, she was my god daughter. We got along fine until a few months back." Victoria's eyes met the floor.
"What happened?" asked Scully.
"I had been dating my ex-boyfriend for over five years. His name is Roberto Suarez, and he was only a couple of years younger than me. Anyway, one night, a few months back, he was running late for our date that evening, it was our five year anniversary. I called his cell phone, but no one answered, so I decided to drive over to his place to see what was the matter. I knocked on the door of his apartment, but no one answered either, so I tried the door and it was unlocked and..." Victoria was still looking down.
Scully could see the tears welling up in Victoria's eyes. "Then what happened?" she asked her.
"I went over to his bedroom. The door was closed, so I opened it...and..." Victoria began to cry and looked up at her. "Do you what it's like to have your own cousin and goddaughter betray you in the cruelest of ways, Agent Scully? I loved that man, with all of my heart. I even planned on marrying him, and she knew that!"
"I'm sorry, you must've been really hurt." said Scully placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Hurt? Hurt is not the word for how I felt...especially when I found out that Roberto had been cheating on me with Luisa for almost two years already...I mean, how could she be so damn heartless? The whole time she acted like nothing was going on. She didn't even feel guilty about what she was doing. She just hightailed out of his apartment that night." Victoria was still crying.
"Did anyone else know about this?" asked Scully.
"I'm pretty sure that Yanina knew about it from the beginning. Though at the time I found out, Yanina and her hadn't been talking for a while." said Victoria getting back to normal.
"Do you know why they stopped talking?" asked Scully.
"I don't know. It had been a while." said Victoria.
"Were you still angry with her prior to the incident?" asked Scully.
"Well, of course I was! Do you think I could just get over the whole thing THAT fast? After I broke up with him, they still fooled around." said Victoria.
"I see..." said Scully getting up.
"I'm sorry if I wasn't of any help." Victoria apologized.
"No, you were plenty of help actually, thanks." said Scully, getting out her phone to call Mulder.
-------------------------------end of flashback----------------------------- -
"So...Luisa wasn't so innocent after all." noted Mulder.
"Did Yanina mention any of this to you?" asked Scully.
"No, she didn't actually. She only told me that her and Luisa grew apart for religious and maturity differences." said Mulder.
"Maybe she doesn't want us to know the darker side of her." said Scully.
"Maybe..." Mulder was still fixed on his 'el monstruo de Chango' theory.
Their food arrived.
"I think we should do some background checks on all of the family members to see if we find anything that might shed some light on this case." suggested Scully.
"Good idea." Mulder took a bite of his food. "We should check up on that after this."
Scully nodded.
After they finished up their food and paid the bill, they headed for the criminal records office in downtown Miami. Once they got there, Scully had an idea.
"Mulder, we should check to see if any of the family members were involved with drugs. Miami is a hot spot for drug lords." said Scully.
"Good idea." Mulder replied as the headed over to speak to the person in charge of that section.
Several different agents in the Miami PD were assigned specifically to certain areas of crime. They met up with the person in charge of the illegal substances unit. The man's back was facing them.
"Hello, sir?" Scully started.
The man turned around. Though he was sitting down, he was clearly tall and was African American. He looked fairly young.
"What can I do for you?" he said getting up.
"I'm agent Fox Mulder with the FBI and this is my partner agent Dana Scully." Mulder introduced them both.
"Mike Larry, Miami PD." he said shaking both of their hands. "Hey hey now wait a sec. Did you just say your name was Mulder...as in Spooky Mulder?" Mike Larry recognized him immediately.
"I was hoping you'd remember me." said Mulder with a slight grin.
"Wut up G-man? Brotha it's been a LONG time!" said Mike doing some handshake with him that he had taught Mulder many years ago.
"It certainly has, Bad Boy. I didn't know you were working down here in Miami?" said Mulder.
"Yeah, after my training back in DC, I came back to my home city, you know how that is. You still investigating them little green men?...no wait...my bad... them little gray men." Mike said correcting himself.
Scully was very confused. "How do you two know each other again?"
"I was working in the VCU, this was right before I was assigned to the X- Files. Mike here was training to be a federal agent. I was sort of his mentor I guess you could say. He knew about my side work in the paranormal." Mulder explained.
"Yeah, I finally got promoted to a federal agent, but I stayed in the PD. I specialize in the more tough cases though, stuff that involves the FBI. This is my unit here." said Mike.
"Do you work on your own?" asked Mulder.
"No, I've had a partner for many years now, but right now he's on vacation with his family, so I'm on my own for 2 weeks." he said.
"Oh I see. Anyway, I was wondering if you could help us out with something. My partner and I are investigating a series of 3 murders that took place a couple weeks ago, and we'd like to do some background checks on the family members." said Mulder.
"Of course, anything for you, g-man. By the way, smart move for starting out with illegal substances, because down here, you never know what people are into, and usually a lot of the crimes committed here involves drug dealers and bad money." said Mike.
"Yeah, this was my partner's idea actually. Don't know what I'd do without her." said Mulder lightly patting her on the back.
"Heh, anyway, just give me the names of the family members and I'll look up to see if anything is on file." said Mike.
Scully gave him the names of all of the family members, and Mike placed them through to the computer system's data bank of records. Two of the names showed up.
"Ooh, here we go." said Mike pulling up one of the names. "Yamil Martinez. Boy did he get himself in deep."
Mulder and Scully moved closer to the computer screen.
"It says here that Yamil was involved in a major gang a few years back, I remember I had to bust all of these damn punks...what a pain in the ass. He dealt xtasy, marijuana, cocaine, and other goodies. There wasn't enough evidence to give him a jail sentence, but he was one of the ring leaders alright, cause they cover up their tracks well. It says here that he was placed under house arrest though for a long time. In fact, he was relieved of it 6 months ago." he explained.
"Hmm, I see. He wasn't so innocent either, Scully." said Mulder.
"Are there any more names?" asked Scully.
"Yeah, there's a...Juan Carlos Perez. His record isn't so dirty. He was arrested for being in possession of marijuana." said Mike.
"What about Victoria Cortez, Luisa Martinez, or Yanina Perez?" asked Scully.
Mike shook his head. "Nope, I don't see nothing; at least not here anyway." said Mike. "Anything else you wanna look up?" he asked.
"Nah, I think that'll do it. thanks again, Bad Boy." Mulder and Mike both did their handshake.
"Anytime, G-man. Yo, hit me up next time you come down man. I'll show ya around town." Mike offered.
"Sure will." said Mulder.
Scully thanked Mike Larry as well before her and Mulder left.
They left downtown and decided to head back over to the family's residence. Things were starting to get pretty twisted now.
"Why does it seem like the more we find out about the victims, the further away we get from solving this case?" asked Mulder.
"It's like I said before, there's obviously a darker side to these people then we thought." said Scully.
Mulder thought for a moment. "So what's your theory now?" asked Mulder.
"Well, considering the fact that Yamil was the leader of a gang and dealt lot's of drugs, I think that maybe a gang rival of sorts did this as revenge for something." said Scully.
"But why wait 3 years later to take revenge? Even though they could've planned it out over that period of time, they would've certainly robbed the family...which the killer didn't. No valuables were missing from the crime scene." noted Mulder.
"Then, perhaps a family member is responsible for this." said Scully.
"But with what motive?" asked Mulder.
"Luisa did have an affair with Victoria's former boyfriend for over 2 years, and she was very upset about it." said Scully.
"Why not only kill Luisa then instead of the entire family? That still doesn't make sense." said Mulder.
"Then what's YOUR theory?" Scully was getting annoyed.
"Well, according to legend, el monstruo de Chango attacks those who commit horrible sins and disrespect the gods." said Mulder.
"Then why not kill every criminal or person who commits a hideous sin? If you ask me, that's even more far fetched then my theory." said Scully.
"No, it only attacks followers of Santeria." said Mulder.
Scully raised an eyebrow at him.
"Scully, the footprints I saw at the crime scene were most definitely NOT human." said Mulder.
"Mulder, the killer could've planted those there to ward off people and to lose the blame. They're using these superstitions to their advantage. The killer obviously knows a lot about the religion. Look, let's just ask them more questions, I'm sure something more will turn up." said Scully.
They then pulled up in front of the Perez's house. Juan Carlos answered the door.
"Oh, hello again." he said. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
Mulder and Scully stepped inside the house and sat down at the dinner table with Juan Carlos. Mulder spoke.
"My partner and I did some research today and we found some interesting things out about Yamil and you. I find this funny, because you never mentioned any of this." said Mulder.
Juan Carlos diverted his eyes from them.
"How long was he in that gang dealing drugs?" asked Scully.
He paused before speaking. "Six years. He got busted a few years ago, but he never got put in jail, they didn't find any evidence that he was a drug dealer. He was good at keepings things low key." said Juan Carlos.
"Apparently so was his sister." said Scully.
he got quiet again before speaking. "Now I swear I didn't know a thing about anything going on between Luisa and Roberto. I didn't find out until my mother told me." he replied.
"What about you?" asked Mulder. "You were arrested for being in possession of marijuana."
"Yamil gave it to me, and it was only a little. A tiny little bag, just to try it out." Juan Carlos was speaking nervously.
"What about your sister, Yanina? Was she involved in this too?" asked Scully.
She didn't notice that Yanina was watching them the entire time in the hallway. Yanina spoke.
"If you have any questions concerning me, why don't you just ask me yourself, agent Scully?" Yanina spoke with an attitude in her voice. "No, I wasn't involved with any of that. I thought the whole thing was idiotic. I even lectured my brother for it."
Juan Carlos looked down.
"So you resented your cousins, and your aunt too...am I right? asked Scully in a cocky tone.
"What exactly are you suggesting? Cause if you're suggesting what I think you are, then the answer is NO." Yanina was not a happy camper.
Mulder interrupted their conversation. "That'll be all for right now, thanks. If we have any further questions we'll be back." said Mulder getting up.
Scully followed him out the door.
"Mulder, that girl is nothing but trouble." said Scully now a bit angry. "She's been a problem since we got here, and CLEARLY before then.".
Mulder started walking to the Cortez residence.
"Mulder, where are you going?" asked Scully already having started up the engine.
"I'm going to speak to Joseffina and Gisela. We need more answers." said Mulder.
"What more would they have to tell us?" asked Scully.
"I'm not sure, but I truly believe that this Santeria legend plays a big role in this." said Mulder.
"While you speak to them, I'll speak with Victoria about her cousins." said Scully as she knocked on the door.
Victoria answered. "Back yet again I see." she said.
"Yes, we'd like to speak to your mother and aunt." said Scully.
"Not a problem." Victoria invited them inside.
Scully stayed in the living room with Victoria and asked about her cousins' criminal records and what not. Mulder went towards the back of the house to speak to Joseffina and Gisela, who were preparing for a ceremony to take place later that evening. He entered a room that was painted a goldish color from what he could tell, and had statues and other symbolic things everywhere. The room was dark, filled with the aroma of incense, and the light of candles. Joseffina and Gisela saw him enter.
"Senior, take eh off your shoes, por favor." said Gisela.
"This is eh holy room of los santos." Joseffina explained.
Mulder removed his shoes before going any further.
"Permiso, I don't mean to bother you, but I have some questions for you both." said Mulder walking towards them.
"Si si, sientate" said Joseffina, motioning with her hands for him to sit down with them on the floor.
Mulder sat down. "I'm sorry to bring this up again, but I need to know. I found out some information about your niece and nephew. I want to know if you think that they were punished by Chango for disrespecting and displeasing the saints?" asked Mulder.
They remained quiet.
Mulder tried to simplify his question. "Your sister, Marta, she abandoned Santeria. Yamil was a gang leader and drug dealer, and Luisa was an adulterer...she betrayed her older cousin...Do you think that the saints sent down el monstruo de Chango as revenge?" asked Mulder, hoping they'd understand him.
Joseffina understood him. "We eh try to protect them, but it no work, senior. El monstruo de Chango eh punish them for doing malo cosas...eh very bad things... y se mato." said Joseffina.
"So you believe that this creature murdered your sister and her children to punish them?" asked Mulder.
They both nodded.
Gisela told Joseffina in Spanish to read his tarot. She agreed.
"Senior, su mano, por favor." Gisela asked, pointing to his left hand to pick out the first card from the deck after she shuffled it.
Mulder pulled out a card.
"El Magicion...The eh Magician." said Joseffina. "You are eh very smart and do good in your work." she told him.
She turned over 9 more cards and read them carefully. "Strength...your mind is eh very strong."
Mulder watched in amusement.
"Los santos, no have problem with you...they eh...how you say?...they like eh you very much." said Joseffina. "You look for answer to truth, y senior, you will eh find eh truth, and you will eh conquer it." said Joseffina.
Mulder stayed quiet. Gisela pointed out the meanings to a few other cards.
"The Lovers...and eh...Two of Cups." Joseffina started. "You love eh someone very much, and eh share eh...connection with that eh person.
Mulder stiffened up for a moment.
"No puedo, repressad los carinos. No necessitas." said Gisela, saying he shouldn't repress his feelings or affection, because there was no need to.
Mulder spoke up to change the subject. "How do I find this creature? Or stop it from harming anyone else?" he asked.
"No puedo." said Gisela, saying that he can't.
"I don't eh know how it eh came here, senior. The eh only way it can eh come is if "Joseffina was cut off by Yanina opening the door.
"Mami, Tia, ayuda me a consinar la comida." Yanina asked her mother and aunt to help her cook dinner.
They got up and apologized for the sudden departure.
"Joseffina, Gisela, it's alright. I can come back later." said Mulder.
"No no, senior, queda aca a comer." said Gisela, insisting that he stay for dinner.
He understood what she said. "Well, I don't want to impose."
"No me importa, por favor, queda aqui." said Joseffina, saying that it bother her, and for him to please stay.
Mulder nodded. "I guess I'm staying for dinner then." not that he minded at all.
He put his shoes back on and left the room, and entered the living room, where Scully and Victoria were still talking, but not about anything concerning the case anymore. Juan Carlos was also now in the living room. Scully, seeing Mulder come out, got up.
"No, Scully, sit back down. We're staying for dinner." said Mulder sitting down next to her.
Scully was a bit surprised at the invitation. "Ok, that's fine with me."
Victoria and Scully continued their conversation. Mulder didn't pay attention what they were discussing. He was too busy pondering about what Gisela and Joseffina had just finished explaining to him. He was eager to learn more. If only they hadn't been interrupted by Yanina...he could've found out more. Scully interrupted his train of thought.
"Mulder, did you hear what I said?" asked Scully.
"Oh, sorry. No, I was thinking about something else. What were you saying?" asked Mulder.
"I asked if you thought that traffic was worse here or in DC. said Scully.
He thought for a moment, and remembered how long it was taking them to get from place to place. Not to mention how horrible many of the people drive. DC was nowhere near as bad as Miami.
"Here." he said quickly.
"Yeah, that's what I was saying." said Scully, continuing to converse with Victoria, though she knew her partner was up to something.
Mulder's thoughts fell back to his previous ones. He hadn't had his cards read in years. Of course when he last has them read for him, most of the same cards came up. Only, he had never come up as The Magician before; he came up as The Fool (someone in search of; a beginner exploring new things unknown to them.) The Magician meant that the he had mastered the very things he was looking for. That definitely encouraged him and boosted his ego...that is, until he thought about the last part of the cards that were read to him. Those had never come up either. He felt uncomfortable with that subject, so he avoided the thought. The aroma of the food about to be served aided him in doing so.
The table was rather large. He assumed the entire family had eaten together often in the Cortez house hold. Victoria put on some Cuban music and Joseffina came around and served all of the men their Cuban coffee, including Mulder, followed by the women. He knew this coffee was growing on him. Too bad he wouldn't be able to have it back in DC he thought. Thus, he enjoyed the coffee while it was still available to him. Yanina passed around the plates and utensils to everyone. Then, Joseffina came out with the food. The food was even better than what they had eaten at the Cuban restaurant...which was saying a lot. The husbands told many Cuban jokes, and Victoria would translate to Mulder and Scully. They surprisingly had a good time. The once grumpy Humberto and Sergio, were now very laid back and open. Mulder and Scully were both flattered that the family felt so comfortable around them in so little time.
They stayed there for about two hours. Before their departure, Joseffina sneakily hand Mulder a thin book. He looked at the title. 'El Monstruo de Chango'. She gave him a knowing look.
The family said their good byes, and then Mulder and Scully left for their hotel.
Scully smiled for a moment. "Well, that was nice for a change. It's not everyday that we get invited to stay for dinner by people we're investigating."
"Yeah, I definitely have no complaints about that." said Mulder.
The remainder of the drive back to their hotel was a very quiet one. For some unknown reason to him, Mulder felt uncomfortable. This feeling was foreign to him, well, with Scully anyway. He didn't want to admit it, but what Joseffina and Gisela told him earlier about his love life was really bothering him. He continued to shake off the feeling before arriving at the hotel. When they got out of the car he glanced at his watch.
"Wow, 8:45 already?" he was surprised. "Where does the time go?" he asked.
"It gets stuck in Miami's 24/7 rush hour traffic." she joked.
They approached the building fast, and in less than a minute, were in the elevator.
"So, did you find out anything useful from Joseffina Cortez and Gisela Perez?" asked Scully.
"Well, kind of. Not what I was expecting though." he replied.
"Oh, well, Victoria didn't have much to say about her cousins' criminal records. She apparently was never involved with any of that. I didn't really get that impression from her anyway. Then again, looks can be deceiving sometimes." Scully noted.
"Yes, they sure can." he added, as the elevator door opened to their floor.
Scully noticed the small book in his right hand.
"So what did Joseffina give you?" she asked, trying to get a good look at it.
"Something to help me better understand this case." he replied.
They stopped in front of their rooms.
"Let me see that." Scully took the book from his hand.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm just being open to every possibility." he said.
"I think you're ONLY open to that single possibility." Scully unlocked her room and went in.
He remained quiet and unlocked his room as well. Mulder took off his shirt and shoes and plopped on the bed. He was eager to read the small book. His instincts told him that only in there would he find answers to solving this case.
Mulder opened the book and began to read. He didn't get very far when his thoughts drifted back to his tarot reading earlier. Why was it bothering him so much? It's not like any of that should matter to him anyway. He was Fox Mulder, the numb and apathetic seeker of the truth. Deep inside he knew that he wasn't really apathetic, but he tried his best to be. It was his way of protecting himself from everything.
However, no matter how apathetic he tried to be, he couldn't get his mind off of Scully. He laid there for 15 minutes trying to recollect his thoughts and forget about what Joseffina and Gisela had read to him earlier in their tarot deck...until finally...he couldn't take it anymore.
Mulder got up and opened the connecting door to Scully's room. His sudden entrance startled her while she was reading.
"Scully...we need to talk."
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(Oh...you ain't seen nothin' yet . I'll be updating soon! Please continue reviewing! Muchos Gracias! )