Part 16.

"Knowle Rohrer?  But that makes no sense!"  John stood in his office early Wednesday morning and faced Scully, who stood by the door.

"I know.  He's a super soldier that was supposedly killed out in the desert but you know as well as I do that these super soldiers aren't normal.  They don't seem to die, but be vanquished.  And who really knows how long they stay gone."

John looked at her while she brushed a hand through her hair and tried to stifle a yawn.  It had been only eight hours since Gibson had showed up at his door and he had called Mulder and Scully.  He felt really bad.  She didn't need this.  Neither did Mulder.  All three were pulling double duty.  Working on the fraud case in Virginia that Skinner had put them on and secretly trying to locate Monica.  It was hard on all of them.  He walked over to Scully and startled her by putting his hand on her shoulder and pulling her in for a quick hug. 

"I'm sorry," he said, and pulled back.

"For what?"

"For dragging you into this.  This is too much.  After all you have been through."

"You didn't drag me anywhere John.  I want to find Monica just as much as you do.  So does Mulder."

Scully returned his hug just as Mulder walked in.

"Hey, are you trying to make a move on my woman, Agent Dogg-ett?"  Putting his arm around Scully, Mulder grinned at John.

John gave a small laugh.  "Yeah, well it's beyond me what she sees in you."

"Ah, so you admit it."  Although Mulder was grinning, his eyes told a different story.  Scully turned in his arms and looked up into his face.

"You found out something, didn't you?"  All teasing aside, Mulder nodded and sat down in a chair.

"What is it?"  Anxious to hear something new, John stared at Mulder.

"I got Gibson to talk while you were making out with my woman."  Sending Scully a smile, Mulder continued.  "He told me Monica's whereabouts."

"What?"  With new hope, John grabbed the phone, ready to book his flight reservations and a rental car.  "Just tell me where and-"

"Hold on there.  This won't be as easy as it looks.  She's in Los Angeles.  I did some digging around before I got here and I found out who her current partner is."

John felt like strangling him.  He knew where Monica was for awhile then, if he had time to do research on this.  Stay calm he told himself.

Scully could see John was ready to snap so she tried to speed Mulder up.

"Who's her partner Mulder?"                                      

"A guy by the name of Special Agent Sean Ryan.  Your classic good looking guy with high ranking in his field and recommendations coming out of his ass.  Course I had to do some more checking into his background."

Mulder paused to take a sip of Scully's coffee. 

John could feel his tension span cutting short really fast.  "And?"

"This Agent is definitely not who everyone thinks he is.  Turns out there is no Special Agent Sean Ryan.  This guy transferred to the LA Field Office only three months ago.  The LA Field Office was desperate for some new agents and my guess his papers got lost in the process."

"Uh-huh.  So how does someone fool the FBI into hiring him when he isn't even an Agent?  It's next to impossible!  I mean-"

Mulder cut John off with one sharp look.

"Not impossible for a Red Gun."

Part 17.

Monica stood in her apartment and watched the light morning rain hit her windows.  The sky was actually overcast, a first for her since she had arrived in Los Angeles almost two weeks ago.  The drumming of the rain as it beat against the glass felt soothing.  She didn't need soothing though.  She needed to be alert and productive.  Monica turned from the window and faced her apartment.  What the hell was going on?  Nothing seemed right.  She felt so out of control.  She was at a loss with the case.  The Simpson's were lying and she had no clue on how to make them open up to her.  She hadn't heard from Skinner in awhile and had no idea where she stood with her situation in DC.  Someone obviously didn't like her nosing around since her files had been stolen and the message printed on her desk.

Monica walked over to her desk and gently traced the writing that was still visible, despite her many scrubbings.  The minute she had calmed herself down that night she had dusted the desk for fingerprints and had taken a picture of the writing.  Then she spent an hour scrubbing the desk but the message was still there to remind her that she wasn't even safe in her own apartment. 

Weary, Monica headed into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.  She had to be in the office in an hour.  Reaching for her mug, the phone rang and Monica almost dropped the mug on the tile floor. 

"Get a grip!"  She told herself and grabbed for her cell phone on the counter.

"Reyes."

"Agent Reyes?" This is Lucy Simpson."

"Oh!  Is everything alright?"

"Yes…No.  I need to talk to you right away."

"All right.  Let me just call my partner and-"

"No!  Just you.  Kate doesn't trust him.  And frankly, neither do my husband and I.  We would really appreciate it if we could just speak with you."

"All right. No problem.  I can be at your house in a half hour."

"Thank you.  See you soon."

Monica clicked off the phone and set it down.  This was good.  It had to be.  She may be able to get Kate to reveal what was truly happening to her. 

The only thing was, how did she tell Agent Ryan that she had to do this alone?  What was really bizarre was she felt relieved that she couldn't be with Agent Ryan on this one.  Most of the time on this case, it felt like he was really interested in knowing everything that was going on in the case, but he didn't really want to be involved.  Just do the basic procedures and if they didn't pan out, to just move on.  In fact, as more time went by, he seemed more interested in what her next move was on the case then in trying to piece together evidence and come up with theories.  Really strange. 

Walking out of the kitchen, Monica brushed it aside and began to get ready.  Her gut instincts told her he was on her side.  She had nothing to worry about with-

"Whoa!"  It finally hit her.  The realization that nothing could be trusted anymore.  No one and no thing.  She had no one behind her to back her up.  She was alone, far from anyone she really knew.  Her life had been threatened more times in the last month than in her entire life.  And she was going to rely on her instincts?

Monica began to sob as she picked up her robe and began to twist it in her hands as she quickly paced her bedroom.  What was she going to do?  What the hell did she know about Agent Ryan anyway?  Did she even bother to do a background check on him?  No, of course not.  She had been too caught up in  being shaken by the phone call she received her last night in DC.  She was too caught up in leaving John.  And everyone she knew or cared about.

Monica suddenly stopped pacing and looked at herself in the mirror.  Really looked.  Beyond the tear stained face and the puffy eyes.  She was a woman being hunted.  By whom and by how many, she didn't know.  What she did know was that she was a fighter.  And she was going to fight back with whatever she had.  And she was going to have to be ruthless if she wanted to remain alive…and if she wanted to see John again.

Monica grabbed the phone by her bed and dialed Agent Ryan's cell phone.

"Ryan."

"Agent Ryan?  It's  Monica.  Listen, there's something I have to take care of before I come into the office today."

"Do you need some help?  I could-"

"No, thanks.  Listen, could you just get started on the background check on Terrance Fisher?"

"Yeah sure.  But I really think-"

"Thanks.  I'll see you in a bit."

Monica set the phone down and wiped her eyes.  No more emotional outbursts she thought with a smile.  She had a lot to do today and there wasn't a minute to be spared.