Part 25.
John stared out his windshield and wearily rubbed a hand over his gritty eyes. It was seven o'clock in the morning and he was in desperate need of some coffee. He looked up at Monica's apartment building and sighed. She hadn't come home. He didn't know of he should be worried or relieved, considering the fact that the Mercedes had passed by twice more after John had written down the license plate number and identified Agent Sean Ryan.
He stared up the street, as if daring the Mercedes to come roaring past him again.
Suddenly, his cell phone rang. John reached over to the passenger seat and couldn't see the phone. He rummaged through the surveillance equipment and then saw it wedged between the seats.
"For crying out loud."
He finally freed it and snapped it open.
"Doggett."
"Hey Dogg-ett, where are you?"
"Disneyland. Where the hell do you think I am?"
"Ah, no sign of her at her apartment then huh?"
"No, nothing. Which could be good or bad."
John then told Mulder about the Mercedes and read the info he had written down about the car.
"Okay, I'll run this through and see what I can whip up."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"Oh wait, Scully just walked in."
John listened to Mulder repeat to Scully what John had told him. While listening, John scanned the nearly deserted streets. He guessed just about everyone was smart enough to sleep in on Saturdays. He used to do that, a lifetime ago.
"Okay, so we're gonna check up on this."
"What? Oh yeah. Thanks."
"We've nearly finished with the case in Virginia. Which is bad for you, my friend. Skinner's been asking where you are and Scully's been giving him sexual favors to distract him."
"MULDER!"
John laughed as he heard Scully slap Mulder with paper.
With humor, Mulder said, "All right, I better go before Scully decides to pour coffee on my head. Keep us informed." And then Mulder hung up.
Setting down the cell, John started up the car. He needed to go shower and catch some sleep so he could refresh his mind.
Driving through the deserted streets, John kept an eye out for the Mercedes but there was no sign of it.
Finally he pulled up in front of his motel room and, exhausted, dragged himself into his room and fell on top of his bed without even taking off his shoes first.
What seemed like five minutes later John heard his cell go off.
Opening one eye, John saw that he had been asleep for an hour.
"Damn it," he grumbled as he got up and blindly reached out for his cell.
"Doggett," he said sharply into the phone.
There was some static but no voice. John was about to hang up when Monica jumped into his mind.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Anyone there?"
Silence.
"Monica?" he asked softly.
More silence and then a faint, "John?"
"Monica?"
John jumped off the bed and ran his hand though his hair in worry.
"Monica, are you okay? Monica?"
Silence.
"Monica? Where are you? Are you hurt? Tell me where you are."
Faintly he heard a sob and then the phone went dead.
John put down the cell phone and stared at it with terror.
Part 26.
Monica was still gripping the phone, although it was so slicked with blood that she was finding it hard to keep it in her grasp. She listened to the silence that had enveloped her after hearing John's voice.
Oh God, she couldn't believe she had gotten to hear his voice one last time. And that would be the last time. She was sure of it as she looked around the small kitchen. All the lights had been shut off when the power had gone out, ending her ability to see much of anything… and the chance to actually say good bye to John.
Slowly she dropped the phone and watched it clatter to the floor. In a daze, Monica used the wall to help support her weight as she stood up from her crouching position on the hard linoleum floor. She had dropped like a bullet when the electricity had gone off.
Limping, Monica made her way through the kitchen and out the back door into the afternoon sun.
Stepping off the back steps and looking around, she walked around the outside of the small cabin.
It had only been an hour since her run-in with the super soldiers. She had run through the trees as if her life had depended on it. And it had depended on it, she thought, as she scanned the trees for movement.
She realized she was a sitting duck in plain view but she figured there was little she could do to hide from these men. So what was the use of hiding in dark corners?
The key was to keep moving.
Still, she had been surprised when she spotted the cabin, and even more surprised not to see any super soldiers following her through the trees or waiting for her at the cabin.
It could have been a trap, letting her find this cabin. But she didn't care. She'd given up just about all hope of coming out of this alive. All that mattered was talking to John one last time.
And so she had walked in, and hearing no one else in the cabin, ran to the phone. But just as soon as John had had answered his cell, the phone had gone haywire and then had gone dead.
"Damn it!"
Hysterical, Monica kicked the garage door of the cabin.
And screamed in agony as her swollen foot became even more engulfed in pain.
After the first initial scream Monica had to bite her tongue really hard to keep from screaming more. If she hadn't already announced her arrival to the super soldiers, surely a few more screams would have them all arriving within seconds.
Just what she needed.
But wait, there was already someone here. Someone had to of cut the electricity. And with such perfect timing, she thought with utter disgust. Just enough to say one word to John before being cut off.
She really wished she had a weapon. Grabbing a piece of firewood, Monica entered the cabin. She didn't care how ridiculous she looked with the firewood held out in front of her. If all she could do was clobber the super soldier with wood to defend herself, then so be it.
But she prayed that it was a perpetrator because she didn't have any needles handy to stab any super soldiers in the back of the neck.
She walked the perimeter of the first floor and slowly climbed up the stairs.
Turning to her right, she saw two bedrooms. Looking into both of them, she saw nothing.
Monica then walked to the left of the staircase and into a little storage room.
And was shocked at who she saw standing by the small window at the far side of the room.
"Kate?"