Part 27.
John sat in his car, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He wanted to be in action, doing something, anything, to help bring Monica back.
But he was forced to wait it out. At least until he received the call.
He looked over at the passenger seat and stared at the cell phone. Damn it, it was like waiting for a pot to boil. Or whatever that stupid saying was.
John tore his eyes away from the phone and glanced out the windshield. He was parked outside the FBI LA Field office. Craning his neck, he looked up toward the top of the building.
Somewhere in that building Monica had tried to start a new life.
With a new partner.
Completely shutting him out.
Well, after this was done, she was never leaving him in the dark again. They were never leaving each other, period.
Whoa! Where the hell did that come from? He never before saw them as...being together forever. But now, because he may have lost her, he finally knew what she meant to him. It seemed perfect to spend the rest of his life with her. She was everything he had ever wanted in life. Companionship, intelligence, sense of humor, beauty...she had it all. She was everything to him. And he would prove it once she was in his arms, safe and yelling at him for laying on the testosterone a little too thick. His heart warmed at the thought of her telling him just exactly what she thought about his plans on keeping her tucked safely away from all the harm in the world. Unrealistic and stupid…but hell, he was in love! He was in love with Monica. He was surprised that he wasn't nervous or scared by declaring it to himself. He felt at ease with it, as if he'd known it all along.
John's grin froze on his face when his cell phone rang. He quickly grabbed it as he stared at the front entrance of the building.
"Doggett."
"Agent Doggett, I'm not going to tell you how stupid you are. Or how very close I am to removing you from this office so you can be someone else's problem.
"Thank you sir."
"What I am going to tell you is you are cleared to walk into the LA Field Office to speak with Assistant Director Stevens."
"Thank you sir."
"Oh bullshit. I know you would have gone in there already if it hadn't been for the tight security I had placed around Monica."
There was a pause.
"A lot of good it did though."
"Sir, it's not your fault. These fucking bastards would have found a way to reach her no matter what security had been placed around her. They wanted her and now they have her. Simple as that"
"Be that as it may, I have a responsibility to her. Bring her back John."
"I will sir, count on it."
"I know I can. Mulder and Scully are on their way right now. I'm sure they'll contact you when the land in LA. Keep me informed. I mean it John."
"You got it Sir."
John put down the cell and got out of the car.
He entered the building and, after ten minutes of going through security, John was let in.
He went up to the Assistant Director's office and almost jogged toward the secretary.
Giving John a flirtatious smile, she said, "Hello, what can I do for you?"
In no mood for games, John quickly said, "I need to see the Assistant Director."
Hurt by his lack of interest in her, she rolled her eyes and said, "Name?"
"John Doggett."
The secretary informed the AD and John was immediately let into the office. Walking up to the desk, John introduced himself and sat across from him.
"Thank you for your time sir. I need some information on some recent cases Agent Reyes has been working on."
AD Stevens stared at him for a minute and pulled out some files. Without a word, he slid them across the desk toward John.
John took them and asked if he could keep them for awhile. The AD nodded and John got up. He reached out and shook the AD's hand. When he pulled away, the AD said, "She's a damn good agent. I don't know who these bastards are but I hope you catch them."
John stared at him and then walked out. He should have told him about Agent Ryan but he knew it wasn't smart to make the AD think he had completely lost his mind by blaming aliens.
He had no idea what to make of this office or this whole damn city.
Back at the motel John spread out all of the files. There were only four. After studying them, John immediately zeroed in on the file about a thirteen-year-old suspect who was suspected of stealing jewelry. Monica seemed to have spent a lot of time on it, he thought, as he studied her notes. All right, so maybe it was time to pay this girl a visit. Maybe she knows something, anything.
He was surprised he was handed these files since Agent Sean Ryan was still assigned to them as well. But apparently Agent Ryan had stopped all of the investigations to pursue looking for Monica.
More like hiding her.
Looking at his watch, he saw he had only four hours until Mulder and Scully arrived. He should probably catch some sleep but he was too worried to sleep. Instead, John pulled out Kate Simpson's file again and began to read it. He was going to look for anything that might point him in the right direction.
Part 28.
"Oh My God! Kate!" Monica rushed forward.
"Kate, how did you get here? You can't be here! They'll find you…and oh God, we have to get you out of here."
Monica reached out to take Kate's arm and jumped back in alarm when her arm passed right through Kate.
"You're...you're astro projecting?"
"Astro projecting. Astral travel. Astral projected travel. All mean the same thing," Kate grinned at her, "I've been trying to research it, cause you know, it's so unusual and all."
Monica gave her a strained smile and looked out the window. No sign of anyone...yet.
"Monica? I'm dreaming right? I mean, I can't possibly be traveling while I'm sleeping."
Monica crouched down slightly and looked into eyes full of fear and uncertainty.
"I don't know exactly what this is. But I'm fairly sure you're not sleep-walking."
"Where are we?"
"I wish I knew that too. And I also would like to know how you ended up here."
Monica straightened and glanced out the window again. "This is their doing. Somehow...they are taunting me. They sent you to make me believe that I could have a way out."
"What?"
Monica turned quickly at the frightened voice. "Oh honey, I was just rambling."
"They? Who are 'they'?"
"It's not important. What's important is getting you out of here."
Monica began to walk out of the room, hoping Kate would follow her. Kate did and they stepped into the hallway.
"Okay, Kate, I'm not sure how to do this. What is it you do before you feel yourself floating away?"
"I usually feel really tired. And then I take a nap. And then I'm… gone."
"Okay, well then why don't we make you-"
"Monica, look at you!"
Now that they were out of the darkened room, they could see each other more clearly. And Kate was horrified at the way Monica looked.
"You're hurt! So much blood and-"
Monica could see the panic rise up into Kate's face and quickly urged her to sit down.
"It's nothing. Now I need you to concentrate. Take deep breaths."
"Okay."
Monica watched as Kate closed her eyes and lay perfectly still on the hallway floor.
About five minutes later, Monica was almost sure Kate was about to slip away when Kate bolted upright.
"Kate?"
"
There are three FBI agents at the door. I could hear them, but couldn't see them because I was not fully back. One called one of the agents, 'Scully'."
Monica collapsed to the floor and tried to grab Kate's hand, which was impossible.
"What? Three agents and one was named 'Scully'? Are you sure?"
Kate nodded. "Two guys and one woman. Something's wrong."
And with that Kate went under again.
Monica could just stare at her, too shocked to even speak.
Kate opened her eyes two and a half minutes later. She looked at Monica with sad eyes.
"They are talking to my parents in the living room. I could still hear them. One agent, I think his name is John, he's asking about some people called Red Guns."
Kate looked at Monica questioningly but all Monica could do was shake her head in confusion.
"I better go back. I think they are going to try and wake me up so they can talk to me. I'll be right back."
"NO!"
Scared, Kate backed away slightly.
Calmly, Monica looked Kate in the eyes. "Kate, I really appreciate that you want to help me, but I don't want you to come back here. There are some very bad people here and I don't want them anywhere near you."
"But what about you and-"
"Kate, please listen to me. Don't come back. And don't tell anyone you saw me. Will you do that for me?"
Kate stared at her and slowly nodded.
"Thank you. I wish I could hug you, but at the moment, that seems impossible."
Monica smiled at her and Kate smiled tearfully back.
Hearing noise outside, Monica looked out one of the windows along the hallway.
Nothing.
Turning back, she saw Kate was gone.
Monica breathed in a huge sigh of relief. Hopefully Kate will stay away for good. She should never come back. These men would hunt her down and God knows what they would do to that innocent little girl.
Red Guns? Who were they? Were they the men after her? Some type of super soldier?
Hearing more noise again, she looked out through the window again and found herself staring into a pair of dark green eyes. The left eye winked at her and suddenly the figure thrust his arm through the glass and grabbed her. She felt herself being pulled through the shards of glass and falling from the second floor window.
Green grass flying up at her. So green and…
Darkness.