Part 29.
Scully and Mulder sat on the long couch in the living room, both watching John as he talked to Kate. Kate was sitting on a chair and John was crouched in front of her.
"Okay, Kate. I just need you to tell me what it is that Agents Reyes and Ryan asked you."
Kate looked at him a little frightened. But she believed these agents were going to help Monica so she knew she had talk to them. And they didn't give her the creeps, like Agent Ryan had.
"They asked me about astro projection."
John looked up quickly and caught Scully's eye. She looked at him and just shook her head in bewilderment. Mulder, however, looked calm, as if he had been expecting this.
"Okay. Why don't you tell me about that then."
"Ummm…well for a few months now, when I'm sleeping, I travel."
"Travel? Like sleep walking?"
"Yes…and no. It's more like a dream…only when I wake up I find out it wasn't a dream. I had actually gone to these places. Places really far away."
"Okay, and how do you know you've gone to these places?"
"The NEWS. The cops. They all tell me I'm a thief. That I've stolen all this jewelry. But I wouldn't do that!"
Kate looked at him earnestly, expecting him to pat her on the head and roll his eyes.
"I believe you."
Kate didn't know why, but that simple statement made her feel tons better. He was such a nice man. Maybe she should tell him about Monica.
John, on the other hand, had no idea why he believed her. This all sounded way too unreal to even be plausible. But since Monica's disappearance, he had found that he was ready to believe almost anything, just as long as he didn't shut out any possibility of finding Monica.
Kate finished telling John all of the incidents involving her astro projection. Then the agents got up and, telling Kate's family they would be in touch, they left.
Walking down the driveway, John turned to look up at the sky.
This seemed hopeless. She could be anywhere.
Scully touched him his arm and he turned to look at her.
"John, I think we need to go back to the motel and the three of us need to start going over everything."
Mulder nodded and put his arm around the shivering Scully. "There's something in the files all right. We just have to find it."
"Let's not forget we have a meeting with Director Stevens tomorrow."
John chuckled. "Should be interesting."
Mulder grinned but sobered up quickly. "We also need to locate Agent Ryan. He is one of the major keys here. Either he doesn't know where Monica is and wants to, or he does and will lead us right to her."
The three stared at each other for a moment and silently began to head towards their rented Explorer.
John was about to climb behind the wheel when Kate came flying out of the house.
"Agent Doggett!"
Kate kept screaming it until John ran over to her with Scully and Mulder right behind him.
"Kate, what's wrong?"
"I have to talk to you...please?"
John straightened up and looked at her worried parents before he followed Kate inside the house.
Once they were all inside, Kate turned to everyone. "I can only talk to John."
Surprised, her parents took Kate by her shoulders.
"What you can tell him, you can tell all of us."
"No, I promised Monica I wouldn't tell anyone. But I have to say something…or…"
John looked sharply at Scully and Mulder and then at Kate's parents.
Lucy finally said, "Okay, why don't you go talk to John in the family room? The rest of us will go into the kitchen and have some coffee."
Kate's parents left the room, followed by Scully and a disappointed Mulder, who very clearly wanted to stay and listen. And would have if Scully hadn't dragged him out of the room.
Kate grabbed John's hand and nearly pulled him down the hall into an airy room with a huge view of the San Fernando Valley.
"Kate, what did Monica not want anyone to know?"
Kate sat on a chair and nervously played with her rings.
"Well, this morning I astro projected again, and I had traveled to see Monica."
John's heart lurched to his throat but he gently told her to go on.
"She said some bad people were there and they wanted to hurt me, so I must never come back."
"Do you know where you were?"
Kate shook her head and squashed John's hope. "All I could see was the cabin we were in. It was surrounded by trees. Monica didn't know either."
"If I need you too, could you describe the cabin with all the details you can remember?"
"Yes."
"Kate, why tell me this now? What happened between when we left and when you came out of the house tonight?"
Kate looked down and twisted the ring on her right thumb.
"I fell asleep on the couch in the living room after you left and somehow I immediately astro projected. It's never happened so fast before. And I ended up at the cabin again. Only Monica wasn't there. I could see the window in the room where she first saw me and it was broken now. And there was blood."
John clenched his fist at the thought of Monica lying somewhere hurt.
Kate's eyes filled with tears. "She was so hurt when I saw her. And now, if…if...if she fell through the window…she could be dead." Kate started to hiccup.
John felt the terror creeping up as he fought to gain control of his emotions. "How hurt? Where was she hurt?"
Kate shrugged a shoulder. "Everywhere. She was covered in blood. Her clothes all dirty and bloodstained. And her feet…" Kate shivered at the thought.
"Is there anything else you can remember?"
Kate thought for a moment and shook her head.
"Okay." Digging into his pocket, he found a pen and wrote his cell number on the back of a magazine that was lying on the coffee table.
"Here's my cell number. I want you to call me, anytime, if you remember anything else, or if you see her again."
Kate nodded and reached out to take the magazine.
John handed it to her and gripped her hand. "And if you feel scared again and want to talk to me or Agents Scully and Mulder, give me a call. Okay?"
Kate nodded again and sniffed. John led her out of the room and met up with Scully and Mulder in the kitchen. One look at John's face and they quickly put their mugs down and said hasty good byes to the Simpson's as they hurried out to the Explorer.
John filled them in on the way back to the motel and all three were brainstorming ideas by the time they pulled into the motel's parking lot.
Part 30.
Monica slowly awoke to the smell of rubber. Shaking her head to clear the haziness, she instantly realized her mouth was covered in some rubber material. She was sitting in a chair with her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied to the legs of the chair. The ropes tying her hands were almost cutting off her circulation.
She must have been unconscious for awhile because her body was numb. At least the numbness eased the excruciating pain she knew she should be feeling.
The room was dark. She had to be in a basement of some kind since she could feel, just barely, the dankness of the air around her. Monica slowly turned both ways to try and make out her surroundings but her head screamed in pain.
Taking a deep breathe, Monica yet again forced down the panic and tried to think like an agent. Wiggling her feet, she knew it was hopeless to try and work them free.
"Don't be getting any ideas now, Monica."
Monica looked up at the familiar voice and wasn't surprised. A single light bulb was turned on and filled the room with a soft glow.
The man walked over to her and ripped of the rubber covering her mouth. She wanted to scream but her tongue felt like cotton.
She swallowed a few times and finally managed to say, "You son of a bitch."
"Now, now Monica, is that anyway to talk to your partner?"
"Partner my ass." Monica continued to glare at him as hatred filled her. She had trusted this man and to know Agent Ryan was the enemy all along made her sick to her stomach.
He stepped close to her and peered at her head.
"Hmmm, it's a wonder that fall didn't kill you. Or your little," Agent Ryan tsked, "spout in the woods."
Monica didn't say anything. She didn't even grimace when he rubbed his hand across her temples and then drew it away, completely smeared in blood. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction to know that he was hurting her.
"Ah, we must get this break taken care of as well. Looks like you didn't come out of that fall unscathed after all." Agent Ryan touched her right wrist and it instantly seared with pain. The numbness had left her wrist with his touch and now she had to bite her tongue to keep from moaning with pain.
"Who are you?"
"Who am I? I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet. You were such a good agent."
Monica ignored the past tense of his statement. "Well? Are you some kind of a super soldier?"
"Yes, I guess you could say that."
Agent Ryan put his hands behind his back as he walked around the room.
Oh, he's enjoying this way too much, Monica thought with anger.
"I'm part of a group called the Red Guns. We have specials means of manipulating. I guess you could say that's how we have gained such prestige power. We use the human life, the energy of blood to thrive."
Monica listened attentively. Somewhere, he had to have a weak point and she was going to find it. She would bring him down, even of she didn't survive at the end
"By taking the identities of FBI agents? Isn't that a little pathetic? You're hiding behind names, behind titles.
Agent Ryan whipped around and set his lethal gaze directly on her. "We are not pathetic. We do what has to be done to gain total control."
"Oh, by taking over the mind of a thirteen-year-old girl and forcing her to commit criminal acts? Wow, how brilliant of you."
Agent Ryan's face began to turn red. "Bitch!"
Monica shrank back, instinct preparing her for a blow.
But Agent Ryan calmed and gave her a wicked smile before continuing to walk around the room.
"We do what is necessary to insure that we are right on track."
"Right on track for what?"
"To take over the world."
Monica sat there and just stared at him. He couldn't be serious. Could he? She knew the super soldiers had tried to do something similar but not to this extent. And they had even set a date for it, though no one really believed it would happen. Except Mulder.
"So you plan on doing this by manipulating?"
"Yes, by manipulating. Making people do exactly what we want.
"Then why am I not dead? Why not manipulate me to commit suicide?"
"You…and your FBI partners are my own fun and games. You are doing exactly what I want you to do."
Monica thought of John and the others. Were they still alive? Had Agent Ryan gotten to them yet? No, please no…
"Ah, I can see by your face you are worried. Good."
And with that Agent Ryan walked toward the door. She had to know. She didn't care how frightened she sounded.
"Wait! What happens next? Why am I the one you have chosen to help you? What do I have that you want? Why," Monica swallowed and took a deep breathe, "why haven't you already taken it?"
Agent Ryan didn't turn around. He stared at her for moment and then simply said, "You just have to wait."
And with that he left.