CHAPTER 2
About 15 minutes after leaving her townhouse, Kitty arrived in downtown Washington, DC, waiting to make the final turn into the secured parking garage of the FBI headquarters. As she waited, Kitty unzipped her jacket pocket and pulled out her security badge. Once she made that turn onto the government property, she would need to have it displayed on her at all times.
Once the traffic cleared, Kitty drove her car down to the checkpoint station at the bottom of the driveway.
"Good morning, ma'am. May I see your ID please," the security guard stationed at the booth said in his normal monotone manner. Kitty proceeded to hand him her security badge. The guard looked at the badge, and then looked at it again. Suddenly, he stood at prompt attention and handed the badge back to Kitty. "You may proceed, ma'am," he said with a salute. "Have a nice day!"
"Thank you. You do the same," replied Kitty, slightly blushing.
"Yes ma'am."
Kitty clipped the badge to the collar of her jacket, and then moved the car forward a few feet, waiting for the steel garage door to open for her. She looked back in her rear view mirror at the guard going back into his booth, mouthing the word "Wow" to himself. Once the door opened, she proceeded down the ramp inside two levels to her assigned parking space. After turning the engine off, Kitty looked in the rear view mirror to make sure everything was okay with her hair, and then stepped out with the attaché case.
After closing the door, she set the alarm on the car using the remote on her key chain. The car honked it's horn, indicating that the alarm had been activated. Kitty placed her keys in the outer pocket of the attaché case, and proceeded to the stairs that would take her to the main lobby of the building.
Upon arriving at the main lobby, Kitty went to the far right side, where the main checkpoint was at. At the checkpoint, she pointed to her badge. The guard there stood up and ushered her around the metal detector, noting that her badge gave her clearance around the detectors. Shortly thereafter, she smiled at the person in front of her.
"Good morning, Kitty! Right on time as usual," said the voice of Special Agent Kristina Abernathy.
"Yes, and thanks for the extra time this morning", replied Kitty as she looked at the petite, blond-haired 30 year old woman. Kristina had been the one who had suggested the idea of recruiting Kitty into the government agency, and she had been rewarded for her suggestion by becoming the contact between Kitty and the government officials. After five years of being a secretary for one of the generals at the building, she greatly embraced this new experience. "So, what do we got this morning?" Kitty asked.
"I not sure. The Director will fill us in on it. He is expecting us shortly. Should we take the stairs?"
"If it is not a problem with you, Kris," Kitty replied.
"Not at all. I need some exercise. Besides, we need to catch up on some gossip."
As the climbed the stairs up to the Director's office on the fourth floor, they talked about the TV show "Lost", and wondered what caused the plane in the show to crash. Just as they were about to reach the door for the fourth floor, the door opened and two people – a man in his early 30's in a dark suit and a woman about the same age in a stylish pantsuit – stepped out.
"Mulder, I'm telling you for the last time. There is no such thing as aliens!"
"All come on, Scully. You have to believe. Look at what happened on that one mission we had last year. Remember, the one with ... well, speak of the devil! Kitty, it good to see you again!"
"Fox, Dana, good to see the both of you. How have been things?"
"Oh, the usual paranormal and alien encounters," Mulder said, looking at Scully. "Right, Scully?"
"Whatever," Scully said as she rolled her eyes. "What brings you here, Kitty. Another call from the Director?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure for what, though".
"Well, hopefully it will involve us again sometime," smiled Mulder. "I liked working with you, and I wouldn't mind working with Ms. Abernathy either."
"You never know. Well, we must be going. Good to see you guys again. Keep in touch!" Kitty said.
"Yeah, we will. Let's go, Mulder. Mulder. MULDER!!" Scully said in a harsh voice as she walked down the stairs.
"Oh, sorry. I must have been daydreaming." "Yeah," Mulder thought to himself as he slowly followed her down. "Working with a redhead, a blond, and a brunette all at the same time would be something."
Kitty and Kristina entered the fourth floor and went down to the end of the hallway, where the Director's office was at. At the door, they each scanned their badges through the security lock. "Enter, Katherine Pryde," said the computer voice. "Enter Kristina Abernathy."
After closing the door behind them, they were greeted by the Director's secretary. "The Director will see you now." She opened the double doors, and Kitty and Kristina walked in behind her, both eager to find out what this mission would be.