Office of AD Skinner
7.45AM
"Agent Scully. What can I do for you?" AD Skinner glanced over the papers on his desk and made a few notes before shuffling them into a folder and filing it in a lower drawer.
"I wanted to ask you about a case."
"What case?"
"The Martin case."
"You too?" He locked the drawer by his knees and looked up to her for the first time.
"Sir?" she asked confused wondering who else was showing interest in the case and why.
"You're the third person today to ask me about the Martin case."
"Has there been a breakthrough sir?"
"I'm not sure after 20 years if anything on this case can be called a breakthrough. Apparently Agent Dixon has been working on this case for the past 15 months. Last month he followed a cold lead. It brought him to a person called Malcolm Nelson a prior suspect in the Murder of Judge Martin. Somehow he managed to obtain fibre and hair samples from this man who had previously blocked all attempts for samples."
"And now the samples have been mislaid or were destroyed." She concluded sourly. All too often the hindrance of a case was purposefully orchestrated.
"Yes. How did you know?" Skinner leaned forward on his desk and clasped his hands in front.
"The lab was sterilised and all evidence was destroyed."
"Exactly. Agent Dixon is understandably outraged and asked to be removed from the case. He said he couldn't work under the conditions of someone blocking his way."
"You don't think he had anything to do with the destruction of the materials?"
"No. Do you?" he asked cleverly watching her carefully for a reaction.
"Pure speculation sir, nothing more." He thought he caught the edge of a smile curving her lips upward but he couldn't be sure.
"Well I'd be careful who you speak to about that case."
"What do you mean?"
"Agent Dixon said he received various threatening phone calls during his duration on the case and the destruction of his evidence was the final straw."
"So the case is open for investigation?"
"Yes. But it's not your department Agent Scully." He stood up from the table pre-empting her continuance as he walked towards her. "It's not an Xfile."
"It's an unsolved case isn't it?" she argued.
"Yes."
"And essentially that's the Xfiles."
"In a way." He eyed her carefully. "Do you want it?"
"The case file is confidential. Can I see it?"
"Are you taking the case?" he challenged.
"If I need to, to see the file."
"Then I'll get it to you by lunch."
"Thank you sir."
Skinner watched her leaving then called after her and walked around the desk. Back towards his chair. "How is Agent Mulder this morning? He didnt look too well yesterday."
"He's suffering from high fever and a strong case of stupidity."
"Sorry?" Her words made him halt in his tracks and he turned to face her with a inquiring look in his eyes.
"He got caught in a rain storm and didnt get dry as soon as he could. Now he's paying for it. He's got a pretty severe chest infection."
"It was his mothers anniversary this weekend." He added sombrely.
"Yes sir." There were no more words. Nothing to share between two colleagues that had so easily passed into the realm of friendship. The silence offered enough.
"Well send him my regards." He added before she closed the door behind her.
Scully walked over to the bank of elevators and took one up one more floor. Walking slowly through the busy bullpen she spotted Agent Dixon's desk but he was nowhere to be seen. Catching the eye of the agent next to him she smiled warmly.
"Do you know where Agent Dixon is?" she asked her trained eyes noting the lack of personal objects on the desk. No scattered papers, photos or discarded pens.
"He's on a weeks vacation."
"Since when?" Her query was instant and her disbelief was obvious but the other agent didnt seem to notice as he shrugged his shoulders haplessly.
"This morning. He came in and collected some things before he took off."
"Did he go anywhere nice?" she asked still smiling while inside her mind whirred with thoughts and assumptions.
"Not sure." He shrugged again before his phone rang and he pounced on it eagerly.
With a little smile Scully hurried back to the basement office. Sitting at Mulders desk and logging into the FBI intranet she searched for Dixon's personal information. Finding his home and cell phone number she rang them both but got no reply on either of them. Just as she replaced the receiver into it's cradle it rang loudly making her jump.
"Hello?"
"Scully, it's me." Mulders hoarse voice croaked painfully on the other end.
"Mulder, how are you feeling?"
"Wretched."
"I'm glad you decided to stay at home. You shouldn't be out in this weather."
"I didnt decide to stay at home." She heard him turn away from the phone and hurl his chest into a fit of coughing. "I just woke up. Slept through the alarm. Did you speak to Skinner?"
"Yes. He's sending me down the case file to review at lunch."
"We've taken the case?" his surprise was registered with another bout of bad coughing.
"Well until you return to work I have." She could hear him wheezing on the other line.
"I'll be there in half an hour." The bed creaked beneath him as he shuffled off the tousled sheets.
"Mulder don't. Stay there. I'll bring it round to you this evening. You need some time to recuperate."
"C'mon Scully you know I hate to be idle," he whined with wheezy gasps over the phone.
"Well I'm sure you can think of something to entertain yourself."
"You know I'm too weak for any of that!"
"I'll talk to you later Mulder," she said with a sigh.
When she hung up there was a quiet knock on the door. Tim pushed it open enough to see inside without stepping over the threshold of the doorframe.
"Agent Scully?" he asked timidly afraid to enter without permission.
"Tim, come in." she smiled up at him standing sheepishly at the door.
"I heard you've taken the case." He stepped in and cast a quick glance around the room before sitting in the chair opposite her that she gestured towards.
"I'm reviewing it."
"I thought you might like to see this." From between a pile of folders he pulled out a black and red hardback notebook. "I know you have a medical background so you'll understand it."
"What is it?" She took the notebook from him and leafed though the writing inside.
"All the notes I collected during the forensic study."
"How did you get this?" she asked incredulously reading more closely the words inside.
"I wasn't there the day they took the machinery away. I was offsite collecting evidence from a murder victim on South Boulevard. I hand write all my notes first for my reports, my theories and ideas and sift through them. Try to make sense of them" Scully recognised the method and remembered she used to use it too. "I always carry the notebook with me so it wasn't taken as part of the case."
"Who knows you have this?"
"As far as I know, no one does."
"Okay, well lets keep it like that."
"Do you think it's okay? I wont get in trouble will I?"
"No not at all. Leave it with me and don't mention it to anyone."
"I wont." He sat for a moment not sure what to do so she prompted him gently.
"Thanks Tim." He stood and walked away with only a quick glance back before he shut the door behind him.
Scully looked through the notebook and read as much of it as she could. She was fully engrossed in it when Km knocked gently on the door and left the case file on her desk. Without a word she left the room and Scully barley noticed her presence.
The day travelled in slow sunken absorption as she read through each agents take on the murder case. Taking extra care when she came to Mulders profile she read it over twice before moving on, noting the profile was dated over 8 years ago. Most of the notations and theories were similar all pointing to the same suspect Malcolm Nelson but no arrest was ever made and what little evidence was collected. Each time the AIC came close to collecting enough evidence for a warrant something happened.
The first Agent on the case Agent Simon was killed in a car accident, Agent Harding retired from the job, and two other agents left the case for promotions including Agent Mulder. The pattern was obvious to Scully so she decided to take a closer look. All too quickly the darkness outside found it's way in through the windows and lurked in the corners where the light couldn't reach.
When she spied the late hour on the old clock above the door she reached quickly for the phone to ring Mulder but there was no reply. She grabbed her stuff along with her coat and scarf as she rushed out of the office and into the garage where her car was parked. Juggling all her things she struggled with them to find her car keys when she heard the footsteps behind her. Twirling sharply she let everything fall and reached immediately for her gun.
"Whoa! I was coming over to help, but it's not worth getting shot over."
"Agent Dixon?" reholstering her weapon she bent with him to pick up her stuff but then noticed he was holding the notebook
"Where did you get this?" Dixon asked when he flicked through the pages and read some of the contents.
"It's a confidential case agent. You know I'm not permitted to speak about it."
"WHERE DID YOU GET IT???" he shouted suddenly. His anger both surprising and unlike him.
"Give it back." she kept her voice low and calm trying not to anger him again but then she noticed his shoulders slumping and his face releasing all of its tensions.
"This is it. This is my case. It means they can't protect him any longer."
"Protect who?"
"Nelson."
"Malcolm Nelson?" Scully was confused. The suspect who was cleared. Then disappeared. "Who is protecting him?"
"We are. The FBI."
A/N: den den dehhhhhhhh !!!!