Chapter 11
The Glades, Star City
5:01 AM
The Undertaking may have been more than three years ago, but despite the best effort of a lot people – including the current Mayor of Star City – it was still a shell of what it had once been. One of the sick jokes around the area was that Batman wouldn't be caught in this part of town. It said a lot about Malcolm Merlyn that he considered this one of his great acts.
Given the size of the area, there were a lot of places Malcolm could've stashed a body. Indeed, even as the collected heroes made their plan, there was a fair amount of debate whether they'd find Covarrubias dead or alive. Most of them thought that she'd be of no value to anybody if she was found dead. Team Arrow – including Thea – thought that there was a real chance she'd be gone when they got there.
"It's her body that counts," Oliver reminded them. "This is Malcolm Merlyn. He doesn't leave loose ends."
"Then why are we going in the first place?" Kara asked.
"On the one in a million chance that he'll keep his word," Diggle said.
Regardless of what Malcolm had told them, there was no way Oliver could make it to Star City from where he was in under an hour. So Barry, as he had on more than one occasion, got Oliver where he need to be. He would be there in case something went wrong. Everyone else would be following online.
"Now that we're here, where would he hide her?" Barry asked.
"He said the place of his greatest triumph. So we're going to Ground Zero."
Barry heard the pain in Oliver's voice. He knew, even after all this time, this was still one of his friends most painful moments. "Why would he want to be there? This was his greatest loss."
"This is where Malcolm thinks he was born. In a very twisted way, I can see where he's coming from."
Just before Oliver started going underground, Barry stopped him. "I actually agree with most of your friends. This is a bad idea."
"It was a bad idea for Mulder to have a conversation with Merlyn, and that's why were here in the first place." Oliver reminded him. "Now I don't believe for a second we can trust him, but we still we have to play this out. He is right about one thing. This is our best chance to get an edge on the Syndicate."
"He's not just going to hand her over, dead or alive," Felicity reminded him in his earpiece.
"Are we even sure we're on the right track?" Mulder asked. "Whatever satellites we have pointed at this place aren't going to show us if anybody's even here."
"Oh, he's going to be here," Oliver said assuredly. "If there's one thing Merlyn likes to do, it's to prove how clever he is. He may be scared shitless on the inside, but he's going to put up the same arrogant front he always has. That's why he gave us a trail of bread crumbs rather than tell us directly."
Mulder was more inclined to believe that Merlyn had been around long enough to think that every conversation he made was being bugged by somebody – call it the Lone Gunmen effect. But despite his spot-on profile of what Merlyn was going to do immediate after their conversation, he didn't know Merlyn nearly as well Team Arrow and Flash did. He did, however, have the same gut feeling that any minute things were going to go balls-up. It was inevitable. The Syndicate had always had the upper hand in every one of these kinds of scenarios. The fact that Malcolm was giving all the signs of defecting didn't change his opinion of this one iota.
"Stay back," Oliver warned Barry.
"You really think he's not going to know I'm here?" Barry said doubtfully.
"I'm going to go through the motions," Oliver said. "When it's over, you're going to get Covarrubias out of here as fast as possible."
Oliver knew his nemesis well. Things were going to go wrong.
Not even he could foresee how.
FORMER SITE OF THE MACHINE
5:06 AM
Oliver wasn't at all surprised to see that Malcolm was there, standing over a bound and gagged Covarrubias.
"One last look at your handiwork before you left?" he couldn't resist saying.
"My son died here," Malcolm said softly. "And as you'll recall, I never got to attend his funeral. This is as close as I'll ever be to him again."
It might just be an ash but every so often, Oliver saw signs of a heart in this monster. He decided not to pierce the old wound, considering it throbbed for him even more. "Let's get this over with," he said slowly. "Is she alive?"
"For someone who once didn't pause before killing his enemies, you've picked a strange time to get a moral compass." Merlyn held up a hand. "I don't know if what's currently running through her blood stops working if she dies. At this moment, she's worth more alive than dead. The Syndicate probably won't think so now that they know she's missing."
"Is that the only reason you're handing her over to us?" Oliver asked.
"You have no reason to believe me, Oliver, but I don't want to destroy the world. There's no profit living on a cinder, even if you are running it." Merlyn snarled.
"And your alliance with Damian Dahrk," Oliver was never going to let this go.
"I was trying to save my daughter."
"So you gave him Laurel in exchange." Oliver had changed his mind. He was going to rub salt in that wound. "You really think Tommy would've been fine with that?"
That did strike home. "You really want to re-litigate this?" Merlyn snarled.
"You're the one standing in his grave. You tell me." Oliver said. "Now let's get back to the point. What did you do this for?"
Malcolm closed his eyes. "This is the last double-dealing I can ever do. You may think I have nine lives, but we both know what these people are capable of. I'm going to have to run for the rest of my life. All I ask is that you don't try to find me."
Oliver blinked twice. "That's it?"
"That's it?! I'm never going to be able to see my daughter again! You may not believe me, but she is the only family I have left in this world. I'd think you, of all people, would be able to appreciate that!"
The idea that Oliver would have anything in common with this monster was not something he liked to think about that much. Nevertheless, it was true. And as much as he wanted this inhuman fiend to pay for all the carnage he had rained down upon this city, his friends and most of all, his family, he knew as well as he did what it meant to give your child up for his own good over your own.
"I'm going to count to ten," he finally said. "By the time I do, you'd better be far out of my line of sight."
Malcolm looked a little shocked. He had clearly expected his rival to put up more of a fight.
"Don't mistake this for mercy," Oliver said. "But this is as much of your terms as I'm willing to accept."
Malcolm knew better to tempt fate.
"One…two…three…"
He didn't get any further. "Oliver, we've got a problem," Felicity said softly.
Neither of them had to ask. "How are they coming?" Oliver said into his ear.
"Cisco and I just decrypted a flight plan that was filed with the NSA less than five minutes ago," Felicity said. "743 departing from a previously inactive airfield."
"743?"
Diggle spoke up. "A drone."
Everybody knew what that meant, on scene and off. "How long do we have?" Oliver said.
"Arrival time's less than two minutes." Felicity said. "You have to get out of there."
Barry zoomed down and grabbed Marita. He reached for Oliver.
Oliver found himself doing something he never thought he would. "Malcolm…"
"No." Merlyn sounded resolved.
Kara reacted. "I can get into the air…"
"Tell your Kryptonian ally not to bother."
"Noble isn't a good look for you, Malcolm." Oliver said.
"I am a realist, Oliver, and you can't afford to waste time trying to save me." Merlyn said. "Mr. Allen, consider this an apology."
"Malcolm." Oliver said.
"Tell my daughter I love her." Malcolm took a deep breath and started to run for the surface.
"Oliver, we need to get out of here right now." Barry said.
Oliver just shook his head, and grabbed on to Barry.
Less than thirty seconds after they were out of the Glades, an explosion ripped through it.
STAR LABS
8:42 AM
"What the fuck did you think you were doing?"
Even those who had been working with Oliver for the past four years had never seen him this livid. Granted, he was acting in his capacity as Mayor of Star City and in that role, he had every reason to be as mad as he was if not madder.
At approximately 6:00 AM a missile had been fired on the Glades. First responders were still sifting through the rubble, but so far, thirty-three people had been found dead and twenty more were severely wounded. It was going to be hard to tell given the level of wreckage, but the city's architects were estimating the property damages were upwards of forty million dollars.
Oliver Queen had immediately called a meeting with the City Council and had minced no words. He told them that he had used his government contacts and informed that a drone had fired a missile on their city without cause or warning. None of them wanted to believe this, but when the footage of the damage looked more like something you would see in Kabul or Baghdad, it was hard to deny it. He told Quentin Lance and Rene to focus all available funding on rescue and reconstruction.
When they were in private, Lance asked the inevitable question. "Were they aiming at you?"
"No," Oliver said grimly. "But they wouldn't have minded if I'd been collateral damage."
By then, John had gotten his wife on the line and was chasing down the people who had been responsible for blowing up Star City. Everyone was surprised when two men had agreed to meet, but only Mulder and Scully weren't shocked when they heard the explanation.
"We were working on active intelligence that a known domestic terrorist, who'd, had been the subject of both a nationwide and international manhunt had resurfaced in Star City," the man in a black suit calling himself Mr. Brown told him as blandly as if he were reciting the weekly weather.
"Who?" Oliver demanded.
"We are forbidden under Homeland Security guidelines from relating the subject's name to individuals with improper clearance," Brown said blandly.
"And you didn't think it might, you know, have been a little more humane to just send say, the FBI or local police rather than blow up my city at the crack of dawn?" Oliver shouted.
"This individual has been extremely elusive and deadly to agents who have tried to capture him in the past," Mr. Green, the other individual said in just as bland a tone. "We believed it was in the national interest to have removed as expeditiously as possible."
"And you didn't think to send out a warning to anybody in my city?" Oliver was actually getting blue in the face from his anger.
"Homeland Security directives give us the authority to act whenever a clear and present danger has emerged in a city that is considered compromised by dangerous elements," Brown said. "You're mayor, Mr. Queen. You know better than most how many dangerous vigilantes and rogue elements patrol your city on a daily basis. We couldn't risk the possibility of one of those individuals compromising this operation."
Oliver Queen was a cagey man, but it would've taken a genuine moron not to recognize the threat that was implied in this statement. "You killed dozens of innocent people," he snarled.
"There are lots of innocent people everywhere, Mr. Queen," Green said blandly. "But we have to concern ourselves with protecting the majority, not just those in a small, region."
"We know you haven't been in office that long, Mr. Mayor," Brown added. "But once you've been in power long enough, you'll understand that there are times that certain sacrifices are required for the greater good."
In the five years he'd spent in hell and the four he'd spent as the Arrow, Oliver Queen thought he had encountered every form of evil. But not even having read the X-Files and seen some of what the Syndicate had done the past few weeks fully prepared him for what he was seeing now. Even the actual war crimes that the Syndicate had committed seemed mild in comparison with the bland bureaucracy that was cavalierly dismissing the death that they had just rained down on his city.
"You haven't heard the end of this," he growled in a voice that had made hardened criminals shudder.
Brown and Green didn't even flinch. "Oh, I think we have," Brown told him. "As much as you may not like it, what happens falls well under the blanket of national security. To lift up that veil even for such violence would bring all kinds of scrutiny to the people who did so."
"Which could be horrendous, especially to people in your town." Green added. "I think it would be in the interest of everybody to consider this matter closed."
Oliver had spent a lifetime mastering his self-control, only letting it come out when he was wearing his costume. This, however, was too much. Without even thinking, he slammed his fist through the STAR Labs monitor where the conversation had been taking place.
"Oliver!" Diggle shouted.
Only Felicity dared approach him immediately, delicately taking shards of glass out of his hand. Oliver didn't even seem to notice.
There was genuine horror from everybody who had overheard this conversation. Even Cat Grant seemed genuinely astonished at the arrogance of these men. The only people who didn't even seem surprised by any element of the conversation were Mulder and Scully.
"I'm a little shocked they didn't submit an invoice for the missile that they used on their city," Mulder said calmly.
"You think this is funny?" Oliver shouted.
"Do you how many times in my career at the Bureau I would shout from the rafters that the sky was falling and they would just say it was a meteor shower?" Mulder actually sounded angry now. "This is what they do. They were doing it for decades before the Patriot Act gave them official cover. The only difference between what they did before and what they just did is that before they had to imagine a plausible story. Now they just say 'terrorism' and everybody goes quiet."
"'Apology used to be policy," Scully added. "Now they don't even have to bother with that. Their reaction to whistleblowers and truth tellers is to discredit them. Now all they have to do is type a few lines on the Internet and you're a threat."
"So go ahead. Call a press conference. Tell them that the government blew up Star City with no provocation," Mulder told him. "By the time you get halfway through, they'll be an official memoranda giving proof that there was an ISIS bomber in your city and that any reports of people being killed are a false narrative. Press it, and they'll swear out a warrant for your arrest for crimes you committed as the Hood. Hell, maybe they'll even charge you as a domestic terrorist yourself."
Oliver looked numb as he realized this was true. "They really don't care, do they?"
"They're not concerned with the individual, only the big picture," Mulder said. "That's how they play. Did you really think this would be as simple as checking names off a list?"
Oliver shook his head.
"When I started my work as hacktivist," Felicity said slowly, "I knew that the system was broken beyond belief. I wanted to get rid of these monsters." She looked at Oliver. "Somehow, I thought it would be more fun than this."
"Trust me, it isn't," Mulder said knowingly. "This was the Syndicate sending us a message."
"And what exactly is that message?" Barry said quietly.
"That they have the high cards," Diggle said. "Think about it. They have access to the military. They could've used that drone to take us all out at once. They know if that were to happen, too many questions would be asked. So this is their message. You may have superpowers, but we have the launch codes. You may have the media and the public's attention, but we have an arsenal. Some of you may have superpowers. We actually control one. And as strong as you may be, you can't be everywhere at once."
"They used to be subtler," Scully said. "They used to just kill people in car crashes or suspicious fires. Now, they're willing to blow up whole cities to make their point."
"Amanda Waller was never what you would call subtle," Diggle said calmly. "And I'm more than willing to bet she gave the order and that those two bureaucrats were lackeys of hers in a past life."
"So what do we do?" Joe asked.
"The toughest thing you'll ever do." Mulder said slowly. "Go on as if it didn't happen. Shrug it off."
"I'm sorry," Caitlin said. "The Syndicate just used a grenade to kill a fly. Innocent people were killed as they slept. And we just say "Eh."
"It happens every day all over the world," Cat Grant said tiredly. "I've had to report on so many actions like this over the decades it's basically become background noise to me. The only difference is, this time it happened somewhere we care about. Trust me the rest of the world will shrug it off. Our 'enemies' will say we had it coming. Our 'friends' will send condolences. And they'll go back to the day's business. I have no doubt a major weapon of the Syndicate – both of them – was not creating false outrage but man's natural indifference." She looked around. "Despite my best efforts, Catco has no doubt contributed to it."
Everyone wanted to say she was wrong, but no one could deny it either. As much as Oliver hated to admit it, that sort of indifference permeated the public's attitude towards Star City. When the Undertaking had happened, the nation had been outraged. By the time, Damian Dahrk had tried to launch the apocalypse, the general attitude from much of the country had been: "It must be May." He'd been having a lot of those problems in the day to day work as Mayor. Why should anybody want to help a city that's just one crisis after another?
And now he saw another reason why the Syndicate had killed Malcolm where they had the way they had. Why should anyone trust anything Mayor Queen says? Vigilantes and costumed villains have been overrunning his city for four years. He can't handle the Arrow; why should we believe him when he says there was a drone strike?
"Mulder's right," he said reluctantly. "If we try to strike these people blow for blow, we'll just get ourselves slaughtered in a losing cause. The only way to try and beat them is to play the long game."
"Um, these people have been playing the long game," Cisco reminded them. "Have in face, been playing it since before most of us were born. How do we beat them at it?"
"By doing exactly what we were going to do before we were so savagely interrupted," Harrison Wells had been quiet up until now. "We have to find a way to get started on that vaccine. And to do that, we have to make sure the late Mr. Merlyn's last act was not in vain."
After all the chaos of the last few hours, it was hardly surprising that everyone had nearly forgotten the action that had caused it all. "How's she doing?" Barry asked.
Covarrubias had been alive when Barry had brought her and Oliver back to STAR Labs. Merlyn had clearly dosed her with something before he had taken her prisoner, but he had never told them what it was. Cisco and Caitlin had been reluctant to try and rouse her or do more than preliminary tests on her to see just what drug what running through her system. All they knew was that her vitals were normal and that they're didn't seem to be any sign of brain damage.
"Apparently Merlyn's last trick was his simplest," Cisco told them. "We can't tell exactly what drug it is, but it's looking like the main ingredients weren't that different from chloroform."
"And not that high a dose," Caitlin added. "We do nothing, and she'll probably wake up fine within the hour."
Mulder nodded, and then asked the question they'd all been avoided for the last few hours. "Where's Thea?"
For all the anguish her birth father had caused her over the past two years, Oliver had still expected her to have some kind of reaction of grief when she learned about his death. But even at Barry's fastest speed, by the time the three of them had gotten back, Thea had been gone.
Even after the horror of the last few hours, no one had panicked. The security feed showed that Thea had gone to her motorcycle and rode out and because Felicity had a tracking chip in it (one that, of course, her brother had insisted be placed without her knowing about it), they even knew exactly where she was. The thing was, no one was eager to approach a former vigilante right now.
"I'll go get her," Oliver said.
Mulder shook his head. "Not this time. This is my mess, I'll clean it up."
Everybody looked at him with some alarm – even Oliver. "Mulder, I know you want to help, but you don't know what she's capable of. She could…" Not even he dared finish the sentence.
Mulder gave a sad smile. "Can you honestly say I wouldn't deserve it?"
"There he is again." Scully rolled her eyes. "Savior Mulder, thinking everything that happens is because of his flapping his wings. Well, I'd better go too. Don't try it, Mulder," she said before he could open his mouth. "Someone has to stitch you up when this goes wrong."
Mulder shook his head. "There. I'm going with someone who's a better shot than I am. Any objections?"
There were, but no one was quite willing to voice them. Besides, it wasn't like they didn't have surveillance and a couple of superheroes who couldn't swoop down if things went horribly wrong.
"Where is she?" Mulder asked.
"She's at a cabin in a forest in the middle of Trenton, fifty miles from here," Felicity told them.
"What's she doing there?" Oliver asked.
Felicity grew a little flustered. "Remember when you told a certain someone to disappear without letting anybody know where he was?" she said nervously. "Well, six months ago, Thea asked me to track him down."
Oliver didn't look nearly as angry as they thought he'd be. "Well, we were going to need to find him at some point," he said tiredly. "And anything understands what she's going through it's him."
"You have anyway of contacting him?" Barry asked.
"Thea's going to tell him everything. We might as well let her have a little peace before we bring them back in."
Mulder and Scully could guess what they were talking about. "Which boyfriend is it?" Scully asked.
"Roy Harper." Felicity said.
OUTSKIRTS OF TRENTON
10:12 AM
Roy Harper had spent the last year and a half dreaming of being exactly where he was right now. He knew, ever since he had driven away from Star City having taken the fall for Oliver two things, that Thea might never forgive him and that someday she would track him down. He also knew that when that happened, something truly horrible would have occurred to bring her there.
He just wished he could find some place in his soul to mourn Malcolm Merlyn. But not even the fact that he was Thea's father was that much redemption. He had done monstrous thing before that, he had left Moira Queen to take the fall, he had shown up when his daughter was at her absolute nadir and had corrupted her to the point where she had murdered Sara Lance (without considering that he'd spent weeks agonized that he'd killed her). Then, just when they were at the point when they might have been able to reconcile, Ras Al' Ghul had shown up and nearly destroyed Star City. He had done what he had because he'd believed in Oliver, and despite that Thea had nearly died and Oliver had nearly been lost. And that was before everything that happened last year.
There had been dozens of times in the past year when he had thought, death be damned it was time to go home. That drive had become stronger when he heard of the near-miss on Felicity's life and Laurel's death. Both times, he had wondered if his presence would've made a difference, especially after he had learned that even though he was no longer in Star City, someone was still fighting crime in his costume. He hadn't even had to see news footage to know who it was.
Then, not three hours, there had been a knock at his door. And even though there was no way in hell anyone should've known where it was, he knew. He opened his door with no precautions taken at all.
The only words out of her mouth had been: "Dad's dead." The rest, as they say, was history.
Now that both of them were too tired to move, he finally said what he'd been thinking for over a year "My suit looks better on you."
"It was my way of keeping you with me," she said deeply. "Until Malcolm got in the way."
A lesser man would've mentioned that saying your father after sex was a sure way to kill the buzz. Roy knew better. "I'm sorry," he said. "It seemed like you were making a difference."
"Oliver has more people with him now," Thea said. "Besides, it's not like he ever liked it that I was out there."
"Your brother never knew how to ask for help," Roy said honestly.
"He's getting better at it," Thea admitted. "Then again, after everything that's been happening the last few months, it's not like he can avoid it."
"So I've heard," Roy told her. Thea looked at him. "We may be out in the boondocks, but that doesn't mean I don't have Wi-Fi. I still get Catco."
"How much do you know?" she asked.
"Less than you, more than some," Roy told her. "I saw Cat Grant interview Oliver. I knew she was a great journalist, but I didn't think even she could get him to spill as much as he did."
"That's more than he was willing to tell me," Thea admitted.
"Is this worse than what was happening last year?" Roy gently nudged.
Thea swallowed. "Looks that way."
Roy just waited. He knew Thea would take her time.
"The bastard had to wait until aliens were planning to destroy Earth for him to discover his humanity," she finally said. "And even then, he can't be satisfied by just dying himself. The son of a bitch has to have them blow up The Glades again to get rid of him."
"I never missed a chance to blame Malcolm Merlyn for anything," Roy gently said. "But from what little I know, I don't think they cared so much about solving a problem then sending a message. And much as I hate to say it, people have been sending messages to us for quite a while."
"But before it was personal," Thea told him. "These people – and I use that term very loosely – don't care about me or Oliver or Star City for that matter. This is about total control. It scares the hell out of me." She paused. "And I'm pretty sure it scares the hell out of Ollie."
That was a lot. Roy thought he'd seen every side of Oliver over the past three years, but he didn't remember ever seeing him afraid. "He must be if he's asking for help."
"It's more than that. He's actually taking orders. Well, not orders exactly. Neither of them is really used to being in a position to give them so they ask politely. But he takes their suggestions seriously."
"Maybe he feels he's in over his head."
"We all do. Even the ones with superpowers are worried. But it helps that we're part of a team. And much as I hate tot admit it, that's the part I like the most. Feeling part of something bigger than myself."
"Not you know, wearing my costume," Roy joked.
Thea smiled for the first time since she'd showed up at his door.
"So now that we've had our little interlude, what are you going to do?"
"Just wait."
Roy didn't have to ask what she meant. He was however a little surprise when it came with a knock at his door. He started to reach for the bow he'd taken with him.
Thea stopped him. "It's not the enemy; it's my brother."
"I should probably keep the trigger loaded then," Roy said resignedly.
"You know as well as I do you wouldn't have a chance in outdrawing him." She pulled on his shirt and walked over to the door. "Are you going to shoot me for running?" she asked the door.
"Considering it's the kind of thing I used to do all the time, no," Mulder's muffled voice said.
It was another minute before Thea opened the door, this time wearing something resembling a robe. "Where did Felicity plant the tracking device?" she asked tiredly.
"I honestly don't want to know," Mulder said quietly. "And your brother didn't order us to bring you. I volunteered."
Thea looked at Scully. Both women raised an eyebrow in such a way that it really unsettled Mulder. "He has a habit of going off on his own and getting kidnapped," Scully told him.
"I have absolutely no idea what that's like," Thea said whimsically. "Well, you might as well come in."
FXFXFX
Mulder and Scully entered with a certain awkwardness that Thea hadn't seen in them before. "Nice cabin," Mulder said slowly.
"I didn't build it myself," Roy told them.
"Hey I'm not judging," Mulder said. "At least your place doesn't look like Hoarders and Ancient Aliens decided to have a meet and greet."
"Mulder never believed cleanliness was a virtue," Scully was clearly more comfortable with this scenario than Mulder was.
"Well, no point screwing around," Mulder took a deep breath.
"Save your apology." Thea said. "You didn't get Merlyn killed."
"I did kind of bait him into changing sides," Mulder said slowly.
"The only side Malcolm Merlyn was ever really on was his own," Roy told them firmly. "This was always going to be his fate. He just accelerated it a little."
"You're taking this a lot better than I thought," Scully admitted.
"I mourned by father after our yacht was sunk as sea," Thea told them. "You were right when we talked a couple days ago, Agent Mulder. We are not the product of our parents."
"You're still entitled to mourn him," Mulder said.
"I have. " She looked at Roy. "Probably in a healthier way than my brother does." Thea told them. "And I have no doubt this will hit me at the worst possible time, just like so many other things the bastard did for me and to me. But I've lost a lot of people over the last few years. You have to find a way to move on."
"You don't have to come back with us right away," Scully said. "We could just tell everybody this cabin was empty when we got here. I'm sure you and Roy spent a good deal of time keeping your relationship secret."
Thea actually smiled. "I'm guessing you guys were experts at it."
Both agents looked away simultaneously. "Trust us; love on the run is more fun when you don't have a death sentence hanging over you."
Now Roy smiled. "Don't knock it til you've tried it."
The two agents found eye contact. "I told you, it's wasted on the young," Mulder said.
"Maybe they're just more focused on the mission than we were," Scully said. "Was that a yes or a no?"
"The world's ending; did you really think I was going to disappear forever?" Thea asked.
Now was not the time to bring up the newspaper. "Okay, get dressed and you can follow us back." Mulder said.
"We'll follow you back," Roy said. Thea shot him a look. "You just said the world was ending. I believe that's an all hands on deck scenario."
"My brother still might kill you."
"That was kind of his go-to move the first year of our relationship. I think he can deal with it now. Don't say it." Roy held up a hand before Thea could finish the sentence.
"I was just wondering who'll wear the costume better," Thea said with a roguish wink.
"See, I told you it wasn't a bad…" Mulder started.
"Finish that sentence, and I tell everybody what was in the bottom drawer of your file cabinet at work." Scully said.
Mulder shut up. "How long will it take you to get ready?" he asked Roy.
"Does it look like I live a life of luxury? Ten minutes." He paused. "Is there going to be some problem with me coming back from the dead?"
"You know what we called that on the X-Files?" Mulder said. "Monday morning."
