"Heard you had a bit of an adventure this morning…"
Jack McCoy snorted inelegantly at Dr. Emil Skoda's ill-disguised question.
"Yeah, Emil…If finding a pair of teenagers who had been physically torn apart by something unknown constitutes an adventure, then yes, I did have an adventure this morning."
He still couldn't get the smell out of his head.
"You're looking a little queasy, Jack."
"You'd be queasy too, if you'd seen what I saw…"
McCoy's head was down, eyes focused on the floor, images of torn bodies, and scattered entrails, playing through his head.
"Would you like some tea, Jack? I find it helps when I'm feeling…queasy."
"Yeah…sure…" McCoy shrugged. Skoda always kept a pot full of hot water on hand; and a stock of Darjeeling.
Dr. Skoda was right. The tea, the floral aroma, chased the smell of torn bodies, and ruptured internal organs, right out of his head.
"Feeling better?" Skoda asked.
McCoy nodded as he sipped the hot tea.
"Good," Skoda leaned forward. "Heard you had another nightmare last night."
"Yeah, Emil," desolation flitted through McCoy. This was his life nowadays, a far cry from the life he'd originally planned for himself.
The nightmares and the migraines... the panic attacks that came without warning…
And yet, Skoda talked to him every week, without even a hint of judgement in him.
McCoy knew what his father-Jack Senior-would have done.
All the kid needs is a good smack upside the head…
He'd heard his father say that countless times, all this generation needs is a good swift smack to the head…
McCoy shook his head sadly.
"Where are you, Jack?" Skoda asked.
McCoy sighed.
"Nowhere, Emil…"
…..
27th Precinct
Detective Mike Logan looked at the black and white photos in his hand.
The two kids killed in the park…
Even Elizabeth Rodgers hadn't been able to do much with the bodies.
"I can't tell you who-or what-killed them," she had said. "All I can tell you is that something literally tore those poor kids limb from limb."
Logan shuddered at the memory. Entrails had been scattered all over the ground under that ugly tree.
"Must be some sort of wild animal," he had said to Rodgers.
"Hm…no," Rodgers had shook her head. "Even though the bodies had been torn apart, there was no indication of predatory activity."
"You mean…"
"Whatever killed them didn't eat them," Rodgers has stared back at him. "As far as I know, the only species that kills for no reason is H. Sapiens…"
Us…
Logan brought himself back to now; and the photographs on his desk.
Someone strong enough to tear two kids apart like that…
"Mike," Lieutenant Anita Van Buren standing just outside her office. "A minute of your time?"
Logan stood and followed Van Buren into her office.
FBI Agents Dana Scully and John Doggett were there.
Uh-oh…There goes the neighborhood…
"Lieu?" he turned to Van Buren.
"There's no shame in saying we're in over our heads, Mike. And these X-Files Agents may be able to help."
"Yes," Dana Scully nodded. "We have files on things that would…turn your hair gray."
"Fine!" Logan snapped. "You got anything on something that can turn two teenaged kids into sausage?"
"Quite a few, actually," Scully's voice was cool, but Logan saw Doggett roll his eyes a little.
"John?"
"S'nothing, Mikey," Doggett shrugged. "Dana believes in Little Green Men. I don't."
"Well…"Logan drew out the photos, laid them on Van Buren's desk. "Little Green Men didn't do this."
The FBI Agents' reactions were interesting. It was Doggett who flinched at the sight. Scully didn't even bat an eyelid. She picked up the photos, examining them carefully, features calm and composed.
"I presume the bodies are in the morgue?"
"You presume correctly," Van Buren said.
"Good," Scully nodded. "I'll want to look at them as soon as possible."
"I'll let Dr. Rodgers know," Van Buren picked up her office phone. "Will you need directions there?"
"Thank you, no," Scully smiled briefly. 'I remember from the last time I was here."
Logan let out a breath after Scully and Doggett had left for the Morgue.
"She didn't even twitch, Lieu! At the discovery site, we were all that close to losing our cookies; and this woman…"
He shook his head in something close to admiration.
"Agent Scully must have nerves of steel."
