Andrew didn't want to believe it himself, but the evidence was there, in black and white. The trajectories intersected in the middle of the bed, approximately a foot above it. That could only mean one thing... Unwilling to believe the possibility that was being laid out before him, Andrew got up from his chair and began to pace in the back of the room. There had to be another explanation...

The look of shocked disbelief on Monica's face was obvious. "Wait a minute, you couldn't possibly believe that these sweet, innocent little girls could simply walk into their parent's bedrooms and kill them in cold blood? Do you?"

Both agents shifted their gaze away from the angels. As painful as it was to admit it, they had seen too many horrifying things in their careers to rule it out as a possibility, especially when all the forensic evidence they had to that point led directly to that conclusion. Monica turned to the other angel in the room. "Do you, believe that, Andrew?"

Andrew thought for a moment, then started pacing again. "No, Monica, I don't. These kids wouldn't have done this of their own free will – which means that their free will has to have been suppressed somehow." A lightbulb went off in his head, and he sat down. He sighed deeply, then looked at Mulder. "The only way I can think of to inhibit the free will of these children is through the exercises that Tom Harris described. We need to go to the schools and find out what the school is teaching these children. Mulder, is your friend still driving up here tonight?"

Mulder nodded. "Knowing Langley, we should probably expect him late – probably after 9 p.m. He would have wanted to drive straight into rush hour traffic, to make sure that no one could possibly follow him here." He chuckled lightly at the fact that the Lone Gunmen were the only people in the world who actually _liked_ rush hour traffic in DC.

Andrew replied, "Good. I don't think we should go to the schools without studying that information. If we're dealing with a demon that's strong enough to convince children to kill their own parents, we don't want to go in without a full understanding of what we're dealing with."

Scully chimed in, "Knowledge is power."

Andrew solemnly agreed, "Exactly."

A few tense moments of silence passed, then Monica asked the group, "So what do we do until Langley gets here?"

Scully replied, "Well, I'm done here for now. I'm willing to go in on whatever you want to do next. Gentlemen?"

Mulder decided for everyone. "By this point, we're not going to get anything out of the school, so I suggest that we go there first thing in the morning. So for now, first, we eat. For one thing, I'm starved. Second, I'd like to get Tess' input on what we've learned so far today. It seems like everyone so far has brought something to the table, no matter how surprising it might be. She might have an insight into this case that we haven't gotten so far. Plus, from working at Myrtle's, she probably has gotten an earful of local popular opinion. I'd like to know if she's heard anything suspicious." All were in agreement with Mulder, and they got up to head for the diner.

Andrew noticed that Monica lagged a bit behind, discouraged. He went over to put his arm around his partner. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Monica turned to look at Andrew, and smiled for a brief second before the discouraged look returned to her face. "Mulder said that everyone has brought something to this case so far. I don't see at all what I've brought to this case yet. It seems that all I'm doing so far is agreeing with you, or Mulder, or Scully."

"So what?" replied Andrew. "Monica, what's the first rule we learn as case workers?"

They recited together, "God picks his own time and place for everything. We are here not to help the events along, but to help people deal with the events and make the right choices."

Andrew continued, "That's right. Monica, if you didn't have something essential to bring to this investigation, you wouldn't be here. Be patient. When the time is right, I'm sure you'll step in with some little piece of information or hidden talent and blow us all away." Reassured, Monica smiled slightly, and Andrew put is arm around her in a supportive hug. "Now come on, let's catch up to Mulder and Scully and get over to that diner."

Myrtle's
2:00 p.m.

The lunch crowd from the factory had gone for the most part - lunch hour for everyone was usually over by 1 o'clock. The diner was quiet-only a couple of people sitting at the counter drinking coffee and reading newspapers, when the two agents and two angels walked in. They sat in their usual corner booth, and before they even needed to signal, Tess had come over with their menus and four cups of coffee. She knew that she needed to keep up appearances for the sake of her own 'cover' in town, so she exclaimed, a bit louder than she needed to, "Having a late lunch today, aren't we folks?"

Having practiced the fine points of cloak-and-dagger work for years, Mulder picked up on the tactic immediately. He motioned for Scully to give him a pen, which she quickly produced. He exclaimed to Tess, "Yeah, we've been pretty busy with the case. How are you doing today, Tess?" He used a normal speaking voice to show Tess that she didn't have to blast his eardrums from that point on. On the paper he wrote:

Made some interesting findings I'd like to get your opinion on.

When & where?

"Oh I'm just dandy. Here are your menus. I'll just give y'all a couple of minutes to decide," Tess exclaimed. She left the menus and walked back to the counter to get her order pad and a pen. She concealed the order pad and wrote something quickly on the top sheet, then walked back to the agents' table. She dropped the note on the table and asked the group, "So have you decided yet?" Mulder picked up the note on the table, which read:

I don't get off until 6, but I haven't had a chance to take my lunch break yet.

What did you find out?

Mulder stated, "Hmmm, this is _interesting_," hoping that Tess would pick up. A raised eyebrow told him she did. He quickly wrote another note on the placemat while giving Tess his order. The note read:

The field just outside the inn, in about forty-five minutes?

Tess nodded slightly, and Mulder shifted the placemat to make sure that everyone at the table could see and agree to the arrangement. Slight nods of the head from each person at the table sealed the deal. The other three placed their orders. Monica couldn't help but comment, "I hope the service is quick today."

Tess shot her a look that reminded Mulder and Scully of their boss again, and stated simply, "I'll go place these orders." She then walked away from the table to place the orders, making sure to casually mention to the cook that "...these people are in a rush. Can you make sure they get their orders ASAP?"

The cook nodded, and went about his business. Tess then poured a cup of coffee for Tom Harris, the counter's only occupant and the restaurant's only other customer besides the four agents at the table. He thanked her for the refill, then pulled out a small business card. He asked Tess, "I'm having a prayer meeting tonight to pray for the return of the missing children. I've been inviting everyone in town. I know you're new, but we need all the support we can get. This card has my address on it. Would you like to come?"

Tess smiled, and placed the card in a pocket where she knew she could get to it quickly and not lose it. She replied, "I wouldn't miss it for the world. What time would you like me to be there?"

Tom returned the waitress' warm smile. "7:30." He dropped a dollar on the counter to pay for the coffee and replied, "I'll see you tonight, then."

Tess replied, "Definitely." She politely said goodbye to him, and turned to respond to the cook's bell that signaled that the agents' food was here. She brought the food to the table just as Myrtle called out to her, "Tess, I have a few errands I need to run. Can you mind the store for a while?"

"No problem," replied Tess, smiling. "You go on ahead and do what you gotta do."

Myrtle put on her coat, turned and walked out the front door. Tess subtly checked on the cook, who was quietly eating his lunch in the back. The dishwasher on full blast ensured that he was conveniently out of earshot. Bringing a rag and a bottle of all-purpose cleaner with her so she could clean nearby tables as she talked, she turned to the foursome at the table and asked, "Okay, so what's going on?"

Mulder and Scully both filled Tess in on the new physical evidence they had discovered, while Andrew described how they came to the conclusion that the demon was teleporting the children out of their homes. Mulder then asked Tess, "So, what do you think?"

"Sounds to me like you're on the right track so for," agreed Tess, "So you're sure this demon is working through the children?" All four heads at the table nodded.

Tess warned, "Be careful. Demons don't often work through outright possession." Andrew nodded in agreement. Tess continued, "Oftentimes they will just manipulate people into doing what they think is right, even causing them to see things that aren't really there." Monica nodded in agreement. Tess then asked, "How do you think this demon is contacting the children initially?"

Andrew answered, "I believe that the children are being exposed to a curriculum at school that makes them susceptible to the demon's manipulation."

"Makes sense," said Tess, "They like to start in a place where their victim feels comfortable, and from there they work to drag the person away from what they know is the truth."

Scully asked Tess, "Have you heard anything about a 'new person' in town who's working as a teacher or in some other capacity at the school?"

Tess shook her head, "No, but from what you've told me, this might not be a person who the other people in town would be able to see."

Mulder asked her, "You think this demon might be contacting them as an 'imaginary friend'?"

Tess nodded, and replied, "It's a normal thing for children to have at the age of the younger girls. I haven't talked to everyone in town, though. I'll get to hear a little more tonight."

Monica asked, "What's going on tonight?"

Tess replied, "Tom Harris is hosting a prayer meeting tonight at his house. Hopefully a good number of the people in town will be there."

Mulder and Andrew looked at each other, thinking exactly the same thing: [The remnant?]

Andrew asked Tess, "Do you know where this prayer meeting is being held?"

Tess gave Andrew the business card she received from Tom, which Andrew read thoroughly. Scully asked him, "Do you think we need to be there?"

Andrew thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, we have other things we need to be doing. The meeting will probably still be going on when your friend Langley drives into town. But, it's good to know that it's happening." He handed the business card back to Tess, who put it in the pocket of her uniform.

Mulder looked at his watch and asked the group, "All right, Langley is getting into town sometime around 9 p.m. Any ideas as to what we work on until then?"

Just then, Scully's cellular phone rang. "Excuse me," she said as the picked up the phone and answered it, "Scully." She nodded and agreed with the person on the other end of the line several times, and ended the call with a quick reply, "Thank you." She then addressed the group, "That was the county medical examiner. Apparently there was nothing usual that he could pinpoint in the tox screens on the victims, but he did notice that the victims all had brain fluid levels similar to those found when someone suffers a migraine."

Mulder repeated, "They _all_ had migraines at the time of their death?"

Scully nodded. "Do I have any idea how this might tie these cases together? No."

Mulder was already deep in thought. Out loud, he replied, "But at least it gives us something to go on. We can't ignore any possible connections between these murders, no matter how small they might be. The question now is, what caused these people to get these headaches?"

Scully thought it over a moment, then commented, "Just because nothing showed up in the tox screens, doesn't mean there wasn't something there. I suggest we go over to the houses of each of the victims, see if there might be some common object in each of their homes that could deliver whatever toxin might be doing this."

Seeing no better alternatives available, the group agreed, and split into separate groups. Mulder gave Tess enough money to cover their check, and the foursome quickly left the diner, practically knocking over poor Myrtle who was just coming back from her errands. She looked at Tess in confusion and asked her, "Did I miss anything?"

Tess could only look at the table she was wiping down, and quickly replied, "Oh, they just got a lead on the case," working harder to keep from suppressing the laughter that was desperately trying to come out.

"Oh," replied Myrtle, as if that were the answer to everything. She then got herself a glass of water, and poured out two of the Tylenol she had gone out to buy. "Man, do I have a headache," she declared.

For only the second time in her life, Tess' jaw dropped open.

308 March Street
4:30 p.m.

Once the agents left the diner, Monica and Scully went straight to the McLintock house to look for clues. The minute they got out of their car, though, one of the neighborhood children ran up to her, breathless and excited. The little boy caught his breath and asked, "Are you the FBI people?"

Monica knelt down next to the boy, looked him in the eye, and replied, "Yes, we are. What's going on?"

The boy replied, "I just found two kids, walking the streets. They won't answer you when you talk to them or anything. They look like they're really hurt. I was thinkin' you could help them. Please, you gotta come with me!" By this point, he was practically dragging Monica down the street by the arm.

Monica followed the boy down the street, and Scully followed, calling Mulder on her cellular phone even as she ran to catch up. He picked up with a quick, "Mulder."

Breathing heavily from trying to run in heels, Scully informed him, "Mulder it's me. We think one of the neighborhood kids might have stumbled across two of the missing children. We're following him to them now."

Mulder asked, "which way are you headed?"

"East on March Street," she replied, "get here as soon as you can." She then broke the connection and ran to catch up with Monica and the mysterious little boy.

The little boy brought Monica to a small park. In this park were two children, sitting on a small stone bench near a large fountain. The taller boy motioned to the smaller girl. He whispered to her, "they're coming," and patted her on the top of her head, quickly running his hands through her auburn curls to straighten them out. Her light blue eyes sparkled.

Monica came up to them, and she turned around to see Scully coming up quickly behind her. When she arrived, Scully knelt down, as Monica had done before, to look the little girl in the eye, and introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Dana, and this is my friend Monica. What's your name?"

The little girl looked down at her feet, which were not able to touch the ground from the height of the bench. She did not respond.

Scully then decided to try the older boy. She looked up at him, and nearly gasped, as she could have sworn the child looked like Mulder might have looked at twelve years old. She composed herself, and asked, "How about you? Would you like to tell me your name?"

The little boy looked Scully in the eye, and a chill ran down Scully's spine. His eyes were gray, cold, and emotionless. She felt like she was looking into the face of pure evil, but could not look away.

Mulder and Andrew were just pulling up to the park, and saw the children with Scully and Monica. Andrew gasped, and exclaimed to Mulder, "Stop the car, now!"

Mulder did as he ordered, and instinctively drew his gun. "What's going on?" he asked.

Andrew pointed over to Monica and Scully. The scene was tense, and looked almost frozen in time: Monica and Scully looking into the faces of three black, short, grotesque, horrible demons. Their leathery wings were outstretched , so that Scully was covered in shadow. The smell of evil was intense, and Andrew was shocked to realize that Monica did not even seem to notice the change. One of the demons on the bench took Scully's hand, and the sight wanted to make Andrew scream in anger. "You don't see it?"

"No," replied Mulder, "All I see is Monica and Scully with three children around them."

He then remembered that Mulder was human, and couldn't see. Not without help. "Those children are demons," declared Andrew. He placed a hand on Mulder's shoulder. "Look again."

Mulder turned, and saw exactly what Andrew was seeing. He broke away from Andrew's hand, and sprinted down the hill toward the benches at breakneck speed, gun drawn, with Andrew close behind. When they had reached the bench, Mulder pointed his gun at the head of the boy facing Scully, and declared, "FBI, freeze! Step away from the bench."

Andrew looked at Mulder like he was a lunatic, as if the fact that he was an FBI agent was going to make an impression on three of the hounds of hell. Not letting go of his weapon, Mulder looked over to Andrew and shrugged, "Sorry, force of habit."

Andrew came up behind Monica, touched her shoulder, and immediately her senses returned to her. Now able to smell the stench of evil, she jumped back quickly. She then saw the three children for who they really were, and recoiled behind Andrew in fear. "Andrew," she gasped, "What are these-things? What's going on?"

"These are demons," declared Andrew. He remained quiet for a moment, and then spoke in a voice that sounded, to Mulder, like the loudest, most powerful trumpet he had ever heard. "Darcus, Camarion, and Electra, I command you, in the name of Jesus, to step away from her."

The heads of all three demons shot up in fear. They had not heard such a voice since, since, -"Oh, Lucifer," cursed the tall demon Darcus, "I remember you-Andrew from Bacon's Corner!"

"That's right," replied Andrew, in his normal speaking voice, "I can't say it's good to see the three of you. Now get out of here," he boomed in the 'trumpet voice', "Now!" The three demons backed nervously away from the bench, fell into the fountain, and then quickly rose up and flew away.

Once the demons were out of sight, Scully collapsed into a heap on the ground, and Mulder ran quickly to her. He cradled her in his arms, and helped her up to the bench to be with her until she regained her senses. He then looked with awe at the angel standing in front of him. He had so many questions about what he had just seen, that he didn't know where to begin, so he just sat on the bench, open-mouthed, with Scully's head on his shoulder.

Monica, for her part, was a bit shell-shocked, but was starting to recover. She, too, had a million questions, though, and had to sit down on the bench next to Mulder to collect her thoughts. "I guess you learned that in Special Forces, Andrew?" she exclaimed.

Andrew shrugged, and briefly smiled, "Special Forces 101."

Having remembered the term from before, Mulder asked, "Special Forces?"

Andrew replied, "It's what I was doing in Bacon's Corner during the Brandon case. Think of it as an angelic SWAT team."

Mulder asked, "That's how the demons knew you?"

Andrew nodded, then commented, "I'm surprised, though. With the prayer cover as weak as it is, it should not have been that easy to send those demons away."

"That's because they are my puny, pathetic weak underlings who I could banish into the flames of eternity with a flick of my little finger. I sent them to bring you to me."

The two agents and two angels turned around, and looked toward the opposite side of the fountain, where the voice came from. Mulder still had his arm around Scully, who was barely beginning to recover her senses. He tightened his arm around her protectively, and asked the woman who was facing them from the other side of the fountain, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name. You are-?"

The woman smiled, and, completely ignoring Mulder, calmly walked around to the other side of the fountain. She was a small, light-skinned black woman, a little bit taller than Scully. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and her blue eyes sparked with evil as she smiled. Her slight Jamaican accent was obvious as she replied, "I think your friends know exactly who I am, don't you Andrew? Nice display of force, by the way. I didn't know you had such a big mouth. Hello Monica. It's always nice to see you again."

Monica grabbed Andrew's hand to emotionally steady herself. She now knew why she was here. She looked to the woman who was addressing them and simply stated, "Hello, Kathleen."