Disclaimer: I guess I would've been rich if I owned anything regarding The X-Files, well my bank account assures me I don't!
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Ray Of Lights In The Darkness
Chapter seven
Rays of memories
In the car Dana watched the passing trees, she had gladly volunteered to be the passenger, not because she was afraid she wouldn't remember how to drive a car, it would be like riding a bike, she knew, but because it gave her time to dig into her mind. She wanted to remember, demanded it, but no matter how much she focused on the task nothing happened.
"Are you ever going tell me who my baby's father is?"
Throwing a side glance in her direction Mulder shrugged, "probably, I see no reason not to. But you know I do agree with doctor Merse not to rush things, Scully. Right now you are my main concern, and honestly, I never had any real experience with a patient suffering from amnesia, but I do know a lot about repressed memories and taken memories. My experience is that every person starts to remember at some point of time, the ideal situation is when it comes slowly and in a secure environment. Not that I really have any experience with the ideal situation either."
"Thanks Mulder, I feel much better now." She sarcastically smiled but added more seriously, "I somehow sense you become a little territorial when it comes to me and my private partner?"
"Well, I'm a territorial guy." He smirked at her.
He was charming in his self absorbing way, and without knowing him well, it was evident to her that Mulder was a person who easily got caught up in a person or a case to a point that would leave him blind to most other issues in the matter. She just wondered if he sometimes forgot her. The pang in her heart convinced her it had happened occasionally, but she also trusted him implicitly, it was confusing.
"So this message has it anything to do with the case we work on?" She broke her revenue down a none existing memory lane.
"It is related to what we worked on when you took the blow to your head. We were on a breaking point, now, I just hope the track hasn't turned cold." The tension in his voice gave away that he was personal involved.
"What is the case about, Mulder. I don't think it will hurt me to know, it might even be fruitful if we are processing with it. I would be a bad partner to you, if I don't have a clue about what we are dealing with. I could even become a danger to you or the case, all logical senses point in the direction that it will jeopardizes our lives, if you don't involve me."
"Nice speech, Scully. But you're right. It involves a small child, a boy, and he is in danger. He and his caretakers are on the run, we don't know if they are safe. The family who has taken the boy in has no experiences in hiding or running, I just hope we helped them to escape, when we were taken out..."
Her stomach ached and her breathing became shallow during his talk, it troubled her when his emotionless voice mentioned the small boy and her mind went all blank. "Do you know the boy?" Dana managed to spit out.
He cast another quick glance in her way, revealing nothing with the dull stare. "We both do, Scully."
"Oh, how old is he?"
"Almost three, I've promised you to find him before his birthday."
Swallowing hard she whispered, "Why?" suddenly afraid of the answer she turned her eyes to the window, they were close town now.
"It just matters to the boy. And you were worried about the damage a long term threat would cause him."
"Who is after him and how is this an X-File, Mulder?" Normally cases involving children wasn't considered paranormal, that was a certainty, she knew.
"The boy is believed to have special abilities, he had as an infant and it's not fully known if the abilities stayed with him or not. A group of people wants the boy to promote its own salvation. We've to find him first. We were on a good lead…"
"Special abilities? How? What?" It made no sense to her.
"Both his parents had close encounters with aliens, they were test persons. They boy's mind was highly developed when he was born, he might've certain psychic powers."
"Abductees! Aliens!" She laughed, "you don't honestly believe in that, Mulder. Do you?" Her amused eyes focused on his face, "you do!" Taken aback, the anger came rushing back and she hissed. "I don't believe this. I'm back to chasing aliens again. Is it a real boy, Mulder, or one of your fantasies? I'm done chasing imaginable things in the dark."
"He is real and I promise you, you want to find this boy, Scully. You need to find him alive and unharmed."
Another heated discussion was cancelled when Mulder parked the car in front of the post office. Following his example Dana stepped out of the car and took his path inside. A few curious stares trailed them when they walked pass the waiting line and Mulder knocked on a door. A husky female voice asked them to come in.
Not one to bypass a chance Mulder opened the door and stepped into the office, less trusting Dana followed with one hand on her weapon, already bothered with the sexy female voice. Looking straight ahead Dana's sight was stopped by a heavy bosom, husky voice had a healthy set of lungs, and looking up Dana briefly met a large pair of deer brown eyes, before the owner turned them to Mulder. Letting her eyes slide up and down husky voice, Dana's hand tightened the grip on the weapon, long legs were connected to the big bosom and long blond hair waved around a pretty young face.
Husky voice was staring intensely at Dana's partner, who didn't seem to mind, and snorting Dana released her deathly grip on the gun, it shouldn't surprise her that her partner wasn't immune to Blondie, it wasn't a federal crime and nothing she could hold again him or Blondie. Most men would turn into drawling fools by the slightest attention from husky voice/ Blondie, she couldn't decide which name fitted best, why would Mulder be different? His girlfriend could be a Blondie!
Squeezing her lips hard together Dana saw Mulder tearing his eyes from Blondie, that name fitted best, she suddenly decided, and changing his focus Mulder smiled to Dana, who rewarded him with a cold, blank stare.
"I guess you're AD Skinner's contact?" Dana snorted.
Flashing a shinning white smile, Blondie's full red painted lips formed the answer, "I'm agent Taylor. AD Skinner told me to deliver a letter to two of his undercover agents. That must be you." Innocent deer eyes caught Mulder's eyes, leaning forward on his feet he swayed towards Blondie, whose smile and eyes grew wider and a hand came to play with a blond strand of hair.
The doll was very magnetic and she couldn't be more than 26, narrowing her eyes Dana studied the scene before her. Blondie was attracted to her partner, no need for trained skills to discover that, annoyed Dana chanced her focus to Mulder. Without turning her head she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, and surprisingly she was staring right into his eyes. Mulder wasn't looking at Blondie. But when their eyes met, he swiftly looked away. Anger mixed with hurt filled her and she backed away, confused Dana squeezed her eyes tightly, immediately another scene played in her mind's eyes:
With annoyance she pushed the door wide open, refusing to admit the hurt his wandering caused her, she kept the anger alive. Anger was easier to understand, to explain. It only took her brain a split-second to comprehend the scenery. Detective White was straddling Mulder with her blouse unbuttoned and skirt pulled up, and her face was inches away from, a for once silent, Mulder. Surely, he liked blondes, it shouldn't come as a surprise, after all she had found a movie with the title; 'Play with blondes and have more fun' on his desk one morning, when he had been late, obviously due to a late night at the office.
"Are you all right?"
A muffled voice tried to catch her attention, and blinking rapidly Dana tried to clear her mind and focus on her surroundings, was it a memory that had flashed in her mind or was it just a chemical reaction in her brain? Unwilling to believe, she would be jealous of her partner sharing an intimate moment with his date, girlfriend or colleague Dana licked her lip in shame, the feelings from the film just being played was all to similar to the feelings rushing through her moments ago. She should know better, romance between colleagues was fruitless and leading to nothing good.
A hand tugging at her arm brought her back to the persons in the room; "are you all right?" the male voice was fat with worries, demanded her attention. "I'm fine!" She shook her head to clear her mind. "A letter you said, agent Taylor. Where is it?" Dana's voice cut through the air.
"Oh, the letter." Blondie dug into her tiny purse, "I was specifically ordered to give it to agent Moore." With a delighted smile, she held the envelope in Mulder's direction, and without moving Mulder reached for the letter with a tense expression on his face. "Thank you, agent Taylor."
"Oh, I nearly forgot. I was assigned to be your contact for as long as you need me. I've gotten a room at the motel."
"Our contact?"
"Yes, AD Skinner thought you could need help with your undercover assignment. He said I would most likely be working more with agent Moore than with you."
The pleasant smile was ill fitted on Blondie's face. "Most likely you will be working equally with both of us, agent Taylor." Dana paused to see Blondie's hopeful smile fading into a frown, "this case is more than a routine case and requires a certain level of experience and insight, neither comes without practise and teamwork. It comes with hard work and a partner you know will back you up, no matter the consequences." Blondie broke the eye contact before Dana's was done with her statement.
"Nice speech" Mulder mumbled under his breath, the amusement shining bright in his eyes.
Intense blue locked with hazel, "I wasn't aware that you could multitask, agent Moore" Resting her hands on her lower back Dana turned and paddled away, "I need some fresh air!"
Without waiting for an answer she walked out of the office and into the customer area of the post office, and ultimately out and into the fresh air. The August warmth knocked her over by her first step outside, sucking air in, her body readjusted and letting go of the shallow breath she had sucked in and held for an abnormal long moment. Her shoulders relaxed but without reducing her irritation.
"So how is the fresh air, Scully?" His voice was so low and deep that she sensed how it vibrated in his chest, the resonant sent a warm tingling down her spine and she shivered pleasantly. "Scully, don't move away – I want to feel your skin, need to." The voice vibrated against her ear and chest. This voice…His voice! It was Mulder's voice.
Shocked Dana blinked a few time, it had been different this time, there had been no pictures only the voice and feelings, feelings of belonging and…caring? Pushing the bare thought away she looked down at her belly, why was Mulder in all her glimpses of memories? Shouldn't the father of her child be the strongest energy to break through the darkness in her memory?
Looking up through her eyelashes her eyes stopped at his chest, suddenly very sensitive about the muscles underneath his t-shirt her breathing speeded up, the thought of snuggling her head against his heart wasn't foreign or unthinkable anymore. No, it was quiet thinkable and tempting. Utterly confused, Dana pushed the image away and raised her head.
"Fresh compared to the heavy scent of perfume in there."
With twinkling eye, he laughed, "can you survive for a little longer? I kinda promised agent Taylor we would escort her to the motel. It's across the road so it shouldn't take too long"
Sighing, Dana nodded, "did you read the letter?" One of them should be working, she thought.
Fidgeting with the pockets in his jeans, he spat, "no, not yet."
"Well, then give it to me, Mulder." It was evident that he was emotional attached to this case, maybe she would have be too if she could remember anything about it, but she couldn't. He had talked about a missing boy, a boy it was important to find before the wrong group of people did. Of course, she would be personal touched when she learned the facts about this case, she always was when children were involved, but right now, she was the best person to see objective at the letter and case.
Nodding, Mulder stepped closer to her and started to open the letter, regretting he stopped. "I don't know if you're ready for this, Scully. The doc told us to go slow."
"Mulder, if I go any slower I will die of boredom. Believe me, I can handle a note from our boss, if this is the most dangerous situation I've ever been in, I'm damn lucky!"
With a final glance at her, he opened the letter fully, and together they bowed their heads over the small piece of paper. The words were hasty scratched on it with a red pen, the handwriting neat and easily read. It bore a masculine style she liked.
Package on the run, without tail. Safe for now.
Await coordinates for package and tails, tense situation.
We have a mole in the rose garden.
Stay until the flowers arrive.
"I assume we are not really talking about flowers, Mulder?" The sentences were abrupt and pure nonsense to innocent eyes as well as hers. It was getting upsetting to be locked out of her life like this, as an agent, she needed to be ahead of the situation, but all she was right now was as far behind as she could be.
"Huh? No of course not. It's about the boy I told you about." Mulder whispered into her ear, his breath caressed her cheek like a lover's kiss and she shuddered.
"Are you cold, Scully?"
When he lifted his head in concern, she felt a harp pang of loneliness; she had enjoyed his closeness more than appropriate. Before she could answer agent Taylor rolled through the door in her high heeled gold sandals and a trolley on wheels behind her.
"All packed and ready." Another flash of white teeth covered agent Taylor's face.
"How did you get here?" Stepping away from Mulder, Dana looked at the agent's heavy suitcase.
"By cap, I'm supposed to come from Arizona and the drive would've been too long. But it's unhandy with such a big trolley, I would say." Batting her eyes in Mulder's direction, she stressed the word big meaningfully.
"Oh, let me give you a hand miss?" With a huge smile Mulder shed Dana an amused glance, before he accepted the trolley from agent Taylor, briefly their hands touched. And Dana squeezed her lower lip between her teeth and turned away, it was none of her business.
"Miss Taylor, I'm an animal therapist." In a lower voice she added, "AD Skinner thought it would be easier if I kept my own name, to avoid confusion. I agree."
Glad that she had her back to the agents, Dana allowed a smile to break the surface, "an animal therapist you say Miss Taylor, exactly what is that you do?" She backed away to give her female colleague room to unlock the motel door when they had crossed the road.
Stepping inside, agent Taylor threw her blonde hair from side to side in a slow motion, from the corner of her eyes Dana noticed the bemused smile on Mulder's face. It saddened her that she was so sensitive to Mulder's reactions, mostly because they kept hurting her, but also because she felt like a sinner. Somewhere out there was a man who trusted her and loved her, and all she could think of was her partner. The blow to her head was affecting more than her memory, it was confusing her judgement!
"I treat emotionally hurt and confused animals, help them to re-bond to their new owners and trust them. Animals are like humans only more innocent and more sensitive, they are easy to hurt but so trustworthy. Don't you agree agent Moore?"
"Huh – yeah, they are better to hold their tongues than any human being, I've ever met. No animal has yet broken my confidential"
Blondie rewarded Mulder with another innocent stare from brown deer eyes. "I knew you would understand, agent Moore."
"Well, as fascinating as the lives of hurt animals are, I suggest as the human beings we are, without the pure innocent core animals have, that we stop calling each other agents and only use our names. After all humans are far worse at holding their tongues." With both hands on her lower back Dana lowered her body into a chair, her legs easily tired.
"You're absolutely right, Mrs. Moore! " Mulder's eyes followed Dana as she sank into the chair, "it will ruin our covers if someone overhears us talking. Can you do that, Miss Taylor?"
"You're married? Is that your cover?" Blondie sounded awful disappointed.
Giving the girl a genuine smile, Dana answered, "we are married and here on a short vacation. What I can't figure out is how we know you?"
"Maybe you want my advice before buying a dog, AD Skinner wasn't specific, and he said it probably wouldn't matter. This is my first case, AD Skinner really liked that, and I was working with animals before I joined the FBI, in a pet shop."
"Okay, let's get moving, Mrs. Moore."
Relieved Dana got up from the chair; Blondie was acceptable only in small doses. Why they were paired with the agent was beyond her, like most was these days, anyway.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Blondie unzipped her trolley and handed Mulder a small package, "it was important that you got this immediately."