Another A/N just cuz I like to talk to you guys: Haha, no really, this should have probably been two chapters, but I got pretty into it and wanted to get it all up soon. I worked pretty hard on this one, so definitely tell me what you think! Thanks for your support and your continued enthusiasm for this crazy story!
After only a bit of discussion with Mulder the next morning, we agreed that he should accompany me to the Hoover building and have a look around his office and read some case files. I waited at his apartment for him to complete his ablutions. But, I wasn't good at waiting. I went to his bedroom and picked out a suit and tie for him to wear. I glanced at myself in the full length mirror and as I turned to the side to check the effectiveness of sucking in my gut, something caught my eye in the mirror behind me.
I turned and looked up to see that Mulder had tacked a white sheet to the ceiling to cover the mirror over his bed. I was not at all sure what to make of this. The décor of the bedroom hadn't been Mulder's doing, but other than some eye rolling, he resigned himself to it. It had never bothered him enough to do anything about it before. I marveled, for the thousandth time, at how much his past, or anyone's, shaped the personality.
I heard Mulder enter the room while I was still standing, hands on hips, looking up the sheet. I turned to say something to him, but words caught in my throat at the vision standing at the foot of the bed. With dark hair still dripping, a freshly shaven face, and droplets of water still rolling from firm shoulders down the muscular planes of his body, he was beautiful. I realized I was staring, mouth open, at a half-naked man and felt my color rising. As I took purposeful steps toward the bedroom door, I let him know what I had been doing in his bedroom.
"I, uh, I laid out a suit for you. It looks like it might have dry cleaned fairly recently." I was relieved to reach the threshold of the door and made my way into the living room.
"Thanks, Dana," Mulder called after me, an obvious smile in his voice. I sat down on the hard leather couch, smoothed my skirt over my knees with damp palms and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding in a quiet whistle. It was so like Mulder to get enjoyment out my obvious and somewhat embarrassing reactions to him. Bastard, I thought and sat patiently waiting.
….
When we arrived at the Hoover building, we were both surprised when Mulder knew exactly where he was going. I let him lead the way down the basement office. We were exchanging remarks regarding the oddity of remembering where to find his office, but little else, when we entered said office to find Agent Doggett lounging in the guest chair. Doggett got up from his seat and approached Mulder with an outstretched hand.
"Good to see you up and about, Agent Mulder." The two men shook hands and Mulder thanked him. After which a slightly awkward feeling ensued. I gestured toward the filing cabinets to indicate Mulder had the run of the office to peruse its contents. I went with him to the cabinets and pulled a few choice files. I set these on the corner of Mulder's desk and nodded to them.
"Pfaster, Tooms, and Modell are good places for you to start. I think they'll give you a good overview of the kinds of cases the X-Files deals in." Mulder flipped over the cover of the Tooms file and flipped through several of the crime scene photos.
"Cases other than alien abductions, you mean?"
I nodded. "The X-Files isn't all little gray men and government conspiracies. Its cases like these three that keep us in business." Doggett gave a little snort and I gave him a pointed stare. I retuned my attention to Mulder who had begun reading the case report on Tooms. I pulled out the chair from his desk and at my indication that he should, he sat without taking his eyes off of the jagged handwriting within the file.
"What brings you to the basement again, Agent Doggett?" I turned to the address Doggett who had taken up a position by the door. With a nod of his head, he gestured that we should speak outside.
"First of all, Kersch requested our presence in his office. I don't think he's the pat-on-the-back kind of guy, so we're probably in for an ass chewing. What for? I have no idea. And, Agent Scully, I'd like to know how you came upon that list of cities you sent me last night. If you could enlighten me into your investigative techniques that narrowed our search for these victims from the North American continent down to a few specific areas, I'd really appreciate it." I had been leaning against a filing cabinet in the dark hallway listening to Agent Doggett's veritable diatribe with my arms crossed in front of me. At his conclusion, I pushed off from cabinet and put my head back into the office.
"Mulder, I need to go up for a meeting with Deputy Director Kersch."
He didn't look up at me, but replied with a distant, "Sure, Scully, I'll be here. Take your time." I closed the door and headed for the elevator with Doggett on my heal. Once in the relative privacy of the metal box, I turned to Agent Doggett and made full eye contact.
"I understand your curiosity, but I want you to think about what I'm about tell you before you demand any further information." He nodded his acquiescence and I continued. "I put together that list using information that I obtained from a source outside of the Bureau. This source has a purpose and method that are well outside of the FBI's purview and sanctions. I understand your desire to solve this case, but you should think about your future as well. You can use the information from this source without having to know exactly where it came from. Then you can forget it and move on with your career. You don't have to take unnecessary risks that affect your future here at the Bureau."
Doggett studied me with a raised eyebrow.
"So you're saying that I should just be happy when you throw me a bone and not wonder about the validity of the information. I shouldn't take any risks where my career is concerned, but you're free to sneak around in dark allies getting information from people who break the law to get it. Is that about right, Agent Scully?"
I wanted to laugh at his description of the intimate night among friends at my apartment last night as sneaking around in dark allies. But, I kept my face rigid in response to his tense and demanding demeanor.
"You're right about Kersch. He's not a-pat-on-the-back kind. He's the ruin you kind." The elevator doors opened to the fourth floor and we stepped out into a busy hallway with agents in suits talking and walking up and down the utilitarian thoroughfare.
….
Kersch wasn't in his office when we arrived, but his secretary let us through to await our forty lashes for whatever perceived indiscretion we had committed. Doggett and I sat side by side, neither of us trusting our surroundings enough to resume the conversation we had started on the elevator ride.
I noted that the chairs in the Deputy Director's office were covered with real leather rather than the standard vinyl of Assistant Director Skinner's office chairs. I turned to Doggett to tell him as much, just an observation to pass the time. But, when I looked at him he was staring at me. I shut my mouth, raised an eyebrow and said,
"What?"
Doggett shifted in his seat and started in on me again.
"You know what, Agent Scully. I really don't understand you. I didn't buy the crap people told me about you and Mulder. I wanted to make up my own mind. But, I'm not sure they were far off the mark. You were a straight laced agent before you hooked up with Mulder and became Mrs. Spooky. What are you so afraid of that you're not willing to go through normal FBI channels to get the information that you want?"
I lowered my quizzical eyebrow and sighed. He said he had read all the files in the X-Files office. Maybe he didn't read them carefully enough to understand that not everyone who wears a badge can be trusted.
"First of all," I said grimly, "I'm not sure anyone has ever actually called me Mrs. Spooky to my face. Congratulations, you're the first to break the asshole barrier with me. Second, do you trust Kersch? I sure as hell don't. I would have to go through him, the director of the FBI, NASA and the NRO to get information that would have been severely outdated and thus useless by the time I cut through the red tape and layers of bureaucracy to have them tell me that its classified."
Before Doggett could begin the reply I could see forming in his thoughts, the door opened to admit Deputy Director Kersch. He strode toward his desk and told us to remain seated even though neither of us had made a move to stand in his presence.
"Agents, thank you for your patience. I know you have much to do, I'm sorry I kept you waiting." He didn't sound sorry at all, but we both accepted the apology as though it bore a resemblance to authentic. "Agent Scully, how is Agent Mulder progressing in his recovery?"
I gave Kersch a rundown of Mulder's physical health, which was quite good despite the vitamin deficiencies and trauma that had been inflicted on him. I moved on to explain that Mulder's psychological state was, although not permanent, persisting.
"Is Agent Mulder showing any signs of being able to aid us in the investigation into his kidnapping?" Kersch asked.
"No sir, I'm afraid that what happened to Mulder while he was missing may never return to him. However, his psychiatrist is optimistic that he will come out of the dissociative state soon. From what I have observed in Agent Mulder's behavior and capabilities, I agree. He's beginning to recall places, if not actions and people. Recovering a narrative of his life will most likely happen all at once. These gradual improvements are indicative activity in a slightly different region of the brain than long term narrative memory. They are more "autopilot" things that he's done on a daily basis for years." I sat back in my seat to indicate that my report on Mulder's status was at its conclusion.
"I'm glad to hear all of that, Agent Scully. If Agent Mulder should recall anything that might help us find out who took him and held him, he will of course, come directly to us so we can put an end to this investigation." I nodded and Kersch moved on to Doggett.
There were, of course, questions about the progress of the investigation, leads that had been exhausted, and the normal law enforcement talking in circles that characterizes cold cases. What Kersch had on his agenda for us next wasn't anything I could have predicted. It seemed he was watching the case closer than anyone would have guessed.
"Now, Agents, there's a matter that concerns me. Reports of breeches of security here at the FBI, which my office is looking into, at the NRO and at NASA came across my desk yesterday morning." I sat up straighter in my chair, hoping that I was conveying the due concern these events would cause in an Agent of the first government program on that list. Doggett bit though.
"What kind of security breeches are these, sir?"
"Remote breeches, Agent Doggett. You wouldn't happen to have any insight into the how and why of such a thing, would you?"
Doggett shook his head and asked, "Remote breech, sir? What exactly does that mean?"
I thought I had better add something to the conversation rather than sit there with my mouth possibly hanging open.
"Computer hacks, Agent Doggett. Someone hacked into these systems using a computer and an internet connection. Is that right, sir?" I made eye contact with Kersch and kept my face in a concerned look.
"Well, then," Doggett said, "Assuming that they found information they were looking for, is there a way to tell that? Can we build an investigation based on what they were looking for and possibly got access to?"
My hands were twitching and I desperately wanted to sit on them to hide evidence of my guilt. Doggett, one of the best cops I had ever met was on the trail already.
"Well, Agent Doggett," Kersch nearly sneered at the man, "I'm glad you're interested in that. The information that was downloaded from these networks happens to be satellite images. These images correspond with locations that you began investigating yesterday evening." Doggett's face fell, but to his credit he didn't shoot me any incriminating looks. "You made phone calls from the basement office between nine pm and ten pm last night to hospitals located within the geographic areas which would have been shown on two of the four stolen images."
I had my hands folded tightly in my lap, my nails digging into my palms. My face started tingling. There was nothing I could do but sit there and wait for the proverbial axe to fall. I could hear the words echoing in my buzzing head, I got a list of places from Agent Scully. But the words never came. I looked at Doggett trying to keep any trace of pleading from showing on my face. Doggett looked genuinely confused and his next words nearly flattened me more than the axe would have.
"Well, sir, I don't have any explanation for that at all. I was simply following a hunch regarding the others who were taken along with Agent Mulder. I tracked family members of the missing people to those locations I called. Mulder was returned close to where people he knew would find him. I thought whoever is committing these abductions might do the same for the other victims." Then Doggett shot me a look that clearly said, you will explain yourself… later. I took a deep breath as unobtrusively as I could and unclenched my hands.
"Agent Scully," Kersch addressed me and I looked him in the eyes, "will you excuse Agent Doggett and myself? We have some business to attend to and I believe I'm keeping you from your work."
I nodded and said, "Yes, sir." I was thankful my voice sounded strong, not the whisper I was afraid was going to come out of my mouth. I stood, turned and left without looking at either of the two men again.
Once back out in the hallway, my hands roamed over my body looking for my cell phone, but all I encountered was the gun at my back. I had left my cell in the basement. I had to call the Gunmen and tell them to enact whatever doomsday plans they had. I was walking as fast as I could without drawing attention to myself. My heart was pounding and my face was still numb. I licked dry lips and nearly screamed when Skinner's head popped out of his office door a few feet in front of me.
"Agent Scully, come in here. I need to speak with you." Skinner reached out and grabbed my elbow.
"I can't, sir, not now. I have…. There's something I have to take care of." I tried to extricate myself from his grasp, but his hand was like iron on my arm and he drew me towards him to let me know that I didn't have an option.
"It's important, Agency Sully. Come in. Now."
Once in the safety of his inner office, he let go of my arm. Without that support, I had to hold onto the back of one of the vinyl covered chairs to keep my balance.
"Sir, I have to get in touch with the Gunmen. Kersch somehow got intelligence on the hacks they did to get satellite photos. I have to warn them." I straightened up and looked Skinner full in the face trying to indicate the seriousness of the matter. "I will not let them go down for something they did for me."
Skinner had walked away from me, but strode back across the room and this time took me by both upper arms and steered me in front the chair I had been leaning on.
"Jesus, Scully, sit down before you fall down. The Gunmen are safe. They left a digital trail so long, no one's cyber unit will unravel it before the Second Coming."
"Are you sure?" I asked anxiously.
"Yes, I'm sure. Relax, they know what they're doing and how not to get caught doing it."
I breathed a sigh of relief and stood back up. I was calming down, but was still too jittery to sit down. I paced the room a bit and then kicked off my customary three inch heels that were now pinching my feet uncomfortably. Then, I unbuttoned my black blazer and slung in over the back of the chair I had occupied a few moments earlier and resumed my pacing, hands on hips. Even with the Gunmen safe, I was still going to have to deal with Agent Doggett. And I was certain that wasn't going to be pleasant. Skinner's voice broke into my worrying thoughts about that encounter.
"Make yourself at home, Agent," his words dripped with sarcasm. But when I looked at him his lips held the half smile he utilized in moments of fatherly kindness. He had reclined a bit in his chair as he watched me pace his office. I could tell he was waiting for me to sit back down and I remembered that he had said he needed to speak with me. I still couldn't sit, though. Instead I stopped in front of his desk and turned to face him with arms crossed to hide that my hands were still shaking.
"What did you want to see me about, sir?"
Next Up... Scully's techniques yield results & Evil Incarnate returns... again
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