Disclaimer: I do not own the X Files or Mulder and Scully.
Twists
The elevator doors opened and Mulder made his way to his office. Scully stood with her back to the door engrossed in what she was reading.
He considered his options. He could sneak up on her, which he always found funny, but if she got mad about it now that could mean a night alone. Perhaps he could sneak up in a cute or romantic way but considered her frustration at his affections in the office.
He sighed internally and decided not to play games with her for now.
"Mulder I know you are there so don't bother trying to startle me." Scully said not lifting her head.
He chuckled, "Scully you wound me! I would never!" He held his hand over his chest pretending to be hurt.
She looked up at him, "I thought you were going to call me when you got close and just pick me up?"
"I didn't want to eat and drive."
She handed him the bag that contained the food and he quickly pulled out a burger.
"Whatcha looking at?" He asked, mouth full.
"The file on Frank Maxwell. I was just catching up."
"So you think he might be involved?"
"Well…. I don't know if he killed her but there was something weird about the way the sister talked about him. And the fact that the Gina was sleeping with a guy they put in prison is notable."
"But you're not convinced."
"Well I got her laptop from evidence. I looked at it a little but there didn't seem to be anything of interest except a hidden document. It's not labeled and when I tried to open it, it asked for a password." She had opened the bulky laptop and showed her findings to Mulder.
"We can get the guys to see if they can open it."
Scully sighed.
"They are on our way to Maxwell's house we can just drop it off."
"We could just look for the password."
"That could take forever. They can get this open quicker. You pretend like you don't like them but I know you do."
"I like them in small doses."
Mulder laughed and stole a fry from her.
"Hey! You have your own!"
Mulder shrugged, "I finished them."
The lone gunmen were having a lazy day and were excited to get the call from Mulder saying he and his partner would be stopping by.
Frohike shot up after they hung up and ran to take a shower to make himself more presentable for Agent Scully.
By the time the agents had arrived Frohike had combed his hair back nicely while the other two flung friendly jabs his way.
"Ah welcome agents. Agent Scully may I take your coat?" Frohike half bowed as Mulder ignored him and walked past him with a small smile.
Scully rolled her eyes, "No I am keeping it on."
Mulder set the laptop up for the guys to see. Scully drowned out their technical talk as she scanned some of the headlines, which always gave her a smile and a silent laugh.
"Thanks guys I'll stop by later tonight." Mulder said.
Scully nodded to the gunmen and Mulder led her out with a hand on the small of her back.
Frank Maxwell's home was large but smaller than some of the homes they had seen the day before.
He owned a chain of factories that put together textbooks and other academic works which is how he made the legitimate part of his fortune.
Frank Maxwell had been convicted on charges of insider trading along with a laundry list of smaller charges. He did three months in a minimum-security prison and then had community service and three years parole.
"This guy is everything that is wrong with the world." Mulder said as they walked to the door.
The door opened to reveal a housekeeper.
"Hello, I'm Agent Mulder, this is Agent Scully, and we're here to see Frank Maxwell." Mulder said as he held up his badge.
The woman opened the door wider to let them in and then said, "Wait here for a moment."
They looked around at the foyer. It was your typical rich person foyer, gold plating on everything and a lot of mirrors. The celling was high and the staircase was wide leading up to an open second floor.
"Geez. Crime pays." Mulder mumbled as he turned in a circle and let out a small whistle.
"Hello agents." A tall well dress man entered the room, "Frank Maxwell. What can I do for you?" He held out his hand to both of them in greeting.
"Well Mr. Maxwell Agent Traci Maxwell was found dead under suspicious circumstances and we just have some questions about your relationship with her and her partner." Scully said.
"Well first please call me Frank." He said kissing her hand which Scully quickly pulled away. He brushed it off and continued, "And I did hear about Agent Wells. So sad. I would not say we had any sort of relationship except that of a law enforcement officer and suspect."
"And your relationship with her partner?"
"Ahhhh I see. Yes, Agent Thornton and I have had a romantic interlude but that did not have anything to do with her partner. As far as I know her partner was not aware of our, well, relationship."
"Did you ever interlude with Traci?" Mulder asked trying to mask his irritation.
"No sir. Traci did not think very highly of me I am afraid."
"Why is that?"
"To be quite honest I come off as quite the flirt sometimes." Maxwell moved a bit closer to Scully.
"You don't say." Mulder said as Scully scooted away from the shameless suspect.
He laughed, "Well I found Traci to be a very beautiful woman and I told her so. She did not like it very much."
"You harassed her?" Scully asked with crossed arms.
"No! Of course not. I am a flirt but I am a gentleman as well."
Scully rolled her eyes.
"When was the last time you saw Agent Wells?" Mulder asked.
"Oh I don't even remember it was so long ago."
"When was the last time you saw Agent Thornton then?"
"Well it has been a while. Not sure I remember."
"Really? Her sister said just last week."
"Oh yes! Yes, I forgot. We did go out last week. But I let her know that it was our last time."
"You going the strait and narrow then?"
"Agent, I have never left the strait and arrow. To you it looks like I am cheating but in reality my wife and I have an arrangement. I don't bother her, and she doesn't bother me."
"How romantic. I wonder if I took a random poll of cheating husbands, how many of them would say something like that?" Mulder wondered sarcastically.
"Feel free to ask my wife. Did you come here just to look down from your high horse? If you don't have anymore questions then I would like to get back to my day."
Mulder pulled out the picture of Agent Wells' body, "Do you know of anything that could do this to a person?"
Maxwell didn't seem too perturbed by the photo as he eyed it, "Is this necessary Agent? And no. Do I look like a chemist to you?"
Scully put her hand on Mulders arm and turned to Maxwell, "Thank you for your time. I'm sure we will see you again."
"I hope so." Frank said with raised eyebrows.
Mulder and Scully stopped by to see the Lone Gunmen to see what they found. Traffic on the way there left them sitting in the car for an extra hour and it was dark by the time they reached their friends.
Byers pulled out the laptop and opened it up to show the agents.
"It appears that she was doing more than just her normal caseload." Byers pulled up some documents on the computer, "She was keeping a journal that describes corruption in her department. I haven't read all of it but it seems like her boss was on the take."
"Wait, she was working on this on her own?" Scully said taking the laptop to go through Traci's journal.
"It appears so. There is still some encrypted material that we have to sort through though."
"Was she working alone?" Mulder asked as he leaned over Scully's shoulder to see the screen.
"Hard to say yet. Was she good with computers?"
"No one has said that about her. We have found nothing besides this to indicate that she was." Scully answered.
"So how long do you think it will take you guys to get the rest of the info?" Mulder asked.
"A few more hours. You might want to come by in the morning." Langley said.
"The morning?" Mulder gave a small whine.
"Mulder it's getting pretty late. We were in the car for so long and I am getting pretty hungry." Scully said.
"Ok. First thing then. Thanks guys."
"He knows something but I don't think he did it." Scully said as they sat on Mulder's old leather couch reviewing the day, which had not yielded much except more confusing twists to the case. "I mean whistle blowing within the FBI is much more dangerous than torrid affairs and jealous wives."
Scully pulled out a folder from under a pile. It was a picture of a vent in the bathroom. On it was a thick green residue, a detail they had missed when they were at the scene.
"Mulder, look at this." She showed him the photo, "Did you see this? Did they take a sample?"
"I think I saw something about that…"
Mulder started to shuffle through a stack of papers.
"Ah-ha." He pulled one out from the bottom of the pile.
He handed it to Scully who read off some of the results, "Sulfur, Ammonia, phosphorus, multiple kinds of organic compounds that can be found in nerve gas, and a bunch of other poisonous gasses that will do serious damage to a person. Poison gasses… but all of these compounds are from different kinds of gasses… I have no idea what this is."
"It must have been released through the air ducts. These would have killed her?"
"It depends on how much she was exposed to and for how long. They certainly could not have caused the level of damage we have seen."
"Could it have reacted with the make up to do this to her?"
"I don't know… Maybe. We would have to see an expert. There is so much in here I can't imagine how it would all react."
Mulder checked his watch, "I guess it is too late to call for an expert?"
Scully laughed, "Yes Mulder, it is."
Scully began to stack the papers up making it known that she was getting her things to leave.
"Oh come on Scully it's the middle of the night and you're already here."
"Mulder… It is a slippery slope if we start spending the night together during cases we will end up spending nights on the road together and nothing will ever get done."
"That doesn't sound so bad to me." Mulder scooted closer to her and Scully scooted further away, "We spend pretty much all our time together anyway."
"Mulder…" Scully got up to get her things.
"Oh come on Scully! We don't have to have sex you can just sleep here."
Scully sighed and looked at her watch again. She looked up at Mulder who was still sitting on the couch trying to look innocent.
"Fine. But you have to behave."
"Scouts honor."
They curled up on his bed and were fast asleep within minutes.