CHAPTER 15

Scully wrapped her arms around her adult son, feeling not only his obvious physical strength in his toned physique, but the overwhelming sorrow of his internal pain as she hypnotically stroked his back in comfort. Will couldn't remember the last time he had shed so many tears, if he had ever at all. There seemed to be no end to the pain that was being released in this woman's arms, a woman he had just met but felt as if he had known forever.

As his crying began to subside, Scully pulled away from Will, holding his face in her hands. "It's okay," she murmured, wiping a tear from his cheek. "We will find her."

Will nodded into her hands, still unable to speak. His jaw flexed as he tightened it against the second floodgate of emotions he felt coming. "Thank you," he whispered. He looked to Mulder, whose face was still wrought with distress over his son and the image of Cara. "Both of you."

Mulder gave Will a small smile, trying to display reassurance for his son's sake, but was mostly unable to. "William," he said softly, sinking into the armchair that Will had previously occupied as Scully pulled Will down on the couch next to her, still soothing him with strokes on the back. "You said you came here to protect us. Protect us from what?"

"The prophecy," Will replied, rubbing his hand over his face. "You die, I'm theirs. You live, I'm against them."

Mulder nodded. "And that's what they want you to do to see Cara again, right? Give me up?"

Will copied Mulder's small nod. "I won't do it."

"William-"

"I won't," Will interrupted, his hands waved at Mulder to silence him. "There's no way."

"She might die," Mulder pointed out gently.

"If I gave you up, she'd find a way to kill me."

"She's fiery, then?"

Will smiled softly, feeling her lips on his in his mind. "And stubborn like a mule."

"They will keep taunting you," Scully said softly. "You know that."

"I do," Will whispered, his eyes closing. "I have a little more than a day to find her."

"Was there any clue in the conversation you had with him? The bounty hunter?" Mulder asked. "Anything that tipped you off?"

Will shook his head. "Other than he was driving at that time, no."

"Any sounds you can recall?"

"None, just his voice and passing traffic."

Mulder rubbed his chin in thought. "May I see your phone?" he asked carefully, knowing Will couldn't handle to study the horrific photo for any clues. Will gave Mulder the phone hesitantly, his eyes turning away after catching a glimpse of the picture once more. Crouching forward, Mulder's eyes narrowed as he blocked out the emotion related to the subject of the photo. He was looking for anything - anything to give him a starting point. A few heart-wrenchingly silent moments later, Scully saw his eyebrow raise.

"The restraints," Mulder whispered. "They are unlike any I've ever seen."

"May I?" Scully asked, not sure if she truly wanted to see what Mulder and her son had. Mulder handed her the phone, and Will caught Scully's swallowed gasp of shock as she tried to contain her reaction for his sake. Another moment passed, and she nodded. "It's odd. There's an entire mechanism attached to it under the table."

"It cut her," Mulder noted, taking the phone and pointing at Cara's wrists. "Like it tightened as she fought against it."

"The material … it's like a webbing …" Scully continued.

Will squeezed his eyes shut, knowing he had to fight against his rage to take in the details like his parents were. He detached himself emotionally, observing what his parents had mentioned. "Cargo straps," he murmured with sudden realization. "Hoboken is right by the water … I've seen plenty of cargo coming in from the docks." His finger traced the small portion of the mechanism that was seen under the table. "These are like the straps I've seen some of them use. They self-tighten as the cargo shifts so it remains secured."

Mulder nodded. "She's by the water."

"Well," Will leaned back against the sofa in disappointment, "that leaves just about every coast of every country on the entire planet."

When she didn't think she had a single tear left to shed or word left to utter, Cara's head dropped as she stared blankly at the floor. She had no idea what time it was, or where she was for that matter, but she felt guilty at the sound of her stomach rumble. She knew it had to be at least an entire day that she had food or water. Her head pounded, and she figured some of the pain was attributed to dehydration.

A few moments passed, and the door opened again, this time her deep-voiced captor was alone. He held a glass of water in his hands as he stepped toward her. She turned her head away from him, not trusting that the water wasn't poisoned or drugged. "Drink," he ordered. She didn't move toward the glass. "Don't reject my hospitality," he said darkly. "Drink. Drink so you have a voice to talk to William with."

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?" Cara asked, turning to look at the man.

"What, and have William miss the show?" The deep-voiced man laughed. "No, I wouldn't want that to happen."

Cara's eyes narrowed. "You're better than this," she said slowly, coming to a revelation. "This … this stereotypical behavior is beneath you."

"Giving compliments? How interesting."

"No …" Cara smiled with deep satisfaction. "It's the biggest insult … because ..." She leaned as far forward as she could, still bound to the chair. "... you can't kill me."

The deep-voiced man angrily threw the glass against the wall, the water splashing and the glass shattering. "Believe me, I can," he sneered, taking Cara's hair and yanking her head back.

"You can't!" Cara continued, wincing against the pain. A smile spread across her face as she looked into the man's eyes. "You don't know how."

"Do you think you would be this battered if you were indestructible?" the man asked, leaning closer to her as he continued to hold her hair. "I could break you like a twig."

"But you won't," Cara retorted with a satisfied grin. "You want to destroy the Shield, but you don't know how."

The deep-voiced man slapped Cara with his free hand, grabbing her neck and squeezing her airways shut. She gasped and choked, her eyes widening as she saw the exact same darkness she had seen in Will the night before replicated in her captor's eyes. "I will destroy the Shield," he whispered as she continued to choke. "And I will destroy William by destroying you."

He easily lifted Cara by the throat, she still bound in the chair rising as she felt herself grow faint. He released her with force, slamming her into the wall behind her, the chair shattering against her. She screamed out in pain and gasped as air filled her lungs once again. Laying against the crumbled heap of wood pressed on the wall, Cara coughed violently, trying to regain her breath as she saw her captor approach her.

"Time for a phone call," he said, pulling Cara up by her hair to stand.

"If he was driving," Mulder said, staring blankly ahead in thought, "he wouldn't have made it any further than you."

"Then he's here?" Scully asked, trying to decipher what Mulder meant.

"He very well could be," Mulder replied, setting Will's phone down on the coffee table.

"So why not just come here and take you himself?" Will asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why all of this? There's no reason for it." He glanced between his parents, shaking his head. "If they wanted to eliminate me as a threat, they could have just came here and killed you."

Mulder leaned back into the chair as he processed what Will said. "They want something from Cara," he murmured.

"What could they want from her?" Scully asked. "I mean, we know she's bait, but …"

"Why don't we call and ask?" Mulder said.

"No." Will's voice was firm. "Her life depends on my cooperation."

Mulder sighed, knowing Will was right not to push the bounty hunter so directly. "Alright, no phone calls." He rubbed his eyes. "So she's bait. She's a toy in his game. Yet, she has a greater purpose … but what is it?"

"The Shield," Will whispered, standing with the statement.

"The what?" Mulder asked.

"The Shield …" Will began to pace. "... He said Cara was of plenty of use to him with the Shield."

"William," Scully said, "what is the Shield?"

"I don't know," Will answered. "But he said to me that she was of use to him until he was able to extract the Shield." Will stopped pacing, placing his hands on his hips. "I thought he meant me metaphorically as her shield."

Mulder shook his head. "I don't remember anything about a Shield," he said softly.

Will's cell phone rang, the sharp tone piercing through each of their hearts with the weight it carried. Will grabbed it quickly, knowing it had to be either Cara or her captor, the "bounty hunter" as Mulder had called him.

"Cara!" Will shouted, his hand gripping the phone tightly.

"...Will?" came Cara's weak reply.