Summary: The events in Gethsemane take an unusual turn. Just a quickie, for I couldn't resist. Category/Rating: V/PG-13 Disclaimer: Good lord, I don't own 'em! CC does! Spoilers: US Season 4, ALL EPISODES up to and including the finale. For Hong Te, who is possibly the best pal a writer could have. Thanks Hong! %%%%%%%%%%%%%% ST. CRISPIN'S DAY by CiCi Lean canny409@aol.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%% The game's afoot. As I sit here, in the dim hallway outside of the Bureau's largest meeting hall, I am impatient for the game to truly begin, to finally receive some measure of victory in a battle that's been, for far too long, a losing one. Inside that room sits a panel of suits and self-proclaimed judges, asking Special Agent Dana Scully exactly what has transpired over the past three days, along with her opinions and beliefs regarding her partner's work, his life...and his death. She is in there telling them the greatest of lies. But that's all part of the game. At 7:15 this morning I disposed of the body of one Michael Kritchkov, government worker, Pentagon spy, mole and liar. He had proved himself a coward in every way, taking his own life, with another man's gun. But, he died with one saving grace. He had killed himself in the best of all possible places. Agent Mulder's apartment. When I arrived after receiving Agent Scully's call, I found my two agents, pale and worn to the bone, sitting over a corpse that was already beginning to stink. That was all I needed. I told them that I would take care of the body once it arrived at the local DC morgue. I knew I would have no trouble. I've gotten very good at destroying evidence. We also had a long talk. About the truth, about lies, about war, about opportunities and how only fools let them slide from their grasp. We now had opportunity to take care of many troublesome things. An opportunity to pull the rug right out from underneath the smoker's lying, murderous ass. In war, there are no rules. You take what you get and you use it to your advantage. Not for gain or glory, but to save lives. The lives of the men under your command, who trust in your judgement enough to follow your word, and your own life, for when those men are gone, there is no longer any hope for you. I have three lives to save. Agent Scully's life is hanging by the thinnest of threads. There will not another reprieve for her illness; her cancer has spread throughout her blood and it is only a short matter of time until she is once again in a sterile hospital room, but this time, never to return. Agent Mulder's life is careening out control. His quest for the truth has become a labyrinth of lies that he himself might be helping to propagate. Of all things that could possibly destroy him, his own dishonesty, even unintentional, could lead him to a place from which there will be no return. My life is no longer my own. It is the property of a man whom I hate, a man who is a liar, a thief, a coward and a murderer. And that's as good as being dead. But the game's afoot. Later today the smoker will come to my office and demand to know where the body of Fox William Mulder is. He will need proof for his superiors that Mulder is indeed dead, and that, surely, it was not his fault. And that someone else, not himself, has taken and hidden the body for reasons unknown, but that there are still no threats of exposure to those men or their *work*. I will deny him this proof. Unless he does something for me. When I insist that Agent Scully's cancer be addressed and that Agent Mulder be given the truth about his sister's abduction, this very day, he will become angry. He will sputter and threaten. Then, I assume, he will look frightened, perhaps coaxing or wheedling like a weasel that's trapped. It is too much to dream he will beg, but he might. I will enjoy every moment of it. If he has lied to me about his power to cure Agent Scully, I will go to state's evidence. I will make damn sure that the trial will take place within Agent Scully's lifetime. So she will be able to witness her murderer's defeat. Agent Mulder will get his truths, even if they are not what he wants to hear. He will learn the mystery behind his sister's fate, which not only torments him, but destroys the lives of those around him. I will be a free man. And that's enough for me. The door is opening now and I can see Agent Scully's strong step past her interrogators to my side. Her eyes meet mine and they hold a wonderful secret. The game has begun. **************** All comments welcome. canny409@aol.com