Starkweather: Nothing Else Matters (Meum Mel III) Category: Mytharc Rating: R Disclaimer: Do I have to go through this again??? Oh okay **sigh**... all characters from the "original" X-Files television show are owned lock, stock and barrel by the benevolent Chris Carter who has not, to my knowledge anyways, sued any fanfic writer for borrowing his creations. All other characters, especially Special Agent Jerilyn Bailey Starkweather MD, belong to me. So there. : P Author's Note: I have inserted an extra year in between s8's "Existence" and s9's "NIHT". The only thing off continuity-wise is William's age. Summary: Part Three of the Meum Mel mytharc trilogy. If you're a new reader and like to know how this insanity began, I'd recommend starting at the beginning. Visit the website http://www.geocities.com/phantmoftheopera/index.h tml or look up the old thread numbers: Introitus: 48869.1 Quanta: 57035.1 Frequency Modulation: 59573.1 Rex Tremandae: 76197.1 One Nation, Indivisible (not on the boards, either visit the website or email me direct for a copy) Meum Mel I: 79071.1 Meum Mel II, Echo of Eden: 86347.1 Or if you're lazy, and trust me! I can relate - the next post is a Cliff Notes of the entire saga thus far, which pretty much brings everyone back up to speed. :) Enjoy! Starkweather: Nothing Else Matters (Meum Mel III) Previously on the X-Files... Things just keep getting better and better for our basement crew especially for the latest recruit, Dr. Jerilyn Starkweather, who joined the team last April despite the reservations of her husband who did not want to leave his hometown of Minneapolis to move to Washington DC. Teamed up with her new partner, John Doggett, her first mission with the X-Files nearly killed her as Scully and Mulder, newly inducted as the Deputy Mayor of Washington DC after his fall from grace out of the Bureau, discovered that she had some strange mysterious link to Mulder's past. (Introitus) The mystery is solved later that summer when Dr. Starkweather's husband disappears because he got too close to the Truth when his law firm assigned him to prosecute the Galpex Oil Company, specifically, the oil rig that Mulder and Doggett accidentally blew up. Thanks to the help of a time traveling quantum physicist named Dr. Sam Beckett and his hologram companion Al, it is discovered that Starkweather is actually Mulder's half-sister, as they share the same father. Mulder and Starkweather at this time cannot stand each other, so they were not thrilled, especially since Mulder was framed for the disappearance of Starkweather's husband, Benjamin. However, Mulder and Starkweather got over their differences and with a little help from Scully, Skinner, the Lone Gunmen, a illegal alien named Manny Ibarra and Sam, who's soul was in the body of Doggett, Ben was recovered and the Syndicate's plans where thwarted. However, Ben was returned to them for a price. Starkweather learned that her dearly loved adoptive father, the Admiral Jeremy Bailey had been a part of the corrupted Syndicate and had lied to her about her origins all these years. (Quanta) The more and more Doggett and Starkweather worked together, be it undercover at a radio station (Frequency Modulation) or on a jungle remote island (Rex Tremandae), the more and more threatened by their relationship Ben became even though Starkweather desperately tried time and time again to convince him that she was committed to their marriage. Ben desperately tried to believe her. On Halloween, the day after Doggett and Starkweather returned from being temporarily assigned to the New York Field Office to assist with the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (One Nation), a deranged woman who uncannily resembles Starkweather attacks and murders a liquor store owner. The next day, Doggett, Scully and Reyes apprehend the woman in Starkweather's apartment, but only after the deranged woman, Charlie, viciously attacks Reyes and another woman, cloaked in black, shoots Doggett in the chest. Doggett survives because of his bulletproof vest. The woman in black escapes but Doggett admits that her voice was similar to Starkweather's. Mulder theorizes that perhaps these look-alikes could be part of a genetics experiment as Starkweather herself may have been. Starkweather is less than open-minded to the possibility, but the physical similarities between she and Charlie cannot be denied. Meanwhile, Mulder's health begins to deteriorate, showing the same symptoms he had experienced a few years ago after being exposed to a piece of alien metal believed to be from a spaceship (The Sixth Extinction) While in Arizona, packing up her adoptive father's house because he had been killed in the Pentagon attacks on September 11, Starkweather is approached by an old lover, Lux Carlos, who deserted her to join the CIA. He gives her a serum that can control Mulder's illness but not cure him. This serum comes with a price; the CIA wants Mulder to join them. Meanwhile, while going through the Admiral's library, Ben finds a very mysterious videotape... Starkweather tells Doggett, Scully and Mulder about the serum. Scully insists on testing it to make sure it's safe. When Reyes arrives at the lab, Scully and Starkweather make the discovery that Mulder and Charlie are actually suffering from the same ailment. Scully gives Mulder the serum and Starkweather and Doggett to Charlie. Both are temporarily healed, but must take the serum again if the symptoms reappear. The doctor in charge of Charlie's case balks because she learned that the serum is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and threatens to report their actions to the Bureau. However, Starkweather pleads with her to compromise, not to go to the Bureau and that they won't give Charlie anymore of the serum until it's approved and approval will be easy because she can push through legislation with the help of Mulder's old contact, Senator Matheson and her stepmother, Senator Jenneva Wesley-Bailey. Before Starkweather and Doggett had gone down to the asylum to confront the doctor, Ben provoked a fistfight with Doggett. Starkweather tried to pull Ben off, but he accidentally slammed her into a wall, hurting her and enraging Doggett, warning him "If you ever touch her again, I'll kill you." Doggett later admitted to Reyes that he felt he was "in trouble" because of his feelings for his partner. Meanwhile, Scully and Starkweather debated whether or not her childhood trauma of being kidnapped is in any way related to the mystery surrounding Scully and Mulder's son, William. Scully admits she has doubts of the validity of the diskette given to Mulder, a diskette that supposedly contains Starkweather's adoptive mother's journal, a woman, according to Mulder, was a multiple alien abductee. Starkweather, because of seeing Ben's car at a motel when he told her he was in Falls Church visiting a colleague, suspects he has started cheating on her. Her suspicions are confirmed when she smells the perfume of Noelle Goodhall, the receptionist/legal aide that works at Carter, Spangle and Adams law firm, a perfume she had smelled before in her apartment. Before visiting a different law firm to draw up divorce papers, she is again confronted by Carlos who tells her she shouldn't have given the serum to Charlie and to not bother with the senators about FDA approval because if she does, he will make sure it gets tied up in red tape for years and that she would also be transferred to the New York Office. Starkweather returns home to confront Ben. He confirms that he and Noelle began a relationship but he justified his adultery with his suspicions of hers, confirmed of surveillance photographs of Starkweather and Doggett together. Starkweather tries to explain to him that the pictures are innocent but he disbelieves her. They get into a fight and Starkweather leaves him, staying "I wish I would have left you in that warehouse to burn." The next day, because she missed a meeting at Scully's apartment concerning the situation of Charlie and Carlos, Mulder calls Starkweather from work and invites her to lunch so he can fill her in on what she missed. Starkweather agrees to meet him on the steps of City Hall. When Starkweather leaves, Scully receives a cryptic phone call from the woman in black with Starkweather's voice - Bravo. Acting on orders of the Cigarette Smoking Man, she tells Scully of a Syndicate sanctioned assassination on Mulder. They are to fire the minute he steps outside City Hall. Scully tries to reach Mulder but he had left his cell phone on his desk. She gets Skinner and they rush to City Hall with backup. Meanwhile, Ben is also rushing to City Hall. After telling Noelle that his marriage is over. Noelle tears up and says, "I have something to tell you something..." After hearing what Noelle had to say, Ben realizes he must inform Mulder. He gives Noelle the videotape he found, ordering her to hide it and if something happens to him or Starkweather, to give it to someone in the X- Files Division. "I don't care if it's John Doggett," he says as he storms out. Mulder and Starkweather are less than receptive to Ben's presence. Starkweather tells Ben to leave. Ben begs them to listen to him but then out of nowhere, the assassins that Scully was warned about drive up to City Hall and open fire. Mulder dives for cover, but takes a bullet to the arm. Ben pushes Starkweather down and although she escapes unharmed, Ben takes the brunt of the attack and dies on the operating table. The X-Files agents attempt to console Starkweather after her devastating loss, but only Reyes is able to get through to her. After Ben's funeral, his older and bitter sister, Mary Paula Christie creates a giant scene by accusing Starkweather of being unfaithful with Doggett. After a battle of words where Starkweather was victorious, Doggett brings Starkweather back to the hotel where Mulder and Scully invite them downstairs for a drink. While in the hotel lounge, Ben's paramour, Noelle Goodhall appears. She confesses to the agents that she was not who she seemed, that she was really Felitza Covarrubias, full sister to the nefarious Marita Covarrubias and half-sister to a woman named Samita Saint-Claire, who bears a striking resemblance to Agent Starkweather. Felitza tells the agents that Samita is indeed Starkweather's half-sister as well, that they share the same mother, but different fathers. She gives them the VHS videocassette tape that Ben instructed her to give the X-Files team. Mulder cons Doggett into buying a VCR and the agents watch the video, a home movie that Starkweather's adoptive father the Admiral Jeremy Bailey made, detailing the Eden Project, a secret genetics program headed by the Syndicate. When Jeremy was a struggling sailor in the Navy, the Cigarette Smoking Man approached him to be in charge of security of the Eden Project, a top- secret genetics program where surrogate mothers carried genetically altered fetuses. While there were several different fathers, the Cigarette Smoking Man, the Well Manicured Man, Deep Throat and Bill Mulder were amongst the sperm donors, all the ova came from one woman. Although Jeremy was confused as to why he was recruited, he soon learned why: the ova were harvested from his wife, Lynette, who was a multiple abductee. Bill Mulder's child, "Echo" was initially kept separate from the other test subjects. But when "Delta", the Well-Manicured Man's child, mysteriously disappeared, Echo was moved in her place. Driven by guilt for he had become attached to Echo, Jeremy agrees to help Deep Throat to get the infants out. The plan backfires and CSM escapes with Echo. Deep Throat persuades CSM to leave Echo with the Baileys. Lynette accepts the child as her own, but has no idea that Echo, now renamed Jerilyn Michelle Bailey, is really her own child. Shaken by this revelation, Starkweather withdraws into herself. A few weeks later, after Christmas and before New Year's, she finally brings herself to clean out Ben's office... After speaking to Margot Rogeux-Brandybuck, a lawyer at the Law firm of Carter, Spangle and Adams, about her half-sister Charlie who was charged with the slayings back in October, Starkweather acts on a hunch. She gets a search warrant and goes to Noelle Goodhall/Felitza Covarrubias apartment. The apartment is trashed, there is fresh blood on the carpet and Felitza is gone. After a task force is mobilized, the X- Files Team learns that at the same time Starkweather was knocking on Felitza's door, Samita Saint-Claire, aka "Delta" was kidnapped forcibly from her home. Surveillance pictures show Samita and Felitza in Hawaii, four hours after Samita was taken from her Virginian home. Scully and Reyes are assigned to go to Hawaii and investigate. Although they discover nothing in the official investigation, Reyes, acting on her own feelings, go to Starkweather's childhood home and discovers one of her mother's diaries. Skinner sends Doggett and Starkweather on a secret mission to the Black Hills, South Dakota, based on a tip that the Eden Project was based there. Doggett and Starkweather leave immediately. Mulder, while everyone was away, tries to tie up loose ends. He approaches Starkweather's stepmother and persuades her to give her the rest of Lynette's journals. She refuses. Then Lux Carlos, the CIA agent and Starkweather's former lover finally gives him an offer he can't refuse, twenty-four hour CIA protection for Scully and William. Mulder joins the CIA but already regrets his decision when Justin Leo waltzes in and detonates a bomb in the Starkweather's' old apartment complex as Mulder is overseeing the men moving Starkweather out of her old place she shared with her husband... Carlos admits to Mulder that there is a traitor in the midst, that it could very well be Special Agent Reyes for when she was young and naive, had run "errands" for the Syndicate because Alex Krycek conned her in believing they could help her find her natural parents. Mulder then deducts that the traitor is actually the Senator Jenneva Wesley-Bailey, Starkweather's stepmother. He confronts her as she's destroying Lynette's journals. She admits that she had been feeding information to the Syndicate because she is the adoptive mother of Lily Stratford aka "Alpha." She said that when she learned that Lily was still alive, she vowed she would do anything to keep her child alive, including selling out her stepdaughter. Based on the information the Senator gave her, the Cancer Man contacts Bravo and updates her on the situation. She follows Doggett and Starkweather to the Black Hills. To their mutual delight and discomfort, Doggett and Starkweather grow closer during that brief time in South Dakota. They put their feelings on hold when they discover the Eden Project. First, they discover the bones of the surrogate mothers. Then they discover the Eden Project lab itself and find it's still up and running. The agents decide to destroy the lab instead of trying to bring it to justice. Right before setting the lab ablaze, Starkweather takes a file labeled "Mulder, William Christopher S, DOB: 3-7-01" and she and her partner barely escape four Super Soldiers sent to kill them. Then they barely escape an assault from Bravo herself, who, although the same height and weight as Starkweather, is as strong as Doggett. They are saved by what appears to be Alex Krycek but in reality is Lily Stratford, who has the ability to "morph." Mulder calls Scully and Reyes and tell them to get on the first flight back to Washington DC quickly. While on the plane, Reyes reads aloud from Lynette's journal. The name "John Michelle" pops up throughout the entire journal. Both agents agree the name is significant, especially since Jerilyn's middle name is Michelle. After a harrowing horseback ride down the mountain and back towards civilization, Doggett and Starkweather find safety in a Holiday Inn. After treating Doggett's injuries, Starkweather falls asleep and has a horrifying dream, symbolizing her guilt over her feelings for her partner while recently embracing widowhood. Starkweather and Doggett make it back to Washington DC safely... Or so they thought... May 14, 1999 Hyatt Regency Hotel 1300 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55403 8:15 PM Central Standard Time He tried to keep his head down, not to make himself obvious. His greatest talent was to disappear in the crowd. And dressed in the demeaning uniform of a bus boy, gathering empty drink glasses and wiping down the tables, he knew the guests of honor wouldn't notice him. Especially the bride. She wouldn't recognize him anyway. Not with his long dreadlocked hair and goatee. None of the other guests noticed him either. He was scenery, like the tulle and the flowers. The candles and the tablecloths. Everyone was too busy eating and drinking and admiring the happy couple. "She really is a wonderful girl," crowed the father of the groom, already getting tipsy. "We're thrilled to have her become a Starkweather. You should be proud of her." The father of the bride, dressed in the solemn formal whites of the Navy nodded. "I am," he said, in a voice thick with emotion. "I am." The deejay, bored and opulent, took out his microphone and in a voice far more attractive than his appearance, suddenly crooned out "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?" When the crowd settled enough, the deejay announced, "Please direct your attention to the dance floor as Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Starkweather open this wedding reception with the first dance. Mr. and Mrs. Starkweather? To the dance floor please?" Lux Carlos ignored Ben in all of his tuxedoed glory; his eyes were glued to the bride. The one time he could stare and not draw attention to himself. And stare he did at the tiny feminine figure, clad in white satin, a filmy fairy-tale dress, so not her style and yet so fitting. He had a sneaking suspicion that either her stepmother or mother-in-law picked out the dress, but the headpiece was pure Bailey, a wreath of roses. No veil. <> Carlos thought sadly as he watched her smile grandly at Ben, bowing before her as if he was Fred Astaire and she was Ginger Rogers. But she didn't seem to be Ginger, she seemed like Grace Kelly, which amazed Carlos, for she was not the princess type. She was far from ugly; she had a cute face and a fantastic figure, but most people did not think she was beautiful. Until they fell in love with her. <> he told himself sternly as the first guitar strains of their wedding dance played. <> He then casually lifted his eyes to the man he had been sent to monitor. He laughed along with the crowd and applauded whenever they caught the bride and groom sneak a kiss, but he kept his hands in his pockets. Carlos frowned and balancing the dish tub on his hip, meandered near the table next to the stranger and began to clear it. "I need to talk to you," Carlos muttered to the man with his hands in the pockets. The music was by Metallica and screaming loud yet achingly beautiful. "Can it wait?" "No." "Give me five minutes." Back of the hotel, the man paced impatiently until Carlos came out. He jumped when he heard the cock of a gun. "Jesus, Carlos," Jeffrey Spender spluttered. "You have a lot of balls coming here," Carlos pointed the gun at his head. "A wedding party, full of federal agents. The fucking BRIDE a federal agent herself... Jesus, you are dumb." He shook his head. "I told Rohrer we shouldn't have wasted time protecting your stupid ass." "You don't understand," Spender pleaded. "I didn't have anywhere else to go, my own god damned black-lunged bastard of a father SHOT me in my own office of J. Edgar." "It's not your office anymore... never was your office to begin with," Carlos said coolly. "Oh, hey, got some news for you too, your buddy? Diana Fowley? She's dead." After enjoying the stricken look on his face, still icy, Carlos asked, "So, how were you planning on killing Dr. Bailey...oops! I mean, Mrs. Starkweather?" "Wh-wh.. what? Carlos, I don't..." "Oh shut up," Carlos said wearily. "We know you've been in communication with Krycek and Covarrubias. We know that in order to receive absolution you've agreed to wipe out any remaining traces of the Eden Project. You were gonna blow the girl away to save your sorry cracker ass from your daddy's wrath. Jesus, you're a loser." "You don't understand," Spender seethed. "That girl is not human." "Shoot..." Carlos plastered a shit-eater's grin on his handsome face. "I slept with the girl so I already know THAT." "That's not what I meant and you know it," Spender pointed his finger at Carlos. "She's an abomination. A monster. A freak. She should have never been created. Don't you get it!!!" Spender was nearly hysterical now. "She can bring the downfall of civilization!" "Jerilyn??!?!?!" Carlos stared at him. "Granted, she's a bitch, but I highly doubt she's capable of the destruction of the universe, now matter how hotheaded she gets." "Not Jerilyn herself... her children. If she ever reproduces-" "Okay, you know what," Carlos said, bored now, "I'm missing a damn good party and it's pissing me off, so drop to your knees nice and slow. And then lay on your belly..." "Carlos please..." Spender pleaded but he complied. Being nearly killed at close blank range destroyed a lot of his courage and integrity. Carlos spoke into the tiny radio transmitter on his collar. "Rohrer, I need you." "On my way." A few minutes later, Agent Knowles Rohrer of the CIA appeared with two other men. "Got everything on tape, Carlos," Rohrer told him. "We'll take it from here." He snapped his fingers and the two men in black jogged up and snatched up Spender, who instantly started to scream. "Where... are you taking him?" Carlos asked in dread. Rohrer stared him down. "Don't ask." He then sighed and told him, "It's not as if he doesn't deserve what's coming to him. Working with Krycek and all. Besides... Jerilyn's safe now. That's all that matters." He thumped Carlos companionably on the shoulder and walked away. "Yeah..." Carlos said, leaning against the brick wall in the alley, alone. "That's all that matters..." Nothing else matters. January 1, 2002 Ronald Reagan International Airport Washington DC 4:15 PM Eastern Time "So now what," Doggett asked Starkweather as he got her luggage out of the luggage claim. "I think we should call Mulder," Starkweather said. "And tell him what we saw. Plus, I do have SOME fragments of evidence that needs to be analyzed. Plus I still have the file, ow, dammit," she rubbed her jaw again. "After I go to the hospital and see if I can get some painkillers for my mouth," she mumbled, forcing herself to speak slower. "And you need to get a tetanus shot and have that rib checked out." She took her suitcase from Doggett. "And then I'm going to go get my kitty, take a hot bath, drink an entire bottle of Jack Daniels alone and feel sorry for myself the rest of the night. You?" "Sounds about the same as my plans for tonight, minus the kitty and hot bath." "Well," she said, shy now. "You could come over and borrow my kitty if you wanted to." "Doc, your cat hates me." "He hates everybody, don't take it personally." Doggett chuckled and he just happened to look over his shoulder while he was saying, "Yeah well..." he did a double take. He sucked in his breath. "Starkweather, start walking," he said lowly, taking her hand and starting to move, casual, yet quick. "Why?" What's going on?" "We're bein' followed." "By who?" "Just keep goin'," Doggett said. "We can lose 'em once we're out of the airport. I've got my truck in long-term parki-" Two more men in black suits materialized out of nowhere. Doggett and Starkweather took a sharp turn to the left, as if they were heading for the restrooms. Then they were cut off at the pass by what appeared to be federal agents but they knew damn well they were not feds. "Agents Doggett and Starkweather?" The man in black asked formally. "Who wants to know?" Starkweather snapped. "You both need to come with us now," the man grabbed Starkweather by the wrist, out of Doggett's grasp. Two more men in black seized their luggage while another man in black started to walk ahead of them, yelling out "Move aside, FBI! Move aside, Federal agents!" "Hey now, wait just a damn minute!" Doggett fumed as two more men in black grabbed him by the arms and started to escort him. Starkweather looked up and her eyes widened when she caught a glimpse of the badge he held. The general public wouldn't know any different, but to her trained eyes, it was an obvious fake ID. She began to struggle against her escort. "Don't make me handcuff you," her escort sighed. Meanwhile Doggett's escort lifted his black blazer just enough to show his gun. "Don't make a fuss, Mr. Doggett. And Mrs. Starkweather's escort is equally equipped." "Doggett," Starkweather twisted around to look at him. Her guide jerked her along roughly. "Just do as they say for now," he called back to her. Starkweather stopped struggling but she glared at him. "What do you want? Who are you?" she demanded. And thought: <> As they were herded out of the airport, they were flanked by two more "federal agents." Doggett couldn't even see his petite partner; she was completely surrounded by men. As if she was a lethal criminal. <> he thought in horror as his arm and ribs throbbed in pain. <> The same thought must have crossed Starkweather's mind because he could hear her barking at one of the men in black, "Look, I am a god damned federal agent! If you stop for five seconds and let me show you my ID, any misunderstandings will be cleared up." "Ma'am, anything you say can and will be used against you." "Oh fuck me...." she groaned and started struggling again. "Doggett," she cried out hoarsely. "They aren't real feds, they're - OW! You son-of-a-bitch, let me go..." The man to Doggett's left casually opened his blazer again and Doggett's gut wrenched as he saw again the silvery 9MM Beretta with the silencer. "I strongly recommend you instruct your partner to simmer down," he said placidly. "Jerilyn, listen to me," he said frantically as they were lead toward the parking lot where a murky black Lincoln Town car with tinted windows, was waiting. Starkweather stopped fighting when she heard Doggett use her first name. He only called her that when he was extremely pissed off at her, or if it was vitally important that she listen. "What?" "Keep walking," the man behind her shoved her forward. She stopped and tried to turn around. "Listen you motherfucker, I am NOT goin- OW!" she cried out as the man holding her arm jerked her along. Still she kept abusing the man who pushed her "... piece of shit cheap suited fraud. You are going to see the gates of hell up close and personal when I'm done with you, you miserable cocksuckin-" Doggett's mind reeled on how to rely to her to shut up. <> He tried to think of the right words <> Then she caught a ride on the clue bus. <> she stopped resisting them and shut up while thinking, <> As one of men in black threw their luggage in the trunk of the car, Starkweather's escort threw open the passenger door. "Get in, you little pain in the ass." Starkweather's eyes widened when she saw the driver was pointing a gun at her but she still managed to quip, "No thanks, I prefer the 'No firearms' section." "Get in, Mrs. Starkweather," Doggett's escort pulled out his gun and pointed it at Doggett's head. Doggett sighed. "Just do it," he said helplessly. "Worse damn plug for Nike I ever saw," she grumbled as she climbed into the front passenger seat and Doggett's escort gestured to him to get in the backseat. Starkweather crossed her arms tightly as the ignition was turned on and the driver drove the car out of the parking garage, all while still pointing his gun at her. She lifted her eyes to the rearview mirror and saw the gun pointed at Doggett. "'Arma', huh?" she said to her partner. "I don't know Pig Latin," Doggett retorted. "Keep it down," the driver said. "Why?" Starkweather snapped. "You're going to kill us anyway. Might as well make the last moments memorable?" She started berating them. "Who are you? What do you want? Who do you work for?" The driver sighed but kept driving. "You could at least tell us what we're dyin' for?" Doggett muttered. "I'd feel better meetin' my Maker if I knew that I at least bit it for a noble cause." "Yeah," Starkweather chimed in. "I mean, come on. The bad guys in the movies always tells the good guys the reasoning behind their insane plot to take over the world right before they try to smoke the good guys. Of course, that's when the good guys overpower the bad guys and the crowds cheer," she said primly as she crossed her ankles, hoping they didn't realize that she had a snub-nosed Beretta in an ankle holster. <> she had to fold her hands to restrain herself from reaching down and pulling her gun. The driver sighed. "This ain't the movies." Without taking his eyes off the road, he merged into traffic leading to downtown Washington DC. "That's true, you're too ugly to be a movie star, even if you're a villain," Starkweather injected as much nastiness as she could even though she knew her comeback was a weak one. The driver said to his associate in the back seat, "How did I get stuck on this detail?" "You lost in 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'." "That's right." "Oh great," Starkweather moaned. "We're being kidnapped by Laurel and Hardy. This is an embarrassing way to go." The man in the backseat turned to Doggett, "Does she ever shut up?" "No," Doggett snapped at him. "Hey!" Starkweather snapped back at Doggett. "What do you mean by that?" "Jesus," the driver said. "If we're Laurel and Hardy, then you two are David and Maddie from 'Moonlighting.'" "Like hell," his partner retorted. "They're Mulder and Scully all over again." "We are NOT," Starkweather took umbrage at that. So did Doggett. "Fuck you," he grumbled. "Uh-huh, sure, yeah riiiiiiiigggggggggggggggggghhhht," the driver rolled his eyes, putting his gun into his lap. He reached for his bottle of water that was sitting precariously in the cup holder. Starkweather's eyes gleamed. Lightening fast, she changed her tune. Coyly, she asked, "Could I have a sip?" she batted her eyes. "I don't want to die with a cottonmouth." The driver looked at her, startled at her sudden sweetness. "Knock yourself out," he said with a shrug, holding out the bottle of water. Starkweather reached for it and conveniently dropped it. "Dammit," she muttered. "I'll get it," she bent down and made the appropriate noises as if she was searching for the water. Then she rose back up, holding her little Beretta. "PULL OVER!" "Jesus fucking CHRIST!" the driver yelped. "Didn't you pat her down!" His partner cocked his gun and jammed it against Doggett's temple. "I'll blow your partner's brains out if you don't put that god-damned gun away!" he hollered. "You kill my partner, then I'll kill yours," Starkweather threatened. "And then you'll find out who the fastest shot is." "You're bluffing." "So are you," Starkweather leaned over and pressed the muzzle of her gun into the driver's jowl. "Pull over, or we all die." "I've played poker 'gainst her," Doggett said calmly, as if a gun wasn't being pressed against his skull, although he was wincing under the pressure of the muzzle cutting into his skin. "She's got a good poker face. I've lost a lot of money to that lady." "Pull the fucking car over," Starkweather hissed. "And let us out." "Jesus, Gus," the driver moaned. "You IDIOT!" his partner yelled back. "Don't say my name, you fuckin' twit! She's got a photographic memory!" "She's gonna shoot me!" "No she's not!" "Yes she is," Starkweather pressed the gun harder into his head. "Pull OVER. NOW." "I'm pullin' over." "The hell you are. Mrs. Starkweather," Gus, the man in the backseat safetied his gun and pulled it away from Doggett's head. "Listen to me. We're the good guys okay? We were instructed to stage a public kidnapping to throw the Syndicate. We're taking you both somewhere safe. That's is the truth." Doggett lunged for him and wrestled the gun away. Pointing it at him, he gasped out, "Bullshit," in a shaky breath. His side and his arm were killing him. He could only imagine how much pain Starkweather was in from the damage Bravo inflicted on her. Starkweather, however, was running on pure adrenaline so she was feeling no pain at the moment. She glanced out the window. "Let us out at the J. Edgar Hoover Building." "I'm gonna let them off," the driver gasped. "No, don't! Mrs. Starkweather, Mr. Doggett," Gus beseeched the agents. "Please let us take you to our destination. Keep the guns if they make you feel safer. But please, let us help you." "Who do you work for?" Doggett demanded. "I can't say," Gus said helplessly. "We were instructed not to say." "J. Edgar is less than four blocks away..." Starkweather snarled. "Would you chill out and stop being such a Hurricane for at least ten seconds so I can explai-" Starkweather cut Gus off. "Hurricane?????" she squawked. She stared at the driver in disbelief and slowly she pulled her gun away, but kept the safety off. "There is one person who calls me that..." her hellion hazel eyes narrowed into slits. "I'm gonna KILL him!!!" "You mean this whole thing is a SET UP!?!?!" Doggett looked murderous. "Was this whole thing a JOKE?" demanded Starkweather. "Was this whole thing set up by the Deputy Mayor?" As Gus groaned at his mistake, the driver said nervously. "Yes this was a set up. It's not a joke. And the Deputy Mayor did NOT set this up. He didn't even know we were coming for you. Otherwise he would have insisted on coming himself and that would have ruined everything." "Ruined what?" demanded Doggett while Starkweather muttered again, "I am going to kill him. I mean it this time, he's a fucking dead man." "I honestly am not at liberty to tell you," Gus said regretfully as Doggett pressed the gun into his temple now. "Mostly because we don't know. We are on a need to know basis. We were instructed to orchestrate a public kidnapping and then deliver you to our safehouse." He gulped. "Keep the guns. As insurance if you don't believe us." "Well, we sure as hell don't believe you," Starkweather muttered. "Can you take us to the Deputy Mayor?" "That's where we're headed," the driver said as the car cruised past J. Edgar. Starkweather looked over at Doggett. "Let's keep going," Doggett growled. "I smell a Mulder- stunt." Starkweather folded her lips and continued to point her gun at the hapless driver. Later... After a deathly quiet car ride, the driver finally veered out of the busy Washington DC traffic and pulled into a parking garage, parking in the lowest level possible. Pulling out a cell phone, the driver dialed. After a moment, he said, "We're here." The doors of the tan Ford Taurus next to them swung open. Two Marines, dressed in battle fatigues stepped out. "Mrs. Starkweather, Mr. Doggett," the bigger of the two Marines said politely. "Step out of the vehicle and come with us." "I told you," the driver said. "We're the good guys." "And we apologize," the smaller but still stocky Marine told them. "But we need to blindfold you." he held out two strips of black cloth. "Oh fuck no," Starkweather told them, turning her gun on them. The stocky Marine sighed. "I told you she was going to be difficult." "How did we get roped into this detail?" the bigger Marine asked. "Lemme guess, 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'?" Starkweather snapped. "How'd she know?" the Stocky Marine wondered aloud. "It's nice to know major decisions are reached through use of a child's game," Doggett grumbled. "You know," Starkweather said as she got out of the vehicle, gun still pointed at the Marines. "It's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun. So I think Agent Doggett and I are going to take our leave now." Doggett also got out of the vehicle, keeping his gun pointed at the Marines. "Come on Doc, J. Edgar's not that far from here." From the Chevy Tahoe parked on the other side of the Town car, two more Marines, armed jumped out. "Need some help?" one of the new Marines asked as the previous Marines pulled out their 9MMs and pointed them at the agents. "Oh shit," Doggett sighed, dropping his gun to the ground and raising his hands as Starkweather followed suit. "This day keeps getting better and better," Starkweather bitched as the Marine fastened the blindfold around her eyes. Once the blindfolds were in place, Doggett and Starkweather were led into the backseat of Taurus. The car started up and drove to God-only- knew. "Doc, that you beside me?" Doggett was aware there was only two of them in the backseat but wasn't one hundred percent sure who sat next to him. To his relief, a grouchy feminine voice replied "No, it's your other five-foot-three, blonde haired, partner." But he felt her small hand reaching for him, fumbling over his chest and thigh, searching for him. He took her wandering hand into his and squeezed once, gently. She squeezed back and interlocked her fingers with his and didn't say anything for the rest of the trip. Abruptly, the car ride stopped. The agents heard the car door opening and a gruff voice saying, "Okay, out." "Skinner?" Doggett asked. "Move, agents." "Holy shit, what is going on?" Starkweather demanded as she clumsily got out of the car, still blindfolded. Their blindfolds were removed once they were indoors. Doggett and Starkweather blinked to adjust to the bright lights of the very blandly decorated hallway. They turned around to find Assistant Director Skinner standing behind him, glowering at them. Behind Skinner were two more very unhappy looking Marines. "Sir, we can explai-" Starkweather started. Skinner cut her off. "Let's go agents." "Sir," Doggett asked quietly. "With all due respect, what in the hell is going on?" "Now, Agent Doggett," Skinner said just as quietly but ten times more forcibly. Stifling sighs, Doggett and Starkweather started walking straight ahead. <> Doggett wondered. "Go in the door on the right," Skinner instructed the agents when they got to the end of the hall. Doggett opened the door and found an opulently decorated boardroom, a sharp contrast from the boring hallway they had just walked down. And sitting at the head of the long polished table, poring over paperwork, dressed in a beige skirt and matching blazer with a pale yellow blouse, was Agent Scully. Her cerulean eyes widened in horror when she saw her friends. "Oh my God!" she cried out, getting up, removing her glasses. "Jerilyn, your face!" she rushed over to examine her. In the rush of excitement, Starkweather had completely forgotten about the splotchy bruises on her chin and throat, a gift from her wicked half-sister Bravo. Who had given her a kick to the chops that should have killed her. All the adrenaline left her body now to make room for the screaming pain. Still she managed to spit out. "WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON!?!?!?!" "Well," Skinner said, dismissing the Marine guards and shutting the door behind him. "When I said to bring back somebody's head. I wasn't expecting you two to raise the dead." "I don't understan- ow!" Starkweather exclaimed when Scully began prodding her wounded face. "Leave me be, Scully, I'll live. Doggett was stabbed last night." "What?" Scully now rushed over to Doggett. "Where? Let me see..." As Doggett shrugged off his coat, wincing as he did so, he asked, "Sir, where are we?" Skinner sat down. "CIA Headquarters. After Mulder's discovery last night... we felt it was the safest place for all of us right now." "All?" Starkweather asked, sitting down as well. Her legs were threatening to give way again. "Reyes, Mulder and William are here too," Scully filled her in as she removed Doggett's shirt. She gasped out in sympathy when she saw the gruesome black and blue marks on Doggett's side. "What happened?" Her eyes flicked over to his arm, saw the makeshift bandage. "Oh my God, who did this?" "Bravo," Starkweather said. "Same one who gave me this," she pointed to her face. "That doesn't make any sense," Scully said. "She was the one who tipped me off that a carload of assassins were on their way to kill Mulder." "She what?" Starkweather bolted out of her seat, her legs feeling better now. "Why would she do that? She seemed pretty insistent that she wanted US to die yesterday." "I... I can't explain why," Scully said helplessly as she prodded Doggett's poor side. "Ow," he complained. "Nothing feels broken," Scully determined. "But we can't be sure without X-Rays." "We could send him to Bethesda," Skinner recommended. "Under my personal supervision of course." "I'm not going anyway," Doggett snarled, the hardened New York accent overpowering the softer Southern side. "Until somebody tells me what in God's name is goin' on." "In a nutshell?" Skinner said. "All holy hell has broken loose." "That's nothing new," Starkweather contended. "This is," Skinner assured her. "Trust me, this is." "Why?" Starkweather's eyes flicked over to Scully, who was blinking her own eyes very rapidly. "Your stepmother," Scully finally said, bending down, picking up Doggett's shirt off the floor. "Betrayed us all." "How?" Starkweather asked, politely averting her eyes as Doggett put his t-shirt back on again. "Mulder wants all of us to be here, to explain what happened." "How did Mulder..." Starkweather started to say then snapped her mouth shut. She knew exactly how Mulder got mixed up in the CIA. Just then, the door swung open. Agent Reyes, carrying William, entered first, followed by the Deputy Mayor Mulder and... "Lux," Starkweather seethed. "You son-of-a- bitch." "Jeri, don't get pissed at me," Lux said coolly, but guiltily avoided her eyes as he smoothed down his tie. "It was his decision in the end." Starkweather balled her fist and charged for him. Doggett, with his long arms, was able to reach out and grab Starkweather's shirt collar. She gagged a little as Doggett reeled her back in. "Cool it," he snapped at her. Eyeing Mulder and Carlos carefully, he drawled out, "Alright. Somebody better start talking. I want to know why that whole charade was played out. Havin' guns pointed at me kind of ruins my day." "What charade?" Mulder said blankly. Then he turned to Carlos. "WHAT charade???" "He made us think we were being kidnapped," Starkweather blurted out. "You WHAT!?!?" Mulder balled his fist. Carlos cringed. "MULDER!" Scully shouted. "Enough!" "Would SOMEBODY tell us what the FUCK is going on -- OW!!" she cried out as a jolt of pain radiated through her face after she finished speaking. "Wow," Mulder said dryly as everyone started to cagily walk towards the long table to sit down. "There IS a way to get you to shut up." Starkweather flipped him off as she sat down. Scully groaned at the brother-sister antics as Reyes handed her William. She kissed the back of his head and clutched him a little tighter than normal. He complained with a whine and Scully forced herself to loosen her grip on her son. Carlos stood at the head of the table and waited as the other two CIA X-File agents, Bonaventure Merchant and Satish Joshi entered the room. "Our apologies," Joshi said to everyone as he and Bunny took their seats. "Okay then," Carlos said. "This is why we had to take such extreme precautionary measures today." All eyes were on him. He was painfully aware of only one pair, a pair of hazel eyes that switched colors with her mood, set in a pretty, pale heart-shaped face. A pretty face marred by ugly bruises today. He owed her answers. Even though he addressed the entire group, his dialogue was primarily for the benefit for Starkweather and Doggett. He told them about Reyes's discovery of Lynette Bailey's journal in Starkweather's childhood home. Reyes shunted the journal over to Starkweather. Doggett frowned as he watched her trembling hands reach out to the voice of her mother, clutching the leather-bound book. He told them of Mulder's leap, how he figured out by the Senator Jenneva Wesley-Bailey's reluctance to release the rest of the journals into Mulder's possession, she had balked. When he told them about Justin Leo's hand in the destruction of Jerilyn's old apartment complex, she lowered her eyes and clutched the book just a little tighter. Then she looked up in shock when Carlos told them about the Senator's confession, why she had aligned herself with the Syndicate. "But..." Starkweather interrupted in a weak voice, "she never said anything about having a child... or being married before..." "The lady kept her secrets well," Carlos said grimly. "Where is she now?" her voice became stronger. "In custody although in all honesty," Carlos sighed. "We don't know what to do with her. Officially, she hasn't done anything that we could legally go after her for." "Since when did treason and espionage become misdemeanors?" Doggett asked. "When we can't prove it," Carlos said. "All she has to do is plead temporary insanity. And she's got the money and lawyers to pull it off. Then she'd go after Mulder for putting her on the spot." He sighed. "And you both came back alive. If you hadn't, we would have been able to go after her for accessory." "I don't understand," Starkweather's voice had weakened again, barely audible this time. Carlos had to look down at his portfolio, pretend that he was reading his notes. He couldn't stand to look at her, to see that hurt so plain on her face. "She said she contacted the Cancer Man as to what you two were up to." "How did she find out?" Starkweather asked. "One guess," Mulder said. "Kersh." "But how did Kersh find out?" Skinner demanded. "Nobody saw that file except for me." "We don't know who gave you that file," Carlos said. "Someone could have very easily given a copy to Kersh." "I thought it was you," Starkweather said. "No," Carlos told her. "It wasn't me." He continued to look down at his portfolio. "Agent Starkweather," he said formally. "Does the name, 'John Michelle' mean anything to you?" She shook her head. "His name," Reyes spoke up for the first time. Her voice, flowing and calm, had a soothing presence, despite the subject matter, "is mentioned several times in your mother's journal, especially when she writes about her abduction experiences." Reyes continued on, despite the dagger-like glare she received from Starkweather when she said 'abduction experiences'. "He sounds like an old flame or an ex-boyfriend. Are you sure you've never heard his name before?" "I really wish you hadn't read my mother's private thoughts before I had a chance to, Reyes," Starkweather continued to glare at her. If Reyes had been made out of glass, she would have melted under Starkweather's fiery glare. But of stronger stuff Reyes was made of. "I know," she said simply. "And I'm sorry. But you know I didn't have a choice. And you know you would have done the same thing if you and I were in reversed positions." Starkweather broke off eye contact. "I've never heard the name John Michelle before," she said. "As far as I was concerned, my fath- the Admiral," she corrected herself, "was my mother's first, last and only love. At least, that's what she told me." "Agent Starkweather, Agent Doggett," Carlos continued with formality. It was easier to deal with Jerilyn as a professional. Professionalism desensitized him. "We need to know what happened in South Dakota." Doggett and Starkweather looked at him. "Go ahead," she said. "My jaw's starting to hurt again." So Doggett began to tell everyone the pertinent information of their fateful trip to the Black Hills. He told them about the nine skeletons in the cave that Starkweather determined were female and murdered. He told them about Starkweather falling down the hole and ending up in the conference room. He told them how everything looked new. He told them about going down the stairs and finding the lab. He left out the part of finding a file with William's name and birthdate on it. They hadn't had a chance to study it yet. It was still tucked away in the hidden pocket of the coat Starkweather hadn't taken off yet. He didn't feel completely at ease in the presence of the CIA, mostly due to the fact that his so-called-friend Agent Knowle Rohrer screwed him over last year, royally. And then tried to kill him on top of that. Some friend. But he did go into detail about the Cray computer and the weapons room and the laboratory with the jars of deformed fetuses and babies. Scully turned green. Mulder looked at her sympathetically, but said and did nothing to comfort her. She was not speaking to him. Civilly, anyway. Doggett told them about the genetically altered monsters that looked like men who charged the labs and how he and Starkweather barely escaped with their lives. Joshi asked, "What happened to the lab?" Starkweather saved Doggett from having to tell a lie. "There was a fire," she said simply and everyone left it at that. After Starkweather's willful exchange of misinformation, Doggett explained how they ran out of the lab only to be attacked by Bravo. "She kicked Agent Starkweather in the face and then she came after me. She recognized me from when me, Agent Scully and Agent Reyes stormed Agent Starkweather's apartment building to apprehend Charlie." Everyone in the room turned to stare at Starkweather. "She KICKED you?" Mulder said, incredulously. "How?" Carlos said, concern and fear widening his big cocoa eyes. "It looked like," Doggett thought for a minute, "like some martial arts move." Carlos took off his suit jacket. "Did it," the second dan black belt asked him, "Look like this?" He then performed a flawless roundhouse kick. "Or this?" he then re-chambered and executed a front snap kick. "The second one," Doggett said. "The jump front snap kick," Carlos demonstrated for them, then sat back down, still staring at Starkweather. "Is the board break technique for high green belts to graduate to blue belt in some Tae Kwon Do schools... Jerilyn.... she delivered that kick to you **face**?!?!? That should have killed you." "Maybe she didn't put full power into the kick?" Starkweather couldn't understand why Carlos and Mulder were staring at her so strangely. She felt extremely uncomfortable. She hated feeling like the bug under the microscope. Carlos explained his reaction. "The average board thickness," he said cautiously "is the same as the human rib. Plus Bravo is an assassin. Pure and simple. She doesn't kill because she has to. She's not impoverished, she's not insane, she's not blackmailed. She kills because she likes it. I'm guessing she was fairly pissed off when you got up and walked again." Mulder however remained silent. His photographic memory was taking him back to a case all the way back to 1993. The year Scully came to him. They were investigating the strange deaths of two men who were exsanguinated and consequential abduction of their daughters. Teena Simmons and Cindy Reardon. Two eight year old children who had never met until Sally Kendrick took them away but they "just knew" who and what they were. Killers. At his insistence, Deep Throat had come to him with information about the Litchfield Experiment. A program where boys and girls were bred to become "superior soldiers" only to have the majority descend into homicidal and/or suicidal insanity. The boys were all called Adam... the girls... Eve.... <> Mulder thought as he continued to stare at his half-sister who looked nothing like the Eves from the Eden Project but had many of the same abilities... except the insanity. <> a treacherous voice whispered to him. <> The little voice, the little voice that kept him honest when Scully wasn't around... or wasn't talking to him... continued. <> He remembered Deep Throat giving him an address of an asylum for the criminally insane. How he and Scully drove down there. How bad Scully's fashion sense had been back then, but then he was oblivious to women most of the time because he was still hung up on two lost loves. Phoebe Green, the Terror of Scotland Yard and Diana Fowley, aka the FBI's 'Fowl One.'" Scully could have dressed in Christian Dior back then and he still wouldn't have noticed. He didn't notice how beautiful she was until she sat beside him on his hospital bed and wept for her father as Luther Lee Boggs met his Maker for a second time. He remembered the screaming as he and Scully entered the dungeon where Eve 6 was kept. He remembered the guard shaking her head, saying, "She screams and screams if the overhead lights are put on. Nobody's gotten a good look at her." He remembered how Eve 6 clicked her teeth together after describing how she gnawed off the face of a guard. How she had meant that to be taken as a sign of affection. She told them how the Eves were prone to suicide. She told them how the Eves had extra chromosomes that heightened everything. Heightened strength. Heightened intelligence. "Heightened psychosis," Mulder had said. He continued to stare at Starkweather. She shot him back a look that clearly said: What the fuck do you want??? He looked away. If everything that they were saying was true... if Starkweather had been genetically altered like the Eves... she would have a denser skeletal structure and a higher performing muscle mass. Making it possible for Starkweather to walk away from that assault with only a sore jaw instead of a broken neck. Doggett, he also noticed, was very purposely NOT making eye contact with either him or Scully as he continued with his narrative. <> he thought, looking back over at Starkweather again, saw how she kept fidgeting with her coat. <> Like a Rubik's cube, he twisted the matter over until the colors became solid. <> <> <> "... and then we got back to our original hotel and everything was destroyed," Doggett was just about finished with his report. "Everything?" Skinner asked. "Everything that had been left behind. We had taken the file and the map you gave us. And our badges, guns, money and airline tickets. As Agent Starkweather said," he looked over to his partner. "We've learned from our predecessors." Mulder and Scully shifted uncomfortably in their seats, both thinking back on all the naive times they had left evidence behind in their hotel rooms, their cars, their homes, their offices and assumed it would still be there later. "The hotel furniture and framed pictures were trashed. Our notebook comps were trashed," Starkweather spoke slowly. The pain was building up again. She longed for either a tall Jack and Coke or handful of Valium. "Some of our clothes were destroyed. The fuckers even smashed my reading glasses," she bitched, pulling out a mangled pair of what was once a pair of wire- rimmed glasses. "Can I write off my new pair as a business expense?" "After witnessing and documenting the damage to our rooms, we wasted no time in gettin' our asses back to Rapid City and catchin' the first flight to DC. Where we were intercepted by Mr. Carlos'... friends..." Doggett finished his narrative on a cool note, glaring at Lux Carlos, not liking him a whole lot at the moment. There was a moment of silence around the table. Finally Bunny spoke up. "No wonder the Syndicate is mobilizing now." "Yes," Joshi nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Lux, I understand now why you insisted on the kidnapping scenario. It was the right decision." Before Doggett and Starkweather could say a word, Satish Joshi addressed the agents. "You two have seen too much. In fact, I suspect you two have seen things that you for what ever reasons have not revealed to us." Doggett and Starkweather both met his gaze with perfect poker faces, but Mulder saw Starkweather's hand unconsciously fidgeting with the material of her coat. <> Mulder assumed his own poker face and made a mental note to have a friendly chat with his baby sister later. "They'll be looking for you both. With the kidnapping, we bought ourselves some time." "Probably at least a day or two," Bunny said. "At most. Until that Smoking Bastard takes control again and pushes the Project forward." "A day or two is all we need," Joshi reassured her. "For what?" Doggett asked. "For our first offensive assault on the Syndicate," Carlos told them gravely. "All this time, we've been on the defensive. Not this time. This time, we hit first and we blow a big hole in their organization. We won't be able to completely shut them down, but we can at least cripple them. And we can destroy at least one of their covert operations." "What operation?" Skinner asked. Carlos looked at Starkweather, then at William, playing contently with his mother's cross necklace. "One of the spin offs of the Super Soldier Program... we can stop the Eden Project." "How?" Mulder asked. Carlos sighed. "That's where you all come in..." "How?" Scully asked. "On December 29, 2001, Agent Starkweather followed up a lead which lead to the discovery of the disappearance of Felitza Covarrubias. That same night, Samita Saint-Claire and thirteen others, mostly women and little girls, were abducted. Photo surveillance places them in Hawaii on December 30. Last night, another prisoner was added to the collection, one Jeremiah Smith. This morning," Carlos walked around the table, handing out photocopies. "Yet another was added." "Oh my God," Scully breathed in as she held the picture out of Will's reached. "Who is that?" Reyes squinted at the blurry picture. Mulder told her flatly, "Gibson Praise." "As of 2:14 PM, Eastern Standard Time," Carlos returned to the head of the table. "We received a call from one of our trusted sources. All the abducted have been transported to a compound in Arizona." "Arizona," Starkweather muttered. "Well, at least we know now why the Admiral wanted to retire **there**." Doggett glanced over at his partner, his lips pursed in concern. He didn't like it how she kept referring to her adoptive father as "the Admiral" instead of "my father." Something was boiling in her big pressure cooker of a brain. She sure as hell suspected him of something, that was not a secret. But of what was anyone's guess. Doggett stifled a sigh. Starkweather had that same clouded look in her eyes as Mulder did just before the clarity of insanity took him and he made a "leap" into a theory that was only backed by the flimsiest of premises. Spider webs were often stronger then Mulder's theories. And yet... Mulder... and Starkweather... were often the butterflies that deftly avoided the sticky strands of the web and managed to soar higher, beyond the eagle's heights even. And it was Doggett's experience that it was always the bright and the beautiful the predators reached out towards. He turned his attention back to Carlos. "According to our source, the Syndicate is scrambling because the abductees, or "the merchandise" as they prefer to call their victims..." Reyes shuddered in revulsion. So did Scully and Starkweather. "... because originally, everyone was to be shipped to the main lab in South Dakota. Well... due to a little... mishap," Carlos grinned at Starkweather and Doggett. He knew that fire was no accident, but frankly, he didn't really care. "That lab is out of commission. Which ticked them off. Because to get to South Dakota from Arizona, they had to drive through a whole lot of nothing. Utah. Wyoming. Colorado. Nebraska. Doesn't matter what state they choose. Just as long as they avoid the major metropolises like Denver or Salt Lake City or Cheyenne or Omaha or Rapid City... it's nothing but rock, dust and the occasional coyote." "Aren't you concerned that they may try and fly out the victims?" Skinner asked. Bunny told him "The only good thing that's come out of September 11 is that air travel is increasingly difficult for the bad guys. You all heard the story about the crazy guy who had a bomb in his shoes and the passengers jumped him and beat him down. So commercial air travel is out. In the old days, before the war, the Syndicate used to be able to 'borrow' military equipment freely. Again, with the war in Afghanistan utilizing every ship, truck and plane possible, it's difficult for them to borrow a plane without too many questions being raised. Difficult, but not impossible," Bunny conceded. "But understand this too. With the attacks on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon, the general population has become more alert, more watchful. A great example is the Des Moines International Airport. For whatever reason, they changed their flight patterns so the planes would land and take off at a different angle a few months ago. A year ago, nobody would have noticed or cared. When the change happened when it did, the airport and the Air National Guard were flooded with concerned phone calls because people perceived that the planes were flying lower as they cruised over the downtown area." "The tallest building and only skyscraper in Iowa, 801 Grand, is in downtown Des Moines," Starkweather, a former resident of Iowa's state capital, said. "People were probably concerned about a repeat of September 11 in the Midwest when they saw the planes flying lower." "And those are the key words right there Agent Starkweather," Bunny said with a nod of her head. "September 11. It forced us to notice odd things we would have blown off before. Which makes it difficult for ANY criminal organization to conduct business." "The Syndicate has been avoiding planes like the plague," Carlos said. "They've been relying on truck convoys. Which is why it surprised the hell out of us that they were in Hawaii, but it's been confirmed they're back in the Continental US. And panicking. Arizona isn't quite the expansive nothingness like Wyoming and Nebraska is." "Mostly because of the tourist trap," Reyes said. "The Grand Canyon." "Bingo," Carlos said. "Give the lady a gold star. Although the Syndicate stronghold in Arizona is secure, it's small. Too small for all the people they're holding. With the destruction of the South Dakota location, they don't have many choices as to where to transport the victims to." "Do we know where the potential locations are?" Scully asked. Bunny got up and pulled down a giant map of the Continental United States. "According to our source, there are three possibilities." She got a pointer and like an old maid schoolteacher, she droned. "There's a location here," she pointed to the very western tip of Texas. "Right outside of El Paso, very near the border. Or it could be here," she moved her pointer up. "Helena, Montana. That's a long shot. Mostly due to the fuss kicked up last year with the discovery of Absalom the Prophet's UFO cult and of Agent Mulder's mostly dead body." "But I feel much better now," Mulder droned. "Most likely it's going to be here," Bunny pointed to the most northern tip of Idaho. "Close to the border so they can flee if necessary and other than a few small towns... literally there is nothing there. Nothing to disturb their work." She folded up the pointer. "Not that it matters because no matter which route they choose, they have to go through us." "The CIA has a training facility in Arizona," Carlos said. "That's where we'll set up headquarters. According to our source, there's no way in hell we'd be able to assault their stronghold. To quote the source, "It'd be suicide to try." It's crawling with Super Soldiers. Plus they would probably kill all the victims while we were fighting to get inside. According to our source, it's best to attack the Syndicate head on, when they are transporting their merchandise." He took a breath. "I cannot express to you the severity of this matter. The Syndicate is planning on using the kidnapped women and children as test subjects for the Eden Projects. Felitza Covarrubias is probably scheduled for termination due to her treachery. Samita Saint- Claire, otherwise known as 'Delta' is probably going to be subjected to inhumane tests to study the end results of the 1973 Eden Project. As for Jeremiah Smith or Gibson Praise... to be honest, I have no idea how they fit in." "Gibson Praise's DNA was combined with the DNA of an alien," Mulder said. "He's telepathic. They never finished their 'research' with him," he continued bitterly. "He ran away and sought out myself and Agent Scully. To protect him." "And then the same time Agent Mulder disappeared," Scully interjected. "The boy was found in Arizona in a school for the deaf. Why he was there, I'll never understand for he was not deaf." "Why would he need speech?" Starkweather said. "He could hear their thoughts. If he was truly telepathic, of course." "He was," Scully said grimly. **"That's not what you thought. You thought 'butchers.'"** "And Jeremiah Smith, provided it's true that he can heal, could probably take away any adverse effects of the Eden Project," Starkweather continued. "Meaning?" For once Mulder didn't get it. But Doggett did. "The insanity. If it's true that this guy can..." he snorted, "heal, then he could theoretically heal a broken mind, right?" "It's possible," Mulder muttered, looking at Starkweather again. "It's very possible." "For whatever reason the Syndicate took these people," Carlos said. "The fact remains they are innocent people who are probably going to be tortured and killed. We can't allow that." "How would rescuing these people stop the Eden Project?" Reyes said. "Not that I'm opposed to saving them. I'm just confused. How would saving them stop anything?" "Simple," Carlos pulled out another stack of photocopies and passed them out. Starkweather took one look at the picture and put it face down onto the table. She folded into herself and ran her fingers through her hair. Doggett sighed when he looked at his copy. "Bravo." "Bravo has one loyalty. The Cancer Man," Bunny said. "According to our source, at the Cancer Man's request, the head of the Syndicate has put Bravo in charge of the transportation. We get Bravo. We get the Cancer Man." "We get the Cancer Man," Mulder leaned forward as he fished a sunflower seed out of his coat pocket, "We can literally cripple the Syndicate." "I knew that smoking bastard wasn't dead," Scully seethed. "We should have known Krycek and Marita were lying." Skinner stayed very quiet. Starkweather broke the silence. "But if the Cancer Man isn't in charge of the Syndicate... who is?" "That we don't know. But we're working on it," Carlos said. "Which is why I had the FBI's X-File team assemble here today." He looked at each and every one of them. Mulder, gnawing on a sunflower seed, in a suit that he would have never worn when he was a federal agent, mostly because of the price tag. A navy blue Ozwald Boateng with a lighter blue shirt and one of his typically wild ties, shiny midnight blue with weird darker blue symmetrical patterns through it. Looking at the tie gave him a headache. And yet, despite the crow's feet and frown lines that weren't there a few years ago, the man looked good for forty-one, almost forty- two. And the dead look had left his eyes. Starkweather and Scully could hate him all they want to, but as he said earlier, it was ultimately Mulder's choice to join the CIA. He would have shriveled up and died in that Deputy Mayor's office if he hadn't. As for Scully, looking prim and proper in her FBI approved suit, was losing a lot of her vitality, even Carlos could see that and he barely knew the lady. She was lovely though. Perhaps in a previous life she was a stage actress or a princess. No matter, she was a great lady no matter what life she was in. Despite the constant contradiction between her fiery hair and her icy eyes (or perhaps because of it) she was the heart of the X-Files. When things got too weird, it was Scully everyone turned to. For her rationality. For her faith. She was the touchstone for everyone when they were overwhelmed and needed a reminder that there was such a thing as miracles. So onto her small shoulders they lay their burdens. Even though it was slowly crushing her. Next to Scully was Assistant Director Skinner. He looked unhappy. But then, he always looked unhappy. <> Carlos wondered as he quickly eyeballed the serious man in the black suit, white dress shirt, narrow wire-rimmed glasses, boring red and black striped tie and stiff upper lip. The man was so straight-laced, Carlos wondered what chained him to the Syndicate. He, Joshi and Bunny had dug and dug and dug and found nothing. Well, they knew that he was the one who killed Alex Krycek, but the Syndicate had a hold on him long before that. But what in hell could be strong enough to compel this formidable Assistant Director to bend to their commands? The man's social life was as exciting as watching paint dry. With the noted exception of waking up next to a dead prostitute years ago, the man, without fail, went home each night to his dog and to his television set. Reyes, he knew why she succumbed to the temptation of the Syndicate. She had been young and dumb. She didn't know better. And she got the hell out as soon as she saw the light. But they were waiting for her. Carlos knew that as he appraised the low-cut black shirt with the long sleeves and the almost skintight white pants that would have made other women, even physically fit women like Scully and Starkweather, look like they had a huge ass. Reyes, tall, long and lanky, was all legs so she could wear white slacks and look fantastic. The voodoo influence of her time in New Orleans showed with the heavy amber pendant she wore on a thick silver chain around her neck and the matching amber and silver bracelets on both wrists. With her black hair and sparkly cappuccino eyes, she looked like a modern-day mystic instead of a federal agent. She did not look like a traitor. And yet, Carlos was wary of her. Just as the Syndicate had come back to yank Skinner's chains, they could very well come to yank hers. Skinner was strong enough to finally say no. Would this woman be? Only time would tell. And speaking of strong women... Starkweather, with her bruised chin and shadowed eyes. Her long hair in dire need of a good shampooing and brushing. And **blond!!!** <> He had moaned when he first saw her with her blond locks as opposed to the rich mahogany tresses she had when he first met her. Still swaddled in the black Artic cat coat she had charged to the FBI's credit card, it was impossible to see the lithe body hidden underneath the layers of clothes. Still, despite the exhaustion, despite the trauma, her eyes glittered defiantly, like topaz. Like her brother's. He knew she was thinking <> because she never shirked from a challenge. Like the challenge of loving him. But even she eventually called it quits, threw in the towel and married somebody else. Who got his dumb ass killed because he didn't trust her. Carlos couldn't bring himself to have much sympathy for the late Mr. Starkweather, as hard as he tried for Jerilyn's sake. Not that it seemed to matter. Mrs. Starkweather seemed to be moving on. Carlos had hoped against hope that the rumors weren't true. He never imagined Jerilyn to be unfaithful. At least, she never was when she was with him. But maybe the fidelity was in body only. Who knew what went on behind those color-shifting hazel eyes? Fighting tidal waves of jealousy and regret, he watched those color-shifting hazel eyes flick over to her partner, her sweet, pouty pink lips curve up briefly in a smile for him, her eyes warming up to a golden color, the color of love. The color her eyes had been when she was with him. Before she changed her last name. Then those eyes slid back to look at him, the color dulling to brown. The color of boredom, of distrust and impatience. The smile was gone. Her heart-shaped face was all business now. Carlos fought with himself again to not glare at Agent Doggett. Tall, strong, well preserved for forty-one and a quick intelligence sometimes he purposely hid with his Southern drawl. But where Mulder still could pass as a young man, someone in his thirties, Doggett definitely looked forty- one. A damn good forty-one who still had all his hair, but forty-one was forty-one. And his crow's feet and laugh lines made him look like he could easily be Starkweather's father. He couldn't see the charm of his blue eyes crinkling up as he returned Starkweather's quick smile of support. All he saw was a redneck with ears that stuck out. <> Carlos moaned to himself on the inside while he continued with his narrative. <> Was she just really searching for a father figure? Carlos hoped not. She was just going to get hurt again if she was. She got hurt with Ben. And guiltily Carlos knew he hurt her, beyond from what she even realized. He watched Starkweather fidget with her wedding ring as he spoke. "You six," Carlos said, "have the most experience with the Syndicate. We need your expertise to pull off this rescue mission. What we want is to organize a CIA-FBI co-operative. We want you six to join us in the rescue efforts. And to capture Bravo. And consider carefully what you're getting into," he cautioned them. "This is a combat mission. And only three of you," he looked at Skinner, Doggett and Starkweather, "have military experience. This is not a walk in the park, agents. But we need you. And we need to know, now." Carlos watched each individual's reactions. Mulder chewed on a sunflower seed pensively and looked at his partner and his son. Scully ignored Mulder's puppy-dog eyes and stroked her miracle child's soft hair and gently tried to get him to let go of her cross necklace. William, with his big blue Scully-eyes open wide, giggled. Skinner took a sip of coffee. His jaw was clenched. Reyes was staring off into space as she bit on her thumbnail. Doggett and Starkweather looked at each other again, blue eyes connecting with hazel again. She raised her eyebrows in question at him. He shrugged. Carlos resisted the urge to grab his chair and beat Doggett over the head with it. Then he remembered that Mrs. Starkweather filed for divorce mainly because of Mr. Starkweather's jealousy. Mr. Starkweather did Mrs. Starkweather a favor by getting himself killed. Less legal fees. Reyes was the first to speak. "I'm in." "Thank you Agent Reyes," Carlos said after a beat. He had hoped Reyes would say no. He didn't want to worry about her loyalties during the entire time. Mulder was next. After clearing his throat, he said, "I'm only in, if Agent Scully is in." "I'm only in," Scully responded coldly. "If it can be proven that there is a danger posed at my son because of the Eden Project." It froze Mulder's heart to hear Scully refer to William as "my son" and not "our son." "You know there is, Agent Scully," Carlos said softly. "Fine. I'm in," Scully said harshly to him, her big cornflower eyes glaring at him as she clung to William. "Then I'm in," Mulder said. "So am I," Skinner growled. "I'm tired of this bullshit. Let's finish it. Or at least, start to finish it." The others looked at Doggett and Starkweather. "Well?" Joshi asked. "Bring it on," Starkweather said. "I'm in." "So'm I," Doggett said quietly. "Alright. Joshi and Bunny will be remaining in DC to take care of things in our absence. The rest of us will be leaving for Arizona tomorrow morning at 0500 hours." "Good," Starkweather said. "That will give me a chance to take care of some things at Quantico and run down to check on Charlie plus we can get Doggett's ribs X-rayed an-" Carlos cut her off, "Sorry, Agent Starkweather, but you and Doggett can't leave here. Remember, you've been abducted. We can't have you roaming around Washington DC or Quantico." "But-" Starkweather started to splutter. Carlos turned to Bunny. "You find a way to have Eve Charlie transported over here for a brief visit. I have a feeling that Agent Starkweather doesn't just want to make a brief family duty visit." Then he turned to Joshi. "Call our contact at the military hospital at Bethesda. See if we can arrange it somehow for Agent Doggett to be brought in for X-rays without being noticed. Plus find someone to write a prescription for a mild painkiller for Agent Starkweather." "I'd like to be able to go home and get a fresh change of clothes," Doggett complained. Both he and Starkweather had been wearing the same clothes since yesterday morning. "Can one or two of you discreetly go to their homes and pack for them?" Carlos asked the FBI X- File Division. "I can get Starkweather's things," Mulder said. "I'm supposed to be helping her move into her new apartment anyway." "And I'll go over to John's," Reyes said. "I live in Falls Church too. It would make sense for me to go over and water his plants." "Hey Skinner," Mulder turned to his former boss. "Is there anyway you can go over to J. Edgar and pull every X-File we have on "Super Soldiers" or "superior soldiers"? It might make some light reading on the trip to the Grand Canyon." "Done," Skinner said. "And I want to accompany Agent Doggett to the hospital. Needless to say," Skinner snarled at Carlos, "we haven't always had the best of luck with the CIA cooperating with FBI so please don't hold it against me for not trusting you completely." "No offense," Carlos said. "Agent Doggett probably won't go until midnight, one in the morning anyway. When the hospital is deserted. Plenty of time for you to kennel your dog and to pull those files." "Wait a minute! My cat!" Starkweather suddenly wailed. "I'll take care of Caesar too," Mulder sighed while thinking <> as he looked at the long scratches on his hands. "And I'm going to go home and pack for William and bring him to my mother's hous-" Scully started to say. But Carlos cut her off again. "No, Agent Scully. Go home and pack for yourself and him, yes. But bring him back here. He's not safe at your mother's." "What?" Both Scully and Mulder said at the same time. Under any circumstance, it would have been funny. "William is coming with." "Like hell!" Mulder exploded. "Lux, have you lost your fucking mind!" Starkweather screeched. Scully only held William tighter. The boy began to cry. "The boy will be safer at our Arizona control post than left behind at Maggie Scully's home," Carlos said, unruffled at everyone's outburst. "Can't you just have around-the-clock surveillance?" Doggett asked. "William will be in a top-secret bunker, surrounded by armed CIA agents, most of them either being intelligence, communications or snipers," Carlos said bluntly. "Plus every night, he'll get to see Mom and Dad. Doesn't that sound better than staying at Grandma's who could easily get pasted if Grandma decides to go to the grocery store and brings William along and somebody rams her car as she's going across the bridge over the Potomac River?" Carlos asked. "He speaks logically," Joshi put his hand on Scully's shoulder. She jumped. "Please, listen to him. Bring the boy with. He will be better protected in Arizona." "I don't want him that close to a Syndicate stronghold," Mulder snapped. "How do you know there isn't a Syndicate stronghold right here in Washington?" Bunny said peevishly. "How do you know Scully's new neighbor isn't a Syndicate spy? Get off your high horse, Deputy Mayor," she snarled at him. "It makes more sense to bring the boy along. He will be safer." Starkweather glared at Carlos. "If one hair on his head is even singed, you are a fucking dead man. Rats won't even touch your body after I'm done with you. And you'll still have hell to look forward to." "I'll save you a seat, darling" Carlos retorted sweetly to her. To Mulder and Scully, he told said, "Mulder, you trusted me with William alone last night. If I were to take the boy, I would have done so. I promised you I would let nothing happen to this child. The Syndicate is very interested in this child. Part of the reason why we want to shut down the Eden Project is directly related to William." "Why?" Scully asked, shaking with fear and with rage. "Because you weren't the only barren woman to give birth to a miracle child last year," Carlos sighed, not wanting to go on. "Tell me," Scully demanded, standing up. "Bunny?" Carlos said, giving her a "Let-this-cup- pass-from-me" look. Bunny squared her shoulders. "The adult women who were taken by the Syndicate the same night Felitza and Samita disappeared, all gave birth to 'miracle babies' after being barren due to cancer. The little girls were all daughters of men who supposedly were abducted by aliens." As that horrible bit of information sank in, Doggett hated himself for asking but felt he had to. He strongly suspected that the full picture was not being painted. "What happened to the 'miracle babies' of these women?" A dreadful pause. Bunny actually looked compassionate for once. "They're all dead," she finally whispered. "They were killed and their bodies were left behind when their mothers were taken." "Why didn't you tell us this before!" Mulder thundered, getting up so fast, his chair fell over. Starkweather, Doggett and Skinner bolted out of their chairs as well, furious. Reyes was too stunned to move. "Lux, you son-of-a-bitch!" Starkweather yelled. "How dare you withhold information like that!!!" The CIA-FBI X-File Co-Operative was off to a fine start. January 1, 2002 CIA Headquarters 8:59 PM Eastern Time Starkweather stood in front of the two-way mirror, twisting her freshly washed hair up into a tight bun. After spending an hour screaming at Carlos along with the rest of the FBI X-Files Division, Bunny had led her down to the women's locker rooms that were just off of the CIA's gym and fitness center and Joshi had retrieved the luggage the men in black had taken from her and Doggett. Starkweather was finally to change into clean clothes. She wished she had her black suits so she could draw strength from her professional appearance. As it was, the grand majority of her clothes she brought to South Dakota had been ruined, slashed to ribbons. One pair of jeans had been spared along with a heather-gray angora sweater and a pair of boring cotton bra and panties set she got on clearance at Victoria's Secrets. <> Starkweather sighed in relief as she got dressed. She would just have to deal that she had to wear the same pair of dirty socks. "Dammit," she sighed, realizing she didn't have any hairpins or pony tail ties to hold her heavy, damp hair up. She walked over to the table and picked up a sharpened pencil. Her eyes flicked over to her black Artic Cat coat. That coat and its precious contents did not leave her line of sight for a minute. In fact, she was probably going to put it back on as soon as they brought Charlie to her, despite the stifling heat of the building. She returned to the mirror and while holding the pencil with her teeth, wound her long hair back up in a bun again. She took the pencil and stabbed it through the knot of golden hair. She took a step back and frowned. The look was far from satisfactory but until Mulder came back with her things, there was nothing she could do about it. Reyes had been kind enough to loan Starkweather her compact of pressed powder. Starkweather had just taken this out of the back pocket of her jeans and began dabbing lightly at her chin, trying to cover up the hideous bruising when Carlos walked in. He was carrying a white paper sack that had a greasy bottom. "Hi." "What is it," she said, snapping the compact shut. "I... uh, brought you supper." He held the bag up, as if he was a priest offering salvation through a paper-thin wafer. "I know you haven't eaten since you left South Dakota. You still like tuna-fish salad, right?" She didn't even say thank you. Instead she said, "When is Charlie going to be here?" "About twenty minutes. She's going through security check right now. The big wigs insisted on a full body search, including cavity, so..." "She's a person. A human being with rights." "She's dangerous." "She wouldn't be if you hadn't stopped me from getting FDA approval for that drug you used me to get to Mulder." "Jerilyn, if your stepmother would have found out there's a control for the Purity-induced insanity, she would have run tattle-tailing to the Syndicate and we would have all been fucked." "But you didn't know for sure if the Senator was a traitor. You were only guessing at that point. Hell... you thought it was Reyes." "Who told you that... Mulder," Carlos sighed, answering his own question. "Bailey-girl, honey, listen to me," Carlos walked closer to her, throwing the deli sack on the table. "We don't need a pissing contest between the FBI and CIA. We're on the same team, we're on the same side-" "Oh bullshit, Lux!" Starkweather turned around, finally. "Bullshit. If we were on the same team, you would have told us about the murdered infants. Jesus, Lux! You withheld that information from the FBI when we first got involved in the case. How you were able to cover all of that up is beyond me." She rubbed her temple, "Of course I'm fast learning that almost nothing is impossible with this job." "Jerilyn," Carlos sighed. "We had reason to withhold that informat-" "And I'm sure the families of the dead babies appreciate that," Starkweather pointed out coldly. "And don't call me 'honey'. I am nobody's honey." She jutted out her black and blue chin, eyes narrowed to feline slits, glittering like gold. Carlos scowled, "Still got that chip on your shoulder, don't you?" When Starkweather refused to reply, he retorted to her silence by saying "You hated Mulder with every fiber of your being. And yet, you found it in yourself to forgive him. Why can't you forgive me?" Starkweather leaned against the giant mirror and appraised him with her witchy eyes. "Saying 'I'm sorry' isn't going to make it all better, Lux. And neither is bringing me supper." It was a dismissal. "Fine," Lux muttered. "I'll bring Charlie to you when she's secured." "She's not Hannibal Lector," Starkweather scowled. "Don't treat like she is." "Funny," Carlos fired back, sick of her constant bitchiness at his expense. "Wasn't it YOU who called her 'Annabell the Cannibal'?" He shook his head. "I thought maybe the past few years you would have acquired some maturity, some insight. I thought wrong. You're still the same hypocritical spoiled Naval brat bitch I left behind." "If I'm such a terrible person," Starkweather said coolly, completely unfazed by his outburst. "Then why were you kissing my ass just a few minutes ago, begging me to forgive you as I did Mulder?" Carlos stalked out. You just couldn't win with this woman. Later... Scully's apartment Georgetown 9:26 PM There was a knock on the door. Scully looked over at William, sound asleep in his playpen. She pulled her gun out. "Who is it?" "It's me." Scully let him in. "My key didn't work," Mulder said petulantly as she turned her back on him to finish packing up a few small toys and story books for William. She did not offer to help him drag in his burdens, a duffel bag full of Starkweather's things, his own suitcase, a guitar case and a cat carrier. Caesar was howling. "I had the Gunmen come in and change the locks," she said stiffly. "Scully..." "I don't... not now Mulder... I can't... my brain is too full... I can't process anymore tonight. I just want to finish packing for myself and William, go back and get some sleep." "Is it okay for me to leave my car here?" Mulder asked, putting down the bags, guitar case and cat carrier down. "That's fine." "Can I help?" "No." She zipped up William's bag and slung it over her arm. She brushed by Mulder and crossed over to William's playpen. "Hey, sweet William," she crooned. "Hey Boo, we go bye-bye. We go bye- bye now." Her voice shook. Mulder didn't know if it was because she was on the verge of tears or on the verge of dog-cussing him out. She placed William in his stroller and in the basket on the handle she put his diaper bag and his toy bag. Pushing William, she passed Mulder again without a word. She slung on the backpack she hadn't used since medical school. It was full of William's clothes. She picked up her own suitcase, neatly packed with her notebook computer, clothes, makeup and other toiletries. "Ready?" she asked frostily. "Do you want me to drive?" "Yes." "Fine," he snapped, snatching her car keys off the key holder. Putting the key chain in his teeth, he slung the guitar case over one shoulder again, the duffel bag over the other, picked up the cat carrier and his suitcase. He stormed out the door. "Fine," she snapped. Her cold word echoed through her apartment. She grabbed the spare house key off the key holder Frohike made her and locked the door behind her. Meanwhile… CIA Headquarters Washington DC 9:27 PM Eastern Standard Time Actually, Carlos ended up sending in a peon to announce Charlie's arrival. "Agent Starkweather?" "Yes," Starkweather turned around, her youthful faced aged by a frown that threatened to become a permanent fixture. "Eve Charlie is here." "Thank you." Starkweather looked at the deli bag. She snatched it up and tossed it deftly in the trash can while waiting for Charlie. She looked over at the mirror. Agent Monica Reyes and Agent Bonaventure "Bunny" Merchant took their seats. Reyes took out a notebook and pen. Bunny turned on the tape recorder and put on a pair of trendy black-rimmed glasses that did not help her get rid of her ditzy blond bombshell appearance. The door to the interrogation room opened. Starkweather turned around. Flanked by two armed Marines, another Marine, a female in full dress uniform, pushed Charlie in. Starkweather saw red when she saw that she was not only in a straightjacket, but had a thick prison-chain around her waist, which kept her tethered to the wheelchair. Her feet were bound together with a plastic restraint. Her face was hidden by a bite mask. The only shred of humanity given was the hands clenching and unclenching and the long hair, flowing out from behind her mask. "Take that mask off now, please," Starkweather tried to keep the rage out of her voice. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but it is the order-" the Marine on the left started to state by Starkweather cut him off. "Are you the agent of record on this case, soldier?" "No ma'am-" "Are you a trained medical doctor, capable of making a decision on a patient's well-being?" "No ma'am-" "Are you next of kin?" "No ma'am-" "Well, I am. I'm all three. So take the god- damned mask off NOW!!" "Charming," Bunny said tartly. "She's not even warmed up yet," Reyes murmured. The female Marine undid the mask and pulled it away. Starkweather stared back at her own face. Charlie looked at Starkweather once, then at the floor, ashamed. "Leave," Starkweather said. "But ma'am, she's a dangerous crimi-" Starkweather took out her service weapon, so kindly returned to her by the CIA and slammed it down on the table. "I am fully capable of taking care of myself, thankyouverymuch." The Marines didn't move. "GET OUT!!" she screamed. The Marines left. "Is she warmed up yet?" Bunny asked. "Nope," Reyes responded. "Tip of the iceberg." "She must be a joy to work with," Bunny grumbled, not envying Carlos at all. Starkweather sat down on the chair draped by her Artic Cat coat. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. Still looking at the floor, Charlie said, barely audible. "It's okay, I'm used to it." "No... I mean... for not being around more." "I understand... you've been busy..." Charlie still looked at the floor. "You've had a lot of things happen to you... I'm sorry about your husband." Starkweather stiffened up a little. "Thank you." "I should have said something when you came by for Christmas, but it just didn't feel appropriate." "Yeah well... um... Charlie? I just wanted to touch base with you. See how you're doing. See if they're treating you okay..." "Everything's fine," she said dully. "They treat me fine." She raised her head. "But that's not why I'm here. You found something. Something that you want to ask me about." "How did you know?" She shrugged. "I just knew." On the other side of the two-way mirror, Bunny shivered. "Creepy." "Welcome to the X-Files," Reyes mumbled, leaning forward. "Charlie," Starkweather scooted her chair closer. "We need your help. Before... you got better... you were trying to tell Agent Reyes something through Art Therapy." Starkweather reached over and opening a file, taking out a drawing. A drawing of a fox in the snare, two more foxes in the cage next to the snare, four skinned foxes hanging from the tree and one fox running away, barely escaping a cartoonish looking alien wearing the fox-fur coat. The picture was spattered with brownish-red stains. "Foxes, Charlie... Fox Mulder. You said, in your therapy sessions with Reyes that Alex and Bravo would discuss plans. Talk about things, people. I think I understand what this means. This," she pointed to the fox running away. "Is me. This," she pointed to the four skinned foxes. "Is our sisters, Alpha, Bravo, Delta and yourself. This," she pointed to the foxes in the cage. "Scully and her son. And this," she pointed to the fox in the snare. "Is Mulder. But I what I don't understand is why Mulder?" "Because," she whispered, "It always comes back to Mulder," Charlie turned to her head to look at the mirror. "It's not the boy or you or me they're after. It's Mulder. It always comes back to Mulder. It's come full circle now." She stared at the glass as if she could see Reyes, who was turning a sickly shade of white. "Why?" Starkweather asked. "Why him?" "I don't know. I don't think Bravo and Alex knew either. They were on a need-to-know basis. They would discuss their own theories but," she shrugged again. "It was just that. Theories." "What kind of theories?" "That... the reason why the Cancer Man was so obsessed with Mulder is because he was really his father and not Bill Mulder." "Whoa, whoa, stop the bus, Gus, where in the FUCK did THAT come from!" Bunny yelped as Reyes' jaw dropped. Starkweather froze. "That... that's not possible." "Like I said, they discussed theories. Never had any to back it up. Alex brought it up as a joke once to Bravo, asked her how she would like it to be half-sister to Mulder, full sister to you. She wasn't very happy," Charlie looked at Starkweather now. "I'm afraid of Bravo. And so are you. So is your partner." She rolled her eyes heavenward and looked up at the ceiling, as if she could see John Doggett, asleep on the couch in the office that was directly above the interrogation room. "After he saw you get kicked by Bravo, he was afraid that you had died. And now he's afraid she's after you. That she's going to try and finish what she started." "How do you know?" "I just do." "Charlie, listen to me," Starkweather leaned forward. "There is an attorney that's going to start visiting you, no listen to me!!" she begged as Charlie began to shake her head. "Margot Rogeux-Brandybuck is a friend of mine. She's going to defend you in your murder trial. I want you to tell her everything you've told me and Agent Reye-" "Why?" Charlie whispered, "it'd be an act of futility." "Charlie, honey, you're being tried in Maryland. They have the death penalty. You're looking at the gas chamber if you don't talk to her." "I can't," she whispered again, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Don't worry about sounding crazy! I'm leaving for a mission to prove what these bastards did to you. Once that's established... you'll be free. You can have a life." "Until the madness comes back. The drug you gave me was only a control, not a cure. Then I'd be a danger to society again." "I will find a way to make sure you continue to get the serum." "At the risk of losing your medical license? Your job? It's not worth it. It doesn't matter, Jerilyn, just let it go." "I can't let it go, Charlie," Starkweather stood up to crouch by her half-sister. She took her hand and squeezed. She looked up at her mirror image and whispered. "You and Mulder and the baby... you're all the family I have left now. Nothing else matters." "Jerilyn, I killed seven people. I knew I was killing them. I knew it was wrong and I didn't care." "That wasn't you. It was a mental disorder that was beyond your control and the people in charge of your welfare did not administer proper treatment. I have power of attorney over you now and I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promi-" "Jerilyn, you don't understand," Charlie shook her head. "They will never let me go. I am facing three choices. The gas chamber. Life imprisonment in a mental hospital. Or living in fear, wondering when the Syndicate is going to come back for me. Either one, is a death sentence." She looked away from Starkweather again. "I'd like to go back to Waldenbrooks now. I'm tired." Heart breaking, Starkweather stood up slightly to embrace her sister the best she could despite the bounds. Charlie began to cry harder, experiencing a gentle touch for the first time in her life. Starkweather pressed her cool cheek against Charlie's wet cheek and as she stroked her hair she whispered, "Charlie, please don't give up. I'll do what it takes so you can have a life. Just hang on. A little longer. Don't give up. I'm here. I'm always here." "Jerilyn," Charlie choked out. "Let me go." Starkweather took out a Kleenex from her pocket and dried Charlie's face. Tracing her fingers down her cheeks, Starkweather shook her head, smiling a little. "Fat chance, Sis," she quipped. "You found me. You're stuck with me." When the guards came to wheel Charlie away, Starkweather turned to the mirror and addressed Reyes and Bunny. "Call Dr. Nyman. Tell her, based upon a medical evaluation, to put her on anti- depressants and put her back on suicide watch." She paused. "Excuse me." She left. Starkweather ran to the first bathroom she could find so she could lock herself in and cry. Later still... Naval School of Health Sciences Bethesda, Maryland 11:23 PM Eastern Standard Time "That is good news, thank you," Skinner shook the hand of the Naval doctor who gave them the results of Doggett's X-Rays. "We appreciate us seeing us at such a late hour. The doctor smiled weakly. He was used to being rousted out of bed at weird hours by various injured members of secret governmental agencies and covert military operatives. "Just make he ices it so it doesn't get sore. Alice," he said to the young Naval nurse who was cleaning out Doggett's knife wound again, which Doggett bore quietly. "Make sure he gets a tetanus shot." "Yes sir," she said solemnly. She wound fresh gauze bandaging around his arm. "There. You're lucky you had a doctor with you to administer to this wound. The injury could have been much worse. But, this will heal up. Make sure you keep the bandage clean. Change it if it gets wet or dirty. And seek medical attention immediately if it starts to weep or you notice a foul smell." "I've dealt with gangrene before," Doggett grumbled. "I know the signs. Too well." "Okay then... well... I'll be right back with that tetanus shot," she patted him on the back as if he was a little boy, which annoyed him, but he hid it well behind a mask of politesse. "Thank you, ma'am." She smiled patronizingly at him and walked out. "Glad to hear it's not broke," Doggett said to Skinner as he gingerly touched the thick ACE bandage they had wrapped around his torso to help reduce the swelling. "Hate to think how shitty I'd feel if it really was broken." With a slight groan, he reached for his shirt. "Agent Doggett," Skinner said, pulling up a chair and sitting down, facing Doggett. "What in the hell did you find out there?" "Sir?" Doggett said innocently. "Cut the bull, agent. You and Starkweather were withholding something. I want to know what it is." "When the CIA starts dealin' quid pro quo with us, then maybe I'll maybe I'll think 'bout sharin' my toys with the other kids. Until then, I ain't playin'." "I'm not CIA," Skinner scowled at him. "C'mon, John... don't dick around. What are you and Starkweather hiding?" "Sir," Doggett said formally. "If I was comfortable with disclosing any further information with you, I would be glad to. As it stands, I can not currently reveal any more that what I already had earlier today." He pulled his shirt over his head. Skinner got out of his chair and began to pace. "Maybe the information you aren't disclosing has nothing to do with the case?" "Sir?" Skinner glared at him. "May I remind you agent, how much is riding on you? Dammit, John," Skinner took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I am putting my ass on the line pushing you as my replacement. They're watching you, John," Skinner clenched his glasses tightly in his hand. "They're watching US. They're waiting for us to screw up. And they would love nothing more than a huge scandal. And what better scandal than a potential contender for the Assistant Director's seat busted for sleeping with his widowed partn-" "Hey!" Doggett stood up now. "Agent Starkweather and I have neve-" Skinner sighed. "It doesn't matter what the truth is. It matters who controls the truth. Truth can be warped. The best lie is the one cloaked in truth. And truth of the matter is that you do care about the girl, and John... she's a great girl. She really is. But you have to decide what matters more to you. I don't have a choice. Unless a Deputy Director or a Section Chief position opens up, I'm done. 'You fall in love with the Bureau, but it doesn't fall in love with you.' Mulder was a brilliant mind, but a loose cannon. In his quest, he nearly destroyed the X- Files, Scully, himself. God only knows what's going to happen to his son. You, when Kersh brought you on board, punished you for doing what's right instead of following orders, I was sure the X-Files was done. But I was wrong. You gave it what it never had before." "What?" Doggett growled. "Credibility. For Agent Mulder it was personal. First Samantha. Then William. Agent Scully was sent down there originally to debunk his work and now, after all that has happened with her child, she believes... to the point where they're afraid of her. They want to transfer her back to Quantico this spring. Now... with you... why would a man like you, with no personal stake in the X-Files... stay... if it wasn't real?" Skinner began to walk around the room when Doggett remained silent. "Case success rates have risen since you've been brought on board. We were able to get the funding to bring Reyes and Starkweather on full-time. With me pulling a few strings... there are actually people out there that owe ME favors. But not many. And I'm running out of time." Skinner stopped his pacing to stand in front of Doggett again. "What do you think is going to happen to Starkweather if that office closes down? To William? To Mulder and Scully? Their very lives depend on that office and I don't think you fully grasp that." The two men were nose to nose now. Both had their jaws clenched, eyes narrowed. Doggett broke the silence. "They aren't going to put an agent that's only been with the Bureau for six years and spent two of those years in the X-Files Office, no matter how much 'credibility' I bring to it." "They will, after the success of this raid," Skinner assured him. "On the records, it's a major bust of a suicide UFO cult and you're the agent of record. Once you've been recovered from your "kidnapping" of course. You're going to shine so bright after this, the Senior Staff will need sunglasses." "Stupid analogy." "You know what I mean. If they've tried to ignore you before, well, after this, after we retrieve Mrs. Saint-Claire and others... they won't be able to. We need you," Skinner whispered to him. "We need you in my chair when I go. And I'm advertising like crazy I want you as my successor. And don't kid me, Agent Doggett, I know how ambitious you are. I know your military record, your police record. Fast advancement. You expected nothing less than the AD seat when you joined us. And they know this too. That's why they're watching you like a hawk. And they're waiting for you slip up, fuck something up. No matter how you justify it, how you rationalize it... you and Jerilyn... can't. Not as partners. And definitely not when you're her superior. She's something special, something special enough that the Syndicate is trying to kill her. So..." Skinner backed away from him, "You think you can protect her without the shelter of the Federal Agent's badge, without the Assistant Director's title... good luck. I'll send roses to her funeral." He left the room. Doggett ground his teeth as he sat back down. He hated his life. Later still January 2, 2002 CIA Headquarters Washington DC 12:03 AM Eastern Standard Time Mulder opened the door just wide enough to stick his head in. Starkweather was curled up like a fresh ocean shrimp on a soft leather coach, sound asleep. Freed from the messy bun she hastily tied it back into, her hair almost covered her face. He hated to wake her up. He guessed correctly this was the first good sleep she had gotten in a while now. But still, he had promised himself a friendly chat with his baby sister and this was probably the only chance of privacy he was going to get. He opened the door wider and let himself in. Stirring, Starkweather sleepily opened her eyes. "Who's there?" she muttered, hand instinctively going inside her jacket. There was a small "thump, thump," as if someone was putting down suitcases. "Don't shoot, no matter how tempted you may be," Mulder deadpanned as he turned on the small crystal lamp sitting on the Regency desk. He was not cruel enough to turn on the overhead light. "It's just me." She blinked at looked up at him. He grinned at her sheepishly as he put down the duffel bag. "I got your stuff," he said, looking over at the guitar case. "I hope that's the right one. You did say 'acoustic' right?" He crouched down behind the leather chair, starting to fuss with something or other... "Ow! You little..." "Right," she said, craning her head to try and see what he was doing. "Mulder... you did not bring..." "Surprise," Mulder stood up again, holding Caesar. Caesar, unbelievably, was allowing him to hold him, although his ears were flat back against his head. "Somebody wanted to see you." Starkweather brightened instantly. "Aw, my baby!" she squealed as she held out her arms. "Puke," Mulder muttered as he handed the cat off to her. Caesar began to purr and rub his face against Starkweather as she crooned and petted him. "Aww, you've just never had a lovable pet before," she told Mulder in between the "Hi Caesar, hi baby, how's my kitty, how's my Caesar Dictator?" "My fish love me," Mulder said with a pout. Starkweather sat up on the couch, lifted Caesar up so she could cross her legs Indian style. She then set Caesar in the crook of her leg. Caesar yawned, stretched and purred contentedly as his mistress scratched his ears. "So..." she said, looking up at him. "How's the new year treating you so far?" "Well... I'm above ground. That's a vast improvement from last year? You?" "Well, it's only," she checked her watch, "fifteen minutes into the second day of the New Year and I've had a bad dream, my hotel room trashed, almost missed my flight, got kidnapped when I got back, found out my ex-boyfriend withheld crucial information and had two crying jags. Happy freakin' New Year." "You had a bad dream?" **Please John...** "Oh, that..." **... you're hurting me...** "It's nothing," she lied. Mulder didn't believe her but didn't push it. He had a bigger agenda. "Jerilyn," he lowered his voice. "Carlos was not the only one who with held information back. You found something. You and Doggett. What is it?" When Jerilyn bit her lower lip and looked at her cat instead of answering, Mulder crouched down so he would be eye level with his sister. "What did you find? What are you hiding in your coat?" "How did you figure it out?" "You have a perfect poker face Jerilyn, but you get fidgety with your hands. When you're thinking about Ben, you twist your wedding ring. When you're hiding something, you fiddled with your clothes. I haven't figured out what's on your mind when you play with your necklace," he pointed to her Medal of St. Christopher. "Mulder," she said nervously, wrapping her coat tightly around her. After crying in the bathroom stall for about five minutes, she realized that she had left the coat behind and fairly sprinted back to the interrogation room. She had nearly ripped it out of Reyes' hands, who was trying to track her down to return the coat. After muttering some lame excuse, Starkweather sequestered herself in an empty office and to her relief, found the file still inside the hidden pocket. "I... maybe I should tell you later. This is CIA. There could be bugs in here that we don't know about." Mulder nodded, then hugged her. Starkweather jumped, as well she might have for they were not the closest of siblings. The first and last time they embraced was when she learned her adoptive father had been killed in the Pentagon attack on September 11. Caesar yowled and squeezed from out in between the two bodies. Stroking her hair, Mulder breathed into her ear, "Whisper it to me, in my ear. If this office is bugged, all they'll hear is hiss." Wrapping her arms around his neck, Starkweather leaned into him and whispered so softly, he had to really strain to hear her. "We found a file with William's name and birthdate on it. We didn't get a chance to look at it because we decided to burn the lab down. Before we left to investigate Skinner's lead, I sewed false pockets in my clothes to hide out badges and wallets, just in case we had to run. I put a pocket in this coat." She broke the embrace. Mulder nodded. "Okay," he said. "Okay..." "Are you going to talk to Scully?" "I will... as soon as she'll start talking back to me." "Ah. Taking this well, I see." "Oh yeah, don't you know? This is every mother's dream." He groaned, rubbed his neck. "I hate to change the subject, but did you find the other thing I asked you about?" "Yeah, but I don't understand, why?" Mulder's brow was furrowed in confusion. "Why you want a ballistics test run on an old gun of your father's?" "Let's just say," she said darkly. "I'm going for my first Mulder-leap." "Watch the first step, it's a lu-lu." "What? You mean this ride's not equipped with safety harnesses?" "Nope," he grinned. "You leap, you leap free- style." "Where are the results being sent to?" "The ballistics are being run here, not Quantico. They're being emailed to me at my TrustNo1 hotmail account." "Trust... Jesus Mulder, why don't you raise a red flag and paint a bull's eyes on your ass to alert the hackers 'hey, it's me! Fox Mulder! Woo hoo, guys! I'm over here!!'" She shook her head. Mulder's eyes crinkled up. He looked entirely grateful and completely miserable at the same time. He leaned forward and brushed her hair out of her face. "Get some sleep, you pain in the ass," he said softly as he kissed her brow. "Bunny is going to take care of your cat for you. I heard she's a great Chinese chef," his eyes twinkled wickedly as he stood up. "That's what I like about you, Mulder," Starkweather yawned as she curled up in the fetal position again. Caesar leapt up beside her and allowed her the very great honor of cuddling him. "You're an equal opportunity offender." "Yup," Mulder quipped as he walked out. "I don't discriminate. I hate everybody. See you in the morning." "'Night." January 2, 2002 CIA Command Post Eagle's Ridge Near the North Rim Of the Grand Canyon, Arizona 11:24 AM Mountain Time William cried during the entire trip. He started before the first rays of sunlight even touched Washington DC. When the agents had been herded from CIA Headquarters to the waiting vehicles, by the decree of Lux Carlos, William's care was entrusted to Starkweather. Who was more upset by this decision, the child, his parents or his aunt, was anyone's guess. All the agents were split up, for security purposes. Because they were they were the only ones that could pull off the "non-descript" look, Skinner, Starkweather and William, along with two undercover and armed escorts were transported to Ronald Reagan International Airport and were flying on a commercial flight to Phoenix where CIA agents would pick them up at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The others, because of their distinguishing features, Reyes's height, Mulder's big nose, Scully's bright red hair and Doggett's prolific ears, that made them stand out in a crowd whether they liked it or not, were brought to Arizona via military transport, in two different military planes, so the flight was very uncomfortable. As Lux Carlos put a wailing William into Starkweather's arms, Doggett had paused before getting into the car to seek her out, as if he was trying to get one last look because he was convinced he would never see them again. That pause earned him not just a dirty look from Carlos, but also Skinner, who clamped a hand on Starkweather's shoulder and murmured something into her ear. She had nodded, lifted her shoulder in a shrugged and tried to smile at her partner. She held William as if he was going to explode. Carlos was wise in separating Mulder and Scully, he perceived they were about to choke each other. He sent Scully and Doggett in one flight and rode with Mulder and Reyes in the other. He figured that was the move that made the most sense as he yet did not fully trust Reyes and wanted to keep tabs on her. Plus he knew if he sat with Doggett for a very long flight, he'd have to punch him, then Starkweather would find out and she's deck him for hitting her partner and probably with his luck, Mulder would slug him too. Not to defend Starkweather, just to be an asshole. Carlos was tired of being the Mulder siblings' personal punching bag. And the climate control in both planes was laughable. While Doggett and Scully felt like they were freezing to death, Mulder, Reyes and Carlos were peeling off as much clothing as propriety allowed. And Skinner and Starkweather were stuck with the screaming William. "Of course," Starkweather had seethed under her breath after bribery, pleading and even a little crying on her part all failed to calm him down, "they stick the baby with the two most inexperienced people on the co-op. William... for the love of God, please..." she whimpered in frustration as she felt the glares of the other passengers bore into her. "Let me try," Skinner had offered. When he took William, he pitched the volume up two more notches. Skinner had promptly handed the boy back to Starkweather. "Thanks," she had muttered. "D'you think Scully would be mad if I gave him a shot of vodka?" When Skinner and Starkweather first stepped foot on Eagle's Ridge, they were ecstatic to see the others also getting out of vehicles. Starkweather sprinted over to Scully and thrust her son at him. "I am NEVER having children," Starkweather vowed as William wrapped his chubby little arms around Scully's neck, still wailing. "It's okay, sweet William," Scully crooned, rubbing his back. "It's okay Boo, I'm here... I'm always here, my baby, don't cry..." <> Mulder thought as he glared at the back of Scully's head. <> <> He pushed the thought of the mystery file still hidden in the lining of Starkweather's coat firmly out of his head, for the moment. "Wow..." Reyes said, going up to Starkweather, standing next to her. "Look at the view..." The FBI X-Files team looked beyond the utilitarian building and out across the bluffs, the miles and miles of warm tan and red and orange and rust-colored earth, with a deep fission that cut by the sapphire blue Colorado River, which lazily flowed miles and mile below. And if a photographer had taken a picture of the sky above, he would have been accused of digitally enhancing the shot, so rich and blue it was without a cloud in sight. Starkweather nodded. "It is beautiful." She looked over at her partner, who was standing a little ways apart from everyone else. She stared until he was aware of her staring. She rose her eyebrows, silently asking him what was wrong. He shook his head and walked a few more feet away as Skinner scowled at him. Starkweather didn't notice that. Reyes observed the silent conversation between the three. Her thin black brows knit in confusion. <> she folded her lips. "Agents," Carlos broke into her musings. Doggett circled the small group and stood next to Scully, away from Starkweather. Carlos noticed that and was childishly glad. "Welcome to Eagle's Ridge." Eagle's Ridge was a perfectly encapsulated little military installation. Literally in the middle of nowhere, Carlos explained that the North Rim of the Grand Canyon's lack of popularity was a key factor on Eagle Ridge's secrecy. "Plus," he said as the FBI X-Files team filed inside the main dormitory, "if we ever need to scare off tourists, we just issue false warnings of brush fires." The corridor was bleak and white. Concrete blocks and linoleum. "You have fifteen minutes to get settled in," Carlos told them. "Then I want all of us to meet in the lounge. We'll be going for a quick tour of the facility. Then it's down to business." "Who will be watching my son during this time, Agent Carlos?" Scully was at her worst, frosty and dignified. Doggett cringed slightly at the sound of her voice. Remembering his initial meeting with the fiery ice-queen, how he walked out with a wet face and a soaked suit. "Your son will be in good hands," Carlos sidestepped that question smoothly. He checked his watch. "Time is of the essence. If you have hiking boots, I recommend changing into them." He then pointed to doors, assigning rooms. "Starkweather and Reyes, room number one. Doggett and Skinner, room number two. Mulder, Scully and the baby, room number three. I will be in room number four." "How come he gets his own room?" Starkweather deadpanned as she followed Reyes into their room. Before going into their room, Scully turned and spoke to Mulder for the first time that day. "Can you hold William?" she asked, freezingly polite. "I want to change my clothes." "Sure," Mulder accepted the boy into his arms and watched Scully struggle with both William and her luggage. Once inside, Scully hoisted her bag on top of the bed. After opening it, she found a pair of khakis slacks, a white tank top and a hunter green short-sleeved blouse. <> Her heart sank. This was the outfit she had worn when she and Skinner had gone to the desert in search of Gibson Praise... and Mulder. She put the blouse and tank top away and found a deep purple cotton V-necked t-shirt she got on the clearance rank at the Gap two years ago. Mulder politely turned his back as Scully changed. Once he heard the bedsprings squeak, he felt safe enough to turn around. Scully was on the bed, zipping up her favorite black "kick-ass" boots. Surveying the Spartan room, two twin beds, one dresser, no closet, no windows, he said to Scully after kissing William's head, "Maybe we can push the beds together." Doing up the zipper of her left boot with an angry jerk, Scully raised her head to glare at him. "Or maybe not," Mulder sighed. "Dana, what more do you want from me?" "'Dana' now?" she said coolly, getting up. "I think you've given me enough, 'Fox'." She walked over to him and held out her arms. "Give him to me." "He's my son too," Mulder fumed. "I haven't seen him all day either." Protectively he cupped his big hand over William's soft puppy-fat cheek. "I promised you and I promised him. I was going to be this boy's dad, whether or not I'm his 'father'. You can't just take that away from me because you're pissed off right now." "I can," Scully said, aping his maddeningly calm monotone. "When your inconsideration and irresponsibility places him in danger." "Incon... Jesus Christ!" Mulder finally exploded. William began crying again. "Look, if I could have talked to you about consulting for the CIA, I would have. But you were in Hawaii and I found out information that placed me in a position to make a decision right then and there. I had to make a call, right then and there. I didn't say "Hey, Carlos, you know, being a secret agent and sounds like a hoot and a holler, sign me up." I have NO desire to be James Bond. But I will do what I have to do to protect this kid, whether you like it or not. Even if it means not asking for your permission to make a decision." "Even if it concerns my son?" "OUR son." "We don't know that for sure!" And Scully instantly regretted the words the minute they flew out of her mouth. Mulder's face was mottled with rage. William was still wailing desolately. "Thanks for rubbing ocean salt into my sucking chest wound," he said bitterly. "Would you like it if I arranged a paternity test when I get back to DC? And what do we do when we find out the truth then? Hm? Visit a friendly family judge. Set up custody arrangements? Child support payments? Is that what you want?" "You weren't there!" Scully spat out viciously, her own pale face flushed with fury as well. "You weren't there. You didn't know what I went through when I found out I was having a baby. What hell I lived through because you had to go chasing after this God-forsaken 'Truth', just like you are right now!" "Oh that's not fair Scully! I went back to Bellefleur to protect YOU. Because I thought they were after former abductees. It's not like I stood in the forest and waved my hands yelling, "Hey aliens! Yoo-hoo, I'm down here!!" He glared at her as he rubbed William's back, trying to soothe him as he yelled at his mother. "I would have been there if I could have, you know that." "Do I?" Scully challenged him. "You were cold and distant when you first came back. 'I don't know where I fit in Scully'," she mimicked him nastily. "And then you sent me away with Reyes... you weren't even there when William was born..." "I wanted you to be safe, Scully." "I wanted you to be there, Mulder." Her pretty mouth was made hideous by her frown. "But you were off playing the hero. The knight in shining armor. In pursuit of his quest... leaving behind the lady to weep and bleed..." "How poetic," Mulder sneered. He kissed William again and handed him back to Scully. "But, I'm not a hero, Scully. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe you're still hoping for the fairy tale. Well, it's not going to happen. I don't own a suit of armor and I hate horses. All I know is that the truth is all that matters. Nothing else matters." "Nothing?" Scully snorted. "I can see that. I see that clearly now. You would place an intangible principal before a child." She shook her head in disgust and disappointment. "You truly are your father's son, Fox Mulder." Carrying a still sobbing William, she stalked out. Frustrated, Mulder smashed his fist into the hard wall after she left. In the room next door, Reyes whistled. "Should we tell them that the walls are paper thin?" she asked her roommate. Starkweather was lacing up her hiking boots. "Man... I thought Ben and I used to go at it.... no... let's wait until neither one of them is feeling homicidal before we let them know that the walls have ears. Right now, they both might be in the "kill the messenger" mode." "Good point." Meanwhile... Pluto's Playground Twenty miles southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona Just off of Interstate 17 Bravo was livid. After reading the last Instant Message from the ringleader of the "New" Syndicate, she squeezed the pencil she was holding in her left hand so hard in snapped in too. "What a fucking moron," she seethed as she flung the pencil bits across the room. Pounding the keys so hard that the computer monitor on her desk shook slightly at the force she replied: "Apparently I did not make myself clear. I apologize. Our position has been compromised. Alpha learned of our location." She twisted a sterling silver ring on her right pointer finger as she impatiently waited for the response. And the response did not improve her mood at all. "You were crystally clear. I appreciate your concern. However, until further notice, the first priority is to locate Agents Starkweather and Doggett. The kidnapping was probably staged and they are actually in a federal safehouse. I want them found. I want Doggett killed and Starkweather brought to me." "Fuck YOU," she said aloud as she typed, "As you wish." She logged off and stormed out of her office. She did not appreciate having her recommendations so lightly disregarded. What part of "compromised" did they not understand anyway? They were SO concerned about fricking Starkweather, they completed underestimated the danger of Alpha. Lily. Whatever. In a blind fury, she continued her journey down the stark hallway. The building, for the most part, inside and out, looked like a typical governmental building. However, the basement of the building was a whole other story. Five women, eight little girls, Samita Saint- Claire, Felitza Covarrubias, Jeremiah Smith and Gibson Praise were all being held captive down there, under the watchful eye of the Super Soldiers. It was imperative, in Bravo's mind, to get them the hell out of Arizona. God only knew what Alpha was concocting. Only Bravo knew what Alpha was capable of. She knocked on the last door on the left. "Come in." She did. "They want me to find Starkweather and Doggett," she spat out angrily. The Cancer Man did not turn around. "Then do so." "What????" Bravo spluttered. "No offense, but Alpha knows where we are an-" "Alpha will not do anything herself. She is at too much risk of re-abduction. She knows this and stays underground because of this. She may tip off the Bureau, as she did Skinner who in turn tipped off Agents Starkweather and Doggett. Which buys us a little time to find the agents as the Bureau futilely scrambles to figure what to do with this ludicrous information. I understand that Mulder, Scully and their child has disappeared as well..." his voice trailed off. "What are you thinking?" "Find the kidnapped agents," he told her. "And you find the son of Fox Mulder as well. Bring that child to me." A wicked glint twinkled in her eyes but still she protested "I think delaying the transportation of the merchandise is a mistake." "Perhaps," he said, lighting a cigarette. "But it's one we have to make. I would recommend starting your search in Washington DC. Pay a visit to your charming little sister, Charlie?" "I'll leave today," was all she said as she turned on her heel and left. Bravo marched down the hall to the elevators, still angry. But the old man had something up his sleeve so she put her faith into him. So lost in her rage and thoughts, she slammed into two men, one a federal agent turned Super Soldier named Crane and the other a young man named Erik Folterung, a scientist recruited out of MIT to study Samita, Jeremiah and Gibson. "Hey!" Folterung shouted at her. "Watch where you're going!" "Folterung," Crane sighed, "don't." Bravo whirled around, frowning at the young handsome man. "Lay off, kid," she spat at him. "You have no idea what you're dealing with." Haughty, secure in his position of importance to the revived Eden Project, he sneered. "Careful Bravo. It might be YOU strapped to the exam table instead of Delta." Arching an eyebrow, Bravo sauntered back over to him. She reached up and traced his cheekbone with her pointer finger. Suddenly, with her other hand, she seized his neck, lifting up him. There was the sickening sound of cartilage and bone crumbling. Folterung gagged. He was up on his tiptoes. "Bravo," Crane said nervously. "Put him down." Her mean eyes flicked over at Crane. With a slight grunt, she threw him down the hallway. He was dead before he hit the ground. "I put him down," she said sweetly as she flipped her long hair over her petite shoulders and sashayed back to the elevators. Behind the mask of the long-dead Agent Crane, Lily Stratford thought desperately <> Alpha aka Agent Crane departed to request permission for leave, stepping over the body of the scientist. Meanwhile... Back at Eagle's Ridge... "Please," Carlos said, bringing the agents to a small conference room. "Sit." In an expansive gesture, he spread out his hands, indicating the long table, similar to the one they had all sat around at the CIA Headquarters in Washington DC. The tension was just as suffocating here in Arizona as it was in DC. Perhaps more so. Mulder and Scully sat on the total opposite ends of the table, Scully holding the baby, ignoring Mulder. Starkweather took a seat next to Mulder and Skinner instantly reached for the chair right next to her. Starkweather gave Skinner one of her infamous "What the hell?" looks as Doggett walked around the table and sat by Reyes. Reyes was the only one who looked calm. And Reyes was the one Carlos worried the most about. <> Carlos thought dismally as he surveyed the faces of the unhappy crew. <> "Our plan to free the hostages is of simplicity and there lies the beauty," Carlos said when he was assured he had the agents undivided attention. "Our inside contact tells us that they are delaying the transportation of the hostages because, as we predicted, they are looking for Agents Starkweather and Doggett." "Lucky us," Starkweather grumbled. "However, they won't waste too much time on searching for you. The hostages are hot and they want to unload them quickly. They will be transporting them by semi-trucks. There will be three semis in a convoy. Two of which will be decoys. Each of these trucks will have two of the Super Soldiers on board. And Bravo will personally be riding along as well. When the trucks hit the road... so will we..." "Will we be in tanks?" Starkweather asked, rubbing her chin, wincing in memory of her vicious half-sister's flying feet. Carlos stared at her bruises, lost in thought for a minute. "No..." he said. "If we're going against these Super Soldiers and Bravo," Mulder asked, "how are we going to stop the unstoppable?" Carlos sighed, "Eat your spinach, snarf some Scooby snacks, whatever gets your motor running." "Okay," Mulder said placidly. "I do that. And that stops them...how?" Six pairs of eyes bored into Carlos. "Look, this is CIA, not FBI. We don't have the red tape to cut through like you do. You are all on a need-to-know basis. You will be updated on details the sooner we get to the event." "Translation, you don't have a fucking clue, do you?" Starkweather snapped. "Terrific," she moaned putting her head on the table when Carlos refused to answer her. "We're all going to die." "We won't be able to kill the Super Soldiers per se," Carlos said. "But we can immobilize them and take them into custody... and begin studying them..." <> Starkweather wondered, but bit her tongue. "Agents Mulder and Scully," he turned to the estranged pair. "You two were selected because of your vast knowledge of the supernatural and the paranormal. And also because of your immunity to the Black Oil or Purity. Our source also tells us that along with the hostages, a shipment of the Black Oil is also being transported along with them." "Why?" Scully asked. "Partially to infect the hostages. To use the virus to make either more aliens or more alien- replicant Super Soldiers... and if I could think of a better name for them, I would but that's what they're call so please stop rolling your eyes whenever someone says that please, Agent Starkweather." "Sorry," she said blithely. "Force of habit." Carlos shot her a dirty look before continuing on. "And partially, to begin Phase Two of the Invasion." He took out a small fingernail polish sized bottle out of his coat pocket and placed it on the table. The liquid inside was a bright electric blue. "Phase One is complete. The virus is active. The Syndicate has the active virus to serve the needs of the visitors, the vaccine to save their own asses and the Super Soldiers to protect their own interests." "Whatever happened," Mulder asked, "to the faceless rebel alien forces that were resisting the Grays?" "Am I really listenin' to this???" Doggett grumbled. "Shhh," Reyes hushed him. "There was a battle, about a year ago, last March between the Faceless Rebels and the Alien Replicants. The Rebels suffered severe losses. They are re-building their forces." "Any proof of this crap you're spewin', Carlos?" Doggett burst out, his patience thinning. "'Cause I didn't sign up for this ride to fight against little green men-" "They're gray," Mulder interjected. "Whatever. I'm here because of an illegal genetics experiment that robbin' people of their biological right... of just being. Livin' a normal life. We've got a woman, back in DC, who's life is on the line because somebody thought it would be okay to poke and prod her until she was homicidally crazy. We've got Scully here, wonderin' about William day and night. And we've got..." he looked at Starkweather and his angry outburst fizzled out. "And we've got me, which nobody seems to know what to do with, but my, a lot of people are interested in killing," Starkweather said smoothly. "What's in the blue bottle, Carlos?" "This can neutralize the Black Oil. Make it powerless. The key, of course, is getting it to the Black Oil... which is where Mulder and Scully come in. They're the only ones out of all of us that can be near that stuff and not be affected." He stared at Mulder and Scully again. "You two are going to have to work together. Whatever shit you two got going on between you... by the way, the walls are really thin here... leave 'em behind. If any of us touch that stuff, we're done. You guys... Lord save us... are our only hope." "You said," Mulder waited a beat after Carlos' speech. "That they were toting along the Black Oil partially to infect their test subjects. What's the other reason. And if Phase One is complete... what's Phase Two?" "I can answer both questions at once Agent Mulder. As I explained once to Agent Starkweather, there are different variations of the Black Oil. Some create new aliens, killing their human hosts. Some create sentient Super Soldiers, such as Knowle Rohrer> Some create zombie Super Soldiers, such as Billy Miles. Some increase mental capacities... such as in the case of Mulder and Agent Starkweather..." "Excuse me?" Starkweather butted in. "I don't remember being exposed to Black Oil." "Agent Starkweather," Carlos said with a sigh. "What do you think they were testing on you and your sisters when you were an infant in the Eden Project." Starkweather, still wearing the Artic Cat jacket, wrapped it tighter around herself. <> she thought, keeping her face blank. "Wouldn't Starkweather have immunity too?" Reyes asked. "She was never vaccinated. We don't know how she was able to combat the effects of the Eden Project. We can't take any risks," Carlos informed her. "The only ones we know definitely has full immunity against Purity is Mulder and Scully." "Is that stuff in the bottle the same as a vaccination?" Reyes asked. "Is that a cure?" "No... unfortunately not. The Syndicate possesses the cure. And this," he picked up the bottle again, swirled the contents of bottle around. "Is different from the drugs we've been giving Agent Mulder to control his Purity-induced illness. This kills the Purity before it finds a host. We've tried injecting test subjects with... uh... mixed results." "How does that make US different from the Syndicate?" Starkweather finally burst out. "Because we don't take the innocent or the helpless. We don't take innocent men." "There's no such thing as an innocent man," Starkweather hissed. "Or woman?" Carlos countered coolly. "If I may proceed, Agent Starkweather?" "You have the floor," she conceded, rubbing her jaw. The light painkillers they had procured for her from Bethesda were beginning to wear off. "We are working towards a... mega-vaccine, so to speak. We are close to completion. We are working an a vaccine that would be disguised as a new chemical to treat our drinking water supply... the entire population would be immune and not even realize it. We are about two years away from completion... unfortunately... that's not enough time because they are starting Phase Two... infecting the general population. As I said, there are several forms of Purity. The Syndicate is getting ready to roll out their own water treatment plan. We suspect that the Purity being brought along with the hostages, are being brought to a major water source. Hoover Dam, maybe. As Agent Mulder can testify... the effects of the Purity can be instantaneous... or, as in Mulder's case, can take years. Depending on which... brand? For lack of a better word... is ingested. Thousands of people would be poisoned and not even know it." "But if Purity is Syndicate-controlled, how is neutralizing one shipment going to stop anything?" Skinner asked. "Easy," now Carlos grinned. "Agents Mulder and Doggett did us a favor a year ago by blowing up that oil rig. That hurt them big time. That cut a big portion of their supply. What was once an abundance, is now a precious resource. Granted, they've still got big reserves... but... according to our source, they are hauling a huge amount of Purity. At least one quarter of their supply. Considering how much of it was buried when that rig blew up, that is a big chunk to lose." "They'd just rebuild," Mulder said. "Use what they have." "But it would buy us time to finish OUR project," Carlos said. "And they'd know we were watching them. That they aren't completely in the shadows anymore." "How nice and cryptic," Starkweather said. "Tell me, Agent Carlos. Who is this 'source'? Can he, she, it be trusted? How do we know we're not just being slung into a trap, again?" "This source is trustworthy," Carlos assured her. "That's all I can say. I'm sorry, I know you're getting frustrated, but believe me, it's better you don't know." "What I'm confused about," Reyes said. "Is that you said Phase One and Phase Two... Phase One was the Creation, if you will. The virus. The vaccination, the genetics experiences... hybrids, if you will. Phase Two, if I understand correctly, is the infection of the general public. But not an obvious infection. These people will walk around healthy. Until the virus is no longer dormant. Is that Phase Three? When the virus is activated?" "Yes," Carlos said. "Phase Three is actually invasion. The problem with the virus is," he sighed. "Is that the Visitors actually control it once activated. If a person is infected and doesn't not reproduce an alien or become a Super Soldier or go insane... the aliens can bend that person to their will. Creating a slave race. We just don't know when Phase Three will start. Time means nothing to Them." "Oh this is bullshit!" Doggett couldn't help himself. "I tend to agree," Starkweather added. "All of this time I've been with the X-Files... I've seen some weird shit. Shapeshifters. Ghosts. Witchcraft. Supah Soldiers. Dinosaurs even. But I have yet to see an alien." "The shapeshifter who attacked you in the park last spring," Mulder said. "The one that broke your wrist. He was an alien. He was one of the grays." "How do you know?" Starkweather said. "He looked like a man to me." "Do all men dissolve into a puddle of acidic ooze?" "How do we know that's not one of the aftereffects of being a Super Soldier?" "You shot a Super Soldier. Was his blood red or green?" Mulder folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "Carlos just said there are different varieties of these genetically altered people. Their blood physiology could be altered too." "Why can't you just believe?" Mulder asked. To which Starkweather responded "Why can't you just give it up?" Mulder's eyes flicked over to William, then back to Starkweather. "Ask me that again," he said coolly. Starkweather kept her peace. "Assistant Director Skinner," Carlos said once he was sure the agents had simmered down. "Based upon your experience in the Marines, you will be assisting me with devising a strategic and tactical plan of assault once we receive the information as to when and where the Syndicate is transporting the hostages and the Purity." Skinner nodded, well versed into the ways of the military. "Agent Reyes," Carlos paused again. He wanted to give her the job of least responsibility, to keep her out of the loop as much as he could. He realized almost too late that wouldn't be possible. "You will be assisting me and AD Skinner. You will also be our point-of-contact between our front mission and the Phoenix Field Office. Alerting them that you and your partner, the Agent of Record, John Doggett," he nodded at Doggett, "are working on a massive drug raid and to have all officers be on the alert. Send an APB out on Bravo." "If the Purity is a secret," Reyes was not well versed in the ways of the military. She questioned everything. "How will alerting the Phoenix Office help?" "Because the Syndicate hates publicity," Carlos explained. "By the time the Phoenix Field Office gets off its dead ass and comes to assist, we'll already have achieved our objective. The hostages will actually be people abducted to be sold into the white slave market and the Purity will be replaced with a hundred kilos of cocaine we so thoughtfully borrowed from the evidence room of the Dallas Field Office," Carlos said smoothly. "Plus the Field Office and local law will toss up road blocks which would make it difficult for Bravo and her horde of Super Soldiers to get through." "Why all the ruses?" Mulder demanded. "Why not expose them for what they are?" "Because," Carlos was getting impatient but hid it well. Only Starkweather could tell. "There are still moles in our government. FBI, mainly. As in Deputy Director Kersh, but we just can't pin that slippery son-of-bitch. If we exposed what the Purity and the Super Soldiers are... your office would get shut down in a heartbeat. And we need the FBI X-Files. If we make this look like a successful drug raid, that's good press for the FBI. It's difficult to shut down a division when all the members shine... especially YOU, Mr. Future-Assistant-Director," he said flippantly to Doggett. Who sat there and clenched his jaw. "What?" Reyes asked. "Later," Doggett mumbled. "Reyes," Carlos continued with his narrative, "you are the key to tying a 'drug bust' to the X- Files because of your experience with cults. You received a tip that a UFO cult was supplying its members with illegal substances in the name of religion. As soon as your partner Agent Doggett was recovered from his abductors, you were sent to investigate and learned it was all a bunch of hooey and therefore set up the sting." "Nice," Starkweather said, nodding. "What about me?" "You, officially, were put into protective custody because the reason why you and Doggett were kidnapped is because of your political ties. Meaning your bitch stepmother and your dearly departed father, the Admiral," Carlos bowed his head. "Of course, you escaped." "Of course," Starkweather rolled her eyes. "In reality," Carlos sighed. He had also did not want to assign Doggett and Starkweather together but realized he could not make this mission personal. No matter how bad he wanted to drop- kick Doggett of the edge of the Grand Canyon. "You and Doggett will be working together to neutralize Bravo." "Neutralize," Doggett's frown deepened. "You mean kill her." "You have a problem with that, Agent Doggett?" "Yeah, I do. I'd like to see that bitch go to court. Rot in a jail cell. Plus, I didn't join the Bureau to be an assassin." "Agent Doggett is right," Scully said quietly. "We are not vigilantes. As vile of a person this Bravo may be, she still is entitled to trial in a court of law." "That's very noble. However, nobility would cost you your lives. Bravo will kill you as soon as she would look at you. Remember this," Carlos took a breath and avoided Starkweather's all- knowing, all-remembering fiery gold eyes. "She is not human." He didn't have to look at her to feel her wrathful gaze drilling into him. He already knew what her face looked like, how her eyes had narrowed into slits. "Is the neutralization non-negotiable, Agent Carlos?" Starkweather tried to keep the rage out of her voice. Carlos licked his lips. "No matter what you two do," he said carefully, "Bravo is going to die. If she is brought to us alive, the CIA is going to make her disappear. If one of you puts a bullet in between her eyes, well, it's going to be a small funeral party." "Bravo is the ringleader of this transport and an intricate figure of the Eden Project," Carlos addressed the group again. "Our source tells us that she has a perfect photographic memory. Many of the major proponents of the Eden Project will not be found on paper or diskette or CD-ROM. It's all in between the ears of Bravo. Destroy Bravo, you destroy a major part of the Eden Project... and force the Cancer Man to come out of hiding. He's been laying low. There was in fact, a rumor floating around that he had been killed by Alex Krycek. We now know this not to be true." "How?" Scully asked. "Agent Starkweather," Carlos said, "I do not mean to dredge up bad memories..." "Oh go for it," Starkweather drawled. "This day so far has pretty much sucked. Let's go for total hell as opposed to the purgatory I've been sitting in." "Last summer, when Agent Mulder was framed for the faked murder of Benjamin Starkweather... the CIA was given hard evidence that the Cancer Man had been behind it." "What evidence?" Scully asked. "Me," Skinner said. "The Cancer Man approached me." Starkweather felt her throat go dry. "You knew. You knew all along that Ben wasn't dead and you let me believe... sir, with all due respect... you God-damned son-of-a-bitch!" "I didn't know right away," Skinner said quietly but with that "Thou-shalt-listen-to-Me" tone in his voice. "And I didn't have a choice. If I didn't comply with the Cancer Man's request, he was going to kill Ben and Mulder too. And probably Scully and the baby while he was at it. So I dealt," he finished bitterly. "Why?" Mulder finally asked the question that had been on his mind for almost nine years. "Why do you deal with the Syndicate at all?" "I have my reasons," Skinner said, staring Mulder in the eye, but saying no more. Doggett wished like hell he could remember anything from those hellish two weeks last June when Ben was kidnapped by the Syndicate. He saw the hatred and distrust glistening in Starkweather's witch hazel eyes as she glared at her boss. Reyes looked at her hands, feeling like Lady Macbeth. "How," Starkweather demanded, "can we ever trust you?" Skinner glared at herself. "You forget yourself, Agent Starkweather," he informed her with a clenched jaw. "I am still an assistant director for the FBI and your superior." "Are you ordering me to trust you?" She added nastily, "Sir?" "I am ordering for you to give me the courtesy due to me as your boss," Skinner glowered at her. "But I am asking you to trust me. Besides, if I was 'one of them', you, Mulder, Scully would have been dead and the X-Files shut down long ago." Starkweather bit her lower lip and crossed her arms, her eyes still flickering dangerously but she quieted down. Carlos saw that the minute was getting dangerously out of hand. "Alright, alright. So we've all got personal issues to deal with. We all don't like each other. You know what? Leave it at the door. Alright? We're all professionals, we've all got a job to do." He glared at each member of the FBI X-File Division before he continued. "We're all here for the same reason. Now, this meeting is adjourned. Take some time to cool off, chill out and get your shit together. This is no joke. This is no dress rehearsal. In the short run, seventeen people, eight of them little girls and one a teenaged boy are depending on us. Staking their lives on us. In the long run, the entire population is depending on us." He glared at all the agents again, lingering lastly on Starkweather. "God help us," he muttered to himself. To everyone else, he announced. "Dinner is at 1700 hours in the chow hall. Meet back here at 1800 hours... and for God's sake Agent Scully," he snapped as William started to fuss, "leave the baby behind. I swear my life on that child's soul not a hair on his head will be harmed will he's here!" He turned on his heel and stalked out. Uneasily, the agents eyed each other. "Is this where we all group hug?" Starkweather grumbled. Later on that day... Eagle's Ridge 2:14 PM Mountain Time "Hey, Scully! Wait up!" Scully paused, waiting for Starkweather to catch up to her. "Hello, Agent Starkweather," she said coolly. "Jesus, Scully, c'mon. Don't lump all Mulders together. Seven months ago, I didn't even KNOW I was a Mulder," Starkweather quipped. A small smile broke out on Scully's face as the women started walking. There was a very primitive track surrounding Eagle's Ridge. Scully had been walking along side it, letting the trim, bland- faced soldiers and CIA agents pass her by as they jogged. "So... are the walls really that thin, Jerilyn?" "You want me to be honest or polite?" "Honest, please." "Let me put it this way, Scully. If you're ever pissed off at me, let me know right away. I want ample enough time to pack my shit, get my cat and haul my sorry booty to Canada." Scully laughed silently, sadly and shook her head. "Jerilyn, you may frustrate me, but I don't think you could ever anger me like that." "Oh, I don't know," Starkweather said breezily. "I have a gift of pissing people off. Maybe I should hand that gift off to someone else, everyone I piss off seems to wind up dead." Chastised, Scully said to her, "I'm sorry, Jerilyn. I've been so wrapped up in myself ever since this all came down." "Totally understandable. You have your kid to worry about." Feeling awkward now, Scully said slowly, "But just because I have concerns about my child and my... um...Mulder and my... uh..." "Go ahead, say it, say it," Starkweather teased her. Then she drawled out playfully, "Re- lay- shun- ship. Come on Scully. Hooked on Phonics worked for me. Can work for you too. Re- laaaaaaaaayyyy- shhhhhuuuunnn- ship." "Relationship," Scully sighed. "Doesn't give me the right to ignore my friends. And Jerilyn, I AM concerned for you. I... I haven't really been there for you lately and that's not right. I'm sorry." "Scully," Starkweather said with a wry smile. "Short discovering the key to quantum physics that would make time travel possible, there's nothing you can do. Nothing's going to bring Ben back. Or anyone else. I'm okay, really," she lied. "So don't get your pantyhose in a twist. You've got enough on your plate than to worry about me." Scully looked at her, arched on eyebrow, gave her a half-smile but said nothing. The women walked companionably in silence for a little while until another jogger passed them by. "Boxers?" Starkweather mumbled under her breath. "No way," Scully shook her head. "Tightie- whities, all the way." They giggled until Starkweather sighed. "Sometimes, I just miss being a girl. The whole staying-up-pass midnight, reading Cosmo, doing makeovers... I graduated early from high school. Plus, my mother's death forced me to grow up in hurry." She spoke without a trace of self-pity, but a little regret. "So I missed all of that. Homecoming. Prom. Graduation. My mother, before she got really sick, tried to tell me that all that high school nonsense was a part of life too, but I didn't listen and she finally figured it out that I wasn't going to listen and so she let me go." "When we were in Hawaii," Scully said after a moment of silence. "Monica made the suggestion that all of us, myself, Mulder. Doggett. You and her. Make a pact. To meet in Hawaii someday. No X-File. No crisis. Just us. Together. Would.. would that be a reality, you think? All of us getting together like normal people? And... if it is... maybe one night we can send Mulder and Doggett away and the three of us can stay up past midnight, giggle over Cosmo, do makeovers," her voice broke a little. "And check out surfers?" Starkweather's eyes brightened with tears. "Wonder if there's tan lines or not... of course, if Ben was still alive, he'd be dead set against me going if Doggett was there. Because you know, I'm sleeping with him. I wish somebody would tell me if it was any good or not because everybody seems to know more about that I do," she said bitterly. "It comes with the territory," Scully tried to console her. "The gossip mongers at the Bureau had me and Mulder hooked up before we even realized how much... we... meant to each other..." She dropped her head. "But Scully..." Anguished, she tried to make her understand. "You weren't **married.**" "What are you trying to say?" Scully wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. "That..." Starkweather stopped walking, crossed her arms, looked up at the perfect blue sky. "Contrary to popular belief, I loved Ben. I love him still. I wouldn't have married him if there was no love there. He was my soul mate, my best friend... god, why do I suddenly hear the wailing steel guitar of a bad country song when I talk about this... but I mean... he was a great guy, believe it or not. We liked the same stuff. We were both movie buffs. Loved to read. Loved speed, I mean we were both nuts for fast cars and faster motorcycles. He told me he loved my 'spirit of adventure' as he put it. And I loved how ambitious he was. He wasn't going to sit on his ass and wait for life to happen, he was going to grab it by the throat. When his parents told him that they just didn't have the money to help him through law school, he didn't cry about it. He joined the military and had Uncle Sam pay for it. He always found a way. Even with me," she chuckled. "His buddies at the 132nd told him he didn't have a chance with me... and they were right. I just wanted to be friends. I... well," she sighed. "Things had just abruptly ended with me and Carlos. I was NOT looking for another man to mess up my life. But Ben... well, he decided that I was the girl for him, and he won me over, in spite of me," she quoted one of Alanis Morissette's hit singles from her debut album. Then she sang a few bars, "Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet..." she shook her head. "I have no idea why he didn't trust me though. Maybe it was background, his father, nice guy, but very possessive of his wife. Maybe it was because of a high school heartache. Because when he was a senior, he dated this girl named Courtney and she cheated on him. He never really told me the entire story, but eventually they got back together, but the slutting around started again. Before he got resolution, she was killed in an auto accident and that was it," she closed her eyes. "Or maybe it was the one personality trait that was bequeathed to him from the Creator, whatever He, She, It may be that kept him from being a perfect person. But... god, he was a fucking jealous prick. Maybe that makes me a bad person for speaking ill of the dead, but he didn't trust me. Bottom line." "My point of that whole convoluted pity-party story is, don't get me wrong. Love is great. Love creates wonderful scenes in movies, pretty songs and nice greeting cards. But if you don't have trust behind the love, love don't mean shit. Ben loved me, but he didn't trust me. And I needed him to trust me. I trusted him... and he fucked his secretary. After I found that out, he didn't understand why I wanted a divorce. Not because I stopped loving him. Believe it or not, I miss him so much. Or, at least, I miss what he used to be. That might be a better way of putting it," now she lowered her head and looked at the ground. "But, no matter how much I loved him, I knew, I just knew that our marriage didn't have a Sno- Cone's chance in hell of making it if we couldn't trust each other. That's why I drew up those papers." Scully had just stood there, listening quietly, thinking Starkweather was just unloading her recent heartache unto her. She was surprised when Starkweather turned the tables onto her. "And that's what makes you and Mulder different from Ben and me. You're pissed at him, he's pissed at you, whatever. Shit happens. But you still trust him. You still believe in him. And he does in you. You both know that you can count on each other to back each other up. And that's more important than anything else. Nothing else matters. I learned that one the hard, miserable way." She paused, biting her lip. "Okay, there's a piece of hell icing over right now. I just defended Mulder." Scully, despite herself, laughed. She blinked away the few stupid tears that had welled up. "Jerilyn," she said ruefully, quoting herself from years ago, "you just keep unfolding like a flower." "Is this the part were we get all squeally and hug each other and cry like girlie girls?" Scully shuddered at Starkweather's 'girlie girl' remark. "I'm no girlie girl," she vowed. "Me neither." "Let's go find the firing range and shoot the hell out of something." Now Starkweather laughed and she did hug Scully, but in was in the playful manner of a best friend or a sister as opposed to the fashion of a soap opera diva. "I knew we were friends for a reason," she giggled as they walked off together, in search of target practice. A little later on that day... Mulder had found a very small outdoor basketball court and an abandoned basketball. Dribbling it, he wandered over to the free throw line and started to shoot. He was sinking them all nice and easy until Monica Reyes called out his name. That shot bounced off the backboard and bounced towards Reyes. She walked over and scooped up the ball. "Sorry," she grinned. "Didn't mean to throw your concentration." She tossed the ball at him like a natural. "Nice pass," he commented as he passed the ball back at her. She caught it deftly. "Did you play?" "Never seriously. And not until I moved to the States. In Mexico, basketball's not that popular or at least it wasn't when I was growing up," she passed the ball back at him. "You poor deprived child," Mulder intoned as he faked left, then drove right, going for a lay-up. He missed and Reyes, upon catching the rebound, made the basket easily. Mulder stood under the basket, snatched up the ball. "So..." he said, bouncing the ball as he walked over to her. "Why the X-Files, Agent Reyes?" Reyes had been preparing herself for this day. Even before Doggett called her to assist him in finding the missing Agent Mulder the fall before last, she knew fully well of his reputation for being arrogant and condescending. She knew he was not interested in making friends. That was fine. Neither was she. She wanted to work on the X- Files. She wanted to explore the paranormal. She had gobbled up stories about ghosts and goblins and monsters and aliens ever since she was a little girl. The extreme fascinated her. Whenever she experienced something wondrous, or had that flash of empathy that allowed her to feel what others felt themselves, she felt like a greedy child. She wanted to call out "I want more!" The more and more she heard about 'Spooky' Mulder, the stronger she felt in her convictions. After all, it takes a strong man to face the conservative world and announce "I believe my sister was abducted by aliens!" without batting an eye. The more and more her fellow field agents giggled about the validity of the X-Files, the more and more Reyes wanted to join. So she fairly leapt at the opportunity presented to her when her old friend called her to help him. One, it would give her the chance to introduce herself to Agent Scully. Two, she would be able to help return one of the FBI's finest if not always orthodox profilers back into the fold. Three, it would reunite her with an old friend. Whom she missed very much when she fled Brad Follmer and New York City to take refuge in New Orleans. When Mulder was revived, she had hoped for an opportunity to speak to him, poke and prod at his brilliant mind. She even asked him to help her find resolution for her friend, to help her track down Luke Doggett's killer. He grudgingly helped her, but afterwards ignored her until he needed someone to be with Scully when he had to hide her and the unborn William from the monsters stalking them. Afterwards, he fairly ignored her again. Dismissed her input. Made it crystally clear he thought she was a flake. She really, honestly, didn't like him very much. At first anyway. So she decided to dismiss him. Unless it was unavoidable, she did not run to him for advice when she did her job. She knew she was a competent agent and did not need to seek him out when she was in doubt. She wondered if he figured that out. Not that it mattered any more. Here they were, on a top secret mission for the CIA, of all things, playing basketball. And he was asking her why the X-Files. She shrugged. "Why not? It's right up my alley. I believe there is a force greater than ourselves to be reckoned with. I believe that we are not alone in this universe. I believe that mythology and legend only scratch the surface of the story of our planet, our cultures beginnings. I believe that people abuse the powers of myth and science to further evil in our world and maybe we can't save the world, but we can make it better, one person at a time." She smiled. "Plus I look good in black trench coats." The smile faded. She sensed that Mulder did not ask that just to make conversation. She sensed suspicion, distrust. Minute, yes, but it was there. "Is that all?" he said lightly, still dribbling the basketball. "That's the only reason why the X-Files?" "Well..." she felt flustered and became annoyed with herself because of it. "Yes." "Really?" his eyes flashed now. Reyes had the same creepy feeling she got in the bars when she sensed men undressing her with their eyes. Only it wasn't her clothes that Mulder was mentally removing. "You joining the X-Files has nothing to do with you running with Alex Krycek? Playing with the Syndicate?" Reyes closed her eyes. So that was it. <