Doggett:
"Hmmmm, when was the last time we had this much time to ourselves?" Monica snuggled against me, her hand trailing over my chest running circles around my nipples. Her nose gently nudged my jaw and was slowly replaced with small, deliberate kisses. Her message was clear even from these few gentle actions and I found my body responding as it had done many times before with this wonderful woman.
"We should both be resting Mon?" My hand touched her elbow and rode with the flow of her arm continuing its path over my chest.
The morning sun was already some way up and streaming through the partially open curtains causing the room to be bathed in golden light. This gave the surroundings an almost fairylike, surreal effect. My mind could easily just empty itself of all the events of the last three weeks and give in to this woman's needs. Our room could be our cocoon for now, for that unknown quantity of time between the present moment and being needed by real life.
"Remember what the doctor said about sex." Her kisses moved along my jaw to my ear leaving a cool snail trail. Her warm breath and her moans echoed soothingly throughout my head as her tongue trailed around the cartilage in measured strokes. How could I forget what was said about our continued sex life after Monica's pregnancy scare, but I wanted her to hear her say it so remained silent just immersing myself in her tactile attention.
"It's good for the baby if we have lots of sex." I couldn't help let out a breath as a few fingers tantalizingly tracked down near my nether regions and ran a snaky path over my abdomen.
"Are you sure you're up to it? It's been a while." If she changed her mind I was not past hope yet, but I was on the borderline of needing to go the whole way. Her hands and mouth said it all. Propping herself up a little her lips found their way to mine.
"Monica, what if we get that call?" In between kisses she spoke, her voice breathy with heated desire.
"They will just have to wait." As our lips merged only fleetingly did I think about Eric and the fact that he had not followed us out of the building before it exploded. I had had assured Monica that knowing Eric he would probably be safe somewhere. I felt that strongly. He was not one to deliberately put himself in danger if there was another way out. The events and emotions of the previous evening were put aside for one brief moment while we prepared to make love.
The hand that was on my abdomen moved further down and Monica growled into my mouth as her hand struck the hard mass that was my erection. All five fingers felt over my throbbing shaft and south to my balls. In waves her fingers played my scrotum like a keyboard and then moved up and circled my cock and squeezed. Our kisses deepened and her hands worked below with musicianship.
As our tongues nuzzled Monica's sighs were becoming more prominent and I knew her thoughts.
She was thinking two things, one, that even after so much sexual activity in the last weeks I was still as hot or even hotter for her than ever and two, that she had me over a barrel when it came to knowing just the right moves to get me wickedly aroused. Her leg moved over mine telling me she was going to be in control. This time I let her take charge, my body was jelly anyway from her ministrations.
As she moved on top of me my hands traced over her delicate body, across her shoulders then down her back to her butt. My fingers remembered this path but in this golden lit, story book room it seemed all new as though feeling her soft, perfect skin for the very first time. At that point I knew I could never tire of her devotion to me and me to her.
I felt overwhelming desire for this woman suspended over me on all fours. We gazed into each other's love soaked eyes and her bottom lip shifted and her mouth spread into a smile and I knew at that moment our thoughts were connected.
"I love you," she mouthed as she moved her hips down and took my physically embodied torch inside her. The heat of finally being connected made its way over my body like a convection oven and the temperature rose further as her hips began to move. My hands lightly rested on her ass, gently encouraging her on our path to what was truly one of life's great pleasures.
Her breasts bounced on my chest as our rhythm began slowly. I found myself moving my hips to meet hers to compensate for our extra mounting desire. My head moved up to meet her lips and pulled her down to me like an alligator latching onto its prey and then retreating into the water. Monica was mine to devour. My whole being wanted to consume her and make her totally one with me. Nothing could stop us now from fulfilling the ultimate in sexual harmony.
"Harder John." Monica's voice was unrecognizable and her eyes rolled back in her head like a demon possessed. Taking charge I swiftly rolled her onto her back still remaining deeply inside her and began accelerating the movements. Her eyes were shut firmly and her mouth was parted. Her tongued moved slowly over her teeth and at that moment I thought I would spill out inside from the sheer sexiness of that picture. I wanted her to come first, to feel the wonderful pressure of her orgasm all around me.
"Oh John. I love you." With a few heaves of her chest and some strange throaty sounds her body racked violently with one huge orgasm. My heart beat wildly as I felt her release with her, looking appreciatively over her face and down her glistening body. This woman was experiencing heaven because of me and I couldn't help but feel proud. Without further warning my orgasm hit and I too was flying to heights only Monica was ever able to give me. This was a moment in time that seemed to go on slowly forever. All was in slow motion and I could feel every pulse and every surge repeatedly. My head was filled with tiny pinpoints of light and Monica was there amongst them twirling around spreading them like a snow dome. Her throbbing around me seemed to squeeze out every last drop of my love juices. When I was finally able to focus again I saw her radiant face and knew then that she too felt proud that we could experience this much love together. I never knew two people could be this much in love and also experience this much physical pleasure.
Through all this we hadn't heard the phone ringing. For how long it had been chiming we didn't know. I had half a mind to let it ring out but we were expecting that important call from Eric saying he was all right and somewhere safe.
.....................
"Monica Rossi." I rolled off my lover to let her take the call. She was the one Eric would want to talk to. Lying flat on my back looking up at the ceiling I closed my eyes wondering what was going to happen next in this saga. Should I turn on the television and watch the news? In a way I was missing my FBI life. It was second nature to me to investigate and to strive to succeed. This new situation was contrary to any ideals I had in my life before then but it was becoming clear that if we were to make any difference to the rising world threat this was exactly where we should be.
The rise and fall of Monica's voice on the phone lulled me into temporary slumber. The thought of overhearing the conversation was too taxing; all would be explained shortly anyway. The effects on my body of our recent lovemaking made my lips curl in a contented smile, and then grayness overtook me.
"No! Tell me it's not true." My body jolted on hearing the sudden change in tone and my head turned to see the look of concern on Monica's face. "How do you know?" A single worry line showed between her eyebrows making me want to kiss it away. When she looked at me her face remained sad. "Yes, we will." She hung up the phone and the back of her hand went to her forehead showing she was trying to fathom whatever was said on the other end of the phone.
"Monica, tell me." Her gaze moved up to connect with mine and she suddenly reached in and wrapped her arms around me, burying her head in my neck. Her hot breath seared my skin but I waited for her to calm enough to talk. We held each other tightly until her breathing slowed.
"John, Eric's dead."
"What?" My face frowned in disbelief. I peeled her off me gently and looked into her tear-filled eyes.
"That was Skinner on the phone." My eyebrows rose. I'd had no idea she had been talking to anyone other than Eric. "Shannon told him our whereabouts." I shook my head slightly not knowing whether that was such a good idea. "Don't concern yourself John. He assures me that it's still not general knowledge in FBI circles."
"..and Eric?" Monica had to compose herself before she spoke.
"We've slept in and missed the latest news. We saw the explosions last night but didn't stay long enough to see the extent of the damage. The whole of the building was destroyed. There is an estimated loss of life into the hundreds. Looks like no one would have survived." She clung to me again and my arms wrapped around her warm body.
The wheels turned in my brain. No way was I going to believe that Eric had perished without the proof to back it up. He would NOT have run back into the building knowing it was about to explode. That would be certain, futile suicide.
"Have they identified the bodies?"
"Not yet but according to the entry logs there were 257 people in the building at the time of the explosion, one being a Lucent technician."
"But Eric was wearing a guard's uniform when we saw him." In the flurry of activity after we saw Eric I was surprised this was still imprinted on my brain.
"Knowing Eric he would have swapped uniforms after he'd had an 'encounter' with one of the guards, to take away suspicion from him." I nodded agreement.
"Were there any details on the news about the nature of the work going on in the building?"
"Skinner didn't want to talk too much about it on the phone. He flew into Vegas this morning and wants to meet us. He said that just before the explosion he received a flood of faxes all from said building. We need to see them and decide where we go from here."
So many questions rushed into my head at once, questions I'd put at the back of my mind since acquiring our new identities and arriving in Vegas under cover. What had happened to Skinner and Kersh after we left them? Where had Mulder and Scully finally ended up? Were they safe? We had promised to take care of Gibson; we just hoped he was safe in the care we had left him. What about Follmer? Had he been indicted for murder?
Monica looked at the clock next to her. Where had the morning gone? It was now just after ten and we were still in bed.
"Skinner wants to meet us. I suggested the bar at The Hard Rock Hotel. It's noisy and crowded enough there for people not to overhear us." Hearing the name of our first hotel sent a pang of regret to the pit of my stomach. That's where we'd had our first row after I'd been lured in by Candy's magic.
"John, you want to go somewhere else?" She must have seen something on my face that I was hoping was hidden.
"No, that place is good." I began to get out of bed to head for the shower. The thought of bringing up my grievances about Candy was not worth it at this time. All I wanted to do was to protect my loved one. Monica grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.
"Don't go, hold me!" Looking down I couldn't dismiss the fact that Monica really believed that Eric had died in the explosion. I knelt on the bed then hovered over her with arms either side. Lowering my head slowly I kissed her on the lips, lingering there until I felt her relax.
"Come on, let's shower together. I'll hold you as much as you want me to, I promise." I tried to give her one of my cheeky smiles and I must have succeeded because she smiled back with the most radiant expression I'd seen in a while.
"Hmmm, so does Mr. Di Salvo ever break a promise?"
"Never, Ms. Rossi." I took her hand and helped her up and led her to the bathroom.
.........................
Reyes:
A.D. Skinner had confirmed my deepest fear: Eric was dead and didn't make it out in time. After I had hung up the phone my body was numb from shock even though I had a premonition that Eric had not made it. My mind had calmed but from the news it was back into hysteria. What was I going to tell Roxanne? She loved him. I could tell she loved him and Eric loved her back. I held onto John as I played out how I was going to break the news. My eyes teared up once again knowing I had lost a good friend even though he left the FBI. It was just all happening too damned fast for me to keep up. I felt my stomach tie itself into a knot between the sadness and my morning sickness. After a few moments of cheering me up a little I followed John back into the shower so we could clean up before seeing Skinner.
After I had dried off I leaned against the bathroom sink, hanging my head in sorrow. I shook my head not wanting to believe that this was reality. I knew I was going to have to ID the body and I wasn't sure if my stomach was up for such a venture. Thinking about the whole thing I could have sworn that Eric was behind us but what if he did get caught up somehow? He wasn't completely healed from his shooting injuries and that could have slowed him down. I suddenly went dizzy from contemplating it and John caught me as I fell back into him.
"Mon, do you need to see the doctor again?" John asked softly into my ear.
I started crying uncontrollably whether from hormones or tragedy or both, it didn't matter. Eric was gone and there was nothing I could do to change it. It was a harsh reality to accept because he was trying to protect us so we wouldn't have to get into the line of fire. I just didn't want to accept any of this right now.
"We don't know if that's going to be Eric's body. I don't think that he's dead, Mon." John's voice didn't sound too reassuring to me right then.
"How do you know, John? He was injured. He was moving a little slower than we were." I started to hyperventilate delving back into the recent memory of that building exploding.
"Mon, he's eluded the FBI for how many years? The guy's not stupid. He's too smart to let himself go up in a big ball of fire like that. You'll see." He was trying to encourage me but the way I was feeling at that point I would rather crawl under a rock and die somewhere than hear any type of anecdote. John wrapped his arms around me, holding me up as much as he could. I stood up and supported myself, and then turned to face him. He had a towel wrapped around his waist that gave him such a sexy appearance I thought I was going to have a chance to fuck my frustrations away.
There wasn't time, though. We had to get ready and meet Skinner soon. I stepped out of the way so John could shave and I stood and admired his physique. He filled the sink with hot water and applied shaving gel to his face. I towel dried my hair as I watched him slowly stroke his face with his razor. I dropped my towel and took his razor from him, my naked body before him to admire. I slowly finished shaving his face as he looked into my eyes, which was more like looking into my soul. When I finished we were still face to face with one another and I reached in for a kiss. John pulled me into him as our tongues entwined in a deep, passionate kiss. I pulled away for a moment and smiled.
"We have to get ready." I said softly.
John nuzzled his nose with mine and returned his sexy smile. "I know."
We got dressed and went downstairs to find that Roxanne had left already. She must have had something going on at her estate; I never heard her leave. John grabbed his keys from the dining room table and I followed him out to the truck, heading out for our planned destination.
............................................
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Reyes:
We met A.D. Skinner at the bar in the middle of the Hard Rock Hotel Casino. Even this early in the day there was a cloud of smoke over it. We found Skinner sitting at the one end with two empty seats beside him. John and I sat down next to him.
"I'm glad to see that the two of you are still alive." Skinner started. "What can you tell me about Yucca Mountain?"
"What about Yucca Mountain? It was a proposed toxic waste dump." John said plainly.
" We know that you were out there. We got a number of faxes on the building that exploded and what they were doing in the laboratories there." Skinner had a laptop with him and gave it to John and I so we could read the information that was on the small screen. "Apparently it was a super soldier breeding facility. Someone had anonymously tipped us to your whereabouts and also a former affiliate of the FBI which I assume you both know to be Eric Duarte. There are pages and pages of charges against this man for fraud, identity theft, and basically every cyber law in the book for hacking. I am here only to confirm his death, as he is a fugitive of Federal law. I can't do that because I don't know him. I need one or both of you to identify his body so I can get back to DC and close the file on him."
I tried not to hear Skinner tell us that we had to identify Eric's corpse. He was probably so cooked I wouldn't be able to tell anyway. I read the complete scheme of the lab, where its Federal funding came from as Shannon said, any test results that were reported back to the FBI building in DC. There was also the deadline date of December 22, 2012 to finish up any manufacturing. The question that remained in my mind was: Did we help ourselves by destroying this building or did we just help them get rid of evidence so they could disappear?
"So who's in charge of the investigation of that building going up?" John asked.
"Right now it's under military jurisdiction because some soldiers were in that building when it went up. They are letting minimal Federal presence there and the only one that I know of who has any knowledge of the situation is Director Kersh." Skinner looked around to see if anyone was watching us.
"So in other words it's out of our hands." I said. I shook my head. What if all of this was for nothing? "What about this information?" I pointed to the laptop.
"This isn't common knowledge in the FBI yet. I took a great risk coming here to show this to you. Once this is known, all suspects involved with this could disappear." Skinner glanced at both of us, relaying the message that this information and how it was dealt with was very delicate.
........................
Doggett:
Assistant Director Skinner didn't seem his usual self. Having not seen us for over three weeks and fearing we were dead could have at least raised a little more concern. My mind filled with images of the last time we were in contact just outside Kersh's office. Skinner had approached the door only for it to be opened by one of Mulder's trial panel members, a confirmed super soldier. Gibson Praise's special talent had established this. While on the witness stand Gibson had read all their minds to establish to the panel that he could indeed do this, and had noticed one man's thoughts were different to the others. With initial skepticism that anyone could actually read minds, I had come to believe in Gibson because I saw with my own eyes how he used this gift. How it was done and why, I had no idea.
"He knows." Gibson's words echoed in my head and I remembered the exchanged glances between the mysterious man and the boy outside Kersh's office. He knew the whereabouts of Mulder and Scully and we had to warn them.
Monica, Gibson and myself had left being urged to go by Skinner himself. The reality that the super soldiers also knew that we were all instrumental in the escape of Fox Mulder was very dangerous for us, and part of the reason we couldn't return to DC just yet until it was deemed safe. Monica and I had discussed a few times since then the possible fate of Skinner and Kersh. We had concerns for all our FBI colleagues, but we had to work with the whole debacle from this end. They would have to deal with it from theirs.
My heart skipped a beat remembering Gibson's face as we left him with Scully's mom. We'd explained everything to her, Mulder's trial verdict, his sentence, his assisted escape and then his and Scully's flight away from certain death. Maggie was happy to look after Gibson until we could return safely but only after I assured him that Monica and myself would be back. He'd nodded with that sad but understanding expression. It was all part of his continued nomadic existence. After witnessing his cheerless expression I had been all the more determined to return and indeed look after the boy as I had promised.
He'd indeed read my mind as was my intention and knew me to be telling the truth to the best of my knowledge. The look on Monica's face confirmed she'd had similar thoughts. He'd probably already discerned that Monica and myself had personal ties beyond FBI partners. At first, when I knew he was sensitive to people's thoughts I used to try and hide my passion for Monica from him but I knew, just from his gaze that this was not possible.
After being snapped out of my musing by Monica's hand on my arm, I decided to come right out with it rather than checking the back of Skinner's neck for a certain spinal deformity.
"So Skinner, who else knows you're here? Kersh? The super soldiers perhaps?" I sat back in my seat giving him concentrated scrutiny, the look that told all who witnessed it that I was searching for more than just words.
"Don't worry, I was careful to cover my tracks." He spoke quietly so as not to attract attention.
"How do you know? How can you be so sure? We could all be in danger here." Sitting forward I looked into his face for any doubts he might be having.
"The only danger you're in is when they find out you were there. I can go back to DC and confirm Duarte's guilt in all this and his death. I can close the file on him but someone will need to take the blame. You two have been confirmed as having been there."
Monica and myself exchanged concerned glances.
"Who? How?" She questioned with a worried frown.
"Videotape that was salvaged from the site. There were cameras set up at the periphery as well as spotted throughout the plant grounds. You were seen entering the building from the roof and escaping through a side door and running towards the boundary fence just before the explosions that guttered the facility."
I leant forward and spoke in a soft voice, looking around, being careful not to be overheard.
"We didn't set the charges, Duarte must have done that. We were there to find him."
"So tell me you had nothing to do with the planned destruction of the plant." I shifted uneasily in my seat and witnessed Monica's troubled air.
"I thought so. You two could lose your jobs over this. Your careers in the FBI are in jeopardy as it is with your disappearance. You know the X-Files have been shut down. What have you been doing here?"
With that question I looked down to Monica's hand and saw that she had neglected to wear the engagement ring we had bought together recently. A wise thought, we hadn't planned on letting anyone in on our little secret just yet, outside our close circle of newly made friends. Monica followed my gaze and knew my thoughts.
"We've been working with Roxanne Derrik and Eric to find out more about the extent of the super soldier threat to this country and possibly throughout the world."
"Roxanne Derrik? Not 'the' Ms. Derrik of a certain porn repute?" Monica nodded, not sure where to go from there. Not wanting to give away our exact ties with the entrepreneur and the reasons for our initial meeting at the strip club amateur night I thought quickly.
I looked to Monica as I spoke. "We've been working for Roxanne to get some extra cash. She set us up in our temporary apartment and has been supporting us and Eric in our endeavors to delve into what the FBI is keeping from us about this threat."
Monica continued, "Eric used his computer 'skills' to hack into FBI records and made contact with someone who gave us valuable insider information and sent us a package of magnetite, the only substance that has an effect on these creatures."
"You're telling me you have killed some of these super soldiers?" Skinner could see by our silence that it was indeed true. He looked down to the table and shook his head.
As they contemplated their insecure positions they hadn't heard the quiet voice beside them.
..............................
"Gibson!" Monica was the first to notice him and rose from her chair, approaching the sixteen-year-old boy. She extended her arms to give him a hug; he hesitated a little but then gave into her wishes sensing her genuine pleasure to see him again. I rose too smiling, happy that he was safe, and as he approached I leant over the table extending my hand.
"How are you going man?" We shook and then he took the spare seat next to Monica and myself.
"I'm all right," he said in his usual expression challenged tone. My face turned to concern as I looked over to Skinner.
"Was this a wise idea, bringing the boy here?"
Gibson interjected before Skinner could speak. "It wasn't his idea for me to come here, it was mine." Both Monica and myself averted our eyes away from the assistant director and onto the boy. "I was worried for you. I wanted to see that you two were safe. So many of my friends leave." He trailed off.
"I couldn't refuse him seeing you. He is also the reason I could come here undetected." Skinner nodded in the boy's direction. "Tell them Gibson."
"Tell us what?" Monica's face told me that if it was more bad news she could crack. Gibson looked to Skinner for confirmation to go on talking.
"The files that you saw, the super soldiers, there may be more than we first thought." Skinner nodded when I looked across to him.
"You mean they are everywhere among us, they could be anyone here?" My head did a 180 degree arc around the room. Skinner continued with the barrage of information.
"Not just anyone, but taking up positions of power in the government, in local councils, in law enforcement and of course..."
"The FBI." Monica finished his sentence. "For how long has this been going on?"
"From the information leaked out it may have been decades." His voice lowered with the last half of the sentence. This was not good news. If there were in fact many more of these creatures than first thought then the simple blowing up of a building may have just been like the proverbial single hiccup in a vast crowd of spectators. Had it all been worth it? If Eric was truly dead then his death may have been in vain.
Apart from the occasional look at Skinner I had felt Gibson's eyes on us most of this time.
"What's up Gibson?" I could tell he had been delving into our minds and I needed to know what he saw. A little hesitance showed before he spoke. Understandably this would have been a learned behavior, he would have made any number of people nervous in his presence with their thoughts laid open for scrutiny.
"You didn't blow up the facility but you all planned to."
"John, Monica, so it true." Skinner lowered his voice and we hung our heads in affirmation.
"Why? That was not a good move. What did you think you were doing?"
Monica decided to speak in our defense; "It was a major operation in the super soldier network, by destroying all their research we truly believed this would stall their operations until the rest of us could get together a plan to expose them."
"Well your plan may have just backfired. What if this causes them to act sooner? You may have put us all in jeopardy." All my reasoning told me that this would probably not happen. With all we'd been through in the last few weeks, all the information that Eric had received told me that this act would indeed mar their efforts and hold them back indefinitely.
"Let's just wait this one out shall we before we get our panties in a knot. That explosion destroyed some serious shit, don't tell me they will benefit from it." I made sure I kept my adamant face. I wanted to show I truly believed that what we did was right.
"Well you may find yourself having to explain all this to an FBI panel when you're called back to DC to answer charges." We could tell that if Skinner's views were representative of the views held by that said panel then they would need considerably more convincing than what Monica and myself were giving him.
"There's more." We all looked to Gibson who had been mighty quiet. "You two."
"What is it Gibson?" Skinner could see the boy's hesitation to speak.
"You two are in love." Monica and myself exchanged glances. "And you're getting married."
"Is this true?" Our secret had outed which was inevitable at some stage. We thought it would be later rather than sooner; after the shit had died down. As we looked at each other with smiles Monica retrieved her engagement ring from her pocket and slipped it over her finger. "When did all this happen?" Monica took my hand in hers and squeezed.
"Just recently." She looked at me sweetly.
"But you've been in love for years." Monica nodded at Gibson's claim. Out of the corner of our eyes we could see Skinner's look of astonishment. "And that's not all."
"Not all?"
"We're going to have a baby." Monica decided to talk before the boy gave away all the joyous information.
"I think congratulations are in order. I had no idea." Skinner's face said he was still piecing all the recently changed events together.
"That's not what I meant."
"What did you mean then Gibson?" A sudden wave hit my stomach as it became evident that Gibson knew how we had survived the previous three weeks. His mouth did a small lip curl before he spoke,
"They've been earning money making movies." It wouldn't take long for Skinner to picture exactly what the boy meant.
"Don't tell me. Movies for Roxanne Derrik? Porn movies?"
"We made adult movies to earn money. It was perfect to stay under cover."
Skinner just looked at them trying to fathom their motives.
"If this gets out," he said in a measured tone. "That will put one more nail in your coffin with the FBI. I hope you have some airtight explanations for all this."
...............................
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Reyes:
We followed Skinner to the county morgue where they were holding Eric's body. I sat in the passenger seat of Eric's truck with a lump in my throat. It was laboring just to breathe, just to sit there and wait until it was my time to go in there so I could identify his corpse. I blankly stared out through the cracked windshield, my heart thumping loudly in my chest in anticipation. I was not up for doing this. Not by a long shot. In mid thought, we pulled into the parking lot and parked the truck. John and I sat there for a moment, John let out a deep breath.
"Are you up for this?" He asked as he looked over to me.
I looked down at my shaking hands and gave a small smile. "Does it matter anymore?" I got out of the truck and John followed behind me as we joined Skinner inside. The lighting seemed dim in the building and the horrible smell that I was used to seemed even more horrible than normal. I held my breath as we entered the examination room where Eric's autopsy was just performed. The room smelled like burned flesh and on the exam table was a body covered with a white sheet.
The coroner was still masked and bloodied from his exam. He looked over at us and we all pulled out our FBI badges. He nodded and went to the sheeted body. In one swift pull the sheet was off of the body. It was badly burned, blackened flesh still peeling back from certain extremities-- what was left of the extremities. There was the usual Y-incision in the chest area and the face was barely recognizable. I got a little closer to the body in the chilled room to get a better look at him. I could hear John, AD Skinner, and the doctor talking in the background but didn't try to listen. I felt like throwing up just at the mere sight of this, but swallowed and took a long, hard look. I looked at his arms for tattoos but could not make out any. For a second I was relieved, but I turned around and saw a second covered body on another table.
"Which one was the technician?" I asked.
"The one you were looking at." The coroner said through his mask.
I looked at the corpse again for any positive clues for identification but found none. This was not Eric. I shook my head and looked back to the men behind me. "This isn't him." I stated. "It can't be."
"According to reports he was wearing a Lucent uniform when he entered the building." Skinner said. "He was seen with someone else in a black Expedition at the entrance gate."
"You have witnesses to that?" I asked slightly amazed. I didn't think anyone made it out alive.
"Yes, the guards. They were injured, but very willing to give out that information. The only reason we know is because Agent Duarte was a federal agent and that's the bargaining power we have to have some insight to the investigation." Skinner said.
"Did they ever find out who the other person was?" John asked.
"Only one person it could be..." I said under my breath.
"They found some remains...not much to identify. They found clothing that had trace amounts of semen. The lab is yet to get back to us on that." Skinner lowered his voice and whispered. "We assume it may have been a super soldier by how the remains were decomposed. They found an unknown metal substance in the remains."
John nodded and I knew what he was thinking. "Shannon." I said. I looked to the guys and the coroner had gone. I turned to the second body and uncovered it. It, too, was badly burned like the other. I looked at the toe tag and it was a John Doe. "Who was this?" I inquired.
"They are assuming it was a guard of some kind." Skinner said.
I looked over the body and searched for those give-away things that could make it Eric. John came up behind me. "Is it him?" He asked quietly. I carefully examined the burned corpse and saw what could be a tribal-type tattoo on the arm. At that moment everything flashed before my eyes and I broke out into a cold sweat. I slumped over the table and tried to breathe. "That's him, isn't it?" The vibes in the air were going crazy. I leaned back into John as I tried to sort out all of the emotions going through my head. I was in near panic as I shook my head. All of this talk with John saying Eric was too smart to go down in the burning building was washing away to reality. I nodded my head as tears filled my eyes. John looked over to AD Skinner.
"Were there any more bodies other than these two?" John asked.
Skinner shook his head. "No. These were the only two that hadn't been identified by the military. A lot of the bodies were much worse than this from what I heard." Skinner came up to us. "I don't know what happens from here. The fact that you were there could put both of your careers in even more jeopardy than before. They have every high command wired. They don't know that we have this information, so it may help. I'll keep in touch. They are supposed to do DNA testing but it may come back inconclusive like many of the other bodies."
"We went out to stop him..." I said as I cried. Could the news get any grimmer? Our careers were now on the chopping block because of this and I sure hope as hell it was worth it. Skinner said something to John before he left but I didn't bother to listen. I just wanted to get the hell away from the smell of burned, decaying flesh before I start throwing up. John took me by the hand and we walked out of the room and then out of the building of death. We leaned up against the side of the truck in an embrace as I cried in John's arms over the loss of a dear friend.
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We were on our way back from the morgue to Roxanne's place. We both figured she would want to hear this first hand from us and not on the phone. I couldn't stop crying at the thought and at what I had just seen: The horrific remains of someone who had done so much for us to keep us hidden a little while longer. My mind wandered back to Mulder, and Scully. I hoped they were in a safe place and away from any of this controversy. I had forgotten to ask Skinner if he knew any such information, but I had a strong feeling that we'd find out sooner or later somehow. It struck me as odd that they knew we were out there-the enemy must have known the whole plan of attack from Shannon.
It was eating at me how I felt that this whole thing was set up to rid of evidence of them, yet Skinner had it on that laptop? Were we out of this yet? My temples throbbed in anguish over the thought that this could be a never-ending feat. I looked over to my fianc� who was leaning his head against his hand. He glanced over at me for a moment and then his eyes went back to the road. "What are you thinking?" I asked him through my tears.
"I still don't think that's him." He said sternly. "I'm sorry to doubt you, but something's itchin' at me saying that is not Eric."
"You still think he got out?" I asked anxiously. "John, I saw the tattoo on his arm. That was Eric. I have no doubt in my mind. Denial is normal in situations like this."
John's brow furled as he looked over me once more. "You think I'm in denial? Monica, I think it may be the other way around."
"John, just admit it. When I sensed something haven't I always been onto something even though you yourself refused to believe?" Tears that had been streaking down my face were now starting to burn my flesh.
"I didn't always NOT believe you, Monica....some of the stuff just seemed...hokey to me." John's voice was calmer.
"Just as hokey as you telling me that Eric is still alive." I mumbled. There would have to be a miracle of God to make me believe that he was still alive. So far the only miracle I can foresee is the one that will happen in about 8 months or so.
We pulled up to the security gate at Roxanne's place. The guard recognized us and let us in. John pulled the truck up by the front entrance and we both got out. Roxanne opened the door just as we were getting ready to ring the doorbell. She looked horrible; her eyes were bloodshot, her eyelids heavy enough she could barely keep them open, and her demeanor wasn't the usual perky boss we were accustomed to seeing. She held the door open for us and we stepped inside. She closed it behind John and headed for the wet bar in the party room. We followed her in as she leaned up against the bar, facing both of us as if bracing herself for the shocking news we would deliver. She looked over to me noticing my slouched posture and the sorrow strewn all over my face. "I take it you don't have good news to tell me?" She asked in her calm voice.
John shook his head. He too, started to have a bit of anguish in his eyes from watching Roxanne. She looked like an aerosol can that was about to burst. "I'm sorry, Roxanne. Mon identified the body. It was him."
Roxanne's hands white knuckled gripping the bar and hung her head down, taking in a deep breath before relenting to the emotional pressure. I started crying again as I went up and embraced her in a supportive hug. She wrapped her arms around me as be both wept over Eric's tragic loss. A few seconds later I felt John's arms wrap around us both, and we nuzzled our tearing faces into his chest.
.........................
Doggett:
After leaving Roxanne's place we'd let Skinner know the news about the positive identification of the body and he'd said he'd get back to us about where we went from there. There were a number of things about recent events that continued to niggle at me and I could not put this to rest until it was all laid out clearly in my mind.
The only way Monica could identify the body was by Eric's tattoo. I trusted Monica's judgment but I still could not see Eric getting blown apart in that explosion. I needed more hard evidence than a piece of body art. Couldn't they do DNA testing and maybe look up dental records? If the only way they could have closure was through an eyewitness report then to me that was sloppy investigative work. That was something I noted to follow up later, for Roxanne's and for Monica's sakes and for the health of our unborn child.
Shannon McMahon was a piece of work. Even after her confirmed death I couldn't believe she was gone. Ever since we'd met again after her relegation to super soldier status, I had believed her one time, then doubted her the next. At this point I was left doubting. Her intentions in all this seemed dishonorable. She had ratted us out to the feds leaving our jobs in jeopardy, and what was it with her urging us to destroy the facility? What was in it for her? Maybe Skinner was right and that we had truly been set up. Time would tell.
Something bothered me about Skinner too. He was keeping hush hush about what happened behind closed doors that day in Kersh's office. We recognized that the super soldier panel member knew everything, then why was Skinner allowed to go unpunished for his actions of breaking Mulder out of custody? My thoughts went to Gibson. It was the fact that Skinner had brought the boy along that I trusted him at all. I remembered Skinner saying, 'He is the reason I could come here undetected.' Maybe Skinner did have good intentions and brought Gibson along to identify any proximal super soldier activity. If Skinner was being used to flush us out then why bring the boy? Another mental note was made to have a heart to heart with Gibson as soon as possible.
As I opened the door to our apartment and let Monica in before me, I had a strange feeling we would not be there much longer. Something was in the air, something was not right but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was almost like the calm before the storm. There was not much hope but I so wished we'd had the storm and it was now time for calm.
Monica was still nowhere near happy and I pained to see her that way. If Eric was truly dead then I would grieve just as Monica was grieving but until the absolute proof, I needed to comfort my lover.
She was pale and lethargic as she headed to the kitchen. I followed and watched as she opened the fridge door and extracted a small bottle of water. Leaning against the cool surface she opened the cap and upended the bottle, taking a few sips.
"How you feelin'?" Lifting a hand I swept away a stray hair from her face, my fingers lingering near her cheek. She dropped her hand to her side and I just had to lick off those glistening water droplets from her lips.
"John," she spoke with a mixed tone of 'not now' but 'I'm too tired to stop you'.
"Just let me try this," I breathed onto her lips as my body leant lightly against hers. "Say 'no' at any time and I'll stop." The need to make this all go away was strong inside me. This was the best way I knew of letting her forget about her troubles for a moment and give her some fleeting pleasure. "I want to taste you." Looking into her eyes I saw them change from fatigue to approval. That was my signal to proceed. My lips found hers and latched on, alternately licking then sucking them dry. As I pushed my tongue inside I felt her body begin to relax and ready to accept whatever I could give her. This was going to be my gift to her for going through so much pain.
My hands lay flat against the coolness of the fridge door either side of her as my kisses flowed over her soft cheek to her ear. A finger pulled back the hair and my tongued traced the delicate ridges. I knew she liked this. The way her face shifted, gliding against mine assured me I was hitting all the right places. When my mouth went back to hers it was open and ready for me and I found myself leaning into her and her pushing back with equal force. The hands that roamed my back fell down to my butt, feeling evenly at first then pulling me into her. My hard mass squashed against her crotch.
She would have known the extent of my passion for her then but this was initiated for her, not just me.
"Hmm, this is good." My body liquefied at that admission and I knew I was achieving what I set out to do. Monica moved her head to the side to give me access to her slender neck, which also gave me the signal to begin undoing her shirt buttons. "How do you do this to me John?"
"Do what?" As I undid each button I kissed the part of skin each revealed. Whoever had invented front fastening bras must have been a man, a man who probably thought of the idea when he was just in this situation. I unhooked it swiftly revealing a heap of tempting cleavage.
"How do you make me forget?" She heaved her chest as I licked her breastbone between her supple breasts. Her hands made their way to my hair and her fingers ran through it with gentle strokes influencing me on. With the last button undone I moved her shirt apart and worked on her stomach running small kisses in a random pattern.
"Shhh, don't talk, just feel." I whispered with hot breath on her abdomen. As I licked the rim of her navel I anticipated where this tongue and mouth was going and imagined my lover's body responding to me with all the pleasure I could give her.
Before I had time to think my fingers were undoing her jeans. With each centimeter of skin revealed, as the zip moved down, I gave numerous kisses over her soft skin. Hooking my thumbs in the rim of her jeans I pulled them over her hips bringing her thong with it. Monica gave my hair a tug as I kissed over her pubic area as it was slowly revealed and nuzzled my nose in the small amount of hair there.
She helped flip off her shoes and take her pants down the rest of the way while I ran kisses up and down her legs.
"Oooh," Monica crooned as I spread her legs apart with a hand and urged one leg over my shoulder. The solid surface of the floor hardly bothered me. I had one course of action and that was to make my lover experience a bit of cloud nine for a few moments. Propping her up I found the spot between her legs that I needed to work on. I could almost taste her before I began. The heat coming from her was searing and the sexy smell of her dripping desire played on my psyche like an aphrodisiac.
I had done this many times before but each time it was new. My tongue tempted her clit, lightly touching its hardness and she flinched with the concentrated bliss.
"Oh John." Her hands tugged hard on my hair wanting me to go further more quickly. I blew a few cooling breaths on her fiery center then began long, slow strokes with my tongue, drinking in her juices and tasting her sex. With every few strokes I circled her clit with my tongue and sucked on it, my lips encircling as much as I could. All thought of her reciprocating any of this was gone. My mind was resolute on giving her as much gratification as I could. As I pushed my hardened tongue inside her my nose flicked her clit, eliciting a melting pot of soothing sounds from her throat that increased in volume matching her ride towards ecstasy.
It began with a small ripple then slowly built to tremors as my lover came. With each pull of my hair and each thrust of her hips I stayed latched onto her, sucking as much from her as possible. My heart raced while I experienced her orgasm all around my tongue and lips.
I could feel her about to collapse around me so stood up quickly just in time to catch her in my arms.
"Monica, I'm taking you to bed. You need rest, okay?" Not waiting for a reply I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other under her knees and lifted. Her head rested on my shoulder, and from the contented gurgles I could tell she had enjoyed what we had just done.
"I love you," she said almost deliriously as I sat her up in bed and began taking off her open shirt and bra leaving her bare. I went to a drawer and took out one of my T-shirts and dressed her. She seemed incapable of making any decisions at that time and I smiled knowing exactly why.
As she snuggled under the covers she closed her eyes and grinned, letting out a few satisfied breaths. Leaning down I kissed her on the cheek and whispered,
"I love you too Monica."
"Hmmm."
As I exited the room I took one last look at the wonderful person I was soon to marry. Skinner's words rushed back to me and I felt a sudden anxiety. 'You two could lose your jobs over this. Your careers in the FBI are in jeopardy as it is with your disappearance'. No matter what the future held I would stick by Monica. We would ride the storm together.
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Chapter Thirty-Nine
Roxanne:
After John and Monica had left, I sat alone in the silence of my own tears. I was sad but at the same time I was fucking angry. If Eric was that close behind them, why didn't he get out? WHY? I cringed at the thought and tried very hard not to place blame because I knew it would get me nowhere. The phone at the bar rang annoyingly into my silence. I did not feel like talking to anyone; I felt like pulverizing something. I walked up to the bar calmly and pulled the phone, cord and all, right out of the wall and threw it across the room into the opposing wall. It disintegrated upon impact as it fell to the floor into pieces. It left behind a few blemishes into the drywall but I didn't care. No, I didn't give a flying fuck. Moments later my cell phone rang in my belt carrier. I snatched it and looked at the caller ID number. It was my accounting department in my business operations building, which was odd, so I answered it.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Ms. Derrik, this is Brad in accounting. I came across something odd doing the books today. There seems to be...uh...how can I nicely word this....a discrepancy in one of your accounts." The voice said on the phone.
I paused for a moment and my knees locked. I swayed slightly as I held my breath and gathered my thoughts. This was serious. "Ms. Derrik?" Brad's voice said again.
"Brad, which account?" I said calmly so I would not directly blow up at him for the shit end of the stick news I got today.
"Accounts receivable." He replied.
I felt my blood pressure rise and my face redden. This was not what I needed on top of everything. "I'll be right over." I ended the call and stormed out of my mansion and walked quickly to my business building in the back. I swung the glass door open and swiftly walked by the receptionist to the accounting department. The accounting staff sat rigidly once I entered the room.
Smiling and being polite like I normally am with them was the furthest thing from my mind. Any time I hear the word 'discrepancy' I automatically think someone is ripping me off. It happened to me once before with one of my employees being a sneaky bastard so I fired the whole accounting staff and had the SBC guys watchdog my system with a huge firewall. I saw Brad at his desk and wandered over to him, looking over his shoulder. "Speak to me." I said to him with a stone cold expression.
Brad looked up at me and knew what I was thinking. Without delay he punched up the accounts receivable screen with the amount that I should have in there and then the actual bank statement saying what I really do have. There was a twenty thousand dollar shortage in the account as opposed to what I should have in there, with absolutely no trace to where that money disappeared to. It happened like this last time only I caught the mother-fucking thief in the act.
My eyes widened in disbelief and knew the only people that could give me an answer were the guys at Nevada Bell SBC. "Any idea of where it went, Brad?" I asked almost felt like ripping his head off to help me feel better, but I knew it wasn't his fault. So, in lieu of killing someone I just breathed down his neck a little.
"No, I don't. I'm sorry."
He seemed sincere enough, but I needed to call SBC to make sure. "Brad, hand me your phone please." He complied and I dialed the SBC number. "Yes, this is Roxanne Derrik at Derilyct Productions. I have had a major breach into my computer system that you guys moderate more or less and we can't find where in the system it occurred." The man at the other end asked me what type of breach it was. "It's in my accounting department. Apparently there is a twenty thousand discrepancy that my bank has already confirmed."
The guy started giving me the run-around about how it could be a simple mathematical error. No. I hire the best accountants I can find and I wasn't going to take this shit. I paid them a lot of money to set my system up. "I pay you guys to build a firewall which YOU said could not be breached. I have checked and double-checked with my staff and my bank and someone got into this system somehow and stole twenty thousand dollars from me. Either you fucking fix it, or I will take your system and shove it up your ass." I got put on hold so he could talk to his supervisor and a few minutes later he came back on the line to tell me a technician would be coming out right away. He must have realized how much money I have invested in that phone company. "Thank you." I slammed the phone down and Brad jumped. "Relax..I won't fire you....this time." I walked out of the room and then out of the building. I paused for a moment and took a deep breath in.
My heart was pumping a thousand times a minute it seemed and my brain was beyond warp speed. I started back toward the house and my cell phone rang again. I did not want to be talking right now.
"This better be fucking good," I said sarcastically.
"Ms. Derrik, it's Dave from the front booth. There are some gentlemen here that say that they are with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They want to speak to you."
That was not what I wanted to hear. "The fucking Feds are here? Do they have a warrant? If they don't, tell them to drag their asses." I walked up to the front and peeked around to get a glimpse at them in front of the gate. Two black Crown Victorias with four men in each car.
"They have a warrant to search, Ms. Derrik." Dave replied.
I shook my head and bit my lower lip. "Damn. Let them in." I ended that call and rushed back into my house towards the front. By then Jeremy had let them in. Eight guys in black suits that probably needed a lay worse than anyone. "You mind telling me what the hell this is all about?" I asked firmly.
"Ms. Derrik, I am Agent Follmer and this is Agent Weller. We know that you were housing Eric Duarte on these premises and because of your association with him you could be indicted for harboring a suspect evading the law. Now, we know he has violated every computer regulation we have laws for and then some. Maybe murder can be added to the list." They took out their FBI badges and blessed me with their prestige. Follmer handed me the court order for the search of my property.
This guy was anal and needed to be dealt with as such. "If you are here to look for him, I hate to tell ya he's long gone. With the building that went up last night? I'm sure you heard about that." I really did not want to deal with this prick right now.
"We are well aware of that, Ms. Derrik. We have a warrant to search the premises on the basis that you were hiding him from the law so he could scheme and steal more money from innocent civilians. You must realize that there are repercussions for doing so." Follmer gave the go ahead for his men to start looking around. The thought of having these guys looking through my personal stuff disturbed me to no end.
"Hiding him from the law? Gee, Agent Follmer, I didn't know that fucking someone was considered harboring a suspect." I stood eye to eye with this man wanting desperately to wipe the smirk off of his face. He walked away and paired up with his partner and resumed their search of my life. I sat down on my couch and watched as they tore each room apart looking for signs of life that left last night. It didn't take them long to find out where he was. I guess that Shannon bitch ratted us all out. They won't find a thing and I will sit here until they realize that themselves.
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The Feds went at it for eight hours. Even all the while I had shoots going on in other parts of the estate, they rummaged through everything they could find. They even went through my website and all of my business files, accounts, clients, etc. The more I sat there the more humiliating it got. I run a legal business, but the fact these bastards want to deface me because of an association I was going to stand my ground. Mr. Follmer came in and sat down next to me with a T-shirt of Eric's in his hand.
"Where is his rig?" He probed.
"His rig? Well, normally it would be inside of me, but since he's a corpse that wouldn't work well, would it?" My chin was down and I stared a hole through this jerk. He sat untouched by my words until his jaw clenched a little.
"I know you run a legit business, here, Ms. Derrik. It would be a shame for you to lose it all covering his tracks for him. Unless, of course, you tell me what you know."
He was manipulative as well as good looking, both features together in a man I despised in front of me. "Tell you what. He told me he did fake identifications and stuff like that, but what he was actually going to do last night-he just disappeared. He didn't tell me shit. If you are looking for his computer, he took it all with him. He's gone, okay? Take what you need to and get the fuck out of here."
"Agent Follmer," Agent Weller said, "I have copies of all business records for the past year."
"Find anything in the business department?" Follmer asked his partner.
"Nothing really. We'll look through this but I doubt we'll find anything on Duarte. Everyone cooperated, so I don't think he made it back there." Weller said.
"Well, Ms. Derrik, " Follmer said handing me his card, "We'll be in touch and watching you very carefully." Follmer glared at me before he got up and left the room. The other agents followed and I was left hearing the echo of the front door slamming shut. My hands shook knowing that I will not be able to live my life normally. They will be watching everything I do, my website, my associations...Wait-I need to call John and Monica and tell them. I took my cell phone and walked outside to dial their number.
"Ms.Derrik?" A male voice called from behind me. I had enough of men today and their impotence. I turned around to face the voice to see that it was a SBC guy from the phone company that must have arrived while I was having my proverbial rectal exam from the FBI.
"Tell me you found something...please tell me you found something..." I rubbed my temples as I spoke.
"Matter of fact I did. It didn't come from inside your system, like an employee jacking your money that way. Someone found a back door and transferred funds..at least it looks that way." The technician said.
"Do you have any idea as to when this back door may have opened?" My eyebrows rose up.
The guy stood for a second and continued. "Well, I glanced through the lines of code and the system was sent a virus to create that open door for access. The program was executed around 11 p.m. last night and where it went from there it's not traceable." He paused and so did I. There was only one person I knew of who could have pulled it off but he's down at the coroner's office at the moment. "Is there anything more I can do for you today?"
I stood there semi-stunned just thinking about the slim chance that it could be Eric, but shook my head at such nonsense. Monica identified his body. End of story. "No, that's all. Did you get a check for your services?"
"I sure did. Thank you." He replied as he left for his truck. I hit the send button on my cell to call John and Monica. I could care less about the twenty grand. Something bigger was going on here.
John answered the phone. "John, this is Roxanne. The FBI were just here searching my place. You gotta tell me what the hell is going on here." My voice almost sounded desperate, but I needed answers now.
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