PART TWO Disclaimer in part one XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part two-Memories and Chocolate Ice 6 p.m. Staten Island University Hospital Down deep in the lab of Staten Island University Hospital the painted cinderblock walls soaked up the fading light coming through the high windows. Scully sat on a stool heavily and pushed a hand through her hair. The tox screen was very disturbing, she couldn't make heads or tails of it, and the hunger pangs were starting to bug her stomach. At that moment Mulder walked through the door, bringing a welcome respite from the results. "Find anything interesting?" he asked, popping the customary sunflower seed into his mouth. "I don't know what the hell this is," Scully sighed. Mulder walked over to her and leaned over her shoulder to look down at the print out she was holding. "What's this?" "This was found in all the kids systems. At first glance it looks very similar to the poison digitalis, but see that extra compound in there?" Scully pointed to a spot on the sheet. "What's different about it?" Mulder asked, popping another seed into his mouth. "That's what makes it different from digitalis. Whatever it is apparently puts the kids into a state of deep sleep rather than outright killing them. The thing is..." Scully trailed off. "What?" "I have no damn clue what it is. It's organic, but beside that there's nothing like it. I looked through all the lists the CDC has put out, but there's nothing that's even remotely like it." "So you're saying it's extra-terrestrial?" Mulder said with an eager look on his face. "I never said that. I just said that there's nothing like it in the books. It probably just hasn't been identified yet. There are many plants that haven't been identified yet either," Scully said with an exasperated edge to her voice. "It is organic. The elements making up the compound are very earthly, but have never been seen before in this combination. Now I don't know if it's this compound itself, or the compound combined with the digitalis, but this is what's putting the kids in a state of deep sleep. Now we just have to find the antidote. I've sent a sample to the CDC to see if they have any better knowledge of this compound than we do!" Scully finished, close to yelling. Mulder grinned down at her. "I love it when you talk like that," he leered. "Mulder," Scully rolled her eyes, even though she couldn't disguise the small grin on her face. "So where do we head next?" "I figure we still have some time left, so we can go interview Molly Addison." Almost imperceptibly, Scully groaned. "Don't worry, we can go get dinner after that," Mulder said. "Thank you," Scully said as she picked up her coat and walked out through the lab door Mulder was holding open for her. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 22 Athena Place Manor Heights 6:30 p.m. The car glided to smooth stop in front of the brick house. It was an average house, with two stories, and all the windows framed by brown shutters. To the left was a large window that looked in on a living room, and to the right was a smaller window. Even further to the right of that was the garage. Mulder and Scully got out of the car and started up the walkway to the front door. "This is the place," Scully said. "Welcome to suburbia hell," Mulder muttered. "Actually I think that's New Jersey," Scully retorted as the climbed the stoop and Mulder rang the doorbell. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The doorbell echoed throughout the nearly empty house. "Molly, can you get that, please?" Kathy Addison yelled from the kitchen. "I've got my hands full with Cassie." Molly sighed. Cassie was the one-and-a-half year old girl her mother babysat for on a regular basis. Today was one of those days, and most of her attentions were focused on the playpen set in the corner of the kitchen. She put down her history book none too gently, gave it a kick for good measure, and pushed her tall frame up off the couch. She went first to the window, to see who was at the door. Molly gently pushed the curtains aside to get a better look at the people who were out there. There was a short, red haired woman and a tall, dark haired man standing on the stoop, both dressed in trenchcoats. "Probably the FBI," she muttered. Her mother had received a call from the police earlier in the day while she was at school to say that some FBI agents would be stopping by sometime in the next few days. Molly did a double take, though, when she got a better look at the taller agent. He looked a hell of a lot lake Alec... She walked to the door, unlocked it, and carefully pulled it open. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The door opened to reveal a very tall girl, standing there in a pair of jeans and a plain blue tanktop. She was not what Scully had expected. The girl had to have been at least 5'9", a very slim figure, with flaming red hair pulled back sleekly in a ponytail, and grey-blue eyes. "Molly Addison?" Scully asked. "Yeah. You must be the FBI?" she asked, still holding the door halfway open. They pulled out their badges. "I'm Agent Mulder, this is Agent Scully," Mulder said. The door was opened all the way. "Come on in," Molly said, and showed them into the front hallway. "Hey, Ma, the FBI's here!" she called down a hallway to a kitchen. Mulder took a good look around the place, as they were taught to in Quantico. Directly in front of him was a staircase leading upstairs, and the hallway leading to the kitchen. They were both wallpapered in a small stripe pattern. To the right of him was a study with a desk, computer, and a few bookshelves. Molly led them into the room on their left, the living room. On one wall was the window, on the side wall was a large brick fireplace, and on the wall furthest to the right of them, the one with the other door into the kitchen was a big cabinet, holding the customary stereo system, VCR, and a TV that was showing a rerun of 'Northern Exposure' on A&E. The episode was one where Fleischman and O'Connell were stranded in the great Alaskan wilderness, and for some reason they began kissing in their sleep, even though at that point in the series they were most definitely not an item. Mulder grinned to himself. He should have tried that last year when they were stuck in the Florida woods. Maybe it would have gotten their own relationship moving along much faster. Then Mulder wondered how the hell he remembered that from only a few seconds of footage. He hadn't seen the show in years. In front of the window was an over-stuffed green recliner, and opposite the fireplace was a long couch, covered in a sturdy material that had probably through years of child raising. "Have a seat," Molly directed, taking a seat on the end of the couch closest to the TV and folding her long legs up under her. Scully sat down on the opposite end and Mulder sat down on the recliner. Before they could begin their questioning a voice called from the kitchen. "Can I get you some coffee?" the voice eagerly asked. Mulder looked at Scully to make a decision, but Molly butted in. "Just let Donna Reed in there do her thing," she said in a low voice, "And this'll be easier for you." Scully looked at Mulder once more. "Okay," she said. "Coffee's fine." Molly leaned her head back over the arm of the couch. "Okay, Ma, coffee's good!" she hollered back, then straightened up. "She thinks it's a little insulting when her attempt to be a good hostess is thwarted," she explained. "It's no problem," Mulder said. Within two minutes Mrs. Addison had coffee ready on a perfectly set platter and handed it out to Mulder and Scully. "I always wonder how she does that so fast," Molly muttered. Mulder looked over at Scully and she pulled her little note pad out of her purse. "Can you tell us what happened when you found Jenna?" Mulder asked. Molly nodded. "Okay. Uh, I had stayed after school a little while to get some help with my history homework. I had field hockey practice after that so I went to the locker room, got changed into some clothes better suited for practice, and took off into the woods. There are some roads cutting through there; we use those to get down to the street during a snowstorm and the buses can't make it up the hill, but those are behind the Academy and it would be a waste of time to go to them rather than just cutting through the woods. "Anyway, I had gone into the woods, and had started running down the hill. By that time I was really late so I wasn't exactly looking where I was going. My foot caught on something, and I fell face first into some pine needles. When I picked myself up to get my bag, I saw that it was lying on top of someone's arm, which was a bit gross, if I may say so. I brushed off the body, and saw Jenna there. By the time I recovered enough, I ran back to the school, got my history teacher, and then we called the cops. And you know the rest of the story from there," Molly finished with a shrug. "Did you notice anything strange about the area where you found Jenna?" Scully asked, while she finished writing up the notes from Molly's last response. She looked thoughtful for a second. "Uh, nope. Same old trees," Molly said. Mulder looked over at Scully, using that unspoken communication they were so good at. To Scully, it seemed that ever since they became a couple that it was easier to talk like that. Right now Mulder was saying that they'd gotten all that they could from Molly Addison and that he was getting hungry and it was time to find a place for dinner. Internally, Scully smiled, and Mulder saw the smile in her eyes. "Okay, thanks for your help, Molly." "Sure," Molly said and stood up. "I'll just show you to the door." Mulder and Scully stood up and followed her to the front door. In the front hallway Scully stopped. "Molly, do you know any good places for dinner around here?" she asked. "Uh, yeah. Denino's, on Richmond Avenue. They've got some great pizza there. And for dessert go to Ralph's Ice across the street. When they got to the door, a baby began crying from the kitchen, and then Molly's mother called out from another direction. "Molly, calm Cassie down, will you? I can't get to her right now." Scully saw Molly roll her eyes heavenward. "How do you want me to do that?" she yelled back. "Try singing to her," Mrs. Addison called. Molly turned to the FBI agents. "Just, hold on a second, please?" she pleaded. With Mulder's quick nod she dashed off to the kitchen. In a few seconds, Molly came back holding a toddler with curly blond hair. With one arm, she reached for the keys next to the front door and unbolted it. "Well, I'm glad to be of help," she said hurriedly. "Thanks for your time," Scully said, and they walked out onto the stoop. But Mulder paused in his tracks when her heard Molly sing. It wasn't her voice, but her words that halted his steps. "Come, little children I'll take thee away Into a land Of enchantment. Come, little children The time's come to play Here in my garden Of magic..." Scully looked at Mulder frozen on the landing from the bottom of the stoop with a puzzled look on her face. She had no clue as to what the hell was going on. Before Molly could shut the door, Mulder turned back towards it and began to speak. "Molly, what song was that?" he asked calmly. Molly was taken aback at the question that didn't fit in with anything else she'd been asked that day. "Uh, it's just an old Irish lullaby," she said a little nervously. "Thank you," Mulder said, and started walking back to the car, brushing past Scully in his rush. Scully looked up at Molly, still standing in the doorway holding the toddler, and then walked after Mulder. She got into the passenger seat and then turned to Mulder. "What the hell was that?" she asked him. Mulder's hands tightened on the steering wheel, searching for the right words. But he chickened out. "I'll tell you later, Scully. Right now, let's just get dinner," he said, flashing his most winsome grin at her. Scully looked over at him. "Okay, but that doesn't mean you're getting out of telling me whatever that was about." "Deal," Mulder said, and started up the car. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Molly looked at the FBI agents' car pulling away from the curb. She felt a little guilty about not telling them the whole story. But then again, they probably wouldn't have believed her anyway. She couldn't tell them that the forest where she'd found Jenna reeked of evil. An inhuman evil. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 9 p.m. Holiday Inn Mulder unlocked the door to Scully's hotel room and pulled it open. He turned around and saw Scully digging another spoonful out of the small pint of chocolate ice she'd picked up to take back to the hotel from Ralph's Ice. "You are going to share that, right?" he asked as she brushed by him into the room. He shut and locked the door as Scully kicked off her heels and laid down on the bed, her back propped up on the headboard. Mulder took off his suit jacket and laid down next to her. He reached out towards the container of ice with a finger, but before he could get a bite Scully jerked it away with a grin. "C'mon, Scully, you had some of that before," he said with a pout. "So did you," she said, pointing her spoon at his mouth. "The cherry flavor stained your lips." Mulder jerked away and rubbed his hand rapidly across his lips as Scully laughed. Mulder shot her an evil look and Scully finally relented. "Okay. I'll share-" Mulder's look brightened, "-if you tell me what got you so riled in the Addison's house before," she finished. Mulder made a face and slumped down on the bed. He was hoping very hard that she'd just forgotten and would let the subject die gracefully. No such luck. "Okay. It was the song Molly was singing to the girl." "What about the song?" Scully asked, handing the spoon to Mulder. He reached for the container and took a bite. "I heard the exact same song in one of my dreams. Mama was singing it." By this time, Scully was very familiar with the cast of characters in Mulder's dreams. "But Molly said it was just an old lullaby." "Nothing that would provide any significant clues to your family, huh?" Scully said, running a hand through his hair. "Nope. I don't know...I guess it just got to me," he said, taking another mouthful of ice. "You going to be okay?" she asked gently. Mulder looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah." He got a devilish gleam in his eyes. "Hey, you got some ice in the corner of your mouth." Before Scully could wipe it off Mulder reached up and kissed it off. "Behave, Mulder," Scully said sternly, although with a grin. He let his head drop down to her shoulder. "I know, I know. Not while on duty." He pulled away from her and retrieved the case folder. "I think we should go over this once more, though." Scully sat up straighter and put the ice down on the nighttable, immediately going from personal to professional. "Yeah, if we're going to be sitting in on the class tomorrow, I don't want to walk in there without any background on it." Together they looked through the file and prepared for tomorrow. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END PART TWO-Memories and Chocolate Ice Note to readers: There really is a Ralph's Ice on Staten Island. If you're ever there during the season (I think it's closed during the winter) go visit it. You won't be sorry.