From: larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca (Jess Archibald) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: new: Commitment 1/? Date: 3 Nov 1995 18:38:06 GMT Okay, folks, listen up. Here's the long one I've been promising for a while. It's all written, but I have to *type* it to the group, not upload and it clocks in at around 200K. It's going to be quite a few parts but I'm not doing it on purpose. I hope to post two parts per week. Copyright stuff: Story contains characters copyrighted 1993 by CC and 10-13 Productions. No copyright infringement intended. Story itself and the characters of Doug Shelton and Robert Wainwright copyrighted 1995 by the author. All rights reserved... Big, *big* thanks to Jean (Thank-you!) for all her help developing a working plotline and for being my sounding board. And so it begins... COMMITMENT Part 1 by Jessica Archibald Pentagon Washington, D.C. The phone rang. Stubbing out a cigarette in an overflowing ashtray, the man reached over to answer it. "Mulder's become a problem," said a voice in his ear as soon as he picked up. "One I want dealt with before he can interfere with our Kentucky operation." The man reached into a pack of Morley's and removed another cigarette. "Don't worry. Arrangements have been made..." "Permanent arrangements?" "Eventually." *********** Day 1 J. Edgar Hoover Building 7:47 a.m. Special Agent Dana Scully strode into the tiny office she shared with Fox Mulder, tossed her briefcase onto her desk, planted her hands on her hips and glared at her partner. He was seated at his computer, working on some report, surfing the 'net for aliens, or something like that. Dana didn't really care. "Good morning, Dana," he said, looked up at her and promptly noticed her sour expression. It was hard to miss. "Something wrong?' she thought. "yes," she said shortly, fighting the impulse to find a blunt object to hit him over the head with. She'd only have to patch him up afterwards, which would undoubtedly spoil the moment. "And don't think calling me Dana is going to get uyou off the hook. My car is in the shop, remember? You promised to pick me up today because we have to go traipsing around the city anuyway, remember?" "Uh-oh," he said, suddenly embarrassed. "I forgot." "By the time it was quarter after seven, Mulder, I had sort of figured that out. If you couldn't make it that's one thing, but next time could you *please* call? I thought something ahd happened to you; why the hell didn't you answer your cellular?" "I left it at home," he said sheepishly, withering under the onslaught. She stopped ranting and looked at him. He looked rumpled and tired, like he hadn't slept well for a little while. "Mulder, is everything all right?" she asked in a gentler tone. "Yeah, fine." "Mulder?" "Just a little tired is all. I haven't been sleeping wel..." "Mulder, ever since I've known you, you haven't been sleeping well," she commented dryly, giving up the urge to strangle him. "When are we leaving...I spent the night preparing for this..." "For what?" he asked, looking blank. "The Lone Gunmen, remember?" she prompted, looking at him with surprise. "I warned you about Frohike. I am *not* in the mood to be fawned over." He grinned." I'll remind him of that." A shadow passed over his eyes. "Scully, would you mind driving?" "You drag me over to see those three and then you ask *me* to *drive*...?" She stopped and threw up her hands. "Fine. Let's go." He knew how much she disliked seeing that trio of government watchdogs and was usuially on his best behaviour when he insisted that they go. If he was carrying on like this something must be wrong. When he was ready, he'd tell her what it was. ********** Offices of the Lone Gunmen 8:12 a.m. "Mulder!" Langly said as the agents walked in. "What happened last night? Did you phone give out on you?" He gave Scully a wry smile. "He got cut off and never phoned back. Doesn't the academy teach you feds better manners?" She smiled back slightly. If Mulder was going to drag her over here, she wasn't above having some fun at his expense. "Mulder's never been known for his polished telephone manners." "Ah, yes, Byers, my phone did ide on me. Sorry about not phoning back." MUlder stopped as everyone in the room stared at him. "I'm Byers, remember?" said Byers from over at his desk. He looked from Mulder to Scully. "Everything all right?" "Sorry," Mulder spologized agin. "It's been a long few days." Scully opened her mouth to object and then shut it again. "Dana!" cooed Frohike in delight, changing the subject. "How nice to see you again." "Godd morning everyone," she said neutrally, seeing the grins exchanged by Langly and Byers. "We finished looking at those pictures you sent us," Byers announced, waving them over. "They look legitimate. No obvious airbrushing, no shadows where there shouldn't be. When do you two leave for Idaho?" "I'm not sure," Mulder said mildly, suddenly clsed mouthed. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked from opne confused face to another. "Mulder, I thought you had us booked out on the six-fifteen flight," Scully said, brow furrowing in bafflement. "I know," he sighed, "we are. But I can't help thinking that our time might be better spent on something else." The Gunmen were exchanging startled glances while Scully was looking at her partner with an expression one step removed from a glare, her mouth tight with annoyance. "Sorry if we put you out, fellas," Mulder said apologetically. "I'll let you know if we end up heading to Idaho." "No problem, Mulder," Byers said breezily, seeing the look on Scully's face. "We'd better get going, Scully." With a wave, Mulder strode out the door. Scully looked at the three men before her and shrugged. "Thanks again...." "Hey, Scully," said Langly before she left. "Is everything all right?" She smiled tightly. "Everything's just fine." ********** "All right, Mulder, spill it." Dana put his car into gear and started back to the Bureau building. "What's so important that you're willing to give up crop circles for it and how much is Skinner pushing you into taking the assignment?" "No pushing, Scully, no assignment. I thought that you would be glad to get out of circle hunting in the spud capital of America." He looked over at her with sardonic amusement. "I'm just getting tired of heading out on wild goose chases, aren't you?" she thought, beginning to get seriously confused. "Mulder, what's going on with you? Yesterday, all you could talk about was this case and now you don't want to go? What else do you have in mind?" She risked a glance over at him and nearly got cut off by a late model Ford in the process. Hitting the horn, she returned her full attention to the road. He shrugged, oblibious to the byplay. "I don't know, but id we spend all our time on investigations that probably won't net us anything, they may shut us down again." "Did Skinner say that?" "No, but it's hardly an unlikely occurrence," he said dryly. "So are we heading out to Idaho or not?" "It's your call, Scully," he grinned. "I know how much you look forward to this kind of thing..." "Ha!" She smiled over at him. "Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint you, Mulder. Besides, I'm just dying to hear what your theory is on the crop circles. Weather patterns? UFOs with faulty landing gear? Flying peanut butter cups?" He looked out the passenger side window. "You'll have to wait and see, Scully." ********** Day 5 Boise, Idaho 8:34 a.m. The airport was noisy and crowded, a marked contrast from the town the agents had spent the last three days in. Mulder had muttered something about civilization at last when the outskirts of Boise had come into view; Scully was a little melancholy about leaving the peace and quiet of the farmlands behind, but was more than glad to be leaving their field investigation behind. The crop cirlces were there, that was the only thing they could actually substantiate, and they could have done that in Washington. Mulder had none of his usual theories, but a growing understanding of maps was debeloping; he had actually gotten them there without getting them lost or relinquishing control of the map to Scully, much to her delight. She was getting a little tired of his inability to read a roadmap. Aside from that though, the whole trip had been a waste of time. When she had suggested that they look for any sign of the Kindred, since there had been a crop circle at their farm, Mulder had responded unenthusiastically, citing the fact that there couldn't possibly be Kindred settlements at all the sights of crop circles around the world. She had to admit that he had a point, feeling a little irritated taht she was the one who was making the far out suggestions this time. She supposed that he was giving her a taste of her own medicine by shooting down every idea that she came up with, leaving her admiring the fact that he had put up with it all this time. It was annoying as hell. Now, they were heading back to Washingotn with nothing more to show for their troubles but another stack of photos and a hotel bill they would have to justify to accounting which was being increasingly fussy about that sort of thing lately. "You ready, Scully?" Mulder asked as their flight began boarding. With a noncommital grunt, she scooped up her carry-on and followed him towards the gate. She was still trying to figure out what was making him so unusually sober the last few days withou much success. Whatever it was, it was keeping a lid on his usual manic energy, and to her chagrin, she was finding that she missed that spark that kept him going. In the three days that they had been there, he hadn't once woken her up in the middle of the night to discuss some aspect of the case that had suddenly caught his attention. Her body was beginning to rebel at the foreign notion of actually sleeping through the whole night. What a concept. ***** end part one Just a couple notes here. This story takes place before Anasazi as Melissa will be popping up later. Also, I know it starts out slow but anyone whose read any of my other longer pieces knows that they tend to pick up speed (a *lot* of speed) as they go along...(That'd be the Faraway Nearby and Pawns for those of you scratching your heads and asking who the hell I am.) Next part will be coming on the weekend as the mystery deepens. Comments, guesses on what's going on (HINT: no, Mulder's water isn't being drugged again), and anything else (no flames, please) can be directed to larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca Jess =========================================================================== From: larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca (Jess Archibald) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: new: Commitment 2/? Date: 6 Nov 1995 06:12:27 GMT Here's part two. See part one for disclaimers. COMMITMENT part 2 by Jessica Archibald Day 6 Hoover Building 7:29 a.m. "Skinner saw our reports on Idaho," Dana said, walking into their office. "Apparently he was less than impressed...Mulder?" His desk was buried in a sheaf of papers that threatened to capsize and smother him at any second. There were photos mixed in with what looked like police reports and case notes from several different agents. "What's all this?" she tried again when he didn't respond, his right hand furiously scribbling notes while his left fiddled with a paperclip. There was no sign of his traditional hand occupiers, sunflower seeds, so it meant that whatever it was, it was serious. "I know about Skinner," he said finally, barely even bothering to glance up at her. "He called me in at six-thirty this morning." "To yell at you?" She winced. Early morning meetings with the Assisant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were not high on anybody's list of things they most wanted to experience in life, and she and Mulder had had more than their fair share of them. "Not quite." He glance up, gave a faint ghost of a smile before waving her over. "New case." She eyed the sheer volume of reports, arching an eyebrow. "This doesn't *look* like an X-File unless you've been expanding the department." "It's not. serial killer in Baltimore; Skinner want me to do the profile." "The guy killing little kids?" She'd heard about his one and had been loosely following the investigation which involved a taskforce of over twenty different agents from the Violent Crime and Behavioural sections. " thought they had some serious leads." "They did, but Skinner asked me to pull something together to present to the taskforce at a meeting tomorrow." He shrugged. "It's not crop circles in Idaho, but it'll give us some experience in another area besides the paranormal." She gave him a sideways look. If he wanted to get involved in a case like this one, she wasn't going to argue about it. "Keep this up, Mulder and they might not be calling you 'Spooky' anymore." ********** Day 7 FBI Headquarters Baltimore, Maryland 9:29 a.m. Mulder sat at the far end of the table, profile spread out in front of him. Scully was on his right, looking through her own copy of his work while various other agents from the taskforce filled up the remaining seats at the table. "The killer is most likely a white male since all the victims to date have been white, and is in his early twenties. His crimes are unmediated; he sees a child that he doesn't like for some reason and it sets him off. None of the murders seem to involve any advance planning outside of following the kids until they are alone and then striking, indicating that the killer is probably of either average or below average intelligence. There's been no sexual assault on nay of the victims, so that's not our motive. The knife he uses is probably a weapon of convience. The fact that he preys on children indicates that he most likely feels inadequate around adults; children are the only ones he can relate to and it frustrates him." He reached for a glass of water in front of him and took a sip. Scully looked over at him, then surveyed the other agents. Mulder's reputation may have proceeded him, no doubt due to Tom Colton, but he wasn't on the taskforce and Mulder's profile was making them nod their heads in agreement. For once, Mulder had managed a serious delivery, keeping in character with his solemnity the past few days. His flippant remarks had insulted more than one agent in the past and she sensed that for some reason he needed to have the full respect of the taskforce on this one. His tastes in ties had also been subdued somewhat and she found she could study her partner's neck apparel without fear of being struck blind. "Now, the young age of most of the victims, between five and eight, would eliminate several places that could be the stalking grounds. Our killer is likely choosing his victims from parks or playgrounds. That is where our search should concentrate. --" "Agent Mulder," said the ASAC, a man named Phillips. "Do you have any idea how many parks there are in Baltimore?" "Yes, sir, I do," Mulder replied. "But that would still be the best course of action." The agents shook their collective heads in collective dismay and Scully hid a smile as Mulder looked at her in exasperation. Shortly thereafter the meeting broke up and the taskforce made its plans, leaving the Washington agents at the table. "Well, Scully, should we offer our assistance on the stakeouts?" "They're going to need all the agents they cna get," she answered, standing up. "They'll probably canvass most of the parks and then choose the most likely sights...this could be a long investigation..." "I'm in for the duration," he said, looking at her. "Are you?" "Of course. I don't like the idea of this guy killing children anymore than you do." ********** Day 11 Baltimore 2:26 p.m. Dana looked up from the magazine she was pretending to read and scanned the playground again. There were about fifteen children of varying ages frolicking, laughing, and playing, taking advantage of the mild spring weather, while she watched from her position on a park bench. This particualr park ahd been frequented by four of the dead children and had been designated a likely place to watch for thier perp. There were no signs of any suspicious characters but she had long since given up on expecting the worst aspects of society to look the part. Three men in business suits were strolling back towards their offices while several mother and fathers watched their youngsters playing. Across the street was a cafe and two other agents sat outside, covertly watching the park as well. There were a couple of peopl off by themselves like she was, three men, two women and Mulder, who was sitting on a bench nearly opposite from her, dressed causally and banging away on her borrowed laptop, looking like a man who had had enough of his office for one day. He looked up, saw her and smiled briefly before doing a quick survey of his own. As he looked away, she fought an impulse to frown. She didn't know waht was going on with him, but he'd been avoiding her for days now, since before they had left for Idaho. There was only so much one could do to avoid another person while traveling together, but he was doing a pretty good job of it. Her car was still on the mechanic's fix list despite repeated calls to the garage, so they still shared the drive in to Baltimore every morning and the ride hom every night, but he was unusually guiet. AT first she thought it was because the young age of the victims was reminding him of his sister and that the matter had been on his mind before they left for Idaho, but now she wasn't so sure. She made a silent vow to corner him and get some answers out of him soon. Astonishing as it seemed, as the case wore on, she found she missed the old Mulder who had a knack for saying outrageous things and pissing off other agents. She thought the change in attitude was self imposed stress, but it was still unusual and troublesome. Movement caught her eye, and she saw one of the men walking past the children, She tensed. The man was white, in his twenties, and eyeing one little blonde girl in particualr. A quick look at Mulder showed that he hadn't yet seen the man but she was reluctant to try and get his attention. The man paused, then walked back to the benches and Dana bit her lower lip as he sat down next to her. She glanced over casually, offering a polite but vacant smile before turning her attention back to the magazine in front of her. It was one of Mulder's that she had found in his car, a copy of the Lone Gunman and if she had the time, she probably would have gotten a good laugh out of some of the articles. Now, it just seemed like a huge waste of time. The blonde girl was on her own, which was why the man had probably fixated on her in the first place. It had been over a week since the last murder, meaning the killer was overdue. Dana didn't believe for a second that their suspect would have the patience to stalk a child whose parents were nearby, willing to wait for hours or days until the youngster was on his or her own. This little girl was the perfect target and every instinct Dana possessed was telling ehr that the killer was right beside her. She felt someone studying her. Looking up and away, she was Mulder watching her and the man next to her. when he saw her eyes, he inclined his head ever so slightly and she gave a barely perceptible nod. The stayed like that for half an hour until the girl bid her playmates goodbye and started for home. The man waited a minute than began wandering in the same direction. As soon as he was clear of the park, Dana got to her feet and headed for Mulder. "Why don't you follow on foot and I'll get Liu, Graham and the car?" he suggested, nodding in the direction of the cafe. "He's already seen me, Mulder," she said quickly. "You'd better follow--" He shook his head. "No time. You've been sitting next to him for a while and will be able to keep him in sight better. Get going and good luck." With a gentle nudge, he pushed her in the same direction the girl and the man had taken, leaving her no choice but to start moving or loose them both. The girl set a good pace for the unlikely procession and the man didn't once look back. For five blocks nothing happened, but when the girl started to cut through an alley, the man sped up to intercept her. Dana had to sprint the last few feet to the mouth of the alley and was just in time to see the man grab the firl, a knife in his hand as she started to scream in fear. "FEDERAL AGENT!" Dana shouted, drawing her gun and stepping into the alley, inwardly cursing. "Let her go and put down the knife!" Both of them looked at her, the man furious, the girl terrified. The knife was at the girl's throat. "Drop your gun, lady," he said gesturing threateningly at the child. "There's no way out of this," Dana warned, gripping the weapon tighter. Where the hell was everyone ? Mulder and the others should have been there by now, circling up behind the man. The man laughed, a bitter sound. "I know what you're after me for, lady, and Maryland has the death penalty so what the hell do I have to loose by slitting this kid's throat?" Dana thought in revulsion. Well, at least she had the start of a confession... "Let her go and drop the knife," she repeated coldly, inching bloser. First fifteen feet separted them, then ten, then five. The knife hand was starting to tremble, the girl making small frighted noises. "Listen to me," Dana said in a low, calm voice, ignoring her pounding heart. "If you let her go , no one will get hurt..." "Except me," he snarled and with one swift movement, he threw the girl at the agent, knocking them both down. Dana pushed the girl off of her and lunged for the man's leg as he tried to brush past and run, snagging his ankle, making him go down. her gun was somewhere over by a trash can, out of her each, but the guy still had the knife and she felt a fiery sting where it slashed her arm, cutting through her shirt, drawing blood. She thought she heard footsteps, but couldn't afford the time it would take to look up. The man was trying to disloge her grip, his free foot lashing out to connect with her jaw, making her see stars for a second, the knife still slashing at her arms, her hands. The pair rolled, witht eh guy coming down on top of her, the knife inches from her throat. She grabbed his hand and pushed up hard, but bit by bit, the blade was descending. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone standing at the mouth of the alley. The little girl ran frantically for the man there and began screaming hysterically for help. Dana heard shouts of "There they are!" and "Agent Scully!" as the figure at the head of the alley cursed and started forward. she drove her knee up into the man's stomach, making him grunt, the knife faltering long enough for her to land a solid punch to his face. Mulder suddenly was there, pulling at the guy's collar, gun in hand. She realized that he had been the one at the mouth of the alley. Just standing there... The killer yelled, struck Dana with the fist holding the knife, lashed out and sliced Mulder's hand. Mulder's gun came to a stop at the base of the guy's neck. "Get off of her now, or I'll pull the trigger," Mulder said in a dangerous voice as Agents Liu and Graham ran into the alley, Liu dropping to his knees to comfort the girl, while Graham came forward to help the other two agents. The killer dropped the knife, pushed himself off Dana, putting his hand up. "Scully?" asked Graham. "Are you all right?" She could see the blood running down both her arms from the knife slashes, felt the ache in her jaw where the guy's foot had connected. Looking at Mulder, she saw the blood dripping from the knife slice. he looked down, knelt beside her as Graham cuffed the man. "Scully?" "Yeah, I'm...fine." Just for a second she saw something in Mulder's eyes that she didn't recognized until much later. ********** =========================================================================== From: larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca (Jess Archibald) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: new: Commitment 3/? Date: 8 Nov 1995 19:14:26 GMT Okay this is for everyone demanding more story from me. Jeez, you guys are really getting into this aren't you? Here's the plan. Since I'm typing this directly, I'm going to post smaller parts at school in between classes. This way I'll post smaller parts, but a lot more of them, instead of only two parts a week. Let me know what you guys think...not that it'll stop me . Standard disclaimer stuff: Characters copyrighted 1993 by 10-13 productions and CC. Story copyrighted 1995 by me.. Commitment part three by Jessica Archibald Day 12 Hoover Building 7:02 a.m. "Mulder, I want to talk to you." Scully stormed into the office they shared and stood in front of Mulder, planning to wait until he decided to pay attention to her, but after twenty seconds her temper reached its breaking point and she snatched the pen from his hand, slamming it onto the desk with a decisive clack. "Scully, you don't look so good," he commented blandly, face unreadable as he looked up. "Yes, thank-you, I know." her jaw was swollen and there was a purple bruise flowering on her left cheek. Only two of the cuts on her arms and required stitches, but they all hurt like hell as did her bandaged hands. She could see that his hand was bandaged as well, a red stain discolouring the white gauze. "What is it?" he asked after a moment. "Mulder, what happened yesterday?" Her tone was quieter than before, her eyes watching his. He blinked. "Excuse me?" "Did you freeze up?" "Scully, what are you -- " "Dammit, Mulder!" she exploded. "You were standing not thirty feet away while that son of a bitch tried to cut my throat and he didn't *do a damned thing*!" He gave her a hurt look. "Scully, I pulled him off you, remember?" He waved his hand at her. "Yeah, *after* Liu and Graham arrived." "Scully, I swear to you that I was *not* standing around. I'm your partner, *hell*, I your *friend*. Why would I do that?" She leaned forward. "That's what I would like to know." "Scully, myabe you just thought you saw me there. I mean, you did get kicked in the head...as soon as I got there I tried to get him off you, really I did." "Mulder..." "Scully," he said with disbelief, eyes wide. She sighed, looked away. Wht tahe hell was she thinking? This was Mulder, for God's sake, the person she trusted most in the world. She knew deep down that he would never *ever* just stand there when someone was trying to kill her anymore than she would if their positions were reversed. It had to be stress talking. "Maybe you're right. I'm sorry. It's been a stressful few days." "Of course I'm right," he agreed with a caustious grin, which she returned. The rest of the morning was devoted to that favourite all American passtime -- paperwork and after returning from lunch, Scully tossed a paper bag at Mulder, who caught it with a look of surprise. "What's this?' "Something to keep you happy for the rest of the day." He looked inside and withdrew a bag of -- "Sunflower seeds?' "Yes, sunflower seeds. It's too cold out for iced tea, Mulder, the weather's changed. When I saw that there were no shells on the floor I figured you were out. Just keep the remains over by your desk this time." The puzzled look on his face changed to a slow grin. "I'll try my best." ************ Day 13 Dana Scully's Residence 6:37 a.m. "Mulder, I swear, if that mechanic doesn't fix my car by Wednesday, I'm going to go over there with my gun and shoot him," Dana seethed into her phone, sticking two pieces of bread in her toaster, careful not to get crumbs behind the tape on her hands. "Then I'd have to arrest you, Scully, and taht would really wreck my weekend if I ahd to explain to Skinner why you're in jail." "That's right, there's a football game Sunday, isn't there?" "What?" "Football. You know, two teams, one ball, big field? Earth to Mulder, is anyone home?" He laughed. "Do you want me to pick you up again?' "No, I can manage. I just wanted someone to rant at." She removed the toast and hissed as she burnt her fingers. "Scully?' "Toast, Mulder, I burnt myself with the toast." "Can you chew toast?" "With difficulty, yes. What's our next assignment, anyway?" "Wiretap." "*Wiretap*?" "Yeah, Shelton's out for today and I told Skinner we'd man his tap. Half the office is splitting the duty with him and I thought we should take a crack at it." "Mulder, you hate wiretaps. I thought we'd be moving on to another X-File now that we caught the killer." for the months they had been closed down all she had heard from his was how awful it was wasting time on wiretaps.... "Scully, I think we need to branch out to other areas of the Bureau. It's not helping you career or mine to stay down in that office all the time." "Still pulling for me to be head of the Bureau by 2023, huh?" she asked, referring to a comment he had once made to her early on in their partnership. Confused silence. A chill crawled through her. He was really acting bizarre, more so than usual. For someone with an eidetic memory, he was certainly forgettin a lot of things lately. If it hadn't been for that cut he'd gotten, which had bled red blood, she would have been more than half convince that it was another alien bounty hunter taking his place, but that obviously wasn't the case...she couldn't explain it, but as the days progressed, she didn't feel as comfortable with Fox Mulder as she should have. Little things seemed wrong somehow, and they were adding up... Maybe they were both overworked. But he wasn't himself these days, and she didn't know what to do about it. ************** Day 14 Offices of the Lone Gunmen 1:23 p.m. The topic was Fox mUlder and the conversation was disturbing to say the least. "He's acting really weird," Langly kept insisting. "I mena, last time he was here it was like he didn't know who was who." "Maybe he's overworked," Frohike suggested. Byers stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Mulder's been under extreme stress before, but I've never seen him this way before..." "Neither have I and 'extreme stress' doesn't begin to cover the situations I've seen him in." Dana Scully walked in, to the surprise of Langly and Byers, and to the delight of Frohike, until they got a closer look at her. "Dana, what happened to you?" Frohike looked alarmed. Her jaw and cheek were still purple and swollen, the knife wounds still sore. "Nothing serious. I had a run in with a serial killer in Baltimore." "Who won?" Langly asked mildly. "The good guys, Langly, who else?" "Agent Scully," Byers began carefully, "while it's nice to see you, you don't usually come down here without Mulder..." "I know." She fiddled with the belt of her trench coat, eyes downcast. "It's Mulder, isn't it?' "Yes, Langly, it is." She met the eyes of each one of them before continuing. "I don't know what's wrong with him. OUr annual physicals were not even a month ago and the results were normal." "But?" prompted Byers, an intrigued look on his face. For Scully to come down here to talk to them it must be something very important... "His commitment to the X-Files is wavering," she said finally, uneasily. Thay all looked at her like she had said something blasphemous. "In the past week, we've worked with a serial killer taskforce. That's not so unusual, but when we were done, Mulder chose a wireap assignment over returning to the X-Files. This morning, I found this in the Inbox and when I showed it to him, he didn't exhibit any interest at all." She tossed a file onto the desk in front of Langly, who pounced on it while she shrugged off her coat. "It's a UFO sighting along with two report of missing people, both military, in Kentucky...." "There aren't many sightings there," Byers said. "I know." She saw their odd looks. "Give me *some* credit. Working with Mulder gives you a very good idea of where to find so-called UFOs and Kentucky isn't anywhere on the top ten list." "And you're saying that he didn't care about this case?" Frohike asked seriously, a dour look on his face. "Yes." She sighed in frustration. "Yesterday, he was talking about teaching at the academy for a couple of months, to get a feel for it. Skinner called me in to talk about his change in attitude this morning and I couldn't explain it." Byers frowned. There was more in her tone of voice than what she was telling them. He could tell by the way she kept rubbing her arms; he could see the faint outline of bandages through her lightweigth suit now that she had taken off her coat, as well as the cuts on her hands. "Where was Mulder when you got hurt?" he asked. She looked up, startled. Frohike and Langly stopped browsing through the file to watch her. "that's the problem," she said slowly, a hurt look in her eyes. "I thought I was wrong, but now I'm not so sure. i could have sworn that I saw Mulder standing there, doing absolutely nothing while I was trying to fend off a guy with a knife who had killed twelve kids...." "What do you think is wrong with him?" Frohike asked gently. "I have no idea, but I'm -- afraid -- for him." "And of him?" Byers asked softly. She met his eyes and what he saw there unnerved him. "Yes." ************ =========================================================================== From: larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca (Jess Archibald) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: new: Commitment 4/? Date: 9 Nov 1995 07:38:50 GMT Here's the next installment, as promised. Thanks again for all the support and keep your messages coming...they are always welcome. Standard disclaimer is in part three. The character of Douglas Shelton ( he was mentioned briefly in the last part) belongs to me. Commitment part 4 by Jessica Archibald Raven Crest Psychiatric Institution Baltimore, Maryland He didn't know how long he'd been there. When he'd first arrived, he had thought that there had been some horrible mistake, that someone was playing a rather sick joke on him. But as the days wore on, reality was beginning to sink in. The nurse kept him sedated almost all of the time, supposedly because he might become violent and hurt someone, but the straight jacket would prevent that. The real reason was because someone might listen to him and find out that he didn't belong there. *They* couldn't allow that to happen. He wasn't sure what they were planning, if they intended to keep him here indefinitely or kill him as soon as they found it advisable. Most of the time he was beyond caring, but when he could, he tried to think it all through. Tried to remember waht happened... < Mulder thought in wonder, lunging for his own weapon which was on the coffee table in front of him. Too late. The other man pulled the trigger, twice, three times and Mulder felt the impact in the side of his neck and his right arm, one shot missing completely, hitting the table, bouncing off to land on the floor and roll away. It wasn't a silencer, it was a dart gun. The room began to spin even as he fell against the table, knocking his gun onto the floor. The last thing he saw was the man leaning in over him, squeezing th trigger yet again...>> One thought kept him going, one thin hope, but it was better than nothing. he told himself over and over. Fox Mulder had nothing left to count on. ********** Day 17 Hoover Building 4:11 p.m. "Scully, where've you been," Mulder greeted as she came in the front doors of the building, shoving her wallet back into her pocket. Cab fares were getting exorbitant in the city. The mechanic had promised to have the car fixed by tomorrow, but she wasn't holding her breath. And she thought nothing moved slower than the Bureau's paperpushing section...live and learn. "I had an errand." It was the first time she had ever lied to him like this, but she wanted to keep her consultations with the LG secret for right now. They were just as concerned as she was and had agreed to help her figure out what was going on with Mulder. She didn't think that she would ever be grateful for having them around, but she was now. For the part three days, she'd been over to their offices at least half a dozen times, sneaking away at odd times, spending time there after work or even early in the mornings. Langly had told her that Frohike was in seventh heaven; she supposed she was glad that *someone* was enjoying themselves. "We've got to get going," Mulder said, taking her arm to usher her back out. "Where?" "We're slated to give lectures at Quantico tonight to some FBI and DEA students..." "Mulder, you hate lecturing." "I want to give it a try, Scully," he said. "After all, you did it for several months. I want to see if it's as horrible as you claim." "Ha," she retorted. "It's worse!" God, it was almost like normal, joking with him, carrying on like they were, but it wasn't right somehow. Dana couldn't explain it, couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something *not* right... Mulder's car was parked out in front. He had obviously been waiting for her inside, eager to get going. As they approached it, he tossed his keys to her. "What?" she asked, looking at him with suspicion. He gave her an innocnet look, the corners of his mouth twitching but the look didn't quite reach his eyes. "You know the way better than I do..." Now that was something Mulder would say...but what was she thinking, this *was* Mulder... She was just stepping out between his car and the one parked in front of it when Agent Douglas Shelton walked by. "What spooks are you two off to chase?" he asked with a light grin. Shelton wasn't as convinced as most other agents that they were wasting their time in the X-Files. His question wasn't the open mockery that some would make it. Dana wasn't sure if he believed in the paranormal or not and the one time she had asked Mulder about it, he had grinned and said it wasn't a close encounter of the *third* kind Shelton was hoping for; the man was a flirt, especially with a certain redheaded agent. "Just wayward FBI trainees, Doug," Dana replied as Mulder smiled politely. She stuck the key in the lock and turned it, Shelton standing between the two cars, eyeing the both of them. "Quantico? Dana, *Dana*, I thought you'd escaped that hell already." He joined her at the door, lougning back against the side of the hood, smirking at Mulder. "It's Mulder's turn to give it a go," she responded, looking over at her partner with a wry grin. He stared back at her with an odd look on his face that made her breath catch in her throat. A car rounded the corner in front of the building; she could hear its tires shrieking, its driver weaving all over the road. Jerking her head around, she was just in time to see its path straighten, heading directly for her and Shelton, rapidly approaching from forty feet and closing. "God," Shelton whispered, alreay moving, grabbing hold of her as she began to back up, pulling both of them up onto the hood as the car barreled by, not even two inches away from them. They ended up sliding off the hood to land on top of one another between Mulder's car and its neightbour, agents arriving from the street and the building. "Dana, you okay?" Shelton asked as they disentangled themselves. "I'm fine, Doug, thanks to you." She gave him a wan smile, standing and helping him up as Mulder joined them, practically falling over himself trying to see if they were all right. "Scully, Shelton?' "We're fine, Mulder," Shelton said, turning to look after the car. It was long gone, tearing up the street and turning another corner. "i don't suppose that out of all the FBI agents here, that anyone got the goddamned license plate number of that car?" Dana pushed hair out of her face, feeling the ache in her arms again; some of those cuts had been deep. As everyone else watched her and Shelton, she looked over at Mulder. This time there was no mistaking the expression that flashed briefly in his eyes. It was disappointment. ********** Langly watched from his position in the van the LG used as the car nearly hit Scully and the other federal agent. But what he could see that they couldn't was that the car had been idling around the corner long before Scully and Mulder had come out of the Hoover Building. It hadn't been an accident. When Scully had left the LG offices earlier that day, they had told her to take her time getting back to Bureau headquarters because they were going to set up watch outside and keep a covert eye and Mulder the logical place to start beind the Hoover Building. They may not have been trained by the CIA or Special Forces, but they were very good at what they did. There was enough what she had been saying to, in their opinion, warrant following Mulder around for a few days, to see if there was something going on in his life that would cause such disruptions in his behaviour. Langly ahd laughingly suggested a drug addiction which ahd lit the fuse on Scully's short temper. Frohike had of course sided with her and Byers had to shout them all down when the argument broke out. Langly had apologized immediately; he hadn't been serious, of course, but had severly underestimated the amount of stress this whole affair was putting on her as well as the fact that Dana Scully possessed such a temper in the first place. He never would have thought she had it in her. She had apologized as well, before she heft and he sensed that she had really meant it so all was forgiven. Right now, Langly frowned to himself as he watched the circus going on across the street. It looked like several of the agents were arguing about the near miss while the two almost victims assured a growing crowd that they were fine. When it finally broke up, Mulder got into his car and left, Scully staying behind, watching him go with a stragne expression on her face. Langly took off after Mulder, sliding into traffic well behind him and staying a discreet distance away. **** =========================================================================== From: larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca (Jess Archibald) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: new: Commitment 5/? Date: 10 Nov 1995 19:15:37 GMT Here we go again. If anyone is missing any parts at any time, let me know. I'm getting paranoid about my server eating the parts as soon as they post so I wouldn't be surprise if something vanished before people read it. Standard disclaimer can be found in parts one and three... COMMITMENT part 5 by Jessica Archibald After Mulder left, Dana started walking down the street, not heading anywhere in particular. She had begged out of the trip to Quantico, pleading a bad case of the jitters; with all the other agents out there oozing sympathy, Mulder didn't dare push the matter. Something was beggining to take shape in the back of her mind and she didn't like the picture it was forming. After she had gone a block, she pulled out her cell phone and punched in the Lone Gunmen's number, waiting with baited breath until Frohike picked up. "Is someone following Mulder?" she asked, not waiting for his greeting. "Yeah, Langly is. Is something wrong?" "I almost got hit by a car and I don't think it was an accident." "What!?" "You should have seen the look on Mulder's face; he looked *disappointed* that I didn't get hit!" "Agent Scully, are you sure?" chipped in Byers on a speaker phone. "Positive. Listen to me, both of you. Whoever the hell that is, it *isn't* Mulder." She was sure now. She didn't know hwo it was, she didn't know what had happened to the real Mulder, but she did know that the man she had worked with for the better part of three years would never, *ever* react like that. It fit with the look he had had on his face the other day after the brawl with the serial killer. He had been hoping that she would have been seriously hurt or even killed; he *had* been standing around at the mouth of that alley, damn him. "Dana, do you know what you're saying?" Frohike asked in an awed voice. Byers gave a disgusted sigh. "Agnet Scully -- " "Just Scully is fine," she interrupted, impatient with the delay. "Fine, Scully then. Are you saying that this is an alien?" she thought without much surprise. "No," she replied instantly. "I -- I had that thought a couple of days ago, but it couldn't be. during the fight with that killer in Baltimore, he got cut...the blood was red and no one got sick..." "So who is it then?" Byers asked practically. "I don't know yet. Listen, can you give me warning when he heads back to Mulder's apartment? I want to take a look around; find something I can give to the lab techs -- like fingerprints." "Don't give it to your lab," Frohike said suddenly. "That might tip him off. Bring it to us and we can run some tests on it here." "Don't worry, we'll tell Langly to let you know if he heads back to Mulder's," Byers added, then his voice lowered. "we'll find him, Scully." She have them her cellular number, wincing when she realized that *Frohike* now had it, and hung up. She was horrified that she hadn't clued into this faster; that someone had been impersonating her closest friend for weeks now and she hadn't realized it. God, she couldn't believe she had been so blind; her wild musing about shapeshifting aliens hadn't been so far off base. she thought, sensing now some of the fear and worry that he must have felt for those three long months when their positions had been reversed. *********** Raven Crest The chief of staff wanted to see him which meant that they had eased up on the drugs so that he was lucid enough to hold a conversation. "Come on, Mister Cooper," said the orderly as he was bundled into a straight jacket and dragged out of his room. "Dr. Taylor wants to see you." "My name," he said carefully, concentrating on every sound, knowing that it would be useless, but feeling that he had to *try* anyway, "is Fox Mulder, not Cooper. I am a federal agent with the FBI and am being held here against my will." The orderly snorted. "Mr. Cooper, not too many people are here because they want to be and most of them claim to be someone they're not. The only thing different about you is that you don't think you're somebody famous..." Mulder gave a bleak laugh. What was the point? By his reckoning he'd been here at least two weeks. he had been in his apartment in Washington and now he was in some psychiatric hospital. He didn't even know what city or what *country* he was in and as the days passed, he began to fear that something had happened to Scully. Was she here, isn some nut house as well, or was she dead? Comforting thoughts. Dr. Taylor was waiting for them in a plain room with white walls, little furniture and a cold atmosphere. The orderly practically slamdunked Mulder into a chair and warned him in no uncertain terms to stay put before walking out, shutting the door tightly behind him. Mulder glared after him and then turned his attention to the man in front of him. It was no one he knew. "Enjoying your stay here, Agent Mulder?" the man said. "So you know who I am?" "Of course." Taylor looked surprised that he would think otherwise. "I trust that you're enjoying yourself." "Room service is lousy and the doors are locked, but if free drug trips are your thing then I think you have a corner on the market." A humourless laugh. "I've been told about your wit, Mulder, and I am pleased to see that you don't disappoint." "Look," Mulder said, losing his patience. "What are you hoping to gain from this? The FBI knows by now that something's happened to me..." he added silently. The only people he could think off that would possibly miss him or be concerned about him were Scully, the Lone Gunmen, *maybe* Skinner, and Scully's old Quantico roomate Zoe Bateman, who was in L.A. for crying out loud. "Not really. As far as they, and yes, even Agent Scully, are concerned you are right where you belong..." "What? They set up an office pool to have me commited?" He could almost see that happening. Almost. "Not quite. YOu see, Mulder, as far as they know, you are right there pitching in with the rest of them to help control the chaos hat threatens to engulf our fair country." "What the hell are you talking about?" "Well, we couldn't get your co-operation in our little plan, so we brought in a Mulder who could." "Another shapeshifter?" His blood ran cold at the thought of an alien taking his place for such an extented period of time, living his life, working with Scully so closely... "Scully," he whispered almost inaudibly. There was no way a substitute would be able to fool her for long...they had to know that which meant she was in serious trouble and she might not even know it until it was too late... "Don't worry about your partner. Plans are being made to dal with her as we speak. And it's something a little more exotic than a shapeshifter taking your place." "What about Scully?" "Well, we can't wait for hher to figure it out now can we? That just wouldn't do..." "And just what is yor plan, huh?" The more he knew the better he'd be able to find a way out of this mess. "and what are you planning to do to Scully?" he had a pretty good idea and wasn't sure he wanted to hear it said out loud. "I wouldn't want to give it away quite yet," Taylor said with a sneer. "It might spoil the ending." Mulder surged out of his seat, or at least as close to suring as he could some. There were still traces of the sedatives in his system; without the aid of the orderly, he found that he couldn't stand on his own, crashing to the floor with an angry curse. The door slammed open and a different orderly strode in, massive and threatening. The image of the door being thrown open like theat brought him back to his apartment and he realized that this was the same man who had captured him in the first place. Mulder's already enormous dislike for the man grew markedly. "Get Mr. *Cooper* out of here," said Taylor with a disgusted look. As Mulder was dragged out of the room, he lost it completely, swearing and fighting as best he could, shouting at Taylor that if they didn't let him go or if anything happened to Scully, he would kill them both. Taylor just smiled and made a comment about paranoid schizophrenics with delusions. No one on the staff doubted him for a minute and Mulder found himself back in his padded room, while the orderly held him still for a dour faced nurse to happily inject him with something that made the world spin and fade away... ********** =========================================================================== From: larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca (Jess Archibald) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: new: Commitment 6/? Date: 13 Nov 1995 06:34:24 GMT Oooh. Part 6 and still going strong (do I remind any of you of the Energizer bunny? Just don't send Darth Vader after me...) Disclaimer: Characters copyrighted 1993 by CC and 10-13 productions. Story copyrighted 1995 by me. COMMITMENT part 6 by Jessica Archibald Fox Mulder's Residence 5:04 p.m. When Dana approached the door to Mulder's apartment, digging out her key, she stopped dead in her tracks and examined the door more closely. She hadn't been to Mulder's for over two weeks, unusual enough all on its own, which was how long she suspected that the impostor had been running around, and what she saw now didn't really surprise her, although it did tighten the cold knot of dread in the pit of her stomach. The lock on the door was new, its metal plating unusually brassy in the dim hall lighting. The door frame itself also looked new, the wood unchipped, smooth, and polished. Her key wasn't going to get her in, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She could try picking the lock, but she had left her lock gun at home, so that would take forever and draw unwanted attention. She'd have to find the manager and talk him into letting her in. the only problem with that was that the Mulder imposter would undoubtedly find out... She'd have to risk it and pray that she could come up with a good excuse. the manager's apartment was on the first floor and she kept banging on the door when she heard a television on inside. After three minutes of pounding, her hand was sore but an irritated super finally dragged himself to the door and flung it open with an angry glare. "Yeah?" he narrowed his eyes at her. "Miss Scully, isn't it? what do you want?' "I need to get into Fox Mulder's apartment," she said. "I need to get something that's inside..." "I can't let you in," he said without apology. She bit her lip in vexation. What did Mulder say this guy's name was...Kochanski, that was it. "Look, Mr. Kochanski, I'm his partner and he has a file that I need to see right now pertaining to a murder investiagtion...if I don't get a look at it immediately we might miss our chance to catch the killer." "Please." At the mention of a murder investigation, the man's eyes took on a more lively aspect. "Really?" "Yes, sir." Suspicion suddenly returned. "I thought Mulder gave you a key. He told me he was getting another one cut--" "His lock's been changed--" "I know, I had to call the locksmith. Somebody broke into his apartment...that's funny considering what he does for a living, ain't it?" "Hilarious," she said, wanting to scream in frustration. The man turned away for a second, fishing for something by the door. When he faced her again there was a set of keys in his hand which he passed to her. "You being a federal agent and all, I think I can trust you to bring them back when you're done?" "yes, sir." She could have kissed him. Instead, she took the keys and ran back up the stairs. The apartment was a mess. Whoever had taken Mulder's place at least had that charming personality quirk downpat. It looked like no one had tidied the place up since Bush was president. Dana didn't know what she was looking for but figured the living room was the best place to start. She had just begun to poke through the junk that had accumulated when someone cleared their throat behind her. With a wordless cry, she spun, drawing her weapon and aiming it in one motion. "Dana!" squealed Frohike from just inside the door. "I didn't expect to find you here...where's Mulder?" She stared at him in confusion, reluctantly holstering the gun and breathing deeply. There was a crumpled piece of paper in his and and he waved it until she stepped froward to read what it said. The place might be bugged. That made sense, so she forced a normal note into her voice before answering. "Mulder's up at Quantico. I need to see one of his files...what brings you here, Frohike?" She was embarrased that she hadn't realized that all on her own, horrified at the blundershe had almost made. With a mental sigh of disgust, she went back into the living room and started searching again, this time with quiet haste. "Oh, I wanted to show him something." Frohike pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to her before hiding it in the phone receiver. It was a tiny listening device. A frown started to form on her face, but she shook it off, recognizing the wisdom of the LG's approach. Dropping to her knees, she peered under the coffee table on a hunch and spotted something. "Aha," she said. "There it is. I swear it would take a whole brigade of our secretarial pool to organize Mulder's files. It's amazing he can ever find anything." Pulling a glove out of the pocket of her coat, she put it on before retriving the object that had caught her eye, putting it carefully in her pocket. As she stood back up, she decided to take a pen that was sitting on top of an open file with yesterday's date on the off chance of getting some fingerprints. Now, what file should she take to make this whole thing believeable...ah, there was the file on the Baltimore case. Santching it up, she looked at Frohike, who was back by the door, watching her carefully. "Mulder won't be back for a while," she said pointedly. "I'm leaving now; do you want to wait for him?" "Ah no, I'll walk you out." ********** offices of the Lone Gunmen 8:49 p.m. It was funny how the strange and the unusual could become welcome and familiar. That thought ran through Dana's mind as she watched Byers toil at his computer, running an analysis of the prints from the pen through an FBI program she didn't want to know how he gained access to. Frohike had just left a little while ago to relieve Langly after the latter had called to deman a break since he had spent the better part of six Hours following the fake Mulder to and from Quantico. Never in her wildest dreams had Dana Scully imagined that she would be depending on a bunch of conspiract freaks to help her out, but she was very glad they were there. If they hadn't been, she wasn't sure what she would do... Across the room, there was a radio setup that was monitoring Mulder's apartment, not just the phone. So far not much had happened on that end. Their quarry had returned but so far had said nothing, called no one. Byers turned away from his computer and motioned for her to join him. "I think you'd better take a look at this, Scully." She went over and peered over his choulder as he swung back to face the monitor, tapping a pen lightly against the screen. "These are the prints that you got off the pen from Mulder's apartment." he pointed out a set of prints on the right side of the screen. "These ones are from Mulder's personnel file." This time he indicated the ones on the left. "Oh my God," she said in a horrified tone. "They look identical." Byers waved a hand, halting her wild musings. "They may look identical, but watch this." Tapping a few keys on his terminal, he got the images to overlap. "Now, your Bureau computers would say that these prints have a 95 percent match and they would be right. Take a ~rlook atht =========================================================================== From: larchiba@unixg.ubc.ca (Jess Archibald) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: new: commitment 7/? Date: 13 Nov 1995 07:07:42 GMT Oops. Sorry about that folks, my computer had a siezure. Let's pick it up from... Commitment part 7 by Jessica Archibald Byers waved a hand, halting her wild musings. "They may look identical, but watch this." Tapping a few keys on his terminal, he got the images to overlap. "Now, your Bureau computers would say that these prints match to 95 percent and they would be right. Take a look at the five percent differences." The appropriate areas were lit up by red hues. "Some of the whorls are distorted," she said, leaning in closer to get a better look, glad that it wasn't Frohike manning the computer. "Severe burns might do that, but the files are updated when that happens. The prints from the file were taken just after the L'ively case; Mulder had received superficial burns then...those prints from the apartment *don't* belong to him!" She wasn't sure which was worse; it being Mulder or it not being him. Either way, it meant that he was int serious trouble -- as usual-- and needed her help. "So whose prints are these?' "I don't know, Byers, I just don't know." She sighed. "I'd tkae it to Skinner as proof that that isn't Mulder but--" "But whoever ahd Mulder might kill him if the truth were to come out." "Exactly." She didn't dare say what they were both thinking. Mulder might already be dead... Langly chose that moment to walk in, bearing a pizza and a six pack of pop. "Frohike will sit on the apartment until three and then it's your turn, Byers," he siad, nodding at each of them in turn. "What have we got/" "Wh nknow it isn't Mulder," Byers said. "The fingerprints don't match, not quite. It owuld be enough to fool a cursory check, but we were looking for inconsistencies." He reached for a slice of pizza after Langly was done grabbing one, then shoved the box in Dana's direction. She waved it off until she noticed they were both frowning at her. "What?" They launched into a solemn routine about how she could't help Mulder or anyone else for that matter if she didn't take care of herslef. It almost put her lecutres to Mulder to shame and sheepishly she had something to ear. "Scully, that car accident was no accident," Lanlgy said after a while. "I saw the car waiting around the corner for you." "I figured as much. He asked me to drive and that put me out in the street to open the door." There was no need to ask who he was. Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she leaned back in her seat. "I don't know what to do around him. I don't want to tip him off that I know he isn't Mulder, but I don't want to put myself in a position where I have to count on him for support..." Her jaw went slack for minute as something dawned on her. "Ohhh, my God," she said slowly. " i think I know what's going on..." Both of them stared at her until Langly prompted her into speech. "Listen, whoever this is is easing Mulder out of the X-Files and into the mainstream of the Bureau, right?" They nodded. "Mulder's said before that he has too high a profile for the government to risk killing him, but what if he suddenly didn't persue the paranormal with such intensity? Suppose he were to transfer back to the Behavioural Unit, become an analyst again...?" "There would be nothing to stop the government from killing him then," Byers said just as slowly. "Not if they time it right." "It might take a while, months even, but if they could do it...Mulder's still got to be alive then! Unless they're planning to kill off his look alike in his place..." "Which wouldn't work if there was an autopsy or in-depth fingerprint analysis." Langly was getting excited. "You're right." Up until now, she had been filed with a dread certainty that Mulder was dead, but now there was a new surge of energy accompanied byu a rush of hope. "Scully, you've got to watch out though," Byers warned. "They know that they can't deceive you for long. If this impostor's been there as long as we think, then they won't be counting on fooling you much longer. They've already tried to have you killed today..." "I know, but if I don't play ignorant, they might kill Mulder right away." She silently asked herself what she would do if it came down to her life or Mulder's and found that she already knew the answer to that one. She wouldn't do anyting to alert the imposter she was on to him. It was something she couldn't risk. "I'll try to act normal, not behave like anything is wrong. Until we get an idea of where they're holding Mulder that's all I can do." "We'll let you know when we identify the compound that was on the dart you found," Byers promised as she headed out. The object she had rescued from under the couch was a small dart of some kind, tipped with a chemical. The LG had their other computers hard at work trying to analyse and ID it. she prayed silently. ********** Day 18 Hoover Building 7:39 a.m. "Morning, Mulder. How was your lecture?" She made herself look up from her desk to smile a greeting at the man who walked in, trying not to be sick to her stomach. "Not bad. You feeling better today?" "Yeah. got some new bruises though." "I spoke to my manager last night; he said he let you into my apartment?" "I know. I hope you didn't mind, but I neede the Baltimore file. Skinner wanted it this morning and since you were out at Quantico..." He looked like Mulder, even the body language ws the same. There was another thing, as well, that had been bothering her. If it wasn't a shapeshifter, how could this man *sound* like Mulder? Physical appearances could be modifide, but it *sounded* Like Mudler. It was so hard not to look at this man and see her friend. "It's not a problem," he said with a grin. "I don't suppose you fed my fish did you?" "They looked all right. Tey didn't go belly up did they?" "Not yet." "How come you didn't tell me that your place got broken into?" He shrugged, taking off his overcoat to hang it up. "It was just before we left for Idaho, we were awfully busy at the time..." she thought, nodding absently. "What's the plan for today? There's still that UFO sighting in Kentucky." "I've got to go over some profiles for the Behavioural Scince Unit," he said with what was supposed to be an apologetic smile. It was amazing how easy it would be to just think that this whole thing was just one huge nightmare that Mulder would get a good laugh out of... But it wasn't. That was the true nightmare. ********** ===========================================================================