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Author
Linda61
Written
for Muldersrefuge's May contest: 'When other agents go bad'.
Rating.
Anyone over 13
Category:
MT, MSR
Feedback:
sure
(send
it to l.vanmaanen@chello.nl)
Again
I'd like to thank my beta and friend Lisa. No finished story without you Lisa.
Thanks so much for your help.
-------
XXXXX
-------
Shattered
Shadow
by
Linda61
Carefully,
trying not to make any sound a shadow went through the hall, searching for the
right number. When he reached no. 42 he put his ear to the door and listened for
any sound. He could hear the television on low but no footsteps of the person
living in the apartment. Not that he expected any, it was 4am; most people were
asleep at that time. He opened his bag and took the little package out. Slowly,
not to shake it too much he placed it right in front of the door.
'Good
morning Agent Mulder, rise and shine,' the shadow thought and turned around to
disappear again into the night.
---------------
Two
hours later.
Mulder
slowly woke up. For the first time in ages he’d managed to sleep through the
night and felt it. He was rested. He climbed off the couch and stretched.
"Coffee" his brain prodded him and he walked to the kitchen to make
some.
Humming
softly he did his morning 'business' took some clothes he dropped the night
before of the floor and tried to find some clean ones. He did the tried and
trusted sniff test and then sighed. "I really should do my laundry tonight,
I'm out of clothes" he mumbled.
Suddenly
he heard a sound at the door and when he took a peek through the spyhole he
recognized the paper boy. Mulder opened the door and he was welcomed with a:
"Hi Mr. Mulder, here's your newspaper. By the way, someone left a package
for you."
"Thanks
kid" he said, took the paper and stared down at the package lying by his
feet. The boy walked away and disappeared into the elevator. Mulder shrugged. It
wasn't the first time someone left a package at his door. He bent over to pick
it up. He held it in his hand, staring at it a long moment and for some reason
he suddenly felt a strange sensation. The hairs on the back of his neck started
to stand up and his inner alarm system went off. <Put it down, danger!> it
said. Mulder looked at the package and was about to put it back down when
suddenly the thing exploded.
Mulder
felt himself careening backwards with force of the blast. The explosion wasn't
even that big but enough to throw him off his feet across the room. Dazed and
confused Mulder looked around and after only seconds he felt excruciating pain
crashing in.
Initially
he hadn’t thought he was hurt all that badly but when the pain started, he
opened his eyes wide and screamed, staring in utter shock at his hands.
"God,
oh god!" he yelled. The pain was terrible and his heart cannoned inside
him. The skin was hanging from his hands and blood poured off them in large
rivulets pooling at his feet, also his chest started to throb and he doubled
over, as his breathing started to fail.
Mulder just collapsed on the floor, shaking, not knowing what to do. He
couldn't even get up, could hardly breath from the agony crawling up his chest.
"Scully, need Scully" he mumbled right before he lost consciousness.
He never heard his neighbors yelling for the police and the Ambulance sirens.
----------------
Few
days earlier
Basement
office FBI
Mulder
was bored because there was nothing to do. Or, nothing to do that he felt like
tackling today. There was always the dreaded paperwork of course and Skinner
already ordered him to finish that ASAP, but to concentrate on work like that
was too hard for him right now. His concentration was off and he felt tired. So,
he was bored. Extremely. He sighed and looked up to see Scully, his 'more than
just a colleague' partner. If they only...then he wouldn't be bored, his mind
played out dangerous possibilities and he tried to tuck them back into the
corner of his brain, labelled, ‘ for when the time is right’. He sighed
again.
"Oh
for goodness' sake Mulder, will you cut it out!"
"But
I'm bored Scully." he whined, jiggling back and forth on his computer
chair.
"Then
start doing the paperwork Skinner ordered you to do Mulder, it seems I'm the
only one doing that right now and I'm not planning to finish all of it on my
own. So quit whining, pick up your pen and start those idle fingers
working!"
"You're
no fun" he mumbled, but then picked up his pen, sighed again and started on
the job he hated so much, chewing the end in his mouth.
Not
even ten minutes later his phone rang. Not waiting for the next ring he picked
it up yelling: "Mulder!"
"Agent
Mulder" the voice on the other side boomed uncomfortably off his eardrums.
A voice belonging to AD Skinner.
"AD
Skinner, I'm sorry, I uhm .. I'm still working on those papers, but...."
"Never
mind that right now Mulder, I have a request."
"Sir?"
"I'd
like to talk to you, could you come over to my office and bring Agent Scully
with you please."
"Yes
sir." Mulder hung up and looked pointedly at Scully.
"What
have you done now?" she asked, noticing his consternation.
"Nothing!
I think. Did I do something? Anyway, Skinner asked us to come to his office, so
let's go. Wouldn’t want to miss the party eh?"
"At
least you're not bored anymore."
"What?
Oh, yeah, guess you're right" Mulder laughed and more or less pushed Scully
out the door.
A
couple of minutes later Skinner's secretary told them to go into his office.
"Agents
Mulder and Scully, please take a seat."
Mulder
was confused. Did he or didn't he do something wrong? Even Scully thought
Skinner was a bit too polite. She didn't trust it. Something was going on.
"Sir"
Mulder said, "You had a request?"
"VCU
wants your help Mulder."
Scully
sat up straight immediately. "No, Sir, you know Mulder doesn't work for VCU
anymore!"
"What
she said," Mulder piped up pointing at Scully, wondering if he should laugh
or feel annoyed that she answered so protectively for him. He decided it was
kinda cute and let it go and hoped she read his grateful expression correctly.
"Please
hear me out Agent Mulder, it's not as bad as you think." Although he talked
to Mulder, he was looked at Scully, like he was apologizing to her for asking
her partner. "VCU is short on people right now and they want you to create
a profile. A young man was murdered, found last week, but the agent currently
working on this case doesn't seem to get any further. He’s hitting a brick
wall as far as coming up with any leads. They need a fresh profile on the Unsub
so they can work on, right now they're stuck. That's where you come in. Actually
that's all you're supposed to do."
Mulder
nodded. "Ok, I'll do it."
Skinner
handed him the file. "Read through it and let me know what you think
ok?" Turning to Scully he said: "The moment you think he goes too far,
warn me. I don't think it's a difficult case, but knowing Agent Mulder you never
know."
"Yes
sir" Scully answered, trying to quell her inner warning bells.
During
the walk back to their office Scully was quiet. "What are you thinking
Scully? Tell me?"
Scully
stopped. "I just hope he's right. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time a
simple consult case turns out to be nasty."
"It
will be ok Scully, I promise to be careful, and you're with me, backing me up
what can go wrong?" Mulder took her hand and squeezed it. "Really, it
will be ok."
Scully
looked at him for a couple of seconds and then sighed: "Yeah, of course. Ok
come on, let's go back, I'll make us some fresh coffee."
"Oh
and Scully? You're right. I'm not bored anymore. Got something else to get my
teeth stuck into."
“Ok,
I’ll buy a early dinner on the way home. You can get an early start on things
then.”
-------------------
-------------------
After
a couple of silent hours reading the file, studying the crime scene photos and
making notes Mulder started to talk again. "I think Skinman was right
Scully. It doesn't seem like such a hard case. Certainly not as complicated as
an X file. Actually, I think this murder might be an accident. An accidental
murder I mean."
"Why's
that?" Scully asked.
"Well,
look at the photos Scully. See how the body of the boy was placed and positioned
down in the grave carefully? His hands bound together as if in prayer. His
clothes are clean, in order. Even his hair was combed. Nothing was stolen. The
body still had his wallet, no money seems to have been stolen, there’s a tidy
few dollars here and his ID was also in with it. It's like the murderer wanted
to say 'I'm sorry, didn't mean to do it, please take care of him.' The body was
even buried at a spot the murderer was sure it would be found quickly."
Mulder
stretched his stiff muscles. He looked at the name in the file of the agent who
already worked on the case; an Agent Ross. "I want to talk to this agent
Scully, are you coming?"
"Mulder
it's getting late already. I'm sure Agent Ross is home already. Let's go home
too ok?"
"Home?
As in..?"
"You're
welcome to come with me Mulder, you know that."
Not
even wanting to argue that they both left together, Mulder wearing a huge smile
on his face, his hand at her back in its customary position.
---------
The
next day Mulder and Scully went to talk to Agent Ross. Mulder tried to get more
information but discovered he didn't get more than he already knew from the
file. Ross seemed almost hesitant, disinterested. Mulder thought that was odd
but had other avenues planned for investigation. He let it go for now. The whole
reason he’d been called in was because it was believed he’d make progress.
"The
grave was found by local children" Ross had told them. "They didn't
know what it was at first, but when one of the children told his parents what
they found, the father immediately called the police. And then they called us.
All we know so far is the boy's name, uhm..Danny Schultz, age 18. He was local.
He was murdered by strangulation. Just a normal boy, nothing special, no
criminal record."
Mulder
nodded. "Yeah, that’s what the file said, not much yet. I'd like to talk
to friends of Danny, maybe they know more. His employer if he had one, I see you
already talked to them too Agent Ross?"
"Yes
I did, but they didn't seem to know something. Like I said, Danny was an
easygoing, normal teen boy. Quiet, kept to himself. I'm sorry I can't give you
more information."
Mulder
turned to Scully. "Could you go through the autopsy records again? Just to
be sure? Let me go talk to Danny's friends. I'll see you at the office this
afternoon. Okay?"
Scully
wanted to protest because she didn't want to let him go alone, she felt uneasy
and couldn’t explain why to herself, let alone her partner but then she
decided that even Mulder couldn't go far wrong on interviewing a couple of kids.
"Sure, see you this afternoon, but know what we agreed on okay? If anything
is wrong you call me. Right away."
"Yeah
yeah." Mulder mumbled, already thinking what to ask. He walked away to his
car deep in thought and spiralling into profiler mode, not looking back once.
Even Scully had to laugh about that.
After
talking for more than two hours with Danny's friends at one of the boys' house,
Mulder was stuck. Danny disappeared without leaving a trace, until he was found
that is. He thanked the kids for their time and wanted to leave when a girl came
in. "Hello" he said. He startled the girl, she didn't see him standing
behind the door of the house, saying goodbye to the others. "What's going
on?" she asked. "Agent Mulder of the FBI", Mulder said, flipping
her a glance at his badge. "I'm trying to find the murderer of your friend
Danny, I already talked to the others, could you spare a few moments so I talk
to you too please?" He smiled reassuringly at the girl, to let her know it
was ok and she didn't have to be scared.
"Yeah,
sure, no problem. I don't know a thing though."
"That's
ok, ahh.. what's your name?"
"I'm
Lucy sir, Lucy Michaels."
"Ok,
Lucy Michaels, let's talk then, it won't take long. Let's go outside."
"You
knew Danny well Lucy?" Mulder asked.
"Well
yes, we've been to school together, but that's not uncommon, this is just a
small town. The kind of place where we get to know people well. Danny never
mixed much though."
"Did
you notice anything the days before Danny disappeared? His behavior? Did he
suddenly had a lot of money? Anything."
Lucy
thought about that question a couple of minutes but then shook her head.
"Nope, nothing, his behavior was no different than other days." Her
face was sad. "I'm sorry I can't help, I wish I could, I liked Danny."
"We'll
do our best to catch the murderer Lucy, but I have to be honest, we just don't
have much to go on. Thanks for your time anyway." And with that he turned
around to go to his car.
He
was about to get in when he heard a "Agent Mulder, agent Mulder!".
Mulder looked back and saw Lucy running towards him. "I remember something,
but I don't know if it's important. Actually it's kinda stupid now that I think
of it, never mind. Sorry to bother you."
"No
no, please Lucy, tell me, what did you want to say?"
"Well,
I remember Danny telling me he had some problems with the father of a girl he
knew. He really liked her, but her father found out he was a couple of years
older and he told Danny to leave her alone. But that was a while back already,
so I'm not sure if he’d been seeing her recently. He never said that much
other than that. He was shy. He never talked about his problems often, just that
one time only. I think he was kind of upset about it. He really liked her. Took
him a while to get the courage to talk to most girls."
"Do
you know her name?"
"Her
name? Oh geez, yeah, uhm, he did mention her name. What was it now?...Something
like Boss, Josh. No wait; it was Ross, that's it. Ross. Judy...Judy Ross, now I
remember."
"Ross?"
Mulder was stunned, prickles setting him on alert deep down. Could there be a
connection?
…Naaah, must be a coincidence. Ross wasn’t an uncommon name. Or
maybe. "Are you sure?"
"Yes,
yes I'm sure. I even think he said her father was a cop or something, but I
could be wrong there."
Mulder
grabbed the girl by her shoulders. "Thanks Lucy, you're a big help."
Then he almost ran back to his car. He couldn't believe it; he couldn't wait to
tell Scully. Maybe it was the lead they had been looking for. And it would
explain a few things that had been niggling him all afternoon.
While
on his way back to the office he called Scully on her cell phone.
"Scully."
"Scully
where are you?"
"I'm
almost ready to go Mulder, what did you find out? You sound excited."
"Just
come to the office Scully, I think I have something."
"I'll
be there in an hour Mulder. Your turn to make coffee."
Mulder
smiled and disconnected the call.
--------------
In
the office Mulder told Scully what he’d found out. He told her about the name
he heard and that he already thought maybe a cop was involved. Not knowing the
cop was an agent of the FBI. An agent they were working with at that moment.
"I
already checked the name of Agent Ross' daughter Scully. It's Judy, and she's
fourteen. What did you find out by the way?"
"Nothing
more than we already knew. Danny was strangled, time of death inconclusive
because the ground was very wet. So you really think it's 'our' Agent Ross who
did it?"
"I
think so Scully. I have some cross referencing to do and check his whereabouts
or see if he has an alibi. But like I said before, I think it may have been an
accident. Maybe he got angry with the boy because he was seeing his daughter. I
don't know. Things done in the heat of the moment. Ross is a big guy. He was out
in Iraq with military. Trained in multiple combat techniques. He may have
snapped, but after he killed him he took care of the body. That's not something
a professional murderer would do. This person respected life, even though he
took one."
"How
are we gonna do this Mulder? We need proof. Only knowing his daughter's name and
linking him that way can't be enough. We need more solid evidence. A warrant to
search his home."
"Let's
just have a talk with him first. We just say we have some information and we
think a cop is involved. Not more than that. Let's see how he reacts. Give him
time to come clean. I would think he’d be bursting to tell someone. It’s a
lot to bottle up if this was a heat of the moment thing. He pointed at the
coffee pot, “I sure would love some coffee first though. I think I'm gonna
need it."
"Something
wrong with your hands Mulder?" Scully asked, but then got up to pour both
of them a cup. Like Mulder she also needed some liquid sustenance before seeing
Agent Ross.
Mulder
was already on the phone. "Agent Ross? We like to talk to you again if
possible. Shall we say, in our office in half an hour? Okay thanks." Then
he hung up the phone.
"I
hope that coffee is strong Scully." He shook his head sadly, hoping for the
first time in his career he was wrong, but deep in his heart he knew he wasn't.
Scully passed him a cup with one hand and squeezed his shoulder in empathy.
----------
Half
an hour later there was a knock on the door of the basement office. Both took a
deep breath but Scully opened the door to let Agent Ross enter.
"Agent
Ross, please come in. Sit down." Scully tried to sound as normal as
possible.
Mulder
had a pencil in his hand, playing with it, turning it around not trying to show
he was a bit anxious. He made careful eye contact with older agent.
"Agent
Ross" Mulder started. I gathered some information that showed what I
already suspected after reading the file you gave me. I think a cop is
involved." Mulder kept fiddling the pencil, like nothing special was going
on. Keeping it all vague. But he also watched Ross to see how he reacted. Or
rather how he didn't react. Agent Ross didn't even blink an eye. Cool customer,
Mulder thought. Was he wrong after all?
"A
cop? You're kidding me! Where did you get that information?"
"I'm
sorry, I can't tell you that right now, but I think the person is trustworthy
enough to take the information seriously."
"Well
if you're certain about that we have to work with along that premise then."
Agent Ross pushed his chair away and stood up. I hope you don't mind, but I have
to go. I promised my wife I’d be back early, it's her birthday.”
"Of
course Agent Ross, have a nice evening" Scully said with small smile.
"We'll see each other tomorrow again. Bright and early."
With
that Ross nodded and walked out the door, leaving Mulder and Scully alone.
Mulder
dropped his pencil on the desk. "That was odd." he said, rubbing his
tired eyes.
"Very."
Scully shrugged. "I don't know Mulder, are you sure about this?"
Mulder
stood up, started to walk around in the office, mumbling, thinking. Then
suddenly he turned around and said: "Yes, yes I'm sure. He gave off so many
vibes there it rattled my fillings."
"Right,
let's go home then.” She rubbed her hand over his back when he cringed putting
his jacket on and he smiled his thanks for the comfort. “I think we have to
talk to Skinner about this before we go on, but let's go home now, it's been a
long day. This kind of situation always make me tired. If it's true what you
said then I don't think we have to be afraid he will kill again. This can wait
till tomorrow. Are you coming Mulder?"
"Sorry
Scully, but I'll be staying at my apartment, I have to think this through."
He took her hand and kissed it. "Tomorrow."
Scully
smiled and touched his face. "Sleep Mulder, don't stay up all night. And
yes. I’ll be around if you need me. Just pick up the phone.Ok?”
They
never noticed the man standing in the shadow of the dark hall. When Scully and
Mulder disappeared into the elevator the shadow said: "Good night Agent
Mulder".
The
man in the shadow waited for ten minutes then also got into the elevator. He
went back to his own office and grabbed his coat. "See you tomorrow"
he said. "Night Ross", someone replied.
xxxxx
Mulder
heard familiar sounds. Sirens. The smell of burned flesh and his own blood,
people trying to reassure beyond the volley of medical info they were exchanging
all around him. “Oh no, not again. He tried to wake up but when he did the
pain also returned in spades. The pain was back so sudden and with so much force
he tried to get up yelling "Sculleeeeeeee". But Scully wasn't there
yet; she was in her car trying to get to the hospital as fast as possible.
Mulder did it again. But this time it really wasn't his fault. He was starting
to panic but the paramedics soon had him sedated and started IVs and placed
monitors on him.
Scully
couldn't believe it when she got the phone call. A bomb exploded at Mulder’s
place and he’d been holding it in his hands. It wasn't a big bomb; otherwise
she would have been on her way to the morgue, she choked back tears from the
chill of that thought. But the fact Mulder was actually holding the bomb when it
went off could only mean he must be hurt badly. 'His hands, his beautiful hands'
she thought, and sobbed again.
-----------------
Georgetown
Memorial
The
doctors were already working on Mulder when finally Scully arrived at the
hospital. She stormed in asking for where her partner had been taken. It wasn't
the first time he’d been here and most of the nurses knew them by sight.
"Follow me Agent Scully, the doctor is waiting for you," one of them
said.
Scully
could already hear him yelling as they neared the cubicle. "NOOONOOOO,
SCULLEEEE, LEMME GO!!!! AAHHHH!"
It
was quite a shock to see him like this so much in pain and helpless. By now some
of the sedative had worn off and they were posed to inject him with more. She
couldn't ever get used to this.
"Mulder"
she said, "Mulder, calm down. It's ok, it's ok, and it will be ok."
The doctor seemed to be relieved when he saw her coming in. He knew she could
get him to calm down so they could work on him without sedating him. Again he
was amazed to see how his patient reacted to his partner's soothing voice.
Immediately he calmed down. He was in pain of course and he kept moaning, but at
least the doctor could treat him. Scully ran her fingers through his hair and
whispered a mantra of reassurance and love as they finished cutting his charred
clothing away.
"Scul..ly".
Mulder tried to move his hand to take hers but he wasn't even able to move his
arms at all now.
"Aaahhh".
"Lay
still Mulder, I'm here. It’s going to be ok."
"Scully...bomb...
my hands."
"I
know Mulder. We think it was Ross, Skinner already sent agents out to pick him
up. Now don't worry about that. We'll talk later ok? Just let the doctor do his
work. I’m staying right here. I won’t leave you.”
"Agent
Scully?"
Scully
looked up hearing the doctor's voice. "We need to get some x-rays of his
hands and chest. He could have some internal injuries from the explosive
percussion."
"Can
I come with you?" Scully was a bit worried leaving Mulder alone right now.
"Of
course, but during the x-rays you’ll have to stay behind the screen in the
ante-room, you know that."
"I
know, I’m a medical doctor. Mulder knows too." <I hope> she
thought.
The
x-ray procedures didn't pose any problems due to the fact Mulder finally decided
to black out. When he came to he was already on his way back to a ward.
"Glad
to see you awake again Mulder. You know, you're one lucky guy." Scully gave
him a beautiful smile and stroked his forehead.
"That..so?
Don't feel..so.. lucky right..now. Thirsty Scully."
"Your
hands will be okay. You do have two broken fingers and you might need some
grafting surgeries later because of the skin loss, but you won't lose your
hands. Your chest is mostly okay, only cuts and bruises. But I guess it will
hurt like hell in the next few days. Still, for someone actually holding a bomb
when it exploded that's not bad at all. You'll be in the hospital a few days at
least so they can monitor you. You’re suffering from shock and smoke
inhalation too." She gave him a sip of water now she was certain he didn't
need an operation immediately.
At
that moment a nurse came in and injected something into his IV. "Good
stuff" she whispered.
"Tell
me about being lucky...again...tomorrow Scu..l.." And with those words he
closed his eyes and let the good stuff do its job.
When
Mulder woke up again he could hear Scully talking to someone. After a couple of
minutes he realized she was talking on the phone. "Yes sir, thank you sir.
Yes, I'll tell him the moment he wakes up. Yes.. yes...we're sorry too. Thank
you sir."
"Wazz
tha.. Zzkinnah..?"
"Mulder!
Hi sleepy face. You're awake! Well almost that is. How are you feeling?"
"I'm
floating...Zzscullee.....Did they ..get.. Rozzz?"
"Agents
picked him up at his own house Mulder. When they found him he was sitting on the
steps in front of his house, crying. He knew it was over. Skinner just told me
that Ross said he never wanted to kill Danny, but just freaked out when he found
out he was still seeing his daughter despite his earlier warnings, and after the
explosion at your place he realized what he had done, came to his senses big
time and just gave up. He kept apologizing. I almost feel sorry for him."
"Wha..?"
Mulder turned his head to her.
"I
said 'almost' Mulder. I'm not that crazy. He almost killed you."
"Scully?
Are...you sure..about my hands?"
"Yes
Mulder, I'm sure."
"I
wanna..be able...to feel.." His eyes started to close.
"You
will."
"...You."
"You
always will" she whispered and kissed his forehead.
The
end.
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