From: "Toma" Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 09:55:36 -0400 Subject: xfc: NEW: Katelyn 2- The Return of Trouble 0/? Source: xfc From: "Toma" Title: Katelyn 2- The Return of Trouble Author's: Toma and Kelley E. Kelly Rated: PG Category: S, slight A and X, MSR. Disclaimer: Not ours. Spoilers: Nothing notable. Archive: Gossamer is fine, other's please ask. Summary: Can Kate take any more? While trying to define each others roles in their lives trouble once again finds the agents and their new charge. Notes: Where to begin? I started this story probably about a year ago. I wrote and wrote and it was awful! I decided that writing just wasn't for me but Kelley had a different plan =0) She took this barely readable story and made something of it, she worked long and hard and I think she did a wonderful job! You will notice the difference in quality between the first and second parts of Katelyn, those differences are all due to Kelley. Kelley's notes will be in a separate post. From: "Toma" I forgot to mention two things in the notes, Email addresses are: terrytoma@sprint.ca and kellymail@sprintmail.com Second: the first part of Katelyn can be found at Xemplary, you will need to read that first in order to understand this story. Mulder had spent a long night sitting vigil at Kate's bedside: thinking, planning, hoping he wouldn't screw this up. A daughter. It still hadn't fully sunk in. How the hell was he going to deal with a daughter - a daughter, moreover, who didn't want fathering? Of course she was a fullgrown woman, but she had been through so much already in her young life. While he had some grasp of the tragedy of losing one's mother - his own being emotionally lost to him when Samantha was taken, he couldn't imagine the trauma inflicted by being shuttled from home to home, raped by those who were your 'protectors'. And now this, another random attack in a city known for its crime rate. Could the poor girl handle any more? The only thing he knew was that he would do everything in his power to make sure she got help and wasn't alone for her recovery. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX Katelyn slowly woke a few hours later, her sleep-riddled mind trying to figure out where she was and why the sheets beneath her scratched at her skin. As consciousness returned, everything came flooding back in nauseating waves. She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut, willing the images to go away. While the images didn't go away, the intensity faded enough for her to face her life. She knew he wouldn't be there when she woke; No one but her mom had ever stuck around in her life either by choice or necessity and what would he want with a daughter anyway? Her rosy dreams were just castles in the air - a mental requirement for getting through the days. She looked around the room and realised she truly was alone. A tear trickled over her cheek - memories of what little time she had with him running through her mind in shaky shades of black and white - a home movie for the disaffected. She would have to hold on to those memories for a very long time. As she committed each precious day to memory, the sound of a door catch releasing caught her attention. She glanced up to see Mulder closing the door to the bathroom behind him. A look of surprise covered her face. "Good morning, are you feeling better?" "A little, I think," she said, but didn't elaborate. Mulder had noticed the look of shock on his daughter's face and couldn't help feeling disheartened. He had hoped she would realized that he wanted this; he wanted her in his life. "Don't look so surprised!" He kept his protest light, trying to make the point without beating it to death. "I didn't look surprised. When I'm surprised, I make this face." Kate forced her features into a look of exaggerated shock. "I saw that face." "You didn't see that face." "Did too." "Did not." "Then the jaw hitting the floor is a normal occurrence for you? I'll have to ask Scully about that - could be a serious medical condition." He half sat on the end of the bed, facing her. Kate giggled a little, "Ok, I guess I did. Why are you still here?" "Kate, I meant it when I told you I'm not going anywhere. Ask Scully... it' s impossible to get rid of me." He studied the pained face in front of him - eyes at once eager and doubtful. "Honest." He brushed back a tear that had crept from under one eyelid despite the laughter and was tracing a languid path down her cheek. "If you're feeling up to it, I'd like to catch up on your life. I've already missed so much..." Kate looked at him, wondering what was going through his head. Better raise those shields, Kate my girl, you know once he knows, he's outta here... "I'll tell you what I can, what do you want to know?" "Why don't you start at the very beginning? It's a good place to start." "As long as you promise not to sing..." He looked wounded, pointing at himself. "Moi?" "Promise." "Ok, ok - you negotiator, you - No singing. Now talk." "I told you that mom died when I was 15, right?" The eyes she turned toward his were filling with tears. "She died of breast cancer. It was hard on her, on both of us." She looked down at her hands. He nodded and watched as she, like Scully, carefully restructured her control: reforging each link in the chain of emotional restraint. Eventually, she continued. "Anyway, about a week before she passed away, she knew she was getting weaker and it wouldn't be long. She decided there were a few things I needed to know. Mom and I had never really discussed my father and she decided It was time I should know. She tried to tell me about you, but I just had it in my head that you didn't want me and I refused to listen." She paused to reach for the memories, so deliberately pushed aside. "I ran out of the house. I ran out on my mother who was so sick. How could I have done that to her?" She asked rhetorically. Mulder was struck by the statement. I never knew self-castigation was a genetic trait. "When I came back after dinner, she didn't try to tell me again. She said she wouldn't put that on me if I didn't want it. DSS asked me about my father after she died- who was he, did I know where he was; I just told them I didn't know. On my next birthday, a friend of Mom's came to see me and gave me a letter Mom had written to me while I was missing that day. When I read the letter, I cried so much that Janet, the foster lady, thought I was going round the bend and had me go see a shrink. She wasn't much help. The only thing that got me through the homes was my promise to myself that I would find you when I turned 18." She finished, staring at the starchy white sheets in her lap. Mulder sat stunned and, truth be told, angry; she had known for 3 years who he was but hadn't given him the chance to help her. There had to be more to it than that; if she had wanted to, she could have contacted him three years ago so he pressed on, anger in check. "Why didn't Tracy tell me about you? Hell, why didn't DSS once you knew?" he asked her. "Mom told me that the summer you met was the summer before you went off to school in England. She said you had a lot of family problems and she didn't want to burden you. She didn't want you to resent me for keeping you away from school and stuck with your family. She knew the reason you went was to get away from them. And I never told DSS - they just screw everything up." "But, Kate, you've known me now for how long? Why didn't *you* tell me sooner?" "I came to find you because I had to know, but I was scared. I mean, if Mom wasn't brave enough to tell you..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced up at him, horrified at the pain she saw in his face. She allowed a small glimmer of hope pass through her mind and continued bravely. "I had to see who you were before I decided to tell you. I mean, if you were like the others, I'd have booked. The only way I could figure out was to see if I could find a way to work with you somehow." Her voice quivered and she paused to quell the nervousness. "The same friend that brought me the letter from Mom told me that you worked for the FBI in Washington so..." "So you moved to DC and applied for a job at the Hoover building so you could see if I was the same kind of monster you'd grown up with." Kate flinched, an edge of desparation creeping into her voice. "I know you' re mad, but I didn't *know* you and I didn't know how else to go about it and the longer I waited the harder it got." Mulder's anger began to fade, realizing how hard it must have been to make the decision to search him out at all. "Kate, I didn't know your mother for very long. That's not to say I didn't care about her a great deal but, at that point in my life, and probably hers too, we weren't ready for what we had found. She was right about my family; we did have a lot of problems. But she was wrong not to tell me, I would never have left had I known." He picked up the hand that was picking nervously at the blanket and squeezed it. "Of course, I want you in my life - you're just about the only family I have," he paused and continued mostly to himself, "and the only one that's ever wanted to claim me as such." Noticing another tear threatened, he pulled the girl toward him awkwardly, letting her head rest on his shoulder as she fought for control. As the rush of emotion faded, Katelyn sniffed and sat back, accepting the handkerchief Mulder offered her. "Where's Dana?" He smiled at her. "Scully went home to grab a shower and change; she should be back soon." "Is she OK with this? With me?" Katelyn offered a silent prayer that Dana didn't think less of her for what was going on or what she had done. She had so few friends; she couldn't afford to lose a good one. "Sure she is; why wouldn't she be?" "Well, you know..." "I'm sorry, Kate, I'm not following you." Oh brother, Kate thought, men could be so dense at times. He really didn't see it did he? The look Kate turned on him was pure exasperation. "Hello! You in there? She's in love with you! A daughter suddenly dropping into the picture might have some sort of effect on that..." Mulder stared at her, astounded. Scully, in love? Yeah, OK. "Uh, Kate, what you see between Scully and me is nothing more than a very close partnership - it comes with the territory." She rolled her eyes. Struggling to keep her laughter under control, she managed to spit out, "Sure, you just keep telling yourself that!" As if on cue, Scully entered the room after a small knock on the door. She looked at the giggling girl on the bed and her dazed partner beside it. The earlier tension seemed to be gone and she was glad for that, but... What the heck is going on now? "What's so funny?" she asked Kate. "Nothing!" Mulder squeaked out before Kate could tell her. "O-o-ka-ay," Scully said cautiously, stretching the word out. She wasn't buying it, but it could wait. "Kate, you look a lot better this afternoon. How are you feeling?" "A lot better now, Dana, thanks." She had stopped giggling for the most part, but the corners of her mouth were still twitching. "My arm and ribs don't feel so bad now." She twisted slightly back and forth, wincing. "Although I don't think laughing was the best idea I ever had." "Serves you right." Mulder muttered under his breath. "Mulder!" Scully appeared ready to admonish him further, but Kate interrupted. "Dana, I'm really sorry for not telling you who I was at the beginning." Mulder took advantage of the distraction to disappear for a while. "I just didn't know..." Scully waited until the door closed behind Mulder before she answered. "This is between you and Mulder, Kate. It's really none of my business." "But it is your business." Kate protested, "You've been so nice to me and I *lied* to you. I wish I did things differently, but I didn't. Understand?" "I think I do, sweetie." Scully said as she took Mulder's place on the bed, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Kate's ear. "It doesn't mean that I think you did things the right way, but I think I understand. And, in case you're worrying, and if you're anything like your father you are, yes, I am still your friend." Kate flushed - that had been exactly what she had been wondering. "Thanks, Dana." Kate said simply, reaching for Scully. More awkward than Mulder with emotional displays, Scully patted the girl's back gently. "I appreciate everything you and Mulder have done for me." Almost as an afterthought, she added, " You know he loves you, don't you?" Kate looked at her to gauge her reaction. What was *wrong* with these two? She could hear the words before they even left Scully's mouth..."We're just really close partners, Kate." But before Kate had time to call her on it, Mulder re-entered the room. "No coffee?" Scully asked, glancing at his empty hands. Mulder glanced at his hands too, as if surprised they didn't hold the coffee he had intended to get. "Didn't make it to the machine. I just got a call from Skinner. It seems Holeman has posted an internal complaint against Kate and I." "But, Mulder, that happened over a month ago," Scully protested. Mulder sat down opposite Scully on the bed. "Notwithstanding Holeman's lack of promptness in dealing with his loss of dignity, Skinner wants us in his office first thing Monday morning, along with Kate provided she's feeling better and able to work." Kate's face was bleak. It wasn't that she cared if she lost her job. It had never been anything special and had already served its purpose. But for her father to get in trouble because of her overactive machismo, she would never forgive herself. "I'm such a screw up," she whispered, her voice shaking. "Mulder, I am so sorry. It was all my fault. I'll quit; I'll do whatever - I just don't want you to get in trouble." For Mulder, it was like listening to his most private thoughts spoken aloud - the voice in his head chorusing 'it's your fault, it's all your fault' each time Scully was injured or censured or taken hostage, each time he saw an girl that reminded him of Samantha. Scully looked from one to the other, her heart going out to both. "It's not your fault, Kate." She put one hand on Kate's bent head and the other on Mulder's shoulder. "It's not your fault, either, Mulder." Mulder gave no sign of hearing her other than a slight shift in his body weight toward her. Let him lean on her, she could take it. Whatever strength she had to give to get the two of them through this adjustment period, she would. End part 1 From: "Toma" terrytoma@sprint.ca and kellymail@sprintmail.com Now 6 in the evening, Mulder and Kate had spent the afternoon talking about nothing and everything, Kate's realization of how grossly out of proportion her fears had been growing with each passing hour. Mulder asked question upon question about her childhood as if he couldn't get enough information. He wanted to know from what age she had lost her first tooth right up to the age of her first date and what it had been like. Fortunately, he hadn't broached the subject of the foster homes yet; she didn't think she could handle that right now. She wasn't even sure if she'd ever be able to handle it. Scully sat in a chair next to Mulder, listening intently and seeming as genuinely interested in Kate's life as Mulder was. While Kate was grateful for that, she was still a little worried about Dana's feelings about the situation. Neither Dana nor her father would admit their feelings for each other, but Kate could see it plain as if it were tattooed on their foreheads. Their relationship was admittedly the strongest she had encountered in her limited experience, but this was a big change for anyone, much less two people that had yet to admit that they were partnered with each other in more than just their jobs. As Kate was answering the latest round of questions from Mulder, the doctor entered the room with a cheerful smile, waving Mulder and Scully out of the room. "How's the patient this evening?" the doctor asked as she began her examination. "If you could lift your right arm please." "I feel pretty good considering." Kate responded as she obediently lifted one arm and then the other, stifling a flinch as the doctor probed a tender area of her ribcage. Despite the company, she was starting to feel quite stifled and really wanted out. "Well, Katelyn, you're looking pretty good too, despite that flinch." The doctor raised an eyebrow at Kate's expression. "Yeah, I noticed. But it looks like everything is healing nicely. I think we'll be kickin' you out in the morning. "Cool," Kate exclaimed, excitement evident in her voice. "We'll have all the papers ready for you tomorrow morning then;" the doctor said as she left the room, "be prepared to sign until your hand falls off!" Mulder glanced at Scully in the hallway, having heard the doctor's parting words. Scully read his thoughts before he even voiced them and remembered the last conversation of this nature. "Kate, how would you like to spend some time at my place?" Scully asked, once they were settled in position again. "I have an extra room, and you shouldn't be by yourself while you recover." Mulder tried to hide his gratitude. He wanted Kate to stay with him, but his place was too small and he knew that Kate would flat out refuse. The stubborn 'Mulder' gene had definitely found its way into Kate's DNA. Maybe she would be more comfortable accepting Scully's invitation. "Thank you, Dana, but I couldn't impose, I'll be fine." Scully had to smile at the formality of Kate's words. Tracy had obviously instilled manners in the girl. "Kate, you wouldn't be imposing - I like having company and I would love to get to know my partner's daughter a little better." She had almost said 'my daughter'. She reflected on that briefly while Kate thought about it. That oddly familiar urge to protect ran strong in her blood, although she refused as much as possible to recognize it as 'maternal instinct'; it reminded her of Emily. Kate was silent so long, Scully was afraid she wouldn't accept and Mulder would physically drag her to his place. To his credit, he remained quiet. "Are you sure? I don't want to put you out. Honestly, I would be okay at home." She tried to find the balance between saving face and giving in; trying not to put up too much of a fight. She didn't want them to see how scared she was, but desperately didn't want to have to go back to her apartment alone. Her whole life, she had put up a brave front. Maybe it was time to let it down, to let someone else see the hurt, the terror the attack had caused. It was infuriating; the violation was bad enough, but the loss of her emotional strength was what she would mourn. "So, it's settled." Mulder said as he breathed a sight of relief. "I'll go over to your place and pick up anything that you might need. Is there anything in particular?" He stood to leave before anyone could change their minds. Kate looked hesitant. "Just the usual stuff, thanks," she said slowly. Scully glanced at her face. "I think I'll go with you. Kate needs to rest." Kate's relief showed as her face relaxed, the worry lines easing as it did. "Scully, one of us should stay with her." "Mulder, she's a grown girl. There are nurses all over the area. She needs some time to think, I'm sure. And I know I wouldn't want you picking *my* wardrobe for me!" Kate stifled a snort as Mulder leered at Scully. "Trust me - I wouldn't let my daughter wear what I'd pick for you!" "Shut up, Mulder." Scully pulled her cellphone from her pocket and handed it to Kate. "If you need us, just call. You can dial Mulder's cellphone by pressing the autodial button and then 1." "I'm on autodial?" Mulder asked. "I'm flattered." She ignored him and leaned over Kate. "You're sure you'll be fine?" "I will, Dana, honest. Like you said, there's a ton of people here if I get scared." Scully smiled at her and, brushing a strand of hair off her face, kissed her on the forehead. "We'll be back soon, I promise." "Take your time," Kate offered. "I'm not going anywhere." Mulder bent as well, kissing her on the top of the head. "I should hope not." Kate watched the pair leave the room, Mulder guiding Scully with his fingertips in the small of her back. She had noticed how often her father did that. It was almost like he was making sure Dana was still there. He glanced back over his shoulder at her. Making sure she was still there? "Be good." Kate laughed as she lay back on the pillow. As her laughter died down though, it threatened to turn to tears. What had she done to deserve these two? It was almost as if they were a real family - with a mom, a dad and a kid. She had thought she was going to lose it when they both kissed her before leaving. I don't deserve them. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Kate's apartment "We've got to get her out of here permanently." Mulder said as he studied the garbage strewn street below the window. Scully, sorting through Kate's clothing, putting together enough clothes to carry her through a week at least, glanced up at him with an air of amused frustration. "Well, if you can tell me how to break through that Mulder stubborn gene, I' ll gladly listen," she said as she debated between pairs of socks. "In the meantime," she tossed a small zippered bag at him, "why don't you go get her toothbrush." Mulder caught the bag easily, "smart ass." Scully opened the closet doors. This part, at least, was easy; Kate didn't have more than 3 or 4 work outfits. Might as well bring them all. As she laid the clothes on the bed, a movement outside caught her eye. Peering through the grime, she noted only a car pulling away from the curb. A prickle ran down her neck and she shrugged it away. Nothing unusual about a car leaving an apartment building. She was still staring after the car when Mulder came in holding a razor. "Think she needs thi... What's wrong?" "Nothing." Scully replied automatically, "What kind of car does Agent Holeman drive?" "I don't know, why?" "I thought I saw him pull away a minute ago." "What would he be doing here?" "I don't know." The tone of her words echoed his, "but I'm glad Kate's not going to be here for a while." Brushing the niggling worry away, she turned back to her task and spotted the razor in Mulder's hand. "Yes, she needs the razor." Mulder's mind was elsewhere as he answered. "Thanks." He wandered back to the bathroom with the razor. Scully packed the rest of the suitcase in silence, debating whether or not to call human resources about Agent Holeman. The records they kept often included the make and model of vehicle an agent drove. She latched the suitcase firmly and turned toward the door. "Mul.." "Scully" The pair almost collided in the doorway. "You first." Mulder offered. "I think we should check Agent Holeman's background." "I have Holly from human resources pulling his file. She's going to call us back." Scully smiled and pulled the toiletry case from Mulder's hand. "Great minds..." XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx "Thanks, Holly." Scully pressed the disconnect button and set Mulder's phone in her lap as he pulled away from the curb. "She'll have a copy of the file waiting for us at your office." "I'm not sure I can do this." "Do what?" "Be a father. What do I know about it?" "What does anyone know about parenting who hasn't been one, Mulder?" Scully paused. "You'll learn what you need to know. She's not a little girl and she doesn't need bringing up. What she needs is a friend." "I want to be whatever she needs." "I know." They were silent for a while, Mulder watching the road as it passed beneath the car, Scully's vision focused inwardly - memories of the girl she lost drifting by as did the street lamps outside the car. Flash, fade. Flash, fade. "Scully?" "hmmm?" "Are you okay with this?" Flash, fade. Flash, fade. "I need you on this. I can't do it without you." As a last image of Emily's coffin, filled with sand, faded, Scully turned away from the seductive urge to wallow in her grief, to let the sorrow flow around her as molten lava burning a path through her heart. "Well, I'm sure you could, Mulder, hundreds of thousands of people do. But you won't have to, I'll be fine." Mulder glanced at her. He thought a small tear had escaped on one cheek, but couldn't quite see. He picked her hand up off her lap, squeezing it as if he could pour into her the strength she had given him so many times. "I'll be fine," she repeated. End 2. From: "Toma" Kate woke the next morning to an empty hospital room, having finally convinced her father and his partner to and get some rest late the previous evening. As the first streaks of sunlight oozed through the pulled drapes, however, she was sorry she had. For the first time since the resurfacing of her memories, she was alone with her fear. Curling herself into the smallest ball she could manage, she began to shake as the pictures reeled over and over in her mind. She pulled the covers over her head in a subconscious effort to keep the visions at bay, cold sweat breaking on her back. Her foster father leaned over her bed, whispering, threatening, his hand over her mouth. The pressure of another hand on her thigh, a knife at her throat. The rough sandpaper of his stubble, the gravel in his voice. 'Tell anyone and I'll kill you' became 'I want to take it out in trade' as her foster father evolved into her attacker - round and round in circles, an unending cycle of horror. She began to whimper as it became too much to bear. < StopstopstopgoawaySTOPSTOPSTOP! > She was sure her mental scream of anguish could be heard for miles. Why did no one come? Her hands clenched spasmodically and she bit on her bottom lip so hard the taste of blood would have been plain if she were in the right mind to notice. "Stop, leave me alone, go away! Please, God, NO!" She cried, her words finally finding life in vocalization. The plea for help hit Mulder and Scully as they approached. Frantic, Mulder tried to push past Scully to the door, but she caught him by the belt. He glanced at her, furious, before realizing she had drawn her weapon and was waiting for him to draw his. If someone was in the room, caution would be better for all concerned. They cracked the door and pushed it open slowly, weapons at the fore. Kate was huddled, twisted among the sheets into a sweaty shaky ball in the middle of her bed. They could see the tears streaming down her face, her muddled words tumbling from her lips like a mantra. Assured there was no one else in the room, Scully holstered her gun, standing at the side of the bed. She looked at Mulder over the bed. The pain in his eyes was enough to make her look away. He sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Kate's back. "I should have been there." Scully forced her eyes back up to look at him, both understanding and frustration evident in the blue. Much as she wished she could take his pain away, she knew from long experience that nothing she could say would erase the guilt. She moved to stand next to him and he pulled her toward him, clutching her much as a child would a beloved stuffed animal. "It's not your fault." At her words, Kate's trembling eased a little as if, even in her panicked trance, she knew she would be protected. "Mulder?" He released her and straightened slightly, knowing instinctively that he, too, would be taken care of. "I think I should help her with this." Scully continued, "She might feel more comfortable talking to a woman." She didn't want to hurt him further, but knew there was truth to her words and hoped he understood. He nodded reluctantly and stood. "I'll be outside if either of you need me." She nodded and took a deep breath as she reached for Kate. She had seen this behavior before in her years of residency and it never failed to break her heart. The attack itself was terrifying for the victim, but the loss of control and fear that it instilled lasted far longer than the act of violence. Without help, most victims never fully got past it. "Kate? Kate, it's Dana." Her voice was low and mellifluous. "Kate, you need to open your eyes now. It's just a nightmare. Everything's going to be OK. Come on, open your eyes." Kate's world still reeled, flooded with images threatening to overtake her. Somewhere in the deeper recesses of her mind, she could hear a soft voice talking to her, a still small voice underneath the tumult. She didn't know if she still had the strength to reach out and find it. She grimaced, her face contorting with the force of the memories and the fight back to reality. She felt herself being rocked back and forth and the images began to fade somewhat. Scully rocked the girl, rubbing Kate's back as her own mother had done when she was a small child. Chantlike, her words continued. "It's going to be fine, Kate. Just open your eyes. You're alright now." Kate opened her lids to see ice blue irises staring intently into her own brown ones, turning to cling to Scully although not quite realizing who held her. She was still half way between her overwhelming past and the present which she desperately sought. As the shaking gradually stopped, Scully held Kate up to look at her face. "How are you feeling?" "I'm sorry, Dana." Kate mumbled, embarrassed, I'm all right, really." "Kate, sweetie, you are *not* all right. Would you like to talk about it?" "I really am okay," she replied but, trying to change the subject, she added, "When can I blow this popsicle stand?" "Not until you a) talk to me or b) agree to talk to someone else." Scully's voice held the tone that Kate had long since learned was not to be argued with. Oh God, Kate thought, she knew. She didn't want anyone to know. She didn't need their pity. She didn't *want* their pity. In order to placate Dana, she would have to agree to talk to someone, but she would deal with this on her own, as she always had. "I'll talk to someone." Scully was surprised and more than a little suspicious that she had agreed so readily. For now though, she would let it pass and deal with it once they got her settled in. "All right then, are you ready to get out of here?" "Oh, Hell, Yes!" The alacrity with which Kate climbed from the bed left no doubt of her anxiousness to be far from the hopsital. Scully handed Kate the bag that she and Mulder had put together and left her alone to change. When she went out into the hall, Mulder was seated on one of the benches out there. "How'd it go?" he asked her, sadness playing about his features. "She agreed to see someone. It's a start at least," she replied, "not that I believe for a minute she was serious, but I intend to hold her to the agreement." "Scully, I should have been there for her. None of this should have ever happened." There he goes again, Scully thought, feeding off his own guilt. It's almost as if he likes being unhappy. "Mulder, you didn't even *know* you had a daughter! How were you to know she was in foster care?" "I know, it's just... I just wish everything had happened differently." "You can't change the way things happened, Mulder. All you?" she paused and began her sentence again, "All we can do now is do the best we can to make this easier for her." Her choice of the word 'we' was not lost on Mulder and a small part of him rejoiced in it. "Thank you for being here for her, Scully, for being here for me. What would I do without you?" "Likely? Fall into a deep depression and go into terminal withdrawal," she said with a smile. He tried to give her the smile he knew the statement was meant to evoke, but she just didn't realize that that's exactly what would happen if he ever lost her. Hell, he had already done that once and knew that, if it ever came down to it, he wouldn't be able to pull himself out of it this time. The thought did give him something else to think about, Scully wasn't the only person to live for anymore. He had Kate now and she needed him. That thought was both a blessing and a hindrance and his mind began to whirl as Scully put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. "Mulder, I was just kidding." "I'm okay." He stood up suddenly, "Shall we get Kate out of this hole? I hate hospitals!" He made a goofy face, trying to diffuse the morose atmosphere he had created. Scully shook her head as they headed into Kate's room. "Mulder, you would think after all the time you've spent in hospitals this would feel like a second home!" End 3. From: "Toma" They spent the afternoon getting Kate settled into the guestroom and finding out the hard way that she was as bad a patient as Mulder. She refused to lay down and rest, becoming downright nasty when Scully tried to talk some sense into her. When she had finally gotten Kate to lay back on the bed and relax, she had fallen asleep almost immediately. Scully walked out into the living room shaking her head. "If there was ever any doubt in my mind that she was your daughter, it's now gone." At that Mulder couldn't help but laugh. "That bad, is she?" "Worse," Scully replied, plunking down onto her sofa with relief. Mulder grinned with some satisfaction, the smile fading, however, as Katelyn 's situation came to mind. Maybe this girl didn't need a father, but... "Scully, she needs someone." Scully lifted her head from the back of the sofa to look at him. "Yes, Mulder, she does." "Where do I start?" "Start?" "Being a father." "Why don't you start with being a friend and let the other develop on its own." Scully advised. Mulder sat forward, elbows on his knees, fingers steepled as he thought. "First, we need to find someone for her to talk to if she's not comfortable talking to us. Second, we need to deal with Holeman." "Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that to her, Mulder, or it won't happen." Mulder went on as if he hadn't hear her. "I can't believe the guy is filing a complaint. I know I wouldn't want to make public record out of being beaten up by a woman, especially in our job." "But he has." Scully tried to draw Mulder back to the point. "You'll be okay since he was man handling Kate. Playing the boy hero has always been respected in the Bureau." "Scully," Mulder said with mock surprise, "do I detect a hint of anti-paternalism in those dulcet tones?" Had the look she shot him been sound, it would have shattered glass. He stuck his tongue out in return and she continued "The question is whether we can use that paternalism to Kate's advantage and play down the fact that she struck a superior." She paused for a minute to think. "But why is Skinner handling it? I wouldn't think he would be the one to have to deal with it." Scully trailed off lost in thought. "I think Skinner is only handling the complaint against me. He wants to see her only as it relates to my behaviour. I'm hoping I can appeal to him to speak to whoever *is* dealing with Holeman's complaint against Kate." "Well, whatever the outcome, Mulder, we need to get her to talk to someone." Mulder rummaged through the pockets of his jacket, finally withdrawing a battered address book. Based on his own experience, he knew someone that could help, someone he was sure would be right for his daughter. "Who?" Scully asked as he leaned for the phone. "You wouldn't know him." "Mulder, are you sure this is a good idea for *her*?" She asked as he picked up the phone. He held a hand up to stay her words, surprised to hear voices as he put the phone to his ear. "Yes, Sir, I'm sorry to have bothered you on the weekend but I'm glad you were in the office. I just wanted to explain what happened." Kate's tone exhibited a confidence that Mulder himself never felt when he addressed the AD and he set the phone down slowly, easing it into its cradle before lowering his hand. "Could you hear that?" he asked. Scully shook her head. "She called Skinner on her own." "I told you she was a grown woman." Scully looked past him to the door to the guestroom. As he followed her gaze, he saw Kate come into the room. "Kate, what did you think you were doing? I can handle this." "So nice to know a person can have a private phone conversation around here." Kate's sarcasm bit the air and Scully could see Mulder girding for battle. Intervening before he could fully inflate, she stood up and moved between them. "Mulder, sit down. Kate, please sit." Obligingly, they both sat. Kate forestalled Mulder's objections with her explanation, her words coming out in a torrent. "I know what you're going to say, Mulder, but it *was* my fault. I just wanted to make sure Assistant Director Skinner knew that. I explained everything to him and he understood. He said that Holeman is known for his temper and he's going to talk to my boss in personnel to get all of this straightened out and you're not going to be in any trouble." Her explanation finished, she flopped back on the couch. "That's great," Scully said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder and watching Mulder's face. He sat very silent and motionless. He had wanted to do this for her, wanted to help her, be a father to her but she had done it on her own. As awful and self-absorbed as it sounded, he was disappointed. "Isn't it, Mulder," Scully asked, reaching a mental hand to pull him from his thoughts. "Huh?" He tried to smile as he looked at the two women in front of him, as dear to him as anything could be, "Yeah, it's great." Kate looked a bit confused at the vagueness in his tone and Scully hastened to cover for him. "Don't mind him, he's exhausted. Mulder, you're exhausted. Go home." He started to protest, but Scully was pushing him off the chair. "We'll be fine." Kate joined in, "I'm really tired so all I'm going to do is rest for anyway, there's no need for you to stick around." As she continued, she looked to Scully, hoping her next question would be appropriate. "But why don't you come and have lunch with us tomorrow?" Scully slightly nodded her assent. She knew that Kate was feeling slightly uncomfortable staying under someone else's roof and she wanted to assure her that, for now at least, this was as much Kate's place as it was hers. Mulder looked disappointed but he agreed. Scully followed him to the door. "I'm just going to walk him out to the car, Kate; I'll be right back." As the door closed behind them, the pair headed down the hall in silence. Mulder studied his partner as she walked. How had she been able to handle this? To have a child drop into your life? To have to reroute your entire wellworn existence? The face before his eyes was fresh, her color good, eyes and hair shining. Remembering the haggard expression that had greeted him upon his arrival in California, his thoughts grew momentarily darker; perhaps it had affected her more than he was recollecting. "I wanted to do that for her." His words were so quiet that they barely escaped his lips, yet somehow they reached Scully's ears. "I know." She said, reaching for his hand. He allowed her to take it, the gentle pressure of her hold giving him some much needed grace. "Sometimes, you just have to let go." He turned to face her, the disappointment still written on his face. "She doesn't need me." Scully's smile twisted one side of her mouth up wryly. "She does, Mulder, she just doesn't know it. And you don't know in what manner she needs you yet either nor how much you need her." He pulled this woman, this understanding, beautiful, compassionate, loving woman, to him, holding her as close as he dared. He was gratified that her arms went around his waist and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "It'll be ok, G-man, don't worry about it. Now go home and go to bed." He reluctantly pulled away. "Is that an offer?" his voice reflecting the leer on his face. She laughed, "you wish - go!" He leered at her again for good measure before leaving, thinking as he did that he did indeed wish! XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Kate was feeling much better than anyone would give her credit for: Dana was beginning to annoy her with the constant questions concerning her health and her father had called at least four times since leaving yesterday. She knew they was only trying to take care of her, but she was so used to doing things on her own that it bothered her. With effort she managed to keep answering the questions politely, biding her time until 12:35. With Mulder due at 1, that would give her time to plant her request, a sure way to get Dana out of the house, and still give her enough time to get things together. "Dana," she called. As Scully appeared at the doorway, she went on. "Would you mind running to grab a few things for me?" She really didn't need anything, but faked a list to serve her purpose. "What do you need?" Scully's voice floated around the corner as she tried to located her purse. "I made a list; it's there on the table." "This could take a little while," Scully said as she glanced over the lengthy list. "Do you really need all this stuff? You know sandwiches would do just fine." "Dana, this is my way of saying thank you to both of you; let me do this, please?" "All right, I'll be back in 45 minutes or so," She headed towards the door, not noticing the mischievous twinkle in Kate's eye. Kate moved quickly, only 25 minutes, well, 20 minutes by now.. She had found everything she needed and it was at hand, but she still had to set it up and get out before Mulder arrived and Dana got back. Brushing the wisps of hair from her face, she sighed and stood back to review her work. Before she grabbed her coat, she carefully placed two letters in the middle of the table where she was sure they would not be missed. She crossed her fingers, letting her eyes travel over the elegant table once more, and headed for the door. End 4. From: "Toma" Mulder knocked on the door and waited, thinking about the 'daughter thing' yet again. There was no answer. He knocked once more, becoming concerned, and he pulled his key ring from his coat pocket. Finding the right key, he unlocked the door and entered Scully's apartment. What he saw worried and confused him. The apartment appeared to be completely deserted, yet fragrant aromas wafted from the kitchen. He stepped in a bit further, but didn't have any more time to think as he heard someone distinctly say "shit" directly behind him. He looked to see Scully loaded down with bags and came to her aid. "Whoa! What's all this?" he asked as he rescued some lettuce from toppling to the floor. "Kate sent me to the supermarket for lunch ingredients." She sighed as she dropped the bags on the floor. "And where is the poster child for teenager independence?" he asked. "She's not here? Where is she?" Scully's concern grew in leaps and bounds as she flicked on the light switch. As the light filled the room, the realization she had been set up began to dawn on her and a blush grew fast and steady on her cheeks. She looked down at the bags on the floor then up at her partner. "I think I need to amend what all this is," she said motioning to the bags. "This, I think, was a distraction." She saw the light come on in Mulder's eyes as he spoke. "A distraction, I see. Well, let's find out *why* she needed a distraction, shall we?" "I hesitate to ask." Scully said uncomfortably, "I think we've been set up." As they fully entered the kitching/dining area, the full extent to which they had been set up hit hard. Motionless, they stood silently, scrambling to formulate words to cover up the awkward moment. Mulder reached for the envelopes on the table, reading their names and silently handing Scully hers. He leaned against the kitchen counter as he pulled the flap loose, intrigued with the situation in which he found himself. Scully made her way to the couch to get more comfortable, hoping that, if the letter contained what she feared it did, Mulder wouldn't be able to see her face without effort. As she read the first few sentences of the letter, she realized her fears were justified and felt the butterflies in the pit of her stomach grow in size and velocity, frantically beating their phantom wings in time with her heartbeat. Dear Dana, Please don't be angry with me for doing this. I've been watching this for almost two months now and I wish you two would take the blinders off and really look at one another. If you could only see what I see... You and my father (God, it feels weird writing that!) have something special and it deserves to be looked at and acknowledged, not stored away and wasted. I know you are sitting there right now trying to think of every possible reason not to let this happen. Please, for your sake and for Mulder's, don't find a reason. Just let today happen. And I'll warn you I won't stop until you at least try - so you might as well get it over and try now! Trust is a big thing between you and Mulder, so I know I'm asking a lot when I say this but please trust me, if in nothing else, this. Love, Kate Scully glanced surreptiously at Mulder, hoping to avoid his glance but determine his reaction at the same time. Dear Mulder/Dad, I know I haven't known you long but in that time I've made an effort to get to know you well and I think I've done a pretty good job. You're chicken. You see the way Dana feels about you and you feel the same but it scares the hell out of you. So quit it with the coward business and tell her! You guys are so good for one another. I can only pray in my wildest dreams that I can someday find what you have, but you know what? I probably never will and here you two are having it all lying at your feet and ignoring it! How can you do that? It's unfair to anyone who has ever longed for someone special. I'm sorry if I'm being a jerk and I hope you won't be mad at me too long, but you needed it. Take this afternoon to tell and show her how much she means to you. Sure she's your partner and strong and brave, yada yada yada, but she's not a mind reader and she's very insecure when it comes to guys. Trust me on this one - takes a woman to know. Love, Kate. The room was silent for a long period, the words Kate had written echoing as if spoken aloud. "She's a smart kid you know," Mulder said, clearing his throat. "Must get it from her mother's side," Scully replied half heartedly, unwilling to meet his glance. She wanted desperately to know what Kate had written to Mulder; she figured she knew already but was afraid to ask. Instead, she stood up, walking to the table. "She really did go to a lot of trouble, Mulder, we should at least sit down and eat," she said, praying he wouldn't leave her. It would be her undoing. If he were to leave after Kate ruthlessly brought up everything they had been hiding from each other for years, it would tell her all she was so afraid to know. She held her breath waiting for a response. "Wouldn't want to waste the food," Mulder replied, grateful that she hadn't dismissed him summarily, "starving children in Africa and all that." She inhaled deeply with relief and proceeded to the kitchen, plates in hand, to find out what smelled so good. Kate had left everything well organized and lunch was quickly served. She set the plates down on the table and looked around to find Mulder. Before her eyes could make a full circle around the room, she felt his arms encircling her waist from behind and his chin resting on top of her head. "She's absolutely 100% right you know. She's so right, it's almost 'spooky'. Think she gets it from me?" he asked with a smile she couldn't see. Even with all the tension the last half-hour had caused, she couldn't help but laugh. "Who else?" "Was she right about you?" Mulder asked, a sudden caution creeping into his voice. Scully knew he meant more than what he asked, toying with the idea of snide answer, but she nodded anyway. Kate had been so right indeed: what they had did deserve to be explored and cherished, not locked away like some dark dirty secret. As he nuzzled the top of her head, Scully turned in the circle of his arms to face him. She looked deep into the warm depth of the eyes that had become so familiar to her, looking for the answers she knew she'd find there. She raised her arms to clasp her hands behind his neck and just stood searching for the words that unfortunately at that moment were not forthcoming. What could she say to give voice to the feelings she had so long held in check, feelings that ran so deep she feared if she let them out that they would drown her? Mulder took in her silence and decided that he would have to dive into this conversation if they wanted to get anywhere, only to find he was having the same problem. How *do* you put into words feelings that seem to defy that very thing? Realizing words were inadequate, so he did the next best thing. He leaned down to kiss her. Inching forward, eyes dropping heavily, slowly he closed the distance between them. Scully was taken aback for a moment as she watched his face descend to hers. Could it really be happening? Could she allow it to happen? Should she? All thoughts suddenly left her as she felt the exquisite pressure of his lips on hers. This moment had been featured in her late night fantasies for years and, as the kiss became more demanding, she realized that even her fantasies didn't hold a candle to the real thing. Why, why, why had they waited so long? The urgency in his kiss was rapidly increasing, as if he was unable to control the emotional release so long restricted. His hands travelled from their accustomed place in small of her back to her neck, running over every curve and plane along the way. Scully sighed gently as he grasped her head, tangling his fingers in the shinning copper of her hair, holding her more firmly against him. She let her movements echo his, caressing, fingering and tousling the hair at the edge of his scalp. She felt the tip of his tongue sweep along her lower lip, causing her to part her mouth gently and accept what he was offering, and she moaned quietly at the pleasure it sent throughout her body. Her moan made his heart soar and all the blood in his body rush south from his brain. Coherent thought had long since left him and animal instinct had taken over. Frantically, they continued the dance that they thought they had started so long ago but realized had only just begun. They broke apart reluctantly, as they realized that, in order to continue, they needed to live and, to live, they needed to breathe. "Mulder, you do realize what this means, don't you?" Scully's words tripped lazily out of their embrace. She could still feel their hearts pounding, not to mention the swell somewhat lower on Mulder's body. Kate would be back shortly, she was sure, and they needed to take a step back. "What's that," he asked, half-expecting a heartfelt declaration. "You have an absolute genius on your hands," she said with a snicker, breaking any tension that might have been remaining. "But of course," he said laughing, "Just look who her father is..." "You do know how much you mean to me, don't you," he asked as they moved toward the table, still hoping for the declaration he needed to hear. "I know you care about me, Mulder, and, it would seem, you are attracted to me, but other than that..." He sighed, playing with the fork alongside his plate. "Scully, I have loved you for so long I've forgotten what it's like *not* to love you." He said it so softly she had to strain to hear him. As much as she had longed to hear the words, she couldn't release her own defenses to reciprocate. Her hand stretched to his arm, trying to let her actions say what she could not seem to verbalize. Her hands slid along his chest, the smooth cotton of his shirt gliding under her fingertips, as she trailed kisses up from his collar to his jaw line. Mulder stood absolutely still, allowing, rejoicing in, the emotional expression she sought. It was one of the hardest things he had ever done, remaining still while she seemed to devour him whole. As her lips met his, finally whispering the words she dared not say aloud, his will broke and a muffled growl escaped him. The last six years of dark and lonely nights haunted by fantasies as tantalizing as they were forbidden faded as their bodies pressed so tightly together that he could feel every curve of her flesh against his and began to forget where one ended and the other began. Scully reveled in the overwhelming sensation as long as she dared before pulling away, breathless. "We need to slow down." "You don't think 6 years is slow enough, Scully?" The disappointment in his voice was muffled by her hair. "I just..." She struggled to gain control of her breathing, "I just need some time to absorb everything and Kate will be back shortly." He nodded; he did understand, really. It was just his body that was having a hell of a time making sense of what she was saying. Reluctantly, he began to release her as a soft knock came at the door. "We're decent," Mulder called with a chuckle. He had no doubt in his mind that the tentative knock at the door belonged to Kate, though how Scully knew that was yet to be determined.. "Hi guys, I really didn't want to come back so soon," Kate said as she closed the door behind her, "but I got a little freaked out at my place." Her voice was quiet, but her eyes sparkled as she noted the fact that her father and his partner were still in each other's arms. At her words, the embrace broke off as each of her self-styled protectors approached her. "What's happened? Are you OK?," Mulder asked, glancing sidelong at Scully. Scully nodded slightly - she noted no new physical injury as she looked Kate over. "No, Mulder, nothing happened, just my imagination running away with me. I'm sorry I interrupted." Kate sounded somewhat sheepish. "You didn't interrupt, Kate. Really, we were just... talking." As Scully finished, a slight blush reddened her cheeks. "Ohh, talking... I see." Kate was chuckling, eyebrow raised in her best Scully imitation. "If that's what talking looks like, kissing must be truly impressive!" "That it was." Mulder piped up, unwilling to hide the evolving relationship from Kate. Scully's eyes widened in shock. He looked at her in questioning innocence, "What, it wasn't impressive for you, Scully?" "I... I mean... Well... Shut up, Mulder. Lunch is getting cold." The slight reddening of her cheeks had deepened to crimson. Kate put a hand to one of the plates. "I'd say lunch has gotten cold. No great loss - I hadn't a clue what I was doing." "Oh," Scully said drily, "I'd say you knew exactly what you were doing." She headed for the kitchen with the congealed food. "Sandwiches?" "Actually," Mulder knew an opening when he saw one. "How about I take my two favorite ladies out to dinner?" "Mulder..." "Scully..." he mimicked. "What if somebody sees us?" "Just an agent and his partner, taking his daughter out to dinner. No big deal." He headed for the door. "Wear something nice." His words were nearly cut off as he pulled the door closed behind him. End 5. From: "Toma" Mulder hadn't reneged on his promise of a nice restaurant, although they had only gotten a table through a cancelled reservation. The Place was considered one of the more elegant in the area and took its reputation seriously. A deep red carpet graced the floor, accented by the softly draped cream tablecloths. Freshly cut peace roses were clustered about the tapers that stood in the center of each table and the gentle sound of chamber music floated throughout the room. Kate couldn't remember the last time things had worked out so well. She was here with her father; her father was with the woman of his dreams, literally; and life was good. If just for this evening, she was trying to put aside her paranoia. It wasn't easy; ever since the banquet, she had the feeling someone was watching her. Her mother had mentioned on more than one occasion that she may have some sort of special gift; Kate had refused to think about it - too spooky. Lately though, she just couldn't keep ignoring the feelings that threatened to overwhelm her, and she had known right from the start what was happening between the two agents. Was that the kind of thing her mother was talking about or was that just obvious to anyone other than Mulder and Scully? Resolutely, she pushed her musings and misgivings to the back of her mind and picked up her menu. Dinner proceeded smoothly, course by course, closing with a chocolate trifle that Scully had protested. Eating dessert was bad enough, but trifle - the calorie count - ouch! Kate and Mulder refused to be deterred - it had fruit in it after all, it must be healthy. When Mulder had swiped the last strawberry from the bowl, he called for the check and they all trailed their way to the car. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx They were about 6 blocks away from Scully's apartment when Mulder took an unscheduled sharp left turn. Scully glanced at Mulder, not wanting to alarm Kate. "I hope I'm wrong, Scully, but I think we've got a tail. We'll keep going this way for a while and see what happens." Mulder's voice was low. "Trying to sneak in under my radar, Mulder?" Kate's voice held a semblance of a laugh, as she tried to push her fear away. Scully glanced in the side mirror as Kate began to turn in her seat, evidently to look out the rear window. "Kate," Scully said quickly, "No." Kate stopped mid turn and tried to pretend she was just fidgeting. Scully's voice was more gentle as she continued, "No point in advertising that we know he's there." She had located the car in the mirror. "Grey newer model Taurus?" Mulder simply nodded, quickening the pace slightly. The parade of guilt was forming again in his mind. It was bad enough having Scully in constant danger, he didn't want this kind of thing to affect Kate too. He sighed, knowing there was really no way around it. It seemed to be a simple fact that trouble followed him and, if he wanted Kate in his life, he would just have to do everything in his power to keep her safe. But as long she wanted to stay, he wanted her there. He would not leave her alone again. Hopefully, between him and Scully, it would be enough. His thoughts were interrupted by Kate's seemingly small voice. "Mulder, can we just go back to Dana's? If I've got this figured out right, he already knows where I'm staying and I need to talk to you both." Scully looked back to the girl; Kate was trying so hard to hide her fear. Scully for a moment recognized herself in the expression on Kate's face - a stubborn denial of weakness, of fear. Was it possible that Mulder had passed down his homing device for trouble onto his daughter? Kate certainly didn't need any more drama in her life; she'd had more of her fair share already, as had they all. As Scully studied Kate, she reflected on just what Kate might know. Could there be something from the attack that she was only now recollecting or could she have gleaned enough about their work to raise her suspicions. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx As Scully hung Kate's coat, Mulder wandered over to the window. Searching for the grey Taurus that had followed them for several miles, he didn't see it anywhere. "He's gone," Kate said quietly, as she watched her father's actions. He and Scully turned to face her - interest on his face, questions on hers. "How do you know?" Scully asked, as she turned back to the coat rack to hang hers as well. "I don't know... I just do." Kate perched on the edge of the armchair, her hands twisting nervously in her lap. "Could you both just sit down? This is a little hard for me." As they sat down on the couch, Mulder glanced first at his daughter and then at his partner. Whatever it was Kate was about to impart, it definitely sounded like something Scully would have a hard time with. He hoped she would be gentle in her disbelief. Kate's voice shook slightly as she began. "Ever since I was little, Mom always told me that I had something special, like ESP. Of course I never believed her, I was the way I was - weren't all people like that? I didn't know any different. She tried to explain why she thought so. Just little things, she said, like how she could sometimes hear me talking to her when I was in trouble, how I used to just know when something wasn't right with her. I was the one that insisted she go to the hospital when she got sick even though she said there was nothing wrong." She paused, tilting her head backward, waiting for the tears growing behind her eyes to dissipate. "But anyhow, I always thought that, even if this wasn't normal, she was blowing things out of proportion, until recently that is." Mulder was relieved to see Scully's face still open, although he could tell she was internally questioning what she had heard. "What happened recently to change your thoughts?" Mulder asked, the investigator's voice finding its way to the surface. "A couple of days after the banquet," Kate hesitated, it just sounded so out there, "I... I started to feel something I couldn't shake off. It send cold chills right through me so much so that I couldn't ignore them any more. I haven't ever had it that bad before. It's not constant," she added as an afterthought, "Happens on and off. When you said someone was following us, I realized that's what it is. Tonight in the car the feeling was stronger than it has ever been" "It sounds like some sort of defensive power, Kate," Mulder said seriously. Scully looked at him, eyebrow raised, then glanced at Kate to see that she, too, was having trouble going that far. "Hear me out," he went on, noting their skeptical expressions, "You knew when your mother became ill; you can reach out mentally to people when you' re in trouble (I can personally attest to that one), and this current situation is just further evidence. Either someone is after you or your powers extend to include people you are close to, mainly me and Scully." "Mulder, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?" Scully asked Mulder quietly. Kate protested, "Dana, please, I'm a big girl. I can handle what you have to say." Scully could see the plea in Mulder's eyes to be kind. Did he think she would be otherwise? Her voice was quiet, sympathetic. "Kate, you've been through a lot over the last few weeks. You're still exhausted and in shock from the attack. These kinds of feelings are typical for trauma victims." "I know, but I really don't think that's what it is. I wish I could explain the feeling, it's like... like a million bugs crawling under my skin. Almost as if fear itself were buried just below the surface. It's telling me I need to be afraid and, trust me, it succeeds, whatever it is." She trailed off. She knew Mulder believed her, but she didn't think she could handle the vibes she was getting from Dana. To her credit, Scully was doing her best to appear neutral, but Kate could feel the disbelief radiating from her. Not that Kate blamed her, it did sound unreal, freaky. Agent Holeman' s words came back to her - He's a freak! She cringed, and looked down to the carpet. She started slightly as Scully's arms went around her. "Kate, I know you're worried about what I'm thinking. Don't." Scully stroked the head before her gently, feeling somewhat oddly compelled to ease the burden. "Whether your feelings are actual or a result of the stress doesn't matter. Either way, they need to be addressed." Kate let her arms go around Scully's waist, letting Scully's stability ease her mind. Mulder studied the pair, struck by the memory of a similar moment in their basement office. Seated in his chair, he had clutched Scully about the waist, leaning his head against her belly. He remembered the gentleness of her hand resting on his head. Despite his distress at the time, he had drawn so much from that simple gesture, felt safe, sheltered for a brief moment amidst the tumult. Now, he supposed he should be surprised that his normally reserved partner should be this open. She would be such a good mother. It was the ultimate irony that she who could not bear children should be so good with them. He could hear Kate begin to cry as he stood up. Kate let the tears slide from her eyes, finally feeling safe enough to release the emotions she'd held in check for so many years. Over and over, Scully's hand smoothed her hair rhythmically. Kate held her tightly, irrationally fearing if she let her go, Scully would disappear from her life as her mother had. Scully stood still as the tears became sobs, racking the body that produced them in great heaves. Her hand continued on its path. She turned her head as Mulder got up. She knew he had been watching them; now, she met his gaze. The sorrow and anger in his eyes mirrored her own, she supposed. She couldn't place the other emotion that crossed his face as he approached. Wistfulness maybe? He put a hand on Kate's back and dropped to crouch next to her. He was so focused on Kate's face that he started, as Kate had, at Scully's hand on his shoulder. As Kate's tears started to slow, her words became more distinct - a phrase chanted almost as a mantra. "Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me." "Hush, Kate, we're right here. Hush." Scully's voice was as quiet and gentle as her hand, surprising herself with her words. "We're not going to leave you. You belong here" She glanced down at Mulder, noting the pain in his face. "You too." She said to him, running her hand over his unruly hair as well. At the movement, Kate registered Mulder's presence for the first time, reaching to pull him to her as well. "Don't leave me." "We're not going anywhere, Katiekins. You are ours." Scully raised an eyebrow slightly at both his words and the vehemence with which they were spoken. "Promise me." Kate's voice held all the shaky fervour of her youth. "Oh Kate," Scully started, "How..." "Promise me you won't leave me." Kate insisted, "Even if you leave each other." Mulder looked up at Scully. Kate had, unwittingly, struck what was probably his deepest fear - that somehow, some time, Scully would eventually leave. On the face he studied, he could read only a deep sorrow. Scully pulled her arms from around the pair and, frightened of what he knew to be ahead, he pulled away from Scully slightly. Scully glanced at him quizzically as she crouched down next to him, replacing her arm around his shoulders and tilting Kate's face to meet her own. "Kate," she began. Both Kate and Mulder cringed and her patience hit its limit. "Oh, for God's sake, you two - I'm not going anywhere. Not now. Not anytime. Mulder, you, of all people, should know that. I don't know what life holds for us and you know darn well that death comes for everyone. But I will not willingly leave you nor will I leave Kate." The silence that followed was almost palpably filled with an odd mix of serenity and annoyance. "Now," Scully tightened her grip on the two of them briefly, "can we get on with this investigation?" End 6. From: "Toma" Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 10:07:59 -0400 Subject: xfc: NEW: Katelyn 2- The Return of Trouble 7/? Source: xfc From: "Toma" From the kitchen, Scully could see Kate curled up on the sofa, watching television, looking almost more at home in the apartment than she herself did. She could hear Mulder in the bathroom. He had insisted on staying with them, against their joint protestations, until the situation was resolved. Scully's eyes slid over the counter to the pile of sunflower seed hulls at the other end and she frowned. Sweeping the hulls into her hand, she headed for the bathroom. He opened the door at her knock. Attempting to ignoring his attire, or lack thereof, Scully took his hand and dropped the hulls into it. "House Rules: (1) you pick up after yourself, (2) sunflower seeds are not a major food group, and (3) the VCR will explode upon contact with any inappropriate movies." She turned toward the bedroom. "Guess that means that Mr. Bean is out of the question, huh?" He said as he followed her down the hallway. Scully looked back over her shoulder, "I said 'inappropriate', not 'hopelessly idiotic', Mulder. Mr. Bean is fine. Debbie is not." She disappeared around through the bedroom door. When he reached the bedroom door, he saw her peering down at the street and moved behind her to see. They stared down at the grey sedan at the curb. "I'll be right back." Mulder's words hadn't finished echoing through the room before he was out the door. Her response died on her lips as she realized he was no longer there to hear it. Sighing, she checked the bedroom window locks and headed out to do the same in the rest of the apartment, almost colliding with Kate in the bedroom doorway. "He's here, isn't he?" She tried to push past Scully to the window. "There is a grey Ford at the curb, yes." Scully held her by the shoulders. "How did you know?" "I told you - my skin crawls." She tried again to break from Scully's grip. "Let me look." "Kate, if someone is following you, or us, with the intent to cause harm, the last thing you want to do is go to the window and give them a clear sightline." Kate reluctantly relaxed in Scully's grasp. "I guess you're right." "Of course, I'm right - What do you think they teach us at Quantico anyway?" She glanced at Kate's facing, noting the telltales signs of a smartass answer coming to the surface, "Don't answer that." She heard the apartment door close and Mulder appeared in the doorway. "He's gone." "Who was it?" Kate asked, at once eager and reluctant to know. Mulder shook his head. "I couldn't tell. He took off when he saw me come out the door. Scully, are you ok?" He was watching Scully rub her neck. "I'm fine. It's just a prickle." "Let me look at it," Mulder's tone was firm and he crossed the room in two strides. Kate looked from one to the other. "Here's where I bow out - I'll be in the living room if anyone needs me." She closed the door behind her. The pair marginally noted her departure and the door latching into place. "Really, Mulder, I'm fine. Just someone walking over my grave, as my grandmother would say." Mulder reached a hand to lift the hair at the base of her scalp. He could see the tiny fine hairs on her neck stubbornly standing on end and pressed his hand over them, letting the copper strands of hair fall over the top. His hand covered her entire neck and he pulled her toward him until he could feel the warmth radiating from her. "You know," he said, "you had a similar reaction last time we thought Holeman was outside." "Are you saying the thought of Agent Holeman gives me the creeps?" Scully replied, craning her neck to look at him, eyebrow raised. He paused, knowing this wasn't something she was going to swallow easily. "No, I think it *is* Holeman. I think there's something about the situation that is more dangerous than it appears and that your body is telling you that." Scully pulled away slightly, "Mulder..." "Scully, there are innumerable creatures in the world for whom danger causes the hackles to rise." "Yes," she protested, "but such a reaction can result from many things, pherome levels for example. It is not precognitive." "We don't know for certain that this reaction is precognitive. You could be reacting to some sort of testosteronic hormone threat." "A *what*?" The eyebrow formed a perfect peak above the glinting azure. "Or something sort of emotional resonance." He added, noting the blush that was creeping up her face. "So if it's not pheromes, it's bad vibes? Mulder, even you have to admit how ludicrous that sounds." She pulled out of his grasp, too fully aware of the effect the argument and his body heat were having on her. He plopped down on her bed, studying her as she laid her clothes out for the following day. "It's a perfectly reasonable, albeit it pre-evolutionary, fight or flight response, Scully. Don't take it personally." "Just because I am not buying into your theory does not mean I'm taking this personally." "Are too." He said teasingly. Her voice held the frigidity that had earned her the title 'ice queen'. "Am not." Never one to be put off by a challenge, he stood up. "Are too." He had been her partner far too long to believe her title appropos. "Am. Not." She stood her ground despite his tall form towering over her. "Mulder, what are you doing?" He had effectively backed her into a corner, caging her with his arms. "I know how you hate to lose an argument. I'm just looking for some common ground." He leaned closer to her. "The term 'common ground' is a figurative term; it does *not* mean a literal sharing of the same small patch of.... Oooph." Her words were cut off as he lifted her off her feet, jarring the air out of her at the same time. "Breathe, Scully, breathe." The words came out raggedly as he forced himself to remember to breathe as well. "Mulder, I..." Her voice emerged, shaken and breathless, and, at that moment, she hated herself for revealing so much in those few syllables. Again, her sentence was doomed to remain unfinished as his lips claimed hers, searching for the question he could not speak, demanding the answer. The racing heartbeat he felt in the body he held pressed to his own gave at least part of the answer. "You what?" he said against her mouth. She, too, had felt the speeding pulse of blood, his and hers, and soon gave up formulating a rational answer, "Shut up, Mulder." She felt his lips curve beneath hers as he eased her to the floor. Once again on her feet, she tried again to pull away. "I'm not *trying* to kiss it away." He responded the look on her face, even if he hadn't heard her mental comment. "Just addressing the emotional underpinnings causing it. Even if you are having some sort of precognitive awareness of danger, Scully, it doesn't make you wierd. Nor does it mean my feelings for you are based in any inherent paranormal behaviour or occurrance." He bent toward her again. "Though it is distinctly extraordinary for your pulse to race this quickly," he said, mouth just brushing the artery that pulsed in her neck. "Since when are you familiar with my pulse rate?" She inquired, still trying to push the conversation back to a safe level. To her surprise, he took the question seriously. Straightening, he pulled her close, resting his chin on the top of her head; he wasn't sure he could face the eyes that looked so questioningly at him. "Do you have any idea how often I watch you - just counting the breaths, the heartbeats - making sure you're still with me? How often I glance when you're not looking just to make sure you're still alive?" She stiffened in his grasp, but didn't move to escape the embrace. He knew he must sound like a fanatic, but this once she was going to understand how much he feared losing her. "Scully, you... you are... I can't even express it." "Mulder, I've never seen you at a loss for words." The words were light, but the tone was more sober than she was aiming for. He went on as if he hadn't heard her, arms still tightly about her, taking strength in the fact that she had not moved away, that, indeed, she had relaxed somewhat against him. "I heard an actor once describe a character as his character's 'human credential'. You are my human credential. The fact that you stay says to the world that I'm not as bad as they think I am... says to *me* that I'm not as bad as I think I am. Your presence in my life, your *love* in my life has been the driving force the last six years. I would rather be trapped in a conglomeration of all the levels of hell in Dante's Inferno than to lose you again." As he spoke, he gradually became aware of the small hand stroking his back and his heart swelled with gratitude. What had he ever done to deserve this woman? He didn't care, as long as she was with him, but it would be interesting to know. As his words ceased, a silence fell over the room, a comfortable silence, not demanding of idle chatter - a silence which bespoke understanding and love and hope. He didn't know how long they stood there, wrapped in the blanket of compassion. He could feel the warmth of her body, the warmth of her heart seep through him, easing the tightly strung muscles and the fear. She could feel the fear almost as palpably as he could. Somewhere her psyche echoed the emotion. She had never allowed herself to seriously think she had lost him permanently. Even when he had been taken hostage, she knew that she would move heaven and earth until he was returned. Subconsciously, she supposed, she had protected herself from the anguish he seemed to revel in. She had never really allowed herself to believe, either, that he valued her as more than a partner. Slowly, the tight reins she kept on emotional expression loosened, finally allowing her to speak the words she hadn't even realized she longed to. "You can't let me be your human credential. You have to believe yourself that you are a worthy human being: worthy of the tasks that have been set for you, worthy of the tasks you have set yourself, worthy of being loved, Mulder. You are. Yes, you have flaws. We all do, but yours are no greater and no less than the usual. And I love you both in spite of and because of those flaws. I don't let myself think about losing you. I can't. I couldn't function effectively, either as a partner or a friend." She reached up to his face, tilting his head toward hers so she could see his eyes. "Or, at this point, as a lover. You have to let go of the fear." She raised herself toward him, his grasp moving from close to crushing as she pressed her lips to his forehead. She gently wiped away a tear that had escaped and was sliding down his cheek before kissing him again gently. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx "She will payshewillpayshewillpay," the man inside the grey Taurus repeated over and over. He had followed them back to Agent Scully's apartment waiting for the right opportunity to confront the girl. But the bitch hadn't left the sides of the two older agents the whole night. he thought to himself while he turned the car around and headed in the direction of his home. End 7. From: "Toma" The next morning Mulder woke early, finding himself in the unaccustomed position of being in a bed. He studied the sleeping form of his partner. The emotional release of the prior evening seemed to him a watershed event. While nothing explicit had changed, it would forever define their relationship with one another, having moved them off one path and onto a second. There would be another time to begin the physical exploration of this union, and it would be soon if he had any say in the matter, but for now he curled around her as she slept, wondering that she didn't awaken when he did yet grateful all the same to hold her this way. Scully had, in fact, woken, but only briefly enough to realize she was not alone and that it was her partner who curled about her as a mother cat around her kittens. She nestled against his arm, allowing him to draw her tightly in toward him, before sleep once again overcame her. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Kate and Scully sat at her kitchen table, coffee cups in hand. Mulder had left to meet the Gunmen on some surveillance work they were doing for him and they had both been able to shower, dress and still be ready early. Kate had refused to take some time off. After all she wouldn't be able to stay with Dana forever. She was determined to save her money and find a decent apartment close to work or maybe close to her father. "Kate, have you ever thought about going back to school?" Scully's voice was clearer than it usually was at this hour, Mulder having made a pot of particularly virulent coffee before he left. Kate sipped at hers, trying not to make a face. "I've thought about it. I finished high school early and was offered some scholarships, but finding Dad was more important to me. And now, well I kinda blew my chance." She sighed. Education was very important to her and someday she would find a way to get back to it whether or not she could afford it. She had to. "I wouldn't say you blew your chance, Kate. Right now you're at the age most would just be starting college. Have you looked into it at all?" "Even if I could get another scholarship, Dana, I can't afford not to work. Unfortunately, I need to eat." She sounded so frustrated with that basic necessity of life, Scully had to stifle a laugh before continuing. "We could help you with that, you know. I'd be more than happy to let you stay here while you went to school and Mulder, I'm sure, would be happy to donate sunflower seeds as far as food goes." Kate snickered. "I wouldn't be so sure about the sunflower seed thing. He guards those pretty carefully." Scully smiled, but refused to be distracted from the subject at hand. "Assuming you could go, what would you like to major in?" "Criminal Justice. I want to help put away the bad guys, pretty hokey, huh?" "From my perspective, putting the bad guys away isn't hokey." "But I can't accept the offer anyway, Dana. If I can't do this on my own, I won't do it at all." Scully studied the determined set of Kate's chin; If she was any judge, Kate was digging in for a fight. She wasn't really up to do battle with the strong-willed teen this early in the morning, but felt one point in particular had to be made before she could let the subject drop. "Look, Kate, I've been fighting for years to be taken seriously as a woman in a male sandbox, where to let someone do something for me, even Mulder, would be a sign of inherent weakness. I know what it feels like to be so fiercely independent and I'm not going to argue it with you. I just want you to be aware of how badly Mulder wants to help you and how much it hurts him when you won't let him. And," she continued, "like Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that." With that, Scully stood and rinsed the two coffee cups. As they headed toward the door, Kate froze. "Dana, he's here again." Scully looked at the now pale girl frozen in her tracks and pulled her gun from its holster, motioning for Kate to back against the wall. She may not believe in these powers but she also didn't think Kate was lying. She removed the safety and eased the door open. When she saw the hall was clear, she glanced over her shoulder to let Kate know everything was fine. As she turned her head, she caught a motion out of the corner of her eye, but couldn't raise her gun quickly enough to protect herself from the baseball bat descending on her head. Kate screamed from the doorway as Scully fell to the floor in a heap. In her shock, she didn't focus on the attacker before she, too, fell unconscious - victim of a drug-dampened rag clenched over her mouth. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx "Scully, Scully. Wake up." Mulder watched her chest rise and fall shallowly as he had so many other times, counting the breaths. "Scully?" She struggled to open her eyes. Remembering Kate, she began to sit up quickly, too quickly. She felt the room begin to spin and laid back down trying to stop the bile from rising to her throat. "Where's Kate? Is she ok?" She tried to put together the memory fragments into a comprehensive whole - trying to remember the events that led up to this massive headache. She put a hand to her head and winced. "Help me sit up, Mulder." Mulder slid his hands under her shoulders, easing her upright. "I don't know where Kate is, Scully. I've been calling all morning wondering where you were. When I couldn't reach you, I came over and found you lying here. I've already called Skinner. He's on his way over. Do you remember anything?" "Kate was frightened. She was sure someone was here, so I got her against the wall and checked the corridor. He must have been hiding somewhere, because I saw a movement as I turned toward Kate. I'm sorry, that's all I remember." As she straightened a little more, she rubbed her lower back, suddenly realizing she was missing her weapon. "What?" The look of violently suppressed panic would have been lost on anyone who didn't know her as well as Mulder did. "My weapon." The world spun but she managed to stand up. Hoping Mulder wouldn't notice, she closed her eyes trying to force the room to standstill. "He's got my weapon. We've got to get going." "Hold your horses, Speedy Gonzalez... You've got a nasty bump on your head and you need to go to the doctor." "I'm fine, Mulder." "Like Hell you're fine." "Just give me a minute, I *will* be fine and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit in a hospital room while your daughter is missing." "It's not your fault, Scully, and you nee..." "I need to find Kate." She swayed slightly as she spoke and Mulder stood quickly to brace her shoulders. "Agent Scully, Agent Mulder." The Assistant Director had carefully reviewed the scene he was presented with before making his presence known. If he had not known their relationship and had been asked to guess, he would have supposed they were married. "Situation report, but inside -before your neighbors begin to wonder." Ten minutes later, Skinner stood. "Okay, let's get to work." He was still a little stunned by the revelations, but was long skilled in putting aside his personal feelings to accomplish what needed to be done. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Katelyn woke to darkness. She blinked and nothing changed. Her eyes did their best to adjust to the room, but there was no escaping it. She tried to move or to cry out, but she couldn't do either. She assumed the biting feeling in her wrists was attributed to hard plastic ties; the kind that police sometimes used instead of handcuffs. Her feet seemed similarly bound. When she realized her mouth was thoroughly sealed with tape, she began to panic, desperately trying to draw a breath through the adhesive-backed plastic. She was scared, so scared. Her skin was crawling again, telling her that things were as bad, if not worse, than they appeared to be and it was making it very hard for her to think rationally. Fighting the panic, she managed to take a deep breath through her nose - inhaling and exhaling smoothly, trying to slow her pulse rate and calm her mind. Thinking back, she realized she had felt the same prickly warning the last time when she'd been attacked but not near as strong as it was now. That thought alone frightened her more than anything else; if the situation was any worse than the last attack, she would never survive it. A thought suddenly took her; she had called to her father last time, and he had heard her. Could she do it again? She supposed she had nothing to lose by trying; at this point, it was all she could do. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and tried to focus her thoughts. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx The conference table in AD Skinner's office overflowed with reports just delivered by the unit charged with federal background reviews. One small perk in working for the FBI, Mulder mused. He was finding it very difficult to maintain a professional approach to this case as he continued to read the background checks of Kate's foster parents. The last one she had been assigned to had recently been charged with child molestation. He closed with file with a slap; he had to move, not read files, and this would be his first stop. Both Scully and the AD looked at him questioningly as he stood, pulling his jacket from the chair. "I'm going .." He stopped mid sentence and Scully could see the color draining from his face. "Mulder?" Her voice held the concern she could not show in front of Skinner. "Mulder, what is it?" He leaned on the table, hanging his head for a moment as he tried to process what had just happened. "It was her, Scully. She was talking to me." "Who was talking to you, Mulder?" He continued as if he hadn't heard her. "She's not hurt, but she's scared. I can feel it. We have to find her. Soon. Before..." "Agent Scully, I need to talk to you." Skinner pulled Scully through the office door to the hallway. "Do you expect me to believe Miss Smith can communicate with Agent Mulder telepathically?" His voice was terse; reading a case report on some inexplicable phenomenon was one thing, but to witness such a phenomenon directly was an entirely different matter. "Do I need to remove him from this case?" "Mulder knew when she was attacked in the alley. He said she called to him." Her eyes turned back toward her partner, now pressing a hand to his temple. Skinner looked from one to the other. Hard pressed to say anything more on the matter, he re-entered the room. "Agent Mulder, this...'communication'... is it one way or can she hear you?" Skinner asked the dishevelled agent. Had Mulder not been so terrified for his daughter, he would have laughed at Skinner's expression. He studied Scully's face briefly, assuming that she must have assured Skinner that, even if she didn't know what was going on, it appeared to be genuine. He gave her a grateful glance before turnng back to the Assistant Director. "I don't know, Sir, I've never tried. I don't think it would work but I could try." He closed his eyes, trying to envision Kate's face before him. He waited a few minutes and, when there was no response, he looked up, shaking his head. Skinner sighed and reached for the papers that lined Mulder's desk. "You were about to say you had something, Mulder. What is it?" "Her last foster father was charged three months ago with child molestation." He paused looking to Scully to see if he should continue. She nodded, knowing that if they were going to find Kate everything had to be out in the open no matter how much she might hate them for it. She grimaced, recalling Kate's unwitting confession of the abuse while still in the hospital. She picked up the thread Mulder had dropped. "Sir, we have reason to believe that Kate was raped while in the foster care system." The AD's eyes were unreadable. He didn't know the girl very well. He had, in fact, only spoken with her the once and seen her around little more than that, but this news hit him harder than he would have thought. Some pieces fell into place as he remembered her eyes. It had struck him oddly the few times he had seen her that her eyes gave her such a soft, innocent look, but there was a hardness there when she took in a new person - clearly sizing them up trying to discern whether they were one of the good or bad guys. He took in a deep breath and raised his head to meet Mulder's eyes - strikingly similar to Kate's. He wondered that he hadn't seen the similarity before. "We'll find her, Mulder. I guaranty it." Brushing aside the emotional issues, he moved into action. He picked up the phone and dialled. While it rang, he spoke, "Mulder, Scully, I want you two to go and interview the first foster father," he said. Someone picked up at the other end of the phone and he glanced down at the notes in front of him. "Please tell Agents Lalonde and Remirez to meet me in my office ten minutes. Thank you." He hung up and raised his eyes to look at the two agents who, surprisingly, had not yet departed. "Was I not clear?" Scully stood there quietly, knowing full well what was going on. They didn't know for sure, but she also knew there was no stopping him and she didn't want to waste their time by arguing. The longer they waited, the colder the trail got. "With all due respect sir, I will be visiting the third foster father." He didn't wait for a response from the AD; he simply turned on his heel and headed towards the door. He had his hand on the doorknob when Skinner spoke. "Agent Mulder, wait. I know how you must feel but you don't know for sure. Let someone else handle this. You are too close to the issue." His voice was surprisingly gentle and the softness caused the agent to stop short. "I can't. This is the best lead we've got. This man has a reason to hurt Kate and he's out on bail." The AD nodded. There was nothing he could do to change Mulder's mind; the years of dealing with him had taught him that. "All right, I'll have Lalonde and Remirez interview the others. Call me as soon as you're finished." Scully held the door for Mulder as they departed, her guiding hand finding its way onto the small of Mulder's back in a gentle reversal of their usual positions. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx She tried to sleep, anything to escape the situation in which she found herself. She couldn't, her skin crawled like writhing snakes and when she closed her eyes the sensation grew stronger. It was almost as if it was telling her to stay alert, that being alert was important. She didn't know if Mulder had heard her, but she had to believe he had. He was her only chance. She needed to figure out where she was and strained her head to one side trying to seek out anything through the thick velvet black veil that surrounded her. There was nothing; she could see nothing. She wondered if she had ever seen a darkness that surrounded so fully. Just as she turned her head back to its original position, a sliver of light stabbed through the darkness out towards her. A door. It was coming from the bottom of a door, and she heard footsteps, and the lock being turned. She began to tremble. The knob began to turn. As the sliver of light became a wedge and then a large triangle, her skin seemed to increasingly take on a life of its own. A strangled cry escaped her throat but, fortunately for her pride, didn't quite make it past the gag. "Well, hello, Katelyn, it's so very nice to see you again and under such lovely circumstances, too." It was a male voice. Her eyes had not yet adjusted to the new light being thrown in her face but she swore she could hear the smirk in his voice. The man held a flashlight directly in her eyes making it impossible to see his face. She thought the ripples under her skin must surely be visible, they were so violent. "I had to pay you back for the embarrassment you caused me, Katelyn. I didn't deserve to be treated that way. You owe me." A wild thought about how contradictory his statements were - if she owed him, why did he have to pay her back? It would have been funny if she wasn't so frightened. Who? Who *was* it? She thought sadly that there were a number of people this could be, people she had ticked off in foster care, in school. She ran everyone she knew through her mind trying to place the voice. She thought it was more recent than school. Maybe here in Washington. If she was still in Washington. Someone she worked with maybe. Agent Holeman. She tried to speak, tried to appeal to him but the gag held back her words. "Don't try to struggle; it won't do you any good. You will pay for what you did to me, but I'm going to let you sit here for awhile and think about what you did." Malice and righteous indignation dripped from his every word. Despite a valiant effort, Kate couldn't stop the tears from snaking down her cheeks. Holeman reached down and wiped one away, laughing as she jerked at his touch. "Oh, that's nothin', sweetheart." He said as he moved back to the door, "not in comparison..." End 8. From: "Toma" Mulder and Scully pulled up in front of a crumbling ranch house. The house was probably only 25 years old, judging from its style, but looked far older. Scully checked the house number against the report she held, realizing this was the last house Kate had lived in in foster care. How awful it must have been for the young girl. She took a deep breath, pushing her emotions down and pulling out the professional mask she used so often. They made their way up the front walk and to the steps of the porch. Testing every step before they took it to make sure it wouldn't collapse under them, they ascended and knocked on the door. A woman answered. Dressed in a red fake cashmere sweater and pink satin pants that appeared to have been painted on, she was blonde, or so she would have liked everyone to believe, the hair itself teased into a big yellow poof all around her head. Mulder leaned toward Scully as she reached for her ID. "So, this is where Tammy Faye Baker's been hiding...". "Agents Mulder and Scully, FBI. We're looking for Mr. or Mrs. Tempest?" Scully said as professionally as she could. The woman stood there, one hand holding a cigarette and the other a beer, trying to force the information through the hairspray to her brain. She stared suspiciously at Scully for a minute and then shifted her gaze to Mulder. A flirtatious grin spread across her face as her bleary eyes brightened slightly. "I'm Mrs. Tempest. What can I do for you?" She wrapped her frosted scarlet lips around each word carefully, but the effect of the alcohol was too strong and the slurring was noticeable. "Mrs. Tempest, is your husband home? We would like to ask him some questions about Katelyn Smith," Mulder said, struggling to keep his words even for another reason altogether. "I know a Katelyn but her last name ain't Smith, and, please, call me Tammy." Scully almost snorted. "How about a Katelyn Malcolm?" Scully asked, realizing that was the name Kate would have been known by here. "Oohhhh, *that* little bitch." The woman suddenly sobered, a little more venom dripping from her voice. Mulder clenched his jaw and supressed the urge to slap the beer can from distasteful woman's hand. Scully saw the reaction and placed a hand on his arm to calm him. He glanced at her, half annoyed to be restrained, half-appreciative for the same reason, and reluctantly stepped back. "May we come in, Tammy?" Scully finally asked after getting her own feelings under control. "I guess." She stepped back, allowing the pair to cross the threshhold. "Wait here. Bobby! Someone's here to see you," she hollered without bothering to wait for a reply. She pointed to what passed for a living room, "You can wait there," and headed for another part of the house - leaving the front door gaping. As they stood in the middle of what would have been a large room if it hadn't been so filled with junk, Bobby, bare-chested and belligerent, walked in. The man was in his late forties or early fifties, hair standing out at every angle and a belly to rival that of a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy. Faded tattoos littered the man's upper chest and arms, giving him a greenish cast. He obviously felt he had been rudely awakened from his alcohol-induced slumber and was not pleased. "Tammy, where the hell are my smokes?" he grumbled, scratching his abdomen and leaning into the refrigerator for a beer. Mulder leaned over and whispered into Scully's ear, "How the hell did these people get included in the foster family program?" She shrugged, "How did he come to let a kindergartner draw all over him?" He nodded and turned to the man who still seemed oblivious to their presence. "Mr. Tempest, we're with the FBI. We'd like to ask you some questions," Mulder said, keeping his voice as even as possible. "I ain't supposed to talk to nobody without my lawyer," Bobby Tempest said with a glare at Mulder. Turning to Scully, his eyes traveled the length of her body and glistened. The gut got sucked in with a loud whoosh and hands were run quickly through greasy black hair. He seemed to think himself a perfect example of the male species; little did he know just how short he fell. Scully noticed the suggestive look she was receiving. She'd been here before, been through it too many times with too many suspects actually to let it get to her. Mask turned on, she ignored it. Mulder, on the other hand, did not and shifted position so that he effectively blocked Bobby's view. Scully gave a small frown of disapproval and got to the matter at hand. This marking territory crap was just that, crap, and got in the way of the investigation. "This has nothing to do with the case you have pending, sir. I assure you you have no need for a lawyer," Scully said, stepping beside Mulder. "I don't care what it's about, I ain't answering' no questions from the police." He turned to leave. Mulder caught his arm spun him around and brought his face so close to the other man's he could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Listen, you sonofabitch, you are going to answer my questions whether you like it or not," he hissed. As much as he longed to kick the bastard until his ass met his skull, he struggled to keep control. Katelyn's life could depend on it. Bobby Tempest dropped his beer and tried to back toward the wall. Apparently, his liquid courage did not extend to armed federal agents and he backpedaled furiously. "Sure, yeah, OK, I'll talk to ya. Take it easy!" "Thank you." Scully replied, glancing at Mulder until he reluctantly released the man. "When was the last time you saw Katelyn Malcolm?" "Damn," his disgust showed in his face, "is she complaining now too? I knew that one would come back to haunt me. She was too damn strong minded by half. She was a sweet one though, I'll give her that. A real good one." Mulder lunged. He had already rammed the man into the wall before Scully realized what he was doing. "What did you do to her?" Mulder's voice was low, but he punctuated the question with a strong blow to the belly. Tempest doubled over in pain, gasping, trying to regain his breath and ability to speak. Mulder pulled him up by the hair and raised his fist again, shouting this time "What did you do to her?" "I ain't done nothin' to her! I swear! I haven't seen her in almost a year!" He was pleading, eyes terrified. Mulder held the man to the wall with both hands, shaking him, "Before that." The ice running through his words was nearly visibile. "Mulder." Scully's voice was quiet but firm. She understood the urge he seemed unable to control, but also understood where it could lead him. She watched as he tried to let the impulse fade - she could see the anger in him still fighting for expression. This wasn't getting them anywhere and, although it would be dealt with, right now they needed to find Katelyn. Bobby Tempest obviously had no idea where she was. "He doesn't know, Mulder. We need to move on." "You will pay for what you did to her, you piece of shit," Mulder said as Scully guided him towards the door. Bobby Tempest shuddered at the animosity in Mulder's words from where he sat slumped on the floor. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx The car doors closed behind them solidly and the seats were firm beneath them. Mulder sat in the driver's seat, staring unseeing through the windshield. Scully reached for his hand and grasped it tightly in her own. She didn't say anything; there was nothing to say. Mulder felt her hand on his and was grateful for the silence that accompanied it. He drew her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Eyes closed, he reached blindly for her and drew her into a fierce embrace. Still silent for the long moment she remained in his grasp, she kissed his forehead as he finally pulled away. "Thank you," was all he could manage as he started the car. She nodded and reached into her pocket for her cell phone. "Sir? It's Scully. Nothing where we are. Any headway on your end?" She listened briefly before hitting the 'end' button and leaning back into her seat. "Nothing yet," she said. When she received no answer from Mulder, she looked over to see him staring off into space. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx He could hear the mental struggle for control over the anguish in her words and feel the fear she radiated. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Mulder jerked, coming back to himself, and, before even uttering a word to Scully, he was speeding out into the street. "Mulder?" Scully asked alarmed. "Holeman," was all he said. He didn't need to say anymore. Scully was already dialing the AD's number. "Sir, I need an address for Agent Holeman. ...Yes, sir, we have reason to believe he has her." The car was silent as she listened. "At this point, sir, the search warrant can go to hell!" She disconnected abruptly and dialled another number. "Langley, I need an address for a Brandon Holeman. He's an FBI agent. ASAP. It's extremely important." She remembered belatedly the Gunmen didn't know what was happening or at least neither she nor Mulder had told them. They probably knew anyway, but how she didn't care, didn't have time to explain, and didn't want an explanation from them. She grabbed a receipt from the dashboard in front of her and jotted down the address Langley was reciting over the phone. "Thank you. We'll explain later." She handed the paper to Mulder and proceeded to pull out the city map. "It's the other way, turn..." Before she could finish her sentence, Mulder had pulled the car into a dangerously fast U-Turn and they were headed in the right direction. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx "Frohike, Byers, get in here," Langley called from his computer terminal. "Whassup?" Frohike asked, as he sauntered into the room, Byers following closely behind. "We were right about the daughter. That was Scully on the phone, Kate's missing. Kidnapped by a freakin' FBI agent. I gave her an address for a Brandon Holeman." He had their full attention now. Byers frowned. "He won't take her home." "Why not?" Frohike's words were mumbled from behind a new video camera. Underneath it all, he was more a romantic than the others, but couldn't resist the gadgetry on the table. "He knows that the typical abductor would keep the victim in a place familiar to him - many times in the abductor's own home." "And?" Langley was far more at home with his computer terminals than criminal motives and wished Byers would quit lecturing and get to the point. "He knows that's the norm, that's what they'll be looking for - so he'll likely do the opposite." Langley nodded. Frohike tried to, but was encompassed within the headgear of the camera. "So let's see where else our rat might run for cover," he said gruffly to cover his discomfiture. "Last one on buys the beer." End 9. From: "Toma" They were almost there. Five more minutes would bring them to the house. "Come on, baby, talk to me," Scully heard Mulder mutter through clenched teeth. The trees were going by so fast that she was getting dizzy. They heard the cruisers before they saw them, Mulder skidding through the last turn. "Skinner." He said, halfway out the door. Scully pulled out her badge and followed him through the open door without bothering to knock. Holeman sat sullenly on the couch, his hands cuffed in front of him. There was no sign of Kate or Skinner. Mulder's eyes held murder as he approached the man. "Where is she?" The deathly chill in Mulder's voice should have terrified him, but Holeman's face split into a sadistic grin as he mockingly made a show of sealing his lips. Mulder dove for the man but was restrained by the policemen standing on either side of Holeman. Holeman laughed, the sound infuriating Mulder all the more. He pulled against the officers, but found Scully had worked her way between he and Holeman and was standing directly in front of him. Her whispered words were gentle as she moved him backward. "Mulder, we're going to do this right. He knows the rules as well as we do and we can't afford to give him anything against us." She was looking directly into his eyes and he bit back the reply that came to his lips unbidden; he would not subject her to that again. Scully's phone rang and she motioned for the officers to take Mulder outside. She hit 'Talk' and, into the receiver, said, "Scully," still watching Mulder's retreating back. Frohike's voice was faint and muffled and Scully pressed the phone more firmly to her ear, blocking her other ear to hear more clearly. "This guy may be an FBI agent, Scully, but he isn't too bright. We assumed he wouldn't be keeping her at his house so we did a little digging. He's got storage bay registered in, get this, his own name down off Water Street, unit 68. That's all we could find. It may not be it, but it's worth looking into," Frohike finished off. "Thanks. We owe you another one." She didn't wait for a reply. She held the phone out in front of her and was ready to hit the end button when she felt it. The cold metal bit into her throat. She choked, gasping, trying in vain to remove the steel from around her neck. Her last thought was < why did I turn my back on that sonofabitch?> as the world went dark. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx "Has he said anything at all?" Mulder asked the officer in charge, hoping that he could focus his mind on professional investigation and away from the emotions involved. "All he's done is taunt us, says he knows where she is but isn't telling. How that one passed the FBI screening is beyond me." "I'm going to go talk to him." The officer nodded but stuck close; It would be a cold day in the southerly eternity before he left those two alone together. Mulder walked into the living room, forcing himself to remain calm. Scully was right, it would do no one any good to push things too far. He glanced up, briefly startled that Holeman wasn't still on the chair. He searched the room, finding Scully where she lay in a heap on the floor, a purple welt across her neck and blue tingeing her lips. He rolled her onto her back, praying to the higher power he didn't quite believe in. "Agent down!" His voice shook with the intensity of the declaration. "We need a paramedic in here NOW." The officer was already talking to dispatch as he raced out the back door after Holeman. Mulder bent again toward his partner. She wasn't breathing, but had a faint pulse. He forced air into her lungs. Once, twice, three times... he watched as her chest rose artificially with his breath. A slight gasp escaped her lips as she struggled to draw air. As she managed a full breath on her own, he reached to lift her to her feet, but she waved him off. "Warehouse, off Water Street, unit #68. Go. Now! He's on foot you should be able to beat him there, I'll be okay, hurry!" She did her best to sound authoritative but failed miserably as her voice rasped with her injuries. She hoped he understood her urgency. "I am not leaving you alone." "Kate needs you. Now, go!" She whispered as fiercely as she could. He could hear the ambulance siren in the background and reluctantly got up. "Damn it, Mulder - move!" As he finally left the room, Scully began to struggle upward. She was not about to lay on the floor waiting for an ambulance. She needed to go, to move, to be part of the solution, not another burden. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Katelyn was sitting on the cold cement floor; her wrists were raw from fighting the plastic bindings around them, her face wet with tears. She tried once again to adjust to the dark but her eyes wouldn't co-operate; the dark was just too dark, too dark even to see her own feet or the bindings that held them fast. Unable to do anything else, she listened, straining her ears for the slightest sound. Maybe she could catch the attention of someone close by. The only problem with that was what if it was Holeman's attention she caught? The guy seemed to have completely lost it, his kind of attention she did not need or want. She couldn't figure out what to do: she didn't know where she was and she didn't know if Mulder had 'heard' her or not. Either way, they were probably going out of their minds trying to find her. She took a deep breath and decided. It was either remain quiet and have Holeman kill her or try to make some noise and hope that someone other than Holeman heard her. If she remained quiet, she was surely dead; make some noise and she had a chance. She got up on her knees, searching for a way to make some noise. Banging her fists on the cement would only cause bruises and not make a whole hell of a lot of noise. She tried out her vocal cords once more and wasn't surprised when the sounds were muffled heavily by the tape covering her mouth. Shuffling along on her knees, she turned her back to the wall. There had to be a door somewhere and, if she went along the four walls in the room, she was bound to find it. She headed in the direction she had seen the light beam from Holeman's entrance and felt the brick wall behind her. She managed to move steadily, despite the bindings making her wince each time she moved her arms. Fortunately, it took merely a few minutes to feel the cool metal of the door on her fingertips. She turned around, laying on her back and began to bang her feet on the door. Putting everything she had behind the motions, she prayed someone would hear her. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Mulder pulled into a gravel driveway, almost taking off the side of another car in the process. Cursing under his breath, he slammed the car into park. He was halfway toward the office, when a noise caught his attention, a thumping coming from the row of rooms behind him; the thumping noise was steady and loud. He prayed it wasn't just a construction crew as he drew his gun and turned towards the noise. The noise grew louder as he approached the door from which it came. When he got there he pressed his ear to it to see if he could discern the cause. The door vibrated with each thump. "Kate?" he shouted. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. The noise grew louder, more insistent. "Move back from the door. I'm going to get you out of there!" Raising his gun towards the doorknob he steadied his sights and started to pull the trigger, but as the gun went off, so did the lights. Or almost so, at any rate, thanks to the sudden blow to the back of his neck. He saw the gravel coming up to meet his face and felt the air evacuate his lungs as he hit ground. Willing himself not to pass out, he rolled over, searching for his weapon. He found it, pointed directly in his face by a sneering and still-handcuffed Holeman. "She deserves it, you know," Holeman said coversationally, releasing the safety on the gun. "No one treats me that way and gets away with it, especially someone who's involved with 'Spooky'! Come on, Spooky, what's she like in bed? I never did get a piece of her; maybe I'll grab my share before I kill her." "Holeman, just let her go and we can all forget about this." Mulder found himself strangely calm. Perhaps too many years of staring down gun barrels will do that to a person. Holeman, on the other hand, was distinctly irate. "What do you think I am, stupid? I am an *agent*, you asshole! I know all the tricks to the game. Which reminds me, you should have back-up about 5 minutes away if not closer so I guess I had better get this show on the road. Move," he said, motioning toward the door with Mulder's gun. "Wonder which way would be more fun: let her watch you die or vice versa." His voice was thoughtful. "What do you think?" Mulder rode out Holeman's nearly instantaneous emotional swing. "No one is going to die. Just let us go. You know the calvary will be here momentarily. What then? You and I both know you're in some deep shit either way. You have a choice of going down for kidnapping or for double murder, including the murder of a federal agent? Let us go now and it will end." Holeman laughed in his face as he ushered him through the door. Mulder noted ironically that his shot had drilled the lock out. He immediately spotted Kate, cowering against the wall next to the door. She was blinking in the bright sunshine that streamed through the door. Any hope in her face quickly faded as Holeman followed Mulder through the door. They could hear the spray of gravel in the parking lot as Holeman closed the door, flipping a lightswitch Kate had been unable to find. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx "I'm going to call his cell phone," Scully announced. "Is that such a good idea, agent?" Skinner asked. "Holeman's obviously unstable, it could set him off. "With all due respect, sir, we need to know what he wants and if there's a way around this." Skinner nodded as she removed her phone from her coat pocket. It rang 8 times before she heard voices on the other end of the line. "Mulder? Mulder! Are you there?" "Nope, sorry. Spooky's busy at the moment. How may I help you?" the voice at the other end held an oily smile in its tones. "Holeman." It was a statement not a question. "Tell us what you want and let them go." "Hmmm, I'll think about that, but I don't think so." Click. Scully pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it for a moment. She turned to look at Skinner with a questioning look in her eyes. "Any ideas?" She asked, although her mind was already processing the alternatives at hand. "Agent Fallow is speaking with the owner of the storage facility. Hopefully he can help us out, find us a way in." XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Mulder had taken a seat next to Katelyn on the cold cement floor, holding her closely, trying to minimize the flesh available to exposure, trying to cocoon her from the madman that stood before them, gun in hand. Holeman was speaking loudly into Mulder's cellular phone and was somewhat distracted. Mulder leaned over to whisper in Kate's ear. "See if you can talk to Scully." He searched the ceiling for a venting or heating shaft and, though the light emitted from the single bulb was dim, thought he spotted one above them about two feet over. "There," he said, nodding slightly toward the vent as he continued. "If they come from there, they will be between us and him if he doesn't move. Tell her that, and tell her to keep him on the phone so he doesn't move, distract him." Trying to push the fear from her face, she nodded slightly and closed her eyes. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx Scully stood with the Assistant Director and Agent Fallow looking down at the blue prints laid on the hood of a car before them. She could see the SWAT team hunched in position around the storage building out of the corner of her eye. <"Dana?"> Skinner saw Scully's eyes close as she reached out to the car to steady herself. <"Dana, I hope you can hear me. If you can, please believe this; it's Kate."> God, it's like she's right next to me, the scientist in Scully noted through her shock, I can even hear the fear in her 'voice'. <"Mulder says I should try and tell you where we are in the room so you can help. There's some kind of vent on the ceiling, it's about two feet in front of us and it's between Holeman and us. He says it's the perfect position if Holeman doesn't move. He said to keep him distracted so he doesn't move."> There was the briefest of pauses before the words continued. <"If things don't turn out, I want you to know you are the closest thing to a mother I've had in three years. You mean a lot to me and I just wanted you to know just in case."> As Scully's eyes focused, she became aware that the Skinner was staring at her, concern clouding his face. "Agent Scully? Are you alright?" "I'm fine." The response was rapid and automatic. "May I speak with you privately for a moment, Sir?" She didn't wait for an answer, but stepped away from the car and the conversation, leaving Skinner little choice but to follow her. " I just received a.... message, Sir," she said slowly, still disbelieving the occurance but unwilling to discount it without further thought. "From whom?" His tone was brusque. He would follow the avenues necessary to achieve the desired goal, but had little time to waste in the process. "Kate," she said, knowing as she did how ridiculous it sounded. "She does appear to have an ability to communicate on a non-verbal level in times of stress." Skinner's patience was wearing thin. Mulder, he expected this from, but Scully? "I know how impossible it sounds, sir, and I don't know how to explain it, but I can tell you I heard her voice as if she were standing not two feet away." Skinner sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose under the pads of his glasses. "And she said what?" Scully relayed the information as she understood it. "Get what information you can from her and report back to me." Skinner said as he turned back towards the group of agents reviewing the blue prints. Scully ran a hand through her hair as she stared absently at the trees lining the parking lot. Should she try and reach Kate? Did she even have the first notion of where to begin? Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. End 10. From: "Toma" Holeman was pacing the room back and forth in an almost hypnotic pattern. Mulder and Kate could do nothing but watch, as he seemed to lose a bit more of his sanity with every step. <"Kate? Can you hear me?"> The words echoed weakly in her mind, but Kate's eyes flew open as she looked to her father. She was as shocked as Scully had been. She was dealing with the fact that she could 'talk' to people close to her with an unconventional method, but no one had ever replied that way. She thought about trying to tell her father what was happening, but decided against it. She couldn't risk Holeman catching her speaking. Mulder looked confused and Kate hurried to explain. Mulder struggled himself to hide his surprise. Just when he thought he knew her more completely than possible, something new about Dana Scully always came to light. He nodded in reply to Kate's thought, wishing he could manage the same 'thought speech' that his partner and daughter were sharing. Out in the parking lot, Scully's face was pale, but she managed to steady herself without anyone noticing. She leaned against the car, trying to focus her thoughts into words. Kate thought she caught an undercurrent of fear in the thought. Scully thought wryly. It was bad enough to have other agents doubting her, but her partner's daughter? Kate hastened to reassure her. Scully replied. Kate mind spoke to Mulder repeating everything that Scully had told him. While she couldn't hear his thoughts in words, his feelings were on the matter were written on his face: Mulder was furious. He started to speak, but stopped himself as Holeman turned to look at them. Kate was getting tired. She never realized that the thought speech could drain her so much. Of course, she had never called to more than one person at a time, let alone carry on a full conversation. came a timid tone The thought that replied held the weariness of the ages. Scully could feel Mulder's anger and his fear. She had always been able to read his mood extraordinarily well, but they both had a preternatural awareness of each other. Had she been subconsciously denying that it was a latent psychic ability? She shuddered at the thought. Kate resolved to ask Dana about how she knew Mulder's mood later, looking to Mulder and shaking her head slightly. Se tried to contact him again but the link was so weak he heard only key words and very faintly at that. <...Only.... One...checked...fine> "Kate?" he whispered as he saw a small tear trail down her cheek as she closed her eyes in exhaustion. He pulled her closer to him and tried to focus on the little corner of his mind that was always aware of Scully. He didn't know how it was so and, truth be told, it was about the only freaky thing in this world that he didn't care how it was so, but it had been that way since the first case they had worked together. All he was able to glean was a sense of calm purpose, but even that was enough of a link to soothe him. XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx "All right, Agent Scully will be going in when she's suited up. She will attempt to take Holeman peacefully," AD Skinner said, emphasizing the word 'peacefully'. "If Agent Scully does not sound the all clear, or if gunshots are heard, be prepared to rush it," he finished quietly to the group huddled around him. "I would just remind you that not only are the lives of several agents on the line here, but that of a civillian employee as well." A ladder stood propped against the building on the furthest point from the storage room in question. Scully stood at its base, the combination of black Kevlar and adrenaline making the sweat bead in the middle of her back. Crossing herself, she began her ascent slowly, methodically placing each hand and foot. She reached the top and spotted the heating shaft 3 feet in front of her. Agent Fallow appeared at the edge of the building to help with the descent into the shaft. They removed the grate cover and Scully slipped off her pumps, handing them to Agent Fallow. "Don't lose these or you're a deadman." The young agent looked surprised, but smiled slightly as he took the shoes. "Yes, ma'am. Good luck, agent." Scully nodded. No response. She frowned, wondering if everything had been her imagination or if something had happened to Kate. With renewed urgency she eased herself into the hole, stocking feet findting the cold metal below. Looking up at Agent Fallow, she whispered, "I'm in," and started to slowly inch her way toward the storage room, counting the open grates on the way to make sure she had the right one. It seemed the counting would not be necessary; as she inched closer to her destination she heard a voice. "Who do I do first? She's your daughter, huh? Brings about some new possibilities, doesn't it?" She paused for a minute. She had been face to face with serial killers; Holeman's voice held the same dead tone she had seen in their eyes. She closed her eyes as she leaned directly over the grate, and tried to contact Kate once more. It would be better if they knew she was about to drop from the ceiling. Very faintly, she heard the response. Scully sighed with relief, knowing that Kate was still alive. She prayed Kate could still hear her. Scully gently removed the grate and looked down it. It didn't look terribly high, but the tepid light made it hard to judge the distance. She took a deep breath, removed the safety from her gun and closed her eyes. Despite her exhaustion, Kate heard Scully's thought clearly and clenched Mulder's hand tightly behind her back sending him a signal she hoped he understood. Scully landed gracefully in a crouch a foot or so in front of Mulder and Kate, the barrel of her weapon a mere three feet from Holeman. "FBI, FREEZE!" Holeman spun on one heel, raising Mulder's gun as he turned. Mulder was nearly to his feet as Scully fired. The bullet ripped through Holeman's chest and he crumpled. His face registered complete and utter shock as he looked from the blossoming red on his shirt to the diminutive redhead who still had him in her sights. "but..." Holeman whispered rawly. "She said 'freeze'." Mulder struggled to keep the rage at this man under control. "Mulder," Scully interrupted quietly, "Kate shouldn't see this." Indeed, as Mulder turned to Kate, he couldn't help but notice the terror in her eyes. The horror of the events outweighing her need for independence, she clung to him, burying her face in his chest as the tears streamed across her cheeks and down her neck. Scully slowly holstered her weapon, remembering the words of an instructor at Quantico. "An agent is never the same after shooting someone. Every time the gun goes off, that man or woman will never quite be the same person they were beforehand." She reflected wearily, as she bent over Holeman, on how true that insight had been. How many people had she been called upon to shoot? She couldn't, or wouldn't, recall. She felt for a pulse and found none. She reached over and was closing his eyelids as the door crashed in. Ignoring the influx of SWAT team members flooding the small room, she crouched next to his body silently. As Skinner hustled her past the body, Kate glanced curiously at Scully and looked quickly away again. It wasn't the corpse that gave her pause; it was the way Scully huddled there almost completely withdrawn into herself. Kate paused in the door, the bright sunlight at her back, and looked back into the shadowing confines of the cinderblock room. She watched as her father crouched next to his partner. He said nothing but refused to let her withdrawal deter him. Finally, he stood up, lifting her with him. Kate's breath caught as Mulder forced Scully to meet his eyes and then circled his arms about her as a fortress against an onslaught. Skinner heard the catch in Kate's voice and followed her line of sight. He cleared his throat to cover the catch in his own breath. "Miss Smith?" Kate reluctantly tore her eyes away from the figures. "Sir?" "Your father and Agent Scully will be along shortly. We need to have you debriefed now - I'm sorry." Kate turned from the door. "Shouldn't someone get them?" Skinner glanced back at the pair. "They'll be fine." "But..." she protested. The assistant director turned her around to face the door again, "See?" As the coronor's office personnel moved in, Mulder and Scully emerged into the sunshine. Scully let herself be guided by the hand Mulder rested on her back, ignoring the fact that he left it there far longer than normal. Her face was still tightly controlled as she approached. Scully started to hand Skinner her weapon when Kate pushed around him and flew at Scully. Startled and still somewhat in shock, Scully rocked backward from the impact and would have fallen had Mulder not braced himself behind her. Kate clutched at Scully, sobbing. Just as the assistant director started to pull Kate away, Scully's arms went around her. "It's ok, Kate. It's ok." She whispered. "We're right here. Both of us." In emphasis, Mulder held them both. Kate shuddered in their grasp. "It's ok." Scully repeated, as she realized to her surprise, that it was ok - not just the immediate circumstance, but the whole cosmic turn in their lives. Somehow, three disparate, lonely and very singular people had found their way into what she supposed could be called a family. She looked up at Skinner, who still stood a few feet down the sidewalk. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words emerged. Skinner nodded and walked away. End 11. From: "Toma" 'It has been nearly three months since Agent Brandon Holeman died at my hand. Although technically felled by the invasion of a small lump of metal and explosive, his death was no less caused by the throbbing of adrenaline in both of our veins - the involuntary reaction to stressors presented by others. Although my action was justifiable, I question yet whether another course of ...' Scully heard the door open and leaned around to see Kate enter the room. "How was class?" "Fine." Kate replied cheerfully, dumping her bookbag on the couch, "What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong. Why?" Kate shrugged. "You just had this kind of haunted look and I just wondered." Scully glanced down at her laptop. She highlighted the small bit of text on the screen and struck the delete key, shutting off the computer. "I'm fine. Did you see your father at lunch?" Kate made a face. "Yes, unfortunately... He threw sunflower seeds at Will." "THE Will?" Scully restrained her smile. "Yes. And to make it worse, one went down the back of his shirt... See if I ever tell him about anything again..." Kate headed for the room that was now hers, but stuck her head around the corner. "Hey, Dana?" "Yes?" "Mulder says he's staying here tonight. You've got a 5:30 a.m. flight to Peoria. There's some funky stuff going on there." Scully got up and followed Kate down the hall. "Funky?" she asked, but Kate was already in the bathroom. The door to the apartment opened again and she turned around. "Funky?" she asked Mulder who was laying a set of files and an duffel bag on the couch. "Definitely funky." Said a unknown voice and she noticed a slim young man step through the doorway. "Is Kate home?" "Let me guess, you would be Will?" "Will Payton. You must be Kate's mom." Scully smiled that half smile so particular to her before motioning for the young man to come in. "Something like that." XxXxXx The End xXxXxX Feedback Greatly appreciated! terrytoma@sprint.ca and kellymail@sprintmail.com