The dance of the disclaimer: So everyone this side of Reticula knows that the X-
Files and all characters related to them belong to Chris Carter and Co. So why 
do we have to keep writing these silly things? Just so we bow to TPTB an a 
pitiful attempt to keep lawsuits off our backs. Knowing they could crush most of 
us like bugs if they ever wanted to. This story fits in after my story WATCHED, 
but there should be no reason for you to have to read the previous one to enjoy 
this one. Of course if you don't enjoy this one I'll simply deny everything and 
enter the witness protection program. 

Disclaimer 2. Research was done for this story. And advice given by some 
distant relatives. Any glaring errors are the fault of the author, and not of her 
advisors or anyone else. Rituals and certain spiritual aspects have been changed 
out of respect to the beliefs they represent. Other changes were made for literary 
purposes. The Dark Spirits herein are the results of my own imagination, as are 
the rituals partaining to them. 

Warning: Rated R for language and violence, and double warning for MSR. 
There will be an NC- 17 part, clearly marked. 

This is part of the series I've named the Dogged Determination Series. The order 
is: Dogged Determination I: Watched (XF/Watchers CO) Dogged Determination 
Interlude I: Linen and Steel Dogged Determination Interlude II: Grapes of Wrath 
Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek and I'm also working on- Dogged 
Determination III: Pandora's Box (coming soon) 

Lastly the title is pronounced (Hath-ee-neeo-gwee-oak) It is Iroquois  and it 
means "They are gathering."

 ----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------- 

Hadinio`gwe'oek  By Rhondda Lake (Part 1/?) 

 Buffalo, New York April 10, 1996 

Carl Norton pulled his hard hat off to wipe the thin sheen of sweat off his brow. 
Even the breeze from Lake Erie was doing little to cool him today. He set aside  
the rivet gun and eased himself down to sit on the girder two hundred feet above 
the chaotic swarming of fellow workers on the ground. 

A paisley bandanna was dangled in his face and Carl looked up to see Thomas 
Murphy, the welder he was often teamed with. 

"Don't worry, it's clean." Tom grinned down at his friend. 

"Good." Carl swiped the bandanna from Tom's hand and used it to mop his face 
and forehead, wiping along the back of his neck. "I wouldn't wanna get white 
man's cooties." 

Tom snorted. "Keep it then. You'll stain the thing red anyway."  

Both men set to chuckling at the easy banter of friends who spent too long 
together to take offense at anything anymore. 

"Man, what happened to spring? We went from winter into summer." Carl took 
the bottle of water that Tom offered him and drank greedily. 

Sitting side by side, the two men looked like two halves of a coin. Both tall, 
thin, both aged 25, wearing green coveralls and work boots, their long hair in 
ponytails. But where Tom's hair was the reddish blond of his Irish ancestors and 
his laughing gray eyes changed with his environment, Carl's hair was dark 
blue/black, and his eyes were a warm chocolate. Next to Tom's pale, freckled 
skin, Carl's weathered tan appeared darker than it was. 

Tom frowned slightly. "How's Sara doin'? Those antibiotics helpin' clear 'er up?" 

Carl shook his head. "Not as much as I hoped. She's still having a hard time 
breathin'. My mom is taking good care of her though." Carl smiled slightly, 
"She's even insisting on invitin' the False Faces in during the Traveling Rite. She 
clings hard to the old ways. If it makes her feel better I don't see any harm too it. 
Other than the ceremonial smoke makin' Sara cough."  

Tom felt a little helpless. Carl's daughter was only four. Walking pneumonia 
was nothing to fool with, especially in one so young. He knew Carl was worried 
that Sara would be hospitalized if she got any worse.  With the insurance they 
had Carl just couldn't afford the deductible, not to mention the 20 percent he'd 
have to cover. 

"I'll come by - see her after work, if that's ok with you. I got 'er a present 
anyway." 

"You keep spoilin' her and she'll follow you around like a puppy, man and you 
can't keep 'er if she follows ya home." 

Their break over, both men stood back up on the girder and went back to work. 
Communication became impossible over the pounding of the rivet gun and the 
sizzle of the welding torch. 

Two hours later, the quitting whistle pierced through the noise of construction. 
Carl turned off the gun and started to stash away his rivets for tomorrow. He 
looked over to where Tom was removing his mask and shutting down his unit. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Carl saw movement. Shadows where none should 
be. When he turned to look, there was nothing was there. 

He frowned and started to shrug it off until an inhuman cry of pain came from 
Tom's place on the girders. 

The welding torch was whipping about, lit and vicious. It was up in the air with 
no visible means of support.  It looped around Tom's neck, the blue flames 
burned, cutting his flesh and setting his clothing ablaze. 

Tom was screaming as he fell from the girder. Carl had managed to run to the 
place where his friend had been standing but now Tom was dangling below him. 
Hung from the neck. His body thrashing and convulsing as sickening greasy 
smoke and heat obscured Carl's vision. He was helpless. Helpless as the 
thrashing slowed and the rescue crew made it's way up the too slow elevator. 

When the medics arrived, they found Carl heaving over the side of the girder, 
and Tom Murphy beyond any aid they could give. 

                                   X 

 Buffalo, New York Kensington Expressway April 11, 1996 

Special Agent Dana Scully looked over the report in her lap. "Please explain to 
me what we are doing here. This autopsy report concludes that the victim was 
attacked. There are close to a hundred witnesses that say Carl Norton was alone 
with Tom Murphy at the time of the attack on a girder, two hundred feet above 
ground. So, what grabbed your attention on this one?" 

Mulder looked at her briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. God, she 
was lovely, especially when she was ready to do battle with him. A small smile 
playing across his mouth. "Did you read Mr. Norton's statement?" 

"He claims that he didn't do it. The chances of him confessing are slim, Mulder." 

"There's more there, Scully." 

She looked at her partner with a touch of frustration. A look that they were both 
used to. No one could be as exasperating as Fox Mulder when the mood hit him. 
He seemed to revel in baffling his partner when he could because he so rarely 
got the chance. 

"Are you alluding to Norton's statement that he saw moving shadows prior to the 
attack? That is one of the most feeble defenses that I've ever heard of." 

Mulder shrugged.  "There have been six violent deaths in or around Buffalo in 
the past two months. All of the victims were at least acquainted with a Native 
American, and odd, shadowy apparitions have been reported by the witnesses. 
My guess is there have been more incidents but only six witnesses had the 
courage to report these shadows."  

"Mulder, whenever I've gone off chasing shadows with you, it has never occurred 
to me that it would be in the literal sense." Scully smiled slightly and began to 
mentally formulate scientific reasons for shadowy visions. "The witnesses could 
be suffering faulty memories due to shock, manifesting in a recollection of 
moving shadows. Or they could be delusional due to drug or alcohol abuse." 

"Right now we don't have anything concrete to go on. With luck, Carl Norton 
will be able to shed some light on these mysterious shadows." He didn't smile or 
even look at her, but Scully saw the mischievous glint in his eye. She chose to 
ignore it.                                               X 

Orenda Brant looked across the table at Carl and tried to will him to cooperate. 
She was having only moderate success. His one phone call had been to his 
mother, who had called a lawyer, then her. 

Orenda tucked a long lock of raven hair behind her ear and decided to try this 
from another angle. 

"Look, your preliminary statement to the police was that you were distracted by 
shadows at the edge of your vision. Therefore you didn't see the beginning of the 
attack. Is it possible that it was a medical problem? Do you suffer from 
migraines?" She reached into the pocket of the professional-looking suitcoat she 
wore, fingering a braid of corn husk ending in a string of wampum and a 
pheasant feather. As she looked at him, she repeated a simple chant in her head. 
A chant of protection. 

"No, I'm not sick. Look, I don't know why mom called you..." 

"Because she thought I could help you. She thinks these shadows might be after 
you. They are at least responsible for you being locked up here. But I can only 
help if you WANT my help. Carl, can you think of ANY rational reason for 
those shadows?" Orenda sat up straight.  

"It was a hot day. Sunny. It COULD have been the beginnings of heat stroke, or 
the heat itself, fooling my eyes." Carl was defensive. 

He was completely closed-minded, too lost in the white way of thinking, 
without the ability to look deeper into events than the surface. 

"Listen to me, Carl. I have reason to believe the Dark People are at work here. I 
don't know how or who might have called them into the physical world, but 
there have been ten other deaths, and in each instance these shadows have 
appeared. Carl, you never described them." Time to pull out the big guns, 
Orenda. "The shadows were small, three feet or shorter, bent and deformed but 
vaguely human." 

She watched his eyes widen and the first hint of fear in his face. Good, maybe 
he needs to be afraid. Spirits above knew, plenty of people should be afraid 
right now. 

"Carl... I need to know how many you saw. I need to know if their eyes glowed. I 
am sworn to protect the physical world from the intrusion of malevolent spirits. 
It's part of my job description." She offered a humorless smile. "I can offer you 
some basic protection, but it isn't you they are after. They are after white people. 
And more innocent people are going to die if something isn't done about them. 
But I need to know what KIND of Dark Spirit I'm dealing with here..." 

Carl frowned, a deep furrow forming between his brows.  Tom, he was a good 
man, no matter what his skin color was. It hurt to think of him, of how he died at 
the hands of... of what? There were other good white men and women out there. 
These days racism was rare.  He looked at Orenda. She was one of the few 
female Medicine people in the nation. If she really could do something... 

"I think I saw some yellow spots. I didn't register them as eyes in the brief 
glimpse I had. I couldn't count them either. They were moving, but there were 
more than five shadows I think." 

Orenda closed her eyes. Yellow.... the Dark People were of limited power, but 
their spiritual power base would rise with each new murder. They would feed off 
the pain and misery, fear and death itself, gaining strength. Yellow was still 
manageable. Their eyes would change as their power increased,  like a rainbow. 
If their eyes became violet... She shuddered.  

The door behind her opened and she turned to see a cop waiting. "Come on, 
Tonto. Two Feds want to see you in Interrogation NOW." 

Orenda saw Carl's face darken and she didn't much blame him. But there was 
nothing she could do. She knew this prick's kind. Thank goodness they were 
few and far between. But when racists like this crawled out of the woodwork 
they tended to be the worst ones. Complete assholes. To idiots like them, she 
was worse than an Indian, she was a worthless Indian WOMAN. Racist men 
tended to be sexist as well. She mentally shook her head. As if that piece of 
meat between their legs made them better than a life-giver. Didn't they know one 
slice of a knife and that little superiority base would be gone? 

She rose and nodded to Carl, trying to diffuse his anger with a parting comment. 

"I'll go. I promise to check in on your mom and Sara. I'll be in on the False Face 
ceremony tomorrow. We'll do what we can for her, Carl." 

He seemed to slump a bit and nodded. 

She moved past the cop, her back straight and her carriage proud. She could feel 
the black looks the asshole shot her, even if she couldn't see them. 

Down the hall from the visitors area she saw looked through the open 
interrogation room door, taking note of the two FBI. A tall dark haired man, and 
a small woman with flame hair. She felt something vibrate in her chest. A feeling 
of foreboding and dread. She knew in an instant that her fate and that of the two 
in that room were intertwined... and death was watching and waiting. 

End part 1... 

Disclaimed in part 1. 

Hadinio`gwe'oek  By Rhondda Lake (Part 2/?) 

Mulder stood, reclining lightly against the wall when Carl Norton was brought 
into the Interrogation Room. He was seated by his uniformed guard, opposite 
Scully at the table. He was still handcuffed when the guard left the room. 

"I'd like to see your badges please." His tone was not belligerent, it was actually 
polite. The man looked sad and scared.  

Scully held up her ID first, and Mulder held up his. Carl squinted across the 
room at his and something of a smile came to his face. "Careful, with a name 
like that Mr. Jocularity might think you're one of us." Carl tossed his head, 
indicating the door the guard just left through. 

Mulder glanced briefly at Scully, seeing her lips purse slightly in annoyance.  

"I've been told something similar before. We'd like you to tell us what happened 
yesterday." Mulder crossed his arms and waited, studying the young man seated 
at the table through a mask of boredom. 

"I already gave my statement to the police. They think I killed Tom. I would have 
fought for Tom if I could. I..." Carl swallowed hard, "I tried to save him. Look... 
I DID NOT kill Tom. Why would I? We've been best friends for six years. He 
was the godfather of my daughter. The last fight we had was three months ago 
over whether we were going to spend our mutual vacation fishing off Erie or 
drive down to Chautauqua. Mrs. Murphy was here earlier, even SHE doesn't 
think I killed Tom." He ran both hands down his face. 

Mulder knew, at that moment, without a doubt that Carl Norton was telling the 
truth. It was more than the whole shadow angle. He'd looked into the eyes of 
killers before. Even killers who were under the influence at the times of their 
deeds - some were even truly remorseful. Carl Norton was tired, worn, and very 
frightened. But it wasn't the fear of being caught red-handed. He was feeling a 
sense of hopelessness. His was the fear of being convicted of something he 
didn't do. 

"Well maybe Mrs. Murphy doesn't want to think someone she knew murdered 
her son." Scully answered with a raised eyebrow. "There are a hundred witnesses 
who saw you alone on the girder with Mr. Murphy. No one saw anyone else up 
there. The forensic report has evidence of Thomas Murphy being burnt, cut with 
his own welding torch in patterns. This was no accidental death." She tapped the 
folder in front of her with a perfectly manicured fingernail. 

Carl swallowed hard again. He would never convince anyone. His only hope was 
the news his lawyer gave him this morning. Ten witnesses that placed him on the 
opposite end of the girder when the attack began, four of them were the rescue 
crew. But out of a hundred, only ten had been looking up at the time.  At that 
moment something occurred to him.  

"Why are you here, FBI? I didn't think you looked into the random death of a 
construction worker. There is more to this than you are saying." 

Mulder shouldered himself away from the wall and moved to stand beside 
Scully. He leaned forward, balancing himself on his spread fingertips against the 
table. "Why don't you tell us about the shadows you saw?" 

Carl studied the man looming over him for a moment, then laughed. They were 
actually looking into it. Ms. Brant had said there were ten other cases. And they 
couldn't possibly place him at the murder scenes of the others. He just might get 
out of this whole sorry mess yet. He might get to see Sara grow up. 

Carl shook his head, his laugh had faded to a grin. "I was told there were other 
deaths. I'm sorry, but it just occurred to me, slim as my chances of proving my 
innocence are, they just got a little better." 

Scully straightened in her seat, turning slightly to look at Mulder. Their eyes 
locked and their own form of silent communication flowed. Who knew about 
the other deaths supposedly linked to this case? How did this kind of 
information get out?  

"Who told you there were other deaths?" Scully asked Carl, breaking the silence 
that had settled in the brevity of their locked gazes. 

Carl weighed the pros and cons. If these two were going to try and actually 
connect the Dark People to these murders, they would need help. Brant had said 
the Dark Ones were after whites. But would telling them about her help or 
hinder what she needed to do?  

"Orenda Brant. She is of the Medicine Circle. You must seek her out. She will 
tell you or not, it is up to her." With that, Carl Norton leaned back in his chair 
and refused to speak again. Scully and Mulder alternated questions till their 
throats became sore, but Carl sat in passive silence. 

After three hours, he was taken back to his cell.  

"I just hate passive aggressives." Mulder sipped at some water. 

"I hate interviews that waste our time." She took the glass off him and drank 
down half before handing it back.  

He looked bemusedly at the glass. "I wouldn't call it a waste of time. We got a 
name out of it. All we have to do is locate this Orenda Brant."  

Scully smiled slightly. "Do your fingers feel up to walking?" 

                                           X 

Orenda lit her fourth cigarillo just as the FBI came out of the station. She was 
leaning against their rental car so that they spotted her immediately. They 
approached her cautiously. Orenda suppressed a smile. They moved like wary 
hunters. In perfect unison with one another.  

"Excuse us, this is our car." The man tried to look menacing. Orenda switched to 
her othersight and grinned at the bristling animal barely perceptible at the man's 
right side.  

"Funny, it has rental plates." Orenda blew out the smoke she had filled her lungs 
with, releasing it downward at the feet of the two suited people. In so doing she 
was able to more clearly see what she sought. The results were interesting.  She 
saw the totem spirits, only because she was looking. Otherwise they would not 
be visible to her unless their chosen were in danger. The creatures she saw told 
her much about the two confronting her.  

She also immediately saw something very interesting flowing between these two. 
The bond was a webwork of light. Tendrils stretching much like electricity 
between them. The color a blue tinged white. This kind of bond was extremely 
rare, and it told her much more then the animal spirits who had chosen them. 
These two were more than partners and friends, more than a team, more than 
simple lovers. Their link was soul deep.  

Orenda felt a surge in her heart. She had only seen such a link once before, 
when she was twelve. It was both powerful and dangerous. The two she had seen 
thus bound before had met with tragedy. A drunk driver killed the man. The 
woman willed herself to death without him. The danger of this kind of bond. 
Once the link was completed, as it was with these two, the two became part of 
each other. The loss of one halved the other, making continuing a ghost's 
existence. Hollow and empty. 

"I think you know what we mean." The man continued, dragging Orenda from 
her thoughts. 

"Yes I do. I also know you will be seeking me out eventually." She flicked her 
fingers, offering a neat, white business card to the man.  One half of its face was 
an illustration of a medicine wheel. 

He took the card and glanced at it, then his mouth turned up in a charming 
smile. He handed the card to his companion.  

"We were just heading out to find you. Obviously, the reason we could only 
reach your answering machine is you were here." 

"Ahhh. With such astute powers of observation I can tell how you made it into 
the FBI." Orenda smiled. "I am Orenda Brant. Friends call my Wren. And 
YOU," she pointed at the man with her cigarillo, "have at least passing 
familiarity with the Medicine way. You have been close to death, have you not? 
The shaman who guided you through this transformation was not of my people... 
Navaho? The trace remaining on you suggests their passive flavor." Her smile 
widened at his look of shock, quickly recovered.  

"I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, this is my partner, Special Agent Dana Scully."  
He gestured to the woman.  

Orenda shut down her 'othersight' before the double vision gave her a headache, 
returning to purely physical vision. "So... if you were seeking me already than 
you know Carl killed no one." 

"We know what he CLAIMS," the woman, Scully, interjected. 

Orenda nodded. This was the one who would be hard to convince. "If you think 
you are dealing with a group of random, senseless, motiveless human killers you 
are a fool. And you don't strike me as a fool. My car is over there." She pointed 
to a red Wrangler parked in a corner lot. "Follow me. It's getting late, and I will 
try to explain what I know over dinner. Either of you object to steak? I'm a mean 
cook." 

End part 2... 

 Disclaimed in part 1. 

Hadinio`gwe'oek by Rhondda Lake (Part 3/?) 

 Amherst-Buffalo, New York 

They had followed the red Jeep out of the city proper and into a community 
consisting of mostly one-and two-story houses, duplexes and apartments. 

"Do you think she has something to do with these deaths," Scully asked as 
Mulder drove. 

"Maybe, but if she is, I'm not sure in which manner. Look at this as an 
opportunity to check her out in an unofficial capacity, when her guard is down." 
Mulder chewed on the inside of his bottom lip. There was something about Ms. 
Brant. A... stillness about her. 

The Jeep pulled up to a white bi-level ranch house. Mulder pulled into the 
driveway behind the Wrangler. 

As Mulder and Scully followed Ms. Brant up the fieldstone walkway, Mulder 
noticed the carefully tended herb garden bordering the house. Orenda had pulled 
out her keys and was unlocking the door when she saw Mulder's eyes fall on the 
sculpture in her medicine garden. A piece of carved driftwood with an Indian 
maiden and an eagle seeming to begin an emergence from the grain. 

"That was done by Robert Twofeathers, another member of the Medicine Circle, 
and my teacher." She smiled slightly and opened the door, disappearing inside 
and expecting them to follow. 

The small foyer was at the jointer of two flights of stairs. The left hand stairs 
leading up into a well-lit living room, the right hand stairs leading down into 
shadows. Orenda was already heading up the stairs.  

"Feel free to look around. My home is your sanctuary. My possessions are your 
possessions. Take what you need, and leave some of your joy behind." Her 
words, as she headed for what appeared to be the kitchen, were cheerfully said, 
but the formality and seeming ritual of them caught Mulder's attention at once. 
"Just don't go downstairs. My home office is down there, as well as my ritual 
room. I don't want to offend the spirits by having you touching something down 
there you shouldn't."  

Scully had moved into the living room area, right off the top of the short flight 
of stairs. There was a set of primitive, crossed Lacrosse sticks over a good sized 
fireplace. A leather ball to match sat on the mantle. Hand woven blankets were 
tossed about tastefully, and Indian pottery was placed on tables and shelves, one 
large piece filled with a jade tree stood in a corner. Everything was decorated in 
earth tones and seemed to breathe harmony into the air.  

"You know, if you don't have rooms already I have three bedrooms here. You are 
welcome to stay with me. That is if you aren't worried I'll murder you in your 
sleep."  Orenda's voice came from the kitchen accompanied by the sounds of 
opening cupboards and clanging pans.  

Scully had moved to look through the island counter that served as a dividing 
wall between the kitchen and the dining area. "Ms. Brant, if you don't mind me 
asking, what is your stake in our investigation? Offering a meal and rooms goes 
way beyond public courtesy." 

"Wren. Please call me Wren. And my stake is the same as yours, Dana." Mulder 
suppressed the urge to smile at Wren's use of Scully's name without invitation. 
"The Shadow People are not a new thing. They have shown themselves in our 
legends and history on several occasions. They are not something that can be 
stopped with badges and guns. And they have a hatred to whites especially. 
Some Shamans think they are the souls of warriors who allowed their hatred of 
white invaders take them beyond all honor. Whatever they are they feed on pain, 
fear and death. All negative emotions. And with each death their power will 
increase."  

She took a deep breath and continued. "I took certain vows when I started 
training in the way of Medicine and the spirits. Among those vows was a 
promise to protect the innocent from malevolent spirits to the best of my ability. 
I was looking into this before Carl Norton's involvement." Wren wiped her 
hands on a dishrag and left the kitchen to a chest of drawers. Opening a drawer 
she pulled out a thick manila folder and handed it to Scully. "This is a list of 
victims, times and manners of deaths, as well as notes I have gathered on the 
Dark People. You most likely have all this victim information." 

Scully flipped open the file and frowned suspiciously. "How did you come by 
this information? Most of this was never released to the press." 

"You realize there are a good number of Iroquios on the police force." She 
smiled slightly. "A few of them acknowledge the old ways. And the reason I 
asked you to stay is so my medicine can protect you at night. Evil thrives in the 
darkness. My home is sacred, and cleansed. They cannot come here." With that 
she returned to the kitchen.                                                                                   
X 

Dinner was unusual, but delicious. Nut-corn pottage, steaks seasoned with an 
interesting combination of herbs and red wine, a mixed bean salad and coffee.  
Although she filled them in while she was preparing the food, Wren refused to 
speak business during the meal itself. She made pleasent small talk which 
Mulder appeared to find aggravating, but Scully seemed to enjoy. Such things as 
families were glanced over the moment Wren noticed Mulder's discomfort, and 
she began to speak of sports. This subject at least held some of Mulder's interest 
and Orenda was almost laughing at the heated discussion of the merits of the 
Buffalo Bills and the Redskins.  She finally did laugh and winked at Mulder, 
"Do you realize you are trying to persuade me the Redskins can beat the Buffalo 
Bills hands down?" Her dark eyes sparkled with amusement, not at the teams, 
but the irony of the names. 

Scully looked at Mulder after Wren left the room to fill the dishwasher.  

"You are just eating this whole evil spirit story up aren't you?" 

Mulder shrugged, "You have to admit it makes a certain sense when compared to 
these deaths and witness statements. There were ten people who swore Carl 
Norton was no where near Tom Murphy when the attack started, and fifteen 
more claimed they saw Norton running to the spot Murphy was falling from." 

"So you don't think he did it. Mulder, there is no physical evidence that anyone 
else did do it. And I just can't accept that disembodied shadows are running 
about killing people." 

Mulder locked gazes with her. "But you can accept a shadow consisting of dark 
matter can cancel out the light matter of the human body." 

"There was a perfectly scientific reason for that. What we are talking about here 
is... ancient superstition." 

Mulder looked into the kitchen. He knew from first-hand experience that the 
spirit realm Ms. Brent spoke of existed.  

"Ms... Wren, you said you could see I had been through a Navaho ritual. How?" 

Wren emerged from the kitchen. "It clings to you. You have found a small 
measure of peace from it. The spirit world knows you and accepts your presence. 
As to how I know it was Navaho, their Medicine and outlook is one of 
acceptance and balances. They try to flow with the river of life, and not to 
struggle against it. It has a certain... signature. I respect their way immensely, but 
it is not my way. I have visions of going down fighting."  At those words a shiver 
raced up her spine. Foretelling? She hoped not. 

Dana frowned and looked down at her hands.  This was NOT a subject she cared 
to discuss. She remembered those horrible nights when she thought Mulder was 
dead with her rational mind, yet something inside her insisted he was alive. 
WAS it wishful thiking? Denial? And that dream... she had never confessed to 
Mulder about the dream, of seeing him, hearing him. Why? Might she be afraid 
he'd say he knew, that he'd somehow sent it? She couldn't accept that. This 
whole discussion was touching on a part of Mulder she felt was foreign to her.  

She knew they were closer to each other than any two people had a right to be. 
Between their work and personal lives she sometimes lost sight of where she 
ended and Mulder began. That they knew each other so well they could trace the 
patterns of their thoughts at times. Yet just as her basic Catholic upbringing, 
and yes, beliefs were something Mulder didn't share - so this was something 
beyond her. He'd tried to explain it to her, on more than one occasion. She was 
forced to think of the whole episode as a fever dream brought on by what had 
happened to him at the time. She didn't accept that it had anything to do with 
mysticism, or spirits. More likely hallucinations and dreams. 

So how did Orenda Brant know Mulder had been through a Navaho ritual? It 
wasn't in any reports... 

"Dana," Wren's voice gently pulled her from her thoughts, "you conclude that 
there is no physical evidence that anyone other than Carl killed Tom." She 
smiled at both agent's slightly shocked and embarrassed expressions. "I have 
good hearing. The fact is, you don't have any PHYSICAL evidence that he did 
either. His fingerprints show up only at the part of the welding hose that he 
could reach trying to pull Tom back up. Not anywhere consistent with him 
wielding the torch to attack." 

"He could have been wearing his work gloves." Scully countered easily. 

Wren nodded, allowing the point. "What about the twenty-five witnesses Fox 
pointed out?" 

"Mulder." He corrected at the same time Dana spoke up with, "Out of a hundred 
and eighteen people, twenty-five claim to have seen him no where near the 
victim or running to help the victim. Not good odds." 

"And what if I told you that Carl wasn't the only one at the sight who caught a 
glimpse of the Dark People? He just had the best look." 

"There were other witnesses to this? Why didn't you say something?" Mulder 
looked annoyed. 

"Four other Native Americans saw moving shadows. But no one else. I think 
they can only be seen by my people, and the spirit's intended victims." Wren 
smiled. "And I'm sure Dana will say that these witnesses are just corroborating 
Carl's story out of a sense of community consciousness." 

Mulder had to work hard at not smirking at the glare Scully shot Wren. She was 
right on the money. 

Both agents were spared marshalling a defense when Mulder's cellphone 
chirruped in. 

"Mulder." He listened intently and nodded. "Where?" He nodded again. "We'll 
be right there." 

"There has been another death." Wren stated sadly.  

Mulder nodded. "Come on Scully. This one was just as messy as the others. But 
we have ten witnesses reporting these shadows this time." 

"Ten?" Wren's tone was almost panicked, "Were they all native? If whites other 
then the victims start seeing them, it means they have gained enough strength to 
physically manifest. This is NOT good. Can I come with you? I might be able to 
help." 

Mulder's "Yes" was countered by Scully's simultaneous "No." 

"Well which is it?" Wren crossed her arms. 

Mulder met Scully's eyes, insistent. Wren smiled at the silent communication 
flowing along the special bond she saw enmeshing these two.  

"You ride with us." Mulder turned back to Wren. Scully didn't look happy. 

End part 3... 

 Disclaimed in part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio`gwe'oek  By Rhondda Lake (part 4/?) 

Condemned Apartment Complex Suffolk Ave. Buffalo, New York 

The room was filthy and smelled heavily of urine, vomit and the overwhelming 
coppery tang of fresh blood. The debris of scattered wood and newspaper, 
ragged blankets and large boxes had the order to it that proclaimed that this was 
a stopping point for the homeless. Even if the ten witnesses were not evidence in 
and of themselves. Two witnesses were written off at once, one a completely 
stoned young Native American and a old woman just this side of an alcoholic 
coma. The rest of the people were clean and sober enough to be considered 
reliable, and one middle aged mother was clutching her two children to her in 
terror, her eyes darting to every corner of the room, peering into every shadow. 

Mulder approached one of the uniformed police, his ID already in hand. "What 
happened here?" 

The young man shrugged. "Damned if I know. I've never seen anything like it, 
though. Witnesses claim the shadows started moving, then they took some sort 
of human form and attacked the victim. He's been identified as one Paul Naylor, 
by the way. He's a drug dealer. I'd think these people were all sampling Mr. 
Naylor's wears, but *I've* seen the body." He inclined his head to where Scully 
was approaching a tarp covered mound on the floor. 

The strobing flash of forensic photographers were making the shadows around 
her dance and move. Mulder fought against showing the chill that ran down his 
spine. His eyes took in the rest of the area. Concrete pilings offered places for 
someone to hide. The whole room was badly lit by a row of windows - some 
broken, the rest filmed over with grime. He'd have to keep that in mind when 
listening to witness' discriptions. There was a set of double doors against the far 
wall, the rusted chain hanging loosely from both push bars. Unlocked, but 
unless someone was working with the killer or killers, and laced the chains 
through after they were gone, then they hadn't been used as a point of egress. 
Leaving only the doors they had come through. 

"They were real." The woman who had been clasping her two children moved 
forward, each child nearly crushed against her sides. "I saw them. Like demons 
straight from Hell. Their eyes glowin' like the eternal flames of perdition." 

"You saw their eyes?" Mulder, mindful of Wren's agitation at the thought of non 
natives seeing the shadows, took note that this woman and her children had no 
obvious Amerindian blood. "What color were they?" 

"Yellow and Orange, they glowed, and there was no warmth to 'em. I was so 
afraid for my kids, I just scooped 'em up and ran out. Ain't no place safe 
anymore. Time was all ya had to worry about was the rapists and the muggers. 
Now the shadows move." She shook her head.  

"What was the victim doing prior to the attack?" Mulder looked at the children, 
a girl about ten, and a boy somewhere around eight. Their clothing frayed and 
worn, stained in places, even though the kids themselves were clean. He felt a 
surge of pity. No kids should have to live out of an abandoned warehouse. 

"He was talking to Johnny Redcrow." The woman thrust her pointed chin in the 
direction of the zoned-out Amerindian in the corner. Mulder thanked the 
woman.  He'd wait to talk to Johnny Redcrow. He wanted Scully with him on 
that one. He looked over the man in question, tall, thin, plainly Amerindian, but 
with a glassy stare that didn't perceive anything in the warehouse. They'd be 
lucky if they could get anything out of him other then the lyrics to 'Purple Haze'. 

Scully looked at the odd-shaped lump hidden under a canvas tarp. Waiting 
patiently until forensics had combed the site. She didn't notice until she bent to 
lift a corner of the tarp that Orenda was at her elbow. 

The victim had been viciously attacked. Small bites and slashes covered every 
inch of him, some chunks of flesh were completely missing. The bite marks were 
about the size a three or four year old child would make, but the patterns 
suggested needle sharp teeth. She took in the way the arms were up, and that 
much of the damage was to the victims forarms. He'd most likely raised his arms 
to ward off the attack. No obvious evidence that he had fought back with any 
success. 

"Hadinio`gwe'oek ." Orenda whispered softly, making Dana turn to look at her 
questioningly. The woman looked pale under her normally dark skin tone. 

"It means 'they are gathering'. This is the work of the Dark People in corporeal 
form. They are gathering strength, they are gathering force, and they have taken 
this man's soul." 

"There's nothing here to suggest that this was anything more then an animal 
attack. Rats, or even cats could do this." Dana dropped the tarp. "Why do you 
think this man's soul was stolen?" 

Wren lifted an eyebrow in a pretty good imitation of Scully's gesture. "There is 
an emptiness to this shell that suggests a soul ripped from the body. When I try 
to look into the spirit world here I see blackness, and a terrible evil. This is more 
than a murder. A human soul not only defines who and what we are- it is not 
only the seat of the total of our being - it is pure metaphysical energy." 

Mulder overheard this as he approached. "The police don't know what to call it. 
To list it as a homicide there should be a human factor. They can't find any 
evidence of this. The witnesses, all claim to have seen a horde of small shadows 
converge on this guy. The attack was fast and sent most of the witnesses 
running. They mostly ran to the police looking for protection against whatever 
killed this man. He was a drug dealer. The locals think he'd just finished a 
transaction with Johnny Redcrow over there." Mulder nodded his head to 
indicated the glassy eyed young native. 

"That would make a kind of sense. They are escalating, and will get worse with 
each attack. Agent Mulder, they have taken physical form for at least the length 
of this attack. This is NOT good news. Did the witnesses mention eye color?" 
As she spoke, Wren was taking some leather pouches from her purse. 

"As a matter of fact, they said the shapes had glowing yellow or orange eyes." 
Mulder frowned as Wren opened one of the pouches and drew out a hand full of 
a fine powder. 

Wren only nodded and began to chant soft and low, allowing the powder to 
trickle through her hand, drawing a circle around the tarp-covered corpse. Scully 
stepped back as the woman passed before her. Her eyes were questioning, but 
she didn't interrupt. The circle complete Wren brushed her hands together to 
remove the dust that clung to her palm. 

She looked at the two incredulous agents and shook her head. "There was evil 
done here with the taking of his soul. This place will call to evil, draw it like a 
magnet unless I sanctify it. I simply called the attention of the good spirits back 
to this place." She drew the pull string of the small pouch shut again and 
returned it to her purse. "I'll have to return when the police have gotten all they 
can from this area. By the end of the week at the most, and do a more thorough 
rite." 

Scully just looked at Mulder her eyes telling him plainly that she didn't think it 
was going to help anything. She took hold of his sleeve and pulled him away, 
out of ear shot. 

"This was most likely an animal attack. The witnesses are in shock." 

"Scully, if the autopsy can prove that this was the result of some sort of animal 
attack, Pest Control is gonna be busy for a month. I'm laying odds you won't be 
able to match the attack patterns, bite marks or anything else to any known 
animal. Want to help me talk to Johnny Redcrow?" He gestured to the man in 
question. 

"Oh fun, not even putting him in detox first?" She moved ahead of Mulder, 
feeling him place his hand at the small of her back. 

"That would take away half the adventure." He said softly, close to her ear. 

End part 4... 

Disclaimed in Part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek By Rhondda Lake (Part 5/?) 

Scully felt Mulder right behind her as she approached Johnny Redcrow. He 
didn't acknowledge their presence. 

"Mr. Redcrow, we understand you were the last person to speak with the 
victim." Scully crouched next to the man seated on the floor. Mulder remained 
standing. With that, they established their interview roles. It wasn't what the 
positions assumed. That tended to throw the interviewee off balance, even when 
they were sober. 

Glassy eyes struggled to focus on Scully's face. "Who're you?" 

Scully held out her identification wallet, her movements sharp and impatient. 
She doubted Redcrow could see it, let alone read it. 

"Oh." Was all he said, then his eyes shifted focus to some point between himself 
and Scully. 

"Naylor was your dealer. Did you make a buy before he was attacked?" Mulder 
shoved his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. 

"I don't know what your talkin' about." Johnny mumbled. 

Scully looked up at Mulder, a mixture of exasperation and annoyance on her 
face. 

"I see, you don't do drugs, do you?" Scully tone was mocking as she cocked her 
head to the side. 

"I'm on a spirit journey." Redcrow smiled. 

"Yeah, well I'll agree you're on a trip. Look, did Naylor act strangely as you 
made your little business deal? Nervous? Frightened?" Mulder moved a bit 
closer, forcing Redcrow to crane his neck to look up at him. Mulder seemed 
more amused than annoyed. 

"He was as he always was. He was always nervous. I didn't pay much attention."  

"Heya, ogai`ta'." Mulder turned to see Wren standing just behind him, her arms 
crossed before her chest, her glare of disdain unmistakable. "Onio'`gwa'. 
Degadenut'dyak." 

Redcrow paled a bit. "Sorry. No disrespect. Tor-yoh'-ne, Hayo?" He inclined his 
head to indicate Mulder, "Ogio' tor-yoh'-ne`dage." 

Wren's eyes narrowed and Mulder looked at her inquiringly. "Sorry, I lost my 
universal translator somewhere along the line." 

Wren snorted indelicately. "I told him he was a nut and I crack nuts. He knows 
what I am, and he decided to try to cooperate." 

"I saw the Dark People. They hissed at me, and called me worthless. But they 
howled his death." Redcrow sighed. "He kept screaming, and they were without 
mercy. They devoured his spirit as well as his flesh. He did not die quickly.  I 
tried to hide. I don't know if I hid well or if they chose to ignore me. I let his 
screams wash over me like music. I was frightened, yet I felt him die, and it was 
full of colors and beauty. I saw no more." 

"Where did you hide?" Mulder asked. 

Redcrow pointed to a pile of broken crates. "In there. In the dark. The darkness 
lives, you know. It breathed around me. I was afraid the dark would eat me, but I 
feared Them more." 

With that the young man fell silent again. His eyes lost. Mulder and Scully 
looked at one another.  

Neither noticed Wren's worried frown. Redcrow had named her secondary 
totem, and had seen it was shared by Mulder. Luckily he'd done so in Iroquois 
not in English. But how could he know? Unless whatever he was on DID allow 
him some vision into the Sacred Place...  

 Erie County Coroner Buffalo, New York 

Scully pulled off her mask and gloves, nodding to the medical examiner who 
had officially been in charge of the autopsy. Dr. Williams nodded back and 
turned off the overhead recorder. He left the corpse for his assistants to clean up. 

"I'll tell you, off the record, I've never seen anything like that. Those bites were 
not like any animal I know of. And there was at least twelve different teeth 
patterns, did you notice? The arrangement of the bite marks almost appears that 
they were made by completely different animals." He held up a small evidence 
bag holding three non-human hairs. "Hopefully this will explain something." 

Scully sighed. Mulder was going to love this. He'd most likely do a jig. Unless 
those hairs were identified... 

She threw her scrubs in the disposal bin and cleaned up before heading out to 
the break room to see if Mulder was done writing up interview notes. 

He was. He was sitting at the lunch table looking through police reports. Alone. 
Scully was a bit surprised. She had expected Ms. Brant to hang around. 

"Find anything interesting?" She walked behind him to read over his shoulder. 
"You already read that one. Are you starting to slip?" 

"Just double checking. The few times the glowing eyes of these things have been 
mentioned the colors change. Look, back here possibly red and in the Norton 
case, yellow. Tonight's report was orange or yellow." Mulder plucked at his 
bottom lip. 

"This just proves that they are most likely not seeing the same thing. These 
shadows are the manifestation of some kind of hysteria." She sat down next to 
him. 

"You know I love it when you talk dirty to me." His smile and words spreading a 
welcome warmth through her belly. However, despite the flippant remark, she 
knew he was at least considering her words. 

"Mulder, have you gotten us rooms somewhere? I'm beat." She looked at her 
watch; it was almost midnight. 

"Actually, I took Ms. Brant up on her offer. One less thing for Skinner to gripe 
about if we cut costs like that." He closed the files and gathered them together.  

"She may be a suspect." She crossed her arms, annoyed that he'd made such a 
decision without consulting her. 

"What better way to keep our eye on her then?" 

"Or for her to keep an eye on us. Mulder, I was really hoping for a hotel." This 
last was said softly. 

"Well Orenda wanted to know if she should prepare one room or two. I TOLD 
her two. She laughed outright and asked me who the hell I thought I was 
fooling." He held out the police reports, noticing the way Scully paled. 

"But... how..." 

He took a step closer, leaning in so his mouth was close to her. Scully felt the 
warmth of his breath caress her ear. "She claimed it was easy to see to anyone 
who can see our spirits. But that we did a fairly good job of hiding it to anyone 
without such an advantage." He stood back, never so much as touching her, he 
stepped away from her and walked out the door. 

She looked after him for a moment, incredulous. There was no such thing as 
seeing spirits, so they had to have slipped somehow. How? When? She was 
certain they had been doing so well. After Vermont they had managed to fall 
back into the same comfortable roles they had developed over the years. On 
duty, they were completely professional... well, as professional as they ever were 
considering Mulder's proclivity for picking locks and disregard for procedure 
was just as evident as ever. But they must have slipped up somehow. If Ms. 
Brant, a relative stranger had guessed the truth, than what was to keep their 
enemies in the dark? 

Mulder turned around at the end of the hall, looking back at Scully standing, 
unmoving, in the lounge. "Are you coming?" He called back, smiling to himself. 

Scully nodded and moved to catch up. Some perverse part of her mind 
answering silently <that depends on whether Ms. Brant actually prepared two 
rooms or not.> 

End part 5... 

Disclaimed in part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (Part 6/?) 

The front light had been left on for them. Mulder knocked. When no answer was 
forthcoming, he tried the front door and found it unlocked. As soon as they were 
inside, he detected the very faint scent of burnt spices and smoke. Orenda was 
nowhere to be seen but Scully pointed to a note tucked in the foyer mirror. 

'Make yourselves at home. Guest rooms are the two rooms on the left and right 
of right-hand hall. You would save me extra laundry if you share a room you 
know. I have to prepare for the False Face Ceremony tomorrow. Don't expect to 
see me until morning. By the way, the smoky smell is NOT the house on fire. It's 
me. --Wren' 

"Well, do you want to be the cause of extra laundry?" Mulder hefted their travel 
bags. 

"Yes. We set rules. The only people who know about us is my mom and Buster." 
Scully closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was hard, and he wasn't 
making it any easier. Why did SHE always have to be the reasonable one? And 
he better not comment on her considering Buster a person..."And right now Ms. 
Brant is only making guesses. Good night, Mulder." Scully took her bag from 
him and climbed the few steps to the hall.  

Mulder followed silently. He knew she was going to make him pay for accepting 
this invitation without asking her first.  He also, to be honest, had to admit the 
validity of her arguments. Sometimes he hated being honest with himself. 

He recited the rules silently to himself. Rule number one - the case, the work 
always came before physical intimacy. Rule two - they put each other before the 
case. The Truth was out there, and they would sacrifice just about anything to 
get to it, except each other. Rule three - don't get caught. They made these rules 
four months ago, after Scully was released from the hospital following the case 
that brought them together. Three simple rules for a very complicated situation. 

Scully had opened both guest room doors, and after peering inside she chose the 
right one. Mulder frowned. "Come on, this one's bigger, you take it." 

"Mulder, that one also has a TV. You won't sleep well without one. Plus, my 
room is three steps closer to the bathroom." She looked up onto his eyes, 
communicating her own frustration. Her eyes darted briefly to his lips. Just one 
goodnight kiss, what would it hurt? Everything, because she had a feeling it 
wouldn't stop there. "See you in the morning." She slipped inside the smaller 
room and closed the door behind her. 

                                  X 

Orenda sat alone in the sauna she'd modified for use as a sweat lodge. In a small 
brazier she burnt a smudge bundle and used a fan made of ritual feathers. She 
came to this cleansing as she was, naked, as she had been given to the world. 
Before her lay her mask. Hers was the Whirlwind mask. She had made it herself, 
carving it from a living basswood tree. It was divided: the left half painted red, 
the right half, black. The mask was large lipped, with a tongue hanging out. The 
carefully carved features a grimace of pain. The Whirlwind was half 
supernatural, half human, and it's dual nature allows it to take upon itself the 
pain and illness of the ill and afflicted. 

Tomorrow she had to attend the Traveling Rite. The Ga-go'-sa. A position she 
had fought hard for. Long tradition barred women from this Medicine ritual. But 
by now the circle knew her magic was strong and good. 

Breathing in the smoke, she cleared her thoughts, opening her spirit to her 
guide. This cleansing was not for the Traveling Rite alone. She had much to do, 
and many questions. 

Her body swayed as she fell into the comforting chant. It's rhythm lulled her, 
quieting her mind, relaxing her body. Calm serenity encompassed her. She was  
aware enough of her physical self to spoon another dipper of water onto the lava 
rocks causing a billow of steam to hiss forth. Closing her eyes, still chanting, 
she looked within and without. To the world that lived just beyond normal sight. 
The heat of the sauna disappeared, replaced by a cool, refreshing breeze. She 
opened her eyes to a glade surrounded by woodland. 

They waited for her. He perched atop a dead and broken tree. He spread his 
wings and looked at her, peering into her soul and judging, always judging. He 
was the hardest totem to deal with. Beneath him was the second. Tor-yoh'-ne. He 
sat on his haunches, great furred head lolled to the side, peering at her. 

"I come for cleansing, so I might cleanse." She spoke in the old tongue.  

>>You are clean. You come for answers.<< HIS eyes told her.  

"Innocents are dying. The Dark Ones roam the physical world. They MUST be 
stopped." Wren felt her flesh melting, reforming until, in this place, she took the 
form of her nickname. The small, plain brown bird shivered in the presence of 
HIM. The great hunter. Every natural instinct screaming that he could tear into 
her and devour her if he so wished. 

>>They must be stopped. Are you prepared to do it? Victory is never 
guaranteed. And the price of victory should you gain it, may be high.<< 

"I took oath. I must fight. If it means my death, so be it." The words came from 
her small beak, and the little bird shivered again. With dread. She was afraid. 
She did not want to die. There was much in this life she had hoped to do. But if 
she must... 

<<Not all sacrifices are of your life. Though that may well be asked of you. 
Sometimes death is a lesser price to pay>> Tor-yoh'-ne looked at her and 
padded forward. Golden eyes fixing the tiny feathered creature before it. <<The 
one I protect... they will be confused by him. He appears almost of The People 
from the spirit realm. But whether that will protect him or not I do not know. I 
do know that his companion is not so protected. And he has given half of his 
soul to her keeping. If they take her, if they devour her soul and feed from her 
pain... it will destroy him as well.>> 

"Have they targeted her?" Wren's eyes grew large, and her feathers puffed out.  

>>We cannot say. If they follow the Dark People long enough, they will be 
noticed. In being noticed they will be targeted. The pain and fear energy the 
Dark People might attain from those two may be enough to bring them firmly 
through to the physical world.<< He let out a piercing cry, startling the small 
birds and animals around them. The cry of the great raptor sent panic through 
the natural world around him. >>This MUST not happen.<< 

Wren bobbed her tiny feathered head. "I will set protections on them. Come 
morning they will eat of the three sisters. And I will bless them. It is all I can do 
for now." 

<<It will have to be enough.>> 

Wren looked from Tor-yoh'-ne to the winged spirit. "Who has called them here? 
And where will they next strike. They attack at random. I can not know who 
they will attack next." 

The winged one looked at her. >>The answer is close to you. Things are not 
always as they seem. Chasing illusions can sometimes lead one to the proper 
goal. We do not know their minds. We cannot know where they strike next. This 
is for YOU to determine.<< 

Wren looked to the lupine form of Tor-yoh'-ne. He barked a laugh. <<Don't look 
at me little one. My primary chosen keeps me too busy using all my wits and 
luck to keep him alive. This task is up to you.>> 

With the flutter of wings the woodland vanished, and the cool breeze became 
wet heat, wrapping around her and weighing her down. Orenda opened her eyes 
and nodded to herself. Changing her chant, she reached for the second bucket of 
water and began her ritual bath. 

end part 6... 

 

 

 Disclaimed in part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (Part 7/?) 

Dana opened her eye to stare blearily at the clock sitting on the nightstand. 
Seven ack emma. She slid out of bed and dug her bathrobe out of her suitcase. If 
she was lucky she could beat Mulder to the shower and get to it before he used 
all the hot water. 

Leaving her room she noticed the door opposite her's was open. Peering in she 
saw the made bed and the open luggage. Mulder must have been up with the sun 
in order to take a run. Sure enough she heard the sounds of the shower. She 
cursed silently and moved to bang on the bathroom door. 

"Mulder you better leave me some hot water or I'll strangle you with a towel." 

She heard something mumbled on the other side. "What was that?"  

"Nothing, I'll be out in a minute." 

"Water hog, huh?" Scully spun at the sound of Wren's voice, and tried to appear 
unphased by the younger woman's attire.  

Wren was wearing buckskin pants, with tiny bells woven into the fringe running 
up either side of her legs. A wide belt held an elaborately beaded apron sporting 
a floral motif. Her cotton shirt was bright red, and decorated with more floral 
beadwork and ribbons. Her long hair was puled into a single braid down her 
back, and she wore some sort of head dress, a small cap made of horse hair and 
feathers at the top of her head. A complete turn around from the business attire 
Orenda had worn yesterday. 

Wren smiled at the startlement Scully wasn't quite able to hide. "Like it? 
Traditional for the Travelling Rite." She turned so Scully could see the full 
artistry of the beadwork. "Oh and I wear this of course." 

Mulder opened the bathroom door, sending a blast of sodden hot air at both 
women. He was dressed except for his tie and jacket, and his shirt was sticking 
to him in places. He said nothing as Orenda brought forward a wooden mask. 
Half of the grimacing visage was black, the other half red. 

"This is Whirlwind. I personify him during the False Face Ceremonies. He is 
half human, half spirit, and he takes upon himself the sickness and evils of 
mankind." 

"Nice to know someone's on our side." Mulder quipped as he stepped away from 
the bathroom. "There was still hot water when I left." He assured Scully. 

"There had better be. I will not be responsible for my actions if I have to take 
one more cold shower because of you." She ducked into the muggy bathroom 
air, closing the door behind her, only after catching the amusement in his eyes at 
that statement. 

Wren tilted her head to the side and eyed Mulder. She just grinned and refrained 
from saying anything. She inclined her head to the dining area and headed for it. 
Mulder followed. 

"Since you are going against the Dark People I've prepared this breakfast for 
you." Two bowls were filled with cereal flakes, both light and dark brown. 
Slices of orange colored bread sat by each bowl. "Just add milk. It tastes like 
nutty corn flakes. The flakes are made from corn and bean. The bread is 
pumpkin bread and it's sweet. These make the three sisters. They are sacred to 
my people." 

She checked her watch. The time piece appearing anachronistic against the rest 
of her outfit. "I have to pick Roger up at the Zoological Gardens in twenty 
minutes." She grabbed a triangular piece of bark from the mantle. It rattled as 
she shook it, chanting slightly. She put a blessing on all in this house. 

"Zoological Gardens?" Mulder looked up from the table. "You aren't joining 
us?" 

"I can't partake of food until I eat the ga-go'sa od-jis'kwa at the close of the 
Traveling Rite. I'll be out of your hair until around five tonight. As for the 
Gardens - Robert Twofeathers - the artist who did the wood sculpture in my 
garden, was also my teacher. He, his son and his grandson run the Gorilla and 
Rainforest Exhibit mostly by themselves. He doesn't drive, so I'm picking him 
up." She smiled as she snatched her mask back up. 

"Oh. Um... what is gag... gago..." 

"Ga-go'sa od-jis'kwa." She pronounced carefully for him. "It's corn pudding 
made with maple syrup. It is offered to the spirits as symbolic payment for their 
good will." She slung her purse over her shoulder and with a wink and a wave 
started to leave. "Oh," she called over her shoulder, "lock up as you leave 
please." 

Fifteen minutes later Scully emerged, dressed and impeccable. "Did Wren leave 
already?" She looked around. 

"Yeah, she had to pick up another member of the Medicine Circle." He poked at 
the flakes in his bowl. "Any chance this is poisoned?" 

"Only in the shock it might cause to your system. We can stop for breakfast on 
the way if you prefer." Scully frowned. "Orenda is putting an awful lot of trust 
in us. I mean we just met her yesterday and she's trusting us alone in her house?" 

"Not everyone's as paranoid as I am Scully." Mulder smiled slightly as he poured 
milk into his bowl. There was something about Orenda that made him want to 
trust her. It made him nervous, questioning why half the night. At least until he 
realized he could drive himself insane focusing on such circular reasoning. His 
gut told him Wren was one of the good guys. His gut was usually pretty damn 
reliable. It was just his innate distrust of most people that was giving him a 
problem.  

"So we get to question the witnesses to Tom Murphy's demise this morning?" 
Scully took a bite of the pumpkin bread.  

"Murphy's background was such that there was no likely suspects. He had no 
real enemies, no past girlfriends looking for revenge, nothing obvious. AND no 
reason for Carl Norton to want him dead." 

Scully  sighed. "We may get the lab reports on the fur found on the last victim 
by this afternoon." 

"He probably owned a dog, Scully." 

"Maybe. But it didn't resemble canine fur."  

They finished their breakfast arguing specifics.  

                                              X 

Orenda pulled the jeep over and Robert got in the passenger side. "Hae'." He 
inclined his head. "You are helping the two white FBI." It was not a question.  

"Word travels fast." Wren didn't take her eyes from the road.  

"They will need your help. This is good." He smiled with approval and mischief 
in his eyes. His face was proud and strong featured. His skin lined with age, 
etching lines heavily into his countenance. His once black hair was white now, 
and cut close to his head.  His outfit was similar to hers, but the mask he cradled 
lovingly in his arms bore the twisted features of Old Broken Nose. 

"We are going to the Norton home first. We meet there and move on. It was 
agreed, to show support for Carl." Robert explained as Wren drove. When she 
approached the Norton ranch home she saw fifteen others gathered around, all in 
traditional dress. Tiola Norton stood in the doorway, holding her four year old 
granddaughter. The child looked tired and cranky. Walking Pneumonia was 
nothing to mess with. Modern medicine was working already, they would be 
adding to it.  

Orenda tied on her mask and began to shake her hickory bark rattle. Robert had 
brought his staff, well carved with a forked top, many amulets and Medicine 
pouches adorned the top. He led the singing as the False Faces filed into the 
Norton house, dancing and asking the spirits to cleanse the home, to remove the 
sickness here.  

end part 7... 

 Disclaimed in part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (Part 8/?) 

FBI Buffalo Regional Office 12:30pm 

Mulder watched Scully out of the corner of his eye. She had been getting more 
and more annoyed as the interviews progressed. Of the twenty five they'd talked 
to so far only six claimed to be looking up when the murder occurred. 

They claimed, adamantly, that Carl Norton was on the other end of the girder 
when Murphy was been attacked. Carl turned at the first screams and ran to his 
friend. By the time he got there Murphy was already in flames, hanging below 
the girder. 

The other nineteen said they looked up at the screams and saw Norton, running 
to where Murphy hung. He appeared to be trying to pull his friend up. No, they 
really didn't see the start of the attack, but from seeing Norton running TO the 
spot they would have to say he wasn't the attacker. 

The last witness had just left and Scully was leaning in her chair. Her elbow 
braced against the chair arm as she played with her bottom lip, deep in thought. 

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but these witnesses are NOT going to help the 
prosecution." Mulder leaned back in his own chair. 

"But the evidence will." She pointed out. 

"Circumstantial at best. The prints on the hose are covered by witness 
statements. This whole thing is going to go down as a freak accident, no matter 
what the coroner's report says. You know that as well as I do. I think we should 
stop trying to prove Carl Norton committed the murder, and concentrate on 
finding out who... or what did." 

"Shadows?" Scully gave him one of her best scoffing looks. "There has to be 
some other rational explanation." 

"Yes, God knows everything we deal with whittles down to nice rational 
explanations." His sarcasm while sharp, was not truly malicious. 

A chirruping sound filled the room and both agents reached for their phones. 
Mulder looked sheepishly at his partner. "Must be you." 

She pulled her cellphone from her jacket. "Scully." 

She frowned slightly. "Are you certain? No... no, it might even make a twisted 
sense. Thank you." 

She looked up at Mulder with an almost triumphant smile. "Those animal fur 
samples. They were simian, Mulder. Chimpanzee to be exact. Dark malformed 
shapes attacking people, even on a high up girder. Someone's trained chimps to 
kill." 

Mulder frowned. "Orenda said that her teacher, his son and grandson all worked 
at the Buffalo Zoological Gardens... at the Gorilla and Rainforest exhibit." 

"You know, you are really beginning to ruin zoos for me Mulder." Scully stood 
up. 

                                                X 

 The Zoo was only moderately busy on a Thursday afternoon. Their badges got 
them to the administrator's office. 

The short, balding, middle aged man went pasty white when they explained why 
they were here. Mr. Worth looked ready to faint. 

"I can assure you that this facility is in no way releated to those deaths. It isn't 
uncommon for people to keep exotic, if illegal pets." He stammered as he led 
them through the underground maze of halls and facilities not usually on the 
tour. 

"We are not insinuating that it is Mr. Worth. We would like to speak to an 
expert on primate behavior, that's all." Scully replied soothingly.  

"Of course. Of course. The Twofeathers all know the animals here very well. All 
the current primates have been cared for by Robert since either birth or 
purchase. His son is equally familiar. The boy will be going to college next year 
and I'm sure will make a fine addition to the staff in a full capacity. Good people 
the Twofeathers." The man's mouth never stopped untill they came upon a small 
dented metal door. "Here it is. Their office. If you have no further need of me.." 

"We'll know where to find you." Mulder was relieved to see the little man 
scamper away.  

At the sight of his rapidly retreating back Mulder and Scully looked at each 
other with amusement.  Mulder knocked on the door. 

The man who opened the door was in his late thirties, and slightly shorter than 
Mulder. He wore coveralls and looked at the two agents curiously. He was 
obviously Amerindian. 

"Can I help you?"  

"I hope so." Mulder offered his ID. "I'm Fox Mulder, this is my partner Dana 
Scully. We're investigating a series of deaths in the area." 

The man nodded, opening the door wider and moving aside to let them in. 
"Laurance Twofeathers. I know what you are investigating. But I do not see how 
I can help." 

The little office wasn't much more than a large closet. It made the X-Files office 
look bright and cheery. Metal shelving filled with buckets, hoses, tools and 
books adorned all the walls. And it stank with the musky odor of monkeys. A 
bare lightbulb provided barely enough illumination over a worn metal desk that 
had been recycled one too many times. 

"We found simian fur at the last murder site. The description of several 
witnesses could lead us to believe that this was some sort of primate attack." 
Scully watched Twofeathers sit on the edge of his desk. 

"I still don't see how I can help you. All our primates are accounted for as of this 
morning. We'd know if any had escaped." Laurance spread his large hands 
before them, at a loss. 

"But you do have Chimpanzees here don't you? Can you tell us if Chimps can be 
trained to attack, even kill a human being?" Scully did not sit in the only chair 
in the room, although Laurance's perch on the desk indicated he had left it for 
her. She didn't want to be deferred to. 

"We have eight of them. Not for long though. They are cutting back on the 
primate exhibit here. I think having Lucy's baby die was the last straw. We'll 
only be keeping the Gorillas and the monkeys. The chimps have already been 
adopted by other facilities. My father checked the places out, and he's certain 
they'll be reasonable happy in their new homes. 

As to wether they can be trained... sure. Chimps are strong. Pound for pound 
they are stronger then humans. And they are capable of being quite viscious. 
You know... chimps are the only creatures other then man who make war among 
themselves? They are also very smart, and capable of understanding instructions 
and trained behaviors. If trained to do so, yeah, they could kill a man." Laurance 
nodded as he spoke. 

"Lucy's baby?" Scully inquired. 

"Lucy is a five year old Chimp. She successfully concieved and delivered a year 
ago. It boosted business for a while, but the baby died one night. From SIDS as 
far as the vet could tell. Cast a bad light on the chimp house. Local news even 
questioned if the chimps were mistreeted. Almost punched that asshole." 

"The primates here are kept separated from the public by glass enclosures as 
well as bars, correct?" Mulder finally spoke up. 

"Yes sir. For their own protection as well as the public's. Kids used to poke 
things through the bars at the animals. Too much danger in that. Besides the 
public would feed stuff to them that was unhealthy for them to have. We had a 
gorilla here addicted to chocolate bars a while back." Laurance shook his head, 
annoyance in his dark eyes. 

"So a casual visitor here couldn't have picked up Chimpanzee fur." Scully 
looked at Mulder. Statement, not question. 

"Are you implying that me or my son or my father had something to do with 
these deaths?" Laurance looked up abruptly, his eyes going wary. 

"Someone with access to primates, who knows the Native American legends that 
are getting entangled in this case... you have to admit it doesn't look good. 
However we have no reason to suspect any of you. As Mr. Worth pointed out... 
people have been known to keep exotic pets," Scully pointed out, her face a 
serene mask. She also knew the animals here were monitored, and if any of them 
were missing at any time someone would have known. 

"I don't know of anyone owning a chimp. But then it wouldn't be well known 
would it? Among my family, my father is a respected elder and an upstanding 
member of the Medicine Circle. I am your most likely suspect. I'm sure you will 
find, or have already found my aggravated assault record from ten years ago. I 
was a drunk then. I do not have my father's reputation. My son... he is a 
teenager. Rebellious and angry at everything. But he has never broken the law, 
that I know of." 

"We'll be wanting to speak with both your father and your son none the less. 
Just to keep you all OFF the suspect list." Mulder smiled slightly. 

"Raini is out running errands now, and dad is involved with the Traveling Rite. 
Raini should be back around five. Dad, I'm not so sure. Whenever they've 
finished." 

"We just want to talk right now. Nothing to worry about Mr. Twofeathers." 
Scully dug out a businesses card. "I can be reached at this number. Have Raini 
and your father call us so we can arrange a convenient interview." 

Laurance took the card and looked at it as he ran his hand through his short 
cropped hair. "Yes mam. I'll have them call you as soon as they can. I want this 
cleared as soon as possible, and as much as you do. If someone is abusing 
Chimps..."  Laurance placed the card in the middle of the desk and opened the 
door, intent on personally leading the agents through the maze of back hallways 
so they wouldn't be lost. "This way." He motioned to the right, turning off the 
light and locking the door behind him. 

                            X 

Inside the room shadows moved. Many pairs of orange eyes blinked into the 
gloom. Dark upon dark, one misshapen form leaped from the floor onto the 
desk. The glow of the creature's eyes fell upon the card in the middle of the flat 
surface. Practically an offering. It inhaled the scent of the card, separating the 
smell of ink and woodpulp from the fragrance of the white female. The eyes 
closed in almost pleasure, and it hummed, a grating sound deep in it's throat. 
Hunters. Hunters made the best prey.  The female was simple. White and 
modern. All the things that inspired hate and rage.  

The male was something different. Confusing. He smelled white. Foreign and 
not welcome here, yet he looked to their eyes to belong. To be accepted by the 
True place, and the land. How to deal with him? The bonds between the male 
and the female were strong. Some of his 'flavor' tinged her through that link. But 
not enough to hide her.  

Orange eyes opened and the darkness hid the twisted grin. They hungered, and 
the power they could gain here was too great to resist. But they must wait. Wait 
for nightfall and the comforting darkness. 

end part 8... 

 Disclaimed in part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (part 9/?) 

The deli wasn't terribly crowded for a weekday afternoon, but Mulder had 
guided Scully to a back corner table. He sat with his back to the wall, facing the 
door as they discussed their findings and opinions over sandwiches and sodas. 

"Well can you explain how chimpanzee hairs were found on the body? We have 
confirmed the victim neither owned one as a pet, nor knew anyone who did." 
She shoveled her chips onto Mulder's plate as she spoke and confiscated his 
pickle spears. 

"He was a dealer, Scully, any one of his buyers COULD have owned a chimp. 
Besides that, the teeth patterns and bite marks suggested an attacker with 
pointed teeth. Chimps have teeth a lot like ours." He bit into his sandwich and 
held it up before her. Speaking around a mouthful of food he asked, "Does that 
look like the bites on the body? I didn't think so." 

"Oh, that was mature," she muttered. "If someone trained chimps to attack 
people, they COULD have filed the teeth..." She mused. 

"And lost a few fingers in the process. OK so you want up to look up sales of 
veterinary and dental equipment in the area? We will." He traced her forefinger 
with his own where her hand rested on the table, and where no one could see the 
gesture. "If you're right this guy would need to anesthetize the animal, use 
something to keep it's mouth open and some dental tools to file the teeth." He 
ticked off points on her fingers with a stroke of his own. "Your idea, you get 
that unenviable task." 

"And what will you be doing?" She withdrew her hand with just the slightest of 
shivers. 

"Going through both the public library and Wren's personal collection of books 
to find everything I can on the Dark People. Where they have shown up in the 
past, what they do, and all that unimportant stuff."  

She nodded, resigned to the fact that no argument she made would deter him 
from his course until they had some more solid evidence. That did not, however, 
deter her from stating her case. "We have witnesses, and forensic evidence here, 
Mulder. Wren said these spirit whatsits can't be seen by non-natives, yet most of 
the witnesses of last night's attack were Caucasian." 

"She also said they were gaining power and physically manifesting." He 
shrugged. "You have to admit, it usually pays for us to look into ALL 
possibilities." 

"Fine. Just don't start jumping at shadows on me. I think our killer is a bit more 
corporeal."  

                               X 

Wren was tired. It was, however, a good tired. She felt she had accomplished 
something. Her muscle aches and sore back were part of the price she paid to the 
spirits for their aid.  She was still hungry. While the cornmeal pottage used to 
pay them and the spirits they represented was alright, if a bit sweet, she was a 
steak-and-potatoes gal herself. She looked over at her passenger and smiled into 
the waning light of the sun.  

"Wanna stop somewhere for some burgers and fries? I'm almost ready to kill for 
a chocolate shake right now." She saw her mentor shake his head sadly as he 
removed his hairbone earrings.  

"You are an extremely irreverent and impertinent young woman, Orenda Brant. 
Make mine strawberry." He reached into one of the leather pouches at his belt 
and withdrew a wallet. 

Wren laughed as she looked for and spotted a pair of golden arches. 

They both decided to go inside, keeping their faces neutral masks, heads high as 
they ordered and drew attention in traditional garb. The entire time Wren made 
sure not to look at Robert's face, or they'd both lose it and dissolve into a fit of 
undignified laughter. 

After eating, she dropped her friend off at the zoo and headed home in the 
darkness. As she pulled away from the back entrance of the zoo, she felt a shiver 
creep up her flesh. From the base of her spine upward. Danger. There was 
danger to someone she'd placed a protective blessing on. Just great, today she 
had placed at least forty blessings.  

Out of nowhere, a flutter of white wings crossed the beam of her headlights and 
she swerved to avoid hitting the bird that had flown into her path. She got the 
impression of the large, dark, ancient eyes of the night hunter above a small 
beak as she came to a full stop. Looking into the dimly lit side street she 
couldn't see the bird. She had missed it... no... 

"Shit!" She muttered, throwing her Wrangler into gear she took off at a reckless 
speed. That bird... she knew that bird. Skeno'oo-sho'o. It told her who was in 
danger. 

                                    X 

Having come up with nothing but dead ends from an entire afternoon on the 
phone, Scully decided to call it a day. Or a night. She looked out one of the 
windows, showing nothing but inky blackness. 

She brought out her phone and called a cab, then hit the first speed dial button. 

"Mulder." His voice over the phone sounded tired. 

"It's me. Where are you?" She checked her watch, six-thirty.  

"I'm at Wren's. I have a stack of photocopies from two area libraries I'm working 
my way through. After I get through them, I'm going to start on the handful of 
Wren's books I've found. So... no luck?" 

"Not YET. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong, either. Our purp could just as easily 
hunted down used equipment." She wasn't about to give up. 

"And the anesthetics could have been stolen or bought on the street. Alright. 
When are you headed back?"  

"I just called a cab. I'll be there within a half hour." She looked out the glass 
double doors at the building's front. A yellow taxi had just pulled up. "My cab's 
here, Mulder. See you soon." 

Scully hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket. As she crossed the 
sidewalk to the car, she thought she heard a faint scraping sound behind her. 
Turning and peering into the shadowed darkness, she could detect nothing out 
of the ordinary. With a shrug she got in and gave the driver Orenda Brant's 
address. 

                                           X 

Mulder had taken the car at Scully's insistence. After all, she would be at the 
field office making endless phone calls, and waiting on the bloodwork reports 
on the latest victim. A cab was more logical for her than for him. He'd hit two 
libraries, photocopying from a few books with references to The Dark People. 
Wren had left them a key, so he'd let himself into her home and perused her 
book shelves for further study. She had surprisingly few books on legends and 
folklore and none on the Medicine Way. He'd thought that odd at first, then 
realized the tradition she followed was passed on orally.  

He felt vaguely uneasy, sitting alone in Wren's house, perched in an overstuffed 
cream colored chair, reading from one of the handful of books on Native 
American lore Wren DID have. What he had read so far was NOT encouraging. 
Scully was right. Ms. Brant was putting an awful lot of trust in virtual strangers. 
Government employees could be serial killers as much as the next person. 
Mulder deliberately shoved images of his mentor, Bill Patterson, out of his 
head.  

The kind of trust she was showing made him feel a bit guilty for reserving his 
own. He was still suspicious of her, though he doubted she was the killer. Why 
was she being so open and helpful? What was is in it for her? Most people were 
motivated through their own agendas. Their own wants and needs. So why did 
she want and need them there? 

He looked at his watch. It was seven o'clock. Scully wasn't back, but then 
neither was Wren. He couldn't look out the window for either of them as the 
night had made those openings to the outside world reflective surfaces. He saw 
only himself in them, seated alone in a house that wasn't his. 

He heard his cell phone chirrup, thumbed the 'speak' button and spoke his 
customary "Mulder." He expected to hear her sultry voice explaining her delay 
since her last call. He frowned when there was no immediate reply. "Is someone 
there?" 

"On-ye'iu` wae-gai`'ta-wak oni-at'ga`. I winnow the good from the bad, that 
which belongs from that which does not. Your days are numbered." The voice 
was male, and harsh before the connection was closed. 

Mulder immediately called the operator to see if the last call to his phone could 
be traced. No luck. Whoever it was hadn't been on long enough. 

                                       X 

Wren ignored the second red light in a row. Luck was with her, and the roads 
were empty for the most part. She had to get home, had to hunt down where the 
two FBI had gone for the day. Her teeth were clenched in frustration. Her mind 
flew back to a vision of white feathers, and large, night seeing eyes. Dana Scully 
was in danger. Mortal danger. 

                                        X 

Scully tapped her fingers against the lab reports. Whatever had killed and eaten 
parts of Paul Naylor had indeed had sharp teeth. And it exuded some unknown 
venom. There were traces of a so far unidentified agent in the victim's blood. It 
was not the heroin she had expected. This was most likely a paralytic, an 
organically-based one the lab's chemist had never seen before. She did NOT 
look forward to telling Mulder that. 

The cab was jarred slightly by the uneven roads. The driver had given up on any 
precepts at encouraging conversation out of her.  She was relieved to see Wren's 
house up ahead. She handed the driver her fare plus a reasonable tip and was 
just getting out when Wren's Wrangler tore down the street. She squealed to a 
halt in front of the house and ran toward Scully. 

"Dana! Thank the Spirit." Wren almost embraced her, paused and frowned at the 
cab.  

"What's wrong?" Dana asked, surprised at the younger woman's actions. 

Wren frowned, the car... the cab. There was something wrong, something dark, 
oily, cancerous about the cab. "I just had the strange feeling you were in 
trouble." Wren took Dana's arm and tugged her toward the house, hurrying her 
along while trying to appear otherwise. "So did I miss out on anything 
interesting?" 

Wren opened the front door and practically pushed Scully inside.  

"Ms. Brant, what the hell is going on?" Dana was trying to keep her cool. She 
did not take manhandling well. 

"They were out there. Stay here. The house is protected." She looked up the 
stairs at Mulder, who had come at the first sound of Scully's indignant voice. 

"If they're here we can't let you go out there alone." Mulder argued as Wren 
started to open the front door. 

"You are not prepared to battle spirits, Agent Mulder. Watch from the window if 
you must, and if anything of THIS world comes at me, feel free to come out like 
some cowboy, guns blazing, but otherwise both of you stay IN THIS HOUSE." 

She stepped outside, scanning the front yard. The cab was gone. The darkness 
seemed to have gone with it. 

Frustrated, she turned around to go back in the house only to face both agents, 
guns drawn, ten paces behind her. 

"You two have to be the biggest fools alive." She threw up her hands. "They are 
gone now. I can't feel them near me. Now get back in the house so we can talk." 

end part 9... 

 Disclaimed in part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (Part 10/?) 

So close. So very close. They could practically taste the essence of her skin, her 
scent strong in their nostrils. They almost had her... until this metal monster 
stopped before a sacred place. The soil exuded blessed earth. Powerful magics 
protected the place. Still, they were ready to strike...  

And then the Medicine woman came. Her presence was a shining light in their 
darkness, a searing, burning presence that hurt to look at. She knew how to 
protect, and before they could taste the prey, she had drug the woman off, onto 
sacred ground, into a warded longhouse. 

They hungered still. And their anger was great. 

                                       X 

Jasper Barns was glad that this was the last job of his shift. He was tired, he'd 
had a cold all day and with the heat of the day, he'd had to keep the windows up 
to run the air conditioner for his fares. He liked fresh air. It was the air 
conditioner that had given him the cold, he was sure. 

On the return drive to dispatch, he switched off the AC and rolled down his 
window. The night air, while warm and muggy, felt good. 

The cab jarred again. It was almost as if the road were bumpy, but the macadam 
ahead was smooth. Great, now he had to tell dispatch the car had to be looked 
at. 

Something hurtled through the open driver's window. Black and snarling with 
many teeth. Jasper screamed as the cab swerved and struck a lamp post.  Broken, 
twisted shapes swarmed into the cab's confines. Jasper felt the first agony rip 
through him, then he couldn't move... couldn't even scream... 

                                     X 

"Alright, talk." Scully sat in the chair Mulder had vacated when she and Wren 
had come in. Wren sat on the couch, and Mulder remained standing. 

"The Dark People were out there. I can feel their presence when they are close to 
me. It is a oily coldness. They were hunting you, Dana. They set their sights on 
you." 

At Wren's words, Mulder stiffened, every nerve alert. "How can you be sure?" 

"I was given a... vision. A protector of Dana's came to me. I almost didn't 
understand. But when I did I came back home quickly. I had hoped to find out 
where she was from you, Mulder, but fate was with us all and she was here 
already." Wren's gaze shifted from one agent to the other, her eyes clear and 
meeting theirs boldly.  

"I got a phone call just before you arrived." Mulder ran a hand through his hair. 
"A man's voice told me - I winnow the good from the bad, that which belongs 
from that which does not. Your days are numbered." He looked at Wren, pinning 
her with his eyes, willing her to somehow enlighten him. "They also spoke in 
your language. Onyay o waygi thawak oniath ga." He knew he was mangling 
pronunciation, but hopefully Wren would understand the words nonetheless. 

"At least he was playing translator. On-ye'iu` wae-gai`'ta-wak oni-at'ga`. It means 
'winnowing the good grain from the bad.' He let you know what he was saying. 
But he said it in Iroquois first. He prefers the native tongue, the translation was 
most likely grudgingly given so he could more fully enjoy playing with you." 

"I was able to figure that out on my own. So whoever this guy is, he knows we're 
on the case. If he DID send the Dark People after Scully, then he knows were we 
are as well." This case was without any media attention so far. However, anyone 
determined enough could find out who they were.  

"Yes, and it makes me all the happier that I offered you shelter. Here, you are 
safe. It would take quite a bit to get through the defenses on my home." Wren 
could see Scully was unconvinced. She had no idea how to convince her though, 
so she allowed it to rest uncomfortably between them. 

end part 10... 

 

Disclaimed in part 1 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (Part 11/?) 

There was a far-off ringing. Orenda struggled to wakefulness against her body's 
protests. The ringing came from the next room, one of the guest rooms. Not her 
phone, theirs. Mulder, yeah, that was the room he chose. Both of them trying to 
maintain the illusion of perfect professional distance, and in Orenda's case, 
failing miserably. 

The ringing stopped, soft words, indecipherable through the walls came to her. 
Then a knock on the other guest room door. Muffled voices, then a woman's 
voice slightly louder, in protest. 

Wren switched on the lamp next to her bed just as there was a discreet knock on 
her door. 

"Yes?" 

"They've found another body. Two miles from here. Um... I don't want Scully out 
there... unprotected." Mulder's voice through the wood. 

"I'll be ready in five minutes." Wren answered and rubbed the sleep from her 
eyes. 

She was ready in four. Agent Scully didn't seem to be happy. Wren got the 
distinct impression she thought she could fend perfectly well on her own. Any 
other time and she most likely could. The woman had a strong aura, a powerful 
spirit not given easily to defeat. Yet in this situation, Dana was as helpless as a 
babe. 

"Please wear this." Orenda held out a small pouch on a leather thong. "It's a 
talisman. Touched by the three sisters, the earth and the water, the fire and the 
air." Wren had worn the talisman herself on occasion. The pouch held powdered 
squash, beans and corn, the ashes of a burnt eagle feather and a stone rolled 
smooth and shiny by the water of a river. It wasn't much, but it would help. 

Scully took the leather cord from Wren's fingers reluctantly. Urged on more by 
Mulder's worried look than by any belief in the magic of the medicine pouch. 
Wren knew this. It didn't matter if Dana took it to appease Mulder and herself, it 
would work just as well. 

                              ### 

Johnny Redcrow sat back and took a pull from his beer. He looked at the boy 
next to him and smiled before passing the warm bottle.  

"So when're you talkin to the feds, Raini?" 

The boy took the proffered drink and finished it off. "Tomorrow I guess. Dad 
was on my ass about it as soon as I got back. I bet they have Dad at the top of 
their suspect list or somethin." Raini Twofeathers lit the joint he had been 
rolling. Johnny was great for being able to produce grass for Raini and his 
friends whenever they wanted it.  

Johnny had been jumpy all night. Raini had made him tell the story of what he'd 
seen in the ol' complex over and over. Now it seemed like every time he moved, 
Johnny would catch a glimpse of shadows moving out of the corner of his eye. 
Crazy stuff.  

"Man, did you see that?" He could have sworn he saw something scamper into 
the zoo office building to their left.  

"What? I don't see nothin. Maybe I will in a little bit." Raini drew in a large lung 
full of the sweet smoke, feeling it burn his lungs before freeing his mind. "If you 
ask me this is the kind of bad magic the whites brought on themselves. I mean, 
they took our land, our freedom, everything. Now all we got is our own self 
respect." The teenager took another drag. "No wonder the old ones are pissed 
off, man." 

Maybe he did see something moving in the shadows. Maybe. 

                        #### 

The crime scene was crawling with police. Wren was reminded of ants crawling 
all over a carcass. She got in close enough to see what remained of the victim. 
Not much. She shivered. The fact that he had no skin was far from the worst of 
it. The mutilation was secondary to the fact that, for the second time, the Dark 
People had taken a soul. Her spirit vision could not tear away from the hideous 
gaping hole in the other realm where his soul had been forcibly ripped away, 
and devoured. 

Mulder had a small evidence bag in his hand and played a flashlight over its 
contents as he presented it to Scully. Wren watched the woman pale, then 
straighten her back and launch into an argument. 

She had no time to pay closer attention as she dug into her purse for the small 
pouch of powder. Yet again she began to chant the purification ceremony. 

                      X 

"This is the guy who drove you to Orenda's, isn't it?" Mulder held up the cab 
driver's ID clip. "Isn't it?" He repeated more forcefully. 

Scully crossed her arms and faced him boldly. "Yes, it is. Who was it who was 
talking about circumstantial evidence earlier today?" 

"Scully, I don't believe in coincidence. I don't care right now if this is dark 
spirits or trained chimps, whatever it is HAS targeted you." He took a deep 
breath, preparing for a battle he knew he didn't dare lose. "I don't want us 
separated any more on this case. We'll follow all leads together." 

"That's a waste of manpower. I can take care of myself, Mulder. I'm not about to 
start putting up with this macho bullshit now." Her tone was cold enough to 
frost the air. 

"This isn't macho bullshit and you know it. You have been targeted by a serial 
killer. It's therefore downright dangerous for you to go anywhere without 
backup. Officially this is enough to have you pulled off the case." 

"Don't you dare start quoting rules at ME. The man who sees the rule book as a 
paper weight or a door stop. I'm not going to be coddled." 

"Since when do I coddle you?" At her raised eyebrow he almost grinned, "Well 
recently anyway? I'm not asking you to drop the case, or even to stop looking at 
it your way, I'm just asking you to stay by my side, so I can work efficiently 
without worrying myself sick. And besides I use the rule book to prop up my 
coffee table." 

They were interrupted by a delicate cough. They turned as one to see Orenda 
staring pointedly at them. She had pulled out another of her cigarillos and lit it 
before speaking. She drew in some of the smoke, holding it as if to calm herself 
before exhaling. 

"They are almost too strong to stop right now. I don't think I can do this on my 
own. I think they CAN be stopped, but I'm going to need your help." She looked 
at them expectantly, unsure how they would take her next suggestion. She 
motioned them away from the cab and all prying ears. 

"What do you have in mind?" Mulder asked first. 

"They feed off of pain, anger, fear and hatred. The way to weaken them is to cut 
off their food supply. To counter it. To throw as much love, compassion, hope 
and ... pleasure at them as we can." She tried to gauge their reaction. 

"What? You're suggesting we get them to visit the red light district?" Mulder 
crossed his arms. 

"Not EXACTLY." Wren took another drag and forged ahead. "I suggest we lure 
them to a place of our choosing, somewhere that will be in our favor, where I 
can fight them on the spirit plane. With as much power as you two can give me. 
We set a trap. And that means bait."  

Mulder shook his head. "No way, we are NOT using Scully as bait." 

"The bait part I don't object to, but did you just propose what I think you 
proposed?" Scully's eyes were wide, more shocked at this then at the sight of the 
dead cabby. 

Wren nodded. "Sex Medicine is very powerful. It generates a great store of 
energy in the spirit world. Positive energy, especially when positive emotions 
are enmeshed in the act." 

Mulder almost choked, but was brought to a halt by the sight of a first; Scully 
speechless. 

end part 11... Disclaimed in Part 1. 

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (part 12/?) 

6:15 am Amherst 

The silence in the car was a weight pressing on all of them. Scully hadn't said a 
word since Orenda had told them her plan. Mulder knew she was silently 
fuming. He was just glad Scully didn't have his violent streak or she actually 
might have flattened Wren then and there. 

"Well if you two have a better plan for dealing with this I'd LOVE to hear it. I 
really would." Wren finally spoke up. Mulder wished she hadn't. 

"How about we find the man who's trained the chimps?" Scully's sweet tone 
didn't mask the acidity. 

Wren groaned and rolled her eyes heavenward from the back seat. "What is it 
going to take to convince you we are not dealing with primates here? One to 
drop on your head?" 

Everyone looked startled at the sound of something heavy hitting the roof of the 
car immediately following that statement. 

Something landed on the hood and Mulder automatically swerved and slammed 
on the breaks.  The sudden stop threw two dark shapes off the vehicle. That's 
when they heard it. The scraping. Something sharp and grating scraping across 
metal. Mulder let out a yelp as a dark, misshapen head pressed against the 
drivers side window. Glowing green eyes peered malevolently in at them. The 
lumpy flesh appeared desiccated in the wan light of the car interior. 

"What the hell is that?" Scully asked as another form crawled back onto the 
hood of the car. 

"It ain't no monkey." Orenda spat out. "Turn on the interior lights. It might help." 

Mulder complied and wished he hadn't. 

The faint light only revealed more of the things with rows of sharp, jagged teeth 
in malformed mouths. No two appeared to be alike. "Oh fuck." 

Orenda tore her eyes away from the demonic green glow of the eyes. There were 
more than a score of them. Climbing over the car now. Claws scraping at the 
sides. Several managed to start insinuating their claws around the edge of the 
passenger door and began to try and pry it open. 

"My sentiments exactly, Mulder." Orenda slapped down all the door locks. 

"What do we do?" He asked her, trying hard to maintain his cool. 

"Praying wouldn't hurt." She snapped back before taking a deep breath and 
concentrating her sight beyond this world. What she saw shook her to the core. 
The darkness around the Shadow People moved and flowed. They were so 
powerful, they were corrupting everything in their immediate vicinity in the 
otherworld. 

Reaching inside, she found her center, the place where her soul resided. She 
touched that place and stood at the ready. 

Her eyes darted to the dashboard clock. Six eighteen in the morning. It was still 
dark out, but she thought she could detect a faint lightening of the sky in the 
east. Damn. What time was sunrise supposed to be today? 

Her attempt to remember shattered along with Scully's window. Scully had her 
gun out and Orenda heard gunshots even as she saw Mulder unlatch his seat belt 
and propel himself over the seat so he was almost on top of his partner.  

"NO!" Wren tried to surge forward but in her haste forgot her own seat belt. 

One of the Dark People was through the broken window. She saw its twisted 
mouth open, revealing more than one row of teeth as it moved to attack. Wren 
clawed at her seat belt at the same time as Mulder's fist slammed into the thing 
where its glowing eyes were. The force seemed enough to send it back out the 
window.  

Scully and Wren managed to both undo their own restraints at the same time. 
However Scully found herself hampered by the significant weight of Mulder half 
draped over her as he tried to awkwardly pull or drag her back towards the 
driver's side.  

One taloned claw swiped through the ruined window aiming for Dana's face. 
She let out a cry just as Mulder raised his arm. Wren heard the cloth ripping on 
Mulder's sleeve, and wondered how much of that sound was flesh. From the 
pained look on his face and the gasp he had tried to hold back, enough of it was. 

That was when Mulder did the unexpected. Shocking Scully and making Wren 
want to cheer. He kissed her. Scully. On the lips. It was not a passionate kiss, 
but a tender one. Wren felt something, and looking with her other sight, she 
could see it. A nimbus of soft blue light, flickering over the form of Mulder, 
being used to bathe Scully.  

Wren was impressed. He was forcing back his own fear and pain, though it was 
still faintly visible in the light, and pushing forward his positive emotions. Even 
as she watched, Wren saw these getting stronger. The Dark people had paused 
and drew back slightly.  

"It's working! Mulder, it's working!" Wren reached forward and touched Scully's 
shoulder. "Look. See. It's working. Think of positive things. Refuse the fear. 
Think of Mulder, of others you love." 

She tried. Out of desperation she really did. The light bathing them both 
brightened a bit. But was it enough? There was still bruising colors of fear 
interlaced with the light. It was beckoning the Dark People. Taunting them. 
Drawing them as the light repulsed them. 

The sun was a sliver to the east. They needed time. Wren took hold of her 
personal power and let it shine forth. 

The effect was immediate. The air in the car shimmered. An almost perceptible 
glow emanated from Orenda as she sat, her hand wrapped around the tiny leather 
pouch she wore as a necklace. The attacking creatures drew back further, but 
only slightly. They hissed and gibbered, but did not fully retreat. Not like they 
had earlier. They had grown in power. 

The sun alone was their salvation. Just as Orenda felt her personal power 
stretched to it's breaking point the light of day brightened enough for the 
creatures to draw back, wailing in frustration. 

The three people in the car watched them simply blink out, as if they had never 
been there. 

"What happened?" Scully's voice was surprisingly steady. 

"T-the sunrise." Orenda cursed her own trembling tone. "They can't stand the 
light. Yet." 

"Do you still think we're looking at Chaeta with an attitude?" Mulder moved 
back, off of Scully, wincing with the move. Wren saw the blood soaking his left 
arm.  

"Mulder..." Scully blurted, reaching out for his injured arm. 

"It's ok. I'd feel a lot better if we got back to Wren's place before worrying about 
it." 

They were silent again as Mulder drove them back to Wren's home, and what 
protection it offered. 

                                           X 

Raini stumbled down the stairs to his windowless bedroom in his grandfather's 
tiny house. He'd made sure to leave his jacket outside to air out. With luck, his 
dad and the old man wouldn't smell the weed on him.  

He paused at his bedroom door. He thought he heard faint scratching sounds 
inside. Great. If Grandfather had mice or rats, Raini knew he'd be the one to 
have to set the traps or bait the place. 

Opening the door a crack he thought he heard another sound, like a dry whisper. 
Stirring leaves.  

His mind barely registered "Oh shit!" before the door slammed shut behind him. 

                                   X 

Wren sat on her couch, taking deep cleansing breaths as she looked down the 
hall to her open bathroom door. Mulder was visible in the mirror. He'd removed 
his ruined jacket and shirt and Scully was cleaning the four jagged claw marks 
with antiseptic her face hidden by the angle.  

In the bathroom itself, Scully was trying to focus on the immediate. Patching up 
Mulder. She wasn't sure what she was feeling right now, but she was wound 
tight as a spring, and any moment she could explode. With what she wasn't sure. 
Anger, fear, compassion... they all waged battle within her. 

"You might need stitches on at least two of these." She dabbed at his upper arm 
with a gauze pad. He just tightened his jaw at the raw burn of the antiseptic.  "I'll 
be fine. Just wrap it up," he managed through clenched teeth. 

Scully didn't answer, just pressed cool fingers to the torn edges of flesh. He was 
hurt because he put himself between her and those things. No matter what he did 
to mask it the gashes were deep enough that they had to hurt like hell. She hated 
to see him hurt. To counter the fear inside she allowed the anger to come to the 
fore. 

"I couldn't move, Mulder," she hissed. "Not because of those... whatever they 
were, but because you had me just as trapped as they did. I was pinned down. 
Jesus, Mulder, I had my gun out. I'd fired two shots, I could have shot you by 
accident. Not to mention that this is the result of your own stupidity." If she 
wrapped the gauze a little too tightly, he deserved it. "Just what the hell were 
you trying to pull back there?" 

"They were after you, not me, Scully. I only got this 'cause I was in the way." He 
lifted his arm slightly to indicate the scratches. "It would have ripped your face 
off." 

"Not if I had myself free to shoot it wouldn't have," she countered.  

"I think you are jumping down my throat to avoid the issue." He announced as 
he left the bathroom, making her follow him into the bedroom he'd claimed as 
his own. He pulled out another shirt, stiffly pulled it on and began working the 
buttons. 

"What issue is that, oh wise one?" 

"That those weren't trained monkeys. Scully, I think we should listen to what 
Wren has to say. You're right, you got two shots off. And it didn't even phase 
those things. And I'm pretty certain of one thing... they are gonna be back 
tonight." 

"And we can hold them off by thinking happy thoughts? First star to the right 
and straight on till morning?" She crossed her arms. 

"Look at the facts. You're a scientist, look at what happened as an experiment. 
Did my kissing you, did thinking and focusing on positive emotions make a 
difference or not?" 

Scully frowned. Those things had drawn back when they had apparently been 
winning. When they should have pressed forward. Had it been because of what 
they had tried to do, because of Wren's instructions? 

"There did seem to be an effect, but we can't be sure it was because of positive 
emotions." She hedged. 

Mulder grinned. "And if it was? Let's listen to what Wren has in mind." 

 End part 12... 

Special Thanks to Luc, who helped me write part of this section when I ran up 
against a wall. Thanks Luc. **Kiss** 

Disclaimed in Part 1. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (part 13/17) 

Wren went into the kitchen to prepare some tea. Her nerves needed the calming 
effect, and if she was fortunate enough to get an aquiesence, the contents would 
help the ritual. Rose and Jasmine tea... and where did she put the... oh there. 
Honey. Not her usual honey, the special jar hidden in the back of the cupboard. 
It had expensive rose pollen mixed into it. The pollen would be needed.  

She heard the two arguing softly in the back as she boiled the water and 
prepared three cups. Placing the cups and the honey on a tray, she carried them 
out to the coffee table. 

Scully entered the living room and sat on the couch, Mulder perching on the 
arm. Both faced Wren with different messages in their eyes. 

"Talk," Scully said simply. It was all the invitation Wren needed. 

"We've pretty much established that the Dark People have targeted you, Dana. 
So now we have to set a trap. I think you call this a pro-active technique." Wren 
used some of the honey in her own tea, stirring carefully before taking a sip and 
continuing. "I know the perfect place to lure them, but it will take considerable 
time to prepare the place, and I need permission. However, my personal power 
was depleted earlier. I'm certain I cannot fight this fight without you. I will call 
the Circle and tell them my plans. But in order for this trap to be assuredly 
sprung the others of the Circle will have to concentrate their efforts all over the 
city. From different locations, expending their energy to shield the population. 
To make sure that only Dana is visible. This is no small undertaking, so we can 
consider ourselves on our own for the final part of the fight." Setting aside her 
tea, Orenda held a necklace of wampum. The seed beads glistening with earth 
tones. Her restless fingers toyed with the eagle feather adorning it.  

"What I need most from you is... nothing you are unfamiliar with. The only 
requirement is that one of you wear this. It will collect and store the power you 
generate." Wren handed them each a cup of tea. 

Scully took hers then tucked her chin in, gathering her arguments. "Look, Wren, 
I don't know where you think you got your information..." 

"Don't. Just don't. Don't insult my intelligence or my perceptions. It angers me to 
hear you sit there and deny what you have, especially when what you have may 
be our salvation. You want to keep your relationship secret, fine. I won't breathe 
a word to anyone. But don't try to convince me of a lie." Wren clenched her 
fists, the knuckles paling. 

"No. We won't deny it," Mulder said, ignoring the glare he got from Scully. "But 
you are asking something a bit... personal." 

"I'm not asking for anything not already freely given. I'm ASKING for your help. 
No matter what you decide, I am going to set this trap. I am going to face the 
Dark People. Tonight. Alone if I must." 

"The trap idea might work. Look Scully, if this isn't supernatural, then you are 
still a target, and the killer will just as easily be lured. I don't LIKE the idea of 
you as bait, but we'll both be there, and armed." Mulder looked at Scully, their 
eyes meeting and speaking silently. 

Wren stood and crossed to them. She took Mulder's uninjured arm and raised 
his hand to press the necklace into it. His fingers closed around it. 

"I'm going to prepare the place. From here on in the decision is yours." She 
grabbed her large purse and started down the stairs to the front door. "But you 
have seen that you have an effect on them. You have witnessed it in action. Do 
not throw away the opportunity to stop the Dark People before they kill again." 

"Where?" It was Scully who asked. 

"The construction site where Tom Murphy was killed. The company building 
there is run by a Seneca named John Littledeer. He respects the old ways, so I 
should be able to get permission to set up. Besides, Tom was killed hanging in 
the air, it makes cleansing the site difficult. The evil of his death lingers there. It 
will help call those we wish to summon. If you join me tonight, come just before 
sunset. I will be waiting inside an incomplete powder circle. Step into the circle 
through the opening, and then I will close it." With that Wren left them alone. 

Scully looked at Mulder. He downed his tea in a few short gulps then looked at 
the necklace clenched in his fist, his brow wrinkled in thought. She watched his 
face in silence. He frowned, shook his head slightly, then tilted his head to the 
side. She could see him threading through ideas, approaches, trying to decide 
which would be best. 

Scully drank some of the fragrent tea, sighed and placed her hand on top of his 
clenched fist. Startled by the unexpected action, he pulled his hand away. 

"I only wanted to see it, Mulder," she spoke softly. 

"Well if you wanted to see it all you had to do was..." The quip died on his 
tongue when he registered the lack of hostility in her comment. She wasn't 
arguing... at least not yet. 

He opened his hand and shivered as her fingers played over the small beads, 
stroking his palm in places.  

"Dana, I think this," he took her hand, and turning it, deposited the necklace in 
her small palm, "this could stand between life and death." His eyes met hers, 
pinning her where she sat. "Yours. Your life." 

He didn't need to say more. She read it in his eyes. Without her he felt he was 
nothing. He would be lost. Half of himself severed beyond redemption. It scared 
her, more than those things that had attacked them earlier. This was a 
responsibility she felt heavily. It was uncomfortable, but she shouldered this 
burden for long enough that it was a familiar dread. Almost a friend. 

She didn't say a word as she ran her fingers over the strung beads. She didn't 
need the words. She lifted the necklace and looped it over her head. It was 
statement enough. 

                                   #### 

Outside the house, Orenda walked slowly, a yellowish powder trickling from her 
fingers as she sang an old chant of blessing and prayer. The powder was made of 
seeds and pollen. It would assure the energy raised within the circle would stay 
there, and unable to escape into the world at large, would go into the necklace.  

Finished at last, she cast a look at her home. 'Please,' she silently prayed, 'Please 
Great Spirit, let them understand and accept. Let them save themselves, and all 
those the Dark Ones would destroy.' 

Wren checked her large purse for the supplies she needed. Satisfied, and glad 
she had remembered the most important part, she went to her Jeep and began the 
short drive to the construction site. And her destiny. 

                                 ##### 

In another Place 

A hand-like paw swatted at Tor-yoh'-ne's nose. He lifted his head and snapped at 
the offending appendage. The ball of gray fur that it belonged to pulled back and 
skittered half way up a tree, looking down at him through eyes surrounded by 
circles of black fur. 

>Do you know what's going on?< 

Tor-yoh'-ne looked up at the offending creature. This one was too much trouble. 
<I assume you speak about the chosen one we share.> 

>They are going to try to gather power for the battle ahead.< The smaller 
creature hopped down from the tree, seemingly unconcerned that Tor-yoh'-ne 
thought he'd make a tasty meal given half a chance. 

<Your point being? We cannot influence their decision, and we have not been 
asked to advise.> The great lupine head shook and he snorted. <And while 
voyerism may be your style, it isn't mine. Humans are so... awkward about it.> 

>They may not be able to achieve enough power, not with her inner doubts. 
BUT... if the lifespark were introduced, the power they generate would increase 
threefold.< 

*Whooo do you think yooou are making plans for one not yooours.* Both spirit 
animals looked up into the tree recently used as a bouncing post by the smaller 
of them. Skeno'oosho perched above. Her large eyes peering down at them 
accusingly. *Yooou are speaking of changing the life of one of mine. The 
lifespark is nothing to be fooooled with.* 

>And if she dies because it was not enough and too late? Where does that leave 
yours? On the wrong side of the spirit world. That's where.< The little one 
rubbed his hand like paws over his face.  

-It is not that easy either.- Another animal entered the clearing. Not so large as 
Tor-yoh'-ne, his build suggested their distant kinship. -Our chosen has had 
things done. Abominations. They may prevent the lifespark.- 

One large eye blinked in the tree, then another. *Not with a little help.* She 
conceeded. *And the four of us together should be able tooo counter what was 
done. It may be her only chance. Perhaps yooou are right, thief. Perhaps we 
should intercede.* 

Tor-yoh'-ne looked to his cousin. <What say you to this Je-yeh?> 

-I say it's about TIME.- Je-yeh tilted his furry head to the side, his tongue lolling 
out. -When do we start?- 

>As soon as they're ready, of course.< The little thief rubbed his paws together. 

Tor-yoh'-ne rolled his eyes. He just knew that one was getting his chosen into 
trouble again. 

                             ### 

"Are you sure about this?" Mulder plucked at the eagle feather dangling on the 
necklace, twirling it in his fingers.  

"Mulder, shut up and kiss me before I change my mind."  

With a flash of smile, he bent down and followed orders.  

end part 13... 

Disclaimed in Part 1. 

Dogged Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (part 14/17) 

Rating:******** THIS IS THE NC-17 CHAPTER!************** Feel free 
to skip this part if graphic depictions of consensual, loving sex between two 
adults (especially M&S) offend you. I'm trying to write the story so you won't 
miss much by skipping this. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dogged 
Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (part 14/?) 

Scully broke off the kiss as Mulder took her hand. Lifting it to his mouth, he 
kissed her knuckles. A gesture somehow both courtly and passionate.  

He stood and kept hold of her hand as he led her down the hall, to his room. 

Closing the door behind them, he stepped behind her. His hands on her 
shoulders. She felt his breath, hot against her cheek, smelled the sweet scent of 
the tea as he spoke. "Do you have any... reservations?" His lips just grazed the 
outer edge of her ear. 

"A couple," she admitted with a shiver. "But not any inhibitions. You believe in 
this. It can't hurt. And I want you. It's why I was hoping for a hotel." 

"I know." His voice was husky. He tugged her backward until she was leaning 
against him. Bending down, he nuzzled his mouth against the curve of her neck. 
Just above the leather thong and the wampum necklaces.  

A sudden sense of physical weakness overtook her. She wanted to melt into a 
puddle right then and there. But she couldn't. She leaned her head back, 
exposing the line of her throat. He raised his hand to lightly caress her throat 
while his tongue came out to do the same. 

His other hand moved from her shoulder to circle her, unbuttoning her jacket, 
removing it deftly. As if he'd done so a hundred times before. Of course, the fact 
that he had didn't hurt. 

Clothing was removed slowly, every inch of newly exposed flesh covered in 
slow, lazy kisses. Hot and moist. Occasionally open mouthed and accentuated 
with grazing teeth. They were equally determined to drive each other beyond 
control with mouths and hands. 

They knew each other so well. Almost too well. He knew just how long to tease 
her earlobe with his lips and teeth and she knew exactly how to draw her nails 
down his sides. 

Unhurried, he drew her down to the bed. His gentle smile was as powerful an 
aphrodisiac as any touch. That smile, and the intense look of desire in his eyes 
were for her. Only for her. It turned her core to liquid and sent fire through her 
viens.  

He graced each of her breasts with feathery kisses before taking the first tight 
bud into his mouth.  

Dana cried out softly as she was slowly driven to sensory overload. She shifted, 
arching beneath him. Wanting more, but also wanting to give. Her hands flowed 
over the graceful lines, the taught muscle. Fingertips tracing each rough scar as 
she thanked God that they were scars. Healed tissue. Not fatal wounds. Though 
many had come close. Her hand grazed over the gauze wrapping Mulder's upper 
arm. A few more to add to the collection. To add to the appeal. Without them, 
he was too perfect. Oh not part by part. His nose was too big, his jaw too square, 
his mouth just a hair too close to his chin. But all flowed together to make the 
most appealing whole. 

She flicked her tongue out to trace the small cleft there, on that chin.  He 
answered her by claiming her mouth. His tongue tangled with hers. The contact 
raw, electric, and so many unnameable words she was drawn away from 
conscious thought. 

She felt his fingers find her center, flicking it lightly and causing her to buck 
against him. Her own fingers finding the swollen proof of his arousal as it lay 
against her leg. She stroked it lightly. Adding just enough pressure. The groan 
she drew from him rumbled in his chest. The slight vibration sending tremors 
through her as well. 

He removed his hand, making her feel bereft. Plucking up the eagle feather from 
where it lay between her breasts, he played it along her skin. Gossamer touches 
over her neck, her breasts, circling one nipple, then another. 

This is what Wren had meant. This thing. This power they held over one 
another. Scully felt some small part of her mind not completely overwhelmed by 
the sensual cocoon she was wrapped in realize this. It wasn't about sex, not 
really. It was about this connection. This swelling in her heart. The love that 
brought tears to her eyes. That was what this was about. Two spirits joining as 
one, not only on a physical level. Two parts making a whole.  

She felt him enter her and she bit down on her lip. The deliberate slowness was 
driving her mad. Long, leisurely strokes, as if they had all day. She moaned this 
time. They did. They had until just before nightfall.  

Each easy thrust was torment. Each movement of his body on hers, in hers, 
drove her closer to the light. She felt his fingers twine with hers, holding her 
hands on either side of her head. His mouth declaring devotion without words. 
His body worshiping at the temple of hers. This was pure. This was a 
manifestation of their love, their desires, their need for each other. 

She felt the spring coil tighter, a slow winding causing her to whimper into his 
mouth. He ended the kiss to look down at her. His eyes daring her to keep hers 
open, to watch him as he was watching her. He added just a little more force, a 
little more speed to his movements. His weight pressing her down, the light hair 
on his chest rough against her nipples. The feel of him sliding into her then 
withdrawing. It was too much.  

She wasn't aware of speaking the last aloud till she heard his voice. Deep and 
rough, his breath ragged. "It's never enough." 

She wanted him inside her. Not only this act, not only the unbearable pleasure 
of this, but him. His whole being. She wanted him inside her skin, she wanted to 
cradle him there, to never be apart. 

She threw her head back and screamed as the winding spring exploded. She 
soared up into the light, danced among the stars, knowing that for this moment 
she had her wish. He was there with her. Part of her. Together they were more, 
then they ever were apart. 

                                    ######## 

>Now would be a good time.< The small gray spirit animal looked up to the 
feathered being above him.  

*I think so toooooo.* The large eyes opened to look down at Tor-yoh'-ne and 
Je-yeh.  

-Let's do it.- Je-yeh closed his eyes in concentration. 

Tor-yoh'-ne followed suit, feeling himself link to the others, his brothers and 
sisters in spirit. Together the braved the blinding force of the magic their chosen 
had created. Penetrating it. Finding the seeds of the lifespark, they willed it to 
be. Weaving protections and assurances, they set off a second explosion of 
power. One of such force it threw them back, away from the center of their 
attention. 

The four spirit animals crumpled under the force. They landed in undignified 
heaps in the Place they inhabited. Tor-yoh'-ne opened his eyes first. Blinking 
against the pain that suffused his matter. For it was not truly a body he wore 
here.  

*Remind me never toooo listen tooooo the Thief again.* Skeno'oosho'o  groaned 
before picking herself up from the ground and fluffing her feathers. 

>But we did it.< The Thief chittered. 

<Yes. I hope we don't regret this.> Tor-yoh'-ne moaned, gaining his feet and 
balancing on unsteady limbs. 

end part 14... 

Disclaimed in part 1... 

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dogged 
Determination II: Hadinio'gwe`oek by Rhondda Lake (part 15/?) 

Mulder returned to his room, still damp from the shower. He could hear the 
water still running in the bathroom. Scully had wanted to linger a bit longer. 
Checking his watch, he noticed that they had one hour before dark.  

He smiled to himself. They'd certainly kept busy. If Wren didn't have what she 
needed, then she certainly couldn't blame them.  

He picked up the wampum necklace from the dresser, holding it up so the eagle 
feather spun lazily in the air. Pondering it. It really didn't look like much. It 
wasn't even very colorful. Just muted earth tones and a unadorned feather. 

"That is not getting dressed," Scully scolded from the doorway, wrapped only in 
a towel, her hair wet from the shower. 

"I'm working up to it. I think you threw my back out." He gave her a lopsided 
grin. 

"You just need to exercise more." She stepped into her room, closing the door 
behind her. 

"With you? Anytime, Scully," He called after her. 

                               ############# 

Wren had only been dimly aware of the worker's leaving hours ago. She had 
gotten permission to set up, and the construction crew had worked on the other 
side of the huge monolith they were creating. The steel girders and beams 
reminded her of a skeleton, or monstrous jaws closing in on her.  

Ignoring that thought, she'd spent the afternoon working. Observing rituals to 
make the circle safe, to call blessings on the coming battle, to prepare herself. 
She had managed to achieve a state beyond herself. She could not allow fear to 
become part of her. To fear this enemy was to allow them to win. She banished 
her fear, to be dealt with later, when this was all done. 

When she built the fire in a circle of stones on the poured concrete floor she 
began to shed her outer self. Orenda Brant. The woman who walked in the white 
world. The woman who held worked as a CPA to earn the money to pay the 
bills. That woman was not needed here. She was the woman who would allow 
the fear to take her, so she must go. Goodbye Orenda, until this is over. 

Instead she concentrated on Wren-Who-Flies-Swiftly. This is who she needed to 
be. Time itself had little meaning to Wren-Who-Flies-Swiftly, only the light and 
the dark truly mattered. She sat in an incomplete sacred circle and sought out 
Whirlwind. She had tied his face to her own. Her own breath hot against her 
skin, the press of the wood on her cheeks, nose and forehead was a comfort. 

She felt him close. Opening herself to him, she allowed Whirlwind to merge 
with her. Through him and with him she felt the burden of taking on the pain 
and ills of the mortal world, of bearing it eternally in the world of spirits.  

                                    ######### 

Tor-yoh'-ne managed to get to his feet. He'd only gained a portion of his strength 
back. Regardless of his condition, he would be needed tonight by one who 
counted on him. 

>What are you doing?< The thief looked up at him, startled at the determination 
and effort his depleted brother spirit. 

<Wren-Who-Flies-Swiftly needs me. I knew I would have to fight when I helped 
the three of you bring about the lifespark in our chosen ones. The cost was 
greater then I had thought, though. I only hope I have enough power to make a 
difference.> With no further words Tor-yoh'-ne left, seeking she whom he had 
agreed to sometimes advise. 

                                 ########### 

Laurance Twofeathers knocked once more on his son's door. The boy was 
becoming more and more difficult. Today he had been called by the school when 
Raini had not shown up for classes. He had stewed silently all day, waiting for 
his son to show up for work. He'd never showed up at the zoo either. 

"Raini, we need to talk." Laurance had found his son's jacket on the back porch. 
Picking it up he had smelled the cloying smoky sweetness of pot. He was lost 
between anger and disappointment. He had thought he'd done a better job as a 
father. Sure, Raini had his problems. Looing his mother to a drunk driver when 
he was so young was the largest of them. Laurance had always tried to be there, 
though. As had his father. Raini seemed lost in some downward spiral that was 
just now becoming apparent. Laurance knew he must intervene now, or it would 
be too late. 

"Raini." He knocked again.  

Dad was upstairs, lost in a medicine trance, working some sort of hiding magic 
on the immediate area. Laurance knew that this was supposed to help Orenda 
Brant somehow, but how was lost to him. Laurance didn't have the right 
temperament or power for the Medicine Circle. 

Giving up on knocking, he finally did something he swore he would never do. 
He pushed in on the door, invading his son't privacy. What he saw chilled his 
blood and closed his throat. 

"No." His denial was of the heart and of the spirit. "Noooo." The second denial 
was the sound of a man lost. The sound of grief. 

Turning from what he had seen, he stumbled upstairs. Trance or no trance he 
needed Robert Twofeathers. No matter what the age of the man, faced with this, 
he needed his father. 

                              ############ 

Mulder hadn't really wanted to look at the rental car. Scully had, of course. 
There were deep gouges in the metal, some puncture marks, and the smashed 
window. Mulder swept the gummy safety glass carefully, running a hand over 
the seat when he was done to make sure he'd gotten it all. Only then did they 
head out to the construction site.  

Scully held the necklace. He'd convinced her to wear the other one, the 
protective one by basically giving her his best 'please-do-this-for-me' look. 

The entire drive, he was aware of her small fingers stroking over the wampum as 
they would worry beads, or a rosary. She was more frightened by this than she 
was letting on. He knew this, but didn't dare call her on it. For her own reasons 
she needed to keep up the front of cool confidence. 

They parked in the parking lot, next to the only other car there at the time. 
Orenda's Wrangler. The sun was going down now. They had cut it a bit short.  

Mulder and Scully walked to where they could see the dancing glow of firelight. 
Wren was seated, cross legged, behind the fire. She wore the Whirlwind mask 
she had shown them before.  

Seeing them, she rose. "Step in at the opening."  

Mulder looked down to see a circle painted a deep red onto the concrete. A 
small opening was left for them. They both did as instructed. Once inside Wren 
bent down and painted the circle closed. 

"Now, from this point on, do not cross the circle, no matter what you see or 
hear. Not for any reason are either of you or anything OF you to cross the circle. 
It will break the circle and null the protection it offers. Have a seat." Wren 
gestured to the fire.  

The circle they sat in was large enough to accommodate them all comfortably. 
Wren held out her hand and Scully handed over the necklace.  

"You've done well." Mulder detected the smile in the voice. "I had no idea this 
much could come of even the two of you. Thank you. This will be the saving of 
us tonight."  

With that, Wren resumed her seat and began a low chant, the words lost and 
muffled by the mask she wore, only her dark eyes visible through it. 

It was when the darkness increased, and the sun was lost that Mulder heard it. 
At first only faintly over the crackling and popping of the fire, but steadily 
growing stronger. A dry whisper. An occasional scraping sound. The smell of 
decay soon followed. He reached out to touch Scully's arm as his eyes moved 
wildly, trying to see beyond the circle of firelight, to peer into the darkness 
which had suddenly seemed to come alive. The darkness itself was a weighted 
pressing thing, living somehow. And he knew they were out there. The Dark 
People had come. All that stood between them and the creatures out there, 
unseen but not unheard, was a line of red paint on the concrete. 

end part 15... 

 

XVI 

 Scully could just make out shapes. Dark on dark. Suggestions of the menace 
awaiting them outside the circle. She imagined the fire held them back. 
Whatever they were. Fire was a real threat to most animals. It certainly wasn't 
the circle Wren had painted. 

She'd put her faith in fire over Dutch Boy any day. 

Mulder's hand was painfully tight on hers. He had eased his gun from its clip at 
his waist. 

Wren seemed oblivious. She simply sat there, chanting. Her tone never 
changing, never wavering.  

Then she saw the eyes. Pinpoint of green light. Their glow too bright against the 
darkness. The hair on the back of her neck rose. She could almost feel them 
reaching for her. Hating her.  

"Just don't move," Mulder spoke softly.  

"This is not Jurassic Park, Mulder. I doubt their vision is based on movement. 
As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure they see us just fine. Better then we see 
them." She had her own gun out now. Her palms were slick with nervous 
perspiration. 

They looked at Wren. The mask seemed to move on her face, the carved features 
coming alive in the dancing firelight.  

Wren herself was only dimly aware of her friends. The darkness was pressing in 
on her, and only the power she had tapped from the necklace held it at bay. She 
waited, hoping to lure them closer. The very presence of the Shadow People was 
a sick layer of slime on her other senses. 

She locked out her fear, concentrated on maintaining the circle yet drawing them 
closer. Then she felt it. The presence of another. Not one of the Medicine 
Circle, but with power nonetheless. Power feeding the Shadow People. Linked 
to them in blood and death. A human with a sickened soul. 

"Do you think you can fight them, Wren-Who-Flies-Swiftly?" The voice 
slithered through the darkness. 

Mulder and Scully turned in the direction of the voice. A young man stepped 
from behind a girder. He was still mostly lost in shadow, but the bow he held 
was plainly visible. 

Wren turned her head to face him. "Raini. Why? Why all this?" 

"To cleanse the land of their presence. They are vermin to be destroyed. Yet you 
sit there and try to protect them. A good little pet to the whites. You are 
pathetic." 

"None of this will bring your mother back, Raini. Do you think she's proud of 
what you are doing?" Wren shook her head sadly. "Her death was an accident. 
But her spirit's sadness is your doing." 

"Don't play those games with me, bitch. They promised me revenge, and power. 
I've tasted what they can give me." Raini raised his bow and turned it, aiming the 
notched arrow straight for Scully. 

Mulder was on his feet and standing before her in an instant, his gun pointed at 
the boy. "Drop it." 

Raini only smiled. Dana, unwilling to hide, stood up and took her place at 
Mulder's side. Gun raised and aimed. Outside the circle the Shadow People 
scampered and scurried. Their whispering gibbers took on an urgent tone. The 
air was thick with anticipation. 

Raini drew the arrow back. 

"NO!" Wren reached her hand out for Mulder and Scully. Raini released, 
sending the arrow at Scully. Mulder pushed her toward Wren as he fired. 

The world went mad.  

Mulder's bullet slammed into Raini, sending the boy backward, flying into the 
darkness. The arrow whizzed past Mulder, since Scully wasn't in its path 
anymore. Instead, she was pushing herself up from where she landed on Wren. 

Something hit Mulder in the back. Something that dug sharp daggers of pain 
into his shoulders. A heavy weight bearing him down.  

Wren gained her feet and, grabbing a burning stick from the fire, swung it at the 
Dark Spirit pinning Mulder. 

"Gwa-nee' ga-o-ya'-geh che-de-oh'; sa-sa-no-do'-gah-teek;" her voice intoned. 
"Your bullet crossed the circle." The blow connected, sending the thing back 
into a gathering of it's fellows. "I TOLD you not to let anything of you cross the 
fucking circle!" 

Another of the Dark People sprang, this one aiming for Scully. She shot three 
times, to no effect. It pushed her to the ground and she raised her arm to shield 
her face. A beam of light struck the thing and it fell back, shrieking. 

Wren stood in the circle, her whole body suffused with light. She raised a hand 
and from her palm, another burst of light flashed, laser straight, and struck 
another of the creatures. In her other fist, she clutched the wampum necklace.  

Mulder had managed to pull himself to his knees. His back was on fire. He felt 
the pain and the wetness, and knew he was hurt worse then before. 

"Ga-o' ne-dwa na' sa-nunk-ta; na-huk' ne-y-weh' na yo-an'-ja-geh..." Wren faced 
the oncoming swarm of twisted shapes.  

Scully crossed to Mulder's side, her face pale. Her gun was still in her hand and 
she clutched it more as an anchor then as a weapon. 

The Dark Ones could taste the fear in them. Another sprang at them and was met 
by a bolt from Wren's hand. Each bolt, however, seemed to be weakening Wren. 

Whirlwind touched her mind. <<Sacrifice holds the greatest magic. Are you 
prepared to sacrifice, Wren? What will you give up to defeat them?>> 

Wren refused the fear. To give in was to give up. *YES,* she thought at 
Whirlwind, *My life, anything. I can not allow this to continue.* 

Her heart swelled with love. An all encompassing love for all things. From the 
smallest blade of grass to the man and woman behind her. She loved them all, 
this world, its people, even Raini, poor misguided child that he was. She would 
die willingly for them. 

She flung her arms out to her sides with a cry to the heavens.  

The Shadow People attacked. 

She felt agony rip through her arm, and with that she lost all ability to move. 
She was not afraid.  

She fell and saw one of them, snarling, reached a clawed hand for her face. She 
was not afraid. 

As the agony ripped through the mask, through her face, through her mind, she 
knew it would be the last thing she would ever see. She was not afraid. 

Scully screamed and fired once again st the swarming creatures. She kept 
shooting until her clip was empty. Mulder saw the things turn their attention 
away from the fallen Medicine Woman and focus on her. 

No. He stood, ignoring the pain, and wrapped his arms around Scully. He 
wouldn't let them have her. He loved her. He would die for her. 

A great war cry echoed through the construction site, from a girder above them. 

Mulder looked up to see a man, dressed in military fatigues and a wooden mask 
both similar and different than Wren's. He leapt from the girder to land agilely 
next to Wren's prone form. 

He plucked the necklace from her fingers, and held out his hand. A light bolt 
took another of the Shadow people. They turned to face the newcomer. 

"Blood of my blood brought you here. A sacrifice made of love has weakened 
your hold to this world. Now my blood will send you BACK!" The man drew a 
primitive stone knife across his palm. Placing the necklace in his bloodied hand, 
he held it out. Crying out as the power flowed from him. Blood red. The 
Shadow People shrieked. 

Scully's grip on Mulder tightened. She was seeing something she could not 
explain away. She was terrified. 

Mulder held on to her. This fight was out of their hands now. He knew that. 
Their contribution was held within the necklace.  

The Shadow People began to fade under the onslaught. They became more and 
more insubstantial. Until, at last, they were no more. Only one twisted form 
remained. Still and unmoving where they had once been. 

The masked man dropped his hand and seemed to wilt. He fell to his knees 
beside Orenda.  

Mulder stepped closer to the small, twisted form on the ground. It was a 
disfigured corpse of a baby chimp. 

Scully called to him and he looked up to see her crouched over Wren. 

"My God, Mulder, call an ambulance. She's still alive!" 

XVII 

 

Scully watched Mulder approach. His usual graceful gait was replaced by a stiff, 
uncomfortable walk. Each step planned to cause the least discomfort.  

His back had been bad enough. A grand total of eighty-six stitches. Scully 
winced. Oh joy, he was going to be a pain to live with for a while. She wondered 
if she could get him to actually take the pain killers. He'd accepted them easily 
enough. She sighed, that only meant it hurt a lot more than he was letting on. 

He was wearing a rumpled dress shirt from the overnight bag in the back of the 
rental car. Under that was enough gauze to wrap up a mummy... and four of her 
kiddys. 

Mulder had sent her to check on Orenda while they were sewing him up. She 
had returned to tell him they both needed to go to Orenda's and sleep, they 
couldn't help her by staying at the hospital exhausted. Scully couldn't tell him. 
Not yet.  

They'd arrived this morning and Mulder let her out at the doors while he found a 
parking place. She now stood outside of the ICU, looking in at the two figures. 

Mulder's shoulder brushed against hers. 

"How are you doing?" she asked, trying to delay. 

"Not too bad. I figured I'd just tell your mother you're a real animal." His lips 
twitched but the smile didn't go to his eyes. She didn't even bother. 

He nodded at the room, and Scully knew she'd have to say it. Get the words out. 

"She... they... she doesn't have eyes, Mulder. They... gouged them out. She's 
blind." Scully's eyes moved over the heavy pads over the prone woman's eye 
sockets, the white wrapping like a blindfold. Two drainage tubes peaked out the 
corners into reservoirs. each tube filled with a milky red substance. Tears of 
blood. "The mask protected her face." She spoke out loud, not intending to. 

Mulder closed his eyes and tried to compose himself. When he opened them 
again, they were bright with unshed tears. He liked and respected Orenda Brant. 
In a few short days, she had managed to move into the very short list of those 
Mulder willingly called friend. 

"There's more." Scully watched as the man seated at Orenda's side constantly 
held the woman's hand, stroking her arm with a bandaged hand. Robert 
Twofeathers had not left Wren's side except for the few times the doctors had 
thrown him out. 

"What?" Mulder met Scully's gaze. 

"Those creatures secreted a venom. A paralytic. It stopped her heart twice in the 
ambulance. But they managed to get it going again. Latest blood work shows it's 
mostly out of her system now. Her left leg. It's been badly ravaged. She lost a lot 
of blood. Um... they couldn't even count how many stitches they used trying to 
put it back together. She'll always have a limp, even with the best therapy. Her 
right arm was chewed up too, but not as badly or as deep. She should regain full 
use." 

"I shot across the circle," he said simply. 

"Mulder, that didn't have anything to do with..." 

"Like hell it didn't. They didn't attack us until I shot across the circle. She 
wouldn't be... I should have paid more attention." Mulder closed his eyes again. 

"Even if it DID have something to do with it, how were you to know a bullet 
counted? Raini would have shot one or both of us if you hadn't fired."  

Mulder just shook his head. "Does he know?" His gaze fell on Robert 
Twofeathers. 

"Yes. He called his son. I understand Laurance has family with him now. He 
said to tell you he doesn't blame you. He understands you did what you had to." 

Scully gasped as Orenda's unbandaged arm lifted and her long, slim fingers 
brushed against the bandages over her eyes. "She's awake." 

Robert Twofeathers gestured them inside. 

"Hi." Scully didn't smile. Wren couldn't see it anyway. 

"Hae'. I feel like I'm in the middle of a funeral." Wren's voice was raspy. "Lighten 
up, you guys. I'm alive. Great-Sky-Hunter and Tor-yoh'-ne wouldn't let me leave 
this world. One stood above me, his wings blocking off the heavens, the other 
practically sat on me to keep me here." 

Scully winced, sure that Wren was suffering drug-induced hallucinations. 

"I know. Rob told me. I'll be fine. I was told early on that not all sacrifices are of 
one's life. I must remain strong and keep on living. I paid this price, willingly. I 
will not sulk over it now." 

Mulder stood behind Robert and took Wren's hand. "I don't think anything can 
keep you down for long." 

Wren's lips turned up in a weak smile. "I still have visions of going down 
fighting." 

"How did you know?" Scully looked at Robert now. 

"Laurance went into Raini's room. He found... the Dark People brought Raini 
trophies. The last one was the skin of the previous victim. We were so blinded 
by our love for him we didn't see what was beneath the surface. Even I, who 
should have seen, should have sensed... I failed Raini. I was not about to fail 
Orenda too." 

"Um... the dead baby chimp we found?" Scully needed some sort of answer. 

"To call in the Shadow People Raini needed a souless shell to act as a door 
between worlds. He never incinerated the body of Lucy's baby as he was 
supposed to. He used that." Robert looked away, ashamed of what his grandson 
had done. His wounds were as deep as Orenda's. Just not as visable. 

                                 ###### 

One month later 

Wren sat at the table, her quick hands skimming over the rug she was weaving. It 
would not have a pattern of colors, but one of touch. Raised sections would give 
her the pattern she desired.  

It hadn't been easy. Robert had moved in with her. Partly out of a misplaced 
sense of guilt. She was glad of the help, though. He knew when to back off, and 
let her alone. 

She heard the doorbell chime and Robert's steps and he descended the stairs to 
answer it. Muffled voices.  Then the steps of two men ascending the stairs, the 
patter of four smaller feet. 

"Wren, this is Lemual Johnson. He's says he's a friend of Fox and Dana. He's 
brought you something." Wren nodded, looking beyond her blindness.  

She had lost her Mortal sight, but her othersight worked just as it always had. 
Before her stood a tall, thin man of about Robert's age. She couldn't see 
features, only a quiet strength and determination. Beside him stood... something 
else. It shone with wonder. As brightly as a totem spirit, yet as mortal as she. It 
was a dog. 

"Orenda Brant. This here is Babes. She's a very special dog. She's volunteered to 
work with you. She'll be your eyes, if you'll give her a home." Mr. Johnson 
spoke as Wren felt a cold nose press at her hand. She heard a snap, then some 
slow clicking noises. 

"What is that? How did you.." 

"Mulder and Scully gave me a call, told me what you did. Babes here just lost 
her previous companion to nature. She was eighty nine. So... Babes volunteered. 
See, Mulder and Scully helped her brother a couple of months back." 

The Wren heard it. An emotionless, electronic voice. "Pleased to meet you 
Wren. Do you have any wieners?" 

"What the..." She heard Robert nearly choking behind her.  

"It's the dog. Wren, the dog just typed that on a laptop." Robert told her. 

"Some friends of ours in DC hooked this laptop up to a sound system so Babes 
can talk to Orenda." There was a smile in Mr. Johnson's voice. 

Wren looked with her othersight, at the shining dog spirit before her, and she 
found herself not doubting it at all.  

"Ms. Brant, let me tell you a story," Johnson began, "about government tests 
with DNA, and a very special breed of dog..." 

The end... --------------------------------------------- 

OK folks, please send me comments, critiques and pictures of David 
Duchovny.:) I love to hear from you, even if it's to tell me I did something 
wrong. 

Keep your eye out for Dogged Determination III: Pandora's Box, coming soon to 
a server near you.