From: raenright@aol.com (RaEnright) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: First Blood:Final Hunt 1/3/3 Date: 9 Sep 1995 12:28:51 -0400 And here it is, book three of First Blood. It's called Final Kill, and finally, Mulder's finished up at Oxford and joined the bureau. All is not well thought, in Mulderland, as we soon find out. For those who haven't read books 1 and 2, those took place quite a few years earlier, when Mulder was still in college and not even imagining working for the FBI. He assists four other agents in bringing a serial killer, and then a kidnapper, to justice(As well as a few other undocumented cases). There's a little explanation in there, but it's pretty brief. I'd recommend reading books 1 and 2 first, but it's not mandatory. This is really more of a personal development case on Mulder's part. Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, Reggie Purdue, et cetera are copyright The Man, The Station, The Company, no infringement intended. Eduards, Krevsky, Linfield, Halpern, Cooley, and Morrow are mine. Whew, what a mouthful. Pay attention to the first couple of dates--they jump a bit. First Blood, book 3 Final Kill, part 1 Prologue June 8, 1988 Quantico, Virginia post-graduation "Are you nervous?" "Are you kidding? I'm scared out of my mind!" "Just remember, we're all watching *YOU*." Mulder smiled as Linfield peered at him. "Thanks, you're a big help." "That's *my* job, Linfield." Halpern said. "Surveillance. I've got a bug in the chair, you know." He wheeled over to Mulder and pointed to the handle. "Right in there." "I heard about that." Mulder said solemnly. "I'm sorry." "Naw, just a little gunshot. I'm doing fine, surveillance suits me better anyway." "And he's now officially 'Hal on wheels'." Krevsky tipped the wheelchair back and Halpern let out a yelp. "As soon as Eduards gets here, we can give you your graduation present." "Where's Cooley?" Mulder cocked his head at Halpern. "You guys didn't get him killed, did you?" "Would you believe he defected?" Halpern put a hand over his mouth and breathed deeply. "Come with me, Luke. Join the Dark Side." "So why isn't he here?" "He just...vanished one day. We added him to the loony files." "And here comes Eduards." Linfield waved. Eduards paced across the Quantico lawn, a grin on his face. "Well, Kid, big day. You coming ta woik for us, capisce?" "Right." Mulder stretched. "Der wunderkind de der Violent crimes." "Beg pardon?" "The child prodigy of Violent Crimes, section head, sir!" Mulder saluted. "I'm not really going to have to be polite to you now, am I?" "You'd better watch it, Mulder, or they'll stick you in with the dopes in Surveillance." "I resent that." Halpern whacked him in the leg. "We aren't dopes, thank you, we're geeks." "My mistake." Eduards bowed to Halpern. "Linfield, do you have the gift?" "Right here." He pulled a clumsily wrapped package out of the bag on the back of Halpern's chair. "As a new recruit and formal graduate of the Federal Bureau Of Investigation's academy, Quantico, you have hereby gained respect and admiration as an officer and a gentleman." He said with a flourish. "So we, the violent crimes section head, Hal On Wheels, the Krevmeister, and your ever-present class clown, hereby present this to you as a token of our esteem." "And if you understood half of what he just said, you've got my admiration." Krevsky cracked. Mulder accepted the box carefully and gravely unwrapped it. Inside the package was a black leather shoulder holster, with the words "Fox Mulder, The Kid" imprinted along the side of the strap. "It's a lot better than the cheap government issue. For special occasions." Eduards said. "It's great!" he took it out and examined it. A pair of Ray-Bans fell out. "Ah, those are from Morrow." Linfield picked them up. "So you won't have to look him in the eye ever again." ______________________________ June 15, 1992 FBI headquarters VCS offices of Purdue and Mulder "Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!" "Don't do that, Mulder-" "He shoots, and it's...awww! He misses by a mile!" Mulder whirled around in his chair and pointed at the paper ball, which was lying in the corner after Reggie Purdue's aborted free-throw at the trash can. "AIR-ball!" "Well I would have made it if you hadn't been chanting Reggie then entire time." Reggie glared. Mulder just smiled and bent back over his desk. A few minutes later a man looked in the open door. Reggie started to open his mouth when he put a hand up and pointed to Mulder, who was buried in his paperwork. Slinking across the floor, he reached out to whack the younger man in the back of the head- "Shouldn't you have retired by now?" Mulder asked, without looking up. "Not before I get you once, just once!" the older man yelled, disappointed. Reggie watched with interest. "Linfield, you sonofabitch, you won't ever get me." Mulder grinned up at him. "Not until you figure that your shadow falls across the desk when you sneak up from the front." "Awww, you're no fun." Linfield shoved his hands in his pockets and looked hurt. "Aren't you gonna introduce me?" "No, because Reggie is obviously on your side." Mulder stood up. "Damn, s'good to see you, Jimmy." "Jimmy...Linfield..." Reggie murmured. "James Linfield, I presume?" "In the flesh. You must be Reggie Purdue, I've heard about you." Linfield shook the man's hand. "I have only one question to ask. Howinhell do you put up with him?" "It's rough, but someone's gotta do it." Reggie smirked. Mulder crossed his arms and leaned against his desk. Purdue continued. "I mean, living in the shadow of the next Director, putting up with his eccentricities because the man's IQ is higher than his monthly car payment, having to remember that the little piss-off is gonna be my boss one day..." "Gee, Reggie, you flatter me." Mulder tossed a paper ball at him. "So Linfield, what brings you to this neck of the VCS?" "Blevins, actually." Linfield cocked his head at a certificate on the wall. "Above and beyond the call of duty? Mulder, what have you been *doing*?" "Blevins sent you? Why, if I can keep you on subject for more than three seconds at a time?" "Some weird case he wanted me to check out, and he suggested I bring you along. By the way, Eduards says hi, now that he's practically chained to his desk." Linfield tossed the file at him. "Agent Purdue, I'm sorry about this, but-" "The sooner he's out of my sight, the better." Purdue shook his head to take the sting out of his words. "Wouldn't want to stand in the way of greatness." "Greatness? Him? You must be joking. Hey Kid, wrap up whatever you're doing and meet me in my office." Linfield tossed him a thumbs-up and left quietly. Reggie whistled. "That was...James Linfield himself. Do you *know* how high up in the Bureau he is?" "Graduated Quantico in 1978, became a part of the Serialist team in 1983. He took over the esteemeed job as sections sub-director in-" "Okay, okay, I don't need the man's life history, Mulder. But why was he here?" "I don't know." Mulder crunched on a sunflower seed. "Sorry to leave you with the Cartman murder to wrap up, Reggie-" "I meant it, Mulder, I'm not gonna stand in the way of greatness. Maybe he's retiring." Reggie winked. "Good luck." __________________________ "That was quick." Linfield looked up from his desk and waved Mulder inside. "Purdue give you a hard time, Kid?" "Naw, he's a good partner." Mulder settled into the chair comfortably. "So what's this big case that Blevins personally earmarked for you?" "Actually, he had it marked for you, but I snagged it before it made it that far. Kid, I'm dying here." Linfield leaned forwards. "I can't sit and push papers for much longer lest I go insane and run amok with a pencil sharpener. I'm going to hurt someone. So I figured I'd take this one with you. Besides, it gives me an excuse to get everyone back on the team..." "What?" Mulder asked, sitting up. "You're calling in Krevsky and Halpern?" "Sort of." Linfield tapped on the desk. "We need a pathologist, and Krevsky qualifies...we need someone who knows something about technology, and Halpern fits the bill. And Eduards...he's itching to go on one more case before he kicks the bucket." The thought of Eduards 'kicking the bucket' made Mulder grin. "So what, exactly, is this case?" "Two murders, each occurring in Tennessee. A teenage boy and a college girl from Tennessee state." Linfield tossed him the file. "Both shot in the head, both found in their homes." "So...?" "So, take a look at this." He pulled the x-rays out. One was a dental shot, with a pen circle around the back molars. Two small black dots were apparent in either side. Another shot showed the wrist bones of one victim, filled with some sort of weird... "What is it? Bird shot?" "I don't know." Linfield sighed. "And it makes me wonder why Blevins sent it to you in the first place." "Never seen anything like it." Mulder frowned, puzzled. "Have they been identified?" "Not so far." A new voice from the back of the room came. Halpern wheeled across the floor from the back door to the office. Krevsky followed. "Kid, Jimmy." He nodded. "Good to see you, Krev, Hal." Mulder returned the nods. "So you don't know what this is?" "Best guess?" Halpern handed him some papers. "Some sort of shrapnel. But the boys at the lab 'lost' the hard evidence, so all we have are the x-rays." "What do you mean, lost?" Mulder demanded. "Lost, as in those lovely little strips of metal no longer exist, as far as we're concerned." Krevsky answered. "Autopsy turned up nothing unusual other than the metal...but both those kids must have been extremely accident prone." "Scars all over the place." Halpern continued. "Not the sort you get from shaving, either." "Well, gentlemen." Linfield rubbed his hands and stood up. "Who's up for Bluegrass country?" "I am." All four turned and stared at the open door. A tall man in jeans and a polo shirt stood there, holding a wad of tickets in his hands. He was grinning from ear to ear. "So, Kid, Hal, Krev, Jimmy-what are we waiting for?" ______________________________ They got the page from the car--Linfield was to return to the bureau immediately. He shrugged and waved them on, saying he'd catch a cab and meet them there. He'd have time to catch the next flight out. When he got to the bureau, he was ushered into Morrow's office. Even if he was sub-director, he still had to dance attendance on the A.D. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door to the inner office, entering at Morrow's command. The older man looked harried. In the background, two more men were evident; Agent Skinner and...oh, wonderful. *Him*. But he didn't have much time to speculate; Morrow cleared his throat. "Take a seat, please, Linfield." "No thank you, sir." Linfield never took his eyes off *Him*. "I'd rather stand." "Relax." *He* said, as he puffed at a cigarette. "You won't be here long, you may as well appreciate it." Linfield narrowed his eyes at Skinner before finally slumping into the chair. "Oh, it's everyone's favorite nicotine addict. How's your stoma coming along, sir?" "This isn't a time for jokes, Linfield." Skinner said. "Well, excuse me, agent Skinner." Linfield cocked his head at him. "Get a toupee." "Enough, Linfield." Morrow leaned on his desk. "We've called you here on very serious matters." "Concerning...?" "Agent Mulder." "Oh." *Mulder?!* "What are your candid thoughts on him, Linfield?" The man with the cigarette asked. "Candid thoughts on Mulder? He's honest, hardworking, the best profilist I've seen since Cooley 'disappeared', and he enjoys his work." Linfield rattled off. "Can I ask why?" "We've taken...a special interest in agent Mulder." Skinner said. "Oh, it's we now? You decided to join the ranks of the slightly unlawful?" "*Assistant Director* Skinner has been advising us." Morrow said. "I'm resigning my post, as of tomorrow morning." *Oh shit.* Linfield glanced again at Skinner. *Open mouth, insert foot. Lovely little toupee comment, that's gonna earn you bonus points. Can you hear the flushing as you career goes down the toilet?* "Congratulations, Skinner." Skinner merely nodded. *God, what a slimeball.* Linfield thought. "You will be staying here and supervising the agents' work from your office." Morrow continued. "And hopefully, you will be able to debunk their work." "Ah...beg pardon?" "Really, Jimmy." *He* said. Linfield gritted his teeth and let it pass. "You didn't take a close enough look at the file designation." He held out a copy of the folder ID sheet. The serial number read X1121897. "X?" it hit him like a few tons of mortar. "The X-Files?" "Precisely, Linfield." Morrow frowned. "Think of it as a test in remote surveillance." "I see, sir." Linfield put a tight leash on his temper before he attacked someone. "Is that all?" "Dismissed." Morrow began shuffling papers. With a curt nod to Skinner and completely ignoring the man smoking in the corner, Linfield left. "Mulder, Mulder, Mulder." He murmured to himself. "What have you fallen into now?" ___________________________ End pt 1 The blackest night must end in dawn The sun dispel the dreamer's fear: When shall my soul's bleak hopeless pain Find solace in it's darkening weyr? Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight =========================================================================== From: raenright@aol.com (RaEnright) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: First Blood: Final Kill 2/3/3 Date: 9 Sep 1995 12:28:50 -0400 Fox Mulder, Cancerman, et cetera belong to Chris Carter blah blah blah o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave...Linfield, Eduards, Krevsky, and Halpern, as well as Morrow, are mine, just like this story. What a coincidence! All psychological tests administered are made up--I know next to nothing about psychology except for the fact that I dislike having my head shrunk. Historian's note: the movie Fire In The Sky wasn't out in 1992--it's called 'Suspension of disbelief'. Run with it, all right? First Blood book 3 Final Kill part 2 Bethel Springs, TN June 19 9am "So what do we have?" Eduards opened the casefile. "We have two kids murdered, both with odd scars and some sort of shrapnel embedded in their bones. And laser-drilled cavities in their teeth." "Ever seen Fire In The Sky?" Krevsky muttered. "Hey, take a look at this." Mulder tapped the folder. "The serial designation. X1221897. X?" "The X-Files?" Halpern's jaw dropped. "They sent us on an X-File?" "Those were...the ones in the basement, right?" Mulder concentrated. "The Loony Files?" "Good memory, Kid." "Photographic." "I don't know, Mulder, this sounds awfully like a setup. Who did you piss off in the bureau lately?" Krevsky asked. "Nobody I can name. I haven't...have I?" "People get jealous, Mulder. They know as well as I do that you're on the up--you're destined for greater stuff than field agent status. And they tend to get mean. You ask Reggie, he'd tell you." "The case, everyone?" Eduards reminded them. "We can chat politics later. Says here they've both been in psychiatric care--could be they were doing this to themselves? Naw, you can't drill your own teeth." "What about some sort of stigmata?" "Teeth don't usually respond." Mulder said with a smile. "Can we talk to the men who were working with them?" "Just one." Krevsky checked the file. "Both were working with a hypnotherapist named Verber." "I think we should pay a call to Mr. Verber, don't you?" _________________________________ Office of Dr. H. Verber Downtown Bethel Springs, TN Verber was a quiet, almost pathetically thin man who ushered them into his office as soon as they flashed their badges. They found themselves in a minimal room with lots of surveillance devices and a few papers scattered around. Three chairs and a desk completed the setup. "You're here to see about Eileen and Tau, aren't you?" he shuffled the papers into a pile. "I have their records around here somewhere...ah, here we go." He held out a pile of papers and cassette tapes. Halpern held one up. "Tau Christian--Regression for April 6. What are these?" "Hypnotic regression tapes. I was using hypnotherapy to help them with their problems--" "--before you finish," Eduards interrupted, "What problems were those?" Verber shrugged. "Sleepwalking, extreme paranoia, flashbacks..." he tapped the tape. "I'd like to play this for you." "Did you find out why they were behaving erratically?" Mulder asked. "Repressed memories." Verber replied. "Abuse?" Mulder queried. "What level of psychosis were they experiencing?" "A twelve on the JCS." "What about the RM scale?" Verber did a double take. "You know a bit about psychology?" "Majored in it." Mulder shrugged. "Are they RM?" "Yeah." Verber watched him for a minute. "And they've been that way for quite some time." "Can I ask, what were they repressing? In English, Kid?" Halpern asked. Verber's brow creased. "You'd better hear for yourself. I thought at first it was abuse, but now I'm not so sure." He took the tape from Halpern and popped it into the nearby stereo. His voice emerged. "All right, Tau, let's take it from December ninth, 1987, okay?" "Okay." "This is under deep regression." Verber put in. "This was the first breakthrough." The tape played on. "What do you remember about December 9?" "I was...yeah, I was at home. I was sitting there, doing' homework, you know?" "What time was it?" "Oh...eight o'clock. I'm doing my trig homework." "Good. Now, let's go a little later. Can you jump ahead to around ten pm that night?" "Yeah. Mom sent me to bed--school day, and I have to get some sleep." "Is anything unusual happening?" "No, I--hey, yeah. There's something at the window." "The window?" "Yeah. It's a big white thing, shinin in my eyes. I stand up to check it out--think maybe it's Mike playing a joke." "So you get out of bed. Then what happens?" "I'm...I can't move. The light's in my eyes, but I can't move!!" "Calm down, Tau. Why can't you move?" "I don't know!! Jesus, what the hell--ohmygod..." Verber popped the tape out. "At that point he spontaneously emerged from hypnosis. Extremely agitated." "What did he see?" Krevsky asked. "As far as I can tell?" Verber looked nervous. "He was abducted by a UFO." Halpern burst out laughing. "You can't be serious..." "I am." Verber said calmly. "Please, take this seriously." "You think...this kid was being abducted by beings from another planet." Krevsky said dubiously. "And the stuff found in their bodies would be--" "--Implants." Verber finished. "Look, I've been all over the country. This is my specialty. And these two kids fit the bill perfectly." He looked back at Mulder for a minute, and said cryptically, "You get to a point where you can tell instinctually." Mulder looked away. Eduards, oblivious, continued. "Doctor, do you think these kids could have committed suicide?" "It's always a possibility. But the police reports I saw said they couldn't have." "There's no evidence of it, and no weapon left behind, but we still can't rule it out." Krevsky held out his hands. "They could have had assistance." "Can we take these?" Mulder held up the rest of the tapes. "Sure, they signed waivers allowing anyone access to them." Verber shrugged. "Call if you need anything." __________________________ "Hey kid, you've got a photographic memory." "So?" "So I think we're being followed. Rewind your internal video camera and tell me if the guy off to the left there--the one with the buzzcut--has been hanging around." Mulder thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, I saw him at the motel as we were coming out. And he stood outside while we ate breakfast." "Maybe we should see why?" Halpern was a fan of the direct approach; he wheeled over to him and smiled ingratiatingly. "Excuse me, could you give me the time?" The boy backed up as if he'd pulled a gun. "Um...left my watch at home." "Really? Well, maybe that's why you've been following us." Krevsky stood behind Halpern. "Or there was another reason?" The boy turned to run--right into Mulder. "Take it easy, we're not going to shoot you." "Yes you are--they're gonna kill me..." "Who's going to kill you?" Halpern asked. "You are! Oh, shit." The kid sagged in Mulder grip. "Go ahead." "Go ahead what?" Mulder asked. "Go ahead, arrest me." "We can't arrest you unless you commit a crime." "I have. You're the ones chasing Tau and Eileen's killer, huh?" "Yeah." Krevsky exchanged a look with Mulder. "You know something about that?" "NO--I mean, I...sort of..." "Let's go back to the motel, hm?" Mulder suggested. _________________________ The boy couldn't be more than fifteen, maybe younger. Mulder set a Coke in front of him. "Now." Eduards paced the small motel room. "We aren't going to shoot you. And we aren't going to hurt you. Can you tell us what you know?" The kid swallowed nervously. "Do I have to tell you my name?" "Not if you don't want to." Krevsky gestured to Halpern, who flicked a switch on his chair. The recording device flipped on. "I...Tau came to me last year, 'cause we were both at Dr. Haitz's office." "Haitz Verber?" The boy nodded. "And...Eileen too. And then..." he looked down. "They got afraid. Of something. Tau kept at me, and at me..." "About what?" "He...he got a gun. He wanted to shoot himself, but he...he made me." The boy looked down miserably. "He made me! He shot Eileen and then...." he broke off in a sob. "Tau was...he wanted to die to get away from Them." "Them?" Mulder asked. "The ones who were after him. Go ahead, cuff me." "Eduards, can we talk outside?" Mulder asked. Eduards nodded curtly. Mulder turned around as soon as he shut the door. "Look, I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out." He took a deep breath. "What if this kid is telling the truth?" "About the murders or about Them?" "Both." Mulder ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. What if something *is* going on here and we're out of out depth. And this kid is *scared*, Eduards." "Look, Mulder, I think he's suffering the same level of psychosis that the others were. You heard him, he was seeing Verber too. I think he's highly delusional and I think you're picking up on it." Mulder shook his head. "I want to talk to Verber again." ___________________________ Same time, Washington DC Sub-director Linfield's office Linfield shook his head. He didn't understand this. He'd been in the business long enough to understand most of the bureau politics that went on. But why would someone want to assign Mulder an X-File? It was obviously either Morrow or the mystery man who had it sent to him. And they must have known it would come through Linfield's office. So...why? Mulder was on his way up--Linfield expected to leave his job with Mulder when he retired. And this little sidetrack was very, very confusing. What did they expect? And why were they so interested in Mulder? Linfield reached back in his memory to the case they were on before Mulder even joined the bureau. And the night he'd woken up with what looked to good ol' Jimmy like intense, horrific nightmares. And what he'd said about his sister... Could it be that someone actually *did* know what happened? And this was a clue? He picked up the phone and dialed Eduards' cellphone number. "Eduards here." "Hi, it's Jimmy. Just checking up." "We've found some interesting twists, Jimmy. Some kid following us, claims he shot the boy and the boy shot the college girl." "*What*?" "It gets weirder. They were all seeing a doctor named Haitz Verber." "The regression specialist?" "You've heard of him?" "He was in DC a few years back. Anything else?" "Yeah. Verber's convinced that the boy, Tau Christian, was abducted by aliens." "You're kidding." "Look, Mulder knows more about this stuff, I'm gonna put him on." "All right. Kid, you there?" "Yeah, Linfield. This guy played some hypnotic regression tapes--the sort of hypnosis where people relive what happened years ago and was repressed?" "Okay..." "And he believes they've been experimented on by extraterrestrials." "What do you think?" "It's possible." Linfield asked his next question carefully. "Do you believe them?" "I want to, Jimmy, I really want to." End pt 2 Until a man has found something to die for, he has not truly lived. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. =========================================================================== From: raenright@aol.com (RaEnright) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: First Blood: Final Kill 3/3/3 Date: 9 Sep 1995 12:29:02 -0400 We all know what to say here, right? They belong to them and the others belong to me, and we're all one big happy family. First Blood book 3 Final Kill part 3 June 19, around 1 pm Washington DC "Nice office." Linfield looked up from his paperwork. "You aren't welcome here." The man waved his cigarette. "No, but I'm here anyway." "You know, those things are slow suicide?" "That's the point." The man answered. "Agent Linfield, we've come to a point where a compromise has to be made." "What is with you? Why is Mulder so important?" "Mulder's a pawn. But he's an important pawn." "You know what happened to his sister, don't you?" "I can make an educated guess." The smoke puffed. "Which is why I sent the file to him. Agent Linfield, Mulder is a very special case. He is a Truth seeker, and that's a dangerous thing. Which is why we've done what we've done." "Because if he gets too high in the bureau he won't listen to you anymore, will he?" "And so we've...distracted him. The X-files are what he's been looking for--you'll see it for yourself when he comes back. Of course, not from an official position..." "Excuse me?" "You know, a job like yours is very stressful. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't retire early. You're a smart man, you've saved enough to last you through retirement." "I don't want to retire." "These stressful jobs--they're the reason so many men commit suicide. I'd hate to see you kill yourself because of a job." The implication was clear. There was nothing he could do about it. "You're a slimeball, you know that? Mulder's no idiot. He'll shut you down." "We'll see, agent Linfield. We'll see. Skinner will receive your resignation tomorrow." Linfield rubbed his eyes. The final embarrassment--he had to resign to *Skinner*. "This isn't over." "It's never over, James." ______________________ Same time, Dr. H. Verber's office "Dr. Verber?" Verber whirled. There was the FBI agent, the one who'd come in earlier. But this time he was alone. "Agent...Mulder, right?" The young man nodded. "I...came to tell you we apprehended the killer." "Really? That's wonderful!" Verber smiled. "Who?" "That's why I'm here. It's another one of your patients." Verber paled. "Marcus?" Mulder nodded. "He claims Tau shot Eileen and then had Marcus shoot him. He showed us where the gun was. I'm sorry." He said honestly. Verber shook his head. "I knew something like this was going to happen. Tau was so very afraid of Them." The young man could tell about them, he decided. He knew. Verber took a deep breath. "He confessed?" "And they'll probably expect you to testify at the trial." Mulder continued. A car horn honked outside. "Your friends, they don't believe me, do they?" Verber asked suddenly. "Not entirely. I think they'd like more proof." Krevsky leaned in the door. "You coming, Mulder?" "Agent, I'd like to try something." Verber said conversationally. "I think it might validate my work a little." Eduards joined Krevsky. "And what would that be?" "If I may, I'd like to try regression on one of you." Verber shrugged. "My appointment book is clear for the day. Today was...Tau's day." Krevsky gave Eduards a look that said *Should we humor the bastard?* Eduards nodded. "I'll go get Halpern." ________________________ "This is crazy." "Investigative procedure, Halpern, we should check everything out." "Shut up, Eduards." "Who are you going to try this on?" "It's not gonna be me." "I don't know." Verber said. "I think Mulder might do best. He's the most familiar with this sort of thing." Mulder looked reluctant, but agreed. Eduards watched as Verber ran through the normal steps to hypnotize the subject. "Mulder, can you hear me?" "Yeah." "All right, we're going to give you a choice. Where do you want to go?" "My sister." Eduards glanced at Krevsky. He looked nervous. Verber was puzzled. "When was that?" Mulder licked his lips. "November 1973." Krevsky was scribbling on a pad. He held it out to Verber. HIS SISTER WAS KIDNAPPED. NEVER FOUND. NOT A GOOD SUBJECT! Verber switched on the tape recorder, belatedly. "Mulder, what time is it?" "Nine in the evening." "Where are you?" "In bed." "Where is your sister?" "In the other bed, in the room." "What's her name?" "Samantha." He was answering in a complete monotone--like it was nothing at all. "What can you see?" "Nothing. See nothing." "Are you asleep?" "No, nothing's happening." "But your eyes are open?" "Yeah, they're open, but...s'like...nothing's happening." "Try turning your head." "...I can't...?" "Why not?" "I don't know. I...can't move. So I don't--I just lie there in bed." Eduards looked alarmed. *What is going ON?*. Verber continued. "Can you see your sister?" "No. But I can hear her." "What is she saying?" "She's calling out my name." *Abuse?* Eduards thought. *His parents?* "Over and over again. She's crying out for help..." Suddenly he felt guilty to be sitting there. They shouldn't be witnesses to this sort of thing. This was Mulder's demon. Of that he was sure. "I can't help her. I can't move..." "Are you scared?" "I know I should be, but I'm not." "Do you know why?" "Because of the Voice. The voice in my head." Halpern shuddered visibly. This was way too weird. "What's it telling you?" he couldn't keep from asking. Verber shot him a look. "Not to be afraid." Mulder answered. "It's telling me that no harm will come to her, and one day she'll return." "Do you believe the voice?" "I want to believe." Suddenly Mulder jerked up, like he was coming awake. He looked like he was going to be sick. "Mulder?" Halpern asked. "Are you okay?" "He's out of the hypnosis. Mulder, deep breaths." Verber put out a hand as Mulder started to swallow convulsively. "Mulder, calm down." "I saw them." He gasped. "Jesus." "Thank you for your time, Dr. Verber." Eduards stood up. "We'll call if we need anything. Come on, Mulder." They ushered him out into the car, and back to the motel, and to the airport to return to Washington. He never said a word. ________________________ AD Skinner-- Here is my resignation. I know you were expecting it, bastard. I don't think you're giving any of us much credit, but then that's not really anything new. So I hereby resign from the bureau, effective immediately. You won this time. I expect you'll ask for Eduards to resign next. Let me know, all right? Because if someone isn't there to calm him he's going to get a lot more violent than I have. Oh, and Walt? Get a toupee. Sincerely, James Linfield. _________________________ APPLICATION FOR DISABILITY LEAVE Date: 6/21/92 Name/Status: Fox Mulder/Special Agent Badge #: JTT047101111 Terms of application: Disability leave due to psychological instability. Expected duration of leave--2 weeks. Approved by section head Eduards and assistant director Skinner. _________________________ APPLICATION FOR FILE OPENING Date: 7/12/92 Name/Status: Fox Mulder/Special Agent Badge #: JTT047101111 Terms of application: Agent Mulder applies for permission to reopen files serial numbered X, and should permission be granted, for transfer to X-Files department. Approved by assistant director Skinner. _________________________ APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER Date: Name/Status: Walter Skinner/Assistant Director Badge #: ASR632896626 Terms of application: Request transfer of Agent Dana Scully, current status Instructor at Quantico Academy, to X-Files Division, as assistant to Agent Fox Mulder, X-Files Section head. Believe Agent Mulder to be instable; assistance is required. Approved by :::::||||:::::Censored. _________________________ END And it's so clear standing here, where I am Ain't that what justice is for? Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn, anymore... Billy Joel, Famous Last Words