From: raenright@aol.com (RaEnright) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: First Blood: THe Hunter 1/1/3 Date: 20 Jul 1995 12:32:44 -0400 Hi all! This story is the first part of the first 'book' of a trilogy but is also a complete story in itself. Those wishing for more can read the second 'book', entitled The Chase, due out next week, hopefully. I've dubbed the whole thing "First Blood". Dramatic, no? Okay, here we go. I was just re-watching the pilot, and Irresistible, and I decided that there was more to the story of Mulder's recruitment than he was letting on. This is a strictly Mulder story, no Scully, no romance, unless you count a dead ex-girlfriend, and I don't. Rated PG-13 for violence and content. There's also a bit of profanity (I've said it before and most likely will say it again: *Bite me, Exon!*). No sex, though. :-P Fox Mulder, Bill Mulder(Short cameo), and Walter Skinner(Even shorter cameo) are property The Man, The Station, The Company, no copyright infringement intended. All other characters-Dani, Lewis, Eduards, Linfield, Halpern, Krevsky, Morrow, and Cooley-are mine. And if that ain't a cast of characters, I don't know what is. Don't worry, thought, if I can keep them straight so can you. I had fun writing it, and that pretty much tells you something about what I do for fun, so read it and be happy and all that. I love email, so please comment. I even accept flames, folks! First Blood, Book 1 The Hunter, part 1 June 5, 1982 Oxford University Oxford, England "Mulder, wire for you." The short man held out an envelope. Fox Mulder, age twenty two, student of psychology, looked up from his textbook and smiled. "Thanks, Lewis." "No prob. But who would want to wire you?" he asked his roommate, his thick British accent corrupting his words slightly. "I don't know. Hm, maybe I can define it using psychic powers." He pressed a hand to his head and shut his eyes. "I think...I'm getting an 'S'...yes, an S...maybe it's about this...summer!" he opened his eyes and grinned at his friend. "Sorry, Lewis, I'm punchy from finals. So, let's see-" he opened the envelope, tearing the edge off and shaking the paper out. "Hm...From America." He skimmed the letter. Lewis watched his already pale face drain completely of color as he read. "Mulder? Yo..." The paper fell to the table next to the textbook. Looking at him for permission, Lewis picked it up and read it. fox-danielle missing. suspect you may have heard of strip killer. please come, your id needed. pray. love you. mom He looked at Mulder, who was sitting rigidly, watching him. "Mulder..." "Cover for me, Lewis. I've got to go back." _____________________________________ June 6 New Bedford airport, Mass. A man in a dark suit and sunglasses met him at the airport. He held up a badge and took off his sunglasses. "Fox Mulder?" "Yeah." "I'm Aaron Eduards, FBI. Welcome back to America." "Thanks." "I'm in charge of the investigation into the possible death of your girlfriend. If you don't mind, we have the body..." "I'd like to do this as soon as possible." Eduards locked eyes with him. "Good. Come on, I'll drive you there." Over the two hour drive to Dani's hometown, Eduards quizzed him about his relationship with her. He answered apathetically, at best. "She was your girlfriend?" "Ex-girlfriend." "Records show she has no living relatives?" "Her parents died five years ago." "So she lived by herself?" "She was twenty." "We have no legal problem with that, Mr. Mulder. We merely want to make sure we have the records straight." "I understand." "Are you familiar with the Strip Killer?" "Barely." "He-well, here we are. Are you sure you can do this?" "I'm fine." He really didn't think it would be her. How could it be? The identification wasn't easy. Dental records provided an inconclusive match; no wallet or ID was to be found. Finally they managed to match the ring on her finger. He hadn't expected to throw up. Agent Eduards had found him a wastebasket and watched sympathetically as his last two meals came back to haunt him. "It's all right, Mr. Mulder. It happens to the best of us." After he'd finished, he managed to drink a glass of water and face the body again. Of course that's why they weren't able to ID her, his rational mind thought. There's not enough skin left on the body. "Yeah, it's her. That's her ring." He pointed at a bloody circlet in an evidence tray. "It's silver, onyx inlay, engraved on the inside." He fought down nausea again. "Holy Jesus." "I'm sorry." "Yeah. Me too." _______________________ "Listen, Mulder...you have a place to stay, right?" Eduards looked across the lobby at the younger man. "I'm not staying for long. I've got classes at Oxford. Just until the funeral." "We're going to catch this guy." "I hope the hell so. How can anyone...oh god." "I understand." "How do you..." he gestured at the closed door. "I prepared myself for it. I'd seen it before." "This man's killed-" "Six other girls." "Six other girls." Mulder imagined six other bodies, six other families. "Six." "He's gotten sloppy. We'll get him soon." Eduards said determinedly, but his spirit wasn't in it. "Can I..." Mulder swallowed. "Can I help in any way? I've psychology training-" "Usually we don't allow untrained persons into the field. But..." Eduards sighed, "We're understaffed and the team profilist-" "Team what?" "Profilist? He's got the flu and no-one's willing to lend us one." "Um...I could try that." Mulder ran a hand through his hair. "Can I see the file on this guy?" Eduards nodded and began to walk to the car. The AD was gonna kill him for this. But he was trying, and they could use a fresh mind. _____________________________ "Hey Eduards, who's the kid?" Krevsky gestured to the tall man standing behind his team leader. "Respect, Krevsky, he's here to help out." Eduards jerked a thumb behind him. "Krevsky, Halpern, Linfield, Fox Mulder. Mulder-" "Joe Krevsky." "Rich Halpern." "Aaaand the ever present James Linfield." The third man finished with a flourish. "Pleased to meet you." "We got no profilist." Eduards ticked items off on his fingers. "We've got to catch this man. We don't have much time." "Can we get to the point sometime today?" Halpern flicked a paperclip at the trash can. "Mulder wants to help. He's got psychology training." "What branch you in, kid?" "I'm...not." Mulder shifted uncomfortably. "He ID'd the last body." "Oh. He's untrained?" "He's got the training we need." "Morrow's gonna flip." "Not if he doesn't find out." Eduards shot down the protest. "Let's get to work. Krevsky, toss him a copy of the files." Krevsky dug through a pile of papers in the office and came up with a neat pile. "Here." Mulder sorted through them and sat down. "Now, let's take a refresher, okay?" Eduards spread out a map. "He hits women, twenty to thirty, in the Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable counties. He attacks, disables, rapes, and murders his victims. He then proceeds to skin the victims-" "You okay, kid?" Linfield watched Mulder turn a light shade of green. "Yeah, I'm...fine." "His first three victims had been dating him for some months, their friends said. Noone ever met him. The fourth and fifth were each murdered three weeks after the last one. The final victim," and Eduards glanced at Mulder, "We assume had been running in the park when she was accosted and disabled." "And he re-dresses them after he skins them, hence the name Strip Killer." "Where have the women been found?" Mulder flipped through the pages. Linfield pointed to the map. "First one-Somerset, Bristol county. Then Plympton, Plymouth. Cedarville, right near the Barnstable border-" "Wait." Mulder leaned forward. "The next one is Fairhaven. Right?" "Right-how did you know?" "He's moving closer to a central location. Look." He hand flew over the map. "After Fairhaven...there. He keeps getting closer to some location in Barnstable." "He *is* escalating..." Eduards regarded the young man. "That would make sense." "Wal, congrats, kid." Linfield whacked him on the back. "Welcome to the wonderful world of federal investigations." "And if he's getting closer to home-Krev, pass the profile Cooley started on this guy." "Cooley's our profilist." Krevsky explained. "Got the flu. Pain in the butt." "Here. He started the profile...He's an escalating somethinorother, can't decide whether it should be fetishist or what. Rapist tendencies-" "He could be doing that to reduce them to less than human. Makes him feel better when he kills them." Mulder said thoughtfully. "We'll add it to the profile." Krevsky tossed a sheet of paper at him. "Halpern, what's the take on jurisdiction? We gonna go back to Washington or what?" "People are scared. These murders are getting much closer together." Halpern leaned back in his chair. "As long as he's loose, they want, and I quote, 'a soothing and secure presence in the area' and I unquote." "Okay, so post the map on the wall and get to work, already." Linfield took out a box of tacks. "The murders are placed after a pattern. We just can't figure out what it is." Eduards pointed to a chart on the wall. Victim Age date method LDF one 26 7/13/80 BWH 0% two 21 11/23 Same 0% three 21 3/05/81 Same 0% four 24 4/08 Same 20% five 29 5/15 Same 15.6% six 27 5/28 Same 18% seven UN 6/05 Same UN "We haven't fully factored victim sev-your friend." Eduards corrected himself. "Now that we know her conclusive ID, we can..." he scratched UN out and entered 20. The second UN remained. "What-what does LDF mean?" "Location Discrepancy Factor. Deals with the possible location of the murder, rather than the place the body was found." "It jumps. From the first four to a twenty percent discrepancy?" "The first three were found where they'd fallen, BWH-" "Bullet wound to the head." Halpern said. "-And it was pretty damned easy to see that they hadn't been dragged in from anywhere." "What about the next three?" "Four was in her car, on an old road. She hadn't been shifted from the car, but she could have been driven there." "Five had dirt found on her clothes, evidence she fell somewhere else and was dragged for a while." "Where was she found?" "A campground." "Then...wouldn't the dirt on the ground have picked up the blood trail?" They looked at each other. "The crime scene photos-" "Jesus, he's right." "Nice job, kid." "Six was another car murder, but the gas tank was full. Still an eighteen percent chance she wasn't killed where the car was found." Eduards continued. "You ever watch Colombo, kid?" Linfield asked. ______________________ Mulder sat in the half light of the office and scribbled on the blank page. The team was out getting dinner; he'd told them his body was still on Britain time and he wasn't hungry yet. Which was about half true, but he didn't think he could eat after seeing Dani in the morgue. *Ye gods.* *What did she do to deserve that?* *Don't concentrate on that now.* He reread the notes he'd just taken. Agent Cooley believes the subject is escalating in nature, and I tend to agree. The subject is male, as identified by the rape factor, most likely normal to all outward appearances. It is my opinion that subject is young, between the ages of twenty and thirty, as are his victims. Subject is also in possession of at least one type of firearm, if not more. Skill with which the body was skinned suggests the subject has some hunting skills. Autopsy reports show loss of blood is minimal during the process. Agent Eduards believes that the possibility of the fourth, fifth, and sixth murders being relocated should be higher; I believe that once the murder is done and the 'trophy' as Agent Halpern calls it is taken, the killer ignores the body and is content to leave it as it is. The fact that the first three bodies had not been removed from their homes supports this. *Dear lord, I've reduced seven lives to statistics and numbers. I've reduced Dani to a statistic.* According to the records of the deaths, the killer is most likely residing in Barnstable county. He was apparently dating the first women for some time before committing the act, and it surprises me that upon the discovery of this first murder, the federal agents were not called in immediately. After the third victim, he shortened the time allotted to three weeks. The last two murders occurred within two weeks of each other. It is still a mystery as to why he would attempt to stalk and/or kill women so far away from his home to begin with. The killer has progressed from murdering women he apparently knows to attacking whoever may be closest. His drive to kill, whatever the reason, is increasing. He apparently rapes his victims to reduce them to less than human. He then proceeds to take a trophy, much as a hunter would. *And he's already taken seven innocent lives.* He dropped the paper and glanced again at the chart. Seven innocent lives. His head dropped to his arms on the table and, for the first time since god knew when, he cried. _____________________ =========================================================================== From: raenright@aol.com (RaEnright) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: First Blood: The Hunter 2/1/3 Date: 21 Jul 1995 10:55:31 -0400 Hi all, this is the continuation of First Blood book 1, The Hunter, see pt 1 for legal details. It's also a tad confusing because I've also posted the first parts of another story, Close Shave, which has NOTHING AT ALL to do with this one, except that I posted it. I'm just trying to keep people from getting mixed up. This is an effort to explain how Mulder came to the attention of the Bureau in the first place. I have other theories, but this is the one that made it to print. Hey, I'm a LGW, I can have all the theories I want! First Blood, Book 1 The Hunter, pt 2 When the four men returned from dinner, The door was open. The kid had fallen asleep, despite his protests that he hadn't been tired. Eduards carefully picked the paper from under his arm and skimmed it. He motioned to Linfield, who was inspecting the kid as if he thought he might be some strange animal. "Look at this." He murmured. "Now if that's not a helluva profile, I don't know what is." Linfield whistled. "This kid did that?" "Look at this, Krevsky. Full persona outline. If he can investigate half as well as he profiles..." "We're out of a job." Linfield finished. "It's rough, but he's never learned the SOP for profiling, has he?" "Where'd you get him?" Halpern watched the kid shift slightly. " He came in to ID the last victim. His ex-girlfriend. He offered to help, and the guy's looking to get a psych degree anyway. I figured he could learn something and maybe help out at the same time." "Get the profile and we'll complete the form. Maybe even get a chance to use the new database Morrow's all excited about." "Get a grip, do you think anyone here actually knows how to use a computer?" "How hard can it be?" Halpern was shaking Mulder's arm. "Hey kid, naptime's over." "Hm?" he looked up wearily. Eduards noticed the faint tearstains under his eyes. "Here, have a kleenex." "Thanks." Mulder wiped at his face, embarrassed. Of all the times to fall asleep... "Got it." Krevsky was sitting at a clunky box in a corner, punching carefully at a keyboard. "I got the database hookup...so now what?" "Y'got me." Linfield whacked the monitor. "I don't know how to work these things." "Try 'search'." Eduards rolled his eyes. "Look for escalating." "Escalating." He carefully picked out each key. "It says 'searching'. What do I do now?" "You wait for the search to end, dumbass." Halpern grinned. "I knew that." Krevsky said defensively. "Hey Mulder, you know anything about computers?" "Not much." Mulder looked around, trying to find his profile sheet. Eduards held it up. "Good job, kid." "He does have a name, Eduards." Krevsky said from the corner. "Yeah, his name is Kid!" Linfield laughed. "It beats calling you Fox, or Mulder. So, Kid with a capital K, how'd you whip this up?" he pointed to the paper. "I just wrote what I thought...is something wrong with it?" "Nothing wrong and everything right. This is beautiful. Cooley'd be proud." "T-thanks." Mulder looked down at the table. "Base just shut down. I hate these things." Krevsky whacked the computer for good measure. "We lost it." "Damn." Eduards swore. "Can you re-connect somehow?" "Probably, But I wouldn't have the faintest idea how." Krevsky switched it off. "You want to call Morrow?" "Naw, he'd just chew us out for wasting our time and the bureau's money." Eduards caught Mulder's quizzical look and explained. "Morrow's the assistant director and one of the meanest sonsobitches around." "Barring that assistant of his, whatever his name is." "Walt Skinner. Whew, what a drill sergeant." Eduards shuddered dramatically. "I pity the men he's gonna be boss of." "Hey, it's already quitting time. Y'all want to head back to the motel and harass someone?" "I'll pass on the harassment, Linfield. I'm dying." Halpern coughed. "C'mon, let's go. You got a place to sleep, Kid?" "I'm staying with my father." Mulder winced inwardly. "Taking the ferry to West Tisbury." "You're going to West Tisbury? From here?" "Either that or stay with my mom in Chilmark..." "Call your dad. A big boy like you should be able to make his own choices. You can stay with us, if you don't mind sleeping on a couch." "Sounds great." Mulder smiled sadly. "Lemme make sure my dad won't murder me first." "Here." Krevsky tossed him a phone. He dialed the number while the others cleaned up and sorted the papers. "Hello." "Hi dad, it's Fox." "Hello, boy." Mulder winced and wondered why everyone still thought he was a child. "Dad, I'm staying over on the mainland. Is that all right?" "Found some girl, I suppose, and that other girl of yours not even in the ground." "No, no, I'm working with the agents, trying to help out on the case." "And abandoning your mother. You're a great son, Fox." "Dad, I'm trying to make sure this man doesn't kill anyone else. That's all. I'll be here a few days at most, and I need to help them out." "Then try not to get in their way too much." "Dad-" the click on the other end of the line was decisive. He hung up the phone. "That was fun." "C'mon, Kid, let's go. You look awful." "Matches how I feel." _____________ "Here's a the couch, I hope it's not too lumpy." Krevsky pounded on it. "The Bureau's too cheap to let us ever stay in a nice joint." "I'm used to it. Dorms." Mulder dropped his dufflebag and sat down. "Jesus Christ, and I thought my life was screwed up before." "Beg pardon?" "Nothing. Sometimes psychology can be a royal pain in the ass." "Why's that?" "Because I tend to analyze everything to death, along with every possible nuance of every conversation." "So why're you studying it?" "Honestly? I have no idea. I suppose...it seemed like a good idea at the time." "Sounds like the reason I joined the bureau." Linfield commented from the next room. "Hey Kid, let's get something to eat." "Linfield, you just had an entire order of potstickers half an hour ago." Halpern scolded. "So I get hungry fast. Sue me. You coming, Eduards?" "No, I'm gonna report back to Morrow. Krevsky?" "Forget it, I'm not in the mood to talk to that nutbag. I'm outta here." "I'll help out around here." Halpern came out of the bathroom, his face half-shaved. "I'm gonna talk to Cooley, see what he thinks. This isn't a fetishist case, I don't think, unless you count collecting human skins as a fetish." "That was tactful." Krevsky muttered to him. "Just rub salt in that kid's wounds." "Hey, I'm just doing my job. He chose to come along for the ride." "C'mon, Kid, let's get going. My treat." _________________________ "Wow." Linfield watched the kid sleep on the couch. "He doesn't eat, he feeds." "He's been working all day without food. No wonder he was hungry. Did you run a BC on him?" Eduards took a sip of his soda. "I am way too wired to sleep." "I ran a prelim check. No criminal record, nothing. Bureau records come up clean. His father works for the state department. " Halpern read off the notepad in his hand. "Nothing unusual?" "Other than the fact that his skipped three grades in grammar school." "And that doesn't qualify?" "Oh yeah...something about a disappearance. His sister, I think." "Weird." "Yeah well, from what I heard of that phone conversation, his parents aren't the most understanding people in the world." Eduards stood and walked over to the window. "Hey, he seems normal to me." Linfield grabbed a soda. "What did Morrow say?" "About...?" "Kid over there." "I didn't tell him." "He's gonna flip out when he sees this profile. How d'you want to explain that?" "I'll think of something. At worst I can tell him we got it from an anonymous source." "Cooley jealous yet?" "I read him the profile. He wanted to know since when did criminal psychologists pop out of the woodwork and offer services." " Didja tell *him*?" "I told him we had assistance. He's still throwing up, every hour, on the hour, which made it kind of hard to talk." "Sounds like fun. I'm dead. G'night." Halpern shut the door between the two rooms. Krevsky was already snoring. "Eduards." Linfield set the soda down. "You think this kid might be bureau material?" "He's certainly bright enough. But he wasn't so hot in the guts department. He took one look at the body and threw up." "Hell, *I've* done that. And she was his girlfriend, for Christ's sake." Eduards considered him for a minute. "I'm going to be very happy when we catch this man." "You and just about every single woman in Eastern Massachusetts, my friend." _______________________ 4am June 7 Mulder awoke early, his internal clock still set to Oxford time, five hours ahead of the east coast. The agents were all asleep, Linfield still sitting up in the chair. He was restless; funny that he should feel so energetic after what had happened to Dani. Oh god. Dani. He wouldn't concentrate on that right now. He pulled his sweats on and opened the door carefully, trying not to wake Linfield. Outside the sharp wind bit at his face as he ran the streets. Thankfully he knew this section of town, having stayed there often enough with Dani. Jesus Christ. He noticed a man waiting in a car for someone. Was that him? Or maybe this sicko lived in that apartment over there. Maybe he'd been watching them- Okay. Now you're getting paranoid. He stopped and took a deep breath. The sun was just coming up and the wind was getting warmer. Maybe by midday the fog would burn off. He headed back the way he came, steering a wide path around the man sitting in the car. _________________ "Okay, so we know this guy is reducing to picking girls up off the street. We know he's got some experience hunting, and at least one firearm. We know he's young, and he's getting closer to home. Now we have to nail him before he goes hunting again." Mulder rubbed his forehead and tried to concentrate. "We...we know he's getting closer to home. There weren't any witnesses?" "No. But we can get a general view of where he's going from the locations of the others." Linfield walked over to the map. "The last murder was here, right on the border." "I think it's a safe bet, with all the driving he must do, that he lived near either an expressway or an interstate." Halpern traced the line of route 6 with his finger. "What about Bourne?" "Or Teaticket, or Falmouth...face it, he could be anywhere." Linfield shrugged. "I don't think he cares. And the connections aren't there. He's killed all over, from the 28 expressway to interstate 495."Mulder studied the map. The phone rang, cutting through the grim silence. "Ye-hello." Linfield answered, yanking the receiver up. He listened, nodded, and winced. "Yeah... yeah that's us. Thanks. No, we'll be there as soon as possible." He hung up and turned around. "They found another one." Eduards said. He nodded. "Monument Beach. Two this time." "Two?" Halpern paled. "A man and a woman. The man's still alive." "Let's go." Eduards grabbed his coat. "Coming, Kid?" Mulder nodded and followed the others out the door. _____________________ =========================================================================== From: raenright@aol.com (RaEnright) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: First Blood:The Hunter 3/1/3 Date: 22 Jul 1995 16:05:37 -0400 Heeeeeeeere's Mulder! Have fun, y'all. And remember, Eno on tsurt! First Blood, book 1 The Hunter, Pt. 3 The woman had been skinned and re-dressed as according to the killer's habit; the man had simply been hit with the butt of a revolver in his forehead. He was bleeding, but lucid by the time they got there. A sketch artist was sitting with him, paper in hand. All four men watched Mulder as they approached the woman's body; he stiffened but managed to avoid embarrassing himself again. Eduards patted his shoulder approvingly. Linfield took out the map he'd hastily torn down and inspected it. "The latest murder. Man can't even wait until they're alone anymore." "No." Mulder looked up suddenly. "He could have killed that man-he didn't. He's playing with us." "Are you sure?" "Hell no. But it makes sense. He wants us to think he screwed up. Ten to one odds are the next victim is alone." Mulder's thoughts whirled. "I think he considers this a hunt and those women are the prey." "So what are we?" Linfield crossed his arms. Mulder grimaced. "Game wardens." ________________________ "Kid, give it up." Eduards rubbed his forehead. Mulder shook his head. "The answer is there." "No, it's not. The answer is *here*." Krevsky held up the portrait. "This is what we've got to go on." "No, there's a pattern." Mulder leaned over the map again. "There." He picked up a marker and outlined an area. "He's somewhere in this area." "Been there, done that. The killer is coming from somewhere in an area, defined as *a*, because of the configuration of the murders, defined as *c*. Therefore, the sum of the midpoints of c, if you like geometry, equals a." Halpern grimaced. "But you didn't correlate the timing." Mulder traced the red line. "If you try them in order of death, and factor in that he's getting closer to home, like this..." he drew with the marker over the interstates and highways. "You lower the factor of *a* by half." "Let me see." Eduards examined his work. "We still have a ten-mile radius." "But he's got to be close to the latest victim. He wants us to try to find him." Linfield shrugged. "So we can mark out some of the outer towns. Big deal. We've got at least half the inland and coastal county to search." "We've put out an APB on the drawing. Should have some results by morning." "By morning he could have killed again." Mulder faced them. "There's nothing we can do tonight, Kid." Linfield pulled the map down. "We'll keep working in the morning." "But-" "No buts. You're doing great, but even a kid needs rest. And the rest of us old farts are tired." Eduards pulled his coat on. "Let's go eat." ____________________________ "So." Halpern took a bite of his slice of pizza and smiled at Mulder. "What's Oxford like?" "S'awright." Mulder chewed thoughtfully. "You get home often?" "More often than I'd like." "Why's that?" "Let's just say Massachusetts isn't my favorite place to live. Now, New York." His eyes brightened. "Somewhere where I can make a name for myself." "How about Washington?" Linfield asked carefully. "As long as I get away from here." "Maybe come to work for the bureau?" "I could, couldn't I? Attend the academy." He smiled suddenly. "That would be interesting." "I'm from a podunk backwater town myself." Krevsky said. "Couldn't wait to escape." "The bureau." Mulder took another bite. "You do this sort of thing often?" "We're a team." Eduards said simply. "We used to be two separate partnerships, but they tossed us together just to piss us off." "Like we tolerated each other before." Linfield stole the last slice of pizza. "Does everyone have a partner?" "Why, you want a nice one?" "No. I work best alone." "You worked with us pretty well." Halpern defended. "No, I didn't mean like that-at college, I don't do study groups. They don't like me." "Why not?" Mulder tapped his forehead. "Photographic memory. People don't like it when you're smarter than them. So it was either act dumb or go it alone. I chose the latter." "That's a shame." "That's life." "That's my slice of pizza you're munching on, Kid." "That's what you think..." _________________________ "Phone's ringing!" "Astute observation, Halpern." "So sue me. You wanna answer it?" "I got it!" Linfield dove for the phone, succeeding in knocking it onto the couch and into Mulder's lap. "Kid, you make my day, and answer it?" "Hello." Mulder set the phone back on the table and held the receiver to his ear. "Halpern? Eduards?" "Sorry, hang on a minute." Mulder looked around. "Where is everyone?" "Halpern's bathing, Eduards went to the coke machine, Krevsky's locked himself in the can, and I'm dying of a broken rib." "Haha. Can I take a message?" Mulder redirected his attention to the phone. "Could you tell Eduards they got a lead on his man?" "...." "Hello?" "Sorry. They've got a lead?" "Silver Beach, down the coast. Witnesses place him at an apartment house at Height and Third street." "Got it, yeah, thanks." Mulder scribbled the address. "What sort of officials are down there? Okay, we're on our way." He hung up the phone and turned to Linfield. "They got him." "They *what*?" "Witnesses place him in an apartment in Silver Beach." "Get Halpern and Krevsky. I'll go find Eduards." "Halpern!" "I'm in the bath! What's the hurry?" "They got him!" "Why didn't you say so! Yo Krevsky, get your rear in gear and get ready to move!" "Got it!" Linfield was back. "Damn Eduards decided to go on a snack run. Come on, we don't have time to get him." They were out the door, Linfield jumping in the driver's seat and motioning the others to hurry. Mulder hesitated before grabbing Eduards' holster and gun off the table and following the agents. ___________________ "Stay here, Kid." Linfield pulled up to the apartment house. "But-" "You're not an officer, or an agent. Anything you say or do can rightfully be prosecuted. Trust me, I majored in law." Halpern shut the door. "You helped a lot, Kid, but you can't come any further. The law's the law." Mulder watched helplessly as the three agents strolled down the sidewalk, heading for the apartment. One knocked on the door and soon they were allowed inside. He counted slowly to ten and followed. ___________________ They cased the apartment, taking up locations at the stairs before rushing it. Bursting inside, they confronted a man, kneeling over an unconscious girl. "Freeze! Drop the gun! Hands in the air!" Krevsky called. "Not a chance." The man sneered, holding the gun to the girl's head. "You want this one alive? Tough shit." He began to back out another door, into the hallway. They chased him, keeping enough distance to keep the girl safe. "Shit." Krevsky swore. "He's gonna break for it. Hal, call for backup." "I'm on it." Halpern doubled back, headed for the apartment and the telephones. "I'll get barricades up all over the city." "I'm after him!" Linfield called. "Krevsky-" "Got the stairs." Krevsky headed for the other side of the hallway, taking the stairs three at a time, almost falling. "We'll never make it." he muttered under his breath. "He's got a hostage and a head start. Shit. *Shit*!" _____________________ The hunt was ending. Oh, but he'd get this last prey, yes he would. He'd take the prize and run with it. Maybe head for high country, better game. He'd hunt the mountain breeds. That was it. If he just managed to hide from those troublesome policemen- He backed into the bush, the perfect hiding place. A cold metal nozzle bit into his neck. "Let her go or so help me I will blow your fucking brains out and skin you while you still have the nerves to feel it with." A voice whispered in his ear. _______________________ *Ohgodohgodohgod-* Mulder fingered the gun in his hand. The man had emerged from the house, the girl clutched in his arms. Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of police force out there, waiting for him? He'd been watching too many cop movies. He circled around, using the crosswalk up the street as cover. The man backed into the bushes, and he saw his chance. He shoved the handgun into his neck, clenching his teeth. "Let her go or so help me I will blow your fucking brains out and skin you while you still have the nerves to feel it with." He whispered. The man stiffened and tightened his grip on his own revolver. "You do that, my friend, and I'll still have enough time to take this one down with me." "I don't really give a fuck." Mulder said softly. "Because at least you'll be dead." Then he did something that would have gotten him in very deep trouble if anyone had ever found out about it. He rammed his knee straight up against the man's groin. He doubled over in pain and gasped, giving the younger man a chance to grip his gun and yank. Hard. It went off, right next to his ear, leaving a ringing sound. The girl fell, released from the man's grasp. Mulder hit the ground hard, rolling away, both guns in hand. The man half stood, trying to run. "Hold it." Krevsky stood outside the bush, a slight smile on his face. "Freeze, you sonofabitch." "I've got him." Mulder held up one of the guns. "Back away, Mr. Mulder." "Like hell." "Back away before I am forced to arrest you ." "Damned bastard deserves to die." "Sir, back away or I will have to incarcerate you. I'm just following procedure here, Mulder." "He killer her." "And he'll get what he deserves. But you have to let us handle this, Kid." Mulder's gun wavered, and dropped. He knelt next to the girl and checked her pulse. "She's alive." Krevsky was handcuffing the suspect, and reciting his rights. Linfield and Halpern arrived simultaneously, out of breath. "Linfield, call an ambulance. And the hotel, maybe Eduards made it back by now." "Right." Linfield ran off in search of a phone. Halpern knelt by Mulder. "You okay, Kid?" "She needs help." "I didn't ask that." "I don't care." ______________________________ The four men stood and gazed around in disgust. "Oh my god." Eduards muttered. The apartment was adorned with 'hunting trophys', skins set out to dry on racks, wall hangings... curtains... "No god did this." Krevsky gagged and stepped back, out the door. Mulder stood against the wall nearby. "How horrible." He murmured. "What sort of monster does this?" "Very human monsters, Kid. He's not the first." "How do you stand it?" "We just do. It gets better." Mulder swallowed. "That's what I'd be afraid of. The fact that it could *stop* touching me like this." "It never stops, Kid, but it gets more bearable. Work with men like this for twenty, thirty years and you'll see." "The choices you have to make..."Mulder said to himself. "To go on seeing this every day of your life...or to know it's here and you aren't doing anything to stop it." "That's your choice, Mulder." "Some choice. Death by drowning or by hanging? Either way, you're dead." "If it prevents others from dying, I'd rather do this." Krevsky shook his head and went back into the apartment. ________________________________ Assistant Director Morrow shifted in his chair and rubbed his forehead. "So you're telling me some eggheaded college kid came up to you, offered his services, and proceeded to profile, and almost solve, this case-when none of you smartass vets could?" Eduards smiled. "He's a very *smart* college kid." "I need a new job. You are going to kill me. Get the hell out of here and find that kid. I want him recruited as soon as humanly possible." "I'm afraid that's impossible, sir, he's already left he country." "He's *what*??!!" "He's gone back to college, sir. But he'll be available in about two years or so." Krevsky supplied, enjoying this. Morrow just shook his head. "You keep an eye out for him, Eduards, hear me? The minute, the *minute* he graduates I want you on his case and I want him in my office! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" "Sir, yes sir, will do, sir." Linfield saluted as they exited. __________________________________ Senior Thesis, Fox Mulder On the behaviour of serial killers and the motivations behind them, as based on the case of Klaus Ammer, the so-called Strip Killer, solved by Federal agents Aaron Eduards, Joseph Krevsky, Richard Halpern, and James Linfield. END Belief Initiates and guides action- Or it does nothing. -Lauren Olamina, Earthseed: The Books of the Living Octavia Butler, The Parable Of The Sower