By Folieadeux
folieadeux98@hotmail.com

Rating: PG (some violence)
Category: Casefile, UST
Distribution: Anywhere, as long as these headers stay intact.
Let me know please, I'd like to keep track of where it goes.
Feedback: I'm begging you. No, really. folieadeux98@hotmail.com
Spoilers: None. It feels like it exists somewhere between S5 & S6.
Disclaimer: How do you own an idea?  Well, if you can, I don't.
Summary: Too many deaths in the largest mall in America.
Authors Note: As usual, the hangman scene is an homage
to Justin Glaser's fic "Certitude". Check it out.  Any reference
to The Mall of America is for fictional purposes and is not meant in
any other capacity.  All the factual data on the mall is correct, at
least at the time I began this little journey.  Any incorrect Brittish
slang is totally mine.  I apologize if I offend any friends from
across the pond.  All thank you's and fond words are saved for the
final installment.

======================================================================

Everyone thinks my job is exciting - glamorous. ?It's not. ?The hours
are brutal and the paper works a real bugger. ?I'm never anywhere for
more than a few days. ?The constant travel keeps me bloody knackered
and lonely. ?I know, that surprises you, but it's true.

One morning while sitting on the back of a camel trudging to another ?
out-of-the-way, God-forsaken place I had this idea. ?It was bloody
brilliant. I was reading a National Geographic ?article titled, The
New Ecosystem. It was the story of this huge monstrosity of a shopping
center in the States. The Mall of America, they called it. ?Just like
the Yanks to build something daft like that, living in a big beautiful
country and they don't like to go outside.

I've forgotten to tell you the most important part of my story: my
job. My official title is, "Accidental Expirations, 2nd class". ?I'd
prefer the term 'fortuitous' myself, but bureaucracy seldom uses any
imagination in job titles. Most people just call me Death. I don't
mind, it has a nice ring to it.

People have no bloody idea how involved and time-consuming death is as
a career. It's impossible for one person to handle the entire
caseload. You see, there are all types of death: accidental, diseased,
self-inflicted - not to mention all the different sub-categories like
human and non-human. It's true, even dogs and cats have their own
department - strictly entry level - ?a real bugger of an assignment.
?My department is the best, accidental death can be very interesting
and one of the more exciting, if I may say so myself. We each have our
own service areas and report to a district supervisor. It's all very
sussed - has to be or everything gets wonky. Can you imagine if it
were run like the Italian post? ?What a blooming nightmare. ?No one
would ever die properly and certainly never on time.

Anyway, back to my story. It occurred to me that if I could get a
transfer to that district, I could just go to this shopping center and
do my job from there. No one would be the wiser and I would get a
chance to relax - enjoy my life a bit. I mean, everyone in the States
goes to those malls eventually, right? No more of this God-forsaken
wandering, lousy accommodations, lousy food, bad weather. No more
camel rides. I bloody hate camels. They're a nasty lot they are. The
article made this shopping center sound perfect - bloody perfect.

The job I was on at the time was a cinch: 32-year-old woman dies from
a venomous snake bite. ?She wasn't watching where she was going, I
stuck my foot out; she tripped. Landed right on the thing. Whole lot
taken care of in less than 10 minutes. Once back at the office I put
in for a transfer. No use faffing around once you get a good idea. A
buddy of mine, works for Human Resources, owed me a favor. Next thing
I know I'm on my way to the US of A. The great state of Minnesota -
Land of 1000 bloody lakes or something like that. I was bloody well
chuffed with myself. It really was brilliant.

For awhile.

How was I to know that anyone would pay attention to my goings on?
That I'd be unlucky enough to stumble onto the two people who would
actually look for patterns within no patterns at all. It's so unfair.
Now I don't know what the bloody hell I'm going to do. I'll tell you
this much though: I'm not going down without a fight. They don't call
me Death for nothing. I'm not someone to be buggered with; I don't
care how smart you dress or how pretty your hair is. ??

===================================================
 

THREE WEEKS EARLIER FBI HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON, D.C. ?US of A
 

The two agents sat in their darkened basement office side by side,
shoulders touching. The man with his feet propped up on the corner of
the desk. The woman with her legs stretched out before her, ankles
primly crossed.

Mulder's left hand held the remote to the slide projector perched on
the table behind them. His right hand was at his mouth, where he
maneuvered a sunflower seed between his teeth. Scully held the seed
bag in her left hand while her right also maneuvered a seed.

"Ready, Scully?"

"Wow me, Mulder."

-CLICK- The Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota. Used to be the
largest mall in the world. Now it's the second, to one in Canada..."

"Damn Canadians."

"Easy, Scully. ?It's still pretty impressive. It opened August 11,
1992 and since then more than 270 million people have visited. It gets
from 600,000 to 900,000 visitors a week depending on the season. It
has more than 520 stores, 49 different places to eat, eight night
clubs, 11,000 year round employees, and almost 20,000 parking spaces."

Scully let out a low slow whistle.

"Wait - there's more. It's key attractions include everything from
several amusement parks to a wedding chapel. In 1997 the National Park
Service listed it as the most visited destination for US travelers. It
gets more visitors annually then Disney World, the Grand Canyon,
and..." Mulder placed his hand over his heart and effected a genuine
grimace ?before finishing his sentence. "...Graceland combined."

A silence fell over the darkened and cluttered room.

"I can only assume you have something even more gruesome to share with
me about this little slice of heaven."

"Yeah, I just thought I'd let the horror of it sink in for a few
moments before I delivered the kicker. In the last six months it has
acquired another interesting distinction: it's also our most deadly
tourist destination."

"Oooh," Scully whispered.

Mulder turned his head to smile at her. "Make that sound again."

"You're out of focus, Mulder." Scully tossed a cracked shell into the
wastepaper basket between their feet.

Turning back to the screen, Mulder continued, "In the last six months
22 shoppers have died on or around the premises of this mall."

Scully's hand stopped midway to her mouth as she cocked one eyebrow in
Mulder's direction. "Wow," she said with genuine sincerity.

"I knew that would get you."

"How did they all die?"

"I'm getting to that." he said as he switched to the next slide.
-CLICK- "They have choked on a piece of chicken in the food court."
-CLICK- "Been electrocuted." -CLICK- "Fallen down an elevator shaft."
-CLICK- "Been hit by a bus." -CLICK- "One broke his neck while on an
escalator." -CLICK- "One was even killed when a large chandelier in
Bloomingdales fell and landed on her." -CLICK- "But my personal
favorite - drum roll, please - one was 'accidentally' shot by another
shopper over the last, Princess Diana Beanie Baby in stock. ?The
shooter swears she was only trying to frighten the other woman, that
her finger was never on the trigger and she doesn't know how the gun
went off."

Scully sat and stared at the screen in silence, her mouth agape. After
several seconds she said, "That's only seven, Mulder. What about the
other 15?"

"Variations on a theme. ?All accidents except two, a heart attack and
a stroke. They're all listed in the file itself."

"Wow."

"You said that already."

"Yeah but, Mulder....wow."

Mulder couldn't believe his luck. Dr. Scully, speechless. "So - you
packed?"

"Well, Mulder...while I find it amazing and justifiably creepy, I
don't think a mall with it's own ecosystem is an X-file."

"Very funny. I'm not talking about the mall, Scully."

"I know, Mulder, but still... These are all accidents, except for the
two. ? Didn't the local authorities investigate this already?"

"They ruled them all accidental, yes. ?But they didn't get one of
these." With that, Mulder reached over to the desk and grabbed an
envelope. He handed it to his partner with a flourish.

"What's this?"

"Read it."

Opening the letter Scully started to read aloud....

"Dear Agent Mulder: I know this is going to sound strange but I have a
problem and I don't know what to do about it. I'm a security guard at
the Mall of America in Minnesota, and I think I saw Death the other
night at the ice cream yogurt stand outside Radio Shack."

<silence>

Slowly Scully raised her eyes to Mulder with a look which he was
remarkably familiar. "You have got to be kidding me, Mulder."

"What - you don't think Death likes yogurt? Just keep reading."

"I'm afraid to tell anyone for fear they'll think I'm crazy. That
article I read about you in The Lone Gunmen made me think I could tell
you and you would help me. It sounds like you'll believe anything..."
Scully snorted aloud when she read that part.

"Anyway." ?Mulder snatched the letter from Scully's fingers. "It just
goes on to talk about how he's seen this man around the mall a lot
lately, as well as on the video surveillance tapes, and that he's
pretty sure he's up to no good."

"The Gunmen did an article on you?"

"It was an old one. They did a retrospective last month and it was
included in it. You know, sort of a 'best of' kind of thing." ?Mulder
started to busy himself with turning on the lights and putting away
the slide projector.

"Was I mentioned in the article?"

Mulder stopped what he was doing. This was a girl question and he knew
it. He hadn't spent six years with this woman and not learned a little
something about girl questions. Girl questions were questions that had
no right answers. You were screwed whatever you said. "Uh, well...yes
and no."

"Yes and no? ?Which is it, Mulder?"

"Come on, Scully; it was a long time ago. We'd only been partners a
year or so when it was printed. The guys didn't even really know you
then. Besides, I'm sure you've read it already. So - what do you think
about the case?" He was trying to change the subject and she knew it.
Suddenly her eyes got large.

"Mulder! You're not talking about the hot tomato article?"

Damn.

"They reprinted the hot tomato article!?"

"Now Scully, just calm down. It's a very nice article, really - very
flattering. And no one who knows you thinks you're a hot tomato."

The chagrined look on Mulder's face was more than Scully could
take.?She started to laugh aloud. Her blue eyes changed from furious
to soft and the suddenness of it made Mulder's heart go ka-boom.
"Well, I mean, you know... No one thinks you're a hot tomato but me
and Frohike - and he doesn't count," he said softly.

"Uh huh. Come on, Mulder. Let's go to the mall."

===================================================
 

MINNEAPOLIS / ST.PAUL
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 10:00 AM
 

Mulder and Scully navigated airports like a well-oiled machine. It was
as much a part of their routine as their speed dial buttons or the
constant paperwork.

They never checked baggage, only bringing what they could carry on.
Scully carried a photo copy of the car rental form in her bag. The
information never changed so they always made the rental agency kid
fill it out, signing it at the end. They always refused the additional
insurance, and Mulder would invariably argue with the Lariat employee
about how useless the extra insurance was.

Mulder almost always drove. Something about it soothed him, so Scully
rarely objected. Besides, she liked going through the files and
reports while Mulder sang along with the radio or listened to a ball
game of some sort. Sometimes she just looked out the window at the
passing scenery. It might not be the life most people saw for
themselves but she found herself strangely contented with it lately -
content to do a job she found interesting, with a man she couldn't
imagine being without.

As soon as they were in the rental car and making their way toward the
freeway the signs began.

=Come to the Mall of America!=

=See the USA's biggest mall!=

=Legoland at the Mall of America!=

"I think they're trying to tell us something, Scully."

"So much for subliminal advertising."

They spotted it in the distance, long before they arrived at the
appropriate exit. ?It was laid out before them like a small city, or
maybe a large town. Depending on how a person looked at it. They
exited the freeway and made their way towards the shopping mecca
glimmering before them in the early afternoon light.

"Where does the note say we're meeting the guard again?"

They had stopped at an intersection waiting for the light to turn
green. Scully quickly scanned the note in her hand, "Umm...at the
Northeast corner by the Snoopy town roller coaster, entrance FF."

"Snoopy town roller coaster - got it. Ok...there must be a sign around
here someplace."

The agents craned their heads left and right desperately looking for
any signs saying "Snoopy" or "roller coaster". Nothing.

"Maybe we should just drive around the perimeter till we see
something." Scully began to open the map she'd grabbed back in the car
rental office. Mulder turned right and started to drive north.
"Mulder, according to the map we should try to park in the Pumpkin
Patch lot."

"Pumpkin Patch...Pumpkin Patch...Pumpkin Patch - I see it!" Mulder
made a quick left turn as he saw the parking lot sign about a football
field over his left shoulder.

Ten minutes later they were parked and making their way towards the
giant building. It filled the expanse of their horizon like a mushroom
cloud. As they approached the Snoopy Town entrance, they could see a
security guard pacing back and forth in front of a huge Snoopy head
that made up the structures entrance. Mulder shot a bemused glance at
his partner as they stepped onto the sidewalk. She was trying
valiantly not to crack a smile but her forehead was creased with the
effort. Mulder slowed so he was standing a bit behind Scully as they
began to reach for their badges.

"Excuse me. Are you Eric Hall?" Mulder directed his question to the
pacing guard.

Seemingly startled, the guard stopped his marching to face the two
agents. "Yes. Yes, I am. Are you Agent Mulder?" he replied as he
tentatively stretched out his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Hall and this is my partner, Agent Scully." Mulder shook the
man's hand while lifting his badge, Scully following his lead. This
was another part of their mutual balance. Lift badge - shake hands -
first one, then the other - punctuated at the end by Mulder's hands in
his pockets, Scully's arms crossed in front of her - a long-standing
and time-honored bit of silent conversation. The security guard was
clue less, having only witnessed it for the first time.

"Thank you so much for answering my letter. I'm sure it seemed
bizarre. I never thought you would actually call me, let alone fly
here." Eric Hall seemed nervous, the sentences coming out of his mouth
in breathy agitated puffs.

"Should we not have come here, Mr. Hall? Did you make this up?" Scully
volleyed the first shot at the nervous security guard.

"What? Um...I wouldn't...I'm...No!...No! I didn't make anything up!"
The guard finally managed to sputter one of the many thoughts backed
up behind his earnest eyes.

Security guard Eric Hall was an honest man. His lack of killer
instinct tended to get him trampled on, but he'd never seemed to mind.
Maybe he never noticed. Either way, he was a man with a clear
conscience who had only recently been burdened enough to lose sleep
over anything. Eric stood a little over 6 feet tall with a stocky
build. He was not fat, but not thin either. Luckily for him, his love
for food was combined with a job that included a lot of walking. He
was very blond, with a light tan on his face which darkened
considerably when it reached the back of his neck - a hazard of the
baseball cap which was an ever - present part of his uniform. ?He took
it off now as he shook hands with the two FBI agents. He was almost
bald, with a closely shaved strip around the bottom of his head.

Scully thought he looked a little like Skinner but less powerful, in
build and presence.

"Relax...Relax. It's fine. We believe you, Eric. You just seem
nervous. ? Everything okay?" Mulder relaxed his posture and moved
closer to the guard trying to put him at ease.

"I'm sorry. You're right. Considering the letter I sent you, that's a
fair question. I'm just uptight because my boss yelled at me this
morning when I told him you were coming. Now I'm starting to wonder if
I did the right thing. Maybe he's right: maybe I do see too many
movies." He finished his thought with a scuff of his security guard
boot on the pavement, at the same time stuffing his large hands into
his navy blue synthetic pants.

"Did your boss know you wrote to the FBI?" Scully's posture remained
guarded.

"No, he didn't. But after another person died and I saw that guy
again, I thought I'd better tell someone you were coming."

"Another person died?" Scully dropped her arms, temporarily forgetting
her sternness.

"Yeah - last night around closing time. A girl was struck by a car in
the west parking lot over by Golf Mountain. It was an accident, of
course, just like most of the others. But the security camera showed
my guy on it at the time it happened. That's when I told my boss you
were on your way."

"And this made him angry?"

"He's really scared of the publicity. If the media decides to make a
story of it, we could have big trouble."

"Well, we're certainly not here to generate publicity. Why don't you
introduce us to your boss and we'll see what we can do." Scully held
her arm out to the guard, ushering him into the structure ahead of
her.

===================================================

"I'm sorry but I just don't understand what you're doing here? What
part of this situation is FBI jurisdiction?" Ronald Beck was standing
up behind his desk in the main security office of the Mall of America.
?An easily worried man by nature, the site of two FBI agents in dark
suits with darker expressions was doing little to calm him down.

Mulder dove in first.

"Mr. Beck, we're only here to offer our help and expertise to what
obviously is a highly unusual and unfortunate situation. My partner
and I have a great deal of experience in matters such as this - "

"Such as what? Accidents?"

"No, unexplained occurrences. It's not our intention to inflame the
situation, only to try and shed some light on it. I think you can
agree that the quicker the problem is resolved the better it is for
everyone."

"What problem?!" Mr. Beck was becoming more and more agitated.
Mulder's words seemed to be doing nothing to calm the man.

"Your mall in the last six months has a higher death rate per capita
than most of the cities in this state. The FBI thinks that is a
situation that deserves looking into. If you continue to ignore your
problems here we may be forced to make this a much bigger operation
than it currently is. Wouldn't you rather limit this investigation to
just Agent Scully and me?"

Mulder watched as the man in front of them stopped to consider his
options. He hoped Mr. Beck didn't call his bluff, as they had no way
to make this any larger an operation than it already was. ?Scully shot
him a sideways glance -- the same thought crossing her mind.

Luckily Mulder wasn't going to have to worry about that. Mr. Beck was
slowly deflating back down to the slight worried man he usually was.

"Is that true...about the death rate?" he said in a weak voice as he
slowly sank into the chair behind his desk.

"Yes, sir. Yes it is." Mulder said as he and Scully sat in the two
chairs across from the worried man. Eric Hall remained standing by the
door, nervously looking at the floor with his hands in his pockets.

"Mr. Hall wrote us of a gentlemen who's been seen around many of the
accident sights. Are you aware of this person?" Scully took the
initiative at this point, letting Mulder do the observing while she
asked her own questions.

"Yes, Eric told me about him last night. I saw him on a couple of the
security cameras as well. But I still don't understand what he could
have to do with this. These were all accidents - how could he make
someone get hit by a car, or cause one person to choke on a piece of
chicken?"

"Well sir - that's what we'd like to find out. I suspect that he may
not have anything to do with it, but the fact remains that he's
showing up more than he should, which we cannot ignore."

Mr. Beck seemed to relax a bit at Scully's admission of doubt
regarding the mysterious man on the video tape.

Mulder smiled to himself at Scully's ability to comfort other people
with facts. She would be surprised to know how often he also had been
comforted by her ability to compartmentalize. Order from chaos.

"Mr. Beck, do you think we could view some of these surveillance tapes
as well as get a tour of your facility?" Scully continued.

"Sure. Okay. I'll let Eric take care of everything for you, beings
he's the reason your here." A little of the previous fire crept back
into Mr. Becks voice as he shot an annoyed glance at the guard still
standing head down in the back of the room.

"Thank you." Scully extended her hand to Mr. Beck who shook it firmly.
Mulder followed with a handshake of his own.

===================================================
 

Mulder and Scully spent a large portion of their day getting a tour of
the mall and its many attractions. While part of it was from a golf
cart, a considerable portion of it was on foot. It seemed to go on
forever. Corridor after corridor of storefronts, interrupted by potted
palm trees and benches. ? There appeared to be every kind of store
imaginable and some stores they never would have thought existed.

After finishing the shopping section of the mall, Eric took them on a
guided tour of the attractions. There were roller coasters in "Camp
Snoopy", and a bunch of water slides in something called "Underwater
World". The areas were teeming with families pushing their screaming
charges in large animal-shaped baby carriages. ?Packs of hormone
overloaded teenagers pretended not to notice each other while loudly
drawing attention to themselves. Then there were the ever present
senior citizens diligently walking their way around the perimeters of
the mall, determined to fend off time in the latest Nike walking
shoes.

After purchasing a couple of bottled waters at the same ice cream
yogurt stand Eric mentioned in his letter, Mulder and Scully sank
their tailored selves into the nearest bench under a palm tree.

"It's like an alternate universe, Scully. I feel like I'm looking at
an entirely different planet."

"It's the rest of the world, Mulder. ?We're from the different planet.
I don't know if you've ever noticed before, but we aren't anything
like anyone else - you and I."

They sat on their bench watching the passing river of people with
fascination, slowly taking drinks of their water, hoping to rest their
weary feet.

"Is that bad?" Mulder asked, tentatively making his way back to the
conversation left hanging in the air between them.

"It suits me for now. Besides, I don't think I have the wardrobe to
fit this lifestyle."

"Nothing with flowers?" Mulder said, as he turned his face to her and
gently bumped her shoulder with his.

"Nothing but black," she said with a little smile. Mulder watched her
closely to see how she meant it, and she suddenly wished to take it
back - to tell him that she hadn't intended to make that reference.
She didn't think of him and loss as a combo package. Not anymore.
"Don't look so grim, Mulder. I like black."

"Do you?" He wanted to believe her.

"I do."

When they finally arrived back at the security offices, Eric reminded
them they had not yet seen the surveillance tapes. After practically
begging him to put all the tapes and photos in a bag to be viewed at
their hotel, he gave them a ride to their car in his golf cart.

"My God, Mulder. I can't believe how exhausted I am."

"No kidding." Mulder groaned as he slid into the drivers seat.

Scully was trying to put on her seat belt but seemed to temporarily
have forgotten how, unable to manufacture enough strength to push the
metal hook into the little slot.

Mulder sat slumped over with his head resting against the steering
wheel. "I feel like I ran a marathon."

"I know. It must be a combination of the artificial lighting and all
that sensory overload. I want a shower so badly I might cry. Take me
home - or, to our hotel, at least."

"Can you just insert your own joke there. I'm too tired to think of
anything clever right now."

"Lack of cleverness never stopped you before." Scully smiled over at
her exhausted partner as he too was trying to figure out the suddenly
strange contraption with buckles.

"That's probably true...Scully, I can't get this damn hooky thing to
go in; I think it's broken or something." Mulder was getting
impatient, and his fingers weren't working correctly.

"Let me do it." Scully reached over, and between the both of them they
managed to figure it out.

"Mulder, are you okay to drive?"

"Uh-huh, let's get the hell out of here."

It was barely 20 minutes to their hotel, but Scully was already making
little snoring noises by the time Mulder pulled into the parking lot.

"We're here, Scully." Mulder nudged her shoulder to wake her up. He
hated to wake her, but he was so tired if he didn't get upstairs soon,
they might both be sleeping in the front seat.

They rode up the elevator in silence, each slouched into a corner,
staring as the red floor numbers changed, waiting for their cue. ?Both
were starting to undress before reaching their doors. Suit coats in
hand. Mulder's tie had already been taken off; Scully was pulling her
dress shirt out of her skirt as she was putting her key card in the
lock.

"You want to order a pizza or something, Scully?" Mulder's door was
open, and he was walking through it as he spoke.

Closing the door behind her, Scully yelled through the connecting
doorway between their rooms. "Yeah - fine. Just don't make me leave
these rooms again tonight. See you in about an hour?"

"That's fine - I'll order." Mulder closed the shared door, his shoes
were already off and he was working on his socks.

An hour later, they were sitting at Mulder's little table, freshly
scrubbed of any mall smells, and eating a large cheese pizza with hot
pepper flakes. ?Mulder was in his jeans and his Knicks t-shirt; Scully
was dressed in her sweats and her white FBI tee with the cut sleeves.
?Both of their heads were wet.

"Well, that was something, don't you think?" ?Scully said with her
mouth full as she drank from her large bottle of water.

"The mall? Yeah, that's one way to put it. How do people just wander
around all day? I feel like my brain has been vacuumed out."

"Uh huh. ?Store after store of the same things. ?I'll admit though,
that when I saw that Victoria's Secret flagship store, my pulse did
quicken just a little bit."

"Yours too?"

Scully smiled over the little table at Mulder as he started to rip off
a new slice. "You know, Mulder, that's the first time we've ever been
mall shopping together."

"Let's hope it's the last."

"We still have to watch those tapes. Something tells me we're destined
to spend a lot more time in that place. We'd better get used to it."

"You might be right. Shall we start?"

"Okay. You take half the tapes and I'll take half, if we watch them on
both TVs maybe we'll find something more quickly."

"Deal. Don't forget to take the rest of your pizza."

As they watched the tapes in their separate rooms, they kept the
connecting door open, occasionally yelling a question or comment into
the other room. ?Lucky for the two agents, Eric had forwarded the
tapes to directly before the incidents had occurred. Watching them
turned out not to be as difficult as they had expected. In a little
over an hour, they had each finished their stacks. Mulder was just
finishing his last tape when Scully padded into his room in her
stocking feet, her yellow lined legal pad full of notes. Mulder was
sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the television, leaning
back against the foot of his bed. He also had a yellow legal pad full
of notes sitting on his lap.

"You about done, Mulder?"

"Uh huh - I got hung up on a previous tape, started watching some guy
stealing women's underwear. No sign of our guy, but fascinating
nonetheless."

"Yeah. I watched some woman who appeared to be speaking to a
mannequin."

"It talk back?"

"No."

"Too bad."

Scully lowered herself onto the floor next to Mulder. She also sat
cross- legged; but instead of facing the television, she was turned
towards Mulder. Taking the remote control, Mulder stopped his tape and
shifted his attention to his partner.

"Whatcha got?"

"I don't know. Eric's right; this guy's everywhere. He's on every one
of these tapes, either before or after the accidental death."

"Yeah, mine as well. Did you notice how he seems to hang back, not
crowding forward like the rest of the people?"

"Yes. ?And he doesn't seem to stick around too long. In most of mine,
he's gone in less than five minutes."

"Yeah, mine as well. I'm just going to quickly run through my notes.
When I'm done, you run through yours. Let's see what sort of random
thoughts we jotted down." ?Mulder took out his pen and tapped the
point next to each note as he read aloud.

"Thin, middle 30s, dark wavy hair, maybe five feet eleven inches. ?
Professional in manner and dress. Appeared to be writing something
down a couple of times, I couldn't tell what he was writing. Seemed
friendly enough: speaks with several people within the area after the
incidents occur. My overwhelming sense after watching him is that he's
pretty pleased with himself. Several times I thought he looked like he
was actually smiling. While many people are looking stunned and
horrified, he seems to be unaffected by these accidents that appear to
occur directly in front of him."

"My notes are pretty close to yours, Mulder. 30s, neat, dark wavy
hair, professional. I never saw him writing anything down; however, I
did see him calling on a cell phone once. He appeared to be making the
call, not answering it.

"Did you have the tapes with the two deaths that were not ruled
accidental..." Mulder was rustling around in his papers "...the heart
attack and the stroke?"

"Yes. That was odd. They were the only deaths that seemed to surprise
him. The heart attack victim was behind him in line at the fish and
chips stand, he did a double take when he turned around and saw the
woman falling down. He never made an effort to help her, either. Just
stood there staring, with his hands in his pockets. He started to look
around then, eventually striking up a conversation with a woman in a
suit. They both left the scene together shortly after. The stroke
victim was already laying on the floor when our guy happened upon him.
Practically tripped over him, but at least he did something during
that one. The camera shows that he walked over and informed the woman
behind the counter. He then waves to someone off camera and leaves the
scene."

Mulder had stretched out his legs by this time with his head resting
on the end of the bed. He was staring at the ceiling, concentrating on
what Scully was telling him.

After a few moments silence, Scully continued. "Mulder, I'll admit,
the guy is definitely odd. He's not acting like you would think a
person would, when confronted with these gristly scenes. But he's not
doing anything even remotely illegal. For all we know, he's just seen
so many violent movies he doesn't care anymore. Or he's emotionally
distant, or just plain creepy. It certainly doesn't prove that he's
involved in any way."

Mulder glanced sideways at his partner as she finished her point, a
small smile on his lips, a large one in his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Habit."

===================================================

MALL OF AMERICA 9:30 AM

With no small amount of dread, the two agents arrived back at the Mall
of America bright and early the next morning. After tracking down Eric
by cell phone it was agreed they would meet in the Snoopy Town food
court.

"See anything you want, Scully?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to some coffee, Mulder."

"Be right back then." Slowly, Mulder made his way to the Starbucks on
the corner between Pumpkin Patch Blvd and Linus Lane. That's when he
saw him - the man from the videotapes. He was slowly making his way
through the crowd while sipping his own coffee. He looked freshly
scrubbed, and his hair was wet. Deciding to forget the coffee, Mulder,
slowly dropped in behind the man and followed him out of the food
court. The suspect stopped to chat with an occasional passer-by. He
seemed to be on a first name basis with several of the elderly mall
walkers who were out in force for their morning exercise.

He eventually strolled into a large bookstore; making his way to one
of the reading tables he sat down. Pulling out a newspaper, he settled
into what looked like his usual routine.

Mulder pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial.

"Mulder, where are you?"

"Sorry; I got sidetracked. I found our guy as I was heading to get
coffee. I followed him to a store where he's sitting down and reading
the morning paper. Scully, this guy - whoever he is - he's got quite
the life. He's like a regular cruise director or something. On his way
here, he must have greeted about ten different people. Seems to be
right at home, that's for sure."

"What do you suggest? You think we should have a talk with him?"

"I don't see why not. It's not a stretch to consider this guy a person
of interest. We don't have to tell him he's been fingered as the big
D."

"Where are you? Wait for me."

After being joined by Scully and Eric Hall, the agents made their way
towards the suspect.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm Special Agent Scully, and this is my partner,
Agent Mulder. Would you come with us, please." Scully held out her
badge for the man to see.

"What's the problem, Miss?"

"No problem, we just need to ask you a few questions, and would prefer
to do it where we can have some privacy." As the man continued to
stare at Scully, Mulder slowly stepped forward, adding his presence to
his partner's. "We would prefer not to make a scene, Mr...?"

The man seemed to notice Mulder for the first time, and he turned his
eyes to the agent, registering the look of seriousness on the man's
face.

"Wentworth, Alan Wentworth."

"As I was saying, Mr. Wentworth, we would prefer not to make a scene.
That doesn't mean we won't."

"Right - right. Let's be off then, shall we? Where are we going, and
what is it you require of me?"

"Just a few questions regarding some occurrences here at the mall."

Mulder watched for any sign of surprise or fear on the man's face.
Nothing. He did notice, however, that the man's attention was again
centered on his partner.

"Did you say you're name was, Scully? Would that be Ms. or Mrs.
Scully?"

"Ms. ?Please step into the cart with Mr. Hall.  He'll take us
somewhere more convenient for our conversation." Mulder and Scully sat
in the back seat of the golf cart while Mr. Wentworth sat up front
with the security driver.

"Would that be Ms. or Mrs?" Mulder leaned forward and mimicked under
his breath. "Was he just asking you if you were married?"

Scully turned her face to him, eyes twinkling. "Don't know. Don't
speak British."

"Ha. Ha."

As Eric Hall led Mr. Wentworth to a small interrogation room, usually
reserved for shoplifters and pick pockets, the two agents gathered
their photos and tapes together to confront their suspect. What they
suspected him of, at this point, they had no idea.

"What are we going to accuse him of, Mulder? Bad timing?"

"Nothing. Let's just grill him on his story for every one of these
incidents until he starts to cry. Usually works for me."

Mulder came into the room first, asking the man if he was interested
in any type of beverage or whether or not he had to use the restroom.

"No, I still have my coffee, I'm fine. Where's Agent Scully? Is she
not joining us?"

"Agent Scully will be in to join us in just a moment. Why don't we
start. Mr. Wentworth, we have some questions as to why you are shown
on every surveillance tape recording the many deaths that have
occurred in this mall in the last six months."

"Excuse me?"

"There have been 22 deaths occurring on the premises of this mall
within the last six months. You are seen in the surveillance
videotapes at the scene of every single one of them. We find that odd,
and we would like to know what you have to say about it."

As soon as Mulder had finished his sentence, Agent Scully backed open
the door, holding two cups of coffee. Mr. Wentworth immediately stood
up upon her entrance. Looking startled at the man's sudden movement,
it took Mulder a few moments to realize why the man was standing.
Slowly, Mulder stood, reaching forward to help Scully with the
coffees.

Scully stared at the two standing men, her eyes moving from Wentworth,
then to Mulder. A puzzled look on her face.

"I was wondering when you would be joining us. May I help you with the
coffees?" Alan Wentworth smiled warmly at the agent as he reached out
to help her.

"I'm fine, Mr. Wentworth. Let's proceed with the questions, shall we?"

Scully handed Mulder one of the cups and started to sit down, a trace
of a smile on her lips.

"I was just asking Alan, here, how he manages to be on all of these
video surveillance tapes." ?Mulder and Scully turned their eyes
expectantly to the man across from them.

"Oh, I don't know. ?Bad timing, I guess. Am I really on all of them?"

"Yes, sir, you are. Every one of them." Scully interjected.

"I don't know what to tell you, Agent. I couldn't begin to explain
something like that. You have lovely eyes; has anyone ever told you
that?" Alan Wentworth had his chin resting on the heel of his palm.
The other hand held the coffee on the table in front of him.

"Sir, shall we keep to the conversation at hand?"

Mulder was tilting back in his chair now, coffee cup in hand, slowly
bringing it up to his lips. Something about the man in front of him
wasn't sitting right with the veteran agent. And it wasn't because he
was hitting on his partner - even though, he most certainly was doing
that. The man was completely unfazed by this little interrogation they
were trying to conduct. He obviously couldn't care less; there was no
body tension, no darting of the eyes, nothing. Zip. He wasn't even
nervous. Everyone is nervous when the FBI brings them into a room to
ask them questions about 22 deaths. Even innocent people got nervous
at that. But not this guy - not Alan Wentworth with the cheeky accent.

"You're remarkably collected, Mr. Wentworth, considering the
circumstances. How can that be?" Mulder waited, watching the man.
"It's not many men who can sit in front of two FBI agents, and never
even look nervous." Mulder nonchalantly waved his hand in Scully's
direction, never taking his eyes off the man in front of them.

The man seemed to alter slightly; his eyes turned a little bit hard,
less flirty. Suddenly he looked just the slightest bit older than
before. "Oh, I don't know. What's there to be nervous about, really?
I'm pretty sure I don't recall killing any of those 22 people you've
referred to, so what's the point in being nervous? Why, Agent Mulder,
do you think I should be nervous?"

Mulder slowly let the chair drop back onto all fours with a faint
thud. "Everyone should be a little nervous." The two men continued to
stare at each other over the small table.

"Sir, you seem to spend a great deal of time here at the Mall of
America. Do you live here in Bloomington?" Scully interjected. The man
visibly brightened at Scully's return to the conversation.

"I travel a lot; I don't really live anywhere, truthfully."

"May I ask what you do for a living?"

"I'm in sales, Agent Scully."

"What do you sell?"

"Insurance."

"What type of insurance?"

"All types."

"Do you maintain a residence in Bloomington?"

"Yes."

"I couldn't help but notice your accent. Are you from the UK?"

"Yes, I am. London. Will you be in town long, you and your partner?"

"As long as it takes."

"As long as what takes?"

"Till we find the answers weíre looking for."

"And what answers might that be?"

"Death." Mulder said quietly, breaking in on the conversation. That
got Mulder the reaction he was looking for. Mr. Wentworth jerked his
head towards the agent.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, 'death'í that's the question we're trying to answer. That's
the question that we'll need the answer to before Agent Scully and I
go home."

Mulder stressed the word "home" just the slightest bit, placing
ownership on it, on them, the two of them. He could tell the man heard
it.

"Well, I hope you aren't disappointed, Agent Mulder."

"I don't think I will be."

===================================================

The agents spent another hour and a half with Wentworth before giving
up and letting him go. ?They asked him every question they could think
to ask about each of the victims. Needless to say, he never cried. He
never even broke a sweat.

"Well, Scully, that was a total waste of time. I think I was more
nervous than he was, and I'm the cop."

"At least we have some personal information we can try tracking down;
that's something," Scully said, while letting out a puff of air to
dislodge a stray strand of hair. "I'm starved, Mulder. Can we go get
something to eat - preferably outside in the daylight?"

"Good idea." They packed up their papers and stowed their briefcases
in the security office. Using the small map Eric had given them, they
tried to make their way to the nearest food court.

"Scully, I think we made a wrong turn somewhere. The map makes it look
like we should be there by now." Mulder had stopped and was turning in
a slow circle, trying to find something familiar. "What store number
is Nordstrom?"

"Um...235, and we're supposed to be making our way to 437. Dammit,
Mulder, I think we took a wrong turn down there by that Disney store."
Scully propped her hands on her hips, while stomping one foot. "I'm
going to waste away before we find that damned food place!"

Mulder tried not to laugh at his partner's charming display of
irritation. Walking over, he took the map from her to study it
himself. "Don't worry, Scout; I'll get you there - promise."

The use of her childhood nickname made Scully smile up at him. "So,
are you going to tell me what was going on between you and the cheeky
guy up there?" Her eyes had lost their annoyed look and were back to a
clear blue.

"Sure, as soon as you tell me what was going on between you and the
cheeky guy up there."

"Ahh, the Mulder dodge."

"I learned from the master."

"There was nothing going on between us. I was trying to ask him
questions, and he was trying to ask me out."

"Well, there was nothing going on between us, either - I was listening
to you ask him questions, and him trying to ask you out. ?All this
mall walking is making me feel emasculated. Can I help it if I felt
the need to get a little territorial?"

"I'm not your territory."

"I know that, but you're sure as hell not his."

"Figured out where we're supposed to go yet?"

"Yeah, I think so. We just need to backtrack to that Disney store and
then make a left, Come on." Mulder rested his hand on the small of her
back as he directed Scully back the way they'd came. He'd never let
her know, but he was pretty sure he did own at least this one spot.

After finally arriving at their intended destination, Mulder and
Scully slowly made their way around the sunlit atrium which housed all
the different food establishments for this particular wing of the
mall. Scully finally settled on a large chicken salad, while Mulder
purchased a Philly cheese steak. Making their way outside to the
picnic benches, they settled in for lunch.

"Mulder, I don't know what else we can do here. We have no proof of
any wrongdoing. There's no case to investigate."

"How can you say that? People are dropping like flies in this place.
That Wentworth is some crazy death jinx fetishist or something..."

No sooner had Mulder brought up their only suspect than he sat down
across from them at their little picnic bench.

"Someone mention my name? Mind if I sit? I feel as if we're
practically chums."

The man's presence temporarily startled the agents as they sat
blinking at him in the bright sunlight. Mulder was the first to
recover.

"Should we be looking for a place to take cover, Mr. Wentworth?"

"Please, call me Alan. I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you
mean."

"I was referring to your uncanny ability to be nearby when horrible
accidents occur. Should we be prepared for something unexpected? A
house falling out of the sky - a swarm of killer bees?" Mulder's tone
was light, but his eyes betrayed his seriousness.

"I'm surprised at you, Agent Mulder. Aren't you a bit old to believe
such rubbish?" Alan turned his head to smile at Scully. "Is he always
so paranoid, Agent Scully?"

"Yes. Yes, he is."

"That's a shame. Damned hard way to live a life, it seems to me. It
must be hard on you, Agent Scully, traveling all over the place. You
said you were from Washington, D.C. do you always have to travel such
long distances in your work?"

"Yes, we travel a great deal."

"Doesn't that make it hard on your family? My constant traveling makes
me feel very homesick most of the time. I'd like to find someone and
settle down myself. What about you?"

Mulder busied himself eating his lunch, trying to pretend he didn't
care about the man's current line of questions - all the time wishing
he could throw his soft drink in his face. He needn't have worried;
Scully was the queen of deflecting personal questions.

"I do all right, Mr. Wentworth."

"How about you, Agent Mulder? Don't you want to settle down one day?"

Oh yeah - now he definitely wanted to hurl his cup at this bastard.
Right off the kisser.

"I do all right, Alan. I'm content with the company I keep." Mulder
felt Scully tap a finger on his knee. "You know, Alan, You must not
sell many policies, hanging around the mall so much. Don't you have an
office to go to or something?"

"I do all right, Agent Mulder." With that he began gathering his food
wrappers and plastic tray.

"Leaving so soon, Alan? You just sat down." Mulder dunked his fry in
some catsup. Not looking at the man as he spoke.

Standing up, Wentworth looked towards Scully. "I have several
appointments this afternoon; I should get going. You have a good day,
Agent Scully. By the way, that's a lovely suit you're wearing." After
dumping his food in a nearby trash can he quickly made his way to the
interior of the mall.

"Too bad. I was hoping he would stay longer," Mulder said in a deadpan
voice, turning his head to look at Scully.

She was still squinting towards the retreating figure when the
explosion happened, the first deafening roar hitting the two of them
full force where they sat at their little picnic bench in the sun.
Scully heard a scream of shock, not realizing it was the sound of her
own voice. The force of the explosion threw her backwards onto the
pavement. She felt something slam on top of her, knocking her
breathless.

===================================================
 

I did a bit of showing off that day. I couldn't help it; he was bloody
begging for it - cocky bastard. Swarm of killer bees -- I could have
chinned him in the clock for that.

Oh, the day started out just fine. Got my coffee from the pretty girl
who works at the Starbucks and made my way to my favorite table to
read the home paper -- football scores. Next thing I know, I'm looking
up at what had to be one of the most beautiful women I'd seen in a
bloody long time. Lovely red hair, beautiful skin, and lips to drive a
man to drink. Smashing lass -- oh, did I mention her eyes? My God. A
man could do stupid things for eyes that color blue. I confess, I was
dumbfounded at first, sat there staring at her like a bloke off the
farm, till he walked up behind her. The look on his face told me I
should be paying better attention to what she was saying.

Come to find out their bobbys. FBI no less. I've never seen inspectors
looked like them two before - all dressed up like movie stars or
something. Told me they needed to speak with me about deaths in the
mall. That piqued my interest somewhat. I figured, bloody hell - why
not? Might be a bit of fun, yanking the local blue bottles around a
bit. My days were starting to get a bit tedious, anyway.

That's when the fun started. In all my time on this job, never once
have I been surprised by a cop. Oh, I'm not saying they're all
stupid or anything - far from it. It's just that they tend to be a
certain type of individual, for the most part. They like their
problems solved as neatly as possible, with as little paperwork as
possible.

Not these two.

It started out all right, I guess. Their standard questions, my
standard evasions to their standard questions. All the time, though, I
was getting a weird feeling - you know - like I wasn't quite
understanding everything that was going on. Have you ever felt like
that - like you're missing something? Well, I don't. I don't miss
things; that's my job. The man, Agent Mulder: He kept staring at me,
but not in a normal way. He wasn't trying to intimidate me, like most
policemen. It was as if he was studying me, kept watching my hands.
Then, next thing I knew, he was cracking sunflower seeds like he was
at a baseball game.

Now, the woman: she was a more like a regular cop...but still a bit
off, if you ask me. She rarely cracked a smile - seemed all
businesslike. Couple of times during the "conversation", when he asked
me
an odd question, I saw her shoot a look at him; other than that, they
were a well-oiled machine. One time she went to ask me a question, and
before she got three words out of her mouth, that Mulder handed her a
piece of paper she ended up needing. How do you suppose he new that
she was going to need that paper?

That's when I started to get a bit worried. It was as if I was
watching some little play but without my own program. ?It started to
cheese me off. They had nothing on me - no way
to bring me to book. As far as they were concerned, I was just a bloke
in the wrong place at the wrong time - in the wrong place a lot, to be
sure, but still...there was no law against that.

To have some fun, I started flirting with the woman - you know, to
lighten the mood a bit. It was getting entirely too serious in there
for my taste. She took it okay; hell, she never even batted an eyelash
at me. Could tell I was getting to Mulder, though. His eyes got a
little hard at me.  Serves him right - the cocky arse.

Anyway, I was telling you I did a bit of showing off. I had orders for
a 17 year old boy who's expiration date was pending. He'd finally
showed up  that afternoon. I decided to try and kill two birds with
one stone, if you know what I mean. I wasn't planning on hurting them
or anything - just getting their attention, that's all. Shake them up
a bit - then just sit back and watch what happened. Looking back, it
may not have been my brightest move.

===================================================
 

"Sir. Sir, can you hear me?!"

Slowly Fox Mulder became aware of sounds around him. He felt
uncomfortable; his shoulder was killing him. There was this horrible
ringing sound in his head he couldn't quite shake. Oh man, that really
hurt - someone should turn that down.

"Sir, I need you to try and open your eyes for me. Can you do that?"

What did that mean? Of course he could open his eyes - couldn't he? If
someone would just turn down that noise, this would be easier. What he
needed was some rest; just a little bit of sleep, and everything would
be better in the morning. Yeah, that was definitely a good idea.

"This guy's out, Charlie. How's the woman?"

Woman? What woman?

"Scully!" Mulder's eyes snapped open as he threw himself out of his
prone position on the sidewalk outside the mall. "Scully -- where's
Scully?!" Frantically he tried rolling over on his side to see if his
legs would hold him.

"Whoa, buddy! Hold on; you're not going anywhere." The surprised EMT
made a grab for the flailing FBI agent. "You need to lay back down.
The ladies fine; she's over there being treated. She's just fine."

Mulder tried to get into a standing position, but the ringing in his
head was making it hard to concentrate. He only made it as far as all
fours before he started to feel as if he might throw up and had to
quickly get back to a laying down position. He looked at the other
EMT, Charlie, as he leaned over his partner. Her eyes were open, but
she had blood all over her shirt and face.

"Scully.." Mulder called out to get her attention. Slowly she turned
her head and focused on Mulder. She gave a weak smile and reached out
her hand to him. Mulder reached out his own hand until he could feel
her fingers in his. She gave his hand a squeeze before closing her
eyes and losing consciousness.

===================================================

ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA
 

"Well, Agent Mulder...From the medical files the FBI faxed me, this
should be old hat for you. You don't have a concussion, but you did
get your bell rung pretty good. You might feel dizzy every now and
then over the next week or so. Try to take it easy and don't exert
yourself too much. We're going to keep you overnight for observation;
head injuries can be tricky.  Not that any of this is news to you."

"Thanks, Doc. How's my partner?"

"She's being checked out now...she has some cuts and lacerations from
what look like projectiles from a car that blew up in the parking lot
next to the picnic area. It could have been much worse - she lost
some blood but nothing too major. We'll be keeping her overnight as
well."

"When can I see her?"

"I'll have a nurse come in and let you know."

After a couple of hours, Mulder lost patience and set out to find his
partner himself. Absentmindedly, he wondered how many hospital
hallways he'd wandered bare-assed down, wheeling an IV stand. Too
many. Peeking into each room as he walked down the hallway, he finally
reached one with a small redhead tucked in tightly under hospital
blankets. As he quietly stepped up to the side of her bed, he could
see she was awake.

"Scully?"

Scully turned her head from the window to her partner's earnest face.
"Took you long enough," she said with a smile.

"Well, it's hard to wheel an IV stand and try and keep the gown closed
and look into the rooms all at the same time." Mulder smiled back at
her as he reached down to kiss her cheek. She had a bandage wrapped
around her head, and he could see the small outlines of brown stains
beginning to seep through the gauze. "You get banged up a bit?"

"Yes, it appears that way. I don't remember too much about it, to be
honest. Do you?"

"No - just Wentworth leaving. Next thing I remember is waking up on
the sidewalk."

A silence descended on the room at the mention of their suspect.
Scully was the first to break it.

"What happened? Was it a bomb?"

"No. While I was waiting in my room to come and see you, I called Eric
back at the mall. He says they aren't done at the scene yet, but early
indications seem to be a busted gas line, which caused the car to
explode..."

"An accident."

"Uh huh - an accident."

"That son-of-a-bitch."

Mulder couldn't help but smile at Scully when she swore. He held her
hand and leaned down to brush her hair away from her face. "Yeah, that
son-of-a-bitch. Scully, get some rest. I'm going to wander back to my
room. I'll be back around dinner time; we'll eat together okay?"

"Ok."

"Now, close your eyes. I have to walk out, and unless you want a free
show..."

Scully laughed as Mulder tried to back his way out of the room while
wheeling the IV stand.

"Mulder, it would be the only decent thing that's happened to me all
day."

"Smooth talker."

===================================================
 

Mulder and Scully checked out of the hospital the next morning, each
clutching a bottle of painkillers. These bottles which would
eventually be left to clutter their already overflowing medicine
cabinets.

"Mulder, if we ever get booted from the Bureau, we could go into the
black market selling painkillers."

"You have leftovers?" Mulder asked, trying to look shocked as he
stuffed the bottle in his inside breast pocket. "Where to first?"

"I'd shoot someone for a decent cup of coffee."

"Last time I ran that errand, it was the start of a very bad day."

Scully smiled as she buckled herself in. "Let's try a coffee shop
nowhere near a mall."

"Good idea."

After coffee, the agents swung by the security offices of The Mall of
America for their briefcases and to assure Eric Hall of their
recovery. The poor security guard was beside himself with guilt that
all of this was somehow his fault. After assuring him that hospital
stays were not unusual in their line of work, they were able to pick
up the police report from the previous day's explosion. Sure enough,
it was ruled an accidental engine malfunction resulting in the death
of the male teenaged driver. The local police department had sent some
samples to Minneapolis but weren't expecting anything surprising from
them.

"Have you seen Mr. Wentworth around today, Eric?" Scully asked as she
quickly scanned through the police report.

"Yeah. He asked me how you two were. Said he'd run back out of the
mall after he heard the explosion and saw you two were hurt. He seemed
real concerned for the both of you. Maybe I was wrong about him..."

"We're going to do a little digging on your Mr. Wentworth today, Eric.
We'll be able to tell you more by tomorrow on whether or not your
hunch had any merit." Scully replied as she put the copy of the report
in her briefcase with the other paperwork from the case.

"Till then, Eric, I wouldn't get too close to the guy, if you know
what I mean," Mulder called over his shoulder as he followed Scully
out of the office.

===================================================
 
 

"Oh, he's clever, isn't he?" Mulder chuckled when he saw the name on
the offices Alan Wentworth had given as his place of business.

Mulder and Scully sat in their rental car parked a little down the
block from the small one-story office building shaded by large oak
trees. It sat back a ways from the tree lined street; you might not
even notice it if you weren't looking for it, the only indication of
its purpose being the small gold letters painted in the bottom corner
of the front window, "Catastrophe Management Services of Minnesota".

"It says here he's worked for the company eight years - seven months
with this particular division. That would fit our timeframe for the
accidents at the mall. Bureau records indicate the company is a
worldwide conglomerate specializing in catastrophic insurance
policies. It has headquarters in just about every major city, with
smaller offices just about everywhere else."

"That big, huh?"

"Mulder maybe we're dealing with some sort of disgruntled employee. He
mentioned he's lonely and tired of moving from place to place - that
he'd like to settle down."

"Uh huh."

"On the other hand, it could be fraud. We should check to see whether
or not any of his victims were covered by Catastrophe Management
Services..."

"Uh huh."

"Mulder, are you listening to me?"

"Uh huh."

"Mulder...?"

"Scully, I'm listening. I'm just not so sure that this guy's working
on his own. We're talking a very complex operation here, if that's
what it is. And I don't believe that crap about wanting to settle down
and have a family, either; he was just trying to score girl points
with that..."

Mulder smiled at Scully's raised eyebrow. "Not that I've ever tried
something like that, but I've heard other men use it before, you
know."

"Uh huh." Scully opened the bag at her feet and pulled out a yogurt
and a spoon.

"It's just that if he did plan and execute these so-called
'accidents', he would have had to mess with everything from the
escalators to elevators - even with that chandelier in
Bloomingdales..." Mulder paused to think about what he'd just said.

"That's a pretty large operation, Mulder."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? Maybe worldwide."

Scully rolled her eyes as she sucked the yogurt off the plastic spoon.
"Mulder! Don't even try to go there. You have got to be kidding if you
think he works for some kind of Accidents R Us, or something. Death
doesn't work that way; it's not some kind of global corporation. You
read too many of The Lone Gunman articles."

"Did I say that?" Mulder tried to look innocent as he reached for
Scully's yogurt container. It was blueberry, his favorite. He muttered
under his breath as he took a bite, "Accidents R Us....very funny."
Giving Scully back her container, he continued. "All I'm saying is
that killing all of those people and making it look like accidents
would be a very large undertaking requiring expertise in several
different areas. He'd need help, and he'd need access..." Slowly
turning to look at each other, an idea dawned on their faces.

"Eric," They said in unison

"Scully, you should check to see if he's connected to Wentworth in any
way - formerly employed here, maybe - something like that. I did a
cursory background check on him when I got that letter, but I didn't
dig very far."

"Why would he call us out here if they were working together? What
would his motivation be?"

"I have no idea."

"I'll look into it when we get back to the hotel."

Mulder reached into the backseat to get a yellow lined legal pad out
of Scully's briefcase. Settling back behind the steering wheel, he
began to draw a gallows, followed by a series of dashes underneath.
Scully quickly recognized their usual game to help pass the time when
they were forced to be somewhere longer than they would like. It had
started years ago; she could no longer remember when.

"A."

Mulder drew a head on the figure.

"E."

He filled in two of the dashes.

"O."

He slowly drew one long line to represent the body. "You're gonna
lose... you're gonna lose..." he said in a soft singsong voice.

"Don't count on it. R."

Mulder filled in two dashes. He was experienced enough to look
worried.

"S."

"Ha!" One arm appeared on the paper.

"Mulder, do you really think Eric Hall could be involved in this?"

"Are you stalling, Scully?"

"No. T."

"I'm not sure. it might not be him. But it could easily be another
worker in the mall. We should have started a check on that as soon as
we got here; I don't know why it didn't occur to me before now." With
a delighted grin he quickly drew another arm on the doomed figure.

While Scully was trying to figure out her next guess, Alan Wentworth
drove up to the building and pulled in behind the one car parked in
front of the office.

"Duck!" Mulder grabbed her arm and pulled her down below the dashboard
with him. "Did he see us?"

"I don't think so," she said as she peeked above the dashboard,
watching Wentworth as he made his way into the darkened building at
the end of the block.

Slowly the agents sat up straight, Mulder putting the pad and paper
under his seat. "What do you think?"

"Let's go."

-PART 3-

Approaching the shaded building, Mulder fell in behind Scully, his
handreaching in automatically to unsnap the gun holster resting on his
hip. Henoticed Scully doing the same. Slowly opening the door, they walked
over thethreshold.

Inside they found an empty reception area elegantly decorated with a
largeantique desk and several overstuffed chairs. A bouquet of fresh
flowers saton the desk next to a small gold placard identifying the
receptionist's nameas Valerie Williams. Large white letters lit up dramatically on the
wallabove the desk spelled out the company motto, "We Serve Anyone."

The agents looked around as they waited for someone to come out to the
reception area.  After several minutes Mulder stepped forward to ring
thesmall gold bell beside the name plate. ÃÇÂÝIt made a dainty ladylike
ring.

"Anyone--Anyone here?" He said with a pleased look on his face.

Ignoring his pun Scully slowly moved around the area opening several
officedoors situated in the back of the room. ÝEach door opened into a well
decorated office, each containing a handsome antique desk and
overstuffedchairs. Making their way down a softly lit hallway, the agents ducked
theirheads into office after office containing nothing but desks where no
oneseemed to sit.

"Mulder, this is bizarre. Where did Wentworth go?"

"Beats me..."

At the end of the hallway, they found themselves in a deserted break
room. Acoffee pot sat on the counter; clean, unused coffee mugs hung by hooks
underthe cupboards. Opening the refrigerator, Scully found it empty - no
used lunchbags, no half-eaten teriyaki takeout - nothing. Turning around, she
watchedas Mulder stood in the middle of the room, his hands pushing back his
suitcoat as they rested on his hips, a puzzled look on his face.

"Fire! Fire!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Scully jumped at
thesudden sound in the empty room.

"Mulder!" she yelled at him as she put her hands over her ears. The
sound of his voice echoed around them briefly before dissipating into
nothingness.

"Just checking. I think it's pretty safe to say there's no one manning
thestore just now."

"But where did Wentworth go?  He couldn't have just disappeared into
thinair."

Mulder was already leaving the break room and making his way back down
thehallway. ÝQuickly ducking into the nearest office he walked behind a
desk and sat down.

"What are you doing?"

"Snooping. There's no one here, might as well."

"Mulder, that's illegal search and seizure."

Looking up at his partner he gave her his best blank look, and then
went back to rummaging in the drawers of the desk.

"I'm going to try the filing cabinet." Scully whispered as she scooted
oneof the chairs over in-front of the large wood cabinet on the other
side ofthe office.

"Okay." Mulder smiled and whispered back.

For several minutes the only sound was rustling papers and opening and
closing drawers.

"Mulder, there's nothing in these files but blank forms.  They look
likestandard insurance forms, nothing exotic."

"Yeah, all I've got are basic office supplies. Post It's, memo pads,
pens,paper clips - stuff like that. The files are all just blank insurance
forms."
Closing the drawers Mulder leaned back in the leather office
chair knitting his hands behind his head. Spotting a picture frame on
thedesktop he reached for it. Staring out at him from the photo was a man
andwoman walking in a park, each holding the hand of a little boy between
them. ÝIt looked like the picture they put in it when you bought it
at thestore. ÝThe agents tried each office down the hallway getting the
sameresults.

"Mulder, what's this?" Scully opened a door into a totally dark room
that didn't appear to be an office. Running her hand up the side of the
wall until she felt the light switch she turned it on. They stood in the
doorwayof a large narrow room filled with filing cabinets. Not attractive
wood ones
like in the offices, these were metal and utilitarian looking. Rows of
fluorescent tubes on the ceiling illuminated the room.

"This is more like it." Mulder said as he made his way into the narrow
room. Each agent took a row of cabinets trying one drawer and then the
next.

"None of mine are opening," Scully whispered as she moved to the next
set of metal drawers. "are yours?"

"No...No. None of them." Mulder quickly made his way down the aisle
brieflypulling on one handle and then the next. ÝMeeting back in the doorway
to thehallway they continued to stare into the room at the rows of cabinets.
Scully's arms were crossed in front of her, Mulder in his usual
stance, hands on hips.

"Mulder, let's get out of here before we get caught. There could be
cameras in here."

When they reached the outer office where they'd first entered, Mulder
hesitated. Taking out his wallet, he pulled out a business card and
picked up the phone. There was a dial tone.

"What are you doing?"

"Just an idea." He said, as he dialed a number into the keypad.

Looking over his shoulder, Scully could see he was holding Alan
Wentworth's business card.

"Hello... - Hello. - Have I reached Catastrophe Management Services of
Minnesota?
- I have? - Valerie, you said? - Are you located at 4202 Doris Drive
inSpringfield? - You are?" He turned and rolled his eyes at Scully. "How
lateare you open tonight? - 5:30? Okay, great. Ý- No. - I'll have to get
back toyou. - Thanks." Putting down the phone, he smiled at Scully. "They're
open.  Imagine that."

"Lucky us."

As they exited the building and headed back to their car, Scully
stopped to look up into the huge leafy canopy of the oak tree in front of the
building.  It's large green leaves were barely stirring in the afternoon
sunshine. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yes - beautiful," he said, never bothering to look at the tree.

"Mulder?"

"Yes, Scully."

"Blueberry."

"What?"

"Blueberry. You're hangman word. Blueberry." She turned her face to
himand smiled.

"Aghh," he uttered softly. Feigning distress as he put both hands to
his heart, as if mortally wounded.

Back in the rental car Mulder was reaching for the ignition when Alan
Wentworth walked out from the building they had just exited.
"Mulder!"
Scully gasped and pointed as they watched him slowly get into his car.

"What the hell...?"

"Follow him, Mulder. Follow him!"

Over the next several hours the agents followed Wentworth from the dry
cleaners, to a newsstand specializing in foreign papers, to a tobacco
shop, and finally, to a restaurant where he took a table and seemed to be
ordering a late lunch, early dinner.

"Well, this has been a huge waste of time, Mulder." Scully stretched
and
sighed.

"I think my ass is asleep." Mulder replied with a sigh of his own. "Do
youstill have the cell phone number he gave us during the interview?"

"Sure, why?"

"He spends more time on his phone than I do. Let's find out who he's
talking to." ÝMulder pulled out his own phone and punched a button.

"Lone Gunmen."

"Hi Langley, it's me."

"Hey, Mulder - what's up?"

"I need your fingers to do some walking for me."

"No prob - shoot."

"Can you get me some info on a cell number?  ÝIt's 952-555-3180,
should be registered to an Alan Wentworth of Bloomington, Minnesota."

"Looking for anything in-particular?"

"No - anything will do."

"I'll call you when I hit pay dirt."

"Thanks Langley. Oh, Langley..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about Joey."

"Thanks, man. It's a dark day."

==================================================

DAYS INN MOTEL 7:30 PM

"Scully, this is amazing. I think there might be enough to get a
searchwarrant."

"And what do you suggest we tell the judge when we're asked how we
obtained this information?"

"Right..."

The agents sat on the floor of Scully's hotel room; Langley's
handiwork spread out before them.  After leaving Wentworth at the restaurant
they hadgrabbed dinner at the nearest drive-thru and made their way back to
themotel. The email from Langley was waiting on Mulder's laptop.  ÝLucky
for them, Mr. Wentworth received emails through his cell phone and
Langley had been able to hack into his account.  They were slowly making
their way through the communications.

"Mulder, what do you think these are?  ÝIt's like they're processing
forms but all under the names of our deceased?"

"I think they might be orders on who should die..."

Scully turned her head to look at Mulder, her eyes growing wide. "What
are you saying, Mulder?"

"Come one, Scully, you can see these as well as I can. What do you
thinkit looks like?" He picked up one of the emails and began to read
aloud.

"Name: Tina Gordley, 31 years. Expiration: No later than June 11
currentyear.  Promptly inform upon completion of account." Then, at the
bottom itsays, "Account completed June 5 same year."

"Scully, that's the exact date of this woman's death."  Mulder put
the paper down to look at his partner, his eyebrows raised waiting for the reply
he was sure was on it's way.

"I don't know, Mulder. I'm at a loss. ÝIf this is true then that
means someone is ordering Alan Wentworth to kill all these people. Why would
someone do that? What possible motivation could there be? Insurance
fraud?Maybe they all have insurance policies with his company..."

"Maybe."

"You have that tone to your voice, Mulder."

"What tone."

"You know, that - 'I'm not going to tell you because you'll only
laugh.-tone."  "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're not still thinking this is some big corporate killing machine
or something are you?"

"I'm not going to tell you because you'll only laugh."

Scully couldn't help but smile, "I bet we could get a judge to give us
awarrant based on the fact that he's in all of these video tapes. We
don't have to tell them about these emails."

"Now you're talking."

===================================================

BLOOMINGTON POLICE DEPT 7:00 AM FOLLOWING DAY
 

"Okay people - listen up. ÝWe're not anticipating any problems, but
let's keep our eyes open just the same. ÝWe're looking for any
personnel files on customers past and present. ÝPaperwork is what we're after,
anypaperwork you can get your hands on. ÝWe're also looking for this
man,"  Mulder held up a still photo of Alan Wentworth from one of the mall
security camera tapes. ÝSlowly he pivoted around so all the officers could see
thepicture. "This man needs to be detained and given to either Agent
Scully ormyself for further questioning. Understood?" ÝThe small band of local
Bloomington police officers nonchalantly nodded their heads at the FBI
agent before them. For most of them this was their first experience with any
Federal law enforcement, and they were trying their best not to look
impressed.

With Mulder and Scully's rental sedan leading the way, the small
caravan, filled with local deputies, drove to the offices of Catastrophe
Management Services of Minnesota, search warrant in hand.  Parking on the street
in front of the office proved not to be a problem so early in the
morning. Just as the day before, there seemed to be few cars in the near vicinity.

After directing a few of the officers to make their way around the
back of the building, Scully joined Mulder at the front door. "They should be
around back by now. Let's go." No one bothered to draw any weapons as no real
resistance was expected. ÝOpening the front door the agents walked
into a very different room from the one they'd seen the day before.  The
entire front office was totally emptied of all its contents.  ÝNo desk, no
overstuffed chairs, no little brass bell. Nothing.

"Mulder, even the signs gone." Scully stood in the middle of the
office looking at the wall where the company name had been. All that was
left was a faint outline where the paint around it had faded.

Mulder threw open doorways as he trotted down the familiar hallway.
Everything was empty. ÝReaching the room with the rows of metal
filing cabinets Mulder slowly opened the door fully expecting the worst. ÝHe
was not disappointed.

"Dammit!"

Scully joined him in the long narrow empty office, a similar look of
disbelief on her face. "What the hell's going on here, Mulder?
There's no way they could have known about our search warrant. ÝAnd even if they
did, how did they manage to remove everything in less than 12 hours?"

"I don't know. But it appears to be a moot point for now."

Turning back towards the doorway the agents were met with a half dozen
bemused eyes, all trying not to look amused and failing miserably.

"Are you sure you have the right address?" One of the more obviously
delighted officers said, as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Oh look, Agent Scully, isn't this nice, we already have a volunteer."
Mulder strode over to the smirking officer and rested his hand on his
shoulder. "We'll need someone to remain on the premises should the
suspects return for any reason. We appreciate your cooperation and we'll make
sure to mention it in our report, Officer...Bailey." Mulder said, as he
looked at the man's name tag.

"What?! ÝAre you kidding me? ÝThere's not even a chair..."

"I'm sure you'll find something, it's only till the end of your
shift. You understand." ÝWalking back down the corridor towards the
frontdoor, Mulder smiled to himself at the new found diligence of the rest
of the officers.

"Agent Mulder, we've checked the entire building, is there anything
else you need from us?"

"No, it's pretty obvious they've cleared out. Scully, are you ready
to leave?"

"Yes, there's not much more to see here."

=========================================================================

The Ministry of Demise
10:30am

"I don't know what to say, Wentworth. We're very disappointed in you.
This department has a long and respected tradition of irreproachable
service. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Alan Wentworth was seated on one side of a long wooden table facing
several older men whom he recognized from the paintings that lined the office
hallways. Their names engraved in small brass plaques below each
picture. ÝHe hadn't had time to read them, so far they had not seen
fit to introduce themselves.

"Sir, it's fine, really. ÝIt will be fine."

"Fine?! Fine?!" Wentworth's supervisor, Mr. Montague, began to pace
back and forth within the oak paneled conference room.

"...Mr. Wentworth," the flustered superior attempted to regain control
ofhis emotions. "in case you failed to notice. The United States of
America's,Federal Bureau of Investigations, attempted to arrest you this morning
and take all our files. We here in the Accidentaly Expirations Division do
not consider that to be 'fine'. ÝNow again, I say, explain yourself!"ÝWithout waiting for a reply the enraged man continued, "I can only imagine what might have happened if the Unforeseen Occurrencesdepartment had not seen fit to inform us of this impending raid." Mr.Montague was quickly negating all his
previous efforts at remaining calm. ÃÇÂÝHe slowly sank into a plush
leather chair at the far end of the table, removed his tortoise shell frames
and began to rub his face in a rather alarming manner.

"Sir, it was never my intention to cause such upheaval within the
department. ÝTruthfully, I'm not sure how it's gotten to this point.
Everything was going along just grand when suddenly these agents
showed up and started poking around..."

"Is it true you've been processing your caseload from only one
location?  Some shopping center somewhere?"

Wentworth's all to apparent squeamishness was answer enough.

"It seemed such a perfect idea, sir. Nothing in the orders say I can't
choosemy own locations for processing, sir. I have personal discretion in
thatarea..."

"Within reason, Mr. Wentworth. Within reason! How many?"

"Sorry sir?"

"I said how many! ÃÇÂÝHow many orders have you processed from that
shopping center?!"

Wentworth rested his chin in his hand and muffled his voice with his
fingers.

"Speak up Mr. Wentworth!"

"20."

The reactions of the men lined up before him seemed to suggest his
barelyaudible reply was understood. ÝSeveral of them reacted by laying
their headsdown on the smooth shiny surface of the wooden table while one of them
even saw fit to gasp aloud.

In his attempts to avoid direct eye contact Wentworth concentrated on
the large grandfather clock at the other end of the room. ÃÇÂÝHalf past ten
in the morning: it was going to be a very long day.

==========================================================================

DENNY'S
11:25AM

"Well, now what?" Scully said as she sat down her Diet Coke with a
thud.  The sound brought the attention of the waitress and Scully aimed a
small embarrassed smile in her direction.

Mulder, done with his BLT, was leaning back in the booth both arms
outstretched on either side of the cushioned seat. He sat staring out
the window of the restaurant into the sunny parking lot. ÝThe sound of
the glass landing on the table shook him out of his busy thoughts.

The partners had finished up at Catastrophe Management and had driven
back with most of the other officers to the local police station. Filling
out a few reports they quietly slipped out of the building.
Unsure of their next move they did what most people do when faced by
uncertainty, they grabbed an early lunch.

"He wasn't home, was he?"

"No, Mulder.They sent a car to his home address, it's a McDonalds."

"We deserve a break today."

Mulder ducked as Scully's wadded up napkin sailed past his head and
landedon the window ledge.

"Be serious, Mulder. ÝWe're now the laughing stock of the Minnesota
office.What the hell do you want to do?"

"I say we go back to the scene of the crime. ÝIt's the only place
we've everbeen able to find him, maybe we'll get lucky."

"It's been a long time since you've gotten lucky, Mulder."

"You ain't whistlen Dixie." ÝMulder smiled as he tossed a twenty on
thetable and followed Scully out of the restaurant to their rental car.

The agents were quiet during the car ride back to the mall. Each busy
withtheir own thoughts regarding the curious circumstances of their day so
far.

"What makes you think he'll show up where he knows we can find him?"
Scullyasked, as she looked out the window at passing scenery.

"I don't know. A hunch I guess. I get the impression he doesn't have
anywhere else to go."
 
 

Buyer Beware 4/4
 

After reaching the mall the partners started their search at the
security  offices, specifically the surveillance room. From there they
had access to  the hundreds of security cameras that filled the
premises. A 24 hour  revolving shift monitored all parts of the
cavernous shopping complex. Even after hours there were countless
workers who flowed through its corridors  and underground tunnels
performing their nightly routines.

Each starting in a different section, the two agents and the security
guard began scanning the monitors for Wentworth. After about 20
minutes of slowly  making their way around the room it was Scully who
finally laid eyes on him.  "I've got him!" she hollered excitedly from
a darkened corner of the large  room.

"Where is he?" Mulder asked, making his way towards her.

"It looks like he's in line for something, but I can't tell what."

"It's a movie." Eric Hall chimed in, from over Scully's other
shoulder, as he  joined the two at the monitor. "Those theaters are on
the main floor of the  southwest corner, if we grab a cart we can be
there in ten minutes."

As they made their way to the theaters the surveillance room radioed
them  that Wentworth was in theater number eight.  He was seeing a
generic summer blockbuster; useful for wasting a couple hours of your
time.  Upon pulling up to the cinema entrance Mulder instructed Eric
to remain with  the cart, in case Wentworth slipped by them or tried
to bolt. The guard  looked disappointed but did as he was told.
Flashing their badges at the  bored teenager working the ticket window
they asked for directions as well  as the number of people currently
seated.  Luckily for them, there were fewer  than ten people willing
to waste their time on this particular Hollywood fare.

Pulling their guns from their holsters, the agents entered  the dimly
lit theater through opposite doors. As the movie changed to a daylight
scene, they were finally able to make out the lone figure sitting in
the center of the fourth row eating popcorn.  Mulder pointed at
Wentworth making sure Scully saw him and understood. Everyone else in
the theater was sitting behind Wentworth, making it easier for  the
agents to flash their badges and gesture for the patrons to quietly
make their way towards the exit. However, it was only a few  moments
before Wentworth noticed the stir and turned his head to see the
familiar figures making their way towards him guns drawn. Wentworth
paused, popcorn midway between bag and mouth as he watched Mulders
steady approach. He seemed to be thinking things through, weighing his
options in his head. Finally, apparently resigned to his fate, he
turned back around and began to watch the movie again. Hesitating
briefly the agents threw confused glances at each other from either
side of the aisle. Suddenly the movie  stopped, and the lights came up
in the empty theater, as Mulder and Scully  reached the opposite ends
of Wentworth's aisle.

"Blimey." Wentworth said with a resigned sigh.

"Looks that way." Mulder replied. "I hate to resort to cliches Mr.
Wentworth,  but we can do this the easy way or the hard way, which
will it be?"

"Couldn't we try a third, less traveled option? Why don't you both
have a seat and we can have a nice long chat. I promise to be on my
best behavior."

"If you don't mind, we'd rather talk at the police station." Scully
said matter of factly.

"Hello Luv." Wentworth turned his head to smile at Scully.
Unfortunately, as much as I would love to, I have no intention of
accompanying you anywhere."

"I don't see that you have much choice." Scully replied.

"I have more choices than you know. I'm not asking much; just a
moment of your time to explain myself, that's all. You already have me
cornered, what harm could it do to take a seat and hear me out?"

Mulder began to move down the aisle slowly, "Why does it matter what
we think of what you've done?"

"Of what you allege I've done, thank you very much; you can't prove a
bloody word of it. However, you two have caught my fancy, and I feel
compelled to share with you my story. I suspect that for the first
time in my career, I may have met someone who will understand what I am
about to tell them. Believe me, I've triedbefore, usually with disastrous results.
Of course, it usually happens after I've had too much to drink, I tend to ramble
when I'm intoxicated.

"As opposed to now?"

Shooting Mulder a dark look Wentworth crossed his arms in front of
him. "Well, are you going to sit or not?"

Mulder moved in, stopping about two seats away from the man and sat
down, making sure to shift in his seat in order to face him. He still
held his gun but he kept it in his lap.

"Mulder, what are you doing? This is ridiculous, there's nothing to
say here that can't be said at the police station."

"You heard the man, Scully. He has no intention of leaving with us so
we might as well hear him out." Turning his concentration back to the
suspect he waited expectantly.

Scully moved into the aisle and sat a few seats to Wentworth's left,
her gun resting in her lap as well. Looking over her right shoulder
she could see people staring through the square hole in the projection
room. Slightly embarrassed she turned her attention back to the men
before her.

"It's amazing, I've practiced this so many times in my head and now
when it comes time to say it, I'm at a loss for how to start."

"Why don't you start by telling us how long you've been in the death
business?" Mulder said quietly.

Wentworth looked at Mulder with amazement and then began to laugh.
"That is extraordinary, Mr. Mulder. Really, I stand quite astonished.
I am rarely shocked, but in the short time I've been acquainted with
you and your partner, I have been truly amazed. When did you know?"

"I didn't really; I was just playing a hunch. However, I'm not
interested in answering your questions, I want some answers of my own.
What are you? Where do you come from?"

"Oh, a little town outside London. I'm nothing fancy, it's not like
I'm an angel or anything grand like that. Apparently I was just born
with special gifts, abilities you might call them. I began to notice
them at an early age.  When playing with other children they would
frequently lose sight of me. Somehow, unable to see me even when I was
standing directly in front of them. I was able to move things around
without touching them and could never be caught during hide and seek.
I had no idea how any of these things happened or how to control them.
I tried to hide it for fear of ridicule; I mostly wanted to be like
the other children. It wasn't until I entered college that someone
approached me from the ministry.

"The ministry?" Scully said incredulously. "Who are you, Harry
Potter?"

"Oh, that is clever. May I please continue?"

"Please do, it's fascinating." Scully looked past Wentworth to
Mulder with an amused smirk.

"You know, that eyebrow move is really quite lovely." Wentworth said
admiringly. "Okay then, where was I?"

Suddenly the man tensed and began turning quickly back
and forth in his seat searching the theater.

Mulder stiffened in his chair, both hands now on his gun while lifting
his arms towards the man in the middle. Immediately, he became aware
of a vibration in his feet. A low rumble, like a large semi truck
driving by.

"What's that?" Scully murmured.

"My fate, I suppose." Wentworth said in a quiet voice.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the theater was struck with
such force all three of them were thrown hard from their seats onto
the floor . Staying on the floor in a prone position they waited for
the jarring to recede but it didn't.  The sound was deafening as the
floor heaved beneath them and bits of the theater's interior began
flying through the air and crashing to the ground.

Mulder made a desperate grab for Wentworth's shirt collar and pulled
his face as close to the other man's as he could manage while being
tossed around. "Make it stop!" he yelled. "You'll kill us all!"

"I'm not doing it!" Wentworth screamed back, desperately trying to
remove himself from Mulder's grasp. "You must leave! Take Scully and
get out now!"

Mulder immediately let go of Wentworth and began crawling over the man
to get to his partner. Pushing himself forward on his belly he
frantically called her name. Suddenly a nearby chair fell towards him
and Scully's face appeared.

"Mulder, what's happening?!" Scully yelled in his face as he wrapped
one arm around the top of her head, trying to protect her from flying
debris. "Is Wentworth doing this?!"

"He says no, but I don't think we should wait around to find out!"

Suddenly the ground gave another violent jolt, momentarily pulling him
away from Scully before violently throwing him back towards her
huddled frame.

"Mulder, we have to find cover or we're not going to make it!"

As if on cue, the roof began its collapse above them. First the
ceiling tiles began to fall like enormous confetti onto the already
destroyed aisles. Then a beam came crashing down about fifteen feet
from them causing sparks to spray back and forth from the now exposed
electrical wires.

"Head towards the stage!" Scully screamed at Mulder, and began
desperately to crawl over the twisted rows of cushioned chairs and
rubble.  Remembering Wentworth, Mulder looked frantically for any sign
of the man. Unable to spot him among the chaos, he quickly followed
his partner towards the shelter of the stage. After what seemed an
eternity, the partners reached the front of the auditorium and began
their desperate search for an opening in the raised platform.  Finding
a piece pulled away from the frame, Mulder grabbed a corner of the
panel and pulled with every ounce of strength he had.

"Crawl through, Scully! I'll hold the corner out...crawl through!"

Scully squeezed herself in through the small triangle opening. Once
inside the structure, she began pushing out on the panel Mulder was
pulling off, when a portion finally broke free of its
nailed border. Mulder ignored the burning pain in his legs as he
frantically pushed himself through the jagged nail filled opening.
Crawling as far back as they could get, Mulder wedged himself into a
makeshift corner created by the framed reinforcements below the stage.
Pulling Scully towards him he tried to envelope her as best he could
and waited for whatever their fate might be. The next several minutes
were some of the longest either of them
could remember spending. The sounds of destruction pummeling them as
much as any debris.

Then it stopped.

As quickly as it began it was over. The sudden stillness was as
startling as the previous chaos. They remained huddled together,
almost afraid to relax for fear it was a cruel trick. After a few
moments they raised their heads and began a tentative look around
their makeshift hiding place.

"Is it over?"

Unable to find his voice, Mulder shook his head in the affirmative and
began slowly unwrapping himself from Scully.

"Are you all right?" Mulder finally whispered.

Scully was running her hands up and down her body checking for any
major damage. After finding nothing, she began the same search on her
partner. He seemed fine except for several cuts showing through his
shredded pants.

"We're fine, Mulder. I think we're fine."

Slowly crawling their way back to their makeshift entrance Mulder took
a cautious look around.

"I guess the movies over," he said. Trying for a joking tone and
failing miserably.

"Do you see anyone, Mulder?"

"No. But I see blue sky."

"Oh my god. Really?"

"Really.  Lets see if we can get the hell out of here."

"I'm all for that. Let's try to get outside before any aftershocks
hit."

Crawling from the hole under the stage the agents could see that the
middle of the roof had collapsed, making a large wedge shaped tent of
rubble all around them. The blue sky could be seen peeking in, low to
the ground, about fifty feet in front of them.

"Mulder, if this outer wall we're up against collapses, we'll be
crushed. We need to get out of here now."

Pulling the flashlight from his inner suit coat Mulder shined the
small but powerful beam on their surroundings. "Let's go this way, it
looks the easiest."

"Right behind you."

Slowly crawling their way under collapsed beams and over crushed
velvet seats, the pair tried to avoid the live electrical wires and
jagged pieces of bent steel beams. The air was hot and dust filled;
Scully's hair was soon plastered to her forehead with sweat.  Her
knees felt bruised and battered and somehow, she'd lost both shoes.

"Mulder, I need to stop for a second. I have to find something to
cover my mouth, this dust is making it hard to breathe."

"I was thinking the same thing myself." Mulder said, as he scooted
backwards to sit next to Scully on the ground.  "Here, let me rip out
the lining in my coat, we can both use it."

"There goes another suit jacket."

"That's okay, they go to a better place, along with your shoes."

Having ripped out the lining, Mulder began tearing it in half to make
them both bandanas.  "Do you think Wentworth could have made it out of
this mess?"

"I don't see how. And don't expect me to believe for a second that he
caused this earthquake, Mulder. Because it's not possible, people
cannot make earthquakes."

"Wiley Coyote did. Remember, he bought the bottle of earthquake pills
and tried to feed them to the Roadrunner." Mulder smiled and began
wiping Scully's face with his shredded jacket.

"But it didn't work, did it?"

"No, it never did. I always rooted for him though."

"Well, sure. Everyone did."

Mulder stopped wiping and smiled at his partner. "You did?"

Scully laughed and tied the cloth over her face. "Let's go, Mulder."

Still smiling at her, Mulder was shocked to see her face abruptly
change to horror. Before he was able to comment she was already
crawling around him.

"It's Wentworth, Mulder. Help me - quick."

Turning around, he saw him. His head and one arm were sticking out
from under a pile of velvet curtains and he was pinned down by a steel
girder. Quickly joining Scully, Mulder trained his flashlight on the
heap while they tried to figure out how to get him out.

"Alan." Scully felt his forehead to see if he was still alive. "Alan,
can you hear me?"

The man's eyelashes fluttered briefly and then opened to reveal
surprisingly alert brown eyes. "Hello luv," he said quietly.

"Are you all right? Are you in any pain?" Scully began trying to reach
under the curtains to see how badly he was pinned down.

"No. I'm not in any pain, luv. Don't you worry about it."

Scully turned to Mulder, concern on her face. "Mulder, I don't know if
we'll be able to get him out. I think the beam is crushing him," she
whispered.

Mulder knelt down to get closer to the man, "Wentworth, we need to try
and lift this beam off of you, okay? Are you able to move your legs at
all?"

"It's no use. It's my fate, I already told you that."

"What do you mean?"

"Mulder, he's in shock. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Come on, Mulder. You're a smart man, you can figure it out."

"It's a hell of a way to cover your tracks, Wentworth. Couldn't you
have tried something a little less extreme?"

"Don't blame me, mate. Natural Catastrophes are an entirely different
department."
 

THE END

EPILOGUE

Case # X-0869
Field notes of Special Agent Fox Mulder.

Can death be attributed to something as lifeless as big business? Are
we all just entries in some unknown row of filing cabinets; our fate
parceled out by well meaning bureaucrats working their way up the
corporate ladder? Is it possible that a human being's life can be at
the mercy of an as yet undelivered email?

Many of the details of the suspects life are still to be uncovered.
We were able to obtain a copy of his birth certificate through his
passport application; he was indeed born in a small town outside
London. His school papers state he was a quiet student who excelled in
literature, but disliked all sciences. He was no great athlete and his
school counselor made a note that he felt like an outsider, that he
never fit in. They suggested he join a school club but it doesn't
state whether or not he ever did.

The damage to the Mall of America could have been much worse. Somehow,
only the theater complex was destroyed by the 8.2 earthquake which
occurred on its premises. No explanation can be given for this as yet
unheard of seismic occurrence. There are currently several geological
teams studying the area for further explanation.

The death of the suspect, Alan Wentworth, is apparently the only
fatality of the earthquake in question. Local law enforcement has
determined all previous deaths were the result of a series of
unfortunate accidents.

This case is now closed.
 

Author's Notes:  I hardly know where to begin on this one.  I started
writing this story in the summer of 2001. Due to many unfortunate
circumstances it wasn't finished until now (10/2002).

I've come to the conclusion that somehow the planets aligned in such a
way as to make Sept 2001 one of the worst months many of us will ever
endure. The day prior to those attacks I lost a very good friend, and
a very good beta. 2shy was the instigator of this little fan fic
endeavor that I've begun; her unwavering enthusiasm for reading every
installment, and sending praise filled emails was my drug of choice.
<g>

I hope you all pardon me while I take some time to preach. They're my
notes, and by god I'm using them. An online community can be a very
transient thing. People come and go and you're really lucky when you
can find someone to make a lasting connection with. I suspect many of
us are closest to our true selves online and finding a friend in this
vast internet is not something to be taken lightly. Gratefully, I have
very few regrets (there are always a few, right?) in my friendship
with 2shy. She knew how much I valued her and amazingly enough, I was
given an opportunity to meet her before she died. I hope everyone out
there takes the opportunity to express gratitude to the person/people
who make your particular slice of the X File pie so tasty. Nuff said.

Finally, thank you to Trish at the Beta Readers Circle, for all her
help. I appreciated it tremendously. Thank you to the Wenches who I
love, even though my heart belongs to the tall, dark and moody smart
ass. An extra big thanks to Wench Teejay for our weekly geeky good
time - they're turning into the highlight of my week.

As 2shy would say,
Shalom and hugs.
Folieadeux (aka Hermione)