By bellefleur
bellefleur1013@yahoo.com
 

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: sure
RATING: PG-13
CLASSIFICATION: X, MSR(UST), A
SPOILER WARNING: 3, Bad Blood; takes places mid-season 7
DISCLAIMER: Not mine; they belong to CC, FOX, etc. Further notes
on real locations and businesses that also do not belong to me
are posted at the end.
SUMMARY: Copy-cat killings bring back a case that Mulder would
prefer to forget and threaten to damage his budding relationship
with Scully.
 

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

Teaser

Portland, Oregon
Saturday, 11:35 pm

"Make yourself at home.  I'll just pop into the kitchen and grab
a bottle of wine."

Jeremy Daniels paused for a moment to watch the leggy brunette
saunter into the living room before he walked toward the
kitchen.  While a frequent patron of The Riverwalk nightclub on
weekends, this was only the second time he had left with
company.  When he spotted her across the room, he had become
transfixed by her gaze.  It was she who had actually approached
him first, almost as though she could read his thoughts.  He
knew immediately that tonight would be his lucky night.

After popping open a bottle of Pinot Noir and grabbing two wine
glasses, Jeremy eagerly made his way back into the living room.
He found his brunette companion leaning against the frame of the
sliding glass door that led to his deck.  Her pose nicely
accentuated her curves, intoxicating Jeremy even more than the
Screwdriver he had imbibed earlier.

At the sound of his approach, she pivoted toward him.  "You have
a beautiful view of the city."

*That's not all I have a beautiful view of,* Jeremy couldn't
help thinking as he watched her walk across the room.  Her gait
was slow and seductive, almost like a prowl.  In the club, when
she crossed the room to speak to him, she had advanced in the
same manner.  It was almost as though she were on the hunt, but
Jeremy was eager to be her prey.

As the woman approached, Jeremy set the glasses down on the
coffee table and poured the wine.  He handed one glass to his
seductive guest, who took a sip of the Pinot Noir and then set
the glass back down on the table.  She was indeed thirsty but
had something else in mind.

Jeremy still found himself transfixed as the woman slowly moved
in for a kiss.  Her kiss was soft and slow, but the intensity
soon magnified as the fire between them grew.  As her lips
parted, Jeremy slid his tongue inside of her mouth, savoring the
taste of wine still lingering on her tongue.

"Auww!"

Jeremy felt a sharp pain in his tongue, and suddenly the flavor
of wine was overwhelmed by another taste--blood, his own blood.
But the woman didn't pull away.  She held Jeremy's tongue
between her teeth so that he couldn't move without risking
further injury.

Suddenly there was a sound of rustling behind her, coming from
the vicinity of the curtains on the sliding glass door.  Out of
the corner of his eye, Jeremy saw a dark shape coming at him
just before he felt the intense pain in his neck.

As a third shape lunged at the trio from the hallway, Jeremy let
go of the wine glass still in his hand in an attempt to ward of
his attackers.  When the glass hit the edge of the coffee table,
it shattered, splattering red liquid onto the floor.
 

* * * * *
* * * * *

Act I

FBI Headquarters, Washington D.C.
Basement office
Tuesday, 9:05 am

Today it was Scully's turn to stop by Starbucks on the way to
work.  Carrying a hot beverage in each hand caused some
difficulties in managing the doors and elevator buttons of the
Hoover building on the way to the basement, so she was grateful
when she turned the corner of the final hallway and saw that the
office door was already ajar.  Leaning her shoulder into the
door to push it open, she headed directly for her desk to
finally deposit one of the cups.  Since she spotted Mulder's
form leaning over his desk, clearly perusing something in front
of him, Scully started to speak before she turned to look at him
fully.

"Kim stopped me in the hallway on the way down.  Apparently
Skinner has some questions about our last expense report."

An abrupt movement and the shuffle of paper caught Scully's
attention, and she turned her head quickly to look at her
partner.  He was sitting there looking at her, his head propped
on his right arm, which was leaning on the empty desktop
immediately in front of him.  At her glance, he swiftly
responded.

"He always manages to find something wrong with our expense
reports.  Maybe we'd be better off letting *him* fill them out."

Walking over to his desk, Scully handed him his coffee.  She
briefly looked down as he reached for the cup but did not see
any evidence of the papers that had clearly held his attention
when she first walked into the room.

"Mulder, I don't think it's the manner in which the forms are
completed that he objects to--it's the contents.  Somehow trips
to the Bermuda Triangle and the Arctic Circle tend to raise red
flags in Accounting.  Skinner's just trying to give us the heat
before he gets it himself."

Mulder leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee, not
looking directly at her.  Scully knew he was hiding something,
so she stood her ground in front of his desk, arms crossed, and
eyes locked on his face.

"So, Mulder, any interesting cases turn up today?"

"Nah, nothing too exciting.  I did find a headline in the
National Enquirer about a wolfboy born to a woman in northern
Wisconsin, but I don't expect you'd be too interested in
checking that out."

"No, I think that would qualify as one of those cases we'd have
a difficult time justifying to Skinner.  So, anything else of
interest cross your desk this morning?"

"Nope.  And speaking of Skinner, sounds like we'd better head
upstairs for our routine whipping before he gets to the last
page of the report and sees the charges from 'Chantal's World of
Adult Toys' that I tried to pass off as additional expenses."

At that, Mulder was already out of his chair and halfway out the
door, leaving Scully no choice but to sigh in frustration and
follow him out, but not without taking one last glance back
toward his desk.

* * *
 
Basement office
Tuesday, 11:45 am

In one corner of the office, Scully was studiously bent over her
desk, recopying figures from one version of an expense report
onto a new and improved version, pausing now and then to find
diplomatic ways of describing atypical charges in a manner that
might prove more palatable to Accounting.

In another corner of the office, Mulder busied himself in his
own task with equal concentration.  After all, successfully
imbedding a pencil into a ceiling tile took just the right
combination of force, aim, and artistic touch.  The release
point was especially important.  One wrong move, and the
projectile could become a dangerous weapon, a pawn of the laws
of gravity, even wounding the unfortunate archer.  This should
only be attempted by professionals.

*Thwump.*

*Just ignore it,* Scully thought to herself.  *If you distract
him from this, he'll only find something more annoying to do.*

*Thwump.*

*Thwump.*

"Mulder, don't you have anything better to do?"  By the tone of
her voice, it was clear that Scully had reached the end of her
rope.

"I thought that wouldn't take you very long.  I was hoping we
could go to lunch soon.  I'm starving."

"Mulder, I have to get this finished and back to Skinner by this
afternoon."  Scully didn't like the whiny tone to her voice, yet
she couldn't help but feel that Mulder deserved to hear it.
After all, these were his unorthodox expenses that she was
trying to justify.  "I'm not going to have time to go anywhere
for lunch.  Can't you just go by yourself and bring me back a
sandwich or something?"

Sighing heavily, he placed to remaining no. 2 pencils in his
pencil holder.  He knew that he wouldn't be able to make Scully
budge on this one.  Checking his wallet first, Mulder crossed
toward the door and picked up his jacket from the chair where he
had tossed it earlier.

"Turkey on wheat, no mayo?"

"Yes.  Thank you."

After flashing her a quick smile, Mulder disappeared through the
doorway.  Scully sat back and listened as his footsteps echoed
through the hallway.  A moment later, there was the familiar
ding of the elevator, the sound of doors opening, then closing,
and then silence.

Filling out two more lines on the fresh form in front of her,
Scully then decided that enough time had elapsed to ensure her
partner was safely out of the building.  The truth was, she has
purposely been dragging out the time that she spent on the
project before her with this very scheme in mind.  Ever since
she had first walked into the office and noticed Mulder
surreptitiously stash whatever he had been so absorbed in
reading, she was obsessed with the idea of finding some way to
get him out of the office so she could search for what he was
hiding.  She knew she was being a snoop, but that didn't seem to
matter.  After all, they had no secrets from each other, right?

Quietly walking over to the desk and sitting in Mulder's chair,
Scully took a cursory glance at the desktop.  Wherever he
initially put the papers, it had to be nearby, either on top of
the desk or in a drawer.  Since she didn't remember hearing a
drawer close, she started by rifling through the stack of
folders on the left side of the desk.  She recognized several of
the loose pages as copies of faxes and reports from their last
case.  In fact, many of the pages she had stacked in that pile
herself.  It wasn't until she got halfway through the pile that
Scully noticed something she didn't remember seeing there
before--a folder from an old X-File.  Could this be what Mulder
was hiding from her, some old case?  But, why?

Scully pulled the folder out of the pile and began to look
through it.  The first page was a printout of an e-mail from a
Detective Hughes in Portland, Oregon.  The message mentioned two
recent murders in the area with identical, ritualistic m.o.'s.
The detective recognized the similarity to three murders from
1994 that Mulder had solved.  He also referred to attached files
containing police reports, crime scene photos, and post-mortems
on both victims.  The e-mail was dated yesterday, sent late in
the afternoon, Pacific Time--Mulder must have picked it up this
morning.

In the next few pages, Scully found printouts of the various
attachments to the e-mail.  The first murder had occurred two
weeks ago.  It was a priest, Father Andrew O'Hara.  He had been
found dead in his confessional booth by a parishioner.  The
cause of death was exsanguination.  The most recent murder had
occurred just this last Saturday.  The young man, Jeremy
Daniels, was found dead in his apartment on Sunday afternoon by
his sister when he failed to show up for family brunch.  His
cause of death was also exsanguination.

After the e-mail attachments, the next pages were from the old
case, apparently considered closed.  There had originally been
eight murders before the suspects were caught: three in Memphis,
three in Portland, and two in Los Angeles.  Mulder joined the
case in L.A. and quickly tracked down the perpetrators.
However, all three suspects, and a fourth person, were found
dead in a house fire after a wildfire swept up the hill and
claimed the house.

These details didn't sound familiar to Scully.  She wracked her
brain and tried to remember the various vampire cases they had
dealt with over the years.  It wasn't until she looked at the
date of the final field journal entry that she realized why the
case seemed unfamiliar: November 1994.  It had happened during
her abduction.

Comprehension began to sink in.  This case resurrected memories
of a time that had been difficult for both of them.  Even now
that they had grown so close, Mulder seldom spoke of those
months during which Scully had been missing.  However, she could
easily guess at the gamut of emotions through which he had run,
knowing how profoundly his sister's abduction had affected him.

Either Mulder didn't want to remember those feelings, or he
wanted to spare Scully the recollection of that period in her
life--or maybe there was another reason.  In any event, they
were running from the past, and that could only have negative
consequences.  Scully decided that the best thing to do was
confront him with it.  She was willing to endure Mulder's wrath
about her snooping if it meant bringing some closure to a
difficult time in their lives.  There was a live, active case to
be handled here, and if they let their own memories stop them
from getting involved, then they were no longer doing their job
properly.

* * *

Basement office
Tuesday, 12:20 pm

Mulder returned to find Scully studiously slumped over the
expense reports in the exact position where he had left her half
an hour earlier.  In his hand he carried a large, white paper
bag.

"Sorry it took so long.  The line was a bitch.  I don't
understand why all federal employees have to prove they are
automatons by taking lunch at exactly 12 pm."

Scully looked up to see Mulder crossing the room toward his
desk, holding what she recognized to be a bag from the deli on
the corner.  Whenever they went to this deli, they usually tried
to get there by 11:30 to avoid the noontime rush.  Apparently,
Mulder hadn't been so lucky this time.

Rather than responding to him, Scully merely watched his body
language as he set the bag down on his desk and immediately
noticed the file folder lying open in the very spot that had
been vacant when he had left.  Since he was facing the desk, she
could only see his back, but she distinctly noticed his body
tense up and all motion stop before he let go of the bag and
picked up the folder.  Expecting the worst, Scully crossed her
arms and braced herself for the ensuing storm.

Mulder turned and stepped toward his partner.  She was surprised
to see not anger at her invasion of his privacy but something
closer to sadness or disappointment.  In response, her own
demeanor softened and she leaned forward in her chair as he came
to lean on her desk and place the folder down in front of her,
still open.

"I see you discovered the case I was looking at this morning."

"I'm sorry, Mulder.  I know it was none of my business to go
looking for it, but I can see why you weren't eager to share it
with me.  1994 wasn't the best year for either of us."

Mulder sighed and walked back over to his desk to start
unloading their lunches from the bag.  "It had been my first
official case back on the X-Files.  I thought it was closed, but
apparently someone else thought the murders were interesting
enough to imitate."

"From what I read, it looks like they didn't just imitate the
style--they copied them to the letter.  The two victims in
Portland are almost identical to the original two.  If the
pattern continues, that means there will be a third victim.  We
should contact the detective and tell him we'll be out there
immediately."

Returning to Scully's desk, Mulder set down a sandwich and a
bottle of spring water in front of her.  "I wasn't planning to
take the case."

"What?  Why?"

He shrugged at her as he sat down at his desk.  "It's not an X-
File."

"But, Mulder, it was an X-File, or you wouldn't have gotten
involved in the first place."

"It *was* an X-File because it involved vampires.  Now, Scully,
do you really mean to tell me that you believe in vampires?"

Although she wanted to say something in response, she couldn't
quite find the right words in time.

"I didn't think so. These recent murders are obviously just a
copycat who had a lot of detailed information about the original
crimes.  I'll send a copy of our file to the Portland Police,
but other than that, I don't think they need our services."

It just wasn't like her inquisitive partner to pass up a case
with paranormal overtones--especially vampires--so this didn't
quite sit right with Scully.

"Mulder, there is an obvious pattern here, a pattern that can
lead us to the next victim.  We actually have a chance to
prevent a murder instead showing up at the scene after the fact
and slicing and dicing our way along one step behind the killer.
Saving a life would be a nice change of pace."

Mulder sighed.  He could tell by Scully's tone of voice that she
wasn't going to let this one drop.  What could it hurt, anyway?
They'd take a nice trip to the Pacific Northwest, lend some
profiling help to the local police, then maybe catch dinner at a
local microbrewery and walk along the river at sunset.  They
didn't actually have to go chasing after vampires.  Maybe this
*would* be a nice change of pace.

"Well, then, I guess you better book us two flights to the Great
Northwest."
 

* * * * *
* * * * *

Act II

Portland, Oregon
Wednesday, 10:13 am

As they walked up to the front desk at the police department to
inquire of Detective Ray Hughes, Scully couldn't help but think
how similar police stations all tended to be.  No matter where
they went around the country, the sights and smells were the
same--unseemly lowlifes waiting for booking to the backdrop of
sweat and burnt coffee.  Other than the local accents betrayed
by the small talk and chatter, it was very similar to the
sensation of walking into Starbucks or Wal-mart--once you step
through the door, all distinctiveness melts away and you could
be anywhere in America.

While Scully ruminated on her surroundings, Mulder caught the
attention of the receptionist and asked for Detective Hughes.  A
quick flash of his badge served as sufficient explanation for
his visit, and the two of them were pointed down the hallway
toward an open door.

As they stepped to the doorway, the pair was greeted by the
friendly face and outstretched hand of Detective Ray Hughes.
They both immediately warmed to his personality.  Federal agents
didn't often find the locals so welcoming--there was usually a
great deal of territoriality and pissing contests as the local
police resented the feds for stepping on their toes.  However,
Detective Hughes had solicited the FBI's help and seemed all too
grateful to defer to their experience.

"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, please have a seat.  Can I get you
some coffee?"

The agents graciously accepted and soon were greeted with two
steaming styrofoam cups.  Without further ado, the detective
then seated himself behind his desk and got down to business.

"I trust you've had a chance to look over the notes and
photographs I sent to you."

Mulder nodded as he sipped his coffee and Hughes continued.

"I'm sorry to say that we didn't recognize the similarity to the
original crimes until after the second murder.  You see, Father
O'Hara was one of the priests recently accused of sexually
abusing a couple of young boys back in the '70s, and we
originally dismissed his murder as an act of revenge or a hate
crime against the church."

Scully was all too aware of the recent difficulties in the
Catholic Church and suddenly found herself preferring vampires
to disgruntled altar boys as the perpetrators.  "Didn't you find
the cause of death a bit unusual for a hate crime?"

"Being drained of blood?  Well, yes, but it seemed like the
murder clearly had a ritualistic meaning, and the bloodletting
could easily symbolize the communion wine or even taking a pound
of flesh."

"But there was no blood found at the crime scene."  Scully
flipped through the case file as she said this to confirm her
own statement.

"No, and I do have to admit that was a bit strange.  But, it
didn't really cause much of a stir until we found that other
young man this weekend and it started to ring some bells for the
guys who were involved with the homocides back in '94."

"It says here that the original detective was a George Hunter?"

"Yeah, Detective Hunter retired in '98, so I inherited the case.
Of course, the matter was considered closed after the suspects
from some identical crimes down in California were killed in a
fire.  I don't have much information about that, but I do have a
report by you, Agent Mulder, that the L.A.P.D. faxed to us so we
could close our file.  That's why I contacted you as soon as we
made the connection.  I figure either we didn't catch the right
perps in the first place, or someone got the sick idea of doing
the same thing all over again."

Mulder finally spoke up.  "I assure you, Detective Hughes, we
caught the right suspects the first time around.  These are
copycat killers.  And Agent Scully and I would be happy to help
you in whatever way we can to prevent them from continuing."

"Well, we appreciate the help.  I figure we can start by
visiting the last crime scene and then go from there."

As Detective Hughes rose, Mulder and Scully took the cue to head
for the door.

* * *

Residence of Jeremy Daniels
Wednesday, 11:07 am

When the trio arrived at the apartment, Mulder allowed his two
companions to enter and then remained in the doorway, taking in
the entire scene before proceeding.  As he surveyed the living
room, Scully walked through toward the glass doors on the other
side.

"Great view of the city."

While Scully gazed at the Portland skyline, Detective Hughes
walked up to stand alongside her.  "Yeah, and he paid through
the nose for it.  Not many 21-year-olds can afford this kind of
apartment in the West Hills, but this boy came from money.  He
was the baby of the family--had five older sisters--so I imagine
he was well taken care of."

"The Son."

Scully and Hughes both turned to look at Mulder who had now
moved into the living room and was standing over the tape
outlining where the body had fallen.

"Pardon me?" Hughes inquired.

"The Son.  Daniels was the only son in his family, just like the
second victim of each trio before.  The original killers saw
themselves as an unholy trinity, and they killed along the same
pattern."

"Yeah, I'd read something in the old case file referring to
those murders as the 'trinity slayings,' but I thought that
referred to the three murderers, not the victims."

Mulder addressed the detective.  "In the original murders, there
was always a message left behind in the victim's blood.  Did you
find that here?"

"Yeah, it's right down the hallway here.  Let me show you."

While the detective led Mulder down the hallway toward the back
of the apartment, Scully decided to check out the living room.
The large red stain next to the outline of the body caught her
attention.  From across the room, she thought it was blood,
which seemed odd since she expected both victims had been
exsanguinated without leaving pools of blood behind.  But, as
she drew closer to the stain, Scully realized it was wine.  The
opened bottle of Pinot Noir still sat on the coffee table, but
there was no bottle opener.  Following her line of thought, she
headed into the kitchen to see if there was more evidence of
what had happened in the apartment before the killing.

As Mulder and Hughes walked down the hallway toward the bedroom,
the message in blood was quite obvious.  Just as Mulder
expected, it was a biblical reference: "Flesh of my flesh."
However, this was different than before.  The other messages
tended to be much longer and specifically mention blood.  Most
of them were passages from the Gospel of John, alluding to the
middle member of the murderous trinity who was named John but
called himself "the Son."

Continuing down the hallway, the agent walked through the first
doorway on the right, leading to the bathroom.  Detective Hughes
followed at a discreet distance, ready to be of help or receive
any insights.

"Detective, in the previous cases all the mirrors were found
smashed at each crime scene.  Did you find evidence of that in
these two as well?"

At the question, Hughes stepped into the doorway of the bathroom
while Mulder stood inside, directly in front of the sink.

"Yeah, there's a mirror in the bedroom smashed to pieces.  I
don't think there were any mirrors around the Catholic church,
but we can go back and check on that detail."

"Don't you find it odd that there's no mirror at all in this
bathroom?"

Hughes looked at the blank wall in front of Mulder.  "Well, I
think someone mentioned that in the report, but it didn't seem
any more significant than the mirror that was smashed."

Mulder didn't respond but kept his gaze directly on the wall in
front of him.  He stood with his left arm wrapped across his
torso, propping up his right arm as his fingers worried his
lower lip.  As he was clearly lost in thought, the detective
remained quiet a moment, hoping for some revelation.  Since none
was forthcoming, he added another comment.

"Agent Mulder, I don't know if this is significant, but one of
our crime scene investigators did make a comment to me this
morning that seemed unusual.  He said that a detail in this
bathroom reminded him of something he saw in the lavatory at the
first crime scene.  You see, there's nothing on this sink here
except for this one razor, apparently unused.  He said he found
exactly the same thing at the church."

As Mulder registered this information, Hughes thought he saw a
look of comprehension cross his face, but the look passed as
quickly as it came and yielded to that same blank expression
that the agent seemed to wear so well.  The detective couldn't
help but think that this man could probably bluff his way
through the worst hand in poker.

A moment later, Scully wandered down the hall and joined the two
men at the bathroom.  After a quick tour of the bedroom, the two
agents decided they had seen all they needed to, and the three
investigators left.  To Scully, the scene had yielded no new
information beyond the details of the scenes from the original
set of murders.  But to Mulder, the comment by Detective Hughes
had cast a whole new light on this case.

* * *

FBI Field Office
Wednesday, 1:21 pm

After Detective Hughes kindly treated Mulder and Scully to lunch
at the Vista Springs Cafe, Mulder had suggested that Scully take
a look at the body while he started a profile on the killers and
the next potential victim.  So, Mulder took the rental car and
headed for the local field office for the afternoon while the
detective took Scully over to the morgue.

Despite what he told his partner, Mulder felt no need to sit
down and profile the killers.  He was sure that he knew exactly
who was responsible for these murders, but he needed more
confirmation to dispel all doubts.  After all, he thought the
woman was dead.  He never knew that her final moments were spent
seeking her own immortality, or that she had actually succeeded
in her quest.

After spending half an hour online looking at recent homocides
in the Memphis area, Mulder finally found the three he had
expected, all committed about four months ago, all handled by
the same detective.  A few phone calls and several minutes on
hold later, Mulder finally reached Detective Munson of the
Memphis Police Department.

Mulder quickly explained to the woman the three murders he was
interested in.  Since exsanguinations don't roll across one's
desk everyday, she immediately recognized the cases he was
talking about.

"Yeah, I know the ones you mean.  Very disturbing, finding all
three men drained of blood.  After just two bodies, we'd hoped
it was a coincidence, but when we found the third, we figured we
had a serial killer on the loose and immediately called in the
local FBI.  The case is in their hands now, so we put it on the
back burner.  But there haven't been any more incidents since
the third killing, at least not that I'm aware of."

"Detective, there's a specific detail about the crime scenes
that I'm interested in, one that might not have been mentioned
in the reports or made it into all of the photos.  I'm wondering
if there was a bathroom at each scene and whether or not you
found a mirror."

"Well, let me pull up the files.  Let's see...the first victim,
Richard Wallace, was found murdered at his business--the family
jewelry store.  All the mirrors in the shop were smashed,
including one in the employee bathroom, but that one was so
destroyed that nothing was left of it but a few small slivers on
the floor.  The second victim, David Sun, was killed in a vacant
apartment.  His family's restaurant received a call for a
delivery to that address.  I have a photo of the bathroom right
here--it's the only room of the apartment where we found
anything.  There's no mirror, where you might expect one above
the sink, and the only other thing in the bathroom is a razor.
The third victim, Frederick Tanner, was killed in his apartment,
and I believe the bathroom mirror was in about the same
condition as what we found at the first scene."

"You mentioned a razor at the second location--did you find
anything similar at the other two?"

"Well, I can't say that I remember that, but then, finding a
razor in a man's bathroom wouldn't seem out of the ordinary.
Let's see here...ah, here we go.  I've got the picture from the
bathroom at Wallace's jewelry story, and there is a razor on the
edge of the sink, but nothing else, not even any soap.  I don't
seem to have any pictures of the bathroom from the third victim.
We handed the cases over to the FBI by then, so they probably
have more detailed pictures from the last crime scene.  You
should contact them.  I think Agent MacDonald is the one to talk
to.  He could tell you a lot more about how the case is going
than I could."

"Thank you, detective.  You've been very helpful."

Mulder hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair.  There
was no doubt about it.  It was Kristen.  The razors were a
calling card meant just for him, a reminder of that one evening
they had spent together.  He had tried shaving in her bathroom,
without a mirror, and she offered to help before he cut himself.
But, whether intentionally or not, she had cut him instead.
Right then, she had wanted to taste his blood, but he wouldn't
let her.  Maybe she had never forgotten what he had withheld
from her.

But, more than just the distinctive clue left for him at each
scene, there was the fact that the murders themselves were
identical.  Kristen herself had not actually committed the
murders the first time, but she had led her unholy trinity to
each of the victims, and she alone as an observer knew the
intimate details of each victim and crime scene.  The identical
nature of the crimes could only mean one thing--Kristen was
reconstructing the path that had first brought them together.
By duplicating the case that Mulder had solved, she was sure to
attract his attention and draw him into it again.

As sorry as Mulder had been for Kristen when she was once a
victim of an abusive boyfriend and a dark subculture of
bloodsport, the fact was that she had now become a murderer
herself, and he could not indulge her little game.  Since her
killings were predictable, it should be easy enough to prevent
the next murder, but Mulder himself had to get out before he was
drawn any further into her snare.

However, more so than Kristen's trap, he was concerned about how
this case could affect his recent progress with Scully.  The
barriers that had stood between them for so long finally seemed
to be wearing down, and they had begun spending more personal
time together.  In fact, they had been out on a couple of
evenings that might even qualify as dates.  Whatever was
evolving between them was happening slowly, but Mulder had
waited this long and was willing to continue to be patient if
slow and steady would indeed win the race.

But how would Kristen's reappearance in his life impact his
relationship with Scully?  He had never told her about that
night, mostly out of a sense of shame.  He knew how stupid it
was to get personally involved with someone in a case, even if
she was not technically a suspect (at least, not in his eyes).
And even though his excuse was that he badly missed his partner,
he knew she would not consider that to be adequate justification
for his unprofessional indiscretion.  After so long a silence on
the matter, it almost seemed too late to tell her now--all the
more reason why they needed to get out of town before becoming
further involved with this case.

 
=======================
 

Act III

Detective Hughes' Office
Wednesday, 3:22 pm

After being waved down the hall by the receptionist when he
inquired whether the detective was in, Mulder popped his head
into the doorway and saw that Hughes was on the phone.  Spotting
the agent, the detective gestured for him to come in and sit
down while he finished his phone conversation.  As he waited for
Hughes' attention, Mulder spent the next three minutes thumbing
through the pages that he had come to deliver.

"Sorry about that, Agent Mulder.  My mother-in-law is coming
into town next week, and my wife is still trying to make the
travel arrangements.  What can I do for you?"

Mulder handed over the papers as he spoke.  "I wanted to give
you the profile I've worked up for the murderers and the
potential victims.  I think your focus now should be on
identifying the next victim and providing surveillance to catch
the suspects in the act.  If they follow the pattern, you should
expect them to strike again within the next week.  After that,
they'll move on to another city and you won't have another
chance to catch them.

"You'll see on the second page there that I've identified two
key locations to keep under surveillance.  In the original
murders, the third victim was the owner of a new age bookshop
called 'The Holy Spirit'.  Ideally, the killers would go for the
same location, but that bookstore closed down shortly after the
owner's death.  There are currently two other bookstores in the
Portland area with 'Spirit' in the title: another new age store
called 'Spiritual Enlightenment', and a religious bookstore
called 'Gifts of the Spirit'.  The victim will be either an
owner or employee of one of those stores.  Now, the murders only
occur at night, under the cover of darkness, so the most crucial
time will be the half hour before and after each store closes.
On the first page there I've given a rough description of what
the suspects may look like and their most probable method of
attack, based on the previous murders.  I think with that
information, you'll have a good chance to catch them."

Listening attentively while flipping through the information,
Detective Hughes took another moment to peruse the pages before
looking up and responding.  "I really appreciate your assistance
on this, Agent Mulder.  This information will be a great help in
concentrating our efforts.  Although, I get the impression that
you're not planning to stick around and see the suspects caught
yourself."

"Actually, no.  I think I've done all I can to help out here.
If Agent Scully has finished with her exam of the bodies this
afternoon, we'll probably catch a flight out tomorrow.  I'm
confident that you can handle the case from here."

"Well, thanks again for the help.  Just let me know where I can
reach you before you leave in case I have any questions for
you."

* * *

Multnomah County Morgue
Wednesday, 4:45 pm

After checking into their hotel and dropping off the luggage,
Mulder drove over to the morgue to pick up his partner.  When he
arrived, she was just washing up and was about to go change out
of her scrubs.

"Find anything interesting?"

"Well, the cause of death it pretty straightforward--this
victim, like the first one, essentially bled to death.  What's
interesting is the bite marks--human bite marks--on his neck and
tongue.  I've been studying these, and it appears that they were
made by three different people.  While these bites were deep
enough to draw blood, they were not the actual cause of the
blood loss.  That, I'm guessing, resulted from the two puncture
wounds on the jugular vein.  And before you tell me that these
were made by a vampire--."

"They were made by a hypodermic needle or a snake bite kit.  The
bites were just for a taste, but the majority of the blood was
stored to be consumed later."

The look of disappointment on Scully's face was unmistakable.
Mulder had taken the wind out of her sails.  He was supposed to
argue that these were fang marks made by a vampire while she
would vehemently protest and offer a scientific explanation.  As
he saw the dejected look on her face, Mulder was rather amused
and leaned closer to her as he explained how he knew.

"That's how the original trio operated.  But, that doesn't mean
they weren't vampires."

The corner of Scully's mouth began to turn up at this admission.
"Well, Mulder, that remains to be seen.  Just don't get any
crazy ideas about driving a stake through someone's heart."

"It doesn't work, Scully.  You shouldn't get drawn in by all
those vampire stories."

Scully's smirk turned into a full-fledged smile as she graced
Mulder with the characteristic eye-roll and turned to go change
into her clothes.

Mulder called after her, "So, pizza for dinner?"  To which he
got no verbal response, but he could swear that he faintly heard
someone singing the theme song to "Shaft" before she disappeared
through the door.

* * *

Bridgeport Brewpub
Wednesday, 6:17 pm

When they left the morgue, Scully had insisted upon stopping by
the hotel first to change into more casual clothes, and then the
two of them finally settled on a place for dinner.  Since the
Northwest is known for its microbrews, Mulder was eager to stop
by one of the brewpubs that he had yet to visit on any of his
previous trips.

They managed to keep the conversation away from work until the
food arrived, but inevitably the matter at hand again crept to
the fore.  Besides, Mulder wanted to convince his partner that
they'd made their contribution and could now return home.  Of
course, he wasn't going to tell her why he was so eager to
distance himself from the case.

"So, Mulder, you described how the original murderers used
needles to draw the blood for storage.  I'll buy that the
current murderers are doing the same thing, but what's their
connection to the original crimes?"

"They're copycats, plain and simple.  Someone out looking for
publicity.  Virtually all of the case file information is
accessible on the web if you know how to hack into the right
systems.  At least one of them probably had some connection with
the original three, maybe traveled in the same circles.  I gave
Hughes a list of local clubs to check.  I also mentioned in the
profile I gave him that at least one of them might work at a
blood bank or a hospital, someplace with easy access to a blood
supply."

Surprised by Mulder's efficiency on this case, Scully stopped
eating and gaped at him.  "You already gave Hughes your
profile?"

Mulder, on the other hand, seemed completely fascinated by the
food on his plate and did not meet her gaze.  "Yeah.  I didn't
see the point in wasting any time on this one, not when we're
expecting a third attack.  I gave him my profile and a list of
potential victims, so I figure we can leave the rest up to him
and catch the first flight out in the morning."

This was not like Mulder at all, Scully thought.  First he had
tried to avoid taking the case.  Now he was eager to drop it
back in the lap of the locals after one day of investigating and
a quick profile.  And what about the vampires?  Wasn't he the
least bit interested in these people who seemed to have a taste
for blood?

She didn't actually have to vocalize her objections; Mulder
could anticipate every one of them.  The stare she was giving
him communicated them well enough.  Finally, he stopped avoiding
her and voiced his rebuttal.

"It's almost the weekend, and I just know how much you hate
being gone on a case when Friday rolls around.  Besides, this
weekend it's my turn to choose the movie, and I wouldn't want
you to miss out on the classic that I have picked out."

Although Scully wasn't completely convinced, she picked up her
fork and returned her attention to her food.  Maybe Mulder had
grown as tired as she had of rehashing old cases.  It seems that
they had encountered too many old serial killers who fixated on
her partner and found some way to start up their crimes again
just to antagonize him.  If he was convinced this time that it
was just a copycat, why not leave it be?  With that, Scully
decided to drop the subject and enjoy the evening.

* * *

The Nightlife Dance Club and Bar
Wednesday, 7:02 pm
 
The brunette checked her watch again and then tapped the bar to
indicate to the bartender that she wanted another drink.  As she
waited for her refill, she rummaged through the contents of her
purse.  Pushing past hypodermics and prophylactics, she finally
located the object she sought out, its weight having settled it
down near the bottom.  Pulling out her compact to freshen up her
make-up while sitting at the bar, she looked no different than
most of the patrons who wandered in here looking for a drink and
a companion.  Only, if one were to look more closely they would
notice that this woman's compact had no mirror.

This early in the evening, the crowd was thin at the dimly lit
club.  Only 18 hours ago, the place had been hopping, the music
pounding through her body like a heartbeat as she cruised the
bar for a companion.  So many of the men had seemed promising at
first glance, but it never took more than a few minutes of
conversation to prove that they all paled in comparison to him.
There was only one man for her.  She had waited so long for
their chance to be together again, but soon it would be time.

Kristen smiled in thanks to the bartender as he set her drink
down in front of her.  The alcohol helped to calm her nerves and
the glass kept her hands occupied so that she wouldn't look at
her watch again.  Tonight was the night, and her body was
humming with anticipation.  It really surprised her that it had
taken so long to get his attention.  She thought he would be
there in Memphis, but after the third attempt there was still no
sign of him and it was necessary to move on.  But she had seen
him today, leaving the FBI office.  Everything was in place for
tonight, and she was ready to make her move.

So many lonely nights had passed for both of them, but they
would be alone no longer.  After tonight they could finally be
together, forever.

* * *

Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Wednesday, 7:35 pm

After dinner, the two agents had wandered down to the river for
a stroll to take in the sights of the city.  As rarely happened
in their lives, they looked like a completely ordinary couple,
walking along the promenade hand-in-hand as they were passed by
other sauntering couples and groups of chatty teenagers.

There was a cool breeze blowing along the river that evening,
and Mulder had gallantly draped his jacket over Scully when it
was clear that her long-sleeved shirt was not keeping her warm
enough.  They walked in silence for a long time, just enjoying
the scenery and one another's presence.  On the return trip,
they paused along the wall to watch the drawbridge raise and
lower for a ship passing through.

Mulder stood with his arms folded in front of him and leaned
against the cement wall.  Since she was on the farther side from
the bridge, Scully took the opportunity to gaze at his profile
in her line of vision while he continued to watch the bridge
lower into its place.  After another minute or so, he turned
toward her, realizing that she had been watching him instead.
By the look on her face, he knew that she had been contemplating
something and was searching for the right words to say what was
on her mind.  Mulder turned around and leaned his back against
the wall, waiting for whatever was coming.

"You know, you've never really talked much about that time,
while I was missing.  My mother and sister both told me how you
visited in the hospital after I was returned, but you've never
told me about the time while I was gone."

Mulder looked at her for a long time with an expressionless gaze
before he responded.  When he finally spoke, he did so with arms
crossed and eyes averted to his feet.

"There's not much to tell.  I wasn't very good company and I
didn't sleep much.  I spent way too much time alone in my
apartment until I was finally put back on the X-Files, and then
I threw myself into my work."  He looked up at her.  "And then
you came back and my life got better."  A shrug capped off the
last sentence, punctuating the fact that that's all there was to
it.

Trying a different tactic, Scully moved a step closer, invading
his personal space, so that she had to tilt her head back to
look up at him.  She spoke softly in reply.

"If it's really that straightforward, then you wouldn't have
hidden this case file from me."  Reaching down, she took hold of
one of his hands that had dropped back down to his side.
"Mulder, we can't run from the past.  We've both been through so
much.  We need to confront our ghosts, deal with them head on,
so that they don't keep us from living out our future.  Whatever
it is that's so painful about that time, I'm not afraid of it.
I want to share the burden with you."

Mulder didn't look away from Scully's pleading gaze, but he
didn't respond either.  There was something sad behind his eyes,
something emotional that he wasn't ready to say.  As each second
passed, she lost hope that he would finally let go and speak
those emotions.

After a long pause, Mulder lifted his hand that Scully had
linked with her own and brought it up toward his face.  He
leaned his head down to meet their interlaced hands and kissed
the back of hers.  With that gesture, he pulled away from the
wall and walked back toward the car in silence, his partner
following along behind with their hands still joined.

* * *

Shilo Inn
Wednesday, 8:24 pm

On the rest of the trip back to the hotel, Mulder hadn't said
anything and Scully hadn't asked any questions.  It was clear
that he was not ready to discuss whatever was bothering him
about this case.  Although Scully hated the idea that there was
something that stood between them, something they couldn't talk
about even though they were now growing so close, she also knew
how Mulder insisted on bearing his burdens alone.

Once they arrived at the hotel, they had each withdrawn to their
separate rooms, and Scully immediately retreated to the shower.
It wasn't quite the same as enjoying a nice long soak in the
tub, but she needed the rest of the evening to finish typing up
her notes on the autopsies since Mulder wanted to leave the next
morning.

Just as she emerged from the bathroom, cozily wrapped in a
terrycloth robe and with a towel wrapped around her wet head,
she heard a gentle knock on the door.  She expected that it
would be her partner, and just as she was going to look through
the peephole to confirm that, she heard his voice through the
door.

"Scully, it's me."

Unlocking the door and opening it, she stepping back to let
Mulder walk past her into the room.  He headed straight for the
bed and sat down on the end of it, watching Scully as she
removed the towel and began to squeeze the water out of her
hair.  Since he seemed more interested in watching her than in
starting a conversation, she carried on with what she was doing
before he had stopped by.

After Scully had deposited the damp towel in the bathroom and
laid out several pages of notes next to her laptop on the table,
she turned and looked at Mulder.  Although she didn't speak the
words, it was clear from her raised eyebrow that she wanted to
know why exactly he had come by her room and apparently insisted
on staying when she obviously had work to do.

Mulder reached out his hand toward Scully, and she reached out
in response.  Not budging at first, she acquiesced as he took
hold of her hand and pulled her toward him.  As she moved
closer, he took her other hand in his and positioned her
directly in front of him, between his legs that had parted wide
enough to make room for her.  Mulder looked directly into her
eyes with that same sad look he had worn at the riverfront, and
then he sighed deeply before he finally spoke.

"Scully, I've never told you just how much you'd meant to me
even back in the first years of our partnership.  I admit that I
didn't really trust you at first, but once I did, I came to
depend on you.  I never thought I needed a partner, but when
they separated us, I realized that I couldn't do this without
you.  I needed you--not just in my work, but in my life.  When
you were abducted, I was devastated.  I didn't know how to
function without you there, and I didn't know how to express
that to you once you were back.  But even so, you came back to
work and put up with me."

Mulder paused, but he looked like he wanted to say something
more, so Scully remained silent.  The words seemed to evade him,
so he continued to communicate his feelings with a long,
meaningful look.  Finally he found his voice again, but clearly
laden with emotion.  "Thanks for sticking by me all these
years."

Scully's face slowly broadened into a smile.  She leaned in
close to him and said, barely above a whisper, "You're welcome."
Continuing her forward motion, she leaned in toward Mulder's
lips, both closing their eyes in anticipation--until they were
startled by the shrill ring of the phone on the nightstand.

Mulder sighed as Scully moved away to pick up the phone.  It
seemed like there was never enough time for them.  Something
always interfered.  If it wasn't a bee, it was the phone or
something else.

"Scully."

"Agent Scully?  This is Detective Hughes.  Sorry to disturb you.
I tried calling Agent Mulder's room, but apparently he's out."

Scully didn't bother to fill in the detail that Mulder was here
in the room with her.  "Is it something I can help you with?"

"I wanted to let you know that we've spotted some suspects at
one of the surveillance sights that match Agent Mulder's
description.  I know you two were planning to leave in the
morning, but since you're still here, I thought maybe you'd be
interested in joining us for the arrest.  The shop's still open
for another half hour, and it looks like they're waiting for the
shopkeeper to close up before they make their move, so we're
holding back until then."

"Thank you, detective.  Just give me the directions, and we'll
be right there."
 

* * * * *
* * * * *

Act IV

Spiritual Enlightenment bookstore
Wednesday, 9:07 pm

The two agents had arrived at the scene just a few minutes
before 9 o'clock to find that nothing much had happened since
Detective Hughes' call.  As he instructed them, they had parked
a couple of blocks away and approached the surveillance team via
a darkened alley in order to avoid drawing the attention of the
suspects.  The detective used the last few minutes before the
shop closed to quickly bring them up to speed.

"About an hour ago, a woman was seen leaving the store and
entering the alley there next to it.  She never emerged.  But 15
minutes later a man casually ducked into the alley, and 5
minutes after that, another man entered after nervously glancing
around.  As far as we can tell, the three of them are still back
there, hovering in the shadows.  All three matched descriptions
suggested by your profile.  Now, we approached the shopkeeper
earlier today to tell her about the surveillance.  I tell you,
she's quite a firecracker.  When she heard what we were doing,
she insisted on playing the bait because she's been looking for
an opportunity to try out some of the moves she learned in her
self-defense class."

Just then, the detective was distracted from his account by one
of his men who was pointing out the woman now exiting the
bookstore.  She was petite in frame, probably in her mid-40s,
and the streetlights highlighted the reddish hues in her graying
hair.  Mulder couldn't help but be reminded of Scully as he saw
the woman and heard the detective's last comments echoing
through his head.  Yeah, he knew the type.  This woman would be
just fine.

The store owner locked the door with her key, jiggling the
handle to make sure it was secure, and then she took a deep
breath and turned to walk slowly down the sidewalk.  Although
she keep her eyes rigidly fixed in front of her, her demeanor
made it clear that she was entirely alert to the rest of her
environment.

As the woman passed the dark alley next to her store, she was
swept into the shadows with one swift motion.  On that cue, a
dozen law enforcement officers emerged, running at full speed
from multiple locations up and down the street.  Mulder and
Scully rose with Detective Hughes to follow his men into the
alley.

While Scully pursued the detective across the street, Mulder
paused.  His instincts were telling him that something else was
going on here.  He knew that Kristen had staged these murders
just to draw him out.  He had to confront her about it, and he
had to do it alone.  If she had truly achieved immortality, then
there would be no true justice in this case through any
conventional means.  But if he was the real motivation for her
slayings, then maybe he could convince her to stop and no one
else would have to die.

Mulder suspected that Kristen was nearby, watching the scene
unfold from a distance.  As the cops continued to converge on
the point across from him, he turned to look down the street,
first to his left, then to his right.  And then he spotted her.

A youthful looking brunette was leaning against a lamppost about
a block away.  Her eyes were locked on Mulder, as though she had
been watching him for awhile, waiting for him to turn and notice
her.  When he did, she smiled and then turned and casually
strolled into the parking garage to her left, still unnoticed by
the men whose attention was focused on the alley.

As Kristen disappeared from sight, Mulder followed, his long
stride changing into a slow jog as he headed for the entrance
where he had last seen her.  He knew that she was playing cat
and mouse, and that for now he was going along with her game.
But, if he was to talk to her alone, this seemed his best
opportunity to do so.

Mulder stepped into the parking garage and halted.  Kristen was
nowhere in sight, and there were no immediate sounds or
movements to indicate where she might be.  After watching and
listening for a moment, he decided to slowly proceed inside.
Out of instinct, his hand was poised on his holster, although
logically he knew that his bullets would be useless against an
immortal.

Slowly walking through the first aisle, he proceeded toward the
ramp leading to the second level, carefully glancing behind the
few parked cars as he went.  It was as he rounded the corner
leading up toward the third level that Mulder saw a movement off
to his right, but by then it was too late.  A sharp pain in his
leg had landed him in a heap on the ground.  As he instinctively
nursed his leg, pain pulsed through his head from the heavy
object that had just struck him another blow.  He tried to open
his eyes to look up and defend himself, but his vision was
blurred and this corner was poorly lit.  Only briefly did he
catch a glimpse of the figure standing over him before he
blacked out.

* * * *

As Detective Hughes ran to the dark alley next to the bookstore,
Scully was right on his heels.  Between the poor lighting and
the number of cops already ahead of them and blocking their
view, they couldn't see what was happening down the alley, but
the sounds made it clear enough.  Scully recognized the shout of
"Back off!" and several other explosive phrases as ones she
herself had heard repeated in self-defense training.  These
yells, accompanied by the low grunts of men in pain made it
clear who was winning the struggle.

When they reached the alley and came to a stop behind the crowd
of officers, Scully turned to say something to her partner, only
to realize that he wasn't there.  She stepped back into the
street and looked in the direction from which they had just
come.  Mulder was nowhere in sight.  However, a movement down
the street caught her attention.  She turned and looked just in
time to notice him duck into a parking garage a block away.
Assuming that he had spotted something and must have had a good
reason for running off on his own ("Mulder, you better have a
*damn* good reason."), she pursued.

As Scully entered the parking garage, she came to a stop.  She
didn't see Mulder, nor did she find any indication of what had
drawn his attention.  The garage was quiet and relatively
abandoned at this time of night.  The dull noises that echoed
through the structure seemed to be only those filtering in from
the street.  She wondered for a moment whether to call out for
him, but she thought better of it.  The silence of her
surroundings seemed too stifling.

Drawing her gun, Scully began to move through the row of cars in
front of her.  Her first few anxious steps echoed throughout the
garage, and she silently cursed her three-inch heels.  They may
be useful for bringing her closer to Mulder's eye level and
making her appear less diminutive to condescending chauvinists,
but it was almost impossible to walk quietly in them.  She
shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet, softening the
impact of the heels, and slowed her steps.

Only as she neared the top of the ramp leading to the second
level did the agent begin to hear any sounds inside of the
garage.  At first there were some scuffling and scraping noises,
and then they yielded to slow, methodical footsteps, and finally
a woman's voice.  With the echoes in the nearly vacant garage,
it was difficult to distinguish precisely where the sounds were
coming from, but they seemed to grow louder as Scully continued
up the ramp.  At the top, she waited quietly, trying to discern
how close she might be now.  The woman's voice was still
indistinct, although Scully could catch a couple of words.

As she slowly peeked her head around the corner, looking around
the next level, Scully still didn't see anyone.  But the next
sound she heard caught her full attention, and whether by
hearing or some other instinct, she could now tell the exact
location.  It was a male voice, one that she knew perhaps better
than the sound of her own.

It was Mulder.

* * * *

When Mulder came to, he tried to rub his eyes to clear his
sight, only to realize that his hands were immobilized.  Once
his head had cleared a little, he realized that he had been
handcuffed to the door handle of a large pickup truck.  He moved
his legs in an attempt to stand, but the persistent pain in his
right leg made him think better of it.  Perhaps his best option
right now was to stay put and assess his situation.

Seeing her captive settle back to the floor in resignation,
Kristen emerged from the shadows and came to stand in front of
him.  Mulder noticed that she didn't look a day older than when
he had last seen her, whereas his own face clearly testified to
the years and trials that had passed.  Like a predator circling
her prey, she paced back and forth in front of him a few times
before she finally spoke.

"Fox, I knew you'd come."

Mulder didn't respond, so Kristen knelt down near him and
continued.

"I'm lonely, Fox.  And I remember how lonely you were too.  You
can join me.  Spend eternity with me.  We don't have to be alone
anymore."

At this, he finally spoke.  "What happened to John?  Since you
survived the fire, I'm assuming he did too."

Kristen stood and moved away, reclaiming her position of
dominance.  "After the fire, we moved on, but John never learned
to control his violence.  But I had become his equal, so he
couldn't hurt me anymore.  At least, not like before.  He
couldn't control me, and so he became bored with me, and I left.
I struck out on my own and eventually found my own trinity.  But
all I ever really wanted was a partner, someone to share my life
with.  All I wanted was to be loved.  John loved me, in his own
way, but I'm not sure he really cared about me.  But you cared."

Her eyes softening, she moved back toward Mulder.  "I remember
how you cared.  You're the only man who ever really did."

Mulder sighed, hoping he could find just the right words to
change her mind.  "Kristen, I cared because it was my job.  You
were a victim, not a criminal, and I didn't want to see you hurt
anymore by John and his friends.  But you've changed.  You've
become just like him, in every way.  And I know, just like with
him, that I can't stop you.  I can only ask you to stop.  Stop
hurting innocent people.  You don't have to be a murderer.  You
don't have to be like John."

Kristen crouched even nearer to him now, leaning forward to
stroke his face.  "You're right, I don't have to do this
anymore.  Not if you join me.  We can be together, now.  We
don't have to be alone."

Wincing slightly from the pain in his face, he pulled back from
her touch.  "Kristen, I *was* lonely when I first met you,
because someone who meant a lot to me had been taken from me.
But things have changed now.  I'm not lonely anymore."

Standing abruptly, she began pacing again.  This time Mulder
could see the glimmer of a straight edge razor that she was
brandishing in her hand, matched only by the gleam of growing
anger in her eyes.  And then she stopped squarely in front of
him.

"It's too late, Fox.  I'm come too far to leave you behind.
You're the one."

Mulder anticipated that she was about to make a move at him with
the razor.   As he was subtly trying to test out the mobility of
his legs to see if he could knock her back, they were both
startled by the motion and sound that emerged from behind the
truck.

"Federal Agent!  Drop your weapon and move away from him!"

The warning halted Kristen in her attack, causing her to drop
the razor to her side, but not to the ground.  She stood in
place, casually observing the diminutive redhead who pointed the
gun at her, standing as close to her as she now stood to Mulder
--just out of reach.

"I said, move away!"

Kristen complied only by taking one step backward, but her
change in position was enough to draw her attention to something
she had not noticed a moment before.  Beyond the gun in her
hand, a small gold cross could be seen hanging around the neck
of the red-haired woman.  Kristen had seen that cross before, on
the neck of a lonely man who showed more interest in her well-
being than any of the other men she had ever known.

After the initial surprise of hearing Scully's voice, Mulder had
been relieved at her presence.  That was, until this moment when
he saw Kristen's gaze lock onto her neck.  When Kristen looked
over at him and their eyes met, she knew that he had seen what
she was looking at.  Closing his eyes, Mulder sighed deeply.
Whatever the effect of this new revelation, he was sure that it
could only make matters worse.

It was the sound of Kristen's voice that opened his eyes again
and brought his attention away from his own thoughts and back to
her.  She was slowly shaking her head and beginning a slow prowl
again, circling away from Scully but not too far from Mulder.
"Ah, Fox, you really should have kept the cross.  Maybe it would
have protected you from me now."

Scully's reaction to Kristen's movement was delayed slightly as
she tried to understand the exact meaning of her words.  As
Kristen continued to distance herself, Scully matched her pace
by advancing on her and trying to position herself between
Mulder and his attacker, but this proved difficult as she
continued to circle around toward him again, ignoring Scully's
presence.

"I can see it in your eyes, Fox.  You still haven't found what
you're looking for.  But I have.  I've found life, and I want to
share it with you.  It's time now, time for you to join me."

With a wicked smile and a tilt of the head, Kristen spoke these
final words to Mulder, and then she lunged for him.  As Scully
saw the motion, she instinctively pulled the trigger.  Kristen's
body dropped to the ground only inches from Mulder, the razor
falling from her hand with the impact.  Scully stood her ground
with her gun trained on Kristen, waiting to see if she would
attempt to reach for the blade.  But she did not.

Looking down at her chest, Kristen saw her own blood oozing from
the gunshot wound.  Smiling up at her chosen, she reached toward
the gaping hole, coating her fingers in the thick moisture.  In
a move that Scully was not expecting as she looked on, Kristen
extended her hand up to Mulder's face and swiped her blood onto
his lower lip.

Only Mulder was close enough to hear the final words that she
whispered to him before she collapsed onto the ground next to
him.  "It's not too late...."

When Scully saw the woman drop unconscious, she kicked the razor
further out of reach and then swiftly descended on her partner.

"Mulder, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay.  Just get my hands undone."

She quickly unlocked the handcuffs and then pulled out her cell
phone to call for paramedics.  As soon as his hands were free,
Mulder's first motion was to wipe off his mouth with his sleeve.
He moved himself further away from Kristen's body but did not
get up.  While Scully checked on him once more and then ran down
to the street for backup, his eyes remained fixed on Kristen
until the ambulance finally arrived to carry her away.
 

* * * * *
* * * * *

Epilogue

2630 Hegel Place, Apt. 42
Saturday, 10:09 am
 

As Mulder had intended, they indeed had made it home before the
weekend.  However, the events of the last case had left him
injured, which once again put a damper on their plans for their
time alone.  Scully had spent the night at his apartment, more
to watch over him than to spend intimate time with him, and even
though Mulder knew this, he didn't complain.  Although it had
been necessary to finally share the basic details of his history
with Kristen, he hadn't been willing to talk about the case very
much since they returned to Washington and even insisted on
writing up the final report himself.  He knew that his partner
had been incredibly patient with him, not asking any questions,
so the least he could do was let her hover when she wanted to.

The pain medication that Scully insisted he take for the
persisting ache in his leg had knocked Mulder out long before he
usually went to bed, and she didn't want to disturb his sleep
when she got up in the morning.  As far as she could tell, there
hadn't been any nightmares, and if Mulder was experiencing
peaceful slumber, she certainly didn't want to wake him if there
was no need.

Just as Scully was getting out the shower, the phone rang.  With
a towel draped around her, she ran for it and managed to pick up
the cordless in the bedroom after only the second ring.  Mulder
turned in the bed but didn't wake up.  Grateful for this, she
waited until she was in the living room before she spoke.

"Hello?"

"Hello.  Is Agent Mulder there?"

"I'm sorry, he's resting.  Can I take a message?"

"Uh, is this Agent Scully by any chance?"

"Yes...."

"This is Detective Hughes, in Portland.  I hope Agent Mulder is
recovering from his injuries alright."

"He'll be fine in a few more days.  But the pain medication has
been making him pretty drowsy.  I'll let him know that you
called."

"Actually, I called to tell him about an unfortunate turn in
this case.  We had a couple of unexplained events last night.
The two male suspects were being transported from our precinct
to a county facility when the van they were in hit a lamppost
and exploded on impact.  There were no survivors.  All that was
left of the suspects and our deputies were charred remains, and
the only way that we could even tell them apart was by the
shackles that the suspects were still wearing.  And then, if
that wasn't bad enough, I got news early this morning that the
female suspect seems to have disappeared from the ICU.  The
guard didn't see her leave, but when the nursing staff did their
rounds after the shift change, she wasn't in her bed, and
they've yet to locate her."

Scully sighed, sharing the detective's frustration and
melancholy through the phone.  "I'm sorry to hear that.  I'll be
sure to pass the information along to Mulder.  Thank you for
calling."

After Scully had ended the call, she turned back toward the
bedroom to find Mulder standing in the doorway.  He had clearly
heard the end of the conversation, so she told him to have a
seat on the couch and then recounted for him the detective's
news.  When she finished, Mulder had his face buried in his
hands.  Not being able to see his expression, she could only
guess at his reaction.

"At least it's over with now, Mulder.  Two of the suspects are
dead, and Kristen couldn't have gotten far in the condition
she's in.  They'll probably find her before long."

At that, he looked up at her.  Although he didn't speak, she
knew exactly what he was communicating to her.  This was eerily
similar to how things had ended the first time, and he had
thought it was over then, too.  But clearly, it had not been.

But Scully wasn't ready yet to resign to this fate.  "Mulder,
even if Kristen is still alive and strong enough to start over
again, the only reason that she started up the killings again
was to attract your attention, because she thought that you felt
the same way about her that she felt about you.  But now she
knows the truth, so there's no reason for her to do this again.
Maybe you got your message across and she's realized that she
doesn't need to return to killing."

He didn't protest, but his lack of response was not necessarily
an acceptance of her theory, and she knew that.  After a moment
of silence passed between them, Scully got up to head back
toward the bathroom.  As she reached the door to the bedroom,
she stopped and turned.  A question had been nagging at her ever
since the encounter with Kristen, and she finally felt the
compulsion too great to resist any longer.

"Mulder, back in the parking garage, Kristen said something
about a cross protecting you.  What did she mean by that?"

After a long pause, he turned toward her to face the question
head on.  "When we found your necklace, after Duane Barry had
abducted you, I tried giving it to your mother.  I figured she
would want it, but she told me to hold onto it so I could give
it back to you when I found you.  I carried it around with me
for awhile, hoping that you would return any day.  Eventually I
put it in your case file with your personal effects, but when I
returned to the X-Files, I pulled it out again.  I never told
you this, but I wore the necklace myself for awhile.  I guess it
made me feel closer to you, like you were still there with me.
Kristen saw me wearing it and asked if I was trying to ward her
off.  I told her it belonged to someone I missed very much."

At first, Scully just stood there absorbing this information and
didn't respond.  But then, a small smile emerged on her face.
Before she turned and disappeared through the doorway, Mulder
heard her say, "I guess God was watching over both of us back
then."
 

THE END
 

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

Author's Notes: Being from Oregon, I couldn't help but notice
the Portland connection in "3," so I took the opportunity to
bring Mulder and Scully back here to spend some quality time.
Several of the locations and businesses mentioned here do indeed
exist: Vista Springs Cafe, Gifts of the Spirit, Bridgeport
Brewpub, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and Shilo Inns.  (And
Starbucks and Wal-mart, of course.)
 

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