TITLE: Way of the Cradle
AUTHOR: Spooky's Girl
SPOILERS: Minor ones from seasons 1-8, probably won't ruin much of
anything and unless you've 100% avoided completely and all spoilers
pertaining to season 8, then you're safe.  It only spoils the major
aspects up to Deadalive.  After Deadalive it's a lot of my own
speculation.
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, although I wish they were, I'm only
borrowing them, probably a good thing considering what I plan to put
them through.
CATEGORY:  Post-colonization, MSR
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Forget Essence and the upcoming Existence exist cause
in my fic, they never happened, it's a new take on things.  Will be
100% Mulder first person POV so you wont' get Scully's POV on
anything.  There will be names in here that some of you may recognize
as your own, especially those who were around way back with my earlier
fics such as Chained to You and Dungeons and Demons.  That's my
personal thank you for stick by. And that's it, the rest of the notes
will follow at the end of the fic, so sit back and enjoy, and as
always, tons of feedback please.
FEEDBACK: spookys_girl2000@yahoo.com
________________________

It's been six years I think.  Six years since they took the daughter I
never knew.  Ripped from the womb two days before her expected birth
by masked men with M16s, leaving my partner for dead and me with just
enough energy to call for help.  How did I know it was a girl?  We
never checked during the ultra-sounds during her last three months of
her pregnancy, and as far as I know she didn't check while I was gone,
I only heard the bastards refer to her as a 'she', before they knocked
me out cold.

Things have never been the same since.  My partner has healed nicely,
leaving only a scar on her abdomen as a reminder, and I have since
declared vengeance against those who did this to her, did this to us. 
The world ceased to be since that day, the power-structure of the
United States crumbling to its knees, the United Nations declaring a
world wide emergency, the Security Council too weak to do anything.

Others soon followed, Canada, Britain, France, Russia, the Orient,
Africa, Australia, well you get the picture.  The only safe place to
be is Cuba, as ironic as it is.  It's too hot there for them to
survive, but how can you put the entire world's population on one
small island?  The answer is simple, you can't, therefore many have
been sacrificed, and Cuba closed its borders three years ago to new
immigrants.  Of course us Americans have been shut out six years ago,
and unless we can be smuggled in, there's no chance of the US finding
safety there.

My partner and I were given entrance to Cuba once.  Four years ago we
participated in a covert operation fending them off and prevented an
assassination of Fidel Castro.  We were both guaranteed entrance, and
a home, a safe haven.  We sent Skinner and Doggett on instead. 
Despite their protests, we managed to convince them to go, or should I
say I managed to convince them go to.  It's amazing what a stun gun
and Cuban military officers can do.

My partner and I continued on here, knowing that our work was not over
yet, and it wouldn't be until we find those who did this to her, and
caused the chaos that can be found across the globe.  We trudge on
from city to city, running, hiding, fighting, and scavenging what can
be found.  We stay in holes, and go without sleep for days, always
moving forward, never looking back.

Honestly, I'm tired, she's tired, and it gets worse with each day that
we do this.  I don't know why she's doing this, I don't know why I'm
doing this anymore, all I know is we've done this too long to stop.

Six springs, six summers, six falls, six winters...six years seem about
right I think.

Looking at us now, you'd never be able to tell we were among the
bureau's best FBI agents.  Hell, these days, people don't even
remember the FBI existed, we didn't exist, and we still don't exist. 
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully died that day six years ago when they left
us for dead.  Walter Skinner and John Doggett died soon after, leaving
a group of four nameless people wandering the land.

We are not unheard of if that's what you're asking.  We have gone by
many names over the past years, probably the most famous would be the
familiar Moose and Squirrel.  We weren't going to go with that, but
after Skinner insisted it was appropriate, us being the good guys,
them being Boris and Natasha, how could we say no?  We needed to take
something from the past with us.

The code names were known throughout the country, survivors looking
for us to help them, and bounty hunters out to collect the bounty put
on our heads.  Unfortunately we've had many run ins with them, never
allowing them to survive long enough though to go back and tell others
what we look like.

I look over at my partner, and she is just a ghost of what she was. 
Her hair no longer flame red, but a dull blonde from bleaching it, a
shadow of her red roots showing.  She's lost weight, a lot of it, and
so have I.  Her brown dress hangs from her body, making her look
smaller than she really is, her skin pale, and heavy bags under her
eyes.  The spark that used to be found in her deep blue eyes has long
since disappeared, burnt out that fateful day long ago.  And I have to
say, I'm not much different.  No longer feeling the necessity to
shave, I have grown a decent beard, using it to hide my face from
anybody who may recognize me for who I am.

We can only hope that Skinner and Doggett are in better health than we
are.

We walk from city to city, carrying only our most important belongings
on our backs, water, a change of clothes, scraps of food, and arsenal.
 Black market arsenal that I had to trade the Morley's I found two
cities ago for.  Cigarettes had become illegal five years ago, leaving
the addicts always wanting more.  It was very rare one came upon one
cigarette, let alone an entire package.  That one pack of smokes
bought us two weapons each, ammunition, fresh bottled water, and dried
fruit.  We were going to have a feast tonight.

We haven't had one of those in a long time, and as I received the case
of dried fruit, I saw my partner's eyes open wide in anticipation,
something else I haven't seen in a long time, not since we received
our first our invitation out of this land of the dead.  However this
time, there would be no disappointment.

We sat curled up underneath a blanket in an old abandoned house
somewhere in rural Delaware I think, I'm not sure.  I'm not sure of
anything anymore.  This time we would toast to past friends we see no
more.  To Skinner and Doggett in Cuba, and to the Gunmen underground
where ever they are.

We still keep in contact with them, carrying a nationwide transmitter
with us, but we don't use it unless there's an emergency, we've used
it maybe three times in the past six years.  They can track it, they
can hunt us down, then it will all be over way too soon.  I don't want
it to be over this soon, just like that.  It would make the work we've
done for the past six years worthless, we haven't finished yet, and we
won't be until we've made them pay.

I'm not in this for the good of humanity crap.  I've seen enough evil
and corruption for me not to care whether we go extinct or not.  This
entire cause is personal, has been personal from the beginning.  From
Samantha's abduction thirty-four years ago, Scully's abduction
fourteen years ago, her cancer, her barrenness, my abduction six years
ago and harvest of our unknown daughter.  I'm not stopping until I
kill the last one of those bastards who decided to make our lives a
living hell.

Each one of us on my team has a personal reason for fighting.  I did
say team yes.  As the years went by, word has spread about my actions,
and people have joined us, ready to fight along side.  I am their
leader sort of.  I didn't volunteer, they didn't elect me, it was just
understood.  I understand the most about the situation, gathered
information from years of past observation, and investigation into the
X-Files...which have long since been closed and destroyed, thanks to the
ever wonderful Deputy Kersh, whom I assassinated three years ago.

That's my role in all this.  Assassin.  Scully's too, and used to be
Skinner and Doggett's as well.  The three of them took personal pride
in my kill.  Kersh was an ass to begin with.  He made the wrong move
on the wrong day in the wrong city.  He probably rues the day he
decided to ignore the poor bearded man and his blonde friend when they
asked him for spare change.  Little did he know that poor man packs
quite a shot with his old 9mm and silencer.  That was the last we've
ever heard of him, his death wasn't even on the news despite the
apparently high position he held in the 'new' government.

Samantha's dead too.  Scully killed her, I couldn't.  This was five
years ago, not long after all of this had begun, and she suddenly
reappeared in our lives.  We thought we could trust her, she was my
sister, and I wanted to believe.  In the end she betrayed us, revealed
our current location to the powers that be, and we wouldn't have known
they were coming for us if Doggett hadn't decided he didn't trust her,
not once.  He thought it was too much of a coincidence, a convenience
that she had returned just when the world was being turned upside
down.

And he was right.

Scully sent a bullet right through the base of her neck and walked
away without blinking an eye.

I knew then that things would never be the same.

That's when the militia began.  Four of us turned into six, six into
twelve, now there are twenty of us who wander, plan, kill.  The others
are amateurs compared to Scully and I, but we have taken the time to
teach them what we know.  Spare change collected from the 'higher ups'
out on the street, to selling off odd items for food, clothing, and
weapons.

Each of them has been trained as an assassin, some of the very best
around travel with our small group.  I've seen a few of them shoot the
bottle cap off an empty beer bottle without breaking the glass.  That
takes talent.  It become a finely honed skill over the years.  Not
everybody is fortunate like Scully and I to own silencers with our
weapons, but we were also in this earlier, before they were made
illegal.

We were surprised how many Americans over the years willingly
integrated themselves into the 'new society', following the laws of
the new government.  Most of them probably joined because they saw no
alternative and didn't want to die.  Little do they know they're dead
already.  It won't take the new government long to pick certain ones
of them out of society and use them for reproduction, letting the
offspring feed off of the others around them.  Stupid people, they had
three options, stay, fight, run.  They chose the wrong one.

Anyway, as I was saying before, we each have our own personal story
here.  Each of us fight for our own reasons, but I think only one of
us is in it for the good of the country, everybody else, it's
personal.  Take Emily Jonson, she's only eighteen, and had been a
bright student until things turned bad.  Men in the middle of the
night took her youngest brother and he hasn't been seen since.

Deneka Michaud, 36-year-old journalist, educated in Canada, but worked
the last seven years in Los Angeles for the LA times.  She lost a
house, money, car, security, and a husband all in one day.  So called
officers of the new government confiscated all, including her husband.

Cal Hansen and Elizabeth Hansen, brother and sister who lost their
parents in the fight.  Chuck Lakey, Jon Edwards, Bailey Finnis, Ryan
Gunn (now there was a sharp shooter), Kera Wilkinson, Joe Maynes,
Jessica Baker, all fighting to protect themselves, and the lives they
once led.

Monica Reyes joined two years ago, after loosing contact with Doggett
when he left for Cuba.  She believed in the fight, but as well she
grieved for Scully's baby, and fought to protect her, as well as
Doggett.  Although it seems that she fights for the ideal, for the
past, the most patriotic of us all, we know different.  Monica doesn't
believe in the good of the government, in the good of the people.  She
was an FBI agent, she knew people could be as evil as they wanted to
be, did things to others that no human being should be capable of
doing.  No, she did this for survival of her, and survival of her
friends.

The Gunmen believe what they are doing is right, but like Monica, they
are not doing this to save humanity, they are doing this to save
themselves, to save us, and to find out what happened to my daughter. 
John Byers, Melvin Frohike, and Richard Langly are all in hiding, a
secret abandoned government facility at the base of Mount Rushmore
which they have found, fixed up, and claimed as their own.  Langly was
able to hack into the government computer system and delete all
references made to this location, and has made it official
headquarters.  They stay behind and fight from within there, sending
their two friends out to meet us.

Yves Adele Harlow and James Bond, the two newest recruits to the Lone
Gunmen before they had to run.  Yves was never much into the
journalistic integrity of the paper, or uncovering the truth like
Byers, Frohike and Langly were, she was in for profit.  For the first
little while she would use them to lead her to what she wanted.  While
I did not have first hand experience with her until a few years ago,
Frohike had made mention of her several times.

James Bond was idealistic, that is until he joined my team.  Now he
fights for himself too.  He does believe good will triumph though.  I
can only hope he's right.  I don't even care if we bring the bastards
down, I just want answers to what happened six years ago, why they had
to come and ruin our lives, as if they weren't complicated enough as
it was.  James was young when he joined the gunmen, only wanting to
help by funding a paper that exposes people for their transgressions.

He's a nice kid really, not overly bright, but he's not stupid either.
 I'll admit, at first, he was not the first person I'd give a gun to
on a daily basis, but I've seen him work under pressure and he's good.
 He's the type who will shoot first and ask later when push comes to
shove, and he never misses his mark.  Even Frohike is impressed when
he ears of his progress.  He's become somber lately, most of his
child-like innocence destroyed in that first month that he joined us. 
I can't help but feel that I did that to him.  Frohike says the same
as well.  He once told me of his dream to start a blind football
league, and how he had come so close until the boys told him it was a
front.  I don't think he ever gave up hope, well not until he joined
me that is.  Like all things, I've killed his hope.

It seems wherever I go, and whatever I touch, it dies.  It's like the
Midas hand, only nothing turns to gold, just black.  I've killed
Jimmy's hopes, Byers' dream, and a possible happy life with Scully. 
When she asked me those many years ago to father her child, I was
touched, and honoured that she would pick me of all men around. 
Surely she knew others who would have been better suited, or could
have found better-suited donors, but instead she asked me.  If I had
known then what I know now about this child, I would have turned her
down.  The entire ordeal has caused nothing but mental pain and
emotional anguish for the both of us.  When this is all over, I plan
on doing nothing but taking one long nap, and with any luck, I'll have
Scully by my side still, that is if she isn't pissed off with me at
that point.

Until then, we eat, drink and be merry tonight cause tomorrow we move
out.

"Where are we off to tomorrow Mulder?" Cal, a native from these parts
sits next to me around the fire we have set up.  He is like me in many
ways, business never far from his mind, except maybe when he's found a
woman he enjoys.  It may be why he's my right hand man next to Scully
of course.  Cal has out shone above the others, showing no mercy in
what he does, skillfully trained and eager to learn new tactics, just
like his sister.  There have been many nights around a campfire where
the two of us have strategized attacks, created defenses, or plan
training sessions for the members of lower skills around here. 
Tonight would be no different.  Everybody would celebrate, we will
talk shop.

"Dover I think" I hold my map out on my lap, it's old and ready to
fall apart with the slightest jolt of my arm.  Out of twenty people,
this is the only map we have, and if it falls apart, I have no idea
where to find another which hasn't been manipulated or changed by the
new government.  "It looks to have the most resources readily
available to us, and right now it's the closest major city that hasn't
been affected as much as the others."

"Do we want to send a team ahead?"

"As always.  Five should do for here, go in, check it out and return
with information regarding security."  Security has always been a big
issue.  Many of the larger cities have barricaded themselves in and
nobody is allowed to enter or exit without a pass.  Breach of this
policy is punishable by death, or even worse, experimentation.  Nobody
knows what experiments they perform, however it is needless to say
that nobody survives them.  If they did not wish for death before,
they certainly did once they were forced into the chamber.  "Have them
check the perimeter first though.  Slightest sign of a guard watching
post I want to be notified immediately.  We take no chances, I will
not lose another member due to laziness or over confidence."  Rich
Medley suddenly flashed in front of my eyes, and I could tell Cal was
thinking of him too.  We lost him last month just outside of DC.  We
had been scouting the area and he thought he could sneak past a guard,
but ended up getting shot and dragged away instead.  We never did find
out what happened to him, either way we assume he's dead.  It was a
painful lesson we learned, but a lesson nonetheless.  I take no more
chances with my team.  They play by my rules or they die, it's simple
as that.

"Any idea which five you want to scout ahead?"

"Pick five, just leave your sister behind.  I won't chance losing two
members of the same family at once.  I suggest Ryan, he's got a sharp
eye and trigger finger if the situation requires it."

"Jon, Kera, Yves, Ryan and I?"

It takes me a minute to see who we would have left here on camp.  I
don't want the best scouting just in case something happens.  We need
people back here, but as well I don't want untrained members going
either, each has to be able to hold up on their own.  "Sounds good. 
Scully and I will take the jeep and drop you guys off about a mile
outside Dover.  Make sure each of you have your radio on and if
anything is out of the ordinary, let me know right away and we'll have
backup there immediately."

I can see Cal eyeing Scully out of the corner of my eye; it's nothing
out of the usual, however he knows that as long as he looks and
doesn't touch I won't do anything about it.  It's an unspoken rule
between the team and I, as far as Scully's concerned, she's out of
bounds.  She doesn't go anywhere without me by her side, we were
partners back at the bureau, and we're partners now, each other's back
up, and she hasn't tried separating from me once.  Even if she did try
she wouldn't get very far; I'd be right behind her.

Cal's been interested in her for a while, she's the untouchable, the
one he can't have and that's what attracts him to her the most, other
than the fact that behind that run down faade, she is a beautiful
woman.  He's even gone so far in the beginning to set Elizabeth to
distract me while formulating his own plan of getting Scully in bed. 
What he didn't know was that she's a doctor and used some secret
doctor trick to disable him rather quickly.  No sooner had he screamed
than Skinner, Doggett and I come running to rescue.  Cal and I have
had long discussions since then, and it's amazing how much influence
wielding a gun in front of his face could be.  Like I said, we've come
to a mutual understanding now.

With a flick of my wrist I have everybody's attention.  Even on off
days when we celebrate everybody knows the signal of business and will
drop what he or she are doing to listen.  "Dover tomorrow guys.  We're
hoping for it to be easy, it might not be so be prepared.  I want
everybody on standby, weapons in hand and radios ready just in case. 
I'm sending scouts ahead to check the area out first to make sure it's
safe.  Jon, Kera, Ryan, Yves, I need you four to stick around, the
rest of you are on standby.  You can resume what you were doing now."

Quick and easy like that they disperse, finishing their feast and
enjoying their free time.  The four I have called sit with Cal, Scully
and I, Cal on my left and Scully close by on my right.  Like I said,
she's never far from me, I didn't even need to call her to know that
she would stick around.  I pull a bootlegged palm pilot I picked up at
a shop three weeks ago at our previous destination and pull up an up
to date map of Dover.  "There's five of you, one central man in the
front, and two pairs.  You are each other's eyes and ears.  Cal will
be the front man."  I zoom in on the map and enter his position about
half a mile from the front gates.  "Yves and Jon, you two take the
left side, and Kera and Ryan you take the right.  I don't want
heroics, just information.  You've all been scouting before, you know
what to look for and what I want to know.  No slip ups either; I don't
need another Rich Medley on my hands."  I wrack my brain for anything
that I might have forgotten.  I've got this speech rehearsed and down
in my mind and it comes out as naturally today as 'hey Scully' did
years ago.

"What time?" Yves' familiar British accent is swift in asking the one
question I had forgotten to answer in my little spiel.

"Sunlight the seven of us move out and the others will be ready.  At
my call I want your weapons ready and your radios on and Scully and I
will escort you to just outside Dover.  From there you're on your own
unless back up is needed."  I dismiss them with a curt nod and turn my
attention back to the now blond red head sitting next to me.  She's
worrying, the lines on her forehead give her thoughts away to me
easily.

I wait for the others to return to the group before speaking with her.
 My time with her off-hours is intensely private, meaning when we're
not on action and I'm speaking to her, the rest know better than to
come near.  Every once in a while one of the newer members of the team
will approach, but they either instantly stop when one of the veterans
pull them aside or when I brush them off with a curt 'not now unless
it's something that can't wait.'  Only once in the last six years have
we had 'but it is important' and believe me, we were all up and ready
in less than a minute and in combat mode.  Somehow I doubt that will
happen tonight.  That time we were located in dangerous territory
while the new government was still establishing itself.  Tonight we're
in Hicksville nowhere where the new government isn't so dominant, well
at least we hope.

"Everything okay?" I scoot in closer to her, handing her a strip of
dried apple/banana fruit to munch on.  We don't eat nearly enough
anymore.  The little bit of game we have been able to catch has all
been genetically altered somehow by the tests and is deemed unsafe,
and meat in the cities is too expensive for non-wage earners as
ourselves.

"Aren't you tired of all this?  Don't you ever just want to stop what
we're doing and just try to live a normal existence, or as normal as
possible under the conditions?"  Her voice is edged with weariness,
and it doesn't take somebody with incredible eyesight to see the bags
that have permanently set themselves under her eyes.  She's like me,
never gets enough sleep.

I answer the only way I can, the truth.  "In all honesty, yeah I am
tired of all this.  Not one day goes by when I don't think of stopping
and just settling down in the middle of nowhere where they can't find
us, or just get a hold of Castro and try to get our way into Cuba."

Subject: NEW:  WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (2/19)

"Then what's stopping you?  These men here don't need you anymore, Cal
is more than capable of taking the lead.  What keeps you here in
constant danger and self torture when you can be someplace warm where
people will cater to you for your so called heroics?"

I run a hand over my face as I sigh.  Scully should be the one person
who understands what I'm going through at this moment, yet here she is
asking the questions.  Did everything suddenly lose meaning to her? 
"Questions keep me here Scully.  Questions I need answers to, like
what happened to our daughter?  Why did they do this to us of all
people?  Why did they abduct me years ago and you before that?  Don't
you see?  I don't think I could ever rest until I had those answers. 
It's like it was with the FBI, the constant search for the truth, only
now the truth I'm searching for isn't meant to save mankind, it's
meant to save my sanity."

She seemed to accept my answer without question, and I've come to one
single realization here, I've killed her too.  Sure she's here
physically along side me, but her spirit, the Scullyfire is now gone. 
The Scully I worked with all those years back never followed me
without question, and never took one of my answers at face value.  She
would probe and question and continue to poke at it until she got what
she wanted out of it.  Maybe my cause was futile.  I never wanted to
follow it at the expense of my partner, she's too important to me to
do that.  "Scully?  Are you tired of all of this?  Do you want to stop
this?"

She sighed, and with everything that's going on, I can't tell if
that's a good sigh or a bad sigh anymore.  "I only want what you want
Mulder."

"That doesn't answer my question.  If you want to stop, we'll stop, it
doesn't have to go on."

"But you see it does.  You said you need to find the truth for your
sanity.  Where will be you be in a couple of years if you left the
cause without finishing it too.  Besides I've got my own reasons, like
our daughter.  Even if I wanted to give up and have a normal life, I
couldn't, not without submitting to those who took her, and I can't do
that."

That's the Scully I know now, the one who used to be my fiery partner
way back in the bureau, the one who took crap from no one and stood up
to anybody who got in her way.  Maybe I didn't kill her; maybe she
just went dormant for a period of time.  I don't blame her either for
doing so.  If I could, I'd have probably gone dormant years ago. 
Maybe it is my time to give up and let somebody else lead the battle,
let somebody else fight the great fight they're all talking about and
just go into hiding.

Our daughter is probably dead by now, no doubt having gone through the
same experiments the rest of society must now go through, probably the
same thing that Rich Medley has gone through.  What was once our
miracle will soon be our deaths, I can feel it deep inside myself, and
once again I find myself cursing to the deities above who put us in
this place, who ruined what could have been.

"Don't even think about it Mulder" I can feel a cool hand being placed
on my shoulder and I know it's her.  It's amazing how she has a
calming effect on me when things get rough.  It doesn't matter when or
where I am, everything is okay when she is nearby.  "I don't believe
she's dead.  I believe she's out there somewhere.  If they wanted her
dead, they would have killed us too."

She knows me so well and I have to sigh, I know she's right, but
there's still some inkling of doubt within me.  "They nearly did."

"But that's not the point Mulder.  They didn't, and that's why we
should fight."  That's my Scully, always logical no matter the
situation or how physically and mentally exhausted she may be.  I just
don't think she understands this time, so I tell her.

"I don't believe we were meant to live that day.  They would have
known the implications of keeping us alive if they took our daughter. 
They would have known that we would be searching for her.  Hell,
they're looking for us now cause they know we're alive and looking for
them.  They knew this was going to happen, that's why I don't think we
were meant to live."

"You don't know that for sure, besides if they really wanted to make
sure we were dead, they would have.  They didn't carry those guns with
them for decoration you know."

What can I say, she was right again, as always.  They either didn't
want to kill us, or were very sloppy, and these men aren't sloppy.  In
my years of experience here, I've never seen one mess up, too much is
on the line for them to mess up.  Just looking at my partner though I
still have to doubt whether it's been worth the trouble or not.  Both
physically and mentally she is only a shadow of what she used to be. 
It takes no effort at all to grab another piece of dried fruit and
hand it to her, forgoing my ration at the moment.  I've lost all
appetite anyway.

She doesn't question that small act, not like she used to.  It's for
the best though.  I know I should eat more considering it may be days
before we get such a generous helping of food, but I'm not one to
care.  Tomorrow we hit Dover, we get in Dover, get information, and
get out.  No need to stick around a city which may not be able to help
us more.  I don't even know what type of information I'm looking for,
but at this point anything will help.  I want this end soon, I want to
be able to actually sit down and enjoy myself for a change with no
worries, I want to be able to sit down and spend time with Scully in a
non-stressful situation.  If only though...

The sky has darkened considerably, the only light: the stars.  I place
two fingers in my mouth and whistle three times.  They know the drill.
 The main fire remains flickering as Chuck and Bailey sit by it,
armed, loaded and ready for night watch as the rest of us pile into
the back of the three jeeps we commandeered four years ago.  It's a
cozy fit, but it's better than sleeping on the cold ground.

The blankets we use, black knit made by Maggie Scully with wool she
had managed to confiscate before her house was taken from her.  At the
moment she is hiding at center control with the gunmen.  We haven't
had any contact with her in over a year, I hope she's doing well.

The blankets offer little comfort, however they have been a saving
grace when the cold has become too much to bear.  With the added
warmth of people within close proximity, the northern winters in the
back of the jeep become almost bearable.

"MOVE OUT!"  It's all business now, unlike last night where everybody
felt free to sit and laugh around.  There was no time for laughter
today as my team got into gear.  Chuck had his instructions to get us
up at first light, and now that the sun is just appearing over the
darkened horizon, everybody is getting in combat mode.  Over the years
we have managed to procure several pieces used for tactical defense
from the black market, helmets, kevlars, visors, about four pairs of
combat boots that have been split between Cal, Bailey, Ryan and I,
(Scully would have received a pair if her feet weren't so small) and
built in radios courtesy of the gunmen.

They were equipped with high-powered binoculars that could zoom in so
close one could see the hairs up a man's nose from three hundred feet
away.  The team only held four such binoculars, one being left at
camp, one staying in the jeep, and two being split amongst the four
scouts.  Each member also held a makeshift utility belt containing
ammo clips for their weapon of choice, a hunting knife as a back up,
rope and a miniature first aid kit on the insistence of Scully
containing a compressor bandage.  Unless we're in combat mode, you
usually don't see anybody but the on duty personnel wearing the belts.
 Today everybody is wearing them.

I sit in the driver's seat in the jeep, loading an ammo clip into my
M16A2.  I know it seems much for a scouting job, but one can never be
too cautious.  Scully does the same next to me, although she has
chosen a slightly smaller weapon, a.44 Winchester.  The four going in
have hand held weapons, a mix between Smith & Wesson, and Colt
Defenders.  They don't need anything beyond that, just something
that's effective, yet light and small to carry around so it wouldn't
get in their way.

The rest of the team holds a combination of weapons.  The 'tower men'
as I call them each own a tactical rifle which they use to guard the
perimeters of camp, while the rest each use either the Colt Submachine
rifle, a hand held weapon, and one M203 Grenade Launcher.  We don't
use the M203 though unless we're in full combat mode and are either
taking an area by storm, or defending camp.  It has been used before,
and much to my amazement, it has been a huge success.  I just don't
like using it, blowing men to pieces is not what I consider to be fun,
especially the cleanup afterwards.

So much innocence has been lost here; even Jessica stopped flinching
at the sight of a lost limb at thirteen.  That's when I know it has
been going on long enough, yet I can't seem to stop yet.  Despite what
I say, I don't think I want to.

Scully sits next to me in the jeep, cooling calm and relaxed with her
bleach blonde hair blowing in the wind, and shades on to block the
sun, but I know differently.  Underneath she's as nervous as I am. 
Cal, Yves, Ryan, Kera and Jon all sit in the open back of the vehicle,
armed and ready for anything that may prevent us from making it to the
city in one piece.  It has happened before where snipers sent out by
the new government would hide behind rocks and shoot at anybody who
passed them by, licensed or not.

Luckily, we've only had one person hit instead of all of us.  It was
still one person too many, but we knew it could have been much more
catastrophic.  They were messy in their approach that day and we
spotted them before any more damage had occurred, but it was still too
late.  Skinner lost a wife that day.  We were across the country in
Denver, Colorado, or at least close by it when a sniper came out of
nowhere.  The bullet was meant for Skinner, I guess they thought that
if they got Skinner out of the way, we'd relent some, they were wrong.
 Anyway, out of the corner of her eye she spotted the sniper, but
didn't have anytime to react other than pushing him out of the way. 
It was too late and instead of hitting Skinner, he sent a bullet
tearing through her body, and Skinner ripped the sniper apart with
.223 MT673 semi-automatic.  Revenge is only so sweet these days, when
one goes down, more just come in their place, it really has no
meaning, although without it, where would we be?

"Hey Boss!" Jon's British accent called out his pet name for me, he
says it sounds more important than Mulder, and it doesn't confuse the
new members as to who I am.  "To your right, three o'clock."  I shift
the rearview mirror slightly and casually glance at it. "Does it look
to you what it looks like to me?"

Out of the corner of my eye I can see what Jon was pointing at.  Three
men a hundred feet away were just sitting there staring at the road. 
Nothing in hand, not even looking busy, just watching.  "Sh*t. 
Watchers." I mutter under my breath and keep on driving as if I hadn't
seen anything.

"What do you suppose we do with them?  Could they be have been sent
out of Dover or are they watching something else?"

"I don't know.  Keep your eyes on them; I suggest one of you get down
and discreetly set up a pair of binoculars so they don't see you.  I
don't like this one bit."

Watchers could be anybody; they could work for the new government, or
they could be renegades like us, either way they were up to no good
somewhere, and were definitely not meant to be trusted.  "They look
innocent enough to me sir"  Kera was low to the ground on the back of
the jeep, eyes peering through the binoculars.  "They don't seem to be
doing anything but sitting there and looking off in the distance."

"Never trust a watcher, they play both sides and are only out for
themselves and whatever suits them.  If one of them moves the
slightest, I want to be inform-"

A crack echoed through the air loudly, however I don't hear it as a
cry of pain coming from Scully rings even louder in my ears.  "Sh*t! 
Get down and in position!"

The jeep swerves off the road and I manage to gain control of it
before it falls into a ditch, and pull Scully down along side of me
and out of their line of fire before grabbing my M16A2 Commando rifle.
 "Don't tell me the shot came from them."

"Looks like it sir, the middle watcher seems to be holding a very
small object in his hand.  It looks like it packs a lot of shot."

The driver's side door opens easily for me as I slip out and round the
jeep, joining my team in the back and taking the binoculars from Kera.
 She's right.  The middle man holds a tiny silver object in his hand,
but I've never seen it before.  Any and all firearms are banned today
except those created and registered by the new government.  If that's
the case than these watchers are not on my side.  "Think you can take
them out without attracting attention?"

"Not a problem Boss.  The other two don't look like they're packing
weapons, so it shouldn't be too hard to get at them."

"Never underestimate the watchers Jon, that's the first rule of thumb,
it'll only get you killed.  I've got the middle guy, Jon you take the
left and Kera the right.  At the count of three we shoot. 1, 2-"

"Wait, boss!"  I hold my gun up for just a sec and look at Jon; we
really don't have time for this now.  As it is we are behind schedule
because we have to deal with these guys, I don't want to get further
behind, it will lesson our chances of getting behind city walls. 
"Aren't we going to take prisoners, one of them may have information
we may need."

"No!  No prisoners, they won't talk anyway.  How do you convince
somebody who has no loyalties to tell you everything?  They won't.  In
cases like this it is always better to shoot first, question later."

Okay, so big deal, I sound as bad as them, but this is what happens
when you live like I do.  Survival is most important, and if you think
people would rather die than answer questions, shoot them and be done
cause it's plain as day that they weren't going to answer honestly. 
Way back in the days in the bureau, I would have thought twice before
performing such an act, but this isn't 2001 anymore, and there is no
bureau anymore and we are not Special Agents...not that I was one back
then, but I'm assuming you see what I'm getting at.  "Once again, 1,
2, 3"

Three shots echo unanimously across the empty plains, and the three
men fall to the ground in a thump.  Job done let's move on, only...

"You thinking about scouting this area first Mulder?"  Cal clicks the
safety on his weapon and sits up in the jeep following my line of
direction.

"Yeah, the middle man was holding up a weapon of some sort, I wanna
see what it is, and we may as well see if they had anything on them of
worth.  It may just feed us soon enough."

They have my orders; they move out, guns high and ready as step by
step, the seven of us cross the plain.

The area is bleak and empty, showing no sign of inhabitation other
than the three lifeless bodies lying on the ground in front of us. 
There's nothing here, no shelter, no food, no water, nothing saying
that these men were outlaws just like us, which only means one thing,
they were put here by somebody else, no doubt to patrol the area and
make sure it's safe.  It' makes me wonder what's really happening in
Dover, and if a five man scout team is enough or should we be better
prepared and call for the others?

"Mulder?"  I look up to see Cal kicking over a small metallic object
my way, no doubt the weapon the middle man was holding earlier.  "What
do you make of it?"

What I wouldn't give for a pair of latex gloves right now, but
unfortunately there are other provisions we purchase that are much
more important than latex, such as food and clean water.  Instead I
search my utility belt for the small scrap of cloth I carry around
with me for such occasions.  The metal of the weapon feels cool
beneath the cloth in my hand, and sleek, made with precision.  It's
small and lightweight, meant to be travelled with, or if necessary to
run with in hand, almost like the Smith & Wesson's Scully and I used
to carry around with, only this is later model.

"Definitely Government Issue, I've never seen anything like it
before."  The barrel is small and stocky, and the trigger nothing more
than a button on the side.  Definitely not from my time.

"Any idea what we should do with it?  It could either aid us in some
way or we could sell it."

I don't hear his question as my thoughts are all focused on the
metallic implement being held in my hand.  There's something not quite
right about it, but I can't figure out what it is.  I look over at
Scully and she senses it too, I can tell by the way she's looking at
the weapon that she's not quite comfortable around it.  Maybe I should
bring it back to Monica; she'd be able to tell me what I need to know
about it.

I can't resist however, and hold the weapon out in front of me, making
sure the cloth is still covering it and aim at a lone tree in the
distance.

"Mulder, what are you doing?  Are you sure you want to do that?"

Scully's question also goes unheard as I feel my finger slipping to
the button trigger on the side, and within seconds I feel my arm shake
and a loud crack fills the sky.  This thing definitely packs power.

"Are you done playing yet?  Let's take the weapon and go."

I flip it over and see a flashing red light at the bottom.  "Hold on"
I mutter and take a closer look at it.  I may be colour blind, but I
can just tell by the shade it is that it's red, and it's flashing in a
signal.  Sh*t.  "Let's go, NOW!"

I toss the weapon to the ground and grab my own in one hand, placing
my other in the small of Scully's back, leading her back at a
quickened pace to the jeep.

"You're not telling us what's wrong?  Mulder, why didn't we just take
the weapon and go?"  Cal was obviously confused, after seeing the
impact one shot from the weapon can make, I pretty much destroyed the
tree I shot at with one press of the button.

"It's Government Issue and has some sort of tracking device inside
that set itself off when I hit the trigger.  It's sending a signal to
whoever put the tracking device inside."

"Sh*t" Cal repeated my earlier expletive and suddenly everybody was
running back to the jeep at breakneck speed.  The signal may be
nothing but then again I couldn't be sure.  All I know is I didn't
want to stick around to find out.  The jeep engine revved up
instantly, and within seconds I had it shifted from first to fifth and
the watcher location was eating my dust.

We continued straight at 70 mph until we reached out intended
destination, one mile outside the city limits of Dover, one-mile south
to be exact, by this time however, most of us have lost our cool. 
Scully and I are going to have to be really attentive and hope that
nothing happens now.  Who knows what that signal was supposed to do. 
"You sure you still want us in there Boss?"

"Nothing has changed on this end yet.  We NEED to get in.  I am gonna
radio back to homebase though and have them ready to move out at a
moment's notice.  They need to be aware of the signal too."

I can see Cal staring at me uncertainly, as if trying to second-guess
my decision.  I know this isn't the way he'd do this but then again he
isn't in charge, I am so we do it my way.  "Go, NOW!"

The five of them move away from the vehicle slowly, weapons up and in
combat stance.  Each of their voices can be heard on my end of the
radio.  They know to talk, silence can only get one killed.  Everybody
needs to know what's going on everywhere, whether it relates to them
or not.  It was the first thing that was taught to us in the academy
at the bureau way back when.  The only way to be successful was
through open communication.

Everything's running smoothly at the moment, and after speaking with
Bailey back at camp I can finally look at the damage done to Scully. 
I know I'm going to have nightmares for months after seeing the way
the tree was blown to bits by one bullet.  That could have been her.

"It's nothing Mulder, a close call that's it."  She sits idly in the
passenger side of the jeep, shades back in place to cover her eyes and
head facing up to the sun, as if she was trying to tan herself.  She's
either hiding something or is very bored.  The latter probably plays a
part in it, but I believe it's the former she's trying to do.

"I saw what it did to that tree, just one bullet, you can't tell me
that it isn't bad, those things pack a lot of force."  I'm determined
to win this one yet.

"It just grazed me, barely a hit and barely any blood if that's what
you're worried about."  I don't fall for any of it.  She'd be one to
tell me she was fine if she was on her death bed...sorry, she's done
that already!  Ten years ago she told me she was fine while dying from
cancer.  She was anything but fine then, and I doubt she's fine right
now.  Doctors always make the worst patients, I guess there are
somethings that never change.

"Don't make me pull rank on you Scully, I NEED to know."

"Rank?  You're talking bullshit now Mulder!  What rank?  We're not in
the fucking FBI anymore so there is no rank to be pulled.  I told you
I'm fine, let's leave it at that please."

"Why is it so hard for you to open up like that Scully?  All I'm
asking for is an honest answer for a change, yet you still can't give
it to me.  We've known each other for 14 years now, I would think
after being best friends for that long you'd be able to open up just a
tad and let me in."  I'm shouting at this point, and I don't care who
can hear me and who can't.  I should be looking out at the road and
listening to the radio, but at the moment those are the farthest
things from my mind, and I continue on with my rant.  "Sometimes I
don't even know why I bother.  Of course there would be nothing wrong
with the unflappable Dana Scully.  Everything is always peachy keen. 
That's just a load of crap and you know it Scully!"

"And you're saying that you're the epitome of openness and honesty
Mulder?  I hardly think so."  Yep, I can safely say I've majorly
pissed her off here.  When the volume of her voice exceeds mine, it
usually means that she's about to break.  Now I just have to brace
myself for when she does.  "You wanna see what happened?  This
happened, like I said, nothing."  She sat up and showed me her arm,
and she was right, it was barely noticeable.

I am such an ass.

Subject: NEW:  WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (3/19)

Okay, so I may not be the brightest person in the world and pissing
off Dana Scully and certainly not the best move I've ever made, but at
least I know she's fine now.  Making sure she was okay was worth any
fury she may unleash on me, mind you, 'hell hath no fury' like Dana
Scully.  I can't help but feel the relief was over me, she really was
fine, and for a change, she was being honest.  Now I can get back to
doing my job without worry.

I feel like sh*t for pulling rank on her.  I may not be her superior
in the bureau anymore, but I certainly am her superior on the team,
there's a reason why I'm called Boss and she isn't, although you
certainly won't catch me saying any of that around her.  I guess truth
of the matter is she's always been my equal in everything, despite
what I said.  The team knows, if I'm not around, Scully's in charge
even though Cal is my second in command.  It is yet another unwritten,
implied rule, which is to be followed to the letter.

"Hey Boss, you in?"  Jon's voice cackled over the radio I have set on
the dashboard of the jeep.  I hope they weren't trying to reach me for
too long considering I had the thing completely ignored just a few
minutes before.

"I'm here, what's up?"

"This place isn't even surrounded by a wall, it's that unguarded. 
They have main gateways, but it doesn't look that difficult to get
into.  Most of the guards can be bought off, and one of them on the
west side is currently asleep at his post."

"This doesn't sound right, it's capital of Delaware, most capitals
have higher security, something must not be right."

"You think the watchers may have notified them of our arrival?"

"That's always a possibility, I can't be sure.  Keep your eyes open. 
We'll wait until nightfall and if things haven't changed, the seven of
us will move in carefully.  There's an easier chance of them not
seeing us if it's dark."

"If you don't mind my asking, why are we going in there to begin with?
 It's only Dover, isn't the holy grail in DC?  We should be trying
there."

"I'm meeting a contact in there, she's going to give me information
she promises I will like.  Call it basic curiosity, but I wanna know
what she has that she claims will hold my interest.  Besides, we're
not ready for DC yet, I don't want to get the lot of you killed.  Be
patient."

"Yes Boss, I'll notify the others to continue, over and out."

The sun bore down on us like anything today, and not even the cool air
from the jeep was keeping us from feeling all hot and sticky.  An hour
ago we had moved the jeep from the road to a little in-cove on the
edge of the woods to keep under the shade, it worked until half an
hour ago when the air conditioning died out.  If I wasn't on-duty, I'd
have remove my shirt by now and would probably be basking in the sun
at the back of jeep, but since I can't do that, I can only do the next
best thing, just sit and wait for it to cool down.

The heat is affecting Scully too, and I can't help but look as her
sweat-soaked shirt clings to every crevice, nook and cranny on her
body.  It reveals much more than it should.  The only disappointment
is it's black, not white cause white would offer me a much more
generous view.  What can I say, I'm a man and she's an attractive
woman.  I've been attracted to her since the very first day, and after
witnessing the strength and intensity behind the physical body, I
drowned in her, and I didn't want to be saved.

That was fourteen years ago, this is now.  Now things are a lot more
complicated.  Our time came, and our time passed.  We could have had
our moment so long ago, but interference was destined to occur, so
here we are today, sitting in a jeep and sweating to death while my
team is either back at camp keeping cool, or at the city edge scouting
it out.  Either way, we are a long way from what should have been.

It doesn't take a genius to know that she's thinking the same thing as
me as the sun beats down on her.  She'd be a lot more comfortable if
she took that shirt off; the question would be then, would I be more
comfortable?  And what if a passer by sees her, or worse yet, Cal? 
He'd only need one glimpse and he'd declare war on me to have her.

Of course I'd win hands down.

Now she's going it again, and it's going to drive me crazy one day to
the point of pushing her up against a wall so I could have my way with
her: she's pulling at the collar of her shirt and fanning down
herself.  Any onlooker would have a generous view here.

I've just got to remember my own rule now.  Look, but not touch.

The city is dark and Jon was right, there were minimal guards on the
perimeter.  It should be a breeze to get in.  I had called up four
more members of the team to join us, and Chuck, Deneka, Joe and Monica
were here within ten minutes.  Of course they didn't stop and play
with Government Issue weapons they shouldn't have touched like I did,
but that's beside the point.

The East Side looked to be the least guarded area.  It was also the
slums, which probably meant they didn't care who got out.  There were
no lights in the area, and only two guards patrolling the whole side. 
Unless the city was under some sort of laser sensor, anybody could get
in and out if they wanted to.  Let's just hope it's not a laser sensor
else the eleven us would be running back to the jeeps like bats out of
hell.

The silencer is clipped firmly to my Smith & Wesson I carry to my belt
at all times just in case, although I know that if I kill one of them,
it would only be a matter of time before the new government officials
realize there are intruders in here.  "I suggest we try in there. 
From scouting earlier it looks like it leads right to an alleyway and
by looking at the walls, it's not surveilled."  Yves stood next to me,
dressed entirely in black leather, although I don't know how she could
stand it in the heat but here she was the epitome of cool and
collected.

She made a very good point with the alleyway; it would probably be the
easiest way to get in, however, I needed a second opinion.  One could
never be too careful.  "Monica, what do you think?"

Monica was very good at telling us the best places to go in.  It took
me a while to get used to her sixth sense, but she ended up being very
reliable when it came to reading energies.  She was particularly good
with people and by one look she could tell me how cautious I should
be.  Of course I was cautious with everybody, it's in my nature to
trust no one, however she gave me an indication of the best way to
act.

She scanned the area closely, and appeared to be deep in thought.  I
couldn't decide if this was a good thing or not.  There have been
times in the past where she's come back with only negative feelings,
yet there have also been times she's come back with positive vibes. 
After five years of working with her, I still can't tell the
difference.

"I have to agree with Yves.  While the entire area feels safe enough,
I can't help but get that extra vibe from the alleyway.  I don't think
anything should go wrong, but we should be cautious just in case." 
She cocked her weapon and proceeded to the front of the line. 
Normally I would call her back and go in first myself.  This is my
team, I'm leader, I should make sure it's safe for them but another
thing that I've learned about Monica is that when she's onto something
like she is now, it's best not to interfere and just let her lead the
way.  I've almost lost and arm by holding her back once.

And so we go forward.

"Where are we supposed to meet this supposed source of yours Mulder? 
It's pitch black out here and unless they knew you were coming in now,
I don't see it happening tonight."

"No, noon in the main park in the West End.  It's not very far from
here to begin with, so I figure we can find a safe place and set up
camp for the night."  I scanned the streets, most of them empty with
the odd vagrant here and there.  These must be the people the tests
leave for dead, sort of like Scully and I.  They are no longer useful
therefore are tossed out on the streets to survive on their own.  It
would have been okay if the officials hadn't passed a law a few years
back saying businesses are not allowed to hire test subjects.

They've pretty much handed them a smoking gun and told them to use it.
 It's not fair, but it's life these days, and as much as I'd like to
help them out, I have to think for myself, and therefore can't take on
test subjects in my militia.  Who knows what has been done to them,
and whether they can be of danger to us or not.

We fight to remain hidden to the rest of the city here, no questions
are being asked, no answers are being given, and no one follows.  Our
weapons are hidden on our person, yet easily accessible if need be. 
At the moment we are no different than any other person living in this
town.  We have become them, and find an empty street corner to stay
upon for the night, although very few of us will actually get any
sleep.  We tend to be more alert in strange cities where we know we
are not welcome.

"I'll take nightwatch guys, I'm not going to be able to sleep anyway,
too much going on around here to feel safe."

"I'll stay with you, you need somebody to watch your back."  I look
down at Scully, amazed that his woman who has had little sleep to
begin with is ready to forgo it yet another night.  I can't have this
though.  She needs her sleep, I don't need mine.

"No, you go to sleep."  I sit on the corner of the street, back
straight against the wall and knees bent pulled up close, and pull her
against me so she doesn't have to use the wall.  It's uncomfortable
for one of us, no need to make it uncomfortable for two.  "I'll be
okay by myself here, you on the other hand need your sleep.  I know
you didn't sleep very well last night."

My Scully, stubborn as ever doesn't seem to buy it though.  "I make my
own decisions Mulder, you don't make them for me."

"You don't need to tell me that, but I do make them regarding the
health of my team, and the team needs you to sleep."

"I'll stay up with Mulder, it's not a problem, I wasn't planning on
sleeping anyway either.  I'll watch his back."  Cal is like me in many
ways, he's learned from me, and knows better than to sleep in a
strange city, and I trust him to watch my back.

"See Scully?  It's okay, I've got somebody to keep me out of trouble."

She yawned slightly, betraying her earlier thoughts of staying awake. 
"Fine Mulder, you just wake me if there's a problem."

"You'll be the first I wake."  And pull her closer.

Okay, so that hasn't been characteristic of me within the last six
years, Scully and I haven't been particularly close like this, but
tonight I can't help myself and just have to indulge.  Scully
distanced herself after losing her child to those men, rarely opening
up to anybody anymore.  It took Skinner, Doggett and me three months
just to get her back on a semi-regular dietary track, and even longer
to get her on a normal sleeping pattern.  She still dreams.  I've
woken up several times in the night to see her thrashing around beside
me, and it honestly pains me to see her like this, but she doesn't
want to speak about it.

The first year was spent healing her, helping her get her health back,
and after the first six months, her determination in hunting those men
down grew.  I didn't blame her one bit, I'm sure that if I were a
woman who was put in her position, I'd act in the same way.  She's
told me numerous times that I don't understand, but that's not
entirely true considering it was *my* child she was carrying inside of
her.  I want this just as much as she does.

I came so close to losing her again though today and I can't help but
feel my old protective instincts kick in.  I've set them aside for the
past six years, being the friend I know she needs me to be to her, yet
leaving her independence intact.  Her independence is something she's
always treasured, her ability to make her own choices and live her own
life, thus following me on my quest, but what she can't understand is
by following me, she has become my quest.  In the end everything I do
is done for her.

She feels small to me still, despite the fact that she is larger than
life.  She is still healing in her own way, and I don't want to push
things, yet there is a part of me that wants to push, take what I
need, and hopefully give her something too.  As selfish as it sounds
at the moment, I've ignored my own needs for too long now.

Most men at this point would have taken, would have worked their
damnedest to get what they want, and I know it would be no difficult
task to get her to give me what I want if I played my cards just
right, but I can't.  I don't let my hormones win, I control them. 
What she needs is a friend she can trust.  How can I betray that?

It's going to be a long night.

The West Park stood empty under the gray skies just before noon.  It
was quite a contrast from yesterday's blazing sun.  Scully, Monica and
I were freezing under the trees.  Why we didn't pack a sweater, I
don't know.  The rest of the team members are around gathering further
provisions, seeing how much they could beg for and what they could
barter for more food, water and clothing.  While we are not short in
any of the above, it's never harmful to have more than enough.  We
have been in far too many situations over the past six years of not
acquiring the basic survival needs, and by personal experience, we
found it imperative not to put ourselves in that situation again.

Each of us is wired up, and radios tuned into the same frequency,
except mine which I am not wearing, but Scully and Monica are.  I
found that I cannot focus on information as well if I am constantly
hearing voices in my head.  The radios are set up just in case
something happens and we have to get out of here.  My team comes first
to me, it doesn't matter what sort of information is dangling in front
of my face at whatever moment, the minute I hear trouble, we run.  I
just hope we don't run into anything here.  We shouldn't, it's only
Delaware, I mean who lives in Delaware?  It's boring and small and
nobody important lives here.  The state capitol holds little power if
any now.  I don't even know why the new government bothered to even
include it in their country.  Simple enough, it's no man's land, yet
here I am standing under a tree in the middle of the park waiting for
a woman I've never seen before.

That much I do know, it's a woman, or I should say *she's* a woman. 
And she wants to meet Scully and me.  Well she'll have to deal with
Monica as well.  I don't meet anybody without her by my side; it's my
rule now.  There are too many people working against us to just trust
our own instincts, I need a third opinion.  What really boggled my
mind was how she managed to get in touch with me to begin with.  It's
not like I have an apartment I stay at anymore, or a regular phone
number or mailbox.  The only way to really know where I could be found
was the Gunmen, and they know better than to give out my whereabouts
to strangers, unless of course for one of two reasons: they either
trusted her, or she had a piece of information to pass on that was too
juicy for even them to pass up.

This has got to be good then.

"Mulder?"  

Quickly following the line of Scully's gaze, I saw a woman approaching
us, 5'5" approximately with brown curly shoulder length hair wearing a
black pants suit low one inch heels.  They're definitely much more
sensible than the three inch ones Scully used to wear back at the
bureau, although definitely not as sexy.

She must be the contact though, her approach business-like, yet
cautious.  I guess eyes are watching everywhere.  There is no doubt
about where she is heading, she's definitely walking toward us. 
"Monica?  What do you think?"

"If you're looking for a bad vibe Mulder, I can't find it.  She seems
clean, at least for the time being."  She paused just a second before
continuing.  "I do feel a dark spot around her though, but I can't
pinpoint what it is yet.  All I do know for sure is it's not directed
at you."

"Keep you weapon handy just in case Mulder."  Scully's hand was next
to mine, although her's in a deathgrip wrapping her weapon.  It's not
that she doesn't trust Monica's abilities, she does so implicitly,
it's that she doesn't trust the circumstances, and is a strong
believer in the statement 'appearances can be deceiving.'  I can't
really blame her, so much has changed over the years, and if there's
one thing we have learned since being teamed together on the X-Files,
it's that appearances are deceiving.   There have way too many
instances of lost evidence thought to be handed in officially to our
superiors and blatant deception by them.  Kersh was a primary example
of this, although if I think about it, I never really trusted him, and
I certainly didn't like him from the beginning.

I smiled the day I shot him, and it's one of the few thoughts that
puts me to sleep at night, as malicious as that sounds.  There was
nothing out of the ordinary about the day itself, I just happened to
be panhandling on the street, fighting for my survival and looking for
provisions for my team when he flat out ignored my pleas, not
recognizing me and walked on.  Nothing gave me more pleasure than
sending that bullet right through his back and into his cold heart.

Now he lies six feet under while just yesterday I was basking in the
sun with a beautiful redhead by my side.  It was payback for all of
the years of his duplicity toward us.  I doubt many people miss him. 
I actually heard somewhere he had a wife, the poor shrew.  How anybody
could stay married to that man and remain sane, I don't know.

But that was then, and this is now.  Circumstances have changed, and
some people are slightly trustworthier than they used to be,
especially those fighting the new government alongside us.

Hopefully this woman walking toward us was one of those 'trustworthy'
people.  I'd certainly hate having to deal with her here.  The last
thing I wanted here was more bloodshed.

"Agent Mulder I presume?  I'd know your face anywhere."

She'd know my face anywhere?  I'm instantly wary of this woman who
dare speak so bluntly, and confidently to me.  Most contacts I speak
with are always looking over their shoulder, she's standing straight
and tall, well as tall as one could be at 5'5", and she's even
attempting to make eye contact.  That's not what worries me so much
though.  Over the past six years I have done what I could to avoid
people recognizing me.  Like I had stated earlier, the name Fox Mulder
died years ago along with the title of Agent.  I don't trust her, not
if she knows me by name.

My knuckles are turning white from the grip on my weapon, I know it. 
I'm tempted to shoot her right now and make a run for it just to be on
the safe side, but I can't help but wonder what she has that's
supposedly so important to me.  Scully's eyes are relaying the same
fears I have.  How does she know my name?

"Oh don't look so shocked that I know who you are Agent Mulder, we've
had dealings in the past, eight years ago to be exact.  I don't expect
you to remember, we actually have never spoken, but I have seen you
around."  She seemed way too cool and confident for my liking.

"What 'dealings' would they be if you don't mind my asking Ms..." I
trailed off, hinting her at providing her name, which I doubt, would
come anyway.  She seems too professional to fall for such a classic
move.

"My name isn't important, in fact I'd rather forget it myself, and the
dealings aren't important either, but if you must know, it was at a
black-tie formal dinner your former boss set up.  I'm not giving you
any more information than that.  Like I said, we've never spoken
before."

Black tie formal dinner?  How come I don't remember this, usually I
have an eidetic memory. "That is our only dealing?  I guess it would
make sense then that you would know my face."  What good is a
photographic memory if I can't remember such an event?

"Well we've had other dealings, although not directly."

"Meaning?"  My patience was wearing thing with this woman.

"You don't get it do you...what you do to those around me affects me,
especially regarding my husband."

"Your husband?"

"Yes, my husband.  Still don't remember?  You tried to kill him once..."

I shot a glare at Monica, this is the first time she's been wrong
about the contact, and I'm feeling very threatened by her.  Even
Scully couldn't keep my arm down as I leveled my weapon at her.

"Just hear me out Agent Mulder, you're not letting me finish.  You're
not going to get any information from me by pointing a gun to my
face."  She still seemed oddly calm and confident even looking down
the barrel of my Smith & Wesson.

"How do I know this is not a setup?  I don't remember whom I've killed
over the years.  I do know that I've never botched an attempt. 
Anybody I've tried to kill has died."

"You're going to have to trust me on this matter."

"You don't know me too well then.  Trust no one.  You have one minute
to explain yourself before you find yourself eating my bullet."

"Like I said, you never let me finish.  You're wrong about killing my
husband.  I'll admit you did a very good job, relinquishing him to a
wheelchair and he's paralyzed waist down, but you didn't kill him. 
Somehow he's survived.  You've put me in an awkward position here.  I
want to deal."

"I don't make deals" my voice is gruff, and she has thirty seconds to
make some sense.

"You will on this one.  I have information on your daughter, but want
something in exchange."

"You'll get nothing."  Ten seconds.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE  by Spooky's Girl (4/19)

"Oh I'll get what I want...you're not going to want to pass this up. 
What I want in exchange is for you to finish the job on my husband.  I
want him dead and out of my life forever."

Say what?  She can't be serious, kill her husband again?  Now she's
really got my interest.  And I know by one look that she has Scully's.
 Neither of us are stupid enough to pass by information regarding our
child.  Anything will hopefully be of some help.  "Okay, you've got my
interest, I'm not putting the gun down though."

She actually had the nerve to chuckle at this.  "That's fine.  What I
have won't take very long anyway.  I have to get back to my husband
for feeding time.  I should really hire a caretaker, but he insists a
waste of money."

"Back to business please."

"As I said I have some information regarding Summer-"

"Wait, who's Summer?  You said this was about my daughter."

"You're daughter is Summer.  Her nursemaid named her that.  It's all
in the package I'm about to hand you."

I reached for the package she was holding out for me, a large, thick
envelope.  And I could swear my eyes almost fell out of their sockets
when I pulled out the first paper from inside.

"As you can see Agent Mulder, I've handed you a lot of information in
there.  Everything from birth information to medical records and
personal information regarding Summer, not to mention the building
she's living in at the moment.  Everything you need to know about
anything can be found in that envelope."

"Summer..." Our daughter had been given a name.  Until now, she was only
an object, a goal we were trying to achieve, but now she was a person,
a living, breathing six-year-old.  Surely we were meant to die out
there when they took her from us.  What would they want with her
though?  That was my next question.

"I don't have much more time Agent Mulder, as it is I'm risking my
life by meeting you here.  Like I said.  Everything you need to know
is in there.  Including maps."

"Maps?"

"Of DC, of their testing lab in Quantico."

"And how am I supposed to get into either of those.  Each of them are
practically impossible to break into without the proper
identification."

"That's where the third map comes in handy.  I've got a contact in
Cape May, New Jersey who will provide you with 90% of the provisions
you will need to get inside, for both you, Agent Scully, and two team
members.  Pick them carefully if I were you though.  We don't have the
resources to allow anymore than two inside."

"How will I recognize this contact?"

"You don't, she'll find you.  The map will lead you right to her
though.  The city itself isn't heavily guarded, so it shouldn't be too
hard to get in.  I wouldn't wait too long for you to get there though;
she won't wait any longer than a week.  There's a ferry leaving
tonight from Lewes.  If I were you, I'd get moving."

"Will this ferry take us across without any identification?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll find a way around that aspect, after all you
got into Dover all right, but I did have to lighten security for you. 
If I were you, I'd get moving now if you wanna make it."

"Wait, who's your husband so I can finish the job?"

"That's of no consequence at the moment.  You'll know when you see
him.  I'll be in contact with you later regarding his situation."

Just like that she left, without a second glance or anything while
Scully and I stood here with our mouths wide open.  She just handed us
the Holy Grail, of all things, you better believe we weren't going to
pass this up.

"Summer..." Scully was trying the name on for size too, it didn't seem
right though, who would name a kid Summer.

"It sounds more like a code name than a child's name.  I think I've
even heard of projects titled after Summer.  From my experience
dealing with these assailants, the new government is very fond of that
name."  I turned to Monica at this comment.  Code name?  "I suggest
once we get to safer ground we look at the documents and see what's in
there.  I'm sure I've heard her name mentioned before."

Her name a code-name?  Could they be using her to achieve their goals
of a colonized Earth?  How did she factor into it?  Was she being
experimented on?  All of these questions were running rampid in my
mind, and I swear if any one of them were true I'd shoot everybody in
her building on the spot.

"Heads up guys, we're moving out.  We want everybody by the jeeps in
fifteen minutes.  If you're late, you're left behind.  Base camp, do
you hear me?"

We were already on the move again, Scully issuing orders over the
radio seeing as I didn't have mine.

"Base camp, we're making a break for Lewes, meet us one mile south of
the city border and a mile in from the coast.  We'll give more
information once we see you there.  As always, eyes and ears open
people, I think we've got the big one.   Over and out."

Our corner wasn't very far from the park, and we walked as quickly as
possible to find Cal without trying to look obvious.  I was just
handed what is supposedly the beginning of the end, and certainly
didn't want to screw it up.  We have a lot at stake here.  From the
brief glance at the papers, there were men to expose, projects to
destroy, and our daughter to find and rescue from the new government.

The new question in my mind now...is this all enough to end
colonization?  I certainly hope so.

"Let's go"

Cal has the inside team rounded up, sacks full of whatever they
managed to collect during the day and weapons out ready to move.  We
can't take chances anymore.  I don't want to take chances.  My team
knows to shoot first and ask questions later in these types of
situations.  Our main priority is to get out without incident today,
although I'm not sure how long it'll take the new government to
realize that there is a lack of security on the perimeter of this
city.

"We go out the same way we came in, only this time in broad daylight,
which means we make a break for it once we hit the end of the
alleyway.  Everybody partner up.  You're to watch each other's backs. 
Under no circumstances is anybody to be left behind unless we can't
get them out without injuring others.  If shots ring, be prepared to
defend yourself.  Remember, one person is the eyes at the back of the
head, one person is keeping their eyes on our final destination."

"You still haven't really told us what's going on here Mulder."
 
This isn't like Cal, he's never been one to question my orders,
especially in a situation this dire.  "I'll explain it all once I see
it in full myself, meanwhile you're to do what I say."

"Base camp knows where we're heading?  Or do we have to go back for
them."

"No need to, I spoke to them earlier, they know the coordinates they
are to meet us at and in what time period.  Now, quit stalling and get
moving.  We don't have all day you know, we have to get to Cape May by
sometime tonight."  That's my Scully now, the one I used to know so
long ago, the one who doesn't take shit from anybody including me,
which is a good thing I guess.  While I may not be so bad anymore, at
one point I used to do and say whatever I could to get her to tag
along with me, and I would find ways for her to do the tough stuff
while I went jaunting off.

Equal partners?  Although I never once thought her as anything but an
equal partner in all things, I guess I just kind of acted otherwise. 
Anyway, she's equal now, if not moreso important in the grand scheme
of things than I am.  I treat her as an equal in all ways and so does
the team.  Orders coming from her are just as good as orders coming
from me.

In all honesty, I think hers are better.  My Scully's always been
logical while I'm highly passionate about things.  While I'm better
now and think before acting, she does not only think, she plans and
plays all sides looking for the best solution.  She'll get us to where
we need to be.

If not, we'll die trying.

The coast is clear by the alleyway, at least on the inside, who's to
say that there aren't numerous guards sitting and waiting for us on
the other side.  Whose to say that this isn't some sort of setup that
we're about to get busted for?  I don't even know if all the
information in the envelope is official, or if they're fakes planted
to deter us in our ultimate goal.

It's no big secret that we're out to destroy the new government.  I'm
sure they have their top agents out trying to stop us, although they
must not be very good if it's taken them six years and they haven't
even seen our faces yet.  It's not like we're in deep undercover or
anything; we're hidden right in plain sight.

I'm even more intrigued about who this mystery husband is of our
informant.  As far as my recollection goes, I have never botched a
kill, and with an eidetic memory like mine, one would remember these
things.  It couldn't have been a bad kill though if she wants him dead
so much, and paralyzed waist down isn't so bad then either for a
botched kill.  I've seen some men get right up and continue what they
were doing before they were shot, acting unharmed despite the large
well of blood pooling wherever they were hit.  These men don't stop
for anything, which is why when I shoot to kill; I always aim directly
for the heart, centre abdomen, or head.  It's the easiest way to have
them go down and not get back up again.

"All clear!"  Yves stands at the exit of the alleyway, her compact
mirror edged around the corners for a view of guard locations.

"Count of three, everybody runs like they've never run before, and I
don't want you stopping until we're at the jeep."  They all nod their
affirmative, each gripping their partner's hand with one, weapon in
the other, and sacs on their backs.  I reach for Scully's hand and
step behind Yves and Monica, as they're the first to run out on their
insistence.  "One, two, THREE!  RUN!"

The jeep is a good mile away, but none of us care as we cross the
large expanse of land in front of us.  Scully is trailing behind some,
and I find myself slowing down to keep from dragging her along.  It's
not really her fault, she runs fast for her height, it's just that my
legs are longer than hers are so I can stretch them farther than she
can.  At least she's not in her heels this time, not that she has been
wearing heels in the past six years.  She's been in runners and boots
since we became assassins, or rebels according to the bastards in DC.

"Almost there Scully, how're you doing?"  I sneak a look at her before
turning back to see the jeep off in the distance.

"Never mind me Mulder, keep running, I'll keep up."

We cleared the field to the jeep without incident, the guards never
once appearing on the west side of the city, which makes me even more
curious about the power our informant wields.  It's not like anybody
can control security around the perimeter of a state capital.  Mind
you, not anybody can also present to us a package of information like
she has.

"Cal, take the wheel, we're heading one mile south, one mile in of
Lewes.  Try to get us there quickly."

"You don't wanna drive Mulder?"

"I've got other things on my mind at the moment that I have to go
over."  Like the package.  I only got a brief glance of the contents
in the city; I want a thorough look at it now.  I want to know if it's
worth going after.

"You going to tell us what you got?"

"When I figure it out myself I'll let you know."  Kera and Yves
crawled into the front alongside Cal, women really could never resist
him, and Ryan and Jon sat near the back of jeep, giving Scully and I
our space with the envelope.  The roll on top was activated to prevent
the wind blowing papers away, and we were set.

I had the papers spread all over the back of the jeep in front of me,
reviewing the content of each.  If there was one thing about that
woman that I know, it's that she's obviously a very thorough person.

I had plans everywhere, building blue prints, computer network
outlines, security system plans, maps of the city, which I already
knew by heart, the addresses of each of their facilities, the White
House where they kept Summer, character reports on each person running
the show, including a woman named Kim, Summer's childnurse and a
geneticist.

My question now is why involve a geneticist?

The top of the pile contained the most important paper of all, one
that I'm sure will never leave Scully's hand judging by the grip she's
got on it now.

"Summer" she whimpered again.

The photo was simple, a black and white mug shot that looks like it
would appear on an ID card, or in a school yearbook or something,
which probably means that it's a computer generated image used for the
purpose of record cleaning.  There's no doubt in my mind that it's her
though, and there's no doubt in my mind as to who her parents are, at
least her mother anyway.

One look at the photo and I could tell that her hair was lighter,
probably a light brown with a reddish tint to it, definitely not quite
as dark as mine, and her eyes are lighter too.  I wonder if they're
blue like hers or hazel like mine.  I can't tell by a black and white
photo.

The nose is Scully's though, thank god the poor kid doesn't have the
Mulder nose, it's hideous, but hers is small, and suits the lightly
freckled face.

The shape of the eyes and the ears belong to me though, there's no
mistaking that, and I'm sure anybody who sees this photo will agree. 
However there will not be many people who will view this photo, it
will be kept in our possession at all times, and like the rest of the
information in the envelope, it'll never leave our sight.  This will
be the only paper that will not be copied.  By the time we're on our
way to DC, I plan on having copies wired to the gunmen, and the
originals alongside me for safe keeping.

There is something about this kid though that bothers me; I can't
explain it, however it doesn't seem right, I know I've seen this
picture elsewhere, and the fact that Monica recognizes the name Summer
also tells me that my intuition isn't far off today.  One thing I've
learned to trust over the years is my instinct, it's never let me down
once.

I don't Summer is a code name for anything, it seems highly unlikely
even though it is such a common word, I'm sure I've heard it used in
another context though.  Being what the country deems an outlaw, I am
no longer privy to information like I used to be back when I was in
the bureau, especially since the death of Senator Matheson.  The
gunmen occasionally find a bit of information which can be useful, but
they're running out of resources as well, most of their informants
being killed off or worse.  It's like survival of the fittest again,
and they are winning.

Then it catches my eye.  "Hey Cal, wanna stop for a second?"

"Find something interesting Mulder?  I though we wanted to get to
Lewes as soon as possible."

"I do, we do, just stop though."  It takes no effort at all to jump
out of the jeep as it slows to a halt, and I see it blowing away.  
"Damn."

"Wanna tell me what this is about?"  Concerned Scully, I'd recognize
that voice anywhere, and concerned is good in this case, only she's
being concerned for the wrong person.

"Give me a sec" My speed picks up some and finally the paper falls to
a halt at my feet.

It's just what I thought; Scully's not going to like this at all.

"What did you find?"

"Nothing of any importance."  Despite whatever right she has to know
the piece of information I hold in my hand, I don't think I should let
her know.  She still holds some idealistic view of Summer that I don't
want to destroy at the moment.  I know better than to let these views
continue, especially since I know what must be done when we head to
DC, but I just don't have the heart to see her shatter one more time,
so I quickly stuff the paper into my utility belt, hoping that she
doesn't see me do so and head back to the jeep.

"You must have found something decent to chase after it like you had."
 And here comes persistent Scully out to play.

"It was a newspaper clipping.  I was trying to see if there was a date
on it anywhere."  So I lied, big deal.  I seem to be doing that moreso
lately.  She'll have my head for it though later.

"Did you find a date?"

"No, it was from the middle of the paper."  Well it was partially
true.  It was very difficult to find out the date anymore since
newspapers were only catered to those who were registered citizens and
had money.  I would be neither so clippings were very important to us
for that reason.

There's also the fact that they make good kindling for our fires. 
There were days when we'd find wet wood or no wood at all and we'd
have to rely on other resources.  Newspapers were good sources as
well.

"I hope you kept it to burn then."

"No, it was too small to make much difference anyway.  Don't worry
about it Scully, just let it be."  I reached for the photo in her hand
and watched the emotions fly over her face as she relinquished it to
me.  "We've got bigger things to worry about, liking getting into DC
and finding out more info about Summer."

"You mean on rescuing her from that geneticist." 

If that's what she wants to believe..."Yeah that's what I mean.  We've
got a ride ahead of us.  Sit back and relax.  We'll take this one step
at a time.  First thing we'll plan out is how to get onto that ferry."

Yep, by the end of this whole escapade, Fox Mulder will be no more. 
What I had found out on the road had confirmed all inklings I had
about who Summer was, and why she sounded so familiar.  Scully will
have thoroughly killed me and have me buried six feet under if she
knew what I was holding back.

I know where I have heard the name Summer before, I know where Monica
has heard of the name Summer before, and we both know that it isn't
some code word.  I have no doubt in my mind that Monica knows what's
really going on, and was just trying to save face for Scully and I.  I
may have to talk to her later regarding this, meanwhile, battleplans.

The shore of Lewes isn't that far away from us and it's almost dark. 
We a total of four hours to figure out how we're going to get on this
ship without being recognized, and I want as many of us as possible to
reach Cape May.  This is the type of situation that I had been
planning for over the year, I just never thought I'd see it come.

The rest of the team is just ahead of us, located exactly where Scully
had told them to meet us, one-mile south, and one-mile in.  We have
spoken a little of plans on the way, but the ride was mainly spent in
a contemplative silence.  I have no doubt that Scully was thinking
about the life we could have had, the life it seemed we were about to
get back, or at least what she believed we'd get back.  I know
differently.  I'm still trying to figure out how to tell her this.

Bailey is standing on the edge of the new camp, with Elizabeth next to
his side.  Those two have been getting a little cozy lately; they're
starting to remind me of Scully and I just before she was due.  She's
a good assassin too, they would make an excellent pair on the field
knowing that Bailey would watch over her, or her over him.  I've never
asked how Cal feels about all this.  I wonder if he's even noticed.

"Everything reported A-okay sir.  Nothing happening on the homefront."
 Now sir is something that took me a while to get used to considering
it was what I always called Skinner.  Things have changed some.

"Good, I need a team together.  Cal is coming along, so are you and
Elizabeth and Monica, pull me four more and the rest stay back as
backup.  We need to get on the midnight ferry.  It'll be dark and less
crowded I believe."

"Scully coming too sir?"

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (5/19)

"Scully goes everywhere I go, you should know that by now."  There was
no campfire tonight, we can't afford alerting others to our presence,
instead the headlights of his jeep are left on and he already had
planning sheets rolled out over the hood.

"Any four you'd like sir?"

"Take your pic, you're leading them.  Once I get into Cape May, you're
on your own with them.  We'll meet up after we meet the contact,
you're only there as backup.  Now, let's figure out how to get on this
ferry."

Scully's still unusually silent all through this.

"We may have to go underwater and climb up the side of the ship, it
looks as if the entrance way is heavily guarded.  Everybody needs
papers these days.  Whatever happened to the good ol' days where
everybody could go where they wanted without question."

It was a pointless question, I knew this, Jon knew this, and even
though I knew he knew this, I felt responsible to answer him still, so
the others who didn't know this would know why it was pointless.

"Screw idealism, it died out a long time ago when they took away
whatever freedom we had.  Apparently they thought society would
function better with registered citizens.  Last time I read about
something like this, it was the French Revolution back in 1787, and
look what happened then."

"As long as they don't pull the guillotine on us, I don't care.  We've
lasted this long."

"No, instead we're either shot in the forehead or taken captive and
sent to a facility for further interrogation, meaning they go in, but
they don't come out.  I think we need to stop this idealistic talk and
focus on the job on hand.  Idealism only gets us killed anyway, we all
know that."

"So what's the plan then boss?"

I can't see any other options than the ones already presented.  Trying
to sneak on board at the main gate was too risky, and with no papers,
there was no chance of getting on.  I really don't want to go wading
through that part of the Atlantic though.  By the port, it's dirty and
muggy.  We may as well be wading through sewage.

"Well?"

"We go underwater.  Everybody who's coming put on something black and
lightweight.  Any and all weapons should be securely fastened to your
person, and covered completely in leak proof plastic while under.   We
leave in an hour."

The command is set, and Bailey sends his men off.

The team is divided into three.  Scully, Cal, Monica, Bailey,
Elizabeth and I are the first team.  We make the first trip out to the
ferry twenty minutes before departure.  The radio is fastened securely
in a plastic bag at my hip, along with my weapon.  Each person is
strapped like this.

The second team consisting of Chuck, Joe, James and Jon follows behind
us, making the second trip out to the ferry ten minutes before
departure.  We will signal them on board once we find a way in.

The rest of the team consisting of Kera, Jessica, Yves, Emily, Deneka
and Ryan are hanging back in this location as backup.  I can't risk
taking everybody on board with me, and they know what to do if any of
us don't return.

Our watches have been timed and coordinated together, and we head out,
ten minutes ahead of the others.  The port was as expected, dank and
murky, it's obviously the part of the ocean that nobody swims in.  The
ferry sits out about a hundred yards from us, alongside a dock.  I
hope there are no creepy crawlies swimming underneath that dock.  I'm
not afraid of fish swimming by me, that's the least of my concerns at
the moment, it's jellyfish or sharks, something that could cause any
one of us physical harm, or alert the crew as to our presence.

"This is it guys, ready to swim for it, but do so quietly."

"You sure we have to wade through this gunk?"

"It looks like a regular seaport, I'm sure it's nothing that you
haven't seen before."  Even still I'm not so confident.  How much oil
and gasoline could have spilled over into here from the ships, not to
mention the rust floating around from the abandoned ships sitting at
the far dock.

I wade out further into the water, trying to swallow the bile rising
up in my throat.  I can do this, after all I've been covered in alien
goo before and almost digested by a giant mushroom.  Walking through
water should be a piece of cake compared to that.

It's not.

First stretch is completed though as we come up to a buoy made of old
tires.  So this is what they did to the ones that they didn't burn. 
I'll have to remember this when we get a flat on the jeep.

"Not much farther guys."

"Do we have to stick our heads in this?"  I can hear the disgust in
Elizabeth's voice, and believe me; I'm disgusted too.

"At the count of three, we're not that far, try to stay under as long
as you can until you reach the ship.  One"

I look down at the green water.

"Two" Take a deep breath.

"Three" I'm going to be sick after.

Maybe sick isn't a good enough word to describe what I'm feeling at
the moment.  I'm swimming with my hands sticking out in front of me; I
refuse to open my eyes in this sludge, not unless I want to go blind
or worse.

Mind you, blindness may not be so bad, at least I won't have to look
at Scully's face when I show her the piece of paper I found.  I won't
see her heart crush at the news, her hopes destroyed, and even worse,
the pain in her eyes when she finds out that I lied to her about this.
 Maybe I should open my eyes.

And my hands hit metal, eureka!  I lift my head out of the water, and
open my eyes to see the huge ferry in front of me.  I signal to the
others and slowly everybody's head pops out of the water, most of them
when a green slimelike substance in their hair, mine probably matches.
 At the moment I don't even want to think about what that could be, it
may be safer not to.

The ferry is an awkward shape with the base much more narrow than the
deck and a nearby porthole offers us easy access onto the ship.  The
ladder to the right offers easy climbing to the top and my hands slip
slightly as they grab onto the rusty handlebars.  Mental note: next
time I decide to climb the ship in the middle of the Delaware Bay,
wear rubber gloves.

I look off in the distance and see team #2 making their way into the
water, each grimacing apparently as we had. Good, if we had to suffer,
so should they.

The inside of the ferry is dark and dank as well and seems to match
the night outside, however the bonus is; none of the crew are around. 
It should be good hiding until we hit land again in an hour and a
half.

"I want constant quiet, nobody speaks unless spoken to by myself, or
if it's an emergency.  Somebody find the light and disable it, that
way if it's necessary, we have time to hide.  We exit at my call."

Four minutes later the second team enters the ship and the same
instructions are repeated.  We will be first off in Cape May, they
will be second.

Within minutes, nothing can be heard but the not so silent hum of the
ship.  I hope this works, else we're all screwed.

Ten minutes: Everybody's tense, we've heard footsteps pass by the door
leading to the corridor three times already, after the third, I sent
Cal to lock it, and Bailey is standing by with a weapon pointed at it
just in case somebody's bold enough to come by and unlock it.

Twenty minutes: Somebody jiggled the handle to the door two minutes
ago, Cal, Bailey and Elizabeth each have their weapons fully trained
on it while the rest of us are located near the porthole just in case
something happens and we don't have enough manpower to over come it.

Forty minutes: Things have settled down some now, no more doors being
jiggled, and relatively few footsteps, it makes me wonder though, do
they know they have stow aways?  If so, what are they going to do
about that?  Visibly, everybody's relaxed, although mentally, we're
all on the edge.  My wristwatch indicates we have still have half an
hour to wait before making landfall.  It's too far to swim to shore if
we need to, many of us would drown before we ever have the chance.

One hour: Scully's leaning against the wall, still silent.  I don't
believe she's spoken one word since we left base camp.  It's too dark
in here to read her face, but I know it's a contemplative silence. 
Well contemplative mixed with disgust, I know she's not enjoying the
fact that there's sludge running throughout her hair at the moment. 
How could one enjoy that?  The minute I find clean water somewhere,
I'm bathing.  I wonder what'll take for her to bathe with me?

That's my fantasy at the moment, the thing that's keeping me sane in
all this madness, the chance to see Scully skin, she's still very
reserved around me even though we're as close as we ever were.  I want
to break through that barrier of ice she has surrounding herself, and
even though I know she hasn't given up, it looks like she has.  She
has to know there's so much more worth living for than revenge at the
moment.

While the situation and conditions may not be ideal, there is a better
life out there, I just have to get through this one here and hope to
God she follows me.

The engine stops, and the ferry is silent.  Nobody's walking by,
nobody's moving, nobody's speaking, nothing.  It makes me wonder, have
we been set up?  The porthole slides open and the sea breeze hits my
face as I take a peak out, they're unloading, all of the men are busy.

The rusty old ladder is only an arm's reach away, I'm sure I could
grab it and pull myself out, if only I had some sort of distraction
though.  Then I could just dive into the water, at least this side of
the Bay is cleaner than the other side.  Maybe I can actually get some
of this green sludge out of my hair before meeting this new contact of
mine.

Then we get it, I don't know what it is but it makes just enough noise
to cover any sound we may make jumping into the water.  It almost
sounds like cannonballs blowing off in the distance, only nobody uses
cannonballs anymore.

"I'm going to jump in, I want everybody to follow single file, Team
one first, then team to, and try to time it right to coordinate with
the banging.  I'm going first, Scully follows, then Cal and Bailey. 
The rest of you decide what order you want to go in.  I'm out."  I
time the bang just right and my jump into the water is not heard.

I was wrong about the cleaner water though, and just about scurried up
as I felt something slither about between my legs.  I hope it was just
a fish, you never know these days what saltwater critters seem to be
floating about.  I feel as if I'm going to lose my lunch trying to
decide whether to remain calm and cool or scream and make a dash to
shore.  Speaking of upset stomachs, I'm surprised the ferry ride
hasn't made me sick.  Maybe if I worry more often about things and
ignore the little things I won't get sick again on the way back.

Just thinking about the ride back is making me sick, that combined
with Mr. Tentacles swimming between my legs is giving me enough energy
to make it shore in record time, only...

A second splash drowned out by a bang signal the arrival of Scully. 
Now I can leave, and believe me, I don't think anybody's ever managed
to swim that quickly.  All those years of laps back at the bureau pool
haven't been for nothing, and Scully seems to have no trouble either. 
It's the rest of the team I'm worried about.

Slowly, we all make it to shore and sneak out of sight of the Ferry. 
The next one isn't until morning.  I want to get in, meet the second
contact and get out.  I have every intention of being in DC by the end
of the week.

Nothing, not even those damn walls will stand in my way this time.

The entire team made it upon shore in twenty minutes, and thankfully
without incident.  We were pretty lucky with our timing as the banging
stopped only three minutes after our last man jumped into the water. 
We still don't know what it was, mind you, I don't really care.

Scully holds the map of the city inside her waterproof pouch and pulls
it out upon inspection of the city.  One would think that a coastal
city such as this would have more security, but I guess not.  Maybe
the expect vagrants such as us, and we walk in unnoticed.  Cal,
Bailey, Elizabeth and Monica escort Scully and I in the city while the
others remain on guard around the perimeter, they're the back up, led
by Jon, I trust him enough to know what to do.

The city streets are once again empty, although they do contain tell
tale signs of fish markets, I guess the city specializes in seafood,
although everybody knows that the best can be found in New England,
particularly Maine Lobster.  It's almost as good as the lobster fished
in Nova Scotia although as an American, you won't catch me saying that
aloud.

Nova Scotia no longer exists now though.  As a major link to the rest
of Canada, the international new government has taken it over and
destroyed it.  I guess they didn't want it, but didn't want anybody
else to have it.  It makes sense in it's own twisted way.

Cape May smells of raw fish, and I'm sure I can probably find bits and
pieces lying around from the fishermen who work here during the day. 
I won't think about that now though, it'll just add to my disgust of
green sludge and slimy tentacles.  Thankfully after leaving that one
spot I didn't encounter that creature again.  I'll have to watch for
it though when swimming back to the ship later.

"Who are we looking for Mulder?"  I haven't filled Cal in on the
situation yet, which is unusual, but what do I tell him if I know
nothing myself, so I answer the only way I can.

"Somebody who knows Scully and I."

"And who would know you and Scully?  I didn't know you've been to Cape
May before."

"I haven't, but apparently this person knows who I am, which is not
surprising, I've dealt with many people in the past who's probably
moved locations.  I'm sure we've got nothing to worry about.  We'll
know her when we see her."

"And who's her?"

"Her would be me." A slurred voice could be overheard from around the
corner.

Bingo.

A short dark skinned woman stepped out of the dark alleyway, and
unless the statement 'appearances can be deceiving' is true, she is
not the one I'm looking for.  Hell, she's wasted as it is.  I wonder
how much she has had to drink in the last our or so if her speech is
that bad.

"I know what you'rrrrrre thinking Mr. Mulderrrrr, let me tell you" and
she was waving her finger at me at this point, "that I am who I am, I
am who you're looking for, the want you want."

"And you would be?"  Cal stands behind me with is weapon pointed at
her, obviously not entirely trusting of this drunk hag who stands
before us speaking nonsensical words.

I don't blame him either, I feel like leaving now.

"You can call me Miss. Ashley, I've always wanted to be a teacher, so
Miss Ashley sounds very nice indeedy.  Now, to set a price.  I have
something you want Mr. Mulder, something you and Miss Scully need,
desperately, so it ain't gonna be cheap, it'll cost you a pretty
penny."

Joy of all joys, I'm sent to see a drunk on probably the most
important mission of my life here.  I should shoot myself now and put
me out of my misery.  I can't believe I swam in the Delaware Bay for
this.

Scully obviously does not find the situation as amusing as I do
though, then again she doesn't know what I know, and she doesn't know
for what reason I'm going into DC.  "What's your price.  Keep in mind
we don't have much as we're just vagrants like yourself."

"What I want you have, it's simple.  You see it's lonely here out on
the streets, I just want a companion that's all."

"We're not into people selling, that's off limits."

"Well that's too bad cause then you ain't receiving no information." 
She turned to walk away, but Scully stopped her.

"Wait, isn't there something else?"

"No, it's simple" she extended a finger our way, "I'll give you the
documents for him."

Bailey visibly swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat at the
thought, and he wasn't the only one doing so.  I knew people trading
was a common thing these days, but I swore to myself six years ago
that I would never participate in such a practice.  By normal
standards, it's extremely unethical, however we do not run by the norm
anymore, so I guess people do as they wish.

"You can't have him, find another price, he's not for sale, I told
you, we don't do people trading."

"Well no documents then, I guess you have no way of getting into DC
then."

"Damnit, there has to be another way, think woman!  What could you
possibly want other than him?"

"Absolutely nothing, I'm content, I have my hovel, I have my liquor,
and soon I'll have my man, there is nothing that I need."

Well there's only one thing left that I can do, and I look at Bailey
dejectedly.  While like I said I'm not into people trading, Scully
would not forgive me if I couldn't get what I wanted.  "Give me a
minute to talk to my man" and I pull Bailey aside, refusing to look at
Elizabeth while doing so.  I don't think she's going to forgive me
anytime soon.

"You can't be serious Mulder, I will not go with her."

In a hushed voice I continue, "be patient, I've got a plan running
through my head, but it's going to require your cooperation, and the
rest can't know, especially Elizabeth for effect."

"You've got my attention, anything as long as I don't have to be left
behind."

"Good" Plan B is discussed and we return to the group, Bailey playing
his role out perfectly making him seem disgusted by staying with the
woman, not to mention the way Elizabeth is freaking out at the moment.

"Okay, we'll trade, where's the documents."

Well Elizabeth hasn't shot me yet so that's a good thing, although I
still refuse to look her in the eye.  Knowing her she'll probably
shoot me after I get what I want, I just hope Cal has enough sense to
hold her back when she attempts to.  Hell, she's his sister, he knows
her best, he knows what she's capable, and other than Bailey, he knows
her best.  I'll admit to not really getting to know her as well as I
could have.  I know the basics about her, just the same as I know the
basics about everybody else, but that's it.  I at least hope she holds
back until I have time to follow through.

Obviously Miss Ashley's not too brilliant if she isn't holding Bailey
at gunpoint while getting the documents.  One would usually think
about doing things like that in today's world as insurance, especially
when it comes to people swapping.  Instead he's just standing next to
her, his weapon hidden just in case.  Even if plan B doesn't follow
through I have every confidence that he will not remain along side
Miss Ashley if he can help it.

"You get four sets of papers, one for you, one for Miss Scully, and
two are left over for whoever you decide to take with you, with the
exception of this young handsome stud here who will stay by me. 
Inside you'll find everything you need with the exception of photos,
which you will have to Laurel, Maryland for.  A woman who only answers
to the name Chiquita will take the photos for you and apply them to
the papers.  She's an outcast much like myself and an expert in
falsification."

The envelope seemed light in itself, mind you four sets of papers
wouldn't weigh much to begin with.   Now to start plan B and take our
leave.

"We thank you for the papers, you have been much help to us, however
are you sure there's nothing else we can offer you instead of this
young man?  He's really quite useful for our team and cause."

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (6/19)

"I really don't care for your team or cause Mr. Mulder, besides, I
like them young, hard and lean.  He matches all three criteria, so he
stays."

I can hear Elizabeth screaming and swearing, both at me and at the
hag.  I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but unfortunately I can do
the only thing I can at the moment.

Bailey shoots me a look as Cal grabs onto Elizabeth to hold her back. 
Within a blink of an eye it is done.

One: ready

Two: aim

Three: fire

The silencer muffles the sound of the shot as the bullet enters the
hag square in the forehead, allowing her to fall to the ground in an
ungraceful slump.

Plan B: Success.

Let's move on

Next stop is Laurel, Maryland, how I expect to get there so soon, I
don't know, we still have the issue of crossing the Delaware Bay again
to get back to the jeeps.  I don't know if I want to do that again,
what if the tentacle creature decides it's hungry again?  I can always
take the hag and throw her in to feed the fishes, but that requires
too much time and effort, as it is we have to get away now so the
local authorities don't spot us.  I never planned on cold-blooded
murder tonight, I was saving that for DC and the higher ups there, but
if the situation called for it, who was I to say no?

It was simple enough, Bailey or the hag.  I'm not ready to give up
Bailey, and obviously neither is Elizabeth, as she doesn't seem to be
letting go of him anytime soon, so it was Ashley who had to go.

And I don't regret a thing about the encounter either.  That's
probably the biggest change in me over the years, I don't care anymore
when I kill somebody.  I used to think it made me some big horrible
monster whenever I shot somebody out of coldness, that I was one of
the many monsters we used to hunt while in the FBI.  Maybe I have
become one of those, but then again, do I really care?  Not anymore. 
It's survival of the fittest out here and I don't intend on succumbing
anytime soon.  I don't intend on letting any one of my team succumb
too and that's what I would have been doing if I chose to let the
drunkard live and keep Bailey as her companion.  Man I think he'd be
declaring war on me if I ever did that.

The important thing at the moment is I have the papers, four sets to
be exact containing two forms of Government Issue ID, and a passbook. 
Information is easy enough to falsify these days, all I have to do is
find four people, three men, one woman that look like us and take
their information.  That shouldn't be too hard to do, we'll do that in
Maryland as well.  If I'm lucky, that photographer woman I'm supposed
to meet will look enough like Scully that I can use her too, else I'll
just have to look around.

The night air gets considerably cooler.  I'm surprised that the
meeting didn't take as long as I thought it would, I was half
expecting Ashley to have more professionalism than she did, almost
like the first woman we met earlier today.  Now, unless we swim across
the bay, we have to wait a few hours before the next ferry comes by.

"Hey Mulder, take a look" Bailey points off in the distance while
still clinging to Elizabeth, and I see it too.

"Thank God."

Somebody had left a motorboat at a dock with the key in it, obviously
a very trusting person.  I didn't know whether to shout for joy or
make a mad dash and never return to Cape May or the Delaware Bay
again.

"How many people do you think it will hold?" 

"Five including the driver, we'll probably have to make two trips. 
Anybody know how to drive a powerboat?"

"I can.  Mulder, Cal, Monica, and Jon get on now.  I'll take you
across and come back for the others."  As always, Scully's orders go
unquestioned, except by me.  There's no way in hell I want to leave
the others, but I also don't want to leave Scully alone at any point. 
I know she can take care of herself, but I can't help but feel
protective of her, I always have.  I guess it's hard to teach an old
dog new tricks, I can still try though.

"Take somebody else with you, I'm going to stay back with the others
until you come back.  I'm not leaving them in such a dangerous area."

"Mulder, you're the most important person here.  You've got the
documents, I'm not leaving you here, even with the protection of the
others."

"Figure something else out" I hand her the envelope.  "You take the
documents with you then, but I'm not leaving.  As important as this
all is to me, I can't risk the members of my team unnecessarily, and
that means leaving them in a dangerous city.  You can't ask me to do
that."

I can see the mental battle inside of her, I know what's going on in
her head.  She knows I'm right, but there's also something else that's
keeping her from acknowledging it, and I can't help but smile with the
knowledge that she cares for me.  That's why she doesn't want to leave
me, I'm still her best friend in all of this.  She's nothing without
me as I'm nothing without her.

However I cannot relent at the moment, as tempted as I am, therefore
she gives up.  "Fine, Elizabeth with me now."

They turn off down the dock while I stand with the remaining members
of the team in a contemplative silence...well until I heard the words
"There's a problem."

My first thoughts were 'what, no keys?'  That's easy enough to solve
though and Scully knows how to hot-wire practically anything now, she
wouldn't be saying there was a problem if she knew how to solve it.

That brings me to my next thought, there's a whole in the boat and
it's taking on water.  However the fact that it's still floating above
the water where it should be quickly deflates that thought as well.

Maybe it just can't take as many people as we thought; then again an
extra trip won't hurt anybody.  It may take up more time yes, but it's
better than loading the boat and having it take on water in the middle
of the bay.

"Sh*t" Cal's voice breaks through my thoughts and I realize that I'm
now the only one on shore, everybody's on the docks checking out the
problem, and I quickly make my way to them, pushing in front only to
copy Cal's explanation.

"What the hell is it doing in there?"

"Somebody probably forgot it, or they're getting help to unload it."

"I don't think it's forgotten, I think the owner it's dinner."

They're all speaking at once around me, I'm trying to figure out this
problem, and how we can still use the boat.

"Is there anyway we can push it overboard?"

"Yeah right, and have it eat my arm, I don't think so, why don't we
just kill it.  Shoot it and be done with it."

"Cause I don't want to waste ammunition if we don't have to.  They're
skin can be extremely tough and dense depending on what it's been
through.  I've seen men killed trying to kill one of these."

"Then what do we do?"

"Well if anybody is willing to make sure the boat is tied securely to
the dock, someone can find a metal pole or something and push it
overboard."

"Sounds like a plan, I think I saw something back there."

My team has gone into action, Jon running for whatever it was he was
looking for.  I'm still standing here like an idiot muttering 'sh*t'
over and over again.

It was still alive thrashing around in the small boat, I hope it
doesn't destroy anything else we'd have to make our way through that
grimy water again to the ferry.  I'm going to shower as it is but I do
not want anymore Delaware water soaking my clothes or green goo in my
hair than is necessary at the moment.  And if we're going to push jaws
here into the water, I'm not swimming with him nearby.

"Boss, you take one, I'll take the other.  Two people grab onto each
end of the boat to make sure it doesn't flip, just watch your hands." 
Jon passed me a long metal pole and held a matching on in his hand
while Chuck and Cal each grabbed the boat, pulling it to the dock as
tight as they want while avoiding the thrashing teeth of the beast.  I
thought sharks weren't native this far up the coast.  "At the count of
three, we stick the poles underneath it and try to push it into the
water.  Ready-"

"Wait, can we club it first?  Not enough to kill it, just render it
unconscious for a couple of hours while it sinks to the bottom, I
don't want to have to deal with an irate shark if he decides to stick
around shore."

"Why don't we just feed the hag to it to placate it so it would
hopefully leave the rest of us alone."

"No, the hag can rot in the streets for all I care, I want out, and I
want out now.  Simple as that."

The metal pole was large, but by no means extremely heavy, and in one
quick blow, it stops thrashing, however I can see by the gill movement
that it is still breathing.  Good, now to get this thing in the water
and out of my sight.

"One, two, THREE!"

This thing is certainly no lightweight, and if any of us knew better,
we'd keep it and grill it for dinner, but I'm not much of a shark fan
and don't feel like trudging it around.  The pole feels like it's
going to snap any second now, and with one last push from the both of
us, we watched it sink into the water, hopefully never to be seen
again.

"You five, go now, we'll see you in a couple of hours."  I can hear
footsteps in the background now, men from the city and I hope they
make it to the other side safe and sound, meanwhile time to find a
place to hide so they don't find us.  "Come on, before they see us, I
don't know if they're to be trusted or not and I won't risk finding
out."

We arm ourselves, and make way up to a little fisherman's hut at the
top of a hill.  This should do nicely I hope.

The footsteps walked back and forth at the base of the hill the cabin
was on, but it didn't look like the men were armed or would be
dangerous, but you never know these days.  They could be watchers
again, in Cape May for their own agenda and trying to leave, or they
could live here and spend the night watching the coast.  Either case I
knew that if they weren't gone by the time Scully pulled up in the
boat again, I'd have to shoot all three.

The silencer on my weapon is set in place just in case, and I'm sure
the shark that I sent to the bottom of the bay here won't mind and
evening snack.

It's been about an hour give or take since Scully's left, and I can
only hope that everything's all right.  We lost radio contact
forty-five minutes ago, but that can also be due to any number of
things, including the frequencies the boat traffic give off or the
fact that she's turned it off to prevent frequency crossover and have
somebody discover us.  Neither option keeps me from worrying though. 
I knew I shouldn't have allowed her to go by herself, I should have
caved in on her insistence to tag alone with the first ride, but it's
too late to regret the decision now, all I've got to do is sit and
wait.

And hope those three fishermen sitting on the dock aren't up to
anything funny.

Everybody's climbing walls here, the hut isn't big to begin with, and
cramming it with five people fills it up easily.  We have raided their
cupboards thoroughly, taking any food and dried fish they may have and
stashing them in our bags, as well as bottled water, matches, and
other paraphernalia that might come in handy while bartering it.

They even had a bottle of Amaretto lying around, a full one that is
and I'm not about to pass the chance for free alcohol.  While I do not
allow my team to drink heavily and become drunk, a small toast won't
harm anybody, especially if we dilute it with something, I'm sure
there's cream around somewhere we can drink it with, or at least the
younger ones can drink it with, I've always preferred it straight,
enjoying the rich, thick flavour of it as it goes down.

That gets thrown in my, and it's not much longer before I hear the
returning sound of the speedboat, and a glance out of the window
confirms my suspicions of it belonging to Scully.

We're going to have to do something about those three men as they rise
and walk down to greet the boat, guns in hand.

Well it's now or never, my sig is certainly getting a workout tonight.

She's smart, she's on her guard already, the five of us sitting in the
hut here have silently made our way down to the bottom of the hill,
three feet behind the men who obviously have no training in stealth
combat, else they'd realize we're nearby, and even moreso, that we're
armed.  Maybe we don't have to kill them, maybe, we can just knock
them out cold like we did to the shark.

They're moving closer to the dock, raising their weapons as she speeds
into a halt, and she remains expressionless as they're yelling
obscenities at her.  I can hear every single word they're saying, and
while she may look like this isn't affecting her one iota, it
certainly was affecting me.  By the time I'm through with them,
they'll either be dead, or begging for their piddly lives while
showing her the utmost of respect she truly deserves.

My team is watching me carefully, I can feel their eyes on me, gauging
my reaction, they know this is serious stuff now, they know what gets
me off.  Well too bad boys, they've crossed the line now so they're
going to pay.  When I hear them calling my partner a crude form of the
word describing a certain female body part, which will remain unnamed
as I do not like that word, well they'll be facing hell in a moment.

Hell hath no fury like Fox Mulder regarding his partner.

And she realizes this too, which is why she isn't saying anything.  If
there's one thing that has changed about the old Scully, it's her lack
of self-defense.  It's not that she's lost in any way, shape or form,
she's still got it, but she doesn't mind me sticking up for her now,
it saves her the effort.

Well it's not like she'd have much of a choice today, I certainly am
not going to take a back seat in this argument.

And the indentation my sig makes while poking the flesh on the back of
the first man is not nearly enough to satisfy my need at the moment.

"Hello boys."

The one with the gun in his back jumped a bit, and the others were
soon to follow when they each felt one in theirs.  I knew my team
would back me up, always.  "What's your name pal?"  I attempted
communication with the one that seemed to be leader. It would be much
more effect to talk to him using it than just calling him what I
really wanted to.  I may not get the answers I want then.

"Jeremy" he pointed to the man on his left "Walt" and the man on his
right "Rick."

"Well Jeremy, I suggest you, Walt and Rick throw your weapons in the
water now and apologize to the lady for your comments."

"Hey, hey, we don't need to apologize to red there, she stole our
boat, we just want it back."

"She didn't steal it, she borrowed it with no intention of returning
it.  And speaking to her the way you just did wouldn't have helped the
situation either.  Now, drop the weapons in the water and apologize."

"Or what?  You ain't the kid or the guard, we don't need to listen to
you."  The kid?  I know about the role of the guard, each city has one
guard in charge of it, sort of like mayor, but instead of him/her
being democratic, it was all authoritarian.  Now the kid was
something, and I couldn't help but feel that it was only validating my
previous thoughts regarding Summer.

I've got to talk to Scully and fast, meanwhile, Jeremy, Walt and Rick
were top of the priority list for the moment.

I jam the sig harder into his back for emphasis.  Words aren't needed
to tell him his options again, and after crying out from pain, his gun
flew silently into the depths of the bay.

"Now your friends."

The other two stood in silence just staring at Jeremy for the word,
and with another jab in his back, it came right out of his mouth, "do
it."

"Now apologize."

His eyes were ablaze with anger, I bet he didn't think that Scully
would have back up, well too damn bad, he's gonna suffer now.

Only...

I didn't even see it coming.

He got the better of me, within a few seconds he had managed to flip
one of his legs around mind and pulled me down to the ground, taking
him with me.  My lungs hurt from the fall, the wind being knocked out
of me and I can vaguely hear the shouting voices around me, Jeremy
struggling free from my grip and only when I manage to catch my breath
again I felt his fist connect with my jaw.

For a few seconds, I saw nothing, I heard nothing, except red, and the
pounding my head.  The pain was intense and continued to spread
throughout the side of my face.

And my spleen.

My gut now felt as if it was on fire from his incessant kicking.  Why
must everyone kick when they fight?  It would make it a lot easier for
me to get up without feeling his foot pound into my hip every second
or so.

"Mulder!"  Scully's voice now enters the mix, and a sense of sharp
awareness overcomes me and I realize where we are, what we're supposed
to be doing, and who these fucks were that we're supposed to be
dealing with.

"Motherfucker."

A swift roll to the left and I manage to get on my feet again, and
face level with Jeremy who's still swinging his arms out in an
uncoordinated fashion, leaving me to believe that he wasn't really
trained to fight anyway.  I may just have the upper hand again.

"Mulder!"  I toss a look Scully's away again and in a second she's
tossing me her sig and silencer.

He freezes instantly when he realizes I have the gun back, and am not
afraid to use it.

"What do you want?  If you want the boat, fine it's yours."  As if I'm
going to let him off that easy.  I don't think so.

"Oh, I have every intention of taking the boat, whether you want me to
or not, the choice to do so was never in your hands to begin with."

"I'll apologize to the lady" he turned to Scully.  "I'm sorry ma'am, I
shouldn't have called you what I did, you're none of the above."

"Not good enough Jeremy."

"Please, you wouldn't kill an unarmed fisherman would you?"

"Would I?"

"Please..." There must be something in my eyes now, he's begging.

"I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do, come here."  He stepped
cautiously forward.  "Closer."  He stood inches from my face.

Good enough.

And the butt of my gun came crashing down on his forehead, and my
backup soon mirrored my move.

"Toss them in the water and lets move, we've wasted enough time
already."

The six of us crawled into the boat and Cape May soon sped out of
sight.

We were just lucky on returning before the boat took on water.  Scully
had returned with most of the lightweights on the first trip in,
leaving only us bulkier ones on shore, so it was risky as it was in
shark infested water to place six people on a five person boat,
combine the weights though and it'll seem like there's seven.  We took
the trip much slower than we would have if there were five of us,
extending the return time to two hours instead of one and a half, but
none of minded that much, it gave us time to think things through, how
long we may have until people realize the hag is dead and three
fishermen are missing.

Hopefully with their boat missing as well it won't be a problem,
especially if they surface in the water and pulled out by other men,
then everybody will have assumed they've just gone under, no fowl play
involved.  The identification documents were all important now, and
who knows if anybody knew we had them.  People would kill for
something like this, I just did, so I'm not about to let anybody else
get their hands on this.

And the team's not going to know either except for those who met the
contact with me.  Last thing I need is a mutiny of sorts, somebody
from my own team taking the goods and run into DC on their own,
hopefully looking for protection of sorts from them, or their own
vengeance.

As far as I was concerned, there were only four of us who's going to
know what to do with them, Scully, Cal, Bailey and I.  This is DC, of
course I'm going to take my two top men, especially when they each of
military experience.  They'd know the drill better than I do.

Word has been sent ahead to the gunmen via James and they know our
schedule and our timeline, and what to do.  They'll make sure our plan
is flawless, they'll provide us with any necessary equipment we may
need, they'll make sure everything is in working order.

And finally, they'll give us a layout of the city, hack into their
files, pull the info, pull the maps, look for the weaknesses, and
verify what I have learned about Summer.

Maybe, just maybe if I'm lucky they can tell me how to break the news
to Scully.  Lord knows I can't do that myself yet.  It means
destroying the one thing that kept her sane for the past six years.

I can't do it now though, this can wait until after Maryland.  After
Maryland I'll tell her.

First stop though, Chiquita, hopefully she'll recognize me as I don't
even know where to begin looking for her there.

And hopefully this time she won't want one of my men and I won't have
to kill her too.  I'm getting tired of all this death, it's not who I
am, its not who I wanted to become.

The sun burns down on us again, and the further west we seem to go,
the more intense the heat becomes.  Most of us are sprawled out in the
back of the jeep, water bottles in hand and shirts off just bathing in
the light, well not the women, they're still wearing their tops
although I wish they'd take them off too.

We had stopped to bath at a near by spring in an abandoned cottage
about an hour outside of Lewes.  The water seemed clean enough, well
at least compared to what I swam in just last night, and felt cool to
the skin, which was a nice contrast to the blaring heat.  It seemed
like an endless supply, and we all took the time to bath and fill up
jugs for drink and cooking later.

It almost felt like an oasis, but like all oasis, one can never stay
as long as they like, we still had work to do, people to meet and
places to go.  We left the spring once clean and loaded up, and now we
drive again.

Scully sits next to me in the back, her normally white skin turning
pink from the constant exposure to the sun.  She of all people should
be covered; instead she's wearing a black tank top and khaki shorts. 
I wish we had managed to pick up sun lotion somewhere, she's going to
be in a lot of pain later, and cranky as hell.

My skin has bronzed however, forming an even tan covering my arms,
legs and torso, and I'm not worried about covering up, enjoying the
feel of the sun on my bare chest.  I never took a vacation long enough
while in the bureau to tan, so I'm making up for it now.  Only too bad
I can't sit long enough to enjoy it.

I wonder if Scully will notice though?  I highly doubt it, with men
like Cal around, and Bailey who's obviously enjoying the sun just as
much as I am, she doesn't need to pay attention to me, none of the
women here do.

Her red hair is starting to seep through the blonde, we'll have to fix
that if she wants to get into DC without being recognized.  Last I
heard all redheads were being shipped to Quantico, their top testing
lab just because they feared her.

If that was the case you may as well throw all brown-haired men in
there as well since that is my hair colour.  It's a stupid reason to
do something like that, then again though, I never said the new
government was smart.

After all, it was run by Deputy Director Kersh until I killed him way
back.

"Hold on boys, stop for a second, I think I saw another newspaper
clipping."

The jeeps slow down and I jump out before it has a chance to stop all
together and grab the clipping from the rock it's stuck under.

Well this certainly makes the show a little more interesting.

KERSH WOMAN CHOSEN AMERICAN WIFE OF THE YEAR 

Denise Gilliland 
USA Today Staff Reporter 

WASHINGTON, DC - It was no surprise yesterday 
when the people committee chose Nancy Kersh as 
American Wife of the Year. 

Nancy Kersh, 36, stood shocked and proud yesterday 
as the announcement was made on Capitol Hill declaring 
her the 2007 American Wife of the Year, ending the 
three year reign of Barbara Holeman, wife of former 
senator Brian Holeman. 

Kersh, wife of Allen Kersh, former Deputy Director of 
the former Federal Bureau of Investigation and current 
Commander in Chief, has been recognized for performing 
her wifely tasks beyond the call of duty. 

"It's really no hassle," says Kersh. "I'm just doing 
what any wife would do in this situation." This 
situation meaning the current state of the High 
Commander. 

The High Commander Kersh, 55, was shot in the 
back by the rebel leader only known as Moose three years 
ago leaving him paralyzed neck down and in a wheelchair. 
He has since been left in the care of his wife, both opting 
out of hiring a live-in nurse. 

Kersh describes her duties as talking him out for 
walks in the park for fresh air, feeding him dinner, 
putting him to bed, changing his clothes as well as 
aiding him with all hygienic practices. 

Her activities even extend to the office where she 
prepares and signs all documents for him, acting as 
both assistant and partner. 

"I love my husband, and I'm would do anything for him. 
Taking care of him myself is one of the only ways I can 
show him how I really feel." 

Continued page A12 

"Hey, Scully, I think I found out who our mystery informant is." 

"Chiquita?" 

"No, Dover." I hold up the picture attached to the article, bearing an
exact resemblance to our informant standing and smiling next to a very
familiar face sitting in a wheelchair.

"Deputy Director Kersh?" 

"High Commander now. I thought I killed the bastard." 

One mystery solved the identity of our mystery informant. Now that I
look at her picture and see her name, I do recognize her from the
bureau function eight years ago. She has changed some, hair colour is
off, she used to have red highlights, and it was longer back then too.
Not to mention she looked more professional than she did now.

The confidence was still there though, the way she walked, the way she
spoke to me, it was all coming back, and it was the same as back then.

"Do you really think she means it when she wants us to kill her
husband?"

"Let me put it this way Scully, would you want to be married to Kersh
and change his diaper every time he goes to the bathroom?"

The look she gives me is priceless, I'll take that as a no. 

"You gonna kill him then, or at least try to again?" 

"I have every intention of putting her out of her misery. I only wish
I was a better three years ago then she wouldn't have to worry about
taking care of him."

"She may really care about him, Wife of the Year and all that." 

"I don't think so, I think it's a facade, I just don't know why." 

"Well let's get moving then, I don't know about you, but I want to
find out her reasoning behind all this."

The trip into Maryland was long and hard, we've been driving way too
long lately, and everybody's getting tired and edgy, including me.  It
must the heat that's getting to us.  Normally between trips we have a
couple days to rest and relax, spend some time just sitting around and
enjoying what we have left of life.  We've been go go go since
speaking to Nancy Kersh, and most of us haven't slept in over 24
hours.

We haven't been like this since the beginning of this entire mess six
years ago when everything went to hell.  We were constantly on the
run, trying to keep alive and regain Scully's health.  We could never
stay in one spot at the same time fearing they would find us.  They
had to know that we were missing.  Things have calmed down since then.
 They're still looking for us, but now for an entirely different
reason.  We are no longer a threat due to our genetic make-up, for
what we know about the entire thing, we are a threat because of our
activities, our attempts at shutting them down.  I mean, who isn't
afraid of rebels or in our case, assassins.

"Think we can take a break boss?"  Poor Jon has been driving for hours
now and hasn't had a chance to rest either considering he's been on
the very active end of the team lately.

"After we meet this Chiquita woman.  We'll rest for a couple of days
before going to DC, we're going to need it."

"Nothing before hand?"

"If you want to trade off with somebody else and catch a nap, you're
free to do so."  I quickly motion to the other jeep behind us carrying
the rest of my team to pull aside.

"We need a driver here, somebody who hasn't been so active lately. 
Who's been able to catch a nap lately?"

Jessica, our youngest team member speaks up and trades off with Joe. 
She may only be 15, but she's been trained to fight like the rest of
us.  We picked her up three years ago; a twelve-year-old abandoned by
her parents as they fled for their own lives.  Bastards.  I don't know
any parent who would be so selfish, well maybe mine but they're also
the exception.  And they're dead.

We don't bring Jessica into very many 'outings' with us, she's too
young to lose, not to mention it would devastate Scully.  While
Jessica has never really been innocent to the world, Scully has done
the best she could to protect her and shield her from the horrors of
our job, and even attempted to mother her some.  They're really close.
 I on the other hand have done my best to break her into our nomadic
way of life, teach her how to use a gun and easiest and best way to
kill a prospective enemy or watcher.  In the past three years she has
killed four watchers, and god knows how many other assassins as well
as become a very active participant in covert operations and stealing
information.

She's not afraid to use herself in any way to get what she needs, and
I mean that in every way.  It's amazing how many corrupt public
officials like younger girls.  If this was the old days it'd be
illegal, however today anything goes, and she's not afraid to use that
to her advantage.

And I'm not at all surprised she offered to take Jon's place.  If he'd
open his eyes at all he'd be able to see that he's her next conquest
so to speak.

It seems like everybody has somebody these days, Elizabeth has Bailey,
and Jessica wants Jon, Kera and Joe are hitting it off, and well, Cal
is after Scully (although he knows he won't get within ten feet of her
without me tearing his limbs off).   Even before her death Skinner had
Tammy, both of them probably the happiest couple I've seen in a long
time.

"What are you thinking about?"  Scully's sleep-filled voice echoed in
the small corner of the jeep we were curled up in, her head still on
my shoulder.  It's unusual, despite the lack of closeness we've felt
over the past six years; we still sleep arm in arm.  That's something
we never did before all this happened.  It's like this damned war has
brought us together, yet pulled us apart.

"Couples, Tammy and Skinner mainly."

"Hmmm...unfortunate"

"I know."  She nestled in closer to my arm.  God I wish could just
spend all day like this, only with the emotional attachment.  That's
the problem, I've got to be emotionally detached here.  "You going to
go to sleep again?"

"No," she paused for a moment before continuing.  "They were really
happy weren't they?"

"They were."

"It's so rare to see happiness these days, so much violence."

Happy was not the word I would use to describe them.  They were very
happy, but they were more, almost confident in themselves.  It's a
rare quality in a married couple.

"Do you remember their wedding day?  It was the one nice day of the
year, no watchers in sight, nothing."

"Yeah, it was also the next day that she was killed."

I pull her closer to me, that's one fate I will not allow Scully to
succumb to.  "Nevermind the getting killed part, but I can see you're
going to need to perform another wedding again soon." She glanced over
at Bailey and Elizabeth huddled together trying to get some sleep."

"When it happens it happens.  How come you're still awake?   You
usually sleep for much longer than what you have."

"Worried about you.  You need sleep Mulder, and lots of it."

"I'll sleep after Laurel."

"No now.  I'll continue watch."

"But-" She shuffled forward in protest and pulled me against her.

Whatever, Doctor's orders, I was never one to complain about sleeping
with Scully.

Her arms are warm and strong around me, easily lulling me into a light
slumber.  It won't be enough to catch up on all that I have missed so
far, but enough to rejuvenate me somewhat.  And enough to let me
dream.

I haven't dreamt anything in so long that I was beginning to think
that I have forgotten how to dream.  Today was different.  It wasn't
war ravaged or survivalist like now, it wasn't a nightmarish
revisitation of the past such as Samantha's abduction or the theft of
my child before, it was simple, basic and pure.  Something that I had
never let myself see the possibility of until now.

And I don't know why I'm letting myself see the possibility; there
really is no possibility.

I picture Scully and I in a different life, one where she is happy,
and I am happy, with no Summer to worry about, no new government,
nothing.  She's a doctor, I'm a psychologist and living our lives
separately.

She has her husband and her house and her children while I have my
sister, and two loving parents.

Like I said we're both happy.

And I can't figure out why.

I knew the first day that I met her that I could never be happy
without her, so how is it possible that I can be happy in this dream
sequence?

Then suddenly it switches to something just as happy, but more along
the lines of what I want, and my body shifts in response.

She better quit touching me if I want to end this without making a
fool of myself...

Her hand moves up and down my leg, stroking lightly and softly over
the denim of my pants.  The tip of her fingers are curling against the
inside, and I can feel the light touch deep within me, electrified and
amplified as it traveled northward and hit home.  The featherlight
touches increased in their confidence and my already eager member rose
to the occasion.  The combination of denim against Fox Jr. was enough
to set me on fire.

Her hand set in motion in time with the beat coming from the jeep
stereo while other pressed itself against my chest, pushing lightly
until I'm forced to lean back against the jeep wall and allow her to
straddle myself.

The denim became more restrictive with each moment, and each touch
cause my hips to wiggle and move some, trying to find a way to make
myself more comfortable.

"Mulder..." her voice was husky and slurred as her face neared mine, the
scent of her intoxicating her red lips entrancing me, holding me in a
spell like stupor.

"Mulder..." her lower hand pushing further against me, rubbing and
caressing, and it feels so good that I could probably die happy right
there.

"MULDER!!!"  

My eyes open wide and suddenly nobody is touching me anymore, and
Scully who has apparently been calling my name for the last five
minutes is standing on the ground outside the jeep trying to wake me
up instead of rubbing herself up and down me.

Damn!

I just hope she didn't notice my current condition.

"Mulder, you're awake"

Yes, she really is quite observant.

"We're in Laurel.  Let's get moving."

"Scully?"

"Yeah?"

I take one quick glance in her eyes as I quickly slide my weapon over
myself and realize that she hasn't seen anything she isn't supposed
and it takes some quick mental work to calm myself down, mainly the
one thing that works on every man, picturing their mother in a bikini,
or at least that always works on me.  "Ready?"

Well 'ready' to me at the moment holds two entirely different
meanings.  'Ready' to continue where my dream left off at?  Oh hell
yes, I'm ready for that, but 'ready' to move on and visit this
Chiquita woman?  No, I need a few more minutes to compose myself and
think nasty thoughts.

And nasty thoughts they were.  They evolved my mother in her bikini to
CGB Spender parading around in a pink thong.   Getting close.  CGB
lying totally nude on the grass sunbathing himself, a few more minutes
of this and I should be able to move.

"Mulder, we can't see her without you or have you forgotten?"

Shit, no time for that, time to pull out the big guns.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (8/19)

I mentally prepped my mind for the images about to enter, CGB doing
what we humans like to call the naked pretzel.  Finally some
shrinkage.

"C'mon Mulder, we have no time."  She was already making her way into
the town, her semi thrown across her back.

CGB Spender doing the naked pretzel with that hag Ashley...

That did it!

"Coming!"  My Smith & Wesson is strapped to my ankle and my semi
strewn over my shoulder as I make a quick dash to catch up to Scully
and the rest of my team.

"Gee Mulder what took you so long?"  Scully throws a quick glance back
at me and I realize that she's known all along...

Double shit.

The town is busy today, people crawling everywhere running errands and
living their everyday life.  Its nice to know that this town has
remained untouched by the new government, although I wouldn't
necessarily say it's uncorrupted.  It's where the outlaws go, the town
with the highest murder rate in all of what's left of the US.  Weapons
are expected here, and I know with the type of ammunition we're
packing on our backs, nobody'll touch us.  Well hopefully.

Once again we're looking for a woman who will recognize us, not vice
versa, and in a town like this, I don't feel like waiting for long for
somebody to pull us aside and introduce herself as 'Chiquita.'  I'd
rather go back to the jeep and continue with my dreams.  They were
just getting good as Scully woke me up.

Speaking of Scully, I've got to wonder what she's thinking right now. 
She didn't exactly catch me at my best there, well she did but she
didn't.  It's not something that's really appropriate to let your best
female friend see especially when the dream causing it was focused on
her.  If I thought there was a chance in hell that it might actually
come true, then by all means I'd tell her every minute detail and help
her in every way possible to replicate it.

Alas it is not meant to be though, Scully and I that is.  After
fourteen years one would think it would have already happened.

"Hey doll, wanna have some fun tonight?"  A bearded man stood next to
Scully, his hand already reaching out to grab her.

I hold up and stop my team members behind me, a smirk no my face. 
We're here just in case the situation escalates, but I'm more than
confident enough to know that Scully can disable him quickly enough.

And she does.  

We can't hear what she's saying, she's speaking so low, but one look
in his eyes shows us that he doesn't like what she's saying.

"C'mon guys, time to get moving, Chiquita's waiting for us, no more
dawdling."  We catch up to Scully and move on.  Hopefully one of these
street urchins around here is the one we're looking for...

Seven out of eight streets appear to be empty, vacant, like they were
abandoned long ago.  Much of the buildings are getting rustic, paint
chipping everywhere, shutters falling off, weeds growing, etc., as if
the people living here no longer cared for them.  I guess they really
don't.  Laurel is a city where people don't own the land or homes;
they just live in them for as long as they need to before moving on. 
The only material possessions they seem to own are the clothes on
their backs, whatever money they have carrying around, and weapons. 
There is no shortage of weapons here, which is why I wear mine on my
back and on my hip.

"Mulder, how are we supposed to find Chiquita if we don't know
anything about her.  I mean the drunkard in Cape May wasn't all that
helpful, especially after you shot her."

"Please!  Can we not bring up the hag" Bailey interjected into the
conversation, "I know I'm gonna have nightmares for the rest of my
life now.  You do not know how much I wanted to hurt you when you said
'deal' Mulder."

"Relax will you, you should know better by now, you can trust me.  And
I we'll find this girl, she's gotta be around here somewhere."
"No Mulder, living with the hag for the rest of my life would be like
you living without Scully for the rest of yours.  You frightened poor
Elizabeth here, I thought she was going to slit your throat for a
second."

Now that's something I haven't thought about, how would he take to
living with Ashley.  Bailey knows how close Scully and I are, and how
long I would survive without her, I know he wouldn't joke around like
that about that. I'm feeling worse by the second, he should have
trusted me though.

"I knew what I was doing, and I doubt she'd overpower me. Anyway,
we're not here to discuss your current lovelife and mistresses" oh he
was going to hurt me for that jab, "we're here to find Chiquita."

"What exactly is she giving us boss?" 

"ID's, passports, photos, etc. For Scully, for Cal, for Bailey, and
for me."

"What are the rest of us going to do while you're in DC?" 

"Well I'm hoping to get a few of you in too, if we're lucky, we can
copy them and go."

"Don't we already have the IDs?" 

"We do, we need photos though, and that's what Chiquita's for, when we
find her anyway."

"And you have" a young girl's voice appears out of nowhere. 

"Tee hee." 

What I see before me totally shocks me.  I expected another sordid old
drunkard woman, but instead I'm presented with a child in rags.  Well
she's not really a child; she looks to be fourteen at the most, but
she's not exactly grown up either.

"You're Chiquita?"  The surprised look on Cal's face as she says that
must mirror mine, like I said, I expected a drunkard here.

"I'm the one, let me guess, one of you is Mulder, I'm judging it's him
seeing as he looks like he has brains in his head."

We all follow her finger and end up laying our eyes on Ryan.  What am
I?  Another pretty boy here?  I've had just about enough of her
already.

"I happen to be Mulder" I clarify curtly and hand over the documents. 
"We need photos and now, we're kind of in a hurry."

"How much will you pay me?"

Oh crap, if she so much as mentions a companion...

"How much do you want?"

"Two bottles of water and a small weapon, preferably a handgun."

Once again, I'm sure everybody's expression mirrors mine.  "A handgun,
what the hell do you need a handgun for?  If you think I'm gonna give
you a handgun, you're crazy, how can I trust you not to shoot any one
of us in the back?"

"You can't, but such is life.  Hey, a girl needs to defend herself
somehow around here; I'm running out of options.  So, deal or are you
going to try to get into DC without photo identification?"

There's really no alternative other than killing her, and I refuse to
end another life without suitable reason.  It just means that we have
to be more cautious.  "Deal, Ryan, pull out the extra sig and two
bottles of water, now missy, it's your turn to ante up.  Photos
please."

"Of course, say cheese."  Instantly her camera is out and a bright
white flash blinds me.  "Tee hee."

This kid has got guts in order to do that.  I would have been okay if
she had given me some warning other than 'say cheese' before blinding
me, that way I could have at least prepared myself, but no, she had to
do it her way.  I should shoot her right here and now and take the
rest of the damn pictures myself.

"Next in line please" she called out quickly.  "Which one of you
broads are Scully?"  She glanced down at the papers before looking up
again.  "You, with the red hair dyed blonde, front and centre please."

Scully stepped forward; I can see her just waiting to blow up all over
Chiquita for calling her a broad.  Nobody calls Scully a broad and
lives to tell about it.  Surprisingly she doesn't, she puts on her
somber face and waits for the photo to be taken.

"Okay, two more photos, let's go, who's next?"

I call forth Cal and Bailey, both seem kind of unsure of themselves
seeing the previous two performances by Chiquita, and the blinding
flash of the camera.  They also seem very unsure of the weapon we left
for her as well.  Somehow though I don't think she'll use it against
us.  She's not nave like most young people are, but she's not stupid
either.  She knows that one shot against us and we'll have her rotting
on the ground so quickly she couldn't say 'tee hee' again.

"Okay, handsome, step up to the batter's plate, your turn" she waggled
her finger at Cal and snapped the shutter before he could blink. 
Bailey however was prepared, and stood right where he was supposed to,
not moving once.  "Beautiful, strike a pose and say cheese."

The camera flashed once again, the rest of us thankful that we didn't
have to see that horrid light one more time.  This girl was too much,
she's way too outgoing for her own good, she'll get herself killed in
no time.

"Anybody else want any pictures taken while I've got film left?"  We
all look at each other with wide eyes, and a thought dawned on me.

"Do you know anything about forging papers?"

"Sure, I've done that tons of times.  Why do you think I'm still alive
here.  I'm the only person in this city who can get you legal papers
that *will* pass at the gate.  Why, you need some more?"

"Two more if possible."

"It'll cost ya"

"How much?"

"Two ammo clips for this weapon, one per document."

"Done, Joe, ammo clips please."  He tosses them up front and I add
them to her growing pile.  "Elizabeth, Monica, line up."  The two of
them step forward at my command.  I've learned from experience that
having extra women around can always be beneficial.

"All right you two, smile for the camera!"

Chiquita led us inside her shack she called a home.  It wasn't that
bad really considering the town she lived in and the type of people
who live here.  She even had her own darkroom, which was useful for
her so-called career.  Naturally, however, not all of us could fit in
her hovel, so only the six of us who's photos were taken entered and
took a seat somewhere on the dusty floor while she did her work, and
looked around.

It was a basic two-room place, her dark room, and her living space. 
In the far corner against the wall sat an old cot, mattress torn and
falling apart, but I bet it's better than sleeping on the floor, or in
the back of a jeep.  Mind you, neither is too bad as long as I have
Scully curled by my side.

She had one chair, and it wasn't really even a chair, more like a
ratty bean bag chair she made herself, although by the looks of Bailey
stretched out on it and Elizabeth in his lap, it's probably quite
comfortable.  I don't think I'd have sat on it though, in this town,
who knows what kind of dirt and germs and crap like that is going
around.  I'd be safer sitting on the ground.

Her table in the middle is a basic wooden table, flat top, four legs,
nothing to it.  The surface is rough and unfinished, and in the corner
the words 'tee hee' are carved into it, as well as 'CB'.  I wonder
what the 'B' stands for.

Across from her cot is a water basin, well a plastic bowl to be exact,
and it's clean enough to tell me she doesn't use it as a toilet. 
There's probably a washroom hidden somewhere in here.  The water is
most likely from the pump, but that doesn't answer my question of why
she would be in such dire need of water.

Her shelf above her bed was stocked full of bottled water, was she
just adding to her collection, or was it just in case of an emergency?
 With skills like she has, it's not like she can't afford to go out
and just buy some.

"All righty, photos are developed, I just need identities for each one
of you.  You obviously cannot go in as Mulder and Scully; you wouldn't
last two minutes at the front gate before getting caught and being
hauled off to Quantico."

"Any ideas guys?  You all pick your own names, I'm going with Justin
Treveau, not very common so it should stand that I'm not a fake since
it's common names they're looking for."

So Scully went with Therese Hatcher, Cal is Calvin East, Bailey is
Patrick Trossol, Monica is Josephine Taylor, and Elizabeth is Elisa
Grey.  Simple, yet complicated enough hopefully that they won't figure
us out.

It takes all of twenty minutes before the photos are set on the papers
and all proper identification is thoroughly forged.  I've seen
professionals take hours with this stuff, Chiquita really knows her
stuff.

"There we go, safe journey out, thanks for the water and protection,
and while you're there, say hi to Nancy for me!"  She winked and
turned around.

And that's the last we ever saw of the girl known as Chiquita.

We never did find out why she wanted bottles of water, and she never
did threaten us with the gun.  We handed each over to her and without
asking any of us to stay and watch and prove her point that she
wouldn't hurt us, she opened a small wooden box with a picture of a
banana on it and placed the weapon and ammo inside it, and placed it
underneath her bed.  She probably wanted it for protection reasons
only, after all it must be tough for a kid to live in a city as bad as
Laurel.

We exited her shack with the six sets of papers and photos in hand. 
We were set.  And we were off to DC.

Well about fifteen miles outside of DC to be exact.  We need a place
to set up shop, get our act together and find a way to storm the
place, getting everybody inside even though we only six identification
papers.  Not to mention finding a way to get the weapons inside.  We
need to plan, and practice and plan and practice again.  We need to
sleep and eat and gain all our energy back so we're at maximum peaks.

I need to talk to Scully, that's what I really need to do.

Everybody's nerves are on overload at the moment, my team knows what
this means.  We are this close to achieving our Holy Grail, however,
we only have one shot at it, so it better be good.  Cal, Bailey,
Elizabeth, Monica, Scully and I each have our identities in hand. 
Over the next few days we're gonna create the lives of these people,
how they lived, what they did for a living, etc...once again Mulder and
Scully will cease to exist, only this time they're taking the rest
down with them.

Jessica immediately heads for the drivers seat of our jeep, once we
get her going, she usually doesn't stop until she tires out.  It
doesn't matter to me, gives me more time to think about what I have to
tell Scully, to figure out a way to break the news about Summer to
her.

How do I do it without letting her down?  Ruining all hopes and dreams
she may have of a normal life with her?

"Scully?"

Her blue eyes usually so dim are bright today as they look up at me. 
"Yeah?"

"There's something I should tell you..."

"Mulder whatever you have to say, save it, I know it's not going to be
good news anyway.  I don't want to spoil the moment, we're about to
get our daughter back."

"I know, but-"

"But nothing.  After six years I'll finally get to hold Summer, she'll
be mine again, like she was meant to be."

"You're not listening to me Scully, you see there's a-"

"I'm not listening to you cause I don't want this moment ruined."

"I think this is more important than the moment."

"Nothing is more important than getting Summer back.  Listen" she
placed her finger on my mouth, my lips to keep me silent.  It was warm
and all I could think about was slipping it in my mouth, damn the
consequences, but instead I hold back and just listen to her.  I won't
interrupt, she's made it very clear that she doesn't want me to.  "We
have documents, we have a well trained team who know what they're
doing, within a few days we're going to have a solid plan.  There's no
way we can fail."

I conceded then, she looked up at me with wide blue eyes full of such
hope and dreams, how could I destroy it?  I'd be the monster here, not
Summer.  " We are going to get her back aren't we Mulder?"

The back of the jeep has become silent as the rest of the team have
listened onto our conversation.  I don't want silence, I want them to
mind their own business and ignore Scully and I, and the look I toss
them seems to do the trick, they've all moved away from us and started
chatting idly by themselves.

I can do nothing but wrap my arms around her and pull her close and
reassure her.  "Of course we'll get her back.  I promise you Scully,
everything will work out in the end."

Then something remarkable happens, something I've only been dreaming
of for fourteen years and obsessing about for the last 6.  Out of
nowhere, doesn't matter all of the team members surrounding us, she
leaned in and for one second of heaven, all I could feel were her lips
soft and pliable against mine, and only then I knew her sheer joy over
the situation.

And I couldn't have been more afraid.

We rode for an hour before parking ourselves outside DC, I wasn't
paying attention though when we finally stopped and I was asked for
approval.  "Sure, fine, whatever".  My mind was still on Scully, and
her mouth, full, swollen from our kiss only a few minutes before, and
it was turned in a smile I haven't seen in six years, not since she
found out I was alive and I woke up.  It was really something to see
her smile that full wattage smile at me back then, it being the first
thing I saw, but it was even more now considering I haven't seen it
since then.

I was in robot mode, doing whatever I was supposed to do, but mind not
focused on the task at hand.  Targets are set up, obstacle courses are
created, and tents are put up all around as well as guard posts.  My
mind is so far off I don't even see Scully setting our tent up further
away from the others, I only register it when I go to put a few items
inside and it's not located anywhere near our usual spot near the fire
pit.

Her only response to the questioning look in my eye is a wink of hers.
 She's got something up her sleeve, and she's still smiling.

We found ourselves in a secluded area of woods just north of DC; it
should be no problem getting some training done here without the
notice of the new government, and if we're really lucky, we may be
able to avoid some watchers too.  They're everywhere around DC, it's
the hot spot in the US, people hoping to get in, catch people going
in, or just observe and sell information.

I don't trust any of them, one minute they may be your best friend,
the next they can be your worst enemy.

"Hey, Mulder!"  Cal's standing two feet in front of me, waving his
hand in my face, I must really be dazed here.  "You okay man?"

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind, what's up?"  The topic is officially
closed for further discussion.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (9/19)

"I need you to pick a tree.  You know DC the best out of all of us,
which tree would be the hardest to get up and tackle?"

The trees in the area are all similar, how the hell was I supposed to
compare a piece of shrubbery to the walls of DC, which were heavily
guarded in all areas?  "Umm...I think that one probably."  I point out
the first tree in front of me, a large oak with a few sparsely spread
out branches, it's certainly more than a hop, skip and jump to each
level.

The camp was setting up nicely, everybody doing their fair share of
the work; even Scully who was helping Kera and Jessica set up the
tackle ring.  We haven't used that thing for months now, it'll be good
to get the guys back into shape again.  I want nobody slagging this
time.

"I'm gonna take a walk a little ways out and contact the guys.  They
should be updated on the situation, I don't think they want to miss
out on an all-scale war on DC, besides, we may need them."

"Care for company?"

Scully's eyes are still bright, and she's still smiling, amazingly.

So I smile back, and it feels good.  "Always."

She's still smiling when we say our good-byes to the team, ammo up and
take leave for the afternoon.  I've got the radio in hand and want to
make it several miles into the woods before I use it. We could very
easily take a jeep with us, but the walk will do me good, it'll clear
my mind some and give me more quality time alone with Scully to break
the news of Summer to her.

Problem is she won't smile again after I tell her, and I don't want to
do that after seeing it for the first time in six years.  She seems
genuinely happy.

I haven't told anybody yet about what I've found out, and I suspect
that if I don't get it out in the open soon, I'm gonna regret it.  But
I'm also gonna regret wiping that smile off her face.  For a change
she looks alive.

The road through the woods is quiet, and peaceful for a change. 
Usually the silence is eerie, it gives off the sense that somebody or
something is watching us, but today there's no sense of that.  I still
don't feel really safe here, but I don't feel threatened in anyway
either.

A few minutes ago she took my hand in hers, it feels all to familiar
that I'm honestly scared.  It takes us six years to return to the
level of intimacy we shared before colonization occurred, and I have a
feeling that after Summer, it's gonna take another six years to so to
get this back, that is if we aren't killed in the battle first.

"According to the palm map, there should be a clearing another three
miles or so west.  We can probably use the radio there, it's far
enough from civilization for anybody to care about two wanderers."

Scully continues to make her calculations on the palm pilot while I
pull my compass out to make sure we're in the right direction.  I've
certainly learned over the years that I'm not always at my best when
I'm searching, my instincts have honed down some.  That's where I have
Scully, her's are still razor sharp, and she's not afraid to tell me
when I'm wrong.

"Gunmen are going to be surprised to hear from us, it's been over a
year since our last communication with them."

"Yeah, but they also understand why.  It's worth the trouble it may
cause Mulder.  Let's get the clearing and make the call to them, and
get the hell out, I have other things I want to do tonight."

That's my Scully again, even when smiling, she's still practical as
ever.

"Other things?  Like what?"

"Getting in shape mainly.  I have various exercises planned to help me
out."

"Such as..."

"Such as never mind, however you're free to join me if you want."  I
contemplate the idea, a workout with Scully.  Sweaty Scully, tight
shirts, shorts, muscles stretching, she'd just be one hundred percent
eye candy, but so much more because she is Scully.

"We enter a large clearing with a rock in the middle.  The pasture is
green with long grass and a few smaller evergreens, very nice, reminds
me of Bambi.  I never did like that movie, it was way too sad for my
liking.  "Good enough Mulder?"

"Good enough."  I pull the radio from my side and set the frequency to
the gunmen, I only hope it still works.  "Guys, come in, Moose
reporting it with Squirrel."

<Moose we read you loud and clear, over.>

"Hey, guys, what's happening, have we got some news for you?"

<You finally got laid?>  I looked over at Scully and flushed while she
rolled her eyes.

"Hardly, we're moving in for DC in three days."

I could just picture their faces as I told them this news, and I can
hear the quick scuffling of chairs to know they have all just moved in
closer to the radio, so I continue.  "We have identification for six
of us, we're moving in, grabbing Summer and leaving.  It should be a
quick operation, we only need technical backup just in case."

<Don't worry, we're there, anything you need at all.>

"Good, locks, security, emergency, anything like that."

<Good, got it.  And Mulder?>

"Yeah?"

<Who's Summer?>

Now that's the million-dollar question here, I can't break it to them
without telling Scully, but I don't want Scully to continue with these
delusions of finding Summer to be actually good, but I don't want to
ruin her spirits yet, and not this way of telling them, but not her. 
This situation is getting more and more complicated by the moment.

"Summer is my daughter, Scully's daughter, what we've been searching
for all these years."

I can hear the silence over on their end.  I want to end this call
quickly, I don't want to chance anybody tracking us down.  So far so
good, another two minutes before shut down.

<What are you gonna do when you find her?>

"Simple, take her out of the life she's in now, prevent what ever's
gonna happen from happening."

<You think Summer's the link?>

"She's always been the link."

<We're leaving for DC in half an hour, Byers, Langly and Maggie are
packing up whatever equipment we need, give us your coordinates and
we'll be there in two days.>

"Not necessary guys, we just electronical backup..."

<Shut up Mulder and just give us the damn coordinates, we're going
whether you like it or not.>

One minute.  I sigh and give in, explaining to them our location and
that they have three days to get there before we move out.  We only
have a limited timespace to do it in.

<Thanks buddy, see ya then, over and out.>  I'm so gonna kill Frohike.
 I didn't need them out here, knowing them they'll only stir up
trouble of some sort.  They're the greatest friends anybody can have,
and I know they'd do anything for Scully and I, and they'll do it to
the best of their ability, but they still have a tendency to screw up.

Damn them.

"Come on Scully, we should head back and warn the others that the guys
are coming down, I'm sure most of them want to make sure all of their
weapons are stored away properly."  I go to grab her hand to walk
away, but she didn't let me, instead she stood in her place. 
"Scully?"

"Do you mind if we stay for a few minutes longer?  I really like it
here, it's peaceful."

"Sure."  Anything for Scully.

"Come here Mulder, come look at this."

I walk back to her stand in front of her.  "What do you want me to
look at?"

Her eyes are a clear blue, and sparkling. 

"Nothing, just this."  And I find myself being pushed back up against
a tree, Scully's hands on my chest, and her tongue joined with mine,
in a dance we've never really forgotten.

The sun beat down on us in this clearing, and the bark of the tree was
chaffing my back through the thin top I wore, but I don't care,
nothing matters but the feel of her hands sliding up and down my
chest.  Even through the cotton shirt they were scorching, setting my
skin on fire wherever they traveled, up, down, over, under and around.
 And I reciprocated action for action.

It didn't take me very long to register what she was doing to me, and
like any hot-blooded man, I responded, but not for the expected
reason.  She would not be another fuck for me like some of the woman I
have met over the years; she was a lifetime commitment, one I intended
to follow through with whether she wanted to or not.  However I think
she was thinking along the same lines as I was, in all honesty, our
time had come.

Her body was pressed deliciously close to mine; I could feel every
inch of her against me as we continued to explore each other's mouths.
 She tasted like cinnamon and fruit, and I wanted to devour all of
her.  Her tongue, however small it was, was powerful in it's approach
as it danced with mine, her lower lip jutting out just enough for me
to get a grasp.

It tasted as good as it looked, even better.

My hands automatically reached for the hem of her top, trying to lift
it over her head without moving even an sixteenth of an inch away from
her, however the stubborn thing refused to lift.  Without losing eye
contact, or separating from her sweet breath blowing puffs of hair
into my mouth, I reached for my dagger.

The damn shirt was gonna come off come hell or high water.  

"Wait."  Her voice was muffled against my mouth, my tongue desperately
seeking hers as it left when she pulled back.

"No."  I reached forward again, only to be blocked by a hand.

"I need a shirt to return to camp with, give me two seconds to get it
off myself."

"No."  I was pouting and reached to grab for her again.  My lower lip
was instantly pulled into her mouth like a tender piece of meat, and
while still in a daze, she let go, and her shirt fell ungracefully to
the ground.

And mine fell soon after.

Scully and I stood topless in the middle of a clearing against a tree
on a hot and bright day, and neither of us cared much.  For all we
knew, there could be watchers out, watching, planning, aiming, ready
to take a shot, but that didn't stop us.  My fevered hands continued
to explore, splay against the soft tissue and hard muscles of her
abdomen, the roundness and firmness of her uncovered breasts.  I've
always loved Scully's breasts, so small, yet so perfect, enough to
fill my hands, and my hands only.  I growled at that thought.

Scully has been mine for fourteen years in mind, heart and soul, and
now I'll possess her body as well, just like she possesses mine.  I
was made to love her, to worship her as no other man can do, and
that's what I'm doing now.

The tree was chaffing, enough of this, there's a rock over there, and
I guide her backwards, pushing her against it as I try to move closer,
her bare skin on mine is too incredible for words, and I find it's
time to pay attention to somewhere other than her mouth.

She whimpers as I move my mouth away from hers, only soon again she's
gasping for breath as I find a soft patch of skin behind her ear.  My
mouth goes to work, nipping, suckling, whatever it can do to elicit
more of those sounds.  It's probably the most erotic sound I've ever
heard.  I want to know how else and where else on her body I can make
her do that.

The exploration starts off slow, I want to memorize every detail of
her, I want to know what makes her hum, what makes her moan, what
would make her scream.  I want to know all of her sensitive spots, all
of her soft spots and hard spots, which would make her laugh, and
which I should avoid for the safety of my own particular body parts.

She wants fast, I want slow, we compromise.  I don't want fourteen
years of pent up frustration solved in two minutes against the tree,
and that's what I tell her.  We don't speak; instead we let our eyes
do the talking.  Hers are deep blue and clouded over, glazed as if on
a high, and I know my hazel eyes are just as dark and glazed too.

My hand reaches her stomach, it's flat and warm and oh so soft.  I've
already found a new home at her navel, where there's a nice little
hollow that's absolutely perfect for me.

She's perfect for me.

"Scully? Are you okay here?"  My mind has had enough sense to ask her
this question even though I already knew the answer.  I can tell you
right now, I never imagined my first time with her in the middle of a
clearing against a rock.  I do have a semi-romantic side to me.

I can't tell you exactly how I pictured us getting together, there are
so many fantasies that it's hard to keep track, but all of them were
from before this all happened, before chaos filled our world.  I guess
I just gave up hope after Summer was taken from us.  She closed
herself off from me and gave me no indication that she even cared
about an 'us'.

I was wrong.

I had her pushed up against the rock, and was readily enjoying the
feel of her body when her mouth had discovered the sensitive spot on
my neck, the hollow between it and my shoulder, and as quiet as I was
trying to be in the clearing, I couldn't.  Even I had trouble
distinguishing whether the growl came my own throat, or if it belonged
to a wild animal somewhere near by.

I was obviously very wrong.

Together we nipped and tugged and bit and licked and tasted and teased
and explored.  I explored every crevice, hollow, spot and scar on her
skin.  I can also remember the story behind each one of those scars
too.  I still have nightmares about many of them.  No longer though,
feeling her against me today has allowed me to recognize the fact that
she's still alive and breathing.

And that she wants me.

"I'm more than okay here Mulder, now shut up and kiss me again."

God I love this woman.

Her hands found my shoulders and she pushed herself up, pulling me
closer and wrapping her legs around my waist and pulled my head down
again.

Christ, I could feel her heat through my pants, and if she didn't slow
down soon, I was gonna lose all control.  I want this too much to let
it all go within a matter of moments.  Her tongue was hot inside my
mouth, frantic as it dueled with mine and ran itself along the top of
my mouth, once again sending shivers through me, and making me harder
than I ever thought possible.

Only Scully could do this to me.

She slipped down from me and her hands went straight to my belt
buckle, pulling down my pants and boxers at once.

"Oh God."  I had died and gone to heaven.

Her mouth was on me in ways that I have only dreamed of a million
times before in a million different ways, yet all with the same
result.  Even my vivid imagination compared to what I see in front of
me now doesn't come close, nothing does.

I've got my arms pressed against the rock for support and despite how
much I want to close my eyes and savour the moment, I can't take them
off her, and how she's working herself up and down me.  All common
sense left my brain the minute she pushed me against the tree earlier,
and I certainly didn't expect to see it again anytime soon, but
somehow just a bit returned, telling me to stop this before it was too
late.

Now the problem is letting the words come out of my mouth.  It was an
impossible task seeing as I couldn't form any sounds beyond moaning.

And was I ever moaning.

I had to stop this and now.

"Scully?"  I breathed out, but automatically went silent as a hand
joined her mouth and gave me a slight squeeze, not enough to be
painful, but just enough to send a wave of arousal over me, taking me
closer to the edge than I was a minute ago.  "Scully!"  It was more of
a growl than anything, but good enough to catch her attention.

"You wanna say something while you can?"  She was smirking!  She knew
exactly what she was doing.  How many other men has she done this to
to get it down pat like she had it now?  That would be a question to
ask her once we're finished.  Then, after Summer, I think it's time to
get a list of names and see if they're still around.  After all, I'll
need to keep my assassination skills up somehow...

"You have to stop."

"And why would I want to do that?"  I almost exploded right then as
she reached out and let the tip of her tongue touch the base.

"Oh fuck Scully, I said stop, I'm nearing fifty here, I'm not that
young anymore, I can't hold out any longer."

"Just how long can you hold out?"

Christ, another lick.

"If you knew what was good for you, you'd get the hell up and now,
unless you want this to be over in less than a minute!"

One raised eyebrow, that's all I get for my command, a fucking
eyebrow.  Then it dawned on me; she didn't plan on stopping.  Despite
my warnings she wanted to continue, she wanted me to lose control
while she was on her knees in front of me.

Christ!

My restraint held out long enough for me to reach for her, pull her
off the ground and press her to me, "You wouldn't be getting anything
if you had held on one minute longer Scully.  What's the saying?  An
eye for an eye?  How can I possibly reciprocate when I'm dead on the
ground from the sheer pleasure of it all?"

My mouth slammed against hers head on; I wanted her to feel everything
I was feeling, physically, mentally and first and foremost,
emotionally.  She needed to know what was going through my head, and
how I felt about her and the situation...she had to have no doubts that
whatever we were about to do, it was right.  Once I cross this line, I
have no intention of going back.

Her tongue melded with mine in a fevered dance, twisting and tasting
and stroking and a mutual exploration as we silently shared what was
happening in our heads.

Her mouth said it all; she is mine as I am hers.

That one thought however shot straight downward to the point where I
was nearing pain.

My hands made quick work of her jeans, sliding them down her hips to
her ankles, while she not so gracefully shook them off her feet, and I
was granted with the second best sight I have ever seen, no panties. 
I guess in this day and age panties aren't a requirement, in fact
they're rather scarce, but I never thought Scully one to forgo them.
Not that I mind.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (10/19)

I stood there for all of three seconds before I was hit with the most
powerful scents, and officially my favourite scent.  I wanted to eat
her alive and absorb that smell into my being.

However according to my more than ready cock, we don't have time for
that, so I did the next best thing.

And did she scream as I hoisted her up around my hips, took aim, and
went for the kill.

The field surrounding us disappeared into a mindless nothing, as all I
could focus on was the feel of being inside her, wrapped in her heat. 
At this point in time, I don't care whether we were against a hard
rock, or on a soft bed, I don't care whether we have mood lighting and
music or silence.  It's perfect the way it is; it's perfect for us.

We have lived primitively and instinctually for the last six years, it
only makes sense that we cross the line that way, using primitive
instincts.

And it's primitive instincts that make us move the way we do, the
natural need for humans to procreate when things are coming down on
them, but to Scully and I, it's so much more.

That is what this is, an expression of everything we've held within
ourselves for the past fourteen years being released in one passionate
fury against a rock.

But like I said, I don't care where it's being released, as long as it
is.

We move together like we always have, in perfect unison, I thrust she
moans, she clenches, I growl and together we go forward, edging toward
what would be total oblivion.

Her cries were becoming increasingly more frantic, and I knew I wasn't
far off myself, I'm surprised I've lasted this long to begin with.

"Mulder..."

She presses herself to me tighter, legs locking around my back.

My mouth searches out hers, as much as I want to make her scream, I
know I can't, too dangerous.  Even the dangers of the outside world
remain on my mind while I'm other wise occupied.

"Too much Mulder...."

Clench.

No, not enough, I need more of her, I need all of her, all she has to
give me at this moment.

Thrust.

"I need you with me."

"I am with you."

I reach down with one hand and in a shot her cry echo throughout the
skies, followed by mind.  Fuck the watchers.  Fuck the new government,
I'm happy right here thank you very much.

I'm sure the way I was feeling was written all over my face as I
returned to camp, even Cal looked resigned when he saw Scully and I
enter hand in hand.  I guess I don't really have to worry about him
anymore moving in on my woman...although I'll never tell Scully I think
of her that way.  I doubt I'd be getting very many moments just like I
had if she ever did find out.

My team is working steadily on the training grounds, setting up shop
for the next couple of days, target areas, obstacle courses, tree
climbing, running grounds, the works.  We won't fail this time, we
can't fail, and they understand this.  They know Summer's on the line
and that I will personally kill anyone of them who comes close to
botching this up for me.

There's really only one obstacle preventing this from going smoothly,
and that's Summer.  I want to bring her home to Scully, I really do,
however I know that it will be impossible.  I'm starting to believe I
really am related to that cancer stricken son of a b*tch, after all, I
have a hidden agenda here.

This is the first time I've ever really kept anything from Scully, and
looking at her now, with her eyes wide and bright for a change, I
don't know if I can continue to keep this from her.  I certainly don't
want to.

"Scully, we still have to talk."

"I know" Her blue eyes bore into mine, but I'm sure she wasn't
thinking of the same thing that I am.

"Well now would be a good time."

"How about tonight, I want to clean up.  I don't know about you, but
sex leaves me all sweaty and in this humidity, it's becoming rather
uncomfortable and sticky."

"Okay, tonight then."  Tonight would be better opportunity anyway, no
interruptions, no questions, and a tent away from everybody else so
nobody would be able to over hear.

"Listen up everybody.  Tonight will be your last night to rest up and
enjoy yourselves.  Starting tomorrow at dawn we begin training, and we
won't stop until just before bed.  The next three days will be like
this, so eat, drink and be merry tonight.  You won't see another day
like this for a long time."  I make my announcement and sit down; I
need to think things through before talking with Scully later.

We certainly aren't a quiet bunch here when we don't have to be.  I
can't complain, as introspective as I am most days, I love the noise;
I love the sound of celebration.  Ryan has an old guitar he takes
everywhere, and tonight he's got it pulled out by the campfire and
playing music from the eighties and nineties, old rock.  I've never
been overly fond of it, but we don't hear music anymore, the airwaves
have been taken over and now controlled by the new government. 
Censorship has been enacted in almost everything, even information on
cereal boxes have been censored to a degree, not like we actually eat
cereal around here.  I think the last time I had cereal was two years
ago, and it was only half a bowl a vagrant gave to me.

With no milk.

Well tonight the music will play on.  The food has come out, the
bottles of wine we have collected over the years have come out
(although I've put a limit on how much one can drink seeing as they
need to be in top form tomorrow) and everybody's lively and dancing.

Well everybody but me.

Somebody has to be on the look out here, we are far from out of
danger, in fact we are in even more danger now than we have been in
the past 6 years.  Who's to say that they don't know we're coming;
that radio transmission might have been too long considering what
short range we are from DC.  I do not want to worry the team about it
though, which is why I'm on guard duty tonight.  Well Cal and I.

He doesn't need to be asked to join me, he'd rather guard now and host
a two person party later in his tent.  Something tells me with the
wine and high spirits, he won't have trouble finding somebody, there
are many women in camp here who happen to enjoy his tent.

Just not my Scully thank God.

And she's dancing too.

The last time I've seen Scully dance was the last time I danced, nine
years ago at a Cher concert, and she's at it again.  Tonight it's a
two step quick jig that Bailey's trying to teach her.

And she looks happy, incredibly happy.

I wish I could make her this happy all the time, but I know it's gonna
be short lived, she may as well enjoy it while she can, I may as well
enjoy it while I can.  "You two finally fucked didn't you?"

I didn't even have to look to know it was Cal, he's the only one who
would put what we did so uneloquently.  "Who's to say we haven't
before?"

"Oh come on Mulder, this is me we're talking to.  One look at you two
and one could tell you've never laid a finger on her."

"So?"

"So, I don't know why you waited till now, she obviously wanted it. 
All the guys here wants to fuck her, but we don't touch her cause we
know she's yours, so why wait this long?"

"It's complicated."

"That's a pretty basic answer."

"It's always been complicated, right from the very beginning."

I looked back at her, her eyes were sparkling by the fire, her hair,
usually a dull blond with a little red mixed in it was shining to full
capacity, she looked alive.  "How long have you two been together?"

"Fourteen."

"Fourteen years?!"  Cal looked utterly astounded and I could do
nothing but laugh.  "Fourteen years and it's taken this long.  Man,
you must be superhuman, I'd have had her in bed after a week!"

"Oh I don't know about that, something tells me she would have had
something to say about it."

"Oh yeah?  You'd never know, they didn't call me Calvin the Stallion
for nothing back in the day."  That deserved another round of laughter
from the both of us.  I honestly don't remember having this much fun
talking to the guy, about sex no less.

"So, how hot is she?" 

"Hey Mulder!"  I look up and see Scully waving me over.  "Come dance
with us."  Oh why the hell not.

"You'll be okay on watch on your own?"

"Oh yeah, go have fun with your lady tonight.  Who knows, you may get
lucky again."

"Thanks pal.  Oh, and Cal?  She's very hot."

I couldn't help myself with that remark; I had to shove it in Cal's
face.  Next to Scully he may be my best friend here, certainly a great
ally, but I guess as the saying goes, boys will be boys, and one can't
help but brag about their conquests.  Civilization as we knew it ended
when colonization occurred, but locker talks lives forever.

And apparently so does Scully's smile, I could swear it grew wider as
I walked toward her.  This is a Scully I haven't seen in a long time,
this is a Scully I'd like to see more often.

She reached and clasped my hand soundly inside of hers and pulled me
around the fire, the light in her eyes even more brilliant than the
dancing flame in front of me, and started to spin me around.  "It's
simple, follow Bailey's lead and he'll show you how it's done."

Bailey grabbed Elizabeth from the seats in front of the fire, and
within moments both of us, as well as the rest of the team were doing
the same jig to Ryan's music, which had turned upbeat as the more of
us joined in.  I had watched Scully and Bailey from a distance, and
from that simple observation, I had already known the dance, but I
wasn't going to let them know that.

Letting Scully take the lead, she showed me the steps, taking care on
keeping her hands on me at all times, and she actually laughed when I
would purposely mess up.  I wanted to hear that sound again, and
again, and again.  That's why it took me three whole songs to figure
out the first part.

And her laughter alone sounded better than the music, it was my own
music that I danced to.  Together we moved around the fire, skipping
with each step and pressed so close that people would think we're one
and the same.

Which in essence we are.

"I wish we could stay like this Mulder."

"We can one day, I promise you, or I'll die trying."

"With Summer of course.  We'll have to teach her how to dance like
this once we get her back."

I pulled her closer, "yes, we will."

And so we continued to dance until both our feet hurt.  It was strange
not to be on guard all the time, but I'm telling you now, I didn't
mind it one bit, and besides, I trusted Cal implicitly to keep watch,
he wouldn't let trouble happen by else I'd be the first to hear about
it.  Now if it were one of the younger, newer members of the team, I'd
be a little weary about leaving them alone, except Jessica, I have no
doubt in my mind that she'd do whatever she had to in order to keep
harm away from us.  I've seen her in action; let's just say she isn't
afraid to use her own body to help us.  No girl should be raised like
that, Scully would be the first one to tell you that, however Jessica
has risen above it, it's made her stronger and I admire her for it.

Tonight she's dancing alongside Scully and I, practically draped all
over Jon.  I think he's a little old for her, will have to tell him
so.  I don't want to act all fatherly, but that's how I've come to
feel for Jessica, and I've never seen Jon stay with a woman for more
than a night at a time, I don't want him hurting her.  Unless of
course that's what she wants then by all means she can have it.

I have my Scully, that's all that matters, and she knows she has me. 
We haven't so much said the words yet, but we don't need to say them,
not when we're so confident in each other like we are.

"Hey Mulder, we should toast something before we finish this wine." 
Ryan stops the music and Joe starts passing around cups to each of us,
only a quarter full, but as long as something's in there, that's all
that matters.

"All right guys and gals, what shall we toast to?"

"Us!"  The cry came from Kera across the way.  "To us and our
successes over the years.  Even if something does go wrong in DC a
couple days from now, we'll always have our successes."

"I don't plan for failure guys, you should know that by now."

"We know, but what if your informant was setting you up for failure,
that's a possibility we need to keep open."

I don't want to argue tonight, so I shut up and do the only thing I
can think of at the moment.  "A toast to us guys, to our past
successes and failures, and to learning from our mistakes so we can
succeed again."

The rest join in and soon we're all polishing off the last of the
bottle, just before I catch Scully's eye and see her watching
Elizabeth and Bailey as they edge off toward his tent, their purpose
clearly on her mind.

"Problem?"  I whisper in her ear so as not to really startle her much.

"No, I think it's great they're happy.  Somebody should be."

"Aren't you?" 

"Yes, but not as happy as I could be at the moment."  Her eyes haven't
dulled any, but I need to know what her comment mean.  I see her
sauntering off toward our tent, then she looks back, a different look
in her eyes this time.  "You coming?"

Oh hell yes.

The music faded into the night as I followed Scully back toward our
tent.  I now know why she pushed it far back as she did.  Neither of
us was exactly quiet back in the clearing.  Her step had a certain
bounce to it, one that I had never really seen before, and now just
becoming familiar to it.  I like to call it her 'I'm about to get laid
again', at least I hope I'm right on that.  The look in her eyes
earlier indicated that it was what she wanted.

"I'm surprised she hasn't killed you yet you know."  Scully's eyes
were still partially following Bailey and Elizabeth, even though we
were heading to our own tent.

"Same here, I thought I'd have at least one attempt on me by now."

"I wonder if that's why they're just getting together now, desperate
situations always seem to bring people closer together."

"Maybe."  I shrug, but then another thought occurs to me.  "Are you
saying we're together because of a desperate situation?"

"Have you so little faith in my decisions that you actually believe
that?"  Her eyes were now looking deep into mine, my god; I'm about to
make her cry.  "I'm with you now cause that's where I'm supposed to
be, it's where I was always supposed to be.  If the reason you're with
me now is because of a desperate situation, you better say so now
Mulder before we continue this even further."

"No, no, that's not it Scully.  I'm sorry, I shouldn't have questioned
it, I guess its just old insecurities that are speaking up there."

"I don't want any doubts here, what we have is right."  Her hands came
up and started playing with the hem of my shirt, tugging it lightly
from jeans and lifting it slowly, the warmth of the pads of her
fingers burning as they dragged along my skin, and I couldn't suppress
the shudder I felt from them.

"No doubts whatsoever."  I moved my mouth closer to her neck, inhaling
her fragrance before diving in.

"Good, cause after this it'll be you, me and Summer, and we'll be
happy."

There's that name again.  No more secrets, not after this.  I stop
what I'm doing and grab her wrists.

"What are you doing?"

"We need to talk."

"Now?"

"Now."

It takes no effort whatsoever to pull her inside the tent, and for a
reason other than the obvious, I'm glad our tent is further back from
the others.  The flap falls lightly behind us, and before even opening
my mouth, I tie it together.  I don't know why I do that considering I
wouldn't stop her if she ran from me, okay, I'd try but I know I
wouldn't succeed, but force of habit makes me tie it.  I don't even
know where to begin with this conversation, how do I tell Scully about
Summer?  However way I do it, I know what we have is now screwed. 
That much I'm confident in.

"What's so important that you have to stop my seduction for?"

"First off, there's no need to seduce me, I'm a willing partner all
the way, believe me on that, and what's important is Summer, there's
something I found out about her a while back that you need to know."

I've got her, she's all ears now I know.  I plow straightforward,
nothing better than the blunt honest truth I guess, even though I know
it's gonna cause trouble.  Better now than later.  "I found a
newspaper clipping a while back on the road, it had an article about
her.  It wasn't good."

"Has something happened to her?  I'll kill those bastards
single-handedly if so.  Give me the paper Mulder, I want to read it, I
need to read it."

"No, no, it's not that."  I reach into my pocket to pull it out, only
it's not there anymore.  "Dammit, it's lost."

"Well what did it say?"

I recite to her everything stated in it, and my suspicions about it,
all the while gauging her reactions.  She remained tight-lipped the
entire time, eyes gone hard and cold.

And suddenly realization dawns on me, she doesn't believe me.  Her
next words confirmed everything.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (11/19)

"Damn you!  This is just your paranoia speaking again isn't it, she's
just a child, how can she be what you say she is?"

"I don't know, but-"

"No buts, there's no way what you're saying is possible, she's our
daughter, how can you even think that of her."

"It is poss-"

"Get out of my sight!  I don't want to hear another word of it, it's
all lies, she can't be what you say she is!"

"Scully, you have to believe me."  I'm pleading, I'm not above
pleading now, for her sake and mine.

"No!  She can't!"  She unties the tent flap and runs, and I don't try
to stop her.  I had one afternoon of happiness today, I knew it wasn't
going to last very long.  As near as I could tell, it was going to be
a very long night, I only hope she comes to her senses by the time we
get to DC, I can't let anything happen to her.

I can't say my night has been spent in peace even though it's quiet
out; I'm worried about her. I'm really worried about what might happen
in DC if she doesn't come to her senses soon. This is what I was
afraid of when I first
found the newspaper article, it's the whole reason why I didn't want
to tell her, but Scully has always trusted my judgment, surely she'd
trust it this time. At least I hope she will.

I haven't seen her for the past couple hours, mind you, I also haven't
moved from outside my tent. What I wanted to do was follow her when
she ran out, chase after her and hold her and told her I lied about
everything, but I can't do that, I have to let her accept it or reject
it for what it is, I hope she chooses the former though.

One thing is fairly certain in my mind, what we had earlier this
afternoon won't happen again, as much as I want it to. Tomorrow will
continue on, business as usual. I've already started formulating the
drills in my head, planned them to the letter, who's gonna lead what
teams, who's gonna be on each team, what we're looking for, where
we're going, how to overcome obstacles and such.

The gunmen sent me an up to date map on DC, and all of its traps that
they manage to steal from their computer systems. Those of us who are
going in the front door have to practice our roles; we have to make
them believe we
are who we say we are. 

And those who are going in the back door better damn well know what
they're doing. This all means though that it won't give Scully and I
much time to rectify what's between us now, we have to work with this
rift, and if anything
is gonna fail this mission, it'll be that one rift. 

As a non-believer, even I have to say this: God help anybody who
suffers because of the truth, it's dealt Scully and I a bad hand and I
know it's not gonna stop anytime soon.

The skies opened up on us a half-hour after everybody moved out of
their beds. I guess it's suited, I've never seen a movie where
soldiers are running drills in the sun, always in the rain. Actually
rain is perfect, matches my mood
today. Scully didn't return until half an hour ago, and I think she's
spoken all of two words to me since. If she wants to play that way,
fine by me, who am I to give a rat's ass anyway.

DRILLS DAY ONE 

"I want four teams put together, and only the best of the best will go
in, so if your name is not mentioned, you're not entering the city,
however that does not exempt you from running today's sequences."

My team stands in front of me, already soaked to the bone due to the
heavy downpour falling upon us. None of them are covered in mud yet,
however I'm sure that'll change within minutes.

"Team one is as follows: Cal, Bailey, Elizabeth, Monica, Scully and I.
We are the ones who walk through the door; the first line of defense
if all others should fail to get through. You five, over to the left,
I'll join you in a few."

I see them separate and stand by a tree for shelter, Scully still
refusing to make eye contact with me.

"Team two includes Yves, Jon, and Kera. You three will enter by the
right wall...there's actually an underground tunnel about a mile back
that should get you through." I hand Jon the map. "Jon, you'll be team
leader, take care of
the map, it'll tell you exactly where all video surveillance is
located and how to bypass it, as well as any sort of traps that may be
awaiting you down there."

The three of them step to the right, sitting under another tree for
shelter.

"Team three, Ryan and Joe. You two will be together yet separated.
Joe, you'll perch yourself by the main gates, and Ryan to the right
wall. Each of you will act as sniper. You're job is to clear the way
for the rest of us to get in, as
well as a backup in case anybody in injured along the way and we need
an extra man. The choice of weapons is yours, however try to choose
something silent seeing as we need the element of surprise."

The two of them nod and I'm moving onto team four. 

"Team four, Jessica, Jimmy and the guys when they arrive. You two seem
to excel when it comes to computers and the likes, you'll be working
with them. This, like the unmentioned doesn't exempt you from drills
either, except with the gunmen actually arrive, then you'll go off
with them. You're to follow their orders unless I override, got it?"

They nod. 

"The rest of you are backup, only to go in when needed, that is why
you're not exempt. Until the word is called, you sit on the sidelines.
Reason is so we don't lose everybody at once, I need some people left
to carry on."

They nod. 

"Okay, rules are as follows."  

I feel like a drill sergeant, I guess I am a drill sergeant in this
case, but still, I don't want to feel like one.  If I'm anything like
the drill sergeants that Cal worked with in the past, then God help us
all.  Seeing drill sergeants in the army and marines is one thing, a
drill sergeant for the Seals was probably even worse.

Which is why Cal will be helping me head up the drills today.  With
his background, we should be able to get everybody into shape in no
time at all.

"Rules are as follows, EVERYBODY participates, including Cal and I
even though we're heading this up.  Nobody is allowed to drop out, and
nobody is allowed to leave a run unfinished.  If you screw up and
can't finish it the first time, you're gonna keep doing it until you
can finish it.  Then you're gonna do it again and again and again
until you're perfect at it.

"Your teammates are your family now, the people you're going to be
working closely with right until the end.  There is to be nothing but
absolute trust between you and them.  If you're going to fall, they
are going to catch you;
there will be no question about that.  Same goes if you see them fall,
you go catch them.  You will not leave any of them behind, either in
drills or in the actual event.  You stick together until the bitter
end.

"Today we start with the basics from wall climbing and dropping,
crossing between trees one hundred feet apart on a single rope tied
between them.  The rope will be no higher than eight feet high however
just in case.  I suggest you wear pants and your gloves for that one,
I'm sure Elizabeth won't have any time at all today to deal with rope
burns while she's doing her own drills."

The team looks up at the rope I've set up between two large oak trees.
 There are no real branches low enough to the ground for them, only
the odd stump of a branch sticking out.  They'll have to climb up to
the rope.  They know this,
although I know they don't like it.  Tough luck.

"We will then continue with ground work.  Running, jumping, climbing
small obstacles, crawling underneath obstacles.  In the far field you
will notice many ropes set only eight inches above the ground.  You
are to crawl
underneath without touching them.

"In the evening, we will put it all together in one massive drill,
teams competing against teams.  Winning team will get an early night;
the rest of the teams will run the drill one more time before
crashing.

"We will break three times only today.  Once for lunch, once for
dinner, and once before final drills so you can collect yourselves
together.  I suggest during those breaks you consume any water you
want to and use whatever
facilities available.  There will not be another time to do so.  Any
questions?"

No questions, just the sounds of multiple groans over the schedule of
their day.  Good, that's what I want to hear.  If they were actually
excited I'd have to add extra courses to today.

"Great, lets go, Team one and two, we start over at wall climbing. 
Three and four, you're on the tree rope.  MOVE IT!"

The rain poured down all day, relenting only in time for us to make a
switch in activities.  It had taken all morning for us to tackle the
wall, many people unsure of walking down at a ninety-degree angle
without falling.  It was all
about trust, something these people seemed to lack today.  You had to
trust your team, they would be the ones supporting you, and yet, we
still had troubles with the wall.

We all wore gloves and pants to keep away from rope burn.  For the
most part we were successful; I had let the rope slip a bit due to the
rain and ended up with a nice red mark on my forearm, however I will
live.  I'd bandage it, but
I'm sure even that won't protect it from the rain or mud, so I don't
even try.

Cal and I had demonstrated the drop numerous times.  It was very
simple really, wrap the rope around your waist, and then around your
hands.  When at the top, lean all the way back until you're
perpendicular to the wall, and drop.
Slowly jump down the wall.  Keep your feet spread at shoulder length,
and push and drop.  I don't know why some of them were having trouble
with it, but if you trust the person at the top with part of the rope,
then really there is
nothing to worry about.

Climbing the story was a different story though.  All of us managed to
do that fairly quickly, each being able to pull our own weight.  Once
Cal and I managed to get to the top, we grabbed the ropes and helped
the others along.  Not a
single one of them had trouble from that, other than sore arms.

Tough luck, they can remain sore.  They know this isn't a spa vacation
here.

Mid-morning came and we switched, now heading to the tree ropes.  If
they thought climbing down the wall was fun, they ain't seen nothing
yet.  Cal, in demonstration quickly climbed the tree, using every knot
he could find in it.
Of course it won't be as easy for everybody else as it is for him,
he's a trained seal, but they'll learn.  Facing toward the tree he
wrapped one gloved hand around the rope, and the other behind it. 
Slowly he repeated the gesture,
moving each hand behind each other until his feet could barely touch
the tree anymore.  At that point in one fluid motion he swung his legs
up and wrapped them along the rope, and pulled himself to the other
side using just his
hands.

It was not as easy as he made it out to be.  Over the course of the
morning the rain had poured down hard enough to create a pool of mud
underneath the rope, and with the wet rope and gloves, many of us
including myself found
ourselves falling into the pool.

By lunch I was covered in mud, however every one of my team members
had successfully crossed the rope three times each.  We were hungry,
and ready for a break.  The fire from the night before had long since
burnt out,
however it didn't prevent any of us from sitting on a nearby rock to
soothe our aching muscles.  Only this time, instead of sitting next to
me, Scully sat at the opposite end.  She wasn't speaking to me, she
wasn't looking at me,
she wouldn't even glance my way.

I wanted to find a way to crack through that wall she has built around
herself, only I know this time I can't, she's the only one who can. 
She has to believe what I said or learn for herself when the time
comes.  I hope it doesn't come
to that, but she's a good agent, she always has been, and one thing I
know for sure, over the past six years not only has she learned to
become stronger, both physically and mentally, she's also honed her
instincts down to a 'T'.
She's one of the few of us who can sense trouble before it happens. 
She'll come around soon.

The lunch break didn't consist of much and didn't last very long.  I'm
lucky; I managed to grab a piece of fruit and some water before the
rest was taken.  It doesn't matter really, I can live off one piece of
fruit.

The twenty-minute lunch break was up and we were welcomed back to the
open field by another torrential downpour, which didn't let up till
after dark.  All after noon I found myself either crawling in mud, or
slipping on it
after jumping waist high walls.  None of us were clean.  Each one of
us had mud covering us from head to toe, my black jeans and shirt now
brown, my face smeared and mud underneath my hair probably caked to my
scalp.  Even
my small beard was caked with mud.  I've never liked it anyway; I'll
shave it off tonight, that way there's less chance of it getting in
the way of anything.

The hurdles I didn't mind so much, it was crawling on the ground,
whether on my back, which I had to do at some points underneath the
ropes, or crawling, almost worm like on my stomach, using only my arms
and hips to guide
me.  Knees are useless, if you bend them, it'll stick you're ass in
the air and make you noticeable.  No knees, arms and hips only to
wiggle.

I had to say though that crawling in the dirt was more fun than
crossing a rope between trees.  My arms certainly weren't sore from
it.  The best part was after only a few rounds of it myself; I could
turn back to drill sergeant.

Cal and I spent the majority of the time walking alongside people,
helping them if they weren't doing it properly, and most of all,
making the team redo everything until it was perfected.

We did time runs.  Our goal was for the team to finish the course in
thirty seconds.  Our first run was over two minutes.

We had a lot of work to do today, I don't intend on anybody not
knowing what do in two days time on instinct.  At the end of all this,
my team will have learned not to think, only to act.

And to act right.

"Fifty-five seconds!"  I stood with a stopwatch in hand as everybody
ran through the course, and they looked semi hopeful at the time they
managed to complete it in.  Who am I to keep hopes up anyway?  "Not
good enough, again!
I said thirty seconds and I mean thirty seconds.  Less if we can, but
not more."

Cal and I had to chuckle at their groans as they all took their
positions again at the beginning of the course.  "Mulder, as much as I
agree with this training of yours" Scully actually speaks again, I'm
actually surprised at it,
although I already know what she's going to say.  I let her continue
anyway.  "We all need a break, bigtime.  We've just spent almost the
entire afternoon running through this course on our own, then in these
time drills.  We're exhausted, *I'm* exhausted.  Keeping us up like
this is only going to make us go slower, not faster."

"Sorry Scully, but DC isn't going to give you a break.  If you go too
slowly there, they'll kill you.  You know that, I know that, we've
seen it happen before.  If you feel tired and rest there, they'll kill
you.  Hell, even thirty seconds can seem slow, especially to a trained
marksman, so no break.  We work till we get it to thirty seconds. 
Once we run through it twice at thirty seconds, we'll break for
dinner.  This time it'll be a longer rest while Cal and I plan the
final 'activity'."

"Mulder, you're not being fair."

"So what, life isn't fair.  Has any of the past six years been fair to
you Scully?  Is DC going to be fair to you?  You weren't fair to me
last night, but we're not going to go there right now in front of
everybody else."  At this point I'm yelling, and I don't care anymore.
 "We work, despite all issues of fairness.  Nothing will ever be fair
in this world, so we're not even going to contemplate the very idea. 
Now, back to your places."

Cal stood by me smirking.  Oh boy, was I ever going to pay for that. 
He knew it too, he was probably counting down the hours till my
impending death to take over as command and sweep Scully off her feet.

No chance in hell buddy.  "Three, two, one....GO!"  The team sprang to
life and ran through maneuvers again.  This time faster, but not much
and I could see them all catching their breaths as I uttered the now
famous words.  "Forty-
five seconds, AGAIN."

We finally made it to thirty seconds after several more long trials. 
I think my team hates me, I really do.  Cal is laughing at them, and
they're all grumbling to their spots by the firepit for dinner.  None
of them are looking at me, much less talking to me.  I'm tired too
though.  They're forgetting that I had to run it with them every time,
however I have a driving force behind me.

Summer.

So does Scully, she seems to be getting through no problem, and Cal is
doing fine too, but he was also a US seal, he could run the course in
fifteen seconds flat probably.  It's the rest of them that I know are
going to hate my by the
time I'm through with them.  Maybe I'll make the dinner rest an hour
and a half instead of an hour.  It'll give me more time to set up the
course for the night.

Dinner is light, although heavier than lunch.  Cal while waiting for
the rest of us to finish had managed to snag a rabbit, so in between
runs he was prepping it.  Now you may think that rabbit for dinner
isn't light, but it is when you've got to ration a small rabbit to 15
 20 of us.  Nobody's vegetarian, it's too unhealthy to be a
vegetarian now.  Back when we were all citizens and not rebels we
could shop for our food, we could cook it to our liking.  We could put
different foods together whenever we wanted to suit our nutritional
needs.

Not anymore.

We're lucky if we can eat all four basic food groups in a day.  I
haven't had milk in ages, I'm surprised my bones aren't crumbling a
lot.  It's also harder finding iron rich foods and even some
potassium.  So when now we eat what
we can, and if it includes rabbits, then we eat rabbits.  

The group sits staring at it as it roasts over the fire; I swear I
could hear all their stomachs grumbling.  Another reason I chose an
hour and a half, we have to let it digest some.  "Hey Cal, how much
longer pal."

"Gee Mulder, I didn't realize you were that hungry, you didn't go
through as many paces as the others."

"The others also didn't do the displays and didn't set up the course. 
Besides I've got to have time to set up for tonight, and you better
believe I'm taking a part in that.  It'll just be like breaking into
the city almost."

"Another fifteen minutes and it should be done, relax and sit down." 
He tossed me a bottle of water, which I
gratefully accepted.  My throat was parched from the constant yelling
and 'drilling' and such.  The water was much
needed and I would have sighed at the relief from the cool liquid
running over it, if my mouth weren't full from it.  I
wasn't about to stop drinking just to sigh.

The smell of the rabbit roasting was becoming almost too much for my
stomach.  I hadn't eaten all day, usually
that's not a problem for me, but after running those drills myself I
find myself getting very hungry.

I glance over at Scully and can see she's in an animated discussion
with Kera and Joe.  I wonder what they're
talking about.  I'm hoping it's something to do with relationships
seeing as Kera and Joe were once engaged.  I
guess they still are, but chances of getting married legally around
here are slim to none for rebels.  They'd rather
throw a noose around your neck then marry you.  Sad really.

We were lucky with Skinner and his former wife.  We found a Native
priest (yes, there are some still around) who
was willing to marry them.  However I doubt will see any in this neck
of the woods.  We need another wedding
around here.  We need something cheerful.  After DC we'll set a
wedding for them, come hell or high water I'll find
a priest or Chaplain or somebody to marry them.  I want to see them
happy, even though they already are.

"Mulder!"  Cal interrupts my thoughts, however with good reason.  The
rain had come back again, this time pouring
down harder as everybody is running under trees for some semblance of
shelter.  "The rabbit, help me cover the fire
some, we need to keep it going."

I grab a tarp from a nearby tent and grab three others as we hold it
high over Cal.  The smoke instead of rising up
however is hitting the tarp and filling up underneath it pretty fast. 
"Somebody grab a knife and put a hole in it." I
shout, but nobody moves.  They're all standing under the trees just
staring at us.  "Do it!  Not over the fire, to the
side of it, but if somebody doesn't put a hole in it soon we're all
going to get sick due to smoke inhalation and the
rabbit will be ruined."

This gets a bit of a stir, and Chuck runs up with his pocketknife,
cutting a nice sized circle in the tarp about a foot
away from the fire.  We all breathe as it slowly shifts its way from
underneath and through the hole.  I definitely
need this hour and a half break now.  And once again, my throat is
parched.  I'm getting too old for this.

We stand like this for another 10 min, and finally the rabbit is done.
 The tarp gets thrown to the side and we all dig
in happily.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (12/19)

Well as happy as one can be knowing they're just going to be running
maneuvers again in a short while.

The rabbit doesn't go very far between all of us, maybe just a small
piece it, but still, it is better than nothing.  We eat nuts and dried
fruit along side it, and the last of some vegetables we plucked from
some poor schmuck's garden
a while back.  Still it isn't very much, and by the time we're
finished, I don't find myself nearly satisfied as I could be.  I guess
nobody else is as well.  We'll make do though, we always do.  I just
hope we can make it through the next few days.  Once that's done I'm
sure we'll succeed.  I feel that we're ready, or nearly ready, and
that says a lot.  Like I said before, I've seen one of my best men
killed because he didn't think when he tried to get into DC.
Nobody will make that mistake this time, I guarantee it.  And they
know that whoever isn't ready will get left behind, and as far as I
know now, nobody wants to be left behind.  Each and every one of us
has a reason for attacking the new government.

All of us, at some point over the past six years have had someone dear
taken from us.  Bailey, his ex-fiance, although I'm sure Elizabeth
doesn't really mind that.  Her and Cal, their parents, and the list
goes on.  All of us want
revenge in some way, well all but James, he's just a patriot, so all
of us are going to give it one hundred percent when going in.

This is why I think the whining is just that, whining.  In the long
run, I'm sure they don't mind the trials I'm running through. 
Speaking of which, I call Cal and Bailey over to help set up the final
run through.  It's a combination of everything.  It'll be the reason
why they all worked so hard today; it's going to be the first stage of
the set up of DC.

Tomorrow will be the second, but we'll get into that then.  Cal is
leading combatives tomorrow while I trek out in the morning in search
of supplies.  They should enjoy that much more then running in the
mud.

The high rope and wall are left where they are, it's the hurdles and
the crawling grounds we need to work around with today.  Each of us
grab the large planks of wood we've been using to jump our way over,
and move them
around the threes in question.  I also grab another rope, a surprise
of sorts and manage to climb one of the trees and tie it securely to a
branch.  Although we didn't run through this routine this morning they
all know what it is.  Each
and every one of them had to do it at some point in gym class, and I
know they've done it before while on my team in monthly skill's
sharpening day.

The rope is not knotted, because it won't be in DC, but they all have
gloves, they should be able to survive.  Cal doesn't seem the least
bit surprised that I put it up, despite us having to do a rope climb
on the wall.  The thing is the wall requires support, what if somebody
has to climb a hole in the ceiling and they start in the middle of the
room? There's no wall nearby to offer them support while climbing.

Several of the team are watching me, probably watching in dread as I
tie it to the tree and wondering what other slave driving I have in
store for them tonight.  However tonight is going to be an easy night,
it's tomorrow they all
have to worry about.  Then the following day when we all meet and plan
with our own teams.

Cal and Bailey and I also use the time for the common guy chat,
although I really have nothing to say about anything.  Both of them
have been aware of Scully's lack of communication with me...well okay,
excess communication since I could read her body language loud and
clear, but they know it's been negative.  Not to mention my little
outburst at her earlier today.

We continued to move along the course, reviewing each section and what
people are supposed to do when they reach each section.  We stop
however when Bailey points straight ahead.  "Hey, are those what I
think they are?"

Cal and I look up from the ground where we were marking our pacing;
astounded at the site we see in front us, how could we even miss it? 
Especially when we're as hungry as we are.  "Macintosh I believe by
the looks."

"Are they ripe?"

"Looks like it."  Cal makes quick work of the closest branch and pulls
it down to eye level.  I reach and grab an apple and twist it off the
branch.  It looks red enough, and clean.  I turn it slowly gazing at
the surface, clean with a
patch of green on one side, and no insect holes.  All three a good
sign.  "Hey, somebody pass me their knife, mine's dirty from the mud.

"Here, I keep a spare dug deep in my boot, it's fairly clean."  Bailey
tosses me a small switchblade, and I peel back the skin of the apple. 
"Well does it look good or not?"

"White, and looks juicy."  One more flick of the knife and I cut a
fresh piece from it and pop it into my mouth, savoring the sweetness
of the apple.  "September/October" I mutter.

"What?"

"September/October.  That's when Macintoshes are usually ripe.  It
means we're nearing if not already in the fall season."

"So it's ripe?"

"It's ripe.  Come on, we'll grab one for everybody now and then come
back later tonight and give them each another.  It looks like we have
a food source for the next couple of days, we just can't waste them."

I can honestly say we look like a bunch of monkeys.  We pick the
apples from the top of the tree first knowing they're the first to
fall prey to birds and such, and we can't let that happen.  So I'm at
the top while Bailey and Cal
are at the sides, all of us trying to balance ourselves as we pick
apples.  When I signed on to be a G-Man so long ago, never in my
wildest dreams did I ever imagine climbing trees in the middle of
nowhere for food.

I guess it's not what anybody really imagines.

"How many does everybody have?"

"I've got five good ones."

"I've got seven god ones."

Five plus seven, twelve.  Not bad, only a few more.  "Why don't you
two try to get down, I'll grab the rest."

By the time we returned to the camp, the team was setting up for the
final leg of this evening's activities.  I knew they didn't mind the
slave driving so much.  "Take an extra five minutes guys."  I toss an
apple to each of them, all
of them just as astounded as we were.  "Five minutes we'll start.  If
everything goes well tonight, there'll be more where these came from."
 Hey, I'm not the first to buy my team's favor; one has to do that
every once in a while you know.

I don't even glance at Scully as I toss her apple to her, just move on
and toss the next apple to the next person, and soon enough there was
silence in the woods with the exception of everybody taking bites from
their apple.
Hopefully this'll score me bonus points, especially with the three
teams who end up losing tonight's maneuver.  They're not going to want
to redo it while the winners sit comfortably by the fire for the
evening.

Once I have their complete attention, I continue on with my spiel
regarding the maneuver for tonight.

"Two teams tonight, instead of breaking our group into one and two,
then three and four, we're going to split things up a bit.  Teams one
and three will be team one and teams two and four will be team two. 
That way we have a mix
of people who learned this afternoon's activities in a variety of
ways.  Not to mention even though we're separate teams going in, we
still work as one and we have to trust each other to get the job done
right, no matter what the job
is.  So we're mixing our skills this way.

"Course is very simple, yet no easy task as well.  It's going to be a
mix of everything you learned today.  We start off simple.  To the
left of you are a group of trees, dense and thick.  You're going to
move through there, trying not to get caught.  I've set up several
traps along the way; you'll figure it out while you're in there. 
Nothing hard, just a task to keep your eyes open.

"Once you make your way through the trees, you'll come to a river,
about ten feet wide, it's shallow, but we're going to pretend it's
deep.  There are two tree trunks acting as bridges.  Make you're way
across, however don't fall
else you're out and I'll make you run the course again.  Falling marks
failure, I will not risk the failure of any of you in DC.

"Once you cross the bridge you'll find the climbing wall.  This one
however is higher, eleven feet.  Make your way up and then you'll find
a rope which connects to the other tower, like the one between the two
trees.  This one
however is three times as long, still only eight feet above the ground
though.  Cross to the other wall and climb down the wall and continue
on.

"You'll come to an open field with several logs knocked over, and
ropes.  Keep your eyes out for those, they'll signal when you have to
crouch and crawl and when you don't.

"At the end of the field there are two poles, each with a red flag. 
Last person to arrive to the post grabs the flag, that way the entire
team is there.  Then you're doing the course again, but backwards.  By
the time you get back here there will be one pole here set up, with a
blue flag.  Last man from the first team to arrive grabs the flag and
that team wins.  The other team will then run the course two more
times again before settling for the night.  Any questions?"

Everybody immediately started talking at once and I knew I had to get
things under control.  "Hold up!  One at a time.  We'll do this just
like we're in school, hands up if you have a question and I'll call on
you."

Chuck's hand went up first.  "What about you Mulder?  You and Cal know
all the traps on the first run.  Everybody can just follow you guys of
sorts."

"Actually they can't.  Cal and I won't be on first run; it'll even the
teams out though.  However we will be running the last two runs with
the losing team since they will already know the traps set up.  So
we're not exempt from it
either."

Jon's hand went up. "That's still not fair Mulder.  Some of us will
have three runs while you and Cal only have two."

"We also worked out butts off setting this thing up, moving things
over, knocking things down etc while the rest of you were relaxing and
eating.  Not to mention tree climbing.  I think that's equal to a
third and fourth run of the course.  Besides, the course does need
monitoring.  Cal will be stationed with the red flags; I'll be by the
blue.  I'm also looking at timing guys.  If timing is really good, I
may cut it back to one run for the losing team, not two."

Scully's hand shot up and I found myself swallowing a lump in my
throat before allowing he to speak.  "You can't possibly expect us to
run the course a second time do you?"

"I can and do expect it of you, like I said earlier, this extensive
training I'm putting you through is no joke.  Everybody's equal here,
and I expect everybody to excel, that doesn't mean though that I can't
push them or you to
their limits."

"You don't seem to be equal amongst us."  Her eyebrow was raised; I
was getting the famous Scullyglare, one that I always hope to avoid.

"I am also running the course.  There has to be somebody to coordinate
all this.  *I* know what DC is like, *I* know how easy it is to lose a
life there, I saw our last guy dragged off there.  And foremost both
*you* and *I*
know what's at stake here.  I'm sure you'll whole heartedly agree to
what I'm doing."

"Don't bring Summer into this Mulder."

"And why not, she's the whole reason we're going in to begin with.  No
slip ups, no screw ups.  Everybody knows what they'll be doing.  This
course will ensure it."

I had finally had enough questions at the moment to last me a
lifetime, not to mention I didn't want to get into another verbal
battle with Scully in front of everybody.  Why couldn't she see I was
right anyway?  I signal to Cal to
make his way to the other flags via the quick route and lined up the
others along the beginning.

Once I received a signal he was at the other end, our agreed one shot
in the air, the others were off, and I was left at the finish to think
things through.  I have to find a way to convince Scully that her
belief in Summer at the moment is only going to cause her trouble.

I used the time alone to think and contemplate, it would be a good
hour before anybody returned, and that's the fast ones only. People
like Jimmy and Deneka who hates to run will most likely slow the group
down. Then there are
those who are exhausted from today's earlier exercises, they'll be
slower too, so technically i had all the time in the world here. I
knew what we were heading into, and I let Cal and Bailey in on it
earlier on the walk back from the apple tree. The three of us were
prepared, and Bailey knew to prepare Elizabeth for it as well, however
it was Scully we were concerned about.

We hadn't mentioned it to Monica yet, although I plan on it. Maybe she
can enlighten Scully onto the fact that I'm telling the truth here.
Scully seems to trust her sense of perception, her sixth sense, so
maybe if Monica can convince
her, I won't be so worried about the whole operation. Tonight I'll
speak to her and I'll let her work on Scully for the next two days,
that's if she can get past her stubborn pride.

I still needed to figure out what to do with Summer. I asked the boys
this earlier in the woods, and will probably ask the Gunmen when they
arrive, but I wasn't totally positive I'd leave DC with her in hand. I
don't know how bad
things are, I only know what I read, and even though I don't like what
I've read, I don't know if I can change things. I certainly hope I
can, but we all know there's a possibility I won't be able to.

But what then? 

What if I have to do something drastic? What if I can't leave it
alone? You all know me, I can never leave something alone. I know I'm
going to have to take one course of action or the other, I can't just
ignore the problem, but right
now, all I want to do is close my eyes and forget this ever happened,
that this world even exists, forget everything. Well everything but
Scully.

She was another situation completely. If I can't do what I want with
Summer, where does that leave me with her? Closing my eyes is sounding
more and more pleasant by the minute, just Scully and I, somewhere,
anywhere, but
here.

I was on cue with the hour mark when the first member started running
in, and to my surprise, it was Deneka, and she had the red flag in
hand which meant she was the last member of her team to arrive at the
flag, so how did she
manage to come in first here.  I eased myself off the ground, yes, I'd
been sitting down leaning against a tree while the team ran the
course, can't say much in my defense about it either.

The second team member, Chuck, also from her team came running around
the corner, and soon I saw three, four, five more people all making
their way around, urging their last player to speed it up to make it
to the blue flag first.  I kept track the members, team two had two
more left to arrive while team one had three.  I hope team one wins,
needless to say I don't really want another argument with Scully.  It
took a lot already to get her to run this course, I can't imagine
trying to get her to run it two more times.  Or hell, one more seeing
as their timing was half way decent.

She was one of the first to arrive from team one, I'm not surprised
about that, we've kept fit over the years being able to run for a
while if we have to.  We've had to before.  When your truck breaks
down and you've got alien
authorities on your tail, all you can do is run, miles and miles at a
time.  I also happen to know she has the energy to do the run a second
time if need be, but can I make her do that?  Probably not.

I can play on Summer again, but there's only so many times I can use
the kid as a card in this game with her, and so many times Scully will
actually take shit from me.  She's only doing so today cause she knows
I'm right in making
everybody work.  Who's to say the rest of the night will be the same.

Hell, even with all this training I'm putting them through, I don't
even know if it will be enough, or if I even need to put them through
this much.  Only one way to find out.

The last of team two, Jimmy, comes running up and grabs the blue flag,
leaving team one, Cal and I to run the course.  I give them the out,
tell them one run instead of two...he and I will be at it an extra hour.

Scully gives me a glare then walks off, this is a battle lost, I
cannot and will not force her to run again.  Tonight for sure I'm
talking to Monica, and tonight, hopefully, Monica will talk some sense
to Scully, at this point I'm counting on her.

Running the course myself, I clearly find that I've set the limits a
little too high.  At this point we've only cleared the first field and
I'm almost wiped.  Like everybody else, I know what to expect here,
where to duck and where to jump and avoid hidden objects.   They all
discovered it through trial and error; I knew where they were hidden
the entire time.  As did Cal.  He, Bailey and I run side by side,
fortunately for Bailey he only has this run to go on, he doesn't have
to follow suit with Cal and I.

Over the past week with planning, the three of us have become fairly
close, not like Scully and I, but close enough that I consider them
friends above team members.  They are also my best men, which is an
added bonus, and with all
the planning, we talk about things other than what's going to happen. 
They're the only ones I feel safe talking about Scully with, other
than Doggett and Skinner, who are both not here and currently residing
in Cuba, no doubt
developing a killer tan.

Damn them, here I had to get my tan through hard work, at least in the
winter I don't lose it, we just spend our time out in the former
states of Florida, New Mexico, or depending if we're that far west,
southern California.  It's just
traveling through the other states that are a pain in the winter,
although I like those nights best.  I'm pressed close to Scully for
body heat, and everybody has to share a blanket, no person bunks
alone.

I hope on the log over the river and cross it as swiftly as I can
without losing my balance, it's certainly not as easy it seemed when I
thought it up.  At least none of the team members got lost in it
that's a bonus.  All of us make it to the other side without too much
difficulty.  Now time for the wall.  The wall is easy, I used to climb
trees at the vineyard after Samantha was taken and just stare at the
stars above me.  I've been adept at climbing things ever since, and
I'm the first to make it up and grab the rope to cross over.

None of us speak during the run, it would require too much energy,
energy we can't really waste needlessly at the moment, especially
Bailey since this is his second run.  Tomorrow I'll set the standards
of the course a little easier
seeing as we're combining today's stuff with combat and weaponry that
they'll learn tomorrow.

I continue to hang onto the rope as I make my way across to the other
tower, thankful for thick gloves knowing that my hands would have been
chopped to pieces from rope burn without them.  This is the hardest
part of the course, of
course it could be much worse, I could be trapped in a snow tunnel
with aliens up my ass instead, so I'm kind of thankful of being in the
air at the moment.

I chuckle at that thought and the others turn to me.  I flash them a
look, 'later' and we continue on, hoping we're not suspended in mid
air for much longer.

We manage to finish the first run without collapsing and the second
with a slight lapse on the wall.  Despite Bailey having run his two
runs, he joined us on our second, making it his third.  He's fucking
nuts.  Even I won't run this
thing a third time, although I know it's a good sign.  The boy has
initiative and I can trust him in any given situation.  He can trust
me too, I know this, he was forced to trust me when dealing with the
hag.  I certainly didn't let him down.  I wasn't allowed to, Elizabeth
would have me dead six times over.

Upon the end of the second run, I collapsed by the fire where the
others were enjoying themselves, relaxing and talking amongst
themselves.  Honestly, I'm wiped; I'm definitely getting too old for
this.  Tomorrow fortunately I
won't be making the run; I'm not even participating in combat.  I'm
laboured for breath and I don't even want to move.  I'm so exhausted
at the moment I can't even think of moving let alone trying to. 
Bailey must feel worse,
however he gets to bask in the glory of being exhausted, he has
Elizabeth taking care of him, I have nobody, Scully's still pissed at
me.

"Here, drink."

Although not pissed enough to forgo bringing me a bottle of water.  I
look up at her as she brings the bottle down my now parched lips and I
savour the feel of the cold water entering my body, although not
nearly as much as I
savour the sight of her standing over me.  I wonder what's brought
about her change of mood though, does she finally believe?  Did she
find the article regarding Summer herself?  Although how can she when
it's still in my
pocket?

I look up at her with inquiring eyes, my mouth too full of water to
speak.

"No, I haven't changed my mind, but you're still my partner Mulder,
and I will still fight next to you."  She kneels down next to me, her
hand cool from the rain reaches out and touches the side of my face. 
"I just can't promise you
I'll fight with the same goals, that's all."

I lift the bottle away from my mouth at this point, what the hell did
she mean by that?  I should be grateful she doesn't want this to put a
gap between us, but I'm still confused.

"Same goals Scully?  What do you mean?"  I narrowed my eyes at her.  I
need her on the same wavelength as me if we're to succeed.

"I know what you want to do to Summer Mulder, I've heard you talking
to the others, I'm not going to let that happen.  I'll fight with you
all the way until we reach her, however once there you're on your own,
I'm going to do
everything to protect my little girl."

"Scully, she's evil."

"She's six years old, there's no possible way for her to be what you
say."

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (13/19)

"Think about it Scully, she was raised by a geneticist who works for
THEM.  Who's to say that she didn't change
her into anything."

"She's part of us, they can't change her from who she really is deep
down inside."

"They can, especially since they raised her from birth.  Scully there
has been several experiments of raising children
to who parents want them to be.  Want them intelligent, educate them
and interact to them while young.  Want them
vulnerable, cold, untrusting, abandon them, leave them alone.  What
you do to a child in the first five years will
impact the way they behave and think for the rest of their lives. 
It's the easiest way to mold them to what they
want."

"Do you think I don't know that Mulder?  I'm a doctor, they teach that
to us in med school.  Not to mention I did
take a psychology course or two in my time.  I'm not totally oblivious
to the way it looks, but I highly doubt she's as
bad as you say."

"But Scully-"

"No buts.  Look at the facts, she's six years old, she belongs to us. 
She's going to have an intuitive instinct about us,
she's not going to hurt her biological parents."

I pull myself up from the rock I was resting on and the water bottle
back to her.  I see I still have a lot of convincing
to do, but I've achieved step one, she's willing to acknowledge some
of what I see.  Now to get her to acknowledge
the rest of it.  "I'm just trying to look out for you Scully, I don't
want you to get hurt."

"I won't Mulder, I'm certain in this, she won't hurt us.  Not when she
recognizes us for who we are."

I reach for her hand and proceed to walk us to our tent; I'm ready to
pass out for the night.  "I hope you're right
Scully, I really do."

My clothes are soaked through from today's rain and stained with mud. 
As a kid I remember how much I used to
love to play in the mud, just because we weren't allowed too...when did
the novelty of it all wear off?  It does
remind me though, I need to wash, and shave, although I may just trim
the beard instead seeing as the picture on the
passport has me with one.  Even still the features are the same, with
or without a beard, I'm sure I'm pretty
identifiable.  It will also be easier to work with inside without one,
I don't have to worry about it getting caught on
anything, or allowing a stray hair block my view, it's happened
before.  I'll still miss it's warmth though, it's proved
very handy in the winter seasons.

"What are you thinking about?"  Scully interrupts my thoughts, and I
realize I'm just standing there with my shirt in
one hand, and my other resting against my cheek.  

"I need to bathe and get this mud off of me, and I need to shave."

"Well there's a river just down the way there, I'm sure we can get you
cleaned up in that.  Do you have any shaving
cream?"

"No, haven't needed it in years."

"Hold on."  I get a generous view of Scullyass as she bends down and
digs deep into her bag, pulling out three
items.  One is a pair of scissors, one is a razor, a decent mens one
at that, and the last is a pink can of foaming
shaving cream.  

"Where did you get those from?"

"Black market of course.  Mulder, I'm a woman, and when I wear shorts
in the summer I don't wear pantyhose.
While I know this isn't necessary, it's one of those things that is
force of habit.  Six years in a living hell isn't going
to change that.  Besides, don't you want to smell like baby powder?"

I must have wrinkled my face at the thought cause the next thing
coming out of her mouth had me convinced that
baby powder was the best thing in the world.  "Come on Mulder, after
smelling like dirt for six years, baby powder
is going to make me want to do some wonderful things to your body,
things we only began to explore out on that
field last night."

Oh hell yes I was following her out the tent and back to the lake, I'd
have to be a eunuch not to!

The river was brown and mucky, although I'm not really surprised due
to the amount of rain we had today.  I don't
know how I'm supposed to fully clean myself in here; it looks almost
as dirty as the mud pits we created back at
camp.  I guess in the long run it would be cleaner, more water
compared to mud in here, and it's only slightly brown,
but even still, if I wanted to bath in mud, I'd have found my way up
to the mud pit and just soak in there.  However
I've learned to adapt over the years, no more hot clean showers, I
make do with what we have, and unfortunately,
we have a muddy river.

Scully's already stripped out of her clothes and made her way into the
river, only she hasn't ducked under, I'm not
surprised, I don't want to either.  She has the scissors, razor and
shaving cream in her hand, and is beckoning me
into the river with her.  Her hair is plastered to her face due to the
rain, the red roots prominent next to the bleach
blonde.  Her eyes are wide and dark, I know what she wants, how can I
refuse her.

My clothes end up a muddy mess on the ground as I toss them away from
me and walk toward the banks.  The water
was freezing, however once again I'm not surprised.  It's
September/October, the water would be cold by now, and
getting colder as winter arrives.  I try not to think about it, and
hope to god that it's not too cold to do some damage
to me.

Scully's body is warm as I approach her, and I see her intentions
clearly in her eyes, and suddenly the water around
myself is warm.  She hands me the razor and shaving cream to hold onto
and sets away with the scissors, trimming it
down to a length where the razor will work.  Muddy clumps of dark
brown hair fall into the river and float away
with the tide, and I'm come over with a feeling of nostalgia, I've had
this beard for six years, do I really want to get
ride of it?

She continues to snip away, being extra careful not to cut me, but
getting in as close as she can.  She hands me the
scissors and takes the foaming gel from my hand, her soft hands
smoothing it over my face.  Knowing her she's
making it perfect, evenly spread out and every inch of what's left of
my beard is covered.  I trust her implicitly while
doing this; she would never hurt me.  She then takes the razor from my
other hand and starts running it over my
face.

She takes her time, leaving nothing untouched, and the only thing I
can hear around here is the sound of rain landing
in the water, and the slow rasp of the razor over my cheek.  She moves
slowly, in an upward motion giving it the
right amount of pressure to clean away what I have left of my facial
hair, yet not too hard to cut me.  Her eyes are
still dark and on mine while she does this, and finally it's done

And I'm undone.

I can see little puffs of white foam float away in the distance, I
don't care.  Nothing can make me care right now.
Her hands are on my face, smoothing away the last of the cream, and
for the first time in six years, I feel her bare
hands on my cheeks.  I know instantly why I shaved, I missed this, the
small touch that used to send shivers down
my spine, like it is now.

Only now it's different, it still sends shivers down my spine, but it
has a destination this time, one that's standing
ready and eager to please.  

"You're hair Mulder, duck under" Her hands sit on top of my scalp as
she lightly pushes me under.  I don't have to
try to keep my eyes shut to keep the mud out, the feel of her fingers
lightly scratching and massaging my scalp is
enough to make me willing shut them and enjoy the feeling.  I forget
about the mud and the dirty water, I forget to
lift my head and breath periodically, I just let her clean me and pull
me from the water when she's ready.

This is Scully, I trust her implicitly, she won't drown me.

Her hands pull me from the water, and I still don't breath, I'm
drowning, but not in water.  I can see her intentions
clearly.  Her hands now run over my face as I stare transfixed at her
eyes.  Her palms rest lightly on my cheeks,
exploring the newly exposed flesh that the beard once covered up.  

Sadly this isn't what I want though.  We've been at odds since last
night and despite that she still wants to make
love.  I can't have that; we're still at odds despite our chat.  Next
time I want us to be together I want us 100 per cent
on the same wave length.  We're not there yet, not when I don't know
what she's going to do to keep me from
completing my mission with Summer.

I swallow hard before placing my hands on hers, pulling them away from
my face.  "No."

"No?"

"No."  I look into her eyes, we've always communicated better without
words.

"No" she concedes; she understands, and walks away.

God, I hope I never have to do that again, it's been the hardest thing
I've ever had to do in all the fourteen years that
I've known her.

My clothes are a muddy pile on the ground, rain soaked and brown. 
After getting clean I don't want to put them
back on, however there's no way I can walk back to camp nude like I
am.   Gray knit boxers stick out from my
jeans, they'll do.  I run them through the river then ring them out
before slipping them on.  This'll be as clean as they
get.  I do the same with my shirt, taking more care in washing the mud
off before handing it to Scully.  I sure as hell
ain't letting her walk back to camp with nothing on.  Even though the
camp knows she's off limits doesn't mean I
want her showing off her stuff.  That's for my eyes only.  

We tread back slowly, Scully in front of me as I watch her ass sway. 
I can't help myself.  My shirt is drenched and
clinging to every curve, she's never looked so sexy, and that shirt
has never looked so good on anyway until now.
She can have it for all I care.  Besides, I want to get into dry
clothing before I nod off for the night.  At least tonight I
won't have any trouble sleeping.  With Scully by my side and
exhaustion from today's rounds, it should be no
trouble.

We enter the camp, and make our way to the other side, everybody
stopping and staring at me as we walk by.  Most
of them have never seen me clean shaven before, I know it's a shock. 
I feel refreshed now though, don't miss the
beard as much as I did when it first came off.  I think that's a good
sign.  By now the new government knew they
were looking for a man with a beard, appearing at the door without one
should startle them some.

I gave a little wave to the small crowd sitting around the fire and
continue on, the slip inside my tent.  I have a pair
of sweats set aside to sleep in at night, and at the moment, dry
clothes seem like heaven.  Scully shameless removes
my shirt from her in front of me and slips on an oversized shirt we
found her before nestling in the linen, or the rags
we call linen.  

I curl up beside her and throw a large knit blanket her mother made
for us over top.  Like I said, sleep should be no
problem.  She moves inward and rests that bottom of hers right up
against me, rubbing in slow movements while she
settles in for the night.

Forget what I said, I'm wide-awake now.

The night was long and cold and Scully was nestled too close for me to
get up and throw on another shirt to keep
warm.  I just didn't want to wake her up, like me she'll be making a
long trek out to remote towns gathering
supplies.  We'll have the jeep with us for the extra storage space,
not to mention it'll save us from walking, but even
still, it'll be a long day.

My face feels weird sleeping against my pillow without beard, I can
honestly say I'm not used to it anymore, and I
miss it.  It kept me warm in weather like this, I'm freezing, and I'm
not selfish enough to wake up my partner either
to do something about it.  I pull the black knit blanket higher around
my face, I'm thankful for the hard work Mrs.
Scully has put in these things, and I'll be even more thankful when
the gunmen arrive in two days with the winter
stock.  No doubt Mrs. Scully has been knitting up a storm since we
last received the summer blankets.

They're all the same, plain black knit, lighter wool in the summer,
chunky in the winter, although where she gets her
wool, I don't know.  She must sheer her own sheep or something. 
They're perfect too. They're all the same size,
one foot longer than the tallest person here, which happens to be Joe
who's 6'4" and wide enough for a double bed,
and she sends 20 of them, more than enough just in case something
happens to one.

I don't really wonder where she gets her time for all of them though
seeing as she's living with the Gunmen
underground.  There isn't a lot to there except hack into government
databases and find their weakest link, a point of
focus for an attack.  I'm sure she's gotten the guys to show her a
thing or two, and buy this time she's probably
better on a computer than I'll ever be, but she's honestly no Langley,
which leaves her with knitting.  I don't think
she minds so much either, her daughter is leading the team, she's
gotta do what's best to support her.  So she helps
the rest of us.  We're all her children now, at least that's what I
think, 'Mama Scully' Jessica calls her.  She's not far
from the truth.  The entire team looks up to her and respects her, and
there's always kind words to be said about her
when our shipment is dropped off.  

I could really use for one of those blankets now though, I'm damn cold
still.  Scully's body is hot next to mine, but it
doesn't help my backside much now does it.

The morning light creeps into the tent, and the sound of the other
team members awaking can be heard throughout
the camp.  I of course, did not sleep a wink last night.  Tonight I'll
pass out for sure...even if I have to separate
myself from Scully, the next two days are going to be crucial and I
need my rest.  She'll agree with me on that fact.

My entire body is stiff from yesterday's exercises and a groan escapes
me as I sit up.  Nothing wants to function for
me today; all I can say is thank god I'm getting out of combat for the
day.  "Stiff Mulder?"

Scully's sitting straight and tall next to me, the long shirt she wore
to bed now bunched at her waist, nothing else on
underneath.  The picture painted in front of me entrances me.  "Just a
tad, I probably overdid it last night or strained
something."

"Now you know why I walked away from the second run.  However while
everybody was running, I did my
stretches, loose as a board today."

"Yeah yeah, quit it.  I get your point."

"I hope you don't expect the others to work as hard today, they'll be
exhausted come the time we go to DC."

"I'll cut final activity out tonight and let them rest.  A day of
combat should be enough."

"Good."

She gets up and flings the shirt off her, it landed in a thump on my
head....mmmm...smells like Scully.  She's naked
as the day she was born while tromping around the small tent looking
for a set of dry clothes to change into, the wet
ones will be hung out today to dry.  

However right now all I want to do is grab her and pull her right into
my eager lap.  I think joining the others can
wait a bit longer, and I was obviously wrong in turning her down last
night, what was I thinking?  I go to lean
forward to do just that when I heard a crack echo in my back, and pain
shoot through, dammit!

She's smirking at me.  "Back massage Mulder?"

"Yes please" I say while grimacing.

"Well too bad your own fault."  She slips on a pair of khaki capris we
found before this all began and a tight black
tank.  She stops at the flap of the tent and looks back.  "You best
hurry up you know, people are hungry and need
their apples, somebody needs to climb the tree."

She turns and exits.  Payback can certainly be a bitch.

Of course she's right, the entire team are sitting out by the fire
just awaiting my arrival so Cal, Bailey and can climb
trees, and they all seem to be maneuvering pretty well, except Bailey,
but he also ran three times yesterday instead
of twice, and some of them only ran once.  I'm probably the only one
who's sore here, maybe I'll get somebody else
to climb and I'll just spot them.

The morning is turning out to be nicer than yesterday though.  While
the ground is still damp and muddy, the rain
has stopped.  It may start up again, the sky's still overcast, but I
hope not, I've had enough mud to last me a life time
thank you very much.  I did manage to find dry, clean clothes however
inside, a pair of black jeans and one of my
old gray tees...I though I ruined them all, I guess not.  My boots are
still muddy, but it's not like it makes much of a
difference.  As long as they get me up that tree, I'll be okay.

"All right boys, lets head out, we have some hungry campers to fill." 
The three of us trek off camp to the apple tree
we found last night, this time we have a bag with us to put the apples
in.

"Mulder, I think you two are climbing today, I'll spot ya and catch
the apples."  Bailey's limping, he must have
really done in his muscles last night.  

"Sorry pal, I think I'll be spotting you two and catching, there's no
way I'll be able to climb the tree today."

"But that's no fair, I did twice as much work as you yesterday and
still have to participate in combat today while
you're out heckling.  I was an architecture student; not some military
bravado like Cal or a FBI agent like you.  I'm
sore."

"You've also been with me for four years now, you can't pull that bull
on me.  I've seen you at your best, yesterday
was nothing compared to it."

"You just don't want to scratch your face on those branches."

I had to laugh at that comment, in all actuality that was the farthest
thing from my mind at the moment.  "My face
has nothing to do with it.  It's the fact that at the moment I
couldn't climb a tree even if I tried that has everything to
do with it."

"Never admit a weakness to your people Mulder" Cal interjected.  "Bad
form and may cause a mutiny of sorts."

"This is just you guys, besides this is my show, anybody who chooses
not to follow doesn't have to.  That's been
clear from the beginning, you can leave whenever you want, my weakness
be damned."

"That's true, you've been quite clear on that."

"So now that that's established, I'm not climbing that tree." 

"Well neither am I."

"You're both wimps, I'll climb, Mulder you spot, Bailey you catch.  It
can't be that hard to pick 15 or so apples."

The tree stood in front of us, large and looming and full of apples
ready for us to eat.  Cal grabbed a branch and
hoisted himself up.  Now who looks like the monkey...

The paved road ran out long ago as Scully and I drove away from DC in
search of the munitions town the gunmen
had radioed into me while Cal was up climbing the tree.  We didn't
have a map to lead the way, the town was
unmapped and well hidden, supposedly the home of many other rebels of
the new government, each fighting in their
own way to overcome the corruption of the new government and possibly
defeat them.  I really don't forsee any
problems in heckling with them.

After six years of fighting, not to mention twelve years or so in the
bureau, I knew my weaponry.  I know which
weapons will be effective in what we need them for.  I know which ones
will get in undetected and which weapons
will basically create a huge hole in the wall.

I wanted both.

We drove on for endless miles, taking in the sun and the breeze.  The
clouds had cleared some since we left camp,
and only blue skies lay in front of us...blue skies aren't what we need
at this point in time though, blue skies doesn't
protect us from being discovered.  The cloud cover at least blocked
some of the air and satellite equipment they're
using.

Either way, it was too late for them to do anything, we're going in
day after tomorrow whether they're ready or not,
it just means that if they're ready for us, we have to be ready for
them.  I truly believe we can take them on if they're
prepared, although I'm seriously hoping for the element of surprise
here.

"Take a left at the fork" Scully muttered, her head leaning against
the back of the seat, hair blowing in the wind and
shades on her face.  If I didn't know her so well, I'd say she's
looking rather relaxed at the moment.

Scully's like me though, despite her cool exterior, she's keeping an
eye open for anybody or anything that may
hinder us in our mission.  Watchers are all over the place, they've
been known to surround DC before, the further
away you go, the less there are, but they're still there.

Her hand sits at her hip, next to her weapon holster, she's nothing if
not a quick draw.

I make the left and we end up on another dirt road, the dust from the
ground flying behind us like a cloud as we
continually move forward.  Civilization is growing sparse here, I know
we're headed in the right direction.  These
guys don't mess around, when they hide, they hide well, which is why
they're so successful munitions wise.  I've
heard about them taking down entire cities, read articles about them
from scraps of newspapers lying around,
however the agencies of the new government haven't realized yet that
we're two separate rebel groups.  In all the
articles, they've noted me as the key figure in all of the attacks,
giving me the credit, I just hope the boys inside the
town are okay with that.

As rebels they should be, less attention drawn to them, however some
people are in this just for the glory, not for the
fight or the idea of freedom.  They just want their names written down
in history as the person who saved humanity
from colonization.

However they didn't save humanity, humanity can no longer be saved. 
Aliens are among they lead the people of the
world.  Replicants can be found everywhere, hybrids, you name it, it's
somewhere on this earth, adapting.  It's
become survival of the fittest, and I'm inclined to believe that they
will never be wiped off the planet completely, we
just have to try to eliminate their source of power and that'll be the
start.  I'm sure there'll be rebellions and wars
between them and us for the next thousand years after we do so.

I can see buildings up ahead, three large concrete ones surrounded by
nothing, I know this is the place cause no
other town that is not government sanctioned is this fortified.  I
feel like we're entering the pentagon again, although
the pentagon in the sense that we once knew it no longer exists.  Now
it is a breeding ground for new hybrids, ones
that will colonize the earth further.  Damn why didn't I go to Cuba
when I had the chance, we could have at least
lived in safety.

Scully's perched up in her seat now, and I'm driving up slower, both
of us scanning the horizon.  I've seen these
guys work before, if you rush on in, they'll kill you.

A loud shot rang out and immediately the two of us ducked in the
cheap, and remained ducked as four more shots
rang loudly into the air.

I guess even if you arrive cautiously they'll still kill you.

"STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE, NOW!"

A feeling of dread came over me, this could be one of many things. 
They think we're watchers and they're going to
kill us, they think we're government and they'll kill us, they are
watchers are going to kill us, or government and
going to kill us, or hell, they could be rebels too and still going to
kill us.

"I said step out of the vehicle" I could feel the cool metal from his
weapon poking into the side of my head, dammit.

I reached out for the door handle; pulling it gently and allowing them
to yank open the doors and pull me out.  I
glanced over at Scully, apparently she was getting the same treatment,
and her gun already ripped out of its holster.

"We're not here to cause trouble"

"Shut up!  We'll do the talking here."  A large man pushed me front
first against the jeep.  "Hands on the vehicle, legs spread apart."

He didn't really need to tell me as he kicked my feet apart, hard,
nearly knocking me from my stance, and probably on my ass if he wasn't
holding me up so tightly.

"Number two, over here now, let number three deal with the broad."

They just called MY Scully 'broad'.  I'll kill 'em for that, never
mind, Scully will kill them for that comment alone. I'll watch
happily, nobody calls her broad, and anybody who has hasn't come out
of it alive.  One good thing about the past six years, it allows us
free violence without charges if need be.  Okay, it allows us with
free violence without charges if we're not caught, that can make the
difference.

I know the new government isn't afraid to hang us on a noose, which
makes me wonder about these guys.

'Number 2' arrives and I can feel him pinning me down further against
the cheap as the first guy places his weapon aside.  They don't need
to pin me, I'm not going to run as long as they have those weapons
pointed at me.  The first guy's hands are on my shoulders, moving
quickly and effectively as he frisks me.

Bye bye hip holster and my back-up as they're removed from my person.

Scully gets the same treatment soon after, thankfully they're just as
professional with her as they were with me, pulling her dagger from
her pocket.

"What do you make of the guns."

"Old, they look government issue."

I want to tell them to aim it at their heart and test it for
themselves; I keep my mouth shut.

Well shut until I can feel the cool tip of the power weapon slammed
against the base of my skull again.

"Who the fuck are you?  You have till the count of two before I fill
your head with lead."

The tip of his weapon pressed even harder into the base of my skull,
this guy wasn't kidding around, I know he'd kill me without a second
thought, probably dump my body somewhere and continue with his day to
day routine, like I have so many times.

"ONE"

I have no other "Fox Mulder!"

"Not possible, Fox Mulder doesn't end up getting caught like you have
and most certainly doesn't reveal his identity to anybody."

Damn him, he's right, six years I haven't gotten caught, and I
certainly haven't revealed who I am.

"I am Fox Mulder, check the glove compartment, my old bureau
identification can be found in it.  Her's too."

"And who does she happen to be?"

It was Scully's turn to speak up, probably the first time she spoke
"Dana Scully."

"Now I know you two are faking it, of course she would say Dana Scully
if she's traveling with you, the entire world knows that Dana Scully
doesn't leave Fox Mulder's side.  Now where's John Doggett and Walter
Skinner, aren't they supposed to be with you?"

"They were granted leave to Cuba, they're toasty warm right now, it's
only the two of us."

"Prove it."

"The identifications in the glove compartment."

The man holding me turned me around to face my would be killer, or
maybe my will be killer depending on how this all turns out.  He
motioned to the man holding to the glove compartment while he still
held me at gunpoint.  He grabbed the Ids and tossed them to the first
man.

He held each of them open, glancing back and forth at the pictures and
at each of us.  If they didn't convince him, I don't know what would,
we haven't changed much over the years, aged some, I've developed more
muscles than I had before, but even still, facial features haven't
changed.  Anybody who's familiar with identification would know this.

"Pretty damn close I'd say."

"Of course they're close, they're us six years ago, convinced?"

"No, I want proof."  The damn gun was in my face again.

"Proof?  What do you constitute as proof?"

"Something other than identification, these can be faked."

"I don't know what else to tell you-"

"Los Angeles, five years ago."

My mind filed to the event.  I've been to LA many times over the past
six years, but I know specifically what even he's talking about, I
just don't know what aspect.  "What about it?"

"Universal, FOX, Warner Bros., do those all ring a bell?"

"Yeah, all blown up simultaneously, an attack made against the
propaganda films now made there.  It was all over the airwaves by
their television companies after they did that.  Last I heard though
they were rebuilt."

"Exactly, what explosive was used there?"

"How the hell should I know, I wasn't there, it wasn't my job."

"Yes, but according to the papers and news it was, your name was
labeled all over it."

That was the connection, I knew instantly.  They're the ones who did
the job, I got the credit and they knew I had nothing to do with it.  
The rest of the world believes that Fox Mulder did that job, only
those of us gathered here know where the true credit goes to.  "My
name may be all over it, but I wasn't there, I didn't do the job.  I
was over in Denver at the time, I only heard about the studios going
in flame two weeks after the fact, and through confidential sources of
mine.  Contacts who led me to you today.  We were marrying off Walter
Skinner at the time."

"Hold on Mulder..." I took a quick glance at Scully, hoping not to
piss off the man in front of me too much seeing as he had an armed
weapon next to me.  "How come I didn't hear about the job in LA?"

"Cause you were too busy working with Skinner and his bride to be, it
wasn't our job, I didn't want to detract you from what you were doing
with details that mean nothing to us."

I looked back at the man; his weapon was lowered to the ground and
suddenly he didn't seem as overbearing as he did when this all
started, I think I finally got through to him.

"So you're THE Fox Mulder eh, I think we've got to talk."

His weapon lay low, and his hand now extended in friendly greeting,
however I have to admit I'm still wary of him. This change seems too
sudden, but he's right, we do need to talk, I just hope I'm not
surrounded by his goonies when we do, Scully and I need the upper
advantage.  I also want my weapons and identification back, which I
state outloud.

His men look back at the first guy and he nods.  Within seconds my
weapons are thrust back into my arms, I suddenly don't feel so naked
anymore.  "You okay Scully?  They didn't manhandle you too much?"  I
glare at the leader of the group, he shrugs.  If he weren't so
valuable to what I wanted right now, I'd probably hurt him greatly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, they didn't do anything."  She joined me at my side
and glanced at the compound.  It's exactly what we're looking for.

"Listen, I'm not apologizing for the mix up Mulder" how dare he get on
such familiar terms with me right away, mind you I'd probably have
told him to call me that anyway, "but we never know who's who anymore.  
I believe you said it best yourself, trust no one."

His men fell by his side.  "We can't risk government officials
appearing on our compound, we don't know who's on our side anymore,
hence we stop anybody who comes close.  I believe though in the four
years my group has been together you and your lady friend here are two
of five to get past the barrier alive, the others we haven't hesitated
in killing."

"So you are rebelling against the new government like the rest of us?"

"Yes, we all have our own reasons, we just want to take them out of
power and restore the US to what it once was."

"That isn't possible you know."

"Anything's possible if we make it."

"No, you don't understand, you don't know these guys like I do, it
will take a millennia to get them completely out of power.  What we're
trying to do is just start what is going to be the recovery of the
US."

"Why don't you come inside and you can help me understand.  Then you
can tell me why you're here."  He extends his arm to the compound and
Scully and I start our decent to it.  "By the way Dr. Scully, I meant
no disrespect with the broad comment."

Scully stopped and looked at him.  I saw the familiar gleam in her eye
and tried not to smirk.  The bastard didn't know what hit him as her
fist connected with his face.  "Not a problem number one" was her
reply as she followed me inside.

The compound was bare and empty, or so it looked anyway.  The walls
were made of stone, painted in shades of gray and white, the doors a
thick metal painted cobalt blue.  There were no windows in the hall,
no pictures hung on the walls, the tiling a basic white and gray
marble pattern.  It reminded me of a jail.

Doors were lined up on either side of the hall, your basic wooden door
with brass handles.  They were all labeled similarly, a black plate,
white numbers.  There were no names, nothing to personalize this
place.

Our footsteps echoed throughout the halls as numbers two and three led
us down a long corridor with one single window at the end for light.  
Number one was no doubt trailing behind us trying to nurse his injured
nose.  I'm surprised that's all Scully did to him for that broad
comment, I've seen her do way more for much less.  Finally number two
came to a halt outside large wooden double doors, marked 263.  Number
three opened the door and held it for us as we entered.

The interior of the room was much like the hallway, nothing personal.
Instead of gray tile, the ground however was covered with a blue
carpet, worn down and stained in several places.  In the middle sat a
large work desk, painted gray and only holding a phone, two pieces of
paper and a pen.  I'm surprised there's no laptop with these guys, I'm
sure they could hook one up somewhere.  The walls are the same white
brick as out in the hallway, and bare, except for one covered with a
large topographical map of the US, singed around the edges and no
doubt one from happier times.

The only modern luxury was the two black leather couches in front of
the desk, which Scully and I take a seat in. The lighting is dull, no
windows and fluorescent lights only.  How these men worked in here day
by day, I didn't know, I certainly don't pity them.

Number one sat himself down on the ledge of the desk while numbers two
and three took the other couch and just looked on at us.  I could see
Scully giving them the patented raised eyebrow look out of the corner
of my eye.  This is the one I would define as 'what the f*** are you
look at?' The men obviously got the hint and look away.

"I believe some introductions are in order Mulder."  Number one
started to speak.

"Yes, I think so, you seem to know who we are, but we have no idea who
you happen to be."

"Moe Doiron, I'm the leader of this operation here.  Number two is Jim
Denver and number three is Pierre Goldruff, my second and third in
command.  All three of us served for the Agency until the world turned
to sh*t."  I nodded at him and allowed him to continue.  "I suppose
you want us to tell you what we're all about?"

"I have an idea, I've followed the reports, but yes, enlighten me
please."

"What do we get out of it?"

"A chance to achieve your goal if you cooperate with us."

His interest was piqued; not very many people get to hand him his
dream on a silver platter here.  "Where do you want me to begin?"

"From the beginning."

Moe's face was grim, he wasn't sure how much he could trust and with
what information.  I saw that much on his face, and it didn't take the
profiler in me to figure that out, I'm sure Scully saw it too.  He
really has no other choice. I need his cooperation in the matter yes,
but I can also limit the extent of his involvement too, or throw him
off track, he knows this, I'm sure he'll spill.

"Eight years ago."

I nodded my head at him to continue I'm not surprised that this
started eight years ago with him, I know he'll also verify my theory.

"I was one of the top agents in the Agency, Central Intelligence
Agency if you didn't know, the CIA.  The existence of
extra-terrestrial lifeforms were not unknown to us then Mulder, I've
spent years before hand covering up the evidence long before you
showed your face in town trying to deconstruct what I had built around
it.  It was Denver, Goldruff and I.  We saw colonization coming but
not to this extent, so we didn't prepare for it as well as we should
have.

"We started an underground association, one that was kept secret from
the powers that be at the agency, very difficult to do, but
successful.  Over the span of the two years before this all began we
started smuggling weapons into a secret compound hidden in the woods,
the one you're sitting in now.  We started rationing provisions, each
man doubling their weekly shopping and sending half of the
non-perishables here and taking the other half home for their
families.  Those who chose to follow us did, the others found
themselves facing threats of demotion if they opened their mouths.  
We didn't let the higher ups know about this, they were all in on it
with the aliens, as well as the higher ups with the bureau you know.

"They allowed some information to leak to us, they only told us half
the story and what to cover up, we did and our jobs went on.  It was
only maybe six months before the shit hit the fan where we found out
about their true plans and it was too late to do anything about it.  
At that point a very mild form of colonization had begun.  Replicants
were placing themselves all over the world and men involved were
waiting for one more piece to the puzzle, then it was set."

"Summer" I concluded.

"That's right, Scully's daughter.  Four of the men who took her I
served with, they're long since dead, I killed them in a raid three
years ago, however what had been done was done.  Colonization was in
full swing once they took her. I don't know what role she plays in it
all, I haven't heard anything about it, once we went underground
ourselves; we were thrown out of the loop.  To this point we hear just
about as much as you guys do, only we make sure we have a paper around
to read the stuff in."

"If you're not in the loop anymore, how do you fight?"

"Like you do, we attack the structure, anything that might influence
the people who follow the new government. We look for weaknesses,
something we can use to get the upper advantage.  We use brute force,
go in for the kill and leave the mess behind.  We plan, run through,
execute and return no failures.  We've taken out studios to prevent
propaganda, we've taken out various testing grounds."

He looked me in the eye for the next one.

"We took out Area 51."

"YOU WHAT?"  I'm sure my eyes were as wide as Scully's when he said
that, and I'm certainly shocked even moreso.  I remember my time at
Area 51; we were blocked at the roadstop by men and told to turn
around.  I know something happened there, can't remember just what
though.  All I know is upon returning home I suddenly had a waterbed
and mirrors on my ceiling that I didn't put there.  But that's beside
the point, Area 51 is the pride and joy of both the old United States
and the new government.  Once a cover-up facility, it has now become a
testing ground, among the worst out there, until Mr. Moe here decided
to blow it up.  How come I didn't hear about this?

"You heard me Mulder.  We took out Area 51."  He smirked slightly,
"impressed much?"

I knew his game then, he was trying to get the upperhand, make me join
him.  "Not really, I knew it was only a matter of time.  Not to
mention security has decreased big time since my last visit there.  
So it's not really surprising."

"Your face showed otherwise."

"Well yes, Scully and I were planning on taking it out ourselves at
one point" I was lying through my teeth.  "We were just surprised now
cause we've made all these plans and now we don't need them anymore."

"Well yeah it's gone, so are many of the federal penitentiaries around
the country, and many federal offices.  Our first goal was to take out
their experiment centres, but we found that as soon as we took one
out, another would rise, and suddenly there were too many of them.  
If we passed by them, we'd take it out, it wasn't foremost on our
agenda anymore.  Surviving is now."

"We're actually a little surprised to see you here though, we thought
you were off fighting the great fight outside DC, trying to get your
girl back."

Scully nudged my arm to keep my mouth shut, however in times like this
I know how it goes, give a little get a little. We needed Moe's help,
we needed the help of the compound members, I know this and so does
Scully despite her protests.  The only way to get this is to show a
little trust in them, of course I may kill them yet if I find out they
may hinder our plans.  "We are on our way, we have a plan set in
motion, this is why we're here today.  Our first goal is to get Summer
back, however to do so we may have to tackle the entire power
structure."

"And you want our help."

"Partly, we need weaponry.  We need ammunition and weapons that'll get
past the main gate.  We need something powerful enough to get us what
we want."

"What makes you think we can help you?"

"If I wasn't so sure, I wouldn't be here now asking.  I know about
your stash.  While you admitted to stashing food away, I'm not so
stupid to think that you didn't think about weapons.  You're top of
the CIA, if a lowly bureau agent such as myself and Agent Scully here
can think of that, surely you can."

"Bureau agent huh, you're no agent Mulder, neither is your Scully, not
anymore."

"Same goes for you.  Right now we're two men fighting for a common
cause, both capable of wreaking destruction on the new government.  
This is why I'm here.  I'm asking for you assistance in this, to help
me and my team get what we want."

"What do I get in return?"

"I've told you already," I looked him straight in the eye.  "You get
what you want, you can get a crack at the government structure, help
us take them down, help us with the beginning of the end of
colonization."

"I'm all ears Mulder, tell me what you've got in mind?"

"We're taking on DC, day after tomorrow.  My team is prepared, I've
been running them through drills for approximately seventeen hours of
the day, basic weapons training, combat, they've done wall climbing
and crawling and they do this rain or shine.  We've got computer
techies coming this way and they're going to infiltrate their security
system.  Six of us are going to walk through the front door, fake
identifications made from one of the best fraud artists in the US."

"Ah I see you've already met Miss Chiquita, you're right, she's good."

"The rest of the team are going in through the sides, underneath,
whatever.  I plan on having full back up inside and out."

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (15/19)

"What do you plan on doing once you're inside Mulder, trying to take
out DC won't be as easy as Area 51 was you know."

"Oh I know, I don't plan on taking out the entire city, just a few
choice people, mainly the men holding Summer, and the one person who's
running the entire operation.  With the main authority structure
weakened, it will become easier to end colonization over time."

"Once again, where does that leave us?"

"You'll be the people who helped, who gave us the arsenal needed to do
this."

"Not enough."

"What more do you want?"

"I want a piece of the action, I want to be part of this.  You said it
yourself; we're working toward a common goal, why not work on it
together.  You'll need our help going into DC, it won't be as easy as
you think it will be, not to mention we have some of the most
sophisticated computer equipment unauthorized by the new government.  
You're friends could work out of here.  You'll need the manpower,
you'll need the backup."

This wasn't what I wanted, although I'm starting to see the advantages
of it.  More manpower will give us a stronger chance of getting what
we want out of it all.  "You'll fall under jurisdiction of Scully, and
I, and our second in commands Cal Hansen and Bailey Finnis."

"We fall under jurisdiction of nobody."

"This is my show Moe" it was the first time I'd actually said his
name, and I know he could tell I meant business with the tone of voice
I said it in.  "My rules.  My team obeys me and me only.  This isn't a
game, I won't allow for any screw ups.  You want to help, you play by
my rules, you got it?"

"And if we don't want to?"

"Then we'll walk right out and leave you behind, no glory for you
guys, when history's talking about the end of colonization a thousand
years from now, you won't be mentioned, it'll be my name once again
that gets written down, not yours."

"Damn you Mulder."

"We need the weapons, we could use the manpower, but it's not
necessary.  What's your choice Moe, to live as nobodies who could have
done something, or follow in what will probably be the greatest battle
in history, us against them?"

His answer was clearly written on his face.  My profiling has not been
totally lost on me, it was fairly easy to size up what kind of man he
was, and that he hated the fact that I got credit for his work.  
He'll listen to me because he knows he has no choice in the matter,
not if he wants his name written down in history, which I doubt it
will be anyway.  By the time colonization has ended and the human race
has reclaimed what's left of the earth, we'll be dead and long
forgotten, but he doesn't have to know that.

He's in it for the glory, I'm not, I'm more than willing to share it
with him, I just hope he cooperates.

"And Moe, if you screw up and don't listen to what I have to say, I
won't hesitate to kill you or your men off."  I narrowed my eyes to
his.  "I'm a trained assassin remember, both Scully and I are, and so
is my team.  We trained them together, none of us would flinch, there
would be no remorse, we'd just move on."

I could see the look of disbelief in his face, he needed proof.  
"It's been done, I've killed out of cold blood, so has Scully.  She's
killed somebody very dear to me."

"Samantha" she vouched.

"Yes, my sister.  Scully killed her.  You think I'd worry about
killing a pathetic life form like you who's only after the glory?  
I'd think again.  You'd be nothing more than a thorn in my paw, so if
you want to help, you play by my rules, you follow who I say you
follow and you do as I say.  Is that understood?"

"Whatever you say Mulder, I want to take these bastards out as much as
you do."

"Good."  He extended his hand toward me, seal the fate I guess.  I
took it and shook firmly before releasing his stead grasp.  "Let's
begin, you got a board room in here or something where we can assemble
your teammates and go through this thing?"

"Of course Mulder."  He looked over at his two men on the other couch.
 "Go down to the living quarters and assemble everyone.  Tell them
they're to be in conference room A in ten minutes, anybody late or not
present will be shot and killed and placed in a ditch, this is the big
one, they have to know that."

Moe turned back to Scully and I, a smile growing on his face.  "I can
see you and I are going to get along rather fine Mulder, we seem to
have the same tactics, however I should tell you one thing, that woman
Scully killed, that wasn't your sister."

Scully raised her eyebrow at him; I'm honestly not surprised he knows.
 "Of course it wasn't, she was a hybrid, like many of the others we
encountered, Scully wouldn't have killed her otherwise."

"Smart tactic of yours though, certainly had the other two convinced.  
You did kill it properly though didn't you, not like how most people
think it's supposed to be killed?"

"Base of the neck, I saw her melt to a messy pile of green slime at my
feet."  Scully sat up from her seat on the couch and headed to the
door.  "Are you two going to join me or no, I do believe we have a
meeting in conference room A to attend to."

"On our way Dr. Scully" Moe bowed, half mocking her, half
acknowledging her authority.  He better watch it if he'd like to
remain in one piece, that nose of his wasn't looking in too great of
shape.

The conference room was large, could hold maybe 75 people seated, and
even moreso standing.  The front wall was covered with a large plasma
screen, like those on laptop computers...where they got the energy to
run such a thing he never knew.  It didn't matter however; it would be
beneficial for the following meeting.  People beyond people started
piling into the room, men, women, and children.  He was disgusted to
say the least, he only hoped the children didn't fight, they certainly
didn't need to be at this meeting.  "Moe, send the kids out."

"They're part of the team too."

"What do you mean part of the team?"  Scully narrowed her eyes at him,
challenging him to answer her question; I sat back and watched the
show, confident that she was going to get her way.

"Meaning they come along with us."

"You allow them to fight?"

"Yes.  They're equal to every single one of us."

"Not in this battle.  You set aside five people to look after them, I
will not have children sacrificing themselves in this battle."

"You have no choice Agent Scully."

"Wrong, you have no choice, our rules remember or you don't get any of
it at all, send the children out."  Anger flickered across his face,
and I knew Scully had won.  He abruptly sent the children out and I
pulled out my palm pilot that the gunmen had handed me a couple years
back and began uploading my screen onto the large screen so it
displayed a large map of DC.  Then I turned back to the crowd, all of
them watching with curious eyes after seeing their head commander
listen to an outside woman of all people.

"Listen up folks, this is Fox Mulder and Dana Scully."  An audible
gasp was heard throughout the entire room, I glanced to Scully to see
her smirking, it was odd being *this* well known, especially since we
had never met any of them.  "Mulder and Scully and I have combined
forces, we're going to DC day after tomorrow."

The team erupted into loud cheers, it was obviously what they had
wanted to hear, and they were all probably looking for an end as badly
as we were.  "Okay, what you see in front of you is a map of DC."  I
began my outline our basic plan of attack, noting where the easiest
entrances were located, and how each team will get in and during which
times.  Times will be coordinated with the gunmen as they hack into
the security system knock each section out for a period of five
minutes, long enough to get people in, short enough not to be
detected.

The team was split up into three groups, those who were with team two,
team three and those sticking back with team four.  Team one will not
have any added members, too risky.

A list of artillery was handed out and immediately people began
hunting through their supplies for it.  Team two members were to meet
team one members after five minutes at the National Mall where they
will proceed to hand us our weapons seeing as we'll be searched at the
entrance.

Those in team four will hang back at the compound here where my team
four members will meet them.  The rest of them were heading back to
camp with me tonight.  Plans were set and underway, with the help of
Moe, we hopefully will have a better chance of success.

The halls of the compound were busy now, people rushing to get the
supplies they'll need for the attack on DC, packs, weaponry, water and
food.  Who knows how long we'll be inside for, I want to be prepared
for every eventuality.  Moe has assured me his men and women are well
trained, each day they've been put through maneuvers in the gym in the
basement to keep fit, as well as worked in the gun range in the back.  
All of them were a good shot and all of them could keep up with my
teammates if they had to.

Scully designated several parents of children to stay back with them.  
They can help as part of team four, however she didn't want a parent
of a child killed in battle, frankly I agree with her.  This attack
will cause a full out war between the new government and the 'rebels'
as they like to call us.  I still like to call myself assassin.  It
sounds dangerous and it's what I really am.  I go out and I kill
anybody I see in control.  This is my mission in DC, to seek and kill;
however I'm not letting Scully know that.

I know she has every intention of stepping between Summer and I, but I
know there's nothing more that I can do.  I loved watching the kid
grow in her stomach, but six years and I've never met her.  As much as
I miss her, it's best to do what I'm about to do, for the sake of
humanity.

Scully will probably never talk to me again afterward though.

"Catch!"  I have just enough times to hold my arms out before Moe
flings a large backpack into it, and it feels like there's a human in
here it's so heavy.

"Jesus, what the hell do you need in here?"

"The basics, blades, five different forms of ammunition depending on
the weapon, grenades, low key boomers, pistols, silencers, head wire
radios for everybody in my team, not to mention enough for your team."

"We have those already."

"No, not these ones.  These ones I've had rewired so transmissions
can't be interrupted and nobody can pick their signals.  I also left a
good dozen back at the compound here for your men.  Six of them also
won't be picked up at the gate by the detectors.  They're in a gray
box; you can look at them later.  One sticks on your ear like an
earring; I suggest the matching copy to make it look normal, and the
other piece is a tooth cap you stick at the back of your mouth.  You
can hear through the earring and the tooth cap will pick up your voice
and transmit back to us."

We walk out to the jeeps and start piling the vehicles with personnel
and provisions, a few more minutes and we'll be ready to drive.

"We have one problem with that.  While my man Cal has a pierced ear,
Bailey and I do not, and it would look entirely unnatural for us to go
in with freshly pierced ears."

Moe packs the bags into the back of the jeep, opposite to where he and
Denver will be sitting.  "Mulder, they're power magnets, it makes them
look like pierced earrings, but the two pieces are magnetized to stick
together through the ear.  Cutting edge in CIA technology, only in the
past six years we've developed them more.  You won't find better
anywhere else, including the new government.

He hops into the back, the vehicles lined up behind outs.  "LET'S GO
GUYS!" Moe hollers out and we're off, heading back to camp, and
entering the home stretch.

The various vehicles on the road remind me of the good old days when
Scully and I used to break into military bases and they'd come chasing
after us.  It was like a parade of military personnel, only this time
they weren't trying to detract us from our missing, they were going to
help us.  Eight years spent trying to uncover government conspiracy
after government conspiracy only to be foiled by them, it seems kind
of ironic that they're going to help destroy what they have worked so
hard on protecting.  I can't say it's an irony I'm against either, I
happen to like this one.

We're in the homestretch here, I can see the anticipation on Scully's
face, we sleep tonight, plan tomorrow, break off early and teams two
and three get to DC early.  I think what's even more ironic than these
men helping us is the fact that the most sought after assassins in the
world at the moment will be walking through their front door and they
won't even know it.

"Pull aside Mulder."  We pass by a little town and we stop, the
calvary stopping behind us as she heads into a small shop.  I want to
follow her, however I want to keep an eye on the others as well.  As
much as Moe has proved himself to be on our side, I can't trust him
quite yet.

So I sit and wait.  The group is looking at me silently asking me why
we stopped.  I can't answer them, it was Scully's choice not mine
however, whatever Scully says goes.  She emerges several minutes later
with a box in hand.  "Hair dye.  They're looking for a red head, red
roots will give it away some, I have to cover them up tonight." I pull
the box from her, Blondissima, a hair stripper.  "By the end of the
night I'll have the blondest hair you've ever set eyes on."

I pull onto the road again and we continue our journey, we're only an
hour away from camp now.  Scully's still holding onto that box of hers
like it was a lifeline.  In essence I guess it is, it helps our
chances of getting inside. "What did you give up for that?"

"An apple I snagged and stuck in my pocket.  So few people actually
get fresh food these days it's of high value. I'm surprised more
people aren't suffering from malnutrition with the way food is
rationed these days."  She looks down at her box.  "Hell I'm surprised
we aren't suffering from it."

I place a hand on top of hers.  "I'm not, we have Dr. Scully with us,
Dr. Scully would never let us suffer from any sort of malnutrition.  
In fact the Dr. Scully I know makes sure we're at the top of our game
day in and day out."

"I don't know Mulder, I guess I'm just worried about our luck lately,
it's bound to end at some point.  What happens if it ends when we
enter DC day after tomorrow?"

"Then it ends and we're killed and life goes on for everybody else,
but that's not going to happen.  We have a plan, it's sound, and we've
got the two top teams in the world combined ready to take them out.  
I have every confidence we'll succeed.  Day after tomorrow the new
government will never know what hit them."  I pause for a second and
look back at the other vehicles behind us before shouting.  "Isn't
that right guys?"

A few cheers erupted from the back.

"We're not going to let them beat us!"

The group started to cheer louder.

"Day after tomorrow, the new government will no longer exist!"

Everybody went full force screaming as we drove down the road at that
comment.  Nothing like sounding determined to increase the spirits and
confidence of everybody.  Even Scully's got a small smile playing on
her face.

The team is waiting for us as we roll around the corner and into camp,
it appears that Cal has decided to give them a break for the dinner
hour.  Nothing is prepared yet, I guess unlike yesterday they haven't
been able to find anything to eat, however tonight they won't be
living off rations and apples, Moe made sure to bring enough food for
everybody to last us a week.  Tonight we feast again; it'll be the
last time till this place all goes to hell.

Cal and Bailey step to the forefront, their eyes on the third
passenger I have in my vehicle.  I can see Cal holding a tight grip on
his weapon, Bailey reaching his, just in case they see that Moe is not
a friend.  Scully and I hop out of the jeep with ease, Moe quickly
follows and tosses me a large sack with food.  Cal and Bailey still
stand on guard as I put the sac down by the firepit before walking
back next to them, them on my right, Scully to my left.

"This is Moe Doiron and his merry men," I say, noting the look of
amusement and disgust on his face.  He obviously doesn't like being
referred to as that, tough shit, my show that's why he won't speak up.  
"They're all former agents of the CIA.  They knew about colonization
before it ever happened and is now fighting against it like we are.
They've come to join us in the strike against DC day after tomorrow."

"You sure they're trustworthy Mulder?  I mean what have they done to
prove themselves?"

"Well first off Moe has agreed to full cooperation if he fights with
us, anything less than that won't be tolerated, he knows that, and he
knows what happens to anybody who presents any sort of threat to us."  
I see them send a glare his way and he nods back in response.  I think
that settles part of it for them.

"What about his accomplishments?"

"The Hollywood studios, everything we've taken credit for and haven't
done, several testing sites, area 51..." I list the sites off like a
grocery list, and I can hear Cal exhale a low whisper at the last one.

"Area 51, remarkable.  Hell even as a navy seal officer I had low
rated clearance into that place and I was among the elite, it was that
damn secretive and security was extra tight."

"Yes, it was, Cal Hansen right?" I swear Cal's eyes just about bugged
out of his sockets.  "1991, classified hostage situation regarding the
president's daughter.  I had that case until you guys came in and took
over.  I never forgot."

"Yeah..." he seems bewildered, as am I.  I look over at Scully,
president's daughter in a hostage situation, I was never aware of
that, even with Senator Matheson as a contact.  She shrugs her
shoulders at me, we're not CIA or Navy Seals, I guess we shouldn't be
surprised.

"Um guys, now that introductions are made, let's eat and get down to
business shall we?"

The calvary was brought in and needless to say, we feasted.  We ate
food that we had only begun to dream of lately. One of the sacs
contained a pig they had raised and slaughtered for the occasion.  I
haven't had ham or pork in years. The closest thing to normal meat
I've eaten was that small rabbit from the other day, and the
occasional piece of dried kippered beef we can find around in a town
that we believed not to be contaminated with the alien virus.  I know
the new government is not above using cattle to test their products,
and they call us rebels savages with the way we live.

I spit a small bone into the growing pile nearby.  Everybody's eating
tonight, and getting along extremely well with the new visitors.  
Some of the men such as Bailey and Joe have already staked claim to
their women so as not to allow the new men to touch them.  Other's,
like Cal, is out and about looking for a prospect for tonight.  I
don't know how much he can accomplish with an entire camp crowded
around, but Cal has never been modest, he's always let the camp know
when he's just been laid.

Which is probably why he knew about Scully and I, he's in tune to
these things.

Scully's enjoying herself too, talking to some of the new campers and
munching on a roasted potato.  I told you it's a feast tonight, we've
got everything.

Moe brought in several bottles of wine as well, however I want the
team alert and ready to go tomorrow.  Hangovers have a tendency to
prevent that and there's a greater chance of a slip up.  I'm still
trying to figure out a way to incapacitate Scully in DC when I do what
I have to do.  I know she'll do everything in her power to stop me, I
can't allow that, and I can't hurt her either.  She'll kick my ass for
it, but it's for the best.

"Hey Ryan," Joe called out to his tentmate.  "Pull out your guitar
guy, it's a party going on tonight, why aren't we playing anything."

"This is starting to remind me of a night we celebrated earlier on
this week" I mention to Bailey.  "Only much more fun since we have the
company."

"Enjoy it Mulder, you know it'll be our last for a long long time."  
He's holding tight onto Elizabeth, who rises from her seat and pulls
him up along side her.  I can see her whispering something in his ear
and he's off with a grin, "see ya pal."  She's giggling along after
him.

And suddenly, I want Scully, consequences be damned.  Bailey's right,
tonight will be the last night for a while, probably forever for me; I
want to take what I can get.  Scully catches me staring after them and
walks to me with a knowing smile on her face.  "Let's go, I'm yours
for the night."

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (16/19)

The early morning sun broke through the flaps of our tent, almost
hurting my eyes as I tried to open them.  I can't sleep past sunrise
anymore, it was always the safest time to make a run at something,
plan a kill, etc.  Force of habit now has woken me up, although this
morning I don't want to move.  Scully's body is curled up along side
mine as usual, the wool blanket covering us both, however today is the
first time I've woken with her skin pressed against mine.  There has
always been clothing between us preventing us, and I've always been
happy just holding her like that, however this morning is different.  
What I thought was happiness before doesn't compare what I feel like
today waking up with her like this.

Our first time was against a rock, fast, furious, rushed.  It was
appropriate.  The new 'us' doesn't have the luxury of time anymore,
we're always on the go, looking for the next big hit that would lead
us closer to destroying what has become of the world.  We live off the
land and survive on a day to day basis.  The first time reminded us of
who we are.

However, last night was different.  Last night we took our time
exploring.  It was about savoring the last of the time we really have
together.  We had the luxury of creating a semi-soft space, piling
many of Mrs. Scully's blankets on top of each other.  I don't think
this was what she had planned when making them.  We spent hours with
each other. When we weren't trying to get down each other's pants, as
crude as that sounds, we talked.  We only fell asleep a matter of
hours ago.  This was who we once were, and for once, it was really
nice visiting the past like that, without ever really leaving the
present.

However we both knew today would come.  Team members are already out
and about getting the supplies together and planning for tomorrow.  I
know we have to join them.

I shake Scully's shoulder slightly, she wakes instantly and smiles,
and my heart breaks knowing I won't wake up to this ever again.  
"Come on, ready to go face the world?"

I kiss her forehead softly, before rising and pulling on my clothes.  
We've got work to do.

We've broken off into our individual teams, the last three having
grown a significant amount in size due to Moe's team joining us.  The
two of us is running this operation of sorts.  Moe knows who he's
supposed to report to, however on team two, he's running the show, my
guys know they're to listen to him unless we override the orders.

The least of my worries however isn't how they act though, at the
moment it's about getting ourselves inside the front gate.  I've got
two days growth on my face again, it compensates somewhat for lack of
a beard, however these men must know that guys shave.  Scully's red
roots have been touched up as well.  They're slight flaws, but visible
nonetheless.  I doubt they'll look at them though.  These are the same
guards posted day in and day out, nobody is that vigilant after
working that long looking at papers.  It's sort of like Id'ing people
when buying alcohol these days, a brief look at the date and the
picture.  Anybody who has worked in store that sells liquor doesn't
look at the Ids very hard anymore.  Well that was before the new
government banned alcohol.  Even still, these are things we have to
take into consideration.

Everything but the timing right now is being planned, the timing has
to wait until the gunmen arrive, but that doesn't mean that we can't
plan the rest of the specifics.  Those of us entering by gate can't
carry in weapons.  All six of us will be clean.  They're gonna scan us
for weapons and any evidence of us being rebels, such as radios and
such. That's why we're using the electronic earrings.  They look as
such, yet according to Moe they won't be detected at the gate.  I
certainly hope not.

We're vagrants, people moving into the big city in search of job
sanctioned by the new government.  None of us have had previous
employment according the papers, and any employment listed from before
they took over will be mediocre handiwork such as construction,
craftsmanship, etc.  There will be nothing to indicate that we worked
in positions that required government training.  There will be nothing
to give away the fact that we were once Special Agents Mulder, Scully
and Reyes of the FBI.  There will be nothing referring Cal as Cal
Hansen, US Navy Seal. The others are insignificant enough, but the
four of us will be known.

Tomorrow I become Justin Treveau, a steelworker from New York, born in
Quebec, Canada.  Scully becomes Theresa Hatcher, the widow of my
supposed dead brother who now goes by her maiden name.  She was a
teacher. Cal becomes Calvin East, a college football coach.  Bailey
becomes Patrick Tossol, a former craftsman who lost his job when money
no longer became useful.  Elizabeth is Elisa Grey, traveling architect
who can no longer travel due to restrictions, and Monica is Josephine
Taylor, an employee of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream company, before
it went out of business that is.

Our story?  We met on the road of course, all of us crossing the
country heading to DC for any work and go to know each other along the
way.  We became traveling companions.  It isn't unusual to see that
these days, many people meet others along their travels, it's how our
team grew to be so large, so there should be no problem in making this
story believable.

Getting into the new government headquarters, the White House, will be
an entirely different story however.  Once team two meets up with us,
we'll only have a limited amount of time before the officials there to
notice we're packing and have every intention of taking them out.  
There are secret tunnels under the building itself; Moe knows the
layout of them being a former top CIA agent.  Cal would know them as
well; it's just a matter of how much security is there around them.  
There may not be much, they may not even know about them, then again
they may think them a weakness and heighten the security around them.  
Who knows.

We all have extra ammunition as well as handguns and silencers we can
use if all is are guards.  Anything more and the gunmen will have to
find a way to bypass it for us.  Nothing these days seem to be
impossible for them, especially with the equipment at Moe's
stronghold.  With that technology it should seem like a breeze for
them.

Team two will be carrying extra weapons for us, then all pretense of
being vagrants is gone.  We're after one thing and one thing only, to
take out the new government.  Scully thinks otherwise, I'm not letting
her in on the secret. The others know, there's nothing more I can do;
however I can't let her know.

I have a list of all the top officials printed as well as a layout
that Moe handed to us before leaving.  Many of the names I recognize,
two of them being our own Director and Deputy Director of the Bureau.  
So much for looking out for the best interests of the American people.  
Some were important senators and house representatives...those who
weren't in on the conspiracy was sent off to Area 51 and died during
experimentation, including the former president and his family.  
Doctors were listed, several in fact, many of them medical, the rest
scientists in their own rights.  Leading the doctors was Dr. Kim; the
geneticist who helped raise Summer, followed by Dr. Kristy and Dr.
Ariel, the two who helped in the process.  Only the most important
subjects, and I say subjects meaning like guinea pigs, were treated by
the three of them.  I haven't heard about the last two.

The very top of the list however didn't surprise me since I had
already read that newspaper article.  Officially the most powerful
person in the world is a child.  It explains why she was taken from
us, and it explains why what has to be done is going to be done,
however, what I need an explanation of is how did she become like
this?  Was she born with this intent in mind or was it instilled into
her?  I'm assuming this was where Dr. Kim came in.  I haven't given
Scully the list, she doesn't know I have it, and I intend to keep it
that way for the time being.

The only thing I couldn't figure out was how the Kersh woman factors
into all this.  I know Kersh's role in all this, it's stated simply on
this sheet and in that other article, however how am I supposed to
assassinate him during all this, it doesn't work out properly.  She
knows once I have my hands on Summer nothing else will matter, so my
next guess would be, is this a setup?  This whole operation is based
on faith that her information is indeed what it appears to be.  I
still follow the rule 'trust no one', however this time I had to make
a choice, and in a situation like this, I really had no other choice
but to believe.  I can only hope she comes through for us.

"Yo Commando Mulder, six years since I've last seen you and you don't
even greet us at the door?" The voice of Frohike startles me out of my
thoughts, and I can't help but grin.  He's right, it's been way too
long.

"Frohike!" I dart up from my spot around the pit and embrace the guy,
I'm as happy to see him as he is to see me. Frohike has always been my
favourite of the three, probably cause I could relate to him more so
than the others. Byers is way too straight laced for my books, and
Langly, well he's just Langly, there's nothing more to be said. The
other two soon follow behind, Langly's hair is longer and for the
first time ever, Byers is wearing jeans.  I guess when there's little
opportunity to go out and find clothes that fit you these days, you go
with whatever you find. Business suits just don't grow on trees you
know.  I don't see how the guy ever did it, I mean sure, I wore suits
day in and day out, but the minute I could get out of them, I did.  
He just wore them around his pad as everyday attire.

"Mulder, long time no see," Byers extends his hand, like way back
when, he's still conservative, enough of that crap though.  It takes
no effort at all to pull him into a hug; I think I've shocked the guy
though.  However, after six years of not seeing some of your best
buds, you don't allow them to greet you with just a handshake, not
allowed.

Scully rises from her seat and looks off in the distance, I know who
she's looking for, her mother.  The guys would not leave her by
herself while they came out to help us here...hell, she wouldn't let
them if they tried.  Within moments Mrs. Scully appears from their
vehicle, another pile of warm blankets in hand, bless that woman
although I don't know when we'll need those again.  I stand next to
Frohike watching the two women embrace; once again it's been six years
since she's seen her, and they've only spoken a handful of times
since.

The team gathers around us in a curious awe, those of them who have
been working with me know of the guys, but have never met them.  
Those in Moe's group, well they could probably care less.  I look over
at the two women again and they're off walking in the distance, no
doubt to the river to catch up.  I know Scully is armed, I know she
can take care of herself, however Mrs. Scully isn't armed, and there
are certainly enough watchers in the area who could easily take her
out without her noticing them.  Scully's been trained in all this,
Mrs. Scully hasn't.  I pull Jessica aside and hand her one of my
weapons.  She's small enough to hide in the bushes and not be seen,
and I know she won't let anything happen to Scully.

"All right guys, let's take a break, enjoy lunch or something, I've
got a lot of catching up to do before we get down to business.  In
case you haven't noticed, these guys are the Gunmen, the brains behind
this all.  Byers is the one with the beard, Langly is the blonde, and
Frohike is the short one.  Those of you in team four will meet with
them after lunch, they'll be heading up your team at Moe's compound.  
The rest of you won't see them again after today. One hour, then we
get back to work."

Despite the fact that I had given the hour for basic catch up, it
didn't take long to get right down to business.  The guys knew the
only reason they were here was to work and help us plan.
 There would be no decent time to catch up anymore, and I guess after
six years of working together on the same thing, just in separate
places, there wasn't much to catch up on.  Only thing was Scully
wasn't back with her mother yet.  I know they're safe, but there is
work that needs to be done, Scully of all people know that.

"They'll be back shortly Mulder, Ma Scully knew when coming down here
she wouldn't get to spend a lot of time with Scully, I think they're
just wanting to spend some time alone while they can."

"Ma Scully Frohike?  When did Mrs. Scully suddenly become Ma Scully?"

"She's always been Ma Scully.  Hell, we wouldn't be here without her,
she makes herself useful by keeping us healthy.  I haven't had a
cheese steak in over five years you know."

"Where would you even begin to find a cheese steak?  I thought those
things disappeared with the rest of humanity."

"I have my ways.  Anyway, I suggest give them the time they need.  
They'll be okay.  Scully's a quick learn, update her on whatever plan
you're going to undertake then.  She'll catch on quickly.  Meanwhile,
back to business.  We've thoroughly marked out every single hideaway,
underground tunnel and security system that can be found in DC. With
the time frames we give you, getting in there should be a piece of
cake."

I call team one and team two over, lunchtime is over for them, and
they have the hardest jobs out of everybody else on the team.  
Frohike immediately pulls out a large sheet of paper, an underground
map of the city.  The entrances we planned on using are still the same
as they were in the past but he's right, security is heavy.  "Laser
technology, think Mission Impossible guys, think Entrapment.  Those
are the types of lasers we're looking at, only much more advanced.  
You can't see them, you can't hear them, they're there, and the
slightest movement can trip them off. There are two entrances to the
tunnel, one on either side of the city, and each require a sequence of
random letters and numbers, as well as keycards to get in.  You won't
need those.  When we give you the cue over the radio, type in any five
digits you want and swipe anything with a magnetic stripe.
 Langly's able to hack into the system to take whatever you use and
accept it as true identification."

"Where the hell are we supposed to get credit cards?  Don't you three
nitwits know they haven't been used since this whole thing began?"  
Moe was clearly not impressed with them, however, he obviously doesn't
know how easy it is to come upon expired cards these days, or how
useful they are when it come to jimmying locks.  I reach into my back
pocket and toss him two of mine, both from six years ago and Bureau
issued won't they be surprised when they find out that it was their
property that got the two most wanted rebel groups into the city and
begin the downfall of their system.

"What else guys?  Is there much more to their security?"

"Oh man, what we've just explained to you is just the tip of the
iceberg Mulder, I certainly don't envy you guys going in at all."

Frohike was certainly right when he stated it was the tip of the
iceberg, I don't believe Fort Knox is as well secured as this city,
mind you Fort Knox doesn't really exist anymore either except as a
stronghold, world's gold has become useless.  The new government
doesn't need it, they can take what they want, the people barter with
useful things these days.  In a way I like it's simplicity, however
it's too medieval for it to work in the long run.

Back to the security systems though, while the guys had figured out
ways to get around it, Moe knew it wasn't gonna be so easy to get by,
especially if one of them slipped up that day.  They were going to
have to work on their pacing, become precise in their measurements and
timing, and if one member fell behind, that's it, no going back for
them and that member was stuck where they were so as not to trigger
any more alarms.  It was risky, it was dangerous, but it had to be
done.  Moe seemed up to the challenge though, and I know my guys could
master it no problem, especially after the intense training sessions
they had just run through these past couple of days.  They had speed,
they had accuracy, and they had timing.

Team three had their plans on the outskirts and would have to find
another way in if needed be seeing as the security system in the
underground tunnels were too sensitive to try and pass them again.  
They'd figure out something for sure and we wouldn't have the element
of surprise on our hands.

I briefed a glance over the horizon, Scully still hasn't returned and
I was getting worried.  I wanted her here to listen to the guys speak,
they could say it so much better than I could, but I know she needs
time with her mother.  Time alone.  Jessica was watching, she wouldn't
interfere, but still, I can't help but worry.

"Who's tagging along with us back to the compound Mulder?  We should
leave now if we want to get there by nightfall and set up what we need
to.  Not to mention proper introductions as such."  Byers stood by the
truck, in his jeans which still shocked the hell out of me...I'm sure
he knows that too.

"Team four, get moving, you'll be following Byers, Langly and Frohike.
You're to listen to everything they say and tell you to do.  I will be
in constant contact with them as well as you guys the entire time and
while final say still lands with me, don't bring it up to me unless
it's absolutely urgent.  I trust these guys with my life, I expect you
to do the same." Jimmy was already perched in the back, his gear
packed up and chatting quickly with Byers, probably catching up on old
times as well.  I can still remember the first time meeting him too,
and I'll have to say my impression of him has changed, he's certainly
not as dimwitted as he first seemed.

I take a trip down to the riverbank, both Scully and her mother are
standing in a close embrace, I think she realizes this will probably
be the last time she sees her for a long time.  I don't know what
they've talked about, if Scully brought up Summer at all, I hope she
didn't, it'll only make my mission all the harder to accomplish, but I
could understand why if she did.  Scully sees me out of the corner of
her eye, I saw her glance my way and I decide it's the right moment to
approach the two of them.  "The guys are waiting for you Mrs. Scully,
you'll like this place, a lot cleaner than probably what you've been
staying in for the last while."

She smiles at me as we walk back to the camp.  "It's not the same.  
For the rest of my retired life I lived in a simple house with my
children and watched them grow up there.  I've got memories of
Christmas' from years back, birthdays, and general visits.  That was
taken away from me, no matter how nice the place is, it'll never be
home you know."

"I know."  I can't say I've ever had a home, at least in the case of a
permanent dwelling, home to me has always been more of an idea, in
this case being alongside Scully.  Wherever she goes, I go.  That's
home to me, no matter the location.

"I guess this is goodbye then till this is all over."  She stands by
the truck, waiting to get inside although I know she's not all that
eager to leave.  "Watch Dana for me, don't let anything happen to
her."

"You know I wouldn't let that happen."  She embraces me too, like a
mother would a son and it touches me.  I know she's always thought of
me like that, but it's been far too many years to remember something
like this.

And they're gone.  Just like that, and business will go on as usually.
 Scully watches until they disappear around a bend and sighs.  She
knows business must continue on as well, although I know she doesn't
want it to.  "What did I miss?"

"A heck of a lot, but nothing we can't tackle."

"Good, start from the beginning, I want to know everything."

"It's complicated, team two certainly has their work cut out for them,
we don't have to worry about much other than getting through the front
gate, but the others have a labyrinth of security traps to get
through."

"Labyrinth Mulder?  Surely it can't be that bad."

"Well they use every trick in the book.  Combine Indiana Jones, Tomb
Raider and Labyrinth, that's what you have. It's a twisted mess full
of false leads and very real danger.  It's just like the movies,
everything has to be exact for them."

"I thought you said we can handle it, it doesn't sound like it..."

"No, we can.  The thing is the Gunmen have figured out how to disable
about 95% of it, the other 5% can't be disabled; however it can be
avoided.  Moe has been handed an electronic and paper copy of the map
and what do to. The team has only a limited amount of time to make it
through the disabled security features, but they can do it, especially
with the speed tests we had running.  Both Moe and Jon are going to
keep in contact with the guys about everything they see or do.  
They're running through their paces now, they know timing is
everything.  We're all synchronizing our watches tomorrow just before
we head in."

"And what about us?"

"We go on acting as us.  We remember our new names, our identities, we
act as how our papers say we act.  We'll carry the necessities to make
our stories look real.  We each carry our own bag filled with some
clothing and bare necessities.  No weapons, nothing to alert them to
anything remotely suspicious.  We should be able to hand them our
papers and walk right through that front door.  Then we hang out at
the Mall until we meet up with the others. Moe is our guide to getting
into the White House.  We move from there."

"And if Moe doesn't make it through?"

"He will, he's determined enough to have a significant role in this
all, and he knows failure isn't tolerated."  Her face was calm, her
eyes were worried, I've never known Scully to feel that out of
control, and she is.  She knows there's a lot at stake here and a lot
could go wrong, hell I feel as if this situation is out of my control
too.  "Relax, everything will go smoothly.  We're ready today.  
Forget about what happened last time, this time will be different.
This time we know what we're up against and the two groups the new
government fear the most are working together."

"I know, I'm just thinking back to what my mother asked me earlier
that's all."

"What was that?"  My hand reaches for hers.  Hers is soft and warm,
and strong and everything that Scully is, like I said her physical
appearance is the epitome of calm and collected.

"She asked me if it was all worth it, giving up our existence now in a
risky battle that in essence we really have no chance in winning."

"How does she figure we won't win?"

"Well not in our lifetime anyway, I mean the fighting will continue to
go on for years after you and I leave this place Mulder, it won't stop
for a long while.  That's what she means, you and I will never see the
end product of our struggles.  We're alive right now, and relatively
safe seeing as we can defend ourselves from the powers that be at the
moment, but we're putting it all on the line tomorrow."

"And what did you answer?  Do you think it's worth it?"

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (17/19)

"I haven't decided that.  I can't help but think there's a downside to
all this, but I hope it's worth it, I can't let myself think any other
way about it.  If we don't go in now Mulder, chances are we won't ever
again.  The timing's right, we're at our peak performance wise and
apprehensions within the city itself are low.  If we skip out, we'll
be spending the rest of our lives asking the 'what ifs' and never
knowing if it could be any different if we had gone in."

"So you do think it's worth it?"

"Like I said, I don't know, I told my mother yes, but somehow she can
probably read right through that lie and see my uncertainties."

"But you still want to go in?"

She stops suddenly and turns to face me.  Calm, cool and collected
Scully is gone, now all I see is scared Scully, and nervous Scully
apprehensive Scully.  I don't know what to say or do to relieve any of
those Scullys, I never have, and it's beginning to scare the hell out
of me.

"Yes, I still want to go in, if not for anything but those very
reasons I listed above.  I don't always want to live on the run,
what's the point."

"You're right."  I continue to hold her hand and we walk to the river
in silence, planning the rest of tomorrow be damned till later.  
There's not much more we can do now anyway, not till we hit DC and
meet up with Moe at the Mall.

"She was ready to come with us you know."  Scully started chuckling, a
strange and unfamiliar sound to my ears, but certainly very welcome.

"Who?  Your mother?"  We sit on a nearby rock, watching the current as
it flows by us quietly.

"Yeah, I spent half the time arguing with her telling her there's no
possible way for her to join you and I on this thing, that the best
place she could be is with the guys."

"I can just see it now, Ma Scully storming her way to the front
wearing commando boots and a grenade launcher in hand demanding the
new government to hand over Summer."

She giggled.  "They'd probably hand her over without question too."

"Surrender all their power."  I moved in closer to her, hands still
intact.

She giggled again.  "Leave our planet."

"Tell me why we didn't sign her up?"

Her giggling changed to full force laughter and I couldn't help but
join in, the picture of Mrs. Scully in mind was just too much.  We
need more days like this, but then again that's what we're working
toward.  Soon.  Soon we'll have more days like this, I guarantee it.

Our laughter soon died down as we realized the seriousness of the
situation. As a psychologist I know laughter in tough times is the
best medicine to keep sane, the idea doesn't want to apply to me, I
almost feel guilty for laughing just before we go into battle. It's
funny, I've got the Catholic guilt down pat and I'm not even Catholic.
All we can do right now however is wait, and we need to pass the time
somehow.

We sit by the river in silence after our laugh, both of us
contemplative, and although tomorrow is foremost on our mind, for a
change, I'm sure neither of us are thinking about it.

I'm remember times before all this happened and while we had some
great times together at work, nothing beat out times together out of
work. I remember movie nights, sitting on her living room floor and
laughing like we did tonight with a beer in our hands. I remember
empty boxes of pizza and multiple bags of Chinese. I miss those
nights. We need more of them as well.

It doesn't take long for the sun to set and we're still sitting in a
comfortable silence, enjoy the other's company. Tonight's our last
night together, at dawn we move out. I'm getting anxious now, all this
apprehension from earlier seems to have left me tonight and I want to
get in there and fight.

I want to take back what's rightfully mine.

"Mulder?"

"Yeah?" I look over at Scully, she has the same look in her eyes that
I do, the idea of basic vengeance, there's fight in her yet.

"I think we should head back now. They're probably preparing dinner
and I want to catch an early night. You probably should too if you
want to be ready at dawn."

"Doesn't matter," I mutter. "It's not like I'm going to sleep anyway,
my mind is too active for that."

She extended her hand in a way that I couldn't find a way to refuse,
"You're right, but I do need to go over everything at least one more
time and I want to see the progress of the other groups."

"You know, there are some things that never change Scully."

"And what's that?"

"You still need that element of control, the perfection and the idea
of no surprises."

"Well of course, working with you all these years it's become a
necessity."

"Oh harsh."

**Dawn**

The sun was breaking over the horizon, hues of reds, orange and
purples. We were already on the move. The first vehicle carrying team
two was on the way out, team three were packing up and those of us in
team had already started hiking. We had to show up as weary travelers
wanting in, we couldn't achieve that look by taking the jeep to the
gate entrance.

Our radios were tested and functioning, Scully and I entertaining the
gunmen in some brief chit chat before getting down to business. We
were an hour's walk outside of DC, team two were approaching their
entrance within five minutes. Timing was going well.

**10 minutes**

If I didn't know better, I'd say we're going in circles, however I do
know better, and Cal has a compass guiding the way. I'm walking on
pins and needles. Scully is walking on pins and needles, everybody is
walking on pins and needles and I have yet to figure out a way to come
out of this with a reasonable solution.

The sun is fully up now; Moe and his guys have made it to the
entranceway and past the first security trap with no problems. They're
on their way to the second hoping for no surprises. There shouldn't
be, if anything, the guys are extremely thorough.

All six of us walking however are silent. We're too close to think of
anything to say, I think we're concentrating too much.

I'm concentrating too much.

I need to get Summer away from Scully and fast. Fuck it all, this is
going to be way too complicated.

**30 Minutes**

We can see the city walls now, tall, gray, and definitely uninviting.
It's been years since I've been inside the city of DC, it brings back
fond and not so fond memories for me, but I guess I could never really
call it home. Scully might, it was the first permanent residence she's
ever had after moving across the country with her father all the time.
But it was never mine, I liked adventure more than sticking around,
probably the underlying reason why I became a field agent, other than
Samantha of course. Samantha turned out to be a mistake, however
searching for her lead me to Scully, which could never be a mistake.

There's a large open field before the city gates. We don't see the
gates, they're on the the south wall, we're facing the west wall.
We've still got a hike yet, but I don't like the open field. Open
fields lead to danger, all sorts of assassins laying low in them ready
to take their prey like hunters plucking birds out of the sky. I
should know; we act the same way. DC is the most heavily guarded city
in the world, the power base, of course there are going to be
assassins around, and watchers and guards, and all it will take to end
it all right now is accuracy and one bullet. Sure the rest would
continue on, but like the birds, we'll all soon go down.

So one step at a time we walk across the grass and dirt to our final
destination. We've got eyes and ears like a hawk, we won't let
anything happen to us.

**50 minutes**

We're ten minutes ahead of schedule as we approach the gate, large
doors made out of some metallic alloy. There must be at least ten
guards watching it, and they all look bored out of their minds. I'm
sure they're young people who'd rather be out with the troops fighting
the rebels than standing here all day and checking passports. They'll
do their job because it is in their genetic make up to do the job, but
the human part of them wants adventure. If I could, I'd tell them it's
not all it's cracked up to be, but then I'd be giving myself away.

They don't stand tall, and other than their mandatory uniform, they
don't stand out. However, other than the new government's crest
sitting on the chest and sleeves of the uniform, army drag is nothing
new to us. It's not awe inspiring to us like it is to others. Both in
and out of the FBI we've had several run ins with army and the likes,
we didn't exactly get along then, and I'm sure with what they stand
for now, we won't get along anytime in the near future.

We receive the third degree from them as we hand over our passports,
everything from names, reason why we want entrance to full background
checks on each of (what can actually be verified by our papers that
is) and stating the new pledge to the new government without any slip
ups. We hadn't seen this coming, however, once again we'd seen enough
people reciting them over the past six years just before they were
destroyed to know what the pledge was. All six of us recited it
flawlessly.

Instructions were clear, papers passed the tests, we passed the tests
and the 'immigration office' as they called it was across the Mall,
exactly where we were supposed to head. Go straight there making no
stops. It was working to plan.

And so we entered. There's no going back now.


The city inside of the gates was different from what I remembered,
martial law having taken effect years ago here. There were constant
patrolling of guards and armed officials. Each public place required
citizenship papers to enter, random searches of places and people
throughout the streets. Nothing seemed to be the same anymore.

I was starting to wonder if meeting up at the National Mall was of the
wisest idea considering that while we had papers and all, team two
didn't. And not only that, they were carrying weapons that had been
banned in the seven continents across the globe. There was only one
problem though; we weren't allowed to stray from heading to the Mall
seeing as the 'immigration' office was on the other side. No doubt
once there they'd inject us with whatever DNA they're using to
colonize Earth and we couldn't allow that, but if caught off path
they'd kill us on site. One thing is for certain, entry records into
the city is kept in the highest order. We'll be monitored until we
manage to disappear somehow.

"Hey Mulder" the microscopic radio in my ear started buzzing slightly
as Moe spoke. "We're in and under the Mall. There should be an
entrance to the tunnels on the left side of the Smithsonian. If you
can get around there without being detected we'll be there waiting."

I murmured a quick reply and turned in the direction of the
Smithsonian, at least that hasn't been removed. It's still a museum,
but a museum of traitors. All those they capture and die while they're
experimenting on them go into the Smithsonian as part of their
displays. It's a scare tactic, meant to keep those from straying away
from them. We're being watched like a hawk, but they wont' stop us
from going near the Smithsonian knowing what it is. They'll think us
looking at it will be beneficial to them.  So we enter and find a side
exit no problem.

We go in, but they won't see us come out and within a few minutes
we're greeted by heavily armed men, our heavily armed men and I
couldn't be more grateful than to get my hands on one of the
automatics that Moe had lugged around his back.

It's show time in all actuality. The White House is only fifteen
minutes away and the tunnels beneath it have remained forgotten,
desolate and empty. I don't think they anticipated on anybody knowing
them that still lives. Anybody important enough to know about them was
killed six years ago. All except Moe, and to an extent, me. Senator
Matheson told me about them once.

Senator Matheson had told me a great deal of information over the past
several years, and I believe that he also had information on
colonization, and was probably using me to prevent it. I was a tool in
essence, something to stop the coming apocalypse so he could survive.
I failed, but he was also witholding information from me that could
have made the difference. He was a strong supporter of the X-Files,
however, unfortunately that wasn't enough to reveal to me the
necessary means to save us all.

At least I know the tunnels, which is more than any other political
supporter know. I doubt this information reached even the highest
authorities, lets say the deputy director of the FBI, which makes it
an even better way to tackle the whole power structure to the ground.
We're going to use what they created against them in a way. True, they
didn't create the underground, but it's part of their current
powerhouse and if they were really all that intelligent, they'd have
found it by now.

"Okay Moe, you're leading the troops in, you're still under my command
but you know this area better than any one of us do."

We're moving, like rats in a labyrinth only they don't know that we
know that we're around, and they certainly don't know that they're our
final target. We walk at a steady pace, any evidence of my disguise to
get inside being shed along the way as i stock up on ammunition and
get my hands on my weapon. Scully is doing the same, pulling her hair
back into a single ponytail at the back of her head while the others
are dumping their props along the way. The papers can't help us
anymore; we'll keep them anyway just in case

"Team three are you in position?" I whisper into my radio while
walking, not wanting to disrupt anything just in case my estimation of
the place is wrong and they do know about it.

"Ready and awaiting your orders sir."

"Good, don't move. We'll let you know when we need you in the city,
over and out."

Monica is behind me, transformed from her rags and looking no-nonsense
in her jeans and tank and a kevlar handed to her by Moe at the
entranceway. We all have one of those, just like back in the old days,
only this time we know we're going to use them.

The element of surprise will only last for so long before they start
shooting back at us.

The entrance to the tunnel underneath the house is right in front of
us, and none of us are moving. There's an air of apprehension
surrounding everybody, most of it probably emanating from myself. It
seems that all confidence I had in controlling the situation has
disappeared, and my biggest fear is making a mess of everything and
getting the rest of the team killed. I should know better, I mean how
can an army of twenty take on a building housing at least a 150 of the
country's top ranking soldiers and military personnel? Nothing seems
logical anymore to me.

I certainly hope it seems logical to Scully cause now I'm just scared
out of my wits. It's not too late, I know we can turn back. I'd be
disappointed if we did, but we can, however, we've come to far to even
think about it. Then why am I seriously considering it? None of the
excuses running through my mind seem valid enough, yet I keep
searching for the one reason that will be good enough to allow us to
turn back.

"You coming pal?" Moe's voice shook me out of my thoughts and I was
the only one waiting behind, everybody else had crossed the threshold
and was moving forward. None of the excuses were valid, it's an
everybody or no one deal, and so I step over and face another
decision.

"Which way are we going?"

"Depends on where you want to go. Different rooms house different
people with different powers."

"I want the one with Summer of course."

"That doesn't help Mulder, she can be in any of these rooms."

"Well fine, take one six year old with the IQ and mentality of all the
world leaders that used to be present and figure it out from there."

"We go straight then. That'll lead us into one of the main atriums of
the building. We can split and look throughout from there."

"Done, let's go."

Any and all previous thoughts about aborting has disappeared, there's
only one thing on my mind...search and destroy, and we won't fail
either.

The corridor was bland and lifeless, and not as dark as we thought it
would be.  For a forgotten section of tunnel, it seemed very well
maintained and very well lit.  It didn't seem to bother any of us
although it should.  Scully walked next to me with her weapon held out
in front of her just like the old times.  Our basic training from the
academy was coming back to both of us, do what you can within legal
limits to get your man.  We're gonna forget the legalities today and
just go for it all.

Moe guided us through with an ease that disturbed me.  How often had
he been in these tunnels before?  Could he have been working for one
of them?  That thought never really left my mind; he could still be
working for them and leading us in a trap.  I wasn't going to voice
these concerns, it was too late for that, but I was beginning to
wonder how far I could trust him.  He seemed way too comfortable for
my liking, nobody should be this comfortable on a raid to infiltrate
and take over the new government.

We reached a single black metallic door and with a flick of his wrist,
he opened it to a set of stairs.  "This'll lead you to the main
atrium.  I don't know how busy it is, I'd watch your backs if I were
you."

"My team come with me" I started splitting the group back into their
original teams.  "Moe's team, you stay with him and only enter when I
give the signal."

"What'll be the signal?"
 
"You'll know it, it'll either be a very loud 'now guys' or a
blood-curling scream emitted from any one of us.  If we scream, you'll
know something will have gone wrong and we need back up to get out.  
If somebody screams and we don't need you, wait for my 'no'.  If you
hear no, stay where you are, got it?"

"Right."

They were divided; we were alone ascending the stairs to what seemed
to us, the unknown.  We had no information about security in the White
House, nothing as to where people were located, where to find Summer.  
My team was small, we could cover a lot of ground if we all went
individually, but I would not allow that, we were all gonna stick
together, I only hope that we find Summer before they find us.

"It'll be all right Mulder, we've got your back if need be."  
Scully's hand was a comfort on my shoulder, but we both felt the same
apprehension about opening the second door at the top of the stairs.  
It was the only thing that stood between us and the final stretch of
our mission.  I didn't want to open the door, it scared the hell out
of me to do so, but there was little choice left in the matter.  
Another flick of my wrist and it was done, the door was open and we
stepped through.

And when we did, we knew it was all over.

My life started to flash before my eyes as I stared down the barrell
of a military weapon.

"Shit."

We had come so far only for it all to go downhill like this. There was
no way now in my opinion that we'd get to see Summer, no way that I'd
be able to overthrow the new government and see some sort of order
re-established across the country. Well there was never much of a
chance to see order established anyway, not with the fighting that
would carry on throughout the years, but this was supposed to be the
first step, and now, with the weapon being stabbed in my back as we're
guided through the halls of the White House, I really don't see much
of anything happening.

I glance over at the others and my head is forced straight again with
a jab of the semi-automatic against my temple. I can't think clearly
anymore, I can't see Scully, I need to see her, I need to see what's
running through her mind and if it's the same as what's going through
mine. I need to know that she's confident that things will work out.
If she isn't, then I can't be.

I want to see Monica's face too. Her extra-sensory instinct has always
pulled us out of various situations, but even she didn't foresee this.
I was hoping that even now as we're being guided around like dogs on a
leash that she'd be able to see something that would help us out. At
this point, anything. They must know this though, why else would they
be keeping her directly behind me.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (18/19)

It was as if they knew we were here the entire time; that we were
coming, although that wouldn't be possible unless they had
extra-sensory like Monica did. This would also mean that they weren't
human in origin, none of these guards were or they were human just
genetically manipulated, but to what extent?

My mind was running in circles with all these thoughts and ideas
inside, there were so many possibilities but only so few plausible
answers, and nothing that we can confirm at the moment. These 'men'
weren't about to come right out and tell us, yes, their alien, and
yes, they could read our minds, nor were they going to tell us how
they knew we were coming. It was clear they only had one thing on
their mind, to take us wherever they were going to take us.

We passed several unmarked doors which used to house the staff of the
White House, now used for god knows what, bunkers maybe for these
nameless and faceless men, or perhaps they're still offices used for
the new staff of this building, just unmarked because numbers and
order no longer seem necessary. Each one of them remains shut tight,
the large cedar doors reaching from floor to ceiling allowing no light
to shine through the bottom at all.

"Left" the order coming from the man behind me was sharp and to the
point, much like the weapon he further jabbed into me to emphasize the
point. We stopped at large wooden double doors, and this time it was
instinct that told me that behind those doors was the one person we
came here to see to begin with. I didn't need Monica to tell me, or
these uniformed men, I knew whom we were going to see, I could only
hope it would turn out the way Scully and I both want it to.

The doors opened and we were quickly ushered inside and stood in front
of a large oak desk surrounded by armed guards and doctors in long
white lab coats and hair pinned back in a twist. Scully stood next to
me, and it didn't take me long to follow her gaze to the center of the
desk, where the guards separated, and there sat none other than a
child with brunette hair pulled tightly behind her, intense blue eyes.
Eyes that showed intelligence beyond her years, and a body no larger
than that of a six year old.

"Mulder."  One word, my name uttered no louder than a whisper coming
from Scully's mouth, she had found her holy grail, she had found her
daughter, now was the question of what to do about her.  My intuition
was working overtime today.  Standing in front of her was sending all
sorts of negative vibes through me, the situation would not end well
unless I end it, but how to communicate that to the others, I don't
know.  Monica's face is showing the same apprehension as mine is now
that I can see hers too.  She knows the situation isn't good, and when
her intuition is working alongside mine, I know I can't be far off
from the truth.

However, Scully's face is full of joy and amazement at seeing the
little girl we lost six years ago.  She's looking at her through the
eyes of a mother, someone who is blind to the true reality that is
staring us right in the face.  So this is what it's like with parents
who will stand up and lie for their children in court, who will only
see the best in them when there's definitely a problem.  It's not that
they feel required and honour bound to help them despite the trouble
they've caused, it's really because they don't see the trouble, or at
least most parents don't.  I know not all parents are blind, my
parents certainly weren't, and Mr. Scully definitely wasn't, but
today, standing here watching Scully, it's transparently obvious that
she is.

And I don't know what kind of trouble that'll lead us to.

"Look at her Mulder, she's got your hair, your hands, my eyes and
thankfully my nose.  She's ours, just look at her."

"Scully be careful will you, I don't trust this situation, why would
they bring us to her if they thought she'd let us take her away."

"Mulder, once again need I remind you she's only six years old.  A
child.  What can a child do?"

I looked back over at Summer.  Her eyes were cold.  She recognized us,
she knew who we were, yet her eyes were empty, they were like ice.  
They weren't filled with contempt for allowing her to be taken; they
weren't filled with joy at seeing us either.  She didn't speak a word
though.

"I'm going to her, I need to go to her."  She released her grip from
the guard easily and took a few tentative steps forward, speaking
quietly to the girl about being her mother and how much she looked for
her and missed her.  It was all too easy, and it was making me uneasy.

"Scully..."

The girl glanced up from her glare at Scully to the guards behind her,
not a word spoken still.  She was silent, but quicker than one could
say boo the guards had pounced on Scully, it was as if she was giving
them orders psychically.  This was not a good sign.

"Scully!"  My call became more urgent as the guards clasped tightly to
her, dragging her struggling body suddenly out of the room.

"Mulder, what's happening, where are they taking me?"  She was
frantic, and I was near frantic too as the guards continued to pull
and drag her through the large doors.

"SCULLY!"  I tried to leap from my position in front of the desk, but
to no avail, it was as if I was being physically held in place without
anybody holding me.  I needed to get to her, she needed my help.

"SCULLEEEE...."
 
"Where are you taking her!" I turned to face the child sitting at the
desk, her eyes still remained cold and she was silent, yet it didn't
take much to hear her speak.  Her mouth didn't move or utter a single
word, but her thoughts were echoing through my mind.  The question of
Scully's whereabouts remained unanswered, although I now knew why we
were brought in front of her.

We were being used.

We were the last of the resistance, and many of us were inoculated
against the oncoming virus that caused colonization.  We could
technically prevent any further colonization if we wished, it wouldn't
be hard to use our blood to immunize even more of the population, and
they knew that.  If we really wanted to, we could make the resistance
grow.

We could also be used as a weapon against humanity though, against the
rest of the uncolonized world.  We created Summer, Scully and I.  Our
DNA's, both lined with the virus placed in us so long ago created her.  
Using the same formula, more of her could be created, as frightening
and yet stupid as it sounds; our world could be taken over by
six-year-old alien children.

"You bring her back then I'll tell you all that, I want her alive
first!"

The girl's words kept coming back to the forefront of my mind.  She
wants all of us, every single last one of us to be used and tested and
to help prevent further inoculations.  She wanted us all to join her
side, aid with alien colonization instead of working against it.

<You're mine, she's mine, I want the rest of them too.>

She glanced quickly at the guards holding us and without a moment's
notice, we were being ushered out of the room, in the opposite
direction that they were taking Scully.  "I'm not giving you anything
until I get Scully back safe and sound.  Do you hear me Summer?  
Nothing!"

My cries were echoing down the hall as they dragged us to the end,
placing me in one large room with the unmarked large double door, and
the rest of my team in the other.

<We shall see Mr. Mulder, there are other ways you know.>


<There are other ways> I shudder to think of the other ways she might
be talking about, or in this case, thinking about.  I had an idea upon
entering the city of what we were about to face, this certainly wasn't
it, obviously I hadn't looked into the situation hard enough.

I was alone, my team finally forced separate from me and placed in a
room similar to mine down the hall.  And Scully removed from me
altogether, to where, I don't know, I can only hope to know the places
that she won't be taken to.  Area 51 is gone, piles of rubble on the
floor eliminating that testing centre as a possibility, but there were
so many others.

Quantico.

That was still up, FBI academy recently converted to testing facility.
 Experimentation, vaccination, expiration; it plays host to all of
these now and more, and for some reason my gut is telling me there.  
As to why I'm still here, I don't know, and the fact that they've left
me alone in this room blows my mind knowing that I'm a trained agent
as well as a renegade, a loose canon who's not afraid to go off at
will or find my way out of this place.

<Not if you want to see her again you won't>.  Her voice was back
inside my head, reading my very thoughts and responding to them in her
controlled yet high pitched childlike voice.

Damn her.

There would be no way to leave here with my thoughts constantly
monitored, no way to get out and find Scully and save us both and just
go join Skinner and Doggett and live out the rest of our days in
happiness while the world all goes to hell.

<You'll see her, you just may not like what you see, but trust me Mr.
Mulder, you'll see her again>.

There were no defenses I could use, nothing to block this child's
voice from my head, nothing to keep her from intercepting and reading
my inner most thoughts.  "Will you just leave me the hell alone for
two minutes!"  My voice echoes off the walls, but nobody seems to be
listening, or seems to care anyhow.

My team is gone, Scully is gone, and I'm left alone to face this demon
child who seems to derive pleasure from driving me insane.

<A few more hours, it won't be long now.>

The room I was trapped in didn't offer much comfort to my wandering
mind, although I didn't really expect it to. It consisted of one long
table, several chairs, much like a conference room, a leather couch
and a large television screen at the end. The ceiling was had at least
six video cameras attached to it, and in the middle sat a large modern
chandelier. It was basic and plain, nothing remotely attractive in it
to keep my mind from thinking about Scully and what they were going to
do to her.

Why did they want me in here though? Granted keeping us separated is
probably the easiest way to get what they want, but I couldn't help
but think that Summer's message meant more than it sounded. They're
using Scully for something, but for what I don't know.

The leather couch was something reminiscent of the one in Moe's rebel
base. It was only 24 hours before that Scully and I had been seated in
one of them, both of us safe and alive, I can't even say that about
her at the moment.

Hell I can't even say that about me.

The hours passed by slowly, one, two, four, eight, nothing, no food,
no drink, no word of Scully, and no messages from Summer invading my
mind. I was neither tired, nor hungry nor thirsty though. I wanted
nothing but knowledge about Scully. I should have drugged her and left
her back at camp, and if I knew that this would have been the outcome,
I would have.

"Mulderrrr..." I spun from where I was standing.

Scully.

She still had her radio on; they hadn't found it yet.

"Where are you Scully?"

"Don't know." Her voice was slurred, like she had either been drugged
or knocked out.

<Maybe I can help you Mr. Mulder>.

And the doors to my room opened, several armed military men entered,
followed by none other than Summer. This seemed to be getting worse by
the moment.

<We do know about the radio, in fact we discovered it upon a cursory
exam where she's being held, we've just decided not to do anything
about it.  We figured that having you listen to her both on the
television speakers here and right in your ear may have a better
effect on you.>

What the hell was this kid talking about?  Better effect on me how?  
What were they going to do to Scully that would make keeping the radio
in my ear have a better effect on me?  It dawned on me then as one of
the military guards turned the television set on to reveal Scully in a
sterile room of some sorts strapped to a bed with three doctors
standing by her, two with clipboards and the other with a syringe in
her hand.

I reached up to my radio at that point knowing what they were going to
do, and I didn't want to listen to it in stereo sound.

<I suggest you keep your radio on Mr. Mulder unless you want to see
something untimely happen to your partner. Right now we're just going
to play with her a bit.  If you take your radio off or disable it in
anyway then we'll insert a second syringe into her thereby ending what
little life she has left, after we take what we need from her of
course. You have your choice, a chance to save her, or lose her right
away.>

As if on cue the red-haired doctor produced a second syringe identical
to the one the blonde had in her hand.

<I want you to meet our three doctors, they're top in my staff.  Dr.
Kristy, Dr. Kim and Dr. Ariel.  Normally they're referred to on a last
name basis, they like to remain professional, however, there's
something downright sadistic about the knowing the first names of the
people who are about to do what they're going to do to your partner.  
It makes it more personal and to me somewhat more enjoyable.>

She smiled my way.  She was enjoying this, my child was enjoying
watching me watch her mother about to go through whatever tests they
were about to subject her to.  The term rebellious teenager came to
mind, but Summer was only six, she had a far way to go although
mentally she was my age.  Then there's the term 'problem child' and
while that seems somewhat adequate, I'm sure the psychologist who came
up with that never expected Summer to come around cause that seems too
mild a term for her.

<I'd pay attention if I were you Mr. Mulder.  I wouldn't let your mind
wander off while I explain the next parts, else you won't understand
as much as I need you to.>

"What the hell do you want that you don't already know."

<There are other rebel pockets throughout the United States and I know
you're aware of them.  They're destroying my facilities, and a lot of
my men.  How do you expect me to continue on with my plans if they're
in the way?>

"Oh gee, I don't know, how about leaving what's left of the human race
as it is, has that thought ever crossed your mind?"

<A sense of humour.  You know I can't do that, it would interfere with
everything.  I need whereabouts of these groups, of these cities with
these misguided people.  Colonized people are living so much better
these days now that we're here to guide them.  We have an ordered and
structured society.  People listen to us without question, so much
better than the democracy you had before we took over.>

"Democracy wasn't perfect, but it made people happy, knowing it was
the people first, and everything else second."

<Yeah, but that idea grows tiresome.  People are like sheep, they need
a leader to listen to and tell them what they want.  Now tell me what
I want to know, where are these rebel pockets?>

I looked at her defiantly.  I, like many others by nature, am not a
sheep, I will not do what she says at her beck and call, and I know
she's well aware of this.

<I was hoping you'd hold on me you know,> she smiled sadistically.  
<In the first syringe in Dr. Ariel's hand is a serum we've found very
useful over the past few years.  We've fine-tuned it and now it gets
us everything we want to know.  Call it a truth serum of sorts, only
it's not going to make your partner tell the truth, just you.> The
doctor placed the syringe on Scully's arm, not breaking the skin yet,
but close too.  <The liquid inside will be injected into your
partner's blood stream and flow throughout her body.  She will start
to feel warm, then hot, then like her insides are burning.  She won't
die, it doesn't kill, but she will be in so much pain that she will
want to die.  And you get to listen to this all.  It will be the most
agonizing half hour of her life, and we will continue to do this until
you answer my question.>

The Doctor's thumb then pressed the tip of the syringe, allowing the
clear fluid to enter Scully's body.

The kid wasn't wrong when she told me I'd be hearing everything in
stereo sound.  All at once the moaning began and instantly turned to
screaming as she complained of burning from the inside out.  She moved
and writhed while strapped to the bed, her piercing cries filling my
ears and at that moment I would have given anything for it to stop.

Summer's voice echoed behind Scully's screams, demanding the
information she needed, and I'd gladly give it to her if I could
process anything running through my mind at the moment, but I
couldn't.

Scully's screams were getting louder by the moment and becoming
increasingly painful to hear.  I wanted them to stop, I wanted to run
over and sooth every inch of her that was on fire, however, I didn't
know where she was being kept, and I couldn't give Summer the
information she wanted to stop.

I wanted to shoot the blasted kid for putting us in this situation to
begin with, however, with armed men surrounding both her and I, and
Scully's fate in the hands of the doctors, there was nothing I could
do but sit out and wait for the next twenty-five minutes to be over.  
I didn't have all of the information Summer needed though. Granted I
have some, probably enough to blow Moe's compound to kingdom come, but
I was not about to give that information to her.  Scully would never
forgive me to allow her mother and the guys to be blown to bits like
that.

<Ah so you have other friends' lives on the stake Mr. Mulder.  I could
guarantee their safety to you if you release the information.>

Scully began to scream even louder than I thought possible. The
doctors on the screen were suddenly forced to hold her down as she
thrashed around trying to lessen the pain, unsuccessfully of course
due to the serum inside of her.

"First you lure my partner to believe you're for real, that you're an
innocent child used and abused by the powers that be. Then you inject
her full of some concoction that will do god knows what to her other
than what it already is doing, and now you're expecting me to reveal
the whereabouts of other so called 'rebels' who are only trying to
restore humanity to what it is?"

<This is only round one.  We're going to do this until I get the
information I need>. Her blue eyes bore into mine and possessed and
intelligence I would never have believed to have seen in a six year
old.

She was enjoying watching us suffer, listening to Scully's anguish and
watching my confusion.

"I have no guarantees, I can't trust you."

<It's a gamble, sure, but isn't life a gamble?  You chose to gamble by
trespassing on my property, you chose to gamble when you decided to
fight instead of join.  I could have kept you safe if you had joined,
you could have been up at the ranks that Mr. Kersh currently hold
right now, but instead you're nothing more than a thorn in my side.  
I can keep everybody you love safe though.  Just give me the
information.>

And after Scully's last scream, I very nearly opened my mouth to do
so.

 "Stop this and I'll tell you everything," I manage to spit out
between the cries of my partner.  "If you want the little information
I have, you'll stop this brutality now," putting an emphasis on the
last word.

<Mr. Mulder, there's no possible way, she's till got ten minutes left.
 We've developed the serum, but we don't have an anti-serum to counter
against it.  You'll just have to wait.>

Ten minutes more of watching her in agony.  I could feel the tears
fall down my cheeks at the thought of what she might be going through,
knowing it's something far worse than I could imagine or would want to
imagine.  Her screams were now loud never ending shrieks; it was as if
somebody was cutting her up without any anesthesia.  The three doctors
sitting in that room were now on my 'list'.  I knew of the possibility
that they may only be following orders because something valuable of
theirs were held hostage, or that they may in a way be brainwashed.  
I doubt they were actually enjoying what they were doing, but it
didn't matter.  They were inflicting pain on my Scully.  It was
simple; they were going to pay somehow.

Subject: NEW: WAY OF THE CRADLE by Spooky's Girl (19/19)

"I said stop this, NOW!"

<Mr. Mulder, I've already explained.  But you can distract yourself if
you'd like by giving us the information we need, it may be enough to
keep your mind off what's happening on screen.>

The kid was smug, she was smiling, believing she had won this when in
essence she had lost, that's if my message had gotten through.

"Shut the television set off and let me take off my ear piece then
we'll talk, I can't do this listening to her."

<I think not, you may suddenly change your mind.  This is my insurance
to make sure I get what I want.  Don't worry, once I have the
information in hand you'll be reunited with your partner and you'll
both be well taken care off by my staff.  You're both too valuable to
the whole operation to lose.>

"I don't think you're getting the point, you're not getting any
information until you stop this madness."

<Oh, I've got the point alright, it's you who doesn't.  If you don't
give me the information, we're only going to do this again within an
hour's time.  It's really that simple, either way, I'll win and you'll
both lose.>

I wanted to know where the guys were, I had given the word twice now,
and there wasn't much time left.  Scully still had five minutes left
of this torture, I still had to listen to it all, and Summer was
right, we'd end up losing either.

"I'm not going to lose to a six year old child.  We'll talk once
you're finished with my partner."  I sat back down at a seat and
stared defiantly at her.  She still had the smug smile on her face,
and her thoughts were still filling my head, pushing mine out.  It
didn't take long to block her ways of reading, now it was just a
matter of blocking her all together.

Then, it was like a god-send or something.  I had never been so happy
to see an armed man not belonging to the military here in my life.

"The only person who's going to lose here is you kid," the large man
bellowed standing at the gate, his large automatic staring the first
guard in the face.

Moe.

Team two were standing at the door clearly outnumbering the guards in
the room.  It wasn't enough to detract Scully from the coursing pain,
but it was hopefully enough to save our asses and get us out of here.

"Hey Mulder, you want the kid or shall I?"  He held a small handgun
with a silencer on it so as not to attract the guards, something she
was probably trying to do mentally anyway, which means we don't have
much time left.

"I'll do it."  He tossed the gun effortless to me and for some reason,
I felt no remorse in doing this.  She was my child, my flesh and
blood, but children don't also go around torturing one parent as a
means to an end regarding the other.  It's just not proper etiquette.  
I pressed the cool metal of the muzzle of the silencer to the back of
her head, and looked down her for the first time with confidence
knowing I have the advantage.  "I want you to think carefully now.  
Forget about calling your guards, that ain't gonna happen kid.  Tell
me where you've put Scully."

She remained silent and I knew I had no other choice, not when she
could have ordered the whole army to march into this room and take us
out.  I did the only thing I could do considering the circumstances.  
I only hoped Scully would forgive me for this, and for the first time
in years, I said a quick a prayer before my finger reacted, and she
fell to the ground in a lifeless lump.

We were moving out again.  "We have to find Scully, she could be
anywhere and she could be in a lot of danger. The kid had more than
enough time to decree anything she wanted and killing Scully may be
top of the list."

"What about team one?"  A shout came from the back.  That stopped me
in my tracks, they were right, we had to search out for the
whereabouts of my team as well.  I wasn't going to give them up
without a fight either.

"You're right, we'll split up.  Half the men come with me in search of
Scully; the rest of you look for the rest of my team.  We're all going
to get out of here."

Corridor beyond corridor beyond corridor lay out stretched in front of
me, all looking the same, all giving no indication as to where she
could be.  For all I know she might not even be in the building.  We
continued to open each door however, peering in hoping to find three
doctors and my partner.

"Agent Mulder!"  I recognized that voice, and if I had been paying
attention in the beginning, I probably would have seen him in the room
with us earlier.  I turned around and before I could even see the top
of his balding head, I knew who he was, and was never more grateful to
see him, or the man next to him.  Walter Skinner and John Doggett,
back from Cuba just in the nick of time.  And a woman standing next to
them too.  "She says she knows where you can find Scully."

Well well well, if it wasn't Mrs. Kersh, American wife of the year.

She is a most welcome sight the moment, just hearing the words that
she may know where Scully is located.  In between the chaos and
madness here I forgot what it was I was supposed to initially do in
order to find Summer.  I doubt his wife forgot seeing as she was so
adamant about it happening, and it's not that I minded doing it to
begin with, she obviously knows how much I can't stand the man.

"Where is she?"

"In a moment, firstly, get Mr. Skinner off my arm.  There is no need
for any of his strength and while he is a good looking man and I
wouldn't mind his touch, when it gets to be at a bruising force I tend
to object.  I'm not going to run."  I glanced over at Skinner as he
removed his hand from her elbow, however, he did not move away.  I
could see he didn't trust her, but knew enough to listen to her if he
wanted to help get Scully back.

"Now, tell me."

"First off, I came through with my half of the bargain, now it's time
for you to come through with yours.  Kill my husband, I'll tell you
where to get your partner."

"How about we compromise.  I have no intentions of leaving without
making sure the former deputy director is dead, so how about while I
go after him, you tell AD Skinner and Doggett where to find my
partner.  They'll go after her, and I'm at your disposal until I know
Kersh is gone."

She seemed to debate the idea for a few moments, but in the end I
guess she knew to trust me, she probably knew of all the hate Kersh
held for me and knew I'd want retribution somehow, not to mention I've
tried assassinating him once before.  She nodded her assent and
pointed me toward where the former Oval Office was before turning to
Skinner and Doggett to give them the whereabouts of Scully.  I grabbed
one of Moe's men and told him to hand the radio over to Skinner, I
wanted word of what was going on, what state she was in, and they all
knew that no matter how innocent the three doctors were, they were to
be disposed of as well.  They listened to the child, they injected her
with the needle, they were as guilty as she was and it was only right
they endure the same fate.

I, meanwhile, with Moe at my side, ran up a set of stairs around the
corner, weapons with silencers in hand, and kevlar's firmly in place.  
With Summer no longer in control I doubted the guards would care much,
but without Summer in place, Kersh was now the man behind the power
seat.  The only grace in this entire situation was that Kersh couldn't
speak telepathically, which means he couldn't notify the guards.

The double oak doors stood looming before the both of us.  Moe didn't
know much about Kersh other than what he read in the paper, I knew he
was deserving of what was coming to him.  On the count of three we
kicked the doors open, and there, sitting in the seat once belonging
to the many presidents of the United States, was deputy director Kersh
with his usual smug grin on his face.

There was only one thing different about this time compared to all the
other times I went to meet him in his office.  I had a larger smug
grin on my face, and I was going to win this time around.

The situation was familiar to the both of us, him sitting at the desk
ready to chew me out, I on the other side ready to be chewed out.  We
had both sat here, okay, not this very office but something similar,
countless times, and it had always been the same.  This time, I wasn't
standing here waiting to be chewed out, instead, I was surveying the
damage I had caused on our last meeting.

He sat not in the customary leather chair that is used for such an
office, but instead in his own leather wheelchair, enjoying nothing
but the best that money and power can offer him.  It was motorized as
indicated by the controls on the right armrest and it was obvious he
was only a paraplegic seeing as he had full control of his upper body.  
Near as I could figure it, if I had just aimed to the left a little
more and about an inch higher, I probably could have killed him.  It
figures I'd miss by something so little.  That wasn't happening today,
not when Scully's very life depended on his death.  "If it isn't the
deputy director, nice to see you looking so well sir," my tone hinted
mock shock at his current situation.

"Considering the guards aren't in here Agent Mulder, I'm assuming you
killed the kid.  I should thank you, this now puts me in supreme
control of the country and all of colonization."

"I don't think so, nobody's taking over colonization, we're putting it
to an end here and now.  It seems somebody wants you dead and has sent
me to finish the job I started years ago.  You ready to take one last
look at the world you destroyed before I send you to hell for what
you've done?"

"Everybody wants me dead, my wife wants me dead.  You don't think I
haven't seen the looks of disgust she throws my way.  Agent Mulder,
what you see in front of you is the shadow of the man I once used to
be, only I hold more power in my hands.  You can shoot me if you'd
like; colonization isn't going to end.  Somebody else will just take
my place."

I walked across the desk and placed the muzzle of my gun on his
temple, not receiving any fight from him.  Maybe he doesn't want to
fight anymore, or maybe he really does think he's right.  "You're full
of shit you know."

"Mulder," the radio in my ear cackled as Skinner came over the little
speaker.  "We have Agent Scully.  She doesn't look very good, she's
unconscious, but she'll live.  The three doctors are gone, can't find
them anywhere in the building.  Where do you want us to meet up?"

I thought over the deputy director's words, the fight wasn't over,
looking over at Moe behind me we both knew it was true.  The war had
only begun.  The power structures were just beginning to collapse and
if we left them alone now, they'd only be rebuilt again, probably
stronger than ever.  I looked back at the deputy director, staring at
Moe and myself calmly, mouthing the words 'you'll never win'.  I
pulled the trigger; it was a clean shot as he slumped in his chair.

"You can tell Mrs. Kersh she's officially a widow.  Hand Scully over
to Doggett, tell him to take her back with him to Cuba and to stay
there and watch her.  There's a war here, we're not finished fighting
yet, but she's been through enough."

"She's not going to like this idea when she comes to Mulder.  You know
Scully."

"I know, there's not much choice in the matter though.  After watching
what she went though today, there's no possible way I could subject
her to that again.  She's finished, she's going to enjoy the rest of
her life peacefully in the sun."

"And what about you?  Will you be joining her?"

Moe and I turned toward the door, exiting ready to join the others
looking for the rest of my team.  "Not now.  I will when I think I'm
ready to, but I need to stay here and fight.  She'll understand
hopefully.  Just take her though, now, the shit's about to hit the
fan."

Cal, Bailey and the others were standing in one piece at the end of
the hall, armed and ready to take on the world alongside Moe and
myself.  The resistance was formal.  With a weakened power structure
it'll be easier to get people on our side.

"Take care then Mulder, you know Scully is safe with the two of us."
______

EPILOGUE

For the first time in ten years a peace and serenity had fallen upon
me the moment I stepped onto the shore behind a small beach house.  
Four years ago I would never have imagined the world to be in the
state it was.  Those hiding had come out for the first time and fought
alongside Moe and I, changing our small rebel group to a larger
resistance.

Power structures across the country had begun to fall and other
pockets of rebels across the globe were picking up and starting to do
the same thing.

The gunmen were still hard at work at Moe's camp aiding each of the
groups, working as a communications base between one and the other.  
They send us information we were able to use and vice versa.  A
network had been established, and Moe and myself named formal leaders.

Our team remained high in the ranks, commanding their own teams, Cal,
unfortunately killed in an attack while protecting his sister, who had
gone off to marry Bailey and both of them retired and joined Scully in
the sun to live the rest of their lives.

Ryan soon became my third in command, coordinating the rest of the
resistance groups and has just been promoted to number one along side
Moe and continues to fight.

As for me, my time has come to go home.  It's been four long years
without seeing her or speaking to her, and quite frankly, I was tired.  
There was nothing more I could do to help the fight and I always knew
there would be an end for me somewhere in there.

With the rapid decline in population here, entry onto the island was
easier than anticipated, not to mention I'm sure my name had something
to do with it.  Over the years I had become some sort of a local hero
for people, my triumphs over the alien child and virus had become
legend and folklore.

None of that mattered though, not right now, now when I was being
greeted with a sight too beautiful for sore eyes.

Her bleach blonde hair had grown out back to her natural red and now
sat below her shoulders, and instead of rancid muddied black combat
gear, she wore a simple black shirt and white wrap around skirt and
her feet were bare in the sand.  Despite the searing heat and sun she
had managed to tan instead of burn, and her face was littered with a
light sprinkle of freckles.  Looking at her at this one moment made
the whole absence worth it.

I took several steps forward toward her, eager to put my arms around
for the final time and this time never let go when I was stopped by
the sound of the house door opening.  "Mama?"

She motioned the little boy forward who eagerly ran into her arms and
wrapped his around her neck.  And when I had thought that the image I
saw before of her standing on the beach was complete, it was nothing
compared to what I saw now, her holding a dusty red-haired three year
old child, and from this distance, I could indeed see my dreaded nose.

No explanation needed, I now know why she didn't bother fighting and
kicking her way back into the fray along my side.  She had somebody
else to take care of for a change, and seeing them together like they
were, there was only one thought running through my mind as I carried
myself toward them.

Life was just beginning; I was home.


END


FINAL AUTHOR'S NOTES: It's finally done a year later and nearly half a
year after that it's being posted on my site.  Whew!  Story wise, I
have to say this has been my most imaginative piece of work yet seeing
as we haven't seen anything of post-colonization yet.  This was
actually started before Essence and Existence aired so those two eps
and everything afterward do not exist in this world.  I need to thank
my all-star supporters on this one (the ones who have been around for
ages and are mentioned somewhere in here, Lizzi, Nancy (who so
graciously put up with being Kersh's wife), Lovesfox, Kristy, Ashley,
Chiquita Banana, Ariel, Tammy, and of course, how can I forget Summer?
She probably had the best role of all!

Must also thank my beta, Nancy (she's newly beta after this fic
although she did look at pieces of this one).  You're a star Mrs.
Kersh!

The last thing I found absolutely astounding was the many versions of
Mulder that my readers on the X-Files Official Forum found.

SurvivalistMulder (SMulder) TreeClimbingMulder RiverBathingMulder
DrillTeamMulder CommandoMulder WallClimbingMulder SchoolTeacherMulder
SleepingTentMulder ApplePickingMulder

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at the variations of
Mulderclones that were pulled from this fic.  You guys are truly the
best!