Chapter Text
CHAPTER ONE
The room was dark and cold; there was a steady hum coming from an air-conditioning unit running over time resonating through the room. A woman lay in her bed a fever ravishing her virus laden form, her sweat soaked the sheets and the clothing that clung to her as she thrashed around in the sheets like waves of an ocean trying to pull her under. A terrifying dream was playing out in her subconscious. Her darling husband a man she had loved and lost to a devastating disease. A cancer that had overtaken his brain and altered his beautiful mind, turning him into a monster, a man she no-longer recognized. In her dream he was very much alive and he had a gun pointed at another man, a man she knew but couldn't quite place. He was pleading for his life.
"No, no please, don't do this" he begged.
She started to scream "please, please stop." But her pleas went un-heard or un-noticed.
The gun went off with a piercing crack that echoed through her unconscious mind. The bullet hit the man in the chest and the blood, oh god the blood, it sprayed across his chest and spilled onto the floor. The man's face took on an expression of pure shock, the last expression it would ever make; it was then that she recognized the face. Even though it had been a few years since she had seen him, she was sure she was looking at the face of her stepfather. That's when she woke she sprung completely upright, her heart racing, her breathing rapid and her head pounding. She was alone and she felt so alone. She took control of her breathing slowing it down and her heart rate fell with it but her head seemed to pound harder. She rolled over to her side table where her aspirin and glass of water sat, she struggled with the childproof lid sending the pills across the mattress and onto the floor, with no energy to clean up the mess she took two pills into her mouth and swallowed the water hard hoping they stay down this time and calm the persistent thud.
"Dam flu" she said out loud. "It was just a dream" she repeated the sentence over and over in her worried mind then lay it to rest on her pillow, she closed her eyes and slowly, eventually, drifted back off to sleep.
'BRING BRING.' Her phone startled her awake again 'who could be ringing me at this hour?' She thought. "Hello" she answered sleepily into the receiver pinching the bridge of her nose with her finger and thumb.
"Joanne?"
"Yes."
"It's Walter Joanne."
"Oh hi big brother."
"Joanne what's wrong you sound terrible!"
"Yeah it's just the flu, what's up?"
"I'm sorry Joanne its Jake." Her heart sank into her stomach its pace quickening for the second time that night. Jake, her step-father the man she just saw fall in a pool of fiery red blood at the hand of her husband.
"Jake? What about him Walter?"
"I'm sorry Joanne he's dead."
In another part of the country in another bedroom dawn was breaking but the sun was struggling to pierce through the heavy storm clouds. The sound of heavy rain drops pelting on the window panes was being drowned out by the soft groans and heavy breathing of gentle lovemaking. A sound that had only recently filled this room but now filled it often as the sun was rising. The curtain open slightly cast shadows on the bed where the lovers lay, dancing along the blanket as it rose and fell in time with the bodies that lay entangled underneath it.
'BRING BRING.' The cell phone vibrated across the small bedside table, breaking the atmosphere like turning the lights on in a busy night club.
'BRINNG BRIING.' It rang too loudly to be ignored.
"Don't you dear answer that Mulder!"
Without removing himself from on top of her he reached over and grabbed the phone catching it before it vibrated its way onto the floor.
"Mulder!"
"It might be our source Scully."
"Mul…" She was cut off.
"Mulder" he shouted down the small device.
"Agent Mulder?"
"Yes." His eyes suddenly un-blinking and serious, he looked down at his partner telepathically trying to tell her to stay as still and quiet as a mouse.
"Where are you agent Mulder you sound out of breath?"
"Ah I'm um, I'm jogging sir."
Scully snapped her hand to her mouth in an attempt to cover the sound of her breath which was suddenly deafening in both of their ears.
"Jogging, in this weather?" She heard the voice on the other end of the phone say.
"Ah yes sir, the rain - it makes you run faster." Mulder shook his head unable to stop the words from falling out of his mouth instantly registering how silly that sounded. His partner pinched the tip of her nose to stifle the giggle trying desperately to escape her lips.
"Ok" a slight pause for a confused effect. "I have a case for you Agent Mulder, it has a personal connection. My stepfather was murdered tonight."
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that sir."
"There's something else Agent Mulder, something unusual about his cause of death."
"Ok"
"I'll brief you and Agent Scully in my office in an hour, you are both booked on an early flight to Dallas."
"Ok sir we will be there, I mean, ah, would you like me to call and let Agent Scully know?"
"No you finish your jog I'll call her." With a click the line went dead and he threw the phone on the bed and sunk his forehead into her shoulder.
"I told you not to answer it" Scully said smugly removing her hand from her mouth and placing it over his back. "A new case?"
"Yeah" he said his voice muffled by her hair and the pillow she lay on.
"Anything interesting?"
He pointed a finger indignantly at her home phone also sitting on the bedside table, knowing it was about to ring and then rolled off of her and onto the other side of the bed.
'BRING BRING'. Scully sat pulling the sheet to cover her bare chest and moved to sit on the edge of her bed. "Hello."
"Agent Scully?"
"Yes sir."
"I need you in my office in an hour to brief you on a new case."
"Yes sir."
"Pack a bag for Dallas Agent Scully your flight will leave at 11."
"Yes sir. Is everything alright sir?"
"No Agent Scully, I now have to ring my mother" with that the line went dead. She lowered the receiver onto the base. Mulder moved to rest behind her planting slow lingering kisses along her shoulder, up her neck and then down the other side. Her skin tingled pleasantly under his lips; she rolled her head side to side giving him the full length of her neck.
"What was that about?" She said her voice just above a whisper.
"Murder" he said in between kisses as he made his way back along her shoulder "Skinners stepfather" he brought his hands around under the sheet onto her stomach.
She let the sheet fall and turned into his arms. "Well you better make it quick Agent Mulder we have to pack for Dallas."
An hour later Mulder and Scully were sitting in their boss's office, behind his desk, in their usual positions waiting for the assistant director to arrive. Their clothes looked tailored and sharp, not a hair out of place, always the professionals. They drew a definitive line between their professional and personal lives knowing how important that was, knowing that the implications of anybody knowing about the true nature of their partnership would be detrimental to them both professionally and personally.
The door flew open and they stood in unison as their boss walked with purpose towards them. He handed them both a manila folder and gestured for them to take their seats, they obliged.
"Good morning Agents."
"I'm sorry for your loss sir" Scully said with a sympathetic tone.
"Thank you Agent Scully but truth be told we weren't all that close." He started his brief pointing to the files they held in their hands "Jake Anderson aged 65." They flipped them open to reveal police and coroner reports, a photo of the victim was held with a paperclip in the corner of the file. "He was married to Joan Skinner - my mother until five years ago when he left without explanation, found deceased this morning on his bedroom floor. He resides in Dallas where we believe he has been living since he left my mother with a Sharee Batey aged 35, apparently resolving the mystery as to why he left so suddenly." His tone revealed it wasn't such a mystery after all. "Batey is a nurse she works at the Dallas Memorial Hospital and found him when she came home from her PM shift at approximately 0000hrs. The Dallas coroner has ruled his C.O.D as 'Hypovolemia'."
Scully pulled out the police report and photo from the crime scene. "There must be a mistake sir there was no blood found at the scene, hypovolema indicates massive blood loss." She looked puzzled, she began to speed read through the folder coming to the coroner's report. "The coroner says a lung was punctured but no external wound was evident. This makes no sense sir I think someone has made a mistake here."
"On the phone you said it was a murder?" Mulder questioned. "I don't see any report here from the police indicating a murder took place. There was no evidence of forced entry or a struggle at the scene, no blood what are we missing here sir?" He closed the file and looked up at his boss whose gaze had turned to something apparently interesting on the floor.
"You are right agents something doesn't add up." He removed his glasses and started to clean them with his tie paying more attention to the glass frames then was necessary. Mulder and Scully looked at each other then back to the assistant director.
"Is there something else sir?" Scully asked almost afraid of the answer.
"It's my sister" He paused nervously. "Joanne she too lives in Dallas. She and Anderson were never on speaking terms but she knew he lived close by. Her husband was gravely ill last year - a brain tumor- he was in the hospital for a long time, Anderson's partner was his nurse." He stopped cleaning his glasses and placed them back on his nose. He sat down in his chair and rolled it under his desk placing his elbows in front of him and looked over at the two agents. He could trust them they'd worked together for years and god knows they had shared some strange theories with him in their time. But it was always them who were labeled 'crazy' he was just the one signing the bottom of their reports. He didn't like it when the tables were turned and it occurred to him in that moment how difficult it must be for them.
"Anderson was a mean son of a bitch; he hit my sister when she was a teenager, something she never revealed to me until recently, she suspected he was doing the same to Batey." There was a long uncomfortable pause. "My sister … Joanne …. She had a dream." His gaze dropped again, the agents looked at him intensely they could feel this was uncomfortable for him. "When I called this morning she knew he was dead, she knew where, she knew how. Details she just couldn't have known without being there, it was her who told me he had been shot."
"Because of a dream?" Mulder asked trying not to hold a 'you've gone insane' tone to his voice.
"Yes she saw it happen, she described where the bullet hit, what he was wearing, she was so distressed I, I don't know." Skinner shook his head and rested it in his hands.
"Sir" Scully started carefully. "There's no evidence in this case file that suggests a gun, a bullet…." she trailed off in an attempt to pose the question of what it was exactly he wanted them to investigate.
Mulder was better at this situation, it was usually he who bore the grunt of condescending tone and he could see Skinner squirm at the implication of Scully's question. "Did she see who shot him sir?" Mulder ignored the look his partner shot him.
"Yes" Skinner said but did not lift his eyes "she said it was her husband the only thing is her husband is dead, he died a year ago."
Scully took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Ok I think we need to start at the body I'll go down and do my own examination as soon as we land in Dallas." She stood indicating she wanted to leave, even after all these years she still hated it when everyone seemed to jump to paranormal conclusions before the investigation had even began. Following her lead Mulder stood followed by Skinner.
"Thank you agents I'd appreciate regular updates on this one, have a good flight.".
"I swear these seats keep getting smaller Scully." Mulder complained shifting uncomfortably in the small airline seat. "You'd think the government would spring for 1st class after all these years". That was the moment that - bang- the airline hostess knocked his elbow with the beverage cart. "Oh shit" he said with a little too much anger under his breath.
"Oh I'm so sorry sir" she said politely.
"Yeah me too" he rubbed the bruising flesh.
"Can I get you something from the beverage trolley?"
"Yeah the tip of my elbow back please."
"Haha" she said rather than laughed.
"Coffee please – large." Great emphasis put on the 'large'.
"Certainly sir" she filled the cup and handed him the hot beverage very cautiously.
"I'm sorry again."
He failed a smile in response then put his lips to the cup letting its contents go down slowly hoping the caffeine would flood his bloodstream and somehow make this flight go a little faster.
"Are you tired Mulder?" Scully asked smugly. He turned his eyes to her without removing his mouth from the cup. "Maybe you should give up your morning 'jogs'" she smirked wickedly.
"No no no Scully it's a fact that the morning is the best time to exercise. Your serotonin levels at their peak give you an extra bit of 'perk.'" He dropped the tone in his voice to just above a whisper. "Not to mention the burst of endorphins" now he was looking right through her, not letting her drop her gaze from his "the body's natural pain killers, amongst other things." Only Mulder has the ability to make science sound sexy Scully thought to herself. She swallowed deeply she hated that he could do that to her. He dropped his gaze breaking the spell "I dunno Scully maybe I'm getting too old to go 'jogging' morning and night." He met her eyes again and smirked she matched his smirk with her own.
"I sure hope not Mulder."
He chuckled his mood was improving already.
"What about this case Mulder?" she said flipping her case file open - back to business - "Skinner seems to be going out on a limb here don't you think?"
"It's his family Scully wouldn't you want to know what happened?"
"He didn't even like the guy Mulder he said it himself."
"Yeah but his sister is obviously bothered by her dream and there is certainly some unexplained element to his injuries you said that yourself."
"I've dealt with these boys in Dallas before Mulder they are amateurs. The head ME has only been in that job four months, he made a mistake I'm sure I'll clear that up when I see the body. Skinners sister was febrile with the flu when she had this dream. When the body's core temperature exceeds 103*F it starts to effect brain function, it can cause delusions, hallucinations and nightmares Mulder."
"True but how many times do they come true Scully?" Their eyes locked again this time in that all too familiar gaze they always shared at this point in the investigation. She had just spouted off her scientific explanation and he tried to shoot her down with a single unusual fact she could not dispute. "Like you said at the office Scully you examine the body, prove your junior coroner incompetent and I'll arrange for us to talk to Skinners sister in the morning."
"I think we should talk to the partner too Mulder. Skinner implied an abusive relationship if it is murder she shouldn't be ruled out as a suspect."
He nodded in agreement and drained the rest of his coffee.
"This is your captain speaking" the intercom chimed. "Can the crew prepare the cabin for landing."
"Thank god" Mulder exhaled to no-one in particular. Scully reached over and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. He looked to his left and then to his right then lifted her hand to his lips planting a soft kiss on her knuckle. "I'll take the bags to the hotel you go to the morgue then I'll meet you at the hotel for dinner. Maybe we can go 'jogging."
"I think we have beaten that metaphor to death Mulder". They jolted as the planes wheels hit the tarmac.
Scully walked along the long corridor of the Dallas coroner her heels clicking along the floor tiles. She approached a woman sitting at a desk surrounded by thick glass; her name badge read 'Marge.' Marge was flicking through a celebrity gossip magazine and didn't look up as Scully approached. Scully pulled out her badge tapped the edge on the glass and then flattened it against the clear surface. Marge looked up at her badge and then at her. "Can I help you?" she asked seemingly unimpressed by her credentials.
Scully stood on her tip toes to speak into the group of holes in the glass meant to be a means to communicate through. "I'm Agent Dana Scully from the FBI."
"I can see that Agent Scully what brings you to the Dallas morgue this fine Monday afternoon?" The woman feigned enthusiasm.
"I'm here to examine a body - Jake Anderson - case number..." She flicked the manila folder she brought with her open then lifted her heels up again "3402581 I'm here with direct orders from the assistant director."
"An examination has already been completed Agent Scully Dr. Taylor has already filed that report."
This time she didn't bother to speak directly into the holes feeling her small stature gave her less authority behind this glass barrier. "I'm aware of that but in the light of some new evidence the Assistant Director has insisted on a second opinion."
"Sure" the woman faked a smile "sign here." She pushed a sign in sheet on a clip board under the glass attached was an electronic access card "he's in room four."
Scully scribbled her signature and ID number and then noted the name written above hers – Dr. Grant Taylor - the head M.E he had signed in just ten minutes ago. "Great" she said to herself then slid the board back under the glass.
"Excuse me?" the woman behind the counter asked.
"Ah nothing, sorry is Dr. Taylor here?"
"Yeah he's looking at another case."
"Great thank you" she clipped the entrance card onto her collar, picked up her file and headed for room four.
Dr. Taylor stood scalpel poised over the latest victim to come through his morgue when he heard the beep and then click of the door next to his room open. 'Ah Miss FBI is here' he thought to himself. He knew she was coming; he had taken the call himself from the FBI. He met Agent Scully on his first case here in Dallas, her and her gangly hot shot partner. He had moved his family from Chicago just over four months ago, his wife was expecting their fifth child and money was tight. A friend of his who worked in the local Dallas hospital knew this and recommended him for the job. The promotion came with a pay rise, an offer that was too good to turn down.
He had called the FBI on his first case, he hated that, having to call in the 'cavalry' on his first case, he didn't think it would impress his superiors but he was stumped. It was an unusual case - there were wounds on the body made by something not human but not animal either. Back in Chicago a colleague of his had talked about the X-file division at the FBI. A pair of Agents - Mr. and Mrs. Spooky he called them, who ran around the country chasing UFO's and vampires. He had laughed it off at the time but under the circumstances of this case the X-files was the only thing he could think of. He spoke to Agent Mulder who was more than eager to help, although his theories of genetic mutants and the like proved less then helpful. It was Scully who found the plant connection to secretions left behind in the wound, essentially solving the case. She took great pleasure in pointing out he had missed the organic substance in the original toxicology report. He shouldn't have missed it he knew that but still she came down pretty hard on him.
He put the scalpel down on the small metal trolley next to him, covered the corpse with a white sheet and lowered his face mask. "Excuse me Miss Doe I'll be back in a minute". He stepped out and then into the room next door. Hearing the door open Scully turned to see Dr. Taylor enter.
"Agent Scully we meet again, say I never did get my testicle back from you when you left last time. Are you here for the other one?"
Scully raised her eyebrow "good afternoon Dr. Taylor I'm simply following orders from my superiors here, you have to admit there are some holes in your report, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of what killed this man." He pouted. "Say how many children do you have now Dr. Taylor? Who knows if I do solve this thing I might save you the vasectomy bill." She snapped her mask over her mouth and headed towards the autopsy table.
"Ha!" He had to laugh she sure had a way with words. He walked over and joined her beside the body. "What exactly are you looking for Agent Scully?"
"The unique position I hold in this job Dr. Taylor is that I never have a clue what I'm looking for until I find it". She pulled back the sheet that covered the corpse. The 'y' incision from the autopsy was roughly sutured with thick nylon. She reached for a scalpel off the trolley of instruments she had assembled and started to cut away at the thick strands. "In your report you said there was a pneumothorax, a hole in this man's lung which caused him to bleed out."
"That's right" Dr. Taylor nodded.
"What caused such a puncture and where did all the blood go?"
"I determined the puncture was made by a thrombus coming from a pre-existing clotting disorder."
"A blood clot punctured his lung? What, did he have a high blood lead level?" She said sarcastically. She finished undoing the sutures and pulled back the flap of skin exposing the now disconnected organs lying freely in the chest cavity under the severed ribcage.
Dr. Taylor didn't appreciate being made feel like an amateur. "There are clotting disorders Agent Scully where the viscosity of the blood becomes so great a clot can occlude a small vessel and then with enough pressure from the circulating volume be forced through the soft lung tissue. I assume the blood was absorbed by the surrounding tissue and organs only to drain post mortem."
She raised her eyebrow again "I think you assume too much Dr." She pulled the left lung and examined the wound closely carrying it carefully over to the microscope. She wound the focus adjusting her sight and paused to study the wound even closer. It was a perfect circle, more than that there was a distinct striation pattern running through it. She stepped back from the microscope. "Dr. Taylor look at this for me will you."
He walked over to the microscope and peered through the long lens. "That can't be" he looked at her with a shocked expression then back down the microscope. "That looks like a bullet hole."
"I was afraid you were going to say that." She removed her face mask and gloves disposing them in the nearby bin.
"But Agent Scully there was no entry, no exit wound, how can that be? How can you have a bullet hole with no bullet?" She didn't reply her expression was answer enough; she collected a swab and sample pot and scrapped along the surface of the wound then placed the swab into the pot and screwed on the lid. "What are you looking for?"
"I'll let you know if I find it." She turned on her heels and left Dr. Taylor with his jaw on his chest. He watched the automatic door close slowly behind her. "She did it again!"
Scully pulled out her cell phone and pressed speed dial 1. It only rang once "Mulder it's me" She spoke loudly down the receiver as she clicked her heels back down the long corridor, passing Marge who didn't look up when she slid her access card under the glass cage. "I'm just leaving the coroners Mulder and I found your bullet hole."
"What? I'm confused Scully you said there was no bullet."
"I'm confused too Mulder there are no external wounds but the pattern and shape of the wound looks to me like a slug neatly cut through Mr. Anderson's lung causing an acute haemopneumothorax effectively bleeding him to death."
"Where's the blood Scully?"
"I don't know Mulder I was hoping you would have a theory on that. I've taken a sample; I'll drop it off at the lab on the way to the hotel."
"Ok we're in room five and six, oh I spoke to Joanne Harrison and Sharee Batey they'll see us tomorrow. I think we need to pay a visit to Dallas Memorial though Scully pull Joanne's husbands file if this is murder he is our prime suspect."
Scully stopped at the door of her car. "He's dead Mulder dead people can't be suspects."
"We'll see."
"Mul….." he had cut her off again. She flicked the phone off sighed and then stepped into her rental car.
Having had the run around at the lab and getting caught in the traffic on the highway, Scully was making her way to the hotel a late. She climbed the steps, an effort to lift her foot from one to the other until she came to room five and knocked softly on the door, when there was no answer she knocked again louder this time, still no luck. She tried next door… nothing. She exhaled slowly she had become very used to her partner doing this. Hesitantly she made her way back down the stairs to the front office. "Hi" she said to the elderly gentlemen behind the desk "my name is Agent Scully…" before she could finish he interrupted.
"Ah yes Agent Scully your partner wanted me to give you this" he handed her the key to her room and a folded piece of paper. She recognized her partners scrawl instantly:
'Scully went to Dallas PD. I'll bring back dinner'
M.'
She tucked the note into her pocket and made her way back up the stairs to her room. She put the key into the door and turned the handle. These rooms always looked the same - bed, table, chair, TV, bathroom - sure some were cleaner, some more modern this one wasn't too bad she supposed as far as hotel rooms go, they had stayed here during their last case in Dallas so at least it held some familiarity to her. She threw the file and key on the table and made her way to the bathroom. Her clothes still carried the stench of the morgue so she removed them and stepped into the shower.
Mulder carefully balancing the takeaway boxes and his own case files in his arms made his way gingerly up the stairs to the hotel room, the hotel key dangling in his mouth. He got to the door and stood in front of it contemplating how he was going to open it with the keys in his mouth and sweet and sour sauce dripping down his full hands. He leaned his elbow over the door knob, it slipped over it, he tried tapping the door with his hip 'click' the door pushed open 'ah' he thought to himself Scully's back and made a mental note to scald her for leaving the door unlocked. "Scully?" He called his voice muffled by the keys, he spat them down on the bed and placed the hot boxes of food down on the table "Scully?" he tried again
"Mulder, Is that you?"
He held his sauce covered hands out in from of him as he waded through to the bathroom. Scully's face peered out from behind the shower curtain her hair covered in thick lathery bubbles. "Hey - who were you expecting?" he questioned suspiciously leaning down to kiss her firmly on the lips "mmm you smell good" He kissed her again.
She crinkled her nose "hmmm you don't" and flicked the curtain closed. He walked over to the basin and washed the sauce off his hands.
"What were you doing at the Police Department Mulder?"
"I'll tell you over dinner Scully, come on its getting cold". He left the bathroom and started to open the boxes carefully trying not to burn his fingers. He heard the shower turn off and turned to see Scully in her white hotel bathrobe her hair slicked back still wet.
"That smells good, god I'm starving" she sat down at the table. Mulder loosened then undid the knot in his tie, he pulled it through the collar and threw it on the bed, and then un-buttoned the first four buttons of his shirt while grabbing plates and forks from the cupboard and set them down on the table. They hungrily started to dish the food onto their plates.
"So what happened at the PD?" Scully asked stuffing a mouthful of rice into her mouth.
"Well after you called from the morgue Detective Smith called me, he was the first on the scene in the Anderson case, he was on the late shift again so asked if I wanted to come down and look at some new evidence he had found."
"New evidence?"
"Yeah he hadn't given the case another thought being that the guys was a 65year old who had a young girlfriend and a medical condition in other words he thought it was an open and shut case. But when he found out the FBI were being brought in he went back for a closer look, make sure nothing had been missed."
"He found something?"
"Yeah - blood"
"What?"
"Well evidence of blood. It showed up under his florescent torch."
"So someone cleaned up after themselves then."
"I don't know Scully he said there didn't appear to be any evidence of cleaning solution but the blood splatter was definitely consistent with a gunshot wound and in comparison to the position of the 'vic' boom" he pointed a finger sternly into his chest for emphasis "straight through the left lung."
Scully realized she had stopped chewing her mouthful and began slowly chewing it again "what's your theory Mulder?"
"Well we have a blood spatter pattern, but no actual blood, a bullet wound with no actual bullet and the only witness was a woman sleeping across town who saw her dead husband pull the trigger". He paused to take in a mouthful. "I don't know Scully it's like on one hand" he dropped his fork and held out his right hand "you have Joanne's dream her husband shooting her step father in cold blood in some fiery revenge scene on the other hand" he held up his left hand "at the exact same moment her stepfather got out of bed to take a wiz and dropped dead when a blood clot punctured his lung and somehow" he entwined his fingers "the two realities merged leaving bits of physical evidence from each scenario". Scully had stopped chewing again; she chewed three times slowly then swallowed her mouth full giving him that all too familiar 'you're crazy' look. "Well ok Scully what happened at the morgue?" He stuffed a spring roll into his mouth.
"First of all there was no blood clot. I took a swab off the wound down to the lab and had it tested"
"Tested for what?" It was his turn to talk through a mouthful.
"Gunshot residue."
"And?"
"And it was positive."
"Huh."
"While I was at the morgue I bumped into Dr. Taylor, you know he accused me of castrating him Mulder" her voice had raised an octave.
"Well you are handy with that scalpel Scully" He said waggling his eyebrows. She picked up a fortune cookie and threw it at him.
"Anyway when I got the result from the lab I called and asked him to take a casting of the wound, see if we could match the striation pattern to a bullet, we should have the results tomorrow" she scraped the last morsel of food off her plate at put it into her mouth.
"I better call Skinner" Mulder reached for his phone
"No" Scully extended her hand to him "I'll call Skinner you go shower Mulder you smell like a homeless person" He handed her the phone and headed for the bathroom. Scully walked over to the bed and lay down suddenly feeling very tired. She dialed Skinners number and listened to it ring, the answering service clicked on, she listened to the message and waited for the beep. "Yes hi Sir its Scully, just calling to fill you in on the case. We have pulled together a few pieces of new evidence ah, I won't go into it over the phone but we should know more tomorrow, we'll give you a call back then". She pressed the end button and threw it on the bed side table grabbing the TV remote at the same time. She lay her head down and turned the TV on. Flicking through the channels she settled on a nature show about wild cats, the drone of David Attenborough's voice lulling her to sleep.
Mulder stepped out of the bathroom just a towel around his waist "Hey Scully I left my clothes in my room can you go grab my bag?….. Scully?" He tip toed over to the bed she was fast asleep. He grabbed the blanket that was folded down at the end of the bed and draped it over her then pushed a strand of hair that had fallen over her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.
"Hmmm" she stirred slightly but didn't wake. He reached for his clothes and his keys and pulled the door open scanning the hall, making sure no-one was lingering and then tip toed over to his room.
Mulder looked at his watch it was 7.30am if they didn't get moving they were going to be late for their interview with Skinners sister. He stood outside Scully's hotel room door checking his pockets and belt – 'badge, keys, wallet, gun check,check,check' He said in his mind and then knocked on the door. Scully pulled it open.
"Good morning" she was dressed and had her glasses on she moved aside letting him walk into the room.
"Morning" he replied brushing passed her. "We better get moving or we are going to be late."
"Yeah I've just been preparing for our interviews" she removed her glasses putting them in their case then gathered up her badge, file and gun clipping it into her belt holster. "I missed you last night" she said not looking up at him.
He shrugged innocently "you looked so peacefully Scully I didn't want to disturb you." He smiled at her softly. She picked up the coffee she had made but not gotten around to starting and took a few sips "eew cold."
"Here" he grabbed it from her and finished it in four large gulps.
"Hey" Scully said indignantly.
"You ready to go then?" He put the cup down.
"Yeah but you owe me a coffee on the way now" He smiled at her again and snaked his arm around behind her placing his hand on her back and pushed her gently out the door.
Mulder banged firmly on the large oak door.
"Are you sure this is the right place Mulder?" They stood outside the residence of Joanne Harrison.
"Yeah Skinner gave me the address, she confirmed it last night" he replied and knocked again this time more loudly. "Mrs. Harrison?" He called. They heard slippers dragging along the floor and then the door opened. "Joanne Harrison?" Mulder enquired pulling out his badge "I'm Fox Mulder this is Dana Scully we spoke on the phone last night."
Joanne stood in front of the agents in her night gown and slippers her hair un-brushed and nose red from being blown too often. "Hi yes come in" she said through a blocked nose they moved through the house to the dining room. "Please excuse my appearance I have a nasty flu I can't seem to shake."
"Have you seen a Dr. Mrs. Harrison?" Scully asked as they sat at the table.
"Yeah it's just a flu not much they can do really." Her slippers flipped against her heels as she walked into the kitchen and started to fill the jug. "Can I offer you a drink?"
Scully jumped up from the table "here how about I do that you sit down."
'ACHOO!' Joanne sneezed in reply and Scully moved her face away quickly in an attempt to protect her airway from the residual spray. "Sorry excuse me."
"Gazuntite" Mulder called from the table. Joanne flipped her slippers back across the kitchen and sat opposite Mulder at the table while Scully hunted through the cupboards to find what she needed for the drinks.
"Thanks for coming out here on this Agent Mulder I'm sure my story must sound a little crazy to you." She grabbed a tissue from the box on the table and brought it her sore nose.
"Don't worry we specialize in the weird and wonderful Mrs. Anderson" Mulder said - an attempt to make her more comfortable.
"Speak for yourself Mulder" Scully flashed a cheeky smile at her partner and brought the drinks to the table taking her seat. Joanne laughed quietly and nodded her head thanking Scully for the drink.
"Yes Walter has told me a bit about you too" Mulder and Scully shot each other a glance. Joanne noting a certain amount of discomfort from her revelation added "all good things, I can tell he trusts you otherwise he wouldn't have sent you out here."
"Tell us about your stepfather Mrs. Harrison" Scully started.
"Please call me Joanne" she blew her nose again and began her story.
"My parents divorced when I was very young; around nine or ten, Walter would have been around thirteen. We all took it pretty hard although all of us saw it coming. My father left and got himself a new life, he didn't leave much room for Walter and I so it was just us and mum for a long time. Jake didn't come onto the scene until Walter was about seventeen, just as he left home for college, I was fourteen and like most fourteen year old girls showed my rebellious resistance into this new intruder in our lives. I guess my attitude finally got the better of him and one day after an argument about…. Gosh I don't even remember now the car I think; he slapped me fair across the face." Her eyes dropped and she paused and sniffed, not sure if it was the flu anymore or just dragging up these old memories. "After that he thought that was the only way to get his message across" she met their eyes again.
"Did he ever hit your mum?" Mulder asked sympathy in his tone.
"Not that I ever saw I think he used other ways to control her, anyway I left home, him and mum were together for a few years after that, then one day he just left. When I moved up to Dallas I found out he had moved in with a younger model although I never saw or spoke to him. I got to know Sharee when Doug got sick, she was his nurse - Sharee - and Jakes partner."
"Doug was your husband?" Scully asked.
"Yes" Joanne replied dropping her gaze to her fidgeting hands on the table now unable to deny the tears as they started to swell in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Joanne" Scully grabbed a tissue from the box and handed it to her "I know this is difficult but can you tell us a bit about your husband's condition."
"Yeah, thanks, its ok" she wiped the tears from her eyes quickly an attempt to conceal their existence and kept them firmly at her hands now tearing the tissue into little pieces. Mulder and Scully kept their eyes on her. "It all happened so fast, he was complaining of headaches for maybe three weeks, his mood changed so quickly, he would get so angry! Which was completely not like him, Doug was the sweetest, kindest man you would ever have known. I watched him slowly turn into, into, a monster! One day he came home from work and tripped over a shoe I hadn't put away properly, he just lost it, he was screaming at me calling me things I thought I would never hear pass his lips." She looked up at the agents with the same fear her eyes held that day. "He was so angry! He charged towards me and grabbed my wrist squeezing it so hard I thought it would snap. I was begging him to let me go. Then his eyes grew cold, they glassed over and it was like I saw the exact moment that tumor overtook his beautiful mind completely. He fell to his knees then, clutching his head. I called an ambulance, we went to the hospital and he." She paused drawing a short breath "he never came out." She looked down at the tiny pieces of tissue she had been tearing. "The Drs. said the tumor was in the part of his brain that controlled his emotions and personality that's why his mood was so altered. He deteriorated so quickly, there was really nothing they could do besides pain control and sedation to try and control his violent outbursts. He just changed so much." She couldn't stop the tears falling now; they rolled freely down her face. "He threatened everyone, he yelled, he threw things, in a week he didn't even know who I was. None of the staff wanted to look after him; he threw a full bed pan at one of the nurses' once." She laughed nervously through her tears. "Sharee was great, very kind; she put up with so much and always offered a shoulder for me to cry on."
"Did she know about your connection to Jake?" Scully asked.
"No, well if she did she didn't let on. I knew of course but I never brought it up. I didn't want Jake in my life again."
"Skinner indicated you thought Jake had been violent towards Sharee?" Mulder questioned rather than stated.
"Yeah she always wore a long top under her scrubs, it was so hot in there I wondered if it was to cover something. One shift she rolled her sleeves up during Doug's bed sponge and I thought I saw finger marks bruised onto her forearm. When she saw me looking she covered them up."
"Did you confront her about this?"
"No Agent Mulder I wanted to keep our private lives quite separate."
Mulder nodded in response "tell us about your dream."
Joanne had stopped crying and regained her focus. "Have you ever had a dream that is so real, so vivid that when you wake up you feel disorientated like you weren't supposed to be in your bed, you were there, right in your dream?" Mulder and Scully nodded together both too familiar with images from their pasts haunting their dreams. "It was like that although at first I didn't recognize Jake, just Doug, well Doug's face his body but it was the Doug from that hospital bed not my husband. He was in a room I didn't know but the room was so clear in my mind I could tell you the color of the sheets, the pattern on the wallpaper. I saw the gun and the look in Doug's eyes, he raised it up, pointed it at the man who was begging for his life."
"Were you there in your dream? Were you there in the room?" Mulder asked eagerly.
"No. Yes, kind of, it was like watching a movie screen, a horror film; you know when you scream at the girl in the movie 'don't go up the stairs the killer is up there' - like that I was there but no-one was aware I was there and I was frozen. Anyway Doug pulled the trigger and then everything went into slow mo. I saw the bullet as it flew across the air and into his chest, my god there was so much blood, it was then that I realized it was Jake although he had aged I knew it was him." Joanne's tone dropped down low she was still, her eyes held a spot on the wall in front of her like she was picturing his face, remembering the horror scene that played out in front of her that night. She shook her head shaking the images out of her mind's eye and looked back at the agents. "Anyway that's when I woke up, I was drenched in sweat, I had a fever of 104." She stood then pushing her chair away "excuse me a second I need some more aspirin." She shuffled her feet out of the room.
Scully looked over at her partner meeting his eyes she raised her eyebrows then stood gathering up the empty cups and taking them into the kitchen.
"What are you thinking Scully?"
"What do you want me to say Mulder?" she turned to face him one hand on the bench and one on her hip. "The dream could still be a complete coincidence I mean she said she got really close to Andersons partner maybe during their conversations she was able to gain some insight into their relationship, even talked about that room and then at an unconscious level the image of the room was imprinted in her mind then came out in her dream, where in some subconscious desire to seek revenge on her abusive step father her husband, who had recently become capable of open violence stepped into her dream and shot him." She waited tentatively for Mulders response his expression wrecked of sarcasm.
"You think they talked about wallpaper patterns?"
Joanne walked back into the room then. "You do think I'm crazy don't you?" Her eyes shifted between the pair.
"No" Scully said placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We are just trying to establish the facts."
Joanne looked deep into Scully's eyes "I know what I saw Agent Scully."
Mulder broke their cold stare. "Joanne in your dream Doug had a gun?"
"Yes Agent Mulder how many times do we have to…"
He cut her sentence short "no, I know, I just mean have you ever seen Doug with a gun? I mean if the dream were real, where would he get a gun from?"
"It was his gun, he had his gun" Mulder stood now and walked towards the two women standing in the kitchen.
"Where's the gun now?"
"It's here, in the safe in our room."
"Can we see it?"
"Sure" she headed down the hallway indicating for them to follow her. Once in the master bedroom she removed a wedding portrait from the wall revealing a small safe. She turned the dial forward, then back, then forward again, the clogs of the lock clicking into place then snapping open. She pulled out a black gun box and handed it to Mulder. He flicked open the silver catch and lifted the lid revealing the gun. It was a 9mm hand gun one commonly used in home defense.
"When was the gun fired last?" he asked.
"Ah it hasn't, well it probably was at some point before we brought it but we never fired it. I don't think we even loaded it. Doug brought it one day after we had a break in he thought it would make us feel safer, but we never actually fired it."
"And you are sure this was the gun you saw in your dream?" Scully asked pointing to the gun.
"Yes Agent Scully it definitely was I recognized the pattern on the handle."
Mulder snapped the box shut "would you mind if we took this Joanne?"
"No of course not take it I never liked that thing anyway." Mulder started to leave the room Scully placed a hand on Joanne's shoulder.
"Thank you Joanne how about you go back to bed, get some rest and be sure to keep your fluids up."
"Sounds good thank you Agent Scully."
Scully followed her partner out of the door. She could see him sitting in the car waiting for her as she briskly walked down the path that lead to the car. She opened the car door and sat into the passenger seat. "Where to now Mulder?" She pulled her seatbelt and fastened it across her chest.
"I thought I could drop you at the hospital, you go and find out what you can about Doug Harrison, we'll drop the gun at the lab on the way, see if we can match it to the bullet hole you found in Andersons chest." She looked at him perplexed at her own admission that it was in fact a bullet hole. "You know your cute when you're confused Scully."
"Mulder" she cocked an eyebrow at him "so where are you going to go then?"
"I'm going to talk to Sharee, re-visit the crime scene" he turned his eyes to the road and put his foot down.