Dedictation:This story was made possible by Mystic, who asked for it, Jason Cleaver and Randi (QueeQuag), who edited it for me, and Steve, my husband who pushed me to finish it. If you enjoy this, thank those people. If you hate, blame me. Lee Ann ********************************************************************** Yin/Yang - Part 1/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 DISCLAIMER: This is a fiction story based on the characters created by Chris Carter. No infringement of copyrights held by 10/13 Productions, Twentieth Century Productions, or Fox Broadcasting is intended. All unrecognized characters and plot- lines belong to me. Names, characters, and places exist solely within my imagination, or are used fictitiously. No connection to any person, living or dead, is intended, and any resemblance is entirely coincidental. Feel free to distribute, but please keep me as the author. The characters of Jackie St. George and Marty belong to Sheryl Martin and are used with her permission. The character of Liz Martin belongs to Char Hall and is used with her permission. The copy cat of one of the murders from "Oklahoma" is used with permission from the authors, Livingoo and Amperage. Title: Yin/Yang Author: Lee Ann Wagner ( Rating: probably R for violence (no sex), no MSR or MSG Classification: X Spoilier: reference to "Irrestible", but it is minor. Keyword: none Summery: Mulder is ordered to take a vacation and Scully works on a serial killer case. --------------------------------------------------------- Yin/Yang - Part 1/9 By Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 Washington, D.C. Monday 20 April 1 P.M. Special Agent Dana Scully sat back at her desk and listened to the noise in the basement office. There was none. She smiled. No humming. No sunflower shells being cracked. No slide projector. Not a single sound but her own breath. And she could look forward to two whole weeks of this blessed silence. All because Assistant Director Walter Skinner had ordered her partner, Fox Mulder, to take a two week vacation. Of course the previous Monday had not been nearly so peaceful. Mulder had found a memo waiting for him on his desk. She hadn't been there when he read the memo informing Mulder that he was to take some of his accumulated vacation time. All Scully knew was he was still ballistic an hour later when she arrived for work. It seemed he had spent that hour checking through regulations and government policies, but could find nothing to fight this order. They has no ongoing case, so he couldn't claim that his absence would hurt a case. In fact, they had not had a new case in a week. Both of them had been catching up on paper work and helping other departments. After listening to Mulder complain all day Monday and part of Tuesday, Scully had finally offered her opinion. "You know, Mulder, most sane, rational people look forward to taking a two week vacation each year. They delight in the opportunity to leave the stress of the work place behind and enjoy life. Sleep late. Take long, slow walks in the fresh air. Get a tan. Read all those books they had been meaning to read all year. In short, relax and have fun." "Scully, are you implying that I am not a sane, rational person?" "Don't get me started on that one, Mulder." "What would you do with two weeks off?" "Visit my mother. Clean my apartment. Visit some museums. Fun things, Mulder." "Sold." Mulder walked over to her desk and placed the memo in the center of it. "You take the two weeks and I'll stay at work." Scully smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, Mulder. Skinner gave you the time off, not me. You'll just have to grin and bear two whole weeks of leisure." Mulder just scowled at her, but said no more about the time off. Then Wednesday morning when Scully got to work, Mulder had changed his tune. Now he was looking forward to the time off. He seemed enthusiastic about it. He was whistling to himself again. And a happy Mulder was something to worry about, it usually means he is up to something. This behavior continued straight through to Friday afternoon when Scully couldn't take it anymore. So shortly before 5 P.M., she broached the subject again. "So what are you planning to do for the next two weeks?" she asked without looking up from her paperwork. "I've decided to take your advice, Scully. I'm going to relax, enjoy nature, read, writing some articles I've been meaning to do." Mulder took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair. "I've even decided to get out of D.C. for awhile." Scully looked up at him. "Going to go visit some UFO hot spots?" "Nope." "Area 51?" "Nope." "You aren't going to break into any secret government complexes, are you?" she asked accusingly. "Nope. I'm just going on a nice, innocent vacation. And since the clock on the wall now says 5:00, I am officially on vacation." He stood up and walked over to Scully's desk. "Skinner said I was to leave my cell phone and building pass with you." He placed said items on the center of her desk. "I left where I'll be on my computer. See you in 17 days, Scully." Mulder left the room smiling. All Scully could do was stare at the door. *He wasn't carrying any files,* she thought. *So what the hell is he up to?* Scully placed his phone and pass in her purse and left the office herself. She brooded about Mulder and his strange behavior all day Saturday and Sunday. She even discussed it with Jackie St. George and Liz Martin when they came over Sunday afternoon. "Maybe he really is going on vacation and will relax," Liz commented. Jackie fell on the floor laughing. "Fox Mulder relax. That will be that day. By Monday night, he'll be on the phone bugging one of us. He will not be able to take more than 72 hours without work." By Monday morning, Scully had decided not to worry about him. She had packed a bag and refilled her medical kit just in case she needed to go after Mulder in a hurry. The office seemed empty without Mulder in it. But God, she was enjoying the quiet. Upper Peninsula, Michigan Monday, 20 April 1 P.M. Special Agent Fox Mulder sat watching a Northern Goshawk ride the wind currents overhead. He sipped at his glass of ice tea and marveled at the silence. He was taking a rest from working on an article for the Lone Gunmen magazine. It was going faster than he had expected. The sun was reflecting off the lake several yards from the cabin's back door. There was a wonderfully refreshing, cool breeze that brought the scent of the pine forest straight to him. He could even hear a woodpecker somewhere in the forest. And he was at peace with the world. Thinking back to the previous Monday, Mulder wondered why he had been so upset when he had read that memo from Skinner. Oh, he had been furious all right. He had ranted and sulked for two days and had even tried to give the time off to Scully. But Tuesday evening after Scully had left early, he had ended up talking to Mrs. Scully. She had called hoping to catch her daughter before Scully left work. He smiled as he recalled the conversation. "Mulder." "Hello, Fox. Is Dana there?" "Hi, Mrs. Scully. I'm afraid she left early today. You can probably catch her at home." "Are you two going out of town?" "No. Scully got tired of hearing me complain about my upcoming vacation." "A vacation? That's nice, Fox. Why are you complaining about it?" "I don't want to take it. AD Skinner has decided I need to take two weeks off whether I want to or not." "So what are you planning to do?" "I haven't the foggiest idea. Probably hang around my apartment. My family was never big on family vacations. We'd usually just spend a month or so at the summer cabin in Rhode Island." "We used to take some lovely vacations when the kids were little." Mulder could hear the smile in Mrs. Scully's voice. "I remember several years we took the children to my uncle's cabin in northern Michigan. It's right on a lake, so Bill and the children would swim and fish most of the day. "One time ... Dana was about six at the time ... Bill, Jr. was trying to teach her how to cast a fishing line into the water. He was standing behind her and she accidentally hooked his head while trying to cast. The hook just pricked his scalp, but Dana was so upset. Then she proceeded to catch the biggest fish that whole vacation." Mulder was chuckling at the thought of his partner hooking her older brother. "Another year, Melissa took all the children on a nature walk and led them right through a patch of poison ivy. We ended up buying a whole case of Calamine lotion that summer." Mulder laughter out loud. "That cabin must have been a great place. While I have never been big on fishing, I have always enjoyed swimming and hiking. I would love to see that place sometime." "Well, the cabin now belongs to my cousin Mike. Why don't I call him and see if you could use the cabin for two weeks?" Mulder thought about it for a minute. "Sure that would be great, Mrs. Scully, if you think your cousin wouldn't mind a stranger using the cabin." "You are not a stranger, Fox. You're Dana's friend. I'll give him a call and then call you back." Two hours later, Mulder had a place to stay and directions on how to get to it from Duluth, the nearest airport where he could rent a car. After considering the whole situation, he decided that time off might not be so bad after all. Wednesday at lunch, Mulder booked his flight to Chicago with a connecting one to Duluth. He also reserved a four wheeled drive vehicle for himself as he had been told that the cabin was at the end of a five mile long dirt road. By 5:00 Friday afternoon, he found himself excited. He didn't even mind leaving his cell phone and building pass with Scully. He wouldn't need them after all; he was going to a rustic cabin 10 miles from Copper Harbor, Michigan. Scully's growing curiosity during the second part of the week and her expression when he had left at 5 P.M. that Friday had made it all the sweeter. Mulder chuckled at the memory. The trip up to the cabin had been uneventful. His planes were all on time and he made his connection at O'Hare with time to spare. When he arrived at Duluth, his luggage was among the first unloaded and it all arrived together. At the rental agency, he discovered that due to a computer error, he had been upgraded to a Jeep Grand Cherokee at no extra charge and an extra 1000 miles free. As he left the rental agency parking lot with a map and directions to the cabin in hand, all Mulder could think was *This may be one of the best things to ever happen to me this year. Yes, this is going to be a great vacation. Thank God for Mrs. Scully.* He made a mental note to find her something special as a thank you for this trip. Mulder stayed overnight at the Black River Lodge in Ironwood, Michigan. Since he was on vacation, he had decided to treat himself to a place with an indoor pool and sauna. After a vigorous swim, a good sweat in the sauna, and a great dinner, he decided that vacations might not be such a bad thing after all. He spent the rest of Saturday night plotting out what to see. From Ironwood, Mulder drove through the Ottawa National Forest. In Houghton, he stopped at the Keweenaw Co-Op for some of the local specialities such as squeaky cheese, saffron rolls, pasties, and Trenary toast, as well as deli meats and cheeses. The next stop was the general store in Copper Harbor to pick up staples and the keys to the cabin. Mulder's first impression of the cabin was that it looked small. It was constructed out of rough hewn logs and appeared to be about two rooms wide. A screened-in porch stretched across three-quarters of the front of the building. Once inside, he found that the cabin was much bigger than he thought. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a large living room with a fireplace, and an enormous eat-in kitchen. There was another screened-in porch across the back of the building which contained a day bed large enough to sleep two adults. In fact, Mulder was very impressed by everything to do with the cabin except the giant sombrero that hung over the day bed. The thing was decorated with birds' nests filled with eggs. Mulder hated it. He found that while there was a color TV, there was no cable, just an antenna. But it was able to pick up 4 Michigan channels and 3 Canadian ones, one of which ran nothing but Hollywood musicals all night. Monday morning he went for a run around the lake. In the woods, there were still some snow drifts from winter. But the air was crisp and clean and had a sweet smell to it. After a quick breakfast, Mulder went right to work on the article he had promised the Lone Gunmen months ago. Now, 5 hours later, he just had to write a conclusion and the thing was done. In fact, the work was going so well, that he promised himself a big breakfast in town the next day when he went in mail the diskette to Frohike. He decided that tomorrow might also be a good day to visit the Brockway sauna, an authentic Finnish sauna nearby. He idly wondered if he could buy a couple of birch switches there for Jackie and Marty. *They might just enjoy them,* he thought, chuckling. Sitting back in the deck chair, Mulder let his mind wander. He wondered what was happening back in Washington at the office and what Scully was up to. But he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind. "You're on vacation. " he reminded himself. "No thoughts about the office." After a few more sips of ice tea, Mulder went back to watching the hawk lazily riding the air currents. "Yes," he said to the hawk, "this is going to be a nice, quiet vacation. And I am going to enjoy every moment of it." Continued in Part 2 Yin/Yang - Part 2/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 FBI Building Washington, D.C. Wednesday, 22 April 11:13 A.M. Dana Scully was beginning to hate the quiet. She had never realized that the basement office she shared with Fox Mulder was so isolated from the noise and the crowds of the rest of the building. When Mulder was in the office, there were plenty of small noises that she had gotten so use to over the four years they had worked together. Even when he was on sick leave, she could expect at least ten calls from him a day asking for more files to be dropped off at his apartment or some information he needed for a file or just wanting to talk to her. But since he went on vacation, their office had become an isolation booth. The first day, the quiet had been blissful. By Tuesday afternoon, it's charm had grown rather thin. And now, halfway through Wednesday, she would have gladly brought 5 pounds of sunflower seeds if it meant that she would be hearing the sound of the shells being cracked open. But she had a week and a half of silence ahead of her to deal with. "Hell," she said out loud just to break the silence. "By the time Mulder gets back I'll be holding conversations with myself just to hear the noise." Scully picked up the phone and dialed the Canadian embassy to see if Jackie St. George wanted to meet for lunch. The two friends met at d.c. space, a noisy, crowded cafe frequented by students from nearby Corcoran art school. The food was good and inexpensive and the constant noise level was just what Scully was looking for because of the morning of quiet she had just experienced. But because of that noise, her and Jackie had been unable to talk much. So Jackie stopped back at her friend's office for a talk. Jackie settled herself in Mulder's chair and idly picked up things off his desk. She reached over and picked up his nameplate and inspected it. "Have you heard from himself yet?" she asked tapping the nameplate on the desk before setting it down. Scully sat down in her own chair. "Now a word since Mulder left here Friday at 5." Jackie looked up at Scully, surprise evident on her face. "Not a word?" Scully just shook her head no. Jackie's eyes took on a look of suspicion and worry. "Do you think he's all right?" "With Mulder, who knows. He can get into trouble just crossing the street. He told me he wasn't going UFO hunting or to infiltrate any government bases, but if something caught his interest, he'd be gone in a second." After a moment, Scully continued. "But the worst part of this is how quiet this office gets when he isn't here. Jackie had been looking through the top drawer in Mulder's desk. She looked up questioningly. "Without Mulder here, the office is totally quiet. At first, I enjoyed the silence. Now it's starting to get on my nerves." Jackie started laughing. "So you're missing Mulder, right?" Scully thought about it for a few seconds. "Not so much Mulder as the noise he makes. Hardly anyone comes down here during the day and you can't hear the noises from upstairs." "So when the genius returns, we'll make a tape of the sounds of Fox Mulder, FBI for you." Jackie dropped her pitch while talking to make it sound official. Scully started laughing. "So when is Marty due back?" Jackie was rummaging through the bottom drawer of the desk. "He's stuck in New Orleans for three more weeks. His contract got extended. But he promised to bring me a little something from the French Quarter." She paused and looked up at Scully. "You know, if you wanted to get back at Mulder for leaving you alone in the quiet, we could clean out his bottom drawer here." Jackie smiled a wicked smile. Scully gave a dramatic shudder. "I don't even want to know what all he keeps in that drawer let alone clean it out." Their laughter was interrupted by Jackie's cell phone. After talking on it for several minutes, she hung up. Standing up and stretching, she said, "Well, duty calls. I'll ring you tonight and we can talk more." After Jackie left, Scully settled back down to the paperwork on her desk. By the end of the day, she promised herself that she would bring a radio to work the next day. FBI Building Thursday, 23 April 11:12 A.M. Scully looked up from her computer and stretched. The radio had helped her concentration and she had just finished the report from an autopsy she had performed yesterday afternoon. Liz had called and she was going to meet her and Jackie for lunch at the Flight Line cafeteria in the National Air and Space Museum at noon. Once everyone had gotten their lunch and sat down, Jackie started talking. "So, how goes the sound of silence, Dana?" Liz Martin looked at her two friends in confusion; so Scully explained how the office was too quiet for her yesterday. "But today I brought my walkman, so the noise level is just fine." She smiled and took a bite of her salad. "You still haven't heard from Mulder?" Liz asked. "Nope," was Scully's reply. The three ate in silence for a few minutes before Liz asked "Do you know if he's even in town?" "Well, I haven't stopped by his apartment, but I can't imagine where he'd go. Mulder's probably hanging out with the Lone Gunmen." "Now there's a frightening thought," Jackie commented. "Mulder hanging out with those three guys for two solid weeks." Liz laughed. "God, that man is paranoid enough. From what Dana's told me about those three weirdoes, Mulder will be certifiably insane if he spends two weeks with them." "You mean Mulder's not certifiably crazy now?" Jackie asked innocently. "True, too true." Scully responded. "But I am not going to worry about where Mulder is or what he doing while he is on vacation. While he is gone it means that for the next 11 days I won't have to listen to any theories about alien abduction, Bigfoot, ghosts, or any of the other strange ideas Mulder can come up with. So no more talk about Mulder, okay?" The rest of the lunch was enjoyably spent discussing new movies and the latest Washington gossip. Scully was only back in the office for ten minutes when a knock on the door interrupted her work. The knock was immediately followed by the door opening and Special Agent Dan Rais walking in. Agent Rais was with VCU and Mulder and Scully had worked well with him in the past. "Hi, Dana. Where's Mulder?" the agent asked walking into the office. "Hi yourself, Dan," she replied. "Mulder is on vacation." The older agent stared at her for a few seconds and then started laughing. "Good one, Dana. You had me going there for a minute. Seriously, when will Mulder be back from lunch?" "Not until May 4th. He's really on vacation." "You're serious, aren't you?" Scully just nodded. "Shit. I wanted him to take a look at this case. I can't get a handle on the Unsub. Neither can ISU." "Sorry." "Thanks anyway." Rais left, closing the door behind him. Seconds later, the door opened again and Rais stuck his head back in. "Mulder's really on vacation?" "Yep." "Was it his idea?" "Well, Skinner ordered the time off, but Mulder liked the idea." "But he's not sick or injured, right?" "Right." "He's not on disciplinary leave, right?" "Right. Mulder's just on a two week vacation. He is not sick, injured, or in trouble." Dan Rais started laughing. "The guys in VC and ISU will never believe this one. Mulder on vacation." He closed the door again while still laughing. Scully stared at the door for several minutes. *God, you'd think no one had ever heard of Mulder taking time off before. Granted most of the time it's because he is sick or injured, but still he had have taken at least one vacation. He's been an agent for what ... 10 to 12 years now. So he must have taken at least one in all that time. Hasn't he?* She realized that she had no idea if her partner had ever taken a vacation before. She turned back to her computer and brought up his personal file. She had to know if Mulder had ever taken vacation time off before or not. After ten minutes, Scully sat back in her chair in stunned silence. Mulder had taken several days off right before he started working on the X-Files, but not since. And prior to that, he had not taken any time off except for an extended leave back in 1987. *God, Mulder really did need this time off,* she thought. FBI Headquarters Washington, D.C. same day 2 hours later Scully was relieved when she received a summons to A.D. Skinner's office. She had almost cleared her desk of paper work and was even thinking about tackling the piles on Mulder's desk, a thought that frankly scared her. *A call from Skinner's office probably means a new case,* she thought while walking down the hall to the A.D.'s office. *I just hope that it's not a X-file. If Skinner gives me a nice, juicy X-file to handle while Mulder's on a forced vacation, he will never let me hear the end of it.* Once in Skinner's office, she found Dan Rais there also. "Agent Scully, thank you for coming. You know Agent Rais," Skinner said indicating that she should sit down. Scully took her customary seat. "Yes, sir. Agent Mulder and myself have worked with Agent Rais before." "Good. I'm assigning you to a case he is heading." Agent Rais took up the briefing. "We need a good forensic pathologist and you're the best there is." He handed Scully a file. "We are working on a suspected serial killer." "Suspected?" Scully asked. She had always thought that VCU would know if it was a serial killer or not. "There have been 5 murders so far. All of the victims have been white males between the ages of 30 and 38 and all have had notes stapled to their foreheads. But those are the only two things that the murders have in common. All the victims were killed in a different manner. They lived in different states. They worked in different occupations. And none of them appear to be linked to any of the others in anyway that we have found. "A body was found in an apartment out near the Potomac River late this morning. I think it maybe victim number 6. It's being held at the morgue until we could get our own pathologist out there to do the autopsy. We need every bit of information you can give us, Agent Scully. This case is a real puzzler." "I'll get right on it. I should be able to get the autopsy done this afternoon." "Great. I'll call and make the arrangements. The whole team will meet tomorrow morning at 10:30 to go over the results and discuss the case. Maybe you can spot something that the rest of us have missed." Rais stood up, thanked Skinner, and left the office. Scully also stood up and started walking toward the door before Skinner's voice stopped her. "A moment of your time, Agent Scully." She turned back to the desk. "Yes, sir?" "I hope Agent Mulder wasn't too out of sorts last week about the time off." Scully suppressed a smile. "He was slightly upset at first, sir. But by Friday afternoon, he had become rather enthusiastic about the idea." "Good. Has he been on the phone a lot?" "No, sir. I haven't heard from Agent Mulder since Friday when he left the office." "Do you know what his plans were?" "No, sir. But he did leave his itinerary on his PC in case I needed to contact him. Should I try, sir?" "I see no reason to interrupt his vacation. Thank you, Agent Scully." Scully left the office. Back in the basement office, she started laughing. *So, Skinner was worried Mulder had a fit about the time off. That's interesting to know.* She collected her briefcase and coat and headed for the D.C. morgue. Scully didn't get home until late that night. When she found the message light on her answering machine lit, she thought it was Mulder, but instead it was her mother telling Scully that she was going to go help out Bill, Jr and his family as her daughter- in-law had just broken her leg. Scully decided to take a bath before starting on her autopsy report. Continue in Part 3 Yin/Yang - Part 3/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 FBI Building Washington, D. C. Thursday 24 April 10:30 A.M. A conference room on the third floor was reserved for use by the team that Dana Scully was now part of. She had spent the morning finishing her autopsy report and reading over the information in the case file. When she entered the room, there were three men present, two of them she had worked with before. Dan Rais she liked. He was in his mid-fifties and very contented with his life and job. This showed through both in his physical appearance and his personality. He always had a smile for the people around him. His tall, thin frame and prominent cheek bones spoke of his Native American heritage, but the rest of his features and color told of the French in his family tree. Mulder had once told her that Rais was one of the few agents in VC and ISU who had not felt threatened by the new hot shot from the academy when Mulder had started doing profiles. She knew that this was the reason why Mulder worked so well with the man now. But the same was not true of the second man: Special Agent Jasper Q. Dixson. Scully knew the man to be in his early fifties and divorced. Short and dumpy were the only polite adjectives she could think of to the describe the profiler. He had a reputation for hitting on all the new female recruits at the academy and being rather persistent in his attentions. Overshadowed by Mulder from the younger agent's first day in ISU, Dixson had done everything he could to discredit and belittle Mulder. Scully, who had clashed with Dixson on another case, hated to be in the same room as the man let alone working with him. The third man looked to be in his early to mid-thirties and like he should have been in Southern California rather than Washington, D. C. His blond hair was curly, his skin was tanned, and he stood like he owned the room. And, worst of all, he was looking Scully over like she was on display in a window at Saks-Jaudel. *Great,* she thought. *I'm stuck working with a lech and a probably egotistical creep. At least Dan is a good guy.* Rais walked over to Scully and shook her hand. "Glad to have your help on this one, Dana. We are going nowhere with it and need every bit of information you can give us. Agent Dixson you know. He's working on a profile of the killer." Scully nodded to the man. "But I don't think you've ever worked with Agent Robert Fickett. He was just assigned to VCU two months ago. Prior to that, he worked out of the Las Vegas office. "This is Special Agent Dana Scully, M.D., one of the best forensic pathologists the FBI has to offer. Her and her partner have one of the best closure rates in the Bureau." Dixson snickered. "How is Spooky these days? Rumor has it he's on disciplinary leave ... again." Scully turned her best icy glare on the obnoxious man. "Agent Mulder is on vacation. Nothing more." Rais decided to defuse the situation before any problems arose. "Let's get down to work, shall we? Dana, what did you find out about the body?" "The police tentatively identified the victim as Raymond Thomas Singer, age 34. Single white male. He was in good health at the time of his death. He worked as a curator at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Cause of death was strangulation. The killer most likely used a rope. After death, his eyes were burned out, most likely with a hot poker or rod. There was no sign of torture or sexual assault. He died between midnight and three A.M. last night. The lab is still running the toxicology screens and comparing the rope found at the scene with the fibers I found in =A0bedded =A0in =A0the =A0victim's neck. I =A0should =A0have =A0the= =A0results sometime this afternoon. "The note that had been stapled to the victim's forehead was examined for prints and compared to the other notes found on the five previous victims. There were no fingerprints. The paper and ink used were the same as on the previous five notes." Scully passed him the note and copies of it to the other men. It read: "YIN MUST RESTORE THE BALANCE!" and had the Chinese symbol for Yin and Yang at the top. Rais looked at it and sighed. "It's him." Scully pulled copies of the other five notes out of the case file. She quickly read them. The first two just had the symbol for Yin and Yang on them. The third included the word "BALANCE." The fourth read "YIN AND YANG - BALANCE." And the fifth said "YIN AND YANG MUST BE BALANCED." "Robert, give us a review of the other victims," Rais continued. "Victim one was Stewart James Edwards, age 35. Single white male. He worked on a charter boat out of Karama, Martha's Vineyard, where he lived. He was missing for three days before his body was found in an alley behind a bank in Chilmark. He had been repeatedly beaten before his throat was cut. He died from loss of blood on April 3rd. "Victim number 2 was a 38 year old single white male named Frank Aaron Covington. He worked as a real estate agent in West Warwick, Rhode Island. He was last seen by coworkers when he left the office to show an empty house to a Mr. and Mrs. Rollins. He was found dead the next morning in the master bedroom of the house. He had been sodomized and shot once in the head. He was found with a bloody pillow case covering his head on April 5th. We haven't been able to locate the couple he was scheduled to meet, if they even exist. "Then we have James Mason Taylor, single white male aged 32. He worked as an emergency room nurse at New York University Medical Center in Manhattan and lived in Brooklyn with his girlfriend. He was found dead in his car parked outside of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. He died of a single bullet wound to the head in the early morning hours of April 7th. The shooter was outside the car at the time of the shooting. "Number 4 was Dennis John Mills, single white male aged 30. He worked the streets of Jersey City, New Jersey as a male prostitute. He was last seen alive around six P.M. on April 7th. His body was found three days later in a dumpster behind an abandoned warehouse on the docks. He had been dismembered and decapitated. There were signs of torture before death. The head has yet to be recovered. The note was found stapled to his chest. "Victim number 5 was a single white male aged 33 named Craig Michael Kurtz. He owned an antique store in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He was originally from Concord, Maine. When he failed to open his store the morning of April 20th, the store clerk called police. They found the victim dead in his home. He had been manually strangled and his hair, fingernails, and two fingers had been cut off after death. It appears that the killer caught the victim as he was getting out of a bath, as a water filled bathtub was found. He died late on April 19th." This last killing made Scully uncomfortable. It reminded her too much of Donnie Pfaster. But she hid her reaction from the other agents. Rais again took the lead. "Agent Dixson, what have you got in the way of a profile on the killer?" Scully listened to the pudgy agent's recital of his profile. By the time he finished, she couldn't believe it. *That idiot has nothing more than the basic profile that is used as a starting point. And he has been working on this for ...* she checked the case file notes *...over a week now. You would think he'd have something more by now.* The four agents spent the next hour discussing the case and what avenues of investigation should be followed. Rais, the AC on this case, assigned Scully to check the victims' medical files to see if she could spot any links between them. He and Agent Fickett would interview the known associates of the latest victim and check into his background more. Agent Dixson was to continue working on his profile in light of the most recent murder. Scully walked down the hall reading one of the files when Robert Fickett caught up to her. "Agent Scully," he said falling into step with her. "I've heard a lot about your work. I really admire everything you have been able to accomplish and really look forward to working with you. Do you think we could have lunch sometime and talk? Maybe today?" He smiled a perfect smile. Scully smiled back. "That would be nice, Agent Fickett. But I am afraid today is out of the question. I'm meeting some friends for lunch." She hurried off. Scully met Liz Martin and Jackie St. George at Vic De France Cafe across the mall from the Canadian Embassy. The three friends talked about the latest news and goings on in various government agencies and what were happening in their personal lives. Scully told them about the case she working on and the men she would be working with. "Dan Rais is a nice guy and a good agent. I worked with him on the Mitchell case last year. He has no hidden agendas and is always willing to listen to suggestions and theories about the case, even Mulder's. He even likes Mulder and Mulder likes him." "The man must be a saint," Jackie quipped. All three laughed. "But the profiler is a real piece of work. Special Agent Jasper Dixson, PhD. He hits on every female at Quantico and then brags if they go out with him. If she doesn't, she's a lesbian. To listen to Dixson talk, he's a genius that the Bureau would be lost without and totally irresistible to women. As a profiler, he's good enough but only with straight forward cases. Needless to say, Mulder gets Dixson mad by just walking into the room. And you can imagine how Mulder delights in tormenting the man." "Mulder probably has a field day with the man's name," Liz added. "Exactly," Scully laughed. "But if Dixson calls me 'Babe' like he did the first time I worked with him, I'll report him directly to Janet Reno myself." Jackie choked on her tea. "He called you babe? And you didn't shot him?" Liz patted Jackie on the back. "Didn't Mulder let you handle that one? I remember you telling me about that incident." "Yeah," Scully took a sip of her root beer. "Mulder got one of his shit-ass grins and sat back. He told me that he would never dream of depriving me of the fun of shredding the man myself. But I heard that later Mulder told Dixson that an agent of my caliber was worth six of Dixson and if he ever heard that Dixson acted that way to any female while on a case again, he would personally file a compliant with Skinner. "The third agent, I've never worked with, but he just doesn't sit well with me. I mean, he seemed nice enough and everything, but he seemed ... I don't know." Scully shrugged. She then leaned forward and whispered, "Here he comes now." Jackie started to turn around when Liz stopped her. "Don't look," she whispered. Agent Fickett walked up and smiled down at the three women. "Agent Scully, I'm glad I ran into you. I was planning to stop by your office later, but since we are both here, I might as well return your pen to you now." He pulled a pen out of his pocket and handed it to her with a flourish. Scully took the offered pen. "Thank you, Agent Fickett. I didn't realize I had dropped this pen." She slipped the pen in her pocket. He smiled a perfect smile at Scully. "You dropped it in the hallway after the meeting. You must not have noticed it because you were looking forward to having an enjoyable lunch with two such lovely friends." He turned his brilliant smile on Jackie and Liz. Scully looked at her friends and smiled. Then she turned back to the agent. "Agent Robert Fickett ..." "Please call me Rob," he interrupted. "My father was also a FBI agent and I always think of him as Agent Fickett." Scully smiled politely. "Rob, this is Elizabeth Martin, a federal prosecutor, and Jaclyn St. George, head of security at the Canadian Embassy. This is Rob Fickett, a member of the team I'm working on." Fickett smiled and shook hands with both Liz and Jackie. "Well, I need to get some lunch myself and I have intruded on yours too long as it is. Ms. Martin, Ms. St. George, it was a real pleasure to meet you both. Agent Scully, see you back at work." He smiled once more and walked away. Liz watched the agent. "Saks." "Huh?" Scully asked. "That man dresses straight out of a Saks catalog. I'm sure I saw a model dressed exactly like him in the Spring catalog. He is too perfectly turned out. I wonder if he has his shirts, socks, and ties labeled as to which suit they go to." Scully and Jackie started to laugh. "I'm serious," Liz insisted. "That man is a walking, talking Ken doll. Wall Street and law firms are full of them." Scully shrugged. "Well, maybe he can teach Mulder something about how to pick out ties." Liz shook her head. "Mulder's taste in ties maybe abysmal, but he knows how to express his individuality while adhering to the standard dress code." "I don't know if I would trust a Mulder who didn't wear a weird tie," Jackie quipped. "I'd be too worried that it was a clone instead of the real Mulder." "Besides, I think those God awful ties make Mulder look kind of cute," Liz confessed. Scully laughed. "Well, you can have him and his ties, Liz with my blessing." "Before I met Robert, I might have taken him, but I don't think Robert would want to share with Mulder." Liz stated straight faced. "Anyway, you and him make such an adorable couple that I wouldn't dream of breaking it up." "So I guess you're stuck with Mulder, Dana," Jackie laughed. "But it was nice of Fickett to return your pen," Liz changed the subject. Scully snorted. "Especially since it isn't even my pen." She took a pen out of her purse and showed it to her friends. Then she held up the pen Fickett gave her. "They don't even look the same," Jackie exclaimed. Scully just nodded. "I think someone wants to get on your good side, Dana," Liz commented. "But watch out for that one. He's a user." The only thought that came to Scully's mind was ones of another young, good looking, eager to please agent that she and Mulder had worked with: Alex Krycek. "Oh, don't worry, Liz. I know better than to trust just anyone." As the friends walked back toward the Hoover Building, the conversation turned to speculation about where Mulder was spending his vacation. By the time they reached Scully's office, the possible location of the absent Mulder had become absurd. "Mulder's probably on a nude beach in the French Riviera, surrounded by beautiful jet setters getting sunburnt in tender spots," Scully speculated. "Or Skinner had him kidnapped and Mulder is currently being held in a seedy motel being deprogrammed from his beliefs in UFO and aliens," Liz countered. "Knowing Mulder's taste in motel," Scully added between laughs, "the seedier the more he'll like it." Jackie, having dropped into Mulder's chair while laughing, chimed in. "I know, I know. Mulder has been spirited away to a secret harem where he is, even now, being tortured because of his refusal to satisfy the lewd and degrading sexual demands of all the scantily clad, sex starved women. But the brave special agent is valiantly struggling so as to save himself for the fair Dana, his one true love." She collapsed back laughing uncontrollably. Liz had to lean against the wall, holding her sides. Her words came out in short bursts between laughter. "Yeah, I can just see him struggling against the silk ropes binding him spread eagle to a silk covered bed while two girls fan him with feather fans and another feeds him peeled grapes." Scully was laughing so hard that tears were running down her face. After several minutes, she was able to gasp out her words. "Oh yes, Mulder would try diligently to escape that type of prison ... after about twenty years." Liz was the first one to recover her composure. A slight buzz from her pocket caught her attention. She pulled out a Casio pocket organizer. She pushed a button which stopped the noise. "Well, I have a pre-trial conference in a hour and a half. So I need to go." "I'd better go too," Jackie said standing up. As she and Liz walked out of the room, Scully could hear Liz telling Jackie all about how great the pocket organizer was and how Jackie should get one. To which Jackie countered, that what she had Rosie for. Several hours later, Scully received the lab reports on Raymond Singer. She called Rais to let him know. He told her he'd come down to her and take a look at them. Ten minutes later, he walked into the basement office. Scully briefly summarized the results, "Singer wasn't drunk or drugged at the time of his death and there were no unusual chemicals found in his system. The fiber from the strangulation wound matched the rope found at the scene." Rais sat down on the extra wooden chair in front of Mulder's desk. "Damn. This case is going nowhere fast. The killer is constantly changing his MO. The only things that remain constant are his choice of victims and the Yin/Yang notes. The victims aren't related to each other in anyway we can find. Anything in their medical histories?" Scully shook her head. "Nothing so far. But I'm still looking." "So the choice of the victim are more or less random, just as long as they fit the age, race, and marital parameters." Rais sighed. "The time between murders keeps changing. As does the method of killing. Even the distance between the murder site or dumping sites don't form a pattern. Shit!" Scully recognized that the agent was frustrated. She thought for a few minutes before speaking. "All the victim were single males. Could there be a homosexual/bisexual connection?" "None that we found. The only one was Dennis Mills, the prostitute. The rest were straight or so far in the closet that no one knew." "Well, at least we know he is heading down the Eastern Seaboard, from north to south." "Yeah," Rais sighed. "But with this killer I wouldn't be surprised if he changes direction on us." Rais looked at Mulder's desk. "I could really use his spooky talent on this one. Dixson is in way over his head on this one." Scully gave him a sympathetic smile. Rais stood up. "If you talk to Mulder see if you can't talk him into taking a look at the case, will you?" "Sure." Rais started to leave when he stopped and turned back. "Dana, I just wanted to pass on a warning I got from the SAC of the Las Vegas office about Fickett. He's ambitions and rumor has it that he uses people to help him on his way up the ladder. It was rumored that he took credit for some work that wasn't his and that was how he got his promotion to VCU. But there is no hard evidence on this." Scully started to speak, but Rais held up his hand. "I know you can take care of yourself, Dana, and that you are a big girl, but you are also a friend that I don't want to see get hurt." Scully smiled. "Thanks, Dan. But I doubt I could be of any use to his career in anyway." "Don't be so sure. Having Mulder's unofficial help on cases could boost anyone's closure rates. And you have influence over Mulder. A good word from you about another agent goes a long way with Mulder." "So you're worried about Fickett trying to use me to get to Mulder?" "That's right." *So that explains why he made the big deal about returning a pen that doesn't even belong to me,* Scully thought. To Rais she said, "Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful." Rais smiled and left the office. That night, Scully watched CNN to catch up the news from the rest of the world. One of the lead stories told about several forest fires that were out of control in the Ottawa National Forest and the Porcupine Mountain State Park on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. And that the smoke and flying ash had forced the closure of US Routes 2, 42,and 141, and state route 28. Continued in Part 4 Yin/Yang - Part 4/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 Alexandria, Virginia Friday, 25 April 3 A. M. He walked around the dark apartment. The aquarium proving the only light source; the only noise the bubbling of the filter. He could feel the essence of Yang here. He touched many of the things that his counterpart used everyday: the remote control, plates and glasses in the kitchen, pencil on the desk. He read the book titles on the shelves and watched the fish swim in the tank. Sitting down on the shadow covered couch, he turned on the television and watched the tape in the VCR. He felt disappointed because it was just a basketball game. The lively, cheering sound tore at the silence. He turned it off to restore the stillness. After a while, he paced around the apartment once more. That was when he noticed the envelope on the desk. It was addressed to the counterpart's helper. Quickly he opened it and scanned the contents. Then he turned on the computer and used the codeword in the letter. Bringing up the specific file named in the letter, he discovered the reason why he could not find Yang. Turning over the letter and taking a pen from the desk, he wrote down what was in the file. Then he turned off the computer and slipped the paper and pen into his pocket. "Since he is not here tonight," Yin said to himself, "I will enjoy his home." Blinking in the bright lights of the bathroom, he undressed and stood under the hot spray, using Yang's soap and shampoo to wash the dirt and tiredness from his body. Wrapping one of the bath sheets around himself, a thought came to his mind, *I know his scent now.* Then he walked into the bedroom and stared into the closet. In the light that filtered in from the bathroom, he could see that he was much bigger than Yang, so none of Yang's clothes would fit him. But he stretched out of the bed, enjoying the faint smell of Yang on the crisp cotton. He lay there imagining the women Yang must have brought to this bed, imagining Yang holding his helper tight in his arms late at night. Yang appealed to women, Yin did not, despite the fact he had played football in high school. Soon he arose and dressed. He had spent two hours in Yang's den. He knows where to find Yang. He would go to Yang and end this incarnation taking Yang with him. In the next life, he would be the favored one because he had restored the balance Yang had destroyed. He chuckled as he let himself out of the apartment, locking the door with his picks. *On the way I can right a few more wrongs that Yang has done. But I know Yang's weakness ... his fear and that is how I will destroy us both.* Lobby of the FBI Building Washington, D. C. Friday, 25 April 7:45 A. M. Dana Scully was walking briskly over the seal in the floor of the lobby when Dan Rais intercepted her. Without preamble he said, "There's been another one. Come on." Scully followed Rais out of the building and into the garage. "Where is the scene?" "Alexandria," came the reply. They met up with Agent Fickett who sat behind the wheel of a government issued Taurus. Rais climbed in the back seat while Scully took the front passenger seat. As soon as they were in traffic, Rais filled Scully and Fickett in on what he knew about the latest murder. "The victim is tentatively identified as Daniel Adam Pegg, single white male, age 32. When he failed to pick his sister up at Dulles, she took a cab to his apartment. She has a key and let herself in. She found him dead in a tub of water, from electrocution. An extension cord with one end stripped off was found in the tub. A red ribbon had been tied around his neck before he was killed. "The sister, Mary Ann Pegg, is a flight attendant with Delta Airlines. She was in town for the victim's wedding which was in two days. The call to us came in at 6:30 this morning. That's all we know at this point." Rais sat back in his seat. The agents were quiet for the rest of the drive. When Fickett parked the car down the block from the building where the murder had occurred, Scully was shocked. The police were going in and out of Mulder's apartment building. She looked at Rais who simple said, "Apartment 22." Fickett went ahead to talk to the police detective in charge. "The police are canvassing the building to see if anyone heard or saw anything over night," Rais told her. "I don't know if they have talked to Mulder yet, but you might want to go up and see if he is there." Scully nodded. "Right after I examine the body." She flashed her I.D. at the officer guarding the building door and headed to apartment 22. She had to show her badge several more times before she could view the body. The apartment was laid out the same as Mulder's, only lacked the darkness that saturated Mulder's. In the living room, Scully could see a young woman sitting on the couch crying. Around her were a female detective talking to her and several men collecting evidence. Sighing, Scully slipped on gloves and entered the bathroom. The victim was fully clothed and immersed in a bathtub filled with water. As she examined the body, Scully found a slight swelling at the base of the skull. The skin was scratched open. A note was stapled to the forehead. She read it without disturbing the body. "YANG IS UPSETTING THE BALANCE! HE MUST BE STOPPED!" There was the Yin/Yang symbol at the top. Rais walked into the bathroom. Scully looked up at him. "It looks like our killer. The victim was probably knocked unconscious before being put in the water." The other agent nodded. "The police think Pegg was surprised in his bedroom, knocked out, and dragged in here. I've arranged for you to do the autopsy." Scully nodded and straightened up. "I'll go check on Mulder now if it's all right." "Fine. The coroner's people aren't ready to move the body yet." Scully started out of the door, stripping the gloves off as she walked, when Rais' voice stopped her. "If he's up there, drag his sorry ass down, will you? Why should he vacation while we work." Scully laughed. "By his ear if necessary." Scully took the stairs to avoid the crowd by the elevator. Once she reached Mulder's door, she knocked before noticing that there were scratches around the lock. But when she checked the knob, the door was locked. Getting out her key and unlocking the door, she pulled her gun as she eased open the door. Slipping into the apartment, she flattened herself against the wall and waited and listened while her eyes adjusted to the gloom. She carefully checked each room, but found nothing out of place. Walking back into the living room, she put her gun away and decided that the scratches must be old ones. *The apartment looks fine,* she thought, *just empty. He must have gone out of town. Maybe he went and visited his mother or an old friend.* She walked over to watch his fish for a moment, but never noticed the green light that meant, while the computer was turned off, the monitor had been left on. On the way out of the apartment, she met Tony, the neighbor who often took care of Mulder's fish when they were out of town on a case. "Hi, Agent Scully," the teenager greeted her enthusiastically. "Are you working on the murder downstairs? Too bad Mulder isn't here. He'd solve it in no time." Scully could hear the admiration in the young man's voice. She was amazed by the hero worship that Tony felt for Mulder. She knew that Mulder had no idea. He had started helping the teenager with school work soon after she had become partnered with Mulder, but he had shrugged off the idea that he had any influence over Tony. "Did you or your mom hear anything last night, Tony?" Scully asked. "No. Like I told that police officer, we can't really hear anything from either apartment above or below us and not much from the neighbors either. "Thanks, Tony." Scully started toward the stairs, but turned back. "When did Mulder leave?" "Saturday morning. He said he'd be back in two week." "Thanks again." She headed down the stairs. When she arrived back at the murder scene, Scully found both Rais and Fickett talking to the victim's sister; so she went to check to see if the body was ready to be moved. She arranged to do the autopsy later that morning. After watching the body being removed, she talked to the officers who had been canvassing the building. They had not found anyone who had heard anything or seen any strange people around the building over night. By the time she had finished, Rais and Fickett were leaving the apartment. "You got everything you need, Dana," Rais asked. Scully nodded. "Good. You can fill us in on the way back to the Bureau." Once in the car and the car was heading back into Washington, Scully started. "The victim appears to have been knocked unconscious before being put in the bath tub." "The police think that a paper weight from his desk was used," Fickett added. "It's being sent to the lab for analysis." "The ribbon and the note were placed on the body before death," Scully continued. "Except for the swelling at the base of the skull, there appear to be no outward signs of a struggle." "What about time of death?" Rais asked. "That will be hard to determine," Scully answered. "Electrocution tends to spend up things like rigor mortise, but being immersed in cold water would slow the whole process down. I'll have to see what I find during the autopsy." "Rough guess?" "After midnight." "Anything else?" "Police have found no one who saw or heard anything unusual overnight. But the apartment to the right of the victim is empty and the two women who live to the left work for the Department of Commerce and are currently in Japan. The police haven't talked to everyone yet, so we still may get lucky." "When will you be doing the autopsy?" Scully checked her watch. "I told the morgue investigator that I'd be there at ten. So I should be finished by about one and we should get most of the lab results back by late afternoon." "What did you find out, Rob?" Rais asked turning to his partner. "The victim was a senior analysis at a computer firm in Falls Church. The sister said he had been working a lot of overtime to finish up a project before he left on his honeymoon. "The police found prints all over the apartment, but most if not all probably belong to the victim. His prints are on file at the Bureau as he was required to get a security clearance several years ago when his company got a big contract from the State Department." "That's where we'll start, Rob. After we drop Dana off, we'll head out to his work place and talk to co-workers and friends. Right after lunch, we'll talk to his fiance, Ms. Annie Smits. She works at the Library of Congress. I'll call her and set up an appointment. "We'll meet around 4 and go over the most recent murder and the case in general." Scully hurried into the Hoover building and down to the basement office. She checked her mail and did the few things that needed to be done before she left to perform the autopsy, knowing she was going to be gone most of the day. 3rd Floor FBI Building 4:00 P. M. Scully was the first one to arrive at the conference room. She had the autopsy report ready. She had found a few interesting things during the autopsy which would help the case. Sitting down at the table, she pulled out her Powerbook and worked on her field notes until the other arrived. She heard the others before they arrived. She could hear Dixson telling someone about a woman he had picked up at a bar last night. "Let me tell you, Fickett, that bitch could suck ..." Dixson was saying as he walked into the room behind Agent Fickett, who stopped as soon as he saw Scully in the room. Dixson walked into the other agent. "Hey, what's the big idea?" He walked around the other man. "Anyway, as I was saying ..." He stopped talking when he spotted Scully sitting at the table. Scully stared at both men. Fickett turned red with embarrassment. Dixson lost all his color and just stood there with his mouth open. She focused all her attention at the shorter agent. She looked at him as if he was a particularly loathsome specimen she was about to dissect. "Agent Fickett. Agent Dixson. I trust I haven't interrupted an important work-related discussion?" Scully controlled the anger she felt boiling right below the surface. Dixson recovered first. He smiled a slimy smile. "I was just telling Rob here about my date last night." Scully's smile seemed to drop the temperature in the room a few degrees. "Why don't you finish your story? I always enjoyed a good fairy tale." Before Dixson could reply, Rais walked into the room. He could feel the tension in the room, but had no idea what was going on. He made a mental note to talk to either Fickett or Scully as he was sure that Dixson was at the center of whatever the problem was. *God, I wish someone else from ISU was available. Dixson causes more trouble than he prevents most of the time. But right now is not the time or the place to straighten out any mess he caused.* Without preamble, Rais started the meeting. "Dana, what have you got for us? And I hope it's the killer's name." Scully smiled. "I don't have the name, but we might have the killer's blood type and a tissue sample." "What?" Rais shouted. "We have blood and DNA?" "There was some tissue and blood under two fingernails on the victim's right hand. Pegg was O positive. The blood type from under the nail was AB positive. The lab is working on extracting the DNA as we speak. "I can not be positive that the sample is from the killer. Pegg could have gotten it at work or anytime that day ..." "...But if we catch the killer, we can link him to the killing if he matches," Rais finished. "This could be the first solid break we've gotten so far in the case. Do you have anything else?" Scully shook her head. "The autopsy revealed no surprises. Pegg was healthy. There was no trace of alcohol or drugs in his system. He died of electrocution sometime between midnight and three A.M. He was hit from behind, probably with the paper weight that the police found. The killer then put him in a tub of water, tied the ribbon around his neck, stapled the note to his forehead, and threw in the extension cord. There were no fingerprints on either the note or the ribbon." She handed the bagged note to Rais and copies to the other two. Rais looked over the note. "Good work, Dana. If we get any suspects, we might be able to eliminate them based on the blood type and DNA. "Fickett, what do you have?" Fickett cleared his throat. "Nothing as dramatic as Agent Scully I'm afraid. The victim was well liked and respected at his work. He had a few close friends there. His supervisor said that he was a hard worker and very talented. That Pegg had a good future with the company. His fiance said that some friends were throwing him a bachelor party tonight, but he was at work until 10:30 last night. The security guard and the janitor confirmed that Pegg was in his office until about 10:30. She was at a bridal shower until 10. We have the names of the other women at the party. I contacted about half of them and they confirmed the time of the party and that Ms. Smits was there until 10. She gave us the name of his friends and claimed that Pegg had no enemies. "The other tenants in the building knew him by sight, for the most part. No one heard or saw anything. There are a few tenants that haven't been interviewed yet. So we may still luck out there." Rais nodded. "See if you can't talk to Pegg's friends tomorrow, okay?" Fickett nodded. "Agent Dixson, anything new on the profile?" Dixson thought for a few minutes. "I think we can rule out that the murders have any overt sexual overtones. The killer seems fixated on this Yin and Yang thing. Yin is female in nature. Yang is male. To the killer, Yin may represent a wife, lover, mother, sister. The victims may represent a lover of Yin: Yang, possible the person Yin betrayed the killer with. By killing these men, he is restoring the balance in his world." "But any idea who we should be looking for?" "Someone who is a Buddhist..." "Taoist," Scully corrected. "Yin and Yang are found in the Taoist belief system." Dixson glared at her for a second. "Whatever. He may have spent time in the Far East where he learned about this." Rais waited to see if Dixson continued. When the pudgy agent didn't, Rais sighed. "Keep working on it, Dixson. We need more to go on than that. Well, unless someone has sometime to add, that's it for now." Everyone stood up and started to leave the room. Rais stopped Scully. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Dana?" "Sure, Dan. Walk me to my office?" Rais did not speak until they had gotten into the elevator. "What was going on back there before I walked in?" Scully sighed. She really did not want to be the one who squealed to Rais. "Dixson was telling Fickett about some woman he had picked up in a bar. Dixson was saying that the `bitch could really suck' when they noticed me in the room." Rais sucked in his breath. Scully continued. "Fickett was embarrassed. Dixson tried to play it cool. I told him it sounded like a fairy tale to me." The elevator had reached the basement and they got out. "Dana, I am so sorry about this." "Don't worry about it, Dan. I'm a big girl and can take care of slime like Dixson any day. I can act professional even when working with a creep." She smiled at the man. "If you're sure." Scully nodded. Rais smiled back. "All right. I'll see you Monday. Have a nice weekend." "Same to you, Dan." Scully walked into the office and got to work. Mulder's Apartment Alexandria, Virginia 6:30 P.M. Tony went over to Mulder's apartment after he cleared the dinner dishes from the table. The first thing he did was check to make sure the tape was all set up to record that night's NBA game. Then he walked over to feed the fish. He watched them dart around in the aquarium for a while. Turning around, the teenager noticed that the envelope that Mulder had left on desk for Agent Scully was missing. Shrugging his shoulders, he figured she must have picked it up this morning when she was there. After checking the apartment, Tony returned to his apartment to finish doing his homework. Continue in Part 5 Yin/Yang - Part 5/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 Dana Scully's Apartment Monday, April 28 3:10 A.M. Scully was having a wonderful dream where she was partnered with Richard Gere and they were having a passionate affair when the shrill ringing of a phone woke her. Groping for the source of the noise, she checked the time. "Scully," she said once she got the receiver to her mouth. "Dana, it's Dan Rais. Sorry to wake you so early." "That's okay, Dan." She sat up in bed and pushed the hair out of her eyes. "There's been another murder." Scully sat up straight in bed. "Where?" "Reno Beach, Ohio. The body was found on a roadside in some tall weeds around two A.M. yesterday morning." "That's over twenty-four hours ago," she exclaimed. "Yeah. We would not have heard about it this fast if the county sheriff didn't have a brother-in-law who works out of the Cleveland office. The Sheriff called his brother-in-law because the note stapled to the victim's forehead hit him as peculiar. The brother-in-law entered the information into the computer system and it matched our case. So the brother-in-law called me." Scully punched the pillow next to her. "Damn! He's changed directions on us!" "I knew." Scully could hear the anger and frustration in Dan's voice. "I put out a warning to police up and down the east coast. And the next victim is in Ohio." Scully sighed. "You had no way of knowing where the killer was going, Dan. You gave it the best call you had." "I know, Dana. I'm just frustrated. Fickett and I are catching the next flight out to Ohio. The local's have already done an autopsy, so I see no reason to drag you out to the boonies with us. And Dixson prefers working out of Quantico. He only visits crime scenes if absolutely necessary. I had the police fax you all the information and the autopsy results. They are holding the body. If you find anything odd in the autopsy report or you don't think it's complete, I'll have the body sent here for you to work on." "Did the M. E. check under the victim's fingernails?" "He did, but there was nothing." Rais paused several moments. "This one was nasty, Dana. We need to catch this sucker quick before he can do this or worse to some other man." "I'll head into the office right now and check over the file." She could hear relief in Dan's voice. "Thanks. I hate to drag you out of bed for it, but I need all the input I can get on this one. Call me as soon as you've studied the file." "Will do, Dan." Scully hung up the phone and stretched. Standing up she dressed quickly and hurried to work. FBI Building Washington 11:30 A.M. Scully removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Leaning back in her chair, she stretched her back and eased her neck around in a circle. She stood up and walked over to refill her coffee cup. She had spent all morning going over the autopsy report and the reports about the body and crime scene. The autopsy was first rate and thoroughly complete.The victim had been fixed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. After death, he had been cleaned out of all the internal organs and stuffed with stuffing before he was sown back up. Then a note had been stapled to his forehead. The Yin/Yang symbol was at the top and the message read: "THE WORLD SPINS OUT OF KILTER! "YANG CAUSES THE CHAOS! "YIN MUST RESTORE ORDER!" And in one of the victim's shirt pockets, the police had found a poem. "Garlic and sapphires in the mud Clot the bedded axle-tree The trilling wire in the blood Sings below the inveterate scars Appeasing long forgotten wars. The dance along the artery The circulation of the lymph Are figured in the drift of stars." Scully had called Rais about 9 to tell him she didn't need the body sent. Rais told her that the victim had been identified as Donald Thomas Martin, a 30 year old truck driver from the nearby town of Bono. The neighbors reported him missing when they found his dog wandering the streets. The victim's house was open and the lights had been left on. He had faxed her a picture of the victim. Scully believed that the man had been 30, but bet that he had been asked for proof of his age whenever he had brought beer. The man looked to be about 16. The body had been left neatly in a field along a dirt road. Walking back to her desk, she was so engrossed in her thoughts on the case that she didn't hear the door open and almost walked into Jackie St. George. "Where did you come from?" Scully demanded. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," Jackie said in mournful tones. "You're a doctor and don't know where babies come from. Maybe Mulder can explain it to you when he comes back. I'm sure he has many visual aids he could use." Scully chuckled. "I don't think I want to see any visual aids Mulder might some up with. What are you doing here?" "I thought I'd see if you wanted to escape the basement of silence and keep your friendly neighborhood CSIS agent from dying of boredom." "Is it that late already?" Scully looked at her watch. "Damn! I totally lost track of time." Jackie looked at her friend with concern. "Is everything all right, Dana?" "Yeah. I was just pre-occupied with this case I've been assigned to. There was another murder over the weekend and we are no closer to catching this guy than we were on Friday." "Would it help to talk about it? If so, I have all afternoon free. Hell, I have the next week free. The Ambassador is in Ottawa for the next week." Scully sighed. "Maybe you can see something we've missed." She handed the files to Jackie, who sat down behind Mulder's desk. "You read them over. I'll go over to Julio's and get us some pizza." Jackie had picked up the first file and had started reading. "Extra large with everything," she commented without looking up. Forty-five minutes later, Scully walked into the office carrying a huge pizza box and a six pack of root beer. Jackie was studying the pictures from the last murder. As soon as the Canadian saw Scully she jumped up and cleared a spot for the pizza box on a table. Taking the box, she set it down and opened it. Inhaling deeply, she said, "Julio's makes the best garbage pizzas around." Scully laughed. "That's what Mulder always says." She took paper plates and napkins out of the bag that contained the root beer. Jackie didn't wait for a plate. She just pulled a piece out and started eating. "Hey, Mulder has pretty good taste when it comes to food and friends." She took the offered plate and napkins and helped herself to a root beer before sitting down. Neither women said anything while they ate. After the feeding frenzy died down, Jackie leaned back in Mulder's chair. "This is a nasty case, especially the last murder. It reminds me of something Mulder told me about. But it's different, thank God." "Mulder's talked to you about old cases he has worked on? That's something he tends to stay away from." Jackie smiled. "We were both getting drunk one night and I mentioned that it must be great to remember details of a case the way Mulder does. He laughed and then proceeded to tell me about a case he handled during his years in ISU. Some sicko was going around Oklahoma kidnapping and killing kids and leaving pieces of poetry by T.S. Elliot on the bodies.The third victim was a little girl who was fixed like a Thanksgiving turkey." "That's just like this last murder." "Yeah, only that guy's victims of choice were children who had been sexually abused. That case nearly killed Mulder. He had a break down after it was over." Scully shuddered. Jackie continued. "Mulder didn't get the case until after the third body was found. Mulder told me he still has nightmares about that case. Needless to say I don't envy Mulder's memory if he can still remember the details of a case that old and that awful." Scully nodded in agreement. Then she sat up straight. "You know, the way victim 5 was killed reminded me a case Mulder and I worked on in Minneapolis. The Pfaster case." "Do you think these other murders are all copycat killings of assorted murderers?" "That would seem likely. We can check it out." Scully turned to her computer and started punching in information. "The Bureau has a database of the MO of violent criminals. So let's try one of the other murders." An hour later, they had a list of case number and criminals who's MO matched the killings. Scully looked over at Jackie. "Well, we now know what killers our guy is imitating, but we still don't know why he choice these particular killers and who he'll copy next." "Or what links the killings together." Scully picked up her phone. "Let me call Dan Rais and tell him what we found. Maybe he'll have some bright idea where to go next with this." After several rings, the agent answered his phone. "Rais." "Hi, Dan. It's Dana Scully." What's up, Dana? You found something on the case?" he asked hopefully. "I think so. You know Jackie St. George, don't you? Well, she and I have come up with the names of other killers that our guy appears to be imitating ." "That's fantastic. Now see if you can find anything that links those killings together. Maybe we can get a lead on our guy before he kills again. Fickett and I will be back tomorrow. We'll all meet around 2 tomorrow afternoon. If you need any help going through cases, get Dixson." "I'd rather not work with him alone," Scully replied. "Jackie will probably help me." Jackie nodded her agreement. There were several seconds of silence before Dan said anything. "Okay. Maybe she can spot something we've missed in this whole mess. Great work, Dana." "Thanks, Dan." "Thank Jackie for me, will you? I'll see you tomorrow." "Will do, Dan." Scully hung up. She looked at her friend. "Dan said thanks. Shall we go to the file room and have them pull these cases?" "Let's." Jackie stood up and walked to the door. She opened it and held it while Scully walked out. Two hours later, the two women arrived back at the basement office, each carrying an arm load of files. Scully set hers down on her desk while Jackie noisily dropped hers on Mulder's desk. Looking at both piles, Scully sighed. "It is going to take hours to go though all of these. Are you sure you want to help, Jackie?" "Sure, what are friends for. Look, it's after 4. Why don't we go back to my apartment and look though this mess in comfort? I still have a pair of your jeans at my place from the last time you crashed there. We can order Chinese and do this." "Sounds great." Jackie's Apartment 9:00 P.M. Jackie looked up from her third case file and stretched. She stood up and stepped over the files and empty cartons from their take out meal. "Want any more tea while I'm up?" "No thanks. I still have some." Scully took a sip from her mug. "You found anything yet?" Jackie walked back into the room. "As a matter of fact, in all three cases I've looked at Mulder was one of the primary investigating agents assigned to it." Scully sat up straight. "The same with the one's I've looked at. If he worked the last two cases, we have our link." They quickly checked the names of the FBI agents assigned to the cases. "He worked this one." "Same here," Jackie confirmed. "Are there any other names in common?" "Not in mine. Everyone else is different." "This must be connected with Mulder somehow. But it could take days to find out all the other cases he's worked." "Not necessarily." Jackie walked over to her computer. "Marty found this when he was surfing the net about a month ago and showed it to me. Then it changed addresses and it took us about two weeks to find it again" She quickly connected to the Internet and brought up her net browser. "Now if they haven't changed the address again ..." she muttered as she typed in an address. After several minutes. "Yes! It's still here. Dana, look at this." They watched as the image of a FBI badge and identification card appeared on the screen. Once the image became clear, Scully stared at the screen in surprise. "What is this?" She asked. "That's Mulder's I.D. and badge number." "Yep. Your partner has his own web page. Marty couldn't find out who set it up and maintains it as it comes out of an anonymous site in Finland. Whoever runs it changes the address about once a month or so." Scully scrolled down the page. "This has all kinds of personal information about Mulder. It even has pictures." "And, most important for us, it has a complete list of cases he has worked while at the Bureau. Did you realize that Mulder has worked on over 1,500 cases in his career?" Scully whistled. "And that's just the ones he was assigned. He is constantly reviewing cases for ISU and VCU as a favor for someone. How about downloading this to disc and we can go back to the office and print it out." "Do you want the pictures also?" "There's more than one picture?" "Yep, Mulder really has some fans out there on the net." "Yeah, include the pictures." Jackie quickly accomplished the task. "You know, Dana. That web page is kind of scary. I had Marty search for similar sites for you and me, but he couldn't find any. Mulder is the only one. I was planning to tell Mulder when he got back from his vacation." Scully looked at the disc in her hand and suppressed a shudder. "I'll ask the computer section to see if they can find whoever runs this. It's too weird even for Mulder." Continued in Part 6 --- FBI Headquarters Washington, D. C. Monday, April 28 10:45 P.M. Dana Scully dialed Dan Rais' cell phone number as Jackie St. George finished printing out the information from the web site. It took 5 rings before the older agent answered. "Rais." "Dan, it's Dana Scully. Jackie and I think we have found a link between the original cases and the new one." "That's marvelous, Dana. What it is?" "It's not a what, Dan, it's a who. Fox Mulder." "Mulder?" "Yes. He was one of the primary agents assigned to each case: 7 of them as profiler and 1 a specially requested agent. That's the only thing that linked the 8 cases. We went over all the files." Rais was silent. "Fickett and I will get back there as quickly as possible. Excellent work Dana. Now go home and get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow morning and we'll have a meeting and plan the next step." He disconnected the line. Jackie walked over to Scully's desk and placed 5 printouts in front of her friend. She kept 5 for herself. She then walked over and sat down in Mulder's chair. "You didn't tell him about the web site." Scully nodded. "I want to see what's all in it before making it's existence official." She picked up the first sheet and started studying it. Jackie picked up the first sheet of photographs. "Do you have a magnifying glass? These are small." "Check the center drawer in Mulder's desk. That's where he keeps the eye lens he uses for examining slides." "Found it. Thanks." After ten minutes of silent reading, Scully looked over at Jackie in surprise. "There are things here that I didn't even know about Mulder: the classes he took in high school and at Oxford; who he took to the senior prom ..." "Here's their picture. There are pictures here of Mulder as a baby, in school, at Oxford. Someone has put together an awesome retrospective of Fox Mulder: birth to present." Jackie gave a low wolf's whistle. "Does he really wear red Speedos when he swims?" "Is there a picture of him in them?" Scully walked over and examined the page Jackie handed her. She studied one picture in particular. "I've heard about those Speedos, but never seen them. They are legendary among the clerical staff here." "Well, he does look good in them," Jackie commented. "Down girl." Scully laughed. "Think of Marty." "Hey, I can look, I just can't touch," Jackie flashed a big grin. "Besides when it comes to Mulder, I leave all the touching to you." Scully flashed her friend "The Look", as Mulder referred to it. Jackie just tried to look innocent. Then Scully sighed deeply. "You know, this whole web site is very disturbing. Someone has a hell of a lot of information, some of it confidential, on Mulder ..." "Don't forget the pictures. I doubt his mother has as good a collection." "... And pictures, many of them candid, and we don't know who did this. Or why." "Could it be the Gunmen?" Scully thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I can't see Frohike and the boys publicly invading Mulder's privacy this way. They probably have more information than this on all of us, but they wouldn't put it out on the internet this way." She walked back to her desk and picked up the printouts. "The most disturbing thing is I don't know if this web site is connected to the case I'm on or not. I have no idea if this site is being run by a murder with a sick obsession on Mulder or just some other nut with a sick obsession." "Well, if anyone could inspire more than one obsession, it's Mulder. According to the school grades listed here, he's always been an overachiever." Scully smiled at the humor her friend was using to lighten the mood. "Tomorrow I'll show this to Dan and then I'll talk to Skinner. Get him to authorize a computer search to find the person who runs this. But I think that's all we can do for tonight. I'll drop you off at your apartment." "Pick me up in the morning and you can get the files at the same time." "Okay. Then I can drop you off at the embassy." Jackie just shook her head. "Can't get rid of me that easily. I'm concerned about this whole mess also. If I'm needed at the Embassy, Rosie will call me." Scully smiled. "Thanks, Jackie. The two women left the office and head for their respective apartments and sleep. X-Files Office Tuesday, April 28 8:00 A.M. Scully and Jackie had just arrived and gotten the coffee machine going when Scully's desk phone rang. "Scully." "Dana, it's Dan Rais." "Hi, Dan. Back so early?" "Actually, Fickett and I are in Chicago. There was another murder. The body was found late last night. We got the call around 5 this morning and headed out. I wanted to have you set up a conference about the case for around 11 your time. By then, we should have had time to go over the information about the latest murder, see if there is anything new, and discuss the link you and Jackie found." "Dan, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have time?" "Sure, I have about five minutes. What's up?" "Jackie's getting on the line." Scully signaled Jackie to pick up Mulder's phone. "Jackie's fiance found a web site that is all about Mulder. It has all kinds of confidential information on it such as a complete list of the cases he has been assigned while working for the FBI." "What?" "It's true, Dan. There are family pictures and candid photos of Mulder on cases on this web site also." "Where does it come from?" "It's an anonymous site out of Finland, so we haven't been able to trace it yet. I just found out about it yesterday. It's been around for at least a month, but it has changed addresses at least once with no forwarding link." "Shit! This could be linked to the case, couldn't it?" "Yes. Or there may be no link at all." "Damn! This is serious, Dana. But I don't have to tell you that." "No. We are planning to tell Skinner about the web site, but I wanted to talk to you about it first." Several moments of silence passed before Dan spoke again. "Thanks for letting me know, but Skinner can pull the strings to get this investigated. So drop it in his lap. Just let me know what happens, will you?" "Sure. I'll let you know this afternoon." "Great. You'll get a hold of Dixson for me, wouldn't you?" Scully sighed. "Sure." "I owe you, Dana. If there is anything I can do about this web site, let me know." "I will, Dan. Thanks." Rais hung up. Scully and Jackie set the receivers down. Scully walked over and poured two mugs of coffee. She placed one in front of Jackie before returning to her own desk. She took a sip before picking up the phone again. "I'll give Skinner's office a call before we go up there." Scully waited for Skinner's secretary to answer the call. "Kimberly, this is Dana Scully. I need to see Assistant Director Skinner as soon as possible." "Can I tell him what it is about, Agent Scully?" "Agent Mulder." Kimberly gave a loud sigh. "He was having such a good day too. Hold while I see if he can see you now." The secretary put Scully on hold for several minutes. "The A.D. will see you as soon as you can get up here." "Thanks, Kimberly." Scully gathered up the printouts and the disc and stood up. Jackie stood up also. "You can wait here if you want," Scully commented as she reached for the door knob. "Not on your life," Jackie replied as she followed Scully through the door. "I want to see Walter's face when you tell him about this breach of security." While waiting for the elevator, Jackie studied her friend's face. But she waited until they were alone in the elevator before speaking. "You're really worried about this, aren't you Dana?" "Not just this," Scully said indicating the printouts, "but also the case. Mulder's the link in a serial murder case and a web site dedicated to him pops up and I have no idea where he is." Jackie chuckled. "Life is not dull with Mulder in your world." Scully laughed. "I miss the office of silence already." She hesitated for a moment. "It's not really Mulder's fault. He is just a trouble magnate. It's his lot in life. I just worry that one of these days he will get in over his head." "That's what we are here for, Dana, to save his butt. You and I haven't failed yet." Scully smiled at her friend. Once they arrived at Skinner's office, Kimberly waved them in. Skinner sat behind his desk reading a memo. When the office door opened, he signed the memo and looked up. "Agent Scully. St. George. What did you want to see me about? What has Mulder been up to now?" He indicated that the two women should sit down. "Marty found a web site dedicated to Agent Mulder, sir." "What's the problem? I grant you that Agent Mulder isn't the usual type of subject for web pages, but ..." "Sir, the web site has detailed information about Mulder: his badge number, his cell phone number, each case he has ever worked on and the case numbers. Information that could only have come from the Bureau. There are also photographs of him, many of them candid ones of Mulder working cases." She handed Skinner the printouts. Skinner spent several minutes scanning the sheets of data. "How long have you and Marty known about this site, Jackie?" "About three weeks. But it changed it's address with no forwarding link. It took Marty two weeks to track it down again. He sent me the new URL two days ago. I was planning to tell Mulder about it when he got back from vacation, but ..." Scully picked up the narrative. "We just learned that Mulder is the link between the murders in the case Agent Rais is heading." Skinner looked up at Scully sharply. "The killer is copying MOs of serial killers Mulder has captured. All eight murders match eight different serial killers and Mulder is the only thing all the cases have in common." Scully handed him a list of the eight cases and their numbers. Skinner studied the list and then looked at the list from the web site. "Excellent work, Agent Scully, Jackie. Where is Agent Rais?" "He and Agent Fickett are in Chicago. There was another body found last night and they are checking it out." Skinner nodded. "Do you perceive any danger to Agent Mulder from this killer?" Scully hesitated a second. "It's hard to say, sir. The killer is obsessed with someone he calls Yang. The notes talk about how Yang has upset the balance and Yin must restore it. The tone of the notes have been getting more aggressive. But as to the killer going after Mulder, I just don't know, sir." Jackie spoke up. "The victims have all been white male between the ages of 30 and 38, just like Mulder. And victim number 7 was killed in the same apartment building as Mulder." "A little too much coincidence," Skinner commented. He picked up his phone and buzzed his secretary. "Kimberly, get me the agent in charge of the computer crimes division. Tell him that I want to see him and his best agent as soon as possible. And Kimberly, tell him that the agent he chooses should also be one that he trusts will keep the investigation strictly confidential." He hung up the phone. "If this most recent murder is part of this case and if the link holds, I want Mulder back here quick. Agent Scully, do you know how to reach Mulder?" "He is out of town, sir. But he told me that he left the name of where he was going and how to reach him on his computer." "If the link holds, I want you to find him, Agent Scully. I don't like my agents out there without knowing they're in danger. If you need help, I'll assign you several agents." "I'll help her, Walter." Jackie piped up. "Good. You two should be able to handle Mulder if you need to. Keep me informed of what is happening. Does Rais have any suspects yet?" "No, sir. The killer has left very little evidence to go on." "Who else is working this case?" "Agents Fickett and Dixson." Skinner snorted at Dixson's name. "I'm not surprised. Let me know if you think Rais needs more agents and I'll see what I can do. With an agent's life possibly in danger, the case takes on a higher priority." "Thank you, sir." Skinner dismissed them. Third Floor Conference Room FBI Building 11:00 A.M. Scully and Jackie walked into the room carrying a file containing the information from the web site, the 8 files about the other murders, and a new file containing information Dan Rais had faxed to Scully an hour earlier. They had both read over the new file before coming to the meeting. Jackie had spent the morning reading about the previous murders. Rais rang before Dixson arrived at the room. The call was placed on a speaker phone. Scully quickly filled Dan in on the latest information about the web site. "Skinner assigned Agent Marsha Hersch from computer crimes division to investigate the web site." "Hersch is a good agent and a wiz at computers. If there is anything to find, she will." "Well, first she has to locate the site itself. It's moved again with no forwarding link. But she feels that if it's still in existence on the net, she'll find it." Just then the door opened and Dixson walked into the room. He ignored Scully, but gave Jackie a smile while letting his eyes wander down and then up her body. "Well, I'm here. Let's get started," he said sitting down across from Jackie. "Agent Dixson, you're late. I was about to start this meeting without you." Rais stated. "Sorry. I was held up by an important meeting. The head of ISU needed my advise on something." Dixson watched Jackie to see if his words were impressing her the way he meant them to. Rais ignored Dixson's statement. "Before we begin, I want to take the time to welcome Jackie St. George to the team. Jackie is with CSIS, currently assigned to the Embassy here in Washington. Jackie, we can use all the help we can get with this one. "For the record, I am Special Agent Dan Rais. With me is Special Agent Robert Fickett. I would like each of you to state your name when you begin to speak. Just so we know who we are talking to. "Now as everyone knows there was another murder here in Chicago. The victim is Daniel Jay Asher, age 35 single white male. Occupation: Investment Banker with 1st National Bank of Chicago. He had been knocked unconscious and then hung from a rafter in his loft condo. He was found when he failed to show up for work two days in a row. His boss called the police who found the body. There was no sign of a struggle. He was hit with a judge's gavel which was recovered from the scene. "There were two notes found on the body. The first one read: "Justice Must Be Served." The second one, which is what ties it to our killer, read: "YANG IS THE CAUSE OF ALL DISTURBANCES AND FAILURES! HE MUST DIE! YIN MUST BE THE RESTORER OF BALANCE AND HARMONY!" "There were no fingerprints found at the crime scene nor on either note. The autopsy is being performed as we speak. I told them to check under the fingernails, Dana, but the coroner said there was not skin or blood. "Dana and Agent St. George discovered a link between the killings." Scully took up the briefing, "I am Special Agent Dana Scully. We noted that the killings were all copycats of other serial murderers' MOs. And while reviewing the original cases, we found that Agent Fox Mulder had worked on all of them. Or at least the first 8." "This is Rais again. He worked on this one. It was the first case I ever worked with Mulder. The killer, Milton Bumberg, executed accused criminals that the courts had acquitted on technicalities. He hung them and pinned a note to the body. The note he left was identical to the first one found on Asher's body. So I think Mulder is the link between all the murders" "I am Special Agent Jasper Dixson, PhD. I have to disagree," Dixson stated. "Most serial murders are sex related crimes. So unless there is some fag out there after Mulder ..." *Pompous Ass,* both women unknowingly agreed. "Rais. As the agent in charge on this case, Agent Dixson, I must warn you to watch what you say." Rais interrupted in a stern voice. "I would hate to have to report you for inappropriate language." Dixson turned red. "Agent Dixson. What I meant was that the killer is trying to satisfy some desire, most likely sexual, and Mulder would hardly be the object of such a desire. Unless ..." Scully tensed. She could see Jackie ready to grab Dixson by the throat. Rais' voice broke the tension. "Rais. Agent Dixson." Rais sounded angry. "Regardless of the reason, the Unsub has developed a fixation on Agent Mulder. Even the victims fit. They have all been single white males in their early to mid-thirties, just like Agent Mulder." He let the information register with the other agents before Rais continued. "We need a list of all the cases that Mulder has worked on." "This is Scully again. I have that list, Dan. Mulder has been assigned over 1,500 cases." "Rais here. Okay. We needed to see who is still in prison, who has threaten Mulder, things like that. Dixson, A.D. Skinner has agreed to assigning two other agents to help you sort through the files." "Agent Dixson again. Maybe Ms. St. George would like to help, so she can see how the ISU works." Dixson smiled at Jackie. "Rais. St. George is going to be helping Dana contact Mulder. If he is the one the killer is obsessed with, Mulder needs to be notified and protected. "Fickett and I will be back in Washington as soon as the autopsy report is finished and we have photos of the scene and body. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?" Since no one said anything, Rais ended the conference. Dixson stood up and walked over to Jackie. Leaning on the table so he could look her in the face, Dixson made his move. "So, Jackie, what say you and I go out for a drink or something?" Jackie looked at the man as if he had just crawled out from under a rock. "I'm engaged, Agent Dixson." "Well, I wouldn't hold that against you." He started to reach out for Jackie's shoulder. Scully could see Jackie's anger rising, so she figured she had better do something before Jackie decked the man. "Agent Dixson, here is a list of the cases Agent Mulder has worked on." She handed the man a copy of the list from the web site. "Jackie, we had better get busy locating Mulder." Scully gathered up the files and walked to the door. Jackie stood up to follow. Before she left the room, she turned around. "Agent Dixson," she said in her sweetest voice. "I would never cheat on my fiance and if I did, it would be with someone from my own species, not a slime like you. And if you ever try to touch me again, I will happily break every one of your fingers and your hand." She turned to leave. Before she closed the door, she looked back at the red faced man. "And you may call me Agent St. George, if you have to talk to me at all." Jackie quickly caught up with Scully who had started toward the elevator. "That's the slime that called you `Babe', isn't it?" Scully nodded. "You should have let me hit him, just one good one." "Then I'd have to explain to Skinner what happened and explain to Mulder why I didn't make you wait until he was here to watch." They both laughed. Once in the elevator, Jackie asked, "So where do we start looking for the elusive Mulder?" "His computer in the office. He said he left instruction on his computer, so we might as well start in the office. But let's get some lunch first." The elevator door swooshed open when it reached the basement. Jackie and Scully headed toward the X-Files office and from there a quiet lunch before they started looking for Mulder. Continued in Part 7 Yin/Yang - Part 7/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 X-Files Office Tuesday, April 28 6:00 P.M. Jackie St George leaned back in Mulder's chair and stretched. She and Scully had just spent the entire afternoon going through all of the files on Fox Mulder's computer looking for information about where he was going for his vacation. Between the two of them they had been able to figure out all the passwords so that they could access the files. But none of them contained the information they wanted so badly. Scully had even checked through her files to see if he could have left it there. But they were no closer to knowing where Mulder was now than they had been when they started looking at one that afternoon. "What now," Jackie asked standing up and flexing her back muscles. Scully rubbed her forehead. "Now we try Mulder's home computer. It's got to be there." She started to shut down her Powerbook. As they headed for Alexandria, both women allowed the silence of the car to relax them. Neither had slept well the previous night worrying about their friend. After a quick stop for some dinner and sodas to drink, they arrived at Mulder's apartment about 7 P.M. Once in the apartment, Scully headed for the computer while Jackie put the drinks in the refrigerator. As she went to turn the monitor on, Scully noticed that it was already on. "This is odd." "What?" came Jackie's voice from the kitchen. "Mulder's monitor was left on," Scully said in a louder voice. "Could Tony have used the computer and left it on by accident?" Jackie walked into the living room. Scully shrugged. "It's possible, I guess." She turned her attention back to the computer while Jackie prowled the rest of the apartment. Jackie walked back into the living room. "It looks like Tony has been napping on Mulder's bed. Bet that was the first time the bed's been used since Mulder bought it." "Well, we have a slight problem here," Scully commented without looking away from the computer screen. "Mulder has changed his password on us." "We should be able to figure it out. After all, between the two of us, we know him pretty good." They spent the next 15 minutes figuring out the new password. Once they gained access to the programs, they spent the next 4 hours figuring out file passwords and reading though files. But they found nothing to indicate where Mulder had gone on vacation. They tried every first and last name of everyone associated with Mulder. All the important events surrounding Mulder and those people. They tried each state in the U.S., but found nothing about his vacation. "God," Jackie finally exclaimed in frustration. "I'd forgotten just how paranoid Mulder can be." Scully thought for a moment. "Let's try the names of some of his video collection. Jackie, read me some." "Try Coven," Jackie said reading the name of the first tape she found. Scully typed the word in and hit enter. After several minutes, she said, "Nope. Try another." "Okay, how about Body Talk." "Nope." "Blonde Justice." "Nope." "In Defense of Savannah." "Nothing." This continued until they had tried a dozen film titles. Then they tried the names of some of Mulder's books from his book shelf. And finally they tried his favorite sports teams. Jackie flopped down on the couch. "I'm fresh out of ideas." "What could Mulder have used for a file name?" Scully exclaimed. "Only Mulder would leave his travel destination in a file and use some totally obscure name for it, which probably only makes sense if you know where he went in the first place." "Next time he has to take time off, we lock him in his apartment, bring food to him three times a day, and one of us can take him for a long walk once a day. That way we know exactly where he is at all times." Scully started laughing. "And we can take all his clothes except his boxers so he can't sneak out." Jackie was laughing so hard that her sides were starting to hurt. =A0"No =A0way, we leave him his Speedos." Just then =A0her =A0cell phone started to ring. "St. George," she answered. "Marty!" Scully went to the bathroom to give Jackie some privacy so she could talk to her fiance. After washing her hands, Scully noticed that the bath towel was damp. She thought about that while she was in the kitchen getting something to drink. Suddenly she heard Jackie shout, "That devious, paranoid bastard. I can't believe he did that." Scully rushed back into the living room to see what had happened. Jackie was off the phone and sitting at Mulder's computer. "What happened?" Scully asked. "I found the damn file." "What was it's name?" Scully peered over Jackie's shoulder at the screen. "I explained to Marty what we are up to and how we couldn't figure out the file name and he suggested `vacation' or `holiday' and damn if Mulder didn't use the word `holiday'." "You mean we have spent over 4 hours racking our brains for some archaic word that Mulder might use to for his vacation plans and used the word `HOLIDAY'?" Jackie just grinned and nodded her head. "Aaarrrggghhh! You're right, Jackie. We lock him in his apartment and take all his clothes, but we only feed him TWICE a day. So where did he go?" "To a cabin in northern Michigan. It's owned by some relative of yours. Mom set it up for Mulder." "My cousin Mike's cabin? It's ten miles from the nearest town and that town only has around 55 residences. The cabin has no phone connection nor cable. He'll go crazy there." "Well, that's where Mulder is. Here's all the information about his flights, where he made reservations at hotels for coming and going from the airport to the cabin, and directions to the cabin." Jackie printed out the information. "Now , if the cabin has no phone, how do we call him?" Scully thought. "That's right. Skinner made Mulder leave his cell phone with me. Damn! If we call the sheriff's office in Copper Harbor, they can send someone out to get a message to him." She quickly got the number for the Keweena County sheriff's office and dialed it. "May I speak to the officer in charge?" Scully asked when a male voice answered the phone. "This is Sheriff Thorvalds." "Sheriff, I am Special Agent Dana Scully with the FBI, I.D. number 2317-616." "How can I help you, Agent Scully?" "My partner, Fox Mulder, is vacationing at the Rowen cabin, ten miles east of Copper Harbor." "I know the cabin and I know someone has been staying there." "Good. It is very important that I get a message to Agent Mulder. Would it be possible for one of your men to take a message out to him?" "Any other time I would be glad to help you, Agent Scully, but right now I don't have a man I can spare long enough to drive out there and drive back. We have been having bad forest fires all up and down the peninsula here. Most of the major roads in and out of here are closed due to smoke. You don't need to worry about your partner being in danger from the fires. They're at the other end of the county right now. But they are moving a lot. Almost everyone who is able is working at controlling the fires and rescuing people. I just don't have anyone to send right now. In two or three days, maybe. But now right now. Sorry." "I understand Sheriff. Thank you." Scully hung up. "Damn! Only Mulder would pick a remote cabin to vacation at and end up blocked in by forest fire." Jackie had been staring at the computer screen thinking the whole time Scully was on the phone. And a disturbing thought kept coming to the forefront of her mind no matter how much she tried to dismiss it. "Dana, is there anyway anyone could tap into Mulder's computer if it was off?" Jackie asked without taking her eyes off the screen. "Mulder doesn't have the hardware for that." Scully answered while setting the phone down. "Why?" "Because, if the killer is after Mulder and he could access Mulder's computer, then he knows exactly where Mulder is, how to find Mulder, and when and how Mulder will be coming back home." Some of the color slowly drained from Scully's face. She closed her eyes as if it block out a painful sight. "Victim 7 lived and died exactly two floors below us in this building. When I visited Mulder's apartment the morning after the murder, I thought there were some fresh scratches on the lock, but everything seemed fine inside, so I figured that the scratches were old ones. But Mulder wouldn't leave his monitor on and not even Mulder would leave a wet towel in his bathroom for two weeks." "Maybe his hamper was full," Jackie commented. She walked quickly into the bathroom, but walked back slower. "The hamper's empty. He must have washed clothes before he left. Dana, don't forget that the bed looks like someone has been laying on it." "And we both know Mulder doesn't use his bed." Scully walked to the door. "I'm going to talk to Tony. He cares for Mulder's fish when we're both on assignment. And I know he's been feeding them this time also." Jackie followed Scully out into the hall and past several doors to Tony Dedan's apartment. Tony's mother answered the door. "Hi, Dana, Jackie. What can I do for you?" "Sorry to bother you so late, Ruth," Scully responded. "But I need to talk to Tony. It's very important." "It's no trouble, Dana. Tony's still working on his homework. I'll go get him." The woman held the door open so that Jackie and Scully could walk in. She then disappeared into the apartment. Several moments later, Tony walked into the entry way. "Hi, Agent Scully. Hi, Jackie. What's up?" "Tony, you haven't been using Mulder's computer or bed, have you?" Scully asked quietly. "No way. I wouldn't use his computer without his permission. And I don't think anyone uses Mulder's bed." "Have you noticed anything missing or out of place?" "Nope, not a thing. The only thing missing is the letter he left for you, Agent Scully." Tony laughed. "Mulder wants me to tell him how long after he left until you came and got it." Scully looked up at the teenager. "This is important. When was the last time you saw the note, Tony?" "The night before the murder. It was sitting by Mulder's computer right where he left it. And it was gone the next day after you were in his apartment." "Do you know what was in the letter?" "Not really. But Mulder did say you'd have trouble finding him without it." "Thanks, Tony." Scully and Jackie turned to leave. "Is Mulder is trouble?" The young man asked. "No," Jackie smiled. "They just need him for this murder case." Tony smiled at the two women and closed the door. Once back in Mulder's apartment, Scully checked all around the desk. She could find no trace of the envelope or it's contents. Turning to Jackie she said, "Someone took that letter and used Mulder's computer, shower, and bed. Whoever it is knows where Mulder is." "And we have every reason to believe that it's the murderer," Jackie added. Scully sighed. "I need to contact Skinner about this." She picked up the phone and dialled Skinner's office. The call was transferred to the switchboard when no one answered. "This is Special Agent Dana Scully. I need to talk to Assistant Director Walter Skinner. It's very important. He can reach me at Special Agent Fox Mulder's apartment." Within ten minutes, Skinner called back. "What is it, Agent Scully?" "I have every reason to believe that the Unsub may have broken into Mulder's apartment and now knows where Mulder is. Mulder is staying at a cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, about ten miles outside of the town of Copper Harbor. I called the county sheriff to see if he could send someone out to the cabin and have Mulder call in as the cabin has no telephone, but the sheriff's office is short most of their staff because of forest fires in the area. Jackie and I would like to go get him ourselves, sir." Skinner was silent for several moments before responding to Scully's request. "Very well, Agent Scully. It's probably better if you and St. George go after him. If I sent someone from one of the field offices, Mulder might not believe them. I'll make all the arrangements and call you back." "Thank you, sir. Jackie and I are going back to our apartments to pack. You can reach me there." Skinner hung up. It was a half hour before he called Scully back. Their flight was leaving Dulles for O'Hare at One A.M. Scully changed to jeans and collected her medical bag and an overnight bag. Jackie retrieved her sword and a knapsack with some clothes in it. They made it to the airport with time to spare. Continued in Part 8 Yin/Yang - Part 8/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 Upper Peninsula, Michigan Wednesday, April 29 10:00 A.M. Dana Scully sat in the back of a helicopter belonging to Sawyer Air Force Base heading toward her cousin's cabin and hopefully Mulder. The din from the engines and chopper blades made talking nearly impossible even with the headset she wore. The last ten hours had been nothing but rush and wait. The plane had been delayed in Washington and the connecting flight to Detroit had also been late. Once in Detroit, her and Jackie had to wait several hours for the charter plane that would take them to the Marquette County Airport. There they had to wait for the helicopter in which they were now traveling. While they had been traveling, Skinner had found out the information that was needed. He found out the make, model, color, and license number of the car Mulder was renting and the exact co-ordinates of the cabin. So the helicopter pilot could pinpoint the location and Scully and Jackie could tell if Mulder was at the cabin or not. All the delays made Scully nervous. She knew that the delays had also affected Jackie. She had noticed Jackie pop a couple of pain pills during the flight from Dulles to O'Hare. She looked over at her friend. Scully could see Jackie whistling. Leaning forward, she listened closely to identify the song. When she realized that it was "The Ride of the Valkyries", Scully laughed. Jackie looked at her and flashed a smile. Scully tried not to think about what they might find when they reached the cabin. She tried to convince herself that she had overreacted and Mulder was perfectly safe. But something inside her told her that her partner was in danger and they needed to reach him as quickly as possible. Her thoughts kept summoning up images of what the murderer could do to Mulder with the three day head start he had. Scully's thoughts were interrupted by the crew chief's voice over the headset. "We're almost over the cabin, Agent Scully. If you look to your right you can see the nearest fire. It's about 7 to 10 miles away. It doesn't seem to be moving fast, but the weather service has forecast a pick up in the winds for today. If that happens, you could be in trouble. So you'll have to work fast. But on the plus side, the weather service is talking about storms moving in this afternoon. A good, steady rain should help put out this fire. Now it's time for you two to get ready to be lowered down." He moved over to the two women and helped them don their harnesses. The other crewman opened up the sliding hatch and pulled the cable inside the chopper. Hooks on the free end of the cable were attached to the harnesses. "Now just hang on and we'll lower you right down about four yards from the cabin. Once you're on the ground, just release the catch and take off the harness. We'll pull them back up. We'll stay until you radio us that you have everything under control. Any questions?" Both women shook they heads no. The crewchief smiled and moved to the hatch. Jackie moved over to the hatch, adjusting her back pack and sword. Scully took a few minutes to make sure everything was secure before following them. "Let's do it," Jackie yelled. Scully just nodded. She could tell that her friend was enjoying this. She, on the other hand, was not fond of the idea of dangling 100 feet above the ground and being lowered down from a chopper with only a harness and wire standing between her and free fall. She couldn't help thinking about yo-yos. The airman started the winch. It pulled the two women out of the helicopter. They hung there for a moment before the winch started lowering them down. Scully could hear Jackie whistling again. She looked over at her friend and smiled. Jackie flashed her a smile before going back to scanning the ground. She started to scan the surrounding forest for any sign of movement or cars. Jackie caught her attention by waving her hands. Once she had Scully's attention, she pointed to a Grand Cherokee that matched the one Mulder had rented. It was parked in front of the cabin. Once on the ground, they quickly shed the harnesses and hooked the helmets to the equipment. Scully pulled a walkie- talkie out of her jacket pocket and radioed the chopper. "We're clear. We spotted Agent Mulder's vehicle by the cabin, but no others." "If you're all right," the voice of the pilot came over the radio, "we're going to go and help move some firemen that got caught by the fire. They need to be transported to a hospital and we're the closest chopper that's big enough." "Go ahead," Scully replied. "We'll use the Jeep to get out." "Roger, Agent Scully. Good luck." The harnesses were pulled back up and the chopper banked toward the west and headed off. The women watched the departing chopper for a moment and then turned toward the cabin. Before either had moved, Jackie put her hand on Scully's arm. "I don't like the feel of this, Dana. If Mulder is in here, why hasn't he come out. He had to have heard all the noise." Scully nodded. "Agreed. Any suggestions?" Jackie looked at the cabin and the surrounding forest. "Let's scout around the outside of the cabin first. You take the left and I'll go right. Keep to the tree line as much as possible." "Sounds good." Scully started to move off to the left. She turned back and added, "Be careful." The two women started off in different directions and soon lost sight of each other. Scully moved as quietly as she could through the pine and hemlock trees. Once a squirrel erupted from a bush and ran to a sugar maple. The noise startled Scully. Once up the tree, the squirrel chattered at her intrusion of it's territory. She stopped and took a few deep breaths before continuing. *That's all I would need,* she thought. *Mulder comes back from his morning run and I shoot him because I'm jumpy.* She then continued. When she reached the back of the cabin, she noticed Jackie behind the boat house near the lake. Looking toward the cabin and not seeing anyone at the windows or door, Scully sprinted to the boat house and her friend. "Did you see anything?" Jackie asked. "Just a squirrel. But the cabin seems deserted. Maybe Mulder is out for his morning run." Jackie shook her head. "I can feel someone watching us. I can also feel Mulder around here." "What do you want to do? We can't just wait. If the wind kicks up, we could be caught by the fire." "We are going to have to go in," Jackie said after thinking things over. "I'll go around to the front and you go in the back. Give me to the count of thirty before you knock on the back door. Then wait for the count of ten and go in. I'll go in the front door at the same time." Scully nodded her agreement. Jackie edged her way back toward the side of the boat house, before Scully called her. "Jackie, stay down. No heroics, all right?" Jackie just smiled and said, "Who me, heroics? You must have me confused with some other Canadian." She then disappeared into the forest again. Scully sprinted back to the nearest tree for cover and worked her way until she was closest to the house. Then she ran to the corner of the building and scrunched down. Keeping her head below the windows she worked her way to the door. Once there she pulled her gun and counted to thirty, then knocked. After another count to ten, she opened the porch door and run to the cabin door which stood open. At the same time she heard the front door slam against a wall. Flattening herself against the wall, Scully took a quick look inside. Seeing nothing, she waited several seconds before slipping inside. Once inside she slowly made her way toward the front of the house checking rooms as she went. She spotted Mulder laying in one of the beds apparently asleep. She continued her way to the front where she met up with Jackie. "Anything?" Jackie asked. "Mulder's in the master bedroom. He looks to be asleep, but ..." "... But even Mulder couldn't sleep through all this noise. You check him out and I'll guard your back." Scully quickly led the way back to where Mulder lay in bed. Her mind raced as she thought of not finding a pulse or one so weak that it meant his was near death. Images from the pictures of the other victims of this killer quickly flashed in her mind. Jackie walked behind her scanning the rooms with her .38 out. Once in the bedroom, Scully hurried over to the bed. "Mulder ... Mulder," she called several times, but received no answer. She reached for the covers to examine his face. That was when she first noticed the blood running down from a cut above his ear at the hairline and the start of a bruise on that side of the face. Quickly she checked his carotid artery for a pulse. "He's unconscious, but alive." She looked up at Jackie. Scully could see the relief on her friend's face that reflected her own. "Let's get him and us out of here," Jackie replied moving closer to the bed. She put her gun away to help Scully move him. Scully pulled the covers off. Mulder was dressed as he did for running. Even his shoes were still on. That was when she noticed that his hands were tied behind his back and the rope ran up to the brass headboard and back down to his neck. She examined the rope and Mulder's neck. The rope held Mulder's head in place and prevented him from moving if he woke up. "The killer's here somewhere, Jackie," Scully commented as they worked to cut the rope. "All the more reason to get the hell out of here," Jackie commented as she finally cut through the rope and freed Mulder's neck. "That wacko might be back any second now. I'd like us to be somewhere else." "Good idea, Agent St. George," came a deep voice from behind them. Scully looked up and Jackie spun around. "But a little too late. The `wacko' is already back. As you and Agent Scully can see." Standing in the door way of the bedroom was a man. Nothing about the man was remarkable except his size. He was tall, several inches taller than Mulder and built like a linebacker. His hair was a sandy color and his eyes were washed out blue. His nose showed signs of having been broken one time too many and his face was running toward heaviness. Despite the fact that he appeared to be carrying too much weight, he's physique spoke of strength and power. He was holding an assault rifle on them. "Now Agent St. George, kindly hand your gun and fancy sword to Agent Scully." He watched as Jackie did so. "Good," he smiled. "Now Agent Scully will you please put both on the dresser over here and add your Sig to the collection." Scully complied with the man's instructions. "Excellent. Now if you will both walk out into the kitchen." He stepped back while the women walked forward. The man moved so that he was out of either's reach, but he could keep them covered. Once in the kitchen, he remained in the doorway covering the agents. "Now, Agent Scully, I want you to tie St. George's arms together behind her back." He threw Scully two pieces of rope he picked up off the counter. Scully complied. Jackie just watched the man looking for an opening she could use that might help her resolve this situation. "Very good, Scully. Now I would suggest you sit down on the floor St. George because I want Scully to tie you feet together." Once Scully completed this, he did the same to Scully. Finally he checked Scully's work and tightened the knots. Then he tied another piece of rope to a cabinet handle and attached it to the rope binding Jackie's hands. He did the same to Scully hands. As soon as both women were secured in this way, the man leaned against the wall and looked at them. "As soon as Fox wakes up, we can all have a nice talk while we wait," he smiled at Scully and Jackie. "While we wait for what?" Jackie asked. "For the proper time, of course." A noise from the other room caught his attention. "That sounds like Fox now." He left the room. "Any give in your ropes, Dana?" "Not an inch. I hoped he wouldn't check yours." Jackie shook her head. "This guy knows what he's doing. I bet he got a merit badge for knots in scouting." The man walked back into the room pulling Mulder along by the arm. Mulder's brain was still foggy from the blow on the back of his head that the man had given him. But the fog cleared when he saw Scully and Jackie in the room, at this man's mercy. He briefly closed his eyes against the sight. At that point he realized they needed all the time he could buy them if any one of the three were to come out this alive. The man propelled the agent across the room, so that Mulder hit the wall hard enough to force his breath out. With one sweep of a leg, the man knocked Mulder's feet out from under him causing Mulder to land on the floor heavily. The killer than took more rope and secured Mulder's tied hands to another cabinet. When he moved to bind Mulder's feet, the agent kicked out at the man catching him in the shoulder. The man quickly tied the struggling agent's feet. He then reached over and backhanded Mulder across the face, cutting open the bound man's lower lip. Standing up the man towered over the other one. "You never did know your place, did you Fox?" He kicked Mulder in the side. "But you will learn next time round." He stood up and walked over to sit in one of the chairs by the table. Mulder licked his lip and stared at the man. "You always needed an advantage when you fought anyone, didn't you Hazlett? Even when it was someone smaller than you." The man leaned forward. "You always had a smart mouth even when all it got you was more pain. You never know how to talk to your betters, did you Fox? Well, you sure made a mess of this life for both of us." "You know this man, Mulder?" Scully asked. "We went through school together. Hazlett was two years ahead of me." Mulder looked over at Scully. "Are you and Jackie okay?" Scully just nodded. "But we knew each other outside of school. My older sister used to baby-sit you and your sister. I envied you so much back then. My old man took off when I was born and my mother had to work so hard to earn enough money. But, you know, when Samantha disappeared and your life started to go down hill, mine turned around. My mom remarried a decent guy and my older sister, God how I hated her, went away to college. I was picked for the junior varsity football team. And as your family fell apart, my life just got better and better." He turned to the women. "I was the co-captain of the football team in 11th. and 12th. grades, dated the prettiest girls in school, got offered two college scholarships for football. I could have had either one of you then. Fox here was the school outcast. The only friends he had were other outcasts. "But when he went away to England and college, my life started to fall apart. I was kicked out of college because a professor told how he was forced to give passing grades to some of the football team." Mulder snorted. "Couldn't pass your courses by yourself, Hazlett? I'm surprised you didn't beat up some other student so they'd do your work for you like you did in High School." Hazlett walked over to Mulder and poked him with the muzzle of the rifle. "What you never got, Fox, was that I deserved the special consideration and high grades. I was important and better than the likes of you. But you never understood that, did you?" He walked back and sat down again. "After getting kicked out of college, I joined the army. Became a MP and did all right. It was grunt work, but toward the end of my hitch, a stupid, drunk grunt claimed that me and my partner roughed him up when we busted him. The jerk was AWOL and tried to knife me. So we broke both his hands and messed up his face, just to teach him a lesson. But the charges were dropped." He smiled. "I have friends that helped the jerk see the error of his ways and went over the wall for good. But I wasn't allowed to re-enlist when my hitch was up. That was right about the time you joined the FBI, Fox. "Since all I knew was being a MP, I joined the police force in Chilmark. It took me five years to get a college degree from a community college back there. From a lousy community college when I was suppose to go to one of the big name universities while the school outcast went to Oxford." Hazlett slammed his fist down on the table. Then he took a deep breath. He walked over to the refrigerator and got himself a beer. "For the next four years I took the sergeants exam three times. Each time I failed. When I finally passed, they gave the job to a guy with a degree from the University of Massachusetts. The next week the local newspaperman a big feature article about Fox here, detailing all his successes and promotions and how he was saving society from serial criminals. Fox Mulder was helping society receive justice. Fox Mulder, big shot. Shit. Fox Mulder, boy genius who lost his own sister. "But that article started me thinking. Every time Fox's life improved, mine took a turn for the worse. The best years of my life were high school which were his worse. Weren't they, Fox?" Mulder just glared at the man with anger in his eyes. Hazlett laughed. "No smart assed answers now, Fox?" He kicked Mulder's foot. "I thought about your life and my life for a while before I remember about this Chinese philosophy I read about in one of my college courses, that Yin and Yang thing. About how if yin and yang didn't balance then life would be out of balance. And that's when I realized that you were upsetting the balance and my life was suffering. So that's when I decided that I had to correct the balance. I figured that all the serial criminals that you were catching weren't meant to be caught and that was the problem. So if I did one more killing like those other guys did, I would balance yin and yang. But then I realized that you would just keep on upsetting the balance. I would have to kill you, but then the scales would be out of balance the other way. So I have to die with you. Then in the next life I'll be the success just like I was supposed to be in this one." He sat back and smiled, taking a big drink of his beer. "Now the problem was to find out all I could about dear old Fox here. That's when I stumbled on that internet thing. Boy, it told me all about Fox and his cases and you Agent Scully and even St. George there," he said pointed at the two women. "So I just started killing people. But I only chose men that reminded me of you, Fox, even through those serial killers tend to kill ladies." "How many men did you murder is your warped quest to be something more than just a has been, Hazlett?" Mulder asked. "Oh, about 8 or 9. Ain't that right, Scully?" "He's killed 9 that we know of, Mulder," Scully replied never taking her eyes off the man. "What are you planning to do now?" "At noon, Fox and I are going to take a walk in the forest until I find us a nice spot were we'll die together. I'm going to take a bullet in the old brain, but Fox here has got to burn. Takes what he fears, so that's the way he must die. It's karma." The color drained out Mulder's face. Jackie worked hard at her ropes. Hazlett stood up and walked out of the room. "What happened, Mulder?" Jackie asked. "Hazlett nailed me when I came back from my run this morning," he replied. "What are you two doing out here?" "We're here to save your sorry ass," Jackie replied as she tried to work the ropes lose. "What exactly is your history with this guy?" "I barely knew him when I lived in Chilmark. I mean, his older sister Linda was Sam's and my baby-sitter for a while, but that's it. In High School, he and his friends tried to convince me to do their homework for them, but I never did. I came home with quite a few black eyes and bloody noses before they decided I was not going to agree and they found an easier target. But I haven't seen him since he left for college." All three lapsed into silence as they tried to get the ropes lose. But before they could work them loose enough to escape, Hazlett walked back into the kitchen. He squatted down next to Mulder. "Well, the wind has kicked up real nice, so the fire should spread this way pretty quick. Looks like you wouldn't have to walk too far." "What about Scully and St. George?" Mulder asked. "Now that's not up to me. If you co-operate, we'll just leave them here. I have no reason to kill either of them. You're the Yang to my Yin. If you don't, we can all just wait here for the fire. Either way is fine with me. The choice is yours, Fox." "If you leave them here tied up, the fire will still get them." "That's up to fate, Fox. Maybe they have some answering to do for upsetting the balance or maybe it's not their time yet. Either way it's out of my hands." "You never could take responsibility for things that went wrong, could you Hazlett?" "Restoring the balance between us is my responsibility," Hazlett snarled, grabbing Mulder by the throat. "You're the one who won't take responsibility for the fact that by upsetting yin and yang you've made me bad." He slammed Mulder's head against the cabinet. He then let go of his captive and stood up. "It will soon be time to go. I'll give you some time to say good-bye to your playmates." He stalked out of the room. Soon they heard the front door open and slam closed. "Mulder are you all right?" Scully asked urgently. Black spots swam before Mulder's eyes. He shook his head trying to clear them. He coughed slightly before answering his partner. "Yeah. How close are either of you to getting loose?" "My ropes are too tight," Scully responded. She tried to move her hands so as to loosen the knots. "Mine are tight, but I think I can pull the handle off the cabinet if I stood up." Jackie replied as she wiggled away from the cabinets. "Then I should be able to get to the knife set on the counter." She indicated a set of kitchen knives in a butcher block holder by the sink. "All right." Mulder took a deep breath. "I'll go with Hazlett..." "No!" Both women practically shouted. "That will give you two time to get free and come after us." "I don't like that plan, Mulder," Scully commented. "It's probably the best bet, Dana." Jackie countered. "Trust me, I don't like this any better than either of you. But if one of us can get free, we all have a chance and Jackie has the best chance of it. But she'll need time and the only way to buy some time is for me to go with Hazlett and let him think he's won." Mulder leaned his aching head against the cool wood of the cabinets. Scully was furious, but knew they were both right. "Okay. But as soon as we're free, we'll be after you, so don't co- operate too much." "I never co-operated with this jerk in school, so I don't intend to start now. I just want to buy us all some time. Besides if I let him kill me, who will keep you two from getting into trouble." Scully laughed and Jackie snorted. Mulder flashed them a lopsided grin. "Besides I still have things to do before I die," Mulder continued. "Skinner still has some hair left and I can't leave until it's all gone." Just then they heard the front door open. A few seconds later Hazlett walked into the kitchen and smiled down at his captives. "So are you going to co-operate and die like a man, Fox? Or are going to hide behind two women, like a coward?" "Let's get this over with, Hazlett," was the only answer Mulder gave. Hazlett's smile faded. "No pleading or begging, Fox. I was kind of looking forward to it." "I remember how much you always liked that back in school. So I wouldn't give you the satisfaction." The killer cut the ropes binding Mulder's feet and untied the rope from the cabinet handle. Then he hauled Mulder up by one of his arms. He held on to one end of the rope to use as a leash. He looked down at the two women. "I wish we had met under different circumstances ladies. I would have liked to show you both what a real man was, not a loser like Fox here." Mulder used the fact that the man was distracted to slam the man into a wall using his own body. Then the agent headbutted Hazlett. As soon as Hazlett let go of the rope, Mulder took off running. Hazlett screamed and held his nose. Blood poured from it. He took his hand away and looked at the blood. "The son of a bitch! He'll scream before he dies." Grabbing the assault rifle, he ran out of the door in pursuit of Mulder. Continued in Part 9 Yin/Yang - Part 9/9 by Lee Ann Wagner March 20, 1997 Upper Peninsula, Michigan Wednesday, April 28 12:00 P.M. Mulder headed for the back door which stood open. Once through that, he hit the screen door with his shoulder and it flew open. He stumbled down the few steps and headed to his left. Not having his arms free made him off-balance as he ran and the pain in his head kept him from hitting his runner's stride, but he knew he had to keep going. Soon he heard Hazlett shouting. "Where are you, Fox? There's no way you going to get away from me. I'll always find you and the more I have to look the harder it will be on you once I find you." Mulder focused on his running and breathing, but could hear the sounds of his pursuer not that far behind him. Keeping to the path that he ran every morning, Mulder tried to focus on the obstacles in front of him. But a bullet whizzing passed his shoulder convinced him that he might stand a better chance using the trees as shelter, so he veered off toward his left. Hazlett fired several more shots at the running man. He chuckled. "I like this game, Fox. But we both know I'll win. You can't get away from me, Fox. Yin and Yang are on my side." Soon Mulder could see and smell burning wood. The strong wind swirled with ash and embers. But he knew that to stop now might mean death. So he fought down the panic he felt building inside himself. Again he angled to his left hoping to be able to lose Hazlett in the smoke and trees and make it back to the cabin. As he ran the smoke got thicker. Suddenly a loud boom sounded and flying embers rained down. His panic momentarily overcame him as he leaned against a tree and all his mind would allow his body to do was cower. Mulder could feel the air being sucked away from his lungs and flames sizzling against his skin. At that moment all he wanted to do was curl up and cry. But the sound of several shots broke through the fear and panic and sent Mulder running again. As much as he longed to run away from the smoke and fire, he knew that the thick, black smoke gave additional cover which might make all the difference between life and death. Soon the sound of gunfire and the shouts seemed to recede. Mulder stopped and listened. Except for the crackle of the nearby fires and the occasional thuds of falling branches, the woods were silent. He leaned against a tree and tired to catch his breath. But the smoke and heat robbed him air. Mulder pushed off the tree and started moving away from the smoke and nearby flames. He stumbled several times and each time it got harder and harder to get up again. Soon Mulder found the lake. He nearly gave into the desire to just sit down and wait for someone to find him there, but he was afraid that the someone might be Hazlett, not Scully and Jackie. That thought and also the need to know that Scully and Jackie were all right, drove him as he followed the lake around to the cabin. He made it to the clearing by the boat house before his legs gave out and he sank to the ground, breathing hard. Each breath punctuated by coughing. His eyes stung and his vision was blurred from exhaustion and lack of oxygen. All he could hear was the sound of pine trees exploding and the roar of the fire. When he felt hands on his arms, he struggled, so afraid that Hazlett had found him. "No!" he shouted twisting every which way to dislodge the hands that pulled at him. His panic and fear broke though to the surface. Suddenly a soft voice broke though the panic and sound of the fire. "Mulder ... Mulder, it's okay now. You are safe. But we have to get out of here." He knew that voice. "Scully?" "I'm here, Mulder." Then he felt the ropes on his hands being untied. Once his hands were lose, the blood rushed into them and the tingling and pain started. But someone was chafing them, getting the circulation back. He looked up blinking to clear his vision. Looking to his right, he saw Jackie with her gun out scanning the surrounding woods for any sign of movement. To his left, was Scully rubbing the circulation back into his hands. "We have to get out of here before Hazlett gets back," Mulder said between coughs. "No shit, Sherlock," Jackie replied. "Can you walk by yourself or do you need help?" "Just get me to my feet and we can get going," was his reply. Scully helped Mulder to his feet and started to guide him toward the cabin. "Where are the keys to the Jeep?" "On the table, near the Powerbook." "I'll get them," Scully volunteered. She ran toward the cabin. "Grab the diskette by the Powerbook, too," Mulder called after her. Jackie turned and stared at him. "You want Dana to grab a diskette?" "There are three articles on there that I don't want to lose," was his reply. She just snorted and steered him around the cabin and toward the Jeep. Once by the car, she checked all the doors and found the driver's door unlocked. Quickly, Jackie climbed in and unlocked the back door nearest Mulder who opened it and collapsed on the seat. She had just finished getting his legs into the car, when Scully came running out of the house carrying the keys and their backpacks. She threw the keys to Jackie and jumped in the passenger seat. Tossing the backpacks into the back seat, Scully buckled her seat belt as Jackie gunned the Jeep to life and took off. Jackie drove with as much speed as the rutted, dirt road would allow. They had driven about a mile and a half when the smoke from the forest fire started to grow thick. Soon burning leaves and ashes float down onto the car. A loud boom startled everyone in the car. "That's just a pine tree exploding," Jackie stated as she picked up speed. But soon the dense smoke caused her to slow down again. Then, out of the smoke, Hazlett appeared, standing in the middle of the road. He seemed to materialize out of the smoke. Jackie swerved to avoid hitting him. But he opened fire with his rifle. The bullets the front of the Jeep. By the time the car stopped moving, it was against a tree with thick white smoke coming from the radiator. Jackie tried starting the engine, but it wouldn't catch. Then she saw Hazlett aiming at the car again. "Down!" she shouted and laid flat on the seat next to Scully who was already down. Bullets shattered the glass sending shreds flying into the car. She also heard a sharp intake of air from the back seat. Once the rifle fire stopped, she popped up and fired several shots toward the man. Then she ducked down, but not before she heard him scream in pain. After several minutes of no gunfire, Jackie slowly peered around. "Hazlett seems to be gone," she commented. "I think I hit him because I heard a scream, but who knows. Everyone okay?" She undid her seat belt and climbed out of the car. Scully did the same. "A few bruises, but that's it." She shook her head and carefully brushed broken glass off. "All in one piece" came Mulder's reply. He was leaning against the back of the car, brushing glass out of his hair. Scully noticed that he had a few new cuts and scraps on his face and neck, but nothing serious. When his hand came away from his head with blood on it, he looked disgusted. "How come I'm the only one with glass cuts here?" "Because you're the only one with short hair," Jackie's replied, coming around the back of the car. "Remind me to lodge a formal complaint about hair length regs. They are clearly a form of sexually discrimination." Jackie stopped by Mulder's left side. "Dana, he's been hit." Mulder looked down at his arm. "It's just a scratch," he countered. Scully stepped around him and examined his arm. "It's not serious, just a flesh wound. But it will need to be looked at when we get out of here." "Which bring us to the next question: how do we get out of here?" Jackie asked scanning the surrounding woods. "The cabin might be our best bet," Mulder commented. "Between the fire and Hazlett, we don't stand a good chance of hiking out this way." Scully nodded. "With the lake right there, we can always across it if the fire gets too close." "Let's move then." Jackie stated. Scully retrieved the backpacks from the Jeep and handed Jackie hers. "It's about three miles back to the cabin on the road. Maybe two through the woods." "Woods," Jackie voted. "The sooner we get the cabin the better we'll be." "Agreed," Mulder stated. "Let's do it," Scully agreed. "But we need to stay together. With the smoke and all, it would be too easy to get separated." The three moved though the trees as quickly as possible. The smoke was thick and made the surrounding woods appear hazy, but Scully kept track of Mulder and Jackie. Soon the smoke began to thin out a bit. As soon as they were clear of the smoke, they stopped for a moment to caught their breath and get their bearings. Suddenly a bullet slammed into the tree Jackie was leaning against. Jackie and Scully pulled their guns and tried to spot where the bullet had come form. But it wasn't until another one slammed into the ground inches from Mulder's feet that they could get some idea. Both Jackie and Scully fired several bullets in that direction. "Move!" Jackie shouted. Scully pushed Mulder ahead of her while Jackie and her took up the rear positions. They expected more shots, but none ever came. No one said a word until they reached the cabin. Once inside, Jackie prowled from window to window while Scully tried to use the walkie-talkie to contact someone. Mulder stood guard at one of the front room windows, scanning the forest for any sign of movement. But to no avail. "The helicopter must be out of range," she stated as she placed it on the table. "Sit down Mulder. I want to get a look at you while we have a few moments." "I'm fine, Scully," he countered without looking at her. She walked over to him and grabbed his jersey. "I said I wanted to take a look at your injuries, Mulder. Now sit down." "All right, all right, Scully. There's no need to get assertive with me. Although, you can dominate me anytime you want." Mulder gave her a leering smile. Jackie snickered from the window where she kept watch. Scully shot them both dirty looks. "Take off your jersey, Mulder." She examined the gunshot wound in his arm. She opened her medical bag and took out some alcohol pads and started to clean the wound. Mulder let out a hiss and tried to pull his arm out her grasp. "Oh, stop it Mulder. I'm just cleaning it." Once she got all the blood cleaned away, she took a good look at it. Pulling a tube of antibiotic cream and a gauze pad and tape from her bag, she proclaimed it just a scratch and covered it with some cream and a pad. Next she moved on to his face and neck. While she examined and cleaned the small cuts and scraps, she asked him what had happened. "Hazlett surprised me when I came back from my run this morning," Mulder said jerking away from his partner as she pulled a small sliver of glass from a cut on his cheek. She dabbed some cream on all the injuries and placed a band aide on the cut that had contained glass. Next she moved to the cut by his ear. "Is this where he hit you?" she asked as she dabbed it with an alcohol pad. "No. He hit me on the back of the head. I must have hit something on my way down," he replied. "The next thing I remembered was Hazlett standing over me and saying that some of my friends were here to see me. Then he brought me out in the kitchen. You two know the rest." Scully finished with the area by his ear and had moved around behind Mulder. She touched an area where there was dried blood on the back of his head. Mulder jumped and pulled away from her touch. "Take it easy, will you Scully." "Sorry. But you need to hold still." She pulled Mulder back into a position where she could see his head wound better. She worked more gingerly from then on. "What happened in the woods?" Jackie asked. Her eyes never left the tree line as she talked. "I just kept running," Mulder responded. "Hazlett nearly caught me once, but I lost him again in the smoke." Scully stepped in front of her partner and examined his eyes with a penlight. "How long were you unconscious?" Mulder shrugged. "I left the cabin this morning about 7 and was gone around two, two and half hours." "Any blurred vision?" Scully asked. "No." "How about spots?" "A few," Mulder admitted reluctantly. "Ringing in your ear?" "None." "Headache?" "A fierce one." "You're live," Scully said smiling. "Now go get a clean shirt on." Mulder got up and headed for the bedroom. Scully walked into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. She removed a packet of ibuprofen from her bag and placed it next to the glass. Then she moved over to stand next to Jackie. "How is he?" Jackie asked. "I think he has a concussion, but no broken bones, I think. The cut on the back of his head and the one by his ear will need a few stitches, but other than that he's all right. Any sign of Hazlett?" "No," Jackie replied. "I'll check the back of the house," Scully stated. "Make sure he takes those when he comes out." After indicating the packet, she moved toward the rear of the building. Mulder returned to the living room and looked around for Scully. He walked over to stand next to Jackie. "Dana's checking out the back," she told Mulder without him asking her. "She wants you to take those pills." Jackie pointed at the glass and packet. "Does Hazlett have your gun?" "I can't find it. So I would say he does." Mulder walked over and downed the pills quickly. "What exactly is happening with that guy?" Jackie quickly filled him in on the case that Scully had been working, omitting mention of the web site. She figured that the website was something that needed a lot of discussion and Mulder was not going to like. "So tell me Mulder are all profilers as normal as you or wonderful as Dixson?" Mulder ran his hand through his hair, but winced when he brushed the wound on the side of his head. He paced from window to window watching for any movement. "Most of them are just people who happen to be good at psychology and police work, overworked but nice enough. Dixson just proves that even assholes can understand criminal behavior. As for me, ...." "I know, you just hit your head several times too many," Jackie finished. She shot a grin at her friend to that any sting out of her words. Scully walked back into the room. "I bolted the back door and placed a lamp in front of it. We'll hear him if he tries to come in that way. So what's with you and this Hazlett character Mulder?" Mulder shrugged. "It was like he said. He was an older kid in Chilmark. Star defensive linebacker, held the school record for sacking the opposing teams quarterback, a number of whom ended up injured, and school bully. He was two years ahead of me, so I just knew him by reputation. The only use he had for me was trying to get me to do his homework, which I refused. I hadn't heard anything about him since he graduated and went off to college. Why he became fixated on me is beyond me. What does Dixson say?" Mulder asked with a smile. "That if Hazlett is fixated on you, he must be homosexual and want your body to satisfy his carnal desires," Jackie dead panned. Scully tried to stifle her laughter. Mulder shot the Canadian a sour look. Just as he opened his mouth to make a comeback, the windows rattled from the force of another explosion. Scully ran to a front window and looked out. "Another pine tree. the fire is getting closer. We'll need to get out of here soon." She picked up the walkie-talkie and tried to contact the helicopter again. On the second try, it crackled with a response. "Agent Scully, we can't get to you for at least the next hour. We've been grounded by a quick moving, heavy storm cell that is moving into this area. The rain might help the firefighters with the blaze near you. The fire chief advises that you head for the lake if the fire gets too closer. If we can get to you sooner, I'll radio back. Over." "Thanks. We understand. Over." Scully set the walkie- talkie down. "Damn. Well, there should be a boat in the boat house. We can use it to get across the lake and then hike out." "With Hazlett out there with an assault rifle, we'd be sitting ducks in a boat," Jackie observed. "We have some protection in here from him. If the fire gets too close, we can swim for it." Mulder and Scully agreed. Within minutes a heavy downpour of rain started. After what seemed like hours, the walkie-talkie chattered again. "Agent Scully, are you there? Over." Scully grabbed the transmitter. "This is Agent Scully. Over." "Good news, Agent Scully. The blaze in your area under control. So if you sit tight, someone can drive in and pick you up by morning." "Negative. There is a killer somewhere in the forest with an assault rifle after Agent Mulder who is with us. We need you to notify the police and FBI for us. Over." "Roger, Agent Scully. We will notify the authorities and get back to you. Over." "Now we just wait for the cavalry," Mulder commented. They kept watch and waited. The dark smoke that hung over the trees slowly receded. About an hour later, the walkie-talkie chattered. "Agent Scully here. Over." "Dana, this is Dan Rais. What is the situation there?" "Dan, Jackie and I are here with Mulder. The killer is named Hazlett. He went to high school with Mulder. He's somewhere in the forest around the cabin where we are. He is armed with an assault rifle and Mulder's gun. Over." "I have a team of agents and state police. We will be heading toward your location around the south side of the lake. I expect to be there in approximately an hour's time, at which time we should be able to get a troop carrying helicopter out here to airlift you three out. Over." "Thanks, Dan. We look forward to seeing you guys. Over." Basement Office FBI Building Washington, D.C. May 3rd. 9:00 A.M. Dana Scully sat at her desk in the X-Files office. The room was alive with the sound of Mulder doing paperwork and cracking sunflower seeds. She was finishing up the last of her field report pertaining to the Hazlett case. "While Agent Mulder's injuries were deemed minor, the doctor ordered him admitted to the hospital overnight for observation due to the concussion he sustained. Agent Mulder required three stitches to close the wound above his left ear and five in the wound located at the base of the skull in back. "The body of Edward James Hazlett was never recovered. A search of the area around the rental car revealed some blood stains which matches Hazlett's blood type. The local police and fire officials stated that it would be impossible to find his body in the burned area of the forest without extensive searching and shifting of the fallen trees and ash. He is presumed dead. "A search of his house in Chilmark, Massachusetts reveled an extensive collection of information pertaining to Agent Mulder's life and career. The address of the website was found on his web searcher. The exact origin of his fixation is unknown, but it appears to date back at least one year before the first murder. A list of the cases Agent Mulder worked on was found among his belongings in his house. Extensive case files of the appropriate MOs were also recovered in addition to other files. How Hazlett obtained these files is being investigated. "The blood type and DNA collected from the body of Daniel Pegg match the army records for Edward Hazlett. This confirms the confession he gave Agents Mulder, St. George, and myself. Edward Hazlett is presumed to be the murderer in all 8 deaths. "The creator and operator of the website is still being sought. It has changed addresses four times since that investigation was started. It has been given a separate file of it's own due to the ongoing investigation." "Since no new murders containing notes referring to Yin and Yang have occurred, this case has been closed." The End. --- Lee Ann Wagner NaXis #001, M&S, XP, FicTalk, FXX:Issues, EmMail, a yet unnamed writing group. Firey Monkey with a Rat rising ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nothing inspires paranoia like a wholesome childhod." -from an article about CC in Buzz magazine (March 1997) "Tut, tut. It looks like rain." -Christopher Robin in "The Many Advetures of Winnie-The-Pooh"