Flight into Egypt 7:  Going Home

Author:  Vickie Moseley

                                        Going Home: 

                 Chapter 9 Another one bites the dust

Crystal City Place

7:35 am

Three dirty mixing bowls were lined up on the counter top.  Half an eggshell teetered on the edge of the garbage disposal.  Some unidentifiable yellow-orange substance formed a puddle just at the door of the refrigerator.  William stood atop one of the kitchen chairs, hastily stirring a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.  Mulder, rear end skyward as he bent in Skinner's bottom cupboard, was searching in vain for a griddle.

"Aha," came a triumphant yell followed immediately by a loud thump and a muttered curse word. 

"Daddy, Mommy doesn't like -- " 

"Yes, I know, William," Mulder said as he rose from his stooped position, one hand holding the griddle, the other one rubbing a rising bump on the back of his head.  "It just slipped out.  Besides, Mommy's still asleep and what she didn't hear won't hurt her." 

"I'll remember that," Scully said, leaning against the door jam.  "What in the world are you two up to?" 

"Pancakes, Mommy!" William crowed from his perch on the chair.  "I'm the stirrer." 

"And I'm the cooker," Mulder said, leaning over to kiss his partner good morning.  "You looked tired, we thought we'd let you sleep." 

"I was tired.  And I was sleeping but two little birds in the room next to me starting jabbering to each other and I figured it was time to get up." 

As if on cue, both girls toddled into the kitchen, Missy grabbed the chair William stood upon and tried to climb up with her brother.  

"Uh huh, none of that," Scully said, picking up the tiny girl into her arms.  "If you want to see, Mommy will help you.  See Will making pancakes?"  She looked over at Mulder.  "Did you buy all the makings for pancakes when you went grocery shopping?" 

"What makings?  I bought a box, it said just add eggs and water," Mulder corrected, pointing his chin to an empty box now resting in the recycling bin. 

"But why all the bowls," Scully asked slowly and then shook her head.  "No, on second thought, as long as they all fit in the dishwasher, I really don't want to know.  C'mon girls.  Let's go find something to play with while we wait for the men to call us to breakfast." 

Breakfast was consumed in little under fifteen minutes, but it took another hour to get the kitchen back in shape.  Finally, Scully shooed Mulder into the shower and then had a chance to get cleaned up.  The diaper bag was restocked, including bottled water for their trip into the city.  William was dressed in one of his favorite tee shirts, the Knicks, and jeans shorts while the girls were dressed in matching jumpers, one yellow and the other green.  Mulder grabbed a suit, thought better of it and opted for slacks and an oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up.  Scully decided on black Capri pants and a white tee shirt.  It wasn't Bureau issue, but neither partner seemed to care. 

Since they'd called ahead, Kim was waiting for them at the guard desk.  She had special visitor's badges made with all three of the children's names on them.  William was especially proud of his badge when Mulder told him it looked exactly like the one he had worn every day to work.  The guard, the same one Mulder had seen when he'd brought William the first time, let William watch on the monitor while Mulder's keys went through the X ray machine. 

William was fascinated by everything he saw, and the girls were kept busy being the object of much attention from the support staff and the female agents who recognized either one or the other partner.  Mulder was a little surprised that Kim took them in to see the Director's office.  But the biggest surprise was yet to come. 

They went back to the elevators, supposedly to leave the building, but instead of hitting the floor for the lobby, Kim hit the button for the basement.  When they arrived, she smiled and ushered the family through the hall and down to the door that once housed the X Files Division. 

Mulder stood there exchanging looks with Scully as Kim knocked on the door and it opened from the inside. 

Walter Skinner was standing in the office, a half-grin on his face.  "Welcome home," he said, waving at the interior space. 

The desk was a little more battered, Doggett's desk was missing, but a computer table was arranged as it had been when Scully used the space as her own.  The bookshelves once again held manuals, but no psychology books or medical journals.  Two matching grey steel filing cabinets were lined against the wall.  The only bit of color in the room came from the poster, positioned perfectly on one of the two bulletin boards. 

Mulder's throat closed up as he stepped into the office.  "Walt.  You've been busy," he quipped.  He walked over to the poster and ran a finger across the image of the unidentified flying object hovering just above the treetops. 

"Hey, want to see some pictures on the slide projector," Kim said cheerfully, taking William and the girls to the back of the office. 

"Walter, we can't -- " Scully started, but Skinner held up his hand. 

"I'm not asking you to come back, Dana," Skinner said with a shake of his head.  "I'm trying to get another agent assigned to the Division.  I just thought you two should at least get to see what I was up to, make any suggestions you can think might be appropriate." 

She sighed in relief.  "Oh, well, if that's all, I have one suggestion."  After a measured pause she grinned.  "Lose the damned slide projector." 

Mulder shot her a look and shook his head.  "Make sure he has a partner, someone who can back him up.  Or slice him to ribbons when he's out of line," he said with a knowing tilt to his head. 

"Oh, believe me, that was already on my list," Walter assured him.  "You two are OK with this?" 

"I thought the Bureau was focusing on Homeland Security these days," Mulder said, not really answering the question. 

"Most of the resources are in that direction, yes.  But we still get calls from local law enforcement.  The very least we can do is be prepared.  Don't get me wrong, this won't be a full time assignment, at least not at first." 

"Colonization isn't a threat any more," Scully pointed out.  "At least, the consortium isn't involved.  All the players are dead and buried." 

"But that wasn't all we investigated, Scully.  Take this case Wright has -- "  Mulder stopped mid-sentence and shot a look at his old boss.  "Wright is who you're thinking of for this position, isn't he?" 

Skinner ducked his head.  "His name has come up, yes.  He has a pretty impressive record in BSU, although he lacks a lot of field experience.  And he has a special interest in the types of cases you worked on here." 

Scully furrowed her brow.  "A special interest?  How so?" 

Before Skinner had a chance to answer, the phone on the desk started to ring.  Without thinking, Mulder picked it up.  After a few moments silence he handed the phone to Skinner and turned to Scully.  "Holly transferred the call down here.  It's Wright.  There's been another murder.  And this time there's surveillance tape." 

"Where?" Scully asked.  She looked over at Kim, who was holding the girls hands and chewing her bottom lip.  

"Richmond," Skinner answered, hanging up the phone.  "Do you think your mother could come get the children?" 

"Mulder," Scully said, her voice full of warning. 

"I have a better idea," Mulder replied, hoping to negotiate the difficult waters he knew he and his partner were entering.  "How about if you go back to the condo with the kids and I'll go with Walter out to Richmond?  I'll be back in time for dinner.  Better yet, I'll stop at Tony's on the way back and the kids can taste real pizza for the first time in their lives," he said, waggling his eyebrows. 

"You're just there to check out the scene, Mulder.  Nothing else," she told him sternly.  "You can't go after this guy, you don't even have a weapon." 

He held up two fingers.  "Indian Guide Honor," he recited with a wink. 

"Like I really believe that," she said with a snort.  She looked at William and the girls.  "OK, everyone, it's time to go back to the condo." 

Benson Industries

Franklin Industrial Park

Richmond VA

12:05 pm

"She was sitting at her desk, just like the other guy," Wright noted as he met Mulder and Skinner at the entrance to the office. 

Mulder walked over to the tidy desk and looked closely at the woman sitting behind it.  Her eyes were open, if not for the fact that she was unnaturally still, anyone might think she was simply deep in thought.  There was no terror in those eyes, Mulder noted.  If anything, the expression looked almost to be one of recognition. 

"They called the cops and not the paramedics?  Why?" 

"They called both, actually.  And both arrived at the same time, but the cops told the paramedics not to touch anything.  Oh, and this was found on the desk."  Wright held up a lump of plastic in an evidence bag.  

Mulder took it from his hand, holding it up to examine it by the light coming from the ceiling panel.  "Is that a stapler?" he asked with a frown.  The plastic was molded, squeezed in the middle as one might find a tube of toothpaste. 

Wright nodded in answer to Mulder's question.  "According to the manager that found her, that was a fairly new stapler.  The victim was recently promoted to this position and got a brand new matching desk set from the people who used to work under her." 

Mulder held it up close and looked it over intensely.  "Wright, I think there are prints in here.  I'd have the lab concentrate on this baby." 

Wright smiled.  "That's what I thought, too," he said with a note of pride. 

Forensics and other agents were in full force, bagging objects and dusting for prints.  There were a lot of people in the room and in the hall.  "The manager is over there."  Wright led the way to where an older woman sat with a tear stained face but a determined expression. 

"Mrs. Nelson, this is Assistant Director Skinner and uh, Mr. Mulder.  If you could show us the surveillance tape from the security camera again?" 

Mrs. Nelson nodded, obviously relieved to have something to do.  "I just don't understand it.  Nancy is . . . was the salt of the earth.  Just last week she was putting together a box to send over to the boys and girls in Iraq.  One of our summer workers joined the National Guard -- well, anyway, there's no one on earth who'd want to kill her.  And right here, in our offices!  I can't believe it."  

The woman spoke a mile a minute as they walked down the hall to a small alcove with security equipment and four monitors.  "We don't have a camera pointed at her desk, mind you," she said for Skinner and Mulder's benefit.  "We do in reception but not back where Nancy works, uh, worked.  But we have the hall leading to her office."  She picked up a VHS tape and checked the label.  "This is it.  This is the one."  She handed the tape to Wright, who inserted it into one of the tape players.  "I went to her office to tell her a shipment she'd been waiting for wasn't going to be delivered this morning.  I found her . . . "  Tears followed the worn path down her face.  "I just can't believe . . . " 

"You've been very helpful, Mrs. Nelson," Wright assured her.   "Is your husband on his way?" 

"Oh, yes, thank you Agent Wright.  I better go out front and look for him.  He won't find me in this crowd of police officers." 

Skinner shot Wright a look as the woman departed.  The younger agent shrugged.  "I thought she needed someone for support.  Her husband is the CEO, but he had a meeting out of the office this morning.  I told her to call him." 

"Good thinking," Mulder said with a nod. 

The tape started and Wright did the play by play.  "The mail room clerk delivered mail at 9:05.  He reported that Mrs. Endicott, er, Nancy, was alive then.  According to the receptionist, she called the front desk looking for that shipment Mrs. Nelson mentioned at 9:13, we verified that with the phone company.  Here, see, at 9:43 a deliveryman came asking for Nancy by name.  There he is -- coming down the hall, entering her office.  He comes out and -- the tape goes wiggy."  Wright sat back after his narration, befuddled.  The tape shows only static.  "Mrs. Nelson said she found her at 10:00, when she went down to tell her the trucking company said the shipment would be late." 

"No clear picture of the assailant," Mulder said, pulling his bottom lip.  "Wright, did this guy have to sign in?" 

"You don't think he would use his own name, do you, Mulder?" Skinner asked with a touch of disdain. 

"No, but it's still worth checking out, don't you think?" 

The three men walked up to the reception desk to check the log-in.  "Here.  Logged in at 9:37.  Chris Davey, Polarity Electronics," Wright read from the binder.  

Mulder frowned, thinking.  "I know that name," he said absently. 

"I'll call it in, have a check run on it.  But it's probably an alias, Mulder," Skinner said doubtfully. 

They headed back to Endicott's office, Skinner on his cell phone having someone at the Bureau run Chris Davey's name through the system. 

Wright stopped Mulder, biting his lip.  "Um, do you think Dr. Scully would mind doing another autopsy?" he asked nervously. 

Mulder sighed.  "She'll probably find exactly what she found last time, Jeremy." 

"I know that.  But . . . she was the best -- is the best.  I just don't want this to end up . . . " He let his voice trail off, clearly upset. 

"With no answers," Mulder supplied.  "I'll call her.  It will take her a while; she has to get someone to watch our kids.  I'll tell her we'll meet her at Quantico." 

Jeremy gave him a grateful look.  "Sure, that would be great!  Thanks, Mulder." 

"Jeremy, we're close to finding this guy.  You're doing a great job," Mulder said, patting the young agent on the shoulder. 

"You don't know how much that means to me.  Thank you."  Wright turned away quickly and Mulder felt Skinner's eyes on him. 

"Fatherhood has definitely smoothed some of your rough edges," Walter said fondly. 

"I had edges?" Mulder shot back, an evil twinkle in his eye. 

"Mulder, you were all edges," Skinner returned.  "They'll call me with that name and they should be able to pull that print off the stapler.  Shouldn't take long."

Quantico Labs

4:59 

"Where were you?" 

Scully's question surprised him, since she was looking intently at what appeared to be a shriveled heart. 

"I found a computer, I was looking something up.  Did you know that with the right access code, you can read all our reports to Skinner on line?" 

"You were reading old case reports?" she asked absently. 

"That name just keeps bugging me.  I know that name."  He rubbed his jaw, noting that he needed to shave later if he had any intention of kissing his baby daughters good night.  Or possibly enticing his partner into some other forms of play after the kids were asleep. 

"Did you find anything?" she asked, breaking his thoughts. 

"No.  The reports are there but the search function is typical FBI issue -- it sucks." 

She pulled her plastic safety goggles off along with her gloves.  "It's the same as before, Mulder.  I didn't find anything different on this body.  Well, except for something I picked out of her pocket." 

She handed him a pink 'While You Were Out' note, blank on the front but with one word scribbled on the backside.  

"Polarity," Mulder read aloud, handing it back to her.  "Polarity."  He swallowed hard, realization coming to him in a split second.  "Polarity, Scully.  Polarity." 

"It means intrinsic polar separation -- " 

"I know what it means," he said with exasperation.  "Think back.  An investigation we did as a favor for one of your old students, Kelly Ryan?" 

"Oh my god," Scully gasped as she looked at the word on the paper again.  "But Mulder, the word Polarity doesn't mean -- " 

"It was the name of the company.  Chris Davey was one of the partners at Polarity Magnetics -- the one not taken away right from under our noses.  I'm going to do some checking, employment histories and the like -- " 

"Mulder, why don't you let Agent Wright do the checking," Scully said, hands on her hips. 

He chewed on his upper lip before reluctantly answering.  "Yeah, you're right.  OK, I'll have Jeremy look at the employment records of the victims.  But if he finds anything, I can tell him to call us?" 

She shook her head in affectionate vexation.  "Yes, if he finds something significant," she stressed the last word, "he can call us -- in the morning.  But right now, I'm going to change and then we're going to call Tony's so that the pizza is ready by the time we get there." 

Crystal City Place

6:05 pm

Mulder juggled the pizza while Scully dug the key out of her pocket.  The door opened before she had a chance to put the key in the lock. 

"Pizza!" shouted William and proceeded to run around the room in a circle. 

"We don't get carry out pizza much, no one wants to deliver all the way out to our place," Mulder explained to Maggie as he deposited the pie on the table.  "But Dana has become quite the pizza chef instead." 

"I'm listening.  You better tell this straight," came his partner's voice from the other room. 

Maggie chuckled.  "Well, I'm sorry I can't convince you to come home and have Italian Beef with us -- Tara's been cooking it all day." 

Scully came out of the bedroom, in casual clothes, a baby girl on each hip.  "We're pretty wiped out, Mom.  But what about tomorrow?  What time is the game starting?  Should we meet up at your place or arrange to meet at the ballpark.  I know parking can be a problem sometimes." 

"Let's meet up at the house and then we'll figure out how many cars we'll need.  The game starts at 3:05, but we better get there early.  Why don't you come for lunch around noon and we'll figure the rest out from there?" 

Scully shot a look to her partner.  He tilted his head and she nodded slightly.  "Yeah, I guess that would work.  We'll be at the house at 12." 

"Dana, would you mind walking me to the car?" Maggie asked suddenly.  Another look was exchanged between partners, this time Mulder smiled in reassurance. 

"I'm going to see what Will's gotten into.  The upstairs is way too quiet all of a sudden," Mulder announced, taking both of his daughters.  He leaned over to accept the kiss Maggie placed on his and the babies' cheeks.  "See you tomorrow," he promised her. 

With her partner's footsteps echoing on the stairs, Dana turned to her mother.  "OK, Mom, you got rid of Mulder," she said with a sigh.  "What do you want to talk about?" 

"Dana, what on earth is going on?  Now, I don't mind watching the children, I'm so happy to have them close so I can do this, but calling me in the middle of lunch, I'm supposed to drop everything and run down here to babysit -- Dana, what am to think?" 

"Mom, Mulder's been helping a young Agent -- " 

"Helping an agent?  You mean he's been working at the Bureau?  Dana, is that wise?  I didn't think he left on very good terms, even before -- well, you know." 

Scully drew in a fortifying breath.  "Mom, he's doing it as a favor to Walter.  It's just one case." 

"I mean, if it meant you were thinking about coming home, moving back here, that would be one thing -- " 

"Mom, our home is in Montana.  We have a house, Mulder has a job, I'm going to be teaching this fall, we have friends.  It's where we want to live.  I know it's hard on you -- " 

"Dana, I don't want to get into another argument.  Lord knows we've had enough of those these last few days.  I'm just trying to let you know that I'm worried.  It seems when you two get wrapped up in these cases, you forget that you have a life outside the investigation." 

It wouldn't have felt so much like a slap in the face if she hadn't been thinking the same thing herself.  "I know, Mom.  It's just -- the Bureau, our investigations -- were our lives for so long.  It's hard to just turn our back on them."  She felt totally helpless to explain it to her mother. 

Maggie looked at her with such concern and cupped Dana's cheek.  "It's what brought you together.  But it's not what is keeping you together.  It's time to move past the lives you used to lead." 

"I know, Mom.  We both know that." 

"But acting on that knowledge is sometimes harder than just admitting it," Maggie said sagely.  "Look, you go enjoy your pizza before it gets cold.  I'll see you all tomorrow." 

As her mother left, Scully closed the door and leaned against it.  She'd told her mother the truth, as far as she felt.  It was her partner that was another matter.  She'd have to talk to him soon.  Maybe moving past their old lives wasn't what he had in mind.  She pushed off the door and went to the foot of the stairs, calling him and the children down for dinner.

                                      to be continued in Chapter 10

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