Disclaimer: What do you mean that they don't belong to me? Well, I guess that's just the way it goes, you see... For Mulder, Scully, Skinner and the rest, All belong to Chris Carter, I guess. And I'd better not forget the folks at Fox Network too, Because I would really rather not get sued. Karen and Sara however, belong to me, so send me some feedback. Please? (I know it's not a very good rhyme. But I was bored of writing the same old thing. Seriously though, CC belongs to himself, I'm not sure how he is in real life, but I borrowed him for this story. He also owns most the stuff in here. 'Cept Karen and Sara. Anybody else is free to use any of the other characters, but please tell me if you want to use Karen and Sara, I'd like to keep from having too many plot holes.) Rating: T (adventure) PG (more good clean weirdness, one wild imagination and a mandatory dead scientist conspirator.) Spoilers: Everything is fair game. It takes place in the 6th season but before the cliffhanger. Mentions made to "Soft Light". Summary: Does anyone remember the book and/or movie. "There is a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"? Feedback: Would it help if I begged? Pleaseeeeeee? Author's Note: B natural. :) Dedication: To all the X-Philes out there who would gladly be in the shoes of Karen and Sara. Title: There is an X-Phile (or two) in the Basement Office By: Happy 6:00am... There was a small beeping noise. Then there was quiet. **************************************************************************** "Ughhh." groaned Karen rolling over to check her alarm clock. Her green eyes widened as they read the digital display: 7:03am. "What the?" asked Karen in dreadful realization. "Oh, crap!" School was going to start in 27 minutes. Luckily it was only a five minute walk and she didn't have to worry about missing the bus. She grabbed her clothes and ran for the shower. she thought ruefully then grinned. ***************************************************************************** As she quick threw a comb through her wet brown hair she glanced at the clock in the bathroom: 7:20. She hopped Sara wouldn't to wait for her like normal. She squeezed some minty toothpaste onto her toothbrush and began working it furiously around inside her mouth. She rinsed her mouth, then dried it on a towel before yanking the bathroom door open and running out. she thought as she rushed for her room. *WHAM!* Her head reeled and her vision dimmed and she stumbled as she tried to keep herself upright after hitting the wall. Finally she sank down to the cool cement floor and sat there for a minute as she waited for the world to stop spinning. she thought as the world around her came to a halt She looked up. She was in a cool hallway that had cement for it's floors, walls, and even (here she looked up even higher.) the ceiling. Judging by the clutter that was around her and the feel of the place she figured she was in some sort of basement. "A frequently used basement," she said noting the lack of dust and cobwebs. At the far end there was an elevator. "Must be a business building." She stood up, brushed herself off and winced as a wave of pain passed through her head. Glancing around as she headed for the elevator she saw something that almost made her heart stop beating. There was a door. A regular, everyday door. On the door there was a nameplate. A regular, everyday nameplate. The nameplate read "Special Agent Fox Mulder" she thought silently she pinched herself. "Ouch!" She looked up at the door. At that point the elevator pinged. She turned to face the two people who she knew would be coming out of it. Sure enough the door slid open to reveal none other than David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. They were arguing, and from the sounds of it were "in character". They didn't notice Karen until they almost ran into her. They stopped and both parties looked at each other. "Hi," Karen offered weakly "Um, hi." said David "Hi," said Gillian In the awkward silence that followed Karen tried to think of a way to get their autographs before she was hauled away by security. David and Gillian exchanged a look. One that said. "Who is she?" and "How did she get in here?" Finally David asked. "Who are you?" "My name is Karen," she said "How did you get in here?" asked Gillian "I'm not sure," she said Gillian's eyes narrowed as she gave, what all the X-Philes had dubbed, "The Look". David just eyed Karen curiously. "I was running late for school this morning. As I came out of the bathroom I ran into the wall and when my vision cleared I was here." Gillian looked at David her eyes clearly saying "She's nuts." David looked back with an unreadable expression. Turning back to Karen he studied her before finally asking "How's the head?" Karen, who's headache had actually increased, reached up a hand to feel her forehead. Right there above her right eye was a very large bump. She winced as her hand brushed lightly over it. "Not so good." she admitted. "Com'on." he said fishing some keys from his pocket and unlocking the door. Gillian opened her mouth to say something, but he interrupted her. "She requires medical attention." Gillian gave a disapproving sigh. "I'll go get some ice." she said and headed back to the elevator. The door swung open and David ushered Karen in. Although she had seen it many times on the show Karen couldn't help but stare over the whole office in wide-eyed amazement. "It's kinda messy," David apologized "No worse than my room," said Karen as she walked over to study a fuzzy photograph of big foot. David gave a small grin, plopped down in the chair and began to dig through some folders that lay scattered on the desk. Karen took this opportunity to make a further study of the room. She walked over to the bulletin board and began reading about the latest theories of Extra-Terrestrial contact, but something kept bugging her. Somewhere in the back of her mind something kept telling her all was not as it seemed. ****************************************************************************** Finally Gillian came back. She walked over to Karen and gave her the ice pack. Karen gingerly set it on the lump. Then Gillian pulled a small penlight from her pocket and looked in her eyes. Karen had been to enough doctors to realize that Gillian knew what she was doing and that she would find it less painful if she didn't look directly into the light. She picked the "I want to Believe" poster and stared at it. Finally Gillian switched off the light and walked over to David. "As far as I can tell..." she began but Karen wasn't listening. She had come to a conclusion so bizarre, so...spooky, that she had a tough time accepting it. She took a quick glance at David and Gillian. she thought firmly It was true. There was no other way she could explain it. Her first clue was that "David", had taken her into the office and begun flipping through folders. While "Mulder" might have done that. David most certainly would not. He would've called security, and gone to his chair or trailer or...or...something! She didn't know what exactly, but she sure knew he wouldn't stay in character like this. Her second indication was Gillian. Forget "The Look", she knew what Gillian was, an actor. Not a doctor.... "I'll need to run an MRI to be sure, but I think..." She tuned back out. No, Gillian would not talk like that. Her inforcer for all this was the unspoken conversation in the hallway. She was pretty sure that Gillian and David did not do that on a regular basis, unless they had a joke going. But Mulder and Scully did it all the time, and like a good X-Phile she had picked up on it. But the Coup-de grace' was that, no matter where she looked. She couldn't find any cameras. She really should've seen it earlier, but...who in their right mind would automatically assume they were in the X-Files world if this happened? "Karen!" Mulder's voice cut through her thoughts. She looked up. Apparently this was not the first time he had called her "Scully wants to take you over to the hospital and run some tests." his tone indicated he wanted her permission first. Karen nodded as he confirmed her suspicions. "I want to make sure you're okay, and didn't give yourself a concussion." said Scully sounded like she was speaking to a seven year old. thought Karen. She blinked in an effort to keep away a bout of dizziness that was now beginning to follow the waves of pain. Scully walked out the door with Karen right behind her. ****************************************************************************** When they arrived at the hospital Scully took Karen right to the back and gave her an MRI. As she studied it Karen was sent into many different rooms and given so many different tests that she lost track of what they were and what they were testing, aside from the obvious. Her last stop was with a guy who kept showing her pictures of ink splotted cards and asking her what they looked like. Her head was still pounding and Karen was beginning to get irritated. "And this?" the man asked "It's an inkblot." she said crossly "Yes," he admitted "But don't you see the shape it makes?" Karen looked at the inkblot. "No." "Doesn't it look like anything? A horse, a car?..." he trailed off hoping she'd pick up on it. Karen grinned to herself and feigned confusion. "No, I can't really see anything. What does it look like to you?" "Well," said the man turning to look at the card "It reminds me of the bugs that keep hitting my windshield whenever I go on vacation. But...." he added hastily "We are here to find out what you think." "What *I* think?" said Karen raising an eyebrow "I think this is a silly test." Before the man could respond Scully walked in holding a cup of water and a tiny cup with two white pills in it. After politely excusing the man she handed the water and pills to Karen. "A little something for the headache," said Scully "You're head will be fine and all the other tests came up negative." Karen swallowed the pills and took another gulp of water. "And the inkblot test?" she asked "Well," said Scully and Karen could hear the amusement in her voice. "You are not the first one I've seen to refuse it, but you *are* the first person I've seen who's turned it around." Karen grinned inspite of herself and looked at the clock. 3:30. Her face must've registered her surprise because Scully motioned to her. "You can call your parents back at the office." she said "It will be long distance." said Karen as her stomach rumbled reminding her that she had yet to eat at all that day. "Where do you live?" asked Scully "Connecticut" Whatever Scully thought about that statement she kept it to herself and they drove back to FBI headquarters. ***************************************************************************** When they entered the office Karen went right to the phone and dialed. She wasn't too sure it would work, Scully watched as Karen's face took on a look of what she thought to be confusion. She hung up and dialed again. She tried it a few more times before hanging up. "I'm sorry," said Karen imitating the operator "Your call can not be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again." "Did you dial the right number?" asked Mulder "Yeah," said Karen "It's 203-856..." "Wait a second," said Scully "856 is the information number they don't use it for regular numbers." thought Karen. "What's your full name and address?" asked Scully "Karen T. Mathews," she began and proceeded to give them everything. Even her Social Security. Mulder turned to his computer. Booted it up and began a search. After about 5 minutes he turned back and looked at Karen. "According to the US government. There is no Karen T. Mathews." she thought, but despite that she could stop the feeling of loneliness that suddenly enveloped her. "What about Tom Mathews or Darlinee?" she asked Mulder ran them through and shook his head. At that moment the phone chose to ring. Scully picked it up. She listened for a moment before saying "Yes, sir." and hanging up. "Skinner wants to speak with us," she said looking at Mulder. "Immediately." Mulder nodded, stood up, and grabbed his coat. Turning to Karen he said "Just stay here until we get back. Go ahead and try your parents again if you want. Oh..." he reached up on the shelf and grabbed a big and dusty hardback book "and feel free to read this if you get bored." Karen looked at the book "The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal and the Unexplained?" she asked. Scully rolled her eyes. He shrugged. "Unless you want to read "The Medical Journal". And one more thing!" he said as they walked out the door. "Whatever you do. Don't watch the video tapes!!!" Karen waited until they were gone before she permitted herself a smile. ****************************************************************************** "Have a seat Agents," said Skinner as Mulder and Scully entered. "Tell me what you think of this Agent Mulder." he said and tossed a file folder across the desk to him. Mulder picked it up and examined it. A missing person's case. Actually, *many* missing person's cases. (Author moves her tongue around in her mouth as she tries to say that last line and winces at the rather poor grammar.) He looked up at Skinner. "Looks like we have some missing people." he said a bit mockingly. Skinner gave him a sour look. "Yes, I realized that Agent Mulder. Notice anything else?" Mulder looked it over again. Four missing people. All in plain sight when they disappeared. He frowned. In plain sight? "In plain sight?" he asked "According to eyewitnesses they just "vanished." said Skinner. Mulder handed the report over to Scully. She gave it a cursory glance. "It says here that all the people seemed to have suffered an injury of sorts before they disappeared." she skimmed over the second page "All head injuries." A light bulb went off in Mulder's head. He leaned over to get another look at the report. Scully handed it back to him. Skinner watched as Mulder went over it again, this time more thoroughly. He could all but see the wheels moving behind Mulder's eyes. "There doesn't seem to be any connections to any of them," he said at last "Male, age 45. Female, age 30. Female, age 80. Male, age 2. All from different states. All different ethnic groups." he shrugged. "Agent Mulder are you familiar with the Bureau's policy regarding "Extra Assignments"?" Skinner asked suddenly "I was not aware the Bureau had such a policy, sir." said Mulder. Skinner nodded. "I am familiar with it, sir." said Scully Skinner looked at her with a slight gleam in his eye and nodded towards the door. "Thank you agents that will be all." he said and began writing in the file on his desk. As they got up to leave Mulder went to say something about Kersh, but thought better of it. When it came to the X-Files, he would rather get one from Skinner than one from Kersh. In fact, he thought, the less he saw of A.D. Kersh the better his days always went. ****************************************************************************** Scully waited until they were in the elevator before she started. "As of today we are officially on a week long vacation." she said "We have one week to complete this assignment. We should probably head for the most recent one," she looked in the folder "In Boston. Of course should the Bureau find out about this, Skinner will deny everything and we will be on our own." "Nothing new there," said Mulder "Why did he give it to us in the first place." "Extra Assignments always come from higher up," said Scully "Skinner is doing a favor for someone." "Yeah," said Mulder "But most people use favors to keep assignments *away* from me." "In this case he also doing you a favor." said Scully "Results are the only thing that count in Extra Assignments. When this comes back up all it will say is that you solved it. That's all. No details." "Which also means we have no paperwork," said Mulder "Aside from the Conclusion." "Correct." said Scully "Half of the time these assignments are so difficult that people have stopped caring how it got solved so long as it was solved." "I think it's a little too late for people not to notice how I solve things," he said "but if this assignment is half as hard as it looks it will go a long way to rebuilding my rep. with some of the higher ups." "We have to solve it first," said Scully "What about you?" asked Mulder "How is this going to help you any?" "Well," said Scully taking a deep breath "My rep isn't that great right now either. Working on the X-Files hasn't exactly endeared me to any of those so-called higher ups." Mulder nodded, wincing internally. "But," said Scully as the elevator slowed "After what I've seen, that endearment isn't exactly worth striving for." Mulder gave a small nod and they walked out of the elevator to the office. ****************************************************************************** Opening the door to the office Mulder noticed that Karen was sitting at his desk reading the book he had handed her. She looked up at them as they entered and was about to say something when there was suddenly someone in front of her. The person was laying on the desk and as soon as she appeared promptly rolled off onto the floor bringing pencils, pens, folders and a nameplate with her. "Oof!" she said as she hit. All of the desk objects sprinkling around her onto the floor. "Sara?!" asked Karen standing up and looking over the desk in wide eyed amazement. "Karen?..." said Sara groggily looking up at her friend. "Mulder?" asked Scully from behind him "What's going on?" Mulder, who was still standing in the doorway effectively blocking Scully's view, looked at the new arrival in shock. Finally he made his way into the office with Scully right behind him. Karen meanwhile, had run around the desk and was helping Sara off of the floor. "Karen! Where have you been?!" asked Sara not fully realizing where she was. "Your parents have been worried sick!" "I know," said Karen wincing "I haven't exactly been able to reach them..." she motioned to Mulder and Scully "Sara, I would like to introduce you to Special Agents Mulder and Scully. Mulder, Scully, I would like to introduce you to my best friend Sara." Sara's blue eyes went wide and her jaw dropped slightly. "Uh, hi." she said. Then she turned to look at Karen in disbelief. Karen shook her head indicating that she should ask about it later. "Karen," said Mulder glancing at the clock "It's 5:30. I would suggest that you two go home with Scully tonight and tomorrow we can drive you two home on the way to our assignment." he looked at Scully and she picked it up "Come on," she said motioning towards the door. ***************************************************************************** Scully's Apartment 8:35pm Karen and Sara stood out on the balcony while Scully took a shower. "I can't believe this." said Sara shaking her head "Neither can I." said Karen "But here we are." "How do we get back?" asked Sara "I have no idea." said Karen "It all reminds me of a Star Trek episode." "Except that we can't just jump into a transporter." said Sara "What are we going to do tomorrow?" "You mean when they discover that we don't live where we say we do?" asked Karen "I don't know. They would never believe us..." "I don't think even Mulder would believe this one." agreed Sara. "Let's not forget that we can't say anything about what we know..." said Karen "That's going to be tough," said Sara "Like if Krycek comes along we can't yell "Ratboy"....Yeah, it wouldn't be good for us to create a paradox." "Ratboy?" asked Scully from behind them. They turned around. "What, or who are you talking about?" Karen was relieved to learn Scully hadn't heard the first part, or had she? Maybe she was seeing how honest they were. A moment passed as the girls looked at Scully guiltily. "Krycek," said Sara and Karen nearly melted in relief. "Krycek?" said Scully her eyes narrowing "How do you know about him?" "We just keep our ears open," said Karen shrugging "The grapevine is pretty extensive." Scully nodded but her expression didn't change any. Finally she motioned them inside. **************************************************************************** Scully's Living Room 11:16pm "Karen?" Sara's whisper from the other couch confirmed Karen's suspicions that her friend also couldn't sleep. She looked at the clock on the VCR. Impressive, Scully had actually set it. "Yeah?" came Karen's whisper "Do you think we'll ever get home?" asked Sara in a pondering voice. "Of course," said Karen a bit louder than she wanted to. Both girls were quiet for a moment and Karen watched the shadows on the ceiling move as a car passed down below on the street. It's tires sounding on the wet pavement as it wooshed slowly by. "Why?" "Well, it's just that most guest characters on the X-Files rarely live through the whole episode," said Sara and Karen could hear the frown in her voice. "Yeah, but Carter doesn't usually kill off the kids or teens. It's usually young adults." said Karen "That's true," said Sara "Besides, they already had a tragedy with you-know-who being wisked away." "Deja'vu." "Pfft, really." "So that's why Mulder was so nice to me," said Karen "Sure, it's in his character," whispered back Sara A long silence followed as both the girls drifted towards dreamland. "Sara?" "Mff..yeah?" "11:21" A chuckle sounded from her friend and Karen fell asleep. ****************************************************************************** The Next Day Basement Office 7:30am Karen and Sara stood in the office showered but still in their same clothes as Mulder and Scully grabbed the necessary papers and made arrangements for the upcoming case. "Um, Mulder? Scully?" asked Sara finally They both looked up. "I don't think you're going to be able to 'drop-us-off-at-home'." she said "Why not?" asked Scully "Well," said Karen "I gave you my address and everything yesterday and you weren't able to find my home. I don't think they are going to be there." she shrugged at loss of how to explain it further without giving the whole thing away. "Well, it's on our way," said Mulder "If they aren't there I guess you could come with us..." he trailed off as he noticed the expression on Scully's face. Sara and Karen noticed it. "Um, Where are your bathrooms?" asked Karen "Turn right down the hall, third door on your left." said Scully "Buddy system." called Mulder but Sara was already following Karen out the door. "Mulder what were you thinking?!" asked Scully as soon as she was sure the girls were out of hearing range "Take them on a case?! The Bureau would never allow it!" "They don't have to know," protested Mulder "What are we going to do? Leave them on their own?!" "Considering the way some of our cases go that might be a good idea!" said Scully incredulous "You would leave them alone?!?!" responded an equally incredulous Mulder "I wouldn't leave them alone, but I certainly wouldn't take them with us!" said Scully "Well, what about your mother?" asked Mulder reaching for a third option. "She's out of town." "Your brother?" "Him too," Neither of them brought up Mulder's family. "They go to school right?" asked Mulder "It would've shown up yesterday if she was enrolled." "Local PD?" asked Scully "We are not leaving them with strangers." said Mulder with a finality Scully rarely heard. She sighed. "Okay," she said resigning "But what if we end up with something like that guy's killer shadow?" "Then they stay at in the car, or at the motel depending on how long we'll be gone." Scully nodded. A few minutes passed in silence before the girls returned from the bathroom. ***************************************************************************** In the air somewhere between Washington DC and Massachusetts 10:30am The 747 flew gracefully through the partly cloudy skies as it headed for Boston, MA. In the plane Scully went over the case reports while Mulder took a moment to catch up on his sleep, or at least *appeared* to. Karen listened to one of the 12 radio stations and Sara gazed out the window. A brief bout of turbulence sent two of the reports to the floor. Sara quickly glanced over and bent down to retrieve them while Scully tried to keep the other two from falling. As she did her eyes quickly scanned the pages. She saw, "missing", "head injury", and "vanished". From across the aisle Karen looked over at her friend with a mild curiosity. Scully took the papers and as she was shuffling them back into place Sara took the opprotunity to shoot a warning glance to Karen. Karen gave her a confused look. At that point the pilot came on and announced their decent into the Boston airport. ***************************************************************************** A Motel 6 in Boston (they have them there right?) 1:00pm They checked in and left their bags in the rooms. Or rather Mulder and Scully left their bags in the rooms, Sara and Karen just checked in. The first order of business was to find the eyewitnesses and hear what they had to say. They drove up, in their rented Ford Taurus, to a nice quiet suburban home outside the city. "It's always the normal ones," muttered Karen. Sara gave a grin that held little humor but plenty of irony. Mulder and Scully walked up to the door and rang the bell. A rather frazzled woman answered. She quickly ushered them inside and, with a quick glance around the neighborhood, she shut the door. Karen and Sara had nothing to do but wait. Within two minutes the woman came back out and waved to them to come in. Glad to be part of the investigation Karen and Sara wasted no time and went inside. The house was pretty standard as houses go. As Karen gazed around it she could see that it was very lived in and homely. she thought as she looked at all the toddler toys laying about. It was a clean house and at any other time might've had the smell of baking cookies coming from the kitchen. They were ushered to the dinning room, given cookies and juice and left alone. Sara looked at Karen and to their cups of juice. They were little "spill-proof" ones. The cookies were laid out on napkins in front of them. "They're investigating "Missing People"," said Sara finally "What makes it an X-File?" asked Karen "I don't know," said Sara "All I saw was, "Missing", "Head injuries", and "vanished" on the report." "Head injuries?" "Yeah," "Vanished? As in, right in front of people?" "That's what it sounds like." "Does your head hurt?" asked Karen "Not anymore," said Sara "I had a pretty good bump on it yesterday when I fell off my bed..or it was my bed, but somehow I was in the office." "Hmmm..." They each picked up a cookie and ate it. Karen popped the lid off of her cup and took a drink of juice. "Grape," she said Meanwhile in the living room.... "He was playing right there!" said the woman pointing to the toys on the other side of the coffee table. "Then he stood up, but slipped and started to fall. I tried to catch him so he wouldn't hit his head on the table, but he grazed it enough to make him cry. Then he just, vanished! Right from my arms!" she looked around desperately as if her 2yr old son might suddenly reappear. Mulder and Scully listened with sympathy, but gained little new information. Mulder made a few mental notes before saying. "Thank you for your time Mrs. Suwann. Well, let you know immediately if something turns up." She nodded. At this point Karen and Sara poked their heads in the room having heard the conversation winding to a close. Mulder and Scully stood up and headed towards the door. Karen and Sara followed quickly behind them. Before they left they turned to the woman and thanked her for the cookies and juice. "I gave you spill-proof cups didn't I?" she asked Karen nodded The woman put her hand to her face and drew it slowly over. "I'm so sorry. I'm just.." "It's okay," said Sara quickly and sympathetically "Don't worry about it." They walked out. ****************************************************************************** There was a long silence in the car as they drove back to the city. All four of them mulled over possibilities of how someone might just "vanish". Suddenly Mulder's eyes light up and he glanced in the rear-view mirror back to Sara and asked "Is your head okay?" "It is now, it hurt a bit yesterday after I hit the floor." He nodded and drove a little faster. "You said Karen's parents were worried sick. Did they file a police report?" he asked "I think so," said Sara "but there was no evidence. She just..." "Vanished," muttered Mulder speeding up some more. "Mulder!" said Scully as the speedometer topped 80. He glanced down and slowed up. They exited into the city, pulled up to a burger joint and got something to eat. ****************************************************************************** Motel 6 9:23pm Scully sat at the table in Mulder's room as he explained his latest off-the-wall theory. "Mulder that's crazy!" she said "How can a simple head injury cause someone to just disappear?" "You can't deny the connection!" he said "Coincidence." "You know how I feel about coincidences." "What if the head injury somehow managed to activate a lost portion of the brain and teleports the person away? You know they say we only use 10 percent of your brain." he paced back and forth "Mulder, even if that *were* possible. The head injuries are all different." "Maybe there *is* no connection," he said his brow furrowing. Scully sighed "Yeah, that's about it." "That's the connection!!!" he declared "What?!" "The connection is that there *is* no connection!" "Mulder what was *in* that burger anyway?" "No, the whole thing is completely random," Scully nodded slowly with a "that's nice." expression on her face and waited for him to continue. A shrill annoying Motel phone ring stopped him. He walked over and picked it up. Scully watched his face go pale and he suddenly dropped the receiver dashing out the door at full speed. Scully got up too quick and nearly rolled her ankle on her heels. Making a quick little jump step she ignored the pain and grabbed her gun off of the bed. Over the phone she heard a yell and the sound of splintering wood. She ran out the door at full tilt and saw Mulder down the hall just making his way into the girls room after kicking the door in. There was a gunshot as Scully rounded the doorway and dashed in. Mulder stood over a man his gun drawn and held before him in firing position. She yanked her gun out of her holster and pointed it at the floor ready just in case. Bits of glass littered it. Scully turned to find the girls. Karen was over by the phone, which was off the hook, holding the digital clock like she was going to crack it over the guy's head. Sara appeared behind Scully from the direction of the bathroom with the top to the toilet tank. Both drinking glasses had already been smashed. "Who are you?!!!" yelled Mulder his eyes flashing. Scully was startled. She couldn't remember ever seeing him this angry. The man only groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. Mulder noticed Scully out of the corner of his eye and quickly reached down for a swift frisk. He yanked a gun out of it's holder and tossed it aside. He rolled the man back over and jerked him into a sitting position. It was then that Scully saw the blood stain that was up by his left shoulder. Meanwhile Karen and Sara hadn't moved from their positions, nor had the let go of their weapons. Scully then walked over to the phone and dialed 9-1-1. She looked back to see Mulder staring at the man's wallet. "Bingo," he breathed "What?" asked Scully then turned to give the emergency operator their information. "He lives right here in town, and" here Mulder dug out a card "he has his work number." finally he seemed to remember who was there. "Are you guys okay?" "Yeah," said Karen taking a deep breath to slow her heart "We're fine," said Sara also high on adrenaline "How did he get in here?" "We heard him fiddling with the door. Karen checked it and yelled for me to call you." said Sara "Then she grabbed the drinking glasses and when he opened the door she smashed them as hard as she could over his head." "He just opened the door?" asked Mulder "He must've had a card that was cleared," said Karen "It took him 5 seconds, tops, to get in. Then he shut the door and was advancing slowly reaching for, what I now know, was his gun." "Did he say anything?" "Just that we would be coming with him," said Karen "He went to say more but that was when you came in." Scully hung up. "The ambulance should be here in about 5 minutes." she said. Mulder walked over to the phone, sat his gun down on the table and dialed the work number. He listened for a moment before pressing "7" on the number pad. Then listened a minute more before hanging up. "I take back everything I ever said about computerized answering services," he said "Let's go!" and strode towards the door. He stopped and turned towards them "I don't know why this guy was after you two, but in light of your situation and this case I'm going to go find out!" He walked out. "Um, don't we have to wait for the ambulance?" asked Sara "Yes we do," said Scully clearly torn. Finally she ran after her partner. After years of being ditched he was finally letting her know where he was going. Was she about to *choose* to stay behind? Nope! The girls stood a moment longer before running out the door after her. Mulder got into the car and waited a moment before he saw Scully and the girls come out. They climbed in and he peeled out of the parking lot. "This man worked for on the other side of town. He was a security guard." The car raced quickly over the darkened landscape as Mulder followed the instructions to "Fielder's Research Laboratory" that were safely tucked inside his photographic memory. ****************************************************************************** Motel 6 Nobody saw the black van that pulled up. And nobody noticed the men in dark suits as the walked inside to gather up their fallen comrade. They picked him up and shoved him into the van before driving out, back to "Fielder's Research Laboratory". ****************************************************************************** Fielder's Research Laboratory 11:48pm They pulled up to the Laboratory which was looking all twisted and scary in the moonlight. They walked up to the door. Without bothering to knock Mulder tried the knob. Surprisingly it was not locked. They walked in. Mulder first Scully second and the girls right behind them. They entered a room with a desk at the far corner. A secretary sat at the desk typing on her computer. To her side was an elevator. The light was harsh and the whole place felt sterile. No plants, no furniture. Just a hard metal desk where the secretary sat on a hard metal chair. The floor was some type of tile and even the walls were a stainless steel. Mulder walked up to the secretary. "I'm here to see the doctor," he said hoping this woman was not as bright as the light bulbs in the over head lights. "Dr. Fielder?" she asked not looking up "Yeah, he's on the fifth floor." she went back to her typing as if they weren't there. "Thank you," said Mulder and led everyone to the elevator. They took it to the fifth floor and walked until they found a door with Dr. Fielder written on it. Mulder knocked. "It's open!" called a voice Mulder and Scully exchanged a look. Shrugging Mulder opened the door. The room was huge! It reminded them both of Polarity Magnetics lab where Dr. Banton received his "killer shadow". Large computers filled the walls except for in a corner there seemed to be a platform surrounded by a transparent cylinder of what appeared to be a type of plastic, but probably wasn't. There were four strategically placed... large....ray..guns all pointing to the inside of the cylinder. That was the closest Karen and Sara could come to explaining it and Mulder and Scully weren't doing much better. At a large computer counsel in the center of the room a short scientist sat and fiddled with the different switches. Hearing Scully's heels he turned around, spinning on the small stool in which he was sitting. From the expression on his face it was clear he was expecting someone quite different. "Who are you?" he asked slightly suspicious "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder from the FBI" said Mulder showing his badge "and this is my partner Agent Scully." "Why are you here?" asked the scientist with a rather tired air. "One of your security guards was caught trying to kidnap two kids," said Mulder a slight edge to his voice. thought Karen indignantly <....But I guess to him we would be...> The scientist sighed as if expecting the answer. "That idiot" he muttered then looked to the girls "I take it you two are Karen and Sara." thought Karen "How do you know that?" asked Sara too surprised to be suspicious. "There has been a terrible mistake," said the scientist glancing at a clock on a computer. "We don't have much time." "What do you mean?" asked Scully "and how do you know these girls." "I don't suppose any of you have ever watched Star Trek?" he asked hopefully. They all nodded. "Well my friends," he said beaming in a way only a scientist can beam "You are looking at the very first Transdementional Transporter." Even Mulder looked skeptical. "Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction," said the scientist. "Why?" asked Mulder "Do you really think they would rely only on an untested and weak vaccine?" he said with a meaningful glance at Mulder Suddenly everything clicked into place. "They want to get rid of them." he said slowly ignoring the look Scully was giving him. The look that said, "We've actually been able to do this for over a decade, but it was only until recently that we were able to do it without having to have the transporties start or end up in this room." said Fielder as he began to prep the machine. "We've never beamed anyone in from the other place here, but..." "Now you have," finished Mulder "Yes!" said the scientist "And we weren't able to get a positive lock on the girls so I decided to bring them here. Alas my colleges seemed to misunderstand me when I asked them to bring the girls in." "Why do you beam people away but never back?" he asked "What are you talking about?" asked Fielder insulted "I always bring the test subjects back to the place they disappeared!" "Well, there is at least four people who have just "vanished" and haven't been heard of since," said Scully "Oh, don't worry about that." said Fielder "They're back now. You have my word." Mulder nodded unconvinced. "Wait a second!" said Sara "You plan to beam the aliens to where we live?! You can't do that!!!" Mulder and Scully turned to look at her in shock. "Yeah!" said Karen "You'd be forcing another earth to go through the same fate!" "What are you talking about?" said the scientist "Ever see Sliders?" asked Sara The scientist nodded. "Same thing," said Karen "Hey," said the scientist with a shrug "That's not my problem. It's yours." "That will be enough Mr. Fielder," said a voice from the shadows. "Sir!" said Fielder in a startled voice "I won't have you spilling our precious plans to any Joe Shmo that walks in," said Cancerman stepping out into the light the ever present cigarette in his hand. "But sir," said Fielder with the utmost respect "Why can't we just tell them. Then they will stop trying to hunt it out and will leave you alone." "Because they won't play by the rules," said Cancerman "Neither have you for that matter." He pulled out a gun and shot before the scientist had a chance to utter another word. Mulder's hand snapped to his gun holster and he cursed. He had forgotten to pick it up after putting it down to dial the phone. Scully, though, had hers. She pointed it at Cancerman and yelled "Federal Agent! Put the gun down!!!" "Now, now Agent Scully." said Cancerman as he slipped the gun away in his coat. "Why don't you just put the gun down so no one will get hurt." At that point an entire swat team came into the room with M-16's drawn. They filled up all usable space in the room. Scully saw immediately that she was severely out- gunned. One of the men came over and ripped the gun from her hand and put it into a small plastic bag with Mulder's gun. "Ah, it was about time I got a new gun anyway," mumbled Mulder to no one in particular. The tiny group was led at gunpoint out to the parking lot and placed in a non-discript black minivan which only had a windshield and the required driver passenger side windows. As the group was shoved into the back passenger area a black cloth was hung up to obstruct their view out the front. ****************************************************************************** Over an hour of driving later they were let out at the airport and found their bags all packed waiting for them. Mulder immediately went to a pay phone and called. "Mrs. Suwann?" he asked "Oh he has?! That's great! Oh, thank you. I'm glad things worked out. Okay, good bye." "Her son returned?" Scully wasn't really asking a question. "Yep," said Mulder "He just reappeared while they were sitting in the living room. Right in the same place he was before he disappeared." "So what do we do now?" asked Sara "We go back home," said Mulder "What about the lab?" asked Karen "Come on," said Mulder and led them to the departure gate. While they sat and waited they watched CNN on the overhead TV's. "This was just handed to me," said the anchorwoman "It appears that Fielder's Reassert Lab has been burned to the ground. We go live there right now with Ron. Ron?" The view switched to show "Ron" outside of what had been the lab. "Yes I'm here and as you can see Fielder's Research Lab has been brought to the ground by this blaze." he said indicating the wreckage behind of what had been the Lab. "So far the police are unsure as to what has caused the burn. But we have been told it was possibly faulty wiring in the building. As we all know, Fielder's Research Lab was built back in the 70's so this is a very plausible theory. This is breaking news and we will keep you posted as more evidence and clues turn up. Pam?" The camera went back to the anchorwoman. "Thank you Ron," she said "In case you are just joining us Fielder's Research Lab has been burned to the ground..." "Of course," said Karen looking at Sara. Sara nodded and gave a slight eye roll. They boarded the plane for the flight back to DC ***************************************************************************** FBI Headquarters the following day 8:30am Mulder sat at his computer and typed up the conclusion on the report. Thankfully he didn't have to explain every itty bitty detail that led up to it. Then he proceeded to fill out the request form for a new guns for him and his partner. Karen and Sara played a card game while Scully organized the file for it's trip to Skinner. Suddenly Skinner himself walked in the door. "Agent Mulder I..." he stopped and looked at Sara and Karen, who stopped playing cards and looked up at him in surprise. "Agent Mulder. Who are these children?" he asked "Sir, I would like you to meet Karen and Sara," said Mulder turning from his computer, standing up and gesturing to each girl as he called their name. Skinner regarded the girls a moment before asking. "Agent Mulder, what are they doing in here?" "They are here because they are an instrumental part to the case Agent Scully and I are working on." said Mulder "Don't you mean "were" working on?" "If you are referring to the fact that the case is solved. You would be correct." said Mulder "However there are a few things we need to do before it can be considered closed." "You have six days left. I trust that will be enough." "I'm sure it will, sir." said Mulder "Make it so," said Skinner and then he left. Karen and Sara did there best, but neither of them could help cracking a grin as the infamous Captain Picard, Director Skinner joke was brought to the foreground. Mulder and Scully just looked at each other in bewilderment. "So does anyone know how we are going to get home now?" asked Karen as Mulder printed out his conclusion. "I don't think that's what you should be worried about," said Mulder as he picked up the printing job. "Why not?" asked Sara knowing he was dead serious about this. "Cancerman knows you're here," he said "And he believes you to be a danger to his mission." "That doesn't make any sense though, Mulder" said Scully "If he thought they were a danger to the mission he would've taken care of them when we were at the lab." Karen cringed slightly at the flippant use of "taken care of". "He must have some other plan for them." she concluded reasonably. "We need to find out what it is," said Mulder Scully looked at the clock. "We need to get this report to Skinner," she said. "We'll be back. Don't leave the office!" The girls nodded. ***************************************************************************** Skinner's Office "Here's the report, sir" said Mulder "And I'm happy to say that all the missing persons have been returned." Skinner nodded and picked up the report. He flipped through it, but wasn't really reading it. Finally he looked up to the Agents seated across from him. "Agent Mulder I just got off the phone with Social Services," he said "They want the children dropped off at the Washington DC orphanage tomorrow at 8:00am" "Why?" asked Scully in her best professional manner, which wasn't as good as it normal was. Suddenly she was having an eerie sense of Deja-vu. "Agent Scully," said Skinner "According to the US Government these children are orphans, and you two are *not* their legal gardens. The case is closed and they are no longer part of it." "They're not orphans!" said Mulder "They have parents!" He mentally kicked himself for turning the report in early. If only he had waited, then he could still have used that "part of the case." excuse. "Then why can't you find them?" asked Skinner "Agent Mulder, do you really think you can run that large of a search and *not* have someone notice?" "Well, why can't..." started Mulder but Skinner interrupted "Agent Mulder don't make this any harder than it already is. You know we've been through this before. You know that *both* of your jobs prevent either of you from becoming prospective parents." Mulder slumped back into his chair. "You are dismissed," he said quietly The Agents slowly rose from their chairs and walked out the door in defeat. ***************************************************************************** Back in the Basement "What?!" cried Sara. Karen just plopped into a chair and groaned. "I can't believe this." "Isn't their anything we can do?" asked Sara Scully stared through them and shook her head. ****************************************************************************** Washington DC Orphanage 8:00am Mulder and Scully pulled up with the girls sitting in the backseat. Karen was thinking of a revolt and Sara was absorbing everything she could of the outside and trying to plan an escape route. Unfortunately the bars on the windows told both girls that either attempt at discord was probably not a good idea. All four of them walked into the building and up to the register desk. "Agents Mulder and Scully with Karen and Sara," said Mulder in a dry voice. The woman behind the desk gave a sharp nod as she wrote the names down. "Bunks 9 and 10." she said in a no nonsense voice. "Breakfast at 7:30. Lunch is at Noon, dinner is at 6:00pm. Lights out at 8:30. You'll find your uniform on your bunks." Karen and Sara turned to look at each other. Was this woman for real? They looked up at Mulder and Scully unsure of what to do. The woman looked at them. "We don't have all day kids," she said and as Mulder and Scully went to help them get settled in "We don't allow people to follow the children past those doors. Policy and all." Mulder was going crazy. This was all so frustrating! And he wasn't being allowed to do a darn thing! With one final glance at the Agents Karen and Sara passed through the doubles doors into the heart of the orphanage. Mulder and Scully watched a moment longer before turning to leave. ****************************************************************************** Location Unknown The wispy blue smoke curled around Cancerman's head and gathered in a cloud at the ceiling. Everything was going according to plan. ****************************************************************************** The Next Morning The Orphanage 7:30 Karen slowly stirred her gooey and tasteless oatmeal. she thought Sara meanwhile just stared out into space her short light brown hair hanging in wet dreadlocks locks. Evidence of the, at best, luke-warm warm showers. Karen reached over and tapped her shoulder as the head matron came in. "Karen and Sara report to the Office immediately!" she said. A couple of the kids muttered gallows marches while others just looked at them with pity. Once inside the office Karen and Sara sat down in chairs. Presently the door on the other side opened to reveal a nice middle aged couple and the social worker from the day before. "Karen and Sara?" she asked "I would like to introduce you to the Goldsmith's. They've taken an interest in both of you." "Both of us?" asked Karen "I was told you two would like to stay together if at all possible." she said. Sara and Karen nodded vigorously. "Good!" she said smiling "Then run back and change into your clothes. You'll find them cleaned, pressed and waiting for you on your bunk. Then come back and we'll get you out of here." ****************************************************************************** As Karen and Sara got their stuff together Sara turned to her best friend and asked. "Does any of this seem...um odd to you?" "You mean the fact that we are in the X-Files or the fact that after only one day they found foster parents for us." said Karen with a grin. "Yeah it does seem a little weird, but as long as we get out of here.." "Let's keep our eye's open though. Remember..." said Sara "Trust no one." "Exactly!" ****************************************************************************** En Route to the Goldsmith's "So, where are you from?" asked Mrs. Goldsmith as they drove Karen and Sara looked at each other. "Connecticut." said Karen. "Connecticut," said Mr. Goldsmith "Wonderful place! Drove through there once." The girls nodded uneasily. Mrs. Goldsmith noticed "Oh, don't you worry," she said "There is no way we are going to let you guys go back to that awful place. We are going to be one big happy family!" her voice had a syrupy sweet quality that made Sara shudder. ****************************************************************************** FBI Headquarters Basement Office 8:00am Mulder and Scully sat all but buried beneath paperwork. "Hey Scully!" called Mulder from the pile that made up his desk. "Yeah?" "I thought you said we wouldn't have any paperwork!" "In case you haven't noticed all of this is from *previous* cases." "Funny. It seems like the more I get done, the more that gets dumped on me." "Must be an X-File," said Scully. Skinner walked in. "Agents," he said handing them yet *another* big stack of papers "Accounting wants to know what expenses you plan on having next year." He thumped them down on Mulder's overflowing desk. "Sir?" asked Mulder looking at him "Since when does Accounting ask for a Pre-expense report?" "Since now." said Skinner and left. "Scully, do get the feeling that all we are doing here is busy work?" asked Mulder turning to look at his partner. She was standing at the door with her coat on. He raised his eyebrows. "Something's up." she said "Let's go get Karen and Sara," said Mulder with grin as he grabbed his stuff. They walked out of the office. ****************************************************************************** The Goldsmith's Residence 8:30am "Here are your rooms," said Mr. Goldsmith as they reached the top of the stairs of the nice two story house. "Our room is just down the hall and the bathroom is off to the left." The rooms were pretty basic as rooms go. One was done up in blue the other in dark forest green. There was a twin bed, a dresser with a mirror, a bookshelf, night stand, and a desk. The furniture looked new and to Karen's way of thinking rather cheap. The bookshelves only had four books in them each. "Animal Farm", "Catcher in the Rye", "Candide", and "Moby Dick". Although she had never read it. Karen felt as if she had found an old friend again. She decided she would take a look at it that night. They were pleasantly surprised to find clothes also. All the toiletries had even been taken care of. Everything from toothbrushes to hair ties could be found in the bathroom. "So what are we going to do today?" asked Sara "Well, today we get you settled in," said Mrs. Goldsmith "Then tomorrow we thought we'd take you down to the High School and enroll you. Luckily the schools are all on their spring break right now." "Okay," said Karen resolving *not* to go to school and accept her position in this dimension as unchangeable. ****************************************************************************** The Orphanage 10:00am "What?!" said Mulder in shock. Adopted? Already?! There was no way the paperwork would ever be able to go through that fast! "Can you tell us who...?" said Scully "I am sorry," said the social worker "Previous guardians are not allowed to have any contact with the child in question after the adoption has gone through. Unless otherwise notified by the adoptive parents. Section 28." "Thank you for your time," said Scully leading Mulder back out. "Okay, plan B" said Mulder "What's plan B?" asked Scully "I'll let you know as soon as I think of it." ****************************************************************************** Location Unknown 12:32pm "It's me guys," said Mulder into the camera "Open up." Byers answered the door. "Hello Mulder, what brings you here?" "Fielder's Research Laboratory." said Mulder as he and Scully stepped inside. "You mean what's left of it don't you?" said Langly coming in "It was burned to the ground four nights ago." "Yeah, I heard." said Mulder "Do you guys have anything on it?" "Of course we do." said Frohike "What are you looking for?" "We need to know what they were working on." said Scully "You mean you didn't know?" said Langly "They were the leading experts in teleportation." "There's actually a field?" asked Scully surprised "Not officially," said Byers with a sly smile "So Mulder. What perked your interest in them?" asked Langly "From what I hear it's all still experimental. The theory's there they just haven't quite gotten it yet.' "It's not as experimental as you think." said Mulder "What have you found out?" asked Frohike "You've heard of all those missing person reports lately right?" said Mulder The three men nodded. "And you know they're not missing for long. Well, we were at Fielder's Research Lab the night it burnt down and apparently they've actually gotten it to work." said Mulder "Man," whispered Langly and the other two men gave low whistles. "What I wouldn't give to have some proof of that." "We do have proof," said Scully "Sort of." They turned to look at her. "Two girls were transported from their homes, but never back." "Where are they?" asked Frohike "They're in an orphanage right now," said Mulder "Or were. But they've been adopted and we aren't allowed to see them." "You mean you were actually with them?" asked Byers "Yeah." "And you let them go?" said Langly in shock "We didn't have a choice," said Scully stepping forward "Now we need to know about what they were doing." "I think this time you know more than we do." said Frohike Mulder sighed. This was not what he had wanted to hear. "Maybe not." said Byers "Langly do you still have those read- outs?" "Right!" said Langly understanding "Let me go get them." The gunman came back with a line graph that rose sharply. "We recorded this a few nights ago, it came from the region of Fielder's lab." he said "What is it?" asked Mulder "It's a graph of their power intake." said Byers "Beaming someone up takes a lot of juice." "There was also this." said Frohike. He flipped on one of the computers and pulled up a file. "This is normal," he said pointing to all the line waves that flowed slowly over the black background of the screen. "and this...(here the screen changed to show the waves moving around a point to create a tiny island of black on the screen.) is what we recorded." "It's a tear in the fabric of space." said Langly with more than a little glee. "How much energy does it take them to do this?" asked Scully "The only thing that would put out that type of energy would be a nuclear reactor." said Byers with a shrug. "There are dozens of nuclear reactors in this country." said Mulder. "Yeah, that's a problem." said Langly "Let me know the *instant* anything happens." said Mulder "We will." said Frohike ****************************************************************************** The Goldsmiths 11:38pm Karen paged through "Moby Dick" as she waited for the assigned meeting time that she and Sara had come up with. When the clock blinked to show 11:42 she quietly opened her door and let Sara in. "I refuse to go to school here," said Sara "Glad we agree." "If only there was a way we could contact Mulder and Scully." said Karen. "There is!!!" said Sara just barely keeping her voice down. "How?" asked Karen confused. "I know Scully's cell phone number!" said Sara "Remember the movie? When Mulder called Scully because he was stuck in the vending room? Well, I paused it on the video and it actually showed her number! It was...555...0113!" "Now I remember," said Karen "There was a big thing on the internet owing to the fact that the last four digits could be rearranged to show 1013! But wait. Don't we need the area code?" "Should be in the phone book." said Sara "There are only two possibilities. Where she lives and where she works. Do you remember where she lives?" "Georgetown?" "Yeah, I think that was it. Let's go!" They quietly opened the door and crept downstairs. Luckily the Goldsmith's were already sawing logs. They found the phone and phone book in the kitchen. It was cordless phone and they moved into the living room to be as far away from the adults as possible. Karen flipped through the phone book as quietly as the pages would allow. "Here it is!" whispered Karen "DC 202, and Georgetown...hmm. where is that exactly?" "I have no clue." said Sara "But she can't live all that far away, let's try it!" Karen picked up the phone and dialed... ****************************************************************************** Scully's Apartment 11:45pm The electronic ring sounded from somewhere inside Scully's trenchcoat on the kitchen table. In the bedroom Scully sleepily rolled over and glanced at the clock. There was only one person who ever called her this late. She got out of bed and staggered to the kitchen. As the phone rang for the third time she fumbled around with her trenchcoat trying to identify the pocket she had put it in. Finally on the fourth ring she pulled it out. "Scully." she said "Scully, it's me. Karen" said the voice on the other end. "Karen?" she asked "How did you get my number? Where are you?" "We're at the Goldsmith's" said Karen "Both of you?" "Yes, we were adopted early this morning." "I know, Mulder and I came to find you, but they said you were already gone. Do you know the address?" "No, Scully? Wait a second." said Karen. Over the phone Scully could hear two hushed voices rapidly talking to eachother. "Scully?" said Karen after about 10 seconds "Yeah?" "Sara just remembered that the Goldsmith's were going to take us down to the High School tomorrow and enroll us." "Do you know which one?" "Uh, no..how many are there?" "You mean in all of Washington DC?" "Uh, that would be a *lot*. Right?" "Yeah." "Hang on a second." said Karen. About a minute later. "Okay, we were able to find their address on a piece of mail. We are in the town of Anacostia." "You're right across the river then." said Scully "Okay, I can find your high school by using the address. Mulder and I will try to meet you there tomorrow. We aren't "officially" allowed to see you so.." "Gotcha." said Karen "We better get going." "Okay," said Scully. They hung up. ****************************************************************************** A High School (whos name I don't know cuz I've never been to Washington DC) 9:30am "Okay," said the councilor. "We have you both set up for your classes. What I can do is clear you for access around the building so you can get an idea as to where all your classes are. Is that something you would be interested in?" "Yes," said Karen. "Do you want us to come with you?" asked Mrs. Goldsmith couldn't quite seem to realize that they were teenagers and not 4 year olds. "Or would you rather do this on your own." "I think we can get it done on our own. Do you guys have any shopping to do? You could go do that then come pick us up when you are done." said Sara "Actually, yes. I do have a bit of shopping to do. Mostly grocery, so you won't miss anything." she gave a big fake smile. "Okay," said Karen "So we should meet you out front say..." "How's noon sound?" "That sounds good." said Karen "Long list?" "Well, we can't let you go to school without food can we?" said Mr. Goldsmith "Go ahead and get going, we'll see you at noon." "Okay," said Sara and the girls left. ****************************************************************************** Somewhere in the Science wing 10:00am "Have they left yet?" asked Karen "Yup, they're finally pulling out." said Sara as she peeked through the curtains. "Okay, let's go call Scully and tell them the coast is clear." said Karen "Is that the plan?" asked Sara "Kinda, it's the general idea." They walked until they found the pay phones. Then they both glanced around looking for any camera's. Fortunately there wasn't one in this section of the hall. Karen dialed the number. "Scully? Yeah, we're in. Where are you guys? The southern parking lot...that's by the football field isn't it? Okay, we'll meet you in the hallway that leads to the locker rooms. Bye." The girls took the round-about way making sure to stop by each of their assigned classrooms to allay suspicion. They arrived at the field five minutes later. "What took you so long?" asked Mulder as the girls showed up practically beaming. "We wanted to make sure they wouldn't suspect anything." said Sara. "Have you found out anything?" asked Karen "Not really." said Scully "but if we do we'll let you know." The girls looked slightly less enthusiastic. "How will you do that?" asked Karen "You can't exactly call the house and ask for us. And if we keep giving you midnight calls eventually they'll catch on." "Here," said Mulder as he pulled something out of his pocket. "It's a beeper. I've set it so it will vibrate when I beep you." "Why didn't you ever *tell* me you had a beeper?!" asked Scully "I kind of forgot," said Mulder sheepishly. "We probably should be getting back." said Sara glancing at the school. "Okay," said Mulder "When I beep you, just call Scully seeing as you already have her number memorized." The girls nodded and both companies parted ways. ****************************************************************************** Somewhere in Washington DC 10:58pm Cancerman watched as the screen flickered to life to show another man with blond hair. "What do you want?" asked the man "I'm busy." "Have you seen the news lately?" asked Cancerman "You didn't!" said the man turning slightly pale. "Ah, but I did." said Cancerman taking a puff "It's been done." "How could you? Two children!" said the blond man Cancerman waved his hand in the air. A dismissive gesture. "They'll return eventually. Is everything ready?" "Yes," sighed the blond man "Good," said Cancerman. "You know Mr. Carter. I don't know why you seem so upset. I know many people who would kill to be in your shoes. Especially the romantics." "Don't go there." said Carter "As you wish," said Cancerman and terminated the communication. ****************************************************************************** Mulder's Apartment 11:06pm Mulder laid on his couch with his arm over his face while Scully sat at the desk. He didn't know why, but he knew it would be tonight. Had to be tonight. "It's a good thing you gave them your cell number," he said to Scully. "I didn't." she said "I thought you gave it to them." Mulder lifted his arm and looked at her. Just then his cell rang. "Mulder." "Mulder! We got it!" it was Frohike "It's coming from right here in DC!" "Which one?" asked Mulder he had done some research earlier. "There are three." "Hold on," said Frohike "Okay here it is!" ****************************************************************************** The Goldsmith's 11:11pm Karen laid in bed and made a wish or a prayer. She couldn't tell which. Suddenly the beeper rattled on the night stand and fell to the floor. She quickly scooped it up thanking someone. She then proceeded to get dressed into her old clothes before creeping down the hall to Sara's room. Moments later they were down in the living room on the phone with Scully. "Okay," said Karen hanging up. "They're down at the end of the street. Let's go!" "What about them?" asked Sara nodding in the direction of the Goldsmith's room "They're part of it!" said Karen "I know," said Sara "but they were nice anyway. It doesn't happen all that often." "We'll leave them a note." said Karen hanging up the phone in the kitchen. She took out a pen and paper and scrawled a quick note. "Let's go." said Sara, satisfied. ****************************************************************************** They jogged down the street to the waiting grey Taurus and climbed in. Without turning on the headlights Mulder drove off. "Where are we going?" asked Sara "A nuclear reactor," said Mulder turning on the head lights as they turned onto another street. "Is that where the new one is?" asked Karen He nodded. ****************************************************************************** Nuclear Power Plant 11:21pm They pulled up to the Nuclear Reactor building. Locking the car Mulder took a quick stock of his surroundings. Something he had learned to do during his work in the X-Files. You never knew what you might need to know. They walked up to the door and pulled. This time it was locked. They walked around until they found the service entrance. Once inside they looked around for some sort of directory. "This one is privately owned," said Mulder "I don't think we'll find much." "Will a fire escape plan do?" asked Karen studying it. "Yeah," said Mulder coming over. He quickly scanned the paper. "It's here." he said pointing to a room that was the same as all of the others "Why that one?" asked Scully "It's where the fire escape path originates." replied Mulder "Someone didn't expect us to get this far." said Scully They headed for the room. ****************************************************************************** They reached the door. Mulder made a silent count to three and kicked the door open. He and Scully burst in with guns drawn and pointing all over. They found Cancerman hunched over a counsel like the other scientist had been. He turned around in surprise when the agents came in, then quickly light a cigarette. "Mr. Mulder," he said "Can the act!" said Mulder "I want you to transport these girls back home!" "Or what?" said Cancerman "You'll shoot me. Really Agent Mulder. How far would that get you? I'm the only one left who knows how to work this thing." "It doesn't have to be a fatal shot," growled Mulder "I hear the knee is pretty painful." "Now really," said Cancerman taking another puff "You wouldn't want me to make an error because of my suffering. It could have "undesirable" effects." Outside in the hall Karen grimaced while Sara had sudden flashbacks to Star Trek: The Movie. She shuddered. "But I was planning on doing it anyway." said Cancerman "Karen, Sara please come inside." Karen and Sara poked their heads in the door before cautiously walking inside. "Now stand on that platform over there," said Cancerman "Wait!" said Mulder "Why are you doing this?" "Their parents are worried Agent Mulder." he said "Surely you don't want to keep them waiting. It's been a long 6 days." Karen blinked Mulder hesitated and looked at Scully. She looked back at him He looked to the girls. "I'll do it." volunteered Karen "Not without me you aren't." said Sara They stepped up onto the platform. "I already tested it." said Cancerman "It left as an apple and it returned as an apple." "Thank you," said Sara as they began to materialize, looking at Mulder and Scully. "For everything." finished Karen. And then they were gone. ****************************************************************************** In Southern California 11:30pm Chris Carter sat at in his office. They had just gotten done filming and he was just about to get up and go home when he heard a humming. He looked up to see Karen and Sara materialize. He blinked. Yep, there they were. Just like Cancerman had said they would be. Of course they were still a whole country away from their home, but that was nothing. At least they were now in the right dimension. Karen and Sara looked at Chris. Then at each other. Then back to Chris. They had seen too many interviews to doubt who it was they were looking at. "You made it." said Chris breaking the silence "Yeah," said Karen slowly "We made it." "I'm..." began Sara "Sara and Karen," said Chris. They nodded. Just then the phone rang. Chris walked over to his computer "Hold on a second" he said flipping it on. "Yes?" "Did they make it?" asked Cancerman from the other end "Yes they made it." said Chris "Do you have it?" asked Cancerman "Yes, I have it." he turned to open a drawer with a key and pulled out a wad of money. "Leave it on the "x" on the floor." said Cancerman Chris walked over and put the money on the floor. "You might want to move." he said to Karen and Sara. They did. The money disappeared. "I trust it's all there?" said Chris "I'm sure it is," said Cancerman "It's a pleasure to do business with you Mr. Carter. I'm hoping you'll be able to get these young ladies home?" "Yes," said Chris "Until next week then," said Cancerman then ended the transmission. "Are you ready to go home now?" asked Chris "Yeah," said Karen "Cancerman is the one who gives you ideas?" asked Sara "He's more like a reporter," said Chris "They aren't going to teleport the aliens over hear are they?" "No, for some reason it doesn't work on their biology." ****************************************************************************** Back at the Nuclear Plant "I want to thank you Agent Mulder for bringing those kids in," said Cancerman. "But I'm afraid I can't let you leave with the knowledge of this place's existence." Mulder's eyes widened and the all too familiar SWAT team rushed in. Seconds later he and Scully were both being escorted out into vans and given shots. ****************************************************************************** Washington DC Hospital The next morning Mulder opened his eyes, he was laying in a bed in a hospital. The room swirled about and he quickly shut them again. He re-opened them. Good, the world wasn't spinning anymore. He glanced over and saw Scully in another bed. he thought silently He thought some more. He couldn't remember. All he remembered was solving the case and something..the girls! That's right! They had gone home after the case was solved. Home. Home to Connecticut. Funny, all he could remember was what they looked like and their first names. Karen and Sara. ****************************************************************************** The Goldsmith's 9:30am Mrs. Goldsmith came downstairs and started the coffee pot. It was then she noticed a post-a-note on the counter by the phone. "Thanks for the hospitality. Karen & Sara" She shook her head. It didn't matter. Cancerman would've picked them up today anyway. ****************************************************************************** FBI Headquarters 10:00am "Agent Mulder you are the luckiest man I know." said Skinner as the agents sat across from them. "I don't know how you did it, but you managed to get both you and agent Scully out into the hall right before your heater blew up." Mulder nodded. "Were you two able to get a good look at your new case report before it happened?" asked Skinner. "No, sir." said Mulder "Okay," said Skinner "I'll get the back up copies down to your office. You've been cleared to stay at a motel while they fix your apartment." Mulder nodded. "You are dismissed." The agents got up and walked out. ****************************************************************************** Basement Office 10 minutes later "Mulder?" said Scully "When did your apartment heater blow up?" "I'm not sure Scully." he said looking at her. "It's just that I can't remember it happening." she said her brow furrowing. "Neither can I." said Mulder. "Something happened. Something with those girls. I just can't remember what. And I don't think it had anything to do with my apartment." ****************************************************************************** Los Angeles International Airport 10:13am Chris drove the girls to the airport. "So he's been doing this all along?" asked Karen "Yeah, pretty much." said Chris "He called me up one day and gave me the idea. Said that if it worked he wanted a cut in the profits." "But how can he call to this dimension?" asked Sara "It's one of the technologies they picked up from the aliens." said Chris "They weren't able to use it in the fight directly so they turned it over to Cancerman. You know he's always wanted to be a writer." The girls nodded "Well, the people in this dimension seem to like his writing more than the people in the other dimension." "What does he do with all the money?" asked Karen "I imagine he uses it to fund the project," said Chris "I really don't know." "Does anyone in the other dimension know what he is doing?" asked Sara "No, I don't think he's told anybody." said Chris pulling the car to a stop. "Now your parents have been notified that you are coming. You'll have a layover in Dallas. Here's my e-mail. Use it if you get stuck." "Thanks Chris," said Sara getting out "And..uh..don't tell anybody about this." asked Chris "They think I'm crazy enough as it is." "I doubt they'd believe us even if we did," said Karen The girls walked into the terminal and boarded their plane. THE N D *Like it? Hate it? Think I shouldn't give up my day job? Let me know!* -Happy