Chapter 4
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The following takes place between 2:00pm and 3:00 pm Pacific
Time, 3:00 pm and 4:00pm Mountain Time and 4:00pm and
5:00pm Central Time.
x-x-x
Milo Pressman's cubicle
CTU
Los Angeles, CA
2:00pm PT
"What have you got?" Tony had a cup of coffee for himself and a
Sprite for Milo.
"Mr. Mulder's only family is his wife and a son named William.
Both parents are dead, father in the mid 1990's, mother in early
2000. Had a sister who was kidnapped in 1973 and killed in the late
1970's."
"That's a tough break."
"He was married for ten minutes in 1989 to a lawyer in Washington
named Susan Morgan. Her name turns up on some of his legal
documents so I'm guessing they're on decent terms."
"Dr. Scully's family?"
"Father is deceased. Navy Captain, died about six months after
retiring. Sister died in a shooting in Dr. Scully's apartment.
Mistaken identity according to the FBI file, Dr. Scully was the
intended target."
"Jesus, these two."
"Mother is alive, living in Northport Bay, New York. She's living
with one son, a retired Navy pilot who now flies corporate jets, the
son's wife and their three children. The other brother is still in the
Navy, runs the Naval Undersea Warfare Center at Pearl."
"The brother flying jets, any chance he's on the West Coast?"
"I've got a call into their L.A. offices right now. You think we're
that lucky?"
"I'm hoping the Mulder family is that lucky."
x-x-x
CTU jet
3:05pm MT
Jack found some markers and a legal pad. He took a pint of milk
used for coffee from the mini-fridge near the cockpit and found a
paper cup. He was hoping being kind to the boy would open up
the parents. As he neared the Mulder family, the plane hit some
turbulence, causing Jack to tumble head first into the empty seat
next to Mulder.
"First time on an airplane?" Mulder asked, as William giggled and
his mother tried ssshhing him. At least Jack thought it was William
Dr. Scully was trying to quiet.
Struggling back to his feet, Jack handed her the milk and the cup. "I
brought this back for you, William." Jack reached under the vacant
chair and pulled out a tray table. He fixed it over William Mulder's
seat and gave the boy the paper, pens and now a desk to draw on.
Looking at the Mulder parents, he could see they were wildly
unimpressed.
"What do you say, William?" Mulder said with little enthusiasm.
"Thank you." The boy replied with a smile before turning to his
father. "Hellycopter."
Mulder leaned over and printed the word on the top of the page. He
repeated "helicopter" to his son and the boy started to write the
word on the page.
"We don't have any coloring books or anything like that. If you
need more paper, William, you just need to tell me."
William looked at his mother who handed him a cup of milk.
"Thank you." He nearly guzzled down the milk.
"Does he need anything else?"
"He has this great toy at home, if you could just swing by." Mulder
replied.
"Mr. Mulder, I realize you don't want to be here...."
"Mr. Bauer, we're not helping you, we're not going to cooperate,
we're out of this. There was an agreement. We get on with our
lives, the world gets on with theirs."
"It isn't that simple."
"Yes, Mr. Bauer, it is. Leave us alone."
"There was a craft shot down..."
"Mr. Bauer," Scully interrupted, "you have the wrong people. We're
no help to you. My husband has been out of the FBI for years. I've
been working full-time in medicine since the beginning of 2003.
Special Agent Monica Reyes and Special Agent John Doggett are in
a far better position to assist you in this investigation than a writer
and a BIA doctor."
"Both Agent Reyes and Agent Doggett will be meeting with us in
Los Angeles with an Assistant Director Skinner."
"Hail, hail the gang's all here." Mulder mumbled.
"Excuse me?"
"If you have two FBI Agents and an Assistant Director coming out
to help you, why drag us out of our lives?" Scully asked.
"I need your help, I need to know what you know."
"No, you don't." Mulder replied.
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Milo Pressman's cubicle
CTU
Los Angeles, CA
2:15pm PT
"Tony, I got something."
Tony was returning from the commissary with what looked like a
tuna wrap and a Snapple iced tea. The plan was to have lunch with
Michelle, but that plan crashed right next to the craft in Twenty-nine
Palms.
"What's up?"
"Execjet called back. Charles Scully is in San Diego for three days
as the personal pilot for some Atlantic City casino big shots. He
landed around noon, they're paging him right now."
"Call the Navy, if he's a reservist, he's about to serve his country and
bail out his sister."
"What's going on here?" Ryan Chappelle joined the conversation.
Before Milo could answer, Tony told him, "Dr. Scully and Mr.
Mulder are on a plane coming here. The FBI has several specialists
who should be here around 6PM, we're making progress."
"I'd like to be in on the debriefing of either Dr. Scully or Mr. Mulder
when they arrive."
"I'm sure that can be arranged, Ryan, but I was under the impression
that you thought they didn't have much to add to the investigation."
"I don't. I just want to make sure." Chappelle walked away.
"Ryan doesn't need to know about Charles Scully?" Milo needed to
know what Ryan's need-to-know level was.
"The less Chappelle knows, the better. Let Jack handle him."
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CTU jet
3:20pm MT
Jack returned to Michelle, who was just finishing a call.
"Twentynine Palms Hospital just called."
"How are the Corpsmen?" Jack sat down across from her and
glanced at the Bureau of Indian Affairs' bio on Dr. Dana Scully.
"Critical. No one knows what's wrong with them."
"Want to bet?" Jack leaned into the aisle and looked at the Mulder
family. "Call the hospital back, get a full description of their
injuries and their condition."
"OK."
"Call the base, any pictures of the craft, the wounded men at the
scene of the crash, have them sent to us here. Worse the pictures
are, the better."
"You have an idea."
"I might." He started flipping through Mulder's FBI record. "Do
you have anything on Mr. Mulder's cases in 1990?"
Michelle started flipping through the faxed personnel records. "Mr.
Mulder was in the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit in 1990. He was,
my God, he was everywhere in 1990. Seattle, Detroit, Lafayette
Louisiana, Santa Fe, Ft. Bragg, Dallas."
"Ft. Bragg?"
"August 1990, there was a string of dead prostitutes...."
"Just outside the military base. Get me the records from the
hospital and the base, bring them to me when you have them both."
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FBI jet
2:20pm CT
The ringing of Walter Skinner's cell phone startled the hell out of
Doggett and Reyes. She was doing the Times crossword puzzle, he
was napping.
"Skinner."
"Mr. Skinner, my name is Charles Scully. Dana Scully is my
sister."
"Yes, Mr. Scully, what can I do for you?"
John Doggett's eyebrows went up. In the years he knew Dana
Scully, he'd heard of the brothers but never met either one. A
missing partner, a baby, a kidnaped baby and giving up the child -
neither of the Scully men had bothered to show up. Why now?
"A few years ago, Dana gave me this number and said if anyone
contacted me about her I should call you."
Monica wrote "Charles or Bill?" on the bottom of the paper before
showing it to Skinner. He pointed to Charles' name so both agents
could see it.
"Someone contacted you?"
"A Milo Pressman from CTU in LA is looking for me about my
sister. Mr. Skinner, I thought she was being paranoid when she
gave me your card but CTU? They don't screw around."
"Your sister and Mulder are of great interest to CTU right now. It
looks above board, as best as I can tell."
"Then why do they want to see me?"
"William."
"What's the matter with him?"
"Nothing, except Mulder and Dana took off when CTU expressed
an interest in speaking with them."
"And they were caught?"
"They're in custody. I think CTU wants to find a friendly family
member to stay with William."
"Well, they've contacted my boss and I'm on paid leave until further
notice. They want me to call and arrange a trip to Los Angeles."
"I don't know if your sister will work with CTU."
"Mr. Skinner, my sister has never walked away from someone
needing help."
"Your sister has other commitments, commitments that possibly
exclude her from helping."
"So."
"I would hate to see people at CTU use William against her.
Threatening to take him and put him in foster care...."
"They've done nothing wrong, they can't make her turn over her
son."
"Mr. Scully, they've managed to get you an extended leave in less
than an hour of trying, I would imagine it wouldn't be difficult for
CTU to have William in the tender mercies of the State of
California's child welfare system and your sister and Mulder in jail
without much effort."
"I'll do what they ask."
"Give me your cell number. I should be in Los Angeles in about
three hours. Either I'll call you when I arrive or you call me with
your location if you have the boy with you. I'll make sure you're
safe. I know that's what Dana would want."
"What about my sister?"
"They need your sister, they need Mulder. I don't think anything's
going to happen to them."
"You don't *think*?"
"I've been given some assurances, just not enough. With Dana and
Mulder, you just don't know. I don't think CTU quite understands
what they've got and who they're dealing with."
x-x-x
CTU jet
3:30pm MT
Jack rejoined the Mulder family. Mulder had written "airplane,"
"globe," and "Mommy" on the paper with William writing the
words ten times each.
"He writes very well for a little boy." was Jack's opening.
Mulder looked up at Jack, mumbling, "He has a brilliant mother."
William urgently pulled at his mother. "What's the matter?" Scully
asked.
The child whispered in her ear while Mulder kept a careful eye on
Jack. Scully smiled, said "You're a good boy, William." and started
unbuckling his seat belt and fiddling with the table tray. "I assume
you have a bathroom on this plane, Mr. Bauer?"
"Yes ma'am, at the very back of the plane."
"Nice going, William." Mulder saw his son smile at the
compliment, so he smiled back.
Scully unfastened her seatbelt and carried the boy to the back of the
plane.
Jack dropped himself into William's empty seat. "This doesn't have
to be difficult, Mr. Mulder."
"No, it does."
"Why?"
"I get a phone call, I go for a trip with my family and suddenly the
Colorado State Police have me face down on the asphalt. We're
dragged, against our will on this plane and now we're going God
knows where. You'll excuse me if losing control of my life and my
family has made me difficult."
"I expected more of you."
"Oh no, another government official disappointed in me. How will
I ever get through the day?"
"You were something else at Ft. Bragg. Everyone thought you'd be
running the BSU by now."
"No, I just shot the head of BSU after he murdered several people.
Didn't like the career trajectory that position took."
"You don't remember me?"
"Mr. Bauer, if you're talking about the Working Girls Murders
around 1990, no I don't remember you."
"I remember you. You knew the minute you got there that it was
the civilian contractor who was doing the killing."
"It was a logical conclusion based on the facts that were available.
That's why I was brought in, to make that conclusion and be
difficult about it."
"So how do you go from being the FBI's go-to-guy, fast track,
mover and shaker to living in the middle of Bumblefuck, Utah?"
"I don't think they use the word 'fuck' in Utah. It's a very
conservative state."
"Your wife was teaching at Quantico, she can't be happy here."
"I've made that remark to her any number of times, she claims she
is. My wife isn't a liar, Mr. Bauer, I think she likes Bumblefuck
with the boy and me."
"All you need to do is answer some questions." Jack became
distracted as Michelle made her way down the aisle. She handed
him a number of pages and a hand written note.
"Excuse me." Scully returned carrying an obviously sleepy William.
"He got a little airsick in the bathroom. I think a nap will do him
some good."
Jack switched to the chair next to Mulder's. Mulder got up and
helped Scully get William comfortable in his chair. Mulder gave
the boy his leather jacket as a blanket and a small kiss on the
forehead. "Sorry, little man. You'll feel better when you wake up."
Jack watched Dr. Scully buckle herself in - she was furious. The
woman who smiled and brought her son to the bathroom was now
as angry as her husband.
"I cleaned up the bathroom as best I could."
"I'll have it taken care of."
"I can't begin to thank you enough for now making my son ill."
Mulder returned to his seat. "We won't help you. In fact, we're
done."
"Mr. Mulder."
"Done."
Jack flipped through the papers Michelle gave him. He tucked the
handwritten note into his pocket and looked at the photos. "I'm
sorry your son is airsick Dr. Scully, Mr. Mulder. I'm sorry I had to
call and interrupt your seemingly idyllic life two hundred miles
from Salt Lake City and five hundred miles from anywhere but
there are two Navy corpsmen dying in a California hospital and no
one knows why." Jack tossed one photo of one sick corpsman to
Dr. Scully, dropped the other on Mulder's lap. "Whatever your
drama is, they're now a part of it and if they die and you can save
them, well then you're not much of a doctor, Dr. Scully. And
whatever anger issues you have at God, the government or anything
else, Mr. Mulder, just remember those young men have parents who
love them as much as you love your son."
Jack stood up and started down the aisle. He was about half way
back to his seat when he heard her call, "Mr. Bauer?"
Jack turned around and looked at Scully.
"If you contact a Dr. Karen Sanders or a Dr. Thomas Wald, they
probably can help you. Both were doctors at Eielson Air Force
Base in early 1995. They'll know what to do." She looked at
Mulder and looked back at Jack. "They've seen this before." She
held both photos out to him.
Jack walked back to retrieve the pictures. "Thank you."
"Oh, and Mr. Bauer." This time it was Mulder.
"Yes, Mr. Mulder."
"The reason I didn't recognize you is because we didn't interview
any of the Special Forces team members during the Working Girls
case."
"Why not?"
"If any of you were stupid enough to want to kill some of the local
hookers, you all were much better trained than leaving them in
dumpsters behind fast food joints. But since you weren't there, you
wouldn't have known that."
"I got to Ft. Bragg in 1992. Knew about the murders from some of
the other men on the team. How did you know I was Special
Forces?"
"Logical conclusion."
"Mr. Mulder, Dr. Scully, we need your help. No more games."
"No, nothing, Mr. Bauer. You played the medical card with my
wife, she's got family in the military, so you got her help. That's all
you're getting."
Jack returned to Michelle with his first answer of the day.
x-x-x
"You don't approve." Scully switched seats to sit next to Mulder.
"You wouldn't leave those men to die."
"I couldn't."
Mulder kissed his wife on the cheek, "And Bauer figured that out.
How sick is he?"
"The milk came back up, but you know he doesn't deal well with
being sick."
"Wonder where he got that from?"
"What do we do when we get off the plane?"
"Protect William, keep our mouths shut and hope that we can call
Skinner and get out of this."
"We shouldn't have run."
"They were coming. Would this have been any better with you at
the clinic and Bauer and storm troopers knocking down our front
door?"
"I guess we're out of Utah?"
"We're probably out of America after this."
"Maybe we'll see your little Finnish fishing village after all."
x-x-x
CTU jet
3:50PM MT/2:50PM PT
Jack dialed the number of the Colorado State Police Headquarters.
The officer in charge wouldn't leave a message with Michelle, just
his name.
"Mr. Bauer, we brought Mr. Mulder's Range Rover into the
impound lot."
"What's in it?"
"They've got enough to travel a few days - shirts, shoes, looks like
they were planning a short trip."
"I figured as much, why are you calling?
"It's the engine sir."
"What about it?"
"It's not exactly factory installed."
"What do you mean?"
"The engine is huge. I'm guessing 750 horsepower, no problem.
The ignition system, I've never seen anything like it. There is a
double fuel tank."
"How fast could this car go?"
"Probably zero to 150 in nothing flat. Probably could go 150 miles
an hour for eight hundred miles or so, no problem. The engine
probably ran 'em $50K."
"What are you doing with the vehicle?"
"Right now I have the two state mechanics looking at the thing in
wonder and awe. We'll lock it up with the rest of the cars in the
lot."
"Can you do me a favor? Drive it back to Mr. Mulder's home in
Montezuma Creek. You should have the address."
"Usually we have the owners of the car pick it up."
"Based on that engine, I'm sure you can detail two of your deputies,
one driving, one following in a car behind it, to Mr. Mulder's home
and leave it in his driveway."
"Alright, Mr. Bauer, I'm sure I can get someone for that
assignment."
As soon as Jack hung up, the phone from the cockpit rang.
"We're landing in about five to eight minutes." Frank advised.
"They've got a chopper ready to take you all to headquarters."
"Thanks Frank." Jack knew he had about fifteen minutes to figure
out what he was going to do with a sick little boy and his difficult
parents.
x-x-x
Guest Office
CTU
Los Angeles, CA
2:55pm PT
"Ryan, are you in there?" Milo's voice came through the phone's
speaker.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I've got a call for you from a Mr. Philip Nolan from State on line
two."
"Send it in please." Ryan was startled by the call. Nolan only
called CTU once before, when George Mason was running things
downtown. Mason ordered Chuck Molloy to take care of an
assignment for a Nolan at State. Chuck never returned. When the
called rang through, Chappelle answered quickly.
"Mr. Chappelle, I heard you're a man who can get things done at
CTU." Nolan opened.
"I try my best, sir."
"Don't just try on this one, Mr. Chappelle. I see you have Dana
Scully, Fox Mulder and their child in custody."
"They'll be here shortly."
"Mr. Mulder and Ms. Scully are not needed on this incident out in
the desert."
"I've tried to explain that to both Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida."
"I'm sure you have, Mr. Chappelle, but being headstrong men in the
rush of an interesting case, they're not easily swayed."
"Do you want me to sway them?"
"Heavens no, Mr. Chappelle. I want to make sure Mr. Mulder and
Ms. Scully aren't available to help. I'm going to send you their un-
redacted files. I'm sure you'll find a way to keep them busy. In fact,
I insist."
"Yes, sir." The line suddenly went dead and his e-mail notification
chimed.
x-x-x
Thanks so much to beta-queen Shari who puts up with my comma issues.
Feedback yes, pointy sticks no!
maureen_b_ocks@yahoo.com