Chapter 8 x-x-x The following takes place between 6:00pm and 7:00pm Pacific Time. x-x-x Conference room two CTU 6:00pm PT "No one is to leave this room" was Jack Bauer's final command to Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Doggett, Reyes, Charles Scully and young William Mulder. "Like William was going to take a car and go to Disneyland." Doggett said as Jack went to find Ryan. "Hey, William, what's up, my man?" Doggett went over to the boy and put out his hand. "Hi, Mitter. John." William gave Doggett a big smile and shook his hand. "Hi, Miss Monica. Hi, Uncle Charlie and Mitter Walter." "Mister Walter and Mister John." Mulder corrected automatically. "Mr. John?" Charles asked. "Your brother was offended that he called one of the Dana's friends as Aunt Edie. Everyone's been mister or miss since." "While this reunion has been fun, you said you have a plan." Skinner wanted to get down to business before Bauer returned. Scully looked around the conference room. "The room's probably bugged." "Probably, but let's try any way." Skinner put the conference room phone on Bauer's chair, removed his jacket and covered the speaker with it. Mulder tossed his leather jacket over the video camera on the computer's monitor. Reyes and Doggett checked under the far end of the conference room table, not finding any listening devices. The adults gathered at the far end of the conference table. Scully hauled William over with her - she was not letting go of the little boy. "S-P-E-L-L anything you don't want repeated." Scully tipped her head at her little boy. John stated the obvious. "We need to get the three of you out of here." "Agreed, but I don't think Mr. Bauer is open to that." Charles took the pitcher of water and poured some into a paper cup. "We need to put William somewhere very public and somewhere he can very easily blend in." Mulder said. "D-I-S-N-E-Y?" Doggett wondered out loud. "Too close." Mulder stated. "V-E-G-A-S." "I've read it's getting more kid friendly." Monica said. "Cameras. Video cameras everywhere. Lots of security. Someone comes up and tries to take W-I-L-L-I-A-M, there's a ton of video and even more security." Scully said. "Mr. Bauer brought me here to stay with him." Charles said. "You staying with him isn't the issue." Mulder told him. "The two of you staying here is the issue. Before you arrived, someone tried to take W-I-L-L-I-A-M." "Do you think this is a chance to take H-I-M?" Skinner moved to the end of the table, grabbing the pens and paper Michelle left earlier. "You don't believe the story in Twentynine Palms." "Oh, I believe that." Mulder said. "Shocker there." Doggett mumbled. Mulder continued. "But I also think that there are people out there who wouldn't mind improvising. That's what this guy," Mulder picked up Chappelle's hairpiece, "was up to." x-x-x Interrogation room 2 CTU 6:05pm "Who is Philip Nolan, Ryan?" Jack asked as he entered the room. "No." "What do you mean, no? Who is Philip Nolan? Milo said you had a phone call from him earlier today and now he's just tried to take the body or whatever the hell landed in the desert from the Twentynine Palms hospital." Ryan shook his head, amazed by the line of questioning. "Use your head, Jack." "What does...." And then it hit Jack. It was an alias, probably shared by several men - men who were similar enough to pass as each other - just as he and five other CTU agents were known as Jack Roush. "Who does Nolan work for?" "Calls always come through the State Department." "Calls? There have been other calls?" "In the past, Nolan's called asking for bank accounts or wire transfers to disappear in investigations." "And you did it?" "National security, Jack. If an IRS Agent investigating an American based subsidiary of the Drazens' copper business for tax violations ran into some of the work you were doing in 1998, they'd get a call from Philip Nolan in the State Department asking for that information to disappear from their report." "And people did this?" "When you get a call from Philip Nolan, you do what your told." "And you were told to take away William Mulder from his mother." "I was told to stop Dr. Scully and Mr. Mulder from cooperating with whatever you're doing. After reading their file...." "A file I was not given access to." Jack interrupted. "After reading their file, it's obvious that he went off the rails years ago and she went along for a ride on the crazy train. The child seemed to be the best way to get them distracted." "What will happen to you if they're involved in the investigation?" "I don't know. I'd prefer not to find out." "I'm keeping you in custody until this is over. I'll make damn sure Philip Nolan, in whatever version he appears, knows that you did your best to take that child away from his mother." "I'm not staying in custody." "Ryan, you're not going anywhere. I have to convince Mr. Mulder and Dr. Scully to help. If what you say is true, Mr. Nolan isn't going to take that news well and will likely take it out on you. That beating Fox Mulder gave you could be just the beginning." "I don't want a record of this." "When this is over, we'll see what we can do." "No record of this." He paused for a second. "And I'd like the rest of my belongings back from the conference room." "Oh, I think you'll get that back from Fox Mulder when hell freezes over." x-x-x Conference room two CTU 6:15pm PT The plans were coming together. Nothing was said out loud - everything was scribbled with markers on small pieces of paper left over from William's plane ride and dunked into a cup of water. Skinner would take Charles and William to Las Vegas. They'd check into three hotels - the Luxor with Skinner's credit card, Caesar's with Charles's credit card and corporate discount from his Atlantic City work and the MGM Grand with a credit card Mulder got while he was underground and Scully was still with the FBI. Charles or Skinner could pass as Marty Williams. The three would stay at the MGM. If Mulder and Scully weren't at the MGM in two days, Charles would return home. Skinner would take William to an Idaho safe house Mulder and Scully used during their time on the run. The owner was the sergeant in Skinner's old Vietnam unit, a man who made a fortune in real estate in Sun Valley, Idaho. Skinner and William would stay with the man's daughter and her four kids until Mulder and Scully found them. Mulder knew that would be the last time he saw Skinner, ever. The other people in the room, except his wife and his son, this was their last time together. It bothered him more than he thought it would. "Hey William," John called to the boy. "Are you ready for baseball to start?" "Yankees!" "Do you like A-Rod?" Monica asked. William nodded. "He's the best. Can't play for Botton." "Boston." Mulder corrected. "You're teaching him well." John smiled, pouring himself a glass of water. "Water, Daddy?" "Small cup." Mulder took the pitcher from John and poured the boy half a glass. "No dipping paper in like Mommy and I did." "That was silly." "Yep, that's us, silly Mommy and Daddy." William didn't have the cup for a minute before it was tipped over. "Ooops." "William." Scully sighed. She grabbed some of the napkins Michelle dropped off earlier, instantly in Mom-mode. The water on the table started to form several small puddles. Looking at the water, Scully had a terrible thought. "Mulder?" "You need help?" Mulder poured a second cup and was holding it as his son took a sip. "Remember the oil?" "Excuse me?" "Oil. Remember it moved?" "That's what I thought." She showed him a puddle and with her finger, cut it in half. "Mommy! Spills aren't toys." William said, finishing his second attempt at a drink and parroting back one of her favorite complaints. "You really are teaching him well." Monica commented. Mulder was focused on the water. "OK, two pools of water." Scully tapped one of the pools of water, causing it to blend back into one big puddle. "The only way to stop it was to cut it in half." She looked right at him. "You slowed one down, you didn't take him out. The Marines..." "Oh God, it's in a hospital." "Full of sick people." "What's going on?" John was confused. "The Navy and the Marines are in way over their heads and they don't even know it." Mulder made a move to the door. "Mr. Bauer, get back in here." He yelled down the hall, hoping to get someone's attention. "Dana?" Charles was lost. "They think they stopped something out in Twentynine Palms by basically cutting it in half." The image of Knowle Rohrer flashed into Doggett's mind - a man he thought dead several times - "Super soldiers." "And not home grown, either." Mulder started banging his hand on the broken door. "Mr. Bauer, get back here now, you've got a big problem." x-x-x Michelle Dressler's cubicle 6:25pm The only way Michelle could find Jack was on his cell phone. "Jack, it's Michelle, where are you?" "Just finished up with Ryan. I'm coming your way. Do you hear that?" Jack could hear some yelling. "That's why I called. Mr. Mulder is requesting your presence right away." "Michelle." Milo tried to get her attention. She tried to cut him off. "In a minute." Milo's news was worth breaking into her phone call. "Someone's using their cell phone out of the conference room." "Dammit. They're making calls out of the conference room." She relayed to Jack. "I'm on my way. Who are they calling?" Michelle relayed the question to Milo. "Right now, all I've got a 760." "760 that's..." "Twentynine Palms. They're freelancing. I'm on my way." Michelle watched Jack sprint across the hall. "Milo, which cell phone?" "I'm running that, too. This cell phone has some heavy encryption software." "The Mulders didn't have a cell phone." She told him. "FBI would be my guess." Milo looked up from his screen. "I have a 202 area code for the cell call but it is being bounced through a 301 number in.." Milo typed a few commands, "Tacoma Park, then the signal disappears. If we didn't have the new equipment in the conference room to pick up the call, we'd have never gotten it." "And this is the FBI doing this? Where in Tacoma Park did the call disappear?" "Working on it." "Get me the address as soon as you have it." x-x-x Conference room two CTU 6:30pm PT Mulder saw Jack trotting down the hall. "You need to call that doctor back right now." "I don't need to do anything, Mr. Mulder." Jack replied as he entered the conference room. "Listen, asshole, you want help? This is how it goes. Pick up the phone and call the doctor. He's in danger, the hospital is in danger and if anyone gets killed because of you, I'll make sure everyone - and I mean everyone from the press to the families of the dead - know you were the one man who could have stopped it but didn't." Jack was surprised by the change in attitude. The tone, however, was the same as before he left. "Who is he talking to?" Jack pointed to Skinner. "Someone who'll help. Want to try that yourself?" John Doggett snapped. Jack took Mulder's leather jacket off the phone and sighed, "Who am I calling and why?" "Dr. Hamlin, back at the morgue. What he's got there is far more dangerous than he knows." Scully answered. Jack shook his head. "He has a corpse. It's dead." "Only mostly dead." Monica told him. "Excuse me?" "It may not be dead." Scully told him. "If the body wasn't stored in a certain way, it may not be dead." "That's not possible." "And the rest of what you saw today is what, textbook normal?" Mulder asked. Skinner snapped his fingers before signaling for quiet. "General DeMarco please, it's Walt Skinner." "He's talking to the Commandant of the base?" Jack asked "Where do you think he got the pictures from? We're not as out of the loop as you boys in the espionage business think we are." Doggett said. "This is all being done without you, Agent Bauer. If you want on board, I'd call the doctor." "And since the FBI knows not to bother me or my wife, you're now holding us for no good reason. The FBI is getting the job done." Mulder added. "You people..." Skinner snapped his fingers. "Johnny, it's Walt Skinner." There was a pause. "No, I got the pictures, thanks for that. We're having a bit of a communications problem on our end. I'm really embarrassed by this, but I need the direct number to your hospital there. That body that was brought in may be more of a biological hazard than earlier thought." "I don't believe this." Jack muttered. Skinner grabbed one of the markers on the conference room table and a piece of paper. "Yes, 760-KL5-7256. Got it. Listen, I have a specialist here who may request some odd things. I need to know that I have your support for any request my Dr. Scully makes." "His Dr. Scully?" Mulder smirked, "You wanna tell me something, dear?" Scully lifted an eyebrow, "Well, you were gone an awfully long time." "Great, great, that's terrific, she'll be calling the doctor in just a few minutes." Skinner smiled. "I'll be out near you next month, I'll buy you a beer. Good to talk to you, Johnny." Skinner hung up the phone and tossed it to Scully. "Mr. Bauer, you can make the call or she can. The problem is, if she does, I'll make damn sure this is an FBI investigation and I'll make equally sure that Mr. Mulder, Dr. Scully and young William are escorted home. By you and Agents Doggett and Reyes." "And you're not going to enjoy the commuter flight middle seat between Agent Reyes and me." Doggett told him. Jack shook his head, started dialing the conference room phone and wondered when he became junior man in this investigation. x-x-x Morgue 6:45pm PT "Dr. Hamlin, we've got a situation here." A young Marine Hamlin thought was named Baxter poked his head through the door. "I'm not in a position to leave the room." He turned to Baxter, seeing he and another Marine were holding up a badly beaten Robert McLean. "McLean, who did this to you?" "I tried to stop them sir. I got a hold of one of them but he threw me down the stairs like a rag doll. Sir, I fought..." "You fought like a good Marine, McLean, I'm proud of you." Hamlin picked up the phone. "This is Dr. Hamlin in the Morgue. The intruders attacked one of the Marines, I need a wheelchair here now." Hamlin turned his attention back to the three Marines. "Did you pick up McLean?" "No sir, we found him crawling up the stairs. He said he wanted to see you." "Sir, I'm just banged up some. Someone, I, I, I don't want anyone telling my wife I'm hurt." "She's going to notice you're injured." "No, I don't want to have to stay here. I don't want her to worry." "You should have found an easier career than a Marine, McLean." A Navy orderly with a wheelchair pulled up behind the Marines. "Who needs a ride?" When McLean turned to face him, the orderly immediately helped him to his chair. "You two, I want you to stick with McLean until the MPs can question him, is that understood?" "Yes sir." "No talking about this to wives, girlfriends, sisters, mothers. Nothing that can go back to McLean's wife." Despite the pain, McLean smiled at the doctor. "Thank you, sir." "I'll be in to see you when I can, McLean. You took that beating protecting me, I owe you." The phone rang as McLean was wheeled away. "Hamlin." "Dr. Hamlin, this is Colonel Robertson, General DeMarco's chief of staff." "Yes, sir. Good to speak to you, sir, How can I help you, sir?" "You're about to get a phone call from the FBI. The General would like all possible cooperation offered in this matter." "Of course sir, I've already assisted CTU." "Good to hear. The FBI should be shown the same consideration." The morgue's outside line started to ring. "I hear that other phone, Commander Hamlin, the General will consider any help you can give as a personal favor." Robertson hung up the phone. Hamlin didn't think the day could get much stranger. x-x-x Conference room two CTU 6:50pm PT "Hamlin," the voice chirped out of the speaker phone. "Dr. Hamlin, this is Dr. Scully again." "Ma'am, I'm waiting for a phone call from the FBI." "Yes, I'm also the FBI point person on this. We have a big problem." "Ma'am?" "The body, how is it stored?" "It is currently on an autopsy table." "This is Fox Mulder, is it in a body bag?" "Yes, sir." "One or two?" "Sir?" "It was explained to us that the Marines used firepower that cut the body in two. Was it brought in to the morgue in one body bag or two?" "Procedure here is to put all the parts in one body bag if there is only one body involved in an incident." "Not good." Scully mumbled and looked at Mulder. "How cold is the morgue?" Mulder whispered to his wife. "Dr. Hamlin, what's the temperature in the area the body is stored?" "We're supposed to keep it at 39 degrees but with the desert heat and our tar roof, we set the thermostat to 35 or so." "Can you bring the temperature down any more?" "I think the room goes down to freezing. If someone could call the Navy Intel guys to open the door." "No!" yelled everyone in the room but Jack. "OK, bad idea." Hamlin chuckled at the reaction. "Who else am I talking to?" "John Doggett, Monica Reyes and Walter Skinner, all with the FBI are here." Hamlin wondered who had the General's ear but decided to keep those thoughts to himself. "So I'm not getting the door opened. I can have the building engineer bring the temperate down from out here. What else do I need to do?" "Are there patients near you?" "No ma'am. This section of the hospital is administration, the pharmacy, the laundry and some storage areas." Mulder "Besides you, who is around?" "Right now, there's probably Kennedy in the pharmacy and someone's doing wash because someone's always doing wash." Reyes sighed. "First bit of good news all day." "Not if that thing comes together." Doggett commented. "Doctor, are there any other entrances or exits to the morgue other than the door Navy Intel locked?" "There is a loading dock that we can use in the back of the morgue but that's more for large pieces of equipment that comes in and out. Freezers, x-ray machines, that type of equipment." "Walter Skinner here. How are the doors to that loading dock locked?" "Because it's close to the pharmacy, there's a keypad lock that needs a swipe card. There are also three big locks - Medico I think on a steel door. It's a serious door." "What's the biggest vehicle you have on the base?" "Sir?" "The biggest vehicle, what's the biggest vehicle on the base and would it block the loading dock?" "You'd have to talk to the Marines about the vehicles here, I'm just a dumb Navy doctor. They have Bradleys and other light armored vehicles that would block the door to the loading dock but I'm not familiar with the full compliment of..." "Just get one of those Bradleys in front of the door." "OK, but Dr. Scully, I saw that body come in here, I saw the HazMat officers in their contamination suits put the body on the autopsy table. Nothing's moved in that room since they left." "Get the temperatures down and we'll keep it that way." Mulder told him. "Sir, I know these Marines. If they shot him dead, he's dead." "I'm sure the Marines did their best, Dr. Hamlin. But that's no he in the bag." Mulder disconnected the call. "Mr. Bauer, I'm willing to give you twelve hours of my wife's and my time. You'll do exactly what we want for our son and then we're yours. You say no to any of our demands for my family, I'll guarantee you the most miserable fourteen hours of your life until we have to show up in court." Jack put his head in his hands and shook his head. Maybe Ryan was right - these two weren't worth the trouble. Then again, if Ryan was ordered by someone to keep them out of the investigation, they may know what did land in the desert. "What are your terms?" x-x-x Thanks always to my Beady-Eyed beta. Shari is simply the best. Feedback will be petted and loved: maureen_b_ocks@yahoo.com