From YRLD43A@prodigy.com

Sun Oct 13 1996

I'm still progressing and I would REALLY appreciate feedback. You
can e-mail me at YRLD43A@PRODIGY.COM . I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: Mulder awakens in an alleyway with dreams of killing and
blood on his hands and doesn't know how it got there. Is he killing
unsuspecting women?

Spoilers: No spoilers.

Classification: Rated G. Some violence. X-file. NO MSR. Good
friendship.

Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the television program
"The X-Files"
are the creations and property of Chris Carter, Fox Broadcasting,
and Ten Thirteen Productions, and have been used without permission.
No copyright infringements are intended. This work is not to be
forwarded or distributed to any newsgroup, FTP, or WWW site without
the permission of the author.

I do give permission for it to be put on atxc.

********************

ROSES ARE RED 1/2
By Patty Hayes
October 8, 1996

**********
Mulder opened his eyes slowly and tried to get his bearings. As he
sat up and looked around he found he was lying in an alley, it was
slightly dark with dawn rushing in. He glanced down at his hands and
saw them covered in blood. He stared at them as if they belonged to
someone else, then his mind started to panic. His eyes grew wide as
he forced himself to his feet. His breath was coming in fast, short
pants as he grabbed a piece of cloth from the trash dumpster and
wiped his hands. How had he gotten there, why was he there? It took
another few minutes for Mulder to calm down enough to figure out what
to do. He checked himself for wounds, gun shot or knife, something
that had caused the blood. There were none. He wrapped the cloth
into a ball and stuffed it in his jeans pocket, if it wasn't his
blood, then whose was it? He stepped out to the street and saw
nothing familiar. He walked to the end of the block, to find out
where he was. He didn't remember anything, nothing jolted his memory.
Mul
er stepped back into the alley and pulled out his cell phone. As he
dialed Scully's number, his mind was still in a fog.

"Scully, it's me. I need your help." His voice was quiet, shaky.

"Mulder, what's wrong? Where are you?" It didn't take much for her
to realize he was in trouble. It was a sixth sense between them.

"I'm across from the Blue Plate Diner on Fifth near Pemrose. I need
you to come get me."

"I'm on my way, Mulder." It took Scully less than two minutes to
throw on a pair of jeans and a blouse. She didn't comb her hair or
take care in dressing. She sensed urgency and had to move quickly.
She shoved her ID in her pocket and grabbed her gun and keys and
headed for the car.

The sun was coming up and Mulder's head was clearing slowly. He sat
with his back to the wall as he waited for Scully. He thought of
nothing else but the alley and the blood. Where had the blood come
from? What had happened to him last night? He stood as he saw
Scully's car coming towards him.

She recognized the way he looked. He had the same appearance and
lost look he had when she had picked him up at Ellens Airforce Base
in Idaho, where he claimed they erased part of his memory. He was
unshaven, his hair was awry and the jeans and shirt he wore were
wrinkled as if he had slept in them. She watched him closely as he
opened the car door and got in. "Mulder?"

He looked out the front window, his mouth gaped open, eyes in a
trance. Then he turned and looked at Scully and shook his head. "I
don't know, Scully. I don't know how I got here. Just get me out of
here." He turned back to the window. "Please, just drive."

Now she was nervous and scared. She headed for her apartment and
kept glancing at him as she drove.

As he realized where she was headed, he started to shake his head.
"No, Scully, take me to my place. I need to change, I need a shower.
"

"Mulder, you can do that at my place."

"No!" He interrupted her. "Take me home." Then his voice lowered.
"Please. Please." He begged in a whisper.

"Ok, Mulder, Ok." God, what happened? They drove in silence and
pulled up to his apartment a short time later.

She went up the front steps behind him, almost jogging to keep up
with him. He seemed oblivious to her presence. She followed him
into his apartment and closed and locked the door. He went straight
to the bathroom and she could here him retching. Scully grabbed a
wash cloth and ran it under cold water. She knelt next to him and
dabbed his face with the cool cloth, stroking his back. "It's Ok,
Mulder, it's Ok." She was speaking to him in a soft, soothing,
comforting tone.

She helped him up and into his bedroom and sat him on his bed.
Scully sat next to him patiently waiting until he was ready. He
seemed to be coming out of whatever fog he was in. Mulder sat with
his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He rubbed his
eyes and sat up. "I don't ..... " He just shook his head, not able
to finish his thought.

Scully placed her hand on his forehead and ran it down the side of
his face to his cheek. "You're not feverish." She pulled open the
lids of his eyes. "They're bloodshot but the pupils aren't dilated."
Then she noticed a spot of blood on his temple, then more around his
neck. And even more matted in his hair. "Mulder, what is this? Did
you hurt yourself? Were you bleeding?" She started checking
throughout his scalp.

"No." He pulled the bloodied cloth from his jeans pocket. "I found
blood on my hands when I came to. I wiped them on this. We need to
find out who it belongs to. I don't know where it came from. I'm
not hurt or bleeding anywhere." He got a towel from the bathroom to
wrap the cloth in for Scully. "I need to sleep, Scully. Would you
hang around for a while?" He didn't know why he asked, he just knew
he didn't want to be alone.

"Sure, Mulder. I'll be right here." She helped him lay down and
pulled the spread up over him, tucking him in. She sat next to the
bed until she saw that he was sleeping soundly. What the hell had
happened? If it wasn't his blood, then whose was it and how did it
get on his hands? It was close to eight in the morning and Scully
knew she needed to check in with the office. They would be out in
the field today and could be reached through Mulder's cell phone.
That was the explanation she gave. She didn't want to say anything
else until she knew what was going on.

But Skinner wanted to talk to them, today. "Well, put me through to
him, then. I'll find out what he needs." She waited as the
switchboard patched her through.

"Agent Scully?" AD Skinner had a tone that forced Scully to either
stand or sit straight up, whichever position she happened to be in at
the time.

"Yes Sir. Agent Mulder and I are doing a little research on a case
so we won't be in until late today. I understand you wanted to see
us?" She tried to sound as normal as possible.

"Yes, I have a case with some urgency. Violent Crimes wants help on
this, another body was found this morning and they think Agent Mulder
might be of some use. I gave them an OK on their request for your
help. I'll have the file in your office when you come in, I would
rather you work on this case first unless you think your current case
is life threatening. This is the third body in the past two weeks.
VC thinks it's a serial killer and that you have maybe a couple of
days before he kills again."

"Yes Sir. We'll pick up the file in a little while and check in with
VC. Thank you, Sir." Then she thought of something. "Sir? Where
was this last body found?"

She could hear him flipping through the file. "On Pemrose. In an
alley at 4021 Pemrose. Why?"

"Just curious. I'd like to do the autopsy, if you would let them
know. Thank you Sir. We'll get right on it." She hung up the phone.

Scully walked back to the bedroom and stood at the doorway. Leaning
against the door frame, she watched Mulder sleep. 'What have you
gotten yourself into, Mulder?' She thought to herself. She couldn't
see his face, but she saw his hand clenching and unclenching, fast,
spasmodically. She walked over to the other side of the bed and sat
down in the chair she had pulled up. The look on his face startled
her. It wasn't pain, it wasn't anger, it wasn't even fear. It was
pure terror. Both hands were now clenching and Mulder began a low
pitched moan. Scully laid a hand on his shoulder and started to wake
him. "Mulder, wake up. It's Ok, it's just a dream. Wake up now,
Mulder." She spoke in the same soft, soothing voice she used earlier.

He awoke with a gasp and immediately pulled himself into a ball with
his arms covering his face as if protecting himself from an unseen
presence. His breathing was in the same short, quick puffs he had
experienced that morning. It startled Scully and she drew back her
hand. Neither moved for a few seconds, then Scully moved to sit
beside him on the bed and began stroking his arm and back. "Mulder,
it's me. You're Ok. It was just a dream, you're Ok, Mulder. You're
home, you're safe, everything's all right." He slowly uncurled
himself and looked around. Then he was fully awake, not really
knowing what had happened. He sat up next to Scully.

"What was it, Mulder? Do you remember the dream?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No. I just feel .....
it sounds ridiculous, but I feel a sense of horror or terror. I
don't know." He rubbed his eyes. "How long did I sleep? What time
is it?"

"Almost nine, you only slept about forty-five minutes."

"I'm going to take a shower." He slowly stood and started towards
the bathroom.

"I'll make some coffee."

Forty minutes later, Scully was ready to break down the bathroom door
when she heard Mulder come out. He looked a little better. He sat
down at the kitchen table and poured himself a cup of coffee. She
waited patiently for him to settle himself before she started asking
the questions that had been running rampant through her mind. He
beat her to the punch. "I've been trying to remember what happened
last night, Scully. The last thing I can recall is lying on the sofa
flipping through the remote, then the next minute I'm waking up in
that alleyway. Nothing else comes to me."

They searched each others eyes for a moment. "Mulder, maybe you were
drugged. I could take a blood sample and get it tested. Sometimes
it takes days for a drug to be flushed from your system."

He nodded, but really wasn't listening. He felt completely lost.

"Mulder, I talked to Skinner." He lifted his head at the mention of
the AD's name. "VC has a serial murder they want us to assist on.
We're to pick up the file and check in with them today." Scully
hesitated, waiting for a response from Mulder.

"I'll get dressed and meet you at the office." He rose and headed
for the bedroom.

"Mulder, there's more." He stopped and turned to face her. "Skinner
said the third body was found a couple of hours ago. On Pemrose."
She watched his face. She could see the information being processed.
"I'm scheduled to do the autopsy." Mulder wasn't responding, he just
stood in the middle of the room. Scully stood and picked up her keys.

"I didn't kill anyone, Scully."

The way he said it scared her, it was almost as if he was trying to
convince himself instead of her. "I know, Mulder. We'll figure this
out. I'll meet you at the office."

**********
Scully was finishing up the autopsy a few hours later. She and
Mulder had met with an Agent Mark Tessman and his partner Angela
Wayne of the Violent Crimes Division. He filled them in on the case.
"The first victim was Marianne Corbin, twenty three. She was a
student at Georgetown, apparently on her way home one evening ten
days ago. Her throat was slit from one side to the other. We
haven't found a weapon."

Angela picked up the briefing from there. "It looks like a sharp
object was used but it also looks like the skin was torn or ripped.
The second victim was Georgia Lewis, twenty nine. She was out
shopping according to her sister. Her body was found in the same
condition as the first. And the third, Jody Reeves, twenty two.
Same thing. We're not sure yet what the circumstances surrounding
her death are. We're waiting on the interviews and the autopsy."

Angela turned it back over to Mark. "The common elements are that
all three are young, white, middle class women with redish hair. All
three have no ties, that is to say none are married or living with
anyone at the time of their deaths. Again, we're not sure yet about
Reeves, but I'd bet she's the same. Each one killed on a week night,
placed in a location where someone would be sure to find them the
next morning." He took a deep breath. "A lot of blood. There's
always a lot of blood around the victim but none trailing away."

Scully thought about their conversation as she was finishing the
autopsy on Reeves. They had been right, there was no difference in
the type of wound. But she knew how the throat had been cut. It was
a knife, she could tell by the edges of the cut. Most probably a
single edged blade, four to six inches in length. The blade was one
that had a clean edge at the tip and had deeper serrated groves
closer to the handle as the edge became more dull. Scully recalled
the rest of their conversation as she noticed Mulder entering the
autopsy bay.

"He's careful." All three agents had turned toward Mulder as he
began speaking. "He kills the victim where he leaves them. I don't
know how he gets them there yet. Was there any sign of drugs or
sedatives in the chemical analysis?" Wayne shook her head no.
"Could be a young preppie type, able to pick up these women. There's
no sexual contact. There are probably no other marks on the victims,
no bruises or other cuts. He doesn't want them to suffer, he wants
their death to be quick. And he wants them found right away."
Mulder was pale. The fact that he knew these things was not
surprising, Mulder was a genius when it came to profiling serial
killers. It was his first assignment with the FBI. His ability
amazed everyone, and he came to be known as 'Spooky Mulder'. His
success rate in capturing the killers was unmatched.

"Hi, Scully," Mulder's voice brought her back to reality. "Anything
new?"

"Nope, you were right on the mark." She closed the drawer that held
the body and pulled off her gloves. "Mulder, I'm running an RFLP
test on this victim. I want to see if it matches the blood on the
cloth from this morning."

He knew that was hard for her to say. She trusted him, he knew that,
but they both had to find out what was happening to him. Was he
scared? Yeah.

Scully could see the anguish on his face, the doubt. He swallowed
hard and nodded. If nothing else, it would eliminate one possibility.

"Scully, I can't help but think these killings are some sort of decoy.
"

"You mean they're being killed to get to somebody?"

"Yeah, it's too contrived. Almost planned. Look, it's been a long
day, are you ready to go?"

"I need to stay to finish the RFLP testing, Mulder. I want to handle
it personally." Somehow he looked disappointed and grateful at the
same time.

Mulder nodded, "Good night, Scully. Be careful, I don't like the
fact that these women were single red heads." He smiled. "And
thanks."

"Good night, Mulder." She returned the smile as he opened the door
to leave. "Mulder?" He turned back to her. She hesitated,
searching his eyes. "Call me if you need anything, if you can't
sleep or just need to talk. Ok?"

"Yeah, thanks."

**********
Johnny lay facing the ceiling. He was thinking about his experiment.
He wished he could be a fly on the wall, watching every move, every
detail. He'd been honing his new ability for over a year now. It
was coming along just fine. The surveillance equipment was serving a
good purpose. Mulder hadn't found the microphone or speaker yet.

Johnny discovered he had a way to effectively induce hypnosis during
sleep that was untraceable. He could put Mulder in a profound state
of somnambulism in which he would replace memories of trance events
with false memories and have him respond automatically to
posthypnotic suggestions. Through the use of a microphone he could
tell when Mulder was sleeping and through the use of a miniature
speaker planted in the heating duct at the base of the wall near the
sofa he could incorporate his 'commands' into Mulder's subconscious
mind. Mulder would believe he was J. Edgar Hoover himself if Johnny
wanted him to.

Mulder was a good subject. His paranoia allowed his mind to be
easily manipulated. Mulder had a mind worth invading. If Johnny
could pull this off using Mulder, then there was no limit to what he
could accomplish, who he could control. Killing the women was
regretful, but he had to chalk it up to 'acceptable losses'. The
first two was just to set the pattern, make them think they had a
serial killer, getting Mulder involved. Of course, that had been
easy. Just a few suggestive comments to Tessman and Mulder would be
called in. The third had been the real test. To see how Mulder
would react to the killing. He had killed her as Mulder stood
watching. He had been exhilerated as he watched Mulder's reaction,
the anguish, the pain, the panic.

There were other reasons why he chose Mulder, whether he would admit
it or not. Johnny had been with the Bureau for over six years and
Mulder was partnered with him for a short time in the early days.
Mulder always came out looking like the fair haired boy he was,
leaving Johnny in the background. Mulder was tall, lanky, Johnny was
not. He was just as capable as Mulder, maybe even better, but no one
knew it as long as he was in Mulder's shadow. He hadn't done
anything wrong on their last case, Mulder just got lucky. No one
would've died. But it had been Mulder's report that turned into a
reprimand for him. Now was pay back time. Johnny wasn't out to
promote himself, but he was enjoying playing Mulder like a fiddle. A
few planted pieces of evidence and some heavy suggestions would do
the trick. He knew of Mulder's pain and anguish, his history and he
would use that knowledge to keep cutting away at his sanity before
dropping him completely into the abyss. The real test would come
soon. If he cou
d get Mulder to actually kill. Yes, Mulder was turning out to be the
perfect subject.

Johnny listened as he heard Mulder walk into the front door of his
apartment. It was as if he could see Mulder going through the
motions. Tossing his keys on the table in the entryway, the rustling
of his jacket as he took it off and hung it around the chair.
Unsnapping his holster and placing it on the coffee table with a bag,
probably Chinese food containers, and turning on the television. He
heard only the television for a few minutes, then he heard Mulder
walking back into the room, probably with something to drink. It
always took a while before Mulder would fall asleep and then he would
only sleep four or five hours at best, so he had to be ready. Johnny
looked at the clock on the wall, he could nap for a few hours before
Mulder would fall asleep.

**********
He was chasing someone. It was dark and he could hear the clicking
of heels on the concrete ahead of him. He caught up with the woman
who was running from him and grabbed her by her hair. He jerked her
back pinning her against his body and raised the knife. Then he saw
himself kneeling over a woman whose throat had been sliced open,
blood on his hands and he realized he was holding the knife. The
woman looked like Scully.

End of Part 1

From YRLD43A@prodigy.com Sun Oct 13 13:57:28 1996

I'm still progressing and I would REALLY appreciate feedback. You
can e-mail me at YRLD43A@PRODIGY.COM . I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: Mulder awakens in an alleyway with dreams of killing and
blood on his hands and doesn't know how it got there. Is he killing
unsuspecting women?

Spoilers: No spoilers.

Classification: Rated G. Some violence. X-file. NO MSR. Good
friendship.

Disclaimer: See Part 1

I do give permission for it to be put on atxc.

********************

ROSES ARE RED 2/2
By Patty Hayes
October 8, 1996

**********
Mulder woke with a start. He sat up and stared at his hands, they
were shaking, but there was no blood. His breathing was quick and
labored and sweat was dripping from his face. The television was
still on and was the only light in the room. He sat with his head
back for a few minutes while he calmed down and regained control of
his breathing. He checked his watch, 4 a.m. God, the dream had
seemed so real.

Mulder got up and walked into the bathroom. What he found knocked
him flat. There was blood on the floor, in the sink and on the
towels. It looked like someone trying to clean themselves of it. He
looked down at himself and saw what could have been blood stains on
his jeans. He backed up and into the bathroom door, then turned and
ran from the room.

Scully's phone rang only once before she grabbed the receiver. At
that hour it could only be her mother or Mulder. She figured on the
latter. "Mulder?"

Thank God she was alive. "Scully, it's happening again. I'm at home,
there's blood all over. I need you."

"Are you hurt, Mulder? Do you need an ambulance?"

"No, I'm not hurt."

"Ok, I'm on my way."

Mulder was sitting in his entry way in his boxers when Scully arrived.
He had stripped himself of the blood stained jeans, not being able
to stand having them touch his skin and he was in too much of a state
of shock to put on another pair. "The bathroom, Scully."

After getting him another pair of jeans, she walked over to the
bathroom and saw the damage. She looked around for fingerprints or
footprints or anything else that might give them a clue. Then she
took a few blood samples for analysis and returned to Mulder.

He had moved to the sofa and had put on the pair of jeans Scully
handed him. He looked like he was coming back to reality. "Do you
remember anything, Mulder? Did you go anywhere after work?"

"No, I stopped for dinner and came straight home." He pointed to the
half empty containers on the coffee table. "I fell asleep here, on
the sofa."

"Mulder, I'm going to have to call forensics. We need to sweep the
place."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "What did I do, Scully? I think I
may have killed someone."

"Why? Why do you think that?"

"When I woke up, I thought I had been dreaming. What if it wasn't a
dream? What if I really did kill someone?"

"What do you remember from the dream?" Scully wanted to be as calm
and patient as she could, he was upset enough.

"It was dark and I was chasing someone, I heard her footsteps. I
grabbed her from behind, then I was kneeling over her with a knife in
my hands and blood all around." He was staring at his hands as he
spoke. "She was dead."

"Mulder, you didn't kill anyone." Scully said with conviction.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you, Mulder. You didn't kill anyone. I think you're
being set up. I don't know how and I don't know why, but somebody's
setting you up for it. Describe the woman, Mulder."

"Average height, thin, short red hair. That's all." He stopped
there.

"Anything else? What color were her eyes? What was she wearing?
Did she speak, did she scream?" Scully was pacing now and speaking
quickly.

Mulder kept shaking his head. "I don't know. I don't know,
Scully!"

"Mulder, listen to what you're saying. You have an excellent memory,
you would know what her eye color was, what she was wearing, whether
or not she screamed. Ok, look, you said you were kneeling over her
with the knife in your hand. Do you remember actually slitting her
throat?" She tried to get him to see the rationalization.

"No. But I was there, Scully, I can still smell the perfume."

Scully sat next to him and leaned back into the sofa, patting his
hand. She looked around the room and noticed a woman's scarf on the
floor next to the end table. She pulled on a latex glove and went
over and picked it up. It was a colorful square of silk with a tear
down the center. "Maybe this is why you still smell the perfume. Do
you know where this came from, Mulder?"

He studied it, as if the answer was written on the scarf. "No. I
don't, I've never seen it before."

"Mulder, I found no trace of drugs in your blood and the RFLP tests I
ran matched. I'd be willing to bet this blood will be a match with
the next body that surfaces. Somebody's playing games with you."

"Killing three maybe four people just to get to me? It doesn't make
sense."

**********
Forensics had finished and found no evidence of another person in
Mulder's apartment. Mulder was prime suspect number one. Trace
evidence on the scarf and the blood from his bathroom matched the
latest victim found that same morning. Victim number four. Mulder
was now linked to the last two victims and the District Attorney
wanted to prosecute. Mulder had to turn in his badge and gun.
Skinner had to do some fast talking to keep him out of jail. "You've
got anyone you need to clear this up, Scully. Just do it fast, I
can't hold them off forever." He had told Scully.

Scully did the autopsy on the fourth victim and concluded that she
was killed by the same person who killed the first three. She was
discussing the results with Mulder. "You know, Mulder, it occurred
to me that the first two victims have no ties to you at all. It's
obvious that all four were killed with the same weapon and by the
same person. It could be one thing that would exonerate you. Look,
why don't sleep at my place tonight. I think it'd be best."

Mulder was too out of it to make any 'charming' comments. He
hesitated. The last victim could have been her. He pushed what he
was feeling deep down. They had been going over files to see if they
could come up with anyone suspect enough to pull this off. Even
though Mulder was temporally on suspension, he was anxious to find
the person setting him up, the real killer. 'If there is one', he
thought.

He picked up his jacket and was following Scully out of the office.
Something fell out of a pocket and onto the floor. He stopped and
retrieved the object. It was a necklace, a gold chain with a diamond
heart pendant. It was the one described missing by the roommate of
the first victim. Mulder closed his eyes as he handed it to Scully.
Now he was linked to the first victim.

"How did it get in your pocket, Mulder?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, Scully, I've never seen
it before. Who the hell is doing this? Why, Scully?"

"We'll find out, Mulder."

**********
He slept on the couch at Scully's. Tossing and turning, images of a
knife, images of blood, images of a dead Scully running through his
mind. He was sleeping lightly, the slightest noise would awaken him
and his cell phone did just that. He grabbed it before it could
awaken Scully. "Mulder."

A deep, smooth voice answered. "Roses are red, Mr. Mulder." Then
nothing.

Mulder sat there, eyes fixed on nothing, staring into space. He sat
the phone down and stood up. Walking into the kitchen, his
unconscious mind battled his conscious mind. What was he doing? He
pulled a knife from the utensil holder and walked to Scully's bedroom.
He stood in the doorway, looking from Scully to the knife in his
hand. Fighting the inner turmoil. His soul was terrified, he began
to tremble, then shake visibly. His mind screamed. 'WAKE UP.' But
she didn't, she looked so peaceful, so beautiful, her red hair
spilled across the white pillow. The forces within him were tearing
him apart, telling him to do it, to kill her, to slit her throat. He
was fighting against it without really knowing what was going on. He
was at the foot of her bed before he realized he had moved.

Scully opened her eyes and sensed something wrong. She sat up and
saw Mulder standing at the foot of her bed. The light from the other
room caused him to be a silhouette. There was no mistaking who it
was. The tall, slender shape, the slumped shoulders and bowed head.
It was the same stance he had when he felt defeated. She couldn't
see his face just yet, but she saw what he had in his hand. The
glint of light shone on the blade. "Mulder? What is it?" She
waited for a reaction, but he didn't move. Scully reached over and
turned on the light at her bedside. She saw his face. The look was
one of agony, terror and panic. She saw him struggling, fighting for
control, his eyes glazed over. He was looking beyond her, through
her. She slowly got out of bed and walked up to him, speaking calmly,
soothingly. "Mulder, it's late, you should be sleeping. Do you
want to talk? Do you need something to help you sleep?" Her gaze
shifted from his eyes to the knife and she reached for his hand and
slowly
ook the knife from him. With the knife in her hand now, she released
a heavy sigh.

The spell was suddenly broken and Mulder came alive. "What's going
on? What am I doing? Oh my God." He was still trembling and sat
hard on the bed when he saw the knife she was holding. "What did I
do, Scully?"

"You don't remember anything?"

He shook his head. "My God, Scully, I could've killed you."

"But you didn't, Mulder. Something triggered this. I thought I
heard a phone ring. Did you get a call tonight?" They walked into
the living room and noticed his cell phone lying on the coffee table.

"I don't know. Scully, I haven't felt so helpless in a long time.
How do I get control of this?"

"Well, for one thing, I don't think you ought to be left alone.
Somebody is doing this, Mulder. You are not responsible for this.
If you wanted to kill me you could've done it, but something stopped
you. You can't do it, it's not in you. That means someone is trying
to control your mind. Now, you know about hypnosis. It's the only
thing I can think of. Do you think it's possible someone could be
hypnotizing you into believing you killed these women? Into trying
to kill me?"

He stared at her. "It's possible. The subconscious mind is free to
perceive and interpret information as it's being introduced. But you
usually need a hypnotist, Scully. We're here alone."

"I think someone called you on your cell phone, fed you some post
hypnotic suggestion. Someone was in your apartment, that's how the
scarf got there and that's how the blood got there."

"Who, Scully? How did they get to me in the first place? And why?"
They had no answers.

"I've got an idea. Get dressed and I'll be ready in a few minutes."
Scully went into the bedroom, closed the door and picked up her phone.

They pulled up to Mulder's apartment a little more than an hour later.
They had stopped by the Lone Gunmen office and procured a device
that would find hidden 'bugs', or any electronic equipment. It
didn't take them long to find the microphone. It was hidden behind a
frame on the wall above the sofa. "This was too obvious, Mulder, he
knows where you spend most of your time. There has to be a speaker."

Mulder was unscrewing the grated covering of the heating vent at the
floor. "I think I found it."

"Well, now we know how. All we have to do is figure out who and why.
" Mulder's phone rang and he reached for it. Scully stopped him by
placing her hand on his. "No, Mulder, let me get it." She picked up
the receiver but didn't say anything.

"I can still get to him, Agent Scully." Again his voice was low,
deep and smooth. It gave Scully chills.

"Who is this?" There was no response. "Why are you doing this? You
can't have him. We'll find out who you are." Scully heard the phone
disconnect. She looked at Mulder, he sat on the floor with his eyes
closed. "We'll get him, Mulder. We have to keep you secluded,
though. No one talks to you, you talk to no one. I'll call Skinner.
"

**********
Mulder and Scully arrived at a safe house later that day. Skinner
had set it up so that only he, Scully and the two agents guarding him
would know where he was. "Agent Mulder this is Agent Dan Harper and
I believe you know Agent John Matthews."

"Yeah, hi, Johnny, how you been?" Mulder shook their hands.

"Great, Mulder, thanks." He turned to Scully. "Mulder and I go way
back to the early days, don't we Mulder. We solved a view cases
together." Johnny was exactly where he wanted to be. Once again, it
hadn't been hard to pull the assignment, just a couple of
strategically placed suggestions. He grinned.

Scully looked up at Mulder and didn't like the expression. She
guessed he wasn't too crazy about his one time partner. "Mulder can
I talk to you a second?"

Skinner briefed the two agents while Scully talked to Mulder. "Is
there anything wrong, Mulder? You don't look too happy to see these
guys."

"No, it's Ok. Matthews was pretty teed off on our last case together.
We never really got along. I guess he's gotten over it. It was
over six years ago." He smiled reassuringly.

"Are you going all right here?"

"Yeah, although I still don't see why I need to be here."

Skinner came over to them. "Well, you're all set up here. Scully
and I have a few things to check, so we better get going." He
signaled to Scully.

Mulder grinned deviously and waved to Scully. "You two have fun now.
"

Skinner had someone working on where the electronic devices had come
from. It looked too familiar, like government issue. Just about
anyone could buy the equipment nowadays but there were special items
the FBI and other agencies used that the general public couldn't get.
He waited for the reports while Scully went through stacks of old
case files of Mulders'.

**********
Johnny waited. He watched as Mulder flipped through the television
channels looking for anything worth watching. He hated Mulder and
the longer he sat there, the stronger the feeling of hate. He wanted
to see Mulder suffer and what better way than to have him destroy
something he cared about. He'd have to take care of Harper first.
Johnny decided to turn his attention away from Mulder and concentrate
on Harper. He could put Harper out of commission and make him
believe that they spent the evening watching movies.

Johnny and Harper sat at the kitchen table playing cards. They'd
finished dinner and Mulder was lying on the couch, still flipping
through channels. He was bored stiff and restless. He didn't like
waiting, doing nothing. Mulder wanted to be out there, doing his job.
He couldn't hear the two agents in the kitchen, their voices were
low. He'd just as soon not disturb them.

Harper's eye lids were getting heavy. He couldn't keep them open, he
didn't know what was wrong with him. Matthews was talking to him,
but he couldn't concentrate. He slowly laid his head on the table
and fell asleep. Johnny smiled but continued to talk, he wanted
Harper completely out.

**********
Scully was getting no where. There wasn't one case from Mulder's
past that gave her a clue as to who was behind this. She was on the
stack of folders from his days fresh out of Quantico when he worked
for Reggie Purdue. The next folder was the case of a young woman
named Morris who had been murdered. Scully frowned as she read
Mulder's report. His partner was John Matthews. Mulder reported
that Matthews used unnecessary force in apprehending a suspect who,
as it turned out, was not the killer. Matthews was suspended and
almost booted out. "No wonder Mulder looked strange." Scully said
aloud.

Agent Jackson was ushered into Skinner's office by his secretary.
"Sir, I think you need to see this. I can't prove it, but it looks
like that equipment did belong to the Bureau." Skinner went pale as
he read the report. He reached for his phone and told Scully to meet
him at the car, then he called the safe house.

**********
Johnny answered the phone, no one was on the other end. He surmised
they were on to him. It was time to begin. He stood at the doorway
of the kitchen, staring at Mulder.

Mulder sat up when he noticed Matthews. He was uncomfortable at the
way Matthews displayed himself. He had a bad feeling, he felt
something was coming.

Johnny smiled and in a deep, soothing voice said, "Roses are red,
Mulder".

Once again, Mulder's eyes glazed over. He sat rigid, not moving,
staring off into space.

"She's coming, Mulder. We've practiced this, now is the time. No
one can stand in your way. Roses are red." Johnny loved that key
phrase. It fit, what with Scully's red hair soon to match her
spilled blood. He was getting excited, he would finally be able to
actually watch Mulder fall. He walked over and placed a gun and a
knife on the coffee table in front of him.

Mulder looked at the gun and with a stone cold sober look, picked it
up and stood. He left the knife on the table.

"Roses are red. You must succeed this time. You failed before, it
cannot happen again. If she doesn't die, you will never see your
sister again. I've told you before, Scully is stopping you from
saving your sister. Roses are red." Mulder picked up the knife in
his other hand. Johnny knew the minute he found out about Mulder's
history, he would be able to use it. It was one of only a few flaws
that Mulder had. When it came to his sister, he would do anything,
believe anything. It proved to be a useful tool to bring Mulder
under submission, under control. Johnny had to eliminate Harper
after all, there couldn't be any witnesses. Mulder didn't even hear
the gun shot in the kitchen.

But Johnny underestimated the relationship between Mulder and Scully.
Mulder would do anything to find his sister, to bring her back, but
he would also do anything for Scully. Underneath the facade, Mulder
would put her life before his or anyone else's and has done so many
times.

**********
Scully told Skinner about the Morris case and Skinner filled Scully
in on his details. The same electronic surveillance equipment was
checked out by Agent Matthews over a month ago. "That means he's
been working on Mulder for over a month?" She was frightened for him.

"He'll be Ok. Mulder can handle it." Skinner seemed too confident.
They pulled up to the house a few minutes later. "Maybe it would be
best if you didn't go in."

"I thought you said Mulder could handle this. I'm going." She was
committed. She needed to see Mulder through this. If he did
something he'd regret, he would never forgive himself.

They approached the house with caution. From the car they had seen
no one in the front room. Skinner and Scully went in the front, with
Skinner leading the way. He opened the front door and stepped into
the living room. It was empty. Scully followed him in. Skinner
went through to the kitchen where he saw Harper, shot dead, at the
table. He turned around when he heard Scully say Mulder's name and
saw Scully frozen in the middle of the living room, he went to the
doorway. Mulder was standing to his left, in the doorway of the
bedroom with his arm extended and his gun in his hand aimed at Scully.
The knife in his other hand at his side. He aimed his gun at
Mulder. "Put the gun down, Mulder."

The words kept ringing in Mulder's head. 'Roses are red. She is
keeping you from finding your sister. No one can stand in your way.
No one! If you fail, you'll never see your sister again. Never see
your sister again! Let no one get in your way. Roses are red!'

Skinner stepped in front of Scully and as Mulder pulled the trigger,
Scully shoved him aside and threw herself to the floor. The bullet
missed Skinner. She stood and turned her attention to Mulder. Her
gun in her hand, but at her side. She took a deep breath. "Mulder,
it's me, Scully." She put a hand out to Skinner. "He'll shoot again
if you step in. Just stay back, I can handle this. He won't shoot
me."

Sweat was pouring from Mulder. His hand shook. The same expression
of terror and pain shone on his face.

"Roses are red!" Johnny had come up behind Mulder and both Scully
and Skinner raised their guns. "You can shoot me, but it won't help
you. He's mine now. His mind belongs to me and killing me won't
release it." He walked into the living room towards Skinner. "And
he'll be put away for killing Harper and the two of you. Of course
I'll be the hero for bringing him down." His grin was maniacal.

"Mulder, look at what you're doing. This isn't you, Mulder." Scully
spoke in calm, rational tones. Then she thought if she could rattle
Matthews it might make a difference. "Mulder, do remember the Morris
case, six years ago? Matthews almost got you suspended on that case.
You had to write him up on that. Do you remember?"

Matthews turned a bright red. "No! Roses are red!" He was
flustered for just a brief moment before he regained composure.
"That's not going to help." His grin returned.

But Scully saw Mulder flinch. Something in his eyes made contact
with her. She continued. "You were jealous of Mulder. He made the
headlines, you were always in the background. You'll never be the
agent he is and it galls you to see him succeed."

Anger was building in Johnny. He was edging toward Scully, he wanted
to shut her up.

"You were never the agent Mulder is and you'll never be anything more
than a second rate criminal and a murderer." She said with disgust.

Johnny reached out and slapped her hard, knocking her to the ground.
That was all it took. Mulder came out of the fog and leapt at
Matthews. Mulder hit him and he went down next to Scully. Matthews
grabbed Scully's gun but Skinner was quick and both he and Mulder
shot Matthews.

No one moved for a couple of seconds. Then Mulder handed the gun and
knife to Skinner and walked over to the couch and sat down heavily,
putting his head in his hands. Skinner accepted them, he didn't
really think Mulder would hurt himself or he and Scully, but he
didn't want to leave anything to chance.

Skinner called it in and left the two alone for a few minutes.
Scully sat next to Mulder. "Thanks for standing up for me, Mulder,
for coming to my rescue." Scully smiled at him.

He looked over at her in astonishment. "I could've killed you,
Scully."

"No you couldn't have."

"How can you be so sure?" His face was contorted with confusion and
wonderment.

She smiled and shook her head. "Come on, let's get out of here."
She took his hand.

THE END