Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997
Subject: Yin/Yang (1/2)

This story was written by Lee Ann Wagner, my wife. Pleae forward any and
all comments to her.

Please forward to atxc and all archives.

Dedictation:This story was made possible by Mystic, who asked for
it, Jason Cleaver and Randi (QueeQuag), who edited it for me, and Steve, my
husband who pushed me to finish it. If you enjoy this, thank those people.
If you hate, blame me.

Lee Ann

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

Yin/Yang - Part 1/9
by Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com

March 20, 1997

DISCLAIMER: This is a fiction story based on the characters
created by Chris Carter. No infringement of copyrights held by
10/13 Productions, Twentieth Century Productions, or Fox
Broadcasting is intended. All unrecognized characters and plot-
lines belong to me. Names, characters, and places exist solely
within my imagination, or are used fictitiously. No connection
to any person, living or dead, is intended, and any resemblance
is entirely coincidental. Feel free to distribute, but please
keep me as the author.

The characters of Jackie St. George and Marty belong to Sheryl Martin and
are used with her permission. The character of Liz Martin belongs to Char
Hall and is used with her permission. The copy cat of one of the murders
from "Oklahoma" is used with permission from the authors, Livingoo and
Amperage.

Title: Yin/Yang
Author: Lee Ann Wagner (lwagner@ntwrks.com)
Rating: probably R for violence (no sex), no MSR or MSG
Classification: X
Spoilier: reference to "Irrestible", but it is minor.
Keyword: none
Summery: Mulder is ordered to take a vacation and Scully works on a serial
killer case.

---------------------------------------------------------
Yin/Yang - Part 1/9
By Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com
March 20, 1997

Washington, D.C.
Monday 20 April
1 P.M.

Special Agent Dana Scully sat back at her desk and listened
to the noise in the basement office. There was none. She smiled.
No humming. No sunflower shells being cracked. No slide
projector. Not a single sound but her own breath. And she could
look forward to two whole weeks of this blessed silence. All
because Assistant Director Walter Skinner had ordered her
partner, Fox Mulder, to take a two week vacation.

Of course the previous Monday had not been nearly so
peaceful. Mulder had found a memo waiting for him on his desk.
She hadn't been there when he read the memo informing Mulder that
he was to take some of his accumulated vacation time. All Scully
knew was he was still ballistic an hour later when she arrived
for work. It seemed he had spent that hour checking through
regulations and government policies, but could find nothing to
fight this order. They has no ongoing case, so he couldn't claim
that his absence would hurt a case. In fact, they had not had a
new case in a week. Both of them had been catching up on paper
work and helping other departments.

After listening to Mulder complain all day Monday and part
of Tuesday, Scully had finally offered her opinion.

"You know, Mulder, most sane, rational people look forward
to taking a two week vacation each year. They delight in the
opportunity to leave the stress of the work place behind and
enjoy life. Sleep late. Take long, slow walks in the fresh air.
Get a tan. Read all those books they had been meaning to read all
year. In short, relax and have fun."

"Scully, are you implying that I am not a sane, rational
person?"

"Don't get me started on that one, Mulder."

"What would you do with two weeks off?"

"Visit my mother. Clean my apartment. Visit some museums.
Fun things, Mulder."

"Sold." Mulder walked over to her desk and placed the memo
in the center of it. "You take the two weeks and I'll stay at
work."

Scully smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, Mulder. Skinner
gave you the time off, not me. You'll just have to grin and bear
two whole weeks of leisure."

Mulder just scowled at her, but said no more about the time
off.

Then Wednesday morning when Scully got to work, Mulder had
changed his tune. Now he was looking forward to the time off. He
seemed enthusiastic about it. He was whistling to himself again.
And a happy Mulder was something to worry about, it usually means
he is up to something. This behavior continued straight through
to Friday afternoon when Scully couldn't take it anymore. So
shortly before 5 P.M., she broached the subject again.

"So what are you planning to do for the next two weeks?" she
asked without looking up from her paperwork.

"I've decided to take your advice, Scully. I'm going to
relax, enjoy nature, read, writing some articles I've been
meaning to do." Mulder took off his glasses and leaned back in
his chair. "I've even decided to get out of D.C. for awhile."

Scully looked up at him. "Going to go visit some UFO hot
spots?"

"Nope."

"Area 51?"

"Nope."

"You aren't going to break into any secret government
complexes, are you?" she asked accusingly.

"Nope. I'm just going on a nice, innocent vacation. And
since the clock on the wall now says 5:00, I am officially on
vacation." He stood up and walked over to Scully's desk. "Skinner
said I was to leave my cell phone and building pass with you." He
placed said items on the center of her desk. "I left where I'll
be on my computer. See you in 17 days, Scully." Mulder left the
room smiling.

All Scully could do was stare at the door. *He wasn't
carrying any files,* she thought. *So what the hell is he up to?*

Scully placed his phone and pass in her purse and left the
office herself. She brooded about Mulder and his strange behavior
all day Saturday and Sunday. She even discussed it with Jackie
St. George and Liz Martin when they came over Sunday afternoon.

"Maybe he really is going on vacation and will relax," Liz
commented.

Jackie fell on the floor laughing. "Fox Mulder relax. That
will be that day. By Monday night, he'll be on the phone bugging
one of us. He will not be able to take more than 72 hours without
work."

By Monday morning, Scully had decided not to worry about
him. She had packed a bag and refilled her medical kit just in
case she needed to go after Mulder in a hurry.

The office seemed empty without Mulder in it. But God, she
was enjoying the quiet.

Upper Peninsula, Michigan
Monday, 20 April
1 P.M.

Special Agent Fox Mulder sat watching a Northern Goshawk
ride the wind currents overhead. He sipped at his glass of ice
tea and marveled at the silence. He was taking a rest from
working on an article for the Lone Gunmen magazine. It was going
faster than he had expected. The sun was reflecting off the lake
several yards from the cabin's back door. There was a wonderfully
refreshing, cool breeze that brought the scent of the pine forest
straight to him. He could even hear a woodpecker somewhere in the
forest. And he was at peace with the world.

Thinking back to the previous Monday, Mulder wondered why he
had been so upset when he had read that memo from Skinner. Oh, he

had been furious all right. He had ranted and sulked for two days
and had even tried to give the time off to Scully. But Tuesday
evening after Scully had left early, he had ended up talking to
Mrs. Scully. She had called hoping to catch her daughter before
Scully left work. He smiled as he recalled the conversation.

"Mulder."

"Hello, Fox. Is Dana there?"

"Hi, Mrs. Scully. I'm afraid she left early today. You can
probably catch her at home."

"Are you two going out of town?"

"No. Scully got tired of hearing me complain about my
upcoming vacation."

"A vacation? That's nice, Fox. Why are you complaining about
it?"

"I don't want to take it. AD Skinner has decided I need to
take two weeks off whether I want to or not."

"So what are you planning to do?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea. Probably hang around my
apartment. My family was never big on family vacations. We'd
usually just spend a month or so at the summer cabin in Rhode
Island."

"We used to take some lovely vacations when the kids were
little." Mulder could hear the smile in Mrs. Scully's voice. "I
remember several years we took the children to my uncle's cabin
in northern Michigan. It's right on a lake, so Bill and the
children would swim and fish most of the day.

"One time ... Dana was about six at the time ... Bill, Jr.
was trying to teach her how to cast a fishing line into the
water. He was standing behind her and she accidentally hooked his
head while trying to cast. The hook just pricked his scalp, but
Dana was so upset. Then she proceeded to catch the biggest fish
that whole vacation."

Mulder was chuckling at the thought of his partner hooking
her older brother.

"Another year, Melissa took all the children on a nature
walk and led them right through a patch of poison ivy. We ended
up buying a whole case of Calamine lotion that summer."

Mulder laughter out loud. "That cabin must have been a great
place. While I have never been big on fishing, I have always
enjoyed swimming and hiking. I would love to see that place
sometime."

"Well, the cabin now belongs to my cousin Mike. Why don't I
call him and see if you could use the cabin for two weeks?"

Mulder thought about it for a minute. "Sure that would be
great, Mrs. Scully, if you think your cousin wouldn't mind a
stranger using the cabin."

"You are not a stranger, Fox. You're Dana's friend. I'll
give him a call and then call you back."

Two hours later, Mulder had a place to stay and directions
on how to get to it from Duluth, the nearest airport where he
could rent a car. After considering the whole situation, he
decided that time off might not be so bad after all.

Wednesday at lunch, Mulder booked his flight to Chicago with
a connecting one to Duluth. He also reserved a four wheeled drive
vehicle for himself as he had been told that the cabin was at the
end of a five mile long dirt road.

By 5:00 Friday afternoon, he found himself excited. He
didn't even mind leaving his cell phone and building pass with
Scully. He wouldn't need them after all; he was going to a rustic
cabin 10 miles from Copper Harbor, Michigan. Scully's growing
curiosity during the second part of the week and her expression
when he had left at 5 P.M. that Friday had made it all the
sweeter. Mulder chuckled at the memory.

The trip up to the cabin had been uneventful. His planes
were all on time and he made his connection at O'Hare with time
to spare. When he arrived at Duluth, his luggage was among the
first unloaded and it all arrived together. At the rental agency,
he discovered that due to a computer error, he had been upgraded
to a Jeep Grand Cherokee at no extra charge and an extra 1000
miles free. As he left the rental agency parking lot with a map
and directions to the cabin in hand, all Mulder could think was
*This may be one of the best things to ever happen to me this
year. Yes, this is going to be a great vacation. Thank God for
Mrs. Scully.* He made a mental note to find her something special
as a thank you for this trip.

Mulder stayed overnight at the Black River Lodge in
Ironwood, Michigan. Since he was on vacation, he had decided to
treat himself to a place with an indoor pool and sauna. After a
vigorous swim, a good sweat in the sauna, and a great dinner, he
decided that vacations might not be such a bad thing after all.
He spent the rest of Saturday night plotting out what to see.

From Ironwood, Mulder drove through the Ottawa National
Forest. In Houghton, he stopped at the Keweenaw Co-Op for some of
the local specialities such as squeaky cheese, saffron rolls,
pasties, and Trenary toast, as well as deli meats and cheeses.
The next stop was the general store in Copper Harbor to pick up
staples and the keys to the cabin.

Mulder's first impression of the cabin was that it looked
small. It was constructed out of rough hewn logs and appeared to
be about two rooms wide. A screened-in porch stretched across
three-quarters of the front of the building. Once inside, he
found that the cabin was much bigger than he thought. It had 3
bedrooms, 2 baths, a large living room with a fireplace, and an
enormous eat-in kitchen. There was another screened-in porch
across the back of the building which contained a day bed large
enough to sleep two adults. In fact, Mulder was very impressed by
everything to do with the cabin except the giant sombrero that
hung over the day bed. The thing was decorated with birds' nests
filled with eggs. Mulder hated it. He found that while there was
a color TV, there was no cable, just an antenna. But it was able
to pick up 4 Michigan channels and 3 Canadian ones, one of which
ran nothing but Hollywood musicals all night.

Monday morning he went for a run around the lake. In the
woods, there were still some snow drifts from winter. But the air
was crisp and clean and had a sweet smell to it. After a quick
breakfast, Mulder went right to work on the article he had
promised the Lone Gunmen months ago. Now, 5 hours later, he just

had to write a conclusion and the thing was done. In fact, the
work was going so well, that he promised himself a big breakfast
in town the next day when he went in mail the diskette to
Frohike. He decided that tomorrow might also be a good day to
visit the Brockway sauna, an authentic Finnish sauna nearby. He
idly wondered if he could buy a couple of birch switches there
for Jackie and Marty. *They might just enjoy them,* he thought,
chuckling.

Sitting back in the deck chair, Mulder let his mind wander.
He wondered what was happening back in Washington at the office
and what Scully was up to. But he quickly pushed those thoughts
out of his mind.

"You're on vacation. " he reminded himself. "No thoughts
about the office."

After a few more sips of ice tea, Mulder went back to
watching the hawk lazily riding the air currents. "Yes," he said
to the hawk, "this is going to be a nice, quiet vacation. And I
am going to enjoy every moment of it."

Continued in Part 2

Yin/Yang - Part 2/9
by Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com
March 20, 1997

FBI Building
Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, 22 April
11:13 A.M.

Dana Scully was beginning to hate the quiet. She had never
realized that the basement office she shared with Fox Mulder was
so isolated from the noise and the crowds of the rest of the
building. When Mulder was in the office, there were plenty of
small noises that she had gotten so use to over the four years
they had worked together. Even when he was on sick leave, she
could expect at least ten calls from him a day asking for more
files to be dropped off at his apartment or some information he
needed for a file or just wanting to talk to her. But since he
went on vacation, their office had become an isolation booth.

The first day, the quiet had been blissful. By Tuesday
afternoon, it's charm had grown rather thin. And now, halfway
through Wednesday, she would have gladly brought 5 pounds of
sunflower seeds if it meant that she would be hearing the sound
of the shells being cracked open. But she had a week and a half
of silence ahead of her to deal with.

"Hell," she said out loud just to break the silence. "By the
time Mulder gets back I'll be holding conversations with myself
just to hear the noise." Scully picked up the phone and dialed
the Canadian embassy to see if Jackie St. George wanted to meet
for lunch.

The two friends met at d.c. space, a noisy, crowded cafe
frequented by students from nearby Corcoran art school. The
food was good and inexpensive and the constant noise level was
just what Scully was looking for because of the morning of quiet
she had just experienced. But because of that noise, her and
Jackie had been unable to talk much. So Jackie stopped back at
her friend's office for a talk.

Jackie settled herself in Mulder's chair and idly picked up
things off his desk. She reached over and picked up his
nameplate and inspected it. "Have you heard from himself yet?"
she asked tapping the nameplate on the desk before setting it
down.

Scully sat down in her own chair. "Now a word since Mulder
left here Friday at 5."

Jackie looked up at Scully, surprise evident on her face.
"Not a word?"

Scully just shook her head no.

Jackie's eyes took on a look of suspicion and worry. "Do you
think he's all right?"

"With Mulder, who knows. He can get into trouble just
crossing the street. He told me he wasn't going UFO hunting or to
infiltrate any government bases, but if something caught his
interest, he'd be gone in a second." After a moment, Scully
continued. "But the worst part of this is how quiet this office
gets when he isn't here.

Jackie had been looking through the top drawer in Mulder's
desk. She looked up questioningly.

"Without Mulder here, the office is totally quiet. At
first, I enjoyed the silence. Now it's starting to get on my
nerves."

Jackie started laughing. "So you're missing Mulder, right?"

Scully thought about it for a few seconds. "Not so much
Mulder as the noise he makes. Hardly anyone comes down here
during the day and you can't hear the noises from upstairs."

"So when the genius returns, we'll make a tape of the sounds
of Fox Mulder, FBI for you." Jackie dropped her pitch while
talking to make it sound official. Scully started laughing.

"So when is Marty due back?"

Jackie was rummaging through the bottom drawer of the desk.
"He's stuck in New Orleans for three more weeks. His contract got
extended. But he promised to bring me a little something from the
French Quarter." She paused and looked up at Scully. "You know,
if you wanted to get back at Mulder for leaving you alone in the
quiet, we could clean out his bottom drawer here." Jackie smiled
a wicked smile.

Scully gave a dramatic shudder. "I don't even want to know
what all he keeps in that drawer let alone clean it out."

Their laughter was interrupted by Jackie's cell phone. After
talking on it for several minutes, she hung up. Standing up and
stretching, she said, "Well, duty calls. I'll ring you tonight
and we can talk more."

After Jackie left, Scully settled back down to the paperwork
on her desk. By the end of the day, she promised herself that she
would bring a radio to work the next day.

FBI Building
Thursday, 23 April
11:12 A.M.

Scully looked up from her computer and stretched. The radio
had helped her concentration and she had just finished the
report from an autopsy she had performed yesterday afternoon. Liz
had called and she was going to meet her and Jackie for lunch at
the Flight Line cafeteria in the National Air and Space Museum at
noon.

Once everyone had gotten their lunch and sat down, Jackie
started talking. "So, how goes the sound of silence, Dana?"

Liz Martin looked at her two friends in confusion; so Scully
explained how the office was too quiet for her yesterday. "But
today I brought my walkman, so the noise level is just fine." She
smiled and took a bite of her salad.

"You still haven't heard from Mulder?" Liz asked.

"Nope," was Scully's reply.

The three ate in silence for a few minutes before Liz asked
"Do you know if he's even in town?"

"Well, I haven't stopped by his apartment, but I can't
imagine where he'd go. Mulder's probably hanging out with the
Lone Gunmen."

"Now there's a frightening thought," Jackie commented.
"Mulder hanging out with those three guys for two solid weeks."

Liz laughed. "God, that man is paranoid enough. From what
Dana's told me about those three weirdoes, Mulder will be
certifiably insane if he spends two weeks with them."

"You mean Mulder's not certifiably crazy now?" Jackie asked
innocently.

"True, too true." Scully responded. "But I am not going to
worry about where Mulder is or what he doing while he is on
vacation. While he is gone it means that for the next 11 days I
won't have to listen to any theories about alien abduction,
Bigfoot, ghosts, or any of the other strange ideas Mulder can
come up with. So no more talk about Mulder, okay?"

The rest of the lunch was enjoyably spent discussing new
movies and the latest Washington gossip.

Scully was only back in the office for ten minutes when a
knock on the door interrupted her work. The knock was immediately
followed by the door opening and Special Agent Dan Rais walking
in. Agent Rais was with VCU and Mulder and Scully had worked well
with him in the past.

"Hi, Dana. Where's Mulder?" the agent asked walking into the
office.

"Hi yourself, Dan," she replied. "Mulder is on vacation."

The older agent stared at her for a few seconds and then
started laughing. "Good one, Dana. You had me going there for a
minute. Seriously, when will Mulder be back from lunch?"

"Not until May 4th. He's really on vacation."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

Scully just nodded.

"Shit. I wanted him to take a look at this case. I can't get
a handle on the Unsub. Neither can ISU."

"Sorry."

"Thanks anyway." Rais left, closing the door behind him.
Seconds later, the door opened again and Rais stuck his head back
in. "Mulder's really on vacation?"

"Yep."

"Was it his idea?"

"Well, Skinner ordered the time off, but Mulder liked the
idea."

"But he's not sick or injured, right?"

"Right."

"He's not on disciplinary leave, right?"

"Right. Mulder's just on a two week vacation. He is not
sick, injured, or in trouble."

Dan Rais started laughing. "The guys in VC and ISU will
never believe this one. Mulder on vacation." He closed the door
again while still laughing.

Scully stared at the door for several minutes. *God, you'd
think no one had ever heard of Mulder taking time off before.
Granted most of the time it's because he is sick or injured, but
still he had have taken at least one vacation. He's been an agent
for what ... 10 to 12 years now. So he must have taken at least
one in all that time. Hasn't he?* She realized that she had no
idea if her partner had ever taken a vacation before. She turned
back to her computer and brought up his personal file. She had to
know if Mulder had ever taken vacation time off before or not.

After ten minutes, Scully sat back in her chair in stunned
silence. Mulder had taken several days off right before he
started working on the X-Files, but not since. And prior to that,
he had not taken any time off except for an extended leave back
in 1987. *God, Mulder really did need this time off,* she
thought.

FBI Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
same day
2 hours later

Scully was relieved when she received a summons to A.D.
Skinner's office. She had almost cleared her desk of paper work
and was even thinking about tackling the piles on Mulder's desk,
a thought that frankly scared her. *A call from Skinner's office
probably means a new case,* she thought while walking down the
hall to the A.D.'s office. *I just hope that it's not a X-file.
If Skinner gives me a nice, juicy X-file to handle while Mulder's
on a forced vacation, he will never let me hear the end of it.*

Once in Skinner's office, she found Dan Rais there also.
"Agent Scully, thank you for coming. You know Agent Rais,"
Skinner said indicating that she should sit down.

Scully took her customary seat. "Yes, sir. Agent Mulder and
myself have worked with Agent Rais before."

"Good. I'm assigning you to a case he is heading."

Agent Rais took up the briefing. "We need a good forensic
pathologist and you're the best there is." He handed Scully a
file. "We are working on a suspected serial killer."

"Suspected?" Scully asked. She had always thought that VCU
would know if it was a serial killer or not.

"There have been 5 murders so far. All of the victims have
been white males between the ages of 30 and 38 and all have had
notes stapled to their foreheads. But those are the only two
things that the murders have in common. All the victims were
killed in a different manner. They lived in different states.
They worked in different occupations. And none of them appear to
be linked to any of the others in anyway that we have found.

"A body was found in an apartment out near the Potomac River
late this morning. I think it maybe victim number 6. It's being
held at the morgue until we could get our own pathologist out
there to do the autopsy. We need every bit of information you can
give us, Agent Scully. This case is a real puzzler."

"I'll get right on it. I should be able to get the autopsy
done this afternoon."

"Great. I'll call and make the arrangements. The whole team
will meet tomorrow morning at 10:30 to go over the results and
discuss the case. Maybe you can spot something that the rest of
us have missed." Rais stood up, thanked Skinner, and left the
office.

Scully also stood up and started walking toward the door
before Skinner's voice stopped her. "A moment of your time, Agent
Scully."

She turned back to the desk. "Yes, sir?"

"I hope Agent Mulder wasn't too out of sorts last week about
the time off."

Scully suppressed a smile. "He was slightly upset at first,
sir. But by Friday afternoon, he had become rather enthusiastic
about the idea."

"Good. Has he been on the phone a lot?"

"No, sir. I haven't heard from Agent Mulder since Friday
when he left the office."

"Do you know what his plans were?"

"No, sir. But he did leave his itinerary on his PC in case I
needed to contact him. Should I try, sir?"

"I see no reason to interrupt his vacation. Thank you, Agent
Scully."

Scully left the office. Back in the basement office, she
started laughing. *So, Skinner was worried Mulder had a fit about
the time off. That's interesting to know.* She collected her
briefcase and coat and headed for the D.C. morgue.

Scully didn't get home until late that night. When she found
the message light on her answering machine lit, she thought it
was Mulder, but instead it was her mother telling Scully that she
was going to go help out Bill, Jr and his family as her daughter-
in-law had just broken her leg. Scully decided to take a bath
before starting on her autopsy report.

Continue in Part 3

Yin/Yang - Part 3/9
by Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com
March 20, 1997

FBI Building
Washington, D. C.
Thursday 24 April
10:30 A.M.

A conference room on the third floor was reserved for use by
the team that Dana Scully was now part of. She had spent the
morning finishing her autopsy report and reading over the
information in the case file. When she entered the room, there
were three men present, two of them she had worked with before.

Dan Rais she liked. He was in his mid-fifties and very
contented with his life and job. This showed through both in his
physical appearance and his personality. He always had a smile
for the people around him. His tall, thin frame and prominent
cheek bones spoke of his Native American heritage, but the rest
of his features and color told of the French in his family tree.
Mulder had once told her that Rais was one of the few agents in
VC and ISU who had not felt threatened by the new hot shot from
the academy when Mulder had started doing profiles. She knew that
this was the reason why Mulder worked so well with the man now.

But the same was not true of the second man: Special Agent
Jasper Q. Dixson. Scully knew the man to be in his early fifties
and divorced. Short and dumpy were the only polite adjectives she
could think of to the describe the profiler. He had a reputation
for hitting on all the new female recruits at the academy and
being rather persistent in his attentions. Overshadowed by Mulder
from the younger agent's first day in ISU, Dixson had done
everything he could to discredit and belittle Mulder. Scully, who
had clashed with Dixson on another case, hated to be in the same
room as the man let alone working with him.

The third man looked to be in his early to mid-thirties and
like he should have been in Southern California rather than
Washington, D. C. His blond hair was curly, his skin was
tanned, and he stood like he owned the room. And, worst of all,
he was looking Scully over like she was on display in a window at
Saks-Jaudel.

*Great,* she thought. *I'm stuck working with a lech and a
probably egotistical creep. At least Dan is a good guy.*

Rais walked over to Scully and shook her hand. "Glad to have
your help on this one, Dana. We are going nowhere with it and
need every bit of information you can give us. Agent Dixson you
know. He's working on a profile of the killer."

Scully nodded to the man.

"But I don't think you've ever worked with Agent Robert
Fickett. He was just assigned to VCU two months ago. Prior to
that, he worked out of the Las Vegas office.

"This is Special Agent Dana Scully, M.D., one of the best
forensic pathologists the FBI has to offer. Her and her partner
have one of the best closure rates in the Bureau."

Dixson snickered. "How is Spooky these days? Rumor has it
he's on disciplinary leave ... again."

Scully turned her best icy glare on the obnoxious man.
"Agent Mulder is on vacation. Nothing more."

Rais decided to defuse the situation before any problems
arose. "Let's get down to work, shall we? Dana, what did you find

out about the body?"

"The police tentatively identified the victim as Raymond
Thomas Singer, age 34. Single white male. He was in good health
at the time of his death. He worked as a curator at the Corcoran
Gallery of Art. Cause of death was strangulation. The killer most
likely used a rope. After death, his eyes were burned out, most
likely with a hot poker or rod. There was no sign of torture or
sexual assault. He died between midnight and three A.M. last
night. The lab is still running the toxicology screens and
comparing the rope found at the scene with the fibers I found
in =A0bedded =A0in =A0the =A0victim's neck. I =A0should =A0have =A0the=
=A0results
sometime this afternoon.

"The note that had been stapled to the victim's forehead was
examined for prints and compared to the other notes found on the
five previous victims. There were no fingerprints. The paper and
ink used were the same as on the previous five notes."

Scully passed him the note and copies of it to the other
men. It read:

"YIN MUST RESTORE THE BALANCE!"

and had the Chinese symbol for Yin and Yang at the top.

Rais looked at it and sighed. "It's him."

Scully pulled copies of the other five notes out of the case
file. She quickly read them. The first two just had the symbol
for Yin and Yang on them. The third included the word "BALANCE."
The fourth read "YIN AND YANG - BALANCE." And the fifth said "YIN
AND YANG MUST BE BALANCED."

"Robert, give us a review of the other victims," Rais
continued.

"Victim one was Stewart James Edwards, age 35. Single white
male. He worked on a charter boat out of Karama, Martha's
Vineyard, where he lived. He was missing for three days before
his body was found in an alley behind a bank in Chilmark. He had
been repeatedly beaten before his throat was cut. He died from
loss of blood on April 3rd.

"Victim number 2 was a 38 year old single white male named
Frank Aaron Covington. He worked as a real estate agent in West
Warwick, Rhode Island. He was last seen by coworkers when he left
the office to show an empty house to a Mr. and Mrs. Rollins. He
was found dead the next morning in the master bedroom of the
house. He had been sodomized and shot once in the head. He was
found with a bloody pillow case covering his head on April 5th.
We haven't been able to locate the couple he was scheduled to
meet, if they even exist.

"Then we have James Mason Taylor, single white male aged 32.
He worked as an emergency room nurse at New York University
Medical Center in Manhattan and lived in Brooklyn with his
girlfriend. He was found dead in his car parked outside of
Prospect Park in Brooklyn. He died of a single bullet wound to
the head in the early morning hours of April 7th. The shooter was
outside the car at the time of the shooting.

"Number 4 was Dennis John Mills, single white male aged 30.
He worked the streets of Jersey City, New Jersey as a male
prostitute. He was last seen alive around six P.M. on April 7th.
His body was found three days later in a dumpster behind an
abandoned warehouse on the docks. He had been dismembered and
decapitated. There were signs of torture before death. The head
has yet to be recovered. The note was found stapled to his
chest.

"Victim number 5 was a single white male aged 33 named Craig
Michael Kurtz. He owned an antique store in Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. He was originally from Concord, Maine. When he
failed to open his store the morning of April 20th, the store
clerk called police. They found the victim dead in his home. He
had been manually strangled and his hair, fingernails, and two
fingers had been cut off after death. It appears that the killer
caught the victim as he was getting out of a bath, as a water
filled bathtub was found. He died late on April 19th."

This last killing made Scully uncomfortable. It reminded her
too much of Donnie Pfaster. But she hid her reaction from the
other agents.

Rais again took the lead. "Agent Dixson, what have you got
in the way of a profile on the killer?"

Scully listened to the pudgy agent's recital of his profile.
By the time he finished, she couldn't believe it. *That idiot has
nothing more than the basic profile that is used as a starting
point. And he has been working on this for ...* she checked the
case file notes *...over a week now. You would think he'd have
something more by now.*

The four agents spent the next hour discussing the case and
what avenues of investigation should be followed. Rais, the AC on
this case, assigned Scully to check the victims' medical files to
see if she could spot any links between them. He and Agent
Fickett would interview the known associates of the latest victim
and check into his background more. Agent Dixson was to continue
working on his profile in light of the most recent murder.

Scully walked down the hall reading one of the files when
Robert Fickett caught up to her.

"Agent Scully," he said falling into step with her. "I've
heard a lot about your work. I really admire everything you have
been able to accomplish and really look forward to working with
you. Do you think we could have lunch sometime and talk? Maybe
today?" He smiled a perfect smile.

Scully smiled back. "That would be nice, Agent Fickett. But
I am afraid today is out of the question. I'm meeting some
friends for lunch." She hurried off.

Scully met Liz Martin and Jackie St. George at Vic De France
Cafe across the mall from the Canadian Embassy. The three friends
talked about the latest news and goings on in various government
agencies and what were happening in their personal lives. Scully
told them about the case she working on and the men she would be
working with.

"Dan Rais is a nice guy and a good agent. I worked with him
on the Mitchell case last year. He has no hidden agendas and is
always willing to listen to suggestions and theories about the
case, even Mulder's. He even likes Mulder and Mulder likes him."

"The man must be a saint," Jackie quipped. All three
laughed.

"But the profiler is a real piece of work. Special Agent
Jasper Dixson, PhD. He hits on every female at Quantico and then
brags if they go out with him. If she doesn't, she's a lesbian.
To listen to Dixson talk, he's a genius that the Bureau would be
lost without and totally irresistible to women. As a profiler,
he's good enough but only with straight forward cases. Needless
to say, Mulder gets Dixson mad by just walking into the room. And
you can imagine how Mulder delights in tormenting the man."

"Mulder probably has a field day with the man's name," Liz
added.

"Exactly," Scully laughed. "But if Dixson calls me 'Babe'
like he did the first time I worked with him, I'll report him
directly to Janet Reno myself."

Jackie choked on her tea. "He called you babe? And you
didn't shot him?"

Liz patted Jackie on the back. "Didn't Mulder let you handle
that one? I remember you telling me about that incident."

"Yeah," Scully took a sip of her root beer. "Mulder got one
of his shit-ass grins and sat back. He told me that he would
never dream of depriving me of the fun of shredding the man
myself. But I heard that later Mulder told Dixson that an agent
of my caliber was worth six of Dixson and if he ever heard that
Dixson acted that way to any female while on a case again, he
would personally file a compliant with Skinner.

"The third agent, I've never worked with, but he just
doesn't sit well with me. I mean, he seemed nice enough and
everything, but he seemed ... I don't know." Scully shrugged. She
then leaned forward and whispered, "Here he comes now."

Jackie started to turn around when Liz stopped her. "Don't
look," she whispered.

Agent Fickett walked up and smiled down at the three women.
"Agent Scully, I'm glad I ran into you. I was planning to stop by
your office later, but since we are both here, I might as well
return your pen to you now." He pulled a pen out of his pocket
and handed it to her with a flourish.

Scully took the offered pen. "Thank you, Agent Fickett. I
didn't realize I had dropped this pen." She slipped the pen in
her pocket.

He smiled a perfect smile at Scully. "You dropped it in the
hallway after the meeting. You must not have noticed it because
you were looking forward to having an enjoyable lunch with two
such lovely friends." He turned his brilliant smile on Jackie and
Liz.

Scully looked at her friends and smiled. Then she turned
back to the agent. "Agent Robert Fickett ..."

"Please call me Rob," he interrupted. "My father was also a
FBI agent and I always think of him as Agent Fickett."

Scully smiled politely. "Rob, this is Elizabeth Martin, a
federal prosecutor, and Jaclyn St. George, head of security at
the Canadian Embassy. This is Rob Fickett, a member of the team
I'm working on."

Fickett smiled and shook hands with both Liz and Jackie.
"Well, I need to get some lunch myself and I have intruded on
yours too long as it is. Ms. Martin, Ms. St. George, it was a
real pleasure to meet you both. Agent Scully, see you back at
work." He smiled once more and walked away.

Liz watched the agent. "Saks."

"Huh?" Scully asked.

"That man dresses straight out of a Saks catalog. I'm sure I
saw a model dressed exactly like him in the Spring catalog. He is
too perfectly turned out. I wonder if he has his shirts, socks,
and ties labeled as to which suit they go to."

Scully and Jackie started to laugh.

"I'm serious," Liz insisted. "That man is a walking, talking
Ken doll. Wall Street and law firms are full of them."

Scully shrugged. "Well, maybe he can teach Mulder something
about how to pick out ties."

Liz shook her head. "Mulder's taste in ties maybe abysmal,
but he knows how to express his individuality while adhering to
the standard dress code."

"I don't know if I would trust a Mulder who didn't wear a
weird tie," Jackie quipped. "I'd be too worried that it was a
clone instead of the real Mulder."

"Besides, I think those God awful ties make Mulder look kind
of cute," Liz confessed.

Scully laughed. "Well, you can have him and his ties, Liz
with my blessing."

"Before I met Robert, I might have taken him, but I don't
think Robert would want to share with Mulder." Liz stated
straight faced. "Anyway, you and him make such an adorable couple
that I wouldn't dream of breaking it up."

"So I guess you're stuck with Mulder, Dana," Jackie laughed.

"But it was nice of Fickett to return your pen," Liz changed
the subject.

Scully snorted. "Especially since it isn't even my pen." She
took a pen out of her purse and showed it to her friends. Then
she held up the pen Fickett gave her.

"They don't even look the same," Jackie exclaimed.

Scully just nodded.

"I think someone wants to get on your good side, Dana," Liz
commented. "But watch out for that one. He's a user."

The only thought that came to Scully's mind was ones of
another young, good looking, eager to please agent that she and
Mulder had worked with: Alex Krycek. "Oh, don't worry, Liz. I
know better than to trust just anyone."

As the friends walked back toward the Hoover Building, the
conversation turned to speculation about where Mulder was
spending his vacation. By the time they reached Scully's office,
the possible location of the absent Mulder had become absurd.

"Mulder's probably on a nude beach in the French Riviera,
surrounded by beautiful jet setters getting sunburnt in tender
spots," Scully speculated.

"Or Skinner had him kidnapped and Mulder is currently being
held in a seedy motel being deprogrammed from his beliefs in UFO
and aliens," Liz countered.

"Knowing Mulder's taste in motel," Scully added between
laughs, "the seedier the more he'll like it."

Jackie, having dropped into Mulder's chair while laughing,
chimed in. "I know, I know. Mulder has been spirited away to a
secret harem where he is, even now, being tortured because of his
refusal to satisfy the lewd and degrading sexual demands of all
the scantily clad, sex starved women. But the brave special agent
is valiantly struggling so as to save himself for the fair Dana,
his one true love." She collapsed back laughing uncontrollably.

Liz had to lean against the wall, holding her sides. Her
words came out in short bursts between laughter. "Yeah, I can
just see him struggling against the silk ropes binding him spread
eagle to a silk covered bed while two girls fan him with feather
fans and another feeds him peeled grapes."

Scully was laughing so hard that tears were running down her
face. After several minutes, she was able to gasp out her words.
"Oh yes, Mulder would try diligently to escape that type of
prison ... after about twenty years."

Liz was the first one to recover her composure. A slight
buzz from her pocket caught her attention. She pulled out a Casio
pocket organizer. She pushed a button which stopped the noise.
"Well, I have a pre-trial conference in a hour and a half. So I
need to go."

"I'd better go too," Jackie said standing up. As she and Liz
walked out of the room, Scully could hear Liz telling Jackie all
about how great the pocket organizer was and how Jackie should
get one. To which Jackie countered, that what she had Rosie for.

Several hours later, Scully received the lab reports on
Raymond Singer. She called Rais to let him know. He told her he'd
come down to her and take a look at them. Ten minutes later, he
walked into the basement office.

Scully briefly summarized the results, "Singer wasn't drunk
or drugged at the time of his death and there were no unusual
chemicals found in his system. The fiber from the strangulation
wound matched the rope found at the scene."

Rais sat down on the extra wooden chair in front of Mulder's
desk. "Damn. This case is going nowhere fast. The killer is
constantly changing his MO. The only things that remain constant
are his choice of victims and the Yin/Yang notes. The victims
aren't related to each other in anyway we can find. Anything in
their medical histories?"

Scully shook her head. "Nothing so far. But I'm still
looking."

"So the choice of the victim are more or less random, just
as long as they fit the age, race, and marital parameters." Rais
sighed. "The time between murders keeps changing. As does the
method of killing. Even the distance between the murder site or
dumping sites don't form a pattern. Shit!"

Scully recognized that the agent was frustrated. She thought
for a few minutes before speaking. "All the victim were single
males. Could there be a homosexual/bisexual connection?"

"None that we found. The only one was Dennis Mills, the
prostitute. The rest were straight or so far in the closet that
no one knew."

"Well, at least we know he is heading down the Eastern
Seaboard, from north to south."

"Yeah," Rais sighed. "But with this killer I wouldn't be
surprised if he changes direction on us." Rais looked at Mulder's
desk. "I could really use his spooky talent on this one. Dixson
is in way over his head on this one."

Scully gave him a sympathetic smile.

Rais stood up. "If you talk to Mulder see if you can't talk
him into taking a look at the case, will you?"

"Sure."

Rais started to leave when he stopped and turned back.
"Dana, I just wanted to pass on a warning I got from the SAC of
the Las Vegas office about Fickett. He's ambitions and rumor has
it that he uses people to help him on his way up the ladder. It
was rumored that he took credit for some work that wasn't his and
that was how he got his promotion to VCU. But there is no hard
evidence on this."

Scully started to speak, but Rais held up his hand. "I know
you can take care of yourself, Dana, and that you are a big girl,
but you are also a friend that I don't want to see get hurt."

Scully smiled. "Thanks, Dan. But I doubt I could be of any
use to his career in anyway."

"Don't be so sure. Having Mulder's unofficial help on cases
could boost anyone's closure rates. And you have influence over
Mulder. A good word from you about another agent goes a long way
with Mulder."

"So you're worried about Fickett trying to use me to get to
Mulder?"

"That's right."

*So that explains why he made the big deal about returning a
pen that doesn't even belong to me,* Scully thought. To Rais she
said, "Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful."

Rais smiled and left the office.

That night, Scully watched CNN to catch up the news from the
rest of the world. One of the lead stories told about several
forest fires that were out of control in the Ottawa National
Forest and the Porcupine Mountain State Park on the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan. And that the smoke and flying ash had
forced the closure of US Routes 2, 42,and 141, and state route
28.

Continued in Part 4

Yin/Yang - Part 4/9
by Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com
March 20, 1997

Alexandria, Virginia
Friday, 25 April
3 A. M.

He walked around the dark apartment. The aquarium proving
the only light source; the only noise the bubbling of the filter.
He could feel the essence of Yang here. He touched many of the
things that his counterpart used everyday: the remote control,
plates and glasses in the kitchen, pencil on the desk. He read
the book titles on the shelves and watched the fish swim in the
tank. Sitting down on the shadow covered couch, he turned on the
television and watched the tape in the VCR. He felt disappointed
because it was just a basketball game. The lively, cheering sound
tore at the silence. He turned it off to restore the stillness.
After a while, he paced around the apartment once more. That was
when he noticed the envelope on the desk. It was addressed to the
counterpart's helper. Quickly he opened it and scanned the
contents. Then he turned on the computer and used the codeword in
the letter. Bringing up the specific file named in the letter, he
discovered the reason why he could not find Yang. Turning over
the letter and taking a pen from the desk, he wrote down what was
in the file. Then he turned off the computer and slipped the
paper and pen into his pocket.

"Since he is not here tonight," Yin said to himself, "I will
enjoy his home." Blinking in the bright lights of the bathroom,
he undressed and stood under the hot spray, using Yang's soap and
shampoo to wash the dirt and tiredness from his body. Wrapping
one of the bath sheets around himself, a thought came to his
mind, *I know his scent now.* Then he walked into the bedroom
and stared into the closet. In the light that filtered in from
the bathroom, he could see that he was much bigger than Yang, so
none of Yang's clothes would fit him. But he stretched out of
the bed, enjoying the faint smell of Yang on the crisp cotton.
He lay there imagining the women Yang must have brought to this
bed, imagining Yang holding his helper tight in his arms late at
night. Yang appealed to women, Yin did not, despite the fact he
had played football in high school.

Soon he arose and dressed. He had spent two hours in Yang's
den. He knows where to find Yang. He would go to Yang and end this
incarnation taking Yang with him. In the next life, he would be
the favored one because he had restored the balance Yang had
destroyed. He chuckled as he let himself out of the apartment,
locking the door with his picks. *On the way I can right a few
more wrongs that Yang has done. But I know Yang's weakness ...
his fear and that is how I will destroy us both.*

Lobby of the FBI Building
Washington, D. C.
Friday, 25 April
7:45 A. M.

Dana Scully was walking briskly over the seal in the floor
of the lobby when Dan Rais intercepted her. Without preamble he
said, "There's been another one. Come on."

Scully followed Rais out of the building and into the
garage. "Where is the scene?"

"Alexandria," came the reply. They met up with Agent Fickett
who sat behind the wheel of a government issued Taurus. Rais
climbed in the back seat while Scully took the front passenger
seat.

As soon as they were in traffic, Rais filled Scully and
Fickett in on what he knew about the latest murder. "The victim
is tentatively identified as Daniel Adam Pegg, single white male,
age 32. When he failed to pick his sister up at Dulles, she took
a cab to his apartment. She has a key and let herself in. She
found him dead in a tub of water, from electrocution. An
extension cord with one end stripped off was found in the tub. A
red ribbon had been tied around his neck before he was killed.

"The sister, Mary Ann Pegg, is a flight attendant with Delta
Airlines. She was in town for the victim's wedding which was in
two days. The call to us came in at 6:30 this morning. That's all
we know at this point." Rais sat back in his seat. The agents
were quiet for the rest of the drive.

When Fickett parked the car down the block from the building
where the murder had occurred, Scully was shocked. The police
were going in and out of Mulder's apartment building. She looked
at Rais who simple said, "Apartment 22." Fickett went ahead to
talk to the police detective in charge.

"The police are canvassing the building to see if anyone
heard or saw anything over night," Rais told her. "I don't know
if they have talked to Mulder yet, but you might want to go up
and see if he is there."

Scully nodded. "Right after I examine the body." She flashed
her I.D. at the officer guarding the building door and headed to
apartment 22. She had to show her badge several more times before
she could view the body.

The apartment was laid out the same as Mulder's, only lacked
the darkness that saturated Mulder's. In the living room, Scully
could see a young woman sitting on the couch crying. Around her
were a female detective talking to her and several men collecting
evidence. Sighing, Scully slipped on gloves and entered the
bathroom.

The victim was fully clothed and immersed in a bathtub
filled with water. As she examined the body, Scully found a
slight swelling at the base of the skull. The skin was scratched
open. A note was stapled to the forehead. She read it without
disturbing the body.

"YANG IS UPSETTING THE BALANCE!
HE MUST BE STOPPED!"

There was the Yin/Yang symbol at the top.

Rais walked into the bathroom. Scully looked up at him. "It
looks like our killer. The victim was probably knocked
unconscious before being put in the water."

The other agent nodded. "The police think Pegg was surprised
in his bedroom, knocked out, and dragged in here. I've arranged
for you to do the autopsy."

Scully nodded and straightened up. "I'll go check on Mulder
now if it's all right."

"Fine. The coroner's people aren't ready to move the body
yet." Scully started out of the door, stripping the gloves off as
she walked, when Rais' voice stopped her.

"If he's up there, drag his sorry ass down, will you? Why
should he vacation while we work."

Scully laughed. "By his ear if necessary."

Scully took the stairs to avoid the crowd by the elevator.
Once she reached Mulder's door, she knocked before noticing that
there were scratches around the lock. But when she checked the
knob, the door was locked. Getting out her key and unlocking the
door, she pulled her gun as she eased open the door. Slipping
into the apartment, she flattened herself against the wall and
waited and listened while her eyes adjusted to the gloom. She
carefully checked each room, but found nothing out of place.
Walking back into the living room, she put her gun away and
decided that the scratches must be old ones. *The apartment looks
fine,* she thought, *just empty. He must have gone out of town.
Maybe he went and visited his mother or an old friend.* She
walked over to watch his fish for a moment, but never noticed the
green light that meant, while the computer was turned off, the
monitor had been left on. On the way out of the apartment, she
met Tony, the neighbor who often took care of Mulder's fish when
they were out of town on a case.

"Hi, Agent Scully," the teenager greeted her
enthusiastically. "Are you working on the murder downstairs? Too
bad Mulder isn't here. He'd solve it in no time."

Scully could hear the admiration in the young man's voice.
She was amazed by the hero worship that Tony felt for Mulder. She
knew that Mulder had no idea. He had started helping the teenager
with school work soon after she had become partnered with Mulder,
but he had shrugged off the idea that he had any influence over
Tony.

"Did you or your mom hear anything last night, Tony?" Scully
asked.

"No. Like I told that police officer, we can't really hear
anything from either apartment above or below us and not much
from the neighbors either.

"Thanks, Tony." Scully started toward the stairs, but turned
back. "When did Mulder leave?"

"Saturday morning. He said he'd be back in two week."

"Thanks again." She headed down the stairs. When she
arrived back at the murder scene, Scully found both Rais and
Fickett talking to the victim's sister; so she went to check to
see if the body was ready to be moved. She arranged to do the
autopsy later that morning. After watching the body being
removed, she talked to the officers who had been canvassing the
building. They had not found anyone who had heard anything or
seen any strange people around the building over night. By the
time she had finished, Rais and Fickett were leaving the
apartment.

"You got everything you need, Dana," Rais asked.

Scully nodded.

"Good. You can fill us in on the way back to the Bureau."

Once in the car and the car was heading back into
Washington, Scully started. "The victim appears to have been
knocked unconscious before being put in the bath tub."

"The police think that a paper weight from his desk was

used," Fickett added. "It's being sent to the lab for analysis."

"The ribbon and the note were placed on the body before
death," Scully continued. "Except for the swelling at the base
of the skull, there appear to be no outward signs of a struggle."

"What about time of death?" Rais asked.

"That will be hard to determine," Scully answered.
"Electrocution tends to spend up things like rigor mortise, but
being immersed in cold water would slow the whole process down.
I'll have to see what I find during the autopsy."

"Rough guess?"

"After midnight."

"Anything else?"

"Police have found no one who saw or heard anything unusual
overnight. But the apartment to the right of the victim is empty
and the two women who live to the left work for the Department of
Commerce and are currently in Japan. The police haven't talked to
everyone yet, so we still may get lucky."

"When will you be doing the autopsy?"

Scully checked her watch. "I told the morgue investigator
that I'd be there at ten. So I should be finished by about one
and we should get most of the lab results back by late
afternoon."

"What did you find out, Rob?" Rais asked turning to his
partner.

"The victim was a senior analysis at a computer firm in
Falls Church. The sister said he had been working a lot of
overtime to finish up a project before he left on his honeymoon.

"The police found prints all over the apartment, but most if
not all probably belong to the victim. His prints are on file at
the Bureau as he was required to get a security clearance several
years ago when his company got a big contract from the State
Department."

"That's where we'll start, Rob. After we drop Dana off,
we'll head out to his work place and talk to co-workers and
friends. Right after lunch, we'll talk to his fiance, Ms. Annie
Smits. She works at the Library of Congress. I'll call her and
set up an appointment.

"We'll meet around 4 and go over the most recent murder and
the case in general."

Scully hurried into the Hoover building and down to the
basement office. She checked her mail and did the few things that
needed to be done before she left to perform the autopsy, knowing
she was going to be gone most of the day.

3rd Floor
FBI Building
4:00 P. M.

Scully was the first one to arrive at the conference room.
She had the autopsy report ready. She had found a few interesting

things during the autopsy which would help the case. Sitting down
at the table, she pulled out her Powerbook and worked on her
field notes until the other arrived.

She heard the others before they arrived. She could hear
Dixson telling someone about a woman he had picked up at a bar
last night.

"Let me tell you, Fickett, that bitch could suck ..." Dixson
was saying as he walked into the room behind Agent Fickett, who
stopped as soon as he saw Scully in the room.

Dixson walked into the other agent. "Hey, what's the big
idea?" He walked around the other man. "Anyway, as I was
saying ..." He stopped talking when he spotted Scully sitting at
the table.

Scully stared at both men. Fickett turned red with
embarrassment. Dixson lost all his color and just stood there
with his mouth open. She focused all her attention at the shorter
agent. She looked at him as if he was a particularly loathsome
specimen she was about to dissect.

"Agent Fickett. Agent Dixson. I trust I haven't interrupted
an important work-related discussion?" Scully controlled the
anger she felt boiling right below the surface.

Dixson recovered first. He smiled a slimy smile. "I was just
telling Rob here about my date last night."

Scully's smile seemed to drop the temperature in the room a
few degrees. "Why don't you finish your story? I always enjoyed a
good fairy tale."

Before Dixson could reply, Rais walked into the room. He
could feel the tension in the room, but had no idea what was
going on. He made a mental note to talk to either Fickett or
Scully as he was sure that Dixson was at the center of whatever
the problem was. *God, I wish someone else from ISU was
available. Dixson causes more trouble than he prevents most of
the time. But right now is not the time or the place to
straighten out any mess he caused.*

Without preamble, Rais started the meeting. "Dana, what have
you got for us? And I hope it's the killer's name."

Scully smiled. "I don't have the name, but we might have the
killer's blood type and a tissue sample."

"What?" Rais shouted. "We have blood and DNA?"

"There was some tissue and blood under two fingernails on
the victim's right hand. Pegg was O positive. The blood type from
under the nail was AB positive. The lab is working on extracting
the DNA as we speak.

"I can not be positive that the sample is from the killer.
Pegg could have gotten it at work or anytime that day ..."

"...But if we catch the killer, we can link him to the
killing if he matches," Rais finished. "This could be the first
solid break we've gotten so far in the case. Do you have anything
else?"

Scully shook her head. "The autopsy revealed no surprises.
Pegg was healthy. There was no trace of alcohol or drugs in his

system. He died of electrocution sometime between midnight and
three A.M. He was hit from behind, probably with the paper weight
that the police found. The killer then put him in a tub of water,
tied the ribbon around his neck, stapled the note to his
forehead, and threw in the extension cord. There were no
fingerprints on either the note or the ribbon." She handed the
bagged note to Rais and copies to the other two.

Rais looked over the note. "Good work, Dana. If we get any
suspects, we might be able to eliminate them based on the blood
type and DNA.

"Fickett, what do you have?"

Fickett cleared his throat. "Nothing as dramatic as Agent
Scully I'm afraid. The victim was well liked and respected at his
work. He had a few close friends there. His supervisor said that
he was a hard worker and very talented. That Pegg had a good
future with the company. His fiance said that some friends were
throwing him a bachelor party tonight, but he was at work until
10:30 last night. The security guard and the janitor confirmed
that Pegg was in his office until about 10:30. She was at a
bridal shower until 10. We have the names of the other women at
the party. I contacted about half of them and they confirmed the
time of the party and that Ms. Smits was there until 10. She gave
us the name of his friends and claimed that Pegg had no enemies.

"The other tenants in the building knew him by sight, for
the most part. No one heard or saw anything. There are a few
tenants that haven't been interviewed yet. So we may still luck
out there."

Rais nodded. "See if you can't talk to Pegg's friends
tomorrow, okay?"

Fickett nodded.

"Agent Dixson, anything new on the profile?"

Dixson thought for a few minutes. "I think we can rule out
that the murders have any overt sexual overtones. The killer
seems fixated on this Yin and Yang thing. Yin is female in
nature. Yang is male. To the killer, Yin may represent a wife,
lover, mother, sister. The victims may represent a lover of Yin:
Yang, possible the person Yin betrayed the killer with. By
killing these men, he is restoring the balance in his world."

"But any idea who we should be looking for?"

"Someone who is a Buddhist..."

"Taoist," Scully corrected. "Yin and Yang are found in the
Taoist belief system."

Dixson glared at her for a second. "Whatever. He may have
spent time in the Far East where he learned about this."

Rais waited to see if Dixson continued. When the pudgy agent
didn't, Rais sighed. "Keep working on it, Dixson. We need more to
go on than that. Well, unless someone has sometime to add, that's
it for now."

Everyone stood up and started to leave the room. Rais
stopped Scully. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Dana?"

"Sure, Dan. Walk me to my office?"

Rais did not speak until they had gotten into the elevator.
"What was going on back there before I walked in?"

Scully sighed. She really did not want to be the one who
squealed to Rais. "Dixson was telling Fickett about some woman he
had picked up in a bar. Dixson was saying that the `bitch could
really suck' when they noticed me in the room."

Rais sucked in his breath.

Scully continued. "Fickett was embarrassed. Dixson tried to
play it cool. I told him it sounded like a fairy tale to me."

The elevator had reached the basement and they got out.
"Dana, I am so sorry about this."

"Don't worry about it, Dan. I'm a big girl and can take care
of slime like Dixson any day. I can act professional even when
working with a creep." She smiled at the man.

"If you're sure."

Scully nodded.

Rais smiled back. "All right. I'll see you Monday. Have a nice
weekend."

"Same to you, Dan." Scully walked into the office and got to
work.

Mulder's Apartment
Alexandria, Virginia
6:30 P.M.

Tony went over to Mulder's apartment after he cleared the
dinner dishes from the table. The first thing he did was check to
make sure the tape was all set up to record that night's NBA
game. Then he walked over to feed the fish. He watched them dart
around in the aquarium for a while. Turning around, the teenager
noticed that the envelope that Mulder had left on desk for Agent
Scully was missing. Shrugging his shoulders, he figured she must
have picked it up this morning when she was there. After checking
the apartment, Tony returned to his apartment to finish doing his
homework.

Continue in Part 5
---
Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com
NaXis #001, M&S, XP,
FicTalk, FXX:Issues, EmMail,
a yet unnamed writing group.
Firey Monkey with a Rat rising

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Nothing inspires paranoia like a wholesome childhod."
-from an article about CC in Buzz magazine (March 1997)

"Tut, tut. It looks like rain."
-Christopher Robin in "The Many Advetures of Winnie-The-Pooh"

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I am posting this for Lee Ann Wagner. Please forward any comments to her.

For Disclaimer and Classification information, please see part 1

Yin/Yang - Part 5/9
by Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com
March 20, 1997

Dana Scully's Apartment
Monday, April 28
3:10 A.M.

Scully was having a wonderful dream where she was partnered
with Richard Gere and they were having a passionate affair when
the shrill ringing of a phone woke her. Groping for the source of
the noise, she checked the time. "Scully," she said once she got
the receiver to her mouth.

"Dana, it's Dan Rais. Sorry to wake you so early."

"That's okay, Dan." She sat up in bed and pushed the hair
out of her eyes.

"There's been another murder."

Scully sat up straight in bed. "Where?"

"Reno Beach, Ohio. The body was found on a roadside in some
tall weeds around two A.M. yesterday morning."

"That's over twenty-four hours ago," she exclaimed.

"Yeah. We would not have heard about it this fast if the
county sheriff didn't have a brother-in-law who works out of the
Cleveland office. The Sheriff called his brother-in-law because
the note stapled to the victim's forehead hit him as peculiar.
The brother-in-law entered the information into the computer
system and it matched our case. So the brother-in-law called me."

Scully punched the pillow next to her. "Damn! He's changed
directions on us!"

"I knew." Scully could hear the anger and frustration in
Dan's voice. "I put out a warning to police up and down the east
coast. And the next victim is in Ohio."

Scully sighed. "You had no way of knowing where the killer
was going, Dan. You gave it the best call you had."

"I know, Dana. I'm just frustrated. Fickett and I are
catching the next flight out to Ohio. The local's have already
done an autopsy, so I see no reason to drag you out to the
boonies with us. And Dixson prefers working out of Quantico. He
only visits crime scenes if absolutely necessary. I had the
police fax you all the information and the autopsy results. They
are holding the body. If you find anything odd in the autopsy
report or you don't think it's complete, I'll have the body sent
here for you to work on."

"Did the M. E. check under the victim's fingernails?"

"He did, but there was nothing."

Rais paused several moments. "This one was nasty, Dana. We
need to catch this sucker quick before he can do this or worse to
some other man."

"I'll head into the office right now and check over the
file."

She could hear relief in Dan's voice. "Thanks. I hate to
drag you out of bed for it, but I need all the input I can get on
this one. Call me as soon as you've studied the file."

"Will do, Dan."

Scully hung up the phone and stretched. Standing up she
dressed quickly and hurried to work.

FBI Building
Washington
11:30 A.M.

Scully removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her
nose. Leaning back in her chair, she stretched her back and eased
her neck around in a circle. She stood up and walked over to
refill her coffee cup. She had spent all morning going over the
autopsy report and the reports about the body and crime scene.
The autopsy was first rate and thoroughly complete.The victim had
been fixed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. After death, he had
been cleaned out of all the internal organs and stuffed with
stuffing before he was sown back up. Then a note had been stapled
to his forehead. The Yin/Yang symbol was at the top and the
message read:

"THE WORLD SPINS OUT OF KILTER!
"YANG CAUSES THE CHAOS!
"YIN MUST RESTORE ORDER!"

And in one of the victim's shirt pockets, the police had found a
poem.

"Garlic and sapphires in the mud
Clot the bedded axle-tree
The trilling wire in the blood
Sings below the inveterate scars
Appeasing long forgotten wars.
The dance along the artery
The circulation of the lymph
Are figured in the drift of stars."

Scully had called Rais about 9 to tell him she didn't need
the body sent. Rais told her that the victim had been identified
as Donald Thomas Martin, a 30 year old truck driver from the
nearby town of Bono. The neighbors reported him missing when they
found his dog wandering the streets. The victim's house was open
and the lights had been left on. He had faxed her a picture of
the victim. Scully believed that the man had been 30, but bet
that he had been asked for proof of his age whenever he had
brought beer. The man looked to be about 16. The body had been
left neatly in a field along a dirt road.

Walking back to her desk, she was so engrossed in her
thoughts on the case that she didn't hear the door open and
almost walked into Jackie St. George.

"Where did you come from?" Scully demanded.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Jackie said in mournful tones. "You're a
doctor and don't know where babies come from. Maybe Mulder can
explain it to you when he comes back. I'm sure he has many visual
aids he could use."

Scully chuckled. "I don't think I want to see any visual
aids Mulder might some up with. What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd see if you wanted to escape the basement of
silence and keep your friendly neighborhood CSIS agent from dying
of boredom."

"Is it that late already?" Scully looked at her watch.
"Damn! I totally lost track of time."

Jackie looked at her friend with concern. "Is everything all
right, Dana?"

"Yeah. I was just pre-occupied with this case I've been
assigned to. There was another murder over the weekend and we are
no closer to catching this guy than we were on Friday."

"Would it help to talk about it? If so, I have all afternoon
free. Hell, I have the next week free. The Ambassador is in
Ottawa for the next week."

Scully sighed. "Maybe you can see something we've missed."
She handed the files to Jackie, who sat down behind Mulder's
desk. "You read them over. I'll go over to Julio's and get us
some pizza."

Jackie had picked up the first file and had started reading.
"Extra large with everything," she commented without looking up.

Forty-five minutes later, Scully walked into the office
carrying a huge pizza box and a six pack of root beer. Jackie was
studying the pictures from the last murder. As soon as the
Canadian saw Scully she jumped up and cleared a spot for the
pizza box on a table. Taking the box, she set it down and opened
it. Inhaling deeply, she said, "Julio's makes the best garbage
pizzas around."

Scully laughed. "That's what Mulder always says." She took
paper plates and napkins out of the bag that contained the root
beer.

Jackie didn't wait for a plate. She just pulled a piece out
and started eating. "Hey, Mulder has pretty good taste when it
comes to food and friends." She took the offered plate and
napkins and helped herself to a root beer before sitting down.
Neither women said anything while they ate.

After the feeding frenzy died down, Jackie leaned back in
Mulder's chair. "This is a nasty case, especially the last
murder. It reminds me of something Mulder told me about. But it's
different, thank God."

"Mulder's talked to you about old cases he has worked on?
That's something he tends to stay away from."

Jackie smiled. "We were both getting drunk one night and I
mentioned that it must be great to remember details of a case the
way Mulder does. He laughed and then proceeded to tell me about a
case he handled during his years in ISU. Some sicko was going
around Oklahoma kidnapping and killing kids and leaving pieces of
poetry by T.S. Elliot on the bodies.The third victim was a little
girl who was fixed like a Thanksgiving turkey."

"That's just like this last murder."

"Yeah, only that guy's victims of choice were children who
had been sexually abused. That case nearly killed Mulder. He had
a break down after it was over."

Scully shuddered.

Jackie continued. "Mulder didn't get the case until after

the third body was found. Mulder told me he still has nightmares
about that case. Needless to say I don't envy Mulder's memory if
he can still remember the details of a case that old and that
awful."

Scully nodded in agreement. Then she sat up straight. "You
know, the way victim 5 was killed reminded me a case Mulder and I
worked on in Minneapolis. The Pfaster case."

"Do you think these other murders are all copycat killings
of assorted murderers?"

"That would seem likely. We can check it out." Scully turned
to her computer and started punching in information. "The Bureau
has a database of the MO of violent criminals. So let's try one
of the other murders."

An hour later, they had a list of case number and criminals
who's MO matched the killings. Scully looked over at Jackie.
"Well, we now know what killers our guy is imitating, but we
still don't know why he choice these particular killers and who
he'll copy next."

"Or what links the killings together."

Scully picked up her phone. "Let me call Dan Rais and tell
him what we found. Maybe he'll have some bright idea where to go
next with this."

After several rings, the agent answered his phone. "Rais."

"Hi, Dan. It's Dana Scully."

What's up, Dana? You found something on the case?" he asked
hopefully.

"I think so. You know Jackie St. George, don't you? Well,
she and I have come up with the names of other killers that our
guy appears to be imitating ."

"That's fantastic. Now see if you can find anything that
links those killings together. Maybe we can get a lead on our guy
before he kills again. Fickett and I will be back tomorrow. We'll
all meet around 2 tomorrow afternoon. If you need any help going
through cases, get Dixson."

"I'd rather not work with him alone," Scully replied.
"Jackie will probably help me."

Jackie nodded her agreement.

There were several seconds of silence before Dan said
anything. "Okay. Maybe she can spot something we've missed in
this whole mess. Great work, Dana."

"Thanks, Dan."

"Thank Jackie for me, will you? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Will do, Dan." Scully hung up. She looked at her friend.
"Dan said thanks. Shall we go to the file room and have them pull
these cases?"

"Let's." Jackie stood up and walked to the door. She opened
it and held it while Scully walked out.

Two hours later, the two women arrived back at the basement
office, each carrying an arm load of files. Scully set hers down
on her desk while Jackie noisily dropped hers on Mulder's desk.
Looking at both piles, Scully sighed.

"It is going to take hours to go though all of these. Are
you sure you want to help, Jackie?"

"Sure, what are friends for. Look, it's after 4. Why don't
we go back to my apartment and look though this mess in comfort?
I still have a pair of your jeans at my place from the last time
you crashed there. We can order Chinese and do this."

"Sounds great."

Jackie's Apartment
9:00 P.M.

Jackie looked up from her third case file and stretched. She
stood up and stepped over the files and empty cartons from their
take out meal. "Want any more tea while I'm up?"

"No thanks. I still have some." Scully took a sip from her
mug. "You found anything yet?"

Jackie walked back into the room. "As a matter of fact, in
all three cases I've looked at Mulder was one of the primary
investigating agents assigned to it."

Scully sat up straight. "The same with the one's I've looked
at. If he worked the last two cases, we have our link." They
quickly checked the names of the FBI agents assigned to the
cases. "He worked this one."

"Same here," Jackie confirmed.

"Are there any other names in common?"

"Not in mine. Everyone else is different."

"This must be connected with Mulder somehow. But it could
take days to find out all the other cases he's worked."

"Not necessarily." Jackie walked over to her computer.
"Marty found this when he was surfing the net about a month ago
and showed it to me. Then it changed addresses and it took us
about two weeks to find it again" She quickly connected to the
Internet and brought up her net browser. "Now if they haven't
changed the address again ..." she muttered as she typed in an
address. After several minutes. "Yes! It's still here. Dana, look
at this."

They watched as the image of a FBI badge and identification
card appeared on the screen. Once the image became clear, Scully
stared at the screen in surprise.

"What is this?" She asked. "That's Mulder's I.D. and badge
number."

"Yep. Your partner has his own web page. Marty couldn't find
out who set it up and maintains it as it comes out of an
anonymous site in Finland. Whoever runs it changes the address
about once a month or so."

Scully scrolled down the page. "This has all kinds of

personal information about Mulder. It even has pictures."

"And, most important for us, it has a complete list of cases
he has worked while at the Bureau. Did you realize that Mulder
has worked on over 1,500 cases in his career?"

Scully whistled. "And that's just the ones he was assigned.
He is constantly reviewing cases for ISU and VCU as a favor for
someone. How about downloading this to disc and we can go back to
the office and print it out."

"Do you want the pictures also?"

"There's more than one picture?"

"Yep, Mulder really has some fans out there on the net."

"Yeah, include the pictures."

Jackie quickly accomplished the task. "You know, Dana. That
web page is kind of scary. I had Marty search for similar sites
for you and me, but he couldn't find any. Mulder is the only one.
I was planning to tell Mulder when he got back from his
vacation."

Scully looked at the disc in her hand and suppressed a
shudder. "I'll ask the computer section to see if they can find
whoever runs this. It's too weird even for Mulder."

Continued in Part 6
---
Lee Ann Wagner
lwagner@ntwrks.com
NaXis #001, M&S, XP,
FicTalk, FXX:Issues, EmMail,
a yet unnamed writing group.
Firey Monkey with a Rat rising

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Nothing inspires paranoia like a wholesome childhod."
-from an article about CC in Buzz magazine (March 1997)

"Tut, tut. It looks like rain."
-Christopher Robin in "The Many Advetures of Winnie-The-Pooh"