Title: Sfumato (7/? - Sequel to "The Marionette Rebellion")
Author: supernova
Disclaimer: Not mine; don't sue; thanks so much.
Rating: R
Category: MSR, Angst
Archive: Not this time. You can read this story at
Ephemeral or my site:
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/KtblleStorage/main.html .
Thanks, Kat, for your generosity.
Feedback: Feed me at supernova818@aol.com
Author's Notes: Thanks to Beach for beta: I am so lucky to
have you as my beta reader, and I appreciate your time,
comments, and suggestions. A big 'ole sloppy kiss, and
squishy hug to you, my friend. Much love to Snick. Sorry
about the time lapse between updates. It's the end of the
semester, though, and spare time has been non-existent.
 
---------------
 
Sfumato
 
----------
 
Chapter 6
 
---------------
 
 
His cell phone rings as he's towel drying his air. He trips
over his shoes and rams his hip into the corner of the
dresser in an effort to answer the call before it goes to
voice mail. Finally, on the third ring he answers, "Fox
Mulder." Agent Browning is on the other end of the line,
mumbling his way toward an explanation about something.
Browning tells him that there is no news about his
children, but the three agents he'd sent to Bangor have
reported in, and there is some disturbing news he needs to
pass on to Mulder. Scully peeks out of the bathroom, a
towel wrapped around her too-thin body, and mouths 'who is
it'. Mulder covers the phone with the palm of his hand, and
whispers that it's Browning and there is no news, yet,
about William, Hope, and Skinner. Her chin touches her
chest and the door to the bathroom closes.
 
Browning is off course muttering incoherently about
evidence that isn't useful evidence but horrific evidence
in nature, nonetheless. Mulder is cautiously confident in
Browning's abilities because Skinner handpicked him for the
original assignment of protecting Hope and William
although, presently, Mulder is not all that impressed with
his communication skills. Browning continues to beat around
the bush until Mulder asks him what in hell is going on.
 
"There are tapes, Mr. Mulder, of Dana Scully's captivity,"
Browning's voice hitches up a notch, "The tests, beatings,
someone who looks like a twin of Dana's; it's all on tape,"
he states unequivocally. "What the hell is going on?"
Browning asks.
 
"Have you seen the tapes yet?"
 
"No, but the agent leading the investigation in Bangor,
Carol Dumas, has viewed several of them, and she said," he
pauses, "she said she'd seen a lot of humanity at its
worst, but that," he trails off. "It's bad, Mr. Mulder."
 
"Did she ID anyone on the tapes?" Mulder asks. He can't
think about Scully's abduction right now; it's too
overwhelming.
 
"She did ID Paul Chisolm, aka Paul Davidson, aka Paul Sams.
Other than that, only two other faces are shown on the
tapes; a man who might be one Darren Kennedy that Sams has
mentioned to several of my investigators, and a woman who
could be Dana Scully's twin sister. There are others
visible on the tapes, but their faces are obscured, either
masked in what appears to be some kind of OR setting, or
nothing but the back of a head. We're going to have the
tapes analyzed, though, and do a frame by frame to see if
we can pull anything of value. Agent Dumas is going to have
one of the officers in Bangor pull an image of the man and
woman, and upload it to us, to see if Sams can give a
positive ID," Browning explains.
 
"I can't get into this right now, but I know who the woman
is, and you probably don't want to know. She can't help us
with this investigation. Concentrate on the man, and see if
you can get Sams to talk," Mulder says.
 
After hesitating for a moment, Agent Browning agrees to
Mulder's request. Browning conveys his wariness about the
disturbing nature of this case and the lack of information.
Mulder assures him that Deputy Director Skinner will give
him a full debriefing whenever he surfaces, but that the
convolution of the details makes it impossible to explain
the situation in its entirety at the present time. Mulder
tells him he and Scully will meet him at the Hoover
building in fifteen minutes, and then ends the phone call.
He walks over to the faux-leather chair in the corner of
the room, and sits down, contemplating what he is going to
tell Scully. Soon enough, Scully exits the bathroom; a
cloud of steam trails languidly behind her. After Mulder
had taken his shower, Scully announced that she was going
to take a quick shower in an effort to shake off some of
her fatigue, although, she still looks completely
exhausted.
 
Her movements are efficient as always, but there is a
hesitance when she reaches down to put on her shoes, and he
doesn't miss the grimace that turns down the corners of her
mouth when she straightens into a normal standing position.
 
"You okay, Scully?" he asks.
 
"Sore," she says, finger combing wet hair. The back of her
shirt is wet, and because it was borrowed from his closet,
it hangs nearly to her knees, the cuffs rolled multiple
times at her wrists. He realizes the irony in that he
misses her even though she is standing right in front of
him. It's strange the things he thinks of when his world is
in shambles around him. He misses the way she is playful
with him, in bed, or sometimes just because. He misses the
way their lives were before some sick fuck decided to start
experimenting on Scully. He misses the way his children
looked up at him on any given day, with innocence, and
faith, and complete assurance that all was right in the
world. He misses it even more because none of it will be
the same for quite a while, and he longs for those times,
because they are so far removed from his reality at the
present moment.
 
"I need to talk to you," Mulder says.
 
"We need to get on over to the Hoover building, Mulder.
We've taken too much time as it is," Scully rebuffs.
 
"Sit down, Scully. We need to talk," Mulder insists. She
doesn't sit down, and he's glad that she isn't so defeated,
that she would take orders from him. Hands on her hips, and
she looks ready to strangle him. "There's no time to dance
around the issue, but I wanted you to know, I need to tell
you something before we go to the Hoover building. Browning
informed me that his agents went to the warehouse where you
were being held, and Scully, it would appear that some of
your time, your abduction that is, was captured on
videotape."
 
She looks away, but only for a moment, "Okay, well, are you
ready to go now?" she asks.
 
They leave the motel room without another word passing
between them.
 
-X-
 
They arrive at the Hoover building just after 11:00 am.
After signing in and obtaining their visitor passes, they
make their way to Agent Browning's office. He is there to
greet them; he shakes both Mulder and Scully's hands.
Mulder notices the way he stares at Scully, and by the set
of Scully's jaw, she notices it as well. Browning maintains
that Paul Sams is a dead end, and that the bureau, and the
three FBI agents that have questioned him, remain convinced
that he knows nothing regarding Hope and William's
disappearance.
 
"He's spilled his guts about everything he knows, which
isn't much, but he's scared, and if he knew anything about
your children, Mr. Mulder, he would have said so by now,"
Browning assures.
 
"Please, just Mulder will be fine," Mulder says, glancing
at a picture of two boys on Browning's desk. "Are those
your kids?" he asks.
 
"Yeah," Browning answers.
 
"When you were assigned to this detail, what exactly did
Skinner tell you?"
 
"He said that many years ago he had supervised two of the
finest agents in the bureau, and that their work in a now
defunct department, often led them into danger. He
explained that the two of you had decided to get a life and
had been living peacefully away from your previous work and
the bureau for about seven years. He informed me with a
hefty sense of regret that you had two children in danger
because, more than likely, the past was catching up with
you. He said that we would protect those children no matter
what," Browning replies.
 
Mulder glances at Scully but she is looking out the window.
"You're an FBI agent, and as you know we have a long
history in law enforcement. We all know the pull to be
involved in the investigation, but at the same time, we're
parents," Mulder pauses, collects his thoughts, "What would
you do, Agent Browning, if it were your children that were
missing?" Mulder asks.
 
Immediately, Browning looks uncomfortable at hearing
Mulder's question. He stares at the picture on his desk,
"I'd probably do what you've been doing; searching,
consulting with the FBI and the locals, worrying about my
kids. The thing is we don't know if someone has them or if
they are with Deputy Director Skinner, and running from
whomever it is that is after them. I was thinking about
that this morning, actually, and I was going to ask you, if
they are running, where would they run to?" he asks.
 
"Home," Mulder and Scully answer simultaneously, and they
hate that they haven't thought about it in the past thirty-
two hours. "If they were able, they would come home, to
us," Scully adds.
 
"I know it's hard, because you both have a long history in
law enforcement, and that complicates things when you're
the parents of missing children, because you feel a duty to
be involved, but I think it might be best if you go home,
and see if they turn up there," Browning says. "We'll keep
our eyes and ears open around here. I've got two agents
working the scene, again, just in case we missed anything.
We've tried to contact Skinner, but have been unsuccessful.
We may not know what's going on, but Skinner informed us of
the seriousness of William and Hope's safety, and we all
want to bring your children home."
 
Silence descends on the room. Mulder realizes that his old
contacts and informants, are either dead, or are
unreachable. The one man he and Scully have depended on for
information over the years is missing along with William
and Hope. There is a sense of helplessness that eats away
at any parent of a missing child, but for Mulder and
Scully, it is multiplied a hundred fold. They have always
been the ones to solve the unsolvable, find the truth in a
lie, protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty. Now,
though, there are no leads, no ghostly informants waiting
in the shadows, no trail to follow. There is nothing but
the space between two parents and their children, and yet,
they have no idea how to find them. Mulder is overwhelmed
with worry for his children, for Scully, for what their
lives will be like after all is said and done. Scully is
worried beyond all measure, and consumed by anger, and
somehow the two have canceled each other out, and now she
feels nothing except numb and empty.
 
"Could we have a few minutes alone?" Mulder asks.
 
Browning agrees and offers to let them confer in his
office. Both Mulder and Scully give Browning their thanks,
and the young agent lopes out of the room.
 
"We need to split up," Scully says as the door to the
office closes. "I'll go home and start looking for the kids
there, you can stay here, and see if you can come up with
anything on this end."
 
"No," Mulder states, shaking his head.
 
"What do you mean 'No'?" she asks.
 
"Scully, there are men that are looking for you, and I
don't think it's a good idea if we split up right now," he
says.
 
Scully begins to pace the small office and stops in front
of the moderately sized window. The view of the street
below offers nothing but an overhead angle on the cars
passing by, and the miniaturized people going on about
their lives, knowing nothing of the tragedy three stories
up. Scully's arms are crossed and her body aches more than
she is letting on. She is tired in every way possible.
 
She has to be the one, though, that her children find at
home. After being forcibly removed from them for so long,
she has to be the one they first see, when, not if, they
return home. They can't desert their search in D.C.
entirely. It's not how they operate, and it would feel too
much like abandonment if they both left Washington. She
tells Mulder this, and she knows by his lack of response,
that he cannot argue with her. She's always been the logic
to his passion, the calm to his storm. Her voice, with its
soothing timbre, and convincing lilt, has almost always
been able to convince him of things he'd rather not agree
to.
 
"I'll drive you to the airport, okay?"
 
"Okay."
 
-X-
 
An airline ticket purchased only five hours from the time
of departure costs a small fortune. Scully sits holding
what should be a 14 karat gold engraved boarding pass in
her hand, bends it back and forth, looks anywhere but at
Mulder. He notices and says nothing. An overly animated
flight attendant announces that Scully's flight will be
boarding shortly. When Scully dares to glance at Mulder, he
doesn't see her, because he is looking in the opposite
direction toward her plane. There is no luggage to gather,
or to serve as a distraction, so Scully focuses on checking
over her boarding information for the hundredth time.
 
"I don't know if we're doing the right thing by splitting
up, but there's not exactly a guidebook on how to handle
the situation when your children are missing, so please
just be careful," Mulder says, breaking the silence. "I
love you, Scully," he whispers. He runs his fingers through
her hair, and then his movements become more deliberate.
Scully realizes his purpose, and the way he emphasized
'you'. His forever mark had been forgotten in the wake of
William and Hope's disappearance. It's funny how something
begins to hurt as soon as you remember it should. It's as
if her heart had stopped beating, and with four simple
words, it has been shocked to life again, the joy and pain
of living resuming with its rhythm. Mulder kisses her
behind her ear, and because it feels so damn good, she
pulls away.
 
Mulder's head drops to her shoulder, and she feels the urge
to shake him off, but doesn't because she thinks it would
be cruel.
 
The cheery flight attendant announces that Flight 913 to
Bangor is boarding.
 
Mulder groans.
 
Scully sighs.
 
They both rise from their seats and awkwardly look at one
another. Scully brushes a tiny speck of dust off her shirt.
Mulder steeples his fingers and vaguely remembers some long
ago rhyme that involved a church and people. With all his
courage gathered, he holds her as tightly as he can without
hurting or frightening her, and kisses her on the lips. She
gives in to him, and he is reminded how easy it is to lose
himself in Scully, to be able to forget everything when she
lets him love her without reservation. He ends the kiss,
because he doesn't want Scully to have to pull away again,
and he hates when he looks at her and sees relief.
 
"Be careful, Scully. If there's any trouble, you call me
right away, and I'll be there. You go down to the station,
and have one of the guys look after you until I can get
there to protect you myself. We'll work all this out and
we'll all be together again soon," Mulder says.
 
Scully nods but doesn't speak. She turns away from him and
walks two steps towards her gate. She stops and turns
around, walks back to Mulder, and closes her eyes. She
fumbles for his hand, finally palming it with her own, and
brings it up to her face. They stand there for several
minutes, his hand cradling her face. She doesn't open her
eyes, but the tears trail down her cheeks just the same,
and Mulder doesn't try to stop his own tears from spilling
over. Finally, Scully releases his hand, and boards the
plane without looking back.
 
 
-X-
 
"Mom, tell me about when you met Daddy."
 
"What do you want to know?" Scully asks her daughter.
 
"Did you love each other right away?" Hope asks, settling
into her mother's arms.
 
Scully turns off the television, and puts her arms around
her daughter, pulls the blanket over both of them.
 
"No," Scully laughs. "Daddy was a lot different when I
first met him, Hope."
 
"Different how, Mommy?"
 
"Daddy liked to be alone a lot. He was very, what's a good
word, focused. Yes, he was very focused on his work,"
Scully says.
 
"What was his work before what he does now when he goes to
work?"
 
"It's similar in principle. He looked for clues to solve
crimes, to put bad people in jail, and help good people.
Daddy's sister was taken by bad people, though, Hope, and
he spent a long time looking for her."
 
"What was her name?"
 
"Samantha."
 
"Did he find her?"
 
"Yes."
 
"Can we visit her?"
 
"No, Hope, we can't."
 
"Why not?"
 
"Because she's in Heaven."
 
"She died?"
 
"Yes."
 
"Was Daddy sad?"
 
"In a way, but he was also happy that he'd found her, and
that in finding her, he found peace."
 
"What does peace feel like?"
 
"That's a hard one, Hope. You always ask good questions,"
Scully smiles. "Peace isn't exactly like feeling happy, but
it's similar to feeling like everything is okay. Remember
when you missed a word on your spelling test last week?"
 
"Yes."
 
"Remember when you got home, you were crying, and Daddy
took you for a walk and bought you an ice-cream at the
corner store?"
 
"Yes, I remember. I felt better."
 
"Did it make the fact that you missed a word on your
spelling test go away?"
 
"No."
 
"But Daddy helped you get past that, right? He made you
smile and laugh even though you didn't get a hundred
percent on your test, he helped you see that an 'A' was
okay, right?"
 
"Yeah, but Daddy always makes me feel better when I'm sad."
 
"That's sort of what Daddy's peace was like, sweetheart.
Even though he was sad that his sister, Samantha, was in
Heaven, he was happy that she was safe and that he'd
finally found her."
 
"Does everyone go to Heaven, Mommy?"
 
"No, not everyone."
 
"Will I go to Heaven?"
 
"Not for a long time, Hope."
 
Scully shifts in her seat. The remnants of her long-ago
conversation with Hope fade back into her memory. The
captain announces that they will begin their descent into
Bangor in fifteen minutes. Scully pulls a small wallet from
her pocket. After swiping a credit card through the slot
next to the airphone, Scully punches numbers into the
keypad.
 
On the second ring, a woman answers with a hurried,
"Hello?"
 
"Hey Taylor, it's Dana," Scully says.
 
"Hey Dana, I've been meaning to call you. I was wondering
why you and Mulder weren't at the party the other night!
You didn't even call us back, and then you were no-shows,
you aren't mad at me about anything are you?"
 
"No," Scully answers. "Listen, Taylor, I need a favor. I
don't even really know where to begin," Scully says, trying
to keep the tears at bay. "Something has happened and the
kids are missing. I'm on a flight back from Washington
D.C., and I need for you to pick me up from the airport."
 
"What time?" Taylor asks.
 
"My flight lands at 8:50. I don't have any luggage, though,
so I should be outside by 9:10 or so," Scully answers. "I'm
flying American."
 
"I'm on my way," Taylor says and hangs up the phone without
saying goodbye.
 
Scully takes a deep breath and replaces the airphone in its
cradle. Her ears pop as the cabin pressure changes, and the
plane begins its gradual descent.
 
As soon as the plane lands, Scully bolts from her seat, and
elbows her way through the throng of passengers. A flight
attendant approaches her and asks her to please slow down.
Scully explains that she can't slow down because her
children are missing. The flight attendant looks stunned,
and helps Scully to the front of the cabin. Scully jogs up
the ramp toward the gate and breaks into a full run once
she is in the airport. She doesn't stop until she has to
for an escalator. She runs up the steps toward the
automatic door that leads to the outside of the airport,
and begins frantically scanning the cars and crowd for her
friend.
 
She hears Taylor before she sees her. Before she can
process what direction Taylor's voice is coming from she is
enveloped in a hug. Questions spill from Taylor's mouth as
Scully pulls away and sees Taylor's tears. Taylor leads
Scully to her car and they speed off without any questions
being answered.
 
"God, Dana, what is going on?"
 
"It's complicated, Taylor. Basically, my past is catching
up with me," Scully says.
 
"What do you mean?" Taylor asks, one hand on the steering
wheel, the other pressing down the turn signal.
 
"You know Mulder and I used to work for the FBI. We were
involved in some dangerous work from time to time, and
there were men, who didn't appreciate Mulder and I exposing
some of the illegal activities they were involved in."
Scully wonders how to explain a global conspiracy to her
friend. They've tried to be honest with their friends, but
they've never offered any unnecessary details about the
life they lived before they moved to Bangor. "I think some
associates of these men are after the children. I'm not
sure if they have them or not, but the kids were in D.C. on
their field trip, and there was an incident. Mulder called
our old boss and asked him to protect them until we could
go to D.C. and pick them up, but something happened, and
now our boss and the kids are missing."
 
"Jesus, Dana," Taylor comments. "What are you doing now?
What's the plan?" she asks.
 
"Mulder is in D.C. searching for leads, and I flew back to
Bangor in case the kids make their way back home," Scully
explains.
 
"Do we need to make flyers? Do we need to do a neighborhood
search?" Taylor asks.
 
"No, not yet. I know this probably doesn't make sense to
you, Taylor, but it's better if we keep this quiet for
right now. I don't want to draw any more attention to the
children. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
 
"You don't want any more of these bastards snooping around
if you can help it," Taylor says.
 
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Scully sighs. "Thanks for
picking me up."
 
"Oh Dana, it's nothing. I only wish I would've known
sooner," Taylor says.
 
"If you could drop me by the house, I'd really appreciate
it," Scully comments.
 
"Do you think you should be alone?" Taylor questions.
 
"I need to be alone right now, Taylor. I'm sorry to drop
all this on you, but I promise as soon as I know anything,
or if I need anything, I'll call you."
 
They are quiet for several minutes. Taylor feels unable to
offer any words of comfort and that any more questions, at
this point, are inappropriate. She does give Scully's hand
a squeeze.
 
The two women smile at one another, and Scully is reminded
again, why for all intents and purposes, Taylor is the best
friend she's ever had. Taylor has always seemed to sense
when Scully needs her space. She's a good friend but she's
not pushy; she's fun and full of energy; she's trustworthy
and loyal. Scully holds on to Taylor's hand until they pull
up in Scully and Mulder's driveway. They exchange an
awkward goodbye and Taylor reminds Scully that she is
across the street should she need anything. Scully gives a
tight-lipped smile in response and closes the car door.
Taylor's car gives a whine as she pulls out of the
driveway. Scully goes to the front door and pulls her keys
out of her pocket, opens the door, and enters her home.
 
After she flips on a light she walks to the kitchen,
surveys the home improvement materials strewn everywhere,
and deposits her keys and small wallet on the counter.
Hitting something seems like a good idea, screaming vies
for its place in her rage, and so she gives in to both. An
empty ache is all she's left with when her tirade comes to
an end.
 
"Put your hands behind your head and turn around," a gruff
male voice instructs. She recognizes the voice and begins
to pray. "Turn around slowly," the man says again.
 
"Skinner, thank God," Scully says, turning around.
 
"Who are you? What's your name? Where is Dana Scully?"
 
"Skinner, it's me, Scully," she tries to explain.
 
"I know exactly who you are, now tell me right now, where
is Dana Scully!" Skinner commands.
 
William materializes from behind Skinner's large frame.
Skinner chides William for not following directions and
staying upstairs, mumbling how William is just like his
father. William stares intently at Scully and then closes
his eyes. Scully begins to move toward William but Skinner
orders her to stay still and points the gun at her head for
added emphasis.
 
"It's her," William says, running to his mother. "Mom, I've
missed you so much," he says, hugging her will all his
might. She bends down to his level to hold her son in her
arms, and Skinner lowers his gun. Scully hears footsteps on
the stairs and sees Hope turn the corner behind Skinner.
Hope stops when she reaches Skinner's side and grasps as
much of Skinner's hand as she can with her tiny fingers.
Scully holds her arms out but Hope looks to Skinner and
then William. "It's Mom, Hope. It's really her." William
smiles widely.
 
Hope runs to her mother, knocking her off balance, and
mother and children fall to the floor in a tangle of
flailing arms and legs. For a moment, they laugh, and
before long, all three of them are crying. Scully peppers
their faces with kisses and enfolds them both in her arms.
 
"We can't stay here, Mom," William says, pretending not to
cry.
 
"Why not, William?" Scully asks, glancing at her boss from
another life.
 
"It's not safe, we have to leave now," William says. "We
were waiting for you and Daddy, but we need to go somewhere
else right now, Mom."
 
A delayed reaction, a sudden realization, and Scully
processes Skinner and William's words from a few minutes
earlier, "Why did the two of you think I was someone other
than Dana Scully?" she asks, looking first at Skinner, and
then at William, "What did you mean, William, by 'it's
her'?"
 
"Now is not the time, Dana, we'll explain everything
later," Skinner says by way of explanation. Scully
reluctantly agrees.
 
After William continues to insist on the need to leave
their home, Scully agrees, and tells the children to get a
duffel bag from the hall closet, and pack a few clothes
while she calls Daddy.
 
William finishes gathering his clothes first, enters Hope's
room, and plops down on the bed. Hope is putting an extra
pair of tennis shoes in the canvas bag when William touches
her arm, "In your dream, Hope, did we get away from whoever
it is we were running from?" he asks.
 
"I don't know, Will, I always wake up before I find out how
it ends," she replies.
 
 
 
Continued in Chapter 7