From: Karisasky@aol.com
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 16:20:11 EDT
Subject: Deviant Behavior by Kari Mulder and TruthFinder
Source: direct

Authors: Kari Mulder (Steph) & TruthFinder (Bry)
Subject: Deviant Behavior
Category/Rating: XRH/PG-13, for some naughty language, and hints 
about sex
Keywords: MSR
Spoilers: all things, a little bit of everything
Summary: Band=Cult, M&S=Romance, what more is there to say?
Disclaimer: The delicious Fox Mulder and the enigmatic Dr. Dana 
Scully are not ours. We gain no money by using them and are only 
borrowing them for a little while.... if Chris Carter and 
TenThirteen wants to lend out Mulder for a couple 
of evenings, we'll gladly take him! No infringement intended: 
Don't sue, we're just students!

Authors' notes: This is our first fanfic, really... please be 
kind; constructive criticism is always welcome to 
Karisasky@aol.com (Steph) and bandchick83@hotmail.com (Bry), but 
flames will be used to fire the romance between Mulder & Scully! 
Noromo's beware... MSR ahead.


TITLE: Deviant Behavior
Part:1/10

X M X S X M X S X M X S X M X S

Severna Park High School
Saturday, October 14, 2000
11:21 PM 

The cries of the spectators could still be heard as the weary, yet 
triumphant Patriot Marching Band piled on the Coach busses for the 
ride ahead of them. It was their fourth straight victory, 
celebration was required for this kind of occurrence.

As Senior Drum Major Chloe Alexander and Junior Drum Major Dierdre 
Small climbed the steep stairs to join their cohorts, cheers of 
elation went up towards the rear. The drummers, being drummers, 
banged on seats and windows while hooting, screaming, and howling 
in support of their glorious leaders. The show had gone off 
without a hitch and self-control was the least of their worries.

As the bus trundled on its way home, joy turned to mischievous 
plotting. This was a game of perfection, and those who detracted 
from that perfection needed to be punished. The Drum Majors, 
having a bird's eye view, were in charge of perusing each show for 
the slightest error. Even in the best show, someone makes a 
mistake. 

Chloe shook her head, and her short blonde hair bobbed. She looked 
at them with pity. She got up, and paced back and forth in the 
aisle. Some cowered in terror, others grinned maniacally, waiting 
for judgment to be passed. She stopped, looking around at all of 
them, making eye contact with each in turn. Then, she spoke, her 
low voice reverberating through the small space. "You all pass 
judgment. The sacrifice is not among you." Sighs of relief went up 
through the majority of the observers, while most of the drummers 
still waited in anticipation for the announcement of this week's 
kill.

"Who is it?" asked the colorguard captain, manic glee filling her 
voice.

"Patience is a virtue. Never forget that. When the whistle blows, 
you heed it's call, but not before, and not after." Dierdre Small 
spoke up in a commanding voice from behind Chloe. She stepped 
forward to address the girl, Summer. "Who it is matters less than 
the fact that there will be just punishment dealt for this 
offence."

As they had discussed and plotted, the bus had made the 10 minute 
trip back to Sedona High. They took a seat for roll call, and then 
piled off the bus, joining with members from the second bus. Chloe 
held up a hand and said commandingly, "5 minutes. Instruments 
down, and back to the field." There was a mass rush to the room, 
as parents were shoved aside in the hurry to the room and then to 
the door again. Right, then right again, then left out the door. 
It was a sea of red that erupted from the door and flowed out into 
the October night. 

Quickly, they assumed their position in the arc, in score order, 
and fell to the ready. Chloe stood with her back to the horn line, 
in the center, facing the Drum Line, which had formed at the end 
to close off the arc. Dierdre, who was positioned to Chloe's rear, 
with dark inflection commanded, "DE-tail, a-ten-HUT!" Quick as a 
flash, the entire band snapped to attention, their arms held 
rigidly at their sides, their heads held high, posture perfect, 
red wool uniforms immaculate.

Dierdre about faced, as did Chloe. Dierdre, then Chloe saluted, 
and they exchanged positions. "The time of judgment is upon us." 
Chloe began her pace, inspecting and terrifying as she went. From 
the piccolos to low brass and back again she stalked, each time 
shortening the distance she went, singling out the section 
containing the One. She snapped once, twice, and the rest of the 
band collapsed in a loose ring around the section in question, the 
Saxophones. Chloe stalked towards the mute, motionless Patriots. 
The three teens had an aura of anxiety about them. Phil, the 
section leader, seemed to wilt under the inspection. Bethany, the 
most senior member of the section, stood steadfast and in perfect 
position. Jeff stood ramrod straight, almost as if he thought he 
would be overlooked if he pretended he wasn't there. 

Alarmingly fast, Chloe's hand shot out and clasped over Phil's 
shoulder. He was not only the section leader, but also the Vice-
President, and this was going to be a great upset to the 
hierarchy. Dierdre, who had been watching from the inside of the 
ring, stepped forward and circled the doomed Junior. "You, who 
dare to train our youngest have disgraced us all; you, who dares 
to be a leader, will be humbled worse than the lowest among us." 
As Dierdre finished, Chloe threw the unsuspecting victim to the 
Drummers, who ringed the center clearing. They sprang like wolves 
to a kill, and pulled him to his feet. The captains came to face 
him. "I never did like you," Chad said as he raised his drum stick 
for the first blow. With that strike, chaos let loose, and the 
world faded to black for Phil. 

(Insert X-Files Opening credits [Season 7] here)

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

October 15, 2000
Mario's Italian Restaurant
Annapolis, Maryland
5:56 PM

"Are you ready to order?"

The statement startled Fox Mulder out of his reverie and he 
realized that he hadn't yet decided what he wanted. He looked 
across to his table-mate, and she shook her head. "Nope, not yet. 
Maybe in a few more minutes?" He trailed off, looking at the 
waiter for confirmation. 

The man just smiled at him and his companion, and said "Of 
course," as he went on his way.

"So, Scully, what do you think?" He smiled mischievously across 
the table at his stunning partner. "Veal Parmesan, Chicken 
Scaloppini? Maybe a Cannoli? You know what they say, 'Eat dessert 
first.'" Scully just rolled her eyes at him and then returned her 
attention to the menu before her.

"Mulder, you know I'm not into the whole concept of watching the 
fat congeal in my veins. You may like all that junk you eat, but I 
prefer to be healthy." She shot him a look that said "try me" and 
his return glance said "no way in hell".

So, he gave her the pretense of acquiescence, hands held in 
supplication, and returned to looking at the menu. Halfway through 
the page, he decided on the Shrimp Linguini, and laid his menu on 
the table, instead deciding to admire the gorgeous woman sitting 
across from him. She had really gone all out for tonight's dinner. 
When she had opened the door to her apartment when he came to pick 
her up, he had nearly fallen over as he looked her over. In a 
floor length hunter-green satin gown, her hair done up with 
ringlets framing her face, she was undoubtedly the most stunning 
creature he had ever seen. She screamed "sexy" from her enigmatic 
smile down to her "fuck me" heels. Even now, as she sat in the 
candlelight, reading a menu, she still shocked him. [Where did my 
professional partner disappear to?] he thought to himself. [If I 
had known that she was this delectable, I would have taken her out 
years ago. Although, I guess she's technically taking me out...] 

He realized he had been staring when Scully looked at him 
quizzically, and asked "What?" He shook his head at her, lowering 
his gaze as he did so. When he looked back up, she was still 
looking at him, daring him to answer.

"I was just thinking that it was really nice of you to go to 
dinner with me." His face lost its grin. "Without you, I'd be 
completely alone for my birthday, but with you, I'm in a nice 
restaurant, with good food, great conversation, and even better 
company." She blushed and he smiled, internally racking one up on 
his Scully tally-sheet. 

She regained her composure and smirked at him. "You're just saying 
that cause you want me to pay." He chuckled, and she joined him, 
but the waiter, who had once again returned for their orders, 
interrupted them. Scully predictably ordered the Grilled Chicken 
Caesar Salad, and Mulder got the Shrimp Linguini, as planned.

He turned back to her once the waiter was gone and the smile 
returned to his face once more. "But really, Scully, there isn't 
anyone I'd rather be with for my 39th birthday. You're the only 
one I trust to pull me back from the brink of mid-life crisis." He 
smiled again, and she returned it, rewarding him with a full-watt 
ScullySmile.

She took his right hand in her left, and almost shyly said, "I'm 
glad."

End Part 1/10

Deviant Behavior
Part2/10
Disclaimer in Part 1

J. Edgar Hoover Building
Monday, October 16, 2000
9:16AM
Skinner's Office

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Agents." Skinner 
was seated behind his desk, legs crossed, looking relaxed. 
"There's something I'd like you two to take a look at." He reached 
for a folder sitting towards the right edge of his desk, then 
handed the folder to Mulder. As Mulder skimmed over the case, 
his eyebrows went further up his head. 

"And what, the kids are marching 'My Favorite Martian'? Have their 
instruments been abducted? Why in the world do you want us to go 
investigate a high school marching band? How is this an X-File?" 
In response, Skinner sat back in his chair and sighed.

"It's not. It's actually a case for VCS. But I have a personal 
interest in this case. So, I've put my best agents on it."

"Then why are we here?" Mulder asked, sarcasm evident in his 
voice. "Last time I checked, my nickname was 'Spooky', not 
'Smarty.'"

Scully spoke up from beside him. "Speak for yourself, Mulder." She 
crossed her arms across her chest and gave him her patented 
ScullyBrow.

"Agents. Let's focus here. The reason I called you is that 
students are disappearing from this school, and the only 
connection between them is that they are in the marching band. 
Now, I usually don't make this personal, but my godson 
is in that band, and I won't see him be next." His voice had 
started out calm, but had risen in volume and intensity as he 
went.

A silence settled over the room. Finally, Scully spoke up from her 
place at Mulder's side. "We'll do it sir. I know what it's like to 
have family in danger, as does Agent Mulder. You can count on us."

"Alright then, Agents. You're dismissed. And thank you."

Mulder almost fell out of his chair. Skinner thanking _them_? What 
was the world coming to...
 
He got up and followed Scully out of the room, who was standing at 
the door waiting patiently. He put his hand on the small of her 
back and guided her out of the room.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Hallway Outside Skinner's office
Same time

"So, what do you think, Scully?" Mulder smirked at her as he 
guided her down the hallway toward the elevator. "Disappearing 
teens? Band members who just don't show up to school? For all we 
know, they've gone to Ocean City and are playing hooky."

"For one thing, it's October. No one goes to the Ocean in 
October." She paused to push the down button on the elevator. She 
turned to face him. "And another, it's a favor for Skinner. You 
know what it's like to have a family member in danger. Think of it 
as a being a good Samaritan. Do something nice for someone without 
being asked more than once. You might surprise yourself."

The elevator arrived and they stepped in. "So, where is this 
school? Maybe we can get a paid vacation out of this, Scully!"

She rolled her eyes as the elevator door shut.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Sedona High School
Later that day

SLAM! Mulder shut the door to their rented Ford. "Why do we always 
get a little Ford Escort, Scully? Why not a Camaro or something 
hot. It must be a conspiracy!!" Mulder had been carrying on about 
the car industry's conspiracy with the government since they had 
started the hour drive to Sedona.

"Mulder! Think about what you're saying. That's off the deep end, 
even for you!" She was looking at him strangely, probably 
wondering about his sanity. At least there was a mental hospital a 
couple minutes away. [Like it would do any good.] Scully mentally 
rolled her eyes and joined Mulder on the path leading to the main 
lobby.

They climbed the stairs and Mulder held the door for her, and 
guided her in. They saw the signs for the High School and the two 
Middle schools, and Mulder let out a low whistle. "Wow, Scully, 
this is a pretty big place. They must have at least 5,000 kids in 
this complex!" He looked around, admiring the large patriot mural 
along the left wall. They started toward the office, and were 
half-way past it when the bell rang. Students streamed from every 
direction, separating Mulder and Scully in a flood of teenagers.  

"Mulder!" Scully tried to get his attention, but it was no use, 
there were too many students and so much noise he hadn't even 
heard her. Nevertheless, he spun around, searching for her. He, 
being 6'2", fit right in here, she, being 5'2", did not. 

He pushed his way through the crowd, saying "excuse me," and "I 
need to get to my partner, do you mind?" 

"Ya, I mind!" A big guy spoke up from in front of Mulder. Mulder, 
who had been concentrating on Scully's dwindling form, looked 
ahead of him, and encountered a large chest.

"Uhhhhh....."  Mulder looked up, and up, and encountered the angry 
face of a high school teen. The guy had to be at least 6'9", and 
300 lbs. "Sorry, I just... ummm.... I need to get to my friend, 
she's sort of getting lost in the crowd."

The big guy turned around, while growling at a little kid, a 
Freshman, buy his look, and pointed at Scully. "The cute Redhead?"

"Yes, that's her...Any way that I can get to her before she's run 
over?"

"Sure, hold up a sec." He turned and took a deep breath. "YO 
PEEPS! MOVE YO ASSES, THIS GUY NEED TO GET TO THE CUTE REDHEAD OVA 
THEYA!" Miraculously, the crowd parted, like the Dead Sea, and 
Mulder made his way towards Scully. 

"Thanks, man!" Mulder called over his shoulder.

"No, problem, bro, the Big J is on his way!" He started to walk 
off, and the bell rung. Little Freshmen dashed to their classes, 
repeating "Oh Shit! I'm gonna be late!" The Big J just continued 
his leisurely pace, and pushed a few kids around on his way. "What 
the hell yo think yo doin', get the hell out my way."

Mulder shook his head and look at Scully. "God, Mulder, that was 
worse than the Flukeman incident! I could barely breathe down 
here!" She dusted herself off, and ran a hand through her hair. 
Mulder decided that he just would forget about the whole "cute 
redhead" thing. Hopefully she hadn't noticed...

"And what was that about the 'cute redhead', Mulder?" She pulled a 
ScullyArch and he winced. Busted.

"Nothing, Scully, figure of speech."

"Right Mulder."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Mulder was tinkering with his "visitor" badge. "Hey, Scully... for 
a school that keeps track of people who don't belong, they sure 
can't keep track of the ones who do."

"Mulder, we don't even know what's going on here."

"God, this place is a maze!" Mulder looked around in confusion. 
"Where is the band room?"

As Scully pointed to the sign, she laughed and said, "How 'bout 
where it says 'Band'? That's why they put the 'I' in FBI, huh, 
Mulder?" His face turned from lost to red. As they moved toward 
the room, they could hear the Jazz band playing 'Sing, Sing, 
Sing.'

"Hey, they're not too bad. Kinda catchy. Wanna dance, Scully?" 
Mulder whispered as they walked through the door. 

"With your two left feet? Not on your life, Mulder." 

As the two agents walked towards the band, Chloe caught a glare 
from Dierdre. The band finished the song and the director turned 
around.

"Can I help you?" he said, noticing the visitor badges.

"Yes, we're here to ask a few questions," Scully said as they 
flashed their badges.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"So this is your roster for this year? The _complete_ roster?" 
Mulder was incredulous as he queried the short red-head standing 
in front of him.

"Yea, Mr. Mulder, this is it. That's the marching members," she 
pointed to one page, "and those are the concert band members. Non-
Marchers." Dierdre said the last bit with a tone of disgust. "Did 
you know that the marching band is in a 4 week straight winning 
streak?"

She went so quickly from distaste to enthusiastic that Mulder did 
a double take. "Really?"

"Yea, it's been so great this year. Our show has rocked and 
everyone's been so committed. Speaking of which, are you married?"

Mulder whipped his head around, shocked, and looked at her through 
narrowed eyes. "No, as a matter of fact, I'm not."

Dierdre's eyes lit up. "Oh. That's really surprising. Usually any 
hot guy that walks into this building is taken...or gay..." She 
flashed him a smile, and batted her eyelashes at him. "But that 
doesn't apply to you, does it Mr. Mulder? Or do you prefer Agent 
Mulder or Agent Foxy?"

Scully, who had finished talking with the director, Mr. Dewey, and 
was walking up behind Mulder, heard the girl say "Foxy", and 
rolled her eyes at Mulder. She pulled on his arm, and said "excuse 
me" to Dierdre, who smiled graciously, and smirked at Mulder.

"Of course..."

Scully roughly pulled Mulder out the door into the hallway. "What 
the hell was that? Was she flirting with you? And don't deny it. 
My God, Mulder, she can't be a day over 16. Don't even think about 
it. That's illegal..." She got this out all on one breath, and was 
turning more and more red as she spoke. By the time she was done, 
she was breathing hard, and Mulder just couldn't hold back any 
longer.

"HHHAAAAA!!!!" He just burst out laughing and leaned on the wall 
for support. "You thought.... haha! Some days you just kill me, 
Scully, and shooting me doesn't qualify! Scully, she was flirting 
with me, you notice I didn't flirt back..."

Scully had been taking in his appearance and turning more and more 
red, this time from embarrassment. "Mulder... "

"Don't worry, Scully, I won't let it out at the Bureau that you 
were just about to arrest a teenager for flirting with your 
absolutely gorgeous partner." He regained his composure and smiled 
lopsidedly at her. "Your secret's safe with me..."

"Mulder..." she replied menacingly.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Dierdre felt a tap on her shoulder while she watched Mulder's ass 
as he walked out of the room. She wheeled around to come face to 
face with Chloe.

"I saw that. He's FBI, remember?! You can't get friendly with the 
enemy, he might learn something. He could ruin everything that 
we've worked so hard for" Chloe spat at her while they walked 
toward the grade book sitting on the podium in the middle of the 
room. 

"You can't blame me, Chloe, he's the hottest thing to walk into 
this room on two legs." Dierdre smirked at her and Chloe smiled 
back.

"He is that..."

"Did you see how his partner reacted? I think they're sleeping 
together. So if she gets jealous and they can't work together 
because she's mad him, they're going to have more problems solving 
this case. Less communication for them means safety for us."

"Where do you get all this from?"

"Where do you think? From Buffy. The whole thing with Angel and 
her having problems really relates..."

Chloe considered that then shook her head. "You're obsessed. But 
if this works, Mulder ditches his girl, and you interrupt their 
case, so it'll be worth the risk. Go for it."

"With pleasure." Dierdre rubbed her hands together, a devilish 
glint forming in her eyes.

"One more thing." Chloe, who had turned away and started walking 
toward the door that Mulder and Scully disappeared through, turned 
to face her. "I want details. He's got large hands. You know what 
they say about large hands...That man has to be good."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

End Part 2/10


Deviant Behavior
Part 3/10
Disclaimer found in Part 1   

Scully's Apartment
Georgetown, MD
Still October 16, 2000
5:36 PM
(Scully)

"You can just drop your stuff on the couch, Mulder. We'll worry 
about that later."

Mulder did as ordered, dropping his duffel to the floor in front 
of the couch with a clunk. "Sure. I can do that." He collapsed on 
the couch with a thud. "Tell me again why we're risking life, 
limb, and sanity to walk around a high school? I mean, My God, in 
the first five seconds, you were almost trampled, I was nearly 
beat to a pulp, we got separated, and attracted so much attention 
that it wasn't funny!" He looked at her, then stared at the 
ground. "So much for being nondescript," he mumbled as he toed his 
shoes off.

Scully just smiled and shook her head. [Good Ol' Mulder is making 
his appearance... Sulking like usual.] "How about some food? 
Thai?"

That got Mulder's attention quickly. "Food?" he said with a grin 
on his face. "And it's none of that healthy crap you eat?" 

"Yes, Mulder. Real food." 

"Good, I'm starving."

Scully speed-dialed the Thai place and ordered their food. Then 
she went and sat down next to Mulder on the couch, pulling her 
legs up underneath her and let her eyes close. They sat like that 
in silence until the Thai guy got there.

Scully got up off the couch to answer the door, paid the guy and 
took the food to the kitchen. She set out the Thai and went back 
into the living room to get Mulder. She got to him, and said, 
"Mulder, food's here." She got no response. 

She sat down next to him and brushed that one unruly lock off his 
forehead. [He's so beautiful.] She grabbed the blanket off the 
back of the couch and covered him with it. She got up, leaned 
over, kissed his forehead softly and started to leave the room. 
She was stopped by a hand grabbing her arm. 

"Stay with me?"

She looked over at Mulder, startled by his sudden action. She 
looked down at the floor, shying away from the look in his eyes. 
"The food's getting cold, Mulder." She fixed her eyes to his, 
reading them. What she found there was only an ardent love, 
directed at her. She turned around and shuffled back to his side. 
She sat down and he pulled her into his side, her legs tucked up 
underneath her.

"Who needs food, I've got all I need in the world right here." 
Mulder smiled down sleepily at her and she smiled back, snuggling 
deeper into his side. 

"Me too." They soon fell asleep.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX 

Same time
(Mulder)

When she left to get food, he made his decision. He was determined 
to make this _thing_ between them happen. But he had no idea what 
to do. [I guess I'll just wing it.] 

He sat back and closed his eyes, listening to Scully bustle around 
in the kitchen. She came out and called to him "Mulder, food's 
here." He didn't react, just sat quietly, regulating his 
breathing. She always was more demonstrative when she thought he 
wasn't looking. Or wasn't conscious. 

When she brushed his hair away, ever so gently, and laid the 
blanket across him, he decided what to do. And when she kissed his 
forehead, he was determined to get her to realize how much he 
needed her.

As soon as he felt her start away from him, he opened his eyes and 
grabbed her arm. He knew that he had shocked her, but it didn't 
matter. She had to know how much he needed _her_, too.

"Stay with me?" He was sure she could hear his voice waver as he 
asked. She looked at him and made eye contact. He didn't try to 
hide the love he felt for her that was in his eyes.

"The food's getting cold, Mulder." He knew she was just trying to 
appease her own fears. When she looked back into his eyes, he knew 
the moment she figured out how he felt. She wandered back his way, 
and settled down next to him. 

[Who need's food, I've got all I need in the world right here.] He 
realized he had said it out loud when she responded.

"Me too." He almost recoiled in shock, but instead chose to smile 
and pull her closer to him. Her breath soon evened out and lulled 
him into dreamland, too. [Mission accomplished.]

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Scully's apartment
8:35 PM

Scully awoke to a warm feeling of safety and completeness. She 
buried her head deeper into the surface it was resting on. When 
her "pillow" stirred beneath her, she came back to herself. 
[Mulder. This is Mulder.] She was in a state of disbelief, 
wondering what had prompted his outbreak of emotion earlier. 

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, you awake?"

She heard him whisper softly into her ear, and she shivered as his 
breath tickled her neck. "Yea, I'm awake." She moved in his arms, 
stretching her legs and arms out, collapsing bonelessly back into 
his embrace. "I haven't slept like that in a while." She said it 
with a bit of amazement, as if she didn't sleep at all.

Mulder looked down and away from her, towards the kitchen. She 
caught his change in mood and turned to face him. 

"Mulder?" 

He shook his head and turned back to her, exuding guilt. Now she 
was worried. "Mulder, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"No, it's not nothing. It's a definite something that has you 
worked up. What is it?" 

He finally looked directly into her eyes, and quietly told her, 
"It's my fault."

"What's your fault?"

"What you said before." He sighed, but looked determined to 
continue. "It's my fault that you don't get to sleep. I'm one 
thing. I've had nightmares all my life, but to drag you into that 
existence... I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes and focused everything on him. "Mulder." She 
attracted his attention that had become focused on his shoe. "This 
is my choice. I stay not because you make me, but because I want 
to be here. I believe in the work, I believe in what we search 
for. I came into the FBI knowing that I was joining a dangerous 
career. This might be more dangerous, but it also helps more 
people."

He withdrew from her, resting his elbows on his knees, head in his 
hands. He ran them down his face, trying to make sense of what she 
was saying.

She moved her hand to his face, pulling him up to look at her. 
"Whatever happens to me is not your fault. You've saved me a 
million times over, and for that I'm eternally grateful. Without 
you... I don't know if I'd ever sleep. You give me the security to 
know that I can go to sleep at night and I won't be hunted by the 
monsters we chase. You're the one who chases them away for me. So 
don't feel guilty!"

He finally smiled at the last part, and she pulled him against 
her, hugging him tightly. He returned the hug twofold, and then 
pulled back reluctantly. "So how bout that food that we neglected 
earlier?" His eyes sparkled, and she chuckled at the boyish grin 
that graced his face. 

"C'mon, it's in the kitchen." She tugged him to his feet and they 
sauntered off in that direction. 

Later, as they finished off the Thai, Mulder finally got around to 
the case. Spread out on the couch while she sat curled in a chair, 
he voiced his concerns. "What do you think about this case, 
Scully?"

She shot him a glance and set down the container she was holding. 
"Well, other than the fact that the roster contains none of the 
missing students, I think it's actually kind of normal."

"Since when has 'normal' described any of our cases?" He chuckled, 
and then relaxed some more. "I think there's something weird going 
on here. They've denied all knowledge of these missing kids, kids 
who should have been their friends."

"I'll give you that much. That is kind of strange. But what really 
could have happened to those kids? They're only high-schoolers. I 
mean, excluding the seedy neighborhoods that scatter the area, 
there's nothing that they could have gotten into that could result 
with them disappearing."

"What if it's a secret underground type thing. You know, like the 
cheerleaders hate the band and the band hates the football 
players... that type of stuff."

"No, that won't work, even if it was plausible." She stretched out 
the kinks in her neck.  "No one else has gone missing except the 
band members."

"So what if it's a band thing? That would explain the fact that 
the roster doesn't have these people's names on it."

"I don't know, this is still all theory. And think about it... why 
would they want to make their own members disappear?"

"I don't know. That's the thing of it. Maybe we need to interview 
a couple people, observe practice or something." He looked 
frustrated. "I don't like files that don't begin with 'X', Scully. 
Remind me of that next time Skinner needs a favor."

End part 3/10

Deviant Behavior
Part 4/10
Disclaimer in Part 1

Old Mill High School
Tuesday, October 17, 2000
11:55

"Agent Mulder!"  He heard the shout over the cacophony of the band 
room and turned his head towards the shout.  He smiled at the 
short redhead, and started towards her.  

"Hi, Dierdre.  I was just looking for you."  He smiled a bit, then 
proceeded to question her.  "Your roster was complete for this 
year, right?"  She nodded.  He continued, "The you've never heard 
of anyone named Philip Ward, or Wilbur Jones, or Ivan 
Finklestien?"

Dierdre shook her head slowly.  "No, not that I can recall.  They 
might have been acquaintances, but it's a pretty big school."

He rolled his eyes.  "_That_, is the understatement of the year."

Her eyes brightened as she devised a plan.  "Would you like a 
tour?  I'm sure Mr. Dewey wouldn't mind if I showed you around.  
It'll probably even help your investigation.  What are you 
investigating anyway?"

Mulder looked a tad lost as she rambled quickly, effectively 
cutting off any answer he would have given.  He found himself 
telling her that some students had disappeared, and that a tour 
would be lovely.

"Great! Let's get started!"  Dierdre fired a killer smile at him.  
[Now to get what I want out of this.]

"Not so fast, let me get Scully.  She'll want to see the school, 
too."  He walked off and Dierdre's smile faded.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Scully?"  Mulder rounded the corner of the hallway after swinging 
out the back doors of the band room.

"Over here, Mulder."  Scully was uncharacteristically sprawled out 
with her back resting against the practice room behind her.  
Papers that looked like rosters were spread around her, with 
highlighter and pen marks on some of them. 

"So, did you find anything?  And do you really want to be sitting 
on that floor?"  He leaned against the wall, towering over her.  
He knocked on the wall of the practice room, opening his mouth to 
say more when--

"What the!?"  Scully picked the opened carton of goldfish off the 
ground where it had landed after hitting her in the head.

He reached down and plucked a goldfish out of her hair.  "Tasty."

"Eww!  Mulder, do you know how long that's probably been up there?  
It's better than the contents of your refrigerator, granted, but 
still..."

"Sure, fine, whatever."  He smiled down at her.  "Anyhow, Dierdre 
wants to take us on a tour of the school.  You coming?"

Scully looked contemplative.  "Mulder, the school isn't the only 
thing she wants to show you."  She smirked.  "But since you don't 
have any paid protection, I'd better come along.  We can 
'interview' her a little, too."

He offered her help up and she took his proffered hand.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Meanwhile...

"Christie!"  She stormed off.  Josh turned and leaned up against 
the wall.  "Dammit!"  He'd just had a major fight with his 
girlfriend.

It was a "he-said, she-said" situation.  This other girl was 
seriously crushing on him, and trying to break he and Christie up.  
She'd finally succeeded by spreading so much propaganda that 
Christie couldn't ignore it anymore.  Hence, big fight.

This was not good.  With Christie out of the picture, Pamela was 
going to come on strong.  He really didn't like her, but was too 
nice a guy to come out and say it, normally.  But this time, she'd 
stepped over the line.

He turned towards a sound from his left.  "Rough day, Josh?"  
Pamela was standing in the hallway, looking inquisitively at him.

He shook his head in angry disbelief.  "You got what you wanted, 
so leave me the hell alone!"  He tried to rush past her, back into 
the Band Room, but she grabbed his arm.

"You know I'll always be here if you need me..."  She smiled shyly 
at him.

"You're such a slut!  I'd never, ever go out with you, if you were 
the last person on earth!  Get it through your thick, ugly skull 
that I don't like you!  And eventually, you'll realize that no 
matter how many times you break me and my girlfriend up, I'll 
never like you!"  He wrenched his arm from her grasp and walked 
off, fuming.

Pamela stood in shock.  This situation could get very bad for her, 
very quickly.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Wow, Scully, this place is even bigger than I thought."  He 
looked around with the awe of a little boy.  Scully chuckled at 
the sight of a man quickly approaching forty acting like a five-
year-old.

"Yes, Mulder."  She smirked at him and he grinned back.

Dierdre walked in front of them, disturbed.  They were closer than 
she thought. It was going to take more than she thought to get 
these two upset with each other.  [Oh well, just one more thing to 
worry about.  At least he's cute and won't wear out his welcome.]

She crossed the threshold deep in thought, plotting her next move 
against the Fibbies, and ran straight into Josh.

"Hey, bro, sup?"  Josh hadn't been paying attention to where he 
was going, still infuriated by Pamela's scam.

"This whole thing with Pamela just broke me and Christie up!  She 
needs a swift kick in the ass."  Dierdre put a hand on his 
shoulder and pulled him into a hug.

"You guys will work it out. You always do."  She smiled up at him, 
a devilish glint in her eyes.  [I'll make sure of it.]  "We'll go 
out after practice and get a Slurpee or something.  How does that 
sound?"

He considered it for a second.  "You paying?"

"Sure.  I'm paying."

"Sounds like a plan.  Thanks, Dre."

After another hug, Josh left, considerably less annoyed than he 
was when he ran into her.

During this, Mulder an Scully had been observing the two teens, 
and commenting on their intimacy.  "They seem pretty close."  
Scully was focused intently on the pair.

"Well, that's understandable, Scully."  He bent down and whispered 
in her ear.

She looked up at him curiously. "Why's that?"

His eyes twinkled mischievously as he teased her.  "What's this?  
Agent Dr. Scully missed a clue?"

"Mulder, may I remind you I'm armed?"  She smiled up prettily at 
him.

"Point taken, point taken.  But you really didn't hear?"

"No, Mulder, I didn't.  Would you like to inform me?"  She arched 
her eyebrow at him, winning a nervous smile from Mulder.

"Sure.  As she walked in, she addressed him as 'bro,' being short 
for 'brother.'"

"I know what 'bro' means, Mulder.  Do you think they're really 
related?  That didn't catch my eye in the roster."

He looked back at the embracing couple.  "No idea, they look 
enough alike to be brother and sister, maybe even twins, although 
obviously not identical ones."

Scully sighed.  "Oh well.  I don't think it's really important.  
Had enough of today?"

"Yea.  Let's go home.  Maybe we'll figure this out. We can come 
back for practice later.  They're supposed to be pretty good."

"Let's go, G-Man."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Scully leaned on the door as it shut behind her.  Mulder had sunk 
down on the couch as soon as he'd walked in, shedding shoes, 
jacket, and tie on the way.  She shook her head, and headed to the 
kitchen to get something to eat.

While she was rummaging around in her refrigerator, she called out 
to Mulder.  "So, what do you want for lunch?"  She started in 
surprise when his voice came from behind her.

"Oh, I have a few ideas."  He smiled down at her as she 
straightened up, and he moved closer.  

"Mulder?"  She looked around, trying to focus anywhere but those 
intent hazel eyes.

He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him.  "Scully..."  
His mouth inched closer to hers...

[Scully?]

She started awake to the sound of Mulder's voice.  "Huh?  What's 
going on?"

"You were dreaming... you said my name. Nightmare?"

"Uhh... yea, that's it."  She blushed and turned to look out the 
window of the car.  They were only a couple of blocks from her 
apartment.  She was starting to feel a weird sense of _deja vu_. 
"You okay, Scully?"  Mulder looked genuinely concerned, but for 
Scully, that only added to her problems.  She was having a hard 
time getting the image of a close-quarters Mulder out of her head.  
And now he had to be concerned...

"Yea, Mulder, I'm just a bit disoriented.  Give it a couple 
minutes."  Scully sighed inwardly.  If he knew _he_ was the cause 
of her 'distress', she'd never hear the end of it.  And she'd be 
humiliated for life.

"Alright.  We'll be home soon, anyhow."  [She's hiding 
something... Is she..? she is!  She's blushing!  Hah.  I bet it 
was no nightmare.  Note to self: test theory.  And since when did 
I start considering Scully's apartment my home?]  He smiled.  [I 
guess it's true; home _is_ where the heart is.]

Scully looked over at Mulder to find him smiling and began to 
worry.  [He looks incredibly thrilled with himself.  I wonder what 
he's cooking up in that brain of his?]

Mulder pulled into a parking space and shut the car off.  He 
smiled at her as he opened the door and got out, leaving her to 
contemplate that smile.  Instead, she shook her head and got out 
of the car, treading wearily towards him.  

He put an arm around her.  "So what's cooking for lunch?"

"I don't know, got any suggestions?"

"Oh, I've got some ideas."

Scully's mind reeled as she took in what he had said.  [But what? 
He said? Oh my.]

They got in the door, and just like her dream, he shed his jacket, 
shoes and tie on the way to the couch.  But this time, she leaned 
against the door, trying to grasp the situation.  [This is right 
out of my dream.  Spooky.]  She laughed despite herself, and 
Mulder poked his head out of the living room, back into the 
hall.

"Find something amusing that you'd like to share with the class?"

"Not particularly."  She moved towards the closet to hang up her 
coat and Mulder's, and just smiled enigmatically.

"Is that a you don't want to share, or it's not amusing?"  Mulder 
was stealthily moving towards her.

She turned around and found herself only a couple feet from a 
grinning Mulder, and suddenly it was just a little too warm in the 
room.  With the top buttons undone, his hair mussed, and her 
favorite [When did I get a favorite?] pair of dress pants on [not 
too tight, but just snug enough to show off that delectable ass] 
he looked like a model out of GQ, and it was definitely having an 
effect on Scully.

"I've decided not to share with the class.  Problem with that, 
Mulder?" She smiled up seductively at him, hoping to even the 
odds.

He flushed a little.  "You know I have my ways of making people 
talk..."  He advanced a little, and she dodged towards the 
kitchen.

"But first you have to catch them!" She tossed over her shoulder 
on the way.  But with his longer legs, he was right behind her, 
and trapped her between the side in the kitchen and his body.

"What was that about catching someone, Scully?"  He smirked, and 
she stared defiantly up at him.

"You still haven't managed to get any information out of me yet... 
I thought you had 'ways of making people talk?' Maybe your 'ways' 
are a little overrated?"
 
But Mulder wasn't paying much attention.  He had focused on her 
face as soon as he had trapped her against the counter, and more 
importantly, her lips.  He had slowly begun descending towards 
them, like an object in orbit, spiraling ever closer to Earth.

"Mulder?"  She was taking shallow breaths, her eyes flashing blue 
fire, almost trembling with anticipation.

"Scully..."  He moved forward the precious inches toward her 
mouth.  "How's this for interrogation skills?"  And his lips 
claimed hers.

They were still for an instant, just sharing the most tender, the 
most chaste of kisses, then Scully wound her arm around his neck 
and bent his head down to meet hers more firmly.  He responded by 
pulling her tight against him, pulling at her waist, and opening 
his mouth, asking permission.  She gave it freely.  Soon, there 
was no distinction between the two.

When they broke apart, he smiled and leaned his forehead against 
hers.  "Ready to tell me what I want to know?"

She managed to get out "I think I'll need some more convincing" 
before his lips descended upon hers once more.

End part 4/10


Deviant Behavior
Part 5/10
Disclaimer in Part 1

"Chloe!"  The blonde turned as she heard her name.  Dierdre was 
running toward her from the direction of the band room.  She 
arrived, a little out of breath. "We've got a situation."

Chloe looked around and dragged her into the bathroom, checked 
stalls, and gave her an 'all clear' sign.  "What's up?"

"Pamela.  That's what's up.  She's totally screwing up Josh's 
life.  That's a type of person we don't need."

"What'd she do?"  Chloe leaned against the wall, watching the 
door, and glancing at Dierdre. 

"She's spreading lies and rumors and completely destroying the 
teamwork we've strived, killed for!"  Dierdre was fuming, but was 
still at least quiet when she said it.

Chloe had other ideas.  "Hold your voice down, will ya?  The last 
thing we need right now is for those Feds to poke their nose in 
and arrest us.  States are in 2 weeks."  She stuck her head out of 
the door and scanned the hallway for any sign of life.

Shutting the door quietly behind her, she turned to Dierdre.  "So 
what, we kill her?  This is sort-of in violation of our code."

"No, it's not.  She's killing any hope for success.  She deserves 
punishment."

"Sounds good.  I was feeling the need for bloodshed anyway.  Guess 
it's time for some 'field maintenance.'"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Scully's Apartment
12:37 PM

Mulder and Scully were sitting on her couch enjoying the last 
couple slices of their pizza.  "So, why did it take us this long 
to realize we belong together?"

Scully inclined her head towards him, a quizzical look on her 
face.  "What do you mean?"

His expression clouded over.  "Well, I guess I'm wondering why 
we're just crossing the line now.  I mean, I've wanted you for 
years, I just never thought you would want anything with me..."  
His voice took on an awed quality, and she scolded herself for 
waiting this long.

"Well, I think I finally realized that you wouldn't wait forever. 
When that girl, Dierdre, started flirting with you, it really hit 
me.  You could have anyone you wanted, but yet, there was a 
possibility you were interested in me."  She moved her head from 
his shoulder, where it had decided to rest during her schpeal, and 
looked back up at him, smiling all the while. "So I took a chance. 
I..."  She glanced down , away, and back, with the largest smile 
he had ever seen gracing her face.  "I love you , so I figured it 
was worth it.  I'm glad I was right."

He nearly fell over backwards as the import of her words hit him.  
"You..."  He stopped, wondering when the basic concepts of speech 
had decided to leave him.  "You could actually love a screw-up 
like me?  On purpose?"

She chuckled, "It wasn't exactly on purpose... more like 
inevitable.  I spent years trying not to love you, and I ended up 
doing it anyhow.  Wow, that says alot."  

Mulder joined in on the laughter.  "Alot, alot, alot." 

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
12:15
Band Room

"Hey Pamela!"  Chloe called to the girl from the back hallway.  
"It's your lucky day.  You get to help paint the field."  She 
glanced back at Dierdre, a wicked smile on her face.  This was 
going to be priceless.

"Hey, guys.  You need my help?"  Pamela, her normal exuberance 
returned from earlier, bounded over.

"Yea, we need to go paint the field before practice.  So we 
figured now was as good a time as any.  You wanna grab the string 
and we'll get the paint?"  Dierdre was uncharacteristically suave, 
but Pamela didn't seem to notice.

"Sure!"  It wasn't every day that the Drum Major asked you to 
help.  This was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.  And Dierdre 
was related to Josh...

As they got to the field, Pamela noticed something was amiss.  The 
field was already painted.  And someone had brought shovels and 
sod.

She turned around to ask Dierdre what was going on, when she was 
hit in the face with a liquid of some sort.  In sounded like... 
paint!  She could taste it, feel it invading her body.  Slowly 
suffocation her.  Her chest erupted in pain.  She gasped out one 
last sentence.  "Why me?"

"Never mess with my family."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
3:40 PM

"Set 16!"  Jack spoke through the megaphone.  Mulder and Scully 
pulled up behind the scaffolding and got out of the car.

"Let's go, don't waste any time between sets!"

"Wow, he's pretty hard on them."  Mulder said as he and Scully 
walked down the hill towards the podium on which Chloe was 
standing.

As Chloe conducted the band, Mulder was distracted by the fast 
movement and exhilarating music.  Scully, on the other hand, was 
doing a mental head count.  "Hey, Mulder."  He didn't answer. 
"Mulder..."  Scully reached out with the back of her hand and 
slapped him on the shoulder. "MULDER!"

"Whoa, what? Take it easy, Scully, enjoy the show."  He laughed 
and was about to turn back around.

"Mulder there's someone missing from the group."

"Scully, they're teenagers, teenagers tend to get 'sick' or find 
other things to do."

"Mulder would you look at the facts for once in your life! The 
entire fall roster was here before we left, now one person is 
missing. "  She began to search to make sure she wasn't mistaken.

By this time the band had stopped.  Unbeknownst to Mulder and 
Scully, Chloe had heard the basics of their conversation.  She 
called the band to rest and summoned the section leaders to the 
side of the field.

They huddled in a circle, then Chloe spoke softly, "Those agents 
are getting too close.  As you all know it is your duty to protect 
this band."  

Dierdre step forward and added to the speech, "We are going to 
break into sections, remind them of their duty. Make it look like 
real sectionals, got it?!"

"Very well, dismissed!"  With that, Chloe and Dierdre walked back 
towards the agents who were now talking to the director.

"Well, Scully, I guess the pow-wow is over!"  He whispered so as 
not to be overheard.  Dierdre walked up to her side and flashed a 
smile.  "Hi, Dierdre," Mulder said then glanced at Scully who was 
now walking towards Chloe.

Scully went over to Chloe and asked, "Is everyone present?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't they be?" Chloe snapped at her, than continued 
to flip through the conductors score.

Scully began to walk around the field.  By this time Mulder had 
caught up to her.  "What are you doing, Scully?"  Mulder was 
wondering what they were doing now that they were on the field and 
going toward the other kids.

"Oh, Mulder, did you finish flirting and decide it's time to do 
your job?"  She flashed him a glare that he didn't know was 
teasing or not.  "I'm taking another head count."

"Yes, Scully, let's make sure all the little ducks are in a row."  
As he taunted her, he gave her a  quick elbow, indicating his 
sarcasm.  

They went around asking everyone how many people were in their 
section.  This took about fifteen minutes, and when they were 
done, the numbers totaled to thirty-six people.  Practice was 
wrapping up at this point, and Mulder and Scully headed back 
towards the car.

End Part 5/10

Deviant Behavior
Part 6/10
Disclaimer in Part 1

"Well, Scully, this has been fun, but I'm getting tired of the 
babysitting job."  Mulder opened the door to the Escort.  As they 
got into the car something caught their eye. 

"Hey, wait!"  It was one of the drummers.  "Wait, I need to talk 
to you. But not here."  He was frantically trying to catch his 
breath and talk at the same time.

"Johnny, right?"  Scully said as she stepped back out of the car.
"Yeah, just get in the car and let me in!" They got in the car and 
Mulder turned his head to look back at him.

"Whoa now, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Mulder reached out to calm him, but Johnny brushed his hand away 
and demanded "Drive! they're probably watching me now!"

"Who?"  Scully looked puzzled.

"Just drive, and I'll talk."  He kept frantically looking around 
him almost as if someone would jump out and get him.  They pulled 
out of the parking lot and headed towards I-97.

"Now what's got you so shaken that you can't say it at school?"  
Scully had half-turned around in her seat and faced the boy.

"They killed her!"  He began to shake and look like he was one 
word from a hysterical crying jag.

"Who?"

"She didn't deserve it.  She didn't even make a mistake. I guess 
that doesn't matter anymore. We only did our job, but they've gone 
psycho!  She didn't deserve it!"  He was crying now and almost 
cringed in anger.

"What? A job?"  Mulder spoke up and began to pull off to the side 
of the road.

"They tell us it's our duty, but it's still wrong!  It's gone too 
far! I don't want to kill anymore!"

Scully shot Mulder a glance. "Kill?"

Johnny looked like a deer caught in headlights.  He gulped, "Yea, 
kill. Punishment is severe for screw-ups."  He just sped up and 
blurted it all out.  "We drummers are like the firing squad.  We 
sortof maul the chosen with our drumsticks.  But we don't kill 
them, we just hurt them.  The killers are the Drum Majors! That 
mace is a wicked weapon!"

"So let me get this straight."  Mulder raised his eyebrow, giving 
a mean impersonation of Scully.

"You're saying that the band murders people, lies about it, and 
never gets caught?  Just like that, it's easy?"  He sounded 
incredulous.

"Well... Yea, I mean, I never thought about it that way.  It was 
just sort of given that we 'removed' the malcontents and under-
talented.  Actually, some of them definitely deserved it."  At the 
startled looks from Mulder and Scully, he continued in another 
direction.  "But it was still wrong!"

Scully, still completely skeptical, asked one more question.  "Say 
that you're telling the truth.  What would you do with the bodies?  
Wouldn't someone notice if teenage bodies started showing up in 
their soccer field?"

"That's why we don't use the soccer field.  Actually, it's kind of 
genius.  They're put to rest where they mess up.  Six feet under."

Mulder visibly paled.  "You MARCH over them?"

"Well, yea.  It's like a constant reminder of what the stakes 
are..."  He looked a little sheepish.  He looked down, and caught 
a glimpse of his watch.  "Oh shit!"

"What?!"  Mulder and Scully both tensed up, scanning the area.

"My mom's gonna kill me for running late! We need to get back! 
Otherwise people might wonder..."

"Okay..." Mulder shot Scully a look that said 'I think this kid is 
mentally unbalanced...' He started the car and pulled it back onto 
the road, heading for school.


XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
5:47 PM

It was getting dark by the time they pulled up at school.  Johnny 
got out, looked around, and shut the door as quietly as possible.  
He waved them away, and started towards the band room.  He tugged 
on the door, and it opened, much to his surprise.  Practice let 
out at 5:25, and most people were gone by 5:30.  Very strange, 
indeed.

He started around the corner, but was grabbed by two hands: one on 
each arm.  He started to struggle, but was quickly subdued, his 
attacker wrenching his arm behind his back and twisting.  Hard.

"AHH!" Johnny cried out in pain and stopped struggling.  He opened 
his eyes to come face to face with Chloe, who was leaning against 
the wall.

"Well, well, well... What have we here?  I'm thinking we have a 
traitor in our midst."  She cocked her head to the person who was 
holding Johnny in place.  "What do you think?"

"Definitely a traitor."  Dierdre twisted a little harder, 
eliciting a gasp of  pain from Johnny.  "And you know what happens 
to traitors."  She whispered close to his ear, causing shivers to 
run down his spine.  

Footsteps were heard down the hall, and Chloe narrowed her eyes.  
Alex Champagne, a Senior mallet percussionist, was standing 
against the locker bank to Johnny's right.

"Go easy on him, guys.  He wouldn't have squealed, would you, 
Johnny?"

Johnny opened his mouth to answer, but Dierdre wrenched his arm 
again, and he cried out once more.

"How can you be so sure?  They're FBI.  Even if he didn't want to 
tell them, they probably have ways of making people talk."  Chloe 
directed the tail end of her comment to Johnny, walking over, and 
grabbing his face, then shoving it away.  "They can be just as 
ruthless as we can.  The girl, Scully, has probably already been 
aggravated by Dierdre's antics with Mulder."

Alex sighed, looked skyward.  "Did you forget so easily?  
Remember, my godfather is an Assistant Director at the Bureau.  In 
fact, he's their boss.  I've heard stories about these two."

Chloe narrowed her eyes.  "Your _godfather_ is their boss?" 

"Yea, they're the agents that make up a division called the "X-
Files".  They investigate ghosts and flying saucers.  Mulder is 
insane, he claims his sister was abducted by aliens.  Scully is an 
obsessive scientist that completely disregards Mulder's theories 
and eccentricities.  I don't know how they get anything done, they 
disagree so much."

Dierdre looked skeptical.  "I've seen those two.  They've got more 
going for them than that.  They're smart and loyal.  Dangerous 
combination."  [And then there's the fact that he's incredibly 
hot, and she's incredibly overprotective.]

Alex shook his head.  "You don't get it.  They're PARANORMAL 
investigators.  They probably think it's a ghost.  Why would they 
even think about us doing it?

Dierdre and Chloe exchanged looks, and Chloe nodded.  Dierdre 
released Johnny who grabbed his arm afterwards.  

"So basically, we let him go.  If he's loyal, we keep a drummer, 
he's not we gain a sacrifice...?"  Dierdre turned to Alex.

Alex looked skeptical.  "Basically, yea.  That's the jist."

Once again, Chloe and Dierdre exchanged looks, and Chloe took the 
lead.

"Alright, we'll let him go.  For now.  And if you're wrong, and 
these two are really onto us..."  Chloe looked threateningly at 
Alex.

"Don't worry, they won't.  Good choice, though."  Alex seemed to 
back off mentally, and showed the first signs of nervousness since 
the conversation began.

"You're dismissed, Champagne."  Dierdre scowled at him, upset that 
he ruined her fun.  "'Kay, I can take a hint."  He turned and 
started out of the building, towards his car.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

As Alex left, Dierdre stiff-armed Johnny back to the wall.  Chloe 
silently looked around the corner to make sure the hall was clear 
again, then she signaled.  As she gave the all-clear sign, Dierdre 
put Johnny right back in the position he was in to begin with.

"So you thought you could get away with it?  We're not that dumb 
and your friend is lucky we don't rid ourselves of him just for 
intruding."  With that, Dierdre twisted his arm and grabbed his 
mouth to stop the scream.  They started down the hall to the back 
entrance of the Band hallway. 

Chloe pulled out a set of keys and opened the door to the storage 
room.  "This will be a good place for you until we're ready."  And 
as soon as the door was open, Johnny was thrown in, and the door 
slammed shut.

"What are we going to do with him?"  Dierdre asked impatiently.  
There was fire burning in her eyes, she was ready to get rid of 
the lying rat.

"All in due time, let's leave how he should be punished up to the 
drummers.  After all, not only did he betray us, but he was one of 
them."  Chloe smiled cynically and the two walked into the band 
room to make an announcement.  

The band had been sitting there wondering what was going on for 
almost a half an hour.  One of the members spoke up, "SO, where is 
he?"  Then he sank back in his chair and remembered that you never 
spoke out against Chloe or Dierdre. 

"We'll pretend you didn't do that.  We're calling a percussion 
sectional and a Seniors/Leaders meeting. The rest of you go home 
and practice."  Dierdre finished and the band sprung into action, 
they knew that when Dierdre said "practice" you didn't think 
twice.  The percussionists met to the side of the room on the 
risers while the leaders took their place in chairs around the 
podium and front table.

Chloe stepped forward and ran her hand through her hair like she 
always did when she was thinking.  This group allowed her to relax 
a little bit, since she had known them for four years. But not 
much.  "Well, you basically know what's going on.  We have two FBI 
snoops, one squealer and a dilemma, what to do with the boy who 
cried murder."  By now, she was pacing back and forth at the front 
of the room. 

Dierdre got up and spoke directly to the drummers, "Since he was 
one of you, you should decide his inevitable fate. We can do this 
however you want as long as the result is the same."  She looked 
to Chloe for agreement and Chloe nodded.

Chad clenched his drum sticks and ground his teeth with anger; 
then he spoke darkly: "I want him to suffer."  And the percussion 
section began tapping their sticks.

"All right, no need to act like animals," Dierdre teased and 
grabbed one of Chad's sticks.

Chloe turned to the leaders, "All in agreement, say Aye."

"Aye."

"Fine, you're dismissed." And Chloe waived her hand to shoo them 
away.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

As the percussionists sauntered into the guitar room, they 
pondered this puzzling conundrum.  They filed in, sat around 
lazily in their chairs.  Chad and Kirk went to the front of the 
room and sat on the table.

"So, how do we get rid of the little pipsqueak? This needs to be 
something special."  Chad thought for a second, and the entire 
room erupted into chorus' of "Burn 'er!" in various degrees of 
British accents.

The room broke out in laughter.  "I think it's a little extreme, 
don't you?  God, someone would think we were a cult!"  Kirk, his 
usual sense of humor in place, took over for Chad.

"Actually..." Chad scratched his chin and looked thoughtful.  
"That's not such a bad idea.  I motion to 'burn 'im!' at the 
stake.  He may not be a witch, but we might as well have some 
fun."  He smiled an evil grin and looked at Kirk.  

"You bringing the marshmallows?"

End Part 6/10

Deviant Behavior
Part 7/10 
Disclaimer in Part 1

8:36 PM
Marching Field

It was much like their third execution, but with a much more 
malevolent cause.  Like before, there was a loose semicircle of 
members in a basic horn arc, and one was standing in front, in a 
position of authority.  But a few minor details were changed.  The 
whole band was not assembled, only the drummers; the one in 
authority was not Chloe, not Dierdre, but Chad.

And at the center of their loose formation was something out of a 
medieval nightmare.  There, on the front hash of the fifty-yard 
line, was Johnny.  His hands were bound tightly and ankles crossed 
where he was tied to the stake that rose from the mist on the 
ground.

One drummer, chosen for a position of honor, was slowly moving 
towards the sideline, facing downfield.  He stopped and about 
faced, his snare gleaming in the moonlight.

Chad nodded form his position on the podium, and Derrick began to 
play.  He was playing 8-on-hand, a common, innocent warm-up , but 
it added an eerie quality to this gathering.  {Tat tatat tat, 
ratat tat tatatat.}

Chad now spoke, Kirk moving from his position at the base of the 
podium, towards their victim.  Johnny cried out for the first 
time, as he saw Kirk approach with fire not only in his eyes, but 
in his hand.

As he raised the flaming drum mallet aloft, Johnny screamed again, 
in panic.  But it was no use, he was firmly attached to the stake, 
and Kirk continued his walk.

As he approached the rest of the percussionists, they too raised 
their mallets.  Kirk touched off the first drummer's mallet, and 
they, each in turn, set off the next.  Once around the circle, 
Kirk stepped in front of the stake and looked to Chad.

"May God have mercy on your soul."  Kirk dropped his mallet to the 
base of the stake, where kindling had been set, and the rest of 
the drummers then stepped forward and added their mallets to the 
blaze.

Johnny screamed his last words as the flames licked at his heels.  
"You'll never get away with this!"

And then all that was left of him was the memory of screams of 
pain and a pile of ashes.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

On a hill above the melee, two unknown observers stood silently 
watching. 

Short red hair swished in the wind as the smoke from the fire 
floated towards them.

The petite red-head glanced at her tall companion, then turned 
back to the scene of the massacre she had just witnessed.  A tear 
escaped her eye, and trailed down her face, and she hid her face 
from her cohort.

[Oh my God! Oh. My. God.]  Dierdre felt another tear rolled down 
her cheek.  This was completely wrong.  Not only was it non-
traditional, it was inhuman.  Tradition gave a mercy blow, but 
this cruel murder had no such thing.  It was torture, plain and 
simple; designed to invoke pain.  Sobs wracked her body.

"Awww, whatsa matter, Dierdre? Going soft?"  Chloe said 
scornfully, brushing a hand through her blonde hair.

Dierdre stopped short, pulling herself together quickly.  "Of 
course not, Chloe."  There were only telltale signs of distress in 
her voice.  "Just the smoke and my eyes having a disagreement."

"Good, because we can't afford anymore people getting soft.  Like 
our friend Alex.  He seems to be a little too close to the other 
side.  We might want to _influence_ him a bit."  Chloe narrowed 
her eyes at Dierdre's back.  

"I'll get right on it, Chloe.  It'll be my pleasure."  Dierdre 
exited awkwardly, went to her car and drove off.

A cloud passed over Chloe's eyes and she turned back to the 
smoking embers.

[Liar.]

End Part 7/10

Deviant Behavior
Part 8/10
Disclaimers in Part 1

10:13 PM (Still October 17, 2000)
Band Field

As the Escort pulled up, Mulder flipped of the lights and shut off 
the engine.  The two agents got out of the car and shut the door 
silently.  They started walking towards the field.  It was just 
hours ago that they had watched a rigorous practice take place 
followed by the frantic, fearful confession of a band member.  
Scully had tried to keep Mulder's attention earlier, but he was 
more focused on Dierdre than the job.  Now that they were out here 
again, she could point out something she noticed.

"Mulder, have you noticed something strange about this field?"
"Yeah, there's no one practicing on it for once! Or are you 
referring to the fact that it's time for bed and we're going 
digging for band geeks?"

"The field is green, Mulder!"

"Oh, so you did go to Kindergarten!"

At this point, Scully was ready to explode.  They had totally 
reversed the roles of their partnership, he was being the non-
believer and she was getting frustrated trying to prove there was 
a case to solve.  She snapped.

"For God's sake Mulder, could you stop with the antics and pretend 
for just a moment that we are FBI Agents, and that you have a job 
to do!"

"Did you know you're gorgeous when you're frustrated?" He smirked 
at her.

"Mulder!" She stared sternly at him.

Mulder sheepishly looked at his feet and was about to speak when 
Scully cut him off to continue her speech. 

"The field is too green.  You know for a fact that summer brought 
next to no water, and that the rest of the grass around this place 
is brown or nonexistent."

Mulder interrupted, "Maybe they watered it themselves."  

"Thank you for joining us, Agent Mulder.  That was a useful 
comment."  She bent down to feel the ground they stood on.  
"Mulder, come look at this."

"What?!" He gasped. "It's grass!"  He closed his mouth and 
realized he was doing it again.  It was like a new habit that he 
just couldn't break. 

"The grass is sod, very poorly laid sod," she continued to pull 
the freshly laid sod from the ground.  She tossed it to the side.

"Here you go."  Mulder tossed her a shovel.

"You've got two hands, you can dig!"  And with that, she stood up 
and handed the shovel back.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Mulder started to dig while Scully concentrated on the forming 
hole. Just as Mulder pushed the shovel into the dirt again, a 
dirty white item could be seen.

"Mulder, stop.  Don't shovel any more."  Scully started digging 
with her hands.  As the dirt fell the object could be seen more 
clearly.  Mulder pulled out his flashlight and pointed towards the 
hole. 

"Scully, is that what I think it is?"  Mulder was shocked. He 
didn't actually think they'd find a body in the band field.  "That 
kid wasn't kidding, was he?"

"Mulder, this one is pretty old, which means there must be others.  
Start digging somewhere else.  We have to find everything we can."  
She tossed him the shovel, then got off her knees and went to the 
car to get more equipment.  They pulled up sod and dug holes for 
almost an hour until Mulder came across another body.

"Hey, Scully, I've got something you definitely want to see."  He 
wiped his forehead and waited for Scully to walk across the field.  
As she drew near, Mulder sarcastically stated, "One Pamela K. 
present and accounted for."

"My God, Mulder! Look at her face."  Scully pulled out her gloves 
and proceeded to examine the substance that surrounded her mouth 
and nose.  "Looks like paint."

Mulder looked at the body then at Scully and scratched his head.  
"I've seen some weird stuff but this is freaky. Who woulda thunk 
that teenagers were willing to kill?"

"Mulder, it's time to call a team out here."  She pulled her 
gloves off and stuffed them in her pocket.

"Scully it's 12:38 in the morning.  We couldn't get a team out of 
bed if our lives depended on it."  Mulder was brushing some dirt 
off his shoes and looked to Scully for a response.  Scully stood 
there for a second.  She ran her hand through her hair and sighed.  

"Fine, let's put everything back.  But first thing tomorrow we're 
going to AD Skinner."  She gently started to place dirt back onto 
the body so as not to destroy the evidence completely.  Mulder 
then joined her and they fixed the field so they wouldn't be 
discovered.  To Mulder this case had been a waste of time, but now 
he wasn't sure.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

October 18th, 2000 (Whew, next day!)

"Alex!"  Dierdre was running down the hall after him.  He stopped 
and turned, leaning against the wall to wait.

She caught up to him and stood in front of him, a little hard of 
breath. "You're in danger.  You need to get out of here, you're 
life is at risk."

He looked at her, and was startled to find real emotion in her 
eyes.  She was concerned. For him.  That was a first.  [I wonder 
what happened to change her attitude!]  "Wait, slow down.  Why am 
I in danger?"  He looked around, then guided her toward a deserted 
classroom.

She turned on him as they got to the center of the room.  "Chloe's 
gone bonkers!"  She whispered fiercely.  "It's not about the pride 
anymore.  She's just trying to save her own hide!  She sees you as 
a threat to her dominance, so she wants to take you out.  Just 
like she took out Johnny."

"She took out Johnny?!"  He was shocked.  "I thought I had 
convinced her not to..."  He ran his hand through his hair. 

"You tried, and it almost worked, but she handed him over to the 
drummers and they..."  She shuddered.

He touched her arm, an attempt at comfort.  She shook him off, 
composed herself.   "They burned him at the stake.   You're next.  
Get out while you still can."

Alex moved his hand from her arm to her hair and pulled her to his 
chest.  He kissed her forehead, and whispered.  "Thanks, Dre.  
Watch yourself.  And if you need me, I'll always be here."  He 
stepped out of the room, and walked down the hall, out of sight.

Dierdre sat quickly on the desk behind her, exhausted from and 
emotionally draining day.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

{Tap. Tap}  Chloe's foot methodically beat against the podium she 
was standing on.  [I wonder where Dierdre ran off to...]  She 
leaned back and sat on the table behind her.  Her hair swished as 
she shook her head.   [She's going soft on me, I know it.  Her 
heart just isn't in the game anymore.  Not exactly the qualities 
we want in a Junior Drum Major.]

She ran a hand through her hair, brushing at an errant strand.  
[If she so much as blinks wrong at Muldoon, I'll have her head.  
Literally.]

Just then, Chad walked in the door.  "Problem, Chloe?"  He 
sauntered over to her.

She looked up at him, his 6'2" frame towering over her.  "You ever 
wonder why your perceived 'strongest link' is really the weakest 
link in the chain?"  He sat next to her, neutralizing their height 
difference. 

"Oh no.  Don't tell me Dierdre's run off once more."  He put his 
hand on her shoulder, trying to form a connection between them.  
"You've really got to do something about her, Chief."

Her eyes turned cold.  "Do you know something about this that 
you're not sharing with the class?"

He put his hands up defensively, warding off her attack. "Hold up, 
I was just coming here to tell you.  We have another traitor."

"Explain."  Her face was granite now, completely focused in on the 
Drum Captain.

"I saw her talking to Champagne a couple minutes ago.  They looked 
kind of _intimate_.  And the meeting ended with him leaving the 
building."

"That bitch! I trusted her to take him out, and she scares him 
off!  Everyone who gets involved with those Feds is turning tail!"  
She turned to Chad from across the room, where she had ended up 
after her tirade.

"We're taking her out."

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

Dierdre descended the deserted stairs, taking them two at a time.  
She looked around, searching for anyone who might be looking for 
her.  Outside the Band room, she paused, leaning her back up 
against the cinder-block wall.

[I'm doing the right thing!]  She yelled at herself.  [This isn't 
our dream anymore, it's twisted.  Remember that, Dierdre.] She 
signed and closed her eyes. [I saved his life. That's important, 
and I won't get caught. What's better, I'm too important, and 
Chloe is clueless.]

A hand shot out and grabbed Dierdre by the throat, pulling  her 
into the room.  She felt a pain in the back of her head.  Her last 
conscious thought: [Maybe she's not so clueless.]

End Part 8/10


Deviant Behavior
Disclaimers in Part 1
Part 9/10

Still the 18th, later that day

When Dierdre regained consciousness, everything was blurry.  She 
tried to move but couldn't. Her hands and feet were bound.

"Ah, welcome back.  Did you enjoy your nap?"  Chloe paced and 
chuckled with amusement.

"You won't get away with this! They'll get you and the whole thing 
will end!"  Dierdre kept squirming.

"Would you hold still?! You'll only make this take longer."  As 
she spoke, she grabbed one of Dierdre's hands.

At this point, Dierdre could see again, and she noticed she was 
tied by stakes to the ground, and for some reason the rope was 
padded.  Her face dropped, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Getting rid of the softy.  Can't have the Junior Drum Major 
freeing all the sacrifices.  Sometimes we just have to cut our 
losses."  Chloe shrugged her shoulders and turned around to pick 
something up.

"What do you mean SOFTY?! I've done as much for this band as you 
have, probably more! You're just doing this because you're 
jealous!"

"WHAT!"  She whirled to face Dierdre.  "I'm not the one who cried 
when we got rid of the snitch. And jealous, of what? I have the 
power. Everyone cringes in my presence, and I can have anything I 
want, including your death."  And with that, she pulled out a 
pocketknife and flipped the blade out.

"Real creative. Not only is your conducting bland and 
unimaginative, but you can't even come up with an intelligent way 
to kill me!!"

"Yeah, and this coming from someone who's about to die. But I'm 
sorry, this isn't going to get me caught. You're the one who 
killed herself!" Chloe looked 
smug.

"What are you talking about?! A. You're the one with the knife, B. 
who would believe that a straight A, Honors student, ranked 
thirteenth in her class would kill herself!  It's ludicrous!"  She 
was panting by the time she finished her tirade.

"Ludicrous it is, then. But then, all that work and so little play 
makes people a little stressed. Stress can build and people..." 
she played with the blade, then looked into Dierdre's eyes, 
"snap." She smirked and walked closer to her victim.

"You're insane!" She looked around wildly, searching for a 
friendly face.  "Chad! You know me, how much I do for the band. 
_I_ am your road to power next year!  You need me, you know it! 
Come on!"  He looked as if he would move to help her, but Chloe 
turned towards him, knife in hand.

"Yes, Chad, why don't you help her?" Chloe looked extremely 
dangerous, the light reflecting off the knife and being swallowed 
up into her eyes.

"It's too late, Dierdre. You're of no use to me at all."

Chloe nodded in approval, and circled him, running the blade of 
the knife up one cheek, around his neck, and down the other, 
trailing off as she walked away. 
 
"Chad!" Dierdre desperately tried to gain his attention, and he 
turned to her. "You know she's only fooling with you! As soon as 
I'm gone, she'll get rid of you, too. She's only using you to 
destroy me!" She pleaded with him, trying to affect his decision, 
but it was no use.

"Your delusions of self-importance won't get you anywhere 
Dierdre."

Chloe stepped up to him, speaking to Dierdre, but addressing Chad. 
"I have what I want, and you have nothing.  Oh well, this game is 
boring me. Let's get to the part where I win!"  She walked towards 
Dierdre and clasped her wrist.  As she lowered her knife towards 
Dierdre's wrist, she heard "Freeze, Federal Agents!"

She raised her knife in a panicked attempt to finish what she had 
begun.  A shot rang out and picked Chloe off.  She fell to the 
ground.

Chad turned around, saw who had shot and yelled "Aw Shit!" He ran 
towards the trees, and a couple more shots shattered the evening 
air. He too crumpled and fell.

Mulder ran onto the scene, and ran to Chad, assessed his injuries, 
and handcuffed him.  Scully ran to Chloe to check on her 
handiwork.  Chloe was breathing heavily, blood starting to seep 
onto the ground.  "Mulder!" he bolted from the other side of the 
field.  "Call 911!"  He quickly dialed, then went and cut Dierdre 
loose from where she was tied down.  They made their way back to 
Chloe and watched her labored breathing.  

With a pained voice, she spoke her last words, "The reign will 
never end... you can never stop what is meant to be..." and she 
took her last breath.

Scully took her pulse, just in case, then closed Chloe's eyes.  
She looked up and noticed Dierdre for the first time.  "Dierdre, 
you're bleeding."  Dierdre brought her hand up to her face, and 
wiped away the blood streaming from a cut across her cheek.  
Scully got up to examine the wound, turned Dierdre's head left, 
and scrutinized the cut.  "You're going to need stitches."

She nodded, and realized it wasn't such a good idea as she lost 
her balance and fell backwards into Mulder's arms.  She opened her 
eyes, and was confronted by Mulder's face.  She looked skyward, 
and saw a large figure bearing down on them.

Chad raised his clenched fists above his head and slammed them 
into Mulder's back, causing Mulder to drop Dierdre.  Mulder hit 
the ground hard.  Chad quickly went to take a swing at Scully, 
only to miss and be greeted by Mulder's fist.  Chad stumbled then 
went for Mulder head on, tackling him to the ground.  Chad 
managed to get his hands on Mulder's throat to choke him, but 
Mulder punched him again, and Chad flew backwards.  Mulder jumped 
on top of him and hit him again, and this time Chad stayed down.

Mulder stood up and looked at Chad, "Who do you think you are, 
MacGuyver?"  He smirked and walked away.  "You alright, Scully?"

"Yea, I'm fine. For someone who sees a fight a day, he swings like 
a girl."  She brushed off her pants and went to help Dierdre off 
the ground.  "We need to get you to a hospital."  Scully tried to 
guide Dierdre towards the car, but she didn't move. 

"Did you have to hit him in the face?"

Mulder groaned. [Flirt.]

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Chesapeake Hospital
October 19, 2000
12:01 AM

"Dierdre..."  She shook her head slightly, slowly waking up from a 
drug-induced slumber.

"Huh?"  She opened her eyes to find a familiar face smiling down 
at her. "Alex?"

He nodded, brushed back the hair on her forehead.  "I heard you 
got to play damsel in distress last night.  Word of advice: never 
give the bad guy a real weapon."

She chuckled softly.  "I'll remember that."  She brought her hand 
to rub across her face, and hit the gauze over her stitches.  "I 
really pulled a number, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." He turned around as the door opened and the nurse 
entered.  

"You need to leave, sir. She needs sleep." He looked back to 
Dierdre.

"I'll see you in the morning, Dre.  Bye." He walked out the door 
into the hall.

No sooner did he shut the door, when he turned around and was 
faced with Mulder's badge.  "Can you put that thing away? I'm on 
your side."  He pushed at the badge, and started to walk towards 
the waiting area.  "I called you guys with the info on that band 
scam."

Mulder looked at Scully and they decided to take a seat.  Scully 
spoke up, "How did you know how to contact us?"

"My godfather is your boss."

Mulder rolled his eyes. "So you're the little twerp we were sent 
to baby-sit."  Scully quickly gave him an elbow to the ribcage.  
"I mean..."

Scully interrupted, "Your godfather wanted you to be safe, we 
usually don't do these cases."

Alex looked at Mulder, who was now starting to twiddle his thumbs.  
"I know, but hey, you at least got to leave your closet for once."  
He chuckled and Mulder gave him a glare that could have melted 
steel.

"Well, hey, wouldn't you know, Scully, we have paperwork to do."  
He stood up abruptly and gestured that they were leaving.  "Oh, 
thanks for the info, and good luck in your _new_ school."  Mulder 
flashed a smug grin, and walked towards the door.

Alex looked stunned, yet came right back with an answer. "I'm not 
changing schools!"

Mulder smiled, "That's what you think... Oh, and this one has 
uniforms."  Mulder walked out the door to wait for Scully.  

Scully began to follow Mulder then paused.  "He's had a long 
night, you'll be okay now.  We really did find your information a 
great help. Thanks."  And she walked out the door.

Alex was left standing in the hall alone. "Private School!?!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Scully contained her laughter until the door shut behind Mulder, 
then it bubbled over.  "Mulder! That was really mean!" 

He chuckled beside her.  "Yea, but you have to admit, the look on 
his face was priceless!"  He leaned against the wall, closed his 
eyes, and sighed.  "Well, at least we're done baby-sitting."  He 
opened his eyes, and found Scully close in front of him.  "Whoa. 
Hello, there."

She placed a finger on his lips, then replaced it with her mouth.  
After Mulder ran out of breath, they broke apart, and he leaned 
back. He stared at her in amazement.  "Wow, what was that for?"

She smiled enigmatically at him. Then the facade slipped, and she 
grinned.  "For not getting yourself injured for once?"  She 
giggled a little, and he kissed her again to quiet her laughter.

"Yea, yea. Laugh it up, shorty."
 
She tried to look indignant, but it failed miserably, and she 
collapsed into his arms, laughing hysterically.  "I'll get you for 
that eventually."

"Promises, promises."

She slapped his arm in admonishment, and turned her mind back to 
the real reason they were in the hospital.

"We should probably check on Dierdre..." She poked at him. He 
threw his arm around her shoulder and nudged her forward.

"Lead on, O great and notorious leader..."  

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Dierdre's Room

The door opened, and cracked light into the darkened room.  
"Dierdre?"  Scully queried from the door.  Mulder, right behind 
her, switched on the light, and proceeded to run into Scully.

"What? What is it?..."  He trailed off as he saw the bed in the 
middle of the room empty, with the sheets half torn off.  Almost 
like there was a struggle...

He dashed out the door and ran to the front desk.  "There was a 
girl, Dierdre Small, in Room 223, where is she?"

"Wait a minute, Sir, let me check."  The candy striper only gave 
him a response after he flashed his badge at her.  She tapped on 
her keyboard, and turned back to him.  "Some men in suits came in 
a couple minutes ago, and told us that she needed to be released 
and they were taking her to a safe place..." 

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

"You can't do this to me! I have rights!"  The door slammed in 
Dierdre's face.  "Hey!"

"Shut up!"  The jailer called from down the hall. She walked to 
the bench and sat down, hard.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" She bolted up, hitting her head on the top bunk.  
She turned around to stand facing the stirring lump on her bed. 
The figure sat up.  "Chad?! Aww shit."

She hit her forehead with her palm, and looked skyward. "Why me?"

By this point, Chad had actually woken up enough to realize who 
else was in his cell.  "Haven't you gotten me in enough trouble 
already?"

"Me! You were the one who betrayed our cause, _and_ managed to 
assault a federal officer, _and_ had that federal officer kick 
your butt all in one night!"  She stamped her foot and moved to 
stare down at him.

He stood, towering over her.  "Whatever."  He stretched out, 
reaching for the ceiling, and proceeded to sit in the chair on the 
other side of the room.  Dierdre sat on the bunk, head in her 
hands. "Well, at least it can't get any worse."

Chad started tapping his fingers on the bars of the cell.  The 
taps eventually dissolved into the band's cadence, and Dierdre's 
head bolted up.  "NOOOOOOO!"

End Part 9/10

Deviant Behavior
Part 10/10
Disclaimer in Part 1

June, 2001
9:21 PM
Sedona High School Field

The firelight that flickered from the torch held in the center of 
the circle of red-clad figures reflected off the mace speared in 
the center of the field.

Kirk stepped forward. "Normally, this tradition is carried out by 
the Drum Major, but due to circumstances beyond our control, 
that's not possible.  So I get the honor, as the present Drum 
Captain."  He stepped to the mace, and pulled it out of the 
ground, like a modern-day King Arthur.  He walked to the section 
of the ring that contained the candidates for Drum Major, and 
stopped.  He held the mace out, ball end to the hopeful marchers, 
and waved it back and forth in front of them, almost teasing them 
with its power.  He stopped.  The mace pointed to a girl, with 
light brown hair.  She stepped forward.

Kirk speared the mace at her feet.  "Kneel."  She knelt silently, 
quickly.  "This position is one of prestige, responsibility, and 
respect.  Only the most worthy receive this honor.  You are 
worthy."  He turned to the rest of the assembly.  "Do you accept 
this Junior as your new Commander?"  The others nodded.

He turned back to the girl.  "Then arise, Elise Riveta, and take 
your place in a tradition of greatness."  She rose, and plucked 
the mace out of the ground.  A grin rose to her face from 
somewhere within.  

She said with a gleam of fire in her eyes, "With pleasure." 

End 10/10

X S X M X S X M X S X M X S X M

Additional Author's Notes:

Five months, a broken arm, and lots of coffee later, we're done. 
We started this in December, and here it is, May 10th, and we're 
finally finished.  The real reason we finished so quickly is 
because we realized that Bry was graduating in a week and a half. 
So we wrote a bit faster, and we wrote everywhere.  Jazz band 
performances, during a banquet, in a park, during a parade, on a 
bus... the scenery that we wrote in almost matched the story. 
Except no hospital. Or jail. (We think.)

The idea for the story came from Steph's history teacher, who was 
quoted as saying to the Drum Captain, "If you drummers had a 
bonfire going, you would look like a satanic cult." And little 
Vegas lights went off over our heads.

It managed to drive our Physics teacher crazy.  Even though we had 
A's, he'd come bug us, and tell us to stop working on our "Stupid 
novel." Needless to say, we didn't stop.  We each have our own 
thanks, kudos, shout-outs and such, so here goes:

Steph's notes (Kari Mulder):

When the idea for this fanfic emerged, I was really psyched.  I've 
been reading for years, and actually forced my parents to get the 
internet just so I could get the latest updates at Gossamer.  But 
the real impetus for this fic came when I broke my arm and 
couldn't write, and was forced to resort to typing. So I pulled my 
286 laptop out, and it became my new best friend.  And those long, 
boring physics classes suddenly became short and fun.  So we 
wrote. And wrote, and wrote, and wrote, and wrote.  Right now, 
only 18 pages are typed (and they're in 8 or 6 point font) so I 
have no idea how long this is going to be when it's all typed.  
I'm thinking it's like 90K, but I could be wrong...

Anyhow, I need to give thanks to a few people:

Phil, because he was the inspiration for the first sacrifice, and 
he really took it personally (Sorry Phil!).  Of course, he chose 
to take revenge by writing a story where we died, but that's 
another tale entirely.

The scheduling people and the computers at our school, for putting 
us in the same class both semesters.  Extra kudos for putting us 
in a room where there are electrical outlets every foot right in 
front of us.

Josh, for giving us the idea to kill the "big slut," it really 
added to the story.  That, and I enjoyed killing her. Hehe.  That 
sounds quite maniacal.

Kara for editing/reading and basically being our Beta, and just 
keeping our creative juices flowing.

Alex, for letting us turn the character based on him into a sissy 
coward and having him run away...

And finally, Bry! She made all this possible, by being as much of 
a fanatic as me and keeping me on track while I wrote.  Even 
though I wrote most of it, she made the ideas flow much more 
smoothly, and kept the story moving forward. 

THANKS ALL!!

Bry's notes (TruthFinder):

I was introduced to the world of fanfic by my good friend Steph.  
Without her, this story probably wouldn't exist.  It's funny how 
this started, but physics class became useful.  We took our $10 
laptops and turned them into the keepers of our thoughts.

Being sparked by a simple comment, we took the idea and ran with 
it.  Though I admit I'm not the strongest writer in the world, I 
can come up with 50 different ways to kill someone in 5 minutes.  
So with that in mind, we made the perfect writing team.  I had the 
creativity, and she knew how to express it.  OK well it's time to 
thank the people who made this  possible:

Phil, hey man we only killed you 'cause you're important to the 
cause.

Alex, cause we needed a tattle-tail.

Band, for inspiring me, 'cause I'm a Band Geek!

Steph, for enabling me to express the voices in my head.

Kara, you were a masterful help to the process, your comments and 
anticipation kept me wanting to be creative.

THANKS TO ALL!

The End?