From: rhonddal@aol.com (RhonddaL) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: FEAR (Cassandra story) Date: 1 Jan 1996 23:32:52 -0500 PG-13 !This story does involve adult themes. It is one of the stories in what I'm calling my "Cassandra series". This one however has.... a PLOT and no sex. It is best read after reading the stories titled "IN YOUR DREAMS" and "BREAD AND CIRCUSES" as it may not make much sense without some familiarity with Cassandra Troy. This is more of a character study of her. Disclaimer: Chris Carter owns everyone and anything involved with the X-Files. Cassandra Troy is MINE. I don't want money, so muzzle the legal dogs. This is to be freely distributed as long as my name stays on it. Send all Critiques, comments, flames and threats to make me stop to: RhonddaL@aol.com FEAR by Rhondda Lake (Part 1/?) Cassandra Troy sighed and shifted her purse on her shoulder. The bank was crowded. It looked like she was not the only one who rushed to cash their check during Friday lunch break. Cassandra debated turning around and leaving, maybe actually getting something to eat for lunch other then face the long line ahead of her. But she had a date for dinner tonight, and she really wanted to get her check cashed before Monday. With a resigned look she faced the file of people before her and marched in, toying with the end of her long braid. She did not notice the van out front, or the five men filing out of the vehicle wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns. Not until the screaming began. The first scream alerted her, but as she was closest to the door she was unfortunate enough to be grabbed by an arm around the neck and something cold and hard was shoved against her temple as a series of explosions rang through the building. No, not explosions... gunfire. People panicked and most dropped to the floor. "Nobody moves and we might let you live. Now, be good little boys and girls while we conduct our own little transaction." The voice was right in Cassy's ear. Terror overwhelmed her and her knees went weak. Another masked thief had a eight year old boy by the shoulder with an uzi pressed to the base of his skull. Cassandra lowered the first two layers of her shields steeling herself against the waves of terror pressing in on her from all sides. Trying to focus on the man behind her. He was excited, even aroused, violence emanated from him. It wasn't only the money... she had heard about a rash of cross country bank robberies in large cities. The banks cleaned out in less then three minutes, and everyone inside slaughtered, the thieves always took the surveillance tapes. These were the people. The man behind her was anticipating violence, craving it. Everyone in this bank was going to die. Scully finished the expense report she was working on. The steady clicking of her computer keys ending as the low hum of the printer started. She looked across the desk to see her partner frowning as he viewed some grim crime scene photos. He was working on a series of profiles for a group of psychotic bank robbers. They seemed to enjoy killing everyone in the banks they hit as much as stealing the money. It wasn't an X-File, wasn't even their case, but the agent in charge of the case was one of the few who respected Mulder's abilities, and wasn't totally closed minded to the possibility that the X-Files Division might be a necessary department. When Jenkins asked Skinner if Mulder might be willing to help with profiles Skinner had made the request. Not an actual order. Mulder consented, it was a little thing really. Not exactly easy, and it was time consuming but Agent Jenkins friendship was worth it. Scully started at the knock at the door and turned as Jenkins walked in. The agent in question was only a little taller then she was, but he had to work out at the gym every spare moment. Jenkins looked happy. "Mulder, sorry to have wasted your time... but we got them." Mulder looked up with a frown. "Caught them how? Where?" "Just fifteen minutes ago at the Third National right here in DC. They are being processed but they are insisting they be remanded into psychiatric custody. I'd say they were trying to cop a plea... but the way they were caught. I'll tell ya Mulder... you should look into this one. They all collapsed in the middle of a robbery, they curled into the fetal position and began screaming and crying. The bank was full so there is no lack of witnesses. It's just bazaar. Want to come along? I'm heading over there now. I'll list you as an observer." Mulder grabbed his suitcoat off the back of his chair. "You coming Scully?" He smiled at her. She considered for a moment. "Sure why not. It'll rest my eyes from computer glare for a while." The bank was indeed full, and no one was allowed in or out other then the police and them, after flashing their badges. A lot of people were still in hysterics. Tellers were babbling their statements to the police patiently writing their words down. The customers were all being asked for their names and addresses. Some were getting belligerent, demanding they be released to return to their jobs. Others were still in mild shock. One woman held her young son in a death grip hug, both shaking violently. Mulder's eyes took it all in, almost sliding over the huddled figure in the corner. But the familiarity of the form seated in the corner, shaking, arms rapped around herself. He frowned and strode purposely over to the corner. He barely noticed Scully at his side. "Cassy?" He crouched and touched the woman's shoulder. Scully watched as the woman looked startled then fell forward wrapping her arms around Mulder, her whole body wracked by sobs. She was pale and Scully was certain she was suffering shock. Then the name he'd used clicked. He'd mentioned his upstairs neighbor, and she knew he was dating her. The name Cassy had been mentioned enough. This must be the woman. Right now she did not resemble the intelligent, witty young woman Mulder had described to her. He was stroking her hair and back, making shushing sounds in her ear. There was a warmth and tenderness there that Scully had only seen him display toward herself, and she squashed the tiny tremor of jealousy. THAT was absurd. Scully herself crouched next to the woman, and shot Mulder a questioning look when she heard the girl's shaking voice pronounce, "I did it. Oh God, Mulder, I did it. What have I done? I... I... I just reacted. I couldn't control it." She sobbed between words. "Mulder I think she's in shock. She needs to see a doctor or at least some rest." "I'll take her home." Mulder stood, drawing the shaking woman with him, supporting her as her knees seemed weak. "Tell Jenkins her name is Cassandra Troy and she lives in my building. Apartment 154. Tell him what you want. I'm taking her home." Scully wanted to ask 'Your home or hers' but bit back the question. ================================================================= ========== From: rhonddal@aol.com (RhonddaL) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: New: FEAR (2/3) (Cassandra story) Date: 1 Jan 1996 23:33:01 -0500 Disclaimers and such attached to Part 1. FEAR by Rhondda Lake (Part 2/3) On the drive back to the apartment building Cassy had stopped sobbing. Mulder looked over at her, not liking what he saw. She wasn't really looking at anything, and she was still shaking, her hands clasped around the tissue in her lap were white knuckled. "Talk to me Cassy or I'm going to take you to the emergency room." She bit her lip, her face a mask of misery. Her eyes were puffy from crying and she sniffled before using the tissue. She had told him she did it. Not the robbery, he was aware of that, but was whatever happened to the robbers her doing? It was NOT outside of the realm of possibility, not by a long shot. But he had never even heard of the SUGGESTION that an empathic gift could be used offensively. "Fine, I'll turn around here." He pulled over to a shopping mall parking lot and felt her hand on top of his where it rested on the steering wheel. "Take me home Mulder. I'll... I'll tell you there. Just... let me get a handle on this thing ok? I... I feel so out of control, and I don't want you to be the next victim." He hesitated a moment, the man in him warring with the psychologist. She obviously needed help. He pulled back onto the road and headed home. She was much more likely to open up to someone she knew and trusted. He took her to her own apartment. He figured she needed the familiar surroundings to feel safe and secure. She was walking on her own, but her motions were wooden, they lacked her usual grace. "Tammy will still be at work. Can I... can I take a shower first? Please. I promise I won't run away." She managed n attempt to smile at that, and he nodded, dropping his trenchcoat over the back of one cream colored chair. She moved into the bedroom and returned a few minutes later dressed in a robe only to disappear into the bathroom. He stared at the bathroom door, a muscle in his jaw twitching. She felt she had to get clean it was a common reaction in rape victims, in some people just plain victimized. Somehow he thought Cassandra would be one of the last people to be victimized. He knew the thought was stupid that EVERYONE could be victimized as he'd been shown countless times in countless ways. But his first ever glimpse of her was in a dream, she was a pillar of strength that chased away the nightmares and comforted him. Since then he had learned a lot about Cassy, but not all. He'd even gone with her once to something called fighter practice. He'd watched from the sidelines as She got encased in a padded shirt, chain mail, steal plates on her arms and legs and a helmet as she went out onto a gymnasium floor to face off against other people similarly attired. Some of them pretty big men. She swung around a seven foot padded pole capped with a pad that vaguely resembled an axe. She called it fun. It looked painful. She got hit during those bouts, and she hit back. A rule system was in effect as strict as any other sporting event he'd been to. It was odd, and like nothing he'd ever seen except in movies. But she was out there, loving it, practicing moves with other people. Afterward she had a few bruises, but she was exhilarated and laughing. She was strong and stable. The woman he'd driven home was not strong and stable. But he'd be damned if he would just walk away or let it drop. She'd been there for him, even when he was nothing more then an anonymous stranger. For once she needed HIM. The situation sucked, he didn't know what to make of it, but he wasn't about to let her down. In the shower Cassy scrubbed at her hair, she could still smell his breath, it had to be stuck in her hair. She rinsed for the third time. She scrubbed at her body, feeling the tears falling again, and helpless to stop them. She was out of control. She was a monster. She'd struck down five men, judge- jury- and executioner. They were alive, yes, but would they ever recover? Had Larry Norton? She sobbed and leaned her forehand against the cool tile of the shower wall. Larry... he was still locked away somewhere, still went into screaming fits that only drugging him into a stupor would stop. She knew it. She had done it. She fell to her knees in the shower and vomited, heaved until nothing else would come up. She was only vaguely aware of the pounding on the bathroom door. But she felt the water stop, and the arms wrap around her, holding her. Mulder got her out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her before making her sit on the toilet. He handed her a glass of water and ordered her not to swallow, just rinse out her mouth. She obeyed weakly. He took her robe off the wall hook and wrapped it around her, over the towel before taking the towel away and using it on her hair gently. He didn't say a word. Cassandra finally took the towel from him and wrapped it around her head. She walked out into the living room and fell onto the couch, knowing he followed. "When I was eighteen a guy I was dating wouldn't take no for an answer." She spoke woodenly without tone or infliction. The muscle twitched on Mulder's jaw again. Severely traumatized people spoke that way. It didn't fit coming from Cassy's lips. "I had recently broke up with my previous boyfriend. My first... lover. Larry thought I was easy I guess. I fought with him. I screamed. I pleaded." A single tear slid down her cheek. "He hit me. Knocked me close to unconscious... then he raped me." She swallowed hard. "When the dizziness of his blow passed.... I struck out. I'm not even sure how. I... I pushed everything he made me feel into his mind, every emotion, the guilt and the revulsion, the rage and the feeling of helplessness, all of it, every little nuance. He collapsed under it. He started to scream, and wouldn't stop, because I'd made him KNOW that he had done that to me." She looked down at her hands. She was shaking again. "The last time I saw him they were hauling him off to the state psychiatric ward. I couldn't... I couldn't tell them what happened. I couldn't face it. I went home and was sick. I think more from what *I* had done then from what had been done to me." Mulder sat beside her and held her. Guilt. It was stupid, the bastard had deserved everything he got... and she knew it on some level. But he was too very well aquainted with guilt, it wasn't that easy to make go away. Sometimes it never did. "Today." Cassy said against his chest. His shirt was wet from holding her when she was in the shower but neither noticed. "Today they came in, and they held a gun to my head. I could have handled that, I could even have handled dying. But they also held a little boy. So I let my shields down enough to try and judge what they planned. Then I knew." He felt the tremors shake her, "They were going to kill everyone. I don't even remember how I did it... just like last time. I just... focused all the terror in that bank and pushed it on them. Locked it in them somehow. They knew how each of those people felt, tenfold. I did that. I damned them to a mental institution for life. I don't know how to UNDO what I did." ================================================================= ========== From: rhonddal@aol.com (RhonddaL) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: FEAR (3/3) (Cassandra story) Date: 1 Jan 1996 23:33:01 -0500 Disclaimer attached to part 1 FEAR by Rhondda Lake (Part 3/3) "So are you going to arrest me? I mean... you deal with stuff like me all the time. I just attacked and destroyed five people. I am dangerous. I think you should arrest me." Mulder tilted Cassy's chin up with his forefinger. "No court would convict you. It was self defense, pure and simple. Not only self defence but you saved the lives of everyone in that building. Trust me, I know. I was working on a profile for these guys. There wasn't a chance in hell of anyone in there leaving alive if you hadn't been there." Cassy bit her lip again, meeting his eyes and quickly looking away. "I can't CONTROL it Fox. I'm as dangerous as those men. Who will be hurt next?" "Damnit Cassy look at me." Surprised by the vehemence of his tone Cassy obeyed, meeting his eyes. "You won't look into my eyes because you will know I'm saying only the truth. You are afraid of the truth right now. From what you just told me this kind of thing only happens in self defence, when there is no other way out. That's pretty controlled to me." "But what if I perceive a threat that isn't there? If I strike out and hurt some innocent?" "Deal with that IF it ever happens. I don't think it will. You have the unique ability to completely assess a situation emotionally and be dead on accurate. I do think... I think you may need some help." "Counseling you mean. Then I can share a nice little room between Larry Norton and those five men. I can't talk to anyone about this." "I'll listen. I know what you can do. And I think I know a good doctor who will believe you. It's the guy I see." Cassy inhaled and slowly exhaled. "OK." Se swallowed hard again. "I'll be sure to talk about it. To you... or your doctor. I promise. Just... I don't want to be alone right now. Can you stay here till I can call Tammy home." "Nope. I'll stay here. I have plenty of time racked up. I usually end up using it on medical leave." He smiled gently at her. "How much does Tammy know?" "Everything. She knows all about me. Even... even about Larry. She's the only one besides you." Cassy pulled the towel off her hair and began twisting it in her lap. "I'm honored." He kissed her softly on the forehead. "Just let me call Scully and tell her I won't be back." Cassy summoned up a smile for him. "I guess I didn't make much of a first impression on her. And here I wanted to impress her when we finally met." "Hey, you impressed me. Don't worry. She understands extenuating circumstances." Mulder made a quick phone call and returned to sit on the couch, pulling Cassy into his lap like a child, stroking her hair and back, intimate, but not sexual. "Jenkins asked that you go to the police and give your statement tomorrow. Can you handle that?" "You mean can I handle lying through my teeth?" "No, tell the truth, at least the truth you think they can handle." Cassandra sighed and nodded on his shoulder. "OK. I can do that." She twined her arms around his neck. "Can... can I stay with you tonight? I'd really like you to just... just hold me." "Yah. We'll wait for Tammy to come home then pack up what you'll need for the morning." "Mulder." "Mmmm." "Thank you. I have never been so afraid in my life. Thank you for being here for me." "Hey, anything for the girl of my dreams." He kissed the top of her head.