From: Kirsten og Ole <rad@nork.auc.dk>
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 10:30:00 +0100
Subject: Fanfic submission
Source: direct

Title: "Felis Domestica" 1/1

Author: KimotoCat.

e-mail: kimotocat@hotmail.com

Rating: PG for language and some violence, it's not bad though.

Category: S, T.

Spoilers: None. The setting is virtually anywhere within the later years
prior to fifth season. Well, okay, one teeny point made to "Small Potatoes",
but it's VERY small!

Keywords: None.

Summary: Mulder meets an unusual woman who claims to be from a far distant
planet in a far distant future. And she has the appearance to back the
story!

Disclaimer: I fully agree that special agent Fox Mulder, special agent Dana
Scully, A.D. Walther Skinner and the concept of the X-files is a registered
trademark and property of Chris Carter and FOX. This is not a work of
copyright violation, but should be seen as a contribution to a piece of
television art.
However, the Kimoto Takita and any other new characters, complete with
appearances and abilities, are the properties of this author.

Archive: Do as you like, but please inform (and keep!) the Author.

'Nuff legal stuff!

--Boundary_(ID_sfaen88UMuKODs6CcrN0wQ)
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Title: "Felis Domestica" 1/1
Author: KimotoCat.
e-mail: kimotocat@hotmail.com
Rating: PG for language and some violence, it's not bad though.
Category: S, T.
Spoilers: None. The setting is virtually anywhere within the later years prior to fifth season. Well, okay, one teeny point made to "Small Potatoes", but it's VERY small!
Keywords: None.
Summary: Mulder meets an unusual woman who claims to be from a far distant planet in a far distant future. And she has the appearance to back the story!
Disclaimer: I fully agree that special agent Fox Mulder, special agent Dana Scully, A.D. Walther Skinner and the concept of the X-files is a registered trademark and property of Chris Carter and FOX. This is not a work of copyright violation, but should b
e seen as a contribution to a piece of television art.
However, the Kimoto Takita and any other new characters, complete with appearances and abilities, are the properties of this author.
Archive: Do as you like, but please inform (and keep!) the Author.
'Nuff legal stuff!

Felis Domestica

It was a dry, dusty night and Fox Mulder had trouble sleeping, just as he often did. His friend and colleague, Dana Scully, was down in Frisco on an assignment and could not be expected home before late night or early morning. Mulder was not busy doing an
ything, so he decided to go for a walk downtown. A bit of fresh air had worked miracles before.
His lonesome steps led him to parts of the town, where he had rarely been before, and never in the role of a civilian going for a walk. It was the kind of place, where an outcast lowlife would feel, well, at home.
It came as somewhat of a surprise, as Mulder saw a sign down a dirty alley, flashing in pale orange: "The Sewer - Bar". The scenery was so obviously film-noir, that he could not resist an urge to go and check it out.
Inside was a small room, barely more than a large living room, just enough to display some five tables and a rough desk with a lone figure standing in front of it. Mulder went to the desk, where he was met by the neutral stare of an old man, - the barkeep
.
"Hi," Mulder said with his professional kind smile. "Nice place."
"What?"
Something about the voice and tone of the barkeep told Mulder, that he did not ask what he had said, he asked what he wanted.
"What would you suggest?" Mulder asked.
The barkeeper did not answer this. In stead, he took out an unlabeled flask and poured something into a cup, which he shoved towards Mulder.
"Drink o' the House, two dollars!"
Mulder paid and took the cup. It did not smell bad, but it did look like sewage all right. As he carefully sipped it, it turned out to have a nice, warm herbal taste.
The agent looked up to give his appreciation to the barkeep, but the other man had turned around, obviously not wanting to talk any more to the newcomer. In stead, Mulder relaxed against the desk and took a look at the other guests.
Not that there were many of them. Seven or eight people lurked over two of the tables. Another was leaning over a third table, sleeping quietly. And at the other end of the desk, a woman was standing; her side turned towards Mulder and her face seeming ve
ry distant as she slowly stirred her straw in a glass with a clear liquid.
Fox Mulder couldn't help but notice the lady at the bar. Unlike others here, she had class.
She also had a tail!
A dark, furry thing hanging discretely under her garments, having the same patterns and colours as the one of a common housecat, only this one was larger. And just before Mulder decided that it was just a piece of fur string, possibly from a fur gown, the
 tip of it twitched slightly in a lazy, gentle and very real movement.
Mulder took another sip of his Drink o' the House while trying to decide how to approach this woman. Either she was a fake, but a real good one, or this was rapidly turning interesting. In either case, things were improving.
Before he could decide what to do or say, the woman suddenly turned towards him, staring at him without blinking with large, catlike eyes in an Asian face of quite some beauty. Mulder could not decide her exact origin from her golden complexion, but at le
ast he could now see that her hair also had the tabby pattern of a cat. It was long and worn in a knot behind her head, partly covering the tips of her ears. He could not help but think, that the hair could be covering something more, well, catlike about 
the ears.
"Looking for something?" she asked in a soft voice, speaking with a heavy British accent and something more, which Mulder could not pin point. "I just sensed your stare!"
Mulder did not know quite what to say. He smiled at her, a more genuine smile, as he desperately tried to find a good entry statement. "I saw your tail" was not a good entry statement.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" she asked with a teasing white smile, revealing canines at almost inhuman length. "By the way, you do not look like the regular clientele down here. Where are you from?"
"I live here," Mulder answered, fighting his desire to stare. To investigate. "Well, I live here in DC I don't usually come round here."
"You don't say," she said with her teasing smile. "But well, nor do I. I... am not from DC"
She sure was mysterious; Mulder had to give her that. But then again, he could already hear Scullys' voice, telling him how stupid he was to accept the first dressed up schizophrenic he saw as an alien.
"Wherever you are from, at least you do not look hostile," she smiled. "But you look either bored or lonesome. I am both, so how about this; you buy me a drink, and perhaps we can talk for a while."
Mulder turned to the barkeep, ordering a drink "for the lady" and was surprised to learn that she only wanted a huge glass of water with ice.
"I'm Mulder. Fox Mulder," he introduced himself. "And you?"
"You can call me Kim," she answered. "It's short for my first name, Kimoto. Can I call you Fox? Or do you have something short for that?"
"Noooo... Everybody calls me Mulder. I guess, I like it that way," the agent answered with an excusing smile. "Fox is so... well..."
"Canine," she finished the sentence.
"Didn't think of that," he admitted, taken a bit aback.
"Now we are supposed to tell each other what kind of jobs we have and why we are in a dump like this when we have such nice careers," Kim said, slowly stirring the ice in her glass. Then she looked up again, meeting his gaze with a challenging smile. "So,
 what do you do for a living, Mulder?"
"I work with the government," he answered, not liking to admit that it was the Bureau, as he somehow was of the impression that it could harm the intimacy evolving between them.
"What part of the government?" Kim asked. "And what government?"
"What government? Ours. What you mean?"
"Oh, I don't know, there are so many things to... sorry, I guess I am not making much sense," she said, looking straight at her glass. "It's the late night and I've had some busy days. I was just kidding."
Fox Mulder looked at her oriental face and her eyes. She was hiding something. But then again, so was he.
"So, what part of _our_ government?"
"FBI," he answered. Admitted.
"FBI?" she repeated, looking slightly bothered by this. The tail, or whatever it was, seemed more lashing. Like the one of a cat cornered. Or a cat hunting. "Are you a special agent?"
"Yep."
"Are you working now? Here?"
"No, just couldn't sleep," Mulder explained. "I went for a walk, that's all."
"I see."
At least she seemed to believe him now. He could see that she started to relax again as she took another sip of water. He also relaxed somewhat, but still maintained some alertness. He had a gut feeling about her; whatever she was, she was genuine.
"So, what do you do for a living?" he inquired.
"Walk around in the night, searching, dropping into sleazy dumps for a drop of water," she answered. "I guess you could say that I am a tourist of this nation. Of the U.S."
"Where are you from?"
"Ah, you wouldn't know that place," she avoided him. "Asia, and a small and very insignificant bit of it too."
"Try me."
In stead of answering him, she turned her face towards him, meeting his gaze without blinking. He could now see clearly that her pupils were shaped like almonds, like those of a cat. And her iris had a deep, emerald hue, besides it seeming bigger than usu
al.
"You look trustworthy, special agent Fox Mulder," she said without taking her eyes from him for a second. "And I feel like telling somebody. Perhaps talking can help me somewhat."
"Are you in some kind of trouble?" he asked, fighting his urge to consider this a case.
"Some kind, yes, you can say that," she answered. "A lot, actually. I am kind of lost here."
"Lost? How?"
"Like lost, like cannot find my way home," she sighed. "Can we go to one of the tables? I would prefer the bit of privacy that pretends to give us."
"Sure."
She led the way towards the table farthest away from the other guests. Not that anyone noticed anything; they were busy, talking in low voices amongst themselves or playing card games over small amounts, fortunes for the likes of them.
Mulder noticed the careful way she sat down, as if briefly in pain by doing so, and most of the tail vanished under her skirt. She noticed his stare, but she did not say anything. In stead, she looked at him again, as if considering something.
"You are a special agent?" she inquired again. "Would an agent of the FBI be expected to hand in unusual suspects or illegal aliens if encountering them on a sleazy bar in his spare time?"
"Easy now, Kim," he said in a tired smile, as always minding the hostilities sometimes provoked by his badge. "Hey, I'm off duty now."
"Okay, sorry, I am just a bit tense."
"Yeah, you are - Kim," he agreed, leaning forwards, meeting her catlike eyes. "What's the problem?"
"All right," the feline woman said in a crispy dry voice. She took a healthy sip of water and looked Mulder straight in his eyes. "It may seem a bit weird," she continued. "But I will, as they say, tell you the story of my life. Then you can decide for yo
urself!"
"Fine by me," Mulder said, gesturing with the palms of his hands towards her, trying to signal peace and comfort. "I'm listening."
"Okay, well, my name is Kimoto Takita and I am the eldest daughter of Inin Takita of Honshu II." Kim looked at Mulder, as if expecting a reaction. When not getting it, she continued: "And Inin Takita is the Emperor of Honshu II, master of the warriors and
 eternal protector of his people. A true samurai."
"Samurai?" Mulder said, trying to remember what he knew about Asia and Japan. He had heard of samurais, such places as the big screen or television series, but the only form in which this old warrior form still existed, was on museums. "Continue," he dema
nded, regarding her carefully.
"I know what you are thinking," she said in a tense voice. "But I ask you, please hear my story out before you either arrest me or have me admitted to a hospital. Deal?"
"Sure," Mulder smiled. "I'll hear you out. And then you'll also listen to my questions if I have any. Deal?"
"Okay, It's a deal. Promise."
"So, Honshu II?" Mulder inquired. "Honshu, isn't that one of the Japanese islands?"
"It is, but Honshu II is not," Kim answered. "Honshu II is a planet, situated some 35.000 light years from here."
If Mulder started to doubt her, his face did not reveal anything. His instincts and experience told him, that she believed to be telling the truth. Personally, he was no longer to sure.
"You see," she said after another drink. "I am not the eldest offspring and, just to make things worse, I am also female, not to mention my more... obvious physical differences. That's all because I am but half human," Kim explained in the slightly hectic
 voice of a person, not wanting to be interrupted. "Unfortunately, I am a female without the ability to breed offspring and so, my father had me trained in the ways of the warrior and decided that I should be part of his political schemes and was to marry
 someone important who did not need offspring."
"You do not wish to marry?" Mulder asked, wishing that Scully had been here to see her, as there was no doubt, that she was an interesting biological case. Perhaps an interesting mental case too.
"No, would you want to marry someone for purely political reasons? But my father decided, as a gesture," Kim sighed again. "-To marry me to Tahana Ryokana, an old but skilled man of Honshu II. He has children, but he appreciates the company of young women
. You see, on Honshu, important men can have several wives. Well, that was when I decided that enough was enough and left the planet. Unfortunately for my father, he has had me trained to have a will of my own. That is almost nine months ago for me. I hav
e become a fugitive of my own world!"
"But how did you come here?" Mulder asked, expecting the typical story of bright lights and unknown aliens, this time in a hitch-a-hike version.
"Something went wrong. Very wrong. Not just your ordinary hyper drive malfunction or Engbjerg-system overload, no-no, not this time," she shook her head as if to stress her words. "I went into the void and came out far away, both in time and space, all re
adings indicate this. So now, I do not know how to get home. I also do not know if I want to go home. Anyway, home is some 2700 years into the future, and I am not very keen on that place."
She definitely was a mental case, Mulder decided. But a technically interesting one. It would prove an interesting task to persuade her to follow to a suitable clinic. If he could not persuade her, then what? Mulder did not know if she was in any danger t
o herself or others, and if she was not, admitting her by force was not the way to handle it. He needed to gain even more of her confidence.
"If you're from the future, as I think you just said you were," Mulder said in, what he hoped, was a very confidence inspiring voice. "What can you tell me about our own future? The future of this world?"
"Well, I guess that would be the part that would interest you personally," Kim snickered. "As you know, Earth is in a time of change. Things are happening rapidly. And, well, I do not remember the exact time, but I guess about fifty years from now, the Am
ericans launched, erh, will launch their first interstellar spaceship, complete with early hibernation-cells and all, going to some sun near by, Proxima Centauri or something like that. Only, the ship will not make it there. They will be rounded up by cur
ious Deltans, later known as the Tall Blue Folk."
"Deltans?" Mulder asked. "What's that?"
"Oh, I hardly remember much about them. There are so many creatures out there; creatures demanding the right to be recognised as intelligent and sentient beings. Well, they are tall, almost like humans, and quite blue as the sky above us. Back then, they 
were also considered way beyond human technology. They were actually only a few hundred years beyond, but it seemed impressive enough, when the American vessel suddenly returned to Earth after only some five months, claiming that they had dropped going to
 Proxima and in stead invited some friends for supper."
Kim took a brake, drinking some more and sheltering her green eyes a bit with her one hand, seeming very tired. Mulder noticed that the tips of her fingers did not seem quite like typical fingers. It almost seemed at if she did not have nails but... claws
? Kim looked at Mulder again.
"A lot of things happened." Kim muttered as she briefly seemed to gaze into another place - or time? "And peace came, but not before a lot of shit had happened."
"Real peace," Mulder said with a smile. "But then what happened?"
"Cutting a long story short, Honshu II was populated by Japanese, who saw this as an opportunity to revive the former glory of the land. Torihana Takita, a distant member of the original Japanese Imperial family declared himself the Emperor of Honshu, bac
ked by the people, the army and the government." Kim suddenly gave Mulder a sharp stare. "And that's some 1800 years ago in my home, humh, time, and the Takitas still rule the planet."
"What happened to Earth?" Mulder asked. It was always fascinating to see how far the delusions went. Had she concocted a story about this?
"No one really knows."
"What is known?" If she had a story, she obviously refused to tell it. Mulder felt reassured that she was delusional.
"Back on Earth, it ended in chaos. The Earth did not want to let go of the colonies, not realising that the colonies had become too powerful to be an adversary. Nuclear havoc and worse, coming from new alien allies, was spread over the entire planet about
 a thousand years ago. Hrmh, well, before my time, anyway. I guess, some 1700 years into your future. To tell you the truth, it is not known if the planet was destroyed or, hrm, only knocked back to kingdom come. I guess nobody really wants to find out. A
nd there haven't been any signs from the planet ever since."
Mulder swallowed something, but he hesitated to speak. If this was true - which it by all likelihood was not - it was a both fascinating and terrifying story. The agent nodded to Kim to continue.
"There really isn't that much more I can tell you," Kim said, meeting Mulders hazel eyes with a peculiar glow in her own emerald green eyes. "Basically, I know next to nothing about the Earth and in either case, I was supposed to tell you about my problem
s, not this planet. And my problem is that I am stranded far away from home, both in time and space. Now, do you understand why I asked you to keep your mouth shut and await my story? I mean, if I was to tell you more, such as some of the things I have se
en happening on other planets or even in deep space, I would seem even more out of my mind to you, than I already do."
"I'm not saying you're out of your mind, Kim," Mulder answered. "But I gotta hand it to you, that this is a bit out of the ordinary."
"A bit?" Kim exclaimed with a hint of amusement in her voice. "Do they train FBI agents to understate things at the FBI-academy?"
"No, it's just... well, I don't know what to say," Mulder said, in accordance with the truth. "It's all a bit, well, surprising. But I'd like to know more about it."
"Well, ask away," Kim smiled. "You made me promise that I would listen to your questions, remember?"
"Yeah, well, I was just thinking... Perhaps we should go somewhere else than here," Mulder suggested, rubbing the back of his neck and looking around in the gloomy bar. "This dump is called the Sewer, and I have to concur, it sure looks like one to me. We
 could go somewhere more comfortable and have a more decent meal or a cup of coffee. What do you say?"
"Oh my," Kim smiled, fixing Mulder with her eyes. "I think, I am being asked on a date by a handsome FBI-agent. Nice!"
"Well, kind of a date," Mulder smiled back, getting up from his chair. "Are you coming?"
"Why in deed not."
Kim also got up, once again revealing the tail to be everything but a non-biological appendix. The movements were very real and lifelike. And to be truthful, it would not be the first time Mulder had seen a human with a tail. It was the first time it was 
a furry tail though.
Being a gentleman by nature, Fox Mulder opened the door to Kim and showed her out into the alley.
"I'm sorry, I don't have a car here, I'm afraid I was on foot," he explained. "But I could try and get us a cab?"
"Why not, I am very tired of walking," Kim yawned in a very predatorial gesture. "I've been walking a lot these last few days. I do not have much money, you see. Only the few I've managed to get from selling empty bottles and $10 from some jerk who wanted
 a tiny kiss on his cheek. Well, I needed the money and I guess it was hardly real prostitution."
"Just a minute then," Mulder said as he took out his cell phone. "I'll get us a cab."
But the number, Fox Mulder dialled on the phone, was not for a cab company. It was for special agent Dana Scully. He hoped that she had returned home by now. He also hoped that she had not already gone to bed.
"Dana Scully," a tired voice sounded in the other end of the line, more than just suggesting that she was at home and that she had gone to bed.
"Good morning, my name's Fox Mulder," Mulder said into the phone, not wanting Kim to notice anything. "I would like to order a cab!"
"What?" Scully exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"
"I would like to order a cab," Mulder continued in a slightly louder voice, as if the line was bad. "For two people."
"Mulder, what's wrong?" Scully inquired. "Cause if there isn't anything wrong and this is a hoax, then something will be wrong."
"We are standing outside -" he paused to look, then continued; "- 112 Summers Road. Yes, 112 Summers Road, and we would like a cab downtown. There's a nice person, whom I would like to take with me."
"Are you at gunpoint?" Scully asked, now completely awake. "I'll get a car and come as quickly as possible. Summers Road, that's no more than five minutes away from here. Should I call for backup?"
"Look, I need to bring this woman in," Mulder explained as he could see, that Kim had moved a bit away, allowing him to speak freely. "I am not sure about her mental state, she is clearly delusional, but she is a biological miracle!"
"A biological miracle?" Scully asked in a stern voice, taken a bit aback by Mulder's eager voice.
"She is feline," Mulder said in a stressed voice. "Please get here and help me to bring her in! She mustn't know until she's in. I am not sure, she wants to."
"Feline?" Scully asked bewildered. "You mean, cat-like?"
"Yes, and delusional, she thinks she is from another planet and from the future, 2700 years ahead of us."
"Is she armed?"
"I am not sure, but I have my weapon."
"I'll come as fast as possible. Then we'll see about what to do. Tell her, you've asked a friend to drive in stead of the cabs."
"Okay."
Mulder could hear Scully disconnect. He knew very well what his colleague would be thinking right now. Wondering if it was the feline woman or Mulder, who was delusional.
"Did you get a cab, Mulder?" Kim asked as she approached again, shivering slightly in the humid night air. "Garrhff, I am freezing. Anyway, where should we go?"
"I tried to get a cab," Mulder answered. "But they did'nt have one free for another hour. So I phoned a friend of mine in stead."
"A friend?" Kim said, suddenly turning to stare at him.
"A good friend, one from the bureau," Mulder explained. "You can trust her. I do."
"You're not a stranded alien from the future," Kim snarled. "I am!"
"Well, yeah, but..."
"Who says, I can trust her? Who says, I can trust you?" Kim asked, taking a few steps back. "You say you phoned the Cab Company and then your friend, but you dialled only once. Is that the basis of trust?"
"Look, okay, I phoned my friend right away," Mulder admitted. "But it's okay. Her name is Dana Scully; she's a doctor and an agent. She is a very fine person."
"A doctor? You do think, I'm crazy, don't you?"
"No," Mulder said with conviction. "No, I don't. But you must admit, that your story is unusual."
"It is, but that does not mean, that I want to end up in a nuthouse," Kim said, now with a distinct spitting tone in her voice and seeming more a bristle feline than ever. "If you think, I'm going to come along into some hospital with the nice doctor Scul
ly, then you are wrong!"
"Please just listen," Mulder said, not at all feeling sure, what he was going to say if she listened.
She didn't.
"I've been in and out of nice doctors treatments for years," Kim continued, continuously walking backwards, carefully followed at distance by Mulder. "My father, the Emperor, did not at all like, that I followed my own will."
"Just relax and give me a minute," Mulder said, stretching out his arm in a friendly gesture, slowly following the feline woman and taking care that the distance between them did not grow much bigger.
"He wanted me to give up the sheerar-side of me! My feline side. Trying to force me by drugs and treatments!" Kim cried, her voice trembling with anxiety. "Fox Mulder, how would you like parts of your nature forced out of you that way?"
"I wouldn't," he answered. "But if you'll just stay, maybe I can help you. Really."
Before Kim could answer this, a blue Ford drove into the alley, it's headlights bathing Mulder and his counterpart in bright light. The car stopped and Dana Scully jumped out, looking at the two of them.
"Is this your famous doctor?" Kim yelled before anyone else talked.
"Yes, it is Dana Scully," Mulder answered. "Please try to listen to her, just for a moment."
"Heck, no!"
Mulder had taken into account that the delusional feline woman could be armed. But he had not considered how she would be armed. When her hand whipped in under her garments, he automatically went for his gun; but before he could get it, she was pointing a
 gun at him.
That is, it seemed a bit like a gun. A heavy duty model, with a bulky casing and a very unusual design. Besides its basic form and structure, the weapon did not have a nuzzle! Either it was a science-fiction toy - or it was not a toy at all!
"If you as much as consider to come near me," Kim spitted. "I'll fry you on the spot! Get it?"
"Mulder?" Scully inquired, taking out her gun and aiming it at the woman.
"Scully, wait," he said, trying to shade his eyes a bit from the strong headlights of the Ford. "Kim, Scully has a gun pointed at you. Put down your weapon."
"Remember, I told you about being raised like a samurais daughter? The way of the warrior?" Kim asked in a muffled tone.
"Yes, now please, put the gun down," Mulder insisted as he very slowly and very carefully moved towards her, his one hand slowly reaching for the weapon.
"The code of Bushido," Kim continued, now visibly trembling. "You know what the worst thing about my being lost in your world is?"
"Tell me."
"It's actually not that people do not believe it," she gasped. "It is the fact, that they think, I'm crazy! That is really awesome. Really!"
"I said, I'd listen to you," Mulder said, taking another step towards the shaking woman. "But I'd very much like you to drop your weapon. Now!" During all this, it occurred to Fox Mulder, that none of the other guests at the Sewer had taken any notice of 
the events. Obviously, nobody cared.
"The code of Bushido," Kim said again, snivelling. "The way of the warrior."
"Look, I'm willing to listen to you and hear you out," Mulder said. "Really, I'm not sure whether your story could'nt be true! But I talk much better if there are no weapons involved! Put it down! Now!"
"You know, I can prove it," Kim snivelled. "You can see it on my DNA! Have your precious doctor check that out a little later."
"Later than what?" Mulder asked, taking another step.
"Bushido," Kim answered. "Death before defeat! Asshole!"
"Without thinking, Mulder threw himself towards Kim as she turned the strange weapon around, aiming it for her head. The little voice inside his head, yelling about "if..." forced him not to ignore the weapon. He struggled to get his hands on it before it
 could be fired, either at her or at himself.
Scully put her gun away and came over, intervening in the fight as she tried to help Mulder to force the spitting and screaming woman down, trying to disarm her.
Suddenly, Mulder's world exploded in a sharp, white pain as a sharp, intense noise started next to his left ear. The pain was unbearable and for a moment, consciousness seemed vague and intangible, then it faded away and the white pain was replaced with b
lack silence.
* * *
"Mulder?"
The concerned voice of Dana Scully came from far away and for a brief moment, Fox Mulder had absolutely no intentions of answering. He felt certain, that any such attempts would only leave him in pain.
"Mulder, talk to me!"
When he finally decided to communicate, more in respect of Dana Scully than for any other reason, it turned out that his answer, not much more than a groan, really did inflict pain somewhere behind his heavy, bloodstained eyelids.
"Are you in any pain?" Scully's voice demanded to know. "Talk to me! Look at me!"
Mulder opened his eyes, regretting this action moments later, as the sharp light penetrated his sore eyes, attacked his retinas and caused a splitting headache. With some effort, he managed to focus on Dana Scully, noticing her relief to see him awake.
"You had me scared there for a moment, Mulder," she said with one of her charming smiles. "Now, are you in any pain?"
Mulder tried to get up, but was sternly forced down again by Scully, who insisted that he remained still as they waited for the ambulances.
"Ahww... Mmmm... Ambulances?" Mulder stuttered. "Whah... What happened?"
"Your feline friend *was* armed," Scully answered. "I don't know what that gun was, but obviously it was no toy. You took a blast to the left side of your head. You have a burn now, but I don't think it really hit you. Just after that, she took another sh
ot at herself."
"She... dead?" Mulder groaned.
"No, she's okay," Scully said. "She missed. She seemed terrified that you were down and just lost her aim. So I got her down and disarmed her. She is over here, cuffed."
"Have you seen her?" Mulder asked.
"I could hardly avoid that," Scully said, casting a sidelong glance towards Kim. "You're right, she is, humh, very feline. Tail, ears, even whiskers like a cat. Carnivorous teeth too. I don't know, how she's evolved like that."
"She's only half human," Mulder smiled. "And from the future, remember?"
"Well, she *is* a biological miracle, I'll give you that," Scully said, her worried eyes now reflecting the blue lights from the ambulances approaching. "But apart from that, she was armed with a lethal weapon, I've arrested her and I am going to admit he
r to hospital for suicidal tendencies."
"What are you going to write in your report?" Mulder asked.
"I don't know," Scully admitted. "But science has an answer for everything, also a biologically unique specimen like this one. I'm gonna run some tests on her, skeletal structure, DNA analysis and cell microscopy will help us to determine her. Well, but h
ere's the ambulance now."
"I feel much better now," Mulder said, rubbing his forehead with his one hand and barely stifling a wince as he touched the sore skin of his burn.
"That may be, but I would like you to have a medical check at the hospital," Scully answered as she got up. "And anyway, *you* can't see how you look right now."
"You're really not very comforting, you know that?"
Scully smiled, a smile containing both excuse and worry. Then she went over to explain about the situation to the rescuers from the ambulances.
* * *
Next morning, Fox Mulder was declared fit for duty by the doctors, who had kept him hospitalised for surveillance over night. Apparently he had been given some kind of electrical discharge, which had caused some damage but nothing serious.
"You'll have a wonderful black eye for some days," the doctor had told him. "But I don't think there's any permanent injuries. Go see your own doctor in a week or so, just to make sure."
When Mulder left the ward, he almost ran into Scully.
"Good morning," he said with a smile.
"Hi," Scully answered, slightly short of breath. "You're OK now?"
"Yeah, doc says I'm fine," Mulder said. "Were you coming to pay a visit? Where are the flowers?"
"Didn't bring any," Scully admitted. "But I do have something very interesting. Come, I'll show you." They both started to walk.
"I've been running some tests on Kimoto Takita," Scully explained as they walked down the corridors. "It does seem that she has some DNA anormalities, which I can't explain. Both her x-rays and her blood tests show a completely unique structure. And the t
hings I could not find to be human are very close to the traits of the greater felines, such as the mountain lion or the cheetah." Scully briefly looked at Mulder, trying to determine his reaction as she continued: "I have shown some of the x-rays to a bi
ologist friend of mine, he says they are a hoax, but a very well made hoax. However the x-rays are real enough; now I just have to figure out how she has become that way."
"How is she taking it?" Mulder asked. "I mean, other than her physical state."
"Well, she is very depressed. Naturally, after all she apparently tried to kill herself yesterday. A psychologist is talking to her right now, but she is very persistent about her futuristic alien story being true."
"Supposing, just supposing, that it *is* true?" Mulder inquired.
"Mulder," Scully chided. "That's impossible," Scully answered, opening a door into another hallway. "But if - *if* - it is, the DNA analysis and further tests will show some of it. She is right down here, room 14."
As they approached, a tall man in a white robe met them.
"Hi Dana," he said with a smile. "And you must be the famous agent Mulder," he continued, offering his hand in a cordial handshake. "Pleased to meet you!"
"Mulder, this is Doctor Edward Flynch," Scully introduced. "He is the psychologist responsible for Kimoto Takita."
"Pleased to meet you," Mulder muttered in his typical slightly distant fashion.
"And that's one heck of a responsibility you've placed on me there," Flynch said, looking at Scully with concern in his grey eyes. "She's a very complex case. Very complex in deed!"
"What can you tell us?" Mulder enquired, suddenly taking an interest.
"Well, for one thing there is no doubt she thinks she is telling the truth. If we were to take the polygraph on her, it would show her telling the truth when she talks about being from the future and another planet. Now, I've heard of delusional people, c
laiming to be timetravellers or extraterrestrials, but this is the first case where both things are claimed simultaneously."
"Is there any possibility, however remote, that she could think she was telling the truth, simply because she actually was telling the truth?" Mulder asked, looking seriously at the doctor and ignoring Scullys upturned eyes and heavy sighing.
"Well, theoretically, I guess so," Flynch said hesitating. "If we assumed that it could be possible, yes. But naturally, it isn't."
"Are you sure?" Mulder insisted. "Have you exposed any contradictions in her explanations? Has she made any mistakes?"
"No, not that I've noticed," Flynch muttered, taken aback by Mulder's sudden eager.
"Well, I just wanted to know," Mulder smiled, finally leaving the doctor alone again. "C'mon, Scully, let's go see the alien timetravelling pussycat!"
"You're not suggesting, that you actually believe her now?" Scully asked after having assured doctor Flynch about her colleagues' mental integrity. "After all, it is part of the delusional patient's behaviour to believe the delusions to be the truth. Ther
e's nothing revolutionary about that."
"I'm not saying I believe her," Mulder answered, hasting towards door 14. "I'm just saying, that I am fascinated by her story, that's all."
"Mulder, look at me," Scully demanded as they stopped outside door 14. "Yesterday you had a long day at work. You went home, but you found yourself unable to sleep and decided to go get some air. Then you dropped into some God forsaken bar and had a somet
hing to drink. I am only surprised you did not find Big Foot in there too!"
"You're not reasonable now," Mulder muttered. "You have to admit that she's special!"
"Scientifically, yes," Scully replied. "But she is a biological wonder, to use your own words, not an alien. However she did carry a rather special model of a stun-gun, and she is a mental patient at the same time. Tragic and confusing, but true."
"What's so wrong with talking to her? She's not armed any more, you know!"
"You'll just get carried away," Scully reasoned. "Look, you're tired, you've had a rough night and you were almost electrocuted. Go home and get some sleep. Kimoto is in the safe hands of Doctor Flynch!"
"Just a short talk," Mulder smiled at Scully. "Then I'll go home." He put his hand on the doorhandle and opened it before Scully got time to object any further. "I'll be good, Mum!" Mulder said to her as he entered the room.
* * *
She was fixed onto a bed, strapped down, but as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances. As Mulder entered, her emerald eyes met his hazel. She did not look angered or disappointed, just very tired.
"I told you that you would arrest me or admit me to a hospital," she said with a kind of smile. "As things ended up, you did both!"
"Sorry about that," Mulder said, snatching a chair to sit down next to the bed. "But nobody's better off dead, trust me."
"Not even a mad freak like me?" she asked, seemingly seriously.
"Not even a feline startraveller like you," Mulder replied. "Look, I'd like to hear some more of your story."
"What? I thought you said, you were a special agent with the FBI, not a shrink," Kim exclaimed. "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"What if I told you, that I believe you?" Mulder tried.
"Ha!"
"No, seriously. Your story is plausible, when we ignore the laws of physics, at least as we know them. You are telling a strange story, but you do not mumble away and you do not contradict yourself."
Kim, who had been staring into the ceiling, turned to gaze at him.
"Seriously? You believe me?"
"Yeah, I think so," Mulder said cautiously. "I can't find any other way to explain your physical nature or that weapon of yours."
"Sorry about your head," Kim muttered, suddenly avoiding his eyes. "I did not try to kill you, you know. It was a stupid accident in the heat of the struggle. I am sorry. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Mulder smiled. "Just a bruise, never mind me. But how about you?"
"You can see how I am," she groaned. "You really believe me?"
"Yes, I do," Mulder assured her.
Kim once again fixed him with her unnaturally big eyes. In the daylight, her pupils were even more thin and alien to an otherwise somewhat human face. Now, as the two dark stripes burned into his own eyes, Fox Mulder suddenly felt sick. His stomach turned
 and for a short second, he felt uncomfortably giddy. Then he snapped out of it; Kim turned her face away again and did not seem to have noticed anything.
"You know, strange thing is, I believe that you do believe me," she suddenly said, facing the grey sky outside the window. Then she once again turned to look at him. "Say, are you sure, you are okay?"
"I'm fine, just haven't had much sleep lately," Mulder answered, his brief seizure having passed.
"You do not look to sharp," Kim said in a worried voice. "Would you like me to summon a nurse? They've placed a buzzer here by my hand, so that I have the liberty to do that. Nice, isn't it?"
"You don't have to call any nurse, but thanks," Mulder said. "If you believe that I believe you, please tell how we can prove your story?"
"Prove it?" Kim smirked. "Well, by letting me out to tell whoever would like to hear it!"
"Let you out, well, that just may be the tricky part. You see-" Mulder began, but his voice snapped as his eyes once again met Kim's. Those dark lines, mere cracks of darkness in two emerald seas. Once caught in those eyes, Mulder could not get himself to
 look away. More so, he didn't want to look away.
"I see what?" Kim purred gently.
"Well... Erh..." Mulder stuttered, sweating and panting heavily.
"No, special agent Fox Mulder," Kim purred on. "You are the one who should see. You say, you believe me. Will you help me?"
"Erh... Yeah..." Mulder gasped, mechanically loosening his tie. "Sure."
"Good, I am happy about that. Now, please, Fox Mulder, unstrap me."
"Unstrap, erh... Yeah. Unstrap," Mulder stuttered, getting slowly on his feet, reeling as if he was drunk.
The air in the room had suddenly become sulrty. Both Mulder and Kim were sweating heavily; Kim from the effort of her abilities and Mulder from the effect of the very same thing. Without trying to say any more, Mulder unleashed the feline woman in mechani
cal and somewhat fumbling movements.
Kim got up from the bed and rubbed her sore wrists. Then she looked at Mulder.
"You are a remarkable man, you know that?" She asked in a friendly purr as she gently guided him down on the bed. "You know, I told you that I am half my mothers species. Well, the sheerar have strong telepathic gifts. That is how they have managed evolvi
ng into intelligent beings without the human touch for tools. I am not strong with telekinesis, but I do have other gifts."
"But... Bu... How..." Mulder tried, having a very small bit of self-control left.
"How? I don't really know," Kim said, continuously purring quietly as she tightened the straps around Mulders hands and waist. "But everything I've said this far is true, so you can make your own decisions about the future from it. Now, do you believe in 
prophecies? I do. I have to; it's what keeps me going after having lost track of both my world and my time. Only I feared the worst yesterday, that's why I preferred death to imprisonment as an interesting specimen here."
"Mmmphh..." Mulder desperately tried, his weary eyes almost popping out of his head from the effort.
"Nooo," Kim purred, almost whispering. "No, I cannot let go of your will so much that you can talk. I am sorry, as I know that you also spoke the truth. You see, I saw it in your head. In this day and age, heh, I've never before encountered a mind like yo
urs. Fascinating."
Mulder could only stare at her. He barely had the ability to know that he was being manipulated. With this tiny bit of his own consciousness, he tried to make her understand that he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to know more.
"I am sorry for intruding in your mind," Kim continued, making sure that the last strap was secure. "But do not worry, it is a slow process and I did not get far, and even if it is tempting, I have only seen the mere surface of your thoughts. The other th
ing requires much more effort, not to mention your full co-operation. But it was enough to see that you really do believe me."
"You know, you are the first 1999-person, who has believed me. Even after seeing me, touching me and talking to me, people refuse to believe that the truth is right here."
Mulder could feel something slip away. He was not panting anymore, in stead his breath was slowing down in a pleasant and almost uncanny way.
"Agent Fox Mulder, I am sorry to do this to you," Kim said as she opened the window. "I can force you to sleep and I'll do that. It will be some time before they notice that I'm gone. Then you can tell them whatever you like; after all, this is DC and I c
an easily hide here. I've managed well for two weeks, but I think that I can do much better now. This time I know I have a friend."
Mulder could feel that he was slipping away. He knew he should be terrified by what was happening, but he did not feel like that at all. In stead, this was by far the most pleasant way he had ever been attacked. Well, as attacks go... He just wished he co
uld talk to her.
"Oh by the way, tell your superiors that I cannot become a spy with this; as you know, the subject is bound to notice that something is wrong," Kim said. "Now, because of all this, I have to hide for a while," Kim's voice sounded from far away. "But you a
re actually the only human I trust. If it's okay, I'd like to come and visit you some day. Then we can talk. Is it okay?"
Once again, the brief sensation of nausea and vertigo came over Mulder. Then, just as suddenly as it came, it passed. The only strange thing remaining was this immense weariness and persisting desire to sleep.
"Okay, I will drop by then," Kim's voice echoed in the darkness, having a pearly sound of laughter about it. "I'll look forward to it. But now I must leave. Goodbye, special agent Fox Mulder. Till we meet again!"
Mulder could hear some scraping sounds, coming from the direction of the window. Then the weariness overwhelmed him and a warm, comfortable darkness engulfed him.
He welcomed it.
* * *
Fragments from special agent Dana Scullys' report a few days later:
"...and agent Mulder recovered completely, without any permanent physical or mental injuries.
As for the presumed Kimoto Takita, the explanation to her extreme physical appearance remains unknown. How an otherwise human person can evolve into this form and mental capacity, remains an unanswered question to science. If we did not have photographic 
material, x-rays and tissue-samples from this creature to support the claim about her existence, It would be my scientific opinion that she could not possibly exist."
"...the weapon has obviously been made from an unknown facility, as the technology presented within it are not known to any department within the U.S. Officials from the NSA have made a claim on the weapon, which is to be the focus of further investigatio
ns. Any further details regarding it, have been classified as a matter of national security."
"Regarding Kimoto Takitas' whereabouts since her escape from the mental ward on Bethesda Naval Hospital, there is very little to say. Investigations reveal that she must have climbed out the window of the 3rd floor room and left through the park. Extensiv
e search, including the use of police dogs, has not lead to an arrest of her..."
After this event, Mulder tried repeatedly to locate Kimoto Takita. He even tried the bar again, only to find it closed by the authorities as it had never been a licensed place.
But all of his efforts lead him to the same result: She had literately vanished into thin air.
Slowly, as a month passed, he began to believe that he would never see her again.
* * *
(C) KimotoCat 1998 F