From: "Lisa R. Colodny" <dr_lisa@gate.net>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 19:39:15 -0400
Subject: Resubmittal

RAGNAROK
By
Lisa Colodny

Hendersonville, Tennessee
10PM

He was in a dark place, so dark even with open eyes; he was still blind.  He huddled himself 
tighter against his body and rocked so wildly that the thump of his chest against his knees was 
almost unperceivable above the chanting  that rang solemnly from his mouth. Against the wall of 
the cave his silhouette swayed so forcibly that tiny drops of perspiration were visible as they 
fell from the shadow's forehead and disappeared.  His exposed upper body was dirty, covered with 
mud from the floor of the cave as well as soot from a fire that burned brightly to his right. 

His rocking grew wilder until the chanting ceased so that a sweet melody of music from the other 
side of the cave was audible. He rose trance like and made his way to where a small cassette 
player lay upon the most massive of gray rocks. He hesitated, looking at the player as if it were a 
foreign object of which he had no knowledge. Quickly he knocked the player from its perch and 
stomped it with the heel of his bare foot. As the player exploded into smaller pieces he tossed 
the empty cassette holder against the remnants and crushed it as well.

He knelt down to the plastic case and caressed the broken pieces between his thumb and 
forefinger. The picture of the young blonde on the cover was crumbled; he ceremoniously began 
to smooth out the wrinkled edges, pushing torn pieces back into place. He smiled to the picture, 
wiped at the tears that ran freely down his cheek, and whispered to the picture, "I thought you 
were her." He began to rock back and forth on his heels as he repeated the sentence.

The fire light continued  to silhouette his naked form as he rose and made his way to the other 
side of the cave. Her figure was barely discernible against the darkness of his shadow. She 
looked younger in death  than in the crumbled photo he clutched in his hand  He gathered her 
small form in his arms and pulled her closer to the fire where his task could be completed more 
easily. He pushed the small heated metal wire against her chest, noting instantly the contrast the 
mark made against the paleness of her skin.  He laid her back gently against the dirt floor, and  
retreated to the wall of the cave. With the blood that ran from the wound of his left arm, he wrote 
brazenly the word SNOTRA on the hard wall and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

FBI Hoover Building
2 weeks later

Dana Scully parked her car in the lot and looked anxiously at her watch.   After gathering her 
briefcase from the passenger seat and adjusting the burgundy skirt comfortably around her hips, 
she headed towards her area of the basement office she shared with her partner, Fox Mulder. 
She heard the click of  heels long before she felt the presence by her side.  The Assistant 
Director nodded to her as fell into step along side her, "Good morning Agent Scully, I trust you 
had an uneventful weekend?"

She smiled conspiratorially to the tall balding agent and pushed a strand of auburn hair behind 
her ear, "Actually, Sir, Agent Mulder was in Tisbury this weekend visiting his mother. I had a very 
restful weekend."

He turned away in an attempt to conceal the smile on his face and took her by the upper arms so 
that she stopped in her tracks. "Agent Scully, I was pleased with the news of your cancer's 
remission." She looked awkwardly away from him as if uncomfortable with the subject, "Thank 
you, sir."

He went on, "The last update I received from your physician reported that there was no trace of 
the nasopharyngeal cancer at all. I have upgraded your field agent status from conditional to 
active as you requested."

She smiled again and made as if to reply but was interrupted  by the assistant director, "I was 
sorry to hear about Agent Gates death." She bit her bottom lip and blinked away the tears she 
feared would fall. He went on, "He was a fine officer. I am very sorry for your loss." He rubbed 
her upper arms in a warming motion and asked, "How are you holding up?"  She backed away 
from his embrace and nodded, smiling into his concerned face, "I'm fine, sir. I just need some 
time .."  Her sentence was cut off by the call from her partner,  "Scully, wait up!" She and 
Skinner watched as he ran towards them, stopping at her side.

He seemed to her even more hyper than usual. His hair was tousled with one unkempt strand 
hanging near his left brow. The hazel of his eyes even more intense than she was accustomed. 
She acknowledged the anxiety of his appearance and the excitement in his voice, "Mulder, 
What's wrong?"

He answered between heavy breaths, squinting his eyes against the brightness of the morning 
sun, "Field office in Atlanta just reported that they picked up Alex Krychek last night." He paused 
for their reactions, but neither gave him any. Both Scully and Skinner stood trance like and 
waited for him to continue. He motioned towards his blue sedan parked nearby and added, 
"Krychek is being escorted back to DC on a 9AM flight this morning."  Skinner glanced quickly at 
his watch and indicated towards his own automobile, "What do you say we give our former 
colleague an official welcoming back to DC?"  Both of the agents nodded and followed the 
assistant director to his car.

The ride to the airport was uneventful and somewhat quiet. Skinner drove quickly reducing  the 
routinely 30 minute trip to nearly half the usual time required. Once they had parked the car, they 
made their way quietly inside and took the vacant seats nearest to the gate Krychek was to 
arrive at. They might have seemed to any onlooker, an odd ensemble. Each sat quietly and 
waited patiently at the gate for the Atlanta agents to arrive with Krychek.  Their patience was 
soon rewarded as the Atlanta agents emerged from the tunnel with their prey snugly between 
them. The Atlanta agents recognized the DC agents as soon as they reached the gate's exit. 
Unceremoniously, Alex Krychek was placed in the custody of Mulder and Scully, with an 
annoyed assistant director looking on.

Krychek did most if not all the talking as they made their way back to the car.  He talked back 
and forth to Mulder and Skinner baiting them for conflict. Both refused to give him any 
satisfaction. Instead they walked silently at his side. Mulder continued to eye Krychek as they 
walked, almost as if he were sizing him up for his coffin. He thought Krychek hadn't  changed 
much since the last time they'd met. He was dressed better this time, an expensive Italian suit 
hanging loosely on his taunt frame. His dark hair was still cut close to his head, "buzzed" as 
Mulder had described it previously. Even the handcuffs that bound his hands against his lap 
didn't detract from his arrogance as they walked. 

Sensing his attempts at conflict were futile, Krychek became silent, opting only to fall into step 
with the agents at his side. As they reached the car, Skinner opened the door to the back seat 
and motioned for Krychek to get in. Mulder sat quietly in the front side passenger side,  waiting 
patiently.  Scully took her place in the back seat behind Mulder. Krychek smiled down to her from 
where he stood and purred, "In the backseat with the Ice maiden, I bet I could melt some of that 
ice." Krychek barely got to finish his sentence as the full thrust of Skinner's fist came down 
bluntly against his head. Skinner pushed him into the backseat headfirst and closed the door, 
"Somehow, I don't think you're up for it."



A. D. Skinner's Office
Later that morning

"But sir..." Mulder argued, "Agent Scully and I have every right to be involved in Krychek's 
arraignment." Mulder shook his head and  went on, after looking to Scully for approval, "This 
man is responsible for the deaths of my father and  Scully's sister. We."

"That is exactly why you are not to interfere in any way with this investigation, Agent Mulder!" He 
leaned in closer from where he sat at his desk towards where Scully and Mulder sat facing him, 
"Do I make myself clear?"

Scully sat back defiantly against the back of her chair and nodded, "Yes, sir. We understand, but 
you have to understand just how strongly Agent Mulder and I feel about this case. This man has 
affected our lives in so many ways."

Skinner's tone became less severe, almost apologetic, "I understand that, Agent Scully. You are 
going to have to trust me to handle this appropriately."

She nodded to him, "I do"  and after looking quickly to Mulder, she added, "We both do, sir."
Skinner sat back down, "Krychek will be held here until the charges against him are evaluated." 
He picked up a file and went on, "Besides don't you two have your hands busy with this "Viking" 
killer." Mulder cringed at the name as it fell off  Skinner's lips. He still couldn't believe the 
name 
the press had given the most recent killer they sought.

The "Viking" as the press called him had already murdered 3 victims proclaiming them to be 
disciples of ancient Viking gods and goddesses. The first victim was a 23 year old DC hooker 
whose naked body was discovered near rural Maryland. She had been molested and bore the 
ancient symbol of Om branded into the flesh below her navel. In addition the name Freya had 
been written in blood on the ground near where the body was discovered. The second victim was 
a sailor on furlow from the aircraft carrier, USS John F Kennedy, where he had been stationed 
for over  2 years. The body of the sailor, like that of the hooker, was discovered with the Om 
symbol burned into the flesh near his stomach. The body had been displayed in similar fashion to 
that of the hooker. On the ground near the body, was the name Njord. The most recent victim 
was a Virginia lawyer, discovered in his home outside rural Alexandria. Along side the body 
written in blood was the name Syn.

Mulder sat back down defeatedly in his chair, "I don't even know why we got this case, Sir. It 
doesn't seem to be an X file."

Skinner made as if to reply, but was interrupted by the beeping of the phone on his desk. His 
exhaled frustratedly as he listened to the caller. He raised his head to look directly at the 
agents 
and replied into the receiver, "Yes, actually, they are here in my office now. I will forward this 
on 
to them. Thanks for calling."

He hung up and announced, "There's been another murder. Field office in Tennessee just 
reported what they think is another victim of the Viking." Both agents were up and on their feet 
before he could go any further, "Body is that of a young woman, found just outside 
Hendersonville."  

Skinner picked up the phone and called out to them as they exited his office, "I'll make 
arrangements for your flight out."


The flight to Tennessee seemed to take a lot longer than the 75 minutes it reported on the ticket 
Mulder held in his hand.  Understandably his anxiety could be a result of the case. He hated high 
profile cases, always had, even during those early days with Patterson at the Violet Crimes 
Division. It was hard enough to get into the minds of the pursued psychopath without having the 
entire public at large observe. He shifted nervously in his seat and looked to where Scully sat 
quietly reading the contents of the large envelope that had been waiting for them at the airport. 
He thought to himself that she looked tired and defeated. Mulder swallowed his heart and 
recounted all the previous situations where Scully had prevailed. He could not remember seeing 
her spirit beaten, her body yes, but her spirit never. He sighed soundlessly realizing another 
small piece of himself was forever gone. He continued to observe her as she studied the 
contents of the envelope.

The field office in Tennessee was very precise about the collection of evidence. They seemed to 
have left no stone unturned at the crime scene. Scully had pictures of the young woman from 
every angle, up close and personal.

She looked to Mulder, "The Hendersonville PD is very through. I don't think I have ever seen a 
more complete documentation of a crime scene. It's very impressive."

Mulder smiled and sipped at his coffee, "Don't be too impressed, Scully. They thought they were 
documenting another historic event. " He maneuvered the pictures she held in her lap around so 
that one with the clearest view of the woman's face was directly under her nose. "Does she seem 
familiar to you?" Scully examined the photo closely, "No, should she?"

Again Mulder smiled, "Only if you follow country music." He produced another envelope of 
pictures of the young woman in life rather than in death. She had been as Scully had guessed, 
an attractive young woman before her untimely death.  Mulder went on, "Amy Lea,  Country 
Music  Association's Entertainer of the Year, she just turned 27 years old last week. She was 
reported missing about 2 weeks by her family."

Scully flipped to the next picture of Amy  wrapped in the arms of an attractive dark haired young 
man. Her heart skipped a beat or two as instantly her next thoughts were of Chris. 

She wasn't sure what had awoken her, the slap of the rain against her apartment window or the 
caress of his touch across her naked hip. She smiled and sunk deeper into his embrace, pushing 
her back even closer against his chest. She felt feather light kisses across her neck and 
shoulders, "Morning," he whispered against her ear. She turned over to face him and fell once 
again into his embrace. He kissed the top of her head, brushing the auburn strands away from 
her eyes. He locked his hands together around her back and rested his chin atop her head. 

She kissed his chest slowly, drinking in the scent of him as her kisses reached his neck, "I think 
we'd better change our plans for today." She raised her head towards the window where the 
pounding of the rain grew in three fold and went on, "Definitely not a beach day."

He pulled her to him and eased her gently on her back, " It doesn't really matter. We could stay 
here for the day." After tracing the outline of her jaw with his forefinger, he ran his finger 
caressingly along her bottom lip,  "What do you say, Dana? I'll make you some tomato soup and 
a  grill cheese sandwich for lunch?" 

Their lips met in a fiery rush of energy as their passion ignited and burned slowly until it 
consumed them completely. He whispered through heavy breaths as he fell onto his back  
pulling her close against his chest, "You know I love you, don't you Dana..."

"Scully..Scully?"

His voice startled her back to the present, Scully looked awkwardly around to where Mulder sat. 
"I'm sorry, Mulder. What were you saying?"  The photo she had been examining before the 
memories had invaded her thoughts were deposited on the floor of the airplane.  Mulder bent 
down to retrieve the photo and hesitated when he saw the picture of the happy smiling couple. 
He looked quickly to Scully and took into account the redness of the usually pale cheeks and the 
sadness in her eyes. He knew instantly who she was thinking about.
He filed the photo away with the other crime scene photos, "Scully, maybe you should have 
taken some  time off."

She was already shaking her head before he had even finished the sentence, "No, Mulder. I 
need to work. I need to go on with things."

He took her hand, "I'm sorry about Gates. I can't imagine how you must feel right now." 

She tried hard to maintain her composure but she felt the tears as they feel betrayingly down her 
cheeks, "Mulder, please.. I" Before she could finish she leaped up and excused herself to the 
lavatory, barely getting the door closed behind her before the tears began to fall.

Skinner looked up anxiously from his desk and announced to the knocker, "It's open." He wasn't 
necessarily surprised to see the cigarette smoking man. He was, however, surprised that he had 
knocked before entering. The cigarette smoking man walked directly to the luxurious leather 
chair facing Skinner's desk and sat purposefully down. Skinner tossed the file he was reading  to 
the side and looked angrily to the cigarette smoking man, "What can I do for you? I am very 
busy today."

The cigarette smoking man blew a mouthful of smoke into the air around him, "As per our 
conversation earlier today, I have decided to give this issue my personal  attention." Skinner 
moved uncomfortably in his seat and retorted, " Why can't you just leave it alone?" The CSM 
smiled as if he'd just received a compliment, "I have work to do, Mr  Skinner. Just like you,  I 
have people to answer to."

Skinner stood abruptly, "Who are these people? I really would like to know who would condone 
the things you've done, the people you've hurt."

CSM exhaled a sea of smoke again, "It is not meant for you to know. All you need to know is 
what your new orders are. You will turn over their case file to my associate. He will coordinate 
with me from then on with regards to this project ".

Skinner nodded and picked up a heavy brown folder from the stack on his desk. As if on cue, the 
knock at the door made them both jump. The door opened without waiting for a response from 
those inside. Skinner shook his head in disbelief as Alex Krychek stepped into his office.

He  did not look much different than he looked earlier that morning. He had showered and 
shaved, his hair still wet with dressing gel. He looked very much the part of the FBI agent in his 
tailored blue Armani suit. Skinner went quickly to the CSM, "You can't be serious. This man is a 
cold blooded killer." He indicated towards Krychek, "He has betrayed his own country many 
times already, what makes you think he won't betray you?"

CSM walked  to the desk where Skinner had retreated in defeat, "Mr Skinner. Agent Krychek has 
been with me for a very long time. He has never betrayed me or the people I work with. He has 
always performed with superiority regardless of the assignment. You should try that once in a 
while." The cigarette smoking man took the heavy file from Skinner and handed it over to 
Krychek. As Krychek made his exit from the room, the file's label was clearly visible. It read "The 
Viking Murders".


Scully returned to her seat cautiously, hoping he would just let her alone. She wasn't that lucky. 
"Scully," he began as soon as her back made contact with the seat.

"Mulder, please. I can't talk about it, not yet."

He nodded and squeezed her shoulder, "Scully, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I know it 
sounds selfish but I am so glad you are here, alive and well."
She nodded and choked on the sentence as she replied, "I know, Mulder."

He pulled the contents of the envelope away from her lap and went on, "It wasn't you're fault, 
Scully. You had no way of knowing about the car bomb."

She closed her eyes, and replayed those last moments they shared together, his smiling face 
whispering to her, "I can't be gone too long. I don't have on any underwear." She could still smell 
his cologne as he pulled away and disappeared into the living room, calling out to her, "I'm taking 
your car. Mine's blocking you." She wiped away the flurry of silent tears that ran down her cheeks 
and fell away,

 "I know it isn't my fault. I am alive today because he isn't, and that knowledge doesn't make me 
miss him any less." 

His arm slipped around her shoulders and this time, she welcomed his embrace.

She pulled away from him wiping her eyes and pointing to the envelope, "Okay, Mulder. I know 
you've been holding back your thoughts on this case ." She smiled, "I won't break, Mulder. Let 
me have it."
 His eyes danced with the thought of the words she had just spoken, "Scully, "he teased, "Are 
you coming on to me again?" As usual she just ignored him.

He cleared his throat, never breaking eye contact with her and opened the file folder so she 
could see the contents as he spoke.

"As I have said before, I don't believe there is any evidence of paranormal phenomena here." 
Holding up the photo of the first victim, he continued, "Her name was Cathi Leigh. She was a 23 
year old hooker who worked the streets of DC religiously." 

Scully took the photograph from his hand for a closer look, "What is the significance of branding 
his victims?"

"Are you familiar with any of the Viking myths, Scully?"

She nodded, "I have some familiarity with it. I know that the name Freya represents the goddess 
of sex."

Mulder smiled, "I didn't know they taught mythology in medical school, Scully."

She gave him the infamous look and replied, "Well, there's lots you don't know, Mulder."

He nodded and answered, "I believe his branding of the victims is meant as a territorial gesture 
more than anything else."

He handed her the second picture and went on, "Our second victim, seaman Marcus Newton of 
the USS John F Kennedy, was stationed in Norfolk." Mulder turned to another picture, "Njord 
represents the God of the Sea." 

"Where was his brand?" she asked.

"On the top of his left foot," he replied.

"Significance?"
"Well, Scully, think back to the theory of evolution."

She smiled, "I see,  single celled, fins & gills. 

He handed her another set of photographs, "Victim  number 3 was actually a lawyer. His practice 
was in Virginia. His name was Juan Rivers. He was 37, unmarried."

Scully looked and the photo and commented, "Syn was the god that guarded the palace from 
unwanted visitors?" She looked curiously to Mulder, "I don't get the connection."

He smiled, "He was also responsible for the trials and tribunals among mortals."

Scully nodded, "Where was his brand?"
"His tattoo," he begin as she cringed at the word, " was just under his throat."

"Speak no evil." Scully added as he nodded.

Mulder folded the contents into the file and replaced it into his case. He indicated to the 
envelope 
in Scully' lap. "This victim, Amy Lea, is meant to represent the goddess of virtue, Snotra.
Scully looked over the reports questionably, "How'd you get that?"

He smiled, "She was well known for her devout Christianity. She had a made a public statement 
about abstinence of sexual pleasures before marriage."

Scully's eyebrow arched again representing the look, "And?"

He pointed to the picture which had triggered Scully's reminisces, "She was engaged to marry 
him. She disappeared 3 days before the wedding was to occur."

She looked back to the picture, "Was he questioned? Maybe he got tired of waiting."

Mulder smiled, "He was and he didn't."

She placed the photos back into the envelope, "The ME reported evidence of sexual activity 
before death."

Mulder nodded, "Forensics has compared the results against our first victim. They are a match."

She closed the file and relaxed against the seat, "So the Viking is also a rapist." She sighed 
loudly as she finished the sentence. I hate these kinds of cases, she thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the engines geared down for final approach to the Nashville 
International airport.


Alex Krychek adjusted his necktie and nodded to the flight attendant as she served him his third 
drink. He sipped at it delicately as if to prolong the euphoric effect he was just being to feel. 
Tugging impatiently at the file sticking out from the brand new black satchel, he smiled to himself 
and took another drink. He swallowed the liquor confidently, thinking to himself that Mulder 
wasn't the only one with an eidetic memory. He had memorized it all, every line and every 
paragraph. Then again memorization was his greatest asset. It always had been. In fact it ran 
strong in his family. 

He pulled at the tie again, rotating his shoulder in the process as if he had a kink in his neck. 
He 
glanced anxiously around the plane wondering if they'd sent someone else as a back up. He 
looked quickly to the man sitting to his immediate right. He was an average enough looking man, 
Krychek thought. He quickly summed him up, about 45, 165 pounds. He quickly took in the brief 
case and suit, probably a businessman. He looked silently down to his shiny new briefcase and 
blue Armani suit. Hopefully, the man was simply a businessman.

Routinely he began to assess everyone around him. A woman about 35 to his left, nice looking, 
blonde with a child about 4 years old seated contentedly at her side.

Finally, he let his head fall back against the seat. God, he was tired, he thought. Tired of the 
whole thing, Skinner, the smoking bastard, Mulder, everyone." For an instant he contemplated 
killing them all, just to give himself some closure.

He opened his eyes just enough to see the file folder, "By the time this was over, they'd probably 
all wish they were dead." He shook his head to erase the mental pictures that were pounding 
against his skull and tired valiantly to close his eyes for some much needed rest.


Mulder led Scully quietly through the Nashville police department into the small conference 
room. She walked purposefully through the crowded room unaware that most of the male officers 
eyes were following her hungrily. Mulder glanced protectively around, his hand finding its way to 
the small of her back where he pushed her gently into the room and shut the door behind them.

He pulled a chair out and motioned for Scully to take the seat closet to the door. After handing 
her a styrofoam cup of coffee, he seated himself close at her side. They had nearly finished their 
coffee when the door was opened by a young woman carrying a tray of assorted sandwiches. 
Behind her was a an older man dressed in a cheap gray suit followed by a younger rather 
handsome policeman.

The older man looked to be about 50 years old with a thick head of silver hair swept back close 
against his face and cropped even closer against his neck. He held out his hand as he 
approached the agents. Rising to their feet both Mulder and Scully offered their hands. He shook 
Mulder's enthusiastically, while dismissing Scully's with a nod.

The man smiled, "Agent Mulder, glad to meet you. I'm Chief Scott Josephs." He pointed to the 
officer behind him, "I've asked Detective Balder to make his self available to you in whatever 
capacity is needed."

Mulder stood silently, nodding to the officer as the chief spoke. He pointed towards Scully, "Chief 
Joseph, my partner Dr. Scully." He seemed to emphasize Doctor as he introduced her. And his 
tone was not lost on the chief. The chief's face reddened as he extended his hand once again 
and nodded, "Agent Scully."

Mulder was distracted from the reintroductions by the soft smiles exchanged by Scully and 
detective Balder. Before he could comment he was surprised to hear Scully address the 
detective, 

"Mike, how are you?"

The officer's hand encircled hers, his positioned on top, "Dana, God you look great!"

Mulder thought he saw her blush, but refrained from comment. Looking curiously from Scully to 
the officer, he waited. Perhaps he thought he'd misjudged Scully too harshly for all these years. 
He recalled how quickly Gates had succumbed to her charms. As he observed Detective Balder, 
he recognized the same tale tell signs.

He cleared his throat as distraction, looking curiously at Scully. She  caught his questioning 
glance, "Mulder, Mike and I knew each other at the academy."

Mulder nodded, almost relieved, and inquired with a gleam in his eye, "Any good stories on 
Scully you'd care to share?"

Detective Balder's handsome face seemed to redden a bit, "No," he sighed, "She was perfect 
even then."

She released his hand, obviously embarrassed and reclaimed her vacated seat, "Where do we 
begin?"

The chief excused himself with a final nod to the agents and an instruction to Balder that he was 
to aid the agents in any way necessary.

Mulder retook his seat and asked Detective Balder, "We need backgrounds on all 4 victims for 
anything they may have had in common?  The officer nodded that he could but his smile and 
eyes never drifted far from Scully. He left the room with a final smile to Scully and nod to 
Mulder.

Mulder arranged the crime scene photos into a large block atop the conference table and studied 
them systematically while Scully examined the pathology reports from the first 3 victims. Nearly 
an hour had passed when she reported, "Nothing really stands out in these autopsy reports." She 
tossed them aside and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "In fact they are down right boring."

He smiled to her and rose slowing making his way towards the coffee machine. He held the 
coffee pot out towards her, but she held her hands up as if in surrender and proclaimed, "No 
more of that. I need some real food."
He sniffed the pot ceremoniously and agreed, grabbing her coat off the rack and opening it out 
towards her, "C'mon G woman. I'll buy you some lunch."


They were about halfway through lunch when he worked up the nerve to ask her, "So give me 
the story with this Balder guy?'

She looked to him mischievously, "Since when are you so interested in my personal life?"

He swallowed a bite from his barbecue sandwich and replied, "Until recently I wasn't even aware 
you had one."

She pretended a hurt expression, "Mulder, you wound me."

He took big sips of his ice tea, keeping the glass close to his lips for the next drink, "Seriously 
Scully, I never realized what a stud magnet you seem to be." He paused as if waiting for fallout. 
Sensing that none was forth coming he continued, "It's like your the bell to Pavlov's dogs." She 
barely managed to contain her smile, "Why thank you, Mulder." Then realizing that he'd just 
compared her would be suitors to dogs she added, "I think."
 
He finished off his iced tea, sitting the glass down nosily as to alert the waitress of his need. 
He 
smiled to her daringly, "Come on, Scully, give it up? "

She pushed a forkful of salad onto her mouth so that he have to wait for her reply, their eyes 
never breaking contact. "I told you I knew Mike at Quantico. He was a year ahead of me, but he 
dropped out about half way through the program."

Mulder thanked the waitress as she refilled his glass, "Why'd he drop out?"

She shook her head, "I heard that he had family things to deal with, someone died or 
something?"

Mulder paused as if satisfied with her answers then quickly added, "So how well did you know 
him?"

She seemed surprised, "Mulder, exactly what are you asking?"

He pushed his plate away, "Define know."
She nodded and snatched one of his discarded french fries from his plate, "We dated a few 
times nothing serious."

Mulder ran his tongue over his teeth making a large bulge visible through his left jaw, "Well, he 
sure seemed happy to see you." 

She stood up and collected her coat, "If you're finished interrogating me, father, we do have work 
to do."

He smiled to her, collected the bill, and followed her towards the exit.

After a useless search of the alley near Hendersonville where the body of Amy Lea was 
discovered, they returned to the Nashville PD to conclude for the evening. Since the body 
wouldn't be ready for autopsy until tomorrow, they opted to call it a night.  They had made it 
nearly to the door when the calls of Detective Balder made them hesitate. 

He walked quickly from down the hallway towards them, a broad smile plastered on his face, 
"Dana, I was wondering if I could talk to you a second?" She nodded that he could and waited 
patiently for him to continue. Instead he looked awkwardly towards Mulder and added, 
"Privately?"
Mulder looked quickly to Scully for her approval before exiting quietly out the door. She watched 
as her partner made his way towards their rental car before she asked, "What's up, Mike?"

He answered between heavy breaths, " I was hoping I could but you dinner tonight?'

She shook her head, "I don't think so, but thanks for the offer." She turned to leave, but he 
caught her arm gently, "Dana, please. It'd would be great just to sit and talk. No strings, I 
promise."

She bit her bottom lip and patted his hand affectionately, "Mike, I've sort of been involved with 
someone and I'm trying to get over a bad experience. I'm not sure how good of company I'd be 
right now."

He flashed a dazzling smile to her, "I'll take my chances."

She looked towards where Mulder sat patiently in the car, "I can't Mike. I'm sorry." With a final 
pat of his arm and a smile she exited to join her partner. He started the ignition as soon as he 
saw her coming towards the vehicle. The rental car pulled away in search of a decently priced 
motel for two of the bureau finest.


They dined that night from room service provided by the Music Valley Motel just outside 
Nashville. Scully had just finished changing into a pair of black sweat pants and a white T shirt 
when he knocked at their connecting door. He entered without waiting for her to reply and 
handed her a small cup of chocolate yogurt. 

"Here," he announced, "I brought dessert."

Taking the yogurt from his hand, she replied, "Thanks, Mulder. I was just contemplating 
something chocolate."

He smiled and fell down on top of the extra bed in her room, "So," he began, "how come you 
didn't want to go out with Balder, tonight?"

She relaxed atop her own bed and licked at small bites of yogurt on the plastic spoon, "What 
makes you think he asked or that I said no?"

Mulder answered arrogantly, "Because when he came running up the hall, he had that Pavlov 
look in his eye. And when he sulked out from the station behind you, he seemed rather deflated."

She replied beneath a curt laugh, "Amazing!"

She scooped up a large spoonful of yogurt, "If you must know he did want to do dinner tonight. I 
just don't feel like starting something right now."

"But Scully, it was just dinner, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I just didn't want..."

He cut her off, "You're holding out on me, Scully. I can tell."

She shifted uncomfortably against the headboard, "Mulder, you don't need to know every aspect 
of my personal life."

"No," he replied, "But I think it's important that you get on with your life. He seems like a nice 
enough guy."

She smiled knowingly, "Oh he's okay."

"Okay? What's okay, Scully? He's your type, good looking, smart..."

She interrupted, "My type, Mulder? I don't have a type."

"Sure you do, Scully."

"Mulder, I don't want to go out with him. I don't want to be involved with him. That's all there is 
to 
it."

She motioned towards her bed, "I want to go to bed, now. I'll see you in the morning, Okay?"

He nodded to her and closed their adjoining door as he left.


By the time she was ready for breakfast, she discovered he'd already went down to the diner 
across the street.  She pulled her coat tighter against her body and walked into the brisk morning 
air.  He smiled to her as she approached the table, her cheeks flushed against the coldness of 
the October morning. 

"Morning, Scully," he addressed as he poured another cup of coffee from the pot and pushed it 
towards her. She peeled the coat off and took the vacant seat across form him, pulling the cup of 
coffee closer towards her. "Hey, Mulder."

He pointed towards the menu and informed her, "I ordered you a fruit salad and a blueberry 
muffin."  

She smiled, "Thanks. That's perfect." She pushed an auburn strand of hair behind her left ear 
and sipped cautiously at the coffee.

He assessed her temperment, "Scully, I'm sorry if I made you angry last night. I really didn't 
mean to upset you. I was just curious."

She squinted towards him as if she could see right through his body to the wall behind him and 
swallowed another mouthful of coffee, "You didn't make me angry. I was just tired and so much 
has been going on. I."

She paused as if struggling for words that would not come, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I 
feel like I'm walking around with my emotions on my sleeve."

He smiled, "There's nothing wrong with you Scully. You just need to give yourself some time to 
heal." He sipped knowingly at his coffee and added, "And if you don't want to tell me about 
Balder, That's fine."

She interrupted him, "Mulder, there are aspects if my personal life that are just that, 
PERSONAL." She hesitated again then continued, "I know very little about the intimate aspects 
of your life. I don't see why it is so important for you to know so much about things that may or 
may not have happened in mine."

He rose to her chalenge, "Scully, that's not true. You know lots about my personal life. I have 
shared everything with you."

She looked to him questionably as he continued, "You knew about Phoebe. I told you what 
happened with Kristin Killar." He leaned in closer to her, "My life has been an open book since 
the day we met."

She shook her head, "Mulder, I didn't ask about your involvement with either of those women. 
Your decision to share that with me was entirely just that. Your decision." She could tell by the 
wounded expression in his hazel eyes, that she had hurt his feelings. Instantly she regretted her 
outburst and took a deep breath, "Okay Mulder, you want to know about Mike Balder. He was a 
year ahead of me at Quantico, but I knew him from college as well. Mike was about 3 years older 
than me when I met him. I was a freshman; he was a senior at the University of Maryland."

She paused as if expecting him to ask a question. When he asked nothing, she went on, "He 
asked me out a number of times and finally about 2 months into the semester, I agreed to go out 
with him." Her summary was interrupted by the waitress as she placed their orders down on the 
table. Scully waited patiently until the waitress was out of earshot, then continued, "After a few 
dates, he wanted things to progress more intimately, shall we say?"

Mulder chewed quietly on his eggs, pushing small pieces of sausage unto the fork with his eggs. 
His eyes watched his partners intently. He already knew by the nervous twitch of those crystal 
orbs, where the story was headed. It was fortunate that they were eating so that the tightness in 
his jaw was disguised as he chewed on his breakfast.

She pushed the plate away from her and folded her arms on the table, "After a few more dates, 
he decided that he didn't want to see me anymore." She took a long drink of water from her glass 
and finished, "I didn't see him much after that and not socially at all. Then I ran into him at the 
FBI academy a few years later."

Mulder sipped at his coffee, "How was your relationship at Quantico?"

"We didn't socialize much there. I saw him once or twice in class or in the hallway but nothing 
other than that. I did run into him or rather into his `hands' at a party once."

Mulder smiled, "I see."

She sat back against the booth confidently, "Happy now, Mulder, you know the whole sorted 
story."

He nodded, "If Balder makes you uncomfortable in any way, I can have him removed from this 
case."

She was already shaking her head before he finished his statement, "Mulder, I can handle Mike 
Balder. In college I was young and na‹ve. I'm not 18 years old anymore."

Mulder signaled to the waitress for the check, "I noticed, Scully."

She looked questionably at him, but chose not to reply, opting to follow him out the door instead.

Mulder dropped Scully off at the Medical examiners building and then proceeded to the Nashville 
police department. He walked quickly through the booking room. A number of prostitutes sat 
along the bench closest to the desk, their hands bound by handcuffs to where they sat. They 
were complaining nosily to the older overweight officer behind the booking desk. Mulder smiled 
to him as he walked by and nodded a semi salute. The officer returned the smile rather 
sarcastically and directed his attention back to where the "working girls" were still protesting 
something relative police entrapment.

After grabbing a styrofoam cup full f coffee from the breakroom, he retired back to the small 
conference room they had been assigned yesterday. He had just finished arranging the files 
when Detective Balder entered hurriedly through the heavy wooden door. He made his way 
quickly to Mulder's side, "Morning Agent Mulder, Sorry I'm late. I pulled an extra shift last 
night, 
sir."

Mulder nodded, barely looking up from the file he was reading, "It isn't a problem. I just got here 
myself. Go grab yourself some coffee and then we can get started."

The detective returned a few minutes later with a mug of coffee in his left hand. He sat down 
uncomfortably next to Mulder, "Will Dana be joining us, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder was sure his jaw twitched as soon as her name fell from Balder's lips, Yes, Agent Scully 
will be with us in a little while. She's performing the autopsy on the last victim."

Balder's face cringed, "Sometimes, I forget she's a doctor."

Mulder's face tightened. "I don't." Mulder's attention was drawn to Balder's lower right arm which 
was partially covered by medical gauze. There was an area near the center where fresh blood 
had seeped through the gauze and stained the bandage. He pointed to the injury and asked, 
"What happened?"

Balder looked to where indicated, "I was cut a few weeks ago trying to subdue a punk with a 
knife." He flexed the arm up and down as if to reiterate his point, "It only  took 12 stitches, but 
I 
keep reopening it up." As he finished the sentence he moved towards the table and opened his 
briefcase, stacking profiles of the victims onto the heavy wooden conference table.

Mulder took this opportunity to observe the detective. He was nice looking, Mulder supposed in 
an irritating sort of way. He had never understood what women saw in men with blue eyes and 
blond hair. The detective was probably about the same height as he was, but with an extra 30 
pounds or so. The man was solid, it was obvious he spent a lot of his free time at the gym.

Almost as if Balder knew Mulder was evaluating him, he spoke, "Agent Mulder, I don't know if 
Dana told you or not, but we knew each other at the University of Maryland, before Quantico."

Mulder nodded, "Yes Detective, she told me."

Balder stopped organizing the profiles and looked intently to Mulder, "I don't mean for this to be 
awkward for her." He paused unsure if he should continue or not, "I was young and stupid. I didn't 
intend to hurt her. She wasn't ready for that kind of a relationship."

Mulder pulled the stack of profiles towards himself, "this has nothing to do with our case, 
Detective Balder. That was all in the past and Scully has instructed me that it should remain 
there."

Balder smiled, "Good, I really want to work with her," he added quickly, "And you."
Mulder opened the profiled to begin, but paused and looked warningly to Balder, "Just do you 
job, Detective Balder."


The sun peaking through the vertical blinds and the fact that the lunch vendor had come and 
gone nearly 2 hours ago alerted Mulder to the fact that his partner should be joining them at any 
time. He looked over to the area of the table Balder was claiming and the quickly ran his hand 
through his hair, "I need a break. You want anything form the vending machine?"

Balder nodded that he didn't and went back to reading the reports strewn about the table as 
Mulder closed the door behind and left the room. He had gotten nearly to the hall when he 
caught sight of her in the crowd. Her red hair like a halo among the masses. She smiled to him 
as she saw him.

Taking in his disheveled appearance she asked, "Vending machine?"

He smiled to her. "Yeah, want anything?"

She headed past him, "I was hoping you'd be up for a late lunch. I'm starving."
He called out as he turned the corner away from her, "There's a sandwich and juice for you in the 
ice box in the conference room. I knew you wouldn't stop to eat."

She waved to him and smiled, "You're too good to me, Mulder."

Balder jumped as the door opened, his face relaxing when he saw who was entering, "Dana," he 
smiled.

She entered, "Hi Mike," and took a place close to where she thought Mulder was working. The 
sun flower see shells were usually a good sign that it was his area. She put her coat and jacket 
on the rack by the door, then headed for the ice box. She pulled the turkey sandwich and tropicla 
juice drink out and made her way back to her place of the table. She looked to him curiously, 
"How's it going?"

He shook his head, "We've been at this for hours, nothing yet."

She ate quietly, glancing at Mulder's notes. She could feel Balder's eyes on her. At first she 
thought she could ignore him, but as he continued, it was obvious that she couldn't."

"Mike," she stated, "Is there something on my face?"

He smiled, "No, I'm sorry. I'd forgotten how beautiful you are."

She swallowed slowly, "Okay." She looked to him again hoping that his attention was back on 
the profiles. To her dismay, she discovered it wasn't. "Mike, "she began, "We are both 
professionals, here."

He nodded, she continued, "I am not interested in pursuing a relationship with you other than that  
designated by this case."

His expression saddened, his eyes darkened, "I see."

The conversation was ended as Mulder bounced through the door carrying 2 butterfinger candy 
bars and a Reese Peanut Butter Cup. He handed the Reese to Scully, `here's your dessert." She 
smiled to him through a mouthful of turkey sandwich.

After offering one of the candy bars to Balder who refused it, he fell into the chair next to 
Scully. 
He chewed quietly on his treasure and asked, "Anything with the autopsy?"

She shook her head, `Nothing extraordinary. Both female victims were assaulted. Our perp has 
blood type 0. And I sent samples out for DNA analysis, but that can take a few weeks 
sometimes."

She opened the package of her candy and pulled out one of the chocolate cups, handing the 
second one to Mulder, "All 4 of the victims were branded with the same device. It is made of 
metal. I didn't find anything specific regarding the instrument, my guess is that he made it 
himself."

She wiped her fingers on the cloth napkin, "How about you guys, anything?"

Mulder pulled himself up straighter in the char, "I can't find any link between the first 2, Balder 
what about the last 2?"

Detective Balder nodded that he had had no luck with either of his profiles, either.

It was nearly 6 o clock when the trio began putting their paperwork away for the evening. Balder 
looked awkwardly at the agents as he exited the conference room, closed the door solemnly, and  
followed close behind them bidding them goodnight as he departed towards his own car.

They drove silently towards the motel, each deep in the mental processes that defined their 
partnership. Scully methodically went through the autopsy reports in her mind, noting the lack of 
bruises and marks on the victims. This might indicate they did not fear their assailant. He was 
someone that projected a sense of trust. Her thoughts were interrupted by Mulder as he cracked 
a sunflower seed between his teeth. She observed her partner knowing that he too was deep in 
thought. She knew by the set of his jaw and the distant look in his eyes. 

"What do you think, Mulder?'

He glanced quickly to her, taking his eyes off the road only momentarily, "I think we should 
recheck  the area where the last victim was discovered." She nodded in agreement.

The alley looked very much the same as it had yesterday minus the yellow crime scene tape. It 
was fairly long in length, if shallow in width. The desperation of the times had forced it to play 
host to a number of homeless. Its width becoming somewhat compromised by the numerous 
makeshift homes that began about halfway from the entrance. Some of the huts were but boxes 
placed at various angles as if to afford some defense from the chill of the night air. Others were 
more elaborate in design as wooden crates strategically meshed together into an infrastructure. 
This foundation was then encompassed by worn pieces of cloth and various pages of newspaper. 
Some of the lodgings were small hosting only a single individual, while . others housed entire 
families. The alley itself was dark with only a single lamp light at its entrance to luminate the 
immediate area. However, the fires that burned close to the huts allowed most of the alley to be 
visible. 

Mulder crouched to his knees near the green garbage dumpster where Amy Lea's body was 
discovered,

"Hey Scully, if you were gonna dump a body, would you dump here in the midst of this 
lamplight?" he stood and indicated to the rear of the alley where it grew darker, "Or would you 
drop in there in the back where it is less likely to be found anytime soon?"

She positioned her hands against her hips, "I'd dump it in the river." She looked concertedly 
around to where a number of the unfortunate souls began to gather observing their well dressed 
visitors, "Besides, there's lots of people here. My guess is we were supposed to find her."

Mulder nodded and approached a middle aged looking man who stood closest to them, "Sir," he 
began, but the man backed away as if in fear.

Mulder put up his hand as if surrender, "Can I ask you some questions, Sir?"

The man stepped defensively back towards the brick wall of the alley, nearly disappearing in the 
shadows and  stated, "I don't know anything about that woman."

Mulder slowly decreased the gap between them, "What woman?"

The man wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving a trail of mud across his cheek in 
the process. He looked to be about 45 years old, but given the life; he could have been younger. 
He worn a faded and torn pair of jogging pants covered from the knees down in mud. His coat 
looked newer than the rest of his wardrobe. It was brown with wool lining, he had pulled it as 
tight 
against his neck as possible so that the bottom of his neck was bunched up against the collar of 
the coat. His hair and beard was long and dirty and looked like it was probably brown with a 
sparse touch of gray. 

He looked anxiously back towards the entrance to the alley, "We all heard about the body of the 
woman. We didn't see nothing."

Scully approached slowly and joined Mulder, "Sir, We just want to ask you and your friends some 
questions. We don't mean you any harm."

He pulled his coat tighter around his body and answered, "I don't want no trouble." He stepped 
out into the light and made his way into the darkness of the alley. Both noticed that many of the 
homeless fell into pace behind him until they too disappeared into the night.

Mulder took Scully's arm and lead her back to the street. Once again they surveyed the area, 
each silently assessing the area. Mulder glanced quickly around as if he where searching for 
something. He pulled her to the building directly adjacent to the alley and pointed, "Look."

She looked quickly behind her to where he indicated, "A library, Mulder. you want to visit the 
library at 11:57 PM?"

He pointed around, "Forensics believes Amy's body was dumped between midnight and 3AM, 
right?"

She nodded and he went on, "Look around Scully. All these other businesses would have been 
closed."

"And you think the library was open?"

He took large steps towards the entrance and pulled at the door. It opened effortlessly as he 
pointed to the handwritten cardboard sign that read OPEN ALL NIGHT.

She entered cautiously and Mulder couldn't help but smile as he noticed her hand lingering 
towards the small of her back where she carried her gun. 

The room was actually much bigger inside than it looked from the outside. There were wall to 
wall shelves filled with books in varying stages of up keep. Over to the right sat a small round 
table with 4 mismatched  aluminum chairs. Some of the chairs were missing most of the plastic 
strips that made for comfortable sitting, but from the looks of the place, they seemed 
appropriate. Mulder made his way silently to the table and went quickly through the small 
assortment of items that were arranged on the table. Scully had disappeared behind a row of 
bookshelves towards the back, but Mulder was unconcerned. She emerged from the next row 
holding a couple of books in her hands, "Mulder, look at this." He went quickly to her side as she 
held up the books for him to inspect, "There are a lot of books here dealing with Mythology of all 
cultures."

He took the book from her and skimmed the pages, noticing the name plate in the front of the 
book read FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF  DR. MONTGOMERY KIRTIS. He 
handed them back to her and pulled another book randomly off the shelf. His eyes lit up as he 
noticed the same plate on nearly every book he picked up. 

A noise from the back of the library found both agents at  the ready as they pulled their weapons 
in the direction. To their relief the noise was that of an elderly man as he emerged from behind 
the makeshift curtain that partitioned a smaller room at the rear of the library. The old man 
looked as if he'd been awakened as he made his way towards the agents. He was tall and thin 
with grey hair lay unkempt around his head. He wore gold wire glasses atop his nose and his chin 
pointed noticeably outward. Less weary they replaced their weapons and approached the old 
man cautiously. Scully pulled her ID out, "Sorry to disturb you, Sir. I'm Agent Scully and this is 
my partner, Agent Mulder, we're from the FBI." 

The old man tucked the flannel shirt that hung loosely around his thin body into his trousers and 
asked in a scratchy voice, "You here about that girl, aren't you?"

Mulder nodded, "What can you tell us, Mr?"

The old man held out his hand, shaking both of theirs in turn, "You can call be Samuel."

Scully pulled her notepad out and repeated, "Samuel?"

He replied very matter of factly, "Most folks just call me, Samuel."

Mulder leaned against the nearest book case, "An all night library, Samuel? That's pretty 
unique."

He slumped into the nearest chair, "Not really. Sometimes these folks just need a place to get 
out of the cold for a while. If they happen to come across a book or 2 to help ease their 
bitterness, then I suppose 2 good things come out of it. Plus keeps them out of trouble 
sometimes"

Scully peered into the room he had emerged from, "You live here?"

He nodded, "Yes Maam. It ain't much but it's mine."

She smiled to him, "I think it's just fine, Samuel."

Mulder added, "Samuel, where do you get the books for the library." 

He poured a cup of coffee from the pot positioned on the table and offered it to Scully. She 
smiled and shook her head that she didn't want it. Satisfied, he then offered it to Mulder.
Mulder sipped slowly from the unchipped part of the cup and handed the old man a crumbled 
piece of paper from his jacket pocket. The man unwrinkled it and examined it closely.

Mulder took another sip and asked, "You ever seen that symbol before, Samuel?"

Samuel studied the picture and nodded, "It is the sign of the Ragnarock."

Mulder smiled to himself, but Scully asked, "What does it mean?"

The old man leaned back in the chair so that his back was against the bear frame, "It represents 
the final battle between the forces of good & evil when life on earth is reborn. It descends from 
Roman mythology. It has been passed down in various forms in different religions for thousands 
of years.  Those who subscribe to modern day Christianity would call it Armagadon."

The old man looked at the picture again, "Where did you get it?"

Mulder folded the picture back up and replied, "I can't say, Sir."

The old man looked at the clock that hung amidst the posters on the wall, "It is very late. I must 
retire for the evening." He rose and walked disorientedly back towards the room, "Please, make 
yourself at home. You're welcome to take any book you fancy. Just return it when you're done." 
With those final words he pulled the curtain closed, followed a few minutes later by the sounds of 
creaking springs.
Mulder looked to Scully just as she tried to stifle a yawn, "Yeah, we should get back, too." He 
opened the door for her and added, "Get you into a nice warm bed."

She rolled her eyes at him and exited the room with Mulder tagging precariously behind.
*************************************************************************************

"But Mulder," she asked over breakfast the next morning, "Why are we going to Vanderbuilt?"

He stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth and swallowed quickly, "I spoke with Balder this morning. 
He ran the name Montgomery Kirtis. He is a professor of classical literature at the University of 
Tennessee. Detective Balder is going to meet us here and we can leave  to interrogate him."

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't know but I find the fact that there is an all night library not 50 feet from where the 
last 
victim was found that has a surplus of mythology books a somewhat strange coincidence."

Her reply was interrupted as Detective Balder's gray Intrepid pulled up alongside the sidewalk 
and waited. The agents rose quickly, paid the bill, and made their way anxiously towards the 
young detective.

The professor's office, although large, seemed somewhat small. This could be attributed to the 
stacks of books and papers that lined the floor along the walls. Truth be told, it bared incredible 
resemblance to Mulder's office, instead the posters weren't of UFO's. The office was dark even 
though it played host to 2 large picturesque windows that overlooked the east side of the 
campus. From the lofty office window, the campus park was clearly visible. The trees stretched 
out across the park making it look like the squares of a giant checker board. 

Professor Kirtis was a tall man with brown hair that hung precariously against his neck, nearly 
touching his shoulder. He rose quickly from behind his desk when they entered the room, 
straightening the tie that hung loosely around his collar. "Agent Mulder?" he asked as his hand 
went automatically to grasp Mulder's.

Mulder shook his hand, "Thanks for seeing us on short notice, Professor Kirtis." He indicated 
towards Scully and Balder, "This is my partner, Agent Scully. And Detective Balder of the 
Nashville police department." 

The professor shook hands with Scully and Balder, his eyes darkening as his gaze intensified. 
"What can I do for the Bureau?" He sat down at his desk and indicated for the agents to sit as 
well. Balder and Scully looked curiously towards Mulder for an indication of action. Mulder 
rubbed the bridge of his nose and asked, "Dr Kirtis, How much do you know about mythology?"

Dr Kirtis smiled as if amused and turned his attention from placing and replacing his mug atop 
the desk, "I teach here at the University, various types of literatures, one of which is mythology. 
Don't tell me the FBI has suddenly decided their agents should be better educated in literature" 
He sipped arrogantly at the stale coffee from his cup moving it again from different areas of the 
desk, "Exactly what is it you want to know, Agent Mulder?"

It was Scully who answered, "We are curious as to why your name appears on a number of 
books in a library located very near a recent crime scene."

"Why is that odd, Agent Scully?"

She didn't like the way he said her name. He used it with too much familiarity. She replied, 
"Because this particular crime scene has mythological implications."

"Such as?" he asked almost as if he were taunting her and placed the mug down again near the 
desk's edge.

Balder interrupted any final conflict, "We can't explain that, Sir. It is confidential."

Professor Kirtis rose and made his way to the window and looked out, "Nashville is lovely this 
time of year. I hope the detective is showing you both some of the lovely sights. Since he resides 
here, I can only assume he would make an excellent tour guide." 

Balder exhaled, "Dr Kirtis, why are the books in that old run down library tagged with your 
name?"

The professor turned sharply, " I love books, Detective Balder.  Over the years I have purchased 
hundreds, maybe even thousands of books. Once I read them I've been donating them for many 
years now. I can only hope that reading them will bring comfort to those who seek it."

Scully glanced up to him quickly, "Comfort?"

"Yes," he replied, "Most of our less fortunate partake in so few literary exercises. I like to 
think of 
the donations as offerings."

Mulder repeated, "Offerings,  that's unusual terminology. Don't you think, professor?"

Balder was the first to notice the minute movements of the professor's facial features as he 
turned from the window to face the trio. His bottom lip began to twitch toward the left so severely 
that his left cheek and eye also moved in sync.  In addition his entire head shifted towards the 
right as the contraction subsided.

The professor began to nervously rub his neck, glancing behind him a number of times to the 
empty sofa that sat along the wall, "Not really, I believe most of the people utilizing the library 
are of a lower social and  economic class. Most have so little, hunger is a major concern"

Balder added sarcastically, "So why do you give them food as a donation instead of books?"

The glare the professor gave in return could have burnt a hole clean through and Detective 
Balder squirmed in his chair as if uncomfortable, "Because food merely satisfies their body for a 
short time only. Knowledge feeds there souls for all eternity."

His gaze sat upon Scully and then to Mulder, "You understand, the power of the knowledge.."

Balder interrupted, "What do you know about the Viking?"

The professor broke eye contact with the other 2 agents and answered, "Only what I read in the 
paper."

Mulder leaned back against the back of the chair, "What did you read?"

"The Viking is a killer, who selects both male and female victims, and leaves messages about 
Roman gods somewhere near the bodies. I don't know anything else, that could help you."

Scully rose and headed for the door, "Any idea what type of person his next target could be?"

Kirtis shook his head, " There are virtually hundred of gods and goddesses of Roman mythology. 
It could be anyone, even one of you."

Balder's reaction was the most noticeable, his entire body move as if he were at attention. He 
rose and went to the door, opening it for Scully, "Thanks for the information, Professor." He 
waited until both Mulder and Scully had exited, then followed behind then closing the door softly 
behind him."

"Well," Mulder asked, looking in Scully's direction.

She shook her head and pushed the call button for the elevator, "I don't know, Mulder. He seems 
rather unique."

"Unique?" Balder cut in, "He's weird."

Mulder held the door open and indicated for Scully to enter first, "Well aside from the facial 
tics, 
he seems like a oddly lonely college professor."

Scully disagreed, "I don't think it's quite that simple, Mulder. His facial manifestations seemed 
to 
worsen when you were interrogating him, like maybe they were stress induced."

The elevator stopped and the agents exited towards their vehicle. Mulder asked, "You think 
Tourette's syndrome?"

Balder interrupted, "I thought people with that disorder went around yelling obscenities. He was 
very polite, weird, but not offensive."

Scully answered, "The swearing and obscenities is only one manifestations of the disease. 
Tourette's can sometimes coexist in patients with Obsessive Compulsive disorder." She folded 
the manila file in her lap and added, "I think we need to learn a little more about Professor 
Kirtis.
 
It was nearly dinner time when they returned to the police department. Mulder followed close 
behind Scully, his hand protectively at the small of her back as if leading her. "So," he began, 
"What type of fast food would you like for dinner tonight?" She smiled as if to reply, but the 
ringing of his cell phone forced her to wait.

"Mulder," he spoke into the receiver. She nudged him and pointed towards the ladies room which 
resulted in a nod from him. As she exited and began her way towards where Mulder still stood 
when the phone at his ear, she heard his familiar voice, "Dana, can I have a word with you?"
She smiled and approached Detective Balder, "Sure, what's up?"

He smiled, "I was hoping we could get together tonight. Just a quick dinner, I promise."

She gave him an awkward smile, so that her bottom lip nearly disappeared as her top lip 
enveloped it, "Mike, I need the lines to be clearly defined, here. Dinner with you isn't even on 
the 
board."

"But Dana, I need for you to forgive me for how I treated you when we were in college." 

She started to speak, but he held out his hand and went on, "It was wrong of me to stop seeing 
you because you weren't ready for the relationship to progress. I'm sorry."

She shook her head again, "Mike, I haven't thought about that in years. Yes, I was hurt at first, 
but I was young. I recovered and I went on with my life." She took his hand and smiled, "I forgive 
you, Mike. I forgave you a long time ago."

"Then why does the thought of dinner with me make you so uncomfortable?"

"Because, as I said earlier, I am still in the healing process of a very painful experience. It 
wouldn't be fair to me or to you to start something right now."

"But Dana.."

She interrupted him, "No Detective Balder, we have nothing else to discuss." Without giving him 
an opportunity to reply, she turned and went to where Mulder was waiting.
 
"Well?" she asked as she neared him.

"That was Dani at the bureau. He called to give me the background on Dr Kirtis?"

They walked quickly out the door and to the car as she added, "Professor Fruitcake?"

He smiled, "Well, fruitcake or not his reputation is quite impressive. He is considered to be one 
of the country's experts on Roman and Greek literature. He was written a number of books, two 
or which were best sellers. In addition he has traveled nearly all over the world as a speaker. He 
has lectured at some of the most impressive universities in the world, including Harvard."

She turned to face Mulder as he maneuvered the car towards the motel, "I saw a prescription 
bottle on his desk. It was for Haldol."

"Yes," Mulder went on, "He suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Tourette's." He 
flipped the papers over and read to her, "He suffered from Attention Deficient Disorder as a 
child, for which he was given Ritalin. Currently he is prescribed the Haldol you mentioned earlier 
and as well as Klonopin."

"Well, that explains the bizarre behavior with moving the coffee mug back and forth," she said 
and then added "A lot of children diagnosed with ADHD develop Tourette's as adults. Haldol is a 
powerful antipsychotic and Klonopin is a benzodiazepine. It is similar to Valium and has other 
uses besides Obsessive Compulsive Disorder."

She took the file from the seat, "It says he was sustained injury to the parietal area of his brain 
at 
the age of 5 during an automobile accident. Both his parents and older sister were killed in the 
wreck. He was a ward of the court under the age of 18, when he received a scholarship to the 
University of Iowa, graduated 8 years later with his doctorate in classical literature. Since then 
he 
has been teaching and lecturing at the University of Tennessee. He has never been married and 
has no children." She looked to him being unusually quiet and added, "What do you think?"

Mulder smiled to her and replied, but not the answer she was expecting, "I thinking about what to 
have for dinner." She shook her head and looked towards the window admiring the scenery that 
was rushing past her view from the car window. Yes, she thought, this was probably one of the 
most beautiful places she'd ever been. Well, she recounted, maybe the second most beautiful 
place. She remembered some Kentucky woods that were pretty spectacular, too. She felt the 
tears well up again and fought to keep them at bay. 

She could still smell his scent on the trenchcoat they had used as a blanket and remembered 
how his nearness had been both comforting and unnerving at the same time. She closed her 
eyes and could almost hear his voice against her ear as they tried to relax into sleep, "Agent 
Scully, I'm handcuffed remember. I'm no threat to you."  She smiled as she recalled his playful 
advances, pushing so close against her she could feel his heartbeat against her back.  

 "Feel like Pizza?"

"What?" she stuttered to the driver.

"I asked," Mulder began, "If you felt like having Pizza for dinner?" He pulled the car into their 
assigned spot at the motel and waited as she followed him into his room, then opened the 
connecting door into her own room.

She nodded and shrugged out of the suit jacket, "Yeah as long as it is here within 30 minutes. I 
want to relax in a nice bath for awhile then I'm going to bed."

"Oohh Scully,  I love it when you talk like that."

She tossed a pillow from the extra bed towards him and disappeared into the bathroom, "Give 
me a minute to change into some comfortable clothes and then I'll be over."

He smiled and disappeared back into his own room thinking that a hot bath and early retirement 
sounded like the perfect conclusion to today's events.
*************************************************************************************
The ringing of the phone made him look up from the Viking file he was studying. He tossed the 
file atop the extra bed and answered it frustratedly. "Yes, " he said into the phone giving instead 
of salutation.
He leaned his taunt frame against the head board until his head contacted the wall. He exhaled 
loudly as replied into the receiver, "Just give me the name." He snatched a pen and paper off the 
table and stated as he wrote, "Music Valley near Hendersonville. Got it" He rose and paced as he 
spoke into the phone, "I said I understand. You don't need to threatened me." He paused as the 
caller continued, then added, "I'll take care of it. You've never had the stomach for it." He hung 
up the phone without a farewell to the caller and fell solidly unto the bed so that it smacked 
against the wall loudly. Alex Krychek stretched himself on the bed and looked impatiently at the 
ceiling. Hopefully, he thought, this time tomorrow he would be back in DC and out of Hickville. 
God how he hated  these places filled with good ole boys. He passed the time away until he fell 
into an unconscious slumber by thinking of DC and finding comfort in the thought that he might 
actually even the score if just a little.

He dreamed of Eira again, but this time the dream was different. Tonight the goddess' face was 
distinguishable to him. He could see through the disguise she wore into her soul; there could be 
no disguises there. Even in darkness her pale skin glistened with the kiss of  gossamer freckles 
scattered lightly on her forehead and the bridge of her nose. The blue eyes were just as intense 
in this life as he remembered from the previous life they shared . Her red hair flowed silently 
through his fingers in his dream and it felt like silk against his skin. She knelt closer to him 
tending his wounds as it was foretold that she would. Her small hands worked diligently lifting the 
shield from his chest. He pulled her close against him and kissed the top of her head.  Soon she 
would recognize him as well and would be bound to this life no more. He would reveal his true 
identity to her soon. And she would be his for all time.  


She was already having breakfast when he came in to the diner. She watched him as he made 
his way to the booth. He looked tired, she thought. She doubted he had gotten any sleep. Mulder 
smiled to her and slid comfortably into the booth across from her, slamming his knee painfully 
into the corner's edge. The impact caused the table to jump nearly off its pedestal enabling the 
young waiter refilling Scully's coffee cup to become startled. As the table propelled of its stand 
the waiter jumped back and accidentally knocked the cup she was holding so that its contents 
now decorated her blouse and skirt.

Her first reaction was to move backwards against the booth, her second response was a startled 
scream that caused the entire diner to observe the well dressed couple who seemed to be new 
found regulars.

Mulder and the waiter both jumped to her side, the waiter dabbing with his towel unconsciously 
against her chest. "I'm sorry, Scully" Mulder was saying as he yanked the towel from the waiter 
and began dabbing at her himself.

She pulled the towel from his hand and replied, "I can do that myself, Mulder." She rubbed at the 
stains down the fron of her blouse and at the top of the beige skirt. He looked pleadingly to the 
waiter, "Can you get her some cold water?" The young waiter disappeared into the litchen as 
Mulder pushed his way into the booth beside her, "Are you burnt?"

She finished toweling herself off, shook her head, and replied, "It stung for a second. But I'm 
okay." 

His eyes were full of concern, "You sure you don't need to go to the ER?"

She tossed the rolled up towed on top of the table, "No, I'm fine."

The waiter approached offering his apologies and produced 2 glasses of ice water. He smiled 
sympathetically towards Mulder and made his way to another table to take the couple's breakfast 
order. 

Mulder dipped a clean cloth napkin into one of the glasses and then placed it tenderly against the 
reddish color skin above the V in her blouse. "Let me see if you're hurt, Scully?"

She replied her face reddening a bit, "In your dreams, Mulder."

His expression became less tense, his smile seemed to take up his entire face, "I'm serious, 
Scully."

"So am I, Mulder." she took the wet napkin from his hand and stood up near the table, indicating 
towards the motel, "I'm just going to change."

He nodded, "I want to go back and talk to the professor again." He glanced at his watch, "You 
gonna finished up the pathology report on the Lea girl?"

She nodded that she was and walked a little  ways away towards the door. Her attention focused 
on the small black and white television in the corner of the dinner. He turned to see what had 
captivated his partner and found a news report on the death of Amy Lea. It was one of those life 
in review sort of reports that always ended with everyone watching in tears at its conclusion. He 
had been working with her for 2 long not to have noticed  how transfixed she was on the 
television special. He rose and went to her side,
"Scully, what is it?"

She answered methodically as if not quite sure of what to say, "Maybe it's nothing. But Amy Lea 
is wearing a Terrapin sweatshirt."

He didn't get the connection, "So."

She walked towards the door, "See if any of the other victims were enrolled at the University of 
Maryland." She pointed towards the motel, "I'll meet you at the station later." He nodded in 
agreement.
Mulder drove quickly towards the University of Nashville hoping the professor would be a little 
more talkative without such a big audience. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed.

"Balder," he spoke into the phone, "It's Mulder." 

He paused for Balder to finish whatever it was he was talking about and then asked, "Can you 
check and see if any of the other victims went to the University of Maryland?"

He paused and then replied into the phone, "I don't know. It may be nothing, but Scully noticed 
the Lea girl wearing a UM sweatshirt. She thought these might be connected somehow."

Mulder's expression seemed to change relative to whatever Balder was saying, "Actually Balder," 
he announced, " I'd forgotten you & Scully went to the University of Maryland. Speaking of 
Scully, she's gonna need a ride to the station. I just left her at the motel. Can you give her a 
lift?"

He exited the interstate and headed for college park, disconnecting the call as he made his way 
through the picturesque view of green, brown, and gold trees. He thought for a second then 
dialed another number,  
"Hey Frohike, it's me. I need a favor."

He paused waiting for his party to finish speaking, "I want you to run a background on Detective 
Mike Balder. He's with the Nashville PD. I want everything you can find on him."

He paused again, "Thanks Frohike. I need this like yesterday." He disconnected the call and 
tossed his phone back into his jacket pocket.

His legs ached from being cramped in the same position for so long. He surveyed the darkened 
area curiously until his head make contact with her gray suit that hung on the rack above him. He 
moved his feet around at an angle to allow some blood to flow into his lower half. He'd have 
thought she'd been back by now. A long time had passed since he'd watched her leave and head 
towards the diner across the street. No doubt meeting her partner for breakfast. 

It was pure luck that he'd been able to twist the bathroom window ajar and slide unnoticed inside 
her motel room. However, if he'd known she would be gone so long, he would have waited 
before taking sanctuary in her closet. He looked wistfully at the gray suit hanging above him and 
pushed his face close against the fabric. He inhaled deeply and drank in her scent on the jacket, 
becoming instantly aroused. He could hardly even hear his own breathing above the thunderous 
beating of his heart that was echoing throughout the entire closet.

He closed his eyes and with her scent still lingering, he saw her, just like in his dream. Eira, 
the 
healer, his healer, she was close, so close. He could feel her nearby and soon she would be his 
for all eternity. Of this he was sure. He gripped the metal wire through the cloth of his jacket, 
and 
reveled in the knowledge that it was all to end soon.

The click of the key in the door startled him and he released the suit he was clutching against his 
face, flinching at the sound it made as it hit against the empty hangars also on the rack. He 
pushed himself close to the closet door and peered through the slits and into the motel room. 

Scully tossed the key towards the extra bed and stepped out of her shoes. She pulled the white 
blouse out of the waist band of her skirt and began unbuttoning the blouse. The shirt hung 
loosely against her body and swayed open to reveal the lace of her bra as she approached the 
closet. Her hand touched the wooden knob and began the backward motion required to pull it 
open. Without warning, the door was thrust outward, catching her neatly across the nose with the 
wooden part of the door.
Stunned she fell backwards and was quickly overpowered as he leapt from the closet towards 
her. Her hand went instinctively to her gun tucked safely in the holster behind her back. 
Unceremoniously it was knocked out of her hand and to the floor. He caught her around the waist 
and threw her to the floor, pushing a rag over her mouth and nose. Within minutes of inhaling the 
chloroform, she fell unconscious to the floor.

With his breath coming in great gasps, he knelt on his knees next to her and pushed away the 
strands of hair that fell into her eyes. He traced the outline of her perfect face with the back of 
his 
shaking hand. His breathing became less rapid, but deeper and his gaze traveled down her 
partially revealed body. He pulled the shirt open to expose more of her to his view and ran his 
forefinger down her torso, his journey halted only by the waistband of her skirt.

He ran a thin tongue over his dry lips, his excitement growing with every passing second. He 
reached around behind her to undo the skirt, but then hesitated. No, he thought, he couldn't take 
her now. The partner was still close by and could interrupt him before his mission was 
completed. Her flipped her over unto her stomach and bound her hands together in preparation 
for her journey. Yes, he thought, soon he would take her in body and in soul. Soon Eira would be 
his forever.
  
Mulder waited nearly twenty minutes before the secretary informed him that Professor Kirtis had 
already left for the day. Mulder walked quickly back to his care interrupted only by the ringing of 
the phone in his jacket. He answered it quickly hoping it would be here, "Mulder."

The familiar voice of Frohike caused him to exhale in disappointment to which Frohike noted, 
"Hey," Frohike began, "Sorry to bum you out Mulder, but did you did ask me to investigate that 
cop."

Mulder replied, "Sorry, Frohike, nothing personal. I was hoping it was Scully."

Frohike's voice perked up at the mention of her name, "How is Agent Scully?"

Mulder answered, "Fine. She hasn't checked in yet."

"I hope everything is okay." Frohike offered.

"I'm sure she's fine. What did you find out, Frohike?"

Frohike answered excitedly, "His life to date is pretty insignificant. He did attend University of 
Maryland, he graduated in 1988. Joined the FBI academy that same summer and dropped out in 
1990. He has a couple of brushes with the law wen he was younger. One for joyriding in a stolen 
car and another for drunk and disorderly."

Mulder seemed disappointed, "That's it?"

Frohike continued, "There was one charge that was later dropped. A young women reported to 
the authorities that she was assaulted. She later recanted the charges and they were dropped. 
Other than that, he's clean."

Mulder paused, deep in thought, "Okay, Frohike. Thanks."

Frohike added, "You know Mulder that packet you wanted on Chris Gates is still here. I guess 
after his death, you don't need it, but it is here nevertheless."

Mulder snapped to attention at the mention of his name. After Gates' death, he'd forgotten he'd 
ask the Lone Gunmen to do a complete check. "Okay, Frohike, soon as we get back. I'll pick it 
up. I wouldn't want Scully to see it at your place. It might upset her."

Frohike's attention seemed to be faltering and Mulder could her him turning pages, "It's a shame 
the guys dead, he was a real piece of work."

Mulder's curiosity peaked, "Why do you say that?"

"Mulder, he was the youngest officer to ever graduate Annapolis. Although nearly all of 
operations were covert and as a result very classified. But I heard a rumor that his kill record as 
a SEAL was impecable."

"Gates was a Navy SEAL?"

"You didn't know that?"

"No, he nor Scully never mentioned it. Any other surprises?"

"Well, he was considered to be the best explosives man around. His work in the Gulf War was 
astounding. Some say he himself planted the explosives that took out Gadafi's palace in Libya. 
Do you know how good  he had to be to get that close?"

Mulder answered as if his thoughts were far away, "Real good." He looked quickly at his watch 
and asked, "Can you do me one more favor?"

"Sure, what?"

"Plug into the DC area police record banks and see if any missing person reports were filed the 
night Gates died? Look for profiles similar to Gates."

Frohike replied, "You don't think he's dead?"

"Let's just say I'm curious. Get back to me as soon as you get anything. Thanks Frohike."

Frohike clicked his phone off after bidding Mulder, "Later Dude."
*************************************************************************************
Alex Krychek waited patient outside Dana Scully's motel room until the noises coming from 
inside subsided. Soundlessly he slipped on the black leather gloves he'd become accustomed to 
carrying in his jacket pocket. To his delight the knob turned easily in his grasp. As the door 
slowly 
opened into the room, her unconscious form on the floor came into his view. Instinctively he 
found comfort clutching the familiar revolver in his right hand and made his way cautiously inside 
the room.

His first thought was to check her for a pulse. However, after noticing the rise and fall of her 
chest, he opted to inspect the room for the intruder first. The noise coming from the direction of 
the closet encouraged him to approach it even more cautiously than he originally intended. 

To Krychek's surprise, Scully's would be attacker was not even remotely aware of his presence 
so near behind him. The man was nearly identical in size and build as Krychek but since the man 
was facing the garments in the closet as if searching for a specific article of clothing he was 
totally unaware of the impending danger. Krychek overpowered him easily forcing him to the 
floor quickly after providing him with a crashing blow to the head with the handle of his gun. The 
man fell solidly producing a loud thump as his body collided with the floor. Within minutes 
Krychek had collected the man and successfully loaded him into the trunk of the rented blue 
sedan he was driving. He slammed the trunk down loudly and straigthened his suit before re 
entering the motel room.

He went quickly inside to where Scully was beginning to stir, pushing awkwardly at the floor with 
her bound hands and making barely audible moaning noises. Anxiously he rolled her back unto 
her stomach yanking the beige skirt up over her hip at the same time. From his jacket pocket he 
produced a 5 ml syringes filled with a gold colored liquid and plunged it into her left hip after 
yanking her hose and underwear down to gain better access.

The injection had an instantaneously calming effect and she fell into a peaceful slumber. He put 
away his gun and carried her roughly towards the car. Opening the back passenger door, he 
dropped her in the backseat and tightly closed the door. He returned to the room quickly, 
surveyed the room one last time and headed back to the car. He smiled to himself as he shut the 
door to her room, thinking how lucky could one man be. His luck was about to change as another 
car pulled hurriedly next to the motel room. Krychek's expression changed quickly into FBI mode 
as he smiled and waited for the driver to exit the vehicle.

Detective Balder parked the car hurriedly and walked anxiously up the cement walkway towards 
Scully's motel room. At first he was surprised to see the young man coming out of Scully's room. 
His expression changed from surprise to jealousy as he looked the tall dark haired man over. 
Balder recalled her mentioning she was involved with someone and that it had caused her pain. 
He inspected Krychek  with discontent and extended his hand complete with identification visible 
for Krychek to inspect.  Balder nodded to the man as he closed the distance between them, 
"Detective Balder, Nashville PD."

Quickly Krychek pulled out his own credentials, "Alex Krychek, FBI."

Balder pointed towards Scully's room, "Spoke with Mulder earlier. He's interviewing a witness. 
He thought Agent Scully could use a ride to the station."

Krychek nodded, his pseudosmile enveloping most of his handsome face. Balder walked closer 
towards the door, "She ready yet?"

Krychek shook his head, "Don't know, I just got here myself."

Balder's eyes quickly scanned the immediate area and Krychek knew the detective was 
suspicious. Krychek motioned for Balder to approach the door first and followed close behind 
him. Balder obliged, his hand making its way cautiously towards the gun he carried in the 
shoulder holster. His hand failed to complete the journey as he felt the sharp blade of a knife 
penetrate into his lower back.

The pain was so unbearable he collapsed towards Scully's door. Krychek caught him before he 
fell to the ground and pushed him quickly thorough the door and into the room, shutting the door 
hurriedly. He tossed Balder to the floor, ironically in almost the same spot Scully had previously 
occupied. Krychek shook his head and contemplated the unexpected turn of events. He wiped 
Balder's blood off the knife and dropped to his knees beside the unconscious detective's form. 
He turned him over unto his back with the knife steady in his hand, "Looks like the Viking has to 
claim yet one last victim." Quickly he went to work, glancing at his watch anxiously as he readied 
the Viking's final victim.

Mulder reached the police department in record time. Balancing the bags of take out food in his 
arms, he made his way routinely to the  east conference room where the Viking Task Force had 
been using as head quarters. He smiled to the secretary as he passed and indicated to the bags 
of food "Is my partner here yet? I brought her her favorite."

The secretary smiled shyly back to Mulder and shook her head, "Haven't seen Agent Scully since 
she left here with you last night." Mulder stopped in his tracks and looked back to where she sat, 
"What?"

"Sorry Agent Mulder, You really should keep better tabs on her. " she taunted.

"Didn't Detective Balder meet her and bring her back here?"

Her brown curls swayed from side to side as she shook her head, "Mike left this morning, but he 
didn't say where he was going?"

Mulder looked quickly around, his panic evident to nearly everyone in the room, "Where is the 
men's locker room?" He approached a heavy set man siting at a nearby desk and leant in close 
to his chubby face, "Come with me, please."

Reluctantly the man followed behind Mulder as he approached the men's locker room. Mulder 
burst through the doors and made a waving motion with his hands, "Which locker is Detective 
Balder's?"

The man made as if to protest but Mulder grabbed a fistful of the man's collar and pulled his so 
close that the man could feel Mulder's breath on his face. Mulder declared, "If my partner is hurt. 
I will consider you personally responsible." As he finished his threat he shoved the man backward 
so hard that he fell into a nearby chair causing it to tumble backwards on its side.  As the man 
pulled himself up, he pointed to locker number 17, "That's Mike's"

Within minutes Mulder had forced the door off of the locker and tossed it against the wall. 
Quickly he went through the contents and with one exception found nothing peculiar. On the top 
shelf of the locker stuffed way in the back Mulder found a number of reference books dealing 
with Roman mythology. He was already dialing her cell phone number before he instructed the 
secretary, "Get back up to the Music Valley Motel room numbers 12 or 13. I think Agent Scully is 
in danger." The secretary nodded and disappeared to put out the call for help. Mulder turned and 
ran as fast as he could back to the car and headed for the motel.

He was halfway there when the phone rang in his pocket. "Mulder," he barked into the phone.

An unfamiliar voice identified himself as a police officer and informed Mulder, "I'm sorry sir, but 
we didn't get here in time."

Mulder's entire world fell crashing around him in the space of one breath. He couldn't find his 
voice until a number of attempts had been made. The officer repeated, "Sir? Are you still there?"

Mulder didn't even recognize his own voice, "Yes, Are you telling me that she is hurt?"

The officer hesitated and Mulder could hear the officer consulting with other voices in the 
background. It seemed to Mulder like an eternity passed before he came to back to the line, 
"Agent Mulder our victim here in room 12 is that of a male."

Mulder closed his eyes and swallowed the breath he'd been holding, "Are you sure there isn't 
another body, a female body, maybe in room 13. Her room connects to mine, number 13."

The officer answered, "No sir, just one body. It is male." The officer paused then came back on 
the line, "Sir, our victim has been identified as Detective Mike Balder. One of the uniformed 
officers found Agent Scully's ID and gun on the floor in room 12, but there's no sign of her."

Mulder looked out the window of his car to where he could see the lights of the police cars 
ahead, "I'm here. I'm on my way inside, now." With no further conversation he disconnected the 
call and made his way inside. Her room seemed to indicate a struggle had taken place. The first 
thing he noticed was the closet door; it was nearly off the track and hanging precariously from 
the wall. Balder's body was displayed in similar fashion to the other 4 victims. The officer in 
charge followed close behind Mulder, handing him Scully's badge as he neared. Mulder ran his 
hand over the leather case and asked, "Where was it?"

The cop pointed to the area very near where Balder's body still lay, "Just to the other side of 
him." The cop took Mulder by the elbow and led him towards the window,  "Look Agent Mulder,  
we think the Viking grabbed Agent Scully and was interrupted by Detective Balder. He killed 
Balder and took her to finish somewhere more private."

Mulder flinched at the officer's summary, "This one feels different from the other."

The officer surveyed the room quietly, "But it looks just like the others."

Mulder answered, "I know what it looks like, but I'm telling you it feels different."

He approached Balder's body and knelt close beside him, observing his arm closely.  The cop 
joined him and offered indicated to the newly burnt brand on Balder's right hand, "It's the same 
as the others." He pointed to the name written in blood on the wall above Scully's bed. It read 
Forseti. The officer asked Mulder, "What's Forseti?"

Mulder ran his hand through his mass of unruly hair and answered, "God of Justice." The officer 
smiled to Mulder as if to say told you so, but said nothing. It was his eyes that Mulder what he 
was thinking. Mulder's panic rose and he felt the rage building inside his body. He slammed his 
fist into the wall and yelled, "I'm telling you it's not the same killer. It's supposed to look 
like the 
Viking, but it isn't. I can feel it." With no further ado, Mulder turned and left the room 
instructing 
the officers to forward any relevant information to him on his cell phone.


Krychek sat calmly at the table in the room  evaluating the choices this particular path had 
produced. He looked to the table where she lay sleeping and smiled to himself. She wasn't so 
dammed arrogant now, was she? He recalled their first meeting nearly 3 years ago when he was 
assigned as Mulder's new partner. He rose and walked nearer to the examining table so that he 
could see her face. She looked older than she did 3 years ago, not so much physically as 
mentally. Perhaps it was the death of her sister or the battle with cancer she recently fought that 
made her lack the innocence she had back then.  If the truth be known, Dana Scully had matured 
some over the last 3 years. He ran his hand down along her neck and smiled again to himself, 
"Yes, she had matured rather nicely."

His reminiscing of days past was interrupted by the opening of the outer door. He smelled the 
smoke long before he saw the man. His eyes narrowed as the CSM entered and approached 
where she lay. The CSM nodded to Krychek as he pushed closer towards her, "Alex, you have 
done well."

Krychek smiled and stepped away so that the CSM could evaluate their prey more thoroughly. 
CSM indicated towards her, "How long she been under?"

"About an hour."

CSM leaned up against the wall and pushed green button mounted along the side of the wall, 
"Any problems?"

Krychek joined the CSM near the wall, "Only one, It would appear the Detective Balder fell victim 
to the Viking in an attempt to rescue our friend over there. He died a valiant death, just like his 
namesake."

The CSM smiled and acknowledge the men who were entering the room, each one attired in 
green  surgical scrubs and masks. The CSM and Krychek leaned against the wall and watched 
as the doctor and the assistants gathered around her. The head of the examining table was lifted 
at an angle so that she was no longer laying flat on the table. She appeared to be in more of a 
reclining position than before. The assistant to Scully's left began removing Scully's skirt and 
panties, then draped a blue paper like sheet over her lower half. Quickly an IV line was inserted 
in her left arm and a liter bag of saline was hung unto the pole above the table. The doctor pulled 
a set of stirrups from under the table and nodded to the other assistant. Who quickly, insert each 
one of Scully's feet into one of the stirrups on either side of the table.

The doctor looked quickly behind him to the CSM and waited. The CSM nodded to the doctor 
and exited the room leaving Krychek leaning against the wall observing the procedure. As the 
CSM left the room the assistant positioned a tray of metal tools at the doctors side. The doctor 
nodded and instructed, "Give her 1mg of Versed now and again in 20 minutes. He picked up one 
of the sterile instruments and sat down on the stool between the stirrups. Nearly an hour had 
passed when he rose form the stool and pulled the mask away from his face. He went quickly to 
the head of the table and checked her eyes. He indicated, "Her pupils look good. Everything 
looks good. She should be fine." He walked back to the foot of the table and pulled her feet from 
the stirrups, laying her legs gently down on the table and covering her exposed lower half.  He 
handed a 10cc syringe filled with a bluish fluid to the nurse and instructed, "Give her this 
injection." The nurse made as if to take it from her but he added, "It is a depot injection. It 
releases the medication over a period of time. You must inject it into the muscle." 

The nurse took the syringe and approached Scully, grasping her upper arm in preparation for the 
injection. "No," the doctor interrupted, "Give it to her in the buttock. It will work better, 
larger 
muscle."

Obediently, the nurse flipped her over onto her side and injected the bluish fluid into her 
buttock.  
The doctor looked to Krychek before he left the room, "It will take about 30 minutes for the drug's 
concentration to peak." The doctor looked back to the table where she lay and replied softly, 
"Anytime after that should be fine."

Krychek nodded and walked to the door to see the last of the medical team out. He closed it 
quietly behind him and then walked back to the table. He leaned in close to her and whispered, "I 
always figured you to be more of a Frigga." He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand and 
opened the shirt which lay unbuttoned against her. Only a minute had passed before he had 
removed the lace bra as well. He looked behind him towards the wall to where a video recorder 
was moun             ll and smiled blatantly into it. He undid the tie he wore around his neck 
and began unbuttoning his own shirt, thinking to himself, it's a rough job but somebody has to do 
it.

He pushed himself close to her and nuzzled her neck, biting tenderly on the skin around her 
throat. He kissed her neck and collarbone, working his way around her upper torso. The thrusting 
of the door being opened into the room startled him and he looked quickly around to identify the 
intruder.

Krychek smiled a wry taunting smile and greeted, "Christopher, I wondered what was keeping 
you?"

Gates approached him angrily, hauled him off the table by his neck, and tossed him towards the 
concrete wall. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Krychek smiled  and brushed the dust off his hands as he climbed to his feet, "Well, if I have to 
explain it to you, you're not the man I've idolized all these years."

Gates pushed him backwards, "You know what I mean."

Krychek retreated a few steps but then pushed his face close to Gates and replied through 
clenched teeth, "My orders are specific and very easily to understand." He pointed towards 
Scully, "She's had the procedure, we've given her the drug. Now we just gotta see if she can 
conceive."

Gates stepped closer even still, "I warned you on the phone last night. This is my operation, 
Alex, not yours."

Krychek pointed to Scully, "All you had to do was switch the pills, you were doing everything else 
perfectly. She believed you, you were in."  He pushed one pointed finger into Chris chest and 
went on, "That's all you had to do, follow the plan."

"No, I didn't follow the plan because I don't see how her having a baby fits into this grand 
scheme of things."

Krychek backed on and answered calmly, "You know these men, Chris. They see them selves as 
engineers of the future. A future dominated by a perfect race."

"I've heard this before, Alex, we both have. Nearly all our lives."

"Chris, what good is a perfect future if the human race is extinct. The only way to ensure our 
place in the future is for us to procreate this perfect race into existence." He looked to Scully, 
"If 
she can conceive a child that theory will become the future, our future. And her future as well."

Chris grew silent and shook his head, "I just don't know what to do, I.."

Krychek interrupted him, "You don't have to worry about it Chris. I can take care of it. They 
really 
don't care who the father is."

Krychek pushed Chris towards the door, "You go, now. I'll be along in a minute."

Chris walked defeatedly towards the door and opened it, stopping to look back at her sleeping 
form on the table. He smiled to himself, she looked so perfect even in sleep. He shook his head, 
"No, Alex, you go. I'll finish it."

Krychek made as if to protest, but something in his friends eyes caused him to hesitate. He 
leaned close to Chris and whispered, "They're watching. They"ll know if you don't."

Chris nodded, "I know, they've watched us before. It's okay."

Krychek smiled, "Give her this sedative," and left the room carrying his tie and jacket in his 
arms.

Gates approached her cautiously, running his hand through her hair. He looked down at the 
syringe in his hand and tossed it unto the table by the bed. He eased himself along side of her 
and took her into his embrace, pushing his face against her neck, leaving small feather kisses 
along her throat and shoulders. He brushed the hair from her eyes and kissed her forehead, 
"Dana, I've missed you and I'm sorry."

Mulder was headed back to the police station, his vehicle reaching speeds of excess 80 mph at 
some points along the route. He had made it nearly to the parking lot when the cell phone 
screeching broke his concentration. With trembling hands, he retrieved the phone and called into 
the receiver, "Mulder."

The relief on his face was evident as Frohike announced, "I got something for you. First there 
was a missing report filed the same night that Gates died. The person who disappeared was the 
same build and size as Gates, same hair coloring, etc. His girlfriend said he stepped out to 
purchase some liquor from one of those all night places. He never returned from the 20 minute 
trip.

"Where did he live?"

"Annapolis, about 2 blocks east of Scully."

"So the guy was on foot?"

"Yeah, he thought it was a nice night for a walk." Frohike paused and then added, "I fished 
around a little more on your professor friend. Did you know he just returned from a 4 month stay 
in DC?"

Mulder paused then replied, "No, I didn't. Why was he there?"

Frohike answered, "As part a lecture series for the semester that just finished. He went to DC 
and one of the DC professors went to Nashville for a semester."

Mulder's mind was running on overtime, "You don't happen to have an address for the professor, 
do you?"

Mulder's face lit up as he copied the address down as Frohike recited it to him. Once the call with 
Frohike was completed, Mulder phoned Skinner. It was time to get his boss involved.

"Mulder, what the hell is going on down there?" was Skinner's informal greeting as Mulder was 
connected to his office.

"Sir, Scully is missing and I  believe she may have been kidnapped by the Viking. I am on my 
was to the home of Professor Kirtis and I'm gonna get some good answers this time if I have to 
beat them out of him, Sir."

Skinner swallowed slowly and Mulder could have sworn he heard the sound of what seemed like 
a fist slamming into the desk, "I understand the officer assigned to work with you and Agent 
Scully was found dead this morning in Agent Scully's motel room." 

"Yes, sir, apparently Detective Balder surprised the Viking when he took Agent Scully."

Skinner strained closer to the phone, "What do you mean apparently?"

"The crime scene indicates that that is what happened but it doesn't feel right, Sir. I don't think 
it 
was the Viking that killed Detective Balder."

"Who then, Mulder and why?"

"Someone who wants us to believe that Agent Scully has been taken by the Viking and I don't 
know why, Sir. Any ideas?"

Skinner looked towards the outer door in his office and shook his head, "Mulder, keep me 
informed, I want to know what is going on?" Without waiting for a reply he hung up the phone 
and exited through the door of his office. His secretary was startled by his sudden appearance at 
her side. And he gave her little time to recover, "I need to go out for a while. Cancel the rest of 
my appointments for the day. You can reach me by cell phone, if I am need......."

His instructions were interrupted as he saw the shadowy figure of the CSM passing by his office. 
He looked quickly to the secretary, "Excuse me." And made his was anxiously out the door. He 
fell into step behind the CSM rather quickly. Skinner knew the CSM was aware of his presence, 
even if the CSM hadn't slowed his pace so that he could catch up. Skinner  walked solemnly 
beside him, "Where is she?"

The CSM pulled a pack of cigarettes form his jacket pocket and stuffed one quickly between his 
lips, "Who?"

Skinner's jaw tightened, "Agent Scully, you know who I mean."

The CSM voice carried his usual tone of innocence, "I haven't seen her. Have you lost her 
again?"

Skinner stopped walking halting the CSM as well, "What are you doing?

The CSM lit the cigarette and pulled his arm from Skinner's grasp, "I'm finishing up my part of 
our deal."

Skinner's worried expression didn't ease much, "I thought that was already completed when she 
was shot."

The CSM smiled, one side of his lips rising to nearly ear level, "Yes, her cancer was cured during 
her recuperation form the gunshot wound."

Skinner pulled the CSM closer to his face by the collar of his shirt, "So what's going on now?"

The CSM pulled himself away from Skinner's grasp, "There was that one side effect of her 
original procedure that I needed to make right. I want you to be satisfied with our arrangement 
Mr. Skinner."

Skinner shook his head, "What does that mean?"

The CSM straightened his jacket and tie and began walking ahead while Skinner remained 
where he stood. As the CSM reached the middle of the hallway he called out to Skinner, " You 
might want to pick up a few cigars, Mr Skinner."

Skinner looked to the floor in confusion and when he looked back up to ask for an explanation, 
the CSM had disappeared through the exit and was no where to be seen. 

Continued...