Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 08:20:33 +0000 From: Jason Cleaver Subject: NEW: The Smell of Cigarettes (1/1) The Smell of Cigarettes (1/1) Author: Jason Cleaver E-Mail: argo@easynet.co.uk Disclaimer: The X-Files and related characters, don't belong to me. If they did, I'd be rich. They belong to Chris Carter, 1013 and FOX. Who are. Spoilers: Momento Mori I guess, but very briefly. Rating: PG Classification: V I have no idea where this came from, it just turned up in my head last night, and wouldn't leave me alone. I don't want to touch it, so it might seem a little rough. I would greatly appreciate comments on this story, so post me at argo@easynet.co.uk; I want to hear from you. ********************************************************************** She sat in the basement office, staring at nothing, her mind working overtime. She could deny it as much as she wanted, and she wanted to, but the facts remained. Once could be a fluke, twice, coincidence, but over the past month, she'd come into contact with the darker, twisted side of humanity, and each time It had been there. So she'd run comparisons. Visited churches and the like, stood close to priests, and It was there again, but different. What to do? She couldn't tell anyone, especially Mulder. If she told him, he'd be all over her, wanting to run his own tests, wanting to make up an X-File; the third with her name in it. <> Besides what would she tell him:- "Mulder, there's something you need to know. I can smell evil..." No. Best to say nothing, and if they came across someone during a case, she'd say she had a hunch or something. She'd get teased by Mulder for it, but it was better than telling him she'd smelt it. She stood up, replaced the file to the cabinet, and left the room. Mulder and the rest of the building had already gone home, but she'd stayed behind to go through the files, to see if anyone else had ever been able to do what she could. There was nothing. Big surprise. She took the stairs to the elevator that would take her to the car park. Pressed the button and waited. After a moment, there was a *ping*, and the doors slid open. She stepped inside, was about to press the button... "Hold please!" She hit the button to halt the progress of the closing doors, and the newcomer entered through the widening gap. She turned and saw who it was, a chill of fear and anger racing through her. She ignored him, pressing the button to her level. He reached over and pressed the button for the floor below. Silence for a long moment, broken only by the click of a cigarette lighter and an indrawn breath. Followed closely by a outrush of air and smoke. "How are you feeling Agent Scully?" He asked. "Fine." She replied shortly, and took a deep breath... Her floor came up as the realization hit her. Numbed with shock, she stepped out automatically, turning to watch the closing doors and the face of the man behind them. For long moments she stood there, staring at nothing. She'd been so sure in her new-found ability, tested it, reached the only logical conclusion. She *could* smell evil. She'd smelt it so many times during her visits, she could have described it to anyone who asked. But of all the people who she would have expected to smell it on, of anyone, He would have to be drenched in it! The man behind her cancer, the deaths of so many, the deliberate testing of innocent civilians, who had subverted their investigations time and time again... And she had smelt nothing. END ********************************************************************** Jason Cleaver - argo@easynet.co.uk naXis#002, M&S, Dragon Posse, EMXC, Chaos, AnnD I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it! "Do not worry about the bullet that has got your name on it. It will hit you and it will kill you, no questions asked. The rounds to worry about are the ones marked: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN."