From: Lisa Zander Date: 7 Dec 99 00:38:30 America/Fort_Wayne Subject: xfc: Teenage Girls Series #4: Toys & Games (1 of 3) Source: xfc From: Lisa Zander Title: Teenage Girls Series #4: Toys & Games Author: Xandra (LSZ1011@usa.net) Spoilers: Avatar, SR 819, and probably any Skinner episode. I don't know anymore if they're not too big anyway. Author Notes: This is the last story with Jean Skinner-ames but she will be back. Also because of school the next story may take longer then expected to come out. Also I would like to say that in my universe, Biogenesis has not happened . It will though but since they don't say the date anymore it's going to be taking place in October or November. So I have the whole summer months to have most of this story-taking place. I also made up the town of Curtuan and Jadwin-Howard so doesn't try to find them. For missing chapter's of my story go to: http://xandra1013.tripod.com/xandrasx.htm Distribution: Anywhere just tell me first. Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully, Skinner, and anyone else from the show is not mine. They belong to the all mighty: Chris Carter! Classification: X, Skinner-ANGST, MSR, minor Scully-ANGST Summary: Jean life is falling apart and the only thing that could save her is finding the rest of the device. ************************************** Harold Gordon Monroe Building Ninth Floor Philadelphia, Pa The room was filled with smoke. Christopher Jackson coughed as he entered the dark room that over looked the lab. Jackson was carrying a stack of files for his boss, he only saw the back of his head over the chair in which he could see the whole engineering lab. He gave the papers to his boss who had just lit up another cigarette. "Is this the report?" he asked Christopher as he took the papers out of his hands. "Yes, sir. The project is ahead of schedule. We should be operational in a few hours, at the latest." Christopher said sounding very proud of himself and his team. "Good." the Cigarette Smoking Man said without expression at all. He continued to watch the people working in the lab. "What do you think this device is?" He looked down at the devise that was being fitted together. "A weapon, or some kind of communication device." "Are those the only options, what if it's something different..." The Cigarette Smoking man turned to the man next to him. Jackson was a dreamer, he knew but he never thought that he could be so ignorant to what this had to be. "It's not." He said breaking the dream that Jackson had created for himself. *************************************** "Clear out!" Jackson called out before they turned on the device. Everyone cleared out of the inner lab that was surrounded by a glass window so everyone could see in. When everyone was out of the room, Jackson sealed the door. He looked up to the observation deck where the man with the cigarette in his hand gave him the signal to begin. Jackson flipped the switch that would connect the final piece to the device. The team had determined the green piece was the power source, once the mechanical arm was put in its place in the center of the assembled pieces. He looked down at the blue prints. It was shaped like a kite. Right now the middle had a four and a half circle missing. Everyone was breathless as the mechanical arm picked up the circle and placed it in the device. The circle clicked into place and... Nothing. Nothing happened. The piece was a fake! The Cigarette Smoking man stood up and looked down at Jackson. Jackson looked scared as if he would never see another day. But he was correct; CSM thought as he too another puff of his cigarette. ************************************ Outside the Office of Dr. Leah Snider July 14, 1999 Jean Skinner-Ames hated not having her own car. She had to wait for Scully to pick her up from her appointment with Dr. Snider. Scully had kindly offered to pick her up, because she was the one who crashed it, but that's another story. Jean still had to go to Dr. Snider, because her uncle would not tell Krycek that she knew. It was to keep her safe. She knew how to keep lying to Snider, but she could think of how to keep it from Scully or Mulder. There was another secret welling up inside of her. This secret she could not trust to anyone. There was something inside her. It wasn't just the voice anymore. Since she got the artifact she would do things and not realize it. Before, she would choose to listen to the voice now it would act on it's own. She couldn't explain it and she didn't know what to do about. She wouldn't even tell Aurthy and Lippy. It was then when Scully's car pulled up next to her. Jean faked a smile and hopped in the car. She put her worries to the back of her mind, and started a conversation with her friend. "How are you doing?" Scully asked pulling into the street. "I'm fine." She said cheerfully, "So how's Mulder?" she asked just to see a flush on Scully's cheeks. "He's fine," she said trying to hide the excitement in her eyes. Jean had made a deal with them not to say anything to her uncle about their growing relationship. So far they had not had the time to progress too far in their relationship. They had to keep their professional responsibility while working, and their last days in Alaska were spent in close proximity of Skinner. "How's your family?" She asked and Scully knew where she was heading. "If you're hitting if my family knows about Mulder and myself, my mother knows." "What does she think?" "She asked me why didn't it happen sooner." She laughed and Jean started to forget about her current dilemma. "What about Bill?" Jean asked, getting the hard question out of the way. "He doesn't know, yet." She knew just like everyone else that Bill would freak out if she and Mulder ever got together. After her last conversation with her brother she was not going to volunteer any information about her relationship with Mulder to him. When she got back from Alaska her brother called and apologized. She accepted it and moved on. ******************************************* Walter Skinner parked his car in the parking lot for his building. He sighed as he got out of the car. His life had not gone as he had once planned. He was doing things and working with people that he would spend his whole life trying to defeat, but because of getting into the wrong place in the wrong time he would never have what would be called a normal life. He was lost in thought and didn't notice the man who was following him to the elevator. "Guess who?" the man, said pinning Skinner up against the wall. Krycek turned Skinner to face him. "What do you want?" Skinner said not even trying to fight back. "You know what I want!" Krycek slapped him across the face. Skinner's face had a look of confusion to Krycek's claim. "You gave me the fake artifact! I giving you one last chance to give me the real one before I kill your niece." "I don't know what you're talking about. I gave you the only one I had. What are you talking about?" He said with sincerity. Krycek released him and stepped back. "Who would your sister give it to? Who does she trust?" "I don't know! I can't help you with this, if you hadn't noticed I didn't know her too well." He thought about how he managed to avoid her when she came home this last time. He blamed it on work but if he knew it was going to be the last time he would see her he would have made the time. "You have one last chance to find the artifact or I will destroy your family." He disappeared into the parking lot. Skinner quickly made it up to his apartment and washed quickly. He was unsure of what to do next. He needed to talk to Jean. She probably knew exactly what was going on. He came to the realization that she didn't trust him anymore. He looked down at his watch. She should be home anytime now. When he was about to take a seat he heard a knock on his door. He opened the door to reveal some one unexpected. It was a boy who looked about his niece's age. He was medium height and had a big smile on his face. "Can I help you?" "I'm looking for Ti- Jean Ska- Skinner-Ames." the boy said and Skinner figured out who he was. "Are you Peter Tree-Starr?" Skinner asked hoping that he got the name right. "Yeah, you must be her uncle, Walter?" "Yes I am. Please come in." Walter tried to remember if Jean had said anything about him coming to town. Peter's smile faded when he sat down on the couch. He was nervous and embarrassed in some way. "Is Jean here?" he asked uncomfortably. "She should be home any min-" He was cut off by the sound of the door opening again. Jean wasn't paying attention as she walked in .She didn't notice the boy on the couch as she dropped her backpack next to the door. She was going to walk of to her room with out even speaking to her uncle. When he spoke to stop her. "Jean!" She had been not talking to him for a while. She had managed not to talk to him and down right ignore him for days. "What?" she asked getting annoyed. He had agree to let her act that way when they were alone. But when they were with other people she needed to act like there was nothing wrong between them. "Hi." she heard a soft sweet voice in the living room. She turned and saw the boy standing behind her uncle. She practically ran into his arms. "P'tree!" she said as he put her arms around her. They shared a gentle kiss and they just smiled at one another. "What are you doing here?" They broke apart and he grabbed her hand in his. "Well I missed you. Come on I haven't seen you in almost a year. So I gave Tree and Starr my terms. Basically, I said that if they didn't let me come here I would be a big pain in the ass for the next five years." He chuckled and smiled at her with a strange grin. "I missed you." She whispered to him falling back into his arms. She closed her eyes hoping, what she called "The Voice", would not take this moment away from her. She sensed that it would let her have this moment to herself. the voice whispered to her. ************************************************ They sat next to each other on her bed. Jean was not sure exactly why he came but she was glad he did. He looked at her trying to think of what he could say to her. He was worried after he received a rather strange letter from her. "So why did you come? It's very unexpected. It's not like you." Peter was confused. He took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to Jean. "Your letter is why I came. You asked me here." Now Jean was confused. She quickly opened the letter and read it. It was from her it was her stationary but she never remembered writing it. She knew what was happening. The Voice wanted to tell him what was going on. Jean could tell the Voice felt he was familiar to it. She wished she could communicate with her but all they heard from each other were faint. She never knew for sure what the voice was saying to her. "It's not safe to talk here." She said as Peter got even more concerned over the fact that she wasn't acting like herself. They took a walk in the park. Jean only spoke after she looked over her shoulder the tenth time to make sure they weren't being followed. She sat down at the nearest park bench and sighed. "Tell me, Tiger, what's going on?" he said as he sat down next to her. "You might not believe me when I say it but-" "I'll believe you, I trust that you're not making this up." He lied, but not in a bad way. Sometimes she would overreact and misinterpret what was going on. "Well it all starts with how my parents died-by the way this will go a lot faster if you don't interrupt me." he nodded and she continued. She told him about Krycek and her Uncle and about the artifact, but not about the Voice. She omitted its part in the story. P'tree just sat there with his mouth gaping open. In the logical part of his mind he though she finally cracked. This sounded like one of her stories. He looked in here eyes and saw she was serious. She knew what he was thinking and she looked deep inside of herself to fine the other life inside her. For the first time it heard it's thoughts. she heard. It didn't sound like the strong voice that was there before. It was softer, frightened almost. But she new it was the same creature. "Tiger? Skames?" she heard another voice that broke her out of her bond. "Hmm." She said forgetting where she was. "Oh, sorry." she said embarrassed that she would fade out while he was talking to her. "What were you saying?" "I was saying," he was annoyed, "what aren't you telling me?" She sighed and closed her eyes trying to think of how to explain the voice. There was so much she didn't know about. So many pieces were missing from the puzzle. Jean closed her eyes. She focused to find the Voice inside her head. After she found it she traced it back to its origin. And like so many times before she was blocked. "Ever since," her eyes were still closed, "I was attacked by the Tiger, I've heard a voice in my head that wasn't mine. It's starting to drive me insane. Before it just told me what I should do, like a suggestion box, but now it's doing things with out my consent. It has control over my movements, we share it, but I can't get the control back unless it gives it to me. That letter, I didn't write it." "It did." he said softly hoping that she really hadn't gone insane. "That's why you're surprised I came." She nodded, "Usually I know what it's doing, it' like watching yourself from across the room. But I must have been asleep." "Well, have you told anyone else about this?" He said as he began to pace in front of her. She shook her head, "No, no one. No one would believe me. Probably not even you." She knew before she told him he would not believe her right away. He was a lot like Scully. Not believing anything until it was 99.9% backed up by physical proof. Well, she though, he'll have to deal with my 99.9% of hearsay evidence. And the artifact. She could show him the artifact just yet. "Just tell me." And she did. She told him everything that had happened to her since her parents died. Peter was trying to think of what he could say to her in a way not to think he had just dismissed her story. He was silent for almost ten minutes and Jean needed to hear his answer. "Say something." She almost ordered him. "What am I supposed to say, Skames! You give me this ridiculous story and expect me to believe it whole-heartedly! What do you want me to say? I'll say it!" P'tree was surprised by the hostility in his voice. Jean wasn't, however. She knew that Peter would act this way. Peter got up a paced for a minute before calming down. "Sorry." He said looking ashamed. "It's all right. Anytime I say it to myself it sounds crazy." "No kidding." He said sitting down. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. He smiled as he saw that certain spark in her eyes that told him that she was telling the truth. "I believe that you believe this is real. I, may not believe this is real but I will stand by you all the way." Jean just started laughing. "You think I've gone insane." She said and by the look on his face she knew she was right. She stopped laughing and sighed. "Skamey..." he started and didn't quite know how to finish it. "Skames... Tiger... Jean you know I'll follow you anywhere. I believe you believe it will be that way forever. But it just sounds to strange to me." "Will you give me a chance to prove it to you?" She said standing up and starting to pace. "What?" "Will you let me prove it to you?" "Jean," he whined, "how are you going to do that?" He said doubting her for the first time in his life. "I can prove it, I just need time." "How much time? I'm only here for six weeks." "That should be fine." She said sitting down next to him again. "You're serious aren't you, Jean?" He asked with a smile and she nodded. He gave her a big hug and she felt herself fall back in her mind. She felt as the Voice took over and shut her out of the situation. Peter didn't know what was going on. He saw only the girl he had known for thirteen years. He looked into her eyes again and fell off the bench. Jean took this moment where the Voice put it's guard down to take back her body. "What's wrong?" Jean said helping him up. He looked into her eyes again and sighed in relief. He didn't know what had happened, but something was different a minute ago. The sparks in her eyes were different. "Nothing." He said with a smile. "I just a little tired, I guess." ************************************************* That night Jean's problems were far from her mind. She buried them deep inside so that she could be happy if just for one night. She used so much of her energy to keep the voice from taking over. She had a wonderful dinner with Peter and Walter. There were no fights or any new lies. They were all surprised by Jean's relaxed attitude this evening. Her uncle was particularly happy because he hated how their relationship became. As much as he wanted to he to think she was over it, he knew that would never happen. But even with all the thoughts that were going on in their heads it didn't ruin the relaxed night they had. That night after Peter had gone back to his hotel Jean couldn't sleep. She couldn't think of anything but how to prove that she was telling the truth. She wouldn't risk being caught with the artifact. She had to think of some other way. She looked at her clock. It was two in the morning and all she wanted was to sleep. She turned over in her bed to face her door. There was a little bit of light shining though, which came from her uncle's room. Over the past few months Jean noticed that his sleeping habits were just as bad as hers were. She knew he wasn't asleep, and she knew that she would never get to sleep either. She got up and opened her door. Jean was almost blinded by the light. Her eyes adjusted quickly and she walked sleepily into her uncle's bedroom. He was lying on his bed reading a book. He wasn't facing the door so he didn't see her come in. He didn't move at all and Jean thought he might actually be sleeping. That was until he moved to turn the page in his book. "Hi," she said softly as she sat down at the edge of his bed by his feet. He wasn't to surprised to see her. "Hi yourself, Jean." He said as he put his book behind him and sat up to look at her better. "What are you doing up so late?" "Couldn't sleep. I haven't been able to sleep and I noticed that you don't sleep so I thought you needed company." She didn't look as tough now as she did during the day. "I'm just doing some reading." He lied he had barely paid attention to the book he had read a million times and was thinking about how he could ask her about the fake artifact. But he wasn't sure how to word it. She moved onto his bed and sat down next to him. "What ya reading?" She said grabbing the book from behind him. "'Julius Caesar' good play." She flipped though the pages and chuckled softly. "What?" "I don't know. This book just applies to us and the people we know." "What do you mean?" "You might call me crazy but I believe that Mulder would be Caesar, stubborn but loyal to his beliefs." He uncle laughed. "Scully would be Mark Antony, loyal to her Caesar until her bitter end. And you..." "Who do you see me as?" He knew she didn't want to answer but she would if he asked. "Brutus. Although I would say that I don't believe Brutus suits you too well. He had honor and stayed on one side." She knew it was harsh but that's how she felt. "But you have no choice." "Who are you?" he asked brushing off her comments because he felt the same way. "Though he has a what I think of as a small role, Artemidorus. The one who know the truth but doesn't get a chance to help anyone with his information." The question was tugging at him even more. "Where is the real artifact?" he finally asked. "They found my surprise." She smiled. "I don't know. I finished what mom didn't. She never wanted them to get there hands on it! And I will give up anything to continue to keep it from them!" "At what cost, Jeana?" he asked and she was surprised to hear her name spoken like that, it's what her father called her. He did so knowing it wasn't her name. It had been years since he had spoken it. "Would you risk your life?" "Yes!" "But would you risk Josh's?" , She thought "Your right. I'll consider helping you. Good night." She said and left with out another word. Walter was left alone knowing how much pain was in her heart and how she hated to lie to him. ************************************************ July 17, 1999 Jean drove though the streets of Washington DC not knowing exactly what she was doing. Jean was driving from street to street trying to find... something she didn't know what she was looking for. In reality it wasn't Jean that was looking it was the Voice. On intuition the car stopped dead in the middle of the street. As the horns honked at her in annoyance. She parked quickly and got out. She began to walk down the closest alley. She was dressed in a black business suit and her hair was tied in a tight bun. She looked like she was thirty. Jean couldn't figure out why the Voice would decide to dress this way. Jean couldn't do anything. She could only sit-back and watch someone controlling her entire body. ************************************************* Christopher Jackson ran for his life though an alley in DC. He didn't know what had happened. He thought he was going to be killed. Instead he was taken to someplace in Washington DC. He had never been here before and had know idea how where he was. He had barely escaped from his cell when the men started after him. He had thought he lost them a few miles back but he couldn't be sure. He had gone half way down another alley when he saw someone who looked like she had been waiting for him. She was wearing a suit and looked like one of the people he was escaping from. "Who are you?" he called as he approached her. "I ask the same." She said and Jackson stopped dead in his tracks. He squinted to see the face and as he looked his eyes widened in shock. "Skinner?" The Jackson asked as if he had seen a ghost. "I thought you were dead?" He said moving in for a closer look. , Jean though as she listened to the situation. "No, not exactly." "You are Jean?" he asked understanding Jean's body nodded. "What are you doing here?" "You are Christopher Jackson?" She said knowing she was correct. "Yes, you remember me?" He was surprised; they had last met when she was seven. "They will kill you. You are trying to escape." Jean noted that the being controlling her body didn't no how to speak well, but was getting better with more practice. "How did you..." "Can't help you but I can help you do the right thing by helping me." "You're not Jean." "Yes and No. We are together; we are two parts of one. Call me Altiger." Jean asked but got no response. "What do you want?" He asked. He was afraid and started to back away. "What's mine." He was about to run when Altiger grabbed him and pinned him to on of the buildings. She was about to choke him. "Where is it?" She asked and by the cold look in her eyes he knew what she wanted. "Philadelphia. The Harold Gordon Monroe Foundation Building. Fourteenth floor, lab 45. But you won't be able to get up there." "Why?" "There are eleven check points to get up there. Key cards, rental scans, fingerprint ID's, the works. It's a fortress." She let him down and began to think. Altiger reacted out to Jean. "Your parents had it already to go, but that infomation is now lost with them." Jean told her hoping she was enough like her parents to finishe what they started. Altiger turned back to Jackson. He was a friend to Jean's mother and for his help she ode him something. She pulled a small vile of clear liquid out of her pocket. She handed it to him. "This poison is quick and painless. It's civilized compared to what they'll do to you." With that she walked away and disappeared. It took Christopher a minute to realize what had happened. He played with the vile and realized that it was his best option, but not until he was face to face with the men who were going to kill him. Jean was no longer the girl he saw in the hospital room when she was seven. He didn't understand what had happened to her but he didn't doubt he did the right thing. ************************************************ Perry Ellis Restaurant July 17, 1999 8:13 p.m. Mulder and Scully sat quietly next to each other in there booth. They were invited out to eat out with Jean and Peter. This was the first time since they met her that she was late. "So Scully, have you met the little sister's boyfriend yet?" Mulder said jokingly. Scully gave him the look. One time Scully had said that Jean felt like a little sister and Mulder wouldn't let her live it down. "No, I haven't. But when they get there don't act all big brotherly like you always do around her. If you hadn't noticed you act like she's your sister too. Believe me the over protective big brother act is very annoying when you're with your boyfriend." She said continuing to joke and Mulder shook his head thinking she was wrong. "She can't be both of our sisters. That would mean that we're like brother and sister." Mulder said just to start another game with her. "Well for a while I thought that you were like a brother." Scully played back. "I hope you don't feel that way anymore." He said trying to sound concerned by her remark. "I wouldn't want you to feel like you were kissing me like kissing Bill." "Well let me see how different it is." She leaned into kiss him. As they kissed she felt the same type of spark as the first time they kissed. The world seemed to melt away around them leaving them alone with each other. They would have stayed that way forever if they weren't interrupted. "Great way to keep a secret. What if I brought my uncle with me." Jean said as Peter entered the booth seat across from them. "Well, Skames, sometimes it's worth getting caught." "Mulder, Scully this is Peter." She said. Mulder turned to Peter. "Peter nice to meet you." "It's nice to meet." Scully said extending a hand to Peter. "It's a pleasure." He said trying to make the best impression. He knew that they had been good friends to Jean since her parents died. They all sat down together for a nice meal. "Peter what is your last name again?" Mulder asked as they looked at their menus. "Tree-Starr." "Interesting name it sounds-" Mulder was going to go on but Peter interrupted him. "Believe me it's nothing. My father's last name is Starren and my mother's last name is Treen. It's kind of like Skames they just didn't want to give me as long a last name. It even says Tree-Starr on my birth certificate." Mulder made an understanding jester. Jean's mind was on anything but the conversations at the table. She did even tell Peter her real motives for going out to dinner with Mulder and Scully. She needed information and only Mulder could get it for her. She couldn't get it from her uncle because he would want to know what she was going to do next. Yesterday's events had been very knew for her. Altiger had never been in control that long. In fact it was scary. She hated not being in control and she didn't understand what Altiger was doing. Jean noticed that when Altiger takes over she becomes stronger. Jean could never pin a man like Christopher Jackson. He was twice her size and six inches taller. She waited through half the meal before she found her opening to ask Mulder. He got up after his main course and went to the bathroom. Jean waited a minute then got up herself. She waited outside the bathroom door for him to come out. Mulder was surprised to see Jean waiting next to the door. "What were you afraid I would get lost on the way back to the table?" Mulder asked sarcastically. Jean didn't even break a smile. "We need to talk." "What is it?" he said moving off to the side where they couldn't be heard. "I need some information." She pushed a piece of paper into his hand. Mulder quickly read it. "What do you need blueprints for? And why wouldn't you go to your uncle?" Mulder asked her wondering why she was acting so strange. "I can't tell you right now." "Then when?" She didn't say a thing. "Is this about the real reason we went to Alaska?" "I can't say." But he could see she was surprised that he put the pieces together. "I will tell you but after I get the information in my hands." He nodded realizing this was the best deal he would get. "When can you get the information by?" "If I go into work tomorrow, which I probably will, I should be able to get the prints by Monday. I'll call you when I do." "Good. Thank you." She looked back at the table and saw Peter and Scully locked in a nice conversation. "We should get back to the table, before they notice we've been gone too long." All through dinner Mulder kept thinking about what happened. Mulder had not told Scully about Jean's request. He didn't know why but he had a guilty feeling about not telling her. Jean did not say that he couldn't tell anyone but he thought that was a given. The question of what it could be was burning through him. Scully was right when she said he'd do anything for the truth. He could feel that she knew something that was important to him and his quest. ************************************** It seemed strange to Jean but she always seems to have a plan. She wouldn't reveal the entire plot to anyone until it was all set up. She kept thinking of what Altiger did the other day. She could read Altigers thoughts now and she knew Altiger wouldn't have hurt Jackson. Jean was scared because she didn't know how to control Altiger as Altiger did to her. She would never know how far Altiger would go before she would go too far. Jean was entering another sleepless night. Sunday would be quite a long day. She hated waiting but it would give her more time to refine her plan to get... She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be getting. Only Altiger knew. Every time Jean would ask she would be flooded in her mind and she couldn't understand what they meant. The plan couldn't start fast enough for her. She would be able to get more done in the next couple of days because Peter had taken a trip to Florida to visit his grandparent. He would not be back for a while which gave her a chance to work alone. ************************************** Walter Skinner Residence July 19, 1999 10:12 A.M. Jean was quickly getting dressed. She had overslept and Mulder was all ready in the elevator on his way up. She pulled on the pair of blue jeans closest to her. She decided that she could just leave the blue flannel pajama shirt on, which looked like a normal shirt anyway, and ran for the door. She got there just as she heard a knock. She opened the door to reveal a very angry Fox Mulder. He pushed his way in and stood in her living room. He said nothing as he waited for her to close the door. She turned to face him and waited for him to speak. "What do you need this for?!" he asked her which was more like he was accusing her of lying to him. He held up a folder of papers in the air. "What did you find and then I'll tell you?" she said dryly, reaching for the folder but he pulled it away. "Do you know how hard it was to get the real files. I had to go through the Lone Gunmen and even they had trouble with it." "But you got them." she said as a rebuttal "Yes I did. And I want to know why I should just give these security blueprints to you, not knowing what they are or what you need them for?" "Mission Impossible." she said simply and sat down in the chair. She did not seem at all disturbed by Mulder's reaction to this situation. "What?" he said confused by her statement. "Mission Impossible. You've seen the show or the movie haven't you?" "Yes, both of them." Mulder sat down in anticipation for her explanation. "Well, they had to get into high security building and so do I." She took a deep breath and began to recite a very planned out speech. She spoke with ease because she had swept the room for bugs after her uncle left. "My parents found something on one of their expeditions. Actually they were sent to find it." "Fine what?" "The HGM Foundation took it from them. Rightfully they were my parents and I want them back. I was never told and anyone who knew what it was is dead. They might be extra terrestrial. It's in that building and I'm the only one who could get to it." "You can't it's too dangerous." Jean rolled her eyes. "You're sixteen Jean what if I told your uncle about this!?" "I can't just leave this alone!" "I'll not saying you will. I'll go." "You won't make it! I'm the only one who can. Plus you have too much at risk. I'm a minor, my uncle is the an AD at the FBI, I'll be fine." "Jean these people won't arrest you, they'll kill you!" "So, I will die. I should be dead already! It's a fluke I'm still alive." "I'll go, I'll do this for you. Its part of my quest. Government conspiracies remember." "You won't know what to do. If I don't go neither do you. I have information you don't have that's vital to the mission." They stared at one another for a few minutes and she knew what she had to do. "I won't do it. If I had the papers it would make me feel like I have control. I want to do what my parents had time to do. I won't do it because of Josh. With me gone he's at even more risk. But if I don't go neither do you." She grabbed the folder from him and walked onto the balcony. Mulder followed her. Jean took the lighter off the table. "What are you doing?" "Putting an end to this." She held the file out in the air in her left hand and lit up the lighter. She moved the lighter under the papers. They caught fire quickly and she dropped them to the floor. They both watch it burn. ********************************************* Jean had lied through her teeth to Mulder. She omitted all of the important information. She had not told him the information she had found the day before. She knew that her parents knew about where the artifact was being held and decided to do some research. She looked though all of the stuff she had brought from Curtuan. She also called Aurthy and made her and Lippy look through the boxes that were still there. Jean looked though the rest of the picture frames. She had found the map there maybe her parents hid the whole plan their pictures. She looked through them all and had found nothing. The only other thing she had brought from her home was the couch. She had opened the couch and found what she was looking for. Now she had to get back the information that she had burned to get Mulder off of her case. He probably didn't realize it but he gave her a way to get the information back. Surely the Lone Gunmen kept a copy of it. She knew Mulder most likely told them not to give the copies to her, if he knew that she was lying to him. But they weren't going to deal with Jean they would be dealing with Altiger. **************End Part One******************* From: Lisa Zander Date: 7 Dec 99 00:42:15 America/Fort_Wayne Subject: xfc: Teenage Girls Series #4: Games & Toys (2 of 3) Source: xfc From: Lisa Zander Teenage Girls Series #4: Games & Toys (2 of 3) ***************Part Two********************* Lone Gunmen July 20, 1999 1:30 p.m. "I'm coming!" Frohike yelled as he made his way to the door. He saw Jean on the monitor. He opened the door. "Come in my young friend." He said and she pushed in past him. Byers and Langly were sitting at the desk. "What can we help you with today?" Byers said walking to her. "I need the information you gave Mulder!" "We can't do that." Langly offered. "Why not?" "We promised Mulder we wouldn't." "I don't care what you promised Mulder, I want them now." Altiger reached out her hand and grabbed Byers throat. Langly and Frohike looked shocked. "I want the information now!" This time they couldn't give it to her fast enough. "Tell no one!" She let Byers go and he fell backwards onto the floor. "Don't blame Jean, she had no part in this." Altiger added as she moved for the door. "Who are you?" Byers asked once he got his voice back. "That's none of your concern." She said as the door slammed behind her. ****************************************** By the time Altiger was in the car Jean had already been given back control. She still couldn't believe what she was doing and she hoped that she would never have to do something like that again. She was going to leave town tomorrow after Peter got back. She told her uncle that she was going back to Curtuan with Peter so she could finish her movie. It was a good cover because he uncle wanted her out of the house anyway. She felt guilty not telling the people she loved that she was most likely going to die in the next few days. **************************************** Walter Skinner looked at the clock next to his bed for the fortieth time. It was almost three in the morning and he still hadn't fallen asleep. He had stopped trying to read himself to sleep an hour ago. He was running out of time to save his family. He was doubting if he could actually accomplish that goal. He felt someone else in the room. He turned around quickly and saw Jean standing in the doorway. "Sorry." She moved into the dark room. He sat up and she sat down right next to him. "It's all right. Are you all right?" He asked seeing traces of tears in her eyes. "I was thinking about mom and dad." "Don't worry. I'm going to make everything okay, somehow." Totally unexpected of him She leapt into his arms giving him a big hug. He put his own arms around her still confused at the situation at hand. This wasn't a simple hug like the ones they did to show that they were a happy family. She gave him the kind of hug that she gave him before she entered the cabin. "I love you. I forgive you." She whispered in his ear and Walter thought he was dreaming. She got up and left the room. The entire scene had felt like a dream. The room was exactly the same as before she had come into his room. She came and left with little physical change but the mental change that occurred made him feel, well good for once. He did not know what brought on the change but for right now he didn't care. *********************************** July 21, 1999 Peter didn't even have the chance to get out of the plane before Jean dragged him to the car. Before he knew it he was half way to Curtuan, PA. He had lived there for a short time and was happy he was going to see his old friends Lippy and Aurthy again. In fact he was going to be staying at Lippy's house while Jean was staying with Aurthy. He wasn't sure why he was taking this trip. He listened to Jean explanation that she thought he would like to see some old friends but he couldn't believe that. Jean was growing almost mad now. She was unpredictable, she was forgetting things. Doing things that are completely out of character. If she weren't so paranoid he would have been able to tell her uncle, or even Mulder and Scully. He knew she was suffering from some kind of multiple personality disorder but she was too aware of it. He knew her for so long and loved her so much that he could do nothing but stick by her side. He watched her as she drove and she didn't even pay attention to him anymore. She just drove and he could feel that he might have lost the one he loved. *********************************** Jones' Residence Curtuan, PA 10:31 P.M. In Jean's mind this place never changed. The people still were kind, the streets were still clean. The Mayor was also the gym teacher and the doors of the school were painted lime green. Well, that was curticey of the graduating class of '96 when only two of them wanted to be remembered. The town always respected the pranks because they had never hurted anybody. Jean's class had had not done anything. The day they had planned to execute the prank was the day her parents where killed. She was amazed on how much one event could effect a small community. When she had greeted her friends and people she had thought of as family she had been fighting with herself inside. Altiger had been trying to tell her something but she wouldn't listen. She knew everything was safe. All of the things she needed for tomorrow's mission were safely locked away. Jean was getting ready for bed at Aurthy's house. She was staring at her face in the mirror and she didn't see herself anymore. She hoped that her plan would work but she feared that it would end with her being killed. She hadn't told anyone yet. She was going to tell Aurthy, Lippy and Peter what she was going to do in a few hours when the boys sneaked back over to the Jones' house. She had an overwhelming sense of dread when she walked out of the bathroom .She thought it was worries about the coming day. Aurthy was siting on her bed and Jean joined her. Jean felt comfortable in her room. She had lived there doing the past year and she still had some of her things there. "Are you all right Jean, you look sick?" "I'm fine, really. I just..." Jean heard in her head. It wasn't Altiger it was in Aurthy's voice. Jean just stared at her. Now she really thought she was going insane. "What?" she said and Jean knew even without reading her mind that Aurthy was hiding something from her. "Who's coming?" Jean asked and she let the voice from Aurthy's mind go into hers. "What does he know and when is he coming?" Aurthra was shocked and confused she didn't know how her friend knew so much. But she couldn't keep her mind from drifting to the answers to her questions. Jean ran to the window as she heard a car pull up. She saw her uncle and Agent Mulder get out and knock on the front door. "You should have told me! I thought you were my friend!?" Jean ran out of the room and Aurthy followed. Jean ran into the room across the hall and opened the window. "I'm not going to let them take me!" Jean pulled herself up and jumped out the window. Aurthra couldn't breath. She ran to the window as she heard a thud when Jean's body hit the ground. She was scared to think of what had happened to her friend. She saw Jean running off into the woods. ************************************************ Jean looked out the window. She looked down at the backyard. Jumping out of this window would most likely kill her. Unlike her old house it didn't have anything to hold onto as she climbed down. Jumping was her only way out. She remembered every time Altiger had been in control she was a lot stronger and had better reflexes. For the first time she let Altiger surface. Altiger had no fear of jumping and did so easily. Her feet hit the ground perfectly. She barely flinched as she kept her balanced. She was about to run almost immediately into the woods behind the house. ************************************************ Aurthy turned around to see her father, Walter Skinner, and Mulder enter the room. They all had the most serious looks on their faces. "Where is she?" Hal Jones asked his daughter who was still scared by what she had seen. "She jumped out the window and ran into the woods." They didn't have time to ask how she had found out but they had to find Jean before it was too late. Hal, Mulder, and Skinner had split up in the woods. They tried to be as quiet as possible but Jean had an advantage. She could hear their minds. She watched from a branch of a tree and looked down on them. Right now Jean was in control. But she didn't know for how long. She was fading in and out but hearing the voices was a constant. After fifteen minutes of hiding in the trees the voices stopped and she heard their real voices. Altiger was no longer taking over her. She looked down and saw them directly underneath her. She pulled herself even more into the shadows. She stood up on the branch keeping herself plastered against the trunk of the tree. She also did it because the branch got weaker the farther out she was. She was grateful she wasn't scared of heights. The night was hot and she couldn't help but start to perspire. She didn't know exactly why because she was only wearing gym shorts and a tank top. With one arm still around the trunk of the tree she used the other hand to wipe off some of the perspiration. First her face and then her neck then ran her fingers though her pony tail. She rubbed her fingers around her neck. She didn't realize it before but it was kind of sore. She was tired but what could she do as she waited up a tree for them to leave her alone. As she touched her neck there was something wrong. She figured out what was wrong. Her necklace, the tiger claw, was not around her neck. She looked around the field of her vision. She had had it on when she jumped from the second floor, so she must have lost it in the woods. She didn't see it on the dark ground, which wasn't surprising. She then looked at the branches that she had climbed up. At the branch she pulled herself up, her necklace was caught on a small branch. She sighed heavily as her stomach began to ache. She would have just let it sit there and she would grab it before she left the area. But this time she couldn't. It was hanging right over Mulder's head. If she didn't reach for it, they would surely see it and then find her. She only had one chance to get though this. She thought that since it was dark she could grab it without them seeing. The only light was coming from the houses a little more than ten yards away. As she got ready to reach for the necklace, she was hoping that she could get away with this. While she was in the tree she had time to think of why they were here. The one thought was that Langly, Frohike, and/or Byers told Mulder what she did and he told her uncle. She knew she was right. She moved out as far as she could on the branch. As if anticipating her, Mulder, Skinner, and Hal moved so that the necklace was in the middle of a circle they formed. She slowly grabbed some pieces of bark off the tree and threw it off into the distance. It hit the trees a few yards away. Jean almost wanted to cheer out loud when they moved to see what made the sound. She took that moment to grab the necklace. She held it tightly in her hands and pulled herself back up onto the branch. She took a deep breath and put the necklace around her neck. That's when it happened. She felt pretty good after she grabbed her necklace that she didn't notice that she had begun to lose her footing. "Shit." She muttered as she fell to the ground. She had one stupid thought when she hit the ground. Well they did. They came running over to her. She was face down in the dirt and her body was still in momentary shock. Altiger hadn't taken over like she had hoped. She jumped up as soon as she could and found herself surrounded. Her head was pounding and she couldn't make out what they were saying. There was a high pitch buzz in her ears. She turned round quickly seeing which person was where. She was in a ready to attack pose she had picked up when she took karate. Hal was behind her to the left, Mulder was to her right, her uncle was right in front of her face. She looked into her uncle eyes. She started to feel faint. Her head was jumble of images that she could not focus on. As she felt her body fall, she felt anger and hatred. kept her self-steady and attacked her uncle. She couldn't stop herself. She beat him until he fell to the ground. And once he had fallen to the ground she began to kick him. Mulder and Hal did all they could to hold her back but she kept breaking free. Jean couldn't stop herself; her mind had chosen this moment to lash out at the world. And she blamed the first person she could. Mulder and Hal manage to pulled her back long enough for Skinner to get up. He couldn't speak he didn't know truly what was happening to his niece. He had throught she had forgiven him. But he knew it wasn't her. Jean was suffering from some kind of multiple personality disorder. She wasn't responsible for this. He wiped his hand against his cheek. He looked at his hand and realized he had wiped a cut she had given him on his face. As Walter recovered from the attack, Mulder attempted to put handcuffs on her. Jean was violently trying to get away but Mulder was triumphant. He pinned her arms behind her back. Jean's head was spinning as she was dragged to the car. She didn't understand what they were saying. She could swear they were speaking a completely different language. She was still pulling her self away. She thought that she needed to get away from them at all costs. They had almost gotten to the car when she forcefully raised her hands up and knocked Mulder in the face. She took that moment to run off down the street. She needed to get to Peter. He would help her. She didn't know how much time had passed when she arrived at Lippy Pennet's house. She knocked on the front door. She thought she could find a safe haven behind the door but she was wrong. All she found was Lippy's father, Dr. Roy Pennet, waiting for her. She saw that he had a syringe in one had that he tried to hide behind him. He said something she couldn't understand. And she backed away slowly at first but stopped when she saw Mulder and her uncle pull up in their car. To the left Hal with Aurthy close behind her. Dr. Pennet was behind her with Lippy and Peter to her right. She kept hearing them talk to her but all she heard was gibberish. She still struggled as Walter and Mulder tried to grab her. She kept pulling back and was trying to get to Peter. She hadn't noticed it but Roy had injected the continence of the syringe in her back. She felt the tranquilizers take effect and she fell for real this time. She felt them move her to the car. Mulder laid her down in the back seat and slammed the door. She didn't know where she was going. The last thing she saw as the car pulled away was Peter's concerned face outside her window. ************************************** Philadelphia General Hospital July 22, 1999 3:04 A.M. Scully walked quickly through the hallways of the hospital. She was a mix of anger and concern. She got a call around midnight from Mulder telling her that Jean was being put in the psycho ward of the hospital. Mulder hadn't given her all the information. As she rounded the next corner she saw Peter, Aurthy and Lippy loitering in the hall. "Where is Mulder?" she asked them. "He's in the room with the doctors. He'll be here in a minute." Aurthy said. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. So did Peter and Lippy. "Great. What are you guys doing here?" Scully asked, trying to calm down. "She's our friend. Where she goes we go." Lippy said. "Do you know what happened?" "We were hoping you knew." Lippy said and Peter took the moment to move farther down the hall. He seemed like he was about to beat something up. If out of nowhere he slammed his arm against the closest wall. Aurthy went over to him and tried to calm him down but he just pushed away. After five minutes of waiting Mulder and Skinner arrived. Mulder pulled Scully off to the side. "What the hell happened? And why didn't you tell me?!" Mulder took a deep breath and began. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but it happened so fast." Scully wasn't impressed. "I got a call last night from the Lone Gunman..." He related what the Lone Gunman had said went on between them and Jean. "So after hearing that I immediately called Skinner. We agreed that the best course of action was to go to stop her from getting herself killed." He then finished with the events that occurred when they tried to talk to her. "The doctor's think it's a multiple personality disorder. She's become violent and they put her in a straight jacket. She won't talk to anyone." Scully took a minute to think it all though and then found one thing in his explanation that didn't make sense. "What do you mean 'getting herself killed'?" Mulder had just gotten the question he had hoped he would never get asked. "Scully..." "I want an answer, Mulder, not an excuse." Scully argued. "Jean needed me to get her some information. She knows something that she's not telling anyone, something that could be important to the X-Files. I didn't know what she needed that information for but if I got it she would tell me what she knew. When I found what she was planning I couldn't let her go though with it. Eventually we both backed down and decided to leave it alone. She burned what I found but I had told her where I had gotten it before she burned it." "Uh-huh." Scully buried her face in her hands trying to get a handle on the situation. "Mulder, why didn't you tell me? I don't know about you but that type of display from a sixteen-year-old isn't exactly normal. If you knew there was something wrong with her you should have told me!" "She didn't want me to. I thought she needed some kind of release to get through her feeling that she had power over the men whom ruined her life. I felt the same way and I still do. I never thought that she would go through with it. We made a deal: if she didn't go I wouldn't go." "If you were in her place what would you do?" Mulder closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He hated it when Scully was angry with him. This time it was worse because he blamed himself as well. This wasn't one of those things that was only about him. He was selfish but Scully always pointed it out. He tried not to be self centered, it was part of a deal they made with one another. He had to remember that he is not the only person on his side, and she had to be a little more of an open mind. So far they both weren't living up to their deal. But this time it was different. This wasn't about himself. This was about a sixteen-year-old, whose parents were murdered. She was obviously a lot more disturbed by these events a hell of a lot more than she's let on. "I probably would have done what she did." he admitted after a long moment of silence. "All right for now, but remember I'm still angry." Scully replied and moved quickly away from him. She walked over to where Skinner was talking with the doctor and Jean's friends. Mulder followed her. "...but I have to see her!" Peter yelled at the doctor. He didn't believe it until this happened but maybe Jean wasn't really going as insane as he thought. "I'm sorry I can let you do that." Dr. O'Malley replied as if this boy was a bug he wanted to get rid of. "Why?" "It's after visiting hours and she needs her rest. Also it's hospital policy that only family members are allowed in-" "Dr. Steven O'Malley please report to room 208. Dr. O'Malley to room 208." A voice said out of the loud speaker. "I'll be back soon to talk about this." he said then turned his heels and headed towards where he was needed. Peter realized that all of a sudden he had gotten paranoid. Everyone was out to get them. As he looked, peering through the glass window of the door and through the window behind so that he could see Jean's face. He couldn't hear her uncle reassuring him that he would be able to see her soon. His mind was with Jean. She was sitting on the edge of the bed. She was staring out the window back at him. Or at least he thought that she was. She was so full of drugs that he couldn't be sure if she was looking at him or a figment of her imagination or both. But he knew she could see him. In a minute he snapped back to what was going on behind him. "...Peter!" Aurthy almost yelled at him. "Hmm." he said turning back to his friends. "As Walter was saying," Scully noticed Aurthy had no problem with using anyone's first name, "He spoke to our families and Lippy and I are going to check into the hotel around the corner. Why don't you come with us?" Peter didn't say a thing. He sat down on the bench outside the door. "Thanks Aurth, but I think I'm going to stay here till they let me in." "Mulder, can you take them to the hotel? I want to stay here with him and Jean." Walter said and then looked at Scully, "Scully if you don't mind I would like you to stay here for a while." Scully nodded and Mulder helped Aurthy and Lippy round up there things. He started them down the hall then turned back to Scully. She looked at his face and saw that he was sorry for not telling her. She just looked away. He lingered for a moment hopping she would turn back to him but he knew she wouldn't. He continued to walk down the hall hoping he had not put their relationship in danger. ********************************************** Jean just sat there. She had moved to the spot where she could be seen by the outside and just sat there. She didn't know how long but she didn't move a muscle. The worst part of being locked up was she didn't know what time it was. Not that it mattered but she would have liked to know all the same. She could here what everybody in the area was thinking. There was the nurse right outside her room who was keeping anyone from coming in, beyond another door she heard the minds of her uncle, Peter and Scully. Her uncle's mind was filled with the repetitive "How could I let this happen?" And Peter's was much the same. Scully was trying to think of her most convincing story to get into see her. She would be glad to see Scully, but she would prefer to see Peter much more. As much as she wanted to, she would say nothing to Scully, Mulder or her uncle. Peter was the only one she would speak to. Even with the set back she was still coming up with another plan. She had a few advantages over everyone else. One: she could read their minds, which is almost always a plus. Two: they all think she doesn't know what's going on around her. The only thing she was having trouble with was the fact she didn't know what time it was. There were no windows and she didn't know if it was light out yet. She hoped it was because that would mean that someone would be in to see her soon. As if on her command the doctor, with Dana Scully, walked into her room. "I would like to be alone with her." Scully ordered him. O'Malley thought closing the door behind him. Scully was on her knees looking at Jean's unchanging expression on her face. "Jean it's me." She said putting her hand on Jean's cheek. Her face was cold to the touch and Scully couldn't keep the tears from forming. "Can you hear me?" Scully was waiting for any type of response. Jean wanted to respond. She wanted to tell her friend that she was fine, but she couldn't. Scully just watched her for a few minutes before standing up. Jean got a look at her watch as Scully pulled a chair up next to her. It was nine in the morning and she realized that she had not moved in just about six hours. After a little while Scully started to talk to Jean. She knew it didn't matter what she said but she didn't want her to be alone. ************************************************ It wasn't till that afternoon when Peter pushed his way into Jean's hospital room. Scully was still in there asleep in the chair. He was quiet not to wake her. He looked out the window and saw Mulder pacing back and forth. He put a hand on Scully's shoulder and she jumped awake. She looked up at him. He smiled, "Mulder is out there. I think he really wants to talk to you." Scully stood up and turned to Peter. "Well I'll let you two be alone." She said rubbing her eyes as she stumbled out of the room. Peter put his hand on her face. She was freezing. He carefully pulled her back towards the back of her bed. He pulled the covers over her and he sat down next to her. "Hey Jeanie." he said putting his hand back on her face. He still couldn't believe the unexpected change of heart from Dr. O'Malley "Will you speak to me? I know you can, you're just stubborn." She didn't change. Inside Jean was smiling at the way Peter was treating her. Everything was going exactly as she planned. When she was sitting there she was improving her telepathy. Altiger was helping her develop them. The last time Dr. O'Malley came in she had "influenced" his mind to let Peter in. She had practiced the technique on Scully earlier that day. Jean hopes it will work on Peter the way she wanted it to be. "I love you, Jean." He said and looked into her eyes. That was her chance. Peter was overcome by images in his head. Flashes that he couldn't understand or interpret at first but some became clearer as he analogized them. He saw everything she knew including the location of the artifact, the mission to retrieve the other pieces and where the information for the building is. For a few minutes he doubted what he saw in his mind. But when he looked into her eyes he could see that she gave the images to him. He heard her voice in his head. Without even another thought he spoke, "I'd do anything for you. Now sleep, I'll do as you asked." He said then headed for the door. He heard as he left. He smiled and headed out to find what she asked. **************************************** Peter needed to get out quickly. He knew there would be plenty of questions concerning why he was leaving so soon and he didn't want to be slowed down. He slipped past Walter Skinner, and didn't have to work hard to get past the softly arguing Mulder and Scully. He made it through to the waiting room and found whom he wanted. Lippy and Aurthy looked up as he came. "Are you all right Pete?" Lippy asked gesturing him to sit down with them. "Ya, I'm fine." he said then regrouped. "Is Jean's car here or at the hotel?" he asked using some of the insight that Jean had given him. "It's right outside. Why?" "It's hard to explain...," he said as they followed him to the car. "It will be easier when I get the proof." Even though they had no idea what he was talking about but they followed him anyway. He didn't waste anytime when he got to the car. He went to the back seat, ignored the big pot of dirt, and pretty much ripped up the upostasy on the seat. He put his head in and pulled out a big box. He didn't even open the box before jumping in the front seat of the car. Finding the box was enough proof that she was right, and that he had to follow her plan. Her turned it on and said to Lippy and Aurthy "I need to get to the hotel." ********************************** Luckily for Peter, Jean had told Aurthy and Lippy parts of the whole story. They had opened everything up and spread it around one of the rooms of the suite. They had brought up the box and the potted plant that was in the car. "Where did she get this stuff and why did you make us bring up that annoying pot?" "From what I got Skinner and Ames, her parents. They were planning to do what Jean wants to do. Look, these ID's were originally for them but Jean changed her mother's and put on her picture. I think I could do the same with her father's." "But what where's the artifact?" Aurthy asked starting to put the things back in the box in case someone came in unexpectedly. "Ah, well that's where the plant comes in." He said with the same amount of excitement Jean got when one of her stories all fell into place. Peter went over to the plant and basically ripped it out of the pot. He smiled as his hands went through the dirt. Lippy noticed that Peter had caught a hold of something. Peter grimaced as the object got stuck in the pot. He pulled it out a little too hard for his taste because he was scared of hurting it. He almost fell backward when he pulled but luckily Aurthy was right behind him. He had pulled a once white cotton bag out of the pot. He brushed it off and opened the bag. He looked like a kid in a candy store as he pulled it out. "Here's the artifact," he said holding it up in he air. Aurthy and Lippy couldn't believe their eyes. Aurthy walked up to Peter took the artifact from his hands for a closer look. It was in her hands and Aurthy could feel its power. She handed it to Lippy to see if he felt the same thing. The look in his eyes was enough to tell that he felt it. "It's amazing isn't it?" Peter said taking back the artifact and putting it in his backpack. "So what's the plan?" Aurthy said changing her attitude to the one Jean had written for her. In her movie. Lippy did the same. "We have to get her out of that hospital tonight. But we have to get everything ready first. We have to prepare for us to go on this mission the second we get her out of there." "She needs to know were coming, we should warn her." she agreed. "We can't. They're watching her. But she'll be ready and so will we." **************************************** Philadelphia General Hospital 3:04 a.m. She could feel them coming. She knew their minds well enough to know they would be here very soon. She wanted to laugh as she heard what they were thinking as they were trying to get to her. But Jean had other things to worry about. She was trying to keep everyone who was in their way preoccupied. She caught a break when the nurse and her uncle that were outside her door had fallen asleep. As they came to the outer door she closed her eyes to make sure that her uncle and the nurse would stay asleep. Before she knew it Peter was looking down on her. She opened her eyes and for the first time in two days smiled up at him. "I knew it." He said as he helped her up. "You knew what?" Jean said as she got up. Her voice was different but she hadn't spoken for about 24 hours now. Aurthy and Lippy didn't react to her immediate recovery. Aurthy handed her a gym bag. "So I'm going to prove it to you?" he nodded eagerly. "Here, change into these. Lippy, Peter, watch the door." Aurthy said to them as Jean opened the bag and pulled out her black pants suit. As she began to change she noticed that her friends were also wearing the suit they wore in same type of things she was about to put on. She knew why. The outfits they wore made them look older and they could be taken more seriously. She was ready to leave five minutes after they got there. Peter set up the bed to make it look like she was still there before they left her room. They moved quickly so they wouldn't be spotted. Jean was having no trouble trying to fit in again. Sure inside she was almost to the point where she was the evening before but now she could control it. They jumped into the car and for the first time Jean let Aurthy drive. It was pouring outside. Jean found it fitting. She grabbed the box and her backpack that Peter had packed for her. Jean needed to get ready on the way to the HGM Foundation. She fitted herself with her tranquilizer gun and all the keys and maps of the building. She was reaching for the last map when Peter grabbed it from her. "You're carrying enough I'll take this." "You're not going with me Peter. I won't let you, it's too dangerous." She continued to argue with Peter as she handed Aurthy a hands free long-range walkie-talkie. "There is an extra walkie-talkie in the glove compartment just in case.," she said breaking from her conversation with Peter. "I don't get one?" Peter asked as they pulled up to the side street. She opened the car door and looked back at him. "I thought you were coming?" She said with a smile. She knew from the start that he would be joining her. Peter smiled and got out of the car after her into the rain. Jean swung by the front seat before she left and told Aurthy to only move unless they were spotted. Jean and Peter headed for the front door of the building. Before buzzing in she looked over at Peter. He looked like he was in his late twenties. She imagined she looked the same way. Considering Christopher Jackson mistook her for her mother. "You ready?" He nodded, "Remember let me do the talking." She buzzed for the security guard. The door opened a minute later. The security guard was twice as big as Jean and Peter. Peter was taken aback but Jean didn't flinch. "Can I help you?" He said leading them to the security desk. "Yes," Jean began, "I'm Dr. Sonya Parker," she pulled out her ID that said she was cleared to go anywhere in the building. "I'm here to check on my project on the 8th floor." "I haven't seen you here before, Dr. Parker." He said skeptically taking her ID. Jean said nothing. "Sir, can I see your pass." "Dr. Salvatore," Peter said as he handed it to him. It was identical to hers. The guard typed the ID numbers into the computer. As the information came up he got a look of excitement on his face. "Well Dr. Parker, Dr. Salvatore do you have you work paper..." Jean didn't know what he was talking about. She looked at him and saw his hand move to his gun. "Yeah," she said reaching into her jacket. "I got my paper right here!" She said pulling out her tranquilizer gun and lighting fast pressed it into his arm and pulled the trigger. He fell to the floor. She picked up his gun as Peter hand cuffed him under the desk. "Let's go Pete, we don't have much time." They went to the elevator and pressed the up button. "We have to go to the 8th floor not the 14th because you can't get past the security on any of the higher floors. We'll have to go through the air ducts." She tucked the gun, she had taken, into the small of her back and handed Peter her tranq gun. She clipped the walkie-talkie to her ear and spoke into the microphone. "We're in the elevator. If anything happens out there keep us informed." She heard the tone of confirmation and went on. "You got this whole thing planned out didn't you?" "Mom and Dad did." The elevator came. They went in and Peter pressed the button for the tenth floor. The moment the door closed Jean took off the black suit jacket and started unbuttoning her dress shirt. Peter turned around embarrassed and confused at what she was doing. "Oh turn around, Peter. I'm wearing a tank. You could see more of me when I'm in a bathing suit." She was right she was still wearing a black ribbed tank top. "The less you wear going thought the air duct the better." She put the clothes in her backpack and Peter followed her lead except he was wearing a white T-shirt. The door opened on the 8th floor. Fortunately for them the only other guard on the building was not on that floor, but unfortunately they weren't on the floor they needed to get to. "We need to find room #0845." He said looking at the room numbers and the blueprints. "That should take us exactly four floors below to find the rest of the artifact." She nodded as she came to the door. She saw a vent next to the door. That one was big enough for them to get in and she prayed the others would be the same. She tried to open the door but it was locked. "It looks like your parents were going to pick the lock. "Peter said reading the little notes on the plans that Skinner-Ames had made. Jean smiled again as she rummaged though her backpack. "What are you getting?" "I'm way ahead of them." She pulled out a standard FBI issue lock picker. "I stole this from my uncles desk before I left." She unlocked the door. "Looks like it came in handy. The other doors we open will be key-cards, which we don't have." She opened it and walked in. They closed the door behind them. It was dark and Peter turned on his flashlight. The room was big and filled with desks. It looked like a normal office building. He shone the flashlight around until they found the vent. "Let's get moving." ************************************ Walter Skinner awoke suddenly. He had a weird feeling coming over him. He saw the nurse at her station playing cards and decided to go in and see Jean. As he approached her door. The feeling increased. He went over to her bed. Immediately he knew what was wrong. She wasn't there. He ran out of the room to the nurse. He was screaming. "Where is she?" and things of that nature. The duty nurse called security as Skinner took out his phone and called Mulder at the hotel. "Mulder." a sleepy Mulder answered his phone. "Mulder, Jean is missing. Are they still there?" He was referring to Peter, Aurthra, and Lionel. It took a minute for Mulder to answer. "They're not here, sir." he finally answered. "Damn it! I think they took her to that building she had you find out about. Can you get here now? I need to get there." "I'll be there in ten minutes." Mulder said then hung up the phone. Skinner went back to the panic of nurses and other hospital staff over their missing mental patient. He went over to the nurses' station where the monitor for Jean's room was. He rewound the taped for about an hour ago. He saw Jean's friends enter the room and then her leaving with them. She was walking perfectly. He slammed his hand down on the desk and headed for the door. He knew what she was planning and he couldn't let her do it. ******************************* The air vent was getting stuffier by the minute. They where climbing straight up and there weren't many foot holes to keep their balance. They at least had some experience in climbing. When they were younger they would climb trees or mountains depending on what was the closest. But never did they suspect that the would be climbing this. "How much farther?" Jean counted the floors they already passed. We have four more left." she said pulling herself into one of the side vents. "We'll rest for a minute." she called down to him. They sat there catching their breaths. Jean kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong from this point but she would roll with the punches. She didn't stop just for Peter she had stopped because Altiger was slowing taking control, again. ******************************* Somewhere else in the building "We lost her." Krycek said upon entering the Cancerman's office. "She left the hospital and her Uncle didn't know about it. "That's why I'm here. This building is her target and if you check on our guard downstairs we will find she is already in the building." "We'll get her.," he said turning to leave. "No. Let her go to the artifact. She has brought us the missing piece. We will grab her after she has gotten all the pieces, and then, you know what to do." *********************************** They had one more floor to climb up and Jean found that she could no longer keep control of herself and Altiger took over fully again. She began to climb faster and left Peter in her dust. She was in the lab a good four minutes ahead of him. She jumped out of the vent and stood up in the dark. She turned on the flashlight scanned the room. She caught a glimpse of a display case at the far end of the room. Altiger ignored the struggling Peter and went straight over to it. She stopped dead about a foot before reaching it. Peter called softly out to her as he pulled himself up into the lab. He knew the Altiger had taken over. When Jean had projected the images into his head, she had also showed him how to see the signs. He didn't know how he had to act around her. He walked quietly up behind her. He looked at what she was looking at. He didn't know why she wasn't moving. "What's going on? The pieces are right there!" Without moving Altiger answered, "It is not. They are fakes." **********End Part Two********************** From: Lisa Zander Date: 7 Dec 99 00:44:31 America/Fort_Wayne Subject: xfc: Teenage Girls Series #4: Games &Toys (3 of 3) Source: xfc From: Lisa Zander Teenage Girls Series #4: Games &Toys (3 of 3) Part Three ******************************************** "The pieces have been moved. There is a new security guard downstairs. We have guards outside Lab 45 waiting for her." Krycek told his boss. "Make sure you take her in good health. There's something about her that we need to fine out." "Of course." ******************************************** "We can't let you go in now. You can get her killed!" Aurthy yelled at Skinner and Mulder as they tried to get past her and Lippy. "She could get killed no matter what we do." Skinner argued. "We can't let you do this..." ****************************************** Jean was quiet for a long time by Peter's measure. She seemed to be lock in concentration and Peter didn't want to bother Altiger. He was confused on how without even touching it she knew it was a fake. But then again Altiger wasn't normal. She opened her eyes and turned to Peter. "Peter?" Jean called out to him. Peter knew it was Jean because the voice had all the emotion the voice carried. "Jean, that you, right? Not that-" "No! It's me." He heard her take a deep breath. "One thing I've learned was Altiger isn't good at planning then she is at doing. She can't make a decision, but I can and she can carry it out." "So you have a plan?" "Yes." She pulled something out of her bag. He couldn't see what it was except it had a green glowing light in the dome. He assumed it was the artifact. "It will lead the way to the other pieces." He realized that the lights were in the pattern of the floor plan and there was another line showing the way to get there. It was right down the main hall. He could see that this was the most important piece of the device. "That's cool. How did you know it could do that?" "I didn't." holding the piece in her left hand she pulled out the gun she had taken from the guy downstairs. She reached for the door. "Wait shouldn't you tell Aurthy that this is going to take longer then expected?" "I did. She can here everything I say." "Oh." She was going to open the door to the lab when she stopped and moved away. "We can't go out that way, they're out there." He didn't question her. "They're waiting for us to get out there in the main hallway. Let's go back in the vent and move left into the secondary hallway." ********************************************** "They're going into a vent?" Mulder asked after hearing Jean in the walkie-talkie he had taken from Aurthy. For the first time Aurthy looked like she could kill him. "Give that back!" Aurthy tried to grab it but Mulder pushed her back. "Can we get to them?" Skinner asked as he held Lippy back. "I don't know where they are." Mulder said. "How do I talk to them, Aurthy?" "You don't. Only I know how to and you will never find out." "What should we do?" Mulder asked Skinner. "You keep monitoring Jean. I'll put these kids in the car so they don't get away." ********************************************** Jean's plan worked. They made it to they secondary hallway that ran parallel to the main hallway that had all the guard in it. They had to be careful as they made their way down the hall. Every few yards there was space where they would be seen. They made their way with little trouble. They came to the last stretch. There was only one more passage left that would bring them back to the main hallway. She peeked her head around the corner to get a sense of how many guards were out there. When she was satisfied she moved back in the safe zone where Peter waited. She pulled the walkie-talkie out of her ear. "She should have checked in by now. My uncle must be there, this is useless. "There is about five yards to the passage way for us to cover before we get to the main hall." She whispered. "There are seven guards on this floor that we have to take out before entering that room." She put the piece in her backpack and took out the extra tranquilizer gun from her bag and traded it for her own that Peter held. "I thought you were going to use the gun?" He asked getting used to the grip of the new tranq. gun. "I don't want to hurt anybody. Permanently I mean." "So what do we do now?" "I have a plan..." ******************************************** They had gone over the plan twice and waited for them to be completely relaxed. Before starting what they couldn't stop. They only had one chance and they didn't want to blow it. They positioned themselves on each side of the passageway. Each ready to fire in a seconds' notice. "On three. One, two... three." She called and they moved halfway down the passage. Two of the guards spotted them "Freeze!" They screamed as they ran to get Jean and Peter. Jean and Pete waited for them to get closer and fired. The two guards fell to the ground. Jean and Peter stayed where they were for the next batch of guards to come running down the passage. Jean looked over and Peter. They could just about read each other's minds. They stayed in a ready to fire position. They heard the voices of the mean running down the main hall trying to find out what happened with their friends. Jean held up three fingers, then pointed two to the right and one to the left. This was their signal. Since Jean could still read minds she decided to use it to her advantage. There were three guard coming all together and how many and where they were coming from. Peter nodded and waited for them to show up. This time hitting their target caused almost no stress at all. Peter hit the guard on the left and Jean had no trouble hitting the two to the right. "You always had good aim." Peter said as they went all the way down the passage quietly stepping though the sleeping bodies. "There are two more guards on this floor," she whispered, "their guarding the door we need to get to. They have orders not to move. We could shout them both but we need the one on the left to get into the lab." "What could make him help us?" "His life." She took out the real gun she had never wanted to use. She put the safety on the tranq. gun and put it in the small of her back. "I thought you never wanted to use that?" Peter asked finally understanding how dangerous this situation really was. "If I do my job right, I won't have to. We'll go on three." She counted to three and ran out into the hall. Before Jean could do her job Peter had to do his. Peter was about to shoot the guard but he froze. Jean was moving forward not noticing his hesitation. The guard pulled out his gun and threatened them to stop where they were. Jean looked at Peter out of the corner of her eye. "Peter come on shoot him. It won't hurt him and I can't." She said so only he could hear. The guard was right in front of them and if he wasn't out of the picture right know the mission would go to hell. Without thinking she pulled the gun out of his hand and pulled the trigger. Even with one hand her aim was good and the guard was down. She tossed the tranq gun back to him and held the gun on the other guard. She completely ignored Peter and he thought that Altiger might have taken over. "You open the door or else I kill you. She said as stoic as she thought Altiger would have said it. The guard couldn't move quickly enough for her. The gun was right up against his head. As the door opened Jean reached into her pocket and pushed the tranquilizer dart into his arm. She walked in to he room. Peter followed, he was worried about what had happened back there. The bright lights were on in the room and the device was right there. It was on a table all put together all she had to do was insert her piece in the center. As she was getting the piece from her backpack Peter decided to speak. "I'm sorry about what happened back there." "It's fine," she said as she concentrated on getting the piece into the right spot. Jean was distracted and didn't care about anything that happened before. The piece she held looked wild with the green display shining against her face. It almost seemed excited like the being inside her... As she was about to place the piece in when it occurred to her. Altiger was the being living inside the tiger that attacked her. Al-tiger. She felt stupid as she finally put it together. She would find out soon. She placed the piece in anticipation. Both Peter and her saw the rest of the pieces light up as the piece connected itself with the others. They fussed together. "It's beautiful." Peter said having seen so many things that were thought to be lost forever. She knew he was right but her destiny wasn't finished yet. She had one more step but she didn't know how to get through it. "Yes it is." She said then turned to him and turned him to her. "I'm going to do something that I have a 50/50 chance of living through." She gave him one long kiss, thinking it might be the last she would be able to give him. Once she put her hands on the green display dome she would be confronted with Altiger. That would be the battle for her body. She stopped the kiss by pushing him as far away as she could. As she placed her hands just above the device ready to put them down on it. Peter was going to pull her back when she placed her hands down. He couldn't move as a green light filled the room followed by a burst of energy that pushed him to the ground. He sat up and saw the beam floating around Jean like a force field. He was scared to touch it. ********************************************* "She has the device?!" The Cancerman scream outraged at the concept that a 16 year-old could out smart him. He ran out of his office to ambush the girl himself. Krycek followed with one of the guards. *********************************************** Jean felt as if she was spinning. Everything was a mesh of colors. She knew things were there but she was moving to fast to process. Everything went black and she felt as if she was flying. The seen changed and she was now she was floating with the clouds. She looked down at the planet below her. It wasn't earth it was so different. She couldn't even tell the reasons why. She passed an Alien City and flied back into space. She came to a new planet that she recognized. It was Earth. She was being brought down to on specific place on the Earth. Cambodia. The place where she had first joined with Altiger. Closed her eyes. The next time she opened them she was standing in the exact place she was when she was attacked nine years ago. The light from the sun peered thought the trees washing everything in shadows. She looked around for a moment before the tiger appeared. She took a deep breath as she looked into the tiger's eyes. They were the same way she remembered them. She thought she was going to be attacked again. Then she remembered that she's not actually here. She walked straight up to the tiger and petted it. The change was instantaneous. The tiger transformed into some kind of alien. It was short and gray with big black eyes. Jean jumped back and she heard an intense ringing in her ears that made her fall to the jungle floor. Jean was sure it was trying to take over her. She looked up at the Alien coming to her. It extended a hand to help her up. In that moment, besides the pain she was feeling, she knew that it didn't want to hurt her. That she had to trust it. She grabbed the hand and pulled herself up. She hand to turn away as she got up and when she finally looked back the figure of the alien turned into a girl! She looked a little younger than Jean. She had blond curly hair and was wearing a loosely fitting dress that had a yellow flower pattern on it. As Jean looked in awe of her transformation. The girl just smiled, "I thought you would like this appearance." She said. The voice was sweet and happy so unlike the one she had heard in her head for so long. But still somewhere in the voice there was a trace of The Voice. Also she noted that she spoke better now, more fluently then before. "Altiger?" she asked the girl she nodded and Jean continued, "Alien-Tiger." "Yes." She laughed. "You can understand me and I can understand you. Do you know how long I've waited for this?" "What do you mean?" Jean had some idea of what was going on but she wanted to hear it from Altiger. "Well, I'll explain it." She said cheerfully. Jean couldn't get over it. She sounded like she should be a cheerleader. Altiger sat down on the ground and motioned for Jean to sit next to her. Jean did so and Altiger took her hand. "Well before you got here I showed you a world. That was my original home. Ten years ago when I was just, your equivalent to a two-year-old, my parents took me on a ship to your planet. We were supposed to give the device to a colony here but the ship crashed. My parents and my other people died on in that crash. "I was the last one left. I was alone a little but I knew if I found that device I would be able to get by. You see it's a...I don't know how it translates. I guess it would be a toy, young children use it to learn. It makes scenes depending on the persons mind, like this one." She paused a minute and looked into Jeans eyes. "It helps two languages to communicate. "I was scared and alone. My people could transform themselves into anything and I chose the first thing I saw, a tiger. I took that shape so I could look for those pieces in peace. I could only find one piece because you and your parents took the other pieces." Jean took a deep breath. What she was waiting for had to be coming up. Altiger looked pained as she spoke. "On one of the days I was looking for the rest of the pieces your mother found the piece I had already hidden. I aways had a special connection with it. When I found out it was missing I traced it to your backpack. I assumed that you mother put it there." She paused. "I was alone and scared. I didn't know about your people like I do now. I couldn't understand you and you had what was mine, I was confused so I attacked you. I didn't know you we're a child like me. I didn't know that until I looked into your eyes." She got up and began to pace. The once cheerful girl had slowly become upset. "I realized that during the attack I injured you. So I did the only thing I could do. There was no reason to stay where I was, because I was alone. I put my mind into yours, my spirit actually. I was able to keep you from harm but once I was inside your head I got lost and couldn't go back to my body. It had permanently turned into a tiger and I couldn't go back. All I wanted was to get my toy back. I just could never say it the way you would understand. "I knew nothing of your language or the pictures in your head. I didn't know how to talk to you and tell you I was there. Over the years looking through you eyes I learned things. Words, pictures, anything to communicate with. So I did. I could read minds even thought I didn't know what they were talking about. I got feelings of people intentions and eventually you picked up on them. And I learned new things to when you started to understand. Like how I learned to take over." "You know for a while I thought I was crazy." Jean added having not spoken for a long time. "I know, believe me, that thought is universal. When your parents were killed I cried too. I love your brother and your uncle. I'm a part of you." "What happens now?" Jean said standing to Altiger. "Nothing really. When you go back to the real world I'll still be there. I can't leave you. I don't know how. But now we can communicate with one another easily. The toy has bridged the gap in our minds and everything will be clearer. I can help you with more ease now." "So I'll have my own best friend inside my head?" she joked. "Basically." Altiger said returning to her playful self. They both laughed. "Do we need the toy anymore?" "No you can let them have it. Give them hell when you get back. I won't bother you." Jean looked around. "Will I ever see you this way again?" "I'll show you when we get back." She said trying to get her back to the real world. "Peter is in trouble." "I better hurry. I'll give hell for both of us." she smiled and the realized, "How the hell do I get back?" ************************************************ Peter had never been more worried in his life. She had not moved from the beam for ten minutes. He had tried to get to her but the field pushed him away. All he could do was wait. He heard sounds from outside the room. He quickly locked the door from the inside and tried pushing a desk up against it. It was too heavy for him. The door swung open and The Cigarette Smoking Man and Krycek walked in. Peter looked over at Jean and hoped she could get out of that thing right now. As if on cue the force field shut down. Jean turned, with the device in her hands and looked at Krycek and then the other man. They did not seem surprised by what they just saw. Peter ran next to her. She fought the urged she had to go over to Krycek and kick his ass but she held it back. "Give that to us!" The old man yelled at her. Peter prepared himself for a fight. "I have every intention to." She said plainly. She enjoyed seeing the shock on their faces. "What are you doing?" Peter whined in her eyes. She elbowed him in the ribs. He decided she knew what she was doing. "Then give it to us." "I will." She took a deep breath and continued, she heard Altiger cheering her on. "Do you know what this is?" They didn't answer her. "That was not a rhetorical question. I will take that as a no. You probably think this is a weapon. Something that you could use to further control the world. You killed to get this and you don't even know why you killed for it!" " She was screaming now. All of the anger she had for them was showing up right now. She took another deep breath and the next time she spoke, she was as calm as when she started. "Well, I'll tell you what you found: nothing but a child's toy. It's a toy. It fits in with all the games that you play. The world to you is nothing but games and toys." She put the toy back on the desk to the gun. She picked up her backpack, grabbed Peter's arm. She pulled him with her to the door. The man hadn't moved since she made her little speech and she was not sure if she could cross them. "Can we leave or are you going to kill us?" Jean asked sarcastically. "Krycek, escort the young Miss Skinner and her friend to the lobby. I believe her uncle is waiting." Krycek moved out of the way but she didn't moved. She realized that he would not hurt her. "Let's go then." ********************************************* Jean and Peter did not speak once they entered the elevator. Krycek kept looking at her. She did the same, she saw no remorse in him. He had killed many people and didn't seem to care. She couldn't stand being in the same room as the man who killed her parents. Jean put her jacket back on as the door opened on the ground floor. "Walk them out." Krycek said to the guard who was waiting for them. Clearly he didn't want to run into Mulder or Skinner just now. She and Peter walked out of the elevator but Jean turned back. She handed Peter her backpack and went back into the elevator. "What are you doing?" Krycek asked as she slammed the door close button. "Giving you what you deserve-" it was at that moment that she kicked him in the balls. He moaned and Jean couldn't help but smile. Then She punched him in the face. He fell backwards into the wall. "But this isn't even the tip of the ice burg!" She pressed the door open button and walked out. Peter said nothing to her about her actions. And even if he did say something she wouldn't have heard it. She was listening to Altiger cheering her on again. She didn't know what was going to happen with them but she knew it wouldn't be that bad. ************************************************* Scully's Apartment July 24, 1999 Mulder had wanted to come over yesterday but he felt she it was still too soon. He was scared about what had happened between each other. She was still angry with him for keeping her out of the loop. He understood how she felt. He probably would be acting the same way. He was still in the hallway because he was scared to knock on her door. At last he finally did. She opened the door a minute later. To his surprise, when she turned to greet him she was wearing a smile. "Hello Mulder." He was confused "Hi, Scully." He said finally. "Your not still angry?" "I am." She said and he became scared, "but I'm not going to let that get between our six years of friendship," She said still keeping herself in control that easily. Let's talk..." She let him enter her apartment. ********************************************** Walter Skinner's Residence August 15, 1999 Jean Skinner-Ames was sitting in the living room trying to finish getting her things together. It had been a few weeks since the "incident". He's life was so different now. Peter had gone back to his parents. He has no memory of what really happened to them. She thought it was best for him not to remember everything she had given him during her time at the hospital. It was for his safety. It also gave her practice with using her powers. She learned how to live with the powers that Altiger had given her. She could read minds but only did it when it was necessary. She could also effect them to do her will. But she didn't like prying into other people's minds. She felt that it wasn't right. She wouldn't like other people doing that to her. So she let Altiger be the filter, giving her nudges to go in the right direction. Her life was coming together again and she could wait to embrace it. She was happy but she was going to be leaving her uncle for a while. Josh had spent the whole week at Uncle Walter's house because it was easier for Aunt Sharon to pack up her house with out him around. She was moving to Montana for a new job and so she could be closer with her sister. She was going to take Josh with her. Walter was upset but he thought it was for the best. Jean had decided to go with at least for a while. Jean looked around for anything she might want to take with her. They were leaving today but she wasn't ready to go. Her aunt would be by soon to pick Josh and her up to go to the airport. Jean heard the running of her brother in the kitchen and went in to join him. She smiled as she watched him eat. Most of the cereal wound up on his face. She grabbed a towel and cleaned up his face. "Jeanie? You coming wight?" he asked his big sister. He looked so innocent and sounded so sweet. She could never get angry about him calling her Jeanie. "For a little while. Till you and Auntie get settled." She wanted to protect him from everything but she couldn't she remembered when she told him what happened to their parents. "Is Unky Wully going to be wonely?" He made the word lonely sound like a death sentence. "I don't know." She looked at her watch. "I want you to go to the bathroom right now before we leave, okay?" He nodded and ran out of the kitchen. As she cleaned up his meal, she thought about his question. "Is Uncle Wally going to be lonely?" She walked back into the living room and saw him standing at the balcony. She went out to talk to him. "She'll be hear soon." "I know," he said without looking at her. "How long will you be gone?" "I'm not sure. As long as Sharon needs me, I guess." Then added, "I'm not starting college for at least till January. I have a lot to reconsider. My goals have changed. And I want to still be a kid." It was true she had no more interest in making movies. With everything that happened she didn't want to deal with it. The events of a few weeks ago were never talked about. It was best for everybody who was concerned. They had moved on and in some cases moving a lot forward. Even though he was still compromised by Krycek, they had reached the point they where at five years ago. They were friends again. She was looking up to him like he was her father. In a way he was the father of this part of her life. "I'm coming back, you can bet on it." As they exchanged a hug he thought about how strange this place would be without her. Especially how clean it would be. They walked back inside the apartment. "I'm going to miss you." "Me too. Let's get Josh and go downstairs to meet Sharon." He grabbed her suit case as Josh ran back into the living room. They were halfway out the door when; "I left something in my room. Meet me downstairs." "Okay, but lock up." She nodded and ran back to her room. She grabbed her ever-trusty backpack and turned to leave. She hesitated and looked at her room. It was much like her old one. She had put up the tiger posters. She had aways found it fitting to keep them there. In the past weeks she had stopped thinking of her tattoo as a warning and more of the picture of the other soul inside her. She had a friend that could never be taken away. She thought of how lonely her uncle was going to be and that she would never be alone again. Altiger sat in her mind looking out into her world. Not that she understood everything Jean did she had no problems taking over. She would acted just like Jean that she didn't have to take over. There were so many bad things in Jean's life; she wanted to take away. If it was in her power she would never let anyone hurt her friend, Tiger Skames, again. *************End Part Three********************* This is the last story in "The Tiger Skames Trilogy" of my series. I'm sure she will be back though.