Title: The Way IV: Sunday (1/2)
Author: RocketMan >lbontger@wmcstations.com<
SPOILERS::::::::REDUX::::::::RED AND THE BLACK::::::::COLONY/ENDGAME

see part one for other

The Way IV: Sunday (1/2)

=====
"And now I will show you the most perfect way."
--1 Corinthians 12:31
"The cruelest ironies are those consecrated by the passage of time:
chanced and occasioned by shocking discovery."
--Scully, Redux
=====

He tapped once more on her motel door, lightly so he wouldn't wake her
if she was asleep.

He pushed open the connecting door after a moment and stood in the dim
light coming from his own room. 

She was lying sprawled in the bed, one leg crooked and stradled across
her pillow and the other straight. Her arms were flung to either side as
if embracing the bed and her cheek was flushed against the sheets.

He sat down in a rickety wooden chair and let his laptop and case files
clatter to the table.

She jerked and drew in, her limbs displayed in neat lines and her face
more clearly seen.

He walked over to the bed and squatted down next to it, balancing on the
balls of his feet and leaning against the side.

He stroked the side of her face and whispered her name, hoping to bring
her out of sleep slowly, without nightmares.

Her eyes opened instantly and she stiffened.

"Scully?" 
 
He saw her twist, felt the bed shudder as she looked straight at him,
and heard her breath coming slowly in and out.

He relaxed.

"Mulder?" she asked hesitantly, looking down at herself then at him.

"Just came in to wake you, Scully."

"Oh no. What time is it?" She pulled herself up and blinked, growing
accustomed to the environment again.

"Eight."

She frowned. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long. I took a run and grabbed a shower then spent some time on my
laptop."

She nodded. "Well, give me some time to take a shower and we can go get
breakfast."
~~~~~

His room was dark and just looked seedier even though it was the exact
same layout as hers. She followed him reluctantly to his door and
deposited the bag of muffins on the table, throwing her sunglasses down
next to it.

He shut the door and slumped onto the bed.

She sat down next to him and pushed the hair from his eyes. "You okay
Mulder?"

He nodded and took her hand, then stood and grabbed the bag containing
their breakfast. He handed her the raisin and nut muffin and kept the
chocolate chocolate one for himself. 

"Wait a sec," she muttered and sprinted for her room, shoving open the
connecting door so he could see her rooting around in her bag.

She pulled out two bottles of water and tossed one to him, letting him
catch it with a rushed grace.

She untwisted the cap and gulped down the clear water.

"Uh, Scully, I don't like bottled water." he said softly.

She smiled. "I know. It's not. Plain tap water in a bottle. I rinsed out
some old ones I had and filled it with water."

He gave her a bright smile and an odd look. "Thanks. . . I never . . ."

She tilted her head. "Never what?"

"Never had anyone think of me like that."

She smiled, but her eyes were soft and hurting for him. 

"You're welcome." she said gently and sat back down on the bed, eating
her muffin in silence.

He scarfed his down and tried to dispel the feeling of suffocating they
were under by pacing the room and growing agitated.

Finally, he sat down and stared at her.

She swallowed a bite and sighed. "What'd you find Mulder?"

He gave her a show-off grin and pulled out his laptop.

"I was thinking about something you said the other day. You asked if I
had joined the children's crusade."

"Right. I remember."

"So I was looking that up on the net, trying to figure out why that
stuck in my head so much. Did you know there really was a Children's
Crusade?"

She frowned. "No."

"A huge number of children during the Crusade era became convinced they
could reclaim the Holy Grail and  so they marched all the way to France,
huge scores of them, Scully. Once they met there, they walked all the
way to the Medditeranean Sea where they believed it should part for them
like Moses and the Red Sea. About 90% of them died on the long journey
over and the few survivors tried to hitch rides on ships. The rest
drowned in storms or were sold into slavery to the Muslims."

She frowned and shook her head. "All those kids. How in the world did
all that get started?"

He shrugged. "For a long time, people thought that God had directed
them. But it came out that one of the religious leaders of a church in
France spurred a few kids who ended up having a fervor unmatched by
anything. They spread the word and . . . well, you heard what happened."

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. . ." she quoted,
rubbing her forehead.

"Yeah, they took that to heart."

She looked up at him. "So what does this have to do with our warehouse?"

"Merchandise, Scully. An army of children, just like in the Children's
Crusades. Sam said she thought they were kids, but were called weapons,
meaning that they were probably both. A whole army of kids, Scully.
That's what they've got in there."

"Mulder, that's so hypothetical, it's insane."

"What else could it be?"

"I don't know, Mulder. But don't limit yourself to that. Come on, surely
there are thousands of other explanations you can give me."

He turned to see her, clued in by the way her voice was laughing at him.

She was smiling. 

"Are you laughing at me?" he said, darting in close to her.

She grinned. "Maybe."

He sat down on the bed and shook his head. "Ah, so now the truth comes
out. You've secretly been laughing at me all these years."

She shook her head. "I'm just trying to make you see what you're saying.
We have no ideas or clues as to what's in there, virtually nothing but
an address and you've come up with armies of children. Mulder, listen to
yourself."

He shook his head and looked at her with a bit of sadness.

"Yeah, I know. It sounds nuts, but it feels right."

"Well, we won't know if we don't start driving. Come on, Mulder, let's
get going."

He stood and watched her head back to her room to put up the few
articles she still had laying out.

He smiled when she didn't shut the connecting door.
~~~~~

It started to rain as they passed by Nashville, the drops large and
splattering heavily into the windshield.

She watched it with half a mind, thinking more on what he had said
earlier.

He'd never had anyone to take the time to care about him. It made her
sad, made her want to look after him forever. What she had done was so
small, but it made such a difference to him, to know she was thinking
about him and his needs.

She always thought about him, she loved him. That went without saying
she thought. Maybe he just didn't know what love was, and that was why
he was so surprised. 

She sighed and closed her eyes wishing to be somewhere else, maybe at
home with a good book and no signs of an X-File.

She felt his hand come to rest on her knee and squeeze. She opened her
eyes to look at him.

"You okay, Scully?" he asked, eyes still carefully on the road.

"I'm fine, Mulder."

That got her a quick glance from him and his hand withdrew.

"Mulder, really." she said softly, taking his hand and holding it
tightly.

He nodded and chewed the inside of his mouth, then pulled away his hand
and focused on the highway.
~~~~~

It was lunchtime when they arrived in Dickson, the closest town to
Charlotte that still had a motel, and they stopped at the McDonalds
smack in the middle of the small town. 

When they walked in, Scully had the distinct impression of being
incredibly overdressed, even though she was in black pants and a cotton
short sleeved sweater.

Mulder, in his black jeans and grey T-shirt blended a bit better, but
not in the way his hair looked imacculate and his jeans free of dirt or
grease.

Scully surveyed the dining area as Mulder ordered and sat down at a
table by the window, waiting for him with straws and napkins.

A man in a large dirtied cowboy hat scooted past a couple coming from
the restrooms, and a little boy with a dirt smudged face followed behind
with a vacant look. In his hand he gripped a Might Morphin Power Ranger.

Even Scully knew that Power Rangers were no longer the cool thing for
little kids.

A woman wearing three plastic bangle bracelets was chomping loudly on
her fries in the booth over, the white and blue and green jewelry
clanking loudly.

Scully raised her eyebrow as Mulder came over and sat down and she
looked right at him.

"Do you get the idea that everyone here is a few years off fashion? And
that they really couldn't care less?"

He chuckled. "Shame on you Scully. Just because your taste is superb
doesn't mean you have to look down on everyone else. They're just poor
country bumpkins."

She raised her eyebrow just as a not-so-poor man walked in McDonalds.

"Better re-assess, Mulder."

He looked back and whistled.

"Never mind. His taste blows yours out of the water."

The man was wearing a finely tailored suit with grey pin stripe and a
small lapel pin that sparkled with diamonds. His dress shirt was grey
with maroon lines running thinly downward, and his tie was silk and
matched perfectly with his shirt and suit.

His wrist watch caught in the light and she guessed gold band with
silver frame and his initials engraved in it too.

"Wow. He's got money."

"Or something."

She narrowed her eyes, watching the gears turn in Mulder's head.

"No, Mulder. Do not jump to conclusions. Stay right here."

He flashed her an excited look. "But Scully, everyone else obviously
isn't as well off-"

"Mulder, wait until we can thoroughly case the warehouse and know for
certain what goes on."

He attempted to stand, but she yanked on his sleeve hard.

"Mulder." she growled.

He blinked and looked back to her. "Scully."

"Do not get up. Stay right here. Let's just eat and find a place to
stay."

He looked at her for a long time, eyes warring with hers and his heart
screaming at him to let it go.

He sighed and slumped back into the booth. "Let's eat, Scully."
~~~~~

There was one motel and it was fairly nice, clean and fresh with the
smell of Pine-Sol and Tide.

Mulder got them one room with two beds inside, giving her some obscure
reason that sounded fairly good. Something like it would be harder for
anyone tracing them if there was only one room.

Something like that. She was a little too tired to care.

She dumped her stuff on the bed closest to the bathroom, letting him
have the one by the door. He watched her unpack for a moment then sat
down.

"Scully. . .if this turns out to be bogus, I'll take you anywhere you
want to go."

She turned to see him. "What?"

"Well, this is our vacation time and while I don't mind spending it on
this, you deserve-"

"Mulder. Hold on. I came up with this idea. I'm fine. Believe me. I'm
fine."

He nodded and started unpacking himself.

"As soon as we're done here, we'll go check out the warehouse."
~~~~~
end part one of IV
adios
In Him
RM

Title: The Way IV: Sunday (2/2)
Author: RocketMan >lbontger@wmcstations.com<

see part one for other

Sunday (2/2)

=====
"And now I will show you the most excellent way."
--1 Corinthians 12:31
"We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip."
--Verve Pipe, "Freshmen"
=====

"Mulder, it looks like a day care."

He snorted. "This is ridiculous."

She grabbed the night vision goggles from his hands and put them to her
eyes, focusing them to fit her eyesight.

The building was two story with white brick and friendly looking
lettering that spelled: "Sunnyside."

She panned left and found a playground with old, wooden equipment and a
chain link fence. Thirteen boys were swinging listlessly from the tire
swings, their faces turned from her and their bodies slumped in the
heat.

She shifted her view to the right and saw a single steel door, the knob
shiny and new and an expensive keypad lock and card swipe to the side.
The door was also painted white and she saw no receptionist or signs of
more children.

The upstairs was obscured partially by trees, but she saw no windows,
only a straight smooth facade.

"Mulder, this looks odd."

"Scully, it's a stupid day care. I just hope that we haven't been set-up
somehow."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her mind turning away from the little
niggling facts pushing her forward.

"I think that when we get back, they'll have done something. Found a way
to get us shut down. I can feel it coming to that, Scully. Things that
have happened have been so close to driving us apart. The bridge on the
dam . . ."

"Wait, Mulder. Look closer."

He frowned and took the binoculars back from her.

"I don't see what you're seeing." He glanced back to her.

"Keep looking." she said and waited until he was peering through them
again. "Okay, the kids on the playground."

"Yeah. Uh, thirteen of them. All boys, probably ready to go on inside."

"Mulder, first of all. What time is it?"

He frowned. "Hunh?"

"It's seven o'clock at night. Why are thirteen boys out on the
playground?" 

He frowned. "And why only boys? Some kind of segregation policy?"

"And why do they look so sad Mulder? They're not just hot, they're
listless. Off somewhere in another world."

He smiled at her with a look of relief. "You think there's more to
this?"

She glanced once again to the cheerful white building with its deceptive
closed off door. "Yes. I do. Why do they need that kind of security, why
are these boys being forced outside during the middle of the night?"

"Wait. Here comes someone."

She squinted and looked hard into the dark to watch the door leading to
the playground open up. Three men walked out, each grabbing two of the
boys and picking them up.

"Why-"

"Shh." he muttered.

They left and shortly came back for the others, leaving one boy by
himself finally.

That boy looked off into space and then curled up in the dirt, as if he
would fall asleep right there.

One of the men came back and scooped him off the ground with a rough,
loveless gesture.

The door shut loudly.

"Scully?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe I was right. Those kids . . . they're the merchandise."
~~~~~

It was very dark, almost inky, when they slipped from their car and made
their way to the building. Nature lent them some additional cover with
her loud bull frogs and sharply singing crickets. The wet leaves and
sodden ground made their steps soft and they approached the day care
soundlessly.

"Mulder." she whispered and pointed to the key card door.

He nodded and checked for security cameras.

He pointed to the left and she noticed an almost invisible mounted
camera, its whirring lens shifting as it panned the area.

They ducked around to the side and crept silently along the wall.

A window on the ground floor offered a view in and they stood on either
side peering in.

An unlit office greeted them mutely, its furnishings sparse and unused.
A desk sat directly in front of them, a clean top and computer-less
table.

A couch stretched along one wall and a chair was propped before it, a
tiny table beside that. Books and notes and papers covered the table and
spread underneath.

"Scully, it looks almost like a counseling office."

She nodded and tilted her face to see past the couch on the right. 

"Mulder," she whispered, her breath hitching.

He looked where her eyes were and saw a man, sitting at the foot of the
couch, hands clasped and in his lap, his shoulders trembling.

Just at that moment, he caught something out of the corner of his eye
and he yanked her down, harshly.

"Mulder!"

He put his hand on her mouth and warned her with his eyes to be
extremely quiet.

Then she saw the men, walking slowly around the perimeter of the fence,
about twenty yards away and talking softly.

She and Mulder crouched there, her breathing seeming almost too loud and
his heart beating heavily next to her.

When they passed by he sighed and let go of his death clutch on her and
motioned that they should leave.

She frowned but followed him back along the wall, and eventually to
their car.

"Why'd you want to leave, Mulder?"

"We need to watch the place for a few days, figure out their routines,
see how to get inside. We definitely don't need to get caught."

He started the engine and let her silently contemplate as he drove them
back to the motel.
~~~~~

He was sprawled on her bed watching television when Scully came back in,
holding two bags with their take-out dinner.

Chinese.

Somehow, they always managed to find Chinese for dinner the first night
of a really big case.

He grinned and sat up, turning down the volume of "Are You Being
Served?" that came on Public television. She sat down on his bed and
handed him three cartons of food, then grabbed her own choices and
opened them.

He pried a fork from her fingers and she frowned at him and reached into
the bag for another, missing when he speared a bite of noodle.

She glared at him and shook the fork in his face. "You eat your own
food, Mulder."

He grinned and nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"And why are you on my bed?"

He looked at her with a somber face. "Because there's on awful glare on
the television from my bed."

She rolled her eyes and began studiously ignoring him and eating her
dinner. He continued to watch her and eat his own.

Suddenly, she looked at him. "Turn it back up."

"Hunh?"

"I like this show."

He thumbed up the volume and settled back into her bed.

She stood and came to sit next to him, wriggling around until she was
comfortable. He looked at her.

She shrugged. "There's a glare."

He smiled and set his empty carton on the floor then grabbed hers and
placed it in the same place.

Soon they were both stretched out along the bed, laughing as the
characters got into more and more trouble. Her head was propped up by
his shoulder with his arm circling her, and her arm was twined around
his, fingers dancing soft designs on his skin.

When the program ended she shifted and turned to see him. Soft lashes
framed a sleeping face and she laughed silently to herself and kissed
his cheek. He nuzzled her neck in his sleep and she dropped back down
beside him, too tired to move.

It was *her* bed after all.
~~~~~

end of Sunday
adios
In Him
RM