He showed Scully some charts and papers,

Doctor: "The same chemicals and trace evidence you find in burn victims are present in all the bodies especially in the eye sockets."

Scully read the files and had a confused look on her face.

Scully: "There seems to be an unidentified source of radiation, can you explain that?"

Doctor: "That there is what really puzzles me. I can't explain it. There seems to be some kind of radiation being emitted. My equipment isn't that sophisticated, and I was going to send it to Washington, but now that you're here."

Scully: "I'll have tissue samples sent to Quantico. Do you have the autopsy files on the other victims?"

Doctor: "Yeah let me get them."

While he went to get the files Scully examined the bodies further. She was in confusion as to what could cut these people up with such precision leaving no marks around the edges at all. She looked close into the sockets. Even their eyes were cleanly removed. She slapped on the latex gloves and poked around the eye sockets of one of the victims. She noticed a small piece of rock imbedded in the far wall of the socket. The Dr. walks back in the room,

Doctor: "Here you go."

Scully: "Doctor have you noticed this?"

The doctor puts on his thick glasses and takes a gander at what Scully pulled out with a pair of tweezers.

Doctor: "No can't say that I have. Where did you find that?"

Scully: "Imbedded in the eye socket. Have you found anything like this in any of the other bodies?"

Doctor: "No. How do you suppose it got there?"

Scully: "I don't know but I'll send it along with the tissue samples."

The small piece of rock begins to melt on the tweezers. Scully holds it far from her face. She places it under a microscope and takes a look. Her eyes widen and she turns to the doctor. The doctor looks in. The fragment has covered the tip like melting wax.

Scully: "What is this?"

Doctor: "You got me!"

Fresko police station

Mulder begins to walk around the table and leans over as he narrows the distance between he and Simon. He's cautious even though Simon is held down with chains to the chair, table and ground.

Mulder: "Why don't you tell me what happened the night of the murders Simon."

Simon looks down and lowers his voice to a whisper. Still with the echo of the interrogation room it is heard from any corner of the room.

Simon: "I...I was at the store and talked to Fran. I bought some groceries and then left. I was walking to my car when I saw this light. It was hovering, without sound. It was like a big light bulb in the sky, but with no power source. It was beautiful. I kept looking at it, along with the others. It got really close to all of us and then.......NNNNNO!!!."

Mulder: "What Simon, what happened then?"

Simon: "And then this, this thing was bright, too bright. I...I couldn't see anything and I heard people screaming and it smelled awful. I felt this coldness in my chest. It was like someone was stabbing me with icicles. I couldn't breath and I guess I must have passed out because when I woke up I was on the ground and my head was hurting so bad. Then that's when I saw the others (tears began to form and his speech was effected by crying) the others they were.........they were all in pieces. I didn't know what to do. So I screamed!!!!!"

Simon put his head down and began crying. Mulder sat to his left and spoke in a low voice,

Mulder: "It's all right Simon it's over."

Simon looked up rapidly. His eyes changed in feel, they were still brown but seemed in-human,

Simon: "NO! It'll never be over! I see those bodies every time I close my eyes. I feel the coldness. I can smell that awful smell. No it'll never be over."

Mulder looked at his face as it changed some how, not in form but in expression. As though he had no emotion towards the victims. Unlike ten seconds ago.

Simon: "You like games? I used to have this favorite game I used to play. It was called Stratego. I was good at that game. (He looked around and began to struggle with the chains) They!! They got me chained down like an animal! I'm no animal! "I'm not a crook" (he chuckled in an evil manner) Can't even watch my favorite team. The Knicks.

Simon looked at Mulder with bad intentions. Mulder was paying close attention to what he was saying. Stratego? The Knicks? Nixon's quote? Something wasn't right.

Mulder: "You mentioned that you know me? What did you mean by that Simon?"

Simon smirked and looked away then looked at Mulder,

Simon: "I never said that."

Mulder's cell phone rang. He reached in his pocket and answered it,

"Mulder."

Scully: "It's me, I've found something you might wanna look at."

Mulder: "I'll be right there Scully, I'm finishing with Simon."

Mulder hung up and drew his attention to Simon. Then called for a deputy to take him back to his cell. As they took Simon away he paused in front of Mulder.

Simon: "I had a neighbor once, had a little sister. The most adorable thing you ever saw."

Mulder watched as they took him away. What did he mean by that? What does this hillbilly have to do with.....?

Dr. Bernstein's Office

Mulder looked around and had a big smile.

Mulder: "Member of my fan club."

Scully walked out to meet Mulder.

Mulder: "So what is it?"

Scully: "Dr. Bernstein and I found tiny fragments of rock imbedded in the eye sockets of the victims. I tried to get a closer look by using a pair of tweezers and that's when....(Scully looked at Mulder as if everything she held dear just unraveled as this tiny fragment became the focus, she did her well known one and a half blink) that's when it just melted into the tweezers. I thought it might be sensitive to light or heat or something in the air. So I isolated it in a vacuum and it regenerated itself to the way it was. Mulder I can't tell you how this is possible. I mean it breaks most of the basic laws of science."

Mulder: "Maybe where it's from those laws weren't written. I spoke with Simon and I saw some interesting changes in his character as I spoke to him."

Scully: "What happened?"

Mulder: "When I got there he held a deputy hostage. We managed to subdue him. Before I questioned him he said he "knew me". While I questioned him his character changed frequently from a sensible man that had been through the worst. To a man that had no emotion and couldn't care less about those victims. Those changes are classic symptoms of what is called free floating possession."

Scully looked at Mulder in the all too familiar way of "what are you saying?"

Scully: "Are you saying that Simon is possessed by a demon?"

Mulder: "Well not exactly a demon, but some entity. I have a whole section of X-Files that date back to the late forties on such occurrences. There were common traits in all the cases. For example, the drastic change in character. The change of the eyes, which I noticed in Simon and the predominant violent behavior in those that have no violent bones in them. Before all this Simon was a quiet, friendly, small townsman that grew his own vegetables and helped his elderly next door neighbor with daily chores. With all the classic symptoms present I can't see any other explanation. Another thing I remember was that the cases all mentioned a coldness in their chests. Simon said he felt as if someone was stabbing him with icicles. Besides that he has some kind of knowledge about Samantha's abduction. I can't figure out how."

Scully: "What knowledge? Mulder there have been documented psychological cases where people that have witnessed mass murders or certain events have totally changed in the way of personality. Simon is well within a certain perimeters to have a slight change in character. After witnessing all those mutilated bodies I would probably be in his shoes."

Mulder: "But you're cute when you're angry. Besides that doesn't explain how he knows small details about the night Samantha was abducted. He mentioned that his favorite game is Stratego and that his favorite team are the Knicks. He even mumbled out Nixon's "I'm not a crook" quote. How can you explain that Scully?"

Scully looked at him with a plain face, and the beginning of a small smirk.

Scully: "Cute?... I don't know Mulder. It could all be pure coincidence."

Mulder: "Coincidence?"

Dr. Bernstein walked in with urgency,

Mulder: "Hello doctor I'm Agent Mulder, Agent Scully's partner."

Doctor: "Pleasure. Has Agent Scully briefed you?"

Mulder: "yes, you've found a fragment of rock in the bodies."

Doctor: "Not just any fragment. Your partner and I have seen some weird things. I wanted to see if there was something that could contribute for the fragment reforming to it's original state. So I put it back in a vacuum and mistakenly forgot to remove one type of particle from the surrounding area of the fragment and I discovered this."

The doctor place the fragment in a vacuum that looked like an upside down jar placed on top of a base that sucked out the air and any other particles within the jar. He took any contaminates out of the surrounding area. But left one. They were all surprised to find out that the small fragment glowed like nothing they had ever seen. The doctor gave the agents shaded goggles because the light was too bright.

Scully: "What did you leave in there?"

Doctor: "I narrowed it down to human skin. We shed lose our dead skin all the time. And it seems as though the bodies are still shedding because when I tried a sample of my skin nothing happened. My guess, it's somehow related to the radiation being emitted by the bodies."

Mulder: "Is this radiation harmful to us?"

Doctor: "Not at all. It's too small to do us any harm."

Mulder: "But not small enough to make the fragment light up like that."

Doctor: "That's the way it looks."

Scully: "I'm having this sent to Quantico, so we should know more."

Mulder: "Meanwhile I think I'll go back to question Simon."

The doctor's phone rings and the secretary walks in and tells Mulder it's the sheriff.

Mulder: "Yes sheriff?"

Sheriff: "I think you ought to join us at the hospital Agent Mulder. Simon's having these violent seizures and the ambulance is transporting him as we speak. The doc knows how to get there."

Mulder: "I'll be right there. (he hangs up the phone) Doctor can you lead us to the hospital?"

Scully: "What is it?'

Mulder: "It's Simon. He's having violent seizures. Another symptom of free floating possession."

Scully: "Maybe he has a history of seizures."

They went to the hospital and met up with the sheriff. Scully was reading Simon's medical history and found nothing out of the ordinary. Simon was a strong as a horse. For a man his age. Dr. Bernstein examined him for any tiny particles found on the victims. Simon was unconscious so it was possible. Mulder was outside the room asking the sheriff questions. The sheriff told Mulder that Simon began to sweat a lot and was mumbling gibberish. He then fell of the bed and began to tremble violently. It took the deputies a while before they could control him, to make sure he didn't hurt himself. It was another challenge getting him in the stretcher. Because Simon was still considered a suspect the sheriff put a guard on him. None of the deputies wanted to do it after all they have seen. Big Hank was the only one that volunteered. After some time with Simon. Mulder went back to the scene in front of the Shop-O-Rama to speak with Fran. Scully and Dr. Bernstein went back to his office and look for anything out of the ordinary from the tissue samples, blood work, hair fibers and so forth that the doctor took from Simon.

Saint George General Hospital
9:25 PM
The next night

The hospital was quiet and Big Hank walked around the hall. He didn't notice Fran slip into Simon's room. She quietly walked up to Simon and stared at him.

Fran: "That ain't you Simon, that ain't you."

She placed her hand on his and developed a facial expression of pity. She knew something wasn't right, but she couldn't put her hand on it. Fran was frightened as Simon grabbed her hand tighter than a vise. She tried to get away. She yelped softly because the pain was unbearable. Simon opened his eyes and stared at her deeply and coldly. They were defiantly different now. They were all black. He managed to rip off his constraints while still gripping her hand. She begged him to release her. But all he did was stare at her. Big Hank was coming back when he noticed that Simon was gone. He asked the nurse if she had seen anything. She hadn't. So he quickly ran out of the building to see if he could find him. He saw Simon leaving with a woman in a car, then he lost them. There were too many cars. He quickly ran to his squad car to follow. He knew where he was going. As he entered his car he looked in the mirror and his face changed. He's the Bounty Hunter. He speeds off in the same direction as Simon did. Mulder returns to the hospital he couldn't find Fran. He finds out both Simon and Big Hank are missing he asks the nurse where they went and all she says is that Big Hank was looking for him too. Mulder contacts the sheriff and tells him that they are missing. He then calls Scully and tells her he's going to pick her up. The sheriff tries to radio Big Hank, but no answer. He's not picking up. Luckily all the squad cars are equipped with a tracking devise in case they break down in the mountain range. Mulder picks up Scully,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Scully: "Dr. Bernstein is still trying to isolate why the fragments light up. I received a fax from Quantico and found something. The small traces of radiation found on the bodies is GCR galactic cosmic..."

He finished her sentence,

Mulder: "Radiation. Outer space radiation. That explains a lot."

Scully: "Mulder, what it explains is that a meteor must have fallen. The strange light that Simon said he saw was probably the meteor burning up in the atmosphere. Sometimes meteors appear as though they are hovering and give off strong light that could blind. This explains the fragments in the bodies."

Mulder: "But what about the fragment glowing and if it was a meteor why didn't it leave a crater the size of a car?"

Scully: "Everything that astrologists and scientists know about meteors is probably summed up to one percent. There have been rare cases of meteors not leaving craters, because of their inner structures being filled with a substance similar to rubber. Besides the crowd of people could have absorbed the shock of the meteor thus dismembering them all."

Mulder: "If that were true then Simon would be a jigsaw puzzle."

Scully: "He was standing near his car which could have shielded him from debris. Where are we going anyway?"

Mulder: "We're meeting Sheriff Dod at the station. He's tracking the squad car deputy Hank is driving. He's missing."

They arrive at the station and help with the man hunt for Simon and the search for Big Hank. They follow the signal to an area in the mountain range. It's near a cabin deep in the woodsy part of the mountains. They find Fran's car and Big Hank's squad car. It's dark so everyone has their flash lights. They break up into three teams. Scully, Mulder and the sheriff are the leaders. They begin their search each team one hundred yards from one another. Scully's team, search the cabin and the surrounding area. The sheriff and Mulder search deeper into the woods. Mulder is walking along with three deputies behind him.

Suddenly someone ambushes the deputies and throws them, away into the trees knocking them unconscious, Mulder has his gun drawn and tries to spot the person or thing responsible. It's Simon. Mulder spots him crouching down near one of the deputies. Fran is unconscious and on his shoulder. Mulder carefully edges his way closer.

Mulder: "Give it up Simon. There are deputies all over the place. Let Fran go."

Simon's eyes are all black and it's difficult to tell if he's paying any attention to Mulder. He stands up and darts out. Mulder checks on the deputies. One of them manages to sit up. Mulder tells him to sit still and that help is on the way. Mulder loses Simon for a moment but finds him again. He's headed in the direction of the sheriff. Mulder radios Scully's team to check on the hurt deputies. Then radios the sheriff's team that Simon is headed their way. The sheriff searches in all directions of their position. One deputy is attacked, but in a manner that no one can see where Simon is coming from. Another deputy is attacked, this time the sheriff fires two rounds. Nothing. His last deputy is attacked, it's as though Simon is systematically picking them off one by one, then on to the sheriff. Simon sneaks behind the sheriff and hits him behind the head knocking him out. Mulder manages to catch up to sheriff Dod and helps him to sit up. Scully arrives to check on the sheriff. Mulder tells her to stay with him while he finds Simon. She hesitantly stays. She calls for backup and an emergency medical unit. Mulder runs in the direction he last saw Simon. He nearly falls as he passes over the hump on a hill. He manages to keep his balance and locates Simon with Fran still on his shoulder. He yells out to Simon. They come up to a bald spot between trees. Suddenly a bright light appears over the area. Wind blows through like a storm. Mulder can't see it's too bright. He manages to make out three bodies, Simon, Fran and someone else. It's a big body. He edges closer and makes a dramatic discovery. It's the Bounty Hunter in Big Hank's uniform. Mulder points his weapon and orders Simon to release Fran. He drops Fran and begins a struggle with the Bounty Hunter. Mulder runs over to her to check on her. The Bounty Hunter pulls out his weapon and stabs Simon in the back of the neck. He makes his way to Mulder and knocks him some feet back. All Mulder can see is the Bounty Hunter carrying both Simon and Fran. The light above reaches it's highest point of luminescence. Mulder closes his eyes. In just a quick moment everything is quiet. Scully reaches Mulder and holds him up in a sitting position.

Scully: "Mulder? What happened?"

He gives out a faint moan, his head is throbbing from the Bounty Hunter's attack. Mulder: "Simon, where's Simon?"

Scully: "You're the only one here Mulder. I saw a light."

Mulder: "It was, it was...."

He was too hurt to talk. Scully just waited for the paramedics as they reached them. She looked up in the sky and tried to make sense out of all that happened. The next day they go back to the scene. Mulder's head is bandaged. He searches the area and notices a white circle on the ground just like in front of the Shop-O-Rama. He searches trough some leaves and finds Fran's name tag. His face is that of disappointment. He desperately wanted to find out how Simon knew about his sister. He came to the conclusion that Simon was possessed by an alien that might have known about Samantha. Fran was a mystery. Why did she go and see him? Scully walks up to Mulder and grabs his hand.

Scully: "C'mon Mulder let's go. The local PD have control of this now."

The sheriff walks up to them. Sheriff: "We'll find him, he couldn't have gone far."

Mulder looks at him and quietly says, Mulder: "Do you have any jurisdiction in space?"

Mulder and Scully leave and head for Washington. The following day, a Saturday. Mulder is in his office. He's cradling a picture of Samantha in his hand. Scully walks in the office.

Scully: "How's your head?"

Mulder: "It's fine, my heart is what hurts right now."

Scully couldn't resist comforting Mulder. She knows just how much he misses his sister. She misses hers too. So it's like they comfort each other. She walks over to him and hugs him.

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