"Child's Play"
by Andra Marie Mueller

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This is an altered version of the 9^th season episode "Scary Monsters", set in the a/u of my "Reunion" series.  "The X Files" is the legal property of mighty mucks that really don't care what I do with them.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -  Albert Einstein

***************************************

FAIRHOPE, PENNSYLVANIA

A faint band of moonlight illuminated the far wall, highlighting the child's drawings hanging there. The first picture was of a boy in a red and yellow long-sleeved shirt and jeans walking on green grass. The second picture was of a man and a woman driving in one-seat open vehicles/wagons (with steering wheels) in opposite directions. The third picture was of a boy flying a kite and running toward the edge of the hill. It was late evening, and young Tommy Conlon lay in bed, wide awake and staring at the ceiling. The tree branches outside his window scratched against the glass, obviously scaring him. He closed his eyes and the scratching noise stopped.

After a brief moment, the scratching resumed. Tommy gasped and opened his eyes. He looked around the darkened room, then sat up in bed and glanced at himself in the mirror. He peered under the bed, but saw nothing. Gathering his courage, he looked in the mirror again and saw something move under his bed.

"Dad! Dad!" Tommy shouted.

The bedroom door opened slightly and a dark, shadowy figure appeared in the doorway.

"What is it, Tommy?" Jeffrey Conlon asked wearily.

"I'm afraid," Tommy told him. "I heard something. "

Tommy's father leaned a little further into the bedroom.
"It's just the wind."

"No, I think something's under the bed. Can you check?"

"Tommy, there is nothing to be scared of. I promise."

"No, there's something under the bed," Tommy insisted. "You have to check."

From the doorway, Jeffrey Conlon crouched down slowly to peer under the bed. He saw something about a foot long scurry across the floor under the bed. Tommy was on top of the bed watching his father closely. Jeffrey stood up, a little shocked at what he saw. He took a breath and lied to his son.

"All clear," he announced with false confidence.

"You sure?" Tommy pressed. "I thought I saw something in the mirror."

"Tommy, it is just your imagination. Now, let's try to get some sleep, okay?"

Conlon backed out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Tommy settled back down on the bed and turned to look at his reflection in the mirror. He stared at the dark corner under his bed. Suddenly the scratching he heard earlier resumed and grew louder. Again he imagined he saw something.   Jumping out of bed, Tommy ran to the closed door screaming for his father.

"Dad, help! It's in here!"

Tommy grabbed the door handle and tugged at it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Help! Help me! Help!"

On the other side of the door in the hallway, Tommy's father held the door pulled securely shut tight.

"Help! Dad! It's in here! Help! Help me!"

Ignoring his son's pleas, Tommy's father braced the door shut, keeping Tommy inside his bedroom.

*************************

FBI ACADEMY
QUANTICO, VIRGINIA

The ring of the bell signaled the end of the class, and students and teachers filled the hallway. Dana Scully rushed quickly to her office to grab a quick bite to eat before her next class. Passing by her, an FBI Cadet tried to get her attention.

"Dr. Scully..."

"After lunch," Scully said quickly.  "Sorry. All questions answered after lunch. Thank you."

Scully rushed into her office, anxious to consume her lunch before being called back to duty.  As she entered her office, Agent Leyla Harrison walked in a step behind her.

"Agent Scully..."

Scully glanced at her. "Agent Harrison," she greeted. "This is a surprise."

"Oh, good, you remember me. I was afraid I should have made a call first. How have you been?"

Scully reached into her desk and pulled out a plastic storage container.

"Uh...busy. And yourself?"

"I'm back in accounting now," Leyla told her.  "Happily, mind you. No regrets. Although I did relish my big adventure on the X-Files a couple of years ago.  I heard that you and Agent Mulder got married, as did Agent Doggett to Agent Mulder's long-lost sister. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"I admit I was disappointed when I discovered you'd given up the X files to be a teacher, but I'm sure Agent Mulder and Agent Doggett will do fine together."

Scully opened the container and pulled out a sandwich wrapped in wax paper. She paused and looked up at Leyla.
"I have about five minutes before my next class. Can we talk while I eat?"

"Not a problem," Leyla assured her.

Scully grabbed half of her sandwich and prepared to take a bite when Leyla opened the thin file she had carried in with her. On one side of the file was the gruesome picture of a dead woman covered in blood. Scully froze with the sandwich halfway to her mouth and grimaced at the graphic photo.

"It's an X-File," Leyla declared. "I'm sure of it. That's why I'm hoping you'll pass it on to Agent Mulder."

Scully put her sandwich down, composed herself and picked up the file.

"Where'd you get this?" she asked
"It all started when I tracked down a mileage discrepancy in the bureau's vehicle fleet," Leyla explained. "It turns out a really nice secretary from our Baltimore field office had used a Ford Taurus without authorization."

"And what does that have to do with this?"

"Well, she was desperate to visit her grandson which is why she borrowed the car. She's the one who told me about this case. This was her daughter."

"And what makes you think this is an X-File?"
"Well, this dead woman's son -- my friend's grandson -- this is Tommy Conlon. "

Leyla pulled out a photo of Tommy Conlon, a dark haired young boy with a bright smile.

"Tommy is eight years old, and Tommy told his grandmother that a monster killed his mother. And his father knows all about it."

Scully shot Leyla a skeptical glance, then picked up her sandwich again preparing to eat it.

"I know, I know. Why take the word of an eight-year-old? But... look at the autopsy report."

Leyla once again opened the file and put it in front of Scully before she had a chance to take a single bite.
"Clearly this woman was murdered, and yet..."

"...and yet the coroner concludes that she stabbed herself to death," Scully finished.

Leyla nodded.

"Agent Harrison I see no reason to disagree with the coroner," Scully said.

"But...I mean, how could someone stab themselves sixteen times?"  Leyla protested.

"Look, it is unusual but I have seen it before."

"Tommy's father took the boy to some mountain-top in Pennsylvania in the middle of nowhere," Leyla continued.  "He took him away from his friends -- his family. They don't even have a phone. Tommy's own grandmother isn't allowed to see him anymore."

"I'm sorry, Agent Harrison but unless you have other evidence..."

Scully deliberately left the sentence unfinished, hoping the younger woman would take the hint and let it go. But Leyla would not be swayed.

"Wait, wait. Tommy said that the same monster that killed his mother killed Spanky, his pet cat."

"Well unless you bring me Spanky, there's nothing I can do," Scully responded.

The class bell rang then, ending their conversation.  Sighing aloud, Scully stood and re-wrapped her uneaten lunch. She handed the sandwich to LEYLA as she walked out the door for her next class.

"Apple and tuna salad?"

********************************

FBI HEADQUARTERS

Inside the office of the X files, Special Agent John Doggett was enjoying some rare solitude.  His partners Monica Reyes and Fox Mulder were on a three-day excursion to Louisiana, investigating another alleged sighting of Bigfoot.  Given the fiasco that had arisen when Doggett had accompanied his brother-in-law on a similar case eighteen months ago, he had refused to make the same mistake twice. So Reyes had offered to go in his stead, giving Doggett the chance to catch up on his paperwork.

As he signed off on his last file, he heard the light click of high heels echoing in the hallway.  Although he was expecting his wife Jessica, he could detect a second set of footsteps accompanying hers and realized she had brought company.

I sure hope she didn't get intercepted by Skinner or Kersh in the elevator, he mused.

Pushing the file aside, Doggett stood up just as Jessica entered the office, accompanied by Leyla Harrison.

"Hi, Sunshine," Jessica greeted.

"Hi, sweetheart," Doggett returned, and gave her a brief kiss before greeting Leyla.  "Agent Harrison, this is a surprise."

"Hello, Agent Doggett," Leyla said. "It's good to see you again."

"The folks up in accounting treatin' you okay?" Doggett asked.

"They're all very nice, but it's not quite as stimulating as working on the X files," Leyla responded.  "Your wife and I met in the elevator on the way down here.  Please accept my belated congratulations on your marriage and your twins."

"Thanks. So what brings you down here on a Friday afternoon?"

Leyla handed him the file she was holding.  "I know that Agent Mulder and Agent Reyes are out of town, but I was hoping you could help me," she requested.  "I think this case is an X file."

Doggett scanned through the file as Jessica read it as well over his shoulder, and they both grimaced at the photos of Nancy Conlon.

"This poor woman stabbed herself to death?" Jessica prompted.

"Sixteen times," Leyla added.  "The coroner confirmed that the wounds were self-inflicted."

"I don't see anythin' in here that would indicate she was on any drugs," Doggett remarked.  "Was she havin' any psychological problems?"

"No. She had no history of mental illness or addiction. By all accounts she was a loving wife and mother."

"So what happened?"

"That's what I'm hoping you can find out," Leyla told him.

************************************

GEORGETOWN

Scully was in the midst of tucking William into bed when the phone rang. Pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead, she quickly but quietly exited his room, leaving the door partially ajar as she crossed the living room to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Dana, it's Jessica. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"I was just putting William down.   Are you home?"

"No I'm on the road," Jessica answered. "Since Fox and Monica are out of town, I'm tagging along with John on a case he's looking into for a friend."

"Where are the twins?" Scully asked.

"My niece Kim and a couple of her friends are babysitting."

"What can I do for you?"

"We wanted to get your opinion on an autopsy finding. It's pretty unusual. A woman who stabbed herself sixteen times."

"Last name Conlon?" Scully added.  "I assume you've been talking to Leyla Harrison?"

Jessica glanced behind her at the person in the backseat of the car: Leyla Harrison.

"Yes, actually. She's the friend I mentioned. In fact, the three of us are headed to Pennsylvania right now. It sounds like you're familiar with the case."

Jessica paused to listen to Scully on the other end of the phone.

"What do you mean, 'there is no case'? "

Jessica glanced over at Doggett, who was listening in on the conversation. Behind them, Leyla smiled sheepishly.

"Okay, Dana. Thanks.  Give Will a kiss for me."

Jessica ended the call and shifted in her seat to glance at Leyla.  

"Why didn't you tell us that you'd all ready gone to Agent Scully?"

"I didn't know that's who you were going to call," Leyla mumbled.

"That's not the point, Leyla. You misled us."

Doggett was clearly not happy with what he was hearing, and he wordlessly turned the car around.

"Agent Doggett, we're almost there," Leyla pleaded.

"How'd you spend your Friday night, John?"  Doggett asked of no one in particular. "Dragged my wife outta town and ran around like an idiot on a wild goose chase."

"Agent Doggett... Lieutenant..." Leyla began. "Both of you got into this car believing a little boy may be in danger. What's changed since then? Even if this isn't an X-File - which it is - what will it hurt to keep going?"

The couple did not respond to her question, and Leyla released an exasperated sigh.

"If Agent Mulder were here, he'd keep going," she muttered to herself.

Stifling a knowing smile, Jessica glanced over at Doggett, silent inquiry evident in her lovely face. Doggett met her gaze, and nodded his head slightly in agreement.

******************************

FAIRHOPE, PENNSYLVANIA

It was mid-evening when the trio arrived at their destination.  A large two-story house sat in darkness, while a man with a shovel was busy burying something in the yard. He worked diligently covering the hole with dirt mixed with snow. He finished his job as they pulled into his drive, and looked up at the approaching car, obviously not pleased with his unexpected visitors. Doggett parked the car about fifty feet away and the group got out of the car to approach the man.

"Jeffrey Conlon?" Jessica prompted.

The man did a slight double take at her appearance before replying "Yeah. Can I help you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Jessica Doggett from the Alexandria, Virginia police department. This is my husband Agent John Doggett and his associate Agent Leyla Harrison with the FBI."

Doggett held out his ID, and Conlon gave it a brief glance.

"What does the FBI want with me?"

"We're here at the request of Dorothy--your mother-in-law," Leyla interjected. "She's worried about her grandson."

"Tommy is fine. I told Dorothy over and over. There's really nothing more to say."

"Is that blood on your hand, Mr. Conlon?" Jessica inquired casually.

"Yeah," Conlon confirmed. "I cut myself. "

"On what? " Doggett demanded.

"A piece of broken glass."

"Sir, can we speak with your son?" Jessica requested.

"He's asleep," Conlon told her.

"It's not even 7:00," Doggett pointed out. "Kind of early for bedtime, isn't it?

"Not for Tommy," Conlon returned. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your voices down."

"Look, I'm going to be straight with you," Doggett said. "We drove a long way.

"My husband is very stubborn," Jessica offered. "I don't think you'll get him to leave until we see your son."

"Dad? "

The group looked to the house and discovered Tommy standing on the porch in his pajamas. Conlon walked toward his son with the others following close behind

"Tommy, go back inside, please."

"I heard something," Tommy said. "I got afraid."

The lieutenant flashed the child a friendly smile. "Hello, Tommy. I'm Jessica. This is John, and this is Leyla."

"I'm friends with your Grandmom," Leyla told him. "She wanted us to come see how you were doing."

"Tommy, it's too cold out here," Conlon admonished. "Go back inside the house, please."

"Do you remember what you said to your Grandmom?" Leyla pressed. "Something about your mother. Do you remember? Monsters. You said there were monsters, right?"

"No such thing as monsters," Tommy responded woodenly.

Conlon glanced at the others. "Tell Dorothy this is exactly why she's not allowed to visit anymore. Now, good night."

Leyla glanced at Jessica, visibly disappointed at the uneventful exchange. Doggett remained silent and thoughtful as Conlon turned his back on the others and picked up his son. Without bothering to bid his visitors good-bye, he took Tommy inside the house and closed the door behind them. The others stood there in silence for a moment before Leyla sighed as the three slowly made their way back to the car.

"I apologize," Leyla said. "I let my imagination run wild and I ruined both your evenings. Thank you in advance for not yelling at me."

When they reached the car, the trio stopped and Doggett turned around to face Leyla.

"Somethin's goin' on here."

Leyla's surprise is evident. "It is?"

Jessica nodded in agreement. "That little boy only said what his father wanted him to say."

"Did you notice the dirt on that guy's hands and knees?" Doggett queried. "He's been diggin'. This time of the year he sure as hell ain't gardenin'. I say we find a judge, get a warrant and search the place."


Inside the house, Conlon watched from Tommy's bedroom window as the threesome moved  toward the car.

"Dad?" Tommy prompted.

Conlon turned from the window to look at his son who was standing by the door.

"The monsters aren't going to let those people leave are they?" Tommy pressed.

Conlon managed to give his son a small smile. "They're leaving, Tommy," he assured him. "They're leaving right now.

"It's too late," Tommy responded ominously.

In the car, Doggett turned the ignition. The engine sputtered but didn't start.

"What the hell?"

Frowning, Doggett tried the ignition one more time and as the engine sputtered, blood burst through the a/c vents, splattering him and his wife. Jessica and Leyla screamed as Doggett released an expletive.

"Are you two all right?"

Jessica nodded in silent confirmation as Leyla muttered, "I think so."

Doggett got out of the car and walked to the front of the vehicle to open the car hood. Inside, the engine was covered with blood.

"Looks like some sort of animal got inside the engine," Leyla observed.

"A possum, maybe?" Jessica suggested.

"That doesn't make any sense," Doggett said. "How'd it get from here into the vents?"

"I don't know," Jessica responded, "but we're not going anywhere until we get whatever it was cleaned off the engine."

**********************************

GEORGETOWN

The darkness of Mulder and Scully's townhome was illuminated only by the faint glow from the fish tank in the living room. The stillness of the night was broken by a loud knock at the door, and a moment later Scully rushed out of her bedroom tying the sash to her robe, turning on a small lamp before approaching the door. She peered through the door's peephole and saw a young dark-haired man standing there, someone she'd never seen before.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's Gabe Rotter. I have the thing you've been waiting for."

"You're who?"

"Gabe Rotter. I'm a friend of Leyla Harrison's."

At the mere mention of Leyla's name, Scully unchained and opened the door. She shot the young man an angry glare.

"Do you know what time it is?" she demanded in a near whisper.

"Hey, I just do as I'm told," Rotter responded. "Enjoy."

Rotter held out a small dirty box for Scully to take, and she took a step back at the stench coming from the box.

"Whoa," she protested. "What the hell is that?"

"A dead cat."

"Come again? "

"A dead cat," Rotter repeated. "His name's Spanky. Leyla said you're helping her out on a case and you needed it ASAP, so...hey, you're welcome."

Scully stifled the urge to deck him. "I am going to be exceptionally polite," she said tightly. "Leave. Now. Leave now and take that with you."

Scully took a step back and began to close the door. Rotter, however, was a man on a mission, and he quickly stepped into the townhouse uninvited with the box.

"Do you have any idea what I went through to get this thing?" he asked rhetorically. "I snuck onto the property where your perp there used to live and I dug up the whole thing looking for it."

"I don't care. Leave! Now! Please!"

"Uh-uh. Leyla said she'd go out with me only if I got you the cat, and damn it, I got it."

Rotter opened the box exposing the dead cat to Scully, who once again turned away from the stench. Her hand covering her mouth, Scully glanced down at the cat and saw something that piqued her interest. Walking past Rotter, she picked up her phone and began dialing.

"Oh, God..." Rotter mumbled. "Are you calling the cops on me?"

Scully snorted. "If only. God help me but Agent Harrison might be on to something after all."

**********************************

FAIRHOPE, PENNSYLVANIA

Inside the Conlon residence, Jessica was unsuccessfully trying to call out on her cellular phone when Doggett and Conlon walked inside.

"Any luck with the car?" she directed to Doggett.

Doggett shook his head. "Our engine's completely shot. Mr. Conlon's truck won't start even though I can't find one damn thing wrong with it. Looks like we're here for the night."

"I'd better get Tommy back to sleep," Conlon said to no one in particular, and headed upstairs. Once he was gone, Leyla addressed the Doggetts.  

"Phones that won't work, cars that won't start. It reminds me of a case Mulder and Scully investigated. A teenager who was struck by lightening and afterward his body affected the electrical workings of everything around him."

"I don't think that's what we're dealing with here, Leyla," Jessica admonished gently.

Leyla continued as if the older woman hadn't spoken. "Agent Mulder wasted no time closing that case. I just try to think like him. What would Agents Mulder and Scully do if they were in this situation?"

"Agents Mulder and Scully aren't in this situation," Doggett reminded her testily. "Agent Doggett and Lieutenant Doggett are. I don't know about Lieutenant Doggett but Agent Doggett's goin' to sit his tired ass down."

"What kind of a course of action is that?" Leyla protested.

"I think John is saying that right now, we're in the best possible place we can be to help Tommy," Jessica replied.

"Exactly," Doggett concurred. "Bottom line we're all concerned for this boy's safety. As long as we're here, nothin's goin' to happen to him, right?"

As if to mock the agent's declaration, a sudden scream from Tommy came from upstairs.

"Help! It's in here! Dad!"

In a heartbeat Doggett was off the couch and dashing up the stairs, Jessica and Leyla right behind him.

"Help! Help me!" Tommy screamed.

At the top of the stairs, Doggett turned the corner into the hallway and saw Jeffrey Conlon holding the door to his son's bedroom closed. From within the bedroom, Tommy's screams continued.

"Help! It's in here!"

"Hey!" Doggett shouted at Conlon. "Open the door!"

"No, don't do it!" Conlon protested.

Doggett pushed Conlon away from Tommy's bedroom door and opened it to see Tommy huddled on his bed. On the floor advancing toward him were two huge earwigs.

"John..." Jessica cautioned.

Jessica slid into the room behind Doggett and reaching Tommy, pulled the boy into her arms while Doggett pulled out his weapon. Leyla arrived at the bedroom doorway just as Doggett fired at one earwig. The creature broke apart upon the bullet's impact. The adults all watched in horror as the two pieces of the broken earwig grow into two newly formed creatures. They both scurried away under the bedroom wall as the group left the room.

********************************

Shortly thereafter, Tommy was seated at the downstairs table coloring. It was a picture of a woman wearing black standing next to another person wearing sky blue.

Jessica stood quietly on the side watching Tommy, her expression unreadable. Doggett entered the living area then and Jessica walked over to stand beside him.

Doggett gestured at Tommy. "How's he doin'?"  

"He's a lot calmer than I'd be," Jessica allowed. "Did you find anything?"

Doggett shook his head. "I checked the place top to bottom. Whatever the hell those things were, they're gone. I have no idea where they went."

Doggett glanced down at Tommy who was still coloring. He approached the table and sat down in the chair next to him.

"That's really good, Tommy," Doggett remarked. "Is that you?"

Tommy nodded his head. Doggett pointed to the woman in black in the picture Tommy was coloring.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"That's her," Tommy answered, and motioned at Jessica.

Jessica smiled. Doggett turned to look at her.

"Tommy, tell John what you told me about what we saw in your room tonight," Jessica requested.

"Those are the monsters that hurt my mommy," Tommy revealed, "but my dad says I'm not supposed to talk about it. "

Doggett exchanged another look with his wife, then quietly got up and left the kitchen.

************************************

Upstairs, Conlon, Leyla and Doggett had gathered in Tommy's bedroom.  A picture that Tommy drew hung on the wall, a picture of a boy, his cat, his bike and his house.

"This is my house," Conlon said.  "Why do I have to sit here?"

"Tell me what we're dealin' with," Doggett demanded.

"I don't..."

"Don't tell me you don't know because you're not goin' to like what happens next," Doggett warned. "These things were in the room with your son and you knew it. You held the door shut, you son of a bitch."

"Want to see something? Look at that."

Conlon rolled up his shirtsleeves to reveal large welting scars on his forearms.

"Look at that. That's what they did to me. They almost killed me one time before."

"They?" Doggett echoed questioningly. "What are they? Some kind of animal?"

"All I know is that they won't leave us alone and I'm dealing with this the best way I can," Conlon answered. "Now it's too late."

"How's that?"

"They mean to kill every one of you and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

Leyla and Doggett remained silent.

"Oh, come on," Conlon protested. "You saw what happens. You think you've killed one and then it becomes two."

"I don't think Mr. Conlon is telling us the whole truth," Leyla said softly.

"No kiddin'," Doggett responded.

"No, I mean, I think you can kill them because I don't know what else he would have been burying when we showed up tonight," Leyla clarified.

*************************

GEORGETOWN

In Scully's kitchen, spread out on paper towels, was an array of kitchen appliances; knives, a champagne opener, meat tenderizer, salad tongs. Scully reached for the salad tongs and began working on Spanky, the Conlon's dead cat.  Rotter stood by the doorway watching as Scully began to autopsy the dead cat on her kitchen table.

"You got to be freaking kidding me," Rotter declared. "I can't believe you're cutting up a dead cat on your kitchen table."

"Will you keep your voice down, please?" Scully requested. "You're going to wake my son."  

"This...this just isn't right. Can you clue me in here as to why the cat's so important?"

"Because it would seem that poor Spanky here may have chewed a hole in his own stomach," Scully answered patiently,
"which you'll admit is unusual behavior."

"You mean he killed himself."

Scully nodded. "Just like his owner, Mrs. Conlon stabbed herself with a knife. The wounds are in the same place and if we figure out why...well then you'll have something really good to share with your friend Leyla won't you?"

"That's true," Rotter agreed.

The ringing of the phone interrupted their conversation, and Scully glanced at Rotter.

"Can you hold the ribs open while I grab that, please?"

Scully and Rotter switched places and Scully answered the phone.

"Agent Scully."

Yes, ma'am," a masculine voice replied.  "This is Sheriff Jack Coogan. I got a message to call this number."

"Good evening, Sheriff, Scully greeted. "Thank you for getting back to me. I appreciate it. I'm an FBI agent and I've been trying to reach three of my colleagues that are up in your area."

"Were they on some kind of case?" Coogan asked.

"Well, they're looking into some concerns expressed by the grandmother of a child who lives there," Scully demurred.
"The family name is Conlon and I have an address..."

"I'm familiar with the family," Coogan interrupted. "I was up there a couple of weeks ago. Got into a shouting match with the father."

"Over what?" Scully queried.

"The grandmother asked me to look in on the boy. Father told me to get the hell off his property. Boy seemed fine, so I did."

Scully was not easily pacified. "Well, as I say, Sheriff, I need to contact my colleagues."

"Well I'm happy to take a drive up there but can't promise much tonight," Coogan replied. "The roads are icing up as we speak. Won't be easy getting in."

"Look, Sheriff, they may be in danger. Could you please find a way?"

Coogan sighed. "All right, I'll give it a shot," he agreed, "but I'm not making any promises."

"Thank you, Sheriff."

****************************

In the Conlon's back yard, Doggett was digging through the dirt as Conlon and Leyla watched from a few feet away. The shovel hit something hard, and Doggett reached into the shallow hole to retrieve it.  Suddenly he let out an expletive as he cut his finger on a piece of glass.

"Shit"

"Oh, my god..." Leyla muttered, assuming he had been bitten.

"It's no monster, Agent Harrison," Doggett told her. "Dead or alive. You want to explain this, Mr. Conlon?"

Doggett pulled out a dirty shard of glass with a round sticker on it and held it up for Conlon to see. It was the same kind of sticker that was on the mirror in Tommy's bedroom.

"It's just a mirror from my son's room," Conlon said.

"Why'd you bury it?"

"Because he was afraid of it."

"I want you to get Tommy bundled up in warm clothes," Doggett instructed. "I want you to pack anything you think he might need."

"Why?" Conlon asked.

"Cuz I don't believe one damn thing you've told me except that we're in danger and we're walking out of here, all five of us," Doggett told him.

While Doggett continued to give Conlon instructions, Leyla knelt and looked into the shallow hole at the broken mirror pieces.  She looked up at Doggett after Conlon walked away.

"I know what you're thinking," she said. "Black magic. Mirrors are powerful symbols in conjuring in the dark arts. That's what this is. Right?"

"Uh-huh," Doggett responded dryly

He walked away, leaving Leyla standing next to the shallow hole. After a final glance at the pieces of the broken mirror, Leyla followed him inside.

Upstairs in Tommy's bedroom, Conlon was busy packing a bag like Doggett instructed. Doggett was there helping grab things from the boy's closet. Jessica and Tommy were watching from the doorway.  

"We passed a sheriff's station maybe six miles down the mountain," Doggett said.  "It'll be a hike, but we can make it."

"Dad, the sheriff..." Tommy began.

Conlon cut him off. "No, Tommy...don't worry about the sheriff. He's going to help us."

The other adults all watched Tommy's reaction to the mention of the sheriff. He seemed upset that no one was listening to him. He walked around the bed and into Jessica's arms, clinging to her.

"What's wrong, Tommy?" Jessica asked.

Downstairs, the doorbell rang and someone was knocking on the door.  Doggett withdrew his gun as he glanced at the others.  

"Stay here."

Conlon looked silently at his son, but Tommy remained silent. Doggett made his way downstairs and crossed over to the front window.  Glancing outside, he saw the sheriff standing on the porch, and he opened the front door.

"Man, you're a sight for sore eyes. John Doggett."

The sheriff walked into the house as Doggett closed the door behind him.

"I'm the sheriff."

"Who called you?" Doggett asked.

Leyla and Jessica came down the stairs then, with Conlon and Tommy behind them.

"Perfect timing," Leyla declared.

"We were just leaving, Sheriff," Jessica said. "We need a ride."

"Sorry, you can't leave," the sheriff responded.

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked.

"You can't go anywhere," the sheriff replied. "It's too cold."

"It's not him," Conlon said from the stairs.

Doggett turned his back on the sheriff to look at Conlon. "Excuse me?"

While Doggett's back was turned, the sheriff reached for his gun and Jessica called out a warning to her husband.
"Gun!"

Doggett immediately knocked the gun out of the sheriff's hands and the two men began to fight. Jessica moved in closer and withdrew her gun, but didn't interfere with the fight. From the stairway, Tommy watched with interest.

"Let him go!" Jessica shouted.

The two men continued fighting, and Doggett reached back to punch the sheriff in his abdomen. To his horror, his fist went clear through and came out the sheriff's lower back covered with blood.  Conlon pulled his son into his arms to shield him from the sight, and Doggett pulled his bloodied fist out of the sheriff, who fell back on to the floor motionless. Just behind Doggett, Jessica slowly lowered her gun, her eyes on Doggett's bloodied fist.

********************************
GEORGETOWN

In Scully's townhome, Rotter had somehow gotten his hands one of Mulder's ID badges. He held it up, looking at Mulder's picture.

"So, this is Johnny Fabulous, huh?" he asked rhetorically.

Scully approached from behind and snatched the ID badge from him, but said nothing as she was on the phone. Rotter continued to mumble to himself, jealously evident in his tone.

"Oh...'Mulder's so smart. Mulder's so dreamy.' That's all Leyla ever talks about. Mulder and Scully, Scully and Mulder, blah, blah, blah."

Ignoring Rotter, Scully hung up the phone and sighed.  "This Sheriff, Jack Coogan, I'm just getting his answering machine."

"You're really worried," Rotter observed. "I thought you didn't find anything. You told me there wasn't anything inside that cat."

"No, there wasn't," Scully confirmed. "But it certainly seems like there should have been."

"What does that mean?" Rotter prompted,

"Well, the pattern of bite marks," Scully clarified. "I mean, it seems to me that the cat was trying to get at something in its stomach to chew it out."

"What kind of something?"

"I don't know, but something obviously caused the cat a great deal of pain. And I'm thinking maybe the same goes for the woman who stabbed herself. Maybe it was a frantic attempt to...to cut something out. "

"Wait a minute. Is Leyla in danger up there?"

"I'm not sure, but I do know we're wasting our time talking about this."

Scully picked up the phone one more time and began dialing.

"Who are you calling now?" Rotter asked.

"My mom. I'm going to beg her to baby-sit."

**********************************

FAIRHOPE, PENNSYLVANIA   

In the living room of the Conlon home, Jessica was picking at the hole in the sheriff with a wooden spoon, which was now bloodied and red. Doggett appeared behind her wiping the blood off of his hands with a towel.

"Got anything?" he prompted.

"A salad spoon no one's ever going to use again," came the dry response.  "But the sheriff here? Don't ask me to explain it but he's got absolutely no internal organs. He's like a big bag."

"Well this stuff all over my hands isn't blood. Whatever it is, I bet it's the same crap that's all over the inside of our car."
Doggett finished wiping his hands and moved to gently lay the towel over the dead Sheriff's face.  "I've been thinkin'. You know, I hate to sound like Agent Harrison but Mulder and Scully had a case like this that I remember where they were trapped underground with these mushroom spores that caused hallucinations."

"Mushroom spores?" Jessica repeated skeptically.

"Never mind," Doggett evaded. "It was a stupid idea, but I'm runnin' out of theories."

  "I don't know what to say, either," the lieutenant admitted. "Maybe Fox and Dana would see something that we don't."

"How? Nothin' here makes any sense, Jess...unless that's the very thing that we need to see."

Doggett suddenly seemed to have an idea, and left the room followed by his obviously confused wife.  They walked into the kitchen, where Tommy was busy drawing another picture. It was a picture of a yellow -haired boy in a light blue shirt standing in rowboat fishing.

"Agent Harrison, would you please take Tommy up to his room?" Doggett asked.

"Sure. Come on, Tommy."

Tommy ignored Leyla and continued drawing. Jessica moved toward him.

"What's the matter?" Jessica asked. "You like Leyla, don't you?"

"Can you stay with me instead?" Tommy requested, and gave her a hug.  Jessica glanced at Doggett before addressing the boy.

"Sure. Come on."

Doggett watched them leave the room, then turned to address Conlon.

"I'm just a cop, Mr. Conlon. Maybe I don't have the imagination to connect all the pieces of this insanity together. You said that wasn't exactly the sheriff in there and I want to know what you meant. In fact, you tried to warn us that bag of goo wasn't the sheriff. You were tryin' to help us."

"Yeah," Leyla agreed.  "So why not help us now? Tell us what you know, Mr. Conlon, for Tommy's sake."

"Do you and your wife have children, Agent Doggett?" Conlon inquired.

"We have one year old twins," Doggett confirmed

"Then you understand my need to protect my son from anyone or anything that would harm him."

"Of course," Doggett allowed, "but your son Tommy... you move him up here in the middle of nowhere and you lock him in the room with those things. Now, if you're just trying to get rid of him..."

Doggett left the thought unfinished and Conlon was clearly offended by the other man's insinuation.

"I love my son!" he declared fiercely.  "I love my son, you bastard."

"Then why did you lock him in the room with those things?"

"Because I knew they wouldn't hurt him!" Conlon returned.

"Now why is that?" Doggett asked.  "They hurt you they certainly hurt your wife. Why didn't they hurt Tommy?"

In his bedroom, Tommy opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a stack of drawings. He handed them to Jessica.

"I made these," he told her.

"You drew all these?" Jessica prompted.

The lieutenant started to sort through the drawings one by one. The first one is of a large house that was not the one he currently lived in. The second one was a picture of a boy in a sky blue shirt riding his scooter down the sidewalk. The third picture was of the two earwigs. The next picture was a picture of a yellow-haired woman wearing black with an earwig inside her belly. Tommy pointed to the picture.

"This one's you," he said.

"Why would you draw this, Tommy? Why would you imagine such awful things?"

Tommy watched Jessica with eyes filled with a strange glint of anticipation.

"Because I'm afraid," he said, but Jessica no longer believed him.

*********************************

SHERIFF'S STATION
SOMERSET COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

With a blast of frigid air, Scully and Rotter entered the Sheriff's Station.

"Sheriff Coogan?" Scully asked.  

"Yes, ma'am," Coogan confirmed. "Are you Agent Scully?"

"Yes. I still can't contact my associates. Were you able to get up there?"

"I just got back from trying," Coogan told her. "The roads at that elevation are way too dangerous right now."

"Well, Sheriff, there are two FBI agents and a police lieutenant who may be in grave danger," Scully responded.

"That's my girlfriend up there, Hoss," Rotter added.

The sheriff turned and pointed to the Fairhope map hanging on the wall.  

"This is the only road up to that mountain," he said. "We've got ice leading all the way up to the peak."

"Well, we have to get up there," Scully returned. "There must be a way."

"I'm sorry but the only way up there in this weather is by helicopter, snowplow or pack mule," Coogan replied. "And unfortunately, I'm fresh out of all three."

Rotter and Scully were clearly not amused by his attempt at humor.

***********************************

Inside the Conlon residence, Leyla and Doggett were still searching for the source of the mysterious creatures and the evening's odd happenings.

"What if Tommy is at the center of this somehow?" Leyla suggested.  "The monsters....the sheriff."

Leyla turned her head to indicate the body of the sheriff on the floor, only it was no longer there.

"Um....Agent Doggett?"

He followed her gaze to the empty space that the body had occupied only moment's before.

"Where the hell is the body?" Doggett wondered aloud.

Off to the side, Jessica suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs, obviously in pain and clutching her stomach.

"Jess, what happened?!" Doggett asked.

Doggett crossed over to the stairs and barely made it in time to catch Jessica as she collapsed onto the floor.

"It's the boy!" she said between gritted teeth.  "Tommy...it's all him.    

Doggett lifted up Jessica's shirt to reveal something moving around inside her abdomen. Leyla was absolutely horrified.

"Oh, my god," she stammered.

Jessica continued to scream in pain as Conlon slowly approached them, and Doggett angrily whirled to face him.

"Is your son doin' this?!" he demanded

"I told you," Conlon retorted. "I told you to leave."

Doggett stood up and grabbed Conlon by the front of his shirt.

"If this is your son, make him stop!" he half-shouted.

"I can't. You don't think I've tried? I can't stop him from imagining things. I can't stop him from being afraid. He's just a little boy! He doesn't mean to do these things."

"The hell he doesn't!" Doggett shot back.

Doggett knew that Tommy was somehow doing these things deliberately, and he felt his anger rise at the uncontrolled son who inflicted pain on innocent victims and the ineffective father standing in front of him.

"If you won't stop him, I will," Doggett declared.

Doggett left Conlon standing in the living room and ran up the stairs to confront the child. He turned the second floor corner into the hallway and saw Tommy walking down the hallway as if he had been at the top of the stairs watching Jessica writhe in pain. He was about half the hallway away from Doggett when he sensed the agent's presence and slowly turned around.

"Stay right there, Tommy," Doggett instructed.

Tommy grinned and defied Doggett by turning his back to him and running down the hallway back into his bedroom. Doggett took off after him, but Tommy shut the door in his face. Doggett opened the door and entered the room across from Tommy's, only to fall down into darkness.  A few seconds later Doggett hit the floor with a loud thud. He rolled over and saw the light from the hallway through the door quite a distance above him. In the darkness around him, he heard a scratching noise and suddenly giant earwigs converged upon him, covering him completely.

***********************************

Downstairs, Jessica's cries filled the air as she continued to scream in pain. Leyla was doing her best to hold Jessica's arms down and prevent her from hurting herself.

"Please!" Jessica begged. "Please! You have to get it out! Get it out of me! "

"Lieutenant Doggett, hold on," Leyla pleaded. "Please, hold on."

Leyla struggled to hold Jessica down as she turned her frustration to Conlon, who still stood where Doggett had left him.

"Mr. Conlon, help us," she pleaded again.

Conlon remained motionless as he cowered nearby. Suddenly Leyla let go of Jessica's arms as something started happening to her eyes. She covered her eyes with the palms of both her hands, and when she pulled them away, they were covered with blood.  

"Oh, my god!" she exclaimed.

"Please, help us!" Jessica screamed.

At last Conlon came back to life and left the two women to venture upstairs. In his bedroom, Tommy was oblivious to the chaos elsewhere as he drew a picture of a yellow haired woman whose eyes were bleeding   Conlon walked purposefully down the hallway toward Tommy's bedroom. Just as he reached to open the door, an unharmed Doggett appeared and stopped him.

"Listen to me and listen good," he said. "These things -- these things aren't happenin'."

"What are you talking about?" Conlon asked.

"It's like I've been sayin' all along. It's not possible. None of it's real."

"Of course it's real," Conlon protested. "My wife is dead."

"She believed it was real and she stabbed herself," Doggett allowed. "But because I couldn't believe it ...not really...it couldn't hurt me."

Conlon belatedly realized that his son had deliberately caused the suffering that led to his wife's death, and a brief flash of anger took hold of him. He lunged for the doorknob to his son's bedroom, but Doggett stopped him for a second time.

"No; come on. You're goin' to help me."

*******************************

Inside his bedroom, Tommy had completely colored Leyla's eyes red when he suddenly realized he could no longer hear the women's screams. .

"Dad?" he ventured cautiously.  

Silence.

"Dad, get in here!"

The house was still silent, so Tommy went over to the window and looked outside. Doggett was helping Jessica as Conlon helped Leyla, and the four of them were making their way to the car.  After getting Jessica and Leyla safely ensconced in the car, Doggett started back toward the house. Conlon ran after him, worried about his intentions.

"Wait a minute. Where are you going?"

Doggett picked up a gasoline can and turned to Conlon.

"You wait here."

Making his way back inside the house, Doggett discovered Tommy standing on the staircase. Ignoring him for the moment, Doggett opened the gasoline can and began pouring the liquid all over the living room. Tommy watched him with open curiosity and no fear.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Doggett continued to ignore him and finished pouring the liquid from the gasoline can all over the living room floor.

Tommy walked further down the stairs and repeated his question.  "What are you doing?"

"You're a smart boy, Tommy," Doggett responded. "What's it look like I'm doin'?"

"No way are you going to burn the house down."

"If I don't stop you, my wife and our friend are goin' to die. You think I'm goin' to let that happen?"

Doggett tossed the empty gasoline can aside and faced Tommy, who had reached the ground floor.

"You won't do it," Tommy argued. "You're lying. You'd get burned, too. You're just trying to scare me."

Doggett pulled out a single match from his pocket and with a flick of his thumb, the match flared to life.  He held the flame up in front of him for Tommy to see.

"Scared yet?" he taunted.

Doggett threw the match to the floor, igniting the liquid from the gasoline can.  Flames rolled across the rug as the liquid caught fire and spread rapidly around the room. Amidst it all, Doggett didn't move. His angry, disapproving gaze was fixed solely on Tommy, and he showed no fear at all as the flames rose higher and higher around them both.  Tommy watched as the fire spread from the floor rugs to the chairs, the sofa and along the floorboard behind him. His eyes widened as the fire spread, and he looked back at Doggett, who hadn't taken his gaze off of Tommy. Neither had he moved. He had no intention of leaving and made no move to do so. Tommy's eyes widened in fear as he finally realized that the fire around him was real.

******************************

Inside the car, Leyla moved the towel away from her eyes. The towel was no longer bloodied and her eyes were no longer bleeding.

"Oh, thank God," she declared.

"Leyla?"  Jessica prompted.

"Lieutenant, are you all right?" Leyla asked.

"I think so. Where's John?"

Both Leyla and Jessica looked out the car window just as a Jeep crossed the bridge, came over the driveway and parked beside their car.  Scully and Rotter got out of the car and started running toward the house. Rotter burst through the door first, tripped and fell on the floor, hurting himself in the process.
"Ow!" he muttered.

As everyone walked back into the house, Doggett gently lifted Tommy off of the floor.

"Tommy..." Conlon said, and rushed forward to reclaim his son.

Doggett gave Tommy to his father, while Leyla helped Rotter up off the floor. Jessica walked into the living room, residual anxiety over her ordeal etched in her expression.

"Is he all right?" Conlon asked as he took Tommy.

Doggett nodded. ""He's just passed out."

"I'm a medical doctor," Scully said to Conlon. "Let me take a look at him."

As Scully tended to the boy, Doggett spotted Jessica and walked toward her, his eyes darting downward toward her abdomen, and he placed his hand on her stomach.

"You're all right?"  he prompted.

Jessica nodded in confirmation and then looked around the living room. She saw the empty gas can laying on the floor, and noticed that the floor and carpet were soaked.  Giving her husband a curious glance, she knelt to examine the liquid on the floor from the gasoline tank.

"Water," Jessica said. "You filled it with water."

"That's not what Tommy believed," Doggett responded.

********************************

EPILOGUE:
FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON D.C.

Leyla stood in the middle of the X-Files office staring at the "I WANT TO BELIEVE" poster as Mulder finished reading Doggett's report on the Conlon case. Rotter came over to stand next to her, reading the poster before glancing around the office.

"So, this is where the magic happens?" he prompted.

Leyla smiled. "This is where it happens," she confirmed

"Abra cadabra," Mulder said drolly.

Leyla shifted her gaze to Mulder and they exchanged a smile.

"I'm happy it's in still good hands," Leyla said.  

Doggett joined them then, flashing a smile of greeting. "Hey."

"Speak of the devil," Mulder replied.

"That so?" Doggett prompted.

"Leyla keeps going on and on about how you saved the day," Rotter told him.

"I really do have to commend you, Agent Doggett," Leyla said. "You solved this case. If it weren't for you ...I don't even like to think what would have happened. I have to say, it's clear to me now that you were better equipped for this challenge than even Agent Mulder would have been."

"You sure about that?" Doggett prompted lightly.

"Absolutely. I mean your lack of imagination saved our lives."

"Gee, thanks," Doggett said dryly.

Leyla flushed. "That didn't come out right, did it?"

"So, any news on the boy?" Mulder inquired.

"I just got back from the psych center. Their doctors don't quite know what to make of him. I think it goes without sayin'. However, they have come up with a stopgap treatment.

"What's that?"

"A way to stifle his imagination."

********************************

Inside the psychiatric center, Jeffrey Conlon walked down the corridor and stopped at a closed door with a window.   Inside he saw Tommy seated in a recliner, watching thirty television sets.

***************************************

The End