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Chapter 13
Any law enforcement officer can tell you how much
drudgery and footwork is involved in making their job
look easy. Record checks, witness interviews, lots of
legwork, and yes, even wiretaps. Unless you're 
Jessica Fletcher, the bad guys don't usually just fall
into your lap. 

Of course, those same officers will tell you that
sometimes, they just get lucky.

Red and blue lights illuminated the shabby rowhouses
on this run-down Baltimore street. A routine raid on a
suspected crackhouse had turned up a little more than
expected.

Mulder and Scully jumped out of the car, immediately
cornering a member of the Baltimore PD.

"Officer Ramirez," Scully barked. "We're with the
Bureau. We got a call you found a child."

He nodded. "Weirdest shit I ever saw. Six strung-out
addicts hiding this little girl in a back room. The
ones that were coherent claimed they didn't know she
was here, thought maybe she was a runaway or
something."

"What did the girl say?" Mulder asked. It was the best
way he could think to ask if she was alive.

"Nothing. She was unconscious."

"Where is she now?"

"We sent her to the hospital."

"And you're sure it was her--the missing girl?" 

"Are you kidding? Little white girl goes missing?"
There was some resentment in his voice. "We've had her
picture plastered everywhere for a week. I'd know that
face anywhere."

Mulder relaxed visibly. "There are some other agents
right behind us. They'll need the hospital information
to give to the girl's family. They're going to want to
be there."

He turned slightly to Scully. "Agent Scully and I are
going to have a look inside."

The two agents stepped across the rotting wood
doorframe and were immediately assaulted by the
stench. Urine, human or animal, they weren't sure.
Probably a mix of both. Rotting trash covered every
open space. There didn't seem to be any electricity,
several candles were spread around the house.

Slapping on rubber gloves, Scully flipped on the
faucet in the kitchen. "No running water, no heat."

"So this is the glamourous drug scene," Mulder called
from the other room.

Broken glass was everywhere. Mulder carefully picked
his way through to the back of the house. A stained
mattress lay on the floor, surrounded by bottles, drug
paraphanelia, and assorted fast food wrappers.

"This must be where they found her." Mulder turned to
see Scully standing in the doorway, afraid to even
lean on the decaying wood. He put his hands on his
hips.

"So--are you buying this?"

Scully stared blankly for a moment, wanting just one
thing to be easy. Then she sighed. "Not really."

"Drug addicts would do anything for money. If they've
had her for a week, why didn't they call for ransom?"

Scully nodded. "And how did they get to a suburb
that's over an hour away? I don't think there's a
running car on this street, especially one that
wouldn't be noticed in Sam's neighborhood."

The clink and crash of glass crunching preceded
Officer Ramirez' arrival. "Find what you're looking
for?"

Scully raised her eyebrows. "Officer, what condition
was Lauren in when you found her?"

"I told you, unconscious."

Mulder kicked a path through the room. "Dirty,
injured?"

The officer shook his head. "No, actually she looked
like she'd been pretty well taken care of. Have to
wait to hear from the hospital, though. She could have
been drugged, internal injuries. Nothing obvious,
though."

Mulder looked around the room, vainly staring down a
rat that had sauntered out a hole in the wall. He
blinked at Scully as she followed his gaze and shook
her head.

They turned to follow Ramirez out of the house. As he
passed her, Scully caught his arm. "I don't suppose
knowing she's safe is enough." 

Mulder shook his head stubbornly, and honestly she
hadn't expected anything less.

"First of all, we don't really know that. Someone is
covering their tracks. She wasn't kept here Scully. I
have to find out who took her and what they did to
her." He began to pull away, but she held tight, with
her fingers and her eyes.

"Good. Because so do I."

They walked back to their car, sitting in silence
while the news blathered in the background, giving the
details of the Harrison case.

"So, now what?"

Scully's voice was quiet, calming. "I thought you
would want to go to the hospital."

He nodded, staring down at the steering wheel. "I do,
I'm just not sure it's a good idea." He shook his
head. "I don't belong there. Not right now."

Scully stared out her window. "I'm not going to tell
you what you should do as her brother, Mulder. But as
an agent, you have an obligation to observe the
victim's condition, and try and bring the kidnappers
to justice. I can do that if you want..."

"No." His head snapped up. "I want to do it. It's
just..." He took a deep breath. Honesty was still
difficult for him, even now. "I want to be there. But
I'm not really family. Not any family she knows,
and..."

"And you want her to want you there. I know how you
feel."

She did, he realized. Knew what it was like to want to
comfort a child to whom she was a total stranger. To
try and become family when years and lifetimes had
been taken away from you by men with their own agenda.
To name an emotion you weren't even sure you were
capable of feeling.

She *did* know.

As the frenetic police activity dissipated around
them, Mulder turned to look into her eyes. He knew she
would never think less of him if he let her take over
now. 

But he would think less of himself. And he owed it to
his sister, to find the truth. They'd been lied to for
so long.

Scully leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes as
Mulder wordlessly drove towards the hospital.