Genesis
Ally

Chapter 14

FBI Field office. San Diego, CA. 1:01a.m.

Skinner negotiated his way along the twisting maze of corridors that made up the Bureau's California office. He moved purposely, his gaze fixed firmly ahead as he concentrated on the task in hand. Despite the lateness of the hour other Agents milled around, but no one questioned his right to be there. No one dared. They simply moved out of his way, knowing that if they failed to do so that they were in danger of being trampled on.

Skinner's usual demeanour was stern at the best of times. Tonight he looked downright frightening.

The call had reached him a little more than thirty minutes ago. The voice at the other end appraising him of the fact that Agent Scully was missing was enough to make him drop everything and head on over here.

He had not given the caller a chance to fully inform him of the facts surrounding her disappearance. He had instead simply barked out a series of orders, issuing his expectation that there would be a full team of experienced Agents waiting to greet him when he arrived at the office. He assumed that those individuals who now chose to give him a wide berth were here as a direct result of that, but this fact did nothing to improve his mood.

He finally rounded a corner and found himself outside the office of John Wickham, a man he had met briefly earlier in the day when he had asked to be appraised of the reasons why Mulder and Scully had been called down here in the first place. He had found Wickham to be courteous and helpful, and, in Skinner's opinion, a very worried man. He hadn't been able to put his finger on exactly why, just a general feeling that all was not well in the man's personal universe, and that if he wasn't actually withholding information, then he was most certainly glossing over certain facts pertaining to the case.

Skinner had taken the decision not to push too hard. Now he could only wish that he had, because maybe he wouldn't now be in this position, and maybe his Agent wouldn't be either. He wasn't usually a man who wasted time on personal recrimination, viewing it as both a waste of time and energy, but despite his every attempt, he couldn't let go of the nagging feeling that this was somehow his own doing.

It wasn't a nice thought, but he swallowed it, at least in part, as he entered Wickham's office. He didn't bother to knock and his sudden appearance visibly startled the younger man who tried unsuccessfully to appear as though he had been expecting him to enter in the way he had.

Forgoing any pleasantries, Skinner declined the offer of a seat, leaning instead on Wickham's desk, his looming presence and body language designed to intimidate and unsettle. This time he wasn't prepared to take any crap. Not now the stakes were so much higher.

"What happened?" he barked unceremoniously as Wickham seemed to visibly relax, safe in the knowledge that this at least was a question that he could at least answer, if only in part.

He took a moment to compose himself before answering.

"The details are pretty sketchy, sir. But we have a deposition from an eye witness."

He reached across the desk and picked up a manila folder, offering it to Skinner. Skinner's eyes though remained locked on to him, and Wickham's hand trembled slightly as he noted the statement on his superior's face.

"I'd rather hear it from you," he said softly.

Wickham paled slightly, swallowing nervously before he managed to speak.

"As I said, sir, the details are sketchy, but from what we can gather Agent Scully left her motel room at approximately 11:30p.m. and was seen accompanying a man to a waiting car. They both got into the car, and a couple of minutes after that a shot was fired. The car exited the forecourt at speed, leaving behind the body of an unidentified male. He had been shot in the back of the head and according to the emergency services, died instantly. The police arrived on the scene almost immediately, but no trace of the vehicle or Agent Scully were found. That's all we know at this point in time. As I said, we only have one witness and he viewed the scene from some distance away."

"This man. The witness. Who is he?" Skinner asked.

Wickham's eyes dropped to scan the statement sheet in front of him.

"His name's Barney Sinjin. He's the motel manager. He was doing his final rounds when Scully was taken, which is why he saw what he did. He was also the one who radioed the call in to the police."

"Does he have a description of the man seen with Agent Scully?"

"Um..." Wickham cleared his throat uncomfortably before continuing. "It was dark, sir. He didn't get a real good look at him. All he can be clear on is that he was around six feet tall and wearing a dark overcoat."

"What about the car?" Skinner barked.

"Again, sir, he's vague. Some kind of sedan. Quite new. Dark in colour, maybe black, maybe blue."

"Great," muttered Skinner darkly. "One of my Agents is missing, possibly dead, and all we've got to go on are vague details and assumptions. What about the dead man? Anything on him?"

"No nothing. We've ran his prints through the N.C.I.C. database, but nothing's come up on him so far. No ID on his body."

Skinner absorbed this fact, his sense of unease growing sharper by the minute. This was altogether too convenient, and although not a particularly paranoid man by nature, he couldn't help but wonder just how much of this had been predestined. A plan hatched before Mulder and Scully even left Washington, by the very same adversaries who had threatened their lives so often in the past. It was all falling in to place. Get Mulder out of the way and strike when they were at their most vulnerable. It all made perfect sense and Skinner could only now marvel at his own blind stupidity.

How in God's name had he not seen this coming? How could he have left her so unprotected?

The thought caused him to raise his head sharply as he visualised Mulder laying inert and unresponsive back at the hospital. He glared at Wickham and issued what would be the first of many orders during the next twenty-four hours. Orders that would, by their very tone be impossible to question or to ignore.

"I want a 'round the clock guard on Agent Mulder's room. No one but myself and recognised medical personnel are to enter. I don't care what their reasons are. Anyone who tries to do so will be assumed to be a threat and will be shot on sight. Is that understood, Agent Wickham?"

Wickham nodded and reached for one of the three phones which jostled for space on his overflowing desk. Before picking one up though, he lifted his troubled green eyes to lock with those of his superior Agent.

"There's something else, sir. Something I haven't told you, that's included in the statement from the motel."

His voice trailed off as though he couldn't bear to go on, but Skinner's patience at this whole sorry situation was fast running out. He didn't have time to play games.

"And?" he queried abruptly as Wickham faltered.

The younger man swallowed heavily.

"Mr. Sinjin was unsure regarding many details of what he saw, except relating to the shot fired. In that respect, he is very specific. I'm sorry, sir, but he is citing Agent Scully as firing the kill shot, and that there did not appear to be any kind of struggle immediately before the shot was fired. His exact words led along the lines of it being in cold blood, and that Agent Scully also pointed her weapon at him before driving off in the car."

Skinner shook his head.

"That's impossible. I refuse to believe that she is capable of such an act."

"Um, Agent Mulder hinted that she had been under some emotional strain of late. Maybe that could be a . . ."

Skinner banged his fist down hard on the desk making the younger man jump visibly.

"No! If, and I do mean *if* Agent Scully fired that shot, she would first have had to have had ample justification to do so. If I were in your shoes, Agent Wickham, then I would muster every available resource I had at my disposal to find her, so we can then begin to ascertain exactly what that justification was."

The tone of his voice brokered no room for further argument, and satisfied he had made his point, Skinner nodded curtly and made for the door, pausing only once before exiting. He inclined his head towards the phone handset still held by Wickham.

"Shouldn't you be making that call we discussed? Before another of my Agents brought down here at your request disappears under suspicious circumstances?"

Wickham blanched at his words, but nevertheless, tried to appear unruffled as with shaking hand he began to punch out the numbers on the phone, holding his breath as he tried to quell the beating of his heart, lest it be heard and betray his nervousness. Only when he heard the sound of the door shutting did he begin to relax. He savoured the moment whilst he could, knowing that now, things could only get worse, that somehow, some way, the situation had gotten out of control. That despite his careful planning, it had all gone to Hell.

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

Mercy Hospital

3:51a.m.

On rounding the corner of the corridor which led to Mulder's hospital room, Skinner was at least mollified slightly to see that his orders had been followed to the letter.

The two men stationed on either side of the closed door wore no uniform, but their matching dark suits and no nonsense demeanours made them instantly identifiable as law enforcement of the FBI variety. They stiffened momentarily as Skinner approached, adopting the hand on hip stance which enabled easy access to the weapons concealed out of sight beneath the suits. As Skinner produced his credentials from his inside pocket, they relaxed once more, affording the newcomer the respectful gaze that his position commanded as the bigger of the two men shifted position to allow him entrance to the room.

Skinner however paused for a few seconds before entering in order to appraise the men more completely, an action that was instantly understood by them, and without being asked they simultaneously removed their own ID's to be scrutinised by their superior.

No words had thus far been exchanged. None had been needed, but now Skinner felt bound to emphasise the seriousness of the situation, a situation that he knew all too well would not have been adequately explained to the two men guarding Agent Mulder. Bureau protocol was such that Agents took assignments without question but, in his experience, Skinner knew that the more information they had, the more likely it was that every precaution would be taken in order to follow the assignment to the letter.

"Who placed you on this assignment?" he queried.

The two men glanced uneasily at each other before the taller of the two answered for both of them.

"It was SAIC Wickham, sir. He told us that there was some urgency regarding we get down here."

"What else did he tell you?"

The Agent shook his head in confusion, unsure as to what exactly Skinner was driving at.

"Um, just that Agent Mulder was in some kind of danger and that no one be granted access to him unless it was on the basis of specific instruction," he faltered uncertainly, dubious as to where the line of questioning was heading. "Is there some kind of problem that we should be aware of, sir?"

Skinner shook his head slowly.

"I hope not, Agent Rich. I hope not," his voice trailed off and the young Agent tried again.

"Do you have new orders for us, sir? Regarding Agent Mulder?"

The question seemed to strike a chord with Skinner and he looked up sharply. It was something he had not expected to be asked. He knew that by answering it and overriding the direct order of another Agent, even one who was lower in rank than himself without good reason, he was at best, breaking several rules of protocol if not actual Bureau operational policy.

He weighed up his options in a split second, but the decision was an easy one to make. He cleared his throat.

"Yes. From here on you take your orders only from me. You let no one in to this room aside from authorised medical personnel unless I specifically allow you to do so, you don't leave this position without my say so, not for any reason. I don't care who tells you otherwise. Anyone who has a problem with that you send to me," he paused to allow his words to sink in. "Is that understood, Agents?"

The two men nodded instantly, accepting the weight of his position. His status within the Bureau did not allow for argument, and as Skinner listened to their spoken affirmation he wondered that in issuing the order, just how many enemies he would make for himself. He swallowed the thought though as he slipped past the men and silently entered the anteroom where he repeated the same process he had performed earlier of washing up and donning the gown and mask supplied to him by the medical staff.

He had spent time here earlier on in the evening, but the sight of Mulder's inert form laying motionless on the bed amidst the tubes and wires that seemed to snake from every available part of his body still sent a shiver down his spine. He had over time come to regard Mulder as almost invincible. He had seen him fight time and time again against the most powerful adversaries, had watched him pick himself up when all seemed hopeless, but he had never seen him like this. It brought home to him how frail the Human state really was, and thatlike others who appeared to be unconquerable, Mulder was in reality made of flesh and blood, as easily destroyed as anyone else.

But Skinner was also aware of the one trait which did set Mulder apart from those around him - his ability to fight for what he felt was right no matter what the consequences. It was that ability that Skinner put so much faith in to pull him through this.

He sat by Mulder's bed and hoped against hope that his faith was not misplaced, because he knew that without Mulder's insight to help him fathom this thing out, the chances of finding Scully alive were minimal.

He sighed and opened the manila folder he had brought with him from the San Diego office. Contained inside it was the case file that had brought his two Agents down here in the first place, the one that had landed on Mulder's desk just three short days ago. He had requested the file from Wickham shortly before coming here and the Agent had been happy to oblige. If he had viewed the rest of the folder's contents, he would in all probability been less happy, for after leaving the field office Skinner had put in a call to Washington requesting all the available information regarding John Wickham be scanned and E-mailed to him immediately.

With typical efficiency, the files had reached him in less than thirty minutes, and in answer to the nagging feeling of doubt inside of him, Skinner settled down in the hard backed chair to absorb these first. He sincerely hoped his doubt was misplaced. His years of experience told him it wasn't. If Agent Mulder held one of the keys to unravelling this whole mess, then SAIC Wickham was surely holding the other. The difference was though, that Skinner knew which side of the fence one of the men sat on, the other, he held far different views on.

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