“Déjà Vu”
by Andra Marie Mueller

Part 9

Some time later, the Doggett children had returned home and were in the backyard playing with the dogs under the watchful eyes of the Gunmen, while Scully and Jessica mulled over the possible reasons for Elizabeth’s murder.

“I think we have to assume that Stuckhold and the Syndicate had my mother killed as belated retaliation for interfering with his attempt to kill John last year and her intent to reveal to me that he’s alive,” Jessica said. “If they wanted to kill me, they could have all ready done so.”

“Not necessarily,” Scully countered. “Eliminating Elizabeth may just have been their way of removing someone who had become a liability to their plans, because she was no longer willing to let them target you and/or John. With Elizabeth dead, there’s no one to warn you about whatever they intend to do.”

“It also eliminated their most politically prominent associate,” Jessica responded. “And we both know that whatever they may or may not be planning for me and my family, it’s only a small piece of a much larger puzzle.”

“Well for all of our sakes I hope John and Mulder can find a way to put all the pieces together before the Syndicate does,” Scully replied.

The ring of the doorbell interrupted the women’s conversation, and they exchanged a curious look.

“Are you expecting anybody?” Scully asked.

“No,” Jessica answered “But I don’t think Stuckhold’s people have the audacity to show up on my doorstep in broad daylight.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Scully returned, and withdrew her gun as Jessica approached the door. Opening it, she discovered an unfamiliar and obviously burn scarred man standing on the porch.

“May I help you?” she inquired.

“Captain Doggett,” he greeted hoarsely, and handed her a small package. “Please give this to your husband and Agent Mulder. It will help them uncover the truth about who was responsible for the attempt on Agent Doggett’s life thirteen months ago.”

Jessica eyed him skeptically. “Really…I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me who you are and how you got this?”

“My name is Daniel Miller,” the man told her. “As for how I got the tape, all that matters is that Agent Mulder and Agent Doggett review them as soon as possible.”

Scully chose that moment to make her presence known. “I know you,” she said. “Or rather I know of you. Mulder said that a man calling himself Daniel Miller was the one who gave him the information about how to find Agent Doggett in Paris. He also said that your real name is Jeffrey Spender.”

Miller gave her a small smile. “Jeffrey Spender is dead, Doctor Scully.” he said softly. “Killed by his father several years ago. I’m just another victim of the Syndicate’s quest for power and control.”

“I’m not interested in being a pawn in your plan for revenge, Mr. Miller,” Jessica interjected.

“I don’t want revenge, Captain; I want justice. For everyone whose life has been taken or altered by what the Syndicate and those who serve it started all those years ago.”

Jessica glanced at Scully, who gave her a curt nod, and the captain returned her attention to Miller. “Well if Fox and Dana can trust you, I can too,” she replied. “Thank you.”

“Be careful, Captain.”

After shooting Scully a faint smile of farewell, Miller turned and made his way to a nondescript car parked about a quarter of a block away. Climbing inside, he started the engine and a moment later drove away. The women watched the car until it disappeared from view before retreating back into the house.

“As curious as I am to see what’s on the tape, I think we should get it to Fox and John ASAP,” Jessica said.

“I agree. There’s always a chance that “Daniel’ is being followed and if what’s on the tape can incriminate anyone in the Syndicate, it makes you that much more of a target.”

“Well the sooner I get rid of the bulls-eye that seems to be painted on my back and the backs of everyone I care about, the better. I’ll tell the Gunmen that we’re leaving and I’ll meet you at your car.”

Scully nodded in acknowledgement, and gathered her purse as she headed for the car while Jessica headed out to the backyard to talk to the Gunmen.

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

FBI HEADQUARTERS

After scouring the scene of Elizabeth’s murder at the Capitol Building, Mulder and Doggett had returned to the Hoover Building to review what they knew and attempt to determine who had killed her and why.

“Murder by explosion seems to be a popular pastime in our nation’s capital lately,” Mulder said dryly.

“It’s gotta be Stuckhold’s doin’,” Doggett said. “Him and his damn Syndicate probably took her out as payback for her part in keepin’ me alive.”

“That’s certainly possible,” Mulder allowed, “but we won’t have any easier of a time proving it than we’ve had trying to link them to the warehouse explosion last year. Unfortunately these people are as careful as they are dangerous and their tracks are very well covered.”

“Well nobody’s perfect. Sooner or later one of ‘em is gonna slip up and we’ll be there to take care of ‘em once and for all.”

“Good afternoon, Gentlemen,” a female voice greeted.

The partners looked up to see erstwhile X files agent Leyla Harrison standing in the doorway, holding a federal express envelope.

“Hey, Leyla,” Doggett greeted. “What are you doin’ here?”

“I was going to ask you the exact same thing,” Leyla responded. “You don’t look like a dead man.”

“Seen a lot of dead people up in accounting, have you, Agent Harrison?” Mulder asked drolly.

“Shut up, Mulder,” Doggett said.

Leyla smiled as she walked over to hand Doggett the envelope. “It’s okay, Agent Doggett,” she assured him. “Dr. Scully told me a long time ago not to listen to anything Agent Mulder says.”

Doggett glanced at his brother-in-law. “Yet another reason to like your wife,” he said wryly.

“I was on my way down here to welcome you back and the delivery man was running late so he asked me to give this to you.”

“Thanks.”

“I don’t suppose you can tell me why you’re not dead?” Leyla prompted.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Doggett evaded.

“I figured you’d say something like that. But in any event, I’m glad you’re back amongst the fold as it were. With all due respect to Agent Mulder, this place just wasn’t the same without you.”

“I appreciate that Leyla.”

“I’m sure sorry about Agent Reyes. She was a nice woman.”

“Yes, she was,” Doggett agreed.

“Well I’d better let you get back to work. Say hello to Captain Doggett and Doctor Scully.”

“Will do,” Mulder promised.

Leyla exited the office and Doggett glanced at the package he held. “This is from Laurent.”

“The doctor in charge of the Paris clinic?”

“Yeah. This must be the list he promised me of the names of the people who knew about the clinic.”

Tearing open the seal, Doggett reached into the envelope and withdrew a single piece of paper, attached to which was the picture of him Laurent had taken upon his arrival at the clinic.

“Good God…” Mulder muttered, and reached over to pluck the picture from the paper. “Is this you?”

Doggett nodded. “Laurent took that picture the day I was brought to the clinic, and showed it to me the day he removed the last of the bandages.”

Mulder studied the picture for a moment, then glanced at Doggett, and then back at the picture. “Wow,” he said simply. “I think it might be a good idea if we didn’t let Jessica see this.”

“No kiddin’,” Doggett concurred, and shifted his attention to the paper. Laurent had not signed it or even written any note. It simply bore the names of the ten people who allegedly knew of the clinic’s existence. Six of the ten names were unfamiliar, but the last four both men instantly recognized, including one of an all too familiar nemesis.

“I don’t believe this…that son of a bitch has been in on this from the start!” Doggett exclaimed.

“Unfortunately there’s nothing but his name on this list to prove it,” Mulder countered.

“Well there’s only so many reasons why Laurent would know who he is and why the hell his name would be on a list that includes Elizabeth, Stuckhold and Carl Spender.”

“What list?” Jessica’s voice interjected.

The men again glanced to the doorway and discovered their wives standing just inside the office, with Jessica holding the package given to her by Miller. Mulder discretely slipped the picture of Doggett into his pocket as the women walked into the room.

“Laurent sent me a list of the names of the people who knew about the Paris clinic,” Doggett answered, and handed it to Scully. She swiftly scanned it before shooting her former partners a surprised glance.

“Kersh knew about the clinic?” she prompted.

“It looks that way,” Doggett allowed. “But like Mulder said, we’ll have a hell of a time provin’ it.”

“I though you agreed to stay out of the line of fire until we determine who murdered Elizabeth,” Mulder directed at his sister.

“I did,” Jessica allowed, “but I had an unexpected visitor at the house. Daniel Miller came to see me.”

”You mean Jeffrey Spender?” Mulder returned. “What did he want?”

“He gave me this,” Jessica said, and handed him the package. “He asked me to give it to you and John ASAP and said it would help prove who blew up the clinic thirteen months ago.”

“What is it?” Doggett asked.

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Scully responded.

Mulder opened the envelope and withdrew a videotape. Setting the envelope on his desk, he walked over to the small monitor next to the filing cabinet and turned it on as he placed the tape into the VCR. It took a moment for the tape to start, and when it did the picture was slightly jerky, as if the person filming was in motion. The scene was of some type of conference room, with a group of men seated at a large circular table, and at the head of the table was Frans Stuckhold.

“Well this obviously resolves the question of the good Baron’s resurrection,” Mulder remarked.

“I don’t recognize any of those other guys,” Doggett said.

The men on the video were in the midst of a heated discussion, and from off camera one of them directed a protest at Stuckhold.

“I still think taking them all out at once is a bad idea,” an American voice said.

“It will be less difficult than eliminating them one at a time,” the man seated next to Stuckhold replied, his accent identifying him as South African. “And the sooner we get them out of the way, the sooner we can proceed with our plans for the expansion of the clinics.”

“After the loss of the facility in Mexico during the rescue of Captain Doggett we have been operating with limited resources,” Stuckhold said. “Eliminating the agents of the X files is the only way to ensure we will not have to endure their interference again.”

“What about Scully and Jessica Doggett?” the American’s voice prompted. “Certainly you don’t think that they won’t investigate the deaths of their husbands and Agent Reyes.”

“I know that voice,” Mulder murmured to himself.

As the men conversed, the unseen individual who was filming them was slowly panning each of their faces, and eventually came to rest on the American.

“That’s Kersh,” Doggett muttered. “Son of a bitch.”

“Well this definitively answers the question of whether or not he’s actually involved with the Syndicate,” Mulder said drolly.

“It would also explain why the Syndicate always seems to be one step ahead of you whenever a case involves them,” Scully added.

On the tape, Stuckhold addressed the person who was filming them. “Daniel, I think it would be best if you found somewhere else to clean for a while.”

“Certainly, sir,” a raspy voice replied, and the man filed out of the room. Once he was alone, he adjusted his hidden camera so that it focused on him, revealing the ravaged face of Jeffrey Spender aka Daniel Miller.

“If anyone other than Special Agent Fox Mulder of the F.B.I. is viewing this tape than it means that I have been discovered and the Syndicate has killed me. However, if you are Agent Mulder and you are seeing this, than it means that I was able to contact you and reveal the whereabouts of your presumed dead brother-in-law, Special Agent John Doggett. It also means that I was able to deliver this tape to Captain Jessica Doggett and she gave it to either you or Agent Doggett. The men that you just saw on this tape a moment ago are the remaining leaders of the group known as the Syndicate, which as we are all aware have been manipulating individuals and governments to serve their purposes for almost half a century. Their names will be revealed to you on a list given to you by a Dr. Frederic Laurent. It is my hope that this tape and that list will help Agent Mulder and Agent Doggett in their quest to uncover who was responsible for trying to kill them last year, and perhaps even eventually cause the Syndicate to disintegrate in its entirety. I wish that I could provide more substantial evidence, but this tape was all that I can manage without further endangering my own life.”

With that final remark, the tape ended and the screen went black. Ejecting the tape from the VCR, Mulder removed it from the machine before turning to face the others.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave…” he said to no one in particular.

“Do you really think that tape is going to be of use for anything other than confronting Kersh?” Scully asked of Mulder. “Despite his obvious knowledge of the plans to try and kill you and John, I don’t know that it would be enough to convict him in a court of law.”

“There are other ways to get justice for Monica’s murder,” Doggett interjected. “Like usin’ the tape to force Kersh to resign and get him the hell out of our lives.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Jessica replied. “Assuming for the moment that you could convince Kersh to resign based on the tape, then what? The Syndicate won’t just sit back and do nothing while you pursue the rest of the men on that tape.”

“Probably not,” Mulder allowed, “but it may keep them off our backs long enough for us to get some solid evidence to prove they were behind the explosion.”

Jessica glanced at Doggett. “May I speak with you privately for a moment?” she requested.

“Sure. Excuse us.”

The Doggetts stepped into the hallway, and once they were out of earshot, Scully addressed Mulder. “What do you suppose that’s all about?”

“Methinks my little sister isn’t happy with the idea of John and me going after the men on the tape,” Mulder answered.

Scully half-shrugged. “I can’t say that I blame her,” she responded. “Frankly I’m surprised she hasn’t asked John to quit the X Files entirely.”

“The day is still young,” Mulder retorted wryly.

In the hallway, Jessica was indeed expressing her displeasure over the most recent turn of events.

“I should have suspected that showing you and Fox the tape would be like pouring gasoline on an open flame,” she said. “Do you really think that you can use it to force Kersh and the other men to just sit back and wait for you two to get enough evidence to prosecute them for the warehouse explosion?”

“I don’t know,” Doggett conceded, “but at the very least we can use it to force Kersh to resign. Once he’s gone than maybe the Syndicate won’t be ten steps ahead of us all the time and we can actually track those other guys down.”

“And then what? They just put their hands up in the air and surrender peacefully? We both know that the minute these men find out you have a visual record of them and that meeting, the targets on our family’s backs will increase triple fold.”

Knowing Jessica was right, Doggett offered no reply, and she took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking again.

“I can’t do this anymore, John. I can’t spend every day of my life looking over my shoulder to see which of our enemies has me in their sights. These people have killed my mother, my brother, Dana’s sister, Bill Mulder, Monica, and they very nearly killed you. I don’t have the strength to keep riding this emotional roller coaster every time you and Fox get too close to somebody in the Syndicate.”

“Are you tellin’ me that you want me to quit the X Files?”

“I’m telling you that I don’t want you to pursue this case beyond getting Kersh to resign,” Jessica corrected. “Maybe that makes me selfish, but frankly at this point I don’t care. I won’t spend the rest of my life waiting for the Syndicate to kill someone else I love.”

“If Mulder and I don’t follow through with this, then these guys get away with killin’ all those people,” Doggett countered evenly.

“If either or both of you are killed while pursuing this then it means my mother died for nothing,” Jessica retorted. “Whatever issues we all had with Elizabeth, there’s no doubt that she was killed for saving you and telling me about it, even after the fact. I’m asking you to honor that and not continue to make yourself a target.”

Doggett released a heavy sigh. “If I do this – if I let this go – then it’s because I love you and am tryin’ to respect your wishes,” he clarified. “I’m sorry that Elizabeth is dead, but she made her own choices when she and Edward Caldwell got involved with these guys before you were born.”

“Fair enough.”

“I’d better talk to Mulder. Are you gonna stick around until we confront Kersh?”

Jessica shook her head. “No. I should get home to the children. You can give me all the details when you come home tonight.”

Doggett nodded. “Then I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Husband and wife exchanged a brief kiss before Jessica headed for the elevator and Doggett returned to his office. Noticing his expression, Mulder gave his brother-in-law a knowing smile.

“So did Jessica ask you to quit the X files entirely, or just this case?” he asked.

“She asked me – us - to drop the case once we get Kersh to resign,” Doggett answered. “After what happened to Elizabeth she’s more worried than ever about one of us bein’ the next victim.”

“Rightfully so,” Scully interjected.

“Et tu, Scully?” Mulder prompted wryly.

“You both have cheated death once, Mulder,” Scully said. “I can’t say that I think you should press your luck by continuing to go after a group of people who have been manipulating and murdering others at will for over half a century.”

Mulder glanced at Doggett. “I hate to admit it, but I think our lovely wives may be right about this one,” he told him. “As much as I’d like to bring these bastards down, it’s not worth the risk to us or our families. And frankly I don’t want to go another round with Jessica if you get taken out.”

“Sill lickin’ your wounds from last time, no doubt,” Doggett responded lightly.

Mulder snorted. “Mock me all you want, but we both know that your military training notwithstanding she could kick your ass into next week if she had sufficient motivation.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“Do you gentlemen want some company when you confront Kersh?” Scully inquired.

“Thanks for the offer but it’s probably best if John and I handle this ourselves,” Mulder replied.

“If that’s what you want,” Scully relented. “I’m going to head over to Quantico to pick up some files and then go home. Good luck with Kersh.”

“Thanks, Scully.”

Scully retrieved her purse and exited the office as Mulder turned to Doggett. “Well brother-in-law o’mine, shall we go face the lion in his lair?” he prompted.

“Lead the way,” Doggett responded.

Mulder grabbed the tape and the men made their way out of their office and up to Kersh’s. His personal assistant was not at her desk when they arrived, so they let themselves into his office. Kersh was reading some paperwork when they entered and glanced up expectantly as they approached his desk.

“Gentlemen,” he greeted coolly. “I wasn’t aware we had a meeting scheduled.”

“We do now,” Doggett declared.

Mulder lifted the videotape he held in his hand. “There’s something on this tape I know you’ll want to see,” he said and walked over to the small media cabinet on the wall. After turning on the monitor, Mulder slid the cassette into the VCR. Kersh shot him an annoyed glance before shifting his attention to the tape and once he realized what he was watching, his annoyance turned to barely concealed anxiety.

“Where did you get that tape?” he inquired coolly.

Mulder had stopped the playback before Jeffrey Spender’s revelation that he was the videographer as he and Doggett had agreed to keep the other man’s part in their obtaining the tape a secret.

“Respectfully, sir, that’s not your concern,” Doggett replied. “The question should be, what are we goin’ to do with it?”

“Why don’t you skip the semantics and get to the point?” Kersh countered irritably.

“The point is you have 24 hours to tender your resignation – effective immediately – or we take this tape to the Director and the national media within 48 hours,” Mulder told him.

“I don’t like threats, Agent Mulder,” Kersh said tightly.

“Well I don’t like waking up every day wondering how your friends in the Syndicate are going to screw with me and mine,” Mulder retorted. “All these years you’ve been riding our asses about our work on the X Files when you’ve been secretly monitoring it for your own purposes all along. I imagine A.D. Skinner and the Director would be very interested in hearing your explanation for what we just watched on this video.”

“That tape proves nothing,” Kersh protested.

“Actually it proves that you were at the very least aware that your buddies were goin’ to try and take out Monica, Mulder and myself,” Doggett responded. “I’m fairly certain that you don’t want ‘Accessory to Murder’ added to your resume.”

Kersh shot him an angry glare but said nothing.

“Twenty-four hours, Deputy Director,” Mulder repeated pointedly.

Without waiting for a response, Mulder and Doggett left the room.

TBC