Title: The S-Files: Justice

Arthur: Spooky

Beta: Dark Blood

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: A man seeks revenge but gets more then what he bargained for.

Disclaimer: The X-Files belong to Chris Carter. But he didn't know how to treat them nicely so I had to take them away from him. It's my turn. I now own them in the S-Files.

There are several stories before this one, however you don't have to read them to understand what is going on here. They can be found at http://shipper.topcities.com/XF/main.htm

Any and all feedback is welcomed and very much needed. Please? I am choking here from the lack of response! I need feedback to survive!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Omaha City, Nebraska

The darkness engulfed the room, swallowing it. The small apartment was silent except for the hushed voices coming from the bedroom.

A tall man with sandy blonde hair emerged from the bedroom. He pulled a t-shirt over his head as he headed for the door. " I have to go Lois. It's the only way."

Lois was right behind him, she was still wearing her robe and there were worry lines etched across her face. "I don't need everything money can buy Doug, if I wanted that I would have stayed with Norman. All I want is you." The brunette told him, grabbing his arm to try and stop him.

Doug looked at her and smiled. "I know that Lois, but maybe I want the best for you?" He grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her closer to him. He kissed her roughly. She pleaded with him through worried eyes not to leave. He ignored her unspoken plea and grabbed the duffel bag at his feet and left the tiny apartment.

In a house 10 miles from the apartment a man sat in his living room surrounded by candles. There was just enough light to illuminate the book that was open in front of him. His eyes were closed in concentration as he held onto his target. He felt it when the moment was right and began to chant.

"Spirits rise and materialize. While evil is around, let the good abound. Catch the man unnerved. Catch him and let justice be served!" He continued chanting this over and over. When he opened his eyes at the end of the chanting, all the candles in room became extinguished.

Back at their apartment, Lois sadly latched the door behind Doug. She had given up everything for this man and now she felt like he was throwing it all away. They were desperate, desperate enough for him to want to do the unthinkable. She was scared. A chill went down her spine and she pulled her robe more tightly around her, trying to ward off the cold. She headed back towards the bedroom but didn't make it two steps before she felt it.

Smoke rose from the book in the house ten miles away. The mysterious man began to chant a new verse. "See what would be done. See what should be done. Do what will be done?" Over and over the chant echoed through the room, growing louder and louder with each time the man said it. The words spread and filled the room with their power as the candle flames erupted once again to light the entire room.

The darkness grabbed at her throat and squeezed. She flailed, trying to get away. Her mind screamed at her to tear the offending thing from her body but her common sense asked her, 'How can you get away from something that isn't there?' She pawed at her own throat, trying to pull the invisible hand away. Her terror grew as she desperately gasped for air. In the back part of her mind, she thought she could actually feel the life being squeezed out of her. Soon the darkness engulfed her and she sank to the floor.

Above her head letters appeared on the wall.

The man opened his eyes and spoke," Justice will be served." A chilling wind blew the candle flames out as the same wind blew the hand-made curtains at the house of the deceased Lois.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Special Agent Dana Scully opened the door to the X-Files office. Fox Mulder was no longer the only name that decorated the office door. Her name was up there as well, and above their names hung a plaque with "The X-Files Division" written on it with bold letters. They were still in the basement but the higher-ups had decided it was time to expand. She now had two agents under her and she wasn't sure if it was meant to help or hinder the files that she and Mulder had put their lives into.

She was happy to note that she was the first one there. Mulder had gone up to meet with Skinner, leaving her time to go and grab her daily dose of caffeine. She was just setting down her briefcase when, to her chagrin, Agent Doggett walked in.

"Good morning Agent Scully, you are looking beautiful today, Doggett told her. "As always," he added after scanning the length of her. He didn't try to hide the fact that he liked what he saw.

"Good morning Agent Doggett." Scully said icily, letting him know with the look in her eyes and the tone in her voice that she did not approve of his choice of greetings.

"You know Agent Scully I am sure that, if given the chance, I could show you a hell of a better time than that partner of yours." Doggett winked at her. "What do you say?" He reached out and ran a hand down her arm.

Stepping out of his reach deftly she replied "Have you seen Agent Reyes today?" While Scully had secretly loved it when Mulder had made such passes at her, Doggett's were unwelcome. She chose to ignore him.

"No, I haven't." He was beginning to enjoy the chase. "You didn't answer my question Dana."

Scully turned on him and got right in his face. "Agent Scully, Agent Doggett. And if I were you…" Her sentence was cut short by the opening of the door. Scully turned to see who was there.

Mulder walked in and stopped. He looked at Doggett and took notice of his shit-eating grin. He then took a look at his partner and saw the anger lurking in her blue eyes. She quickly turned away from his questioning gaze. Before he could question what was going on Agent Reyes entered the scene.

"Good morning everyone." Reyes said, with a little too much pep.

"I've got two cases here." Mulder told them, handing Doggett one folder and Scully the other. "Doggett you and Reyes are going to look into some serial killings. There isn't anything that resembles an X-Files other then the fact that the local sheriffs office is stumped. Scully and I will be looking into some mysterious deaths out in Omaha." As an afterthought he added, "Appears to be killings of the spiritual kind."

"Then Reyes should go with you Mulder, " Doggett suggested, hoping that if he played his cards right he would get a chance with Scully. "She has the right kind of background for stuff like that. Agent Scully here would have fun slicing and dicing with me."

Mulder turned to glare at the man. "Scully is my partner. She goes with me. And further more you go where I tell you to go. Is that clear?" Mulder stated more than asked. He glanced sideways at Scully and saw her raised eyebrow. 'Oh shhiiii...I'm gonna get it for that one' he thought.

"Sure. Fine. Whatever." Doggett brushed past Mulder and took Reyes by the arm, leading her quickly out of the office.

Mulder looked at Scully but she held up her hand. "Later Mulder, we have a plane to catch."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On flight to Omaha, Nebraska.

Mulder and Scully were seated side by side on a small plane headed for Omaha, Nebraska. Mulder shifted uncomfortably in his aisle seat next to Scully. He scowled down at his partner and her luxurious amount of legroom. Scully for her part, stared out the window at the ground below. This was her favorite part about flying. Her least favorite part about flying was the turbulence. She heard Mulder shift in his seat again and turned her gaze toward her boyish partner.

"So Mulder? What do we got?" She asked, indicating the case file.

"We have two dead bodies, no evidence, no witnesses and a message written in blood." Mulder started, rattling off the facts by memory. " Lois Flatts was found dead in her apartment last night. The words "Justice will be served" were written in blood just above her head. No evidence was collected. An autopsy would have been done except they decided to call in the big guns when two hours later they get a call about another murder. A man by the name of Hubert Jennings is a suspect in the murder of his wife, Ellen Jennings. She was killed by a frying pan connecting with her skull. Hubert admits that the two were fighting. He was angry because she was being stubborn and for one second thought about hitting her over the head with aforementioned frying pan. He swears he never picked it up. And unless he used gloves, he never did. He was also gone at the time of the murder and the words "Justice was served" was once again written on the wall where the victim died."

"Well, I guess an autopsy is in order. What about the blood on the wall? Whose was it?" Scully asked.

"It wasn't the victims and it wasn't Hubert Jennings." Mulder answered. "At this point they aren't sure whose blood it is."

"This is definitely an X-File." Scully murmured.

"So tell me Scully, what happened in the X-Files office right before I walked in?" Mulder asked, nudging her shoulder.

"Nothing happened Mulder."

"Something happened, you were upset. I could tell. And Doggett had a look on his face that I was tempted to permanently remove."

"He made a pass at me," Scully gave in, he wasn't going to stop until she told him the truth. "I brushed him off. End of story."

"Why that stupid little…" Mulder's blood was boiling, "I'm going to kill him…"

"No your not. And you aren't going to say anything to him either Mulder. I can handle Doggett. Your just lucky I'm not giving you hell about that whole "She is my partner and she goes with me" bit you pulled." Scully told him, "And the only reason I'm not is because of the satisfaction I got out of seeing his face when you told him off."

"He deserved it."

"Yes he did, but no more practicing your night in shining armor routine, okay?"

"But Scully" The look she gave him changed his mind, "Yes mother." He complied, giving her his sad puppy dog face. He was rewarded with one of those special Scully smiles he had grown to love.

The rest of the flight was spent with Mulder asleep on Scully's shoulder. Every once in a while she would look up from her file and brush that wayward lock from his brow. She smiled at the little noises he made in his sleep and turned back to the case file. She laughed a little when he whispered her name. She sometimes wondered if he knew that she had known a long time that he dreamed about her. Many times, on countless flights, he had been in the same position and had whispered her name. Sometimes it would be in fright but other times it was laced in love. The seatbelt light lit up, signaling landing time. She nudged Mulder awake and they prepared for landing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Omaha Police Station

Sheriff Mick Strider sat alone in his office sifting through the case reports. He looked at the pile listed as "Suicide" and felt his stomach flip. There had been a record-breaking number of suicide deaths in the past 12 hours. He was baffled. All of the suicide letters had ended with the same line, "Justice will be served". This would suggest murder but the last suicide was a man who threw himself off a building. No one else was up there with him according to eyewitnesses.

Mick brushed his hand through his thick brown hair. He had several pieces sticking up in different directions from repeating that same gesture since eleven o'clock last night. He sighed and picked up the murder file of Lois Flatts and willed his green eyes to focus on the words one more time. Thankfully he was interrupted by a knock on his office door. "Come in," he called. Mick stood up to great the two people entering his office.

"Hello Sheriff, I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI and this is my partner, Agent Scully." Mulder said, introducing them to the sheriff and taking his offered hand. Scully shook his hand as well.

"My name is Mick Strider, pleasure to meet the both of you. I know it may be a little soon to call in the big guns but I'm not sure where to go on this one. Please, have a seat." He told them, indicating the two chairs in the room. Once they were all seated Mick informed them about the recent suicides, or murders. He still wasn't sure what to call them.

"Is it okay if we question Hubert Jennings?" Mulder asked.

"Don't see why not. Follow me." Mick led the way to the holding cell.

"Hubert, these nice people here want to ask you some questions." The Sheriff said, grabbing the key and opening the door.

"What for? I already told you everything Sheriff Strider, I just want to go home and burry my wife." Hubert turned pleading eyes to Mulder and Scully, "I didn't kill her, I swear I didn't."

"Calm down Hubert, we aren't here to accuse you of anything." Mulder said, lifting his hands in a friendly gesture.

"Are you sick Hubert? You look a little chilled." Scully asked, stepping forward.

"No, no, been like this ever since we started fighting." Hubert said, rocking back and forth. He pulled his blanket closer around him.

"What were you and your wife fighting about Hubert?" Mulder asked him.

"She wanted to go to her parents for the Fourth of July. We went there last year and her brother hates me so I didn't want to go back again. I asked her why we couldn't spend a normal Fourth of July here with just the two of us. She was being stubborn. I didn't want to go all the way to Iowa. That's a long drive! And for what? A couple of hot dogs?"

"And that made you mad enough to want to hit her with a frying pan."

"But I didn't hit her with it! Geesh, haven't you ever heard of knocking someone upside the head to knock some senses into them? Now that I thought about but never did it." Hubert claimed. "Besides, I was out walking."

"You're going to have to do better then that Hubert." Scully told him gently, "Did you see anyone while you were out?"

"No."

"Well, thank you Hubert, will let you know if we need anything else." Mulder and Scully left the small cell and headed back out to the main room. Mulder turned to the sheriff and asked, "We need to see the crime scene."

"Well, everything has already been cleaned out and checked but sure, I can take you all out there."

Mulder and Scully were behind the sheriff in their rented Ford Taurus. "You have a theory on this don't you Mulder?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"You know what I think?"

"No, what do you think Scully?" Mulder leered at her.

"It's a ghost." Scully smiled, she loved teasing him, "I mean, anyone that has seen the Sixth Sense would know that."

"If I didn't know any better I would think you were mocking me. Besides, ghosts don't kill people."

"Is that what has you stumped?" Scully asked.

"Yes."

"Maybe I should have a look at those bodies. The answer could be hidden in there."

"Can't wait to slap on the latex huh Scully?" Mulder teased.

"Watch it Spooky."

They pulled up to the apartment of Lois Flatts. The three of them climbed the stairs of the old run down apartment complex.

"Not much to look at." The Sheriff commented.

"How long had Ms. Flatts lived here?" Scully asked.

"Not long. About three weeks."

"Where did she live before that?"

"With her boyfriend, Norman Gates. I spoke to him briefly, said he hadn't heard from her since the break up. Seemed like a nice fellow"

"Did she live here alone?" Mulder asked, as they slipped under the crime scene tape. His hand batted at the wall, trying to find the light switch. The room flooded with light and the first site they caught was the big red letters on the wall.

"There were some men's clothes in the closet so we assume there was someone living here with her. He hasn't been found yet. We have a description but the land lord was never notified of another person living here." The Sheriff answered. He stood in the doorway letting the agents get a feel of the room.

"Did the victim have any past criminal records?" Scully asked, trying to get a handle on what the "Justice is served" phrase truly meant in conjunction with the victims.

"No prior arrests."

"Has there been an autopsy?" Scully asked.

"No, not yet. You need me to make arrangements?"

"I was planning on doing it, actually. If you wouldn't mind dropping me off at the morgue."

Mick was mighty surprised. A female pathologist? This just gets better and better he thought to himself. "Sure can do." He told her, a smile forming on his face. He liked these two.

"Hey, did you notice that the thermostat was on 90?" Mulder asked.

"No, why?"

"Has it been that cold around here lately?"

"No, been pretty warm actually."

"Looks like Ms. Flatts was chilly also." Mulder mused.

"Scully, while your doing that autopsy, I'm going to go check out Hubert Jenning's home. Question some of the neighbors."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Omaha City Morgue

Agent Dana Scully walked through the cold autopsy room of the Omaha city morgue. She heard her heels click against the steel-tiled flooring as she headed for the changing room. The medical examiner on staff was a man who looked entirely too much like Egor from the movie Frankenstein. Scully looked at him warily and said, "I'll be doing the autopsy alone, if that is all right." The man shrugged and left the room mumbling something about girls get to have all the fun.

Scully shook her head and donned the surgical gown and booties needed to keep things sterilized in the room. She made her way to the two bodies that were lying on the steel tables in front of her. She grabbed two latex gloves from the box on her right and cleared her throat before turning on her tape recorder.

"Subject: Lois Flatts. Time of death reported to be between five and eleven PM, but is not certain due to the late discovery of the body. Bruises around her neck make me lean towards cause of death by asphyxiation due to being strangled. I am dusting for fingerprints now."

Scully lightly dusted the bruised areas around the neck of Lois only to find that there were no fingerprints there. "That's odd," she said.

She looked at the bruises. They were definitely a sign of strangling. She darkened the lights in the room and brought out the black light to sweep over the body to look for any fibers that could give evidence as to who killed her. There were no fibers on the body at all. "No fibers and no fingerprints found on the body. This leads me to believe that the person responsible for the murder was wearing latex gloves."

Scully picked up her scalpel and said, "Beginning Y incision." She "sliced and diced" as her peers often referred to the autopsy procedure. After completing the autopsy, she stated to the recorder, "Everything appears healthy internally. This woman was strangled to death."

The killer was either a genius who knew how to hide fibers and hair, she mused, or the killer wasn't a person.

She moved on to the next body and found similar results. "Cause of death," she said, "Trauma to the head due to a frying pan." This was not going to be easy, she thought

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Davy Crocket Motor Lodge

Omaha, Nebraska.

That night.

Scully unlocked the door to her motel room. She walked in kicking off her shoes and throwing her coat on the chair. She tiredly trudged into the bathroom and turned the shower on full blast. She undressed and stepped under the scalding spray. Nothing had ever felt better.

A few minutes later she emerged clean and refreshed. She dressed in her silk green pajamas and headed for the connecting door. She picked up her notes along the way.

Mulder looked up from the TV to see his partner coming through the connecting door. He smiled at her and turned the TV on mute. She walked over to him and sat down beside him on the bed.

"Hey gorgeous." He greeted her, pulling her closer to give her a kiss.

"Mulder" She warned as he captured her lips with his. She responded in kind but reluctantly pulled away. "We're on a case."

"Yes but we aren't on the case right now." Mulder justified, rubbing his hand over her cheek. He saw the stubbornness in her eyes and decided to let it go. "Nothing new turned up at Jenning's place. I had them send the boys the test results on the blood found on the walls to see what they can pull up. What did you get out of the autopsy?" He asked.

"Not much," Scully said, "No fingerprints, no fibers, and no blood."

"Hmm" Mulder mused.

"What?" Scully asked, her eyebrows raised.

"What could kill and leave no fingerprints or fivers?"

"Who, not what. If left human sized fingerprints on Lois Flatt's neck, so it's a who." Mulder gave her a look that she knew all too well. "Mulder, I'll be better to argue my logic with you in the morning. I'm exhausted," she said. "And hungry," she added as an afterthought.

Scully got up to leave but was stopped by Mulder tugging on her arm. She turned to look at him and then wished she hadn't. He was wearing that puppy dog look, the one she couldn't say no to.

"Stay, Scully. I just want to hold you, and the little one." Mulder said, pleading with her not to leave him there alone with the darkness.

Scully nodded and crawled under the covers. She cuddled up next to Mulder and he switched off the lights. He watched as she slowly drifted off to sleep. It was his turn to keep watch over her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mulder, I think you should take a right at the next light. I'm positive that's where I saw that breakfast place at yesterday." Scully said.

"Are you sure Scully? Because I could have swore it was just a little ways down this road," Mulder said, looking around for some kind of landmark that would give him a hint as to which way he should go.

Scully was about to retort when they heard a squealing of tires and a woman scream. Just up ahead right before the red light a SUV had run down some people crossing the street. "Oh my god Mulder, stop!"

Mulder slammed on the breaks and Scully hopped out. She ran across the street and over to the scene. Mulder followed behind her. The driver was just getting out of the truck when Mulder approached him and read him his rights.

Scully went over to the victims. There were two women and one male. One woman had on a flowered dress and was wearing a matching hat. She checked for a pulse but to her dismay the old woman was dead. She checked the pulse on the male laying beside her but found none. She turned her attention to the younger female and when she pressed her fingers to the woman's neck she moaned. Scully sighed in relief. There was blood pouring from a gash on her head and her leg was obviously broken. Scully pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and applied it to the gash on the woman's head. At that time Mulder appeared behind her. She looked up at him and saw him glance at the other two victims and she shook her head. He nodded. "Mulder," She called out. "Look." She indicated to the space between the tires and the old woman. The words "Justice will be served" were written in blood once again.

"What the hell is going on here? Why would anyone want to kill three people walking across the street?"

"Why don't you ask the driver?" The woman started to moan again and Scully took a hold of her hand. "hey, you've been in an accident but your going to be just fine." Scully reassured the woman. She was relieved when she heard the sounds of an approaching ambulance.

"Why did you run those people down?" Mulder asked John Katz, the driver of the SUV.

"I didn't, I had no control over the vehicle." He replied indignantly.

"Did you want to run them down?"

"No, of course not." The man said, a little to hastily.

"I think you better tell me the truth John."

"Yes, yes I wanted to run them down. The stupid tourists come here and make a nuisance of themselves. Its like what are they doing here anyway? Why don't they go to Hollywood or somewhere more exciting? But no, they come here to piss me off."

"So you ran them over?"

"I didn't run them over!!! I'm telling you something took control over that car! I didn't run them over! There was a voice that cried out 'Die tourist scum!', but it wasn't me, I swear!"

Mulder glanced over at the man's thermostat on his car. It was set at the maximum heat level. Mulder turned when he heard a police car pull up behind him. He got out his badge as he escorted the suspect over to the police car. He gave the officer his account of what happened.

"Mulder," Scully called. "There's been another one."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry Johnson stared out the window of his quaint little grocery store. Not much had happened this morning. Some of his regulars had come in, that was the sum of his business for the day. He was just about to go restock some of the shelves when his cash drawer popped open.

"What the hell…" He pushed it back in but was surprised when it popped back out again. His head shot up and he looked around the store. Was that laughter he just heard? Deciding he was just hearing things he went back to examining his drawer. "Now what is wrong with this thing?" He shoved the drawer back in and jammed it with a pen. "There, that should hold ya until I can get back. How did it get so cold in here?" He muttered to himself as he opened the door to the back to check the thermostat. "Odd," he said when he saw that it was set to nearly 90 degrees.

When he walked back out his drawer was open and the money was in a brown paper bag. "Whose here?" He stammered. He stumbled back in horror as a pack of morely's floated into the bag. From behind him the door to the beer cooler opened and a 12 pack floated out as the form of a man suddenly appeared. "See, that's the problem with you convenience store people," the shadow stated. "You go into the back and leave the store wide open for all kinds of weirdoes," he said as he laughed at his own joke then made his hand into the shape of a gun.

"Give back that stuff!" The owner shouted as he grabbed for the paper bag.

"Don't make me shoot you. Oh wait, never mind, that's what I came here to do anyway. Ha! I almost forgot," he laughed as the owner stared at the shadow man's fingers.

"You going to shoot me with your fingertips?" he said confidently.

"Actually, yes" the shadow man said as he mouthed the words

'Justice will be served' and said "Pow."

The man's eyes rolled back in his head and he clutched his chest. He saw he was bleeding from a wound that looked like a gunshot, but there was no bullet, no gun. He looked up in confusion and found his breathing was labored.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Douglas Elkhorn stopped his car in front of the small grocery store. He hopped out and slammed the car door. Lois was going to be surprised with the size of the diamond ring he had bought her. His ring of robberies around town was proving to be successful. He popped his trunk and pulled the duffle bag opened. He took out his mask and put it on. Next he grabbed a small handgun. He shut the lid and moved to the front of the store. He opened the door and was greeted by two paper bags floating in front of his face. "What in the hell?" He asked. To his amazement the packages took themselves out to his car. He looked from the store back to his car and shrugged. "My momma always told me not to look a gift horse in the mouth."

From inside the store the owner saw a gun float through the air and land next to him. He grabbed it and waited to see if the man would come back in for anything else. If he did, the owner vowed he would kill him.

Outside, Doug looked as the paper bag found its way neatly into his trunk. He snapped his fingers and then realized he needed gas. He didn't have to rob the place, so he had no reason to worry about walking in and paying for a few bucks worth. He walked in the store and looked behind the counter to find the owner laboring to breathe, holding a gun in his right hand. "Are you, ok, sir?" Doug cautiously asked.

"You!" the owner screamed as he shot Doug in the head. Doug slumped to the floor dead and the owner took his own last breath and died.

A shadow crept over the scene. "Humans are strange creatures," it said as it waved its shadow hand and the words justice will be served appeared on the counter. The shadow picked up the gun and with a wave of a hand, made it disappear.

Mulder and Scully arrived on the scene to find the Sheriff already there with his team. "What happened?" Mulder asked.

"Where do I begin?" The Sheriff asked. "I have two dead bodies. The owner of the store and a robber it seems. We found stuff in the guy's car, but it looks like he was shot here. Why he would come back in, we have no idea. The cameras in here went blurry at the time of the killings it seems, so we got nothing. No weapon, no witnesses."

Scully walked over to get a look at the body. "Do you have a name?"

"Douglas Elkhorn. He matches the description of Lois Flatts live in mate."

Scully looked up at Mulder. A look exchanged between them. Scully turned back to the victim/suspect. "Have they determined the shooter?"

"No, there aren't any bullets missing from his gun either so it wasn't suicide. No gunpowder residue was found either."

"Hey Mulder," Scully called, taking him by the arm and leading him away from the crime scene. "I'm going to ride with the ambulance and perform an autopsy. Something with this isn't sitting right with me."

"Okay Scully, I'm going to head back to the hotel. Look over the case notes some more."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"His head exploded Mulder," Scully said, coming through the door. "No bullets, nothing. Whatever killed him it killed him from the inside. Same thing with the store owner and his chest."

"This isn't adding up Scully. We have five deaths and some suicides. Two deaths are connected, the others aren't. The only thing linking them to the same case is the words "Justice will be served." And the fact that all suspects were cold prior to the crime."

"Maybe we should concentrate on the two that are connected and go from there," Scully suggested. "If we can even get there before another murder is committed."

"We should probably try and find Norman Gates."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Norman Gates paced back and forth across his living room. Sweat was pouring off of him. "This wasn't suppose to happen," he kept muttering. "I must have done something wrong." He went back over and sat in front of his book. His eyes grew wide and he jumped up from the table. Rushing into his bedroom he grabbed some candles and turned the lights out. He lit them and sat before his book. He started his chant over again but changed the words slightly.

Once again smoke came up from the book and Norman cried out. The spirit laughed and materialized in front of Norman. "So you have called for more death I see," the floating form said.

"No, no more death. It was suppose to stop with Lois and Doug. You know that!"

The spirit laughed. "Did you honestly think I would obey you? You only offered me the chance to come into this world. You had so much anger in you. You released me, Norman. After five thousand years you released me!" The spirit crackled as it flew out the window.

Norman jumped up and followed the spirit out. He knew what he had to do to stop the angel of death.

Outside Mulder and Scully were driving up when they saw Norman run out of his home and jump in his car. He peeled out of his drive way and drove towards them. Mulder quickly made a u-turn and followed behind Norman.

Ten minutes later Norman pulled up in front of a bank. He ran up to the entrance but stopped. "Oh no" He whispered. There was a police officer holding the people inside hostage. Norman could see him motion for the tellers to put the money in the bag. Off to his right movement caught his eye and he saw a masked man run up to the door. At the same time the policeman came out and handed the masked man the bag. Confused, the man took off.

Mulder and Scully jump out of their rented Taurus and draw their guns. "Norman, get your hands in the air!" Mulder yells. Norman turned to find one agent with a gun pointed at him. He panicked and took off running. "Stop federal agent!" Norman heard the man yell. There was no way they were taking him alive.

Scully took off after the masked man on foot. He had disappeared behind the bank. She rounded the corner to find him trying to scale the fence. "Stop! Federal Agent!" She yelled. The man turned and found a gun leveled at his head. Knowing he had no other choice he slowly climbed down off the fence. "Put your hands up where I can see them!" Scully commanded. She took out her cuffs and approached the man. She read him his rights and slapped the cuffs on his wrists.

Norman was still running when Mulder caught up and tackled the man. He pinned him to the ground and cuffed him. "You're the one that caused all this aren't you Norman?" Mulder asked.

"Yes. I didn't mean for these other people to get hurt. Just that whore and her boyfriend." Norman replied, venom in his voice at the mention of his ex-girlfriend.

"How did you do it?"

"I called upon the darkness to help." Norman replied simply. "I am the only one that can stop it. You have to let me go." Norman pleaded. Before Mulder could respond. Norman began a new chant. It started out as a mere whisper then he screamed out, "Death be gone, death away. Back to your world you must go to stay! Blood you seek, so blood I give. Away with you, so the rest might live!"

Norman screamed out and grabbed Mulder's gun and shot himself in the throat. Blood gurgled out and a form materialized beside the body. A chill passed over Mulder as he watched a black shadow creep over the man then seep into the earth. A screeching cry pierced through the air and disappeared. Mulder looked down in horror at the bloodied corpse of Norman Gates.

"What the hell was that Mulder?" Scully asked, leading the masked robber back over to the car. "Oh dear God," she said when she saw the body of Norman.

"He grabbed my gun and shot himself," Mulder stated, looking down at the dead man in his arms.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scully's Case Report

June 19, 2002

Further Inspection of Norman Gates home revealed several books on witchcraft, one of which was laying open on the floor. The page was flipped to one spell having to do with calling forth a spirit. The spirit then does what its master bids it to do. Norman Gates was hurt by his girlfriend's betrayal. Journal entries were found among his personal items. He had talked about getting revenge on her and her boyfriend. However, Norman Gates plan backfired. His blood was used to write the message on the walls linking him to each murder. Norman Gates died June 18, 2002 from a suicidal gunshot to the throat. The suicides have been labeled as such. Hubert Jennings was cleared of all charges. The driver of the SUV is being held for further questioning and may get up to five months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The police officer at the bank is being held in a mental hospital for further evaluation. The doctors think he may have acted insane due to stress even though he claims something took over his body and made him hold the people at gunpoint. The masked robber was put in jail for seven months for attempted robbery.

"What are you doing?" Mulder asked, coming to stand behind Scully at her computer.

"Finishing up my report." Scully replied. She hit the save button and closed her laptop. She clicked off the light on her desk and stood up, wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Now we can we play?" Mulder teased, kissing her more firmly.

"Yes." She said simply, backing up into the bedroom, pulling him with her.

The end.