Wambli-Part 10/18
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

"...something found me."

"What?"

"Fate. Destiny. Whatever it's called when the choices you
thought you had in life are already made."

Episode 6x12-One Son

*****

It was almost midnight when Scully found the address she had
been looking for. She was exhausted, stressed and
frustrated, and she began to remember why she had not missed
DC. The traffic was horrendous. She'd give anything to be
sitting in her car in the middle of the prairie waiting for
a flock of sheep to cross the road than being stuck in
traffic. But  now she was here, and more than a little
relieved. "Mulder, you better be here," she whispered to
herself, getting out of the car and heading for the worn,
but well-kept, apartment building. 

Climbing the stairs inside the doorway quietly, she kept her
whole body as alert as she possibly could. A woman alone in
a darkened hallway was not a safe thing...even if she was
armed. Finally, she reached her objective, hidden camera and
all. Quickly, she knocked on the door.

She heard the mumbling and grumbling coming from the other
side as several locks were thrown. Not as many as at the old
place, she thought to herself, but still more than your
average city dweller would have. The door flew open,
exposing the shocked faces of Byers and Langly. 

After staring at her for one silent second, both men reached
through the door and pulled her inside, slamming the door
closed behind her.

"Scully!" Byers said, his voice astounded.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Langly said, fear lacing
his voice.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" she demanded.
"Hasn't Mulder been here?"

"Yeah," Byers said. "Of course he has. But he left last
night."

"For where?"

"To find you," Langly said softly.

Scully felt  her shoulders sag. "Damnit! I told him not to
come for me! I'm sure Susan told him!"

"I'm sure she did, too," Byers confirmed. "But did you
actually think Mulder would listen if he thought you were in
trouble?"

Scully moved further into the room and flopped down on the
couch. "They'll be there waiting for him!" With a heavy
sigh, she let her head rest on the back of the couch,
closing her eyes. Suddenly, they flew open and she stood.
"Phone?"

"Right there," Byers said, pointing out the cordless next to
one of the computers. 

Scully rushed over to it, grabbed it and began dialing. For
a long moment, she listened to it ring. No one answered.
"Shit!" She slammed the phone back down into its cradle,
then looked up at the two men in front of her. They both
wore worried expressions. Whether they were worried for
Mulder, or for their own safety in the aftermath of her
apparent temper tantrum, she didn't know. "Was he going to
contact you soon?"

They both shrugged. "He did say he was coming back to figure
out what to do about the Nihm thing, but not until he knew
what was going on at home." Byers moved closer to her.
"We'll keep trying to reach him, but I'm sure he knows to be
careful. He won't get caught, and when he realizes you came
out here, he'll be back ASAP."

Scully fell onto the couch again, rubbing her hands across
her tired eyes. "You guys got a bed I can pass out on?"

Byers sat next to her. "You can use mine. We'll keep trying
Mulder."

Scully let her hands drop and looked at him, a small smile
on her face. "Thanks," she said softly. "What a reunion,
huh? It's good to see you guys."

Byers smiled back. "It's good to see you, too, Scully."

A sudden knocking on the door made all three jump. Scully
stood quickly and headed for the bathroom. "Unless that's my
husband or Frohike, I'm not here."

"You got it," Langly said as he moved for the door. "What is
this?" he mumbled to himself. "Grand Central Station?" Then
he saw the two people standing outside his door on the
monitor. "Oh, shit!"

Both Scully, who had reached the other side of the room, and
Byers turned to look at him. "What?" Byers asked, walking
quickly over to the monitor. "Oh, no," he said softly,
glancing at Scully.

"What?" Scully demanded. 

Byers shook his head. "Hide."

Scully didn't argue. She ducked into the room, but kept
close to the door so she could hear what was going on. She
heard the door open to admit whoever was in the hallway. She
tried to take a deep, silent breath in hopes of slowing her
pounding heart. Was it someone she knew?

She heard Byers speak first. "Well, this is a surprise. The
fact that you're here, I mean." No response. "What can we do
for you ladies?"

"I'm Dr. Megan Northam," a woman's voice said. "We were
hoping to find Fox Mulder here." 

Scully felt her brow furrow. How did she know about Mulder
having been here? Doctor? Did she have something to do with
this Nihm thing Byers mentioned?

"He's not here anymore," Langly said. "He had more important
things to attend to."

"More important?" the woman said. "He risked exposure to try
to get into my lab and steal my files, yet now he has
something more important to do?" Her voice was incredulous.
"What?"

"Family." Anther woman spoke. Though it was only one word,
and it wasn't very loud, Scully recognized the voice
immediately. She heard it often enough in her nightmares.
"Am I right?" 

Taking a deep breath and ignoring her exhaustion, Scully
stepped out from behind the door. "Yes. That's exactly
right."

Both women had been facing away from her, and at the sound
of her voice they spun around. Dr. Northam's expressive
green eyes widened in astonishment. Diana Fowley's blue ones
narrowed.

"Agent Scully," the tall brunette said. "Fancy meeting you
here. Look's like all us 'dead' people are popping up all
over the place."

"What do you want Mulder for?" Scully asked, her teeth
clenched. She could have happily lived the rest of whatever
kind of life she had left without knowing this woman was
still alive.

Fowley glanced at Northam, then the doctor took a step
closer to Scully. "We need his help. We understand he knows
of an animal that escaped from the Project several years
ago. We believe this animal, an eagle, has information that
could be dangerous. Not only to the Project, but to the
world."

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

"Sometimes the only sane response to an insane world is
insanity."

Episode 3x07-The Walk

*****

6:15 A.M.
Denny's Diner
Rapid City, SD

Nick Remington was sitting at a corner booth when Charlie
and Mulder arrived. The meeting, which had been arranged
last night after midnight, had been scheduled for 6, but
Mulder and Charlie had waited several minutes before
entering the 50's style restaurant, checking to insure that
Remington hadn't been followed. It wasn't that Mulder didn't
trust the man, though it was hard to trust anyone at this
point; it was because he didn't trust who Remington might be
working with. Namely, the senior agent here in Rapid, a 20
year veteran by the name of Richard Turner. Mulder had known
the man when he had been a profiler, and Turner was, and
always would be, 'old school': against women and minorities
in the Bureau, a stickler for protocol, and a hard-ass
extraordinare. Mulder wanted nothing to do with the man.

With unusual precision, Mulder and Charlie slipped in
opposite doors of the diner and converged on the table where
Remington sat, surprising the man, but not frightening him.
One point for him, Mulder thought. Mulder slid easily into
the booth next to him and Charlie sat across from them. 

Remington eyed them both for a moment, then took a casual
sip of his coffee. He nodded toward Charlie. "Chief Yellow
Hawk." Then he turned to Mulder. "Agent Mulder."

Mulder gave him a impertinent grin. "Did you figure that out
on your own, or did you get assistance from my wife?"

Remington flushed slightly and looked down at the cup in his
hands. "There is no telling if I would have ever figured it
out on my own, even with the fact that your wife was so
familiar to me." He looked over at the former agent. "I
never met you personally...but I sure remember the
stories."

"I'm sure you do." Mulder stopped and looked up at the
approaching waitress. He and Charlie both ordered coffee,
and after they were served and the young woman left, turned
back to Remington. "The man they found dead out in the
Badlands yesterday. Who was he?"

Remington raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think I
know?"

"I'm assuming you found out through the same source that
told you who I was." He kept his eyes fixed on Remington's.

"You think your wife had something to do with this man's
death?"

Mulder didn't reply. But he also didn't stop staring at the
agent. 

Despite his cool reserve, Remington was starting to get
unnerved by that stare. He looked down again. "He was CIA,
officially. But we're pretty much convinced he wasn't
working just for them. He apparently came out to make sure
Cat and Monroe didn't find out anything about your eagle. He
found you wife by mistake." 

"We?" Remington looked up at Mulder's question, his
expression confused. "You said *we* were pretty much
convinced."

"Your wife and I."

"Where is she?" Mulder felt his voice grow hard as he tried
to cover up his worry.

Remington started to laugh. "She went looking for you, you
idiot!"

Mulder closed his eyes, hiding the frustration that had
swamped him at Remington's words. Across from him, Charlie
groaned. "Figures," the Indian mumbled.

With a soft curse, Mulder pulled out his cell phone, which
had been turned off to save the batteries. Quickly, he
turned it on and dialed up the Gunmen's number. He waited
impatiently, his finger tapping the table. Remington and
Charlie just watched him, amusement on both of their faces. 

Finally, a tired sounding Byers answered. "Lone Gunmen."

"I can't believe you guys still answer the phone like that!"
Mulder said.

"Mulder?!" 

"Is she there?"

"Yeah! Hold on!"

Mulder let out a sigh of relief, and unknown to him, so did
both Charlie and Remington.

"Mulder?!"

He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face at
the sound of her voice. "Hey," he said softly. "What the
hell are you doing in DC?" His voice was the complete
opposite of his words, calm and relaxed. "Who's taking care
of my kids?"

He heard Scully sigh deeply. "You know very well where the
kids are and why I'm in DC. But then again, maybe you don't,
seeing as you didn't listen to Susan when she told you not
to go back home." Mulder had to bite his lower lip to keep
from arguing with her. "Where are you?" she asked.

"I'm sitting in a corner booth of a restaurant on 8th Street
in Rapid with a certain Indian Police Chief and an FBI agent
of your recent acquaintance."

"You're with Remington?"

"Yeah. He thought it was pretty funny how we missed each
other, you leaving to find me as I came back looking for
you." He glared at the agent as he said this. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said. Ignoring Mulder's soft 'of course,'
she continued. "Tired...and a little concerned."

"Concerned? Why should you be concerned? The dark forces of
the United States Government have realized two of their
worst enemies, whom they believed were dead, are still
alive. What's to be concerned about?"

"That's not the only thing I'm worried about," Scully
replied, still ignoring his sarcasm. "You remember Wambli?
You know, the eagle that started this whole mess?"

"Yeah," he said, drawling the word. "What about her?"

Scully was silent for a moment. "I met someone last night
who told me something about her that we didn't know."

Mulder felt ice move through his veins. "What?" He really
wanted to ask 'who?', but first things first.

"I think you better wait until you get back here, first.
Then you can talk to Dr. Northam yourself." 

Mulder didn't stop to analyze why he felt so relived to hear
she had talked to Northam. "Okay," he responded.

"And if you can, you better bring Wambli back with you."

Mulder felt his mouth open in astonishment. "Now, wait a
minute! This whole thing started because she didn't want to
go back. Now you want me to bring her there?"

"Mulder, just trust me on this. We need her back here."

"We?" Mulder asked incredulously. "Who told you this?
Northam?"

"No," Scully said softly. "Diana."

Mulder sat stunned for a moment. Then, in a voice as cold as
a Dakota blizzard, said, "You spent how many stressful hours
of your life years ago trying to convince me not to trust
that woman, and now you want me to take her word on this?"
He clenched his teeth to keep from yelling out a curse.

"Mulder, she showed me something you need to see, something
that makes me believe her. Please, just try and get the
eagle here."

"What about this spook you shot?" His voice, he discovered,
was still cold.

She was silent for a long moment. He was about to say her
name when she spoke, a tremor in her voice. "It was
self-defense."

"God, Scully! I know that!" The fear and sadness in her
voice tore him up. "Scully? Come on, babe. Stay with me
here."

He heard her take a deep breath. "I cleaned house
afterwards. Pictures. Clothes. I left it all at Susan's. But
it may not be enough. Mulder, we have to finish this...for
Fox and Marissa's sake."

"And you think this thing with Wambli will finish it?"

"Yes," she whispered. "It might even get our lives back."

Mulder couldn't for the life of him figure out how they
could ever get their lives back, but he had faith that
Scully knew what she was doing. Before he could say another
word, he looked up to see another familiar face enter the
diner. Charlie's 'oh, shit' across from him echoed his own
thoughts. "Scully, I gotta go. I'll do my best to get Wambli
out there, but it's not gonna be easy if she's not willing
to go. Just promise me you'll STAY THERE!"

She laughed softly. "I promise. Be careful."

"I will. And please, please, don't kill Diana." His voice
held a touch of humor...but only a touch.

"I'll do my best," she responded in kind. "Love you."

"Love you, too." He disconnected, then looked up to face the
new addition, who had moved to stand next to their table. He
looked at Remington, whose eyes were glued to the table in
front of him, and then at Charlie, who was watching their
visitor with wide, innocent eyes. Mulder turned his own eyes
up again.

"Mind if I join you?" Alicia Chase asked, a smile on her
face, a glower in her eye.

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

"Don't you see? We're all in hell. I'm the only one who
knows it."

Episode 6x15-Monday

*****

Ft. Marlene, Maryland
Project Nihm

Scully had been invited to meet the subjects of Project
Nihm. 

The invitation had been bestowed by Dr. Northam, though
Fowley was tagging along. Scully wasn't too comfortable with
the idea of spending time with Mulder's ex, but she was very
curious about the project, and knew the opportunity to view
it in depth was rare indeed. Top Secret government projects
tend not to give out public tours. Though she didn't trust
Diana any farther than she could spit (which wasn't very
far), she felt the honesty and sincerity in Megan Northam
like it was a palpable thing. Megan was a scientist, and was
far more fascinated in the discovery of things than in
destruction or domination.

Scully's natural instinct was to rebel at the thought of
testing animals. Though she had worked with lab rats and
mice in medical school, she had never approved of
non-essential testing. If it didn't have the incentive of
possibly saving human lives, she would have been against it
completely. Knowing little about Nihm, she wasn't about to
broadcast her opinions until she was better informed. But
she couldn't see how making animals as smart or smarter than
humans accomplished anything other than enlarging the ego of
the initiators.

When she entered the lab with the two other women, one of
the handlers, or 'teachers' as Megan called them, was
working with a young female wolf called The Lady.
Apparently, she was the daughter of one of the Project's
success stories, Taryn. The Lady's father had been a normal,
untested gray wolf, but thanks to Taryn's DNA manipulation,
The Lady had been born with above average intelligence. She
didn't appear to be as smart as her mother, but was very
intelligent nonetheless. Scully was doubtful; Charlie had
long ago told her stories of how smart wolves were and had
always been. Their natural intelligence had long been
underestimated by most people. Most Native American tribes
had learned to respect the wolf because of their
similarities to humans. It wasn't until Europeans arrived
with their tales of 'Little Red Riding Hood' that the wolf
came to symbolize evil in America, and was promptly
exterminated. Recently, the government had been attempting
to reintroduce the wolf into the lower forty-eight states.
Charlie, as well as many other Lakota, had been trying to
bring the governments attention toward the Black Hills. With
thousands of acres of wild forest land, two species of deer,
Bighorn and Mountain Goats, as well as much smaller game,
Paha Sapa was the perfect environment for the wolf. But, of
course, the local ranchers and hunters saw things
differently.

The Lady's teacher was a young woman named Tami. The two sat
together in the training room, which was a large, circular
room just off the main lab, with rubber mats on the floor,
and a one-way mirror that allowed people in the lab to
observe their activities. Tami was sitting on the floor with
large, white tiles with big, black shapes on them. She was
asking The Lady to distinguish between the shapes by having
the wolf nudge the star shape whenever two tiles were held
up. When Tami held up two tiles, neither of which was the
star, The Lady sat quietly, looking at her like she was
crazy.

Scully wasn't impressed. "I've seen this same testing
procedure done with horses," she said softly. "Most of them
passed the test, too, and I believe their intelligence level
isn't nearly as high as a wolf's."

"Yes, but The Lady is young," Megan said with a smile.
"She's not even a year old yet. And, just like with human
children, she had to start at the beginning. Human children
aren't born knowing how to read and write. Their IQ is based
not on if they can learn, but how much and how quickly. We
judge the 'children' here by the same criteria." She looked
at the two figures in the room. "Taryn was our first
successful subject after the procedure was changed," Megan
said softly. She had told Scully about the change last
night, when she had explained about Wambli. The testing
procedure that had originally been a success had also been
dangerous, and all the subjects but Wambli, who had been
called Dawn back then, had died. After Dawn's escape, they
had assumed she had died, too. "Taryn's IQ is equivalent to
mine. If, with The Lady, we can prove that the altered DNA
can be passed on through the offspring...well, let's just
say it would be wonderful."

"Why?" Scully asked, still not clear on the motive behind
the testing. "Why is it necessary to change the way things
were meant to be? Because you enjoy playing God?"

Megan seemed startled by Scully's questions. "Of course not!
We are not trying to be God."

"You could have fooled me," Scully said softly. "I see no
reason, scientific or otherwise, to be doing this. What is
going to become of your successes? Are they going to somehow
become members of human society? Doubtful. Or are they going
to spend the rest of their lives here, playing games behind
one-way-mirrors?"

Dr. Northam stood stock still, a stunned expression on her
face. "I...I guess I haven't thought that far ahead." Her
voice was soft, almost timid.

"You haven't thought that far ahead?" Scully was getting
angry now. Yet, she understood Megan's ignorance; working on
an amazing project like this was bound to warp the mind into
thinking of nothing but the project. Single minded and set
on one goal, Dr. Northam wasn't the only scientist to create
without really thinking about the final outcome of that
creation. A certain man by the name of Robert Oppenheimer
came to mind.

"You may not have thought that far ahead," Scully said to
the doctor. "But I bet others have." She looked over at
Diana, who had been standing silent in the back of the room.
"What is it Fowley? Military? Defense? Will these animals be
trained to spy for us? Or even fight?"

Diana stood there, a small, secret smile on her face. "What
makes you think I know anything about 'their' plans, Scully?
Even before my 'death', I wasn't always in the loop."

Scully walked toward her, more than a little pleased when
Diana's eyes turned nervous. "So my being here is just a
coincidence?" she asked. "This little tour I'm being giving
is just a way to keep me busy until my husband," she was
sure to emphasize 'husband', "arrives with Wambli? Or should
I say Dawn?"

"Why else, Agent Scully?" 

Though she hadn't been an agent in years, the title still
sounded right to Scully's ears. She shrugged. "I don't know.
All I know is that a CIA agent was sent to trail me, hoping
to find Mulder, and then most probably, he was told to kill
us. And now, here I stand, in a CIA operated facility. I
find that ironic, don't you?"

Diana's brow had furrowed at Scully's words. "They know?"
she asked, and her confusion seemed genuine. "They know
you're alive?"

Scully felt her heart begin beating even faster at the
realization that Diana didn't even know she and Mulder's
cover had been blown. The older woman had obviously not been
in the loop this time around.

A smallish man in a lab coat and wire-rimmed glasses peeked
in from the hallway. "Dr. Northam? You're wanted in
operations."

"Thank you, Damon." The doctor turned toward the door. "I'm
sorry," she said to Scully. "If you'll excuse me?"

Scully nodded automatically, then turned back to Diana, who
still looked worried, though not about Scully anymore.

"You didn't know," Scully said. It wasn't a question.

Diana shook her head. "But if someone from the CIA knows,
then he will, too."

"Who?"

Before Diana could answer, four armed guards came in through
the door Megan Northam had just disappeared through. They
trained their weapons on both Scully and Diana. "Ladies, if
you wouldn't mind coming with us?" Though the Sergeant asked
politely, Scully knew he wouldn't take no for an answer. 

She looked over at Diana, who really looked worried now.
"Spender," she said quietly, then proceeded to allow the
guards to escort her out. Scully had no choice but to
follow.

*****

End 10/18

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