11/22/09
Title: Impertinent Questions
By: ML
Email: msnsc21@...
Archive: just let me know where
Spoiler / Episode Reference: Conduit
Rating: Bad words and some impure thoughts. Not for
the kiddies.
Disclaimer:  I still don't own them, darn it, just
the action figures.  But I'm grateful to Chris
Carter, 1013, and Fox, not to mention all the
actors, for bringing these characters to life and
giving me so much enjoyment.
Synopsis:  ...you ask an impertinent question and
you're on your way to a pertinent answer.  Or not.


Acknowledgments: to the Posse, always, and to Circe
Invidiosa, who gives my stories a lovely home:
http://ml.invidiosa.com/index.html


Author's notes:  This is the fourth story in an
exploration of the early seasons.  They are loosely
tied together but can be read as standalones as
well.


x-x-x-x


Impertinent Questions
by ML


Cryptography Division, FBI


"Whatcha workin' on there, Danny?"


A heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he caught a
whiff of stale cigarettes emanating from the suit
jacket of his questioner.


_It's Agent Bernstein to you_, Danny muttered under
his breath.  Aloud, he said, "Holtzman.  What can
we do for you that your own Cryptography Division
can't?"


_Besides, you know, actually deciphering
something_, he thought.


One of these days he was going to say something
like that out loud and get his ass fired.


"I hear you got some interesting data from one of
your field agents," Holtzman said jovially.  "I
need to know where it came from."


Danny remained silent.  If this was a fishing
expedition, he'd have to do better than that.


"Don't make me go to Blevins.  Or Skinner,"
Holtzman said in the same pleasantly threatening
tone.


"I need a little more information," Danny finally
replied.  "We get a lot of data through here every
day.  Out of the thousands and thousands of
possibilities, which one caught your attention?"


"We got a tip from the Sioux City office," Holtzman
replied.  "Who's investigating a missing person
case there?"


He'd already known it had to be Mulder, and
Holtzman probably had already known too.  Nothing
seemed to set alarms off faster than if word got
around Mulder was investigating something.  He
might as well have a hotline to the NSA.


Those Redskins tickets better be good.


x-x-x-x


Sioux City, Iowa


"This is the place," Saunders said.  "The Stay 'n
Save."


"Those FBI guys really know how to live large,"
Holtzman said.


Saunders parked the car by the office and went in
to talk to the night clerk.  Holtzman watched as
Saunders showed his ID and got the room numbers
from the clerk.


"You owe me ten bucks," Saunders said as he came
back to the car.  "They're in separate rooms."


"Of course they'd rent separate rooms," Holtzman
said.  "Mulder may be crazy, but he's not stupid."


"So which room?"  Saunders asked.  "Double or
nothing."


"You're on.  I'll take one-ten," Holtzman decided.


Not bothering to use much caution, Saunders and
three other agents tried the door of Room 108 while
Holtzman and Jacobs banged on the door of Room 110.
Without giving either occupant time to answer, they
applied shoulders to their respective doors and
pushed.  The flimsy doors gave way with very little
resistance.


Agent Scully stood frozen in the flashlight's beam.
A quick sweep of the room by one of the other
agents revealed that her gun was on the dresser,
several steps out of reach.  No one else was in the
room that Saunders could see.  The door to the
bathroom stood open and the window was high, tiny,
and closed.  If Mulder wasn't hiding under the bed,
he'd won the bet.


"Who are you?" Scully yelled, possibly to alert
Mulder to the intruders.


"NSA, Agent Scully," Saunders said, flashing his
badge.  "Where's Agent Mulder?"


Scully looked carefully at the ID.  Her demeanor
changed from frightened woman to furious.  "I
assume he's in his room," she said icily, standing
very straight next to her bed.  Saunders watched
her eyes flash over to the dresser where her gun
and badge lay.  "May I ask why you had to break
into my room at this hour?"


"National security, Agent Scully," Saunders said,
raking his flashlight over her.  Who knew for sure
if the rumors were true, but if Mulder wasn't
banging his partner he must be blind or gay.


"I'm sure there must be some mistake," Agent Scully
said.  "The case we're on has nothing to do with
national security."



"We'll be the judge of that," one of the other NSA
agents said.  "What do you know about the data
Agent Mulder sent to Cryptography?"


"Excuse me," Agent Scully said.  "I'm going to go
get dressed."  She snatched her suitcase and darted
into the bathroom, slamming the door after her.


The other agents looked at Saunders for guidance.
One took a couple of steps toward the bathroom
door, and Saunders shook his head slightly.  Agent
Scully was not as easily intimidated as they
thought she'd be.


"We could break down the door," another agent
suggested.  "Her gun's out here."


"What if she has one in her case?"  Saunders asked.
"Anyway, she's not going anywhere."


It was now obvious to Saunders that bullying and
threatening were not likely to gain them any ground
with Agent Scully; time to try another tack.


Moments later, Agent Scully emerged from the
bathroom, fully dressed.  She walked right up to
Saunders and looked him in the eye.


"Now," she said in a clipped tone.  "What is it
you're looking for?  And why did you break in here
to ask me where Agent Mulder is?"


One of the agents behind him snickered and Scully
turned a laser-beam glare in his direction.


The room went silent.  One of the agents cleared
his throat and shifted position.


"You guys get the hell out of here," Saunders said,
jerking his head toward the door.


Scully stood silently as the agents shuffled out of
the room, closing the door almost all the way.


Saunders tried again.  He would not, could not,
apologize, or Holtzman would have his ass.  But he
could  change his tone a little.


"Agent Scully, we need your help determining the
source of the data Agent Mulder sent to
Cryptography.  It _is_ a matter of national
security, and that's all I can say."


Agent Scully stood, obviously waiting for something
more.


"We're just looking for a little inter-agency
cooperation here," he said, knowing that ship had
already sailed, but giving it a try anyway.


Scully still didn't speak but one eyebrow was
raised dangerously high.


After a long moment, she said, "Very well.  Here's
the address."  She wrote it on a piece of motel
stationery and handed it to him.  "Now, I'm going
to see Agent Mulder.  In his room.  Do you have any
objection?"


Saunders handed the address to one of the other
agents, who had already dialed Holtzman's number.


"Go right ahead," Saunders said, now on firmer
ground.  "I'm sure he's in his room, just as you
said."


Scully gave him one last long look before picking
up her gun, badge, and phone, and marching out of
the room.


He watched her go, shoulders squared, ready for
whatever battle awaited her down the hall.  She
passed Holtzman and ignored him completely.
Holtzman stopped and watched her march past before
turning back to Saunders.


"You have any trouble?"  Holtzman asked him.


"Nah," Saunders said.  "You?"


"Mulder gave me some lip," Holtzman said, "but we
took care of that."


Saunders grunted.  He knew Mulder's passive-
aggressive tactics.  He wondered if he got away
with it with his partner.


"So," Holtzman added once they were in the car.
"You think they're doing it?"


"If you're so interested, why don't you ask them?"
Saunders countered.


"Hey, you're the guy who said double or nothing,"
said Holtzman.  "Are they?"


"I don't think so.  And I'm tired of this game.
Don't we have an investigation to conduct?"


"Whatever, Saunders," Holtzman said.  "Since when
are you afraid of an FBI agent?  I thought you said
she didn't give you any trouble."


"She cooperated where it counts, which I bet Mulder
didn't do," Saunders said.  "She's a professional."


"I think you're full of shit," Holtzman replied.
"I think they are and you just don't want to lose
the bet."


"Next time you have to come beat up Mulder, you go
ahead and ask her," Saunders said.  "But make sure
she doesn't have her gun on her."


"You _are_ afraid of her," Holtzman shook his head.
"You're afraid of that tiny little --"


"Shut the hell up, Holtzman."


-end-


x-x-x-x-x


Author's notes:


Why break into Scully's room looking for Mulder if
they haven't already checked his?


"Danny," the guy Mulder and Scully both seem to
rely on for a myriad of things, never had a last
name on the show, but according to the X Files
Wiki, Bernstein is likely:


http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Daniel_Bernstein


Thanks for reading!  Feedback is welcomed at
msnsc21@...

=THE END OF AN ERA=
The end has arrived. With 202 episodes, and one remaining, can Mulder and Krycek
save the world from complete alien and hybrid takeover?

10x10 "The End of an Era"
Written by: Kristi & Cassie
Air Date: November 21, 2009
Rating: PG-13
Summary: On the eve of battle, Mulder and Krycek discuss the end of an era.

Download The Episode:
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/FRVS/files/Episodes/Season%2010/ (scroll to the
bottom of the page to find file name "202_10x10_EndOfAnEra.doc")

Read The Episode at: http://www.foxandrat.com/

We would love to hear what you thought of the episode, please drop us an e-mail
at frvs.feedback@.... To discuss the episode, please join our FRVS Mailing
List or the Serenity of X Network and join the FRVS Group!

Mailing List: http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/FRVS/
Serenity of X Network: http://serenityofx.ning.com/

Enjoy the new episode! Feedback inspires!

-Executive Producers-
Cassie & Kristi

http://www.foxandrat.com/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/FRVS/
http://serenityofx.ning.com/group/frvs
http://community.livejournal.com/frvs/

=LET'S PLAY FOOTSIE!=
Today's all new - and rather unplanned - episode of "Fox & Rat" celebrates
FRVS's first Thanksgiving! When Mulder and Krycek set up the final Super Buddies
Adventure in the form of a scavenger hunt high drama is bound to ensue.

10x09 "Black Friday"
Written by: Cassie
Air Date: November 14, 2009
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's Black Friday and Mulder has planned a Super Buddies Scavenger Hunt
on board the Azure cruise ship. But will this final Super Buddies adventure go
without drama? Doubt it.

Download The Episode:
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/FRVS/files/Episodes/Season%2010/ (scroll to the
bottom of the page to find file name "201_10x09_BlackFriday.doc")

Read The Episode at: http://www.foxandrat.com/

We would love to hear what you thought of the episode, please drop us an e-mail
at frvs.feedback@.... To discuss the episode, please join our FRVS Mailing
List or the Serenity of X Network and join the FRVS Group!

Mailing List: http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/FRVS/
Serenity of X Network: http://serenityofx.ning.com/

=THE FINAL EPISODES ARE COMING=
This November, the final two episodes of "Fox & Rat" will leave you breathless.
Be sure to mark your calender for November 21st and November 28th. The end is
here...

Enjoy the new episode! Feedback inspires!

-Executive Producers-
Cassie & Kristi

http://www.foxandrat.com/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/FRVS/
http://serenityofx.ning.com/group/frvs
http://community.livejournal.com/frvs/

Please do not post to Ephemeral; I will.  Thanks!

Title: J. Edgar, Junior
By: ML
Email: msnsc21@...
Archive: just let me know where
Spoiler / Episode Reference: Squeeze
Rating: Everyone
Disclaimer:  I still don't own them, darn it, just
the action figures.  But I'm grateful to Chris
Carter, 1013, and Fox, not to mention all the
actors, for bringing these characters to life and
giving me so much enjoyment.
Synopsis:  There are many different kinds of
invasions.


Acknowledgments: to the Posse, always, and to Circe
Invidiosa, who gives my stories a lovely home:
http://ml.invidiosa.com/index.html


Author's notes:  This is the third story in an
exploration of the early seasons.  They are loosely
tied together but can be read as standalones as
well.


x-x-x


J. Edgar, Junior by ML


Baltimore Field Office, FBI


Tom Colton straightened his tie and his shoulders
as the elevator door opened.  He always enjoyed the
walk through the bullpen to the incident room.  It
was something to be assigned to a high-profile
case.  His career was on track.


If you want to be a blue-flamer, act like a blue-
flamer, was his motto.  He strode confidently
through the bullpen.


"Hey Tom," one of the agents called.  He inclined
his head slightly, acknowledging the greeting, but
not returning it, the picture of a man focused on
his case.


This could be the making of him.  He would do
whatever it took to crack this case.  Maybe he
wasn't in the New York office, Like Marty Neal, but
he was closer to DC.


ASAC Fuller was already there.  Damn.  He'd wanted
to be first.  He might not be a toady, bringing in
coffee and doughnuts to curry favor, but he wanted
to show that he was on the ball.  That he had what
it takes.


"Colton."  Fuller greeted him.  "Anything new?"


What, in my sleep?  Colton thought.  But aloud, he
said, "I'm going over the reports again, Sir.  Just
want to make sure I'm not missing anything."


"I'm not sure there's anything to miss, Colton,"
Fuller said.  "No discernable point of entry, no
murder weapon...I think we might need a little
assistance on this one.  Violent Crimes still has
Agent Mulder on call."  He grimaced.  "If we can
tear him away from watching the skies, that is."


Oh no.  Colton could see his rapid rise up the
ladder slowing to a crawl.  It was like admitting
defeat to ask for help, but even worse to call in
"Spooky" Mulder.  Here was a guy who by all
accounts was extremely talented, first in his
class, the fastest rising star in the FBI.  And he
pissed it all away.  He didn't want to be
associated with that train wreck, in any way,
shape, or form.


"It's no shame to call in outside help," Fuller
said, seeing his expression.  "Sure, Mulder has a
rep for being kind of 'out there,' but he can still
read a crime scene like no one else."


Colton thought quickly.  He didn't want to appear
uncooperative to his superior, but there had to be
a way to salvage this situation.


"Actually, I have someone I'd like to talk to,
informally," he said.  "She has a forensic
background, and she might have some insight.  Let
me talk to her first."


"Who's that?"  Fuller asked.


"Dana Scully.  She has a medical background, and
might have ended up in the VCS herself but they
decided she was too valuable in the Forensics Unit
at Quantico."


"Yeah, I know her name -- she's partnered with
Mulder now, isn't she?"  Fuller had a half-smile on
his face.  "And partners talk to each other -- way
to get Mulder's expertise without asking him.  Nice
move."


Colton flushed a little.  "I think she might like
the opportunity to do some real work for a change,
Sir.  We'll do ourselves a favor while giving Agent
Scully a chance to see how a real investigation is
run."


"Sure, Colton, go ahead.  Invite your friend to the
crime scene, and we'll see what happens."


x-x-x


Colton watched as Dana Scully walked away.  He was
pretty sure that she'd go running to Spooky with
this.  If she didn't, no harm, no foul; Dana would
still put in more hours and thought on the profile
than all the team members combined.


He couldn't figure out how she got stuck partnering
the FBI's resident crackpot.  It wasn't because she
wasn't good at her job; in fact, strings had been
pulled to keep her at Quantico as a teacher and
rumors had her on the fast track to head the
Forensics Unit one day.


Of course, there were other rumors about Dana
Scully and one of the guest instructors at
Quantico.  He knew better than to bring that up.
Dana didn't talk about anything she didn't want to
talk about, and you didn't stay friends with her if
you tried to make her.  He didn't want to piss her
off too much; she might still be useful.


Lately, he'd heard through the grapevine that she'd
been asking for a field assignment.  She wanted
some hands-on investigative experience.  Pairing
her with Spooky Mulder was probably a good move in
that case.  He wouldn't get her hurt or killed, but
he'd probably drive her right back to Quantico.
Dana Scully was very by-the-book and by all
accounts Mulder was not.


And yet she actually defended him, calling him a
"great agent."  Maybe she was just trying to save
face, put the best possible light on her
assignment.  He'd knocked Dana off her high horse
just a bit when he told her everyone was calling
her "Mrs. Spooky."


That wasn't strictly true, at least not yet.  He'd
thought it up on the spur of the moment.  He'd
always been the one to come up with the clever
nicknames, the ones that stuck.  Like J. Edgar,
Junior.  He couldn't wait until Marty Neal fell on
his ass, and he was sure it would happen.  The guy
wasn't that smart, he just caught a lucky break.


He got out his phone and called ASAC Fuller.


"So how'd you do with your friend?  Is she going to
talk to Spooky?"  His boss asked.


"They're meeting us at the crime scene tomorrow
morning," Colton replied.  He couldn't lose here.
If Mulder got too spooky, he could say he hadn't
asked for his help, just talked to a former
classmate about the case.  If Mulder came up with
anything helpful or significant, he'd already made
it clear to Dana that this was his case, and he'd
get the credit for the solve.


x-x-x


Usher Crime Scene


He began to have regrets almost as soon as Mulder
walked in the door.  Mulder looked like an ordinary
enough guy, looked him straight in the eyes, firm
handshake, all that.  Then he started acting weird,
answering his comment about "little green men" in a
serious way.  It wasn't until later that he
realized Mulder was pulling his leg.  What a guy,
making jokes at a crime scene.  He focused on, of
all things, the vent.  He pretended to find
something there.  Dana seemed to take it all in
stride.  Honestly, how did she work with this guy?


Well, if she did well with the profile, he'd talk
to Fuller about requesting her transfer.  They'd
make a good team.  Dana was so thorough, and worked
so hard, and she'd owe him.  Fuller would be
pleased, too.  Another win-win for him.


x-x-x


Baltimore Field Office


"I had a reaction to that stupid question!"


Colton looked on with satisfaction as his superior
ripped Mulder a new one.  Just as he'd figured,
Mulder had done his best to take over the
investigation.  He'd been there at the arrest, and
somehow managed to get a couple of questions into
the lie detector session.


But Mulder screwed himself up, putting forward some
crazy story to try and make the case against Tooms
stick.  Nothing he said made any sense.  Colton
tuned him out entirely.


Dana might still be worth salvaging, but she turned
down the opportunity to keep working with his team.
Incredible.  Didn't she get it?  Mulder was poison,
a career-killer.  How could Dana turn down a chance
to work with the VCS over working with Mulder?


Now they were back at Square One.  No suspect, no
meaningful evidence, only Dana's profile, which may
or may not have been tainted by Mulder's ridiculous
theories.


He was sorry for Dana, he really was, but she said
she could look after herself.  She was going to
have to, because after this, there wouldn't be many
people willing to stick their necks out for her.


x-x-x


The call came as he was driving in to work the next
day.  Another murder, same M.O.


Somehow, this was Mulder's fault.  He filled Dana's
head with nonsense, caused her to write a faulty
profile.  Mulder's insistence that her profile was
correct, and Dana's continued support of Mulder,
was all the evidence Colton needed.


He'd gotten so tired of the legend of "Spooky
Mulder" at the Academy.  So many instructors would
invoke Fox Mulder's holy name and they used real
examples of profiles that the Boy Wonder had
written, that helped catch this one or that one.
Maybe he was great at one time, but not any more.


When he got to the scene, the Baltimore PD
detectives were already there.  They gave Colton
sidelong glances as they went about their
investigation.  He could feel his authority
slipping away.


To make matters worse, here was Mulder and Dana
again.  He ignored Mulder, who had the gall to
ignore him right back.


But Dana would not be ignored.  She took Mulder's
part again, and accused _him_ of not cooperating!


"Whose side are you on?"  Colton asked.


Dana said simply, "The victim's."


As if he didn't care about the victim.  Of course
he did -- how else would he crack this case?


Back in the incident room, he reviewed the case
notes, even Mulder's, looking for anything he could
hang a theory on.  It was all going to hell.  Even
the SAC was looking at him funny.  When he walked
through the bullpen, no one said a word.


The next day, it went from bad to worse.  When they
were all gathered in the incident room, someone
brought up the surveillance detail.


"What surveillance detail?" Colton asked.


"You didn't order it?"  Fuller asked.


"Who are we surveiling?" Colton asked, as if he had
so many going on, he wasn't sure which one they
were referring to.


"Eugene Victor Tooms.  You didn't order it?"
Fuller repeated.


Damn that Mulder.  "No, and I think it's a waste of
manpower," he said decisively.  "Call everyone back
in.  I'll deal with this."


When Dana showed up later, he told her exactly what
he thought of her flouting his express wishes that
they stay out of his way.  Dana, however, was
unmoved, even accusing _him_ of obstruction.


Maybe she was better suited to be Mulder's partner
than he realized.  They both were so sure of
themselves -- always thinking they were right about
everything.


If so, they deserved each other, but he wasn't
going to let them ruin his investigation.  As Dana
left the room, he called Mulder to tell him the
surveillance was off.


"This is Fox Mulder, I'm not in.  Leave a message."


Even his voice mail was cocky.  Colton elected not
to leave a message.  Let him find out when he
showed up for his shift, and no one was there.
Maybe he'd blame Dana for screwing things up.


Yeah, they deserved each other.  That was the last
time he'd offer to help Dana out.  Since she
insisted on taking care of herself, he'd let her.
When her spooky partner let her down, she'd find
out how wrong she'd been to trust him.


x-x-x


Baltimore Field Office


The next morning, he was the first one in the
incident room for once.  He sipped his coffee,
studying the crime scene photos tacked on the wall,
the picture of the concerned agent when Fuller
walked in.


"I guess you didn't hear," Fuller said.


"What?" asked Colton.


"Tooms was caught in Agent Scully's apartment last
night.  Attempted assault.  According to her, he
went after her liver _with his bare hands_."


Suddenly his coffee cup was too hot to handle.  He
set it down with an unsteady hand.  "This is a
joke, right?  Who put you up to this?"


"I don't have all the details yet, but Tooms is
locked up.  Agent Mulder found something at the
suspect's residence that led him to believe Agent
Scully was in danger.  He arrived at her apartment
just in time to witness the assault himself."


"And you believe this story?"  Colton asked
incredulously.


Fuller looked at him for a long moment.  "Are you
accusing a fellow agent of lying?"


"No, Sir, of course not," Colton replied.


"Look, I'm no happier about this than you are," his
boss said.  "We let the guy go, and it turns out
that he may well be the perp.  And you called off
the surveillance."


"We did everything by the book," Colton insisted.
"We had no evidence, nothing to hold him on but
Mulder's 'theory'."


"Well, I guess he's earned his nickname all over
again," Fuller said.  "Maybe you owe him an
apology."


Colton paced around the incident room.  How did
everything go south so fast?  There was no way he
could have known.  It wasn't his fault.  And there
was no way in hell he'd ever apologize to Mulder.
Or Dana, for that matter.  Why should he take the
fall when he'd followed procedure, did everything
he was supposed to do?  Really, Mulder should thank
him.  If he'd actually left the message for Mulder,
he probably wouldn't have gone to the scene,
wouldn't have found the evidence that led him to
Dana's apartment...


...and maybe Dana would be dead by now.


Nah.  It wouldn't have happened that way.  Dana
could take care of herself, she said so.  If Mulder
hadn't shown up, she would have had the collar, and
Mulder would have been left in the cold.


Mulder wasn't that smart, he just got lucky.  And
one day when he wasn't, and fell on his ass, Colton
hoped he'd be around to see it.  And Dana, too.


end.


feedback: msnsc21@...