019D9C090E03@comcast.net> cb301eea   
   Title - Decoding the Enigma   
   Authors - Amy Jonas and MagsRose   
   E-mail - adjonas2000@yahoo.com or magsrose@comcast.net   
   Rating - FRT-13 (PG - 13)   
   Category - AU/Gen/Het   
   Archive - Just let us know.   
   Feedback - Yes, please. Any kind is always welcome. We just like to know   
   someone is reading this stuff.   
   Disclaimer - Without Prejudice. The names of all characters contained here in   
   are the property of Chris Carter, et. al. No infringements of these copyrights   
   are intended, and are used here without permission. All original characters   
   are the sole property    
   of Mags or Amy and may not be used without the author's permission.   
   Summary - In 1940, Private Investigator, Melvin Frohike thought he was working   
   on a simple missing person case but he soon found himself embroiled in   
   something far more sinister.   
   Authors' notes - After seeing the Maltese Falcon, Amy presented Mags with an   
   idea for The X-Files characters in an Alternate Universe.  Intrigued by the   
   possibilities, Mags suggested a co-authoring effort.  The result is the story   
   you see here.  Thanks    
   to Erynn and Alison for betaing this for us.   
      
      
      
      
   Chapter 15   
      
      
   Frohike jerked awake, confused and disoriented, his heart hammering in his   
   chest.  It was just a dream but that knowledge didn’t help the layer of unease   
   that had settled over him in the dark.   
      
   It was dark.  Why was it dark?   
      
   He searched his memory; afraid all he would remember was passing out after an   
   alcoholic binge. But his mouth lacked that foul morning after taste and he was   
   sitting up which meant he had dozed off in a chair.  He could also smell   
   Dana’s perfume.   
      
   Where was she?  And where were the others?  His questions were met by a   
   silence he didn’t like.  He sat up, feeling pain from a crick in his neck.  He   
   rolled his neck around, hearing the joints crack.  How long had he been   
   asleep?  The crick meant he had    
   been out far longer than he thought.   
      
   He reached up and snapped on the lamp next to him.  He blinked at the sudden   
   light and saw his spare hat on the desk where he had dropped it.  He also   
   noticed a lab coat spread over him like a blanket.  He remembered Dana taking   
   it off as they talked.     
   She must have covered him with it when he fell asleep.   
      
   But why hadn’t she woken him?  She knew he had promised Yves he would stay   
   awake and keep an eye on things so she would take a much-needed rest.   
      
   Apparently Dana had thought he needed one too.   
      
   He checked the clock high on the wall in the corner.  It was going on   
   midnight.  He’d been asleep for hours.   
      
   “Damn it,” he muttered.  She should never have let him sleep.  And where were   
   they anyway?  That uneasy feeling grew and he pushed the lab coat off of   
   himself and stood up quickly.  He inhaled sharply as his stitches pulled   
   against his skin, sending a    
   shooting pain up and down his leg.  He held onto the chair and waited for the   
   pain to subside.  Once it had settled into a dull throb, he grabbed his hat   
   and went in search of the others.   
      
   He checked Dana’s office first since it was closest.  He opened the door   
   slowly, letting in a crack of light from the hall.  On the couch, Yves   
   murmured restlessly in her sleep.   
      
   Frohike wondered if she suffered unsettling dreams as well.   
      
   He considered waking her but decided not to disturb her.  Not unless he had   
   too.  He quietly closed the door.   
      
   There were several other doors.  One, Dana had mentioned, was a general   
   storage room used by cleaning staff.  He tested the door out of habit.  It was   
   locked.  The rest were either locked or opened easily but he found those rooms   
   to be empty.   
      
   His only other option was the admittance bay at the end of the hall.   
      
   He found Dana at the desk reading file folders and looking freshly scrubbed in   
   a different lab coat.  He wrinkled his nose.  There was the faint chemical   
   smell in the air that had been absent before.  “Dana,” he said softly so as   
   not to startle her.   
      
   She looked up, setting the files on the desk.  “Mel,” she said studying his   
   face.  She must have sensed his mood because he heard no regret in her voice,   
   “You needed to rest.  I won’t apologize for letting you sleep.”   
      
   It was obvious he wouldn’t win this fight with her and it was a moot point   
   anyway.  Besides he did feel more alert. He wrinkled his nose instead, tossing   
   his hat on the desk.  “What is that odor?” He complained. “It smells awful.”   
      
   Dana frowned, sniffed her clothing and sighed.  “It’s ammonia.  The police   
   brought in a body earlier.  They needed a work up right away.”  She sniffed   
   her sleeve again and shook her head.  “I must be getting immune to the smell.”   
      
   Mel glanced around the bay and chuckled.  “Where have Laurel and Hardy gotten   
   too?”   
      
   Dana stared at him as if he was a medical experiment gone wrong.  “Who?”   
      
   “Jimmy and the Professor,” Mel explained.   
      
   Dana smiled at the reference.  “It’s an appropriate comparison,” she said,   
   picking up the file again.  She made a few notations as she talked.  “They   
   didn’t want to witness an autopsy so they didn’t come back.  I have to admit,   
   the quiet has been    
   relaxing.”   
      
   “Dana, what do you mean by they didn’t come back?”   
      
   Dana looked up from her report.  “When the ambulance arrived with the body, I   
   was worried it might be a trick or something by the people after you.  So I   
   sent the boys away.”   
      
   Frohike’s blood turned to ice.  “Why didn’t you wake me?  God, Dana, if –“   
      
   “Mel,” she said, standing up and touching his shoulder.  “I had no doubt it   
   was a delivery but I was cautious and sent the boys off with instructions to   
   go to you if they didn’t hear from me in five minutes. The professor is safe,”   
   she added.   
      
   “If that had been Fletcher or one of his goons –“   
      
   “It wasn’t,” Dana assured him.   
      
   “That’s not the point!”  Mel retorted, anger and fear for her battling inside   
   him.  “They tried to kill us by blowing up a house.  They shot at us during a   
   high-speed chase in the dark.  Who knows what they are capable of?”   
      
   “We met only a couple of days ago. This is the last place anyone would think   
   to look,” said Dana.   
      
   “We don’t know that!” Frohike’s voice rose.  “I can only guess at what   
   information they have on us.  I do know they have connections inside the F.B.I   
   but not how far that goes or whether or not they've infiltrated any other   
   government agencies.” He took    
   a step away from her.  “I shouldn’t have brought them here.”   
      
   “Don’t be silly,” Dana said, “of course you should have.  You were seriously   
   hurt.  All of you were.”   
      
   “Dana.”  Frohike’s voice cracked with emotion.  “I can’t lose you.  I can’t   
   lose another person I care about.”   
      
   Dana stared at him in shock for a moment then went to him, pulling him into an   
   embrace.  “You won’t lose me, Mel,” she said softly, saddened for all the   
   losses in his life, yet pleased to hear him admit that he cared about her.   
      
   He clutched her as if he was afraid she might disappear and buried his face in   
   the curve of her neck.  She stroked his hair.  “You should know that when I   
   set my mind to something, I get what I want and…" her voice lowered, "…what I   
   want is you.”   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)