From: bcfan@shaw.ca   
      
   TITLE: None So Blind (5/5)   
   AUTHOR: bcfan   
   FEEDBACK:  bcfan@shaw.ca   
   WEBSITE:  bcfanfic.tripod.com   
   RATING: strong NC-17 for disturbing content.  Please heed the   
   warning.   
   SPOILERS: post-episode, Fallen Angel   
   CATEGORY: X (casefile), M/S UST   
   SUMMARY: Child sexual abuse cases leave Mulder and Scully struggling   
   for resolution.   
   NOTES at the end.   
      
      
   ***   
      
      
   Catastrophe hovered in the air around the decrepit apartment   
   building.   
      
   Fully two-thirds of the windows were boarded up, and a private   
   property sign across the front doors nailed them shut.  A siren   
   shouted in the distance.   
      
   Mulder imagined a black hole sucking life from the crushed   
   neighbourhood.   
      
   A patrolman had found the first clue.  Alerted by a strong burning   
   odour, he'd shoved aside a stack of dilapidated cardboard boxes and   
   found a broken window.   
      
   With a patrol car guarding the front and an INS team in place, a   
   circle of officers surrounded Ortega and Mulder in the alleyway.   
      
   Mulder stood silent as Ortega gave directions for the search.  His   
   brain was firing overtime and an intuition he hated to rely on   
   told him exactly where to look.  He glanced at his watch.  Scully   
   would be there soon, but he couldn't risk the wait.   
      
   "Captain Ortega, I want to go in with the basement team."   
      
   Ortega nodded.  "Mike, start your team at the top.  Harris, Rachel,   
   Jaspreet, Agent Mulder, basement.  Careful, everyone.  There's no   
   power and the place is a condemned shithouse, so no one has a   
   legal right to be in there.  Slow and thorough.  We'll have a   
   crew stationed outside to handle anyone you flush out.  Keep   
   in contact."   
      
   Mulder grabbed a two-way radio from the supply box as one of the men   
   used a crowbar to snap the lock.   
      
   "Agent Mulder," Harris said, "it's our bust.  We'll go first."  He   
   gestured to Mulder's bad ankle.   
      
   Mulder's jaw clenched as he bit back an argument.  He knew they were   
   right - on both counts - but the drive to find Jimmy seemed to   
   be pulling him into the building.  He nodded once, sharply,   
   and followed the others.   
      
   They filed through the splintered door and down the stairs into a   
   level of hell.   
      
   Spray paint obscenities bled into ragged holes in the walls, and   
   glass littered the floor.  The fetid tear-down was filled with   
   trash. A rat darted boldly between Mulder's legs.   
      
   All four switched on their flashlights and Harris gave a hand   
   signal to split them into pairs.  Harris and Rachel went east.   
      
   Mulder looked at Jaspreet. "Ready?"   
      
   At Jaspreet's nod, they approached the first abandoned apartment in   
   their wing.   
      
   The door was partly open, so Mulder pushed until they had a clear   
   view.   
      
   They stepped inside and searched the other rooms.   
      
   Empty.   
      
   The ominous odour of scorched garbage hovered in the air but its   
   source was impossible to pinpoint.  We'll have to do this one room   
   at a time, Mulder realized.  That would take time, and time was   
   not something they had to spare.   
      
   Next apartment, then the next, and the next. Nothing.   
      
   Mulder tried another door.  A surge of adrenaline followed noise   
   in a back room.  Mulder and Jaspreet assumed firing stance, waiting   
   to see if the sound would come again.  When it wasn't repeated,   
   Mulder used his left arm to shove a rotten mattress blocking the   
   way.   
      
   A shriek - and an angry ball of cat shot into the next room.   
      
   Mulder licked his lips.  "This doesn't look like the Pussy Cat   
   Lounge."   
      
   He glanced over and noticed a fine sheen of sweat on Jaspreet's   
   face.  Mulder felt it too. Hot weather and Kevlar was only part   
   of the reason.   
      
   They silently continued their search, Mulder's eyes straining in the   
   gloom.  He pressed his lips in a thin line to keep the frustration   
   inside.   
      
   This was their last hope, he thought as yet another apartment   
   revealed nothing.  If they didn't find Jimmy in this building,   
   Mulder's theory would be dead wrong.  Dead wrong probably   
   meant dead Jimmy.   
      
   Three apartments left.  Mulder reached for the door, but some   
   change in the air told him to turn.   
      
   The burning stench, always strong, was suddenly stronger, and it   
   choked the air from his lungs.  A dark form roared toward him,   
   missed his head by a fraction, and Mulder crouched low, his   
   back pressed against a wall.   
      
   "What the hell?" Jaspreet gasped just as the black form swept him to   
   the ground.   
      
   Mulder looked up. The shadow was taking shape, solidifying before   
   his eyes. A black grin leered down at him.   
      
   The Boss pulled off his sunglasses.  Mulder looked into the   
   monster's  eyes and his mind was instantly overwhelmed. Blood,   
   death, hunger, power - a demonic dance filled his head as he   
   gasped for air. Fighting the urge to curl in on himself, Mulder   
   lifted his gun and pulled the trigger, again and again, emptying   
   his weapon, but to no effect. The creature loomed over him, as   
   if preparing to strike.   
      
   Then, with a shrug, the Boss grabbed Mulder by the lapels and   
   hoisted him effortlessly into the air.   
      
   A suddenly clatter of footfalls came from the stairwell, distracting   
   his captor.  Mulder sagged in the creature's grip.   
      
   "Next time," the creature sneered, exhaling brimstone.  The Boss   
   tossed Mulder to the floor like yesterday's garbage.  He replaced   
   his glasses and the shards of pain behind Mulder's eyes   
   slowly retreated.  The Boss turned and glided to the far exit,   
   seeming to dematerialize as he travelled.  Within seconds, Mulder   
   was squinting at an amorphous shimmer.   
      
   Mulder struggled to his feet, head throbbing, and shouted, "Officer   
   down!" into the two-way. "Our perp entered the west stairway,   
   probably heading for ground level."   
      
   Harris and Rachel crouched by Jaspreet's body.   
      
   "He okay?" Mulder asked.   
      
   "Unconscious.  I've called for an ambulance," Harris replied.   
   "What the hell happened?"   
      
   "It attacked him."   
      
   "It?" Rachel asked.   
      
   "Our perp," Mulder replied as he changed the clip in his gun. An   
   open door as the end of the hallway called to him. The Boss   
   had probably come from there.  And maybe -   
      
   He had to know.   
      
   Mulder stepped carefully around fast food wrappers, toilet paper and   
   discarded condoms.  As his eyes adjusted to the twilight, he   
   switched off his flashlight.   
      
   The next room.  No - the next one.   
      
   There.   
      
   A soft little naked body huddled in the corner, all arms and legs   
   and a preschooler's tummy.   
      
   Mulder walked in and slowly reached out a hand, then stopped in   
   midair.   
      
   Alive. The boy was alive.   
      
   Mulder spread his feet, crouching low to make his frame as small as   
   possible.   
      
   "Hi."   
      
   The boy stared with frightened eyes.   
      
   "My name is Fox.  I'm with the police.  Are you Jimmy Findlay?"   
      
   A slow blink in a tear-streaked face.   
      
   "Are you hurt, Jimmy?"   
      
   "Uh huh."  The boy sniffled.  "I want my mommy!"   
      
   Mulder swallowed, struggled to maintain a calm face.  The boy's   
   genitals were inflamed.  He eased off his coat and sat cross-legged   
   on the ground.   
      
   "Are you cold?"   
      
   Jimmy whimpered, "Mommy."   
      
   "Jimmy, I'm going to put my coat on the ground.  You can put it on."   
      
   Mulder placed his cell phone, badge, and two-way radio next to his   
   thigh.  He stretched his jacket in front of him.  The tot pulled   
   on a sleeve and wrapped himself up, covering everything but his   
   eyes.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)