From: ssteiner@sbcglobal.net   
      
   *~*   
      
      
   The hospital was the same as every other: glaring fluorescent lights,   
   speckled linoleum and hard plastic chairs in the waiting room.  Night had   
   fallen, and the dark windows reflected the scene back into the room.  I sat   
   a chair away from Mulder, son asleep on his lap, and our eyes met in the   
   glass, but neither of us spoke of our concerns.   
      
   In the reflection I could see that too little sleep had placed dark circles   
   under my eyes. Worry had eroded his boyish charm into a snarl.  I was   
   nervous about my comfortable little life being wrecked, but I had done that   
   all by myself when I went to Georgia.  I knew Will to some extent, but I   
   didn't have a clue where he could've gone, or what he intended to do.   
   Actually, I was pretty sure he didn't even know, and had just taken Julie as   
   a knee-jerk, TV-land reaction.  Then again, he'd had two days of driving to   
   think about it.   
      
   Two days.  He didn't drive all the way through; he was still twelve, after   
   all. Maybe he'd taken three days-that would have put him here only the day   
   before.  He didn't know the city, so he could have stayed fairly close in   
   the area of the Mulder's house. Four days drive, and he'd just arrived.  At   
   any rate, he's still just a kid, he'd think in terms of movie scenes for any   
   plans he might make.   
      
   "Mulder, are there any warehouses or abandoned buildings near your house?"   
      
   "There's an old lumber mill, it's probably ten minutes from the house on   
   Marine Drive, on the shore of the Lummi River."   
      
   "I think I'm going to take a drive around, see if I can't figure out where   
   he might be hiding."   
      
   "Or are you planning on skipping town?"  The glare he gave me, coupled with   
   the anxiety, made him look faintly deranged.   
      
   I snapped my answer at him. "Yes, I'm planning on coming back, if only to   
   pick you up and take you home. Unless you want to come with me and handcuff   
   me to the car." I don't know why that got such a vivid reaction; Mulder went   
   white and silent to my off-color remark.   
      
   He softened slightly, and said wryly, "no, I don't even own any."  He dug   
   into his jacket with his free hand and tossed me a cell phone. "Don't make   
   any calls you can't explain to Dana-that's her phone. My number should be on   
   the speed dial."   
      
   I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. "Gotcha. I'll let you know." I   
   walked away, down the hall.  I got a feeling of déjà vu, but it could have   
   just been remembering living at the VA for so long.  It was hard to tell.   
      
   ***   
      
   I picked up a map at a convenience store, and pored over it carefully before   
   starting the car.  Driving one handed definitely made you concentrate on   
   what you were doing and plan ahead.  Marine Drive stretched out for miles   
   running east/west, so I picked it up a few blocks over and cruised down to   
   the river.   
      
   The mill was there, but I missed it initially, I had to turn around and go   
   back. Then, there wasn't an exit for it from this side of the road, so I   
   turned around again, and crept towards the turn off.  The anxious asshole   
   behind me flashed his lights, and no doubt made deprecating remarks about   
   out-of-state drivers as I made the right turn.   
      
   Someone had gone to great lengths to keep the sign painted, but the building   
   was a ruin.  I parked the car outside the still-locked gate and got out.   
   Surely one locked gate wasn't enough to keep kids out of a dangerous   
   building.   
      
   A ten-minute hike around the fence proved me wrong.  Sure, scaling the fence   
   wouldn't be much of an obstacle, but he'd have to figure out how to get his   
   hostage over without losing her, and I saw no sign of the car.  Great idea,   
   no cigar.   
      
   When I got back to the car, there was one of BPD's finest parked next to me.   
   Jesus, the fuckers are everywhere until you really need one. I sweet talked   
   her out of whatever she was planning, ticket or arrest, and got off with a   
   mild warning that sightseeing at nine p.m. wasn't the best idea.   
      
   I drove a few miles down the road back towards downtown, and pulled into an   
   empty parking lot to use Scully's phone.  There was a faint, feminine smell   
   clinging to the phone-makeup or perfume, and it threw me for a loop.   
   Scully. It rang as I sat there considering the phone.  Fortunately the   
   display indicated it was Mulder.   
      
   "Mulder, what's up?"   
      
   "Yeah, did you find it?"   
      
   "I did, but no love there.  It looks pretty well locked up, and is patrolled   
   regularly."   
      
   "How do you know that?"   
      
   "I was caught sneaking around."   
      
   "Already?"   
      
   "I escaped with a warning. Any place else that you can think of?"   
      
   "He might be just driving around, too freaked out to stop."   
      
   "That's not too unlikely.  Going to make it hard to find him, he might think   
   of that. How is Scully?"   
      
   "She's going to be fine.  Just came out of the recovery room, and isn't very   
   coherent yet."   
      
   "Good.  Good that's she's out, I mean."   
      
   "They're going to kick me out of here in a while, after she gets settled in   
   her room."   
      
   "Oh, sure.  I'm on my way back."   
      
   "Alex?  Thanks for trying."   
      
   "Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes."   
      
   Feeling like I had lost my luck, my touch, along with my memory, I was only   
   paying half-attention to the road as I drove back along Marine Drive.  It   
   was frustrating-I mean it's a miracle that I'm alive at all, but this was   
   really the first time post-parking-garage I needed to be able to function at   
   full capability, and I was dealing with the frustration that I had been   
   completely conned by a barely pubescent kid.   
      
   I banged my head against the steering wheel at a stoplight; maybe I could   
   knock some sense into my brain.   
      
   Didn't think it would work.   
      
   It was just after ten p.m. when I pulled into the hospital, and Mulder was   
   standing out front with Scott wrapped around his neck.  He poured the sleepy   
   child into the back seat and then himself into the front seat.  "So, you're   
   staying at the house."   
      
   "I'm sure there's a motel around here somewhere."   
      
   "Forget it Alex, you're staying."   
      
   The gesture of hospitality dizzied me more than anything that had happened   
   in the last few weeks.  "Okay Mulder, whatever."  I was exhausted, it had   
   been at least three days since I had slept, and I think it was messing up my   
   meds.  I wanted to cry because someone offered me a bunk?  Though, I wasn't   
   so messed up as to not recognize that it might be to keep me in his sight.   
   Still, rest wasn't on our agenda that night, oh no-the fucked up Fates had a   
   different plan.  My old, blue, stolen Taurus was in the driveway at Mulder's   
   house.   
      
   "This is unexpected." Mulder said it in that even, laconic voice that took   
   irony up to a whole new level.  His cell phone rang, it was his daughter,   
   and he assured her that he would be right there, that he was in the   
   driveway.   
      
   "To say the least."  We sat in the car for a few minutes, just staring at   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)