Part 7   
      
   XXXXX   
   Undisclosed location   
   April 9, 2000   
   4 AM   
      
   Todd set up the homemade smoke bombs at the entrance to   
   the house and right outside of the entrance to the second   
   floor. If all went well, he'd be carrying Jessica down   
   those stairs and looking like the true hero he was as he   
   carried them both out through the billowing smoke.   
      
   It wasn't part of his original plan. After all, a fire was   
   part of Tina's nightmare, not Jessica's. But he needed to   
   do something to hasten her acceptance of him and this   
   might turn the tide. Besides, since this wasn't a real   
   fire, there was no real danger. He wouldn't make that   
   mistake twice in one lifetime.   
      
   He shook his head to wipe out that particular memory.   
   Times were different now. He would get the girl and they   
   would live happily ever after. It was just the way life   
   was meant to be.   
      
   XXXXX   
   Scully's hotel room   
   4:15 AM   
      
   Scully was wide awake within a couple of hours. She   
   listened for Mulder's deep rhythmic breathing but it   
   wasn't there.   
      
   "You're awake, aren't you?"   
      
   "Yes."   
      
   "What are you thinking about?"   
      
   "Us?" he said, opting for political correctness but   
   falling a bit short in the delivery.   
      
   "No. Seriously."   
      
   "I'm thinking of Daly Avenue," he said.   
      
   "I'm thinking of how much of an effect a 14-year old girl   
   could have had on a 9-year old boy."   
      
   "Ah, Scully," he said, gripping her bare shoulder. "You   
   have obviously never walked a mile in our Reeboks. You are   
   talking about a shy little kid. Jessica was probably nice   
   to him in that condescending way young teens have to   
   demonstrate their superior manners whilst pleasing their   
   parents. She had sprouted in all the right places and that   
   old male ego kicked in and convinced the little pre-pre-   
   pubescent that she liked him-liked him."   
      
   "So, that obsession doesn't concern you?"   
      
   "No. If his life was falling apart and he was unable to   
   fill the role he felt destined to fulfill with his own   
   wife, he would embrace the past where things were   
   simpler."   
      
   "Then why are you thinking of Daly Avenue?"   
      
   "Todd's family left just as the neighborhood was changing.   
   He was not there when the buildings were being burned for   
   insurance. Years later, while semi-stalking Jessica, in   
   the middle of some sort of steroid abuse, romantic   
   overload combination, he finds out the very ironic fact   
   that her worst nightmare centers around that semi-burnt   
   out shell of a neighborhood. Although, if you look at her   
   original post, she never mentions anything being burnt   
   out. She just mentions being completely alone in her now   
   empty apartment with no way out. It's more a dream of   
   loneliness, than fear, but he might not have taken it that   
   way.   
      
   I'm pretty sure he took the other two women to establish   
   some sort of serial kidnapping fantasy that he could use   
   to convince Jessica he truly saved her. And he probably   
   had the full intention of going to Daly Avenue, finding an   
   abandoned building and setting up an old apartment to keep   
   her in. But nothing had stood still. What he found was a   
   neighborhood in the middle of urban renewal. A good place   
   to take a new bride, too, perhaps—if they are into the   
   nostalgia of reliving their childhoods as adults. But now   
   he needs to keep her somewhere similar."   
      
   "A burnt out shell of a place . . . "   
      
   "Right. And his ex-wife mentioned getting insurance to   
   rebuild on the property. She said nothing about the   
   property itself being sold. So, that building might still   
   exist."   
      
   "There's only one way of finding out," Scully said, as she   
   made a mad dash to the bathroom to get dressed   
      
      
      
   XXXXX   
      
   Todd and Theresa Spector's house   
   New Rochelle, NY   
   4:25 AM   
      
   Jessica watched the smoke as it came through the bottom of   
   the door.   
      
   She felt no panic. She had actually felt very little panic   
   since she found out Todd was responsible for her   
   abduction. As frightened as she had been when he was   
   writing the notes, once she had seen him again, she knew   
   he wouldn't hurt her. Their relationship hadn't really   
   changed a bit. They knew nothing about each other as   
   adults. They were still interacting as they did as   
   children. He was a pain in the butt kid and she was the   
   one he had a crush on. And everyone knew a 14-year old   
   girl could kick a 9-year old boy's ass.   
      
   "Smoke bombs," Jessica heard herself saying. "Todd!" she   
   yelled.   
      
   She remembered the article about one of those women whose   
   dream she shared. Todd must have been responsible for her   
   kidnapping and subsequent rescue. He was the common factor   
   between herself and those women. Damn.   
      
   "Todd!" she yelled again.   
      
   The door burst open and he stood in the doorway, in true   
   super hero pose. She wasn't buying any of it.   
      
   "Toss those bombs out of the window so the smoke can   
   dissipate."   
      
   "What bombs? There are no bombs. We have a small fire. I   
   don't want to alarm you but it's necessary that you leave   
   right now.  I'm here to save you."   
      
   He approached her and grabbed her hand. She stretched her   
   other arm down and picked up a shard of glass from its   
   pile on the floor and scratched his hand from elbow to   
   wrist. He pulled away sharply and watched the blood drip   
   to the floor.   
      
   "What the hell are you doing, Jessica? I'm only here   
   because I love you and want to get you out of here. God,   
   you're like a rabid dog or something."   
      
   "I'm going to show you a rabid dog in a moment. Now, I'm   
   leaving here and you can do what you fucking well please   
   but if you're planning on killing me or something, you   
   better do it now."   
      
   Todd looked insulted but stood aside as Jessica started   
   down the stairs. After a moment, she could hear his   
   footsteps slowly following as she carefully made her way   
   through the smoke. The white mist was so thick in front of   
   her and, once again, she felt as she had the first time   
   Todd had extended his hand toward her. She felt as if she   
   were lost in time and space—in a world somewhere between   
   life and death.   
      
   She heard a wheezing sound behind her and then felt a thud   
   as Todd fell against the creaky banister. She had enough   
   time to brace herself against it as his body fell down the   
   entire flight of stairs and landed in a heap at the front   
   landing.   
      
   She saw his bright blue shirt through the billowing smoke   
   and ran down the stairs. She touched his neck for a pulse   
   and didn't feel one. Jessica flung open the door. It   
   wasn't locked. As the smoke started clearing out the front   
   door, she could see Todd's car and freedom.   
      
   But she couldn't leave a dying man. Certainly not this   
   one. Leaving him to die would leave herself with a   
   lifetime of guilt. There was a bond between the former   
   residents of Daly Avenue. She couldn't fully understand   
   it, but she respected it. She had to at least make the   
   attempt to save him.   
      
   She left the door open and went back to him. She checked   
   for a pulse. If it was there, it was faint and she   
   couldn't find it. The damned jackass had heart failure as   
   he was trying to 'rescue' her.   
      
   Jessica cursed herself for not taking CPR courses or for   
   really finding out what to do in an emergency. Finding a   
   phone, at this point, would have to wait. He would be long   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)