Title:  The Chilmark Project - Part IIIe - Foxhunt   
   Authors:  Wylfcynne & Ravenwald   
      
   For Authors' notes and Disclaimers, see Part I -   
   Demonology   
      
      
      
    Blair and Jim came upstairs a few minutes later.   
   Blair knocked quietly on the door.  "Dana? Fox?   
   We need to talk."   
      
   Dana Scully was frowning a little when she opened   
   the door; Blair had used Mulder's first name,   
   despite being instructed not to do so.  She made   
   no objection.  If Mulder wanted to correct Blair's   
   usage, he would.   
      
   But Mulder said nothing.  He was sitting on the   
   loveseat, and she rejoined him there, letting their   
   guests follow her into the little suite. She settled in   
   beside her partner, who had not moved.  His feet   
   were braced on a soft hassock, and a pillow   
   cushioned his bruised and battered body against   
   the firmness of the arm of the loveseat.  He still   
   looked exhausted, and underweight, but he was   
   awake and alert.   
      
   Blair sat in the easy chair across from the couch.   
   Jim Ellison sat down on the floor and leaned back   
   against Blair's knees.   
      
   "Dana," Blair started. "Did you tell Fox about us?"   
      
   "We haven't had time to talk about other people."   
      
   They knew that was true.  Blair nodded.  "Okay.   
   This is important."   
      
   Jim explained how he had found Fox and Nick.   
   "And the jaguar led me to you."   
      
   Mulder looked puzzled.  "A jaguar?  In Washington   
   State?"   
      
   Blair sighed.  "It's not a physical jaguar.  It's Jim's   
   spirit guide."   
      
   Scully and Mulder glanced at one another.  "Spirit   
   Guide?" Mulder asked, his tone still a little   
   subdued.   
      
   "Yeah.  Every Sentinel has one.  So does every   
   Guide.  Your spirit guides were there, too."   
      
   "Our spirit guides?" Scully said skeptically.   
      
   Jim nodded.  "There was a big grey fox guarding   
   you, Mulder, angry and scared."  He turned to look   
   at Scully.  "And up on the hill, as we pulled away,   
   was a red vixen, sobbing out loneliness and grief to   
   the empty sky."   
      
   Scully leaned on Mulder, who put his arm around   
   her.   
      
   "My spirit guide led me to you, Mulder.  You're a   
   Sentinel, just like I am.  Dana's your Guide."   
      
   "I don't know what you're talking about."  Mulder's   
   voice was a low growl.   
      
   Jim scrubbed at his face with both hands for a   
   moment, then looked up at Mulder.  "A   
   Sentinel/Guide pairing is an amazing thing.  And it's   
   necessary to our survival."   
      
   "You're a Sentinel?"  Mulder asked.  "What does it   
   mean to you?"   
      
   "It means I have some special abilities, and that   
   when I'm in control of them, I can do a VERY good   
   job of protecting the people in my jurisdiction."   
      
   "And when you aren't in control?  Then what   
   happens?"  Scully inquired. "I zone out," Ellison   
   shrugged.  "Or it all goes away, and I'm just   
   ordinary.  But with my Guide, here, I do good stuff."   
      
   "You do AMAZING stuff," Blair grinned.   
      
   "Down, boy.  Down!"  Jim looked up at him,   
   grinning up over his shoulder.   
      
   "What kind of special abilities?"  Mulder's curiosity   
   was surfacing, and Scully was happy for that sign of   
   recovery.  He had been far too quiet for her peace   
   of mind.   
      
   "I have conscious, voluntary control over all five   
   senses," Jim said casually.  "I can see as well as   
   you can with a hundred power 'scope.  I can track   
   by scent as well as any bloodhound-- "   
      
   "--better," Blair interrupted him.   
      
   "You're biased," Jim grinned.  Then he turned his   
   attention back to the agents.  "I use taste and scent   
   to do chemical analyses in the field.  I can   
   eavesdrop on a particular conversation in a hotel   
   room from my car parked on the street outside."   
      
   "You're telling us we can run, but we can't hide."   
   Mulder's tone was level, even and cool.   
      
   Jim met Mulder's steady hazel stare without   
   flinching.  "You have nothing to fear from me. Right   
   now, the only danger to you is your estrangement   
   from her."   
      
   Mulder tightened his grip on Scully.  "Do we look   
   estranged?"   
      
   "Time out," Scully spoke up.  "Neither Mulder nor I   
   can do these things.  Why do you think any of this   
   has anything to do with us?"   
      
   Blair spread his hands.  "The Spirit Guides say so."   
   He turned toward Mulder.  "When you were   
   rescued, you were trapped in a zone-out so intense   
   that you were dying.  You plateaued when you got   
   here, because I'm a Guide, and I sat with you.  But   
   I couldn't wake you up, because I'm not YOUR   
   Guide.  When Dana got here, you woke up ten   
   minutes after she touched you."   
      
   "She's my partner," he said, feigning carelessness.   
   "She's my best friend."   
      
   Blair grinned.  "Of course she is.  But she's more   
   than that.  And you are more than you appear. Do   
   you remember why you zoned out?"   
      
   "I don't know what that is."   
      
   "What's the last thing you remember about your   
   captivity?"   
      
   Scully felt Mulder start to tremble.  Her hand   
   reached out for his, and he settled down, pulling   
   her more snugly against him.   
      
   "Pain," was all he said.   
      
   "According to Nick, they tortured you physically and   
   chemically for three or four weeks, Mulder, just   
   trying to wake you up.  Nothing worked.  They tried   
   electric shock, they used scalpels, they used a   
   rubber truncheon.  They used drugs Nick couldn't   
   name except to curse."   
      
   "Blair, be quiet."  Jim's voice was very soft.   
      
   Blair stopped.   
      
   Jim came up off the floor and knelt in front of   
   Mulder, put his hands on their joined hands.   
   "Steady," he said very quietly.  "It's over. You're   
   free.  And you're an awakened Sentinel, now. They   
   aren't likely to get their hands on you again."   
      
   Mulder shuddered, and Scully hugged him hard.   
   He buried his face against her neck while he fought   
   to get himself back under control. Jim sank back to   
   sit on his heels, dropping his hands to rest on his   
   thighs.  "What did I say?"   
      
   "Nick and I've been taken to labs like that   
   periodically all our lives," Mulder explained flatly,   
   letting go of Scully and looking up.  "It's not going   
   to stop until I burn the whole Project to the ground."   
      
   Jim Ellison stared straight into those intense hazel   
   eyes, and shivered. "I'll help you," he promised.   
   "Tell me what I can do."   
      
   "Off topic," Blair ruled.  "We'll discuss active   
   strategy later.  Right now we're just explaining   
   Sentinels and Guides.  Mulder, when you met   
   Dana, what was your first impression?"   
      
   Scully smiled up at Mulder reminiscently.  "He   
   thought I was a spy."   
      
   Mulder shook off his unease.  "You were a spy," he   
   smiled back at her. Then his smile disappeared.   
   "But I felt as if you were the sun finally deigning to   
   shine on me."  His voice went soft.  "For the first   
   time since the accident, I was happy.  For the first   
   time since the accident, I felt alive and part of the   
   world."   
      
   "Oh, I know that feeling..." Jim was using exactly   
   the same tone as Mulder.  "And when she's lost to   
   you, the world is darkness and all you want to do is   
   howl your grief to the sky, then sink into the ground   
   and die..."   
      
   Jim and Mulder were staring into one another's   
   eyes, entranced. Scully put her hand on Mulder's   
   and broke the spell.   
      
   Mulder shook his head.  "Damn..."   
      
   "Yeah."   
      
   The agents looked at Jim, whose face was tipped   
   straight up.  Blair had put his hands under Jim's   
   chin, and his forearms were snug against the sides   
   of Jim's head.  Blair had moved to look straight   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)