From: xfstories@yahoo.com   
      
   Murder In The Capital Part Two   
      
   By Katie Phillips   
      
   Scully hesitated a moment before pushing the button that would bring   
   her down to the basement.  She was rather nervous about meeting   
   Mulder face to face after so long, but she wanted to talk to him in   
   private before having to deal with him in front of a room full of   
   people.  She gripped her briefcase handle tightly. It was overflowing   
   with medical and autopsy reports she had gathered throughout the long   
   day--her entertainment for the evening. Scully squared her shoulders,   
   and pushed the button.   
      
   She tapped gently on the partially open door before pushing it open.   
   The office was empty, and Scully heaved a sigh of relief.  At least   
   now she would have a chance to look around a bit before having to   
   confront Mulder.   
      
   Although Mulder was officially assigned to VCS now, he was still   
   allowed to keep his office in the basement.  The file cabinets   
   containing all the X-files appeared to still be there, but the   
   paraphernalia that had littered the walls was gone.  All that   
   remained was the poster declaring that Mulder wanted to believe.   
      
   Scully walked over to his desk and looked down.  There were two   
   framed snapshots sitting on the corner.  One was of his sister   
   Samantha, and one was of Mulder and herself taken shortly before she   
   had left town.  Scully picked up the picture and was staring at it,   
   running a finger tenderly along it, when the sound of someone   
   clearing their throat startled her.   
      
   She looked up to find Mulder leaning against the doorframe watching   
   her.   
      
   "Hey."  He spoke quietly, as if not to scare her away.   
      
   "I was just…"  Scully looked embarrassed and put down the picture   
   before walking back around to the front of the desk.   
      
   Mulder walked past her and sat down behind his desk, leaning back.   
   Scully could tell he was nervous, although he was trying very hard to   
   act nonchalant.  "Weird to be back?"  He jerked his chin towards the   
   chair.   
      
   Scully smiled weakly and sat.  "Yeah."  She glanced around the   
   office.  "What did you do with all our… I mean your stuff?"   
      
   "I put *our* stuff in storage.  I figured there would come a time   
   when you and I would want to go through it together and figure out   
   what was worth keeping."  He waved a hand vaguely at the room around   
   him.  "I took most of the stuff down right after you left."   
      
   Scully nodded.  "Guess we have a lot to…."   
      
   "Come on Langley, the pizza is going to get cold if you take any   
   longer."  Scully's eyebrows rose and she looked across the desk at   
   Mulder.  He shrugged, and before he could offer an explanation, the   
   office door banged open and Frohike barged in, carrying two six packs   
   of beer. He was followed closely by Langley, who was holding two   
   pizza boxes, and Byers carrying two grocery bags.   
      
   "Mulder, you said we might be in for a long night, so we brought   
   enough food to feed an army.  I hope pepperoni…"  Frohike stopped mid-   
   sentence as his jaw hit the floor.  "Are my eyes deceiving me?"  He   
   plunked the six packs down on Mulder's desk and scooped Scully, who   
   had gotten up at the sight of the Gunmen, into his arms and hugged   
   her ferociously.  Mulder couldn't help but smile at the yelp Scully   
   let out.  Frohike spun her around and placed her down before beaming   
   at Mulder.  "Don't tell me you finally came to your senses and sent   
   for her?"   
      
   Mulder glared and him and ignored Scully's look of   
   confusion.  " "Sorry Scully, I forgot to mention that I asked the   
   Gunmen to consult on this case."   
      
   Byers and Langley quickly greeted Scully, but with slightly less   
   enthusiasm than Frohike.  A short time later, over pizza and beer,   
   the Gunmen explained their theory.   
      
   Byers began.  "We looked at all three victims Mulder, and at first   
   nothing more than their obvious connections to the President came   
   up."   
      
   "But then we delved a little deeper,"  Langley said between bites of   
   pizza, "and discovered that the first two victims were connected."   
      
   "How so?"  Scully asked.   
      
   "Kingsley, the first victim, used to do research and development for   
   Corren, the second victim, before going into business for himself.   
   Kingsley was one of the first people to recognize the medicinal uses   
   of a certain type of gum tree that grows in the rainforest in Brazil."   
      
   Byers continued.  "Kingsley shared this information with Corren, who   
   began a program to harvest these trees for research purposes at   
   first, and then later for production purposes.  The drugs they   
   discovered made them both very wealthy men."   
      
   Mulder nodded.  "Okay, so they're connected.  What about the two of   
   them and Leslie?"   
      
   Frohike opened up a beer and passed it to Mulder.  "Leslie did a   
   internship at Corren's Manhattan office fifteen years ago.  It's   
   rumored on the Hill that Corren liked to use Leslie's influence when   
   getting drug legislation passed."   
      
   Scully sipped her diet soda and looked at the Gunmen, who were   
   smiling proudly.  "So basically you're telling us that the three   
   victims are connected professionally.  I don't mean to sound cynical   
   gentlemen, but you could probably say that about half the people in   
   Washington.  It also doesn't give us any clues as to why their   
   assistants would want to kill them."   
      
   Frohike gave Scully frown.  "Who invited you to this party?"   
      
   Scully smirked at him.  "AD Skinner."   
      
   Mulder snorted.  "Scully's right.  We've got pieces of the puzzle but   
   they aren't fitting together.  Yet.  We'll have to keep working on   
   it.  Maybe Ms. Jacobs will be able to shed some light on it for us."   
      
   "Ms. Jacobs?"  Byers asked, packing up his laptop.   
      
   "Leslie's assistant.  Scully and I are meeting with her around 7   
   tomorrow morning."  He turned to Scully.  "Her doctor informed me   
   that she should be lucid by then."   
      
   Frohike threw his beer can in the general direction of the garbage   
   can, missing horribly.  "Let us know what she says.  In the meantime,   
   we'll dig up what we can on these three.  Sushi tomorrow?  Unless you   
   two have other plans?"  He gave Mulder a knowing look.   
      
   "We'll call you."  Mulder ushered the Gunmen through the door and   
   shut it behind them.  "Sorry about that."   
      
   "Don't worry about it.  Seemed like old times."  Scully stood up and   
   brushed the crumbs off her skirt, before walking over and picking up   
   Frohike's discarded beer can and throwing it out.  She glanced over   
   at her briefcase.  "I have a ton of autopsy reports to go over, along   
   with writing up Leslie's."  Mulder gave her a look of interest.   
      
   "Nothing to get excited about yet, Mulder.  William Leslie died from   
   a bullet that was fired at him from a distance of two to three feet.   
   That much I can tell you.  How he let someone get that close to him   
   with a gun, I can't fathom.  Hopefully the tox screens will shed some   
   light."   
      
   Mulder, who had been shoving papers into his own briefcase, picked it   
   up.  "Let me drop you off at your hotel.  It's the least I can do for   
   the last person brave enough to be my partner."   
      
   "You don't have a partner now?  Aren't you with VCS?"   
      
   "Nope and yup."  Mulder smiled at her confusion.  "No one has been   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)