From: k.morse@ntlworld.com   
      
   Posting for a friend   
      
      
   Posting for a friend. All feedback to Linda   
      
   Author Linda61   
   Written for Muldersrefuge's May contest: 'When other agents go bad'.   
   Rating. Anyone over 13   
   Category: MT, MSR   
   Feedback: sure   
   (send it to l.vanmaanen@chello.nl)   
      
   Again I'd like to thank my beta and friend Lisa. No finished story without   
   you Lisa. Thanks so much for your help.   
      
      
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   XXXXX   
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   Shattered Shadow   
      
   by Linda61   
      
      
   Carefully, trying not to make any sound a shadow went through the hall,   
   searching for the right number. When he reached no. 42 he put his ear to the   
   door and listened for any sound. He could hear the television on low but no   
   footsteps of the person living in the apartment. Not that he expected any,   
   it was 4am; most people were asleep at that time. He opened his bag and took   
   the little package out. Slowly, not to shake it too much he placed it right   
   in front of the door.   
      
   'Good morning Agent Mulder, rise and shine,' the shadow thought and turned   
   around to disappear again into the night.   
      
   ---------------   
   Two hours later.   
      
   Mulder slowly woke up. For the first time in ages he'd managed to sleep   
   through the night and felt it. He was rested. He climbed off the couch and   
   stretched. "Coffee" his brain prodded him and he walked to the kitchen to   
   make some.   
      
   Humming softly he did his morning 'business' took some clothes he dropped   
   the night before of the floor and tried to find some clean ones. He did the   
   tried and trusted sniff test and then sighed. "I really should do my laundry   
   tonight, I'm out of clothes" he mumbled.   
      
   Suddenly he heard a sound at the door and when he took a peek through the   
   spyhole he recognized the paper boy. Mulder opened the door and he was   
   welcomed with a: "Hi Mr. Mulder, here's your newspaper. By the way, someone   
   left a package for you."   
      
   "Thanks kid" he said, took the paper and stared down at the package lying by   
   his feet. The boy walked away and disappeared into the elevator. Mulder   
   shrugged. It wasn't the first time someone left a package at his door. He   
   bent over to pick it up. He held it in his hand, staring at it a long moment   
   and for some reason he suddenly felt a strange sensation. The hairs on the   
   back of his neck started to stand up and his inner alarm system went off.   
    it said. Mulder looked at the package and was about   
   to put it back down when suddenly the thing exploded.   
      
   Mulder felt himself careening backwards with force of the blast. The   
   explosion wasn't even that big but enough to throw him off his feet across   
   the room. Dazed and confused Mulder looked around and after only seconds he   
   felt excruciating pain crashing in.   
      
   Initially he hadn't thought he was hurt all that badly but when the pain   
   started, he opened his eyes wide and screamed, staring in utter shock at his   
   hands.   
      
      
   "God, oh god!" he yelled. The pain was terrible and his heart cannoned   
   inside him. The skin was hanging from his hands and blood poured off them in   
   large rivulets pooling at his feet, also his chest started to throb and he   
   doubled over, as his breathing started to fail.  Mulder just collapsed on   
   the floor, shaking, not knowing what to do. He couldn't even get up, could   
   hardly breath from the agony crawling up his chest. "Scully, need Scully" he   
   mumbled right before he lost consciousness. He never heard his neighbors   
   yelling for the police and the Ambulance sirens.   
      
      
   ----------------   
      
   Few days earlier   
      
   Basement office FBI   
      
      
   Mulder was bored because there was nothing to do. Or, nothing to do that he   
   felt like tackling today. There was always the dreaded paperwork of course   
   and Skinner already ordered him to finish that ASAP, but to concentrate on   
   work like that was too hard for him right now. His concentration was off and   
   he felt tired. So, he was bored. Extremely. He sighed and looked up to see   
   Scully, his 'more than just a colleague' partner. If they only...then he   
   wouldn't be bored, his mind played out dangerous possibilities and he tried   
   to tuck them back into the corner of his brain, labelled, ' for when the   
   time is right'. He sighed again.   
      
   "Oh for goodness' sake Mulder, will you cut it out!"   
      
   "But I'm bored Scully." he whined, jiggling back and forth on his computer   
   chair.   
      
   "Then start doing the paperwork Skinner ordered you to do Mulder, it seems   
   I'm the only one doing that right now and I'm not planning to finish all of   
   it on my own. So quit whining, pick up your pen and start those idle fingers   
   working!"   
      
   "You're no fun" he mumbled, but then picked up his pen, sighed again and   
   started on the job he hated so much, chewing the end in his mouth.   
      
   Not even ten minutes later his phone rang. Not waiting for the next ring he   
   picked it up yelling: "Mulder!"   
      
   "Agent Mulder" the voice on the other side boomed uncomfortably off his   
   eardrums. A voice belonging to AD Skinner.   
      
   "AD Skinner, I'm sorry, I uhm .. I'm still working on those papers, but...."   
      
   "Never mind that right now Mulder, I have a request."   
      
   "Sir?"   
      
   "I'd like to talk to you, could you come over to my office and bring Agent   
   Scully with you please."   
      
   "Yes sir." Mulder hung up and looked pointedly at Scully.   
      
   "What have you done now?" she asked, noticing his consternation.   
      
   "Nothing! I think. Did I do something? Anyway, Skinner asked us to come to   
   his office, so let's go. Wouldn't want to miss the party eh?"   
      
   "At least you're not bored anymore."   
      
   "What? Oh, yeah, guess you're right" Mulder laughed and more or less pushed   
   Scully out the door.   
      
   A couple of minutes later Skinner's secretary told them to go into his   
   office.   
      
   "Agents Mulder and Scully, please take a seat."   
      
   Mulder was confused. Did he or didn't he do something wrong? Even Scully   
   thought Skinner was a bit too polite. She didn't trust it. Something was   
   going on.   
      
   "Sir" Mulder said, "You had a request?"   
      
   "VCU wants your help Mulder."   
      
   Scully sat up straight immediately. "No, Sir, you know Mulder doesn't work   
   for VCU anymore!"   
      
   "What she said," Mulder piped up pointing at Scully, wondering if he should   
   laugh or feel annoyed that she answered so protectively for him. He decided   
   it was kinda cute and let it go and hoped she read his grateful expression   
   correctly.   
      
   "Please hear me out Agent Mulder, it's not as bad as you think." Although he   
   talked to Mulder, he was looked at Scully, like he was apologizing to her   
   for asking her partner. "VCU is short on people right now and they want you   
   to create a profile. A young man was murdered, found last week, but the   
   agent currently working on this case doesn't seem to get any further. He's   
   hitting a brick wall as far as coming up with any leads. They need a fresh   
   profile on the Unsub so they can work on, right now they're stuck. That's   
   where you come in. Actually that's all you're supposed to do."   
      
   Mulder nodded. "Ok, I'll do it."   
      
   Skinner handed him the file. "Read through it and let me know what you think   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)