From: susannastarz@hotmail.com   
      
   TITLE: Everything Old is New Again (1/2)   
      
   AUTHOR: Susanna Starz   
      
   EMAIL: SusannaStarz@hotmail.com   
      
   ARCHIVE: Sure! Just let me know.   
      
   RATING: PG-13   
      
   CATEGORY: SRA   
      
   KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Romance   
      
   SPOILERS: set during Season 6, some mild spoilers for Triangle and   
   before   
      
   SUMMARY: What happens when you have a past you can't remember and a   
   future you can't forget?   
      
   DISCLAIMER: They're not mine...just borrowing them for a little   
   while and I promise to return them more or less unharmed.   
      
   *   
      
   "Hey," Scully said as she made her way through the bullpen towards   
   Mulder. He glanced up from the game of solitaire he was so   
   studiously engaged in on the computer and shot her a quirky half   
   smile.   
      
   "What are you so chipper about?"   
      
   "There was a bit of excitement upstairs," she said, raising her   
   eyebrows and waiting for him to take the bait.   
      
   "Please tell me Kersh had a massive coronary."   
      
   "Not that exciting," she sighed as she dropped into her own chair   
   and switched on her computer. "Some lunatic wandered off from the   
   tour and started ranting about his grand plan for world domination.   
   Took five of us to subdue him." She held out her forearm to display   
   a softball-size bruise.   
      
   Mulder let out a breath of air and leaned back in his chair, looking   
   impressed. "And in the chaos, Deputy Director Kersh was mortally   
   wounded?"   
      
   "Sorry," she shrugged sympathetically.   
      
   "Damn."   
      
   "So what have you been doing this morning? Besides playing cards?"   
      
   Mulder slowly tilted his computer monitor away from her.   
      
   "Mulder."   
      
   He grinned sheepishly. "Just the cards."   
      
   "What's that window open behind the cards?"   
      
   "Nothing. Just a pop up."   
      
   "That looks suspiciously like Frohike's hairline." She crossed her   
   arms and looked accusingly at him. "Why are you communicating with   
   the gunmen via webcam?"   
      
   She took little notice of Mulder's cringe as she stood up and walked   
   towards his computer for a better look.   
      
   "Mulder, is that--are they in the X Files office?"   
      
   "Above it, actually," he sighed. "In the heating ducts."   
      
   "With a webcam."   
      
   He shrugged again, attempting to look innocent.   
      
   Scully let out a little hiss of annoyance. "Spying on Spender and   
   Fowley, or just hoping that Fowley finds some way to take her shirt   
   off while she's down there?"   
      
   Mulder faked a wounded expression. "Since they've managed to block   
   my access to their email accounts, I've had to resort to desperate   
   measures in order to keep apprised of new cases."   
      
   "You're kidding."   
      
   "Does this look like the face of a man who jests?"   
      
   She cocked her head and stared at him for a moment without   
   responding.   
      
   "Point taken," he grumbled, minimizing the window.   
      
   "Mulder. Mulder." Langly's tinny voice filtered through the   
   speakers.   
      
      
   Mulder jumped as though he'd been shot, earning suspicious stares   
   from several agents who were hard at work around him. He turned down   
   the volume and leaned in close to the computer screen.   
      
   "There's something funky going on down here."   
      
   "What?" he hissed.   
      
   "Is he talking to his computer?" A secretary, pushing the mail cart,   
   paused by Scully's desk to regard Mulder with a worried frown.   
      
   "Yes," Scully said flatly, reaching for her mail.   
      
   The woman stared at her for a moment before shuddering and moving   
   on.   
      
   "There's some sort of gas in the ducts," Langly said. Colorless,   
   odorless, I wouldn't even have noticed it had the machines not   
   jumped off the charts."   
      
   Mulder frowned and leaned back towards Scully's desk. "Could that   
   guy have released something in the building?"   
      
   Her forehead creased as she considered this. "He could have been   
   anywhere from the time that he disappeared from the tour and found   
   himself in front of Skinner's office."   
      
   The good humor had disappeared from Mulder's face. He turned away   
   and spoke into the tiny speaker the Gunmen had installed on his   
   computer. "Can you guys find the source?"   
      
   "Negative," Frohike said. "We're getting out of here."   
      
   Scully chewed the inside of her lip before picking up the phone and   
   dialing. "Sir, it's Agent Scully. I was considering that man from   
   this morning, and I think it's possible he may have left something   
   in the building before we found him...No Sir, just a hunch...All   
   right. Thank you." She hung up and turned to face him. "They're   
   going to conduct a thorough search."   
      
   "If this stuff is in the heating ducts..." Mulder's voice trailed   
   off as he studied the ceiling.   
      
   "Mulder, no."   
      
   "There's an access panel in the parking garage."   
      
   "The last thing you're supposed to do is head *towards* the fumes."   
      
   The fire alarm suddenly began to toll, interrupting Mulder as he was   
   about to respond. The lights dimmed and the emergency flashers began   
   to pulsate.   
      
   "Guess they found something," Mulder said grimly.   
      
   *   
      
   More than eight hours later, Scully's hand trembled with exhaustion   
   as she unlocked her apartment door. She, Mulder and every other   
   agent present in the building had been forced to undergo a medical   
   examination after a smoking canister had been found in the second   
   floor heating duct.   
      
   After she was given a clean bill of health by the triage center   
   established next to headquarters, she had sought out Skinner, who   
   had been pacing in front of the building, face tense and drawn.   
      
   "Just a prank, we think," he said softly when he saw her, shaking   
   his head. "That man sure wanted to make an impression."   
      
   Thankful that the FBI hadn't been the target of an unprecedented   
   domestic terrorism attack, Scully had checked on Mulder, who'd been   
   arguing vociferously with a nurse who was attempting to take a blood   
   sample. After ascertaining that he was fine, she'd finally made her   
   way back home.   
      
   She sank into a hot bath and shut her eyes, letting the relaxing   
   steam wash over her and lull her into a restful state.   
      
   Too soon, the jingling of her phone jarred her from a half-doze. She   
   reached for it, groaning when she saw Mulder's name on the caller   
   ID.   
      
   "Make it home in one piece?" she asked him by means of a greeting.   
      
   "Not if that nurse had anything to say about it," Mulder   
   grumbled. "I swear, she stuck me with that needle about six times."   
      
   "You're not supposed to piss off someone who has the ability to hurt   
   you."   
      
   "I'll keep that in mind next time."   
      
   Scully sighed and sank lower into the bubbles, letting the low   
   timber of his voice lull her back into a doze.   
      
   "So, Scully, I was thinking about calling in sick tomorrow."   
      
   That woke her up. "You never call in sick."   
      
   "I was thinking road trip. Upstate New York. You down?"   
      
   She groaned. "What's in upstate New York?"   
      
   "At least thirteen people in the small town of Sleepy Hollow have   
   reported sightings of--"   
      
   "The headless horseman?"   
      
   "All within the past week," he sounded pleased.   
      
   "Please tell me you're kidding."   
      
   "Trust me, the folks of Sleepy Hollow have heard enough headless   
   horseman jokes to last a lifetime. The last thing they'd want to do   
   is draw attention to this."   
      
   "Dare I even ask where you got this information?"   
      
      
   "Had the Gunmen zoom in on a file lying on Spender's desk. He put   
   the damn thing right in the shredder, but I think it's worth   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)