"Umbra" 20/? By Dawson E. Rambo Disclaimer : Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner and any other tangentially mentioned characters created by Chris Carter remain his copyrighted property, the property of 1013 Productions, and the property of Fox Television, a unit of 20th Century Fox, Inc. No infringement of any copyright is intended. Characters created by the author remain his property. Original Post : July 6, 1997 Archive Entry : Book I, Chapter 20 Classification : Action Adventure, MSR Rating : R (Adult Themes, Adult Language, nudity) ***************: PLEASE SEE CONTENT NOTES AND CONTENT WARNINGS. Notes : None Casting : John Glover, "Danny Graves" : Mary Stuart Masterson "Ally Roche" Antishipper : 3 on a scale of 1-10. Shipper : 7 on a scale of 1-10. Timeline : 4th year, prior to anything having to do with cancer. Content Warning: This story contains scenes that might be too intense for some readers. Reader discretion is advised. Please see the end of this story for specific content descriptions. Enjoy! ----------- "Doing what's right isn't a problem. It's knowing what's right." - Lyndon B. Johnson "The weak have one weapon -- the errors of those who think they are strong." - Georges Bidault "It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them." - Adlai Stevenson Motel 6 Mission Beach, California They snuggled for a few moments, and then Scully stood, moving to the bathroom. "Join me," she said softly, over her shoulder. Mulder thought about it for half a second and then rose to follow her into the bathroom. The shower was more functional than erotic, but they did take a few opportunities to touch favorite places. "Ally Roche," Mulder said. "I wonder what secrets she's going to give us." "It's like playing hopscotch," Scully said, running her hands through her hair. "We move a box at a time, and we don't know what's at the other end. Don't you just wish we could skip to the end?" Mulder laughed. "Yeah. But we risk missing something important if we don't touch all the boxes. I do have an idea, though." "I'm listening." "Mike told us that he has only one other contact besides Graves. He never told us who that was. We should find out who Roche's contacts are, and go from there." Scully used her hands to wring the excess water from her ponytail. "Only one problem with that theory, Mulder." Mulder moved to take his turn under the spray. "And that is?" "We're not sure that Roche is in on it. We only know that she once held a job that Matt did." Mulder nodded. "You're right; I'm eager. Too eager, I guess. I want to break her and move onto the next box. I'm hoping that every person we come into contact with over this is going to have a little more information for us, another piece of the puzzle." Scully took up the washcloth and began soaping Mulder's chest. Her fingers danced across his flesh as she thought. Mulder looked down as the diminutive redhead, naked and wet before him, and thanked whatever forces guided the universe for bringing her into his life. "How do you want to handle it?" he asked. "I think we go for the jugular. I told Admiral Karn not to inform her that we were coming. We get a few Shore Patrol escorts and show up at her duty station. She'll know as soon as she sees them and our ID's what's up. We tell her we know everything, and her only chance at not spending the next fifty years at Portsmouth is to cooperate with us fully. And if that doesn't work, we'll hold her on an Article 16, and then tell her that Watts flipped on her, that he was a blind contact, one she didn't know about, one that was watching her." Mulder nodded. "But what if she's not in on it?" Scully glanced up at her partner, smiling. Mulder saw a new smile on Scully's face, an expression he had never witnessed before. It was the smile of a jackal that smelled fresh meat; it was a killer's smile. "Oh, I'll know, Mulder. I'll know." "Woman's intuition?" She gave him the same smile again, a twinkle in her amazing blue eyes. "Something like that." *** Office of Lieutenant Ally Roche, Project Officer, TLAM-N Naval Air Station Mirimar 1645 Hours The two huge, hulking Shore Patrolman flanking them, Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, Federal Bureau of Investigation knocked on the door bearing the name of Lt. Ally Roche. "Come!" said the voice from inside. Scully pushed the door open and stepped through, closely followed by Mulder and the two SP's. Scully sized the woman up in an instant, her gaze never wavering. Ally Roche was about thirty-two, with short blonde hair, alluring green eyes, and a very no-nonsense attitude. Her office, small as it was, was pin-neat and ordered in a precise military manner. She stood at attention when she saw Mulder enter the room. "May I help you?" she asked. "Please wait outside," Scully said to the two SP's. Visibly annoyed at not being privy to this officer's potential humiliation, the two first class petty officers merely nodded and closed the door behind them as they left. As if they had practiced the motion, Scully and Mulder presented her with their identification. "Scully, Mulder. Federal Bureau of Investigation." Roche's eyes flickered, and Scully knew they had found their woman. She looked at her partner and gave a small nod. Mulder opened his jacket and took out the two folded pages of blank copier paper he'd grabbed on his way down. "Do you know what an Article 16 is?" he asked. Roche shook her head. "Remand to civilian custodial authority," Mulder helpfully supplied. "It's not signed. Depending on the answers you give in the next thirty seconds, it will remain unsigned, and you will be allowed, for the time being, to remain in your current assignment and grade. If you force us to sign it, it will be the end of your career, Lieutenant Roche." Roche slowly sat, folding her hands neatly on top of her desk. "I'm listening." "I have six words for you, Lieutenant." Scully's voice was firm, controlling. "Daniel Graves. Liberty Bell. Start talking." For a moment, it looked as if Roche was going to defy her, and instead was going to deny any knowledge or involvement in the plan. She licked her lip nervously, and Mulder tried not to visibly relax. He knew that she was debating with her demons, trying to gauge which action was going to get her into less trouble. "You know?" she asked. "We know everything," Mulder said. Scully shot him a glance. He ignored it. "You know about the CBX-3..." Roche whispered. Mulder frowned, making a mental note to call Karn and find out what, exactly, CBX-3 was. "We are investigating everyone associated with LIBERTY BELL," Scully explained. "But to make sure we're getting all the information, and more importantly, that no one is lying to us and making their personal situation any worse, we're asking that all suspects tell us their stories, from the beginning, as if we don't know anything." Mulder jumped in. "Let me make that crystal clear, Lieutenant. You don't know we know. We may know nothing. We may know it all. But if you lie to us about something we do know about, and we catch you in it, my partner will sign that Article 16, and those two burly SP's will come in here, put you into shackles, and drag you away in front of all your friends and co-workers. You will be remanded to our custody before the end of the night, and two even burlier US Marshal's will transport you via airplane to Washington, DC to await trial. Are we clear, ma'am?" Roche nodded, seeing the trap. They had just enough information to make her believe. Danny's name and the project. One without the other, and she would have denied it all. "Do we have to do it here?" Roche asked. In answer to her question, Scully reached into her jacket pocket and returned with a small dictating recorder. Setting it on Roche's desk, she pushed PLAY and RECORD. "Yes. Here. Now start talking." Roche took a deep breath. *** "It all started my senior year at Annapolis. I had decided to go into logistics, because I have a good mind for numbers. Planning, all that good stuff. I graduated with the class of 1988. My first assignment was as a logistics officer at Pearl Harbor. I'm from Indiana, Agent Scully. The Pacific Ocean was a big thing for me, but I was lonely. Extremely lonely. I was automatically promoted to Lieutenant JG after my first 12 months were up, and transferred to CENTCOM as a Liaison officer. "That was the summer of 1989. That assignment lasted until the Gulf War." Mulder interrupted. "I'm not seeing the connection to Annapolis." "I'm getting there. When I was at Annapolis, I had a relationship with a townie. A man I later came to know as Danny Graves. He was older, exciting, and he worked for the same government I did. He made it clear that her worked in secret, classified areas, and I knew that to be true because he was able to get on the base and off without any problem. He never showed me his ID, but whenever he flashed it at the gate guards, they snapped to attention and let him go wherever he wanted to. I felt special, unique, that a man like that would seek me out, would do the things he did. Flatter me, take me out to dinner. He made me feel like a woman, Agent Mulder. More like a woman than any of the assholes I went to school with. Annapolis is the ultimate Old Boy's Network. A full third of my class were the sons of senior officers. Sure, it's supposed to be a competitive appointment process, but that's not the way it works. "I was discouraged about the Navy from my sophomore year, when I discovered that some of my classmates were cheating on exams. The hard subjects, the ones you needed to take for the hard-science degrees, the degrees you needed to get assigned to the surface or submarine fleet... those classes were riddled with cheaters. Men who didn't give a rats' ass about honor, duty or country. All they wanted to do was graduate, get into the fleet, get promoted. Get Admiral's stars. It was all about getting ahead." Scully was nodding, listening to her words. It wasn't hard to see how Graves had recruited her. "Anyway...after the Gulf War, I was sent back to the states, still as a Lieutenant, only this time to the Pentagon. Public Information Office. I was a flack, a spokesperson. I briefed the press on very, very low-level issues. The Captains and the Admirals reserved the juicy stories for themselves. I got all the crap." Mulder was beginning to sense that Roche was a complainer. Always annoyed that she didn't get the choice assignments, the flashiest and cushiest jobs. "So you complained to someone," Mulder prompted. Roche glanced at him, her eyes hard. "Yes, yes I did. I was sick and tired of being a second-class citizen in the Navy just because I happen not to have a penis. I'm sure that you would never be able to understand what I'm talking about just as I'm sure your partner knows exactly what I'm talking about." Scully bit her tongue and then said. "Yes, I know exactly what you mean. The FBI is the same way. I have to work four times as hard to be taken half as seriously as any of the male agents." Mulder hid his surprise at her words only be repeating to himself the fact that Scully was `working' the witness, that she was attempting to side with her during the interrogation to get more information from her; there was no reason to antagonize Roche. Not now. Later, he would ask Scully if she'd been serious. He knew that some of the men at Headquarters did treat Scully differently because she was a woman, and he had the sneaking suspicion that although he might treat her better than most, that he was guilty of the same thing. "See? She knows what I mean. So I told Danny. He'd looked me up when I was reassigned to the Pentagon, and he told me that he could get me a better job in the Navy. He did. He got me this job." Now for the fun part, Scully thought. "So what did you have to do in exchange?" Mulder couldn't resist. "Besides sleeping with him, she means." Scully shot a glance at her partner that could have frozen lava. Roche didn't even blink. "Sure, I slept with him. But I did that because I love him, and he loves me. It wasn't a pre-requisite to him helping me. He made that much clear. So clear, in fact, that he got me the assignment before we ever slept together." Mulder nodded, mentally congratulating Graves. The man did know how to motivate people. Carrot, then the stick. "So, what's the deal, Roche. What's your part in LIBERTY BELL?" "Delivery system," Roche explained. "He needs a way to deliver the CBX-3. I'm providing the delivery system." Scully mulled this over. "Would have provided, you mean. You would have provided the delivery system. I'm assuming that's a Tomahawk?" "Of course." "N model?" Scully asked, trying to hide the shake in her voice. Roche looked at Scully as if she were insane. "A nuke? No way! What are you...nuts?" "Mulder...stay with her a minute. I need to make a call." Scully stepped out into the hall and thought a moment. It was almost eight o'clock back in Washington. Karn was at home. She dialed the number and took a few steps away from the SP's. "Karn." "Karn, Special Agent Scully." "How goes it at Mirimar?" "Very well. We've identified another one of Graves' operatives. It was Roche." Karn grunted. "Ok, what's the bad news?" "What's CBX-3?" There was a sharp intake of breath at the other end of the phone. "Agent Scully, I'm beginning to think that you and Mulder are in over your head. Are you sure you don't want NIS to take over this investigation?" No time like the present, Scully thought. "No, sir. This is a rather...personal matter at this time. I spoke with Danny Graves today." "What?" "Right after he killed Admiral Watts." "My GOD! Why haven't I been informed?" "Well, sir, Watts was the Chief of Staff to COMSUBPAC, so I'm sure that right now, they're trying to determine what happened. I'm sure that you'll be contacted soon." "I see." "What's CBX-3, sir?" "Cluster weapon, Biological, Experimental, Flight 3." "Excuse me?" "It's a biological agent, Agent Scully. Made to be delivered by a Tomahawk missile. I don't have the specifics of the effect of the agent, but I do know that a drop the size of the head of a pin can kill everyone in a 10 foot radius." "My god." "That's not the worst part. That's when the agent is inert. When delivered in a airburst situation-" "Sir?" Karn sighed. "The CBX is designed to be delivered by Tomahawk only because of the weapon's innate accuracy. It's not designed to be an impact weapon. The missile is set to detonate about a hundred feed above the ground. The force of the explosion turns the agent into an aerosol, filling the air for ten or twelve square miles with invisible droplets of the agent. Its effects are close to instant, Agent Scully. Repository arrest, death within minutes." "I see. Sir, I'll need an undercover NIS agent on Mirimar assigned to watch Roche 24/7 until this is all settled. She's involved; she was going to provide the delivery mechanism to Graves." There was a pause. "Do you know the target?" "Yes, sir," Scully said. "Washington, DC." "Oh. My. God." "I'll call you back when we're done interrogating Roche." "Do you think NIS has been penetrated, Scully? Could Stone be one of them?" Scully thought about it. "No, sir, and I do want to talk to you about Commander Stone soon. Depending on how the investigation goes, probably in the next day or two. I think that Stone has been onto Graves since the beginning. Since before you were with NIS, sir. For almost ten years." "Iraq? Libya?" "Somewhere in between, sir. I think that Stone has been perusing this case since he stumbled across it during his time with the SEALs. I wouldn't find it hard to believe that Graves tried to recruit Matt, and that Matt's working from the inside to try and crack this thing." "I see." Scully wasn't sure if she was ready to believe all of it, but at the moment it seemed like the most logical explanation. It would also explain a lot of Matt's behavior. Although it wouldn't excuse much of it. "One more thing, Scully. Commander King found something at Stone's apartment. She called me and told me that it was too sensitive to send by courier or fax. She hopped a Phantom out of Pax River. She should be landing in the next half an hour or so." Scully smiled at that. More information, more nails for Graves' coffin. "Thank you, Admiral." She paused. "Sir, I need to get back to the interrogation." "Yes, of course. Please keep me informed. I'll have someone there just as soon as I can. Take care, Scully." "Of course, sir." Scully disconnected the call and stepped quickly back into Roche's office. "Anything new?" she asked. "No," Mulder said. "She hasn't said a word since you left." Scully leaned towards Mulder, motioning with her hand. He lowered his head, his ear next to her lips. Scully had a sudden desire to nibble on his earlobe. Later, Dana, she thought. "CBX is a biological agent. Kills instantly. Airborne. Burst weapon." Mulder nodded and straightened, assimilating the information. "Ok, Roche, we're nowhere near done yet. Who's your contact?" She grinned. "Danny, of course." "How do you contact him?" "I don't. He calls me." "When is the last time he called you?" Scully asked. Roche thought about it. "Two months ago. He called to tell me that he was in town on business, and asked if I wanted to get together." "Getting together...meaning?" "Yes, Agent Scully. Getting together in that he took me to dinner, made me feel beautiful and wanted, and then took me back to my apartment and put the bed springs to a pretty damned good test. I haven't heard from him since." Scully pounced. "I have. I spoke with him earlier this afternoon." Roche's eyes narrowed. "Is that right?" Scully smiled, her claws coming out. "Yes. I spoke to him in a motel room, as a matter of fact." That much was true, Scully said. She, after all, had been in a motel room when they had spoken. "You bitch." Roche's voice was flat, emotionless. "I guess I knew. I mean, I guess I knew that he didn't have just me...wait a minute." She looked back and forth between the two agents. "You're investigating him, aren't you?" Both partners nodded. "I don't understand...if you were talking to him in a motel room, why didn't you just arrest him?" "Because I was in a motel room in Mission Beach, and he was in the office of the Chief of Staff to Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific." Roche's expression became even more confused. "What was he doing there?" Mulder supplied the answer. "At the time, he'd just put a bullet into Admiral Mike Watts' head." Roche paled, her hand coming to cover her mouth. "Ohmygod!" she whispered. Scully nodded, moving around the corner of the desk, leaning over, her palms flat on the surface, her face inches from Roche's. "That's right, Ally. Your lover, your friend, your rabbi...Danny Graves killed a Rear Admiral today. He walked up to him and put a bullet into his head." Roche started to cry. "It wasn't...he said he wouldn't..." "Wouldn't what?" "Use it! Do it! It was all supposed to be a bluff!" Roche broke, her eyes spilling over with tears, her body wracked with sobs. Her voice was choked, her words hitching out between sobs. "He. Said. It. Was. All. For. Money." Mulder and Scully caught each other's eyes. Money. Ransom? "Is this a bluff or not, Ally?" "He told me that he wanted to...to...threaten the government. Threaten them to detonate the TLAM-B during the State of the Union address unless they agreed to pay him half a billion." Now Mulder was confused, his mind racing. Watts had told them that Graves' activities, his plans were all basically politically motivated, that he didn't like the direction the country was going, that he wanted to effect change by removing the government in power via force. And now Roche was telling them that it was a blackmail plot, a way to skim a cool half a billion from the Treasury. Which was telling the truth? "Who is your other contact?" Scully asked. "N-no one," Roche sniffled. Scully looked at her partner. "Mulder, please leave us alone." Mulder started to leave. "Wait," Scully called. Reaching to the small of her back, she unholstered her pistol and handed it to him. "Take this. I don't want to be responsible for shooting her." Mulder silently took the gun, noting the look on his partner's face. He almost felt sorry for Lieutenant Ally Roche, USN. Almost. *** Once the door closed, Scully turned and faced Roche. "There's one other thing you should know, Roche. Actually, a few things." Scully started pacing in the small office. She reached over and stopped the recorder. That fact was not lost on Roche. "First, you will tell me everything you know. I know that you've been cooperative up to now, but I will learn every single thing you know about Daniel Graves before I leave here." Scully stopped pacing and turned to face the traitor before her. "Or you will not leave this room alive." Roche scoffed. "I doubt that. One scream from me, and those SPs will be in here pretty damn quick." Scully felt the power welling up inside her, and hated it. She hated what she had to do, but knew that it was necessary. The stakes were too big, and this time, as she'd told Mulder, it was personal. "No they won't," Scully said softly, reaching into the pocket of her pants. "They won't because they're not SP's. They're NSA agents on loan to C16." Roche paused to think about that. C16 was the FBI's elite and highly secretive counterintelligence unit. Rumors abounded to the tactics that C16 employed to secure the `uncoerced' confessions that most spies ended up giving. "Are you with C16?" Roche asked, more than a little afraid. Scully flashed her a cold, icy grin. "That's classified, I'm afraid." Roche gulped. "So," Scully continued, bringing the small brown-glass vial from her pocket. "If I use on you, no one will care, and no one will notice." She paused. "Especially since I'm also a medical doctor, Lieutenant Roche, and if I tell them you died of a rare and undiagnosed heart ailment, they will believe me." "The autopsy..." Roche started. "Oh, did I forget to mention? MULDER!" she called. Mulder stuck his head in the door. "Scully?" "What kind of doctor am I?" she asked. "Forensic pathologist," Mulder helpfully supplied, seeing the small brown-glass vial in his partner's hand. He tried to hide his shock. She playing hardball. "You're excused," she said, and Mulder ducked his head back out the door, closing it behind him. "So, you see, if I throw this in your face, you'll be dead before you take another breath. Nothing will show up on the autopsy, I'll make sure of that. You'll just be...dead." Roche watched the vial with wide, scared eyes. "What do you want from me?" "Answers," Scully said. "The truth." "Ask your questions," Roche said, her voice signaling her defeat. Scully reached over and turned the recorder back on. "First off...are you providing the CBX? Or does Graves have another contact for that?" Roche shook her head. "All I'm doing is providing the missile chassis. I found several on the Defense Liquidation Agency rolls, old Tomahawk I flight missiles that are being scrapped. They're still flyable, just not up to military standards. I arranged to purchase them through a friend of mine. I told him I was going to turn them into planters." Scully laughed at that. It sounded just weird enough to make sense. "Good. Do you know where Graves is getting the CBX?" Roche shook her head. "I assume he already has it." Scully frowned and stopped. "Why?" "Well, because no one makes it anymore. It's too unstable." "Define `unstable.'" Roche crossed her arms. "Agent Scully, I'm a logistics expert, that's all. All I do is move pieces of hardware from point "A" to point "B". That's it. I am a chemical weapons expert." "Biological," Scully corrected without thinking. "WHATever," Roche pouted. "The point is, all I know about CBX is that it's unstable, and no one makes it anymore." Scully thought quickly. "What makes you think that Graves already has it?" "The words he used when he talked about it. He told me that the CBX was already `in place' and that all he needed was a delivery vehicle." Scully thought again. "You're not providing any guidance support? Avionics?" Roche shook her head. "Just an empty missile shell." "How many do you have?" "Two." Scully thought about it again. "Ok...is there anyone that Danny mentioned to you, anyone that you should contact if anything goes wrong? He might not have called it a contact...but anyone he told you about that's affiliated with him? With the plot?" Roche bristled at Scully's use of the word `plot', but didn't comment about it. "No." "One last question. Where did he get the CBX?" Roche looked at Scully strangely. "I'd assume Afghanistan." That brought Scully up short. "Excuse me?" "Afghanistan, Agent Scully. You have heard of it?" "Of course I have," Scully snapped. "What does that have to do with anything? With this ?" Roche shrugged. "I thought you knew. That's where Danny last served in any kind of official capacity. With the CIA. In Afghanistan. During the Soviet occupation." "Tell me more. All of it," Scully demanded. Sighing, Roche sat back and scratched her face. "Uh...Um...Danny was assigned to help the rebels with antihelicopter defenses. Those Hind-E models were a bitch. CIA started shipping Stinger AA missiles over, and, well, Danny got the idea that some CBX might be a good idea. The DOD had already decided not to use the stuff anymore, and had decommissioned all the 105 rounds that had the CBW warheads. So there was a bunch of CBX sitting around at China Lake and the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Paperwork, and voila! Transferred to the temporary custody of the CIA, and then it became POCMUS-CONUS," Roche explained. "POCMUS...what?" "Positioned Outside Military Custody, United States, Continental United States. That means that the US Army still kept the CBX on the roll as belonging to them, but they had no official way to account for it when the GAO came calling. That way, the Army was still responsible for it in the long run, but they didn't have to produce the actual canisters when the GAO auditors asked to see it. They could just point to a ledger entry and say, `Sorry, it's on classified assignment for CIA.' And no one goes to the CIA and asks them to account for shit." Scully nodded, and then her phone rang. Grabbing it from her inside jacket pocket, she thumbed SND and lifted it to her ear. "Scully." "This is Maggie King. I just landed at Mirimar. Where are you?" "Hi, Maggie. Why didn't you call Mulder?" "His phone isn't working. Where are you?" "Karn told me what you have, or at least the outlines of it. We're at the Motel 6 in Mission Beach. Meet us there in an hour." "Roger that," King said, and disconnected. Scully didn't see Roche mouthing the words "motel six" to herself. Turning back to her suspect, Scully continued. "So, Graves managed to convince the CIA to transfer custody of a highly volatile, extremely deadly biological warfare agent to...what? A little insurgency problem in the near East? I find that hard to believe, Ally." Roche spread her arms. "That's what I know, Scully. He told me that he'd had the CBX sent to Afghanistan. He never told me that he brought it back, but since that was what he is going to use, I assumed that's where he got it." It made sense, Scully admitted to herself. Maybe too much sense. The fact of the matter was, Scully knew that nothing she was told about Danny Graves should be taken at face value. It was just the kind of thing that the devious son-of-a-bitch would do. Throw a false trail like that out for her and Mulder and whomever was following him to blindly stumble down. It could be another tripwire, another way to let him know how close they were to finding him, finding the truth. He could be getting it from anywhere in the world, knowing his resources. "Ok, a few more questions, and then we're done." Roche made a face. "Not gonna throw that stuff in my face, huh?" Scully spun on the younger woman. "You listen to me, you little traitor. Mike Watts was a close, personal friend of mine, of my family, of my FATHER!" Roche made the connection. "Captain William Scully, right?" Scully nodded. How many people in the Navy Ahab, anyway? Roche snorted. "What do you think your father would say if he knew you, the big, important FBI agent, was threatening a suspect with death in order to make her talk?" Scully felt the pain in her chest, the sting behind her eyes. What would Dad think? she wondered. "I think he would understand, considering the stakes," Scully said evenly. "Bah," Roche said, waving a hand. "I met your father once. He made quite an impression on me, I must say. Iron-stiff, unbending, always by the rules Scully. You know, that's what some of the men under his command called him? Rulebook Scully. Never make an exception...except when it suited his needs." "What do you mean by that, Roche?" Ally stood, her own palms flat on the desk. "I'm not sure I should tell you. You might get upset and kill me." Scully looked down at the vial in her hand and quickly jammed it into her pocket. "Talk." Roche considered. "I told Danny about meeting your father, Scully. He made that much of an impression on me. When I was in the PIO, there was a Naval Intelligence operation that went sour. Haiti; I'm not sure if you remember. Some speedboats were discovered, US Navy markings, ready to help Baby Doc get the hell out of town when the time came. It was Naval Intelligence all the way, with a little help from the SEALs. Your father found out about a partial briefing I'd given to some of the press about the capabilities of the boats. Nothing classified, just their speed and range, engines, hull constructions...you know, all the info for those little sidebar stories they do whenever a piece of US military hardware is used. Well, he tore me a new one, to make a long story short. He really ripped into me, telling me that I was as good as a traitor to my country, letting the press have information like that. I pointed out that it wasn't classified, and he just told me that sometimes the most important secrets are right in front of your face." Scully nodded. Sounded like Ahab. "So?" "Like I said; I mentioned him to Danny. We had a date that night." Roche paused, her eyes glittering. "Danny knows your father, too, Agent Scully. And according to what Danny said, Captain Scully, Naval Intelligence knew about Danny. Knew about him." She crossed her arms and shot Scully an incredibly petulant, snotty little smile. "And did nothing," she added. Scully grinned, wishing that the small brown-glass vial in her pocket wasn't filled with tap water. Wishing it was filled with some deadly, untraceable poison. "You're full of shit, Roche." "Am I? Your father was in intelligence, Scully. You know the sacrifices they have to make from time to time. For the greater good, you know." "MULDER!" Scully called. A moment later her partner was in the office. "What?" "Call the SP's. Have this...person...transferred to civilian authority." "Scully! It'll tip him off." Scully spun on her partner. "Can you just FOR ONCE do what I tell you to without giving me a ration of shit about it?" Stunned, Mulder stepped back into the hallway. "Take her into custody," he said quietly. "Take her to the Provost Marshall's office. Some US Marshal's will be by later to take her to Washington." Without a word, the two burly SP's entered the office and efficiently handcuffed Roche. "You won't be able to stop him, you know," Roche claimed. "I'm not the only source of missile housings. He's got to have more." "She's right," Mulder pointed out. Scully looked at the man she loved and wanted at that moment not to hate him. She knew that the emotions running around inside her at that moment were powerful, volatile. "Mulder, the missile is nothing. We follow the chemicals. We follow the CBX. We find that, it doesn't matter how many TLAM's Graves has. He can drop them from an airplane for all the good they'll do. Don't you get it? We have to find the CBX!" Mulder nodded and watched as Roche was led out in cuffs. "What now?" he asked. "Maggie King called. She found something at Stone's apartment and hopped a Phantom via Karn. She's landed. She's going to meet us at the motel in an hour." Mulder nodded. "Ok. Let's get something to eat first." Scully frowned, rubbing her stomach. Reaching down to the desk, she turned the recorder off and pocketed it. "I'm not sure if I can eat, Mulder. That woman turned my stomach." Mulder placed a hand at the small of her back, guiding her out of the room and down the hall. "Hey, Scully," he said softly as they waited for the elevator. "What?" "You ok?" She looked at Mulder, trying to find the words. She'd demanded honesty and access from him only hours before, and here she was considering lying to him, varnishing the truth to spare his feelings, to spare his patronizing empathy. "She told me my father knew about Graves and did nothing, Mulder. To answer your question, no, I'm not fine." The elevator doors dinged! open and the duo entered. Mulder said nothing as they ascended towards the lobby. *** Duty Officer's Office Office of the Provost Marshal Naval Air Station Mirimar "I'm allowed one phone call," Roche insisted. "Yes, you are," the duty officer agreed. Pausing in his typing of the Article 16 paperwork, he turned his phone around to face her. "Help yourself." "In private," Roche said snidely. "The regulations say it has to be a private call." The duty officer sighed. Another guardhouse lawyer. "Very well." Standing, he moved to his office door, motioning an SP over. "Guard the door. If you hear anything, kick it open and take her down. She's making a phone call." The SP nodded, taking up station beside the door. "Think she's gonna jump?" he joked. The duty officer's office was six stories up. "She might. She's being charged with treason." The SP's eyes widened, but he kept his mouth shut. Inside the office, Lieutenant Ally Roche dialed from memory. "Hel-lo," the voice answered. "It's Ally," Roche said. "Ally, my darling!" Danny Graves said. "So good to hear from you, but I assume this is bad news. Am I right?" "Depends. I just got arrested for treason by two special agents from the FBI." "Tall, dour fellow? Short, feisty redhead?" "That's them." "Not to worry, my darling. By the time they figure out what's going on, it'll be done, and you'll be free, a celebrated hero of the revolution!" Roche tried to hide the scorn in her voice. "Listen to me, Dan. They know about the CBX. They know you're going to drop it on the State of the Union address." Graves laughed in her ear. "Why, my dear, whatever could have made you think that?" "They know, Dan. told ." "As I'm sure they did, my darling. But that was never my plan." Stunned, Roche said nothing. "Now, before I leave you to their clutches, is there anything else you have for me?" "Yes," Roche mumbled. "I know where they're staying." "Good! Good! It'll save me the time from triangulating their cell phone calls. Do tell, dear girl. Do tell." ---------------------------------------------------- END CHAPTER 20 Content Descriptions: This story contains: ScullyAngst, gratuitous shower scene, snugglebunnies, wet, naked bodies (but no aardvarking, see chapter 19 for that,) ActionScully! complete with her accessory pack (cell phone, pistol and odorless, colorless, untraceable poison for use on unsuspecting suspects,) and gratuitous interrogation-that- almost-turns-into-a-catfight. Oh, and some plot. Lots o' plot.