Title: Oil and Blood - Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Author: MollyRocket

Series: first story in Oil and Blood

Rating: PG-13 to R

Note: This is an AU that replaces "Sein und Zeit" and goes down its own path. Don't argue with me about canon, 'cuz I'll point to the letters 'AU' and shake my head sadly.

Summary: The granddaughter of a prominent senator is kidnapped, and Mulder has to contend with the lead agent on the case, John Doggett. With the clock ticking down and the girl's illness becoming more grave, our intrepid agents must contend with a burgeoning conspiracy, four suspicious hospital patients, and bad hospital plumbing.

Glenview Hospital
Specimen Receiving
8:54 pm

The fluorescent lights flickered wearily overhead, barely illuminating the decrepit wallpaper and stained floors. The pneumatic tube system was silent while the computers continued to grind their hard drives. Two figures were facing each other while intently watching the floor drain as a black, oily substance slowly oozed up from below. Chris Barrows shook his head as he watched the oil pause, as if scenting the air, before it began to move purposefully toward Kaida Stuart�s shoe.

"It seems to prefer you to me, hands down," Chris said calmly, his gray eyes twinkling with amusement.

"And your point being?" asked Kaida archly as she scooched her foot away from the approaching oil.

"Well, you know how all the people who have been affected by it so far weren�t exactly poster children for mental health?" he said in his pompous �doctor� voice. He had to jump back a couple feet to avoid her kick, but his face remained bemusedly impassive.

"Hmmm, that explains why you�ve been flirting outrageously with them since you got here," replied Kaida in her calm, clinical voice.

Chris was about to reply when his pager began buzzing furiously. "Crud, we�ve got orders on the fifth floor. I guess we�ll have to cut this party short."

Kaida scooted further away from the oil that was aggressively tracking her, while Chris pulled a gallon-sized glass bottle from under the sink. "I hope they don�t find that any time soon, or we�re busted," she remarked. Chris uncapped the bottle and stepped up to the drain area. The oil didn�t even change course for him.

"Dang, but it sure likes you," he said as he began pouring concentrated sulfuric acid on the determined oil slick. Kaida pulled a bottle of water out of her lab coat pocket and waited until Chris finished with the acid.

"Now, I�ve forgotten, is it �add water to acid� or �add acid to water�?" she asked no one in particular as she began to add water to the acid puddle surrounding the oil. She finished quickly and stepped back to avoid the heat and fumes from the volatile mix. The oil beat a hasty retreat down the drain while Kaida added more water and acid absorbent to clean up the excess acid. "Sheesh, you need to slow down on the acid, or they�ll notice."

"Speaking of such, I don�t recommend being present when the solvent bill comes in tonight," Chris replied jauntily as he hid the acid under the sink. They both grabbed their trays and hurried out the door, hoping to avoid being noticed by their supervisor.

After the door stopped swinging, the drain began to bubble and gurgle. The oil emerged cautiously and oozed toward the locker room.

LaPierre household

2349 Remnant Dr.

9:20 pm

Jared LaPierre was already bone-tired from working all day, but his concern for his daughter, Amber Lynn, kept him from noticing. Melinda was fixing up a cup of that nasty tasting TheraFlu drink to help soothe their daughter�s throat, but nothing was really going to help until the fever broke. Jared continued to hold and comfort his little princess, still marveling at her personality and quirks. Amber was almost asleep in his arms when the phone rang, startling her awake and causing both parents to groan.

"Leave the phone off the hook after you answer it, so we don�t get anymore interruptions," he said gruffly.

Melinda nodded and waved his remark aside as she hurried to answer the phone. She picked up the phone and said, "Hello?" There was a click and the dial tone. She shrugged her shoulders and unplugged the cord from the base of the phone before returning to Amber and Jared.

A half hour later, Amber was finally bedded down after countless bouts of coughing and sniffling. Jared seriously considered taking a really hot shower to get rid of the snot all over him, but decided that it would be pointless to worry about germs now. Then again, maybe he could convince Melinda to join him�

*****

Melinda was playfully snapping her husband with his towel when they both heard screams coming from Amber�s room. Hurriedly, they tried to cram themselves into their clothes while stumbling out into the hallway. There was a crash of breaking glass and the deep voice of a man, cursing in their daughter�s room. Enraged, Jared pulled up his jeans and knocked the bedroom door open, only to see a man pull his leg through the window. Jared rushed toward the window, only to feel a sharp pain in his ankles before the world around him went black.

The next day�

J. Edgar Hoover Bldg.

Conference room

AD Skinner stepped up to the podium and inspected the team of agents arrayed before him. Flyers with Amber Lynn Lapierre�s picture and information had been passed around moments earlier, and he watched as each member of the team studied and memorized the little girl�s face. As his gaze passed over the room again, he noticed Mulder partially hidden at the back of the room. Inwardly he groaned, since the last thing he needed was to have this sensitive case turn into an embarrassment for the bureau. Pushing those thoughts aside, he cleared his throat and began to speak.

"May I have your attention please? We need to get this meeting underway. As you all know, Amber Lynn LaPierre was kidnapped from her bedroom last night at approximately 9:55 pm. The kidnapper took enough time to set a booby-trap for the parents before taking Amber, resulting in the hospitalization of the girl�s father, Jared LaPierre. Fingerprints were found at the scene, but our database has failed to yield a match. No ransom notes have been received, and no contact has been made," he intoned calmly.

"Sir, is it possible that the kidnapper is trying to exert pressure on the girl�s grandfather?" asked Agent Corsell, a redheaded man in his late thirties.

"We will be getting to that shortly, Agent. Right now, I would like to introduce the lead agent for this investigation. Agent John Doggett, if you would?" Skinner motioned for the tall, blue-eyed agent to take his place at the head of the room.

He stepped back and kept his eyes on Mulder, silently warning him not to make any false moves. Unfortunately, Mulder didn�t possess the talent of telepathy that he had looked for in others, and thus missed Skinner�s mental pleas to stay quiet. Fortunately, Skinner had planned ahead in case that should happen. As Mulder stood up to put forth his theory, he was grabbed from behind and his voice muffled as he was picked up and hauled out of the room. Only Skinner and Doggett were aware of the silent altercation at the back of the room. Doggett, however, wasn�t quite sure what to make of it. He shrugged his shoulders mentally and made a mental note to ask the AD about it before going out to the crime scene.

Skinner walked into the anteroom where his secretary Kim worked, and wasn�t surprised in the least when she made silent motions to indicate that a very irate Agent Mulder was waiting for him in his office. Suppressing an amused twitch at the corner of his mouth, he stepped into his office and was greeted with the sight of Mulder pacing back and forth and muttering under his breath.

"Agent Mulder, if you would please be seated, I have an assignment I need to discuss with you," Skinner said briskly as he walked to his chair.

Mulder whirled around and in two strides, had caught Skinner by his arm and pinned the AD to his desk. "It�s not enough that you help them stymie my work, but now you�re ordering them to keep me out of a discussion that I had a right to be in on!" Mulder shouted.

"Agent Mulder, I had you removed from the room for a reason, and it was not to stymie you," wheezed Skinner as he worked to get off the desk.

"I had important information regarding the nature of that little girl�s abduction, and-" Mulder�s tirade was cut short as he suddenly found himself on the floor with a shiny black shoe pinning his neck to the floor.

"Agent Mulder, I don�t know what you get up to down in the basement, but up here, we don�t pin our bosses to their desks," Kim stated firmly as she ground her 3-inch heel into the side of Mulder�s neck. Mulder was about to reply when Agent Doggett walked in on the odd scene.

A half hour later�

Mulder was still rubbing his neck after Kim and Doggett had left Skinner�s office. Doggett had required numerous assurances before leaving Skinner alone with Mulder. As he probed the tender spot where Kim had ground her heel in, he was glad she hadn�t lost her balance, or he�d be dead. Skinner took his seat at his desk and shuffled some papers before pinning his agent with a steely glare.

"Agent Mulder, as you already know, the Amber LaPierre case is a sensitive subject, and we believe that Agent Doggett is the best person to run the investigation. This is no reflection on you, we simply need you elsewhere is all," said Skinner, straightening his glasses again. "The case I handed you earlier has been handed to you specifically to look into."

"Sir, I don�t see why I was assigned this case! This is something that OSHA or the CDC would look into. This case is not an X-file, it�s just another hoop for me to jump through while they further hide the truth," argued Mulder. "I�m being kept off the LaPierre case in an effort to prevent me from helping Senator Matheson."

Skinner replied in his calmest, most controlled voice, "Agent Mulder, I would suggest that you re-read the file very carefully. You�ll find everything you need. You are dismissed."

Mulder sat there for a moment, not sure of what had happened, then he angrily rose from his chair and left the office. Skinner waited for a few minutes before relaxing and taking his glasses off. It looked like he would be visiting an optician in the near future.

X-files office

Scully was calmly sorting through the desk drawer, trying to find a pen. So far, all she had found were about 50 wooden pencils, sharpened, and covered with white fibers from the ceiling tiles. As she pushed the drawer shut, Mulder stormed through the door and threw a folder onto his desk.

"I take it your request to be added to the LaPierre investigation didn�t pan out?" Scully asked mildly as she took a seat.

"They physically removed me from the conference, then Skinner handed me this bullsh*t case to look into. Kersh has something to do with this, I just know it," fumed Mulder.

Scully reached over and pulled the file closer to her. Minutes slowly passed as she perused the file, then she spoke, saying, "Mulder, maybe this case isn�t as worthless as you thought."

***

LaPierre home

Officer Dan Callum was carefully going over the headboard in Amber�s bedroom when he noticed a smudge on the underside of the top rail. He motioned his partner over to his side and pointed at the spot. Callum shined his light on the rail, hoping against hope for a print.

***

Washington, DC

Agent Doggett was finalizing some last minute details before traveling to the crime scene. He sighed wearily when his cell phone began ringing, and as he answered it, he resisted the urge to chuck it down a stairwell or in the toilet.

"Agent Doggett," he stated as he adjusted his necktie. His fidgeting slowed then ceased as he listened to the person on the other end of the connection. Then his face split into a wide smile. "Are you telling me you got an ID?"

"Yes sir, after ruling out family and friends, we have identified the owner of the print as being Harold Turris. If you have an hour or two, I could read you his rap sheet," offered Officer Callum, who was feeling rather giddy. This was the first big break on the case, which was a relief, since the media circus had shown up in force.

"No need for that, Officer, I�ll be there in a few hours to read it myself," said Doggett in his hybrid New York/Southern accent. As he closed his phone, his face grew pensive again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Slowly, he flipped through the card holder until he got to a family photo. It showed him standing beside an attractive blond woman and behind a little boy and girl. His reverie was eventually interrupted by members of his investigative team as they were ready to go.

***

Glenview Hospital

Kaida strolled down the hall, enjoying the moment�s respite from the hustle in the lab. She rounded the last corner before the long trek to her department when she saw Lew waiting for the service elevator.

�Hey, Lew!� she called.

�Why, Kaida, what brings you to this neck of the woods?� drawled Lew as he shifted his weight to his other foot.

�Just returning for more supplies,� Kaida replied.

�You been bleedin� those poor folk dry on those upper floors?� he asked with a grin.

�Just doing what I do best,� she said mischievously.

�Eh, as long as you don�t go for their throats, I shouldn�t think they would mind,� chuckled Lew. �Have you heard about what�s goin� on down in the tunnels?�

�I�ve heard rumors about some people getting sick, but nothing more. Why?� asked Kaida.

�It�s more than people getting sick, child, they be goin� crazy and violent before they die or disappear. We�re runnin� dangerously short-handed, and the hospital ain�t doin� a thing about it,� answered Lew.

�We�ve had some problems like that in the lab, with people going bonkers and trying to hurt their coworkers,� said Kaida.

�You ain�t lost 20 good men and women yet,� argued Lew.

Kaida snorted. �If we lost that many, we wouldn�t have a lab. Most of the folks who�ve been affected are the med techs who work in the back lab, and they�re always near the drains.�

�Young lady, you mind me and keep as far away from that oil as you can. I hate seeing good people getting hurt by this,� Lew said as he pushed his pallet onto the elevator.

Kaida watched the doors shut behind Lew, and wondered how long she could tarry in the hallways before her supervisor would have her head.

***

Merigold Apartments
Apartment 23

Harold Turris could barely keep his eyes open, they hurt so much. Every muscle in his body screamed with pain, and his joints ached like nothing he had ever experienced. He turned his head to look at the little girl who had been sleeping on the bed. She had finally quit coughing at three in the morning, and sleep was evading him now that she was unconscious. He groaned as he adjusted himself on the sofa, and hoped that no one would find them.

A few hours later, he groaned when his cell phone began vibrating. �Yeah?� he said into the phone.

�Get out. They know your name,� said the disguised voice on the other end before Harold heard a click and a dial tone.

�Damn,� he said weakly, considering his options.

***

To Be Continued

Read as posted here:

http://forums.delphiforums.com/XF3F/messages?msg=968.18