Title: International Agents of Mystery Author: RPcrazy [holosweet@yahoo.com.au] Category: Doggett/Reyes romance, case file. Follmer, Scully and Skinner all make significant appearances. Rating: NC-17 (sex scenes, language, violence) Summary: Reyes and Doggett are called to investigate a double murder but not all is as it seems. Could all they witness in this case file be in their imagination or is it real? No matter what, it is one of the most exciting as well as dangerous case files they have experienced in the partnership? Notes: 1. Thanks to my daughter (DDDDSSBG) on this one - for the case file ideas. 2. This fic could be a sequel to `Sleepless in DC' - it follows on nicely. Chapter One "To think I sat through that load of horse crap," John chuckled as he stood and stretched, a few cracks noticeable to his movie watching partner. "You're the one who sat there glued to the set for the last two hours and laughed his head of at the one liners." Monica smiled and reminded as she also stood and made her way towards him. "No I didn't," he laughed quietly again. "I got up during a commercial break for some pop." "Yes, and you almost spat out part of it when you saw the almost naked Ms. Kensington." She went to put her arms around him but something stopped her and she stood in front of him looking into his eyes. "It's only because I remember the line about her shagging like a minx." This time he did one of his smiles and returned his partner's expectant look. "I thought you might have remembered the line, `I've been frozen for 30 years, I've got to see if my bits still work.'" Monica wanted a reaction out of him, which she received. His expression went thoughtful and he moved his head to hers and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "I think for the past week I've proven my bits still work," his voice was sexy and she felt the buzz on her lips as he spoke. "Hmm, they certainly have." She enfolded her arms around his neck and drew him down for a more profound kiss. His hands lightly rested on the small of her back as he willingly accepted her show of affection and freely reciprocated. "Stay the night?" She got the request out between kisses. "Monica," he managed to talk. "I really must be getting home." "Please stay, you still haven't slept in my bed, and I can feel a certain `bit' of you is saying a profound `yes'." Her fingers felt through his hair as he considered her request. He chuckled and replied, "I thought you would be tired of me by now, we've slept in the same bed at least five times in the past week." His hands moved up her back and he began running them in circles that repeatedly made her dizzy with desire. "I can't help it if by not being able to show our feelings at work it makes me hungry for you at night." Her thumbs felt over his cheek and longingly she peered into his eyes. "Do I make you horny, baby?" John mimicked and they both chuckled as Monica moved a hand down to his and linked fingers. "Come and I'll show you just how horny you make me, John Doggett." .................... They had hardly reached the bed before they fell back on it, their bodies mingled in a deep kiss. John lay above Monica, moving his hand down her side and lifted a thigh so he could push his body closer to her. Monica's hands went to his ass and pulled him nearer, feeling the delectability of his hard on very close between her legs. There was hardly time to undress. The urgency of their bodies to just feel each other was all too great after all day having to show restraint. The couple's relationship was still quite new. They had first consummated their involvement the previous Friday night when Monica had admitted to her partner that she was having problems sleeping. John, in his endeavors to help her with a few remedies of his own, found the temptation overpowering to go the whole way and make love to his FBI partner for the first time. Since then, most evenings she had stayed at his place, to prove that his therapy had indeed worked, of course. "I can't see myself ever getting tired of this." Monica sighed as she rolled him onto the side and continued feeling his lips with her own. The anticipation of his bare skin next to hers was equally on her mind together with the way he made her so hot for him with his kisses and the way he held her. "Me neither," his roaming hand went to her ass and then equally wandering fingers placed gentle pressure between her open legs. "I can't stop wanting you." With those words of his, Monica didn't think she could hold on long enough to undress but she willed herself and moved back to try and remove her top. John helped and then unclasped her bra. He could hardly wait until it was off before he was touching her, feeling the hardness of her nipples, toying with the yielding flesh. His tongue explored her mouth as his hand moved under the band of her track pants she had changed into on arriving home that evening. The way his fingers danced along her skin before reaching the inevitable drove her to an ecstasy she had not felt in years. It only took a few slick strokes of her core to put her over the border. Monica had been in a heightened sexual state all week. Every time she thought about sex with John her whole body flushed excitement. To have him really there in her arms, kissing her the way he did made her more stimulated than ever. "You couldn't wait for me?" John teased, knowing he had satisfied her internal longing. "There's plenty more where that came from," she couldn't believe how much sexual energy she had for John. "Oh really?" He got off the bed and quickly undressed. Monica lost her track pants and underwear and pulled back the bed sheets from underneath her. After pulling off his T-shirt and as he pulled down his jeans and briefs, Monica didn't care if he saw her studying his body. He was perfect, lightly muscled giving him contours she just had to stroke, and a lean body with strong thighs that she had often imagined swathed around her. "Come here," Monica tried to sound sexy and licked her lips in anticipation of once again kissing this man while he plunged himself deep inside her. She loved the feel of his sexual attention at both ends and had been thinking of the event all day. No way was she going to let him go home that evening. He knelt on the bed and she opened up to him, letting him take the control she wanted him to have. As her took up position she smiled up at him and lightly bit her lower lip. "You are so beautiful Monica. Have I told you that lately?" Without waiting for a reply he moved down to caress those lips that wanted consideration. His manhood bobbed at her entrance before she lifted her hips to let him enter her. The growl in her throat edged him on until he was in synchrony at both ends. The feel of his thickness inside her and the memory of the words he had just spoken made her want to come all over again. At the moment he was about to show the ultimate physical desire for her she felt like sprouting those three important words and almost did but recognized it was probably too soon. "Beautiful," he repeated as his elation hit. The pure love she felt together with this amazing attention from the man above her let her experience a second release. It was even better and more powerful than the first because this time his body had consumed hers and they were one. The feeling was so profound she almost felt some tears come to the eyes but held them back. John gave her a few more kisses and smiles before rolling off and lying beside her. She missed his closeness so lifted the sheet over their bodies and snuggled in close. "Tell me you haven't been thinking about this all day." Fingers trailed down his arm. "Oh, once or twice," he kissed her hair and chuckled. He rolled over and switched off the bedside lamp indicating he had agreed to stay the night. ........ Monica was pondering before relaxing into sleep. His warm, comfortable body had let her sleep well in the last week, making up for all those weeks previously when she had been restless at night. It had taken him sleeping with her to break the sleepless pattern and have contented nights. Even the two nights without him she slept well, just imagining him there with her. "There was a time when people had to wait until marriage before they did this." "Hmm," his comforting arm draped around her. "No wonder they married early." "Could you have lived in your parents' time?" "This is a little bit thoughtful Monica. What brought this on?" His fingers began moving on her skin and she sighed knowing that if he kept doing it they would be awake longer. "I prefer now. The poverty, the Depression, the world wars seem all too bleak to me, not forgetting the insular views towards sex and marriage." "Yes, me too. I suppose the movie got me thinking. All that repression was part of the reason for the sexual revolution of the 60s and thus the sexual overtones of the storyline." "I remember the whole women's liberation thing, burning their bras, wanting equality. I was still quite young and it didn't make sense until years later." He kissed her hair again and held her more snuggly. "I can't see you living in a time when women were expected to be housewives and obedient to their husbands." She smiled and agreed. "I much prefer now or we'd have to get married before we did this." It was Monica's turn to hold him more tightly and shift positions so he was closer than ever. The mention of marriage wasn't to plant the notion in his mind of a lasting commitment but to let him think about where their relationship could be heading. "I'm sure there were many more instances of sex before marriage that we don't know of. They were the lucky ones who didn't get pregnant." John moved back a little to look into her eyes. "Is there a reason you wanted me to see this movie Monica, besides telling me it was a laugh a minute?" "Which you agree it was," she gave him a small shove. He snorted acknowledgement. "No, I just thought it's a Friday night, the start of a free weekend and a laugh would do us good." "Not to mention you wanted to talk me into `shagging' you." They both laughed and nestled into each other once again. "John, let's spend the weekend together, just you and me?" There was silence while he thought. He had been so used to spending weekends alone that it hadn't even occurred to him that they could spend it together and thus not worry about pretending to be unattached for the sake of their work life. "What did you have in mind?" It was very tempting. Sex and leisure were something he had not experienced in a month of Sundays. "We could go up north for the weekend, maybe stay in a guest house? We could be a couple. What do you think?" Monica had wanted to ask him the question all week but had been waiting for the right time. She had wondered if he would think it was all too premature but they both knew they'd had feelings for each other well before the previous week. "I'll just have to cancel my Sunday morning bike ride with my friend Jack but he'll understand." "Have you told him about us?" Monica began to think about whether there were many others who knew about their affiliation. Her friend Alice knew. They had swapped a few bedtime stories about both their partners, but she wasn't one to kiss and tell. "As you know, Carl, my ex brother-in-law is the only one who knows, we need to keep this under wraps for now." They had both come to that decision. "I'll just tell Jack that something has come up, he'll understand." "Okay, let's talk details in the morning." They both relaxed into the bed thinking about how perfect a weekend away could be and that they would be free to do whatever they wanted, even as far as staying in bed for the whole two days just sleeping and exploring each other from top to toe. ................ Instinctively, John answered the phone before comprehending he was at Monica's home and not his own. "Doggett," he said with a yawn as he looked at the luminous digits of the clock. Five on a Saturday morning was not a time he preferred to be called but then it wasn't his phone. "John, is that you?" Immediately he sat up in bed and looked across to his bed partner who was beginning to rouse. "Um, yes sir." He couldn't think of what else to say except, "You're wanting Agent Reyes?" She turned and wearily opened her questioning eyes. "I was wanting you also but your phone wasn't answering." Skinner seemed to want an explanation why John should be answering Monica's phone so early in the morning. He couldn't lie so decided to say nothing and pretend it was all quite normal. "What is it sir?" The thoughts of the weekend away had returned but were slowly fizzling from the mind's eye as Assistant Director Skinner spoke. "There's been a double murder I'd like you and Agent Reyes to take a look at. I'll give you details why I think it might be an X- File when you get here." "Okay, we'll be there." Skinner gave him directions as Monica began to sit up, stretching and yawning. John hung up the phone and got out of bed. "John?" Monica questioned his sudden movement from the warmth the two of them provided under the sheets. "We have a case. There are two bodies Skinner wants us to have a look at before they cart them off to the morgue." John had shifted into work mode but Monica couldn't do it as easily. "But our weekend?" She softly reminded. John leant over to give her a morning kiss and some little reassurance. "It may be a quick solve case. Let's go take a look and we may still be heading up north within a few hours. Come on," he helped her out of bed. "I think we could save time by you joining me in the shower." Monica couldn't hide her disappointment about delaying their weekend away but John was right about it possibly being an open and shut case once they looked at the situation with their experienced eyes. She calmed a little and accepted the state of affairs, she had no choice really, it was what she was paid to do. They would get their time alone together no matter what. Hands entwined she followed him to the bathroom. ..... Chapter Two They were directed to some parkland about thirty minutes north of DC. It had some cleared sections for barbecuing and play and a large expanse of untouched wooded area. The investigative team was already combing the surrounds for clues when the two agents arrived. As Skinner approached they also saw that Dana had been called for her medical expertise. She was leaning over what looked like the bodies about twenty meters away. "Good to see you here so promptly." Skinner looked a little more agitated than usual in the early morning light. "A couple of walkers found the bodies about an hour ago and rang it through to emergency services. Come take a look." The agents followed their boss over towards where Dana was bending down and looking at the pair's faces. "Agent Reyes, Agent Doggett," Dana welcomed and stood then looked fleetingly across to Skinner. "Meet Molly and Larry Sullivan from Arlington, Virginia." "That was a quick identification." Monica showed her surprise while John just listened with his customary slight scowl of concentration. Dana held up her digital camera and continued, "I ran their pictures through the database," she nodded in the direction of her car so they assumed she had brought her laptop computer. "Almost immediately they came back with identification." "Husband and wife? Brother and sister?" John interjected. "Husband and wife, Agent Doggett. No children but both had a brother each." "Cause of death?" Monica asked. "That we don't know just yet." She bent down to look at their upper torsos again. "With the bruising around their necks it could look like asphyxiation but not enough for them to have died from the pressure." "So why an X-File?" The male agent looked with a serious expression from Skinner to Dana. "That's the puzzling part." Dana picked out a photo from her pocket and showed it to John first and Monica joined him, peering over his shoulder. John looked up, still confused. "This is the happy couple but when they were alive? They're dressed in exactly the same clothes." John took the other more recent photo as Dana held it out to him and they compared both, side by side. John's eyes widened as he saw an anomaly, one of those clues he was so adept at spotting. "What is it John?" Monica queried but Skinner spoke for him. "These photos were both taken twenty years apart." As Skinner explained, John pointed to the dates stamped on both photos. "There must be some mistake," Monica pointed out. "They look almost identical likenesses, the same clothes, hair dos, shoes." "No mistake Agent Reyes. This photo," Dana touched one of the photos John was still staring at. "was taken twenty years ago and used by police for enquiries when the Sullivan couple first disappeared." "It can't be," Monica echoed John's thoughts. "In this case the camera doesn't lie. It can't be, but it is." Dana stated the obvious. "That's why it's an X-File," John spoke more to himself than the others. ......... "Hope you didn't have plans for the weekend because that's where you two come in." Did Skinner say that because he knew something? He was a perceptive man. He must have known something was up when he got John answering the phone when he'd expected Monica. His sleepy voice would have been noticed and perhaps both their yawns. If he did then he was keeping it quiet, just the way John wanted it. "The plans will just have to be delayed," John tried not to look at Monica or even at Skinner when he replied in case anything was written on his face. Monica decided to not say anything to complicate matters and redirected the subject. "Have there been any other discoveries?" The two agents looked around at the ten or so officers roving the woods. "Well we do know that they were killed elsewhere and dumped here." Skinner could see that John was already in investigative mode. "I see what you mean sir." He looked down near the bodies and began walking a line away from them and called back. "They were dragged here. Monica?" he called for her to accompany him. "Well let you know what we find sir," Monica began to move. "Wait!" Skinner stopped her. "You'll need this." He handed her a map of the area. "One tree looks very much the same as the other here. We don't want our agents getting lost." Monica received the map and took her leave after also nodding and smiling to Dana. "Look Monica, in the leaf litter." "Look like drag marks to me too." She began to follow the clear line in the dead leaves and John followed. "John?" She looked down at the ground about one hundred meters from the where the bodies had been discovered. "How can that be?" John looked around mystified by why the trail should suddenly stop. Monica was already on it and looking for some other clue as to what had happened to the bodies previously. Looking back they saw Dana, Skinner and the rest of the crew in the distance. "Nothing, no sign of a vehicle or contraption that could have brought them this far." John bent down to examine the ending of the trail. "Must have been a strong person to drag both bodies. Look, only one set of footprints." "John, I think we need to follow where the drag lines might have been if they had continued. We might find something." "Lead the way." It must have taken them longer than first thought to follow the projected path because when they turned there was not a soul in sight, not even in the distance. Neither of them thought anything of it but later it would be of significance. "I'm sorry Mon." John caught up to her and rested a hand softly on her back. "It's not your fault, it's the unpredictability of our jobs." She turned so that his hand rested on her stomach. He took the opportunity of their seclusion to move it under her jacket and feel the warmth from her body. "John," Monica looked around for watching eyes and then moved her hands under his suit coat. "There's no-one here Mon, one hug won't hurt." "I never thought of the day I'd hear you say that on the job John Doggett." He lightly chucked and pulled her closer so that she could once again feel his solid, protective body near hers. "I promise you I will make it up to you." He spoke softly. "When this is over I will take you wherever you want to go." That scent of his was all too much and without even looking for watching eyes she went in to kiss him. He returned the passion but only long enough to seal the promise of his words. "That's a deal, I can't wait." She gave him one last kiss and then they slowly broke away, determined to find some kind of clue to close the case. Resisting the temptation to join hands and continue on they once again followed the possible path that lead to more clues as to the disappearances and subsequent deaths of the Sullivans. .................... "Looks like we're coming to the end of the woods." John looked ahead as Monica's spoke. "Have you seen anything? Anything at all?" John was a little agitated. "Usually by this stage there was some indication of what may have happened, it just wasn't logical. "Nothing John." From her pocket she produced the map Skinner had given her and began studying where they had traversed. "According to this and the time we've been walking I estimate we should be somewhere close to here." She pointed to a place mid parkland then Doggett shared the paper making his own judgment of it. "Doesn't make sense. Let's see what's up further." He began walking. Monica kept the map handy for future reference. "John, I think we should return to the others and get back up. I'm not feeling comfortable about this." "I know, there's something that doesn't feel right. Let's just see what's ahead then we'll go bring back a team." This time John did take her hand and kept it there as reassurance that he would watch her back no matter what. As they neared the edge of the woods both agents expected to see a residential area, what anyone would imagine, but instead, as they came closer it looked quite different from anything they had seen in residential DC before. They found themselves at a dirt road that edged along the side of the woods, on the other side was farmland that had a few head of cattle. "That's funny," John kept his firm grasp of his partner's hand. "We're not far enough out of town for this." Monica looked at the map again and then up and down the dirt road. In the distance they heard a hum of something approaching. It sounded like a vehicle. As they stared, the dust and sound came closer, their eyes eventually making out the shape of a truck. Soon enough the vehicle came into clearer view. "Is that what I think it is?" Monica squinted a little to make it out. "I haven't seen one of those in a long time, ever since the Partridge Family series on television." John stood back from the road pulling Monica with him as the old bus rumbled past them. All they could make out were some paintings of large flowers on the duco and some messages. A little way down the road it stopped and reversed. "What the hell do they want?" The agents felt for their weapons in case self-defense was needed but something told them that the occupants were docile. "You look lost man." The male driver spoke while the two agents looked over the throwbacks before them. The man and woman were both dressed as hippies with tie-died clothes and long hair. John tried not to smile at the situation before them. "We seem to be a little lost," Monica mentioned, holding up her map, clearly not wanting to give away their intentions. "Can you direct us to the local town?" There was something familiar about the driver but she couldn't make the connection, his long hair and round dark glasses covering much of his face. "Bethesda is up the road about five miles," the female occupant responded. "You'd dirty up your nice clothes if you walked it. Jump in, we're heading that way." Against their better judgment both agents entered the door of the bus and couldn't believe their eyes at the bus interior that was decked out in sixties fashion with bright mismatched colors and smelt faintly of incense. "Hi, I'm Lily and this is my boyfriend Brad." She jumped over the passenger seat to be with them in the cabin of the bus. "Brad?" Monica looked at the long blond hair and slowly remembered the face at the wheel, then the cogs turned. "Brad Follmer?" He rotated around to see whom the woman was who knew his name. "You know him?" Lily questioned. "Brad, it's me Monica and here's John." She couldn't understand why he suddenly had long hair past his shoulders when the last time she had seen him about a week previously it had been short. ................. "I'm sorry lady, I don't know you." It was Brad's voice all right and his appearance but not his demeanor. Monica looked at John who was as equally confused. Until they knew more about the mystifying circumstances they decided to stay closed lipped. "Um, I'm sorry, for a moment I thought I knew you." Her hand squeezed John's and he understood. They were both going to need time alone to piece together all the incongruities they had seen. "So what brings you two out here? Forgive me but it's not often that people of your stature visit these parts." Lily looked them over. "Of our stature?" John mentioned as saw her looking over their clothes and down to their shoes. "It could only be in the capital that they have designer clothing like yours." Designer clothing? The two agents had dressed conservatively for their jobs that morning but what they wore was far from designer. "Do you have business in these part? Buying land perhaps?" The agents had to think quickly. If they were going to get to the bottom of the case they could see they would need to blend in. They didn't want to look like they were wealthy land buyers. "We're just visiting some relatives and our car broke down a few miles back." John thought quickly. "We'll get some help in town." "Okay, we'll drop you off at Joe's Garage but he won't be open until nine." Brad called from the driver's seat and the agents nodded approval. "Look, can I give you two a word of advice?" Lily leant forward placing her hands on her knees. "Folks in town are a little wary of suits from the capital. Even if you're just visiting I would suggest a change of clothes. Blending in will assure a much better time." The atmosphere was just getting weirder but Monica and John played along. If they were to going to do some questioning and gain people's trust then they did indeed need to blend in. "What would you suggest?" Monica threw it back at the female hippy, wondering if it was wise taking advice from someone who lived in the past. On the other hand, there was something about the couple that made them seem trustworthy. "I'm happy to make a swap, give us your shoes and we'll provide you will a full outfit each." "Okay," John nodded. He was happy to go along with the mystery. He began unlacing his shoes as Lily went to a closet. She pulled out two pairs of jeans and shoes and then went to a drawer and rummaged through. "Here, go behind the curtain to change, I'll give you some privacy." The couple took their new clothes and headed behind the material draped from the roof of the bus making a division in the compartments of the vehicle. "I can't believe this John." Monica held up the top, an old fashioned crocheted number that she remembered her mother wearing the likes of in a photo taken in the sixties. "You're telling me, these shoes haven't been around for decades. Desert boots were all the rage when I was a boy." He looked over to Monica's footwear. "I think they were called `Hush Puppies'. "At least we have the jeans, we won't look too out of place." John took off his upper garments and donned the pink, green and blue swirled tie-died T-shirt. "On second thoughts," he spread his arms for Monica to see and they both couldn't help laughing. "We make a fine pair," Monica pulled the woolen top over her head and then smoothed it over her chest. "You have a fine pair." John smirked as he moved up to her and went to touch. Monica grabbed his hands and smiled. "Not now," she whispered and placed his hands to his side. "Later when we're home." "Oh?" John put on his best puppy dog expression that she had seen a couple of times in the previous week. It was a rare occurrence but always made her cave in. "Okay, one kiss for the road. Looks like we're not going to be FBI agents for a while anyway." She took his hand and pulled him closer. Silently they embraced. It was good holding each other again. It felt as though they were a couple rather than just partners. That was what they had wanted from the weekend, something that had been quickly taken away with a simple phone call. "Hmm, you taste so good John Doggett." "And you feel good Monica Reyes." He ran his fingers over her back and to her ass where he gave a little squeeze and went for one last kiss. "You two okay back there?" They heard Lily from the front of the bus. "Just finishing up," John called back and grabbed his jeans. "We're almost there." Brad reminded from the driver's seat. "I'm sure it's him John," Monica whispered as she pulled off her dress pants. "Me too, but what would Brad Follmer be doing here in this bus?" John did up the zipper of his pants and went for his shoes. "Maybe he's undercover? I don't know, either way he's not recognizing us so we had better play along." Monica pulled up her jeans and noticed the patches on the knees. "Not my usual choice but it'll have to do." John snorted, "We're a couple of misfits alright. What are we getting ourselves into?" He shook his head but still smiled, looking at the funny side. "We're here," Lily called. "Bethesda? Since when was Bethesda in the middle of farming land?" Monica reached for her shoes. "I know, not much makes sense here so when we get dropped off, first thing we do is ring Skinner." They quickly finished changing and then placed their FBI issue guns in their jacket pockets, which they draped over their arms. Checking they had their badges, wallets and John's cell phone they exited the compartment. "Thanks for the lift," Monica mentioned as Lily opened the bus door from the outside. "No problems, look if you want to visit we're in a commune a couple of miles up the road on the left." She pointed the direction. "You can't miss it." The two agents looked in the cabin and waved to `Brad' and he said his goodbyes still without an inkling of recognition. "See you around." Lily hopped back in the bus and waved out the window as it drove off. "Nice couple, strange but helpful," John mentioned as they both began to take a look around them. "Bethesda?" Monica mentioned for a second time but this time she was utterly confused. "Have we jumped states or something?" "Not that I know of." He looked at his watch. "Seven thirty, no time to be anywhere except in our home state." "Then where the hell are we?" ....................... Chapter Three "What's this I hear about Agents Doggett and Reyes?" Assistant Director Brad Follmer parked himself on a chair right next to Dana Scully in Skinner's office. "I didn't hear you knock Assistant Director." Skinner wore his `frustrated but I can't do anything about it' look. "The door was open, I happened to hear my favorite agents' name mentioned and thought I'd share my concern." Follmer was being his usual weasel self. "You've probably heard that John and Monica have been missing since yesterday morning." Skinner knew he wasn't going to leave in a hurry so decided to share the conversation. "For your information, now that it is also a missing persons case then that falls into my jurisdiction. I have a few men on it. It goes without saying that having two of our own missing does not look good for the FBI." "You're starting to sound like Deputy Director Kersh," Dana added. "Why, thank you." With a smug expression he sank back in his chair. Even though the expressions of the other two were deadpan they both wondered how this man came to be so self absorbed. "So do you have anything more you can tell us?" Skinner questioned. "I was hoping you could tell me." He looked over to the medical examiner. "Scully, you examined the bodies, is there any more to the case than just a double murder and two missing FBI agents?" "You first!" Skinner exerted the authority deserved of him in his own office. "Okay then. The team assures me they have scoured every inch of the reserve and have no clue where they went. The dragging tracks ended abruptly and so did the footprints of the agents." "You're saying they just disappeared? One minute they were there and the next gone?" Skinner had to confirm. "Looks like your agents stepped into their own X-File." "Sir?" Dana turned to Skinner. "We have to get back out there. There has to be something we've missed." "Maybe they eloped." Follmer rested his hands on the arms of the chair and slowly rubbed. "I've heard they've been tighter than usual recently." Skinner decidedly ignored Follmer's last comments. "I agree Scully, meet me in ten down in the parking garage." "Hold your horses." Follmer began to stand, willing to follow the other two if the need arose. "Scully, I need the findings on the bodies." Dana was anxious to make steps to find her friends but understood that Follmer could provide assistance on the case and not his usual hindrance. "You probably know that the Sullivans were dressed the same as when they had disappeared twenty years previously." "I also heard they hadn't aged." Follmer's brow furrowed in concentration. "That's what we all thought until I did a more detailed examination. Doing a procedure similar to carbon dating I in fact found the couple had aged but only about a month. There were no other signs as to why." "A month in twenty years!" Skinner expressed his thoughts. "You remember that case last year of that boy returning unaged to his family after ten years?" "I'd thought about that too but this is different, trust me. The only commonality between the two cases is the apparent non-aging." "What about cause of death?" Follmer inquired. "There were marks around the couple's necks that suggested attempted strangulation but maybe the person wasn't strong enough or the victims struggled." Scully gave Follmer a copy of the autopsy report and he opened it, initially skimming the comments. "I found lysergic acid diethylamide in their blood." "LSD," Follmer read from the report. "Also called `acid', a psychedelic drug popular back in the sixties." "Yes, enough to cause their deaths. Whether they administered the drug themselves or were given it by another is not determined but the dose was enough to cause their deaths." Skinner decided to move the topic along. "So you think John and Monica could be where this couple had been? Another realm?" He leant forward, resting his arms on his desk. "I can't prove anything, I know it sounds far-fetched, but if this is the case then we need to find them fast and pull them out. Wherever they are it appears that time passes more slowly." ................... "Over here, sir!" Scully and Skinner had return to the site of the Sullivan bodies' discovery. They followed the drag marks to where they abruptly stopped. Scully was looking up in the air and turning a slow circle when Skinner caught up to her. "You think it might be alien abduction like Mulder?" The assistant director also looked up. "You think they were somehow taken into the air?" "Just covering all bases, sir." Still investigating the scene, she stretched an arm out in front of her and then retracted it. All the time Skinner watched and wondered what she was doing. Then she deliberately walked past the track ending and turned to face her company. "Dana?" "There have been documented cases where people have alleged to go through rifts in reality." She walked back to stand beside Skinner and looked where she'd been. "You mean like an alternate universe? I didn't think the physics made it possible." "Not that we know, but the physics we know now may only be the tip of the iceberg compared with what we may discover in the future." She reached into her pocket and produced a device she had retrieved from the lab before they left for the crime scene. "What's that?" Skinner nodded at the small black box in her hand. "It's an EM reader. It measures the electro-magnetic activity in the air. Just a hunch but worth trying." She held the device at bent arm's length and kept an eye on the gauge as se walked slowly retraced her steps. "There!" She handed the contraption to Skinner. "Here, you try." "What am I looking for?" Skinner took the same path as Dana. "See the slight variation in the reading at the one point?" Skinner stopped when he saw the needle flicker. "What does it mean? "I'm not sure yet but it could be the start of proof that there are indeed such phenomena as spatial rifts." Skinner called to an investigator close by and Scully explained, "We need to be notified of any changes here, no matter how small." The young agent listened on and nodded. Scully returned home a little more hopeful that the mystery could possibly be solved and her fellow agents found safe and well. She just hoped it would be soon and not in twenty years time. ..................... Chapter Four "No transmission." John switched off his cell phone with frustration. "We're in the middle of nowhere and the phone won't work. Skinner's probably wondering where the hell we are." He looked around him not really seeing his surroundings. "Look John." Monica pointed to one of the buildings across the street from where they had been dropped off outside Joe's Garage, mid town. It was still early morning so only a few people were about, most of them walking their dogs. "Doesn't that look like the old Bethesda movie theater?" John followed Monica's gaze and had to agree. "They're replaying `From Russia With Love', loved that movie." He took Monica's hand and they began moving along the street looking for anything familiar. "Me too, my mother had to watch all the early James Bond movies. We could see it later if you want. We could come back here after this case is solved." "Where is here exactly?" They both looked around the group of shops either side of what was the main road wondering exactly that. There was a familiar feel to the place but neither of them could put their finger on it. "Oh John, isn't this quaint." Monica pulled her partner over to a shop front that seemed to sell old electrical appliances. A black and white television was operating in the window and there were a variety of kitchen implements and even an old gramophone record player on display. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's something not right here." John looked from one end of the street to the other and saw a few vehicles. "Notice that nothing here seems to be modern?" "There are places where people like to live in the past and not bother with the twenty-first century." Monica reassured. "Embracing the new world is not everyone's choice." "Then why haven't we heard of this place if it's so close to home? According to how far we've come, this area would have to be about ten miles northwest of DC. Look at the cars, not one of them we've seen so far is modern." John kept walking up the row of shops looking for some clue to decipher their whereabouts. "Maybe we should go back to the reserve and bring a team back here?" "And risk letting a murderer get away? I think we should stay here and do some questioning and keep trying to contact the Bureau. We can FAX them if we have to." Passing what looked like the local hotel he had an idea, "Let's book ourselves a room here, we can freshen up and have somewhere to leave our jackets while we move around the place." "John," she pulled him closer with an arm slipped around his back. "Promise me we'll go away together next weekend?" He smiled and gave her a brief but tender kiss on the lips. "We'll have a weekend of pure indulgence, I promise." His low rumbling voice was honey to her ears. "I'll do for you whatever your heart desires." His hand shifted up her back causing her to lean into him and kiss deeper. "Anything?" Monica purred. "You're making me want to will this week away." "Oh, we could do some practising before then." He smiled and kissed her mouth again and led her into the hotel still with that smile plastered on his face. ............... "Can I help you?" An oldish woman with a cigarette hanging from her mouth turned to greet the agents. "We're after a room." John decided to speak on both their behalves. "Sign here and I'll see what we have." She rotated the visitors' book and then turned to the wall of room keys. "You two just visiting?" "That's right, we're actually looking for some friends of ours." Monica decided to use the opportunity to start their investigating. "You might know them, Molly and Larry Sullivan?" Both agents looked for the telltale signs that most people gave when they did indeed recognize the names. "Don't ring a bell," she was telling the truth. John had signed and was getting his wallet from the jacket pocket. "You too." She pointed a finger to the next space and Monica wondered why John's signature wasn't good for both of them but went along. As she signed she noticed a familiar name on the list and quietly got John's attention while the receptionist was selecting the room key. They both looked at each other with wide surprised eyes and knew they would need to talk about it once they got to their room. "Here, rooms sixteen and ten are free, facilities at the end of the hall, dinner starts at six." She held up two room keys. "Um, we were wanting to share a room." John thought she'd understood. The woman's face went a little sour. "We run a respectable business here, only married couples sleep together." Monica thought quickly, "We are married, just last week." She tried to keep a straight face. The woman turned the visitor's book and read the names. "John Doggett and Monica Reyes, don't sound married to me." Why didn't she just take their word for it? Anyway, they were both mature enough to decide to share a bed without having to be married. "Married couples have the same last name." "No, they don't have to," Monica huffed. "I've kept my maiden name." The woman looked at them both strangely but then gave in. "Okay, room fourteen is for `married' couples." She said it as though she didn't believe them but at least they could share the room. "Cash up front." John produced his credit card, "Do you take Visa?" The woman looked at the card and chuckled, "Very pretty but we only take legal tender here, that'll be fifteen dollars." Monica was beginning to become more suspicious that where they were was just not right. The closed minded attitude about marriage, the impossibility that they were only ten miles from DC, everything they had seen just didn't fit. She gave herself a pinch and then looked slowly around the room reassuring herself that she was actually experiencing what she was seeing. It was an old hotel with décor of the past, in keeping with the town's theme. Even though she hadn't lived in the sixties she knew something of the decade. This town was modeled perfectly on that era, a little too perfectly. "Do you have a calendar?" Monica didn't want to just come out and ask the day's date and look a little foolish when she also wanted to know the year. "Yes," the receptionist moved up the counter a short way and handed over a calendar that had the name of what was probably the local butcher. "You planning on how long you're staying?" "That would be right," Monica consoled. She gasped when she saw the year. "Is this current?" "Yeah, why wouldn't it be? I throw out old calendars, gotta keep up with the times." Monica looked across to a puzzled John and handed him the calendar. Immediately she ran out the front door and into the street, looking both ways, unable to grasp what had happened. .................. "Monica, this can't be." He held out the calendar. "It's a trick." "You said it yourself, this doesn't make sense. The dirt track and farmland at the edge of the reserve only five miles from DC, the old hippy bus, these clothes, this town, the old Bethesda movie theater playing a James Bond film. It all makes sense if we are actually here in 1963." "That can't be. Are we dreaming all this?" "No, we're not dreaming John. This is all too real. Come on, let's talk about this up in our room." She held his hand and took him back inside to retrieve the room key from an inquisitive hotel employee. "By the way, those names you asked about," she called to them as they went to climb the stairs. "There's someone staying here in this hotel who can help, I'll get him to give you a call." John looked back and waved acknowledgement. There was something a lot more immediate on their minds. "But what about the Brad look-alike in the van, what about the name we saw in the visitors' book? Tell me we're not dreaming those." John placed his jacket on the coat hook provided and went to sit on the bed. "Coincidence for sure but you and me both know our own minds. This is real." Monica looked around the room and then out the window. "This is Bethesda in the year 1963, forty years in the past." She immediately continued. "Consider the Sullivan's and that they hadn't aged even after they'd disappeared for twenty years." "You're saying they were here in this time warp?" John kept shaking his head in disbelief. "It would explain why they hadn't aged. It wouldn't matter how long they were here, it would just depend when they were returned in the future." "I want to know how they were returned. How the fuck did we get here and how will we get back?" Monica sat down beside her partner and rested a hand lightly on his thigh. "I believe we are here for a reason John. I just feel that we are here to solve this case. When it's done a path back might open to us." "You and your feelings, God love you Monica but understand I can't think the same way." His voice was softer, recognizing he had been speaking a little too emotionally. "Then trust me, we are here to right a wrong." Her hand gently traced down his arm, instantly calming him. "And just to think, we learnt all those sixties one-liners in the movie last night. We'll have all the jargon down pat." They both had a giggle and lightened the mood. A knock came to the door and a familiar voice called their names. The agents froze for an instant wondering if the face they had in their mind's eye would match the voice. ................... "Skinner?" Monica imagined she would see his face on the other side of the door and was immediately gladdened that he may hold hope to finding a way back to their own time. However what happened next had both agents puzzled. "Yes, William Skinner, Myrna at front desk said you're looking for someone?" He held out his hand to shake both of theirs. "William?" John had to ask again. The man before him for all intents and purposes was Walter Skinner their superior but he appeared not to know them. "And you are?" Reading his expression gave no clues of recognition. "I'm John Doggett and this is my..," he hesitated, thinking how he should introduce her, "my friend Monica Reyes." "Can I come in?" He looked from one to the other agents and then his eyes swept over them. "Except for the hair you two look as though you belong in that commune up the road." He chuckled to himself but both agents were still too stunned to see the connection. John moved out of the doorway to let him inside, curious as to what he would have to offer them. Not wanting to go to the subject of attire and why they were wearing what they did, John decided to ask some questions to tease out information they were keen to have, about him, about who they were seeking and about anything that would shed light on their predicament. "We're looking for a married couple Molly and Larry Sullivan." John offered Skinner a chair and both agents also sat, Monica on the bed and John on a second seat. "Relatives of yours?" Skinner leant forward in his place, suddenly a little more curious than when he first entered the room. The partners were not quite sure whether to lie about their reasons for being where they were or to come clean. Perhaps providing a little information at a time would give them the opportunity to check out the man in their company before giving too much away. "We're investigators from DC." Monica decided to explain. She looked for John's silent approval as she spoke. "We found their bodies this morning in a reserve about five miles up the road." "Investigators you say, what office?" Skinner was prying a little too much but what else could they say but the truth. "We're with the FBI," John offered and went to his jacket pocket for proof. Skinner looked at the photo and badge and then up to John's face. "The Bureau? The government's in on this?" Skinner sat back in his chair, one knuckle to his mouth, looking deep in thought. "I was told this investigation was a private one." "You were told? By whom?" Monica joined in the conversation. "I might as well tell you, I am a private investigator from DC hired to find the Sullivans." He lifted himself from his seat and placed his hand in the brown corduroy pants pockets and slowly paced the room as he spoke. "They disappeared two weeks ago under unusual circumstances. In fact, the whole situation is highly incredible." "Try us." John thought he could believe anything told to him at that time. "What I tell you will be have to be off the record, I have my reputation to keep." His voice lowered and he made sure the door was locked. "The people who hired me said that Molly and Larry had claimed they came from the future." "The future?" Monica and John looked suitably incredulous. "I knew you would be unconvinced but they did have some good evidence to support their story." From his pocket Skinner produced a shiny coin and held it out for one of the agents to take. "A quarter?" John flipped it over in his fingers. "No ordinary quarter, look at the date." John squinted a little to see, "1983. It's a trick." Well it was all true, the Sullivans must have come back to 1963 clearly the same way the two agents had. His heart lightened a little understanding that they had indeed returned to the future, which gave he and Monica optimism. They just hoped it wouldn't be in a lifeless state like the married couple. Perhaps the cause of death was the very change in time zones? John placed that thought in a closed compartment of his mind. Monica reached out and gave her partner's hand a squeeze. She had probably been thinking the same thoughts. "It's no trick. They also had these plastic cards they said they used to pay for goods. They held microchip technology that is nothing anyone has seen before." Monica felt like going to her wallet and producing her credit card but that information could be held back until it was deemed necessary. "Bodies you say? Can you show me where?" ........... This could be their chance to go back to their own time. Returning to the reserve and retracing their steps could find themselves back in the twenty-first century but something told them it wouldn't be that easy. "You have transport?" Skinner went to the door and opened it, ready to leave for their decided destination. "No, our car broke down about six miles up the road, we got a lift to town." John went for his jacket but decided to just take his wallet. They would look a little strange carrying their jackets they had donned in a future decade. Monica did likewise. "You can come in mine then. It's a little small, but it gets me places." They followed William Skinner down to the street, and to a car parked a few spaces up. Both agents stood still just staring at the vehicle, one they hadn't seen the likes of in many a year. "Told you it was small." He smiled and chuckled at the partners' facial expressions. They were looking at a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle. "Hardly a private investigator's transport, I know, but it's cheap to run. I'm not often carrying passengers around." He unlocked the doors and both John and Monica sat in the back so they could be close. As Skinner was settling himself in the driver's seat Monica took the opportunity to link her fingers with John's. He smiled over to her and lifted her hand to his lips. She moved closer so that their shoulders and thighs touched. With all the controversy of the double murder and finding themselves in a different decade they hadn't had time just to enjoy each other's company. All she wanted to do was hold him in her arms and make out. She craved his hands on her as they kissed. The way he would hold her gently at first and then more firmly as their arousal grew was making her inner self ache with desire. The last time they'd made love was the previous evening. If the case hadn't come about then they would have been up north lying in bed, secure in each other's arms and reveling in their mutual warmth. The only concern would have been when they would have to surface for room service. "I want you," Monica whispered in her lover's ear and brushed her lips over his cheek. His desire to turn and accept her lips on his was overpowering but the engine started and Skinner began moving out into the sparse amount of main road traffic. "Later, I promise," John mouthed and rubbed her thigh with their joined hands. "I have to ask, you two don't seem like your typical FBI agents." Skinner's eyes could be seen in the rear view mirror. "The clothes for instance." "Um, we just borrowed them while we're here." What else could Monica say? "If you think you're fitting in then you're not, unless you want to be labeled a hippie." He paused, seemingly thinking. "Borrowed, you say? So you were driven to town by someone from the commune." Skinner was a private eye; he was bound to fit the pieces together. "How did you know?" John asked. "That's what they do, they con people out of their clothes with the promise of a swap and go sell them for a profit." Skinner was smiling and shaking his head. "When we get back to town I'll take you to a clothing store and you can pick out some real outfits." They made their way out of town and along the paved highway. "There's a track on the right about four miles up now." John looked between the front seats and out through the car's windscreen. "So when did you do your time?" They could see Skinner's eyes again. They were their boss's eyes and his voice, how could it not be him? "My time?" Monica didn't think she looked like a prison inmate. "John, the war. I assume you went to Vietnam." John had to quickly dig up all the information he could on the well known event in history and think up why he wouldn't have been there. "I can't see an FBI agent being a conscientious objector." "Um, old work injury, I would have loved to have served our country." John looked to Monica and they both tried to stifle a laugh. "And you?" "Platoon 750, Kennedy pulled us out a couple of months ago. Served for three years. It was good to get back to the missus though." So Skinner was married? They would have to find out more but not looking as though they were being too inquisitive. "So what did you do before the army?" John looked out the window to see farm land interspersed with new housing developments as they made they way the last couple of miles. "Police force detective. I'd had enough of the regimen so decided to go private. It can still have it's danger but I like that I can make my own times without having to stick to a timetable that reminds me of early morning reveille." John made the decision to keep quiet about his time in the police force; Skinner was bound to ask too many questions. He could sense the conversation heading towards what the agents had done in the past to end up where they did so John was pleased when the off road track was in sight. "Fifty yards up, on the right." John directed. There were a few trees that lined the side of the road and copses of trees every so often but nothing that would suggest they were heading to a forest. The small vehicle bumped up the rocky track and around a corner. What they saw in front of them was not parkland and forest but a newly build housing development. "This where you found the bodies?" Skinner just looked through his rear view mirror to see two speechless special agents. ............ Chapter Five Dana woke with a start to the early morning ring of the telephone. It had been a restless sleep, worrying about her friends and partners who had been missing for two days. Over and over in her mind she had churned all the facts and come up even more confused than when she'd first heard they were missing. What if they ended up like the Sullivan couple and returned but harmed? With their training she knew they could take care of themselves. On the other hand they may just have disappeared, caught in a limbo over which they had no control. How could they be prepared for that? "Dana Scully." She listened to the urgent message on the other end and began to get out of bed and head for the shower. "You sure? By much?" Turning on the shower faucet she ended the conversation. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Sir, I'd like to bring someone with me who might be more qualified to see what's happening here." Dr. Larry Stengate was a friend and colleague of Dana's at Quantico. He was a whiz at physics and in the past had an uncanny ability to connect the dots given only a few plot points. Others thought he was eccentric and he was to an extent, loving to sprout the physics of such series as Star Trek and Stargate. Others just shook their heads and chuckled under their breaths when he talked about the possibilities of FTL (Faster Than Light) travel and parallel universes. Scully often found it fascinating probably garnered from her time with X-Files. "Larry, it's me Dana." She began undressing with one hand as she quickly explained the situation to him and to meet her at the crime scene as soon as possible and to bring the appropriate equipment. Dana didn't know what that would be but she was hoping Larry would. ...... Skinner was already there when Dana arrived, as was his usual stance. She chuckled to herself wondering if he wore his suit to bed just in case a situation rose like this and he had to make his way out quickly. Silly things like that crossed her mind sometimes. It must have been the influence Mulder had had on her. She smiled to herself thinking of all the wacky times she had with him. Sighing, she made her way over to her boss. "So what do we have Sir?" They were once again at the tracks where John and Monica had seemingly disappeared. The area was still cordoned off with police tape as the investigation was still underway. "As I told you on the phone, the EM levels have been monitored around the clock here and have stayed pretty much the same until just before I got the phone call from Agent Jolly here." He looked across to the tall thin man with his back to them who then turned around at the mention of his name. "Agent Jolly?" Dana sounded her formal self. "Agent Scully, I've been taking shifts with two other agents ever since asked to keep an eye on things here." He handed Dana a notepad. "Look at this." "What are we looking at?" She gave him an upward, sideways glance and then back to the figures before her. "You can see here," he placed a finger on the number and moved it along the page. "They pretty much stayed the same over the last two days until about an hour ago when there was a small rise. The assistant director here told me to ring him with the slightest change." Dana and Skinner stayed quiet letting him know to continue. "There has been a steady rise since. I don't know what this means, I'm just reporting back as told." "Thank you Jolly, that will be all." Skinner nodded to the man who went back to his task. "Dana?" The voice came from behind them. They looked to see a man walking awkwardly with various devices draped over both shoulders. To the bystander he would have appeared the perfect nerd but to Dana she knew him to be highly intelligent and told fascinating stories. "Sir, I don't believe you two have met, this is my work colleague Dr. Larry Stengate." Dana introduced the two men. "Hello, AD Skinner." They shook hands a little too vigorously almost causing Stengate to topple over from the overload of equipment. "Ooh, ooh" he stammered. " I must remember to take a second trip to the car next time. "Always eager when something like this comes up." He gave a silly laugh. "Here, let me help you with those." Dana smiled as she began taking some of the equipment. "What do you have here?" Dana made a funny expression at a gadget that looked like a cross between a curling iron and a radio. "Oh, that's my baby." He placed the remaining gear on the ground and took the mechanism back from her clearly eager to explain. "It's the first of its kind. It's called a chronotometer." "A chronotometer?" Skinner's expression went thoughtful. "I put it together after extensive research into chronoton technology. If it actually worked I could be the next Nobel prize winner." He looked over his `baby' with obvious love. "Chronotons, chrono, something to do with time?" Dana tried to make sense of it all. "Yes, after seeing and reading about chronoton technology in Star Trek I decided to try and build one." "You built this after researching Star Trek?" Skinner couldn't believe his ears and gave Dana a frustrated `where did you find this geek' look. "It's not as silly as it seems, the theory can be quite sound. This device measures chronotons in the air. There are these time particles all around us; they are part of our known physics. It's when they are concentrated in one area, that's what I'm waiting for and that's when this device would win me that prize." He gave another silly laugh. Both Skinner and Dana looked at him with incredulity but Dana knew he was a brilliant man even though she couldn't grasp a lot of his theory. "What would that mean, if they're concentrated in one area?" The AD put his hands in his pockets as he waited. "It would mean that time travel was possible." Dana was beginning to understand. "Spot on Dana." Stengate looked pleased that someone understood. "There have been all those stories out there, all those debates that say it may or may not be possible. I believe it is possible." He switched on the device to show the others the evidence of residual time particles around them but his eyes grew wide. "Holy mother of God!" The machine started clicking. ............... "What is it?" Skinner asked with confusion. Stengate's mouth hung open as he made his way slowly to the place Agent Jolly was standing, continuing his readings. Both agents caught up with him. As he approached the obvious anomaly the clicking became faster. "It's true! I would never have believed it." He turned to Dana. "What exactly happened here?" "I told you," Dana looked on with bewilderment. "We think two agents disappeared from here two days ago at almost this very time in the morning," she checked her watch and nodded. "Disappeared?" Stengate checked. "Then it's true." "What's true?" Skinner interjected. "They have indeed traveled in time." He looked from his wildly clicking device to the men a woman before him. "There's no doubt." The life in his eyes was fiery. Skinner just shook his head not quite believing but Dana, with everything she had seen and all she knew of her colleague, she was not about to dismiss what could possibly be a way to find out what happened to her fellow agents. "So you think they traveled in time?" The red head had to confirm. "Looks highly probable. That would explain why those bodies of yours hadn't visibly aged after twenty years, if they had been thrown back from the past or present, in real time it could have been a matter of minutes since they had passed through this time barrier." Skinner still looked on trying to make sense of the absurdity. "Okay, let's say they did go through time then how would we find out where they are and how would we get them back?" "We could see if this barrier recreates itself and go through after them." Stengate added his wisdom. "But," Dana was thinking out loud. "How would we know we were in the same timeframe? We might get thrown into the past when they're in the future." "That's true. There is still so little evidence that time travel is possible." Stengate kept an excited eye on his gadget. "The way I see chronotons is that they are essentially stable. If this were in fact developing into a vortex or portal then it would be unique to itself. There may be many more of these around the world that we just don't know about, each one with its own exclusive properties. If someone were to travel time through the same anomaly then they would travel to the same timeframe as anyone who passed through." He paused momentarily. "But that's still only wild theory." "So, you're saying that if your theory is correct then this doorway could lead to the same moment in time that our agents are now?" "Yes," he said simply. "Then why can't we go through it now?" The question had been on Skinner's mind. "Looks like it might go through some sort of temporal phase shift possibly associated with the time of day or even temperature." Stengate turned to Dana. "You did say that your agents disappeared about this time two days ago?" "Just tell me that another doorway will open soon." Dana held back the thought that maybe the vortex was on some sort of twenty-year cycle. "Well I don't know, to be honest." He saw Dana's worried expression and continued, "But these readings here are looking promising. If you don't mind, I'd like to stay here and do some more analysis." His head tilted over to the other equipment still in its eclectic pile on the ground. "I'd suggest your next step would be to re-examine those bodies of yours, in the light of what we know now." Stengate was right, there might have been something she'd missed. "If I could find anything, just anything to link to where John and Monica could be." Dana mused fearing she was running short of time. "Was there something you could have missed, on examining the bodies or something they could have been carrying with them?" Skinner had read all the reports but knew from past experience that coming at things with a fresh mind could sometimes bring out new links. Dana's eyes grew wide. There was something. It was something that she took for granted but in hindsight, knowing the information they had just heard, it could be a clue. "Larry, please call me the minute, no, the second that thing reactivates." She began walking off swiftly. "Agent Scully!" Skinner called after her but she was in her own world. "You're not going after them, here me?" He called but her ears were deaf to anything other than the thoughts playing in her own mind. ........................ Chapter Six John looked at Monica who looked back with equal mystification. Where they were standing had been forest only that morning, now there was a newly built housing estate. "How can this be?" Monica felt like saying aloud but decided to remain quiet. If Skinner had been looking at their faces instead of scouting the scene then he would have been as equally confused. John just slowly shook his head. It seemed more and more unlikely that they would be getting back to their real time. "So where were the bodies and where were they taken?" Skinner questioned, glancing back at the couple. "Um," Monica thought quickly. "I don't know the name of the street but they were found in that direction." She pointed southeast and looked at John. They might as well try to find the exact spot where the transition had occurred. Maybe through some miracle it still existed and they could slip back through. "If we get back in the car we can direct you there." John caught his tongue before he was about to say `Sir'. He was still surprised how this man looked uncannily like their assistant director. Instead he proceeded to open the car door, this time he sat in the passenger seat for ease of navigation. "Where did you say you took the bodies?" Again Skinner asked the question as they meandered the streets, trying to figure out the exact place they had landed in this time. "To Quantico for examination." The male agent didn't want to give too much away. "Do you know the cause of death?" Skinner turned left into a street with many of the houses still under construction. "No, only that they had been strangled but not enough to cause death." Monica added. "Here!" She tapped the driver's shoulder. "Here?" They parked on the newly paved roadway and got back out of the car. Following the female agent they made their way across the street to a still vacant lot that had holes dug out for foundations but it was becoming evident that the agents really didn't know what they were doing. "Stop right there!" Skinner held out his hand in a face down stop position. "Nothing here makes sense. There's no police tape, nothing to suggest there has been any criminal activity. Sure you have the right place?" Monica kept scouting as John tried to think of what to say but nothing came to mind and he just shrugged. "Talk to me, what's going on here?" The Skinner of their time was a fair and open-minded man maybe this one was too. They needed to confide in someone and he was as good as any and maybe could even help them to return from where they came. "We're a bit like the Sullivans." John shifted uneasily on his feet and swallowed before delivering the news. "We're also from the future." "From the future," Skinner repeated, his head bent with skepticism. John looked around to see Monica still searching the area for any clue as to how they would get back. "We are FBI agents investigating the deaths of the Sullivans and we were somehow dragged back into this time." He waited for a reaction. "So you're also from 1983 like Molly and Larry?" At least Skinner wasn't treating them like crackpots. "No, we're from later. The Sullivans must have gone through some sort of time transition like us. Looks like they crossed over to this time and after their deaths were brought back to a spot around here and somehow traversed to twenty years later than when they left." John kept looking for any belief on the man's face. He was doing the math. "So you're from 2003?" Skinner scratched his shiny dome. John felt his jeans pockets for his wallet. Remembering how the Sullivans had convinced people where they had come from he searched for a coin. He pulled out a quarter and looked at the date. 1996 would be convincing enough. As he handed it over to Skinner he didn't notice something fall from his wallet and down into a newly dug foundation hole. ............... "Well that explains those clothes." Skinner made light of a normally tense situation as he flipped the coin between his fingers and went to place it in his pocket. "Do you think that's wise?" John's eyes were on Skinner's hand. "You could stir up something big, too big, if this became public." "Not to mention altering the timeline so much that many things in the future will change." Monica had returned from her investigation of the area. She turned to John and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Nothing." Dejectedly he looked down to the ground. Skinner gave the coin back and agreed. He seemed as intelligent and practicable as their future boss. "Well what do we do now?" Skinner chuckled as he started back to the car. "I could ask you the lottery numbers for this weekend but something tells me you wouldn't have that good a memory." John and Monica just gave each other a frustrated stare and followed him. "For now we do our job and find whoever killed these people." Monica was ever the practical one. She turned to her partner and caught his arm and spoke out of earshot of the taller man. "We will get home, I can feel it." "Feel it? How? Once we solve this case a door will just open up to us?" John was showing his irritation. "We'll just catch the killer and zap, we'll be back where we came?" "John," She lightly pressed his arm as she made her way in front, stopping him in his tracks. Her gaze went to his lips and then to his eyes. "Trust me on this one. If we don't get back, and I just know we will, at least we still have each other." She waited for a response. He looked over her face, to the ground, over her shoulder, around to his right doing a sweep of the area, and then nodded. "Okay, we do our jobs, solve the case and take it from there." As he spoke, her hands shifted down his arms and then slipped around his waist and pulled him in closer until their bodies touched. "When the case is over...," she raised one eyebrow and slipped her hands to cup his ass. "Should we be doing this here?" John looked over his partner's shoulder to see Skinner opening the car door. "Who's going to report us?" Monica tilted her head and smiled until his eyes went wide with perception. "You have a point there." John found his hands reciprocating and following the sleek line of Monica's back. "So what will happen when the case is over and we find our way back home of course?" Monica placed her lips on his for a light kiss and then softly blew air along his jaw line to his ear and whispered, "I'm going to make love to you all night long." She licked along the ridge of his ear and suckled his lobe. "Hmm, I don't think a certain part of my body can wait that long Mon." "Well it's going to have to wait, at least until we're alone." She chuckled and moved back, holding one hand in hers. "You two coming?" There was a call from the car. The partners and lovers returned smiles and headed for their transport back to town. ................. The three investigators sat in the VW Beetle outside Bethesda's main street hotel. "I'm going to leave you two for about an hour or so." Skinner twisted in his seat to see the agents face to face behind him. "I have a meeting with someone who contacted me last night saying he might have some useful information about the Sullivans and where they'd been staying." "You'll meet us back here?" John confirmed. "Three heads are better than one. This killer needs to be found before someone else gets hurt." "What do you want us to do?" It was as though they were back in their own time. It seemed natural for Monica to ask the `assistant director' their potential next step. "We could ask around." Monica was already opening her door, eager to get back to their hotel room. On the return journey from the housing estate the air had been electric between she and John. Every time they hit a bump in the road or turned a corner their bodies touched, sending out overtones of pure sexual energy. Every so often he would touch her leg and rub his hand along her thigh, reminding her that it had been a day since they'd last made love. The relationship was all still so new that even a mutual look could have them wanting more. "I suggest you stay put until I get back." The caution he exuded certainly seemed like the Skinner of their time. "I have a bad feeling about all this." He looked around him as though he was checking for listening ears. "There's something I haven't told you." "What's that?" John was going to say `sir' again but remembered in time. He didn't want to appear foolish in front of this man. "There have been more disappearances from this town, ones that have been hushed up for fear there would be panic here." "Any other links?" John was curious. "Only that they were more or less unknowns to this town, just like you two." Skinner waited for it to make sense. "So what you're saying is that you think our lives could be in danger too?" Monica's worried look went from Skinner to the man beside her. He didn't need to reply verbally for them to understand. John took the hand beside him and combined fingers. They had been in peril before and pulled through, this hopefully would be no exception. Skinner looked at his watch. "Quarter past nine, I can be back here before half past ten." "We'll be here," John substantiated. "Do you have weapons?" Skinner was serious. "Up in the room." Monica hoped they wouldn't be needed; she never had liked that type of force being used. When first starting out at the academy it had taken her a while to get used the fact she would need to carry a weapon on her in her job. Each time she fired her gun it took a small chunk out of her sense of morality. However she understood that in her line of work, without having a weapon could be even more risky. As they said their goodbyes John couldn't get out of the car fast enough. Under normal circumstances he would be working on solving this case by going around questioning but this was far from normal. He agreed that Skinner was the one with the most power to work out their next step. Random questioning could just waste valuable time and maybe lead to unwanted suspicion. As John led Monica past the front desk they failed to see the eye roll from the receptionist. Sometimes two people in lust had a way of showing through to those around them. "Do you really think we're in danger John?" Monica opened their hotel room door and entered with John in tow. "Only of me imploding if I don't get to touch you now!" He pinned her against the open door and then moved her back letting it snap shut. "Then we'll certainly need to take action before that happens." She let him lean his firm body against her, enjoying the strength and warmth it provided. In the past week she hadn't seen this side of him. Sex had been unhurried and exploratory. She found her animal urges surfacing as he captured her body and then her lips. Wanting to go faster she felt for the button then zipper of his jeans and began unfastening in concord with their vigorous kisses. "Monica," he couldn't help break the kiss to express his approval of what she was doing. When his jeans were only half way over his hips he went to reciprocate and began pulling her pants down and then the underwear. Both participants knew that it would be easier just to undress themselves so peeling off the remainder of their lower clothing they flicked it off their feet together with their slip on shoes. There was no intention of moving from where they were. It was primal, animal, both had urgent needs that had to be met as soon as possible. John lifted Monica's leg to align with his upper thigh and she jumped up onto his hips. Leaning her back against the door, she opened herself to let him in. John gave a sexy, low groan as his length slid inside, slowly only on entry then more hungrily with every fevered thrust. Neither heard nor cared about the slow banging of their door against its hinges as they pounded hips against hips, enjoying the moment of raw emotion. Monica's heart paced as she felt his thick shaft buried deep inside. A hand went up to feel under her crocheted top and over her lacy bra. His fingers were probing almost to the point of exquisite pain but the pressure only heightened the savage temper of the act. Then the hand moved under her bra and lifted it off one breast followed by the next. His thumb and forefinger tweaked a nipple, rolling one way, then the other. The sensation verged on painful but added the brute sexuality. How did John know to apply just the right pressure to make her untamed? As he pushed her repeatedly against the door, she moved her hands under his T-shirt and ran sharp fingernails down his back, feeling his added thrusting with each downward movement, until he was pounding so hard she thought the door might give way. "More, harder!" She found herself repeating, increasing her volume with every driving force. Monica knew that John was holding out for her so she let her mind think of only him and just how manly and tempting he was and that he was hers. A hand slid down to her ass pulling her hips closer than ever, grunting as a reflex action. Then it began to hit her, the most amazing feeling of peace as her body quivered and spilt out corporeal proof. She felt gravity take over as the wave hit her but she knew she was securely enveloped in her lover's arms. They were one big heaving mass against the door as they rode their highs and then together calmed their once raging force. "I needed that." John gave his lover a quick kiss on the lips and let her down gently, holding until she found her sea legs. "You're not the only one," Monica concurred, trying to stand. "Are you alright in there?" The voice at the door made then silently chuckle and John replied, "Just trying to open my suitcase," he placed a finger on Monica's lips and waited for a response. "Okay then." They heard the person's footsteps walk away. "John, we don't have suitcases." Monica reminded with eyebrows raised. John smiled as he looked around the room. "Indeed we don't." Then a frown began to take over. "Mon, tell me you put our jackets in the closet." Monica followed John's eyes across to the empty coat stand where their jackets with their firearms inside had been hanging. ...................... Chapter Seven Doctor Dana Scully signed off the Sullivan's box of effects from the evidence room and took it back to the lab. Finding a big enough waist high bench she proceeded to take an item out at a time. They had both been found in the original clothing in which they had disappeared twenty years earlier even though she had determined they had aged perhaps two months in that time. That had been an oddity for which Dana still had no answer. In her line of work sometimes the answers were not so easily determined. Hoping she would stumble on some clue she continued laying everything out in front of her. With hands on hips and an eagle eye she scanned the belongings until her gaze rested on an item and fixed there as she thought. With delicate fingers she picked it up and turned it over, reading carefully what was printed on top. Then her eyes grew wide and her bottom lip dropped faintly. With the other hand she fished for her cell phone and eagerly dialed the number. "Arlene, is the assistant director there?" Her foot tapped impatiently as she waited. "He's in a meeting Agent Scully, can I take a message?" Skinner's secretary responded. "Um," she absently looked around the room, thinking. "No, that's okay. I'll catch him later." Just as she cut off the connection a familiar voice sounded from the doorway. "Is there something you should be telling me Agent Scully?" Her first reaction was to stay tight lipped until she could tell Skinner first but Brad Follmer was also in on the case and all her FBI training told her she should share the information this time. "I just found something of interest in the Sullivan's effects." Her gaze went to the table with the clothing and the other personal property that had been found on their person at the scene. "Interesting?" Follmer came closer and with hands nestled in pockets he leant against a bench. "This." She handed him the rectangular piece of paper. "What am I looking at here Agent Scully?" He flipped it back then forth. "It's a movie ticket." "Not just any movie ticket. Look at the name of the movie." "From Russia With Love, one of my favorite James Bond movies." He remained puzzled. "What's so interesting about that?" "Look at the date." She moved closer to check he was looking in the right place. Follmer tilted his head a little to make out the small print and then with an even more puzzled look he looked across to the red head. "You're not serious. You think this is an original Bethesda Movie Theater ticket when the movie was first premiered? Why would they have it with them?" "Look how it has been torn in two and how recent it looks. I'm willing to bet that this couple watched this movie within the last couple of weeks." Dana tried to let him see the connection. Sensing continued doubt she carried on. "A colleague of mine, Doctor Larry Stengate, has found possible evidence that twenty years previously the Sullivans actually went through some kind of time rift and were somehow returned to our time two days ago." "You're not serious. I know Stengate. Isn't he into Star Trek or something? You're listening to this kook?" "It's all starting to make sense. All the pieces are starting to fit." She was determined to let him see reason. "The bodies having aged insignificantly after twenty years, Agents Reyes' and Doggett's tracks abruptly stopping the same place Larry discovered the chronoton field out in the reserve, and now this." Follmer's eyes were beginning to widen with understanding. "You believe this? "I think that our agents went through some kind of time shift and are now back in 1963." Dana began to collect the Sullivan's effects and place them back in the box. "What are you doing?" Follmer noticed Dana was hurrying. "I'm going back out to the scene. I need to have another talk with Larry and see if there's anything we can do our end to help." "I'll come too." "No!" She closed the lid and lifted the box. "You or one of your men can help in another way." Without wanting him to respond right then she kept on. "Check on our database anything that is remotely connected to this case. I have a feeling that the Sullivan's aren't our murderer's only victims." She left the room leaving Brad Follmer with a pensive almost disbelieving look. ................. "Anything?" Dana Scully, with laptop case in one hand and a thermos of hot coffee in the other approached Doctor Stengate as he continued to monitor his chronoton field. He looked up with a start, clearly not having heard her coming. "Dana!" "Sorry to startle you Larry." She looked around the area and chuckled to herself. Everywhere over the ground his equipment was spread haphazardly making her wonder what the state of his dwelling would be. There was even a folding chair and table set up with a notepad on top. "Coffee?" She placed her laptop on the table and proceeded to pour the steaming liquid into the thermos cup. "You're a life saver." He thirstily took the coffee and began sipping. After a few more tastes she deemed him ready for conversation. "Larry, what are your theories about traveling through time?" "You've found something, haven't you?" Larry didn't miss much. To the outsider he looked like a typical nerd and not too bright but apart from Mulder, he was the most intelligent and interesting man she'd met in a long time. She had missed Mulder's wit and his often off beat explanations for something that others would find inexplicable. Larry filled a void in Dana that had been there since Mulder had left with no clue when or if he'd be returning. "We'll get to that. I have my own theories; I want to know yours." She went to sit on the chair as Larry warmed his hands on the coffee cup. "What would happen if we went back in time? Would the present and maybe the future change as a result?" "There has been much debate on the matter but to me it seems clear." After another slurp of the hot brew he went on. "If we went back say ten years and interacted with the people leaving an indelible memory of us then the present as we know it would be exactly the same." "How do you know that? Wouldn't the timeline change even a small amount?" "There are many theories but I believe that if we went back in time then what we did there has already happened and as a result everything here and now is as it should be." "So in a way it was no accident that John and Monica disappeared when they did." She looked thoughtful. "That would put credence on those people who believe in fate. John and Monica would have had to go back in time to make the present as it is now." "You're getting the idea. It wouldn't have mattered when they went back but the fact that they did that is important." There was something in what Larry was saying that let her know he had also discovered something. She would get to that. She wanted to know more about time travel. "What if someone went back to the Second World War and killed Hitler?" Dana tested with the age-old debate question. "Then they weren't successful or our present would reflect that event." Larry made it all sound a little too easily explained. "It's just not as simple as that. Look how Iraq's Saddam Hussein has eluded capture for so long. It's quite feasible that if an assassin went back to the past they also wouldn't have been able to track down Hitler." Dana nodded understanding and changed her tack. "What about travel into the future? If someone were to go forward and collect the Lotto results, could they?" "I'm a theorist but I'm also a realist and to me traveling to somewhere that hasn't happened yet is an impossibility. However, that would assume that time is linear and goes from the past to the present to the future. For all we know time could have totally different properties to what we think." "You mean like the folded paper theory?" Dana remembered an article she once read. "Space/Time concept could be likened to a folded piece of paper. Fold time and two different eras could be touching. It would just be a matter of one moment we're here in 2003 and the next fragment of time we're back somewhere in the past or into the future." "Could be." "So H.G.Wells' `The Time Machine' was just that, a piece of fiction or could it in fact happen?" "Fiction with an element of fact." Stengate finished off the dregs of his coffee and rested the cup on the table. It was clear he was eager to get back to work. Dana stood and moved over to watch what he was doing. "I believe that a time machine is quite a possibility using some kind of chronoton technology but we just don't have enough knowledge at this time of the particles' exact properties to be able to manipulate them to make time travel possible." "Do you ever think we will? Will scientists ever come up with a way to send people on a journey of a lifetime?" "Looks like you already know the answer to that Dana." He smiled his first smile for the day that wasn't goofy. Her wide grin reflected his and gave her comfort that if she ever wanted explanations of the almost impossible he was the one to turn to. Just at that moment there was a clicking sound similar to the one they had heard previously emanating from Stengate's chronotometer. "What's that mean?" Dana moved closer as Larry moved the device up above his head and then down to the ground. With each downward measure the clicking became more frequent until it was an almost blur of sound when it touched the ground. ................. "That means that this field is going through some sort of flux." Larry moved the apparatus along the ground, keeping an eye on the readings. "Does that mean what I think it means?" Dana was hopeful that maybe they were on the path to being able to assist the agents back into their real time zone. "Not necessarily." The hand with the machine stopped in one spot. "Dana, could you go over to my bag and get out the small shovel?" Quickly looking around the strewn equipment she spotted his bag next to a black box of nondescript function. Handing over the shovel he began to dig in the exact spot he had rested the chronoton detector. "What is it?" Dana was curious. "I don't know but there's something here that is making my baby go wild." It took at least fifteen minutes of digging and a heap of sweat later before something began to appear to them about two feet down. Carefully his hand went down the hole to clear the remaining dirt and lifted the object to take a closer look. "What's it say?" It was a piece of old card with print on one side and some handwriting on the other. With a thumb Larry cleared away the years of dirt to be able to read. "Looks like a business card. `Featherstone Jewelers', Market Street D.C." Larry turned the card to read the handwriting. "A business card?" Dana questioned. "Your device sensed this card? Market Street, that's around the corner from the Bureau. How did it get here, buried two feet down in a remote part of Virginian parkland?" "Beats me but it must have been buried here a long time. There's no sign of recent digging." Larry mused as Dana went to her laptop. "What are you doing?" "I'm going to look up that jewelry store. Maybe it's another clue." Dana tapped the keys while Larry's eyes grew wide at what was written on the back of the card. "Bingo!" Larry hardly listened as she spoke, he was too stunned at what he'd found. That Nobel Prize was looking more and more clear in his mind's eye. "That's odd, Featherstone Jewelers only opened for the first time last week." The laptop screen illuminated her face. "Dana, you have to see this." Before getting out of her chair the device started going wild again and this time she saw something. It was only for a moment but it seemed like a shimmer of light almost like a reflection in a glass window. Scully and Stengate stood transfixed and waited for the same phenomenon to reappear. .................... Chapter Eight "Shit!" John quickly pulled up his underwear and hauled on his jeans. On opening the closet door he swore frustration again and then did a quick search of the room. "Monica, stay here." Without footwear he exited the room frantically searching for any sign of where their two suit coats, holding their weapons, would have gone. He ran to the end of the hallway, checking for any unlocked doors and then the opposite way and down to reception. He flew out the front door and then did a sweep of the street not expecting to find anything since the assailant would probably have been long gone by then. He gave himself a mental kick for letting his lust get in the way of a case as he made his way back inside. "Did you see anyone come past here carrying two black jackets?" John was breathless. "Hey, just calm down, two jackets you say?" The receptionist's cigarette hung out of her mouth and as if it would help her remember she took a long drag and let out a stream of putrid smoke. "They would have taken them from our room. Who had access to our room while we were gone?" John's look at that time would have made anyone shy away. "Only the maid to make up your room. Hey, we take pride in security in this hotel. What are you saying?" The acrid smelling cigarette rested between her fingers. "I'm saying that we need to find those jackets before...," he stopped as he revised what he was going to say. Telling the woman that they'd had weapons in their room probably wasn't the ideal information to be spreading. "Never mind." He sensed that she didn't know anything and that they were on their own on this. "John?" Monica's concerned voice came from behind him. He turned to see her fully dressed and carrying his shoes. "Here, put these on. We're going to have to start this with or without Skinner." At least they still had their wallets and identification. Monica placed a hand on John's arm. Just that simple gesture of hers and that calming look she gave him always seemed to make him come to his senses. "Let me ask." She turned to the hardened faced woman behind the desk as John bent down to put on his shoes. "We wondered if you could be so kind to tell us who has been here since we left. Perhaps a visitor, anyone who for any reason went upstairs and maybe you didn't see them leave?" John marveled at his partner's questioning techniques. She could be as hard as the next agent but she could also get information by sensitively asking the right questions. "There was one person but he would never break into anyone's room." She had visibly composed. "Can you tell us a name?" By that stage John had fully dressed and stood just behind his partner, listening to the exchange. "It was Fred who owns the diner, Fred Campisi. He was visiting his cousin who's from out of town." With a questioning glare she looked to the male agent and then back to Monica. "Thank you, you have been a big help." As she smiled she rested a hand on the counter and then turned to John and took his hand. With a turn of the head she indicated for them both to leave. "It's not him," Monica said plainly as she led him into the street and left towards the diner which was over the street and down about two blocks. "The person who took our possessions left through the window." "Why not him?" John felt a little foolish for not having checked the window himself. "I think we're looking for a woman." They crossed the street dodging a few olden cars and continued their path to the diner, the next logical step in their investigations. "The window was open only so wide and it would have been difficult to close it again after exiting." "Could have been a small man." John added his thoughts. "That's also what I thought until I saw this. It must have caught on the window snib as she bailed out." Monica held up a delicate gold chain with a heart shaped end piece. "A locket? I haven't seen one of those in years." He took it from her and flipped it over in his hand. "Look here, on the back." Monica reclaimed the jewelry and took a closer look. "The initials MS." They had reached the diner and John opened the door. Fred Campisi and the locket were their only leads until Skinner came back with news. Smelling the cooking food they soon realized how hungry they were and sat at a booth to peruse the menu. Momentarily the locket was put aside as they decided on their repast. "I think I'll have the bacon and eggs and some orange juice." John looked across to his partner. "What about you?" "Some cereal and juice." She fixed a look and smiled, "Do you happen to realize that we haven't eaten for forty years?" John chuckled understanding the absurdity of their situation. "If the last time we ate was in the future then we haven't eaten at all yet." John just shook his head in frustration. "This is all too much for me Mon. Let's just stick to the case for now?" A woman in her mid thirties took their order, possibly she was the owner's wife but they would leave questioning until after their bellies were sated. "The locket Mon?" they had a little time before their food came. "Those things can usually open." Monica nodded comprehension and slid a fingernail along the slot between the two halves. It sprang open and John saw his partner's expression change to recognition. "John, I think we know this man." She placed the open locket in his hand. ..................... `So the person who broke into our hotel room is also mixed up with the Sullivans?" John looked at the small photo of Molly Sullivan's husband inside the locket then juggled it in his palm thinking. "How would this woman have come to be wearing this chain that clearly didn't belong to her?" Monica spoke John's thoughts. "Look!" John pointed out a man behind the counter who was probably the owner. With a gesture he beckoned him over to the table. "What can I do for you two?" He seemed an immediately likeable man with a warm smile. "I'm John and this is my...," John paused and linked his fingers through Monica's and smiled, "My wife Monica. We're just visiting and staying at the hotel up the road." His thumb caressed her fingers as he spoke. Monica found surprising comfort in being labeled his wife but she dismissed it just as quickly. They had been distracted before by their need to satisfy each other physically, and more distractions could only lead to unnecessary peril. "We wondered whether you might have come across a Molly and Larry Sullivan, maybe in the last few weeks?" "Sullivan you say?" His face didn't show recognition. "Maybe this might help," John showed him the locket and he took it, clearly not understanding the reason. "The photo." After a few moments a look of detection spread over his features. "I have seen this face, he's been here a few times in the last three weeks. Is this the man you're after?" Campisi returned the jewelry item. "Can you tell us anything?" Monica interjected. "Where they, he might have been staying?" The owner of the diner began to put on an air of suspicion that the two agents picked up on. He clearly needed a little extra incentive to give further answers. Monica drew out her wallet and briefly displayed her badge. "We're from the FBI and this morning this couple's bodies were found a number of miles from here. If you can tell us anything to assist us in our inquiries that would be appreciated." Campisi took a breath and eyed the couple before him looking as though he was choosing his words carefully. "I think I overheard them talking about the commune up the road." He began to fidget. "Look, I have a diner to run here, so if you don't mind I'd better get going." "The commune?" John ignored the man's request. "Do you think they were staying there?" "I don't know any more than that. I'll go and see if your breakfast is ready." With that he left. Both agents had noticed the man's shift in moods but didn't need to express it verbally for them to know they each felt the same. "Monica, be back soon." John slid out of the seat. "Where are you going?" Monica eyed him, not wanting him to leave her presence. "Bathroom," he winked and gave her a smile. "Don't be long." John made his way around the back of the diner where there was a small bathroom with two cubicles. While washing his hands he looked into the mirror and wondered what Monica saw in that aged face before him. How could she be attracted to a man who had suffered so much pain, was almost married to his work and was often skeptical of what she was accepting? He saw her as young, beautiful, clever and caring. He smiled as he thought back to how they had clicked sexually. To have her in his arms and his bed was the biggest blessing on his life. An ominous shadow appeared behind him, too quick for John to turn. His arm was yanked behind his back and there was sudden pain to his temple as his head was smashed against the cold hardness of the mirror. As he was pinned there, unable to talk there was a whisper in his ear. "Go back home." There was a deep intake of breath and a further whisper. "Before it's too late." There was another sharp blow to the head and the shadow was gone. It took the FBI agent a few moments to orientate himself before looking around him, in the cubicles and out the door. "John!" Monica called as she saw him stagger back into the diner. She ran to his side and led him to their seat. "We need some ice!" Monica called for service, then turn back to her charge. "What happened? Who did this?" Sliding herself next to him along the bench seat she looked at his head wound, letting him catch his breath. "No blood." "Here," the waitress gave Monica a small package of tea towel and ice and waited and watched to make sure all was okay. "Thank you, I'll take care of it." The waitress hesitated but then left allowing Monica to ask again what had occurred. "John?" "In the bathroom. Looks like someone else knows how we got here." He winced as Monica applied the cool compact. "Did you see who?" She was concerned for her partner and lover. "No but I now have an idea of where." .................. Skinner lingered at the small hotel reception waiting room for the two agents to return. He was anxious that something may have happened to them but also annoyed that they had not heeded his words and stayed put. With information gathered from his morning meeting he then knew that their lives and his could be in danger. They had to work quickly to get more information to solve the case and find the culprit. He had considered informing the local police but due to the implausible circumstances of the case he decided to make it covert. "John, Monica, where have you been?" Skinner noticed that John seemed a little dazed and knew something had happened by the way Monica was guiding him to a seat. "We've just had some breakfast at the diner. There was an incident there." Monica checked out John's bruising. "I'm no doctor but I think he may have slight concussion. Is there a hospital here?" "What happened?" Skinner was inquisitive. "Just someone giving us a warning to stay away." Monica looked with concern across to her partner. "I really think you need to be checked out. I don't want you giving out on me John." "I'm alright Mon." John sat more upright to prove it but the pain was still in his eyes. "It's probably just as well because I don't think we should be going anywhere at the moment except one place." Skinner looked serious. "You mean the commune." John decided to stand to demonstrate he was returning to full strength. "I'm willing to bet that's what you gathered from your meeting this morning." Skinner nodded, looking as impressed as his serious face would allow. "There seems to be one common thread in all this. You know those disappearances I told you about?" "They had all stayed at the commune." Monica finished his sentence. "Not stayed as such but attended what is commonly called a love in. The next day or two they were each reported missing." "A love in." John looked bewildered. He had heard of these events of the sixties but didn't know exactly what they entailed. "That's what I've heard. They occur a few times a week and if we're going to fit into that scene we might need to be prepared to join in." "Join in, you mean like taking drugs, LSD, marijuana? I'm not taking any of that stuff man." "You don't have to." Skinner lowered his voice. "Not everyone reaches a higher plane with drugs. Some do it with meditation." Before they could respond further Skinner was heading out the door and turned one last time. "Coming?" ........... Chapter Nine Dana busied herself getting ready for what looked like a trip of a lifetime. She couldn't believe it to be true but she trusted Dr. Stengate and if he said it was possible then she believed him. She had seen plenty of inexplicable events in her time on the X-Files but this one was the most implausible. The thought of possibly going back in time made her stop and think for a moment. Standing upright by her bedside she took a breath and thought about Stengate's words concerning this being Nobel Prize material. It certainly was just that. If she could prove to the world that time travel was possible and that she had experienced it then it would alter the way the world looked at time and change. Another thought niggled her. She remembered her words to Larry. "Will scientists ever come up with a way to send people on a journey of a lifetime?" "Looks like you already know the answer to that Dana." She had remembered him replying, and knew exactly what he meant. If in the future the technology was harnessed to build a time machine then why doesn't the world already know about the possibility? Why haven't there been reports of people coming from the past or the future, surely it would be front page world news. The thoughts played on her mind as she packed her small bag with her wallet filled with enough cash in case of emergencies, and her weapon. All she was waiting on was a call from Larry to tell her his estimate of when the chronoton field could change to the same state it was when John and Monica had disappeared. She had forgotten her cell phone was in her bag until it rang. Her heart jumped and she laughed a little thinking of the absurdity of a cell phone back in the sixties. "Scully." She lifted her bag and took it to the kitchen and laid it on a table. She was a little let down when she heard the return voice. "Agent Scully, tell me what's going on." Follmer sounded his officious self. "I hear that Sci Fi Larry may have a way to locate the missing agents." Dana hesitated about saying too much; the last thing she wanted was that Assistant Director tagging along. "It's only a possibility Sir, that the chronoton field that Larry discovered could reach it's maximum flux and make a doorway between our two times." She waited for his reply. "This is all beyond me. So let me get this straight." There was a breath before he continued. "You're going to go through said doorway and rescue the agents." Just then there was a beep on the phone. "Look Sir, I have another call." She hoped he would get the hint and sign off. "All I ask Agent Scully is you keep me informed." "I will." Whether it was before or after her possible ride through time was the point in question. The other caller had to be Larry. Her face flushed as she thought of what she could be getting into. She'd had some wild rides in her time but this would be the most exciting. "Come, now!" was all Larry had to say for her to grab her bag and keys and head out of her apartment. With one look back only fleetingly did she think she might not see her abode again? "I'm on my way." The ride to the site was a blur of images and thoughts, past, present and the possible future. The feelings of peril and uncertainty had crossed her mind but this was an event she had lived for. The past two years of motherhood and having to look after a charge had taken their toll on her emotionally and physically. She needed something like what was happening to get her back into the joix de vivre she'd had in the past. Her car pulled up and she exited, smoothed down her dress and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Assistant Director?" Why had she felt that he would be there? "Larry," Dana belatedly acknowledged. "You didn't think I'd let you have all the fun." He gave a smirk and looked her up and down. "Nice outfit." She also looked down to see the white short sleeve blouse and the full gingham skirt and felt the headband pulling back the hair from her face. "Sixties party a few years back," she explained. "Let's just hope we're not going into the future." "It's time." Larry stood at the shimmering portal. "I estimate you have about just over an hour before this thing goes back into rest mode." "That doesn't give us long." Follmer looked concerned. "If we miss this one will there be another, say in two days time?" Dana jig sawed her knowledge of past evidence. "Not this time and I think it has something to do with that jewelry store card we found. Look, I don't have time to explain now, you have to go!" Larry gave a look of concern to his friend and colleague and lightly touched her arm. "I'll see you again soon." Dana smiled sweetly and saw the hint of regret in his eyes. She lent in and gave him a kiss on the cheek and not looking for the reaction then, she took Follmer's hand and led him through the glistening rift. .................. The commune was on the highway further along than first thought. Skinner, Doggett and Reyes had passed retail stores, housing developments and were getting into cleared land before they saw the sign on the left just as Lily and Brad had said earlier that morning. A little apprehensive, they turned into the drive and began the five hundred yards or so trek to the main building. It looked like a converted old barn and the three investigators noticed a small number of vehicles parked around the side and a few people milling around, just talking and laughing. As they walked up to the main entrance no one seemed to care that they were strangers. "Excuse me," Skinner called to a chatting couple leaning casually against one of the vehicles. "Do you know where we can find Brad and Lily?" The couple indicated the back of the building and then continued their conversation as though nothing had changed. Skinner gave the two agents a non-descript stare then beckoned them to follow. It was almost like 1963 three at that time was his time therefore he was the one in charge. It was not unlike the Skinner of their time so it all felt right. "Thanks," Monica gave a smile and a small wave to the man and woman as she passed. John and Monica were still amazed how much like their Follmer this one looked. Perhaps he was a past relative of the assistant director, the likeness was too similar for them not to be related. He was working under the hood of a vehicle but not his bus when the three investigators gave their greeting. "Brad Follmer?" Skinner asked as the others watched on. As if not noticing their presence he continued to work on the engine, his long blond hair pulled back from his face with a headband. John gave a snort and shrugged his shoulders as Monica and Skinner exchanged glances. "We're investigating the deaths of Molly and Larry Sutherland who disappeared two days ago." As if to strike a nerve he slowly emerged from under the hood but still without eye contact he leant down to retrieve a piece of cloth from the ground. After a long moment of waiting until his hands were clean, he spoke, "Sullivan?" he spoke slowly and quietly. This Follmer was a man of a few words. "They were murdered Mr. Follmer." John was getting antsy with all the delay. "By as yet unknown means but there were signs of attempted strangulation. Know anything about that?" "Oh," he began walking towards the dwelling and the threesome team just looked at each other with frustration. They had no choice but to pursue. They followed him to the kitchen from where they smelt something freshly baking. "Lily?" The woman they had first met along the road turned from the stove and on seeing them smiled. "John, Monica, it's so good to see you again." She moved up and gave each of them a warm hug. "Will, you too. So you've decided to join us?" She busied herself by getting out coffee cups, and looked into the oven before the conversation resumed. "Not for me," Monica decided to reply. "Lily we're here because we want to ask some questions about a disappearance from these parts two days ago." Lily was quiet for a moment and then turned with a thoughtful look and went to sit at the kitchen table. "You mean the Sullivans." Her face went a little remorseful. "We were just getting used to their presence here, weren't we Brad." He was pouring himself a cup of tea. "And the morning of two days ago they were not in their room, nowhere to be found. I thought it unusual at the time, there was no note and it didn't seem in their nature." "So was there anything that could give a clue as to where they went?" John continued the questioning. "You said they had a room. Did they leave anything behind?" All this time John was keeping an eagle eye on Follmer who was quietly listening but his face showed no telling signs, of anything. "No nothing, that's just it, it was as though they had never been here." Lily got up from the table. It seemed she wasn't one to sit still for long. With an oven mitt she opened the oven door and pulled out a steaming tray of cookies, and then another. Letting them cool a little on the bench she poured some tea for herself and sat back at the table. "Sure you don't want any?" "No thanks," It was John's turn to reply and Skinner just shook his head in agreement. Remembering something, John fished in his pocket and produced the locket. "Do you recognize this?" John stood and walked over to Lily first. "No," she looked truthful. "Who's is that?" John then took it to Follmer who glanced at it and looked away. "You know about this Brad?" He nodded and then softly spoke, "It was Molly's, I remember seeing her wearing it." He blinked a little and then hung his head. "Tell us what you know. This was found in Monica's and my hotel room after our jackets had mysteriously disappeared. What else do you know Mr. Follmer?" John remembered all the times his Follmer would hide the truth and this seemed one of those occasions. "I don't know anything about that." The look in his eyes told the agents differently and Lily knew it too. Without pressing the issue further Skinner decided to change the direction of the investigation. "Lily, Brad, we'd like to ask around if that's okay. We won't cause a stir, just casual questioning." Monica noticed that Lily had been watching them and wondered why she had kept smiling until she understood she'd been absently touching John's hand ever since they had sat at the table together. Had it been written all over their faces that they were indeed lovers? The mere fact that they were sharing a hotel room would ring loud bells that they were more than just partners. As the investigators got to their feet they dismissed her knowing smiles and went to leave the room. "There'll be some cookies waiting when you're done," Lily called after them. Monica whispered into John's ear. "Ever had a hash cookie?" ...... "I thought there was something different about the smell." He gave a crooked smile and then whispered back. "We need level heads if we're going to solve this case, Monica." "You know how sexy you are when you're serious," she kept whispering and teasing. "Shh, Skinner will hear us." His hand went to her back to urge her to keep following. "Hear what?" he turned around with a slight look of frustration. "Look, it's been glaring me in the face since I first met you two. The single hotel room, the way you can't keep your hands off each other, let alone when I came to your room earlier I had to walk away until you'd finished." "Finished?" John retorted quickly but then comprehended. "I must have just missed you after you went to the diner." He shook his head but still left a small smirk. "You two need some time out. I'll continue questioning here and you do what you must. In any case it'd probably be less confronting if one of us did the questioning." He waited while John and Monica thought it over. They had to agree to an extent and nodded, "We'll just have a chat here and we'll go snooping for further clues." Monica assured him. John waited until Skinner had turned and begun walking before he spoke, "Monica, this is not like us at all. We can normally keep on task during our working hours." He let out a frustrated breath and looked into her eyes. Reaching out for his elbow she drew him closer and then backed up against a wall right beside a closed door. "You can't call this normal John. We are in a different decade with no way of knowing if we will ever get back. We love each other and those feelings are what our psyches are telling us to cling to." Monica was making a heap of sense. "What if we are stuck here? What would we do? Most likely we've already changed the future so much so that what we could go back to would be changed beyond recognition." John looked over her soft face. "Do you believe in fate?" she mentioned and then gave a chuckle. "That's a silly question, of course you don't. Let's just say John, that there is such a thing as fate and that there are things that we do that were meant to happen." John just listened to her. He was becoming accustomed to her wild ideas. "Maybe in the big scheme of things this was meant to happen. We are here for a reason and no matter what we do here in this time, when it comes to the future it will have already happened." "So you're saying if we get back then nothing will have changed? Mon, I'm beginning to worry. What if the Sullivan's cause of death wasn't a murderer after all but the mere fact that they were pushed into a time they were not meant to be in. What if the same happens to us?" "You're not taking into account that there was attempted strangulation." By placing the flat of her hands on his back she urged him closer. "John, we will find out what happened and then we'll try to find a way back. For now, I have this urge to kiss you." John felt it too. Skinner was handling the questioning; there was no sudden desire to hunt for clues. Looking at her lips first he moved in and opened his mouth on hers. His lover did the same and she breathed in at his first touch. His arms were like a cage around her body as they meshed lips and tongues. "Funny way to find a murderer," Lily's laugh could be heard beside them. They stopped abruptly, looking a little self-conscious to be caught out. "Look, we believe in free love here. It you want to do it then we're not stopping you." She opened the door beside them. "In here, we'll give you all the privacy you need." How could they refuse but how could they justify making love while on the job. Monica gave John a mischievous look and then held his hand. "Thank you Lily." Monica smiled as she pulled John into the room and closed the door. ................ "You really want to do this here?" John needed to confirm Monica's wishes. "This is a way we can fit in and show we're not the bad guys." She lightly touched his face and smiled that seductive smile that always got him thinking inside his pants. "But we're meant to be looking for a murderer who may well be on this property." John was ever the practical one. "What do you want us to do, put everyone in a line-up and ask them if they murdered the Sullivans and possibly others? John, trust me, I believe the murderer may be put off guard if we try to fit in rather than be the police. Besides," she licked her lips and ran a finger over his chest, "we are alone in a room all to ourselves." "You want me to make love to you here?" he looked down to the jute floor covering and then to the haphazard array of mattress and blankets. "Skinner's happy to continue his `chat' with the others, we have time." Her hand went further down his body, tantalizing each part as she went. "Besides we were offered the room. It would be rude to refuse." Her hands went under his T-shirt and felt over his warm chest. "Monica," his breath was hoarse as she tempted him with her fingers and her body close. "This is not professional." "John, we are in a time when I wasn't even born, who really cares?" She lifted the t-shirt over his head and let it drop before going to his chest and running kisses over each nipple. Monica could tell he was weakening and he wasn't moving away. "You have been hurt, let me make you feel better." The kisses went down and then across his abdomen to his belt line. When she licked a line along his skin just inside she felt his muscles quiver and his hands go to her hair. Looking up for a moment she swiftly took off her top and then continued her attention to his warm tasty skin. While circling his navel, her fingers played with his belt. "What if the murderer knows we're here and is really after us, like Skinner thinks?" John was trying to stay focused but his tenacity was diminishing as Monica undid his belt and pulled it through the keepers. Monica was on her knees as she pulled his jeans and then briefs down and off his body. She left his shoes in the pile with the other clothes and went for what she really wanted to give him. "Then he will get an eyeful before he does so." Monica smiled before hungrily taking him in his mouth. It was the first time she had done that with John but she had wanted to please him in so many different ways. The timing had to be right. The sense of danger together with such intimacy was highly erotic. As she sucked him up and down slowly she could hear his purrs of pleasure from above and feel his hands dig into her hair and then run along the slim line of her shoulders. "Monica," his voice was strained. "Hmmm?" She ran a tongue around the head and then sucked on just the tip. "I don't think I can stand much longer." Not wanting to stall the gesture but also wanting to continue giving the pleasure, she released his member in enough time for them both to lie down on the mattress. "You don't have to." "Oh but I want to," Monica smiled again before attempting to regain control of his body. His hand went out to stop her. "If you insist on doing this then you must be naked too." His eyebrows rose waiting for her actions. Her grin coincided with her hands reaching to her back and undoing her bra. John watched on with hunger as she slowly peeled it off her body, letting her breasts bounce out. "Now your pants." She knelt to undo the button of her jeans and then began to wriggle out of them. Once over her thighs she stood to take the rest of them down. "Happy now?" Monica knelt in just her brief bikini underwear. "Very happy," John's eyes were almost like saucers as he watched her in measured strokes take down the thin sliver of material. Standing once more she flicked them off her toes and then straddled one of his legs. "Come here." "Not yet," she teased as her fingers played with his hard on. "I want to taste you again." Her fingers entwined around the base as she leant down and once again opened her mouth to accommodate his shaft. As she devoured him she growled and hummed demonstrating her complete desire to please her man. With a finger the hair over her face was linked behind her ear and she knew John was watching what her mouth was doing. It enervated her that she could have so much control over her lover's emotions. "Monica please, I want to touch you." She was prepared to go the whole way and to let him come into her mouth but clearly he wasn't ready. Perhaps it was the unfamiliar surroundings. It could also have been that there would be plenty of other opportunities for just that later, when there were more amenable circumstances. When she released him he urged her closer by placing his fingers under her shoulders. "Let me inside you." ........ "So what do you want John Doggett?" As she crawled up to be level with his face he ran fingers down and over her back and rested on her ass. "Just what I said," His voice was magnetic and she captured the final wisps of his words with her lips. It was as though they hadn't kissed for ages when in fact it had only been a couple of hours previously. Any time alone and together they had learned to savor. Work was all encompassing so when there was time for intimacy they took it. "I want us to make love," he growled as he spoke and she could feel him wanting her with his body. "Isn't that what we're doing?" She licked over his lips and went for a more profound kiss. "We're naked, we're kissing, I was just giving you head, what would you call all this?" His chest heaved on hers and his fingers dug into her ass cheeks. "You're going to be the death of me," he whispered into her mouth as he found the waiting area between her legs. "So now you know what you've been missing all these years." Very slowly and sexily she sat down on him, with a wiggle of the hips guiding his treasure inside her. "Can't keep up?" The feel of him inside her once more almost took her breath away. This time it seemed different and almost bigger than she had felt before. As he pulled and tugged at her inner muscles she felt his thighs harden and he sat upright letting her sit on top. Still pushing deeply inside he used his fingers to knead her ass and continued kissing between bouts of exquisite pummeling. "Have I made love to you every day for a week?" He licked and sucked on her lips as his hips moved below. "Sometimes more than once?" "Hmmm," Monica hummed agreement, as it was her turn to lick around his lips and then plunge her tongue into his mouth. The feel of her breasts rubbing against his warm flesh, the tepid air falling on bare skin and the texture of the blankets against her feet all added to the magical moment. "You think I can't keep up with you Ms. Reyes?" He flipped her over onto all fours and held her dangling breasts as he pushed more forcefully. His fingers trailed down to her hips where he steadied himself. Eyeing the perfect body before him, the rosy texture, the ideal curves, made him feel the luckiest man alive. She threw her head back with groans that demonstrated her growing desire for release. "John, I want to see you and hold you," she managed to moan out. John slowed a fraction to let her maneuver around to face him never letting him slip out. Lying on her back she spread her legs wide to let him in as deeply as possible and then with one hand to steady herself moved up to yet again capture his lips. "Oh John, I love you," she breathed between kisses. The feel of his smile on her mouth told her he probably felt the same way. It had been a long time in coming but when they had finally decided to go the next step and make their relationship sexual it had seemed right, so perfect. She could never imagine making love to any other man. He lifted her body to once again sit on his and enveloped her with his arms, consuming her body like a glove. As they kissed ravenously the movements below increased until they could hold on no longer. Monica panted out as the surge was violent, racking her body with waves of bliss. John held her closer than close as he gave all he had to give. Her chin rested on his shoulder as they felt the physical effects of their lovemaking receding but leaving the distinct memory of what their bodies had endured. Slowly they moved to lie on the mattress. John pulled a blanket over both their bare skin and they cooped up together their breathing slowing. "I can't believe we just did that here in this place." Monica gave his chest a warm kiss. "Shh, let's doze for a while." John's smile couldn't have been wider. "But the killer?" "Monica, I'm here with you, we'll protect each other." His arms encircled her and they found a position that let them sink into each other's bodies and relax. As their bodies rested they didn't see the shadow on the wall moving closer to them. In its hand there was something sharp. ................. "Freeze!" A familiar abrupt voice broke the two agents' repose. "Hold it right there!" The lovers sat up quickly, Monica hurriedly covering her bare breasts with the blanket. With startled response they looked to see Dana Scully in the room with a gun trained on the figure beside them. As the figure moved, the sound of the gunshot reverberated around the room and a thump could be heard beside them. Still in the delirium of recent sex and sleep they were slowly coming to make sense of their surroundings. "Are you alright?" Dana moved over to the small female figure on the ground and checked the pulse. Just then Follmer burst into the room and took a step back seeing John and Monica in bed together and then looked to the floor where the limp form of Lily lay. "Yes but... how?" Monica was still dazed, thinking it was all a dream. "No time to explain, here get dressed." She threw a few of the strewn clothing items onto the blanket. A swift form brushed past Follmer and Dana. "Oh my darling, no!" the hippy Follmer was clutching his woman's body. Dana looked for a moment and with wide eyes looked around to the Follmer at the door who was equally confused. "We need an ambulance here, now!" Dana took charge as Follmer raced out of sight. "She'll live if we can stop the blood." While the agents tried to get dressed under the blankets Dana searched around for something to use to stem the blood. Seeing a part of a sheet she ripped off a strip and then folded it into some padding. "Hold it here," she instructed the hippie Follmer, then took the hypodermic syringe from the female's grasp. "What's happening Dana?" Monica had her top and underwear and got out of bed to pull on her jeans and footwear. "No time to explain. We only have a small window of time." She stood tall and then bent over and put a hand on Follmer's shoulder. "You know what's happened here. Tell the police when they arrive." "I will," he looked up happier than he had been when he'd thought his lover had been fatally wounded. "John, we have to go now!" She was out of the room when John quickly grabbed his footwear and followed. "Wait!" Monica turned at Follmer's voice. "The next room, you must take all your belongings." She knew that there must have been some significance about the Sullivans being dressed the same as they had as they had disappeared and she was beginning to understand. As Monica exited the room she heard Follmer's quiet voice, "Oh, Molly." .............. "What's happening here?" Skinner met them at the front door. There was no time for prolonged surprised looks as the real Follmer and Dana saw a man who they had left in the future. "Skinner, we need you to drive," John urged impatiently. "There's no time to waste." He knew what Dana had meant. "But the case?" He pulled the keys from his pocket and swiftly headed for his vehicle. "We'll explain on the way." How five of them could fit into such a small vehicle was the subject of science but it was imperative they get back to the fissure in as little time as possible. Dana sat in the front seat with the others in the back; Monica sat on John's lap with their twenty-first century clothing on her lap. Skinner scooted through the streets, dodging vehicles and pedestrians out at lunchtime on the sunny day. Little did they know of the mysterious cargo squashing inside that small car. An ambulance and then a group of police cars passed them in the opposite direction highly likely heading towards the commune. "So talk to me," Skinner started the conversation when the road was clearer. "Dana, Follmer, meet William Skinner." John's arms were tight around his lover and partner. "William?" Follmer questioned. Skinner looked over to the passenger's seat to see Dana staring. "What?" He had one eye on her and the other on the road. "You just look very familiar." Dana looked behind her to see the two agents smirking. "What?" It was Dana's turn to question. "Tell them about your family," Monica had figured it all out. "I have a wife and child home in D.C. Why?" The speedometer was rising on the long stretch of road. "So does your son happen to be a teenager and his name is Walter?" Monica asked. "How did you know?" Skinner was the only one not chuckling understanding and then it began to dawn. "You mean you know him when he's older?" They could tell he wanted to know more. "He's our FBI Assistant Director." "Really?" Skinner's face was the most animated they had seen for the whole day. "Tell me he's handsome too." He ran a free hand over his shiny dome. "As handsome as you," Monica laughed. "Wow! My son the assistant director," he mused as they came to the turn off to the housing estate. "Let's just hope it's still there." Dana's statement reflected the seriousness of their situation. "Larry said we only had an hour or so before the window closes, it's been seventy minutes already." "It took us a while to find you." Follmer mentioned. "Until we checked the hotel in Main Street. It's lucky some people eavesdrop, seems she overheard you three talking about the commune. That's how we found you." They screeched through the streets of the new housing estate and found the same block where John and Monica had been that morning. Parking across the street they all bundled out of the car and headed over. Their hearts missed a beat when they saw nothing, but then there was a small shimmer as though the portal was going in and out of phase. "Quick, there's no time." Follmer reached the fissure first and looked around before passing through. Monica was next followed by John, their fingers linked. "Look," John bent down and put his hand down the hole dug for one of the foundations and retrieved the jewelry store card he had lost. "No!" Dana took it out of his hand and dropped it back in the hole. They gave each other puzzled looks but John knew Dana had her reasons. "Come on John," Monica and John both turned to wave goodbye to Walter Skinner's dad and lingered one small moment giving him thanks with their body language. Then Monica hurriedly pulled him through to the other side. Dana turned to see the all too familiar face and marveled that a man could grow up and look so much like his father. For a moment, only for a speck in time Dana had second thoughts about going back. Her life in 2003 wasn't perfect, perhaps living life in this age would be better. She ran up to Skinner and gave him a hug and then reached up for a kiss on the cheek. "Say hello for me," she simply said and smiled and raced for the wavering portal. She turned one last time to see him nodding and smiling and then slipped through just in time for William Skinner to witness the gateway distinguish. How much he would tell his son about what he had witnessed would be on his mind all the way through the questioning about the disappearances and then when it was over and he was on his way back to his family. Chapter Ten "So what will we do today?" Monica lay in bed beside her lover, stroking his chest. They had made slow love for the second time that morning not wanting to get out of bed but knowing they had to get up eventually. "What did you have in mind besides the obvious?" John ran gentle fingers down her arm. "You know Monica, I am a healthy, active man but you are going to wear me out." "Healthy and active alright." She purred as she lightly kissed his chest then ran a hand down his thigh. "Maybe we should shower, dress and have breakfast to renew that energy." "I say we go see a movie." John suggested as his other hand played with her hair. "Oh, you don't want to rent one and see it here?" Her fingers moved to his abdomen and she felt his intake of breath. She knew just what to do to get him worked up again. "You can't be serious Mon." John found it difficult to breathe normally when she stroked his skin that way. He was beginning to know the signs that Monica wanted to be intimate yet again. She ran kisses all the way to his mouth and she gently lay on top letting her breasts squash between their bare flesh. She just giggled and gave him a few more kisses on the lips. "Guess what's playing at the old Bethesda Movie Theater?" "You want to go there?" John felt the kisses on his nose then over his cheeks. "I've never been until, well, you know. What's playing?" "Austin Powers 2, the Spy Who Shagged Me." Monica smiled as John laughed through his nose. "Come on, it'll be fun. I read that we can order drinks and snacks from our seats. We can see if the diner is still there and have breakfast out." She moved to get out of bed and on her way to the shower turned to look at the man who had slept with her all night and had indelibly imprinted his love into her heart. "Come on, shower with me and we can talk." John's eyebrows rose as he slipped out of the warmth. How could he possibly refuse an invitation like that from a woman with a body like an angel and a smile to match? Monica turned on the faucet and tested the temperature with her hand before slipping into the cubicle. Her lover wasn't far behind. From the open door there was a brief rivulet of cool air as he also stepped under the ample stream of hot, steamy water. "Have you got some fresh clothes or do we need to pay a visit to your place?" Monica picked up the bar of soap and began turning it between her palms. Her eyes followed her hands as she slipped soapy fingers over his chest and down his arms, then looked up to his face as he spoke, "We're going to have to do something about this house hopping Monica. You and I both know we want to sleep together every night." His voice changed from a reasonable volume to low and sexy before he leant in for a kiss and then slid arms around her waist, trapping her hands between their chests. "Do you have a suggestion?" She returned the kiss and moved her hands free and around to his back, letting them move in slow circles. There were instants like that when they wanted the moment to last for eternity. Entwined in each other's arms, the hot spray dotting their bodies and with the water falling in rivulets down their golden skin, they drank in each other's essence. Before responding he carefully broke the kiss and gazed into the full hazel eyes so close to him, "I can see three options," It was his turn to use the soap and showing that he didn't just think of her breasts when touching her, moved his soapy hands over her shoulders first. "I move in with you, you with me or we go look for a place of our own." "How do you think the bureau will react?" She went for the shampoo and poured a dollop into her palm. "Brad and Dana already know we are lovers. We were kind of caught red handed." Monica chuckled at the memory of them being caught in bed together before the killer struck. "You and me both know the jury is still out on that one but Skinner seems to think we can come up with a compromise." John slipped his eyes closed as Monica massaged the shampoo into his hair and worked up a lather. Monica went all thoughtful as John rinsed his hair clean. "It's such a pity about Skinner's dad, I would have loved to have met him." She went for more shampoo and began lathering her own hair before John took over. It was Monica's turn to revel in the feel of his strong fingers on her scalp. "Hmm, that's so good." Her eyes closed and mouth opened a little and John took the opportunity to kiss her once more as he continued working on her hair. Needing some oxygen they broke breathlessly apart, lips swollen from the intensity. "At least he died not that long ago doing the job he loved," John said in a low whisper and guided Monica's head under the water for rinsing. "I wish I could have captured Skinner's face on film when we told him about meeting his dad." With the soap in one hand Monica's fingers went to John's ass and then down over his thighs. "How many times did he get us to repeat it?" John's eyes yet again closed as his shower partner soaped over his tackle and between his legs. "Oh about four. I can't believe he never told him that he'd met us." John opened his eyes to see the impish look on his partner's face and that she was deliberately trying to get him in the mood again. "Monica, believe me, I can't do it again just now." "Oh?" she whined. "Then I'll just have to feed you, entertain you and then seduce you later." John lifted her up to look into her eyes and gave her another kiss. "That sounds like a plan." John's face lit up before quickly rinsing off the rest of the soap and stepped outside the shower to dry off while Monica finished up inside. "Do you think the diner will be still there? It's been forty years." John towel dried his hair. "I'm fairly sure it is." The gush of water was turned off before Monica stepped out all glistening from the water beads and steam and John handed her a fresh towel to dry off. "It would have had a refurbishment since then no doubt." With the towel around his body he wrapped the ends around her and drew her close. Their bodies warmed as they touched and kissed. "Let's go and take a look." John led her back to the bedroom where they dressed for the day. ................ The diner was still in the place they had remembered. It had also had the expected refurbishment but in sympathy with the feel of the sixties. The rest of the area was the twenty-first century and hardly recognizable from what they'd seen days before, their time, but really forty years in the past. About a block down the street the building that stood out was the old Bethesda Theater. Since then it had had several paint jobs but still looked the same as they had remembered it. Once inside the diner the couple took up the same booth they had sat in all those years ago and placed a quarter in the mini jukebox on their table. "That's appropriate," Monica listened to the melodic strains of Cyndi Lauper's `Time After Time'. John just snorted and took her hand. "I love you Monica Reyes." It was the first time he had actually said it as though he meant it with all the love in his heart. "And I love you too John Doggett." They shared a laugh and a smile and then looked at the menus. After a few moments John stared out the window beside them, deep in thought. "Did you ever find out what happened to Molly Sullivan? I still can't believe she was the murderer." "Brad said that the records show she confessed to six murders even though the bodies haven't been found. Maybe the guilt got to her or something." Having decided her breakfast order Monica placed the menu back in its bracket near the mini jukebox. "She's currently in some women's prison out of state." "So she killed her husband and Lily and dressed them up in the clothes in which they had ventured through the time rift. What I can't understand is why." Just then the waiter came over to take their orders. "I'll have the fruit and yogurt and a glass of apple juice." Monica looked over to John. "The house breakfast specialty looks good and a coffee, black." The waiter nodded before heading off. "Keep eating like that John and we'll have another night of fun tonight." Monica's smile lit up her face. "I think you will be the one begging me to stop." He squeezed her hand and laughed. "Uh uh," Monica shook her head and then went thoughtful again. "Back to Molly Sullivan, the way I see it is that Molly was attracted to the past Brad Follmer and either one or both of them plotted to kill off Larry and Lily." "Follmer was never convicted of being an accessory." John kept hold of Monica's hand and brushed a thumb over her knuckles as he often did when thinking. "I think he was the one who warned me about staying here." His fingers absently felt the remnants of the head injury he had received only days prior. "So if he knew about Molly and the time rift, why didn't he stop her?" "Maybe it was love, you saw how quiet he was in our presence, perhaps there was some fear there?" John looked over to see the meals were on their way. "Our Follmer's great uncle probably testified at Molly Sullivan's trial and brought on her conviction." Monica looked up to see the fruit salad bowl being placed before her. The waiter placed John's plate in front of him before going to get their drinks. "Hmm, yours looks good if you like dessert for breakfast," John teased but picked out a bit of pineapple with his fork. "Hey," Monica swiped his hand. "You eat your own. There's enough to feed an army." They both chuckled as they went to start on their food. "Has Dana mentioned anything more about the time rift? I heard some rumors about a Nobel Prize?" John took a bite of sausage and then scooped up some of the scrambled eggs. "Dana tells me that her friend Dr. Stengate said that the card you dropped in the hole all the way back in 1963 caused some sort of reaction to the temporal field that allowed the rift to be seen. He doesn't know what yet and is working on research on chronoton particles to present to the Nobel Prize board." Monica had a few sips of her juice. "It could be a few years yet. She ate a few morsels of fruit draped with the yogurt and then asked, "John, Dana tells me the card was from a jewelers?" "What about it?" He took a bite of toast and then sipped his hot coffee. "She said it had your handwriting on the back. It looked like an appointment time." Monica's mind went into a spin thinking about engagement and marriage but it was all so sudden. "I know what you're thinking but my watch band broke and it was getting repaired." John ate some grilled tomato as though nothing was amiss. Monica's face fell but in a way she was relieved. If John proposed to her she wouldn't know what to say. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him but after a little over a week of really being together she didn't think it was enough time to answer such an important question. He laughed and then reached into his pocket and retrieved a small blue felt box. Monica's eyes lit up and her heart began racing as he handed it over. "For me?" "I was going to give it to you in the theater but here's a good place." John put his cutlery down and watched her open it. He knew what she was thinking and could tell the apprehension in her eyes. "Oh John, it's beautiful." Monica couldn't help but show some relief as she pulled out the eighteen carat gold chain with a heart shaped locket dangling at the end. The front sparkled with what could only be a real diamond implanted in the center. "Look on the back." John's smile was infectious. It wasn't often he smiled but when he did it showed how genuinely happy he was. In small swirly engraved lettering she read out what the message said, " `JD loves MR', oh John!" "Here, let me." He moved aside her fruit bowl so she could lean a little forward, and over the table he put the delicate gold chain around her neck. "There's nothing inside just yet, I thought you'd want to choose a picture." Her lips went into a flat smile and she looked across with a sparkle in her eyes. "I think I might be able to find one of Brad," she teased. He laughed and shook his head. "You can put in whoever you want because, Monica Reyes," he reached for one of her hands and linked fingers. "I know you love only me." They exchanged gentle smiles before finishing their meals and paying and then heading for the theater. They had five minutes to spare before the movie as hand in hand they moved into the foyer of the old theater. What caught Monica's eye was a display to one corner. "Look John," she dragged him over to the display case of old paraphernalia from the sixties. "Recognize any of these?" John looked around and laughed, "You sure we haven't gone through one of those time rift things again?" "John!" he looked to where something had caught her eye. "You're joking!" John's jaw dropped. "It's the visitors book from the hotel we stayed at and look where it's opened to." Open before them was the exact page they had signed back in 1963. The signatures John Doggett and Monica Reyes stood out from the page but something else also took their attention. "There's Skinner's dad's signature but he's added something. It's a message for us John." John read out the small writing beside his name. "W. Skinner, waves from 1963, all the best in the future." John and Monica knew what it meant and smiled knowing that others wouldn't necessarily see the significance. "We have to tell Skinner about this." Monica was excited. John put his arms around his lover's waist and looked into her eyes. "I've been thinking. It's a silly thought but it just struck me then." "What is it John?" Monica returned the embraced and waited for him to express his thoughts. "If two people went back in time, made love and happened to conceive a child, then returned to the future to have that child it would have to be the longest gestation ever known to man." Monica just looked into his eyes, not giving him the reaction he had expected. "Monica? You're not...." She sealed his question with a delightful kiss to the lips. The End ~RPcrazy NOTE: Please keep an eye out for "Retrospect" DRR casefile/romance by RPcrazy. COMING SOON.