Title: Conundrum
Author: Chad Moore
E-mail: Chad_Skywalker@webtv.net
Feedback: Always welcome!
Date: June 27th, 2001
Archive: Yes, just leave my name on it
Series/Sequel: This story is a sequel to "Dangerous
Undercurrents".
Rating: PG13 (violence)
Category: M/O
Fandom: XF
Spoilers: This adventure takes place after the TV
story, "Existence".
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to CC and
1013; any others were conceived in my warped
imagination.
HUGE Beta Thanks: The lovely Bertina, especially for
her support during my illness.

Chapter Three: Off With His Head

"Where do you think you're going?" Phoebe questioned,
sharing a very concerned look with Carolyn. Mulder's
outburst had left them both rattled.

He turned, halfway out of the hotel room's door. "I
told you, I'm going to find Jamie."

Phoebe's eyes danced feverishly. "You're assuming this
because of a dream?"

"It's not my imagination!" he exclaimed.

"Fox, nobody could survive a cave-in like that." She
had to make him see reason, instead of flying off.

Mulder eyes flashed dangerously. "He's not dead! If
there is even the slightest chance, I have to hang
onto that hope. I've let this go for eighteen years. I
don't want to hear any more negative talk about what
may or may not have happened. Can't you just accept
that I believe in my heart that he's alive?"

Carolyn stepped forward, eager to intervene. "Um,
Foxy, where are you planning to start?"

"I thought I'd visit the university and talk with the
head of the archaeology department," he sighed.

"Why?" Phoebe scoffed. "Everything you could possibly
need is here in the files." She gestured toward the
unmade bed where a thick folder waited.

"There's not a single thing in there to tell me what I
was doing in 1983. I'm going to learn exactly what
they discovered down in those catacombs," he answered,
his eyes pleading. "Look, I need something real,
something concrete to hold on to."

Phoebe sighed and folded her arms. "If you insist on
running off like a maniac, I'd better come with you."

"Me, too!" Carolyn chimed in.

Mulder slid into his jacket, keeping an eye on both
his friends. He realized he must sound like an insane
SOB, but he'd been branded with that distinction from
day one. "Alright," he agreed. "I'd appreciate the
help."

He hurried out of the room. As Phoebe made to follow,
Carolyn held her back with a restraining hand. "What
changed your mind?"

"Not wanting to see Fox locked up, mostly," she
replied.

Carolyn fixed her with a steely gaze, one she reserved
for getting her own way with her husband. "You don't
believe that Jamie could still be alive, do you?"

"No."

"Then why did you give Foxy those files?"

"To make him come to terms with it."

"But if Jamie did survive..."

"That's a pretty big if," Phoebe observed.

"Did you see the hope shining in his face?" Carolyn
asked. "I don't want to see that light go out. We
can't take his hope away."

"What's worse, Carolyn -- knowing or not knowing?"

Carolyn chewed this over. It was a valid question.
Before she could respond, Mulder reappeared in the
open doorway. "Are you two coming?"

~oo0oo~

Mulder strode about five paces ahead of Carolyn and
Phoebe as they made their way down a brightly lit
corridor toward the archaeology department. The
historic university looked exactly the same; the halls
wafting a musty smell of books. Mulder could feel
Carolyn and Phoebe's 
eyes on his back. He knew they were tagging along out
of worry, and not out of the belief he felt. He
couldn't help but think of all the times Scully had
done the exact same thing. Well, everyone in the world
could call him crazy. His dreams, his visions, were
trying to tell him 
something. He was more certain about Jamie with every
step.

Carolyn, who had been uncharacteristically silent on
the drive over, peered through a passing window. If
Mulder discovered what actually happened back in 1983,
how would it effect him? She glanced across at 
Phoebe, the discerning voice of reason through it all.
Carolyn could sense that she was still bitter about
losing Foxy to Jamie all those years ago.

The trio paused outside a large door with the name DR.
BRYCE LANGFORD emblazoned on the frosted glass. Mulder
rapped loudly on the paneling and made to open the
door. Phoebe slammed a palm against the glass. "You'd
better let me handle this," she suggested, walking in
ahead of him.

Dr. Langford looked up over his glasses as a woman
entered his office, followed closely by a man and
another lady. "Yes, how may I help you?" he inquired.

Phoebe flashed her badge in the man's face. "Inspector
Phoebe Green, Scotland Yard." She nodded back at
Mulder and Carolyn, who joined her in front of
Langford's cluttered desk. "These are my associates,
Mr. Fox Mulder and Mrs. Carolyn Fredericks."

"Hi!" Carolyn smiled. Her outburst elicited a
withering glance from Phoebe.

"Scotland Yard?" Langford repeated. "You have the
advantage of me Inspector Green."

Phoebe smiled faintly. She loved how her official
status set people on edge. "We're here investigating
your findings in the excavation of Oxford Woods."

"Oh, really?" Langford looked the three people over.
"Everything was clearly documented and reported last
year," he explained.

"We know about the bodily remains, doctor. What we're
interested in was the catacombs purpose."

"Purpose?"

Mulder leaned forward. "I lost someone down there and
I have to know..."

Phoebe cut in before he could continue. "Please,
doctor? Your help would be greatly appreciated."

"Of course, inspector," he said after a moment's
hesitation. Langford stood up and hooked his thumbs in
the lapels of his jacket. He moved toward a framed map
of the catacomb system hanging on a nearby wall. He
adopted his best speech voice. "The cave system is a
natural geological formation, carved out of rock by a
long-dried up underground river."

Mulder peered at the map, with its honeycomb of
tunnels marked out -- all leading to a huge chamber,
like a spider at the center of a web.

"And what about this?" he asked, indicating the
drawing of the chamber.

"Oh, that? The central chamber was the largest cavern
found. Many of the most important archaeological
finds..."

Mulder did not have the patience to hear a lecture.
"Yes, I get the picture. It's big. What I'm interested
in is what you found down there."

The doctor hesitated once more. "Dr. Langford, I must
insist..." Phoebe cut in.

He shrugged. "Nothing of any significance. Nothing to
pinpoint what those people were doing down there
eighteen years ago."

"What about the hole blown up through the earth?"
prompted Mulder.

"Oh," he sighed. "Just a build up of air trapped
underground. It found a crack in the crust and
released itself. Rather like a cork popping out of a
bottle." He laughed.

"You can't be serious!" Mulder exploded.

"We've determined that the ghostly noises heard over
the years came from the wind carried through the
tunnels," he replied, smugly.

Phoebe nodded at Carolyn, who squeezed Mulder's arm.
They wouldn't get anywhere if Mulder pissed the man
off. "I've gone over the reports thoroughly, Dr.
Langford. Besides a few vauge notions, no one seems
willing to make a conclusion." Goddess, now she was
beginning to sound like Mulder!

"What are you suggesting, young lady? That I've been
supressing information? That the legends of witchcraft
and ghosts are true?"

Mulder looked across at Phoebe, both taken aback by
his hostile attitude. "What have legends got to do
with an avalanche in 1983?" Mulder wondered aloud.

"Well, there were the ravings of that professor..."
Langford stared off into space. "Oh, what was the
man's name?"

"Wickham," Carolyn opined.

Langford snapped his fingers. "Wickham! Oh, yes that
was it. Weird Wickham."

"What did he say?" pressed Mulder, he duly noted the
shiftiness in the man's eyes.

The doctor sighed, as if it took every ounce of will
to reply. "He went on and on about a cult using the
catacombs. Have you ever heard of such an outrageous
suggestion?"

"I've heard far worse," Phoebe replied, glancing
knowingly at Fox. She was quite surprised by his
faraway statement.

"A cult?" Mulder repeated, his voice faint.

Langford waved his hands in the air, dismissively.
"Sheer nonsense."

Carolyn felt a chill. Something about this seemed
familiar. Of course! The night Jamie disappeared...
Professor Wickham and Foxy were arguing about a cult.
"Oh my god," she whispered.

"What is it, Carolyn?" Phoebe asked.

"I-I remember the professor talking about a cult..."
she began, slowly.

The words filled Mulder's mind. He shook his head to
clear his thoughts.

Dr. Langford puffed out his cheeks in irritation. "If
you want to discuss fantasy, kindly leave my office. I
have a great deal of work to do."

"But..." Mulder began to protest.

"Yes, I guess that's about it then. Thank you for your
valuable time," Phoebe said, cuttingly.

Mulder stalked out of the office, his face red from
frustration and anger. Carolyn and Phoebe caught the
door before it could slam back on its frame.

"Mulder, wait!" Carolyn called.

He whirled around, fuming. "Absolutely no help
whatsoever."

"I'm sorry," she frowned.

"What are you thinking, Fox?" Phoebe wondered.

"I think that man was lying," he replied.

"So do I."

Carolyn looked from one to the other. "Well, what do
we do now?"

"I think we should go back to the site and find a way
down into the catacombs," Mulder told them, firmly.

Phoebe raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It may be another
wild goose chase."

"This is one goose I'm ready to catch and cook!" he
said, excitedly.

Carolyn bit her bottom lip. She did not like the idea
of trudging underground in a place like that. "Um, I
don't know. I've got a bad feeling about this," she
groaned.

~oo0oo~

Dr. Langford peeked out of his door into the now empty
hallway. Swiftly turning the lock, he hurried back to
his desk. Taking a deep breath he picked up his phone
and dialed the operator.

"Hello, operator? Yes, I'd like to place an
international call to a Mr. Gordon Stratton at the
Avatar research facility, San Francisco, California,
United States."

~oo0oo~

The reassurance of daylight did nothing to allay
Carolyn's fears. Oxford woods, churned up and
excavated, was still the creepiest place on the
planet. Foxy was all too eager to go down into the
catacombs. She didn't like it. What if what he found
dashed all of his hopes for good?

Phoebe's earlier question came back to haunt her:
'What's worse, knowing or not knowing?'

Parking Carolyn's car in concealment, Mulder found a
tire iron, snatched up his flashlight, and briskly
headed straight toward the boarded up entrance. Phoebe
parked her car nearby, and quickly followed, carrying
two flashlights bought in town.

"Are you all right?" Phoebe asked, taking in the
nervous statement on Carolyn's face.

"Um, there's not going to be any... ah, skeletons or
anything down there?" she wondered.

Phoebe snorted. "I don't think so. Everything was
removed during the excavation."

"Good," she sighed, relieved.

When they eventually caught up with Mulder, he was
already hard at work prying loose the boards. The
burrow was shaped like a mine entrance. Phoebe felt
better for being here. What they were doing was highly
illegal, but she was very curious to know why Dr.
Langford was being so 
uncooperative.

With an audible grunt, Mulder tore several planks
away. The hole left was just large enough for them to
squeeze through. Letting the crowbar drop, he gripped
his torch and looked back at his friends.

"Ready?" he asked, expectantly.

"After you," Phoebe said.

Mulder ushered them down the steeply sloping tunnel
that led into the caves. Descending a stone staircase,
Mulder's flashlight swept across the cave system's
rock walls. He noted that a lot of money had gone into
opening up the catacombs. Sturdy pit props had been
erected to support the exposed tunnels. At random
intervals, metal hooks dripped with 
condensation. The archaeology team had taken their
lamps after completing the excavation. He felt a chill
piercing his skin. Everything seemed so familiar, like
a half remembered dream.

"It's a wonder someone didn't buy this place and turn
it into a theme park," Carolyn's voice echoed.

"And bill it as what, Oxford's Cave of Horrors?"
Phoebe suggested.

Mulder moved further into the tunnel. Just on the edge
of his vision, he saw figures moving stealthily along
the darkened corridors. He blinked rapidly and the
images chased themselves away.

"Foxy, are you ok?" Carolyn inquired, worriedly.

"Yeah, just deja vu," he replied.

A sharp wind blew through the tunnel opening, causing
Carolyn to whirl around and point her slim flashlight
into the darkness.

"It's just the wind," Phoebe chided.

"I hope so. I don't fancy meeting any ghosts," Carolyn
breathed. "You know what, I think I'll wait outside.
I'd like to call home while you two poke around."

"Cowardly custard!" Phoebe called after her.

With a quick turn, Carolyn stuck her tongue out before
reemerging into 
the sunlight.

Further along the tunnel, Mulder paused before a huge
area of cave wall divided into marble panels depicting
cracked, faded figures and odd symbols. He took a
small, black notebook from his back pocket and began
to sketch.

"What are you doing?" asked Phoebe.

"I've got three friends back home who might find this
interesting," he replied.

Phoebe inhaled deeply and took tentative steps toward
him. "Fox, what are you going to do if you find out
he's really dead?"

"Don't say that," he whispered, closing the notebook.

"I have to. I understand that you feel guilty about
the past..."

"Of course I do! I have to find the missing pieces. I
have to know what 
happened."

"For closure?"

"No! For my heart. I never stopped loving Jamie."

"I know," she said quietly. "I just wish things
could've been different."

Silence hung like a shroud in the damp cave.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe," Mulder said, sincerely.

"The last time we met, you didn't mention anything,"
she said. "I thought that you'd put this all behind
you."

He smiled a little. "To be honest, I thought I had."

"It's water under the bridge," she told him, moving to
examine the wall. "I wonder why this was left behind?"

"I've seen this before," Mulder said, half to himself.
He knelt to examine a particular fresco. Hundreds of
years old, the carved stick figures surrounded a
stone.

Phoebe ran a hand across the marble surface. "It
appears to be a primitive ceremony," she observed.

Mulder pointed at the last panel. "What do you make of
that?"

She joined him, and took in the stick men raising
their hands above a stone. Mulder peered intently at
the final slab. It also depicted a series of a lines
radiating out toward... something.

"This one's been scratched out," he said.
 
Indeed, the image had been completely desecrated by a
blunt object.

Phoebe stood up, brushing her hands off. "Well,
obviously someone wanted to keep the end of the
ceremony a secret."

"Dr. Langford?" he suggested.

"Who knows?" she shrugged.

Mulder turned on his heel, casting a light around the
tunnel walls. His heart raced, causing a rushing sound
in his ears. What he wouldn't give for a bag of
sunflower seeds right about now to calm his nerves. He
knew the answer was here staring him in the face.

"Phoebe, what do you know about the legends?" he
asked.

She sniffed dismissively. "Just that the woods were
meant to be haunted by lost souls. I do remember
reading that occult ceremonies continued to take place
even after the university was founded."

Balling up a fist, Mulder slapped himself in the
forehead. "It's here! All the answers are in my head.
From what Carolyn told me last night, something
strange had been going on."

"Look Fox, I know what you're getting at." Phoebe
sighed. "There was never any evidence to support
Professor Wickham's claims of a cult."

"What about these?" He shined the light on the marble
frescos, then pointed it in her direction. "How do you
explain what we were doing down here?"

"I can't," she admitted. "But there's something you
have to realize, all of the witnesses are dead. You're
the only one left."

He nodded, grimly. "And I don't remember a damn
thing."

"Fox, there could be more going on here than any of us
know. I will grant you this, the murders from 1983 and
those of last year are unexplained. There is no
plausible explanation as to why the bodies decomposed
so quickly."

Mulder gave her a Hanna-Barbera double take. "What?
Are you trying to tell me that you think there's a
conspiracy here?"

"I'm suggesting no such thing. I just think you should
be careful."

From outside came the low rumbling of an approaching
storm. Phoebe shuffled her feet, suddenly feeling a
bit frightened. "Come on, Fox. I think we've seen
enough."

"No," he shook his head adamantly. "I'm not leaving
yet."

He made for one of the tunnel openings that lead
deeper into the catacombs.

"I don't like this," Phoebe said, warily.

"You're beginning to sound like Carolyn," he said.

"I'm beginning to understand how she feels." Phoebe
stopped and rubbed the back of her neck. Her hair was
standing on end. In the distance, she could hear a
slight... whispering. "What's that?" she asked.

Ahead of her, Mulder stood rooted, unable to move.

~oo0oo~

Turning off her cell phone, Carolyn replaced it inside
her jacket. The 
twins were fine, and hearing their voices made her
feel more at ease. Just like his namesake, her son
James could sense that something was wrong. She
clumsily assured him that everything was fine, and
that she would be home soon. Shortly afterwards, she'd
jumped at the sound of an approaching storm. The
setting sun was casting a series of creepy shadows
over the area. Carolyn shivered. A thunderclap sent
her scurrying back inside the darkness of the tunnel.

"Hey, you two!" she called. "It's starting to get dark
out there and I really think we should be going."

Her eyes widened in surprise. Mulder was backing away,
his face filled with terror. Carolyn rushed forward
and tugged at Phoebe's sleeve.

"What's wrong with Mulder?"

She froze. A sound which haunted her nightmares echoed
up one of the tunnels. A whispering growing in volume
to a slithering scream. Mulder hunched forward,
wrapping his arms around his knees. He started crying
softly, rocking back and forth.

Phoebe stared down at him in shock. He'd slipped into
an almost catatonic state. Carolyn knelt beside him,
willing him to move. What in the hell could reduce a
man like Fox Mulder into a frightened child?

"What are we going to do?" Carolyn wailed. "He won't
move!"

The slithering sound drew closer. "Grab an arm!"
Phoebe hollered.

Grasping him under an arm each, the two women hauled
Mulder to his feet and made a dash for the entrance.
They struggled through the opening and burst out into
a sudden downpour.

"Look," Carolyn cried, pointing at her car standing in
the rain.

"Come on!" Phoebe shouted.

They ran, carrying an unconscious Mulder between them,
slipping through the mud. Something large passed
overhead. The keening of birds in a raging storm.

Phoebe shook her head. "Birds! It was only birds! I
feel like a bleedin' B-movie star!"

Carolyn felt a kind of nauseous relief. "I don't
believe it!" she cried. "That...that sound came from
within the tunnel."

"Remember what Dr. Langford said about sound traveling
through the cave? I guess he was right." Hefting a
limp, soaken Mulder between them, Phoebe nodded.
"You'd better get him to a doctor, fast."

Carolyn reached her vehicle and grabbed at the door,
pulling it open. She jumped inside, Phoebe helping her
to set Mulder into the passenger seat. Then she
started the engine.

"Just a moment, what are you going to do?" she asked.

Phoebe pointed back toward the tunnel entrance. "Put
those boards back into place. We don't want someone
getting lost down there. I'll call you later."

"Ok, if you're sure," Carolyn said, all to eager to
leave. Gunning the engine, she pushed her foot down on
the accelerator, and sped away with Mulder as fast as
she could.

The wheels spun out, sending a spray of mud flying
onto Phoebe's coat. "Great!" she hissed. "What next?"

Shaking her head, she headed back toward the tunnel.
The rain was coming down in buckets now, and she was
tempted to leave the opening uncovered till morning.
Knowing her luck, someone would come along, get
curious, then lose themselves in the tunnels. Picking
up the discarded planks, Phoebe started to set them
back into place.

Once more, a screeching sound filled the air. She
looked up into the rain soaked sky, flicking her
dripping auburn locks from her eyes. Boy, she'd love
to have a pair of sights trained on those bloody
birds!

Something large crashed through the tunnel opening,
splintering the wood into tiny fragments. Phoebe
screamed and staggered backwards, falling into the
ever growing mud. Her eyes were large saucers of fear.

A creature, from the darkest nightmare imaginable,
roared its fury. Its snake-like creature reared up,
and slithered through the mud toward her.

Struggling to her feet, Phoebe slid frantically for
her waiting car. Lightning flashed, and the creature
lunged for its prey. Leathery wings propelled it
forward, swooping down. A tentacled mouth clamped onto
the back of Phoebe's neck, just as her hand reached
the door handle.

Dark blood spread into the brown water. The lifeless
husk that had once been Inspector Phoebe Green
crumpled to the ground with a sickening squelch. A
bolt of lightning pierced the sky, and the creature
screeched its triumphant.

Phoebe's body began to disappear under the mud.

~oo0oo~

Some distance away, Mulder stirred and rubbed at the
aching behind his temples. "Carolyn, what happened?"

She turned to him in surprise. He looked as if he'd
just woken from a dream. "I should have never brought
you here," she whispered.

"What? Why?" he questioned.

"Relax, Foxy. I'm taking you to see a doctor."

"I don't need a doctor!" he insisted, his tone that of
a petulant little boy. "Ouch," he winced, shutting his
eyes against the pain.

"Oh, no?"

"Please, just tell me what happened."

"You went into some kind of shock. You really had me
scared."

"Carolyn, it's nothing. I've been having these...
funny turns for about a year now."

"All the more reason to have a doctor check you out.
Do I have to drag you by the ear?"

"Ok, ok," he relented.

~oo0oo~

Stepping off the escalator, Mulder walked through the
D.C. airport terminal. After a good night's rest, due
to medication supplied by Carolyn's doctor, he'd slept
through the night. He insisted on heading 
home that morning. Carolyn made him promise to call as
soon as he knew anything. Even though he was no closer
to learning the truth about Jamie, the search brought
back the same feelings of excitement he'd had working
on the X-Files.

What puzzled him was his blackout in the tunnels.
Carolyn had tried and tried to describe what happened,
without success. Somehow a strange whispering sound
had reduced him to a gibbering wreck. 'Am I just
losing my mind?' he wondered.

Hopefully, with the journalist's and police
information supplied by Phoebe and Carolyn, the Lone
Gunmen could make something out of it. He knew that he
couldn't do this alone. He needed help to get Jamie
back.

Picking up his suitcase from the carousel, Mulder
placed the thick folders under his arm. Digging in his
pocket, he found his car keys and headed for the
parking lot. No sooner had he left the main concourse
when a familiar prickling spread across his skin.
Someone was watching him. Slowly, he turned and
swallowed hard.
 
No, it couldn't be! He shut his eyes 
tight. When he opened them again, the apparition was
still there. Striding with purpose down a flight of
stairs was a figure in a black jacket, T shirt and
jeans. His presence dark and brooding even across the
building. Recovering from his initial shock, Mulder
sprinted after 
Alex Krycek.

Keeping him firmly within his sight, Mulder hurried as
fast as his legs would carry him. Krycek was alive!
This was no dream! The Russian turned at a kiosk, and
Mulder leapt over a chair in his frenzy to catch him.

Krycek disappeared behind a wall. Almost there! He
rounded the corner...

Breathing heavily, Mulder fell to his knees and onto
the floor, mute with shock.

Ahead of him there was not a single soul. Only a long,
empty corridor stretching infintely away.

All of his emotions: hope, trust, and love were
viciously torn out. He'd actually chased after an
apparition of a man he saw killed before his very
eyes; believing him to be real and solid. Just like
he'd searched in Tibet and Oxford, chasing after the
truth. It was all a lie.

Jamie was gone.

Sick, reeling, he sat with his back against a
colorless wall. Voices from the past called out to
him.

"No one could survive that."

"Your lost memories are a merciful blessing."

A side door opened and a young desk attendant wearing
a soft lavender uniform stopped and looked down at the
pale man sitting still and cold.

"Sir, do you need help? Are you ill?"

But Mulder did not answer, having retreated somewhere
private as hope and reality drifted away.

[Next Episode: If You Remember Me]