Metal and Bone, by Mice, chapter 2 of 4 ~~~ DOGGETT RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA NEXT NIGHT "Johnny?" Doggett was surprised to see Byers standing there when he opened the door. He was still looking a bit pale and wan, but seemed to have more energy. The dark circles under his eyes were gone. Byers stepped inside and waited for Doggett to close the door before proffering a disk. "This the background checks you guys did on Sprague and McCrae?" Doggett took the disk. Byers nodded. "They'd met before they were employed by Zeus, at a conference after they were both out of college. Apparently, they stayed in touch, but it wasn't frequent until after their affiliation with Zeus. Both of them had somewhat questionable ethical issues surrounding their grad research work. Sprague was nailed for plagiarism, and McCrae allegedly falsified some of his data, though it was never proven. I'm kind of surprised to find they were both working. I have to admit, it made me wonder why any legitimate organization would hire them. Something's definitely going on here." "Well, we knew that from the beginning. This whole clone thing Scully was on about isn't exactly makin' the front pages. If this place was legit, it'd be on CNN. Half a dozen universities'd be claiming credit. You find out anything about who pulled their records from the system?" "No," Byers said, "other than the fact that it was an inside job. But we suspected that anyway." Doggett sighed. "Right. I'll look this stuff over later. You guys keep lookin' for stuff, would you?" "Of course." "You doin' okay? You look better." He rested a hand on Byers' back. "Thanks, yeah. Frohike wasn't going to let me come alone, but I talked him out of sending Jimmy along." Doggett smiled. "Glad you're feelin' better. What else is on here?" He waved the disk. "More information about Zeus Genetics, mostly. There's not a lot, I'm afraid. Their real business is buried deep. Most of their cover deals with stem cell and cancer research." Byers stuck his hands in his pockets. "And I'm sure they're working on that, but not in the way they're stating." "You been able to eat at all today?" Doggett asked. Byers shook his head. "Not much. I'm not that hungry." "Frohike didn't force stuff down you?" Byers looked up with a wry half-smile on his face. "He tried. He's been on my case about it all day, but my stomach's still a little off." "I was just about to eat. You wanna stick around a while, have something with me?" He motioned toward the kitchen. Byers shrugged. "Sure, I can give it a try. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to eat. Frohike'll be happy if I do, though." They headed for the kitchen, Byers close behind Doggett. "He always seems like he's fussin' about you guys." "Yeah, I guess he is. He's sort of our den mother." Doggett snorted. "I'm trying not to picture him in a skirt here. God." Byers chuckled. "Please! Anything but that. What's for dinner?" "Ordered some Chinese. How do you feel about mu shu pork, veggie lo mein, and some egg flower soup?" Byers looked at it. "I could probably handle that," he said, sounding uncertain. Doggett pointed to the cabinet where he kept the dishes. "Grab yourself a plate and a bowl." He went into the dining room, started pulling containers from the delivery bag and set them on the table. Opening the containers, he scooped and poured for himself, then sat down. Byers joined him with a small plate and bowl of his own. He didn't take much, but that didn't surprise Doggett. "Smells good," Byers said, seating himself. Doggett nodded, tucking into his dinner. "Is good. You look like you need it." "Frohike's been acting like I'll blow away in a stiff breeze the past couple of days," Byers said. He sipped at the soup. "You're right. This is pretty good." "Frohike worries too much." Byers laughed. "Yes, he does." He wrapped some pork in a mu shu wrapper, spooned on some sauce, and nibbled at it. "Hmm. I think I'd better leave off the plum sauce. It's a little much." "Don't eat it if it'll make you sick," Doggett said. Byers set the wrap down. He wrapped more pork, this time without the sauce. Taking another small bite, he nodded. "That's better." Doggett didn't comment while they ate, though he watched Byers. He enjoyed watching Byers. It didn't really seem to matter what the man was doing, he was just glad to see him. It was good to have Byers there, sitting at the table with him. "You maybe wanna stay tonight?" Doggett asked, picking at his lo mein. Byers looked up from his soup. "I, ah, Sir, I'm not really up to --" Doggett smiled. "I know. I wasn't askin' about that. Just wanted to know if you'd like to stay tonight. And it's only Sir when we're playing, you know that." Byers looked thoughtful for several minutes. "I think I can probably get away with it," he said. "Don't you have to be at work tomorrow though?" "Yeah. In fact, me and Monica'll be on our way to Narragansett to check out the Zeus offices there first thing, but that doesn't mean you can't stay. You can head home in the morning. It won't disturb the routine." Byers nodded. "Okay. I will, then. I'll have to let the guys know. Just be careful with the investigation. These people are dangerous." He started to rise. "At least wait until you're done eating," Doggett said, motioning to him to sit again. He felt inordinately pleased at Byers' acceptance. It would be nice to have someone to sleep with, even if they didn't do anything. He'd missed it since they'd been back from New York. He'd missed Byers. Byers settled back into the chair. "You're right. Mel would probably keep me on the phone until everything was cold anyway." He chuckled. "Much better to wait until after." "Why would he do that?" Byers laughed. "I think he wants gory details or something." Doggett grinned. "Well I won't be giving him any." "Neither will I." Byers grinned back. The smile lightened his face, and the food seemed to be putting some color back into him. "Good. Let him get his jollies elsewhere. I thought he wasn't into guys." "He's not, really," Byers said, "but he believes in equal opportunity porn." Doggett laughed, dropping his chopsticks onto his plate. "Equal opportunity porn?" "He draws the line at livestock." Doggett shook his head, still laughing. "Oh, my God." "Aliens, though, do seem to rate." "Aliens? Please, no." Doggett put his face in his hand. "Well," Byers said, mischief in his voice, "he said Delenn was hot, therefore alien babes are fair game." He chuckled. There was evil in it, Doggett could tell. "I don't even wanna know," Doggett moaned. "Your food's getting cold," Byers said. "Bitch." He looked up at Byers, who had a broad, if tired, grin in his face. "You're probably more into Seven of Nine, right?" Doggett watched as Byers lifted an eyebrow. "Actually, I was more into Wonder Woman." It was Doggett's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Wonder Woman?" "That magic lasso of hers..." Doggett laughed again, shaking his head. "You're one sick puppy under that tight assed exterior, Johnny." "So I've been told." "You got one problem with that, though," Doggett said. Byers tilted his head and looked at Doggett, curious. "Oh?" "Well, Wonder Woman ain't an alien, is she?" Byers chuckled. "No, technically speaking, she's not. So if we're going with aliens, I guess it would be Superman." "Since when is Superman an alien babe?" "When wasn't he?" Byers asked, grinning. "Last son of Krypton and all that stuff." "I shoulda figured. Truth, justice and the American Way, eh?" Byers laughed. "Maybe a little, but try imagining him in leather and tell me he wouldn't be the hottest Dom in the known universe." Doggett sat silent for a moment, boggled. He stared at Byers. "It's true, isn't it? It's the quiet ones that have the sickest minds." "No," Byers said. "Not at all." He shook his head, still grinning. He took another bite of his mu shu pork. "Bitch," Doggett said. Byers was twisted. He loved that in a guy. "You keep saying that." "I keep meaning it." "I think your vocabulary needs a little work." Doggett glowered at Byers. "I think it's your ass that needs a little work." "I thought we weren't going to do that tonight?" "Don't tempt me." He poked a finger at Byers. Byers smiled, shaking his head. "Under other circumstances, I'd take that as a challenge." "Don't even think about it. No playing tonight. You're really not up to it." Much as he might like the idea, Byers still looked under the weather. Doggett didn't want to push him. "I know." Byers sighed. "Doesn't mean I don't wish I was." "'S okay," Doggett said. "Next time." "I hope so." Doggett felt a pleasant warmth growing in him, and he smiled. He enjoyed this, all of it -- the banter, the laughter, Byers' company. There was an ease to it he never suspected he'd find between them. It was comfortable, comforting. Byers didn't eat much more before he leaned back from the table. He sighed. "I think that's about all I can handle for now," he said. Doggett nodded. He was nearly done himself, though he'd eaten considerably more. "You want anything else? Something to drink maybe? Coffee?" Byers shook his head. "Not really, thanks. I'm actually pretty tired. The day felt a lot longer than it was." "You're still not quite right," Doggett said. "I'm not surprised." Byers' eyes slipped shut for a few moments. "You wanna go to bed, then?" Doggett asked. "Not just yet," Byers said. "Got a movie, maybe?" Doggett shrugged. "Gotta work tomorrow. If we watch something it shouldn't be too long." "It's not all that late yet." Byers stood. He picked up the dishes. Doggett looked over at the clock. It wasn't quite as late as he'd thought, really. "What are you in the mood for?" "Something brainless," Byers said. "I just need to relax for a while." He headed for the kitchen. Doggett started cleaning up the empty boxes. "Jackie Chan?" Byers shook his head. "Not so frantic." "Mmm." Doggett followed Byers into the kitchen. "Like what, then?" Byers put the dishes in the sink and turned to him. "Got any classic monster movies? Frankenstein? Dracula? The Mummy?" "Monster movies were never really my thing," Doggett said. "Let me think about it," Byers said. "I still have to call the guys anyway, tell them I'll be here tonight." Doggett nodded. "Go do that. I'll take care of the dishes." He shooed Byers out of the room. A little while later, they sat close together on the couch. Doggett had pulled out an older movie, for Byers' sake -- 'Superman' with Christopher Reeve. He was amused, but Byers seemed more interested in turning into a vegetable. After a while, he lay with his head cradled in Doggett's lap. Doggett ran a hand absently through his hair, enjoying how soft it was between his fingers. Soon, Doggett was paying more attention to Byers than the movie. Byers was half asleep, watching quietly. He made contented sounds as Doggett's hand slipped from his hair down his arm to his waist. "We don't need to watch all of this, you know," he said. Byers shifted his weight slightly. "Mmhmm." Doggett's hand slid slowly to Byers' stomach. "You wanna try English?" "That was." "Yeah, right. Do we go to bed, or stay here and finish watching the movie?" "Mmmmm... bed, I guess," Byers said, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn. Doggett let his hand follow the arc of Byers' stretched body to his chest. Byers trapped Doggett's hand under his arm when he lowered it. "Feels nice." "You do," Doggett agreed. Byers smiled and looked up at him. "Come on. You don't look like you're gonna last that much longer." He tugged gently at Byers' suit jacket. Byers nodded. "Okay." Doggett let him sit, then wrapped Byers in his arms and kissed him. "Mmmm." Byers' response was warm but slow. Doggett could feel how tired he was. "You're gonna fall asleep here if you don't get up," Doggett said. Byers ran a hand along Doggett's side. "I did try to get up. You're the one who's keeping me here." "Lyin' sack," Doggett said, getting to his feet. "C'mon." He took Byers' hand. Byers got to his feet and followed Doggett up the stairs to the bedroom. They undressed in silence, and Doggett pulled the covers back. He crawled in while Byers hung up his suit. When Byers stripped to his skin, Doggett smiled. He hadn't been sure if Byers would. Reaching out, Doggett pulled Byers toward him and down onto the bed. Byers came to him willingly. Once under the covers, he slid close to Doggett and put an arm around him, laying his head on Doggett's shoulder. Doggett put a hand on Byers' hip and tugged him over until their bodies were pressed tight together. Byers rested one leg over Doggett's hips, and Doggett ran his hand down the back of Byers' thigh to the inside of his knee. "Mmm. Nice," Byers said. "Yeah." Doggett held Byers more tightly. "I'm glad you decided to stay." Byers nodded. "Me too. It's... it feels good to be with you. I like the idea of not having to get up in a little while and go home." Doggett kissed him, soft. "So do I." He rumbled a contented sigh when Byers squeezed him. He kissed Byers again, slow and possessive. It made him hard, and he pressed against Byers' body, breaking the kiss to breathe. "Want you," Byers whispered against his lips. "Sure you're up to it?" "If we take it easy. Slow would feel really good." "I can do slow and easy," Doggett responded, taking Byers' mouth again. Byers moaned low and deep, his breath already getting ragged. The sound intensified Doggett's desire. He wanted Byers more than he'd imagined. In the few times they'd been together, he'd begun to get used to the feel of Byers' body, to anticipate the ways the man responded. There was something very sexy about knowing a partner's response, not having to guess all the time. He moved against Byers' firm, slender frame, deepening their kiss. Byers sucked at his tongue, hands moving over Doggett's body. When they caressed his ass, Doggett's breath quickened, nearly panting. Byers' touch was sensitive, exploring him gently. It raised gooseflesh on Doggett's back and legs, his shaft responding in kind. 'I should have him like this more often,' Doggett thought. That was the one real disadvantage of having Byers bound beneath him -- no returned touch. "So good, Johnny." He thrust against Byers, whose own cock was hot and swollen. The feeling was delicious. He thrust again, then set a slow rhythm, hard flesh slipping together, slick from their leaking fluid. "Mmm, yeah," Byers whispered. Doggett pulled Byers atop him, holding him tight. Byers kissed him hard for a moment then lifted himself up on his elbows. "What?" Byers looked him in the eyes. "I want you on me, in me." Doggett returned his gaze. "You sure? I don't wanna get too rough. You can control things better this way." "Please. I need to lie down. Like this, I'd have to sit. I'd get tired too fast." Doggett nodded. It made sense, and he had to admit he loved being on top of Byers. He could get so deep sometimes. "On your back?" "Yeah." Byers rolled back onto the bed. Doggett shifted to let him move closer to the center of the mattress. "God, you look good like this," Doggett said. Byers was spread out before him, legs parted, one knee raised. His hard shaft stood out from his body, head glistening with moisture. Doggett leaned down and licked, tasting him. "Ohhhh..." Byers arched up into the wet stroke. "Sweet," Doggett muttered. He could smell Byers' arousal, taste it in the salt of his pre-come. It tightened his gut, made his rod twitch with want. He took Byers' cock in his hand and stroked him, long and slow. Byers let out another low moan, fingers tightening into the sheet beneath them. "More," he gasped. Doggett continued stroking, tightening his grip. He watched Byers' face, blue eyes clenched shut, handsome features twisted in pleasure. The 'o' of his mouth surrounded by beard was dark and tempting. Doggett thought about filling it with his rod, but knew he'd rather thrust into Byers' tight ass. It would be the perfect way to end their day, buried in Byers' body, slowly driving them both over the edge. He let his grip loosen, then slid his hand down to cup and caress Byers' balls. Byers thrust gently upward under his hand, panting. "Please, in me," he begged. He reached up and tugged at Doggett's shoulder. "Can't take... much more. Uh, oh God, want you." "It's okay, Johnny. Soon. I'll be in you soon." Doggett hadn't considered that Byers might be so sensitive. He'd thought instead that his tiredness might slow things down, and had hoped their joining would be longer, more languid. With a quiet, anticipatory sigh, he reached into his bedside drawer and pulled out lube and a condom. Byers' state only fired his own need. He slicked himself and rolled the condom on. A moment later, his fingers sought Byers' opening. He leaned over Byers' body, sucking and nipping at his nipples as he touched the soft pucker. Byers moaned, loud. "Unnnh, oh God oh God, Jack, please." Byers' arms were around his shoulders now, hands searching and kneading. Doggett pulled one of the pillows to him and patted Byers' hip. "Up a little," he said. Byers lifted himself, and Doggett doubled the pillow and slid it under his hips. They'd need the support. When Byers settled, Doggett pressed two fingers against the pucker of his ass and pushed gently. Byers opened to him with little effort. Even the thought of Byers being so willing was stealing his breath. He stretched him, stroking inside him for a moment, eliciting groans and gasps. "Fu-fuck," Byers stammered, "please Jack. Aahhhhh." Doggett couldn't make himself wait any longer. He took one of Byers' knees in his hand and raised it, lowering himself over Byers' body. He braced himself against the mattress with his other hand and touched the blunt head of his rod to Byers' opening. Byers gasped and arched under him, clutching at his shoulders. He watched as Byers' head fell back, throat exposed. Slowly, Doggett entered him. He grunted as the head of his cock passed the tight ring of muscle. "Uuunh..." The husky sound of Byers' tenor lodged itself in Doggett's gut. "Easy, Johnny." He pushed deeper, forcing himself to move as slowly as he could. "Ohhhh, oh!" Doggett gasped and bit his lip, shuddering as the root of his rod was taken in a hard grip. "Oh God, oh John, fuck, so tight..." It took so much effort to resist the urge to back up and pound into Byers. God, it was so good. "So hot, John, so -- unh -- fuck." Byers was moving slowly under him. The sounds he made were low and erotic, growls and grunts, moans and sighs. Doggett met his movement, gentle but passionate. He kissed Byers' shoulders and throat, licking and sucking as he moved. Shifting, he rested his weight on Byers, wrapping his free arm around his sub's body. They were so close, their flesh molding against each other. He could feel the pounding of Byers' pulse at his throat with his lips and tongue. It excited him even more as he claimed Byers, taking him slow and deep. Doggett wanted to hold him like this all night, moving inside him, making Byers his. It was a gift, the way Byers gave himself over to their pleasure. "Ahhhh, God, coming --" Byers gasped and jerked, hands gripping Doggett hard enough to bruise. Byers clamped down hard on Doggett's shaft, and gouts of hot, sticky semen rushed between their bodies. Doggett grit his teeth, grunting as Byers shook beneath him. He shuddered as Byers cried out, panting hard. "Easy, easy," he whispered in Byers' ear. "Need -- oh God, John, need more." Byers nodded, still gasping for breath. "Uh, yeah, ah..." Doggett kept moving, slow and steady, sinking himself to the root into Byers. Pleasure burned in him, building with each stroke. "Unnnh, so tight, so hot Johnny --" Byers looked up into his eyes. "Fuck me," he said, breath still coming in sharp gasps. "I know... you want it..." Doggett moaned and let go of Byers' leg. He covered his sub's body entirely and kissed him deep, thrusting slow and powerful. He moaned into his cub's eager mouth, their tongues slipping together hot and wet. Byers wrapped his legs around Doggett's waist, pulling him in. Doggett gasped, breaking the kiss. "Oh God, Johnny. Ahhhh, ungh." He was shaking with need now, and Byers squeezed his dick in time with his strokes, pushing him past endurance. Byers caressed his face, kissing him soft, over and over as they moved in unison. Doggett needed this; needed the tenderness, the touch. It shone like a spotlight into the empty places of his life and filled them. "Come for me," Byers whispered. "Come." Doggett lost control at the words, emptying himself with a wail as he writhed in Byers' arms. "Ah! Unh! Nnh! Yes! Johnny--" He gave himself to Byers' plea, spilling his need and his passion into him. His head spun with his release; it was like flying. Joy infused him. They lay together, panting, holding each other. Doggett moaned softly, heart hammering. Byers kept kissing him, lips soft on his skin. "Love the way you fill me, Jack. Love how strong you are, how hot you are." "Johnny." Byers smiled at him, drowsy and beautiful. Doggett grinned back. Yeah, he wanted this to last. ZEUS GENETICS STATISTICAL RESEARCH FACILITY NARRAGANSETT, RHODE ISLAND NEXT AFTERNOON It had taken over an hour to get past several layers of receptionists and petty officials before Doggett and Reyes gained an audience with Karen Twitchell, Ph.D., the Zeus Genetics facility manager. All of them had expressed distress at Aaron Sprague's death, but it seemed as though gathering evidence was going to be a chore. Doggett didn't look forward to repeating the procedure in Bridgeport later that day. "May we see Dr. Sprague's office, Dr. Twitchell?" Reyes asked. Twitchell was tall and heavyset, with greying brown hair. She wore thin, bifocal wire rim glasses and gave off a very strong impression of someone who didn't like being messed with. She was businesslike, but distinctly prickly. Twitchell leaned back behind her desk. "There's nothing there but a computer and an empty desk, Agents. I don't understand why you want to see the office." "There may be evidence there regarding his murder," Doggett said. "I assume you'd like to know who killed him." "Of course, Agent Doggett. I just don't see what you could possibly find in his office that might identify someone who would assault him in a park in Providence." Twitchell sighed. "What happened was tragic, but now I'm going to have to find another biostatistician to take Dr. Sprague's place. Bringing someone new up to speed on his project is going to be time- consuming and will seriously interfere with our work." "I'm sorry for your loss, and the difficulty this presents to your work, Dr. Twitchell," Reyes said, "but we do have to conduct our investigation." "His personal effects were all removed from the premises and returned to his family," Twitchell said. "And his personal email and contact information?" Doggett asked. Twitchell's eyes narrowed. "We consider what is done in our facility and the data on our computers proprietary information, Agent Doggett. Your investigation is causing quite an uproar. It's frightening our potential employment candidates." Doggett knew it was the murder, not the investigation, that was frightening people. He leaned forward in his seat, putting on his best Bad Cop attitude. "You do realize, Dr. Twitchell, that the law does not protect institutional correspondence on company computers. It's not considered private correspondence. We don't need a warrant for the information." Twitchell shifted uneasily. She looked at Reyes. Not seeing any sympathy, she turned back to Doggett. "Well, all right then," she said tightly. "But I'll have to ask you to sign confidentiality agreements first." "That depends on the wording of the agreement, Dr. Twitchell," Doggett said. "If something we learn here becomes relevant to the murder investigation, it may need to be revealed in court." Twitchell's face darkened. "By all means, read it first." She pulled two packets of paper from her desk and proffered one to each agent. Doggett and Reyes both spent some time reading the document. When they were done, they looked at each other. Reyes spoke first. "I think we'll have to modify this paragraph, Dr. Twitchell." She pointed to part of the tiny print, in the non-disclosure section. "This is unacceptable for the Bureau's purposes. The language is far too restrictive." Doggett nodded. "It would prohibit us from testifying in court." Twitchell took the document from Reyes and read the paragraph in question. Her face fell, frustration growing. "Yes, I'm afraid it does." Doggett picked up the pen she'd offered him and crossed out the offending paragraph, initialing it. "You initial it here too, to signify your approval." Reluctantly, Twitchell did so. "And yours as well, Agent Reyes," she said with a put-upon sigh. After the formalities, she took the documents from them. "I assume you'll require copies." Doggett nodded. "Yes." "Very well." Twitchell rose and indicated the door. "Come this way." On the way to the hallway, she had her administrative assistant make copies of each document and handed them to the agents. Once this was taken care of, Doggett followed Reyes and Twitchell down a long hallway. At several points, they passed through cardkey security doors with cypherlocks. It was natural enough in a place like this, but Doggett could feel in his bones that Byers and Scully were right. He'd been a cop for too many years; he could almost smell the wrongness of it. There were some seriously hinky things going on with Zeus. Eventually they came to a door with Sprague's name on it. Twitchell swiped a card through the lock, punched in a code, and let them in. Doggett took in the small, nearly empty office. He walked into the room, turning on the light. Reyes followed him as Twitchell watched them both intently. Doggett advanced to the desk first. "How long was Dr. Sprague employed with you?" Reyes asked. "Aaron was with us for five years," Twitchell said. "How was he as an employee?" Reyes shifted her position slightly as she spoke, leading Twitchell to turn her back to Doggett and the desk. Doggett knew she was running interference, so he quickly searched the bottoms and backs of the drawers as he made a noisy show of booting up the computer to cover the sounds. Twitchell sighed. "He was a good statistician. Quiet. Did his work." Doggett's fingers found a tiny envelope stuck on the back of the top left desk drawer. He palmed it, not wanting to let Twitchell know he'd found anything. "Did he have any enemies?" Reyes asked. "Everyone in the field has professional rivals, people who disagree with us or accuse us of making things up. It comes with the territory. But would anyone want to murder him over it? No. Biostats people just hiss and spit at each other in the professional journals, Agent Reyes." "Will I need a password to get into his email account?" Doggett asked, turning back to look at Reyes and Twitchell. Twitchell's face darkened. "Yes, Agent Doggett. I'll do the input myself." He nodded and rose. "By all means. Wouldn't want to interfere with your security procedures." Twitchell sat at the desk, waiting for the main screen to come up. Hunching over the keyboard, she typed in the password. Seven keystrokes before she hit enter, Doggett noted. Not a long password. It might help when he went back to the Gunmen later. He was sure there had to be something in the system. The security on this place cost a fortune. "Here, Agent Doggett. And I trust you'll restrict yourself to only that information which does not require a warrant for access." Twitchell's voice was hard and annoyed. It was obvious she hated having to let anybody into the place at all. "You got it, Dr. Twitchell." He didn't feel a need to aggravate her. Whatever had been in the tiny envelope might be more valuable than anything he'd find in the email. Twitchell and Reyes hovered over his shoulder. Doggett called up the email program and tucked a blank disk into the computer, copying the directory and files. "What do you think you're doing?" Twitchell asked. "Preserving the evidence," Doggett said. "You never know when some virus is gonna whack your system. I'd hate to come back later, if we needed to, and find that the data was destroyed." "Of course." Twitchell's reply was dour. Doggett was quick to make sure that Sprague's address book was copied along with the email files. He wanted to see which of them would match McCrae's contacts -- provided they got to Bridgeport before Twitchell alerted that facility -- and have the Gunmen check out any overlaps. It was entirely possible that if two men were murdered, a third might have information that would lead the investigation somewhere. Conspiracies layered on conspiracies in Doggett's mind. He wondered if this was how Byers thought on a daily basis. It was starting to make his head hurt. His life had been so much less complicated before he'd been assigned to the X Files. "Okay, I think we've got whatever exists," he said. He pulled the disc from the computer and stuck it in his pocket. Standing, he turned to the door. "Shall we?" "Thank you for your time, and your cooperation, Dr. Twitchell," Reyes said. She offered her hand to Twitchell, who ignored the gesture entirely. A few minutes later, they pulled way from the facility and started for Bridgeport. "I found somethin' in that desk, Monica." She tilted her head. "Oh?" He pulled the tiny envelope out of his pocket. "Didn't have a chance to check it out, but it feels like it might be a key or something." He handed it to her. Reyes opened the envelope. She tipped the contents into her palm. It was a safe deposit box key. "I think we're onto something here, John." Doggett nodded. "Any idea where Sprague did his banking?" "We can check at Providence Mutual," she said. "That's where his checking account was." "Where's his branch?" "Not far, from what I recall." "Well, I say let's check it out before we split town. If this doesn't turn anythin' up, we'll get the Gunmen on the phone and see what they can come up with." "We'll need a search warrant," Reyes said. Doggett nodded. "I got an old friend from Lebanon, went on to law school after the military. He's a small time judge in Providence now. He owes me a favor." "What kind of favor?" She arched an eyebrow. Doggett pulled over into a 7-11 parking lot to make the phone call. "I got his wife out of a jam once." He dialed. PROVIDENCE MUTUAL BANK 178 MAIN STREET, NARRAGANSETT, RHODE ISLAND TWO HOURS LATER The drive didn't take long. With their FBI identification and the search warrant in hand, they were allowed into the safe deposit boxes, accompanied by a teller. The key for Box 5414 fit, and inside was a large binder. They left the key at the bank, taking the binder with them. Doggett sat behind the steering wheel for a few minutes in the bank parking lot. He flipped through the pages. "This doesn't make much sense to me. Looks like a lab notebook, though. I bet Scully can tell us about what's in here." Reyes looked at the pages as they turned. "I suspect this is the project Sprague and McCrae were working on. What does the first page say?" Doggett flipped back to the beginning of the notebook. "Just some numbers. We're not gonna get anything out of this here in the car. We're gonna have to consult with Scully. But first, we gotta get our asses to Bridgeport. It may already be too late to salvage any evidence there. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised we got anything here. I'm wondering if Sprague's email is gonna have anything useful in it at all." "We won't know until we get it into a computer to read it," Reyes said. "I don't suppose you got the password that Twitchell typed in?" Doggett shook his head, handing the notebook to Reyes. "No, but it was seven keystrokes long. That's something." "It could have been any seven random keys," Reyes said. She put the notebook into the bin under her seat. "Unlikely. Most people's minds don't work that way. The password would be something Sprague would remember. Might be a birthday, or a family member's name, or where he went on his summer vacation. Some shit like that." "We're not going to solve it right this instant," Reyes said as he started the engine. "No, but the guys probably could do something about it." Reyes sighed. "I don't see why you want to consult them." "Hey, they found out who our victims are. This is the sort of thing they're best at. Don't knock 'em. They may be weird, but they get results." "And we should be using the Bureau's computer labs on this." Doggett pulled out into the traffic. "We need their help, Monica. You know how Mulder was always losing his evidence. Somebody's gotta be inside the Bureau messing with stuff. What is it that you dislike about the guys so much?" Reyes sighed and leaned back into her seat. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared out the passenger window. "They just... I guess they just rub me the wrong way. They never seem serious about anything. They're unprofessional. They're constantly bickering with each other. There's bad energy all over that dump they live in." "So you're sayin' they just have bad vibes?" "I--" Reyes shook her head, resting her face in one hand. "No. John, if they weren't Mulder's friends, we'd be arresting them for computer fraud, industrial espionage, and probably treason on top of that. You know what they do. They're criminals. They should be behind bars." "They're journalists. They do a lot of stuff so they can get their stories. It's shady, but bigger papers do stuff like this all the time, and you know it." Doggett could feel his blood pressure rising. He didn't want to fight about this, but he couldn't let Reyes trash the guys -- trash Byers -- without saying anything. "They're on the right side, Monica." Reyes glared at him. "So they're vigilantes. How is that any better?" "They know things we haven't got a clue about. We need them. They've been Mulder and Scully's go-to guys for years when it comes to the really strange stuff. Anything fringe, and they seem to have the skinny on it. They got ways of finding stuff that I can't even begin to figure out." "Since when have you been their great defender? It wasn't that long ago that you thought they were just Mulder's flaky weirdo friends." Doggett gripped the steering wheel more tightly. "Since they been finding information for us that's been helping us solve some of these cases. It's not about what they look like, or how they come across, Monica. It's about what they actually do under the Stooge act. These guys get results, no matter what you think of 'em. Maybe you should consider that. Where would we be right now if it wasn't for their help this week?" Monica sat silent, arms still crossed over her chest. "I'll tell you where we'd be. We'd be suckin' wind. We'd still be trying to sift through dental records that don't exist. We'd still have two John Does with their heads knocked off in some impossible way, instead of identities and hard evidence in our hands." Doggett pointed to the seat where Reyes had stashed the notebook. "We sure as hell wouldn't have that -- whatever it is." Reyes sighed. "I don't know, John. Maybe you're right, but I just don't like those guys. There's something so... peculiar about them. You trust them more than you should." "They haven't exactly steered us wrong yet." She snorted. "Teletubbies, John? Supposedly, Byers is the one who insists on fact checking. How could he let them publish something like that?" Doggett grinned. "What*about* Byers? It's not like you've seen their evidence. Now, if they'd been talking about Barney..." "John! This is serious! And I think Byers is crazier than the other three put together. He just hides it better than they do." Doggett gritted his teeth. Reyes' words angered him. Byers was a little peculiar, admittedly, but he wasn't crazy. "He's not nuts, he's just... kinda... eccentric. Besides, don't we all get a little crazy sometimes? Sometimes bad shit happens and the only way you can cope is by being a little nuts." Reyes gave him a look. "What kind of bad things?" "Those guys ever tell you how they got together?" She shook her head. "No. I've never talked to them unless you or Dana have been there. I think they know I don't like them. Why should they tell me anything? Did one of them talk to you?" "A little," Doggett said. "I'm not entirely sure what went down, but it sounded pretty damned bad to me. From what they said, they almost got killed, and so did Mulder. Apparently they've been doing their paper ever since, and worrying that these conspiracy guys are out to get them because of what they say they know." "And how do you know they're not just riding on Mulder's investigations into the conspiracies to feed their egos? Thinking that these conspirators are out to get them to make themselves feel important?" Doggett shrugged. "I don't think they'd lie about it for no reason. Sure, Langly's got ego for miles -- well, okay, they all do, but they seem to really know what they're doing. Let's just drop it, okay? They can help us, and I think we should let them." "You're a stubborn man, John; you'll do what you're going to do. I just think that we should use Bureau resources instead of pulling in civilian 'consultants,' even if they are Mulder's friends." ZEUS GENETICS LAB BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT LATE AFTERNOON A search of Trevor McCrae's computer had come up empty. As Doggett suspected, there had been no email correspondence left to find. Now, Doggett and Reyes sat in a small, stuffy office with Gary Rosen, an undergraduate lab assistant. Short, obese, and already balding in his mid-20s, he was the sixth person they'd spoken with so far. Rosen was accompanied by Helen Curriman, an official from Zeus Genetics' human resources office. Curriman was a grandmotherly, white-haired black woman with a sharpness in her eyes that left Doggett on edge. He'd known women like that when he was growing up. They never missed a single trick. She'd been assigned to "observe" all of their interviews with Zeus personnel. Getting anything past her would be a bitch. Rosen looked sad and uneasy. "Trevor was a pretty cool guy, really," he said. "Most people liked him. I did. He was decent to folks, you know? Didn't get all uptight if somebody had a bad day, remembered people's birthdays, all that stuff." "So he didn't have any enemies," Doggett said. Rosen shook his head. "None I ever heard of anyway." "Mr. Rosen," Reyes said, reassurance in her voice, "can you tell us anything about Dr. McCrae's recent activities or behavior that might shed some light on why anyone would want to kill him?" Rosen sighed and lowered his eyes. "I don't know. He... well, I mean, he seemed kinda nervous the last week that... the week before he died. I don't know why. It didn't seem like he was doing anything different, but I only really ever saw him around work." This checked out with what McCrae's other co-workers had said. Doggett nodded. "Was he a loner away from work, Mr. Rosen?" Reyes asked. She touched Rosen's hand then backed off slightly. "Don't really know," Rosen said. "He never talked about much of anything he did away from the lab. Sometimes he'd talk about his wife, you know, but never anything else. I don't think he had kids or anything." Reyes nodded. "Was there anything at work that might have been causing him any undue stress? Were hours longer than usual? Was there a particular project that he seemed to be having any difficulty with?" Curriman looked at Reyes but didn't say anything. Rosen didn't notice the glance. He was staring into his hands. "Well, really, I think the whole nanotech project was bothering him. I don't know why, it's rea-" "Gary, this interview is over," Curriman snapped. "You will not discuss classified projects with outsiders." Rosen looked up, startled. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Curriman," he said. "Wait a minute, this could be something useful to our investigation," Doggett said. "I'm afraid you'll need to return with a subpoena if you wish to continue this discussion, Agent Doggett. The interviews are now over. You will not be allowed further access to our people without subpoenas and an attorney present." She stood and pulled Rosen to his feet by his elbow. "Come along, Mr. Rosen." She looked back at the agents. "I'll have to ask that you two remain here. I'll send someone to escort you out in just a moment." With that, she turned and left, Rosen in tow. "I think we just hit paydirt," Doggett said. Reyes nodded. "Is that a hunch, John?" She gave him a wry half-smile. Doggett chuckled without much humor. "Yeah, you could say that." TREVOR LINDEN McCRAE RESIDENCE 1740 CASSAHANSETT WAY, BRIDGEPORT, CT EVENING "The last few weeks before... before he was..." Lisa McCrae closed her tear-reddened eyes and sniffed, suppressing a sob. Doggett handed her a tissue. "It's okay, Mrs. McCrae, take your time." She nodded. Reyes looked over at Doggett and laid a hand on his arm. Once Mrs. McCrae got herself under control, she spoke again. "Trev was so uneasy. I don't know what happened, but I was fairly sure it was something at work." "Did he ever talk to you about his work, Mrs. McCrae?" Reyes asked. "Not much," she said. "He always told me it was highly classified medical research." Reyes nodded. "Of course." "But what did he say when he did talk about it?" Doggett asked. Mrs. McCrae closed her eyes and lowered her head. "He said... he said he felt that the project he was working on seemed to be verging into... questionable ethical territory." Doggett and Reyes looked at each other. "Did he say why?" Doggett asked. Mrs. McCrae shook her head. "No. Trev... he was very upset. He came home one evening saying that things at work were a mess, but he was going to try to stop it. He didn't say anything else. It was less than a week later that..." Her voice broke and she buried her face in her hands. Reyes moved to stand next to her, laying a hand on one shoulder. "I'm truly sorry for your loss, Mrs. McCrae. If there's anything else you can add to this, any information at all, it would be very helpful. It might help us find his murderer." "Trev really wanted to make a difference, Agent Reyes. He so wanted to restore his name after the allegations that were made against him in college. This... this was all so hard on him. He was so angry, but didn't say why." "Did he ever mention a guy named Aaron Sprague?" Doggett asked. Mrs. McCrae nodded and looked up at him. "Yes, he was one of the statisticians on Trev's project. I met him once. He seemed a very nice man." "Do you know if he was in contact with Aaron recently?" Reyes asked. "I think they talked fairly frequently," she replied. "Did your husband email him from home?" Doggett asked. "I don't know," Mrs. McCrae said. "I never read his email. We have separate computers." Reyes nodded. "May we examine his?" Mrs. McCrae nodded. "If you think it'll help find the people who did this, of course." She rose. "It's in his study. I haven't touched it since... since..." "Of course," Doggett said. "Do you happen to know his passwords? We may need them." "We have a cable modem. He's... he was online all the time. All you'd have to do is click to check his email." "That should help," Doggett said. He and Reyes followed her into the study. Doggett sat down and booted the computer. It wasn't password protected, and he downloaded the email without trouble. There were over 250 messages, but they downloaded quickly. He and Reyes looked over the subject lines and the addresses of the senders. There was a good bit of spam, but they ignored it. One originated from Sprague's email address, but the subject line was mangled. It was dated the afternoon of the day Sprague and McCrae were murdered. "Look," Reyes said, pointing. Doggett nodded and clicked on the email. When it opened, the body of the message looked just as messed up as the subject line. "It's encrypted," Reyes said, a slight frown crossing her face. "Sure looks it," Doggett said. "I don't know much about this stuff though." "I wonder if his other emails from Sprague were encrypted as well?" Reyes laid a hand on Doggett's shoulder and looked down at him. "I'll check. His stuff to Sprague might be encrypted, too." Mrs. McCrae leaned over them, looking down at the screen. "I know Trev used PGP. He said that I should as well, if I had anything to say that I didn't want the entire world knowing." Doggett looked up at her and nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. McCrae. That'll help." He clicked on the outbox and found that McCrae had indeed been sending encrypted messages to Sprague for almost three months. There were others in an email folder labeled 'nanonano.' "When did he start usin' this PGP encryption?" he asked. Reyes met his eyes. This had to have something to do with what Rosen mentioned at the lab. "About three months ago, I think." "That would make sense," Reyes said. Doggett turned back to Mrs. McCrae. "We're not gonna be able to deal with this here, Mrs. McCrae. Can we take this computer to the lab so we can have the encryption broken? It may hold some important clues." Mrs. McCrae nodded. "Please, if you think it'll help find whoever killed him, do whatever you need to." She gestured at the computer. "I don't need it, I have one of my own. Only Trev ever used this one." "Thank you," Reyes said. "We may need to hold it for evidence for some time." "I don't care," Mrs. McCrae said. "If it helps you, keep it." She blew her nose and patted at her tears. "We don't want to keep you any longer, Mrs. McCrae," Reyes said. "We'll be out of here as soon as we get the computer unplugged." It was short work for the two of them, and Doggett carried the computer tower to the rental car. "We gotta get this to the guys," he said. Reyes nodded. "In this case, I suspect you're right. The Bureau's lab might be able to crack the encryption, but I'm not sure the evidence would be safe. We both know how often things have gone missing from the office with no explanation." "Not to mention somebody burning the place down that once," Doggett said. "We need to head back to DC. I don't think we're gonna get anything else from Zeus." "We should head for Hartford and catch the next flight back," Reyes said. Doggett nodded. They had open-ended tickets, and if there was room on the next plane, they could get back to DC within a few hours. The quicker they found out what was in the notebook and the computer's hard drive, the closer they'd be to getting to the heart of the case. On the highway, Doggett noticed that a car was tailing them. He pulled off at an exit and got back onto the highway, watching as the tail caught up with again them about five minutes later. "Monica, we got company." "Lovely," Reyes said. She looked into the mirror on her door. "The blue sedan?" Doggett nodded. "I'm gonna try to lose 'em. Hang on." He took a sharp right at the next exit, then headed off into the small town, working his way around on side streets. They stayed on surface streets for nearly half an hour before Doggett got them back to the highway. "Looks clear," Reyes said, watching the cars around them. Doggett kept a sharp eye out. He didn't notice anyone shadowing them the rest of the way, but the blue sedan had left him uneasy. Someone must have found out about the notebook, or perhaps the computer. He wondered if they'd been followed to the bank. Until they were on the plane and in the air, he wouldn't let his guard down. At the airport, Doggett carried the computer tower and notebook in a carry on suitcase. As armed FBI agents they went through security behind the scenes, and the computer was booted up to make sure it was what it appeared to be. Doggett watched carefully, keeping an eye out for anything or anyone who seemed out of place. Reyes was nervous but quiet. They were assigned seats on a plane leaving within fifteen minutes of their passage through security, both of them standing anxiously near the gate as they waited. They watched everyone suspiciously. "Wouldn't we be endangering Mulder's friends if we gave this to them?" She looked around. Doggett nodded. He knew it was true. It bothered him, but the Gunmen were the only ones he could trust with something like this, and they were already involved in the case. "I know, Monica, but like you said, I'm not sure the FBI labs or the evidence lockers would be safe either. I don't want to put the guys at risk, but we don't have any other resources. Who else can we trust?" "I don't know, John. I know we'll have to talk to Dana. Maybe she can help with the notebook, but I don't know that she can help us with the encryption. PGP is supposed to be nearly impossible to break." Doggett sighed. He kept his voice low, speaking in Reyes' ear. "Yeah, which is why the government keeps trying to get people to stop using it. I think maybe Langly could do it, or at least figure a way around it. But we gotta get this stuff to somebody who can help us figure it out, and not just the encryption. This nanotech thing; the guys have looked into stuff like this before. Scully trusts 'em. Byers has been doing a lot of research on it recently, too. We'll just have to keep a close eye on them, and the evidence while it's with them." Reyes looked up as boarding was called. "We can worry about that later. Right now, let's just get back home." LONE GUNMEN OFFICES TAKOMA PARK, MARYLAND LATE THAT NIGHT "PGP," Frohike said. "Some of the best independently produced private security software around." "Not as good as mine," Langly said. Frohike snorted. Byers folded his arms and leaned back against his desk. "The only easily available encryption program that doesn't have built-in government back doors for the CIA, NSA, FBI, and other intelligence agencies." "I heard it was unbreakable," Doggett said. Langly shook his head. "It's a bitch, but it's not impossible." "Yeah," Frohike said. "Most folks don't have the firepower to run the decryption algorithms." "And you do?" Doggett looked around the office. "I'm not buyin' it." "Nah," Langly said. "But we got one thing those agencies don't." "What's that?" Reyes said. "The hard drive," Byers said. "And that's important because?" she asked. Langly grinned and plugged a keyboard and monitor into the tower. "'Cuz that means all we gotta do is find the file where he's got all his private keys. The public keys are in the messages. We run the files until we find which ones match the two public keys --" "-- and we don't have to run a decrypt by hacking time on a Cray," Frohike finished. Byers nodded, a smug smile on his face. "Who needs a Cray when you have us?" "When you got me, you mean," Langly said. "I don't see you bustin' your butt to help with this." "There's only one hard drive," Byers said. "And don't pretend you're the only one who could do that." "As long as Kimmy doesn't show up and try to claim credit, I don't give a shit," Frohike muttered. Langly glowered at the keyboard. "Oh, fuck him and his --" Reyes cleared her throat. "Uh, right. Sorry," Langly said. He blushed. "I wouldn't worry," Byers said. "It's not a DOD hack." "Would you guys get on with it?" Doggett said. He glared at Langly. "When will Dana get here?" Reyes asked, looking at her watch. Doggett looked at his watch as well. "Shouldn't be much longer. I told her it was urgent." Langly sat down at the keyboard and cracked his knuckles. "This shouldn't take too long," he said. "Yeah, just get on with it, Blondie," Frohike said. "The delectable Agent Scully will be here soon. I want something to show her." "Like she'll think you did it," Langly snarked. "She knows my kung fu's the best." The door buzzer rang, and Doggett, Reyes and Byers went to answer it. The security monitor showed Jimmy at the door, burgeoning bags of groceries in his arms. "Hey, guys, lemme in." Jimmy looked up at the camera. Byers unlocked the door and opened it, grabbing a bag before it fell. Reyes took another. "Thanks, Byers," Jimmy said. "There's about four more bags out in the van." "I'll get 'em," Doggett said. "Thanks," Byers said. "Hey, does this mean everybody's staying for dinner?" Jimmy asked as Doggett headed up the stairs into the alley. He brought two of the bags in quickly, passing Jimmy as the young man hurried back out for the last of the bags. Once he got inside, Frohike pointed upstairs. "Byers is in the kitchen putting stuff away. You wanna take those up to him?" Doggett nodded. "Don't worry," Reyes said. "I'll make sure these two stay on track." She grinned and winked at Doggett. Doggett chuckled. "Want a whip?" "I'll probably need one." "Hey," Langly said, "I got sensitive skin." He shot her a glare. Frohike laughed. "What he really means is, don't threaten him unless you mean it." Reyes shook her head, disbelief and a slight hint of discomfort in her eyes. Doggett headed up the stairs. He found Byers in the kitchen, his jacket slung over the back of a chair. He was putting away cans and boxes. "How you doing?" Doggett asked. He set the bags down on the table and laid a hand between Byers' shoulder blades. Byers looked around at him, relaxing from a stretch to put a box on the top shelf of the cabinet he faced. "Feeling better, thanks," he said. "I've been less tired today." "I'm sorry I had to get out of the house before you woke up this morning," Doggett said. Byers shrugged. "I knew you'd have to. It's okay." He turned and smiled, reaching out to Doggett. Doggett hugged him, holding him in a warm embrace. He could hear Byers sigh, leaning in close. "Just wish I coulda been with you," he said. "That tail we picked up outside of Bridgeport bothers me." Byers nodded against his shoulder. "Did you notice anything or anyone when you got back?" "No. I watched all the way here, too. Monica said she thought it was too dangerous to bring this stuff to you guys. I'm not so sure I disagree. I want you to be careful when you're out." Byers leaned back and looked into Doggett's eyes. "I'm always careful," he said. He started to say something else, but Jimmy entered the kitchen lugging the last two grocery bags, and dropped them noisily on the table. "Oh, hey, guys. Didn't mean to interrupt or anything. Agent Scully just got here." "Thanks, Jimmy," Byers said, moving away from Doggett. Doggett let him go and backed off a step himself. "We need to get down there, then," Doggett said. "Can you handle this by yourself?" Byers asked, looking over at Jimmy. "Oh yeah, no problem." Jimmy nodded. "You guys go talk to Agent Scully. I'll be down when I'm done." He smiled at Byers. The first thing Doggett heard at the foot of the stairs was Langly's voice. "Man, if this Goddamn 'nanonano' folder's got Mork and Mindy fanfic in it, I'm gonna kill somebody." Frohike laughed. "Why the hell would somebody encrypt shit like that?" "So nobody would find out who was writing it," Langly said. "I mean, would you admit to it?" "I wouldn't do it in the first place," Frohike said. "See?" Langly shook his head. "It's gotta be coming from somewhere. It's like a plague." "Will you please explain to me what was so urgent that you brought me here at this hour?" Scully asked. Doggett stepped over to her. "Well, that would be my doing, Agent Scully," he said. "Ah, okay." Scully nodded. "It wouldn't be the first time the guys have called me in by faking someone else's voice." She gave Byers a sharp look. Byers blushed. "It's about this," Reyes said. She pulled the notebook out of the case they'd brought the computer tower in. Scully reached out for it, and Reyes laid it in her hands. "We're not sure what's in here, but it came from Aaron Sprague's safe deposit box." "The key for it was taped on the back of one of his desk drawers in his locked office at Zeus," Doggett added. Scully opened the notebook and flipped through it quickly. "Bio-statistical analysis," she said. "Complicated stuff. This is going to take me several days to get through." "I wondered," Doggett said. "We've got email from Sprague's office computer. Once we get that together, it might save you some time." "And the other material Langly's working on," Frohike added. He elbowed Langly. "Hey, watch it, Doohickey," Langly said. "Don't hassle me when I'm working my mojo." "So what's stopping you?" Frohike gestured to the keyboard. "Aside from having no mojo, I mean." Langly stuck his tongue out at Frohike and turned back to his work, fingers tapping over the keys like lightning. Frohike turned back to Scully. "We figure this'll just take a minute." She looked up from the notebook. "I can tell you already that something in here is a definite and serious statistical anomaly." "Oh?" Byers moved to look over her shoulder. Scully pointed to a column of numbers, picking one out with the tip of her finger. "Yeah. Look here. All of these other numbers, until right here, they range between -.03 and +.1, but this one --" "+2.5?" Byers asked. "I can't believe that." "That's an astronomical difference," Scully said. "And look, from this point on down the column, these numbers stay in the +2.3 to +2.47 range." "That's really hard to credit. It's too much of a statistical leap. I mean, is that even possible without the numbers being faked?" Byers raised his eyes up the page. "I wonder what the alphanumeric codes at the heads of these columns stand for," he said quietly. "So do I," Scully said. "Possibly subjects, possibly different tests. The matrix is pretty complicated." "I wonder what the numbers indicate," Reyes said. She looked at Doggett. "Do you think this might be the project Gary Rosen mentioned?" Doggett cupped his chin in his hand. "Nanotech?" Byers raised his head and eyed Doggett sharply. "What about nanotech?" "Nano nano," Langly said. "Get yer PGP keys here, kiddies." They all stood and moved to crowd around Langly and his monitor. Langly clicked a few more keys, and email messages started resolving into text from the morass of garbage on the screen. Frohike was the first to respond, whistling low and soft. "This is the big one, guys." Byers nodded, looking up at Frohike from where he leaned over Langly's shoulder. Scully simply stood, shaking her head in amazement. "We need to bring Walter in on this," Langly said, shock in his voice. "What do you bet this has something to do with the shit Krycek shot into him?" Scully picked up her cell phone. "I'll call him." Langly shook his head. "I -- let me, okay?" Scully lowered her phone and nodded. "Are you sure?" Langly nodded at her and got up, heading up the stairs. Byers sank into Langly's chair and looked up the stairs after the disappearing blond. "That's going to be a hard phone call," he said. "He'll want to hear it, though," Scully acknowledged. "If this is a connected project, we may be able to get those things out of his system, or at least find a way to keep anyone in the conspiracy from controlling them like Krycek did." Frohike nodded. "That'll be a relief." Byers dropped his eyes to the monitor. "We don't even know if this project has anything to do with it. I don't think we should be holding out any false hopes." "When did those numbers start coming up," Doggett asked. "I can't be sure," Scully said. "There aren't any dates in the notebook, at least not that I can decipher." "But these coded emails start about three months ago," Frohike said. "That's not nearly long enough ago to account for what happened to Skinner." "We don't even know for sure that this notebook has anything to do with the emails yet," Reyes said. Doggett shook his head. "No, I'm certain it does. If it wasn't connected, why were these guys killed? With the notebook, Zeus' secrecy, and these emails, either there's a connection or it's a really amazing coincidence. I think our victims were getting ready to leak some information, if what McCrae's wife says means anything." "There's one way to find out," Frohike said. "We could hack Zeus' statistical UNIX cluster. See what comes up." He locked eyes with Byers, who nodded. "I agree," Byers said. Langly hurried back down the stairs. "He's on his way." "What did you tell him?" Scully asked. "We found some stuff that might interest him." Langly shuddered. Scully looked at him. "You didn't tell him what?" "You know I couldn't on the phone," Langly said. "There's ears everywhere." "He's right," Byers said, "it's too sensitive. Anyone could be listening." Reyes tilted her head. "Why would AD Skinner listen to Langly?" she asked Doggett. "Shouldn't Dana have called him?" Langly looked at her. "There's some things you don't know. Probably better off not knowing." Reyes narrowed her eyes. "Oh, right. Just take your word for it." Scully shook her head. "He's right. It's not relevant to the case, but yes, hearing it from Langly probably is a better idea." Reyes sighed, confused. "John, would you mind telling me what's going on here?" Doggett shook his head. "It's not my place to talk about it, Monica. That's up to Skinner." Reyes rolled her eyes. "Then I'll talk to him." "You bet your ass, it's up to Skinner," Langly said. He poked Byers in the shoulder. "Okay, so now that we've got this email stuff decoded, what's next?" Byers rose, letting him sit back down. "Frohike and I think it's time to pay the Zeus statistics clusters a visit." Langly pushed his glasses up his nose. "Oh, jeez, funky poaching? Right now?" Frohike laughed. "No, dipshit. From here. If we can't crack it from here, then we'll consider a road trip." Doggett shook his head. "No road trips. Not for this one. Two guys are already dead. I don't want any of you in a body bag." Especially not Byers. He repressed a shudder at the thought and pushed it away hard. "I'm with John on this one," Reyes said. Scully nodded. "In this case, so am I." Byers looked at them. "And what if we can't get the information you need from here?" "Then we find some other way," Doggett said, finality in his voice. He fixed his eyes on Byers', letting him know in no uncertain terms that he would brook no argument. Byers sighed and lowered his eyes. "It's not so bad. I got some idea of what we're up against for a password," Doggett said. "You do?" Langly's eyes lit up. "Well, a little. It was seven letters, Sprague's password." Frohike's eyebrow went up. "And how do you know this?" "Watched while the facility head typed it in. Counted the keystrokes before she hit enter." "Clever," Byers said, nodding approvingly. "Yeah, but what seven strokes?" Langly looked down at the keyboard. "Could be anything." Frohike looked up at Doggett. "Wait a minute. Those files. TREYNOR. That's seven letters." "Worth a shot, dude," Langly said. "Lemme get to the system first. If this doesn't work, I'll set up the password cracker." Frohike nodded and sat at his computer. Byers, at his own desk, joined the networking. They were silent for several minutes, each concentrating on their work. Scully looked through the notebook in her lap while Doggett waited impatiently. Reyes sat, tapping her foot on the floor. Doggett watched the Gunmen at their work. They were smooth together, like black ice on a road. Smooth, Doggett realized, and just as deadly. They cracked jokes while they typed, giving their efficiency a sense of ease, but he could tell by the look in Byers' eyes and the lines of stress on his face that they were well aware of how dangerous their task was. Their movements were coordinated, each watching the other as they concentrated, following and covering each others' tracks as they worked. Doggett felt a growing warmth in his chest, watching Byers, remembering their time together the previous night. The more time he spent with Byers, the more he admired him. The man had made his unassuming way into Doggett's life and settled there. He wished Byers would be going home with him that night, but knew it wasn't going to happen. It would be too much, too fast, and they both had other commitments. Skinner arrived just as Langly cracked the Zeus site. "B.I.N.G.O.," Langly said. "Got it in one, Frohike. You were right." There were equal amounts of admiration and exasperation in the tone. "What's going on?" Skinner asked, as Jimmy let him in. Langly looked up. "Nanotech. Zeus Genetics. It's a mess." He looked down at his keyboard. "I'll be with you in a minute. Gotta run the root directories." Skinner's face wrinkled into a severe frown. "Has this got anything to do with what happened to me?" "I can do that," Frohike said quietly, tapping Langly's shoulder. "Go say hi." Langly grinned as Byers nodded his agreement. He looked up at Skinner and rose. "We don't know yet, but I knew you'd wanna be here just in case." Skinner reached out as Langly moved closer, putting a hand on the skinny blond's shoulder and giving it a brief squeeze. He nodded to Langly. There was a softness and affection in his eyes Doggett never saw in the office. Reyes raised an eyebrow. Doggett shook his head at her, giving her a 'not right now' look. Langly headed back for the keyboard, AD Skinner at his heels. Doggett saw Byers give Reyes a nervous glance, turning his eyes back to the keyboard quickly to continue supporting Frohike's work. Doggett looked over Byers' shoulder. "What's up?" "Heavy security," Byers said. Langly sat down again in the chair next to Byers. "I got it," Langly said. He gestured Byers back a bit then looked up at Skinner. "We got a nanotech project at Zeus Genetics. Dogbert here says he thinks the dead guys were gonna leak something about this and that's why they got scragged. What we don't know is how the hell their heads got knocked off like that." "And what would this have to do with what happened to me?" Skinner leaned over Langly, one broad hand on the back of his chair. "Like, what if this is a new generation of what Krycek shot you up with?" Langly's eyes were back on the screen again. "If this is the same kinda stuff, maybe we could find a sample somewhere, hack into it. Maybe Fro could figure out how to shut off the shit that's in your system, or even get it out of you." Skinner nodded, his face thoughtful. "How likely is that?" Langly shook his head. "Not sure yet, but I swear Walter, if this is it, we'll fix it. We'll get you out of that mess." Skinner ran a hand absently through Langly's long, fine hair. "I know, I know. If anybody could, it would be you." He sighed. "But pardon me for not holding my breath. You guys have run into things you thought might be related before. None of them have panned out." Skinner pulled his hand back just a little too quickly to be casual. His body betrayed his sudden uneasiness at realizing what he'd done. Reyes' eyes widened. Doggett could tell she was confused. A hand in Langly's hair was an unprecedented public intimacy, and Langly calling him Walter was equally unusual. He was surprised that Skinner would be so open in front of anyone who didn't know. Langly paused, ice blue eyes looking up into Skinner's deep brown. "We'll hit paydirt someday. I promise." His voice was low and rough with emotion. Doggett ached at the pained look that passed between them. He remembered what Byers had said that night in New York, about how Skinner had been compromised, and the risks he took. Suddenly, Walter Skinner seemed much more vulnerable in his eyes. It was a frightening thought. Skinner was a tough man, he'd seen that. He trusted Skinner with his back, and to see him with that look in his eyes -- it was unsettling. "What the hell is going on here?" Reyes hissed in his ear. "This is weird." "You know about the nanocytes that almost killed him," Doggett said. "It's all in the file. The guys have been trying to find out how to get rid of them ever since. It's been some pretty heavy stuff. If you're stressing here, Monica, go have a smoke." Reyes didn't look satisfied with the answer or the obvious dismissal, but didn't press further. She gave him a look that he knew meant he'd be grilled later. He'd have to send her to Skinner if she wanted any answers. Doggett relaxed slightly when she nodded and pulled a pack of Morley Lights from her pocket, then headed for the door. Langly and Skinner were... complicated. She really didn't need to know about their relationship, but it looked likely to come out any time now. He'd only found out because he'd seen them together at the Oasis, a kink club in Maryland. Their mutual reactions had been of surprise and slight embarrassment, but the crowd had been mixed, so neither Skinner nor Langly had drawn any conclusions about Doggett's own orientation, and he hadn't offered any comment. He'd only been there to watch that night. They'd talked briefly and known it couldn't be mentioned outside the club. Since he'd been seeing Byers, though, his cat was out of the bag with the other Gunmen. He wasn't sure if Skinner knew. Reyes returned from her cigarette before the Gunmen sorted out the directories. "Look for anything marked TREYNOR," Byers said. "Look for files with the alphanumeric strings at the tops of the columns in the notebooks too." "Yeah, yeah," Langly said, concentrating on his work. "I'm setting up the search strings right now." Byers nodded and typed on his own keyboard with swift fingers. Frohike muttered to himself as he worked, quietly reciting strings of letters and numbers as he watched file names flash by. Scully tapped Langly's shoulder. "Make sure you get the graphs too. They'll make the information in the notebook much more comprehensible. We'll be able to decipher a lot more of the information with them." "Start in the backups," Frohike said, turning his head and looking over Langly's shoulder. "These guys have been dead for about a week. Some of these files won't have been touched since then." "Right," Langly said. "But they've probably got other guys workin' on these projects too, so I gotta look in the shared files, as well as Sprague's personal stuff. And this other guy, McCrae, his files too, if there's any on this cluster. We may have to crack the Bridgeport site too." Byers nodded. "I'm on it," he said. With that, Byers turned to another computer and started typing furiously. Frohike tapped the screen of his monitor. "Starting to pull down some files," he said. "How dangerous is this, guys?" Doggett asked. "Is anybody gonna notice that you're in there, grabbing this stuff?" He wasn't very familiar with the Gunmen's world, though he'd watched them operate a few times. That lack of knowledge was beginning to worry him. Getting more attached to Byers made him worry more about the man and the risks he took. Langly shook his head. "Nah. UNIX is a total snap to crack on a system like this. They'll never even know we were here. It'll be totally invisible. Once you get in, you give yourself SysGod status and dump the old password, and there's, like, no trace." "So you guys are safe, then?" he asked. "Nobody's gonna come kicking your door in half an hour from now?" Byers nodded. "For this hack, yes. We're unlikely to have any... unexpected visitors as a result of this action." He looked up. "I suspect we may end up having to get into other sources that'll be considerably messier and far more complex before we get to the bottom of this. For those, we'll have to cover our trail very carefully." "How's that?" Doggett asked. "What kind of sources?" "We won't be sure until we can get the lovely Agent Scully here to analyze the stuff," Frohike said, "but considering the implications of what we're up against -- genetic manipulation, nanotech, clones, and who knows what else -- we're definitely dealing with the conspirators that Mulder's been chasing around for years." Langly nodded vigorously. "Yeah, those bastards are behind all kinds of shit like this. And that nano stuff, man, Krycek had his hands in that. Those people are more dangerous than you got a clue about, Dogbert. If they get wind of any of this, everybody's ass could be toast." "The guys are right about Krycek and the conspirators," Scully said, looking up from the notebook. "We're playing a very dangerous game. Krycek was an assassin, Agent Doggett. He killed Mulder's father, and was with Luis Cardinale when my sister was murdered." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, looking away. Her voice softened, subdued, when she continued. "They'd been gunning for me that night. Melissa came to my apartment when I was out. They killed her instead." "I'm sorry," Doggett said. "I... I didn't know." The longer he worked the X Files, the more he learned about the losses everyone around him had suffered. If he actually believed in such things, he might think the division was cursed. Skinner looked up and nodded. "Alex Krycek was an extremely dangerous man, John. There are a lot of others like him involved in this." Reyes sat, silent, taking in the conversation as Doggett considered the information. "The guy who was an Agent working with Mulder while Agent Scully was missing," Doggett said. Skinner and Scully both nodded. "Yeah," Skinner said, "him. Rat bastard." Skinner sighed and looked over Langly's shoulder again. Doggett noticed he wasn't touching Langly this time. "I'm into the Bridgeport facility cluster," Byers said. Frohike nodded. "Great. I'll be with you in a sec. Almost done scanning the directories and files here." "I'm on the downloads in Narragansett," Langly said. "Got your graphs, Agent Scully. We'll have 'em here in just a couple minutes." Byers looked over at Frohike. "This password won't be as simple, I'm sure," he said. "No way they'd both use the... then again, why wouldn't they both use the same password?" Frohike asked. Byers shook his head and snorted. "That's really unlikely." He hit a few keys. "I don't believe this. How on earth could two scientists be so stupid?" Frohike chuckled. "Man, these guys are clueless about security." "Makes it easier for us," Langly said, not bothering to look up. "I'm with you," Frohike said. "Starting the root directory scans." Byers nodded. "I'm on it too." Doggett turned to look when he heard a noise on the stairway. Jimmy was coming down the stairs. "Hey, everybody, dinner's ready," Jimmy said. Langly looked up. "Can't go eat upstairs tonight, dude. We're in the middle of a really sensitive investigation." Jimmy grinned. "Aw, that's okay. I'll bring stuff down here. How's it going?" "What are we having?" Frohike asked, still looking at his monitor. "I made spaghetti," Jimmy said. "That sounds pretty good," Scully said, looking up at him. "Thank you, Jimmy." Reyes looked over at Scully. "These guys cook?" "Frohike's a very good cook," Scully said, "and Jimmy's not bad either. Now, if it were Langly making dinner..." Byers snickered quietly. "Don't insult the God of Hacking," Langly said, looking over at Scully. "Especially not when he's getting your charts and graphs for you." "She's right, blondie," Frohike said. "You burn water. The last time you tried to make a tuna casserole, the guys down the street at the Limerick called the fire department." "You lie like Shatner's rug," Langly muttered. Jimmy smiled. "The fire engines were cool, though." "It took two days to air the place out, Langly." Byers wrinkled his nose. "Burnt tuna is not the most appealing scent on the planet." "I'll help you carry the food down," Skinner offered. "Reyes? Doggett?" He looked over at them. "Sure, Sir." Doggett headed for the stairs. Reyes hesitated. "You know, if I'm not needed, maybe I should just go get some dinner on my way home." Skinner shook his head and pointed up the stairs. "Agent Reyes, what they find here could help break the case. It would behoove you to be here when the information becomes available." Reyes sighed and followed Jimmy and Doggett up the stairs, Skinner on their heels. By the time dinner was consumed, the necessary files had been downloaded and a start had been made at copying the information for Scully to examine. Byers and the other Gunmen would be going over it the next day as well. Reyes left first, a file disk in hand for her to examine later. Once she was gone, the atmosphere relaxed slightly. Scully departed not long after Byers gave her the CD with the files on it. "God, how could I have slipped like that?" Skinner said, sinking into the Gunmen's whorehouse red couch. He sighed and looked over at Langly who was standing behind Byers, making snide comments about his work. Doggett nodded. "It can be hard; you're used to this being a safe place." "And what's this Langly was telling me earlier about you and Byers?" Doggett could feel himself pale a little at the question. "I wasn't sure if you knew or not." "It's best to keep it out of the office," Skinner said. "Less stress to deal with. Kersh, he's always looking for an excuse." Doggett nodded. "Ain't that the truth. Last thing either of us needs is to give him an excuse to come down on our ass. But Scully knows about you and Langly?" Skinner crossed his arms over his chest. "You can blame that on Frohike." "Yeah," Langly said from across the room. He shot a glare at Frohike. "Troll." "Hey," Frohike said, "it was an accident." "Accident my ass, Doohickey." "I was drunk!" Frohike protested. "I still think I should have shot you," Skinner said, a wry grin on his face. "Scully didn't freak on you?" Doggett asked. "Surprisingly enough, no," Skinner said. "I'd expected that, with her being Catholic, she might have had a problem with it. She doesn't know what we do together; I think that would be a lot harder for her to accept, but she's never said an unkind word about the situation." His brow wrinkled. "She did express some surprise about it being Langly, though." Doggett chuckled. "Not like anybody would think you two were exactly each other's type." "Nobody ever said we were," Langly said. "Manifestly not," Byers agreed. Langly grinned. "But sometimes what you need wins out over bein' somebody's type." Byers nodded, and Doggett could see a certain sadness in his eyes. He wondered where the emotion came from. "Yeah, sometimes it does," Skinner said. "You done over there, Ringo?" Langly and Byers exchanged glances. Byers nodded. "Yep, I'm done," Langly said. He grinned, then came over and sat next to Skinner on the couch. Skinner slid an arm around the skinny blond, and Langly leaned into his broad chest. Doggett caught a fragment of a glance Byers cast at Langly, tucked under Skinner's arm, and suddenly wondered if the two Gunmen had been lovers once. It would explain a lot, he thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about the idea. He rose, going to join Byers. Frohike had gone upstairs with Jimmy already, taking care of the dirty dishes. "Hey, Johnny," he said softly, "you okay?" "Me?" Byers looked up at him. "Yeah, why do you ask?" Doggett laid a hand on Byers' shoulder. "Just... you looked kinda sad there. Wondered if something was bothering you." Byers shook his head. "No, I'm fine, but thanks." Byers' hand found Doggett's. "I'm still a little tired from the flu the other day, that's all," he said. The look in his eyes betrayed the lie. Doggett wasn't sure why Byers was lying to him, but he didn't feel right asking about it yet. They'd played together, had talked during the weekend in New York. At times it had been frighteningly intimate, but he didn't feel he had a right to ask about something that was obviously so personal. He knew he really didn't know Byers that well yet, and he wasn't entitled to anything. If Byers wanted to tell him, he would when he was ready. For now, the cagey response would have to be accepted. He squeezed Byers' shoulder. "Did you know Langly'd told Skinner about us?" Byers nodded, the barest hint of a blush reddening his face. "I knew he would at some point. I wasn't sure he already had, but it was inevitable. It was probably premature, though." He shrugged. "Neither of us have had the best of luck with other men." There was an undertone of pain in Byers' voice that strengthened Doggett's suspicions about Byers and Langly, but he wasn't going to press the issue. He knew it was true -- neither he nor Byers had the best track record with their relationships. "Maybe things'll be better this time," Doggett said, not quite daring to hope. "For both of us." He leaned down and nuzzled Byers' hair, brushing a soft kiss on one ear. Byers sighed. "I hope so. It would be nice to have someone around -- someone reliable, who wouldn't run at the first hint of anything unusual." Doggett nodded. He could understand that desire. He still thought Byers was downright odd, but there was a steadiness and solidity in the core of him that was impossible to deny. It pulled him in as surely as any moth to a candle. "How long until you're done?" he asked. Byers typed a little more. "I've got some search strings running for these files. I'm scanning for words and phrases associated with the different projects the conspiracy has been running over the years. With all these files to go through, it'll probably take most of the night, but I can let it run by itself and check it in the morning. I'll let you know as soon as I have any results." "We're heading out for the night," Skinner said. Doggett and Byers both looked back at him. Langly was grinning broadly, Skinner's hand tight on his shoulder. "See ya tomorrow, guys," Langly said. "Night, Ree, Walter," Byers said. "Night, guys," Doggett added. "Goodnight, Byers, John." Skinner nodded to them and guided Langly toward the door. Langly opened the door, and Skinner turned back to them. "Good luck." "Thanks," Byers whispered. Doggett slipped an arm around Byers' shoulders, wishing he could do something about the subdued pain in the man's voice. They both watched as the door closed. "I need to go lock up," Byers said, "unless you're leaving now too." "Not just yet, but soon." Doggett let him go to the door. "What's going on with this -- you jealous of Skinner and Langly?" Byers looked away, casting his eyes to the floor. He sighed softly. "They're happy together, Jack." "But you're not." Byers didn't reply. His eyes were still on the floor. Doggett walked over to him and put his arms around him. "I'm sorry," Doggett said, quietly. Byers finally looked up and slipped his arms around Doggett's waist. "I shouldn't feel like this. They deserve to be happy, both of them." "So do you." Byers closed his eyes, silent again. "You don't believe me, do you?" When Byers remained silent, Doggett pulled him close and ran a hand slowly through his hair. He could feel the beat of Byers' heart against his own chest. He wished again that he could take the man home with him, but knew Byers would refuse. Byers held tight to him for a few moments, hardly breathing. "Do you want me to stay for a while?" Doggett asked. "No," Byers said. "I've... I've got things to do." He felt Byers' arms tighten around him. Another lie, he supposed. Whatever was bothering Byers seemed deep, and too private for expression. "You don't have to be alone, you know." Doggett tilted Byers' face up and kissed his lips gently. Byers held back for a moment, hesitant, then returned the kiss with equal gentleness. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry. I don't really have things to do, I just... I guess I just need some space right now. I'm not used to this." "Me neither," Doggett said. "You don't have to lie to me, Johnny. Whatever's goin' on, I just wanna help. I don't like to see you sad like this." "I'll be fine." "I know. You always are. I'd just rather see you happy is all." Byers' face lightened, and a tiny smile crossed it. "Thanks. I appreciate that." "You still want me to go?" Byers touched Doggett's cheek. "I'm sorry. I really do just need some time to myself. I'll talk to you tomorrow, when I've got the files sorted out. We can go over the information and see if we can figure out what's going on. Maybe Agent Scully will have some more information for us by then." Doggett lowered his face to Byers' and kissed him again, more deeply. When he broke the kiss, both of them were breathless. Doggett's heart was racing. "Okay," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow sometime, then. You take care of yourself. Get some sleep." Byers nodded. Doggett headed out the door into the muggy darkness. Pausing for a moment on the stairs to the alley, he looked back at the warehouse door. Walking away from Byers just kept getting harder. He sighed and turned away, heading home for the night. ~~ end chapter 2 of 4~~