Eyes In the Night - Part 3/6
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

Spokane Police Department 
11:21 P.M. 

Moira sat at the desk of one of the task force members,
slowly flipping through a book of mug shots, some she had
seen before, some she hadn't. Mulder and Scully sat quietly,
watching her. They had picked up O'Neil from her motel on
the way to meet Moira at the station. O'Neil had been very
excited about the new development, so much so she hadn't
noticed the electricity that was still snapping between the
two senior agents. 

Scully looked up to see Justin walk in, looking a bit
harried. She had called him, despite Mulder's insistence
that he didn't need to be there; he didn't believe, after
all. But she had refused to keep him in the dark. As he came
closer, she noticed how his eyes narrowed upon sight of her,
then glared at Mulder. With some embarrassment, Scully
realized her hair had come down and was slightly mussed, and
her blouse was definitely wrinkled. She must look like a
woman who had just been ravished! She glanced at Mulder. His
hair was none too neat, either. 

"There he is!" Moira gasped. All four agents moved in to
look at the picture she was pointing at. "I saw him on the
street tonight. At first, I wasn't sure, but then he spoke
and I knew. I was able to get a better look at him this
time." 

"What were you?" Mulder asked softly. 

"A stray cat. Not one of my favorites, it's too sad, but
they see a lot down in that neighborhood." 

Justin had taken the book and sat down at the computer.
Soon, he had all the information he needed. "Matthew Ross.
28 years old. Works as a bank teller, believe it or not. Was
arrested 2 years ago for attempted rape. Got off on assault
charges. He has an apartment here in town, and also owns a
cabin up near Hayden Lake." 

"Does he belong with the 'boys' up there?" Scully asked. 

"Boys?" O'Neil questioned. 

"The Aryan Nation has their headquarters at Hayden Lake."
She looked at Justin. 

"No record of him ever associating with white supremacists,
but you never know." 

"Can we even get a warrant?" Cat asked. "I mean, with our
witness being..." She didn't know how to finish. 

Mulder answered O'Neil's question. "Nobody but us knows
'how' Moira saw him. But her positive ID should be enough to
get a couple warrants. If it comes to trial, however, it
will be a different story." 

"She would have to tell the court 'how' she saw the killer,
and no one would believe her," Scully finished Mulder's
thought. "But, if we find enough evidence with the warrants,
she won't need to testify." 

Mulder nodded to Justin. "You work on getting the judge to
sign a couple. Try to get them by tomorrow, if possible.
Where exactly is Hayden Lake?" 

"It's in Idaho, just north of Coeur d'Alene," Scully
answered. 

"Out of local jurisdiction, then. But not ours." He looked
at O'Neil. "Okay, you two can take the apartment," he nodded
toward Justin. "Scully and I will take a look at his cabin
in the woods. Sounds like a good place to hide private stuff.
Make sure the warrants say what we need to find: books,
videos, women's clothing, weapons, you know the routine." He
was all business now. "But for now, I think it's best if we
all get some sleep." He looked over at Scully with regret in
his eyes. 

"Right," she replied, her own regret mixed with relief.
"Tomorrow we just may catch a killer."

************************************************************

US Federal Building 
Spokane, WA 

A federal judge was reviewing the request for search
warrants, and four federal agents were waiting impatiently
for his approval. Having met at Scully's office at 7 A.M.,
they were now sitting around, trying to think of something
to do to keep their minds occupied. Moira had taken the day
off to wait with the others; she was just as nervous as the
agents. 

Moira refused to believe that the Beast would not be caught.
Brianna had been only 19 when she had been killed only two
short years ago. Like Moira, she had left their addict
mother's house at a young age. Unlike Moira, she had chosen
a career that dealt strictly with people, in a very intimate
manner. Moira couldn't recall all the times she had tried
talking her little sister into quitting her dangerous job as
a streetwalker. But Brie had absolutely refused to take a
job like her sister's. She thought cleaning up after horses
was disgusting. Just like Moira thought Brie's job was
disgusting, she supposed. But despite her job, Brie had been
a warm, caring person. She had not deserved to die the
violent way she had. No one deserved to die like that. Moira
wanted the killer caught! 

She looked at the four agents around her with curious eyes.
Justin Monroe was an interesting man. Tall, blonde and
muscular, he looked like your typical beach-bum. He didn't
believe in her ability, but he wanted to catch the Beast,
and that was all that mattered. And besides, he'd do
anything for Dana. 

Cat O'Neil was a confusing mix of confidence and
uncertainty. She was comfortable with her partner and with
Justin, but she seemed terrified of Dana. Moira supposed
that Dana's reputation as a top agent was enough to make any
aspiring female agent nervous. 

Then there was Fox Mulder. The eldest of the group, he still
looked boyishly handsome, and even an inexperienced woman
like her could feel the sensual aura he wore. It was a
wonder any woman would be able to work with him and not be
totally distracted. Cat seemed to ignore it, but Moira had
caught her looking at her partner in a more than
appreciative way. And Dana had worked with the man for 7
years. There was no way she could have ignored him that
long! And she was sure having a hard time ignoring him now,
Moira smiled to herself. 

It was obvious neither Fox nor Dana had gotten much sleep
last night, and not because they had been with each other.
Not outside their dreams, anyway; that's probably why they
looked so tired. Fox's beautiful eyes had dark circles under
them, and they kept glancing at Dana with a mixture of
desire and regret. Dana had the advantage of makeup to hide
her circles, but she still acted very nervous, and every
time her eyes met Fox's, she looked away quickly. It wasn't
embarrassment, really. She just didn't want it to be obvious
to everyone in the room what it was she really wanted to be
doing. Underneath all the tension, Moira felt guilt. Guilt
at what almost happened or guilt that it hadn't happened she
didn't know. Years of dealing with animals had made it easy
for Moira to read people; they used body language just like
animals, especially in tense situations. 

But she couldn't read their minds. 

Moira looked out the window. The pleasant weather of the
last few days was gone, and dark clouds hovered over the
city. Snow was in the forecast. She hoped the warrants
arrived soon; snow could get heavy here, especially in the
mountains where Dana and Fox were going. 

"I'm going to check on some paperwork." Dana's voice broke
the silence. With a look at Fox that said 'don't follow me',
Dana left the office. With only a short hesitation, Moira
followed. 

"Dana?" She called out in the hallway. Dana stopped and
turned toward her. 

"What's wrong, Moira?" Concern spread across her face. It
made Moira fell good that someone cared for her well-being,
but she quickly put Dana's mind at ease. 

"Nothing. I'm okay. I was just worried about you, that's
all." She paused. "You seem distracted. You have been ever
since Fox showed up." 

"Mulder," Dana said quickly. "He likes to be called Mulder." 

"Okay." She looked at Dana intently. "Now it's my turn.
What's wrong? What's going on between you two?" 

"Nothing!" Dana's answer was a bit too quick. Then she
sighed. "Things are complicated. Seven years too
complicated." 

Moira thought a bit. "Were you two romantically involved? Is
that why you left to come here? You broke up?" 

Dana shook her head. "No. We were never involved." She
paused. "But not because I wasn't interested. I just never
knew how to tell him. And it wasn't until just before I
left, that I found out he was interested in the same thing." 

"After seven years together, you just 'found out' before you
left! What the heck were you to each other before then!?" 

"Friends. Best friends. Partners. I don't know, soul mates?
But never lovers." 

"And now?" 

"And now he wants to change that." 

Moira watched her closely. "Do you?" 

Dana took a deep breath. "Oh, yes. But, I guess I'm still a
little scared to take that step." She laughed softly. "I was
about to take that step last night when you called." 

Moira remembered the agents' appearance at the police
station. "Oh, Dana! I'm so sorry!" 

"No! Don't be!" Dana put a hand on her shoulder. "We need to
catch this guy. That's what's important right now." 

"But when we catch him, Fox goes home." Moira's voice was
sad. 

"Whatever happens happens. If it's supposed to happen, it
will." 

"Then I know it will," Moira confirmed. "You two belong
together. Anyone who can't see that just isn't looking!"

************************************************************

I-90 East 
Somewhere around the Washington-Idaho State Line 

The warrants arrived around noon. Justin and O'Neil had left
to search Ross' apartment. Another agent had been sent to
his workplace to inform him of the searches and escort him
if he wished to be present for them. The timing, however,
had been planned so he wouldn't really have the chance to
get to either the apartment or the cabin before the searches
were over and done. Mulder and Scully would certainly be
done before he got there, seeing as the cabin was well over
an hour away from his workplace. 

Now on the road, Scully looked at Mulder, who was driving
(as usual). She decided to ask the question that had been
bothering her since Mulder's pronouncement last night.
"Why'd you send O'Neil with Justin?" 

"You're in charge of this case." His tone was defensive.
"You could have changed my plans if you had wanted to." 

"I didn't say I was against your idea, I just asked why?"
Her voice rose in response. 

Mulder sighed. "Cat's a good partner, but I figured the
cabin would be the place to find what we need to nail this
guy and I wanted you there with me." He glanced at her.
"Call me sentimental. 'Mulder and Scully catch another
serial killer'." 

Scully smiled and looked out the window. It had started to
snow. Heavy and wet, it wasn't sticking to the road yet, but
the temperature was steadily dropping. "This is going to
turn the roads to ice," she observed. 

"Didn't you once complain to me that the winters out here
were too wet and the summers too dry?" 

"Yes, I did. At least in DC, you got rain in the summer and
sun in the winter." 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few more miles.
While the traffic between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene was
nothing compared to the east coast, it was still quite
heavy, and with the roads threatening to become slick,
Mulder watched his driving very carefully. But he still
found time to look around. 

"These mountains remind me of the Black Hills." 

"Where?" 

"The Black Hills. In South Dakota. You know, where Mt.
Rushmore is." 

Scully nodded. "Oh, yeah. We went there once when I was
little. I don't remember it much." 

"When I was sixteen," Mulder continued, "I went with the
family of a friend of mine when they went on vacation. We
stayed at a neat little cabin on the lake. Sheridan Lake, I
think it was called. One day we went hiking up near the
Outlaw Ranch near Custer, and we got caught in this
downpour. I rained for almost an hour!" He smiled at the
memory. "After it was over, I climbed on top of this huge
boulder that we had taken shelter by. You could see over the
trees. It was spectacular! The sun had come out, causing
mist to rise out of the valleys, and the storm clouds were
still rumbling in the east. Then the coyotes started
howling. There was even a rainbow. It was beautiful and
eeire." He glanced at Scully. "I felt more at peace at that
moment than I had since before Samantha had been taken. I
still went back to that rock to find peace, before I started
the X Files." 

He looked at her again, this time with embarrassment on his
face. "Sorry for rambling like that."

Scully had been entranced by Mulder's narrative. He rarely
talked about his childhood, and when he did, it was usually
bad memories. "I don't mind at all," she said softly. She
felt as if he had just let her look into his heart. "Maybe
I'll get a chance to visit this rock sometime." 

"Yeah, maybe." Silent again, he concentrated on his driving. 

************************************************************

What had he just done? The only place he had kept private
his whole life, and he had basically given Scully the keys
to enter it. He realized that he didn't regret telling her
about his 'rock'. After all, the main reason he hadn't
visited that magical place in the last several years was
because Scully had become his refuge. It only seemed fitting
that the two should 'meet'. 

Soon, he was exiting off the interstate and heading north to
Hayden Lake. As they gradually left civilization behind, he
began to notice how white everything was becoming. The snow
had become more solid, and the roads were now covered in a
slick, white film. Mulder took the twisting turns further
into the mountains carefully. One last turn brought them to
the road that led to Ross' cabin. No cars were present, and
no signs of life were evident. 

"Looks like nobody's home," Mulder quipped as he stopped the
car and cut the engine. 

"Good," Scully replied. "Let's get this over with." They
knocked on the door, announcing their presence and their
intent. By the book, even though they were sure no one was
there. When silence greeted them, Mulder unlocked the door
with the universal 'lockpick'. They entered with caution and
trepidation. 

It was a small cabin. A one room affair with a fireplace
taking up most of the wall on the left side, shelves full of
canned goods above it. On the right sat a neat little table,
a couple of chairs, and a bookcase full of books. A small
feather bed sat against the back wall, next to a door that
presumably led outside. 

With a quick look at each other, Mulder and Scully
methodically began to search the cabin. Up and down, high
and low. Under chairs. Under the bed. In the fireplace.
Through all the books, most of them old paperback
historicals. A quick look out the door showed an old
fashioned outhouse sitting quietly in the deepening snow. 

So intent was their search, they didn't even realize how
deep the snow was getting. Or how wet and heavy it really
was. After almost an hour of turning up nothing, the agents
finally called it quits. 

They left the cabin. "Oh! Wow!" Scully said when she saw, or
couldn't see, their car. It was practically buried in a foot
of snow! 

"Yuck!" Mulder responded. With a groan, and a glare at
Scully, he trudged through the snow and started to sweep it
off the car. Scully started the same procedure on the other
side. Mulder couldn't believe how wet and heavy it was, and
it was still falling!

With the temperature still in the upper 20's and no wind, it
really wasn't too cold, but pushing wet snow around made
Mulder wet, and that made him grumpy. Scully wisely keep her
silence. This, combined with an almost sleepless night
filled with erotic thoughts about the woman standing on the
other side of the car, was just too damn much! Finally, the
job was done, and he started up the car, while Scully, just
as cold and wet as he, toyed with the car's heater next to
him. 

Mulder stepped down on the excelerator. The car moved
forward about six inches...then stopped. With a sigh of
exasperation, he began to rock the car back and forth in the
snow. It was no use. They weren't going anywhere. Mulder and
Scully were stuck at a cabin in the middle of nowhere. 

Alone. 

Things were looking up.

*****

End 3/6