Deadline and Commitments by Cynthia Clavey (Cyn 6x9ELS@aol.com) Full disclaimer in part one ***part 7*** When the glaring light faded, they turned to find the back seat of their car empty. Mulder tumbled out of the car and glanced desperately around the sky. "There!" He pointed to the departing ship over the roadside trees. "Come on!" They jumped back in the car and gunned it down the road. MINNESOTA, NEAR CO-OP FARM SHEDS Jessica came up the rise and approached the figure attending the prone people. "Hello?" she called out. The person said nothing and stood to face her. It defied all her logic, but she became certain that these two were the boy and father she'd left with Mulder and Scully. But a further shock was recognizing the person standing over them. They'd met many years ago, but you don't forget such an energetic personality. The blank expression he had now threw her off for a moment; her memory was telling her it was the same man notwithstanding the bizarre circumstance of meeting him here. Certainly not any stranger than the father and son being here, she thought. I wonder if I'm awake. Maybe I've hit my head on some low tree branch and this is some dream. It's got to be him... "Max? Max Fenig? Good god." She tried to touch him, but some force held her back. It pressed her as she tried to step forward. Her arm could be raised past that line, though. It's all a matter of surface area, she thought. She turned and slid forward in a sort of en guard posture. "It's been a long time, Max. What? 1990 in Colorado Springs, eh? NICAP booth at that sci-fi con, right? You and me had some laughs egging on those MUFON slackers, remember?" The man remained silent and stone faced. "Come on, buddy, talk to me. You can't forget your old pal Jessica, can you?" Another step- slide into the roaring field surrounding the trio. "Well, then, can I ask you what you're doing with them? 'Cause a friend and I just spent a lot of effort getting them away from a backwards military operation and would hate to see them go back, you know." The panicked thought surfaced: What am I doing playing around with a forcefield I've never heard people could make? This better be secret military technology-- Jessica blinked when she saw Scully round the edge of the building closely followed by Mulder. Look's like Mulder didn't miss the UFO after all. Why did I ever doubt? He's got ten years more experience in finding them, right? Didn't I make the observation that his partnership with Scully was that of two masses orbiting a central point? Have I entered a similar path; drawn in by Mulder? Additions altered all paths in a given system. Have I come to some understanding of relationships? They yelled something, but it was lost in the buzz induced in her ears. "Jessica's here? I don't believe it!" "How'd she get here?" Scully asked. Mulder didn't care to spend time wondering. "Who's she with there?" "Mulder, look! Is that Max Fenig?" "Max? Here? But that means that thing is here, too." He began to run toward the hill. "Jessica! Get out of there! Back off!" Scully shivered. That thing burned people without much provocation. Mulder had been hurt by it while trying to help Max from being taken. Now Jessica was trying to get to Max. Jessica had blundered into serious trouble. "Come on, Max, tell me what you're doing here." Jessica's hand met Max's. "Don't touch him!" howled Mulder. He searched the area for the blur that could kill with a touch. Scully also peered into the darkness in search of the alien. The mysterious alien that couldn't be seen. It was Jessica's sudden movement that told her they were too late. It was there on the hill already, watching it's pet human-- Something to Jessica's left moved. She turned and watched the very air seem to ripple in some distortion like that made by heat. The humming buzz got louder, became a screech. She stilled and watched it come closer and closer, extremely fast, fear growing in her heart. That's definitely not military-- Damnit! I've been a fool. This is what that idiot Henderson saw as a great thing to acquire and study? An extension of it whipped out at her and slapped her hand away from Max's. Electric charge crackled. She clutched her burned wrist with her left hand, gasping with the pain. She staggered a step backwards. Suddenly she was rising up and up. Max lay now on the ground beside the other two bodies staring up at her. Mulder was running up the hill, reaching, really distraught looking. In a part of her mind that was still dealing with the practical side of things surfaced the thought that if Fox Mulder was upset by the situation-- it wasn't good to be in it. She looked up and could see the shimmering thing above her, drawing her up. Fear shocked her with cold feeling along her skin. She looked down again. Mulder watched, with the defeated attitude that acknowledged all he could do was watch as a bright light filled the scene below her, erasing color in her vision, removing the details from her sight, if not also her memory. One word came to her, one she struggled to hold on to as a talisman against the light- "Fox!" she screamed as she lost all sense of herself and the familiar world she belonged in. Thankfully, Scully had stopped trying to console him. Even though it was Scully that was trying to console him and he cherished the effort she made, it still grated on him to have to be reminded he'd been so close and fail to prevent it happening again. He, Scully and Max sat on the hillside where Max had been released, watching the sky. He felt particularly depressed, because Jessica had been taken, because he'd been unable to stop it, because it reminded him of the other times-- with Max-- with Scully-- with his sister. He pulled up another blade of grass and shredded it. Perfectly normal grass, not even a burn mark at the top of the hill. Max was fine, if dazed at finding himself on a hill in Minnesota. A quick call to Mrs. Boarbour revealed to them that her husband and son had walked up the drive just moments ago. She said they didn't remember much of the last few weeks, but did describe a woman and man like enough to Jessica and Mulder that the ecstatic wife believed that they had dropped them off. Scully didn't have the heart to refute the story. Mulder didn't protest when he heard Scully tell Mrs. Boarbour that they had to leave town quickly after finding her husband and son. Some sort of closure to the case was welcome to Mulder at the moment, even if it was a lie. "When one goes looking for UFO's, one should expect the odds of finding one increase," Max said, quietly. "The odds were stacked against you many years ago, Max," Scully said gently. "Mulder thinks you'd been there before." Max fingered a spot behind his ear, gingerly. "I know. I remember a bit more this time." "Why did it take her?" Mulder asked, just to ask it again. "Maybe it was her skill at deducing the nature of the forcefield surrounding Max," Scully offered. "Yes," Max said. "It could be that." "A disadvantage to having studied physics," Mulder said softly. "What will they do with Jessica?" Mulder asked harshly. "I can't say, Agent Mulder. What they had me doing is not very clear to me. I was their hands and eyes for a time," Max mused. "I'd feel they'd just be curious that some person could do what she did. They'd watch her for a time." They were quiet for a few moments. Being the firefly in the jar was no fun. And for all her brave words and office full of articles, Mulder felt that Jessica just hadn't been ready to be the bug snatched by alien hands and slammed into an alien jelly jar. In his experience bugs that he'd captured hadn't lasted more than an hour in such enclosures. "I wonder what conclusions it will make after studying an federal agent?" Scully mused. "I met her once," Max suddenly said, "in Colorado Springs, I believe, spring break of 1990. She wanted to know if she could get our newsletter. We didn't have one at the time, so she donated some money to have us start one." Scully smiled, fondly. "She hasn't changed a bit about giving money away." Light flaring across them made them jump. They could see the headlights of a caravan of about ten vehicles winding up the drive. "Here comes the cavalry," sighed Mulder. "What did she say before she disappeared?" Max asked. "I didn't understand." Scully sighed. Why did Max *have* to ask that? Mulder lowered his head to his crossed arms resting on his knees. The word 'disappear' had such ugly associations in his mind. So did the word Jessica had cried. Why else did he prefer being called Mulder? "It was my given name. God, help me," Mulder said very quietly. Scully slid her arm over his shoulders. The caravan consisted of several pickups, cars, a camper, a small bus with the letters NICAP emblazoned in reflective tape on its front and side. A small army of people hopped out and began studying the area. When Max's NICAP confederates found him, it became like a party on that hill and Mulder couldn't stand it. He pulled out from under her arm and moved off the hill. Back to the car. Back to the world that didn't understand, not really. Scully hurried to join him. "Mr. Mulder, Ms. Scully!" a strong voice from the hill hailed them. They turned back, questioningly. A tall man with dark hair waved to them. "We'll keep looking for her! Don't worry. We'll let you know where she turns up." Mulder waved and turned away again. Scully followed, wondering if her partner be able to recover after the events of this night. Would he quit the Bureau and join the legion of full time chasers? Those like the group now herding Max onto the bus. Would the cumulative effect of two people depending on his search send him into fanaticism? It hit him in the oldest part of his memories, and now the newest had that evil taint of questioning 'what if I had...' A line of gunmetal gray trucks sped down the road and onto the driveway. Mulder stiffened as the jeep carrying Colonel Henderson crunched to a halt beside the car. "You're too late, Colonel. It's been and gone." "Gone? You, Agent Mulder, should be the one to understand it never really leaves." He glanced around. "Where's that exceedingly irritating friend of yours? That-- that-- that girl in black? She's got serious charges to face in an official inquiry." Mulder wanted to strangle him. "That woman was our backup. We knew you wouldn't play fair, Colonel. She's gone." "Gone where? If you're protecting her I'll-" "If you want to talk to her, you better keep looking for the thing. It took her." He took a menacing step towards the jeep. Scully desperately held his arm to keep him from doing something foolish. "Colonel, that being took a FBI agent hostage tonight. This isn't over. You better understand that the next time we meet this thing, Colonel Henderson. It's become my concern, too." The man frowned. "So it has. Until later then." He stalked off to supervise his men chasing off the NICAP bus and cars. Sealing off the scene. He sat for a long time in the driver's seat, reluctant to start the car. Scully knew that asking if he was all right to drive would not help. "Think about it, Mulder. You and Max parted and met up again. The same will happen with Jessica, you'll make it happen. You'll keep watching the reports and make it happen." "Three years, Dana. Max was gone for almost three years." He viciously clipped the wires together and touched the ones to the starter together. "If she puts up a big enough fuss, and I suspect she will make one, it might kick her off its ship early. After all, she can foil it's power in a small way, what if she constantly makes a nuisance of herself? Hot-wiring their scoutships or something? They'll be glad to drop her off." The image she painted made him look at her with a slight lightening of his expression. "Really, Scully, what makes you think she'll try that?" he asked in a guileless tone of voice. He pulled the car in gear and headed down the drive. "Just a feeling it's something she'd do." SEPT. 29, 1997 OUTSIDE FBI HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON D.C. "I'm sorry to hear about Agent Gurnee's disappearance, Agent Mulder." Mulder froze in his steps through the park and turned to face a man leaning against a tree. His eyes flicked over the clean shaven, suited young man. At odds with the cultured style of his clothing was his heavy browed face and protuberant chin. "Who are you?" The man gave him a slight nod, still smiling. "I'm sorry. We haven't met. I'm the representatve for a patron of Jessica Gurnee. A fan of her work." "I imagine you're not too broke up, seeing that you likely orchestrated a large part of sending her to Minnesota," Mulder said angrily to him. "Ah. She mentioned our meeting?" A pleased gleem came to his brown eyes. Mulder doubted a cat could look more smug over a bowl of cream set before it. "Who'd you do it for? Avers? Or, someone out to get me?" "I'm not ready to reveal that information to anyone." "So what? You came here just to gloat? That your plan let you exclusive access to Jessica's pet project, no strings attached?" "If-- When you meet next with Agent Gurnee tell her to be more quiet about her inventions. Get her to cultivate some-- caution. That way she might get to keep them." He smiled again. "Gloating is not prudent in my work. You take, you move on. You get to work another day." Mulder waited impatiently for him to get to his point. The Smiling Man continued when his baiting failed. "My sources are varied and know many things. They ordered me to tell you that they believe she will be back." "Meaning she's too valuable to lose permanently." "That conclusion makes me almost believe there's hope for you yet, Agent Mulder. But, also, my sources feel that they will tire of her; that she isn't worth keeping." "So who has her? The army? Was everything we'd seen all a hoax put up by Operation Falcon?" The darkly dressed man pulled away from the tree. "If you don't know, you shouldn't be in the line of work you are." Mulder watched he man turn and walk away. Painful experience kept Mulder from following. Using force to get the answers never worked with Mr. X it very likely wouldn't help with this man. Just the fact that he knew something from 'sources' was a big tip that the UFO abduction-to-secret government link existed and was still operating. SEPT. 30, 1997 INSIDE FBI HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON D.C. Mulder pushed the final box into the corner of his office and sat down. Surprisingly no one had challenged his right to move Jessica's things from her office. Rumor was that he was really gloomy about his prote'ge''s disappearance and no one *wanted* to confront him. How she went from being his competitor to his student in the eyes of the agents defied explanation, but was fast becoming part of the 'Spooky' Mulder mystique. Jessica was now a part of history in the X-files as well. He'd opened a case on her abduction and filled it with all the information NICAP sent him about the site on the hill. Her stuff would remain safe with him until she came back. She had to come back. For despite her use as a distraction by the forces opposing him, she was another seeker of the greater truth. She just had to be convinced that trusting others wouldn't always lead to loss and pain. In that final instant on the hill, Mulder knew the walls she'd placed in her heart had cracked. Lord knew, his were so fragile a good shove would topple them. That was his secret that he tried to hide. Jessica had shoved those walls. What was revealed, he thought, had surprised them both. But there was one more thing that made it vital Jessica return someday. When packing her things he'd not intended to pry into anything personal. Just clearing the office into the boxes had revealed some eccentricities that very likely Jessica would not want the people she knew to really know, however when packing up her files one thing nearly had him screaming. Tucked into the folder that he and Scully had found on the day they'd searched her office, the one containing Xerox copies of their case files and 302's, was a second file he never expected to see. Newspaper clippings, police reports, pictures of himself, his family, his sister Samantha. Jessica had quietly amassed notes and research that rivaled his own on his sister's abduction. And Jessica had never said a word. For a time he sat staring at the wall. Jessica knew quite a bit about him and his childhood and she'd never told him. She'd also not used it against him in any way. It hinted at an incredible restraint on her part. And sure, he thought she could do it, but it was hard for him to imagine a reason why. Especially when she presented a overconfident, flippant personality when dealing with him. It brought back all the questions Scully had raised when they first found out Jessica had been monitoring them-- who was she working for? He found himself torn between admiration, disappointment and hatred for this-- this-- girl. Admiration cause she'd found much the same thing he had in his investigations on his sister's disappearance. The disappointment came from knowing that she'd kept her conclusions about the case in her head. Her personal notes and conclusions were missing. He'd have to talk with her to learn what she thought happened. Hate consumed him when he dwelled on how she'd spied on him and his past over the last year. Yes, "girl" described her best, he decided. Near to eight years my junior, I can call her that. It's deciding whether her deception was childish or sinister was the sticker right now. It hurt to brand her as part of the enemy when she wasn't here to defend herself. But it sure seemed she was part of the covert government set to watch him. Who better than someone who owed him a favor? That would give her the opportunity to offer to pay him back and get close again. The shadowy forces couldn't ask for a better agent. She has to come back, Mulder thought as he closed his office for the night. And when she comes back I'll cuff *her* to a convenient immovable object and have her tell me which side she's on. **** end of Deadlines and Commitments**** Other stories: "Factor AB+" (Detailing earlier events mentioned in "Deadlines and Commitments") "The Tail of the Cat" (A fun flight of fancy not related to either Jessica story) "Deadlines and Commitments" * "Double Vision" (*Forthcomming part 3 to Jessica Gurnee story) Author's notes: Jessica Yvette Shermer Gurnee Height: 5'7" Weight: 129 Hair: dark blonde Eyes: steel blue Date of birth: March 9, 1968 Birthplace: Springfield, IL Current Address: (unknown) Marital Status: unmarried, no dependents. Birth mother's name: Andrea Gurnee First adoptive parents: William and Luanne Shermer of Johnsburg, IL. March 24, 1968. Second adoptive parent: Amanda Louis of Pittsburg, PA. 1983. Education: University of Michigan, B. A. Computer Science, minors in physics and chemistry, 1990. Quantico FBI Training Academy, 1992. Personal Background Jessica has spent most of her life from age ten to fourteen moving from foster home to foster home, never feeling secure in a personal sense. Though this has enhanced her ability to cope with changing situations, it hasn't helped her develop long-term relationships with many people. She has developed the conviction that personal attachments are hurtful and puts off people with stinging wit or odd, manic actions. Those people, like Jason Gordon and Amanda Louis, who see through the deception, are rewarded with her freely given insights and keen intelegence in all things mechanical. If she has any big faults, it is the great length of time she needs to get comfortable in a relationship and a tendency to jump into action before a situation is totally clear. Jason's military training has mitigated the latter significantly. As a talented computer progammer, Jessica has helped Jason to solve a number of cases involving illegal tampering in online systems. Instructiors at the Academy, however, singled Jessica out due to her even greater talent in inventing unusual miniature microphones. Her inventive reputation has slowly permeated the Communications division and agents carefully plot out how to get their projects shunted to her without getting caught. Her second great passion is her collection of sources on UFO's and the unexplained. She had heard stories of Fox Mulder while in the Academy, and was ribbed by many instructors about her hobby (while they tried to keep her from following his in is footsteps.) She, however, doubted ever meeting Mulder in Bureau surroundings due to their diverse intelluctual talents and differences in age. Jessica never reconized that over the years, there were an increasing number of people asking her 'advise' on 'weird things;' at first as jokes, but later, more of the questions were serious ones with pending unsolved or unusual cases involved. She must have had a answer to some of the questions, for, even though she was not officially sited as a source, some agents who asked her got insight of some sort into the events in question and solved their cases. LDE Bug Plastic coated, photoelectric reactive gel layers send electrical impulses to an imbedded microchip when sound waves striking the outer surface compress the gel layer. The gel is recharged by ambient light. The chip is the transmitter and echo damper. Nearly invisible to someone unaware of it's existance, it can be affixed to walls and especially useful on windows due to its transparancy. Jessica Gurnee is currently experimenting with optimal size, construction methods and ways of having the chip store things for retrival by coded signal and cell phone access. A secondary project is to develop a reliable sensing system to find others bugs based on this technology. Jessica is not fool enough to believe this idea will stay secret for long and having a way to find foreign bugs of this time would help some people sleep better nights. Second Case History Aug. 8, 1996: Jessica sends Mulder birthday gift anonymously. Dec. 1996: Jessica sends Mulder and Scully goofy christmas gifts. Feb. 28, 1997: Jessica sends Scully birthday gift anonymously. April 5, 1997: Mark Grand's retirement party Aug. 8, 1997: Sends second birthday gift to Mulder. All purpose tool. Aug. 31: Gus J. Sereciane takes plane to Mineapolis, MN. Sept. 21: Folder missing from Mulder's office, Record of Jessica Gurnee on plane out of Washington. Sept. 23: Witnesses come forward implicating Jessica Gurnee in theft of folder. 1 pm: Skinner gives Mulder and Scully a day to conduct search for Jessica. 2 pm: Folder found in Jessica's office. 3pm: Meet Avers 5 pm: Search of Jessica's apartment. Mulder finds OMNI article, they recheck records for pseudonyms. Sept. 24, 3 pm: Mulder and Scully arrive in Mineeapolis, drive to St. Cloud. Sept. 25, 2 pm: Visit to sheriff. Sept. 25, 5 pm: Mulder glimpses Jessica at St. Cloud diner, she flees. Sept 26, 1 am: Message left for Mulder 10 am: Mulder and Scully visit house of missing persons. Jessica watches covertly from hiding, sees army watching Mulder and Scully. Prevents shooting. 10 pm: Jessica surveys army encampment of Operation Falcon. Sept. 27, 8 am: Jessica calls Mulder's cell phone to tell him Operation Falcon is in operation and its location. 1 pm: Meeting between Mulder and Jessica. Results in Jessica tricking Mulder and handcuffing him to railing at state park. 3 pm: Scully releases Mulder. 4 pm: Army runs Mulder and Scully's car off road and takes them captive. 7 pm: Jessica finds out Mulder and Scully in army custody via a bug she placed in command tent. 11 pm: Jessica frees Mulder and Scully, Mulder and Jessica free captives. Sept. 28, 12:15 am: Jessica leads army off trail while Mulder and Scully return the missing persons to their home, sees UFO, meets Max Fenig. Jessica is abducted by the alien Colonel Henderson's Operation Falcon hoped to catch. 12:30 am: NICAP convoy arrives. 12:40 am: Colonel Henderson's cleanup team arrives. Sept. 30, 5pm: Mulder opens X-file on Jessica's abuction and finishes storing Jessica's belongings in his office for when she returns.