"Reunion"
by Andra Marie Mueller
Part SixSee part one for summary, author's notes & disclaimer
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FBI HEADQUARTERS
Mulder and Scully were in their office discussing the Triad file when Reyes walked in and smiled at them in greeting.
“Hello you two,” she said.
“Welcome back, Monica,” Scully responded. “How was your vacation?”
“Very relaxing, but it is good to be home,” Reyes answered. “Where’s John?”
“He’s taking care of some personal business,” Mulder told her. “He should be here shortly.”
Reyes nodded. “So did I miss anything exciting while I was gone?” she asked innocently.
Scully and Mulder exchanged a look, and at Scully’s nod, Mulder handed Reyes the file. “See for yourself.”
Reyes took the file and flipped it open, then began scanning the notes and documents inside, surprise registering on her face as she read through the various papers. When she had finished, she glanced up at Mulder. “Jessica Doggett is your sister?”
“Yep. God has an odd sense of humor.”
Reyes closed the file and handed it back to Mulder. “How did John take the news?”
“How did I take the news about what?”
The three agents turned at his voice to see Doggett enter his office, shadowed by a limping Jessica, who was now dressed in jeans and an oversized U.S.M.C. sweatshirt that obviously belonged to Doggett. Hobbling across the room on one crutch, she promptly settled into a chair next to Doggett’s desk after dragging over a second one to prop up her injured leg, while Doggett sat in his own chair.
“If human beings had been meant to walk with only one leg we’d have been born that way,” she muttered.
“Wouldn’t it be easier for you to use two crutches?” Scully asked.
“I can’t,” Jessica answered. “It puts too much pressure on my shoulder and aggravates the gunshot wound.”
“I assume you resolved the issue of Jessica’s living arrangements?” Mulder inquired casually.
“She’s stayin’ with me,” Doggett answered, his tone making it clear that the subject was not open for further discussion.
Reyes was clearly not happy to hear about their cohabitation, but nonetheless gave Jessica a neutral smile. “I was sorry to hear about your brother, Lieutenant,” she said.
“Thank you,” came the automatic response.
“So what were you askin’ about me when Jess and I walked in?” Doggett prompted.
“I was just wondering how you reacted to the news that Lieutenant Doggett is apparently Agent Mulder’s long lost sister,” Reyes clarified.
Doggett glanced at Mulder. “I wasn’t aware we were makin’ the information public knowledge,” he said tightly.
“I didn’t put an ad in The Washington Post, Agent Doggett,” Mulder countered dryly, “and Agent Reyes is one of us.”
“If it will make you feel better, John, I’ll loan you my crutch so you can whack him a good one across the head,” Jessica offered.
The jest had the desired effect, and Doggett’s ire cooled. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I’m just a little edgy right now.”
“So how exactly did all of you discover that Lieutenant Doggett is Mulder’s sister?” Reyes asked.
Doggett gave her a condensed version of the events of the past week, concluding with yesterday’s attempt on Jessica’s life.
“That explains your injuries,” Reyes said as she glanced at Jessica. “Have you confronted your mother about any of this yet?”
“No. Aside from the fact that I spent last night in the hospital, I haven’t decided how to go about telling her what I know. I have no idea how deep her involvement in this goes, and I want to know as much in advance as I can before I finally call her on it.”
The ring of the phone on Doggett’s desk interrupted their conversation, and he reached over to answer it. “John Doggett.” He paused a moment to listen to the caller, and his gaze shifted to Jessica. “Yes, Ma’am, Senator; she’s right here.” Pulling the receiver away from his ear, he covered the mouthpiece with his hand as he said, “It’s your mother. She got a phone call from the press about what happened last night and she wants to talk to you.”
“How the hell did the press find out about it?” Jessica asked.
“Face it; as Elizabeth Caldwell’s daughter, anything that happens to you is news,” Doggett replied. “Are you gonna talk to her?”
“Do I have a choice?” came the rhetoric response, and she reached over to take the phone from Doggett. “Hello?”
“Would you care to explain why I had to learn from a reporter that someone burned your house down last night with you inside of it?” Elizabeth demanded.
“It was nothing, Mom,” Jessica demurred. “I interrupted a burglar and he was trying to eliminate the witness.”
“It was more than ‘nothing’, Jessica,” Elizabeth countered sharply. “I called the hospital and they told me you were kept overnight after undergoing surgery to remove a bullet from your chest.”
“I’m a police officer, remember? Getting shot on occasion comes with the territory.”
“I don’t appreciate your attitude, Jessica, and I don’t understand why I wasn’t notified when you were admitted to the ER.”
“Because I told them to call John first,” Jessica admitted. “Maybe they just assumed that he would call you.”
“Well he didn’t,” Elizabeth said unnecessarily. “I assume you’re going to be staying at the house until you recover and find a new home of your own?”
“Actually I’m going to be staying with John,” Jessica told her. “At the moment that’s the safest place for me to be.”
Elizabeth released a heavy sigh. “Well, I trust that if something else happens you’ll grant me the courtesy of having someone call to tell me?”
“I’ve got to go, Mom,” the lieutenant demurred. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Without waiting for a response, she replaced the receiver in its cradle and met Doggett’s questioning gaze. “What?”
“If you’re goin’ to snipe at your mother every time you talk to her, eventually you’re goin’ to have to tell her why,” he said.
“Given what I’ve discovered in the last twenty-four hours I think I’m entitled to be a bit bitter,” Jessica retorted.
“Just don’t whack her a good one over the head with your crutch,” Mulder interjected dryly.
“Very funny, Fox.”
“I hate to interrupt this impromptu session of Family Feud,” Scully interjected, “but I have a suggestion to make.”
The others glanced at her expectantly, and Scully directed her attention to Jessica.
“Whatever your mother’s involvement is, given her position I think it might be a good idea for us to bring Skinner in on this. If any of this gets out to the public, it will be in our best interests to have told the powers that be ourselves.”
“Can you trust him?” Jessica asked.
“Yes.”
A pause. “I don’t suppose his office is on this floor?” Jessica asked.
“Nope,” Mulder said. “Third floor.”
The lieutenant sighed as she glanced woefully at the crutch propped against her chair. “It figures.”
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Nearly ten minutes later, Mulder, Scully, Jessica and Doggett were ushered into Skinner’s office by his secretary. Once they were inside, Skinner closed the door and crossed the room to resume his seat behind his desk. As the others settled into the chairs, Jessica claimed the small loveseat so she could prop up her injured leg, and Skinner discreetly observed the two couples. Mulder and Scully were the most obvious opposites; her red hair and petite stature were a direct contrast to Mulder’s height and darker coloring. Jessica and Doggett on the other hand, were more evenly matched physically; she was only four inches shorter than his height of six feet and her dark blonde hair was nearly the same shade as his light brown. Yet Jessica’s sapphire blue eyes were much darker than Doggett’s ice blue ones, and her casual attire an odd contrast to his custom tailored suit.
“All right, Ladies and Gentlemen; which one of you wants to tell me what this little gathering is all about?” Skinner prompted.
“It’s complicated, sir,” Doggett said.
“Isn’t everything with you three?” Skinner responded drolly.
The three agents exchanged sheepish looks as over on the loveseat, Jessica smiled to herself, and then Mulder addressed Skinner.
“Last week Agent Doggett volunteered to help Lieutenant Doggett investigate the death of her brother, Scott Caldwell, in a car crash,” he began. “Based on the testimony from a couple who witnessed the accident, we have reason to believe the car that crashed into Scott’s was being driven by Billy Miles.”
“Billy Miles?” Skinner echoed. “What rock did he crawl out from under?”
“We haven’t been able to find that out,” Mulder answered. “Unfortunately he disappeared again immediately following the accident. In any event, the day after her brother’s funeral, Lieutenant Doggett received an anonymous note that read ‘Dead men tell no tales’, and it was accompanied by a newspaper clipping regarding my sister Christina’s kidnapping almost forty years ago. At that point, she contacted me to help ascertain what the connection was between Scott’s death and the kidnapping, which is what the note seemed to intimate.”
“We did some digging,” Scully continued, “and based in part on the copy of an adoption certificate for Lieutenant Doggett which was found in a file bearing her name in Scott Caldwell’s office, we’ve discovered that she is in actuality Agent Mulder’s presumed dead sister, Christina.”
It took a moment for the revelation to sink in, and when it did, Skinner’s eyes widened in surprise as he glanced at Mulder. “Lieutenant Doggett is your sister?”
“Yes, sir.”
He frowned. “How would your kidnapped sister wind up being raised in one of the country’s most prominent families?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Jessica replied. “Up until forty-eight hours ago, I wasn’t even aware I was adopted. My parents never told me.”
The A.D. took a moment to absorb what he had been told before responding. “If what you’re saying is true, then it would seem to indicate that your parents were at least indirectly involved with your kidnapping.”
“It’s beginnin’ to look that way, sir,” Doggett allowed. “The adoption certificate was signed by Alan Grant, who was Edward Caldwell’s business partner.”
“Do you have proof of any of this?”
Doggett handed him the Triad file. “Everything we got so far is in here,” he said.
Skinner opened the file and swiftly scanned its contents, including the information Mulder had gotten from the Boston Bureau, the amateur DNA tests done by the Gunmen and a copy of the police report on the attempted murder of Jessica the previous day. The others waited in silence for him to finish reading and when he did he closed the folder and glanced up at them, addressing Jessica when he spoke.
“Well the evidence certainly seems to indicate that whoever was in on the kidnapping with your parents and Grant all those years ago is now trying to kill anyone who has uncovered the truth,” he remarked. “Have you given any thought to staying in a safe house?”
The beautiful blonde shifted her gaze to Doggett for the briefest of moments before focusing on Skinner. “I already am,” she said simply.
Skinner glanced from Jessica to Doggett, who suddenly seemed fascinated with his shoes, and the A.D. permitted himself a faint smile. “I see,” he said. “What about your mother? Have you spoken to her yet?”
“Not about what we’ve discovered, no. John and Fox convinced me that we should wait until we know who and what we’re dealing with before confronting her.”
Skinner paused. “With all due respect, Lieutenant, all of this evidence is circumstantial,” he reminded her. “Even if you were able to initiate formal charges against Grant, your mother is a U.S. Senator. Finding a judge and/or a jury to indict her would be extremely difficult.”
“I understand that, sir,” Jessica responded. “That’s why we’re here. Whether or not charges are filed against anyone, sooner or later the information about my adoption will be leaked to the public, and the media will have a field day wondering why Elizabeth Caldwell never revealed that her daughter was not her biological child. Once that plants the kernel of curiosity, it’s only a matter of time before the full details about how my parents...the Caldwells…acquired me are discovered. Given that Fox is an FBI agent and that a former agent was an accessory to the kidnapping, the Bureau is going to receive a great deal of unwanted publicity. John and his partners felt it would be better for all of us if we were to come to you with our information before it becomes public fodder.”
“Fair enough, Lieutenant,” Skinner responded, and glanced at his agents. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to be careful and discreet while you proceed with this investigation, and from now on I want to be informed of anything else that comes out of this.”
“Yes, sir,” Mulder, Scully and Doggett responded in unison.
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As always, the acrid smell of smoke permeated the air as he entered the room.
“I am here as requested.”
“My sources tell me that Lieutenant Doggett was released from the hospital this morning after being treated for smoke inhalation and undergoing surgery for her gunshot wound.”
“Yes. I made certain that the information was ‘leaked’ to the media.”
“And you’ve tied up the loose ends we spoke of?”
“Of course.”
“Excellent. It will take our people a few days to get everything in order, and then we will reveal the rest of the puzzle to Lieutenant Doggett and Agent Mulder.”
“What do you require of me in the meantime?”
“Keep an eye on Grant and the lady Senator. I don’t want them tipping our hand before we’re prepared to finish the game.”
“Understood.”
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ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
A week passed, and Jessica and Doggett settled into a comfortable routine for their cohabitation. A trip to the local mall had restored Jessica’s wardrobe and a few personal effects, but most of what she valued was forever lost because of the fire. Although the couple was sharing a bed, they had not yet made love; partly due to the necessity for Jessica’s complete recovery, and partly due to the desire to let the physically intimate aspect of their relationship resume naturally. Following the destruction of her home and Trouble’s murder, no further attempts were made on the lieutenant’s life, and no further information regarding her abduction/adoption had been revealed. Mulder, Scully and Doggett continued to investigate what leads they had, and had enlisted Reyes’ help as well.
Early in the afternoon of the two week anniversary of Scott’s death, Jessica was in her office catching up on her case load when she heard Lupen and his partner David Griffin talking in the hallway outside.
“It’s too bad that witness of ours turned up dead at the bottom of the Potomac,” Griffin remarked. “He could have made our entire case against Rogers.”
“Rogers was too smart to leave any witnesses alive to finger him for the girl’s murder,” Lupen responded. “After all, dead men tell no tales, right?”
“Damn straight,” Griffin agreed. “Well, I don’t know about you but I could use a nice, cold beer about now. Want to head over the Bart’s Deli and grab a steak sandwich and a couple of Coors?”
“Sounds good to me.”
The two men headed out of the station as an astonished Jessica attempted to assimilate what she had just overheard.
“After all, dead men tell no tales, right?”
Lupen’s off the cuff remark was too similar to the statement in the first note she had received to be just a coincidence, and she felt the anger well up inside her.
“If he had anything to do with Scott’s murder I’m going to castrate the bastard,” she muttered to herself, just as another thought occurred to her and she picked up the phone to dial her brother’s office. Mary answered on the second ring. “Grant and Caldwell.”
“Hi, Mary. Its Jessica Doggett.”
“Hello, Jessica. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you. I was calling because I was hoping you could do me a favor.”
“Certainly.”
“I’m reviewing some of the notes in the file on Scott’s accident, and it seems that the detective who came to the office to retrieve his things forgot to put the inventory list in the file. Do you by chance remember who it was?”
‘Of course,” Mary responded. “It was that good looking Latin fellow, the one Scott said was always trying to hit on you. I think his name is Miguel Lucas.”
“Miguel Lupen,” Jessica corrected softly.
“Yes, that’s him.”
He’s a dead man, she thought to herself. To Mary she said, “Thanks for your help, Mary.”
Hanging up the phone, she buried her face in her hands in an attempt to reign in her emotions.
“Looks to me like someone’s havin’ a bad day.”
The lieutenant glanced up to see Doggett hovering in her doorway and flashed him a weary smile. “That may be the understatement of the year,” she said. “Come in and shut the door behind you.”
Giving her a curious look, he did as she requested and settled himself in the chair in front of her desk. “Has something happened?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Jessica allowed, and quickly told him what she had overheard. “Once I made the connection between Miguel’s comment and the first note, I suddenly remembered what Scott’s secretary Mary had told me about one of my detectives having shown up at the firm to retrieve his personal effects. I called her to ask if she remembered who it was, and she identified Lupen.”
“That would explain how he got access to Scott’s personal stationery,” Doggett mused. “And it would also explain how my mysterious caller from the night you were assaulted knew you by name.”
“If we can get a record of every phone call he made that day from his office and his cell phone, we could trace the call to your cellular number.”
“In order to do that, we’d need his cell phone number.”
Jessica smiled. “Rank has its privileges,” she replied, and retrieved a small key from her desk as she stood up. “Follow me.”
“To the ends of the earth,” Doggett added dryly.
Grabbing her crutches, Jessica exited her office and made her way across the room and into a small storage area, containing several filing cabinets. Walking over to the one marked “Personnel”, she unlocked it and pulled open the second drawer. Flipping through the files, she found the one marked LUPEN, MIGUEL R. and pulled it out. Opening it, she scanned the papers inside until she found the one she was looking for.
“Bingo,” she said aloud. “Under pager/cellular numbers, we have 202-555-6988.”
Doggett withdrew his cellular phone and dialed his office.
“Monica Reyes.”
“Monica, its me. Grab a pen and write this number down: 202-555-6988.”
“Got it,” Reyes said. “What am I doing with it?’
“This is the cell number for an Alexandria P.D. homicide detective named Miguel Lupen. I need to get a record of all the calls he made from this number last Tuesday.”
“Am I allowed to ask why?”
“We think he may be connected to Scott Caldwell’s murder,” Doggett told her. “How soon can you get me the information?”
“I should have something for you by Tomorrow morning.”
“Fine. I’ll be at the office around 9:00 a.m.”
“I’ll see you then.”
Doggett ended the call and pocketed his cell phone, then looked over at Jessica to find her watching him with an odd expression on her face. “What?”
“Any particular reason you called Agent Reyes first, and not Fox or Dana?” she asked.
“Mulder and Scully left early to spend some time with Will,” Doggett answered. “But I don’t see why it matters. You got somethin’ against Monica?”
“Not at all, but its fairly obvious that she cares about you.”
“Most friends do.”
Jessica smiled. “Let me rephrase the statement: its fairly obvious that she’s in love with you.”
Doggett snorted. “You think Monica’s in love with me?” he asked incredulously. “You’re nuts, sweetheart.”
The lieutenant replaced Lupen’s file before turning to face Doggett. “As a woman who knows what its like to love you, I recognize the signs in Agent Reyes,” she clarified patiently. “You may not see it, but I do.”
He paused. “Whether or not what you’re sayin’ is true, its not mutual. Monica is nothin’ more to me than a good friend. I made it clear to her a long time ago that I wasn’t ready for anything else until I resolved my feelings for you.”
Her smile widened and she gently placed her palm against his cheek. “I appreciate the clarification, Sunshine, but I wasn’t worried about that. My concern is that until you settle the issue permanently by telling her we’re getting remarried, then she may still be holding on to the hope that I’ll be out of your life again once we solve Scott’s murder and my abduction.”
“She knows we’re livin’ together, Jess; I’m fairly certain she can put two and two together.”
Jessica sighed. “I’m trying to make an issue out of nothing, John, but I honestly think you need to set the record straight with Agent Reyes,” she replied. “She’s your friend and your colleague and for both of your sakes you need to definitively tell her that that’s all it’s going to be.”
Doggett echoed her sigh. “Fine; as soon as I get the chance to have a private conversation with her, I’ll fill her in on our engagement.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’re done lecturin’ me, could we go to dinner now? We’re gonna miss our reservation.”
“Fine, but after that crack about being lectured you’re buying.”
The couple headed out of the police station just as Jessica’s cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse. “Hello?”
“I hope you’re going to tell me that you are on your way home to change into formal wear for my fundraiser tonight,” Elizabeth said.
“Hello, mother,” Jessica responded stiffly. “Actually I’d forgotten about your shindig and was on my way to dinner with John.”
“Well you’re living with him now so you can have dinner every other night,” Elizabeth declared. “I’ll send a car for the two of you at 6:00 p.m.”
Without giving Jessica a chance to respond, Elizabeth ended the call, and Jessica released an aggravated sigh as she replaced her phone in her purse.
“I take it from your unhappy expression and the brevity of the call that Elizabeth has summoned you to one of her infamous political parties?” Doggett prompted.
“She’s summoned us,” Jessica corrected. “She’s sending a car for us at six o’clock.”
“Are you gonna be okay with puttin’ in a public appearance with her now that you know what she did?”
“Unless I want to tell her that I know, I have no choice,” Jessica responded. “Besides, with you by my side I can handle anything.”
“Well at least we’ll be in a public place so I won’t have to worry about you whacking her with one of your crutches.”
“Thank God for small favors.”
They shared a smile at their silliness and climbed into John’s truck.
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On to Part seven
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