House of Cards - Chapter 3
By Jennifer T. Brooks
E-Mail: Jenntou@excite.com
*******************************************
Monongahela National Forest
July 30, 1998
Later in the day

Mulder decided that they needed to work up a profile on the perp
before they went off in search of him.  Samuelson was treating
this whole activity as if it were nothing more than a game of hide
and seek. Samuelson was annoyed that he was on a team with
Spooky Mulder.  He felt that they were being slowed down.  The
rest of the team quickly agreed with Bob Samuelson.

"Look Mulder.  You have a half hour to inform the group of
where you think he's hiding before the rest of the team does it my
way and we go looking for him.  You are wasting precious time. 
There are 9 other teams out there looking for him.  I'm not going
to lose this game."

"Samuelson, you know it isn't as simple as a game of hide and
seek.  The UNSUB isn't going to be sitting in a chair in the
middle of the forest waiting to see who can run to him the fastest. 
He's hiding and the only way we're going to discover the hiding
place is by working up a profile.  I cannot do a good profile in 30
minutes.  If you all want to leave, fine.  Don't let me stop you. 
However, you aren't going to find him your way."

Mulder's last comment really pissed off the rest of the group. 
They were tired of his cocky attitude and his partners aloofness
and decided as a group to go off on their own.  Bob Samuelson
decided to be the spokesman for the group. "Look this isn't
working out.  You obviously have your own weird ways of doing
things in the X-Files. We're wasting valuable daylight sitting out
here waiting for you to have a
divine inspiration.  We'll make a clean break.  We go our way and
you go yours."

"Fine,  if that's the way you want it." Mulder responded coldly
watching the four agents go off into the woods together.  He was
surprised that Scully had not said a thing during the whole
altercation with Samuelson.

"Cat got your tongue Scully?" he asked.  

"Mulder, what's the point in saying anything?  It was obvious that
there was a difference in philosophies.  I really couldn't stand Bob
Samuelson in the first place.  He's a moron who isn't taking this
exercise seriously.  We're better off without them," Scully said
giving Mulder her support.

"Thanks Scully.  I'm glad to know that at least someone likes me
and doesn't think that I'm crazy."

"Mulder, you know that working up a profile is the only way we
are going to find him or her.  The academy instructors aren't going
to have him sitting in a chair in the middle of the forest as you so
aptly put it.  They're going to make sure that the suspect is
so well  hidden we could walk on top of him and not know
it.  We have a lot of work to do tonight on the profile.  How about
we set off on catching him tomorrow morning after we've gotten a
good nights sleep.  My bones are tired and need some rest."

"I'm surprised that super agent Scully needs rest.  I thought you
were my wonder woman."

"Even wonder woman needed her rest Mulder," Scully retorted.

"Point taken.  How about we find ourselves some leaves to make
a little nest out of tonight."

"Sounds like a plan G-Man."

They spent the next half-hour gathering brush and other debris to
keep them warm during the night.  A quick check of the compass
on Scully's jacket showed that the temperature had dropped to 40
degrees and they had no tents or sleeping bags with them.  Once
they were comfortable they set out to work on a profile, "Scully
have you noticed how similar the profile is to Eric Rudolph?"
Mulder asked.

"The abortion bombing suspect?" she asked.

"The one and only.  Look here at what information they have
given us.  Person is accused of bombing several abortion clinics. 
They don't know if it was a group effort.  No notes sent claiming
responsibility.  All bombs were manufactured the same way
indicating it is the same individual responsible.  Bomb materials
show an increase in violence. Hello, this smells to be Eric
Rudolph to me."

"Smells like?" Scully asked.

"You know what I mean Scully.  This doesn't smell good.  So
what do we know about the bomb suspect Scully," Mulder asked
steering her back to the profile.

"Well looking at this material, I would have to say that it's the
work of one man, not a group.  The sophistication of the bombs
and the increase in violence seem to indicate that this individual
is somewhat intelligent and is growing more angry.  He's
obviously some type of pro-life militant.  He refuses to see
woman as equal.  The fact that a woman should have a choice to
do what she wants with her own body is lost on this sick
individual.  I'd say he was probably a conservative right wing
republican," Scully said agitated as she was waving her arms
around. 

"Pro-life militant Scully?  I'm surprised to find out that you're 
pro-choice.  I always pegged you as a pro-lifer."

"Why, because I wear a cross?  Just because I'm Catholic does
not mean that I blindly follow the teachings of the church.  I'm at
odds with them over several issues, pro-choice being one of
them."

"Stop Scully, you are ruining another fantasy that I have had of
you."

"Which one.  The one where I'm the obedient little Catholic who
follows all the teachings of the church including the one where
the man is the head of the household and woman's job is to stay
home and procreate, obeying her man," Scully said.

"No, that wasn't it, but you've given me a new one.  Thanks." 
  
"Anything to help, Mulder."

"So Scully, if you ever got pregnant would you have an abortion?"
Mulder asked her not quite believing that he had the nerve to
ask her that.

"Mulder, I can't believe that you would ask me that after Emily. 
Don't you realize that I would do anything to have the ability to
have a child?" She said as tears slowly formed in her eyes.

Mulder realized the implication of what he'd said and gave
himself a mental kick in the ass. He gathered Scully in his arms as
the tears trickled down her  cheeks.  "I'm so sorry Scully.  I didn't
mean to be insensitive.  Please forgive me."

"You're forgiven," Scully responded as she leaned into his
embrace.

After a few minutes of him holding her and enjoying the feel of
how well she fit against him she made an effort to disentangle
herself from his embrace.  They still had a lot of work to do.  The
spent the next hour going over the profile and plan of where they
thought the suspect might be.

"Scully, what do you say we call it a night?" He said as he lay
down in the bed of leaves and gestured for her to join him.

"Okay.  But let me make this very clear that I'm none to pleased
to be sleeping in a bed of leaves where several thousand of
species make their home."

"Don't even try to give me the girly girl act Scully.  I have seen
you eat a cricket, which mind you was one of the most disgusting
things I have ever seen you do." 

"Don't even start on disgusting behavior Mulder, you're the
king."

"I'm a man, it is to be expected of me to act in a manly man sort
of way.  The whole crotch grabbing, burping and farting antics
come with manhood.  You however are a lady and are supposed
to act accordingly."

"Okay, if you want to be manly man taking care of his girly girl, 
why the hell am I sleeping on the floor of a forest. Surely you
could have rented a hotel room."

"Hey, a man only rents a lady a hotel room when he knows that he
is going to get lucky."

"Whose to say that I wouldn't have put out for you tonight
Mulder.  But I don't see a hotel room anywhere around here so I
guess we will never know." Scully then turned her back from
Mulder and pulled more leaves over her to keep her warm. 
Mulder just stared at her with his mouth open not quite believing
that she said what he thought she said.

*******************************************
Monongahela National Forest
July 31, 1998
4:00 am 

"Wake up Scully.  I know where he is,"  Mulder whispered to
Scully while slowly shaking her upper torso.

"No.  Sleep Scully," She responded.
.
"Wake up.  Hurry, we've to get to him before the rest of the
groups find him."  Mulder continued to shake Scully lightly,

"Scully wants to sleep.  Scully is tired.  Leave Scully alone."

"Scully is going to lose and have to sleep out in a tent for the rest
of the week unless she gets her lazy ass up off the forest floor."

"Okay.  Scully is getting up."  Mulder was amazed at the speed to
which she woke herself up out of the deep slumber and was
mentally ready to go.  He wasn't sure which remark got to her, 
the remark about finishing last or having to sleep in a tent again.

"Okay Mulder.  You woke me up, now tell me where he is so that
I can go back to sleep."

"I've been studying this map," Mulder started before Scully
interrupted him.

"You've been studying the map? It is 4 am!  Why weren't you
sleeping?" She asked.

"I was cold and couldn't sleep with all the tree roots poking into
my back."

"I had the same problem but you didn't see me up working in the
middle of the night."

"Well maybe some of us are more dedicated to the partnership
and the goals than others."

"Whatever," Scully replied.

"I think that he's hiding along the river. Somewhere.  If you look
on the map here this area over here where Samuelson and Team
Alpha were headed, there  is a large clearing that extends for
miles. No suspect is going to make himself a sitting duck out in a
field like that. Where is a suspect who we know to be smart and
resourceful going to hide?  Somewhere were there is food to eat -
berries and edible plants which could be in the meadow.  But
notice that the meadow has no visible sources of water around,
and unless he's skilled in drilling for his own ground water and
has the tools with him I don't think that he would be there.  The
most logical place for him to hide is along water. It also makes
for an easier getaway if he's spotted." 


"Mulder.  That all makes sense.  Furthermore if you look where
the water is located it is an equal distance from all entrances to
the park which means that all teams would have an equal chance
of nabbing him.  But, due to the fact that the water runs parallel to
several roads in the area which lead to towns, it would make
sense that no one would think he would be so naive as to hide out
in plain site."

"I love the way your mind works G-Woman.  Problem is which
way do we head?"

"Do you think we can narrow down his location a little more?"
Scully asked Mulder.  

"I suppose so, but in the meantime we should be heading toward
the water.   Maybe when I see what the area looks like a little
more I'll get an idea of where he can be hiding." 

"Okay, but I really want to sleep in a bed tonight.  The idea of
wandering blindly through a forest for another day isn't my idea
of fun."

"This comes from the woman who reads the American Journal of
Medicine for fun?  Like you are trustworthy in the fun
department."

"You don't think I know how to have fun?" Scully asked Mulder
as they continued to walk through the forest.

"No, I think that you think you are having fun, but whether or not
what you are doing is what the rest of the population would
consider fun is a whole other question."

"Just because I don't engage in juvenile antics doesn't mean
that I don't know how to have a good time."

"Okay what do you do to have fun?"

"Well I do go out with my friends."

"And which friends would these be?  Claire and Blake?"  Blake
and Claire where somewhat of a mystery to Mulder.  He knew
that she went regularly on vacation with them, but she never
talked about them other  than mentioning when she was doing
something with one of them.  He assumed that they were friends
of hers from medical school.

"Yes, Claire and Blake."

"Scully you go to poetry readings with Claire and Blake is gay."

"So.  Are you implying that because Blake is gay that he and I
don't know how to have fun.  I really never pegged you as
homophobic before Mulder."

"Believe me I probably have the most open mind in the universe. 
Trust me.  I have personal experience in this department."

"What you have a friend that's gay?"

"You could say that Scully."

"Is this anyone that I know.  I know all your friends and none of
them is gay to my knowledge. Who is it?"

"I plead the fifth."

"So, I do know this person?  Who is it?" She was really curious
now.

"Scully, I can't betray a confidence and tell you.  I'm sorry."

"Okay.  If you aren't going to tell, your best friend whom you
know would never betray your confidence,  then I'm just going to
have to guess."

"Guess all you want Scully.  I'm not going to tell you."

"Okay, lets start with the gunmen.  It can't be Frohicke or Byers
because he's married.  Maybe Langly?  No he doesn't look the
part.  But he could be.  I've never heard him talk about any
women or men for that matter.  Is it Langly?  You'd better tell
me or the next time I'm over there I'm going to tell Langly that
you told me that he's gay."

"You wouldn't Scully.  Then again with that temper of yours you
probably would.  No,  Langly to my knowledge isn't gay.  If he is
he hasn't told me about it."

"So if it isn't the gunmen that leaves Allan Shepard, Walter
Skinner, Tom Morgan, Brad Pittmam, and Hank Siebsma."

"Why do you automatically assume that it has to be a guy?"

"It's a woman?"

"No, I didn't say that.  I just found it was curious that you
didn't mention any females on the list somehow implying that if a
person was gay they had to be a male." 

"It *is* a female.  I can see it on your face Mulder."

"Can't we just drop this discussion Scully?"

"No, I want to know which person that I know is gay."

"Does it matter that they're gay Scully.  Would you honestly feel
any different about them if you knew their sexual orientation?"

"As much as I would like to say no, it does matter to me if they
are female."

"Why?  Are you worried that they're going to come onto you?"

"Well, yes."

"Sometimes you are so shallow, Scully.  Does every man you
meet
try to get you into bed besides my circle of friends?"

"Well, no."

"Then why would you assume that every gay woman that you
meet would want to have sex with you?"

"I know that it isn't rational, maybe it goes back to my upbringing. 
Somehow being a man and gay is acceptable.  I don't know
Mulder.  It's hard to explain."

"Try explaining it to me.  Does it somehow relate to you being a
women attracted to men. You see men as exquisite sexual
creatures and the joining of two men as beautiful,  but the joining
of two women as somehow disgusting."

"That's it exactly Mulder.  I know that I shouldn't feel any
different as to who the gay person is.  But lesbians and bi-sexual
females do bother me.  So whose the lesbian?"

"You know that I'm not going to tell you.  You would act
different around the person which not only is wrong, but the
person would know that I told you."

"Well that narrows it down.  It has to be someone I'm around a
lot.  I can eliminate Kimberly, Holly and Mary due to the fact that
they are married to men.  That leaves Diana, Shawn, Rebecca,
Tracy and Rose.  It can't be Diana due to her well-known history
with men.  The rest of the group are all regular daters.  I give up. 
I must be forgetting someone."

Mulder was glad that she had dropped the topic for the time
being.  He wanted to ask her about what rumors he had heard
about Diana's past history with men but didn't want to arouse her
suspicion.

*******************************************
Monongahela National Forest
July 31, 1998
5:00 pm 

Scully was hot, sweaty and tired.  She wanted nothing more than
to crawl under a big tree and take a nap.  But Mulder thought that
he was close to the suspect and wouldn't allow her to rest. She
hadn't asked for a break, she just knew by the determined look in
his eye that he didn't want to stop.  So she kept up with his pace
silently cursing his name for the blisters she was going to have on
her toes when they were done.  She knew that it wasn't his fault
that she was wearing her new Gore-Tex boots that had not been
adequately broken in.  She really wanted to be in a comfortable
pair of running shoes.

Mulder was hot, sweaty and tired also.  He saw the look of
determination on Scully's face and knew that they wouldn't stop
until they found the guy.  Miss Magna cum Laude expected
nothing less than excellence.  He knew that she had to be mad
over him placing third in the firearms competition, although she
hadn't said anything to him about it.  She would have placed first
if she competed.  He wasn't sure that he would have even placed
in the marathon.  As his feet ached he silently cursed her for her
physical endurance.  He figured with the way that she ran she
could probably go another 20 miles today before she would even
begin to feel fatigued.  He resolved to start running a longer
course once they got back to DC.  Next year he was going to do
the marathon and win to prove to her that he was just as good as
she was. 


After 9 pm as the sun was beginning to set Scully grabbed
Mulder's arm to slow him down.  She motioned for him to be
quiet and to lower his head so that she could whisper something
in his ear. 

"Mulder, I think he's somewhere in this vicinity."

"Why do you think that Scully?"

"Look at the river over there.  The brush almost covers it.  If he
wants to make a quick get away it makes sense for him to be
somewhere like that where he could float down the river without
being visible.  You would only be able to see him from in the
river.  So far all along the river it has been wide open.  No one
would be dumb enough to enter the river from there.  They would
be a sitting duck."

"You're  right Scully.  I've noticed that there seems to be more
edible mushrooms and plants in this area than where we started
out.  Where do you think his hideout would be."

"Maybe a cave or a tree or a bush.  The undergrowth in some
areas is pretty thick around here.  He could easily climb a tree
which would make him extremely difficult to find if he had
climbing gear with him.  Are there any lakes or caves around this
area on the map Mulder?"

Mulder got out the map to check.  He knew that they had only
minutes of daylight left to find the guy but was determined that
they were close enough that they would look through the night if
they had to.   

"The Seneca Caverns are somewhere around this area Scully.  Bet
we'll find him hiding in one of them.  Care to do a little
spelunking Agent Scully?"

"Why I thought you'd never ask."

A half-hour later then came across the 12th cavern they had seen
that night.  Scully noticed that it was closer to the river than any
other of the caverns.  It was close enough that someone could
easily get into the river from the cavern with minimal detection. 
She grabbed Mulder's arm. 

"Mulder look how close it is to the river.  He has to be there."

They both quietly crept to the entrance to the cave.  Neither
wanted to go first and were waiting for the other to make the first
move.

"Fine, I'll go Mulder but if a bat even comes near me you owe me
a month of paperwork."

"I'll protect you from the bats Scully," He teased her.

They slowly crept into the cave making a minimal amount of
noise.  Scully looked at her watch and say saw that it now was 10
pm.  Quickly calculating the trip back to Quantico she realized
that she wouldn't be in bed until at least 5 or 6 am. <So much for
a good nights sleep> she thought.   She continued to lead them
through the cave.  She had been spelunking with an ex-boyfriend
in college and had even participated in the local search and rescue
chapter.  She liked being underground where there were things
waiting to be discovered. 

She made up the line about the bats because she knew that she
would never hear the end of it if Mulder found out about her
caving experience.

Mulder watched Scully make her way through the cave quickly. 
She was a little to quick moving around in near darkness to be an
amateur.

<Is there anything that Scully doesn't know how to do? > Mulder
thought. 

He kept following her because he sure didn't know where he was
or how they were going to get out.  He hoped that she
remembered the way back and wasn't relying on his eidetic
memory.  

Scully entered a room in the cavern and suddenly stopped. 
Mulder didn't see that she had stopped and ended up running right
into her. 

He looked up to see why she had stopped. 

Walter Skinner sat against the wall of the cave wearing a pair of
night vision goggles reading
Tom Clancy's latest novel.

"Sir, I sure hope that you are the UNSUB we were hunting and
not here camping out for fun," Mulder said dryly.

"Sitting in this cave for the past day has not been my idea of fun,
although I have managed to catch up on my reading.  I'm glad
that I won't get stuck with this detail for another year.
Congratulations on finding me.  How did you manage?  For the
past 3 months they've been using this same hiding place and so
far no one has managed to find it," Walter Skinner said as he
slowly got up off the ground and shook his legs out.

"Call it beginners luck," Mulder responded.

"Where's the rest of Team Alpha?  Are they waiting by the mouth
of the cave for you?"

"No sir, we had differences in opinion and they chose to go their
own way," Dana Scully responded.

"Agent Scully, I hear congratulations are in order for you setting
the new course record for the marathon." She was wondering
when he was going to acknowledge her presence in the cave.

"It was nothing sir," Dana responded quietly, "What are we to do
now that we've found you?"

"Well since it is late," He said checking his watch, "The bureau
will put you up in a local hotel for the night and we'll head back
to Quantico tomorrow morning.  I need to radio in that you
found me so that they can call in the rest of the teams.  The rest of
the participants will be spending another cold night in the forest."

Scully and Mulder watched while Skinner pulled out some type of
emergency locator system and activated it letting them know
that he had been found.  He packed up the rest of his gear and led
them back to the cave entrance.  He walked over to the stream
and pulled an inflatable raft out of the bushes.  It was so well
hidden that it couldn't be seen unless someone pointed it out. 
Mulder and Scully helped Walter Skinner inflate it and put it into
the water.  

Ten minutes into the trip down stream Walter Skinner shut off the
motor and motioned for them to help him deflate it and carry it to
the road.  The climbed up a steep embankment to a dirt road
where Skinner told them to wait.

Skinner was still amazed that he'd been found.  He was sure that
even the best agent in the FBI couldn't find the hiding place.  But
he knew that if anyone was going to find it, it would be Fox
Mulder.

"So Mulder, how did you find the place?" Skinner asked.

"Well, Scully and I did a profile last night and based on the
profile we decided that he would be here," Mulder said while
looking over at Scully.  She nodded at him as if to say he could go
on and tell the AD whatever he wanted and she wouldn't
contradict him.  He knew that she was the one totally responsible
for them finding Skinner and he felt guilty at stealing the
attention that should have solely been hers.

"Well Mulder, I want you to do a presentation to the group next
week telling them how you found me."

"Sir, is Scully going to be assisting?"

"I don't think that will be necessary.  Surely she has autopsies to
do.  Since you are the one that did the profile and found him, you
should be the one to give the presentation."

<Shit.  I'm in deep shit.  Skinner thinks I did it all when I
didn't, > Mulder thought as he looked over to Scully.  She looked
impassive to him as if she didn't care about Skinner's mistake. 
Mulder kept his mouth shut thinking that Scully would have said
something if she was upset.

After sitting on the side of the road for twenty minutes a
humvee picked them up and took them to the nearest town. 
Walter Skinner went into the Days Inn and reserved two rooms
for them with instructions that someone would be around to get
them the next morning at 11 am.

The desk clerk handed Mulder and Scully their keys and toiletries
for the night. They were told that the FBI would be sending
someone by their rooms tonight with a change of clothes.  They
got into the elevator and made it to their rooms without ever
saying a word to each other.  The rooms were not adjacent so
there was no need to open the connecting door.

-end-