"Susan E. Swogger" SEARCH FOUR -- disclaimers on part one -------------00000------------------00000-------------------00000-On yet another pointless case, Mulder (they are working together, but the atmosphere in the the Bureau is unfriendly) becomes annoying and is deserted -----------00000-----------00000------ "Hey, Scully, check that out. The sea witch approacheth." Mulder peered into the fog, looking over Scully's shoulder away from the docklight. An anonymous, bulky, orange-swaddled figure came striding towards them, clutching something in its arms. There were indeed bits and clumps of seaweed and dirt all over its wet coat, visible as it came closer. "Dana Scully! That is you, isn't?" called the figure in a familiar, female voice. Scully started and then walked rapidly towards the figure as she pushed back her rain hood to reveal a damp and tired Liliana Ramos. "Hey. Were you with the rescue squad?" "Yeah. I'm staying on for a while, but I hear you all got the "get lost" from the cops and don't need to stay." Lil shifted the sack in her arms, sounding even more exhausted than she looked. "It was just another dump-on-us job. They knew it probably wasn't a murder, but they had to call us because it was on government property, and Mulder was interested anyway because of the boat they came off of. We needed a break from our usual, anyway." Scully couldn't keep her eyes off the sack. "Lil, what is that?" A sudden plaintive "mmaaow!" from the sack made Liliana smile ruefully. "Kittens. Four. We couldn't save those three sailors, but these guys have made it so far. Speaking of which, could you please take them home with you? If they stay here for as long as I'm stuck, they probably won't make it, and the Mop's a little too interested." "Of course I will. Where is Moppet, back with the other Dog teams?" Scully had met Lil's water-rescue trained Newfoundland on her previous visits to her house and remembered him fondly despite his size and inclination to drool all over her foot. He was too sweet not to love. "Yes. Thank you, Scully. I'll come get them as soon as I can, or you could just go to my house for the night? It's closer than yours, and it's late." Lil smiled weakly at her as she carefully handed the wet sack to Scully, who barely winced as it touched her nice clean London Fog rain coat. "Chaser wouldn't freak when I come in without you?" "Nah, she likes you and she knows I trust you. Just tell her the down word I taught you, and leave the foster pups in the crates. Please, Dana? I don't want them alone, and that way you can call Serenity and roust her out of bed to come look at them. We won't ever get any other vet to come out on a four day weekend." Scully hesitated, then nodded. "Of course I will. It'll be better than driving all the way back to Georgetown in this weather, anyway." "What will be, Scully?" asked Mulder as he reached them, peering curiously first at Liliana and then at Scully's squirming sack. "I'm going to go stay at Lil's house. Mulder, this is Liliana Ramos of Sourthern Virginia Canine, Lil, this is Fox Mulder, my investigative partner in the Bureau." She shifted the sack a little closer, and its movements quieted. "Hello. Scully, if you don't want to drive, I will." Mulder was just slightly frowning, clearly (to Scully) suspicious of this unknown person so familiar with her. "No thanks, Mulder. You can catch a ride back with March. I'll see you on Tuesday, at which point you will have all of your paperwork finished." She settled the sack in her right arm, grabbed her case from her partner, and turned to stand next to Lil facing him. "No arguments, Scully. Have a nice night. " He turned in a huff to walk towards March, turning back to the watching women suddenly. "What's in the bag, Scully?" "Cats. Later, Mulder." She turned back to Lil, who had been watching this with slightly wide eyes. "Now. May I have your house keys?" "Um, sure. Interesting guy, that Mulder." Liliana unzipped her orange raincoat and pulled out her keys, thereby revealing two damp wool sweaters as the source of her extra bulk. Scully took them, paused for half a second, and then reached up to smooth her friend's wet hair off of her forehead. Liliana, too tired to really react, nevertheless managed a smile at the offered affection and concern. "Thank you again, Scully. I owe you dinner at the best restaurant in Fredericksburg tomorrow, I promise." "I'll hold you to that with pleasure. And it's no problem, I've come to like cats since meeting those big guys of Elspeth's. You just get home as soon as you can, alright? You look awful." Scully started walking towards the gated lot under the big light poles to pick up her car, holding the cats carefully. "I will. Bye, Dana." "I'll see you later, Lil." She turned and smiled back at her friend. It was obvious that this futile search - well, almost futile, as a kitten squeaked -- was depressing her. At least knowing the kittens would be alright would help, and maybe that she would have human company when she finally did get home. A half-hour later, Scully pulled into a gravel drive on a different bank of the same river, parking in an azalea-bordered turn around at the side. Liliana's house, a former summer home set half on stilts and into the slope of a hill, was right on the Rappahannock River, just a little outside of the smallish historical town of Fredericksburg, VA. Scully liked it for its simplicity and beautiful view - Lil was lucky to have found it. She settled the kittens, still emitting occasional cheeps but ominously quiet, in her arm and walked up the path to the front door. There was an immediate, purposeful bark from the other side of the door as she opened the screen to unlock the door, followed by sharper barks from the other dogs. "Whoa, girl." Scully muttered, not having realized exactly how big Chaser was until that second. She took a deep breath, pulled the keys and door open and said Chaser's sit word firmly. The dog immediately dropped her menacing stance to sit, her beautiful tail furiously dusting the wooden floor as she stared up at Scully, looking past inquiringly, then up again. "She'll be back soon, Chaser. Let's go take care of these guys, now that that's settled." Scully took a deep breath, relaxing as she walked past the now friendly dog into the house toward the kitchen and the barking Flounder and Tontó. For a second there, she'd been remembering a certain Asian cane dhole incident, with less than fondness. Chaser, sweet though she was, was big, and Schutzhund trained as well - with all the danger that that could imply. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Serenity sighed, touching one little gray scrap of a kitten gently. "This one's already gone. He's likely the only casualty though, now that the other three are warmed and fed. They're about five weeks old, so you'll have to feed them this formula along with this special food. At least they're old enough it won't be every two hours like with really tiny ones. Lil's taken care of orphans like this before, so she'll know what to do." The other woman's round face looked a bit tired, but she showed no other sign of discomfort at being rousted out of bed at two o'clock in the morning. "So the search didn't go well in terms of humans - and why did they call in the Feds?" "No. It seems that three boaters out for a night of drunken fishing capsized, of course, and drowned, then landing up on the government fish counting station down the river. There wasn't anything anyone could do by the time their families called in the rescue squad. We had to go in because of where one of them fetched up, but it seems to be an accident." Scully yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she watched the remaining kittens, one gray tiger and two black with white feet, as they slept in a warm pile in the laundry basket the two women had converted into a kitty nursery on the kitchen counter. Chaser watched curiously from below, occasionally attempting to peer in. Wren sighed, saying "That's too bad. Lil and Moppet'll both be depressed by the time they get back - the search teams will have to run a fake search to let the dogs find somebody alive, or they'll be upset for days." Scully looked at her for a second, then snorted softly. "My life's become a zoo since I met you three. I never would have thought of dogs getting depressed before." She stroked the sleeping kittens gently, hoping that they would survive what their brother or sister had not. "Do you really mind?" "No. Not at all. I've spent years looking for sentient life beyond earth. It's rather humbling to realize I was looking right over its head." She dropped her hand gently to tug Chaser's soft ear, causing the dog to tilt her head and stare up at her quizzically. They both chuckled, then Wren left her, with instructions and formula for the kittens, in order to return to her own house. Scully walked over to the bookshelves lining the open living room, grabbing a book at random before dropping down onto the overstuffed sofa. She knew she probably wouldn't stay awake enough to read it anyway.