Two More Oddities

by Seven

(crossover)


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Notes from Author:      This is in complete disregard for Liam's statement in "Hijacked." And the guest characters in this story are the property of Chris Carter and Fox. I'm just borrowing them, I will pay a fine if I don't return them in time...



**********



Da'an was stumbling in a wide circle, shaking his head, eyes closed. He wanted to rest, but a jangle of angry voices was hammering at his mind. They drowned out the peaceful hum of the Commonality.

Da'an stopped at Liam's desk and leaned against it, breathing deeply. He hadn't felt such pain since his separation from the Commonality. Was that what was happening, he wondered fearfully. Was he going to somehow fall away, here, alone?

No, that was absurd. Da'an tried to calm himself. But a rumbling voice interrupted. "You will leave. Soon. I will see to that," it laughed. Da'an spun to see a tall, shimmering, fiery figure melt away into thin air.

He pulled open his global and called Liam. "Liam.... please come."

****

Zo'or had sent several armed shuttles to the hidden Jaridian to rescue a team of Taelon scientists from one of their colonies. The Jaridians had not heavily fortified that area yet, and Zo'or was anxiously awaiting news of their success or failure.

"They will fail. The scientists will die."

Zo'or broke out of his musings to find a hulking, fire-laced figure standing beside him, laughing. He jumped out of his chair. "Who are you?" he demanded.

Across the room, Agent Sandoval looked up, confused. "Zo'or?"

The figure laughed. "That isn't important. What is important is that those scientists will die. Your Volunteers will die. And the best part is," it whooped delightedly, "none of them would have if you hadn't gone on that mission."

Zo'or had gone cold at these words. He sat down, shakily. He barely looked up as the creature laughed and vanished.

"Zo'or?" Sandoval asked, coming over. "Who were you talking to?"

Zo'or distractedly gestured at thin air in front of him. "The creature."

"What creature?"

"You did not see it?"

Sandoval glanced around. "No." His global chirped, and he pulled it open. It was Liam Kincaid. "Sandoval, Da'an just had some sort of hallucination, and he's gotten really freaked out about it."

Sandoval's dark eyes widened. "Zo'or just had a hallucination of some sort."

Liam squinted a little. "Well, I'm going to go calm down Da'an, then I'm taking him in for a physical. See if there's anything physically wrong with him."

"Da'an and Zo'or having the same problem almost simultaneously?" Sandoval asked, trying to calculate the probability in his head.

Liam slumped. "Well, I don't know. This isn't really my field of expertise. See ya." He cut the link.

Sandoval put away his global and thought about the option for a moment. He could feel Zo'or's glare boring into the back of his neck. "Zo'or," he said. "I think I know of someone... two people, who can help with this. They're old friends of mine, and their speciality is odd events, such as this one."

Zo'or mused that for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

****

In the bowels of the FBI headquarters, a tall dark-haired man in his forties dropped into his chair, holding an ice-cream cone. Around him were dozens of file cabinets, and various junk was set out on his desk. His shirt was rumpled and his tie loosened.

A faint knock on his door alerted him to Sandoval's presence. "Hello, Fox," Sandoval called.

"Let's stick to 'Mulder', what say?" Mulder laughed, rising. Sandoval looked slightly pained at the sloppy condition of Mulder's basement office, but he came in and sat down at a small table.

"Careful," Mulder cautioned. "That's Scully's area. I've known her for over ten years, and I still haven't gotten her a desk." He paused. "What are you doing here? I thought you were working for the Taelon leader, Zo'or."

"I was. I am." Sandoval sighed and tried again. "I need help. This current crisis goes beyond my realm of expertise and into yours."

"What is it?"

"Two Taelons have simultaneous hallucinations, of being told the things that they fear most will come to pass," Sandoval said. "I was wondering if you and Scully would help out."

A chocolate drop hit a small file folder. Mulder hastily licked his rapidly softenening ice cream. "I'd love to. But, um, I stopped working on aliens about four years ago, when the Taelons arrived. Some people thought I was going to get suicidal," he laughed.

Sandoval smiled. "I certainly did. Will Agent Scully come?"

Mulder shrugged. "Probably."

****

Agent Scully was sitting in the park when Mulder found her. "Looking at the Taelon Embassy?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's very relaxing, very rounded."

"I think it needs some paint."

Scully looked at Mulder and smiled. "So, what's up?"

"Sandoval came back to the fold. Two Taelons had hallucinations at about the same time and he wants us to come. Better than that killer-cow-jumps-out-of-the-bushes-and-tramples-preschoolers thing we were on last week." Mulder shifted in his seat, looking at the Embassy.

Scully sighed. "Mulder, it's probably nothing."

"What do you mean, it's probably nothing?" Mulder asked. "Two Taelons, hallucinating at about the same time, with exactly the same vision."

"I mean, Mulder," Scully said calmly, "that the Taelons are all connected via a sort of mental Internet. One of them could have been having a hallucination and passed it on to the other, especially if they knew each other. Or... or there could be a third party, another Taelon who inadvertantly caused both incidents."

Mulder smiled charmingly. "That's why we're going to go talk to Da'an right now."

****

Liam looked up as two people, a man and a woman, entered Da'an's office. "Are you the FBI agents?" he asked, getting out of his chair.

"Yes, I'm Agent Dana Scully, and this is my partner Agent Mulder," Scully said, extending her hand. Liam shook it, then shook Mulder's. "Da'an's in the next room, undergoing a physical."

"Great, then you can tell us what you saw," Mulder said, sitting on the edge of Liam's desk.

Liam shrugged. "Not much to tell, actually. Da'an called me up and told me what he had seen. A fiery figure, he said, had told him that he would be separated from the Commonality. He was really freaked out about that."

Scully asked, "Did he sound hysterical or delusional?"

"No," Liam said. "He just sounded upset."

As if on cue, the Taelon MD emerged from the next room. He was a tall, graceful but somewhat antisocial Taelon named Ri'al. Liam got up. "Is there anything physically wrong with Da'an?"

"No," Ri'al said simply. Mulder raised his eyebrows at the Taelon's curtness.

"Excuse me," Scully interjected. Ri'al stopped and looked at her. "I'm a medical doctor, and I was wondering if Taelons have these sorts of hallucinations during times of stress or discontent?"

Ri'al looked repulsed at the idea. "No."

Scully shrugged. "Just asking."

Ri'al moved away and out of Da'an's office. Mulder glanced at Liam. "Can we see Da'an?"

"Probably." Liam got up from his chair and went into the next room. Da'an was sitting on a table, looking puzzled and afraid. "Da'an, there are Agents Mulder and Scully outside for you. Should I tell them you're resting?"

"No," Da'an said, sliding off the table. "It would help my state of mind to think of something else."

Liam grimaced. "Well... um... that's why they're here. Sandoval sent them, they investigate strange occurrances."

Da'an thought for a moment, then nodded. Liam yelled into the next room, "Come on in."

Mulder and Scully entered. Scully sat down and began flipping through a case file that Mulder had just handed her, while Mulder sat down near Da'an. "Hi, I'm Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully flipping through a X-file."

"Mulder, these cases are not documented, and took place among humans, not Taelons," Scully announced.

Mulder grinned. "Now when was the last time I was wrong?"

"You've been wrong plenty of times, Mulder. It's just that when you're right, you get insufferable." She glanced at Liam. "He was right, four years ago, and he hasn't let me forget since."

Liam sat down next to Scully as Mulder began talking to Da'an. "Can you tell me what you were doing when you started seeing and hearing this thing?"

Da'an hesitated. "I was preparing a report for Zo'or."

"On what topic?" Scully asked.

"The repair of the interdimensional portals," Da'an replied.

"What did it say to you?" Mulder asked.

Da'an stopped and shivered a little. "It informed me... that I would be cut off from the Commonality soon."

Mulder nodded sympathetically. "Is that... what you're most afraid of?"

"Perhaps..." Da'an said quietly.

Scully and Mulder both got up. Mulder nodded to Da'an and said, "We won't take up any more of your time. We'll be in touch."

Da'an nodded graciously as the FBI agents headed for the door.

****

"Mulder, what was that all about?" Scully asked.

"Da'an saw something, and I don't think he was delusional," Mulder said.

"Mulder, he has a high-stress job and a bad relationship with Zo'or. Anyone who looks at the records of Da'an's projects and career can see that. It may be that Da'an's mind just threw together a jumble of things he can't stand-"

"Or fears," Mulder interrupted.

"In the form of a fiery figure," Scully finished, refusing to let Mulder ahead.

Mulder looked at his global. "Next up, Zo'or on the mothership."

****

The shuttle docked on the mothership. Sandoval smiled a little as he watched Mulder and Scully disembark, led by Liam Kincaid. "They have arrived, Zo'or," he announced.

Zo'or turned his chair toward the doorway as Lili led Mulder and Scully in. Liam was following at a distance, watching curiously. Mulder nodded to Zo'or. "I'm Agent Mulder and this is Agent Scully, my partner."

Zo'or nodded in return, smiling artificially.

"I have only a few questions," Mulder said. "Does Taelon mythos have any demons?"

Zo'or looked somewhat surprised, but only replied, "No..."

"Are you related to Da'an in any way but by your jobs and positions?" Scully asked.

"No."

"Is there a history of mental illness in your family? Any genetic disorders?" Scully pressed.

"No," Zo'or said.

Mulder took a deep breath. "I don't know much about the Commonality, only what's in the X-files, so perhaps you can enlighten me. Is it possible for a Taelon to cause this kind of apparition in the mind of another Taelon?"

Zo'or was looking at Mulder as if the FBI agent had turned orange. "Only... if the Taelon were deranged. And insane Taelons are rehabilitated early on in their madness."

Mulder shrugged. "Then I guess I'm wrong."

Scully's head snapped up. "Mulder, can I speak with you?" she asked.

Mulder followed her out into the hall, out of anyone's hearing. "Mulder, what are you doing?"

"I think I know what this is, Scully. A crazed Taelon who is somehow able to terrify others of his kind by making hideous apparitions appear," Mulder said. "It makes sense."

"Not to me," Scully said. "Mulder, I did an extensive check of the Commonality before we left. The Taelons just aren't physically able to do that."

Mulder shrugged. "Well this one can. And he's kept his abilities very well hidden for a long time. And something has twisted him, made him angry enough to torment others."

Scully sighed. "This is a wild-goose chase, Mulder. Why don't you go report our findings so far to Skinner, and I'll talk to Sandoval up here?"

Mulder nodded.

****

A few minutes later, Liam climbed into the shuttle's oddly-positioned pilot's seat. Mulder was behind him, looking dissatisfied. Neither of them noticed the odd ticking noise from the rear compartment.

"Is something wrong?" Liam asked.

"It's nothing," Mulder sighed. "I just don't think I have what I need to pursue this case."

"And what's that?"

"A list of suspects aside from you, Sandoval, Da'an, and Zo'or."

Liam smiled. Then the smile vanished as he heard the ticking grow louder. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

Mulder cocked his head. "Yeah, that sounds like an alarm clock ready to explode," he said lightly, with an undercurrent of tenseness.

Liam pulled the conventional drive off-line, and the shuttle was drifting. He punched in "Signal black" a quarantine signal. All shuttles would keep as far away as they could until the signal was switched off.

Mulder watched as Liam waved away the virtual glass compartment, revealing a large blue-gray box, organic-looking but laced with human technology. "A bomb," Liam whispered.

"Is there any way we can jettison it?" Mulder asked. The ticking began to increase.

"No, not without blowing ourselves out with it," Liam replied. "But if I cut power to the ID and conventional drive I can put up a virtual barrier strong enough to contain it.... I think."

"Well, you better stop thinking and start acting," Mulder said tensely.

Liam rapidly transferred the power, but the field was sparking unevenly. "We're going to get at least a little of the blast," he said, stepping away. "How damaging it will we, I don't know without knowing how much explosive is in that box."

Mulder nodded. "So when does it-"

There was an explosion inside the field, making a huge fiery bubble inside the shuttle wall. Streamers of it hurled themselves out at Mulder and Liam. Liam held up his hands instinctively, and a glimmering white forcefield seemed to throw itself from his shakarava.

And then the explosion ended, leaving the wall of the shuttle charred but intact. Mulder was gaping at Liam's hands as Liam curled his fingers over his glowing shakarava. The younger man smiled weakly. "Old family trait," he quipped.

****

The shuttle was towed into the mothership, and Liam almost ran to speak to Lili. Mulder was undoubtedly going to broadcast his ancestry now, Liam thought in a frenzy.

"Kincaid!" called Mulder's voice.

Liam only went faster. But a strong hand clamped on his shoulder and spun him to face Mulder. "What exactly ARE you?" the FBI agent asked. He looked puzzled, but not repulsed.

Liam took a deep breath. "I'm not all human. My mother was, but my father wasn't, and I am very very dead if anyone finds out."

Mulder smiled a little. "Then your secret is safe with me."

"What?"

"Liam, you may not know this from my record, but I've had to keep plenty of secrets for people. Some were infinitely worse than yours, and all were frustrating." Mulder smiled. "If you were the one I'm looking for, you wouldn't have stopped that bomb."

Liam exhaled, looking relieved. His global chirped, and he pulled it out to answer it. "Kincaid. What is it, Lili?"

"A Taelon down here is just about spazzing. He can barely talk, but I think what he's seeing is a worse version of what Da'an and Zo'or saw," Lili said tensely. "Agent Scully is stumped, and she wants to know if Agent Mulder has a theory."

"I have a theory, just no suspects," Mulder said over Liam's shoulder. "Has Scully checked out the Taelon?"

"Yes, she's doing that right now." Lili looked off to the side. "If he were human, he'd probably be having a heart attack right now."

Mulder glanced back at a soft hissing. Liam looked behind them as well. The corridor looked deserted, but a slight movement in the shadows alerted them. "Lili, I'm going to call you back," Liam said flatly, in a loud voice. "Come on, Mulder, let's head for the bridge."

Mulder grinned. "Yes," he replied in a similarly loud voice. "I still have questions to ask Zo'or."

Then the both of them turned and began to walk toward the source of the noise, keeping their footsteps quiet. It was a Taelon, unusually tall. He was holding his hands out, fingers clawlike, and uttering soft hisses.

"Halt!" Mulder shouted, raising his gun.

The Taelon turned to face them, eyes ablaze with hatred. It was the doctor Ri'al.

Liam gaped at him as the Taelon began walking toward Mulder, face completely blank. "Don't come any closer or I shoot!" Mulder yelled. "NO CLOSER!"

Ri'al continued, and Mulder fired. The bullet ripped through the Taelon's torso and buried itself in the wall. Ri'al only paused and smiled evilly. Mulder stared at him, horrified.

Liam gulped and held up his hands. The shakarava flared. Ri'al halted at the noise and began to look at Liam, but Mulder grabbed him and threw him sideways and as Liam fired. The shakarava blast knocked the Taelon unconscious.

Liam was breathing hard. "Thanks," he gasped, looking at Mulder.

Mulder smiled. "I saved your butt, you saved mine. We're even."

****

Later, Scully was sitting at her computer, typing out the finish of the latest of the X-files.

"Agent Dana Scully, log entry. The Taelon MD Ri'al has been confined on the mothership. He appears to be dangerously insane, and is sedated during treatment. Agent Mulder and Major Kincaid have not suffered any permanent damage from their fight with him.

"Like many of the Taelons, Ri'al has lost a loved one in their war with the Jaridians. I find myself wondering if that is what made him do this, torment others of his kind for pleasure. Or was Ri'al beyond insanity? Could Ri'al simply have been a dark soul, one who has opened his mind and heart to evil and pursued it with a vengeance, striking fear in the hearts of innocents?

"Can we ever know for certain? And if we are, does any dare to investigate that darkness without becoming enmeshed in it?"

****

As Mulder and Scully were escorted back to the shuttle, Sandoval smiled and commented, "I'd really like to thank you. You got it exactly, both of you."

Scully shook her head. "No, Mulder got it right. He was right all along in this particular case?"

"What did I tell ya?" Mulder said, grinning. "I guess we've never lost that edge, huh Scully?"

Scully rolled her eyes as she climbed into the shuttle. Liam was in the pilot's seat, but as Mulder passed by, he grabbed Liam's hand and pressed a scrap of paper between his fingers. Liam slipped it into his pocket and started up the conventional drive.

After dropping the two FBI agents outside the FBI headquarters, Liam pulled out the slip and read it. It said, "Secrets are to be kept--Mulder"

****

Inside the dimly-lit Taelon cell, Ri'al was sitting cross-legged on the floor. His eyes glowed a horrifying blue in the darkness. Many Taelons, in this sort of confinement, would have terminated their existance. But Ri'al had further purpose. Carved into the wall were names.

Da'an

Kincaid

Mulder

Scully

Zo'or