The X Files Episode 12x16: Titan (Part Two)
Part two; the character slaughter continues:
ONE MONTH EARLIER
Agent Einstein walked back to her flat late at night. Many others had advised against it, but she had decided that she could handle herself. She couldn’t be bothered to call a cab.
The full moon illuminated the sky well; it was the last night of the full moon for that month.
The streets had been quiet, not a soul in sight. Einstein accepted that a lot of women probably wouldn’t have wanted to be in this situation.
Suddenly, something got her attention; something sticking out from behind a dumpster; was it…
An arm?
Einstein had to check more closely; curiosity killed the cat, you might say. She moved closer, turning on her flashlight, and moved the dumpster to get a closer look.
The man’s dead body would have shocked a lot of people, but Einstein was used to sights like this. Not even the man’s bloodstained, lacerated, throat could faze her.
She checked the man’s pulse; dead. The body was warm, though, so the killing must have taken place not long ago.
The next thing that happened did startle her, as something leapt out at her, and she felt a sudden pain.
She looked down, and saw that her sleeve was torn; she was bleeding from some deep claw marks in her arm. Looking round, she saw her attacker.
A wolf, large and shaggy, staring her right in the eye, getting ready to attack again, when…
A gunshot rang out loud and clear, and someone grabbed Einstein, adding: “Don’t be alarmed”.
“Who are you?” Einstein asked as the other woman pulled over a taxi, telling the driver: “Take her to the hospital”.
The newcomer had been Diana Fowley, trying to keep a low profile, with a red wig as a new disguise. She was taking a risk being back in DC, but she hadn’t been able to stay away.
“Trust me, you don’t need to know,” was all she told Einstein.
As the taxi drove away, Einstein looked around; she couldn’t see any sign of the wolf; had her mystery saviour killed it?
Just before she blacked out, she thought she could see a naked man lying on the ground; was it just her imagination, though?
This was the story that Einstein told Scully; the only explanation she could think of was that she had been attacked by a werewolf, and the woman who saved her had shot her with a silver bullet.
Scully’s response had been: “Well, it would seem that Buffy is more real than I thought she was”.
XXXXX
“You needing my help, Agent Hayes?” Mulder asked.
Hayes had come into Mulder’s ward.
“No, Agent Mulder,” Hayes replied; “I’ve come here to tell you that I will report any further interference from you to AD Spender. The crime scene has been closed off, and I have instructed my men not to let you in. You stay where you are, and try to recover; there’s been another emergency”.
“Agent ‘Ayes’ methods are ees own”, replied Mulder, effacing a French accent; “order and method and ze leettle gray cells”.
Hayes turned briefly, and then left the room; he didn’t get Mulder’s Poirot impression, but did not have the time to argue with this man.
XXXXX
“Special Agent Miller was a promising young man,” Kersh sighed, staring out of the window of his office.
He turned to Spender, Scully and Hayes, who sat on the other side of the desk.
“So, that accounts for one missing agent,” he added, his expression darkening; has there been any word about Agent Einstein?”
“Sir,” Scully replied; “I have spoken to her; she is not feeling well; she apologises for not contacting AD Spender directly.”
“Thank you, Agent Scully,” replied Spender; “I will let this one slide, as I imagine when she learns that her partner was murdered, she will be in great distress. Deputy Director, I presume you are okay to grant Agent Einstein with compassionate leave?”
“Back in my day, we had more of a backbone,” Kersh muttered; “the KKK murdered my father, but that didn’t stop me from returning to work. Nevertheless, it is bureau protocol.”
“Deputy Director,” Hayes interjected; “we are working under the assumption that whoever killed our victim in the hospital also murdered Special Agent Miller.”
“It certainly fits the M.O.,” Scully agreed; “I’m sure my autopsy will corroborate that”.
“What I don’t see,”, Kersh replied, “is the connection between the two victims.
“Agents Einstein and Miller were doing an investigation into a drugs gang,” Spender replied; “it might be that someone discovered what was going, and decided to silence one of our agents.”
“In that case,” replied Kersh, “I am going to insist that Agent Einstein be moved to a safe house, for her own protection.”
“Is there anything else you can think of, Agent Scully?” Spender asked; “any possible enemies who Agent Miller have have had.”
Scully thought for a moment; she couldn’t tell her superiors what Einstein had told her.
I’m a werewolf.
It was complete crazy talk from a usually rational agent, and also Scully had promised complete confidentiality.
“Agent Scully?” Hayes prompted.
“No, Sir,” Scully replied.
“Then, that will be all,” Kersh replied; “dismissed.”
XXXXX
WASHINGTON, DC
Hayes and Scully pulled up by a seedy bar in one of Washington DC’s backstreets; it was one of the rougher areas of town. Both were in plain clothes; Hayes wore tatty jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better days, and a leather waistcoat; he had a bandana on his head. Scully was dressed in Mulder’s tracksuit, which was a few sizes too big for her; she had deliberately made a mess of her hair; she would look forward to having a long bath after this.
“This is where the gang that Einstein and Miller were seeing hangs out,” Hayes explained; “we might be able to get something out of them.”
They entered the room to hear rap music playing in the background, and face to face with a group of men and women talking, all until they sensed the newcomers.
Everyone in the bar fell silent, and turned to stare at Scully and Hayes in unison.
“No sweat,” said Hayes; “we’re new in the area; thought we’d check the place out.”
A large man and an equally large woman approached the two of them: “We’ll see about that, just as long as you aren’t narks. We just need to check you ain’t wearing a wire.”
“Go ahead,” replied Scully.
The man started patting down Hayes, while the woman carefully examined Scully, pawing her over with her hands.
“She’s clean,” she replied; “how about yours?”
“Not wearing a wire, either,” the man confirmed; “looks like you’re okay.”
“You can’t be too careful,” Hayes replied; “I heard that an F.BI. Agent was meddling around here recently.”
The group in front of them looked confused.
“You think the Feds may have got into here right under our noses?” she asked.
The Feds were of course in the bar right now, but no one had realised.
“We’d blow their brains out the moment we got wind of them,” the man smirked; “they think they’re so clever, but they’re not.”
“So, are we dealing or what?” the woman asked; “our prices start at a hundred dollars per kilo.”
“We’ll be back with the money, “ Scully muttered; “and then we’ll take the goods.”
“We’re very discerning customers,” added Hayes; he and Scully got up and left.
“Well, either they have very good poker faces, or they really didn’t know that Miller and Einstein were playing them,” Scully muttered, as they drove away.
“I don’t think they could recognise an F.B.I. agent if they had a bureau badge shoved in their face,” Hayes replied; “that’s one lead down; I don’t know if you have any other thoughts, Agent Scully.”
Scully again remembered her promise to Einstein; complete confidentiality.
“No, Agent Hayes,” she replied.
“In that case, “ Hayes replied; “we are going to have to tell AD Spender that were are at a complete stalemate.”
“I need to do that autopsy,” Scully reminded him; “that may be our last chance.”
XXXXX
“Scully?” Mulder asked, as the female figure entered the hospital ward.
“Not quite, Fox” Fowley replied as she removed her red wig.
“Diana?” Mulder could scarcely believe his eyes.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Fowley laughed; “it really is me. I’m no alien bounty hunter, no Arya Stark wearing a Mission Impossible Mask.”
“Scully told me you’d been murdered,” Mulder replied.
“Yes,” Fowley replied; “that’s what she was meant to believe; I had to get away, before he could get to me. Your father, that is; Cancer Man.”
“But you just had to come and see me?” Mulder asked.
“I figured you’d only find out from Jeffrey anyway, “ Fowley sighed, “and what have you done to end up in here?”
“I’m getting old I guess, Diana,” Mulder replied; “my heart is getting weak. Tell, me why are you really here? Are you wanting to get back together?”
“I’ll tell you what I told Jeffrey,” Fowley replied; “just because I can’t stay away from you doesn’t mean I’m still in love with you. Besides, you’re a father now, and very nearly a husband.”
In her head, she was wondering whether to tell Mulder the truth about who he thought was his son, about what the Smoking Man had done to Scully.
“You stopped reading minds then, Fox?” she asked.
“Yes, I got over that some time ago,” Mulder replied; “you are as unpredictable as ever, Diana.”
“Good, “ she replied, “and it means you probably didn’t predict that I’d give you this.”
She handed him a gun.
“I already keep a spare gun, Diana” Mulder replied; “I guess you don’t know me that well.”
“This one is loaded with silver bullets,” Fowley replied; “you may need them.”
“Beware the moon,” Mulder grinned; “you think a werewolf may be involved.”
“I believe I witnessed one of your fellow Agents get attacked by one last full moon,” Fowley replied; “Rudolfa Einstein.
She put the gun by Mulder’s bed: “Happy hunting, Fox.”
She put the wig on again, and left.
XXXXX
Scully’s mobile phone rang.
“Scully,” she answered.
“It’s me,” said Mulder; he was calling on the hospital phone; “I think I know who your killer might be, but you’re not going to like it.”
“I can’t wait to hear this, Mulder, and it had better not be a monster,” Scully replied; “I’m certain if there were a monster roaming around DC, we’d have seen it on the telly.”
“Scully, I think it’s Agent Einstein,” Mulder replied.
“You think she’s a werewolf?” Scully spoke without thinking.
“If I told you who I heard it from,” Mulder continued; “you probably wouldn’t believe me.”
“No, I probably wouldn't,” Scully replied.
“Scully,” Mulder added; “how did you know what I was about to say?”
“Women’s intuition,” Scully suggested.
“Scully, listen, if there’s something you know about Agent Einstein, you need to tell Agent Hayes.”
“Mulder,” Scully replied, “what difference would it make even if I did think Agent Einstein were turning vulpine when the full moon is out? He wouldn’t believe a word of it; he’d think I had gone crazy.”
“Did you do an autopsy on Miller?” Mulder asked.
“Yes; Scully replied; and it revealed similar findings to what I had with your friend from the hospital; although this time the killer’s fingernail had broken off, and it was embedded in Miller’s shoulder. It was painted bright blue. I’ll speak to you later; I think Spender is calling.”
As he heard the phone hang up, Mulder reluctantly handed the phone to an old lady who had been almost breathing down his neck. She glared at him and didn’t say thanks, then added: “Well, move along; private phone call.”
XXXXX
“Scully,” said Scully, picking up Spender’s call.
“Agent Scully,” Spender replied; “have you seen Special Agent Einstein?”
“Not recently, Sir why do you ask?”
“Our agents have been trying to find her, to take her into protection,” Spender replied; “but she’s nowhere to be seen.”
“Do you want me to try contacting her?” Scully asked.
“If you are able to, Agent Scully; I know I can depend on you. I’ve always been able to depend on you; that’s why you deserve much more than Agent Mulder and his X-Files.”
“I’ll contact you if I find where she is, Sir,” Scully replied.
“Good luck, Agent Scully,” Spender smiled, feeling a little more hopeful, and hung up the call.
“Jenny,” he said as the door opened and his assistant came in; “just the person I needed to see. Any chance of a coffee?”
He stopped, as he saw the knife in Jenny’s hand.
“Jenny,” he asked; “what’s going on?”
“You’re having secret conversations with Agent Scully again,” Jenny snapped; “I’ve seen you doing it to her before; stringing her along, you’re stalking her, aren’t you? Holly even told me that the two of you had been canoodling in the ladies’ restroom once.”
Spender remembered Scully’s joke several months ago; a bit of improv to cover up a private work-related discussion.
“Jenny, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Spender protested, “but you’ve got this all wrong.”
“You’re all the same,” Jenny snapped; before Spender could react, she lunged forward, and slit his throat; twice for good measure; “just like Agent Miller, and that man in the hospital”.
Spender clutched his throat as blood gushed out of it; he staggered and clutched hold of his desk.
Jenny quickly dropped the knife and removed the rubber gloves she had been wearing. She walked calmly into Spender’s private washroom, and flushed away the rubber gloves.
Running out of the AD’s office, she shouted: “Help! Somebody!”
Seconds later, AD Spender expired.
XXXXX
Hayes walked into the hospital to find Mulder dressed and starting to leave.
“Where are you going, Agent Mulder?” he demanded.
“I’m checking myself out, “Mulder replied; “and if I tell you where I’m going, you won’t like it.”
“I don’t have time, “ Hayes replied gruffly; “and Agent Scully isn’t returning my calls. Special Agent Einstein has been spotted, on the roof of this hospital. I believe she is planning to jump.”
“She’s here?” Mulder asked; “I’m looking for her. Hayes watched as he wielded the gun containing the silver bullets.”
“I’m taking this gun anyway,” replied Hayes; “whatever you were thinking of doing to Agent Einstein, I won’t let you.”
He snatched the gun out of Mulder’s hand, and ran to the stairs. Mulder gave chase, despite Hayes’ protests. He’d risk another heart attack just to make sure Agent Einstein was okay.
XXXXX
Scully arrived in Kersh’s office, to find Jenny sitting on the sofa, trembling.
“Agent Scully, “ said Kersh; “thanks for coming over here so quickly. Two Federal Officers murdered - one an Assistant Director. I don’t know what this world is coming to.”
“You say Jenny found AD Spender’s body?” Scully asked.
“She’s in shock,” Kersh warned her; “but I think I can trust you to be more compassionate than your partner.”
“Jenny,” said Scully, approaching the other woman, before stopping.”
“Agent Scully?” Kersh asked her; “what is it now?”
Scully was looking at Jenny’s blue fingernails, specifically the fact that one of them had broken off.
“Deputy Director,” Scully said; “you need to call security.”
“Agent Scully?” Kersh asked.
“You killed him, didn’t you, Jenny?” Scully said, firmly; “you killed all of them.”
“Agent Scully!”, Kersh snapped; “maybe my judgement was off when I called you; explain yourself.”
Jenny stopped her charade quickly, and tried to lunge at Scully, who was thankfully too quick, and pulled out her gun.
Scully fired, hitting Jenny in the shoulder.
XXXXX
Einstein stood on the roof of the hospital; it seemed that death may be the only choice now. The full moon was almost completely risen.
“Agent Einstein, don’t do it!”
She turned around at the sound of Mulder’s voice; he had managed to beat Hayes to hospital roof.
“It’s no good, Agent Mulder,” said Einstein; “I don’t remember what I did when I transformed, but I know I killed two men.”
“You weren’t in control of yourself,” Mulder protested; “come down from there, and step away”; he wished he had his gun on him. A little bit of him was curious as to whether Einstein really would turn into a werewolf, or if Scully was right about her being delusional.
Fowley had seemed certain.
“Agent Mulder,” said Einstein; “you aren’t safe around me, not after…”
She couldn’t get any further words out, and the next moment she almost keeled over. Mulder started to back off as Einstein’s face began to extend, her hands began to turn into claws, and hair sprouted over her body.
“Agent Mulder, I’ll report you.”
Mulder turned round, and saw Hayes arrive on the rooftop.
“You pushed me over on the stairs,” he grumbled, before stopping; “what the hell is that?”
He was looking at the large wolf-like creature that stood where Agent Einstein had been. Below it were the remains of her torn clothes.
“Agent Hayes,” said Mulder; “let me explain.”
Agent Hayes raised the first gun that he could find; Mulder realised it was the gun that he himself had got off Fowley.
The werewolf was still on the edge of the roof, sizing up its prey.
“No!” Mulder shouted, but to no avail, as Hayes fired.
The silver bullet hit the werewolf in the shoulder, sending it keeling off the hospital roof.
Mulder ran to the edge of the building.
“Whatever that thing was,” Hayes said, “and it looked like a feral animal; I think it may have killed Agent Einstein. Goodness knows how it came to be here.” He picked up the torn shreds of clothes.
Mulder was looking down; he could just about make out a naked female figure lying prone on the ground, ten storeys below.
“No, Agent Hayes,” he replied; “I believe you just killed Agent Einstein.”
XXXXX
Mulder and Scully watched as the three coffins were lowered into the ground; they stood under an umbrella together because it was raining; Tena was in her pushchair, with a plastic guard over the top. Jackson stood nearby, looking on.
Three members of the F.B.I., taken too soon.
“…as we commit Rudolfa, Robert and Jeffrey to you”, said the priest; “dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to earth”. He started throwing lumps of earth over the three coffins as he did this.
Mulder and Scully looked at the group gathered around; most were current F.B.I. agents. Skinner was nearby, in his wheelchair, with an umbrella attached to the back.
As people began to drift away, Mulder and Scully walked towards Skinner.
“We were glad you could come to the funeral,” Mulder told Skinner.
“I know Agents Einstein and Miller always looked up to you,” replied Skinner; “hoped to be like both of you one day. I always hoped AD Spender could start seeing things the way you do, Mulder.”
“We were still in shock that Jenny turned out to be a murderer,” Scully replied; “she always seemed so ordinary.”
“In my experience as an F.B.I. profiler,” Mulder reminded her, “is how all serial killers appear.”
“I must give my condolences to Einstein and Millers’ parents,” Skinner added, and wheeled himself away.
“Talking of parents,” Mulder muttered; “look who just showed up.”
The figure lighting a cigarette by the graveside was unmistakable.
“I’ll take Tena to the car,” Jackson offered.
Mulder nodded, as he and Scully strode towards the Cigarette Smoking Man.
“What are you doing here?” Scully demanded.
Mulder knocked the cigarette out of the Smoking Man’s hand in disgust, something he was getting quite adept at by now.
“Agents … Fox,” replied the Smoking Man; “I was just here to say goodbye to my son, Jeffrey.”
“Oh, so now you care about him?” Mulder asked; “after you shot him in the face in the F.B.I. building; and you think you were a good father to him?”
“I didn’t kill him though, did I?” replied the Smoking Man; “he needed some discipline; he was showing signs of weakness.”
“A fine example of parenting,” Scully snapped back; “I don’t understand how you can still be alive; we were so hopeful that you had been killed back in the desert all those years ago, and apparently a bullet from Agent Mulder’s gun couldn’t do the trick.”
“I suppose you’re going to try and kill me right here?” the Smoking Man laughed; “in front of all these witnesses.”
Mulder restrained himself from saying anything; he hadn’t even bought his guns with him. Eventually, he just said: “Know this; I don’t want you ever calling me Fox again. Also, stay well away from our son and our daughter.”
The Smoking Man turned to go away, and then stopped. “Oh, and I should tell you; Jackson isn’t your son. He’s mine.”
“How can that possibly be?” Scully demanded; “it’s preposterous that Jackson’s father could be anyone but Mulder.”
The Smoking Man continued to walk away.
“Answer me!” Scully shouted, as Mulder began to restrain her; several people were now looking in their direction.
“Don’t bother, Scully,” Mulder said, calmly; “that man would never give us the answer. He’s just full of lies.”
Mulder could see the veiled figure of a woman on the other side of the group; he was certain it was Fowley; he hoped Scully hadn’t noticed.
XXXXX
“So, thanks to this tragedy, I am now in temporary charge of you once again,” said Kersh, as Mulder and Scully sat across the desk from him in his office.
“We have at least found out a few things about our killer,” Scully replied.
“From what we understand,” Mulder added; “her husband had an affair with another woman, and left her. After that, she snapped, and it seems that she started killing any man who she believed was leading a woman on.”
“Agent Miller?” Kersh asked.
“Agent Einstein often told me that she was attracted to him,” Scully replied; “as her mentor, I kept these things confidential; I can only guess that Jenny thought he was making unwanted advances on her.”
“How about AD Spender?” Kersh demanded; “that doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Apparently she thought he was having an affair with me,” Scully replied; “once or twice, he would speak to me privately about whether the X-Files were the right place for me, and I guess she put two and two together, and made three.”
Scully remembered that the previous year, Holly had seen her and Spender appearing out of a restroom after a private discussion about a case. Scully had made an off-the-cuff claim about them being in a secret relationship; probably not the best idea in hindsight. She wondered how many people Holly had told; gossip spreads fast in the F.B.I.”
“As for the victim in the hospital, he was apparently making passes at female staff all the time. Jenny says she saw him do this when she visited me, mostly to apologise for the fact that my own half-brother was too busy.”
“As for the extraordinary strength that she possessed,” Scully added; “when we found out who her parents were, it all made sense.”
She pulled out pictures of a man and woman.
“That’s Dr. Sally Kendrick,” said Kersh, amazed; “she’s the one who people claim was involved in some sort of cloning experiment, straight out of the pages of a Wyndham book. All complete nonsense as far as I’m concerned.”
“No, Sir,” explained Mulder; “she’s one of the so-called ‘Eves’ that we believe to be the result of Dr. Kendrick’s research.”
“The father,” Scully continued, “is a man who visited me and Agent Mulder recently, blowing the whistle on the Eves, and their male counterparts, the ‘Adams’.”
“This was the group that committed mass suicide a few months ago, right?” Kersh asked, struggling to keep up; “suicide bombing.”
“Yes, Sir,” Scully replied; “all of them were extraordinarily strong, and we believe Jenny inherited these traits from her parents, one of the reasons why she was able to push a man larger than her into a hospital laundry chute, as well as overpower him.”
“Agents,” Kersh interrupted; “get out of my office; this is preposterous stuff.”
As Mulder and Scully got up to go, he added: “Just to make myself clear, if any of this stuff about an employee of the F.B.I. - former - being the offspring of clones - gets into your report, you will both also be out of a job.”
“Just as well I didn’t tell him about Agent Einstein’s claim to be a werewolf,” Scully said, as they left the office, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t mentioned it to Mulder.
It was too late; she couldn’t take this back.
“Scully,” asked Mulder; “when did Agent Einstein tell you this?”
“The same morning that Agent Miller’s body was found,” Scully admitted; “the morning before Agent Einstein died.”
“You didn’t think this something worth mentioning to me?” Mulder demanded; “maybe if I’d gotten to Agent Einstein…”
“Mulder,” Scully protested; “she seemed delusional, I’d promised her I’d keep what she said confidential, and also it turned out she hadn’t killed anyone.”
“I could have got to her before Agent Hayes shot her off the rooftop,” Mulder replied, sternly; “Scully, you’re supposed to be my partner; I trust you to tell me these things.”
“Mulder…” Scully began.
“I’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight,” Mulder continued; he passed her the car keys, “I’m also going to walk home.”
“Mulder, let’s talk about this,” Scully protested.
But Mulder was striding away along the corridor, and did not look around.
Scully sighed; she was going to have to talk this through with Mulder at some point. Maybe he would see sense the next day.
XXXXX
“You should have been dead years ago,” said Skinner.
The Cigarette Smoking Man stood at the entrance of Skinner’s flat.
“Is that how you greet all of your guests?” asked the Smoking Man.
“Get out of here,” Skinner demanded; “you have no hold on me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure … Walter,” the Smoking Man laughed.
Skinner realised he was starting to feel week; he looked down at his hand, and saw his veins starting to bulge…
His hand was turning blue.
Something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
Not since he had shot Krycek.
“A man who talks to himself,” the Cigarette Smoking Man smirked, “should be careful what he reveals. Careless talk costs lives, as they say.”
He took control of Skinner’s wheelchair and started to push him into the flat.
“What … have you … done to me?” Skinner pleaded.
“I reactivated the nanobots inside of you” said the Cigarette Smoking Man; “now, there is a way to make this stop,” “Mulder and Scully are starting to get close to their … my son, William, or Jackson as he seems to be called now. I need your word that you will try and drive - let’s say a wedge between them.”
“You’ll never get away with this,” Skinner spluttered.
“Do we have a deal, though?”, the Smoking Man sneered.
“Y… Yes,” Skinner managed.
“That wasn’t so difficult,” the Smoking Man grinned, pressing a remote control he was holding; “I’ll let myself out. Telling Mulder and Scully about this will also do no good.”
Skinner felt his body returning to normal, but he didn’t quite have the strength to reach for his gun. He was forced to let the Smoking Man go.
XXXXX
Jenny sat in the police cell, alone. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, so when the older woman appeared, it was a surprise to her.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“You’ll find out very soon,” replied Fowley, staring at the other woman behind the bars.
“What do you want with me?”
“I came here in person,” Fowley replied, “to tell you about my relationship with AD Spender. Once upon a time, I was his work partner.”
“I suppose you met him as a stranger, but as you got to know him, you grey closer,” Jenny sighed.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Fowley smiled; “and being his former partner, I developed a certain affection for him. I realised that I was wrong to have consorted with his father behind his back, I realised that I cared about him. Maybe it’s a form of Stockholm Syndrome, or maybe…”
She pulled out a gun, with the silencer on, and quick as a flash, shot Jenny in the head, twice for good measure.
“…I don’t appreciate seeing anything bad happen to him,” she concluded; “he certainly didn’t deserve to die like that.” She paused, wondering why she’d kept on talking to a corpse.
Fowley smiled at Jenny’s dead body for a moment; hopefully somewhere, Spender was smiling down at her.
As quickly as she had entered, she left.
THE END
ONE MONTH EARLIER
Agent Einstein walked back to her flat late at night. Many others had advised against it, but she had decided that she could handle herself. She couldn’t be bothered to call a cab.
The full moon illuminated the sky well; it was the last night of the full moon for that month.
The streets had been quiet, not a soul in sight. Einstein accepted that a lot of women probably wouldn’t have wanted to be in this situation.
Suddenly, something got her attention; something sticking out from behind a dumpster; was it…
An arm?
Einstein had to check more closely; curiosity killed the cat, you might say. She moved closer, turning on her flashlight, and moved the dumpster to get a closer look.
The man’s dead body would have shocked a lot of people, but Einstein was used to sights like this. Not even the man’s bloodstained, lacerated, throat could faze her.
She checked the man’s pulse; dead. The body was warm, though, so the killing must have taken place not long ago.
The next thing that happened did startle her, as something leapt out at her, and she felt a sudden pain.
She looked down, and saw that her sleeve was torn; she was bleeding from some deep claw marks in her arm. Looking round, she saw her attacker.
A wolf, large and shaggy, staring her right in the eye, getting ready to attack again, when…
A gunshot rang out loud and clear, and someone grabbed Einstein, adding: “Don’t be alarmed”.
“Who are you?” Einstein asked as the other woman pulled over a taxi, telling the driver: “Take her to the hospital”.
The newcomer had been Diana Fowley, trying to keep a low profile, with a red wig as a new disguise. She was taking a risk being back in DC, but she hadn’t been able to stay away.
“Trust me, you don’t need to know,” was all she told Einstein.
As the taxi drove away, Einstein looked around; she couldn’t see any sign of the wolf; had her mystery saviour killed it?
Just before she blacked out, she thought she could see a naked man lying on the ground; was it just her imagination, though?
This was the story that Einstein told Scully; the only explanation she could think of was that she had been attacked by a werewolf, and the woman who saved her had shot her with a silver bullet.
Scully’s response had been: “Well, it would seem that Buffy is more real than I thought she was”.
XXXXX
“You needing my help, Agent Hayes?” Mulder asked.
Hayes had come into Mulder’s ward.
“No, Agent Mulder,” Hayes replied; “I’ve come here to tell you that I will report any further interference from you to AD Spender. The crime scene has been closed off, and I have instructed my men not to let you in. You stay where you are, and try to recover; there’s been another emergency”.
“Agent ‘Ayes’ methods are ees own”, replied Mulder, effacing a French accent; “order and method and ze leettle gray cells”.
Hayes turned briefly, and then left the room; he didn’t get Mulder’s Poirot impression, but did not have the time to argue with this man.
XXXXX
“Special Agent Miller was a promising young man,” Kersh sighed, staring out of the window of his office.
He turned to Spender, Scully and Hayes, who sat on the other side of the desk.
“So, that accounts for one missing agent,” he added, his expression darkening; has there been any word about Agent Einstein?”
“Sir,” Scully replied; “I have spoken to her; she is not feeling well; she apologises for not contacting AD Spender directly.”
“Thank you, Agent Scully,” replied Spender; “I will let this one slide, as I imagine when she learns that her partner was murdered, she will be in great distress. Deputy Director, I presume you are okay to grant Agent Einstein with compassionate leave?”
“Back in my day, we had more of a backbone,” Kersh muttered; “the KKK murdered my father, but that didn’t stop me from returning to work. Nevertheless, it is bureau protocol.”
“Deputy Director,” Hayes interjected; “we are working under the assumption that whoever killed our victim in the hospital also murdered Special Agent Miller.”
“It certainly fits the M.O.,” Scully agreed; “I’m sure my autopsy will corroborate that”.
“What I don’t see,”, Kersh replied, “is the connection between the two victims.
“Agents Einstein and Miller were doing an investigation into a drugs gang,” Spender replied; “it might be that someone discovered what was going, and decided to silence one of our agents.”
“In that case,” replied Kersh, “I am going to insist that Agent Einstein be moved to a safe house, for her own protection.”
“Is there anything else you can think of, Agent Scully?” Spender asked; “any possible enemies who Agent Miller have have had.”
Scully thought for a moment; she couldn’t tell her superiors what Einstein had told her.
I’m a werewolf.
It was complete crazy talk from a usually rational agent, and also Scully had promised complete confidentiality.
“Agent Scully?” Hayes prompted.
“No, Sir,” Scully replied.
“Then, that will be all,” Kersh replied; “dismissed.”
XXXXX
WASHINGTON, DC
Hayes and Scully pulled up by a seedy bar in one of Washington DC’s backstreets; it was one of the rougher areas of town. Both were in plain clothes; Hayes wore tatty jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better days, and a leather waistcoat; he had a bandana on his head. Scully was dressed in Mulder’s tracksuit, which was a few sizes too big for her; she had deliberately made a mess of her hair; she would look forward to having a long bath after this.
“This is where the gang that Einstein and Miller were seeing hangs out,” Hayes explained; “we might be able to get something out of them.”
They entered the room to hear rap music playing in the background, and face to face with a group of men and women talking, all until they sensed the newcomers.
Everyone in the bar fell silent, and turned to stare at Scully and Hayes in unison.
“No sweat,” said Hayes; “we’re new in the area; thought we’d check the place out.”
A large man and an equally large woman approached the two of them: “We’ll see about that, just as long as you aren’t narks. We just need to check you ain’t wearing a wire.”
“Go ahead,” replied Scully.
The man started patting down Hayes, while the woman carefully examined Scully, pawing her over with her hands.
“She’s clean,” she replied; “how about yours?”
“Not wearing a wire, either,” the man confirmed; “looks like you’re okay.”
“You can’t be too careful,” Hayes replied; “I heard that an F.BI. Agent was meddling around here recently.”
The group in front of them looked confused.
“You think the Feds may have got into here right under our noses?” she asked.
The Feds were of course in the bar right now, but no one had realised.
“We’d blow their brains out the moment we got wind of them,” the man smirked; “they think they’re so clever, but they’re not.”
“So, are we dealing or what?” the woman asked; “our prices start at a hundred dollars per kilo.”
“We’ll be back with the money, “ Scully muttered; “and then we’ll take the goods.”
“We’re very discerning customers,” added Hayes; he and Scully got up and left.
“Well, either they have very good poker faces, or they really didn’t know that Miller and Einstein were playing them,” Scully muttered, as they drove away.
“I don’t think they could recognise an F.B.I. agent if they had a bureau badge shoved in their face,” Hayes replied; “that’s one lead down; I don’t know if you have any other thoughts, Agent Scully.”
Scully again remembered her promise to Einstein; complete confidentiality.
“No, Agent Hayes,” she replied.
“In that case, “ Hayes replied; “we are going to have to tell AD Spender that were are at a complete stalemate.”
“I need to do that autopsy,” Scully reminded him; “that may be our last chance.”
XXXXX
“Scully?” Mulder asked, as the female figure entered the hospital ward.
“Not quite, Fox” Fowley replied as she removed her red wig.
“Diana?” Mulder could scarcely believe his eyes.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Fowley laughed; “it really is me. I’m no alien bounty hunter, no Arya Stark wearing a Mission Impossible Mask.”
“Scully told me you’d been murdered,” Mulder replied.
“Yes,” Fowley replied; “that’s what she was meant to believe; I had to get away, before he could get to me. Your father, that is; Cancer Man.”
“But you just had to come and see me?” Mulder asked.
“I figured you’d only find out from Jeffrey anyway, “ Fowley sighed, “and what have you done to end up in here?”
“I’m getting old I guess, Diana,” Mulder replied; “my heart is getting weak. Tell, me why are you really here? Are you wanting to get back together?”
“I’ll tell you what I told Jeffrey,” Fowley replied; “just because I can’t stay away from you doesn’t mean I’m still in love with you. Besides, you’re a father now, and very nearly a husband.”
In her head, she was wondering whether to tell Mulder the truth about who he thought was his son, about what the Smoking Man had done to Scully.
“You stopped reading minds then, Fox?” she asked.
“Yes, I got over that some time ago,” Mulder replied; “you are as unpredictable as ever, Diana.”
“Good, “ she replied, “and it means you probably didn’t predict that I’d give you this.”
She handed him a gun.
“I already keep a spare gun, Diana” Mulder replied; “I guess you don’t know me that well.”
“This one is loaded with silver bullets,” Fowley replied; “you may need them.”
“Beware the moon,” Mulder grinned; “you think a werewolf may be involved.”
“I believe I witnessed one of your fellow Agents get attacked by one last full moon,” Fowley replied; “Rudolfa Einstein.
She put the gun by Mulder’s bed: “Happy hunting, Fox.”
She put the wig on again, and left.
XXXXX
Scully’s mobile phone rang.
“Scully,” she answered.
“It’s me,” said Mulder; he was calling on the hospital phone; “I think I know who your killer might be, but you’re not going to like it.”
“I can’t wait to hear this, Mulder, and it had better not be a monster,” Scully replied; “I’m certain if there were a monster roaming around DC, we’d have seen it on the telly.”
“Scully, I think it’s Agent Einstein,” Mulder replied.
“You think she’s a werewolf?” Scully spoke without thinking.
“If I told you who I heard it from,” Mulder continued; “you probably wouldn’t believe me.”
“No, I probably wouldn't,” Scully replied.
“Scully,” Mulder added; “how did you know what I was about to say?”
“Women’s intuition,” Scully suggested.
“Scully, listen, if there’s something you know about Agent Einstein, you need to tell Agent Hayes.”
“Mulder,” Scully replied, “what difference would it make even if I did think Agent Einstein were turning vulpine when the full moon is out? He wouldn’t believe a word of it; he’d think I had gone crazy.”
“Did you do an autopsy on Miller?” Mulder asked.
“Yes; Scully replied; and it revealed similar findings to what I had with your friend from the hospital; although this time the killer’s fingernail had broken off, and it was embedded in Miller’s shoulder. It was painted bright blue. I’ll speak to you later; I think Spender is calling.”
As he heard the phone hang up, Mulder reluctantly handed the phone to an old lady who had been almost breathing down his neck. She glared at him and didn’t say thanks, then added: “Well, move along; private phone call.”
XXXXX
“Scully,” said Scully, picking up Spender’s call.
“Agent Scully,” Spender replied; “have you seen Special Agent Einstein?”
“Not recently, Sir why do you ask?”
“Our agents have been trying to find her, to take her into protection,” Spender replied; “but she’s nowhere to be seen.”
“Do you want me to try contacting her?” Scully asked.
“If you are able to, Agent Scully; I know I can depend on you. I’ve always been able to depend on you; that’s why you deserve much more than Agent Mulder and his X-Files.”
“I’ll contact you if I find where she is, Sir,” Scully replied.
“Good luck, Agent Scully,” Spender smiled, feeling a little more hopeful, and hung up the call.
“Jenny,” he said as the door opened and his assistant came in; “just the person I needed to see. Any chance of a coffee?”
He stopped, as he saw the knife in Jenny’s hand.
“Jenny,” he asked; “what’s going on?”
“You’re having secret conversations with Agent Scully again,” Jenny snapped; “I’ve seen you doing it to her before; stringing her along, you’re stalking her, aren’t you? Holly even told me that the two of you had been canoodling in the ladies’ restroom once.”
Spender remembered Scully’s joke several months ago; a bit of improv to cover up a private work-related discussion.
“Jenny, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Spender protested, “but you’ve got this all wrong.”
“You’re all the same,” Jenny snapped; before Spender could react, she lunged forward, and slit his throat; twice for good measure; “just like Agent Miller, and that man in the hospital”.
Spender clutched his throat as blood gushed out of it; he staggered and clutched hold of his desk.
Jenny quickly dropped the knife and removed the rubber gloves she had been wearing. She walked calmly into Spender’s private washroom, and flushed away the rubber gloves.
Running out of the AD’s office, she shouted: “Help! Somebody!”
Seconds later, AD Spender expired.
XXXXX
Hayes walked into the hospital to find Mulder dressed and starting to leave.
“Where are you going, Agent Mulder?” he demanded.
“I’m checking myself out, “Mulder replied; “and if I tell you where I’m going, you won’t like it.”
“I don’t have time, “ Hayes replied gruffly; “and Agent Scully isn’t returning my calls. Special Agent Einstein has been spotted, on the roof of this hospital. I believe she is planning to jump.”
“She’s here?” Mulder asked; “I’m looking for her. Hayes watched as he wielded the gun containing the silver bullets.”
“I’m taking this gun anyway,” replied Hayes; “whatever you were thinking of doing to Agent Einstein, I won’t let you.”
He snatched the gun out of Mulder’s hand, and ran to the stairs. Mulder gave chase, despite Hayes’ protests. He’d risk another heart attack just to make sure Agent Einstein was okay.
XXXXX
Scully arrived in Kersh’s office, to find Jenny sitting on the sofa, trembling.
“Agent Scully, “ said Kersh; “thanks for coming over here so quickly. Two Federal Officers murdered - one an Assistant Director. I don’t know what this world is coming to.”
“You say Jenny found AD Spender’s body?” Scully asked.
“She’s in shock,” Kersh warned her; “but I think I can trust you to be more compassionate than your partner.”
“Jenny,” said Scully, approaching the other woman, before stopping.”
“Agent Scully?” Kersh asked her; “what is it now?”
Scully was looking at Jenny’s blue fingernails, specifically the fact that one of them had broken off.
“Deputy Director,” Scully said; “you need to call security.”
“Agent Scully?” Kersh asked.
“You killed him, didn’t you, Jenny?” Scully said, firmly; “you killed all of them.”
“Agent Scully!”, Kersh snapped; “maybe my judgement was off when I called you; explain yourself.”
Jenny stopped her charade quickly, and tried to lunge at Scully, who was thankfully too quick, and pulled out her gun.
Scully fired, hitting Jenny in the shoulder.
XXXXX
Einstein stood on the roof of the hospital; it seemed that death may be the only choice now. The full moon was almost completely risen.
“Agent Einstein, don’t do it!”
She turned around at the sound of Mulder’s voice; he had managed to beat Hayes to hospital roof.
“It’s no good, Agent Mulder,” said Einstein; “I don’t remember what I did when I transformed, but I know I killed two men.”
“You weren’t in control of yourself,” Mulder protested; “come down from there, and step away”; he wished he had his gun on him. A little bit of him was curious as to whether Einstein really would turn into a werewolf, or if Scully was right about her being delusional.
Fowley had seemed certain.
“Agent Mulder,” said Einstein; “you aren’t safe around me, not after…”
She couldn’t get any further words out, and the next moment she almost keeled over. Mulder started to back off as Einstein’s face began to extend, her hands began to turn into claws, and hair sprouted over her body.
“Agent Mulder, I’ll report you.”
Mulder turned round, and saw Hayes arrive on the rooftop.
“You pushed me over on the stairs,” he grumbled, before stopping; “what the hell is that?”
He was looking at the large wolf-like creature that stood where Agent Einstein had been. Below it were the remains of her torn clothes.
“Agent Hayes,” said Mulder; “let me explain.”
Agent Hayes raised the first gun that he could find; Mulder realised it was the gun that he himself had got off Fowley.
The werewolf was still on the edge of the roof, sizing up its prey.
“No!” Mulder shouted, but to no avail, as Hayes fired.
The silver bullet hit the werewolf in the shoulder, sending it keeling off the hospital roof.
Mulder ran to the edge of the building.
“Whatever that thing was,” Hayes said, “and it looked like a feral animal; I think it may have killed Agent Einstein. Goodness knows how it came to be here.” He picked up the torn shreds of clothes.
Mulder was looking down; he could just about make out a naked female figure lying prone on the ground, ten storeys below.
“No, Agent Hayes,” he replied; “I believe you just killed Agent Einstein.”
XXXXX
Mulder and Scully watched as the three coffins were lowered into the ground; they stood under an umbrella together because it was raining; Tena was in her pushchair, with a plastic guard over the top. Jackson stood nearby, looking on.
Three members of the F.B.I., taken too soon.
“…as we commit Rudolfa, Robert and Jeffrey to you”, said the priest; “dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to earth”. He started throwing lumps of earth over the three coffins as he did this.
Mulder and Scully looked at the group gathered around; most were current F.B.I. agents. Skinner was nearby, in his wheelchair, with an umbrella attached to the back.
As people began to drift away, Mulder and Scully walked towards Skinner.
“We were glad you could come to the funeral,” Mulder told Skinner.
“I know Agents Einstein and Miller always looked up to you,” replied Skinner; “hoped to be like both of you one day. I always hoped AD Spender could start seeing things the way you do, Mulder.”
“We were still in shock that Jenny turned out to be a murderer,” Scully replied; “she always seemed so ordinary.”
“In my experience as an F.B.I. profiler,” Mulder reminded her, “is how all serial killers appear.”
“I must give my condolences to Einstein and Millers’ parents,” Skinner added, and wheeled himself away.
“Talking of parents,” Mulder muttered; “look who just showed up.”
The figure lighting a cigarette by the graveside was unmistakable.
“I’ll take Tena to the car,” Jackson offered.
Mulder nodded, as he and Scully strode towards the Cigarette Smoking Man.
“What are you doing here?” Scully demanded.
Mulder knocked the cigarette out of the Smoking Man’s hand in disgust, something he was getting quite adept at by now.
“Agents … Fox,” replied the Smoking Man; “I was just here to say goodbye to my son, Jeffrey.”
“Oh, so now you care about him?” Mulder asked; “after you shot him in the face in the F.B.I. building; and you think you were a good father to him?”
“I didn’t kill him though, did I?” replied the Smoking Man; “he needed some discipline; he was showing signs of weakness.”
“A fine example of parenting,” Scully snapped back; “I don’t understand how you can still be alive; we were so hopeful that you had been killed back in the desert all those years ago, and apparently a bullet from Agent Mulder’s gun couldn’t do the trick.”
“I suppose you’re going to try and kill me right here?” the Smoking Man laughed; “in front of all these witnesses.”
Mulder restrained himself from saying anything; he hadn’t even bought his guns with him. Eventually, he just said: “Know this; I don’t want you ever calling me Fox again. Also, stay well away from our son and our daughter.”
The Smoking Man turned to go away, and then stopped. “Oh, and I should tell you; Jackson isn’t your son. He’s mine.”
“How can that possibly be?” Scully demanded; “it’s preposterous that Jackson’s father could be anyone but Mulder.”
The Smoking Man continued to walk away.
“Answer me!” Scully shouted, as Mulder began to restrain her; several people were now looking in their direction.
“Don’t bother, Scully,” Mulder said, calmly; “that man would never give us the answer. He’s just full of lies.”
Mulder could see the veiled figure of a woman on the other side of the group; he was certain it was Fowley; he hoped Scully hadn’t noticed.
XXXXX
“So, thanks to this tragedy, I am now in temporary charge of you once again,” said Kersh, as Mulder and Scully sat across the desk from him in his office.
“We have at least found out a few things about our killer,” Scully replied.
“From what we understand,” Mulder added; “her husband had an affair with another woman, and left her. After that, she snapped, and it seems that she started killing any man who she believed was leading a woman on.”
“Agent Miller?” Kersh asked.
“Agent Einstein often told me that she was attracted to him,” Scully replied; “as her mentor, I kept these things confidential; I can only guess that Jenny thought he was making unwanted advances on her.”
“How about AD Spender?” Kersh demanded; “that doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Apparently she thought he was having an affair with me,” Scully replied; “once or twice, he would speak to me privately about whether the X-Files were the right place for me, and I guess she put two and two together, and made three.”
Scully remembered that the previous year, Holly had seen her and Spender appearing out of a restroom after a private discussion about a case. Scully had made an off-the-cuff claim about them being in a secret relationship; probably not the best idea in hindsight. She wondered how many people Holly had told; gossip spreads fast in the F.B.I.”
“As for the victim in the hospital, he was apparently making passes at female staff all the time. Jenny says she saw him do this when she visited me, mostly to apologise for the fact that my own half-brother was too busy.”
“As for the extraordinary strength that she possessed,” Scully added; “when we found out who her parents were, it all made sense.”
She pulled out pictures of a man and woman.
“That’s Dr. Sally Kendrick,” said Kersh, amazed; “she’s the one who people claim was involved in some sort of cloning experiment, straight out of the pages of a Wyndham book. All complete nonsense as far as I’m concerned.”
“No, Sir,” explained Mulder; “she’s one of the so-called ‘Eves’ that we believe to be the result of Dr. Kendrick’s research.”
“The father,” Scully continued, “is a man who visited me and Agent Mulder recently, blowing the whistle on the Eves, and their male counterparts, the ‘Adams’.”
“This was the group that committed mass suicide a few months ago, right?” Kersh asked, struggling to keep up; “suicide bombing.”
“Yes, Sir,” Scully replied; “all of them were extraordinarily strong, and we believe Jenny inherited these traits from her parents, one of the reasons why she was able to push a man larger than her into a hospital laundry chute, as well as overpower him.”
“Agents,” Kersh interrupted; “get out of my office; this is preposterous stuff.”
As Mulder and Scully got up to go, he added: “Just to make myself clear, if any of this stuff about an employee of the F.B.I. - former - being the offspring of clones - gets into your report, you will both also be out of a job.”
“Just as well I didn’t tell him about Agent Einstein’s claim to be a werewolf,” Scully said, as they left the office, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t mentioned it to Mulder.
It was too late; she couldn’t take this back.
“Scully,” asked Mulder; “when did Agent Einstein tell you this?”
“The same morning that Agent Miller’s body was found,” Scully admitted; “the morning before Agent Einstein died.”
“You didn’t think this something worth mentioning to me?” Mulder demanded; “maybe if I’d gotten to Agent Einstein…”
“Mulder,” Scully protested; “she seemed delusional, I’d promised her I’d keep what she said confidential, and also it turned out she hadn’t killed anyone.”
“I could have got to her before Agent Hayes shot her off the rooftop,” Mulder replied, sternly; “Scully, you’re supposed to be my partner; I trust you to tell me these things.”
“Mulder…” Scully began.
“I’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight,” Mulder continued; he passed her the car keys, “I’m also going to walk home.”
“Mulder, let’s talk about this,” Scully protested.
But Mulder was striding away along the corridor, and did not look around.
Scully sighed; she was going to have to talk this through with Mulder at some point. Maybe he would see sense the next day.
XXXXX
“You should have been dead years ago,” said Skinner.
The Cigarette Smoking Man stood at the entrance of Skinner’s flat.
“Is that how you greet all of your guests?” asked the Smoking Man.
“Get out of here,” Skinner demanded; “you have no hold on me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure … Walter,” the Smoking Man laughed.
Skinner realised he was starting to feel week; he looked down at his hand, and saw his veins starting to bulge…
His hand was turning blue.
Something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
Not since he had shot Krycek.
“A man who talks to himself,” the Cigarette Smoking Man smirked, “should be careful what he reveals. Careless talk costs lives, as they say.”
He took control of Skinner’s wheelchair and started to push him into the flat.
“What … have you … done to me?” Skinner pleaded.
“I reactivated the nanobots inside of you” said the Cigarette Smoking Man; “now, there is a way to make this stop,” “Mulder and Scully are starting to get close to their … my son, William, or Jackson as he seems to be called now. I need your word that you will try and drive - let’s say a wedge between them.”
“You’ll never get away with this,” Skinner spluttered.
“Do we have a deal, though?”, the Smoking Man sneered.
“Y… Yes,” Skinner managed.
“That wasn’t so difficult,” the Smoking Man grinned, pressing a remote control he was holding; “I’ll let myself out. Telling Mulder and Scully about this will also do no good.”
Skinner felt his body returning to normal, but he didn’t quite have the strength to reach for his gun. He was forced to let the Smoking Man go.
XXXXX
Jenny sat in the police cell, alone. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, so when the older woman appeared, it was a surprise to her.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“You’ll find out very soon,” replied Fowley, staring at the other woman behind the bars.
“What do you want with me?”
“I came here in person,” Fowley replied, “to tell you about my relationship with AD Spender. Once upon a time, I was his work partner.”
“I suppose you met him as a stranger, but as you got to know him, you grey closer,” Jenny sighed.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Fowley smiled; “and being his former partner, I developed a certain affection for him. I realised that I was wrong to have consorted with his father behind his back, I realised that I cared about him. Maybe it’s a form of Stockholm Syndrome, or maybe…”
She pulled out a gun, with the silencer on, and quick as a flash, shot Jenny in the head, twice for good measure.
“…I don’t appreciate seeing anything bad happen to him,” she concluded; “he certainly didn’t deserve to die like that.” She paused, wondering why she’d kept on talking to a corpse.
Fowley smiled at Jenny’s dead body for a moment; hopefully somewhere, Spender was smiling down at her.
As quickly as she had entered, she left.
THE END