Weak in the Knees; chapter forty-two
Title: Weak in the Knees
Author: Dhamphir
Fandom: X-Files
Pairing: Scully/OFC
Rating: NC-17
Please see previous posts for disclaimer/summary/notes. Special thanks to bara_brith. As always, thanks to celievamp for the beta.
Chapter 42
After Casper briefed everyone on the investigation into Hugh Kensey, Morgan wanted to get after the guy right away. Before she could even formulate a plan Taylor pulled her into his office, closing the door behind her.
“Before you say anything, the Director has already given me strict orders. You are on desk duty.”
Morgan opened her mouth to protest but Taylor cut her off.
“And if you have a problem with that then you just go home. Those are the Director’s exact words,” he said as he crossed his arms. “So, what’s it going to be?”
Morgan knew she couldn’t fight it. To prove she was fit for field duty would cause way too many questions. “Fine. I’ll be in my office.”
***
Morgan sat down at her desk and turned on the computer. Something about this Hugh Kensey was nagging at the back of her mind. She proceeded to research everything she could find on him.
Morgan jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Easy, it’s just me, Jessica,” said Casper. “What are you working on?” he asked as he pulled over a chair from the worktable and sat next to Morgan.
Morgan let out a sigh. “Just digging into Kensey, seeing what I can find.” She shook her head. “There something...”
“What?”
“I don’t know. There’s something niggling at the back of my mind, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“I’m sure it’ll come to you; I know how your mind works,” he said with an easy smile.
Morgan rubbed her hand over her face and let out a frustrated growl. “I think I’ve been doing this too damn long.”
“Why do you say that?”
Morgan looked at her old partner. “Mulder - I didn’t see it coming, John; not from him.”
“I wish I could say I was surprised by him, but I’m not. Not with the way he was about you and Toni. And you know how he got that summer, um... in ‘89, when he began going on about his sister being abducted by aliens.”
“And that’s my point. I should have seen it coming. I should have known it was him.” She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. “I’m so tired of these sick bastards and trying to crawl around in their minds. I’m sick of the rapes and murders and molestations of innocent victims. I don’t know how much longer I can do this, John.” She angrily wiped away tears that threatened to spill.
Casper reached out and took one of Morgan’s hands in his. “Look at me, Jessica.” He waited until she did. “You are very good at what you do, but you are not the only profiler in the Bureau. It’s not up to you to solve all the crimes. The Bureau survived without you. If doing what you’re doing is too much for you, you should do something else. Organized Crime, Cyber Crimes, White-Collar, Counterterrorism, you name it - any division in the Bureau would be thrilled to get you. Or you’d make a hell of an instructor.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Both agents jumped at the voice that came from the doorway.
“Sir.”
“Director.”
“Give us some privacy, please.”
“Yes, sir,” Casper said. He stepped out of the office and closed the door behind himself.
Morgan looked at the man who had personally asked her to return to the Bureau almost three years ago. He sat on the chair Casper had vacated.
“I wanted to come down to see how you were doing being back so quickly after the shooting. But I think we need to talk about more than that, don’t you?” he said kindly. “I know I’m the one that came to you and asked you to come back to the Bureau. And you’ve performed even beyond my expectations.” He paused, gathering his thoughts and choosing his words. “You’re an extraordinary profiler, and you’ve given so much of yourself to Bureau. But don’t push yourself to a burnout. I know what you went through and why you walked away.” He dropped his eyes as he remembered the tragic events. “We all loved Toni.” He looked back up and into her eyes. “Don’t let the work suck the life out of you. You’ve worked the worst of the worst for almost nine years. I think it’s time to ease that load.”
The fact that Morgan didn’t disagree with him told the Director just how right he was.
“I know I’ve been pushing to get you to Quantico as an instructor, but that’s not your only option. Casper’s right - any division would be thrilled to have you. There are also some SAC positions opening up soon.”
Morgan finally spoke. “I appreciate that, Lou. And before this case I would have told you flat out that I didn’t want to do anything else.” She sighed. “But I do think I at least need a break. Let’s talk about it after we get this guy.”
“Alright. In the meantime, think about what you’d like to do.” He patted her shoulder as he stood up and then left.
***
“Son of a bitch!”
The agents near Morgan’s office looked up in surprise.
Morgan came out of the office with a folder in her hand. She marched into AD Taylor’s office and tossed the folder down on the man’s desk. “I knew there was something about this guy. I know this bastard.”
“What?”
“Hugh Kensey - we were both in Boston when I was at Harvard and he was at MIT. There aren’t but so many 12 and 13 year olds that are in college. Harvard and MIT had some social gatherings for their younger students. I met this guy. We were the same age. His family is old money. He was pimply-faced and wore glasses, but this is him.”
“Obviously his skin has cleared up and he either switched to contacts or had Lasik. What do you remember about him?”
“Brilliant. Of course he’d have to be to enter MIT at age 12. But he was smart in more than just science and engineering. He was actually quite good with people; always seemed to know how to get along with anyone when he chose to be around other people. He was charming even then.”
“Did you spend much time around him?”
“No. He didn’t really interest me.” Morgan smiled mentally as she remembered just who did interest her at that time. She officially came out about two and half years later when she was 15. “But from what I do remember about him, he’ll have thought out every possibility and devised at least three ways of dealing with those possibilities.” She paused. “John said Kensey has property in eight or nine states.”
“Yeah, we’re trying to get search warrants for all his places. I want to hit all of them at the same time so he doesn’t get tipped off.”
“Do me a favor and don’t execute them without talking to me. I’m going to try to narrow down our best choices.”
“Alright. Let me know what you come up with.”
***
Morgan ruled out Kensey’s apartment on Fifth Ave in New York, his house in Palm Springs, CA, his condo on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, his condo in South Beach, FL and his small horse ranch outside Dallas. She focused her concentration on his place in the Jackson Hole Valley in Wyoming. About an hour of focused digging led her to believe that wasn’t where they’d find they quarry. Then she stumbled onto something, pretty much by accident.
Morgan left her office and headed to seek some help from someone in the White-Collar Crime Division. She spoke to Section Chief Harrison who introduced her to Agent Rodney Michaels.
“So, what can I do for you, Agent Morgan?”
“Harrison says you’re the best and fastest at sorting through financials and shell companies and such. I’m trying to find a piece of property I think is hidden by a financial Rubik’s cube.”
“Let me see what you have.”
Morgan handed a file to Michaels.
He glanced through it. “Give me a couple of hours to dig through this and see what I can come up with.”
“Alright. Here’s my number,” she said handing him her card.
“I’ll call you as soon as I find something.”
***
When Morgan returned to the bullpen, Scully intercepted her on the way to her office. She gently grabbed Morgan’s arm.
“Come on. You haven’t eaten all day; let’s go grab a late lunch.”
Part of Morgan wanted to decline, but it was only a small part. She smiled. “Okay.”
They decided on a quiet, small restaurant not far from headquarters. They chose a private booth in the back, away from prying eyes.
After the waiter left with their orders, Dana looked at Jess. “You sure a salad is all you want to eat?”
Jess smiled. “Yeah. I’m not very hungry and it’ll tide me over until dinner.” She smirked and her grey eyes sparkled with mischievousness, “Besides, what I had for breakfast was quite delicious.”
Dana felt the heat of her blush color her face. She lowered her gaze with a small, coy smile that also appeared quite satisfied and pleased. Jess’s comment did bring up a topic she wanted to discuss. “About that...”
Jess’s expression changed from one of amusement to attentiveness. “What is it, Dana?” she asked gently.
Dana looked back up into warm and caring eyes. “What exactly happened this morning? I mean...” She searched for the words.
Jess reached out and put her hand over Dana’s on the table. “I know what you mean, Dana.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I... felt you this morning. In the shower when you... well, I felt it - viscerally.” She paused for a couple of beats. “I guess we now know I was affected by taking your blood.”
Dana turned her hand under Jess’s so she could clasp it. She gave her hand a squeeze and nodded slightly. “I was, too.” At Jess’s questioning look she explained. “When you were in surgery, your heart stopped.” Dana closed her eyes as they watered and a lump formed in her throat. She swallowed around the lump and opened her eyes. “I was in the waiting room and I knew something was wrong. I had to find you. I found the OR you were in and watched from the observation theater. Once they got your heart started and stabilized you, the feeling went away.”
Jess squeezed Dana’s hand and was about to say something, but their waiter chose to reappear at that moment with their order.
The rest of their lunchtime was spent eating and steering clear of any heavy topics.
***
It was about 4:15 in the afternoon when Morgan’s phone rang.
“Morgan.”
“Agent Morgan, it’s Rod Michaels. I think I’ve got what you were looking for.”
“Great. I’ll be right there.”
She rushed out of her office and went to see him.
“So what you do have?” Morgan asked when she arrived at Michael’s desk.
“This.” He laid out a copy of a deed he’d printed out. “It’s not under his name - it’s been hidden behind a couple of shell companies and a holding company. As were these.” He started laying out invoices for Morgan to see. “He’s used a shell game to hide everything related to this property.” He pointed at one invoice, “This is a generator that could supply electricity for a small house.” He pointed to another, “This is for the rental of excavation equipment. And here is a satellite dish. Whatever is there, it appears he’s taken steps to make it self-sufficient; no need for public utilities that could leave a paper trail.”
Morgan gathered the papers and put them in the folder she’d given him. “Great work; thank you.”
***
Arriving back in the bullpen, Morgan went in to see Taylor.
“I think I know where he’s at... or at least where he spends quite a bit of time.” She handed him the folder. “It’s the only piece of property he’s bothered to hide. I think this is where we need to concentrate our greatest efforts when we execute the search warrants.”
Taylor nodded and then walked to the doorway of his office. “Scully! Casper!” he called.
Both agents stood and walked over to him.
“You two are going to Carbondale, Illinois. Get there tonight, but we need to move on this tomorrow. Morgan’s got the details.”
Chapter 43...
prologue| ch 1| ch 2| ch 3| ch 4| ch 5| ch 6| ch 7| ch 8| ch 9| ch 10|
ch 11| ch 12| ch 13| ch 14| ch 15| ch 16| ch 17| ch 18| ch 19| ch 20|
ch 21| ch 22| ch 23| ch 24| ch 25| ch 26| ch 27| ch 28| ch 29| ch 30|
ch 31| ch 32| ch 33| ch 34| ch 35| ch 36| ch 37| ch 38| ch 39| ch 40|
ch 41|