Unfinished Fic Amnesty: Revenge of the Plastic Hand (XF/HL)

[vaznetti]

A little bird told me... no, OK, I saw it on my friends list. Apparently today is an unfinished fic amnesty day, and I've decided to sacrifice this one to the gods of perhaps someday finishing something I start.

Here's how it goes. Once upon a time, while I was preparing for my dissertation defense, not long after the Unfortunate Incident, I wrote an X-Files/Highlander crossover entitled Joy, Watchfulness, Wishing. It's not a perfect story, but I'm still fond of it. Anyway, one of the things about that story is that the main characters of both shows were MIA, and as I thought about it, a sequel with Duncan in it seemed like a reasonable idea. Also, I was reading a certain number of stories with Matthew McCormick in them, largely through the influence of gryphonrhi, and it seemed like a good idea to include him as well. And Skinner. And that was the genesis of "Revenge of the Plastic Hand, or, How Matthew McCormick Spent His Summer Vacation." I will never finish it, but there are a couple scenes I'm fond of, so I'm taking the opportunity to post it now.



Revenge of the Plastic Hand; or how Matthew McCormick spent his summer vacation
A sequel to Joy, Watchfulness, Wishing
By Vanzetti

The entire situation was offensive to Matthew McCormick. He was being played, which he resented, and he didn't know what the game was, which annoyed him. Until the tape had appeared in his inbox, he hadn't even known that there was a game, and that disturbed him. The whole thing reeked of the kind of secrecy and double-dealing he did his best to avoid, and now was forced to participate in. He reassured himself with the thought that someone had made a serious mistake.

Did whoever sent the tape to him realize that he knew all the men on it? And if they did, were they trying to flush him out? Or was it, ironically, precisely what it appeared to be: an attempt to set him on Walter Skinner's tail, to find out why he'd shot a man who was obviously no threat in the FBI's own garage and then failed to report that incident to anyone else?

Matthew could think of any number of reasons why he, personally, might shoot Cory Raines in the head, but he had no idea what the Assistant Director's excuse might have been.

He'd never had any quarrel with Walter Skinner. He was a good administrator who didn't get in the way of his agents and didn't let anyone else get in their way either; Matthew approved of the other man's obvious devotion to his job. He'd heard impressive things about Fox Mulder's investigative abilities and knew enough about the world to believe in the paranormal as a category; staying well away from the X-Files had seemed a reasonable safety measure, all things considered. Now, though, he was beginning to wish he'd kept an eye on their investigations, if only to help him figure out what exactly Cory had managed to involve himself in.

He could have gone to John Doggett and sounded him out about Skinner and the whole situation, but Doggett had only been assigned to the X-Files for a year or so, and whatever had played out in that garage, the roots went deep. That, Matthew McCormick was sure of.

The only problem with catching A.D. Skinner outside the office was that the man hardly ever seemed to leave the office. He finally met up with him in the [metro] one Sunday morning; Skinner was on his way in to work. Not surprising. Matthew sat down next to him and was rewarded with a suspicious stare. "Mr. Skinner," he began and saw the other man tense for a fight. He rushed the rest of his introduction out. "I'm Special Agent Matthew McCormick. I need to talk to you, outside the office. It's about a tape."

The recognition on Skinner's face when Matthew had introduced himself was a relief, but he didn't care for the defeated look that followed his mention of the tape. "I don't have anything to say about that," Skinner said. "Do what you have to."

"Mr. Skinner, I'm being used, and I don't like that. I want to know why I'm being used, and to what ends. And I don't think that tape showed the full story. Now, are you going to come with me and help me answer my questions, or am I going to be left to the direction of whoever sent me that tape in the first place?"

Skinner stared at him for a long while, eventually reaching some kind of decision in his own mind. "Where do you want to go talk?"

They walked on the Mall, down toward the Lincoln Memorial. The light rain was keeping the tourists and families away, letting them talk in peace. Matthew decided that it was his job to start the conversation. "Ten days ago I was sent a tape in an unmarked envelope. No prints. The tape showed a scene in the garage of the Hoover Building, in which you apparently shot and killed a man."

"Alex Krycek," Skinner said.

"Who?"

"The man I killed was named Alex Krycek."

"The man you shot was named Cory Raines." At least, he thought Corwin was still using the Raines identity; a report had come across his desk of a heist a few years back, on the West Coast, with Cory Raines' name attached.

"I didn't know Krycek used that name," Skinner said. "But I know who I killed that day."

He looked satisfied as he spoke; Matthew wondered whether it was the killing or the telling that brought that look to his face. "Maybe you should start at the beginning. Who was Alex Krycek?"

The story, as it poured out, raised more questions than it resolved. Granted he hadn't seen Corwin in a couple decades but it seemed impossible that the man had changed this radically. Immortals went bad, Matthew knew, and Corwin had not been all that good to start with, but this story--spies and betrayals and aliens--was more than Matthew could believe. And there was no suggestion that Corwin had made money off the deal. When he tried to raise that question, Skinner gave him a slightly confused look.

"Money never mattered to Krycek," he said. "If he stole, it wasn't for profit. It was all about power to him."

Skinner's certainty was enough to make Matthew doubt his own knowledge of Corwin; if he hadn't watched the tape carefully, over and over, he might have thought that they were talking about two different men. One more question, though. "The tape cuts off after Krycek's death," he said. "What did you do with the body?"

Skinner frowned. "I went to get my car. When I came back, the body was gone."

"I see." McCormick saw all too well. "Assistant Director, you were in charge of the X-Files since they were reopened, weren't you?" Skinner nodded. "And I suppose you've heard any number of unbelievable stories." Another nod. "Well, here's another. You didn't kill the man you shot."

"He was dead," Skinner said. "I checked the body."

"That shot could not have killed him. Take my word for it." There was a sick expression on Skinner's face. Maybe fear, Matthew thought. Maybe relief or disappointment. Maybe some mix of all three. What wasn't there--and this was a problem--was surprise. Damn.

"How do you know?" Skinner asked.

"I can't tell you that," Matthew answered, although he thought Skinner had been honest with him. "I don't completely understand what's going on here, but I'm going to find out and take care of it."

Skinner let out a bark of laughter. "You can't take care of this, Agent McCormick. This is a conspiracy which stretches to the highest levels of the government, to the top ranks of the FBI and any government agency you can name. Mulder and Scully spent years trying to fight it, and you think you're just going to take care of it? How?"

A massive government conspiracy involving Immortals? How much worse could it get? And how in hell had Corwin ended up involved? The question brought him up short: the two sides of the story just didn't match up. That's where he would start, then. Corwin, and what he was doing that day in the garage. First things first, he'd have to find Corwin.

Skinner was watching him. "I don't know," Matthew said. "I'll get back to you on that."

His first student had been a recurrent object of study to Matthew over the centuries. He felt responsible, and he liked to know where the other Immortal was and what he was up to. It was no trouble to come in to the office on Monday and start running searches on every alias he had for Corwin, including the new Krycek name. Someone wanted him to investigate this, so he might as well do so.

Six hours of dead ends later, he leaned back in his chair and stretched. Two tickets to Bahrain, using a three hundred year old alias: only an immortal investigator could have made the connection. Next, Interpol. There had been no major thefts on Bahrain since Corwin's arrival on the island. Matthew began to skim the reports for neighboring countries. Still nothing. But something else caught his eye: not wealth leaving a country, but money coming in: a major donation to a hospital for refugees in Eretria. The trail led back to a very old, very discreet bank in Geneva, a bank that Matthew himself had three accounts with. The kind of bank that was popular with immortals.

He felt some of the unquietness that had been eating away at him releasing: it might not be Corwin, but if it was it was a good sign. If Corwin was still giving away his profits, he couldn't have gone entirely bad.

Still, he would have to move now. Corwin might be in Eretria now, but who knew where he would be next week? It was a matter of will even to stay in the office as long as he did, tying up loose ends on his open cases. He'd hoped that the McCormick identity had a few more years; he liked working for the Bureau and he liked his colleagues. If he walked out now, they might not take him back and it would be decades before he could return under a new identity.

But if this conspiracy of Skinner's was real, and if it involved Immortals, he wasn't safe here. The very fact that the tape had ended up on his desk suggested that they knew what he was. He might be better off moving while he could.

He left the office in his usual way, at his usual time. Back at his apartment he packed up one or two useful things and removed all the perishables from his refrigerator. He was tying up the trashbag when someone knocked on the front door.

Walter Skinner. The A.D. strode right in and started speaking. "I want you to drop this case. It isn't safe for you to get involved."

"Someone gave me that tape for a reason. I want to know why, and I want to know what Raines was doing there."

Skinner eyed him. "You know him. Krycek, Raines, whatever his name really is." His gaze fell on the trashbag and the suitcase. "You're going looking for him."

Why bother to deny it? "It would help if you'd authorize the leave time. Family trouble."

"I'm coming with you."

"You don't even know where I'm going."

"I don't care. I need to find out whether Krycek is alive or dead."

"Why?"

"Because if he isn't dead, he's going to come back and kill me."

So McCormick and Skinner head for Eretria, but instead of finding Cory (or Krycek!) they find Duncan, who's doing something humanitarian and trying to avoid all other immortals. He tells them to get lost, but McCormick tries to get him interested in their problem.


Duncan listened to the whole story in silence. "Cory Raines is the last guy I'd expect to be mixed up in something like that. He's a joker."

"He's in the Gulf now. I think we should find him and ask him what the hell is going on."

"Bahrain, right?" Duncan asked.

"How did you know?"

"It's one of Amanda's long-term projects: rubies and the Prince of Bahrain. She's been talking about them for about twenty years."

"Amanda Darrieux?" Matthew asked. Duncan nodded. "For a stand-up guy, McLeod, you keep some strange company." He held his hands up when Duncan frowned. "OK. Never mind. But if Raines has gone bad, I could use the backup, and you know where they'll be."

Anyway, the three of them go to Bahrain to find Amanda and Cory. They track them down on the street, or in a courtyard, or something -- I hadn't quite set the scene in my head -- and and Skinner is the front man, coming up behind Cory in the courtyard of the house he and Amanda were using. OK, so maybe I had set the scene, if not worked out the blocking.


Skinner's gun was in his hands. "Hands in the air, Krycek."

The other man turned around. "Not you again," he said. "What are you going to do, shoot me?"

"If I have to."

Corwin sighed. "Can't we just talk about this?" He turned his head as Matthew and Duncan entered the courtyard. "You too? And McLeod? This is absolutely the last time I help out one of Amanda's friends."

"What were you doing in that garage?" Matthew asked.

Corwin met his eyes and shrugged. "Long story. Since I'm obviously not getting up to anything criminal tonight, why don't we all go somewhere more comfortable? Somewhere," he gave Skinner a sour look, "without guns?"

"You can put that away, Walter," Matthew said.

Skinner didn't shift. "You don't understand how dangerous he is. He's a killer."

"Cory's a thief and a liar, but he's no killer," Duncan said.

"Listen to him," Cory urged. "I don't feel like getting shot today. I'm not the guy you're looking for."

"Cut the crap, Krycek."

"For one thing, I'm not Alex Krycek."

Something began to ease in Matthew. Skinner protested, "What the hell do you mean? You know me."

"Shoot a guy in the head and he's gonna remember you, mister."

"But it was you in the garage," Matthew said.

Corwin shrugged. "Yeah. But before that day I'd never seen this guy in my life. Like I said, I was just doing Amanda a favor." He turned back to Skinner. "Could you please point that thing somewhere else? It's bringing back bad memories."

Anyway, they go inside to talk to Amanda.


Seeing Matthew's eyes on the cabinets, Corwin said, "Snoop around all you like."

"Because there's nothing to see or because you'll be gone tomorrow."

Corwin shrugged. "Take your pick."

Amanda appeared at Matthew's elbow with a drink and herded the two of them over to the living room. Duncan looked up as they entered. "Well, Amanda? What's the connection between Cory and this guy Krycek?"

"Adam," she said simply.

"Adam?" Duncan asked. "M… my Adam?"

The look Amanda gave him could not be described as sympathetic. "I don't know that I'd call him your Adam. He seems to have settled down happily with Jeffrey."

At that Skinner's eyes narrowed. "Could we start the explanations?" Matthew asked. "I want the whole story."

"Have a seat," Amanda gestured gracefully toward the couches, and took a step into the center of the room. When all eyes were on her, she gave a brilliant smile and began. "I ran into Adam a few years ago, and he mentioned a project he was working on. Once he'd explained why he was involved, of course I was perfectly willing to help him in any way."

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Why was he involved?"

"Because of Joe, of course." She batted her eyes at Walter and Matthew. "Joe is a dear friend of Adam's and Duncan's, and he'd met a lovely woman on their island." At Duncan's frown, she said, "You do know that Adam and Joe moved to Polynesia, didn't you?"

To cover Duncan's embarrassment, Matthew asked, "Do I know these two?"

"You might know Adam," she said. "He's been around for a while." Then she resumed the story. "As I was saying, Diana is a wonderful woman, but at the time she was involved in rather complicated plot--"

"Wait," Skinner said. "Diana Fowley? But she's dead. She was killed two years ago."

"She was very much alive when I saw her last," Amanda snapped. "May I continue my story?"

"By all means," Matthew drawled.

She rewarded him with another brilliant smile. "As I was saying--and this is where things become a trifle odd--there seems to have been a large conspiracy aiming to hand over the whole planet to an alien invasion." She paused, and scanned their faces for surprise. Not finding any, she pinned Matthew with a harsh look. "Consider that the next time you decide to arrest a girl for selling previously-owned diamonds."

"And Adam decided to get involved?" Duncan asked.

Amanda nodded. "And I agreed to help him. When the time came for Alex to disappear, I thought immediately of Cory. He has so much experience faking his own death. Although in retrospect, that part of the plan didn't work out very well."

Her eyes came to rest on Duncan, who said slowly, "Only because someone gave Matthew that tape. A coincidence?"

She frowned. "Adam never suggested that the conspiracy knew about us, but secrets come naturally to him. Jeffrey would know."

"Jeffrey Spender?" Skinner asked. She nodded. "Doesn't anyone stay dead any more?"

And this is where the story starts to run into trouble, because actually I had no idea why Matthew was sent that damn tape in the first place, and I also didn't know what to do with anyone once I got Skinner, Duncan and Matthew to Polynesia. I have about a paragraph of their arrival, but it's a complete change of tone, what with the worry that Krycek will start killing people, especially Skinner. So rather than work out a plot, I've left the story abandoned for about three years. And that's crazy. And what would I do about Duncan and Adam? I mean, I didn't want Jeffrey to end up heartbroken.