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Title: Jeremy Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate the deaths of some young women after receiving anonymous tapes describing the crimes in a nursery-rhyme fashion. Note: I am attempting a first time posting, so if this comes out messed up, sorry.........:) Also, if there is no zoo in DC, apologies for this bit of fictional setting.
Dana Scully flew out of her car, hurrying as usual to get into work. It was a spectacular day; the sun was warm and the clouds were blue. Boy, would I love to be on the beach instead of here, she thought. But, then the piles of work which covered her desk swam before her eyes and she cleared all other thoughts from her head. When she entered the small office she shared with her partner, she saw that Mulder was already there. He was bent over a report and a small cassette tape, a frown on his handsome face. "Morning," he said without looking up. "Hi," Scully replied, going over to her desk. "What's up this morning? You're here early; did you sleep here?" Mulder smiled at her and she grinned back. He noticed for the millionth time how pretty she was and he tried to keep his pounding heart still. Scully was his partner; that was it. Mulder returned to the papers on his desk. "Hey, Scully, look at this!" he suddenly blurted out. She went over to see what had excited him. All she could see was a piece of white paper with strange symbols on it. She frowned and turned her head around,but couldn't make any more sense of it. "What is it?" she asked him, perplexed. "I don't see anything." He pulled her closer and pointed at the paper. "Look closer," he directed. Scully gazed intently at the symbols. The more she looked, the more they began to form a picture. "That's amazing!" she marveled. "I never saw it at first." "Neither did I," he admitted, "and I'm not sure anything was there at first." He looked at Scully, who was giving him that "Mulder, you're nuts!" stare again. "Wait, let me explain." He then proceeded to tell her that when he got home last night, he found this drawing wrapped around a tape. When he tried to see if anyone was watching, there was no one there. He decided then to get a good night's sleep and come in early to check it out. "The more I looked at it, the more the picture became visible. And wait until you hear this tape." He slipped it in the recorder and a child's voice came on. "Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go....." went the childish voice in singsong. Then it stopped. Scully looked at him again, confused. "Mulder, what does it mean?" He shook his head.....picking up the paper again. "Scully, what does this picture look like to you?" he asked her. She stared at it again and realized she was looking at a type of saber and the prone figure of a young girl. Her heart pumped rapidly and she unconsciously drew in her breath. "Yeah, that's what I thought too," he said. "Look, let's check and see if there have been any missing person's reports in the last few days, ok?" Scully nodded and went to her computer. After a few minutes, she gave up. Then, something caught her eye in the corner of the screen readout. "Mulder, look at this! There is a report of a young girl missing.....right in this area." He came over and checked it out. Then, their eyes met. "Oh, no, don't tell me you think some child is predicting the whereabouts of murder victims!" Mulder just grinned at her..... "Chew on it, Scully," he whispered in that maddening way. She turned around and was going to smack him, but he had moved away in that graceful manner he had. "Come on; let's go make some waves." He grabbed her hand and off they went, much to Scully's dislike. As they drove, Scully kept looking at the picture at all different angles. As she studied it, Mulder glanced over at her intense concentration. Again, little butterflies flitted around inside of him; some day..........She raised her head and caught his glance, not sure what he was thinking. Good thing! he thought. She knew where they were headed, the general direction of a wooded area they both knew. It was kind of deserted, but they had been here before for another case. Mulder pulled over and they got out, not quite sure what they were looking for. They split up and as they roamed around, Scully was so intent on looking around, she stumbled and fell. "Ouch!" she muttered, then gazed down at the ground. What she had stumbled on was a human foot. "Mulder!" she called, trying not to panic. He hurried over and helped her up, his hands lingering momentarily on her waist. But, she was too overwhelmed with their discovery to even notice. As they moved leaves and other debris around, they uncovered the body of a young woman..... It was much later. They had reported the find and Scully had done her autopsy. The young woman was stabbed several times with an odd shaped knife. This was most definitely the cause of death. Mulder paced while she finished up; he was so impatient! As soon as she was done, they left and spent some time going over what they had so far. Mulder suggested pulling up any missing persons reports over the last few months to a year, and seeing if any of them were young girls. "I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of the singing kid," he surmised. Scully hated to admit it, but she agreed with him on that point. By this time, it was late Mulder was starved. "Want to get some dinner?" he asked her. Scully hadn't realized how hungry she was until he mentioned food, so she quickly accepted his offer. While they ate, Scully caught him sneaking glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking. She had often noticed this, especially lately, but kept forgetting to ask him what he was doing. Or maybe, she wasn't forgetting......maybe she didn't want to really know. They spent an awful lot of time together and Scully knew there was always the possibility one of them would develop feelings beyond the work partnership, but she fought this in herself. Besides, Mulder was too weird for her! "Well, I'm ready to get some sleep; how about you?" she finally said. He nodded and they left. When Mulder dropped Scully off at her car and drove him, he found another slip of paper wrapped around another cassette tape. Without hesitation, he hurried inside and opened the paper, inserting the tape at the same time. This time, the child's voice was clearly heard in another kid song...... "All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel...." There was another picture made of symbols and as Mulder held it away from him, staring at it, the image became more visible. Although there was another young girl, this time there was a silken rope above her. Eerie chills raced up and down Mulder's neck. He decided to make sure he was around his apartment as much as possible the next few days, especially around dusk. He definitely needed to make contact with whomever was supplying him with the tapes. Picking up his cell phone, he called Scully. When he told her what he had, there was a long silence. "Mulder," she finally replied, "I'm beginning not to like this case at all." He laughed a bit, but then became sober. "Scully, I'm gonna be working at home for the next few days, except for short jogs into the office. I need to find out who's been dropping these off. You can reach me here, ok? Don't forget, if you find any more missing girls, get in touch with me right away," she agreed and they hung up. The next day, Scully spent a lot of time poring over her computer. She had found three other cases of missing persons, who were young girls, but not much other information. Then, she came across a new report, just filed a few days ago. The missing girl was Angela Morse, and she fit the description of the body which Scully had just autopsied. She called Mulder and gave him this bit of data and then placed a call to the DC police to find out if any new missing persons had been reported. She was not surprised to find there was another report. After she took down the basics, she called Mulder. "Hi, it's me," she said simply. "There is another missing girl, Margaret Pentshaw. She has been gone for two days now. Any ideas?' "Scully, the song identified a mulberry bush; that must mean she's somewhere near greenery or shrubbery, or maybe even under it." "Mulder, we don't have mulberry bushes here.....do we?" "I'm not sure it's the mulberry part we need to focus on," he said. "Look come on over here and we can talk, ok?" she asked she would be there shortly. When she arrived, she stepped in and nearly tripped over things strewn all over. "Mulder, you need a housekeeper," she teased, her eyes sparkling. He felt that familiar twittering in his stomach again. "Are you offering, Scully" he retorted back. She gave him her Scully look and sat down on the couch to look at the picture. "What are you thinking, Mulder?" "What if this isn't about a mulberry bush, Scully? What if it's about the last part, the monkey and weasel?" She frowned. "I don't get it." He looked at her patiently, as a parent does a perplexed child. She found this highly irritating whenever he did it. "Where is it a monkey would be found around here?" Suddenly, she got it. They locked eyes and headed for the local zoo, almost frightened to see what they would find. It was very quiet at the zoo; the thick undergrowth of trees were in full bloom. Although there were many places where the bushes were overgrown, they chose an area close to the monkey's cage. After a long search, they were beginning to think it was a bust. Suddenly, Mulder noticed a patch of bushes which had recently been trimmed or broken. He looked at Scully, who inclined her head and walked over to it. After a short hesitation, they moved and dug at some of the dirt. The were not disappointed. Scully's autopsy was finished; the girl was dead of strangulation. Mulder's head was aching at this point, and he was desperate to find out who had been sending him the tapes. Just then, his cell phone rang and it was Skinner, who had been made aware of recently of this case. He was asking about the progress. "We're working on it, Sir," Mulder replied. "I think we have a lead, but it's still shadowy." He then told Skinner he would get back with him a day or two. "Scully, I need to get back home; I don't want to be away much longer, in case I can catch sight of who's dropping this stuff off." "Ok, Mulder," she answered. "I'm going to stay at the office and type up what we found, then call it a day. Let me know if you get anything more?" He agreed and they parted ways. As Mulder pulled up to his apartment, he noticed a young woman hanging around the front. He saw her drop something and start to walk rapidly away. He jumped out of his car. "Hey!" he yelled, startling her. She looked around and broke into a run. He easily overtook her and had to practically tackler her to stop her. She fought and kicked, and Mulder swore under his breath, as he physically restrained her. "Let me go!" she cried, still struggling. "Not until you tell me who you are and what you're leaving me these tapes." They struggled some more and then, she agreed to talk to him in his car. He faced her squarely. She was a pretty girl, but ragged looking and tired. "Now, who are you and why are you contacting me this way?" She looked down at her beat-up tennis shoes. "I....I'm Corrine Marshall," she said in a soft voice. "I live at home with my kid brother, Jeremy. Our mother passed away a short time ago, and I have been takin care of Jeremy for a while. " Here she stopped, seeming to have trouble going on. She took a deep breath and stared into Mulder's green eyes. She saw something in them, something she could felt she could trust. The story she related was remarkable. Her brother had been waking up from bad dreams the past six months. At first, she thought it was just from their mother's death, since she said she would always be with them. Upon waking, her brother would draw furiously and sing these songs while he drew. Alarmed, she began tape recording the songs, as he never had any memory of them or the dreams or drawings. She didn't know what to do with them, so had been bringing them to his house. "But, how did you know to find me?" he asked, still perplexed. She looked down and then back shyly. "We.... used to live in your building before our mother died....she worked as a custodian where you work. I remembered her saying you must be an important man since you worked for the FBI....please, I'm sorry." Her voice rose. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble! I....I'm scared for my brother." She had her hand on the door handle again, and looked as if she might flee any minute. He smiled kindly at her. "How old are you, Corrine?" he asked. "I'm twenty," was the reply, "and I can take care of my brother fine!" This last was said rather defiantly. He smiled again. "We live with my father now, but he's gone all the time. My parents didn't live together for a long time; that's how come my ma had to work at your building. I guess I wasn't too much help; ran around at lot. But, she was real close to my brother...." Mulder sensed something else, but didn't want to push. He did know that he needed to talk to Jeremy Marshall. When he turned to Corrine, she had relaxed a bit. "Corrine, I know this took a lot of courage to come here. Believe me, no one is going to separate you from your brother. But, I am going to need to talk to him. Would that be ok?" She seemed hesitant, then nodded. "Ok, how about tomorrow morning?" She agreed and then got out of the car. After she left, Mulder just sat there, trying to make sense of all he'd learned. He phoned Scully when he got in, and told her what he'd found out, then asked her to go with him to question the boy. Upon making some final notes, he settled down with his video tapes and a veggie pizza. The next morning, Mulder and Scully arrived early to talk to Jeremy. Scully took the lead, as Mulder didn't want to scare the boy. He was a small blond youth, about seven years old, with large brown eyes. He appeared fairly normal for his age, playing with his action figures. However, he was quiet. "Hi, Jeremy," Scully said, kneeling down next to him. "What have you got here?" "GI Joe," he answered without stopping his play, "they're fighting the monster." "What monster is that?" she asked. "The one that comes in the night," he said, then looked fearfully at his sister. Scully's eyes met Mulder's. Corrine nodded at him to let him know it was ok. "When does he come, Jeremy?" Mulder directed his question to the child, but kept his distance at first. "When I'm asleep, I feel him near me. Not really there....kinda somewhere....." he stated, crashing his soldier into a scary-looking alien type creater talking a bit more with the boy, Scully and Mulder sat down to chat with Corrine. She told them that ever since Jeremy was born, he'd been "special," had been able to feel things about people and knew instinctively if they were bad or good. At first it spooked the family, but they got used to it. The more she talked, the more Mulder's curiosity was peaked. "Corrine, how did your mother die?" he asked gently. Tears welled up in her eyes and Scully held her hand, but she bravely went on. "She'd been kind of sick off and on, since Jeremy was born, and even before that. Not sick like for the doctor, but kind of. She...uh....was gone one night when I got home, for a day and even that night. In the morning, when I got back from school, she was there again. Since that time, she had been kinda strange.....after she got pregnant with Jeremy my dad and her fought somethin awful. He'd hit her and Jeremy got real upset. They finally separated, because....." she stopped again. "Please go on, Corrine?" Scully promoted. "I donit know all of it; I was young. Sometimes they would really fight, and my dad would say he didn't want to be a father to someone else's kid. I don't know what that meant.....he and my mom were married! I don't think she had time to mess around, you know?" Mulder smiled at this, but something was beginning to nag at him. "Anyway, they split up and mom had Jeremy. Right from the get-go, we knew he was different somehow, but we got used to it. But mom, even though she worked, was never quite the same. She was real attached to Jeremy. It used to make me mad, but I love him too, so I just stayed away instead of arguing. I guess the work got to her, because she got real weak and finally died of a heart attack. Before she died, she told me about you....." she looked at Mulder, "in case Jeremy ever needed you. I never knew what that meant, but since the nightmares, I figured you could help." They finished up and left. Back at the office, Mulder was thinking hard. He began to talk, outlining the idea forming in his mind. "Scully, what if Jeremy's mother was abducted?" "Mulder," Scully began, but he interrupted her. "It explains a lot, Scully, why Jeremy's mother was mysteriously gone--a child who wasnit the father's--a child who had some kind of special gift of intuition--an unexplained health condition causing the mother's death. "It all adds up, Scully..." he said "Adds up to what?" she pressed, although she already felt she knew. "Jeremy's mother was an abductee; how else can this be explained? Somehow, this child was conceived and he received some extraordinary perceptive powers." "Mulder, you're not claiming this child is part alien?" This was too much, even for him. Scully was horrified. "No, I don't think that's the case, Scully. But, what if....the father was sterile after Corrineis birth? What if the mother still became pregnant but had not sexual relations with anyone else? Supposed something was changed after the abduction which caused that pregnancy?" "Wait a minute, Mulder," Scully said in an irritated voice, "we don't even know if she was abducted, or he was sterile. Talk about a leap!" "Ok, then help me disprove it. Let's get the medical records of both parents. That should tell us something." After some more haggling, they went off to obtain the records. What they found shook them both. Mr. Marshall was not only sterile, but his wife had such a difficult birth with Corrine, he had gotten a vasectomy to prevent any further chance of pregnancy, on doctors' advice. "No wonder Mr. Marshal was ticked," Mulder remarked dryly. "How could he have believed it was his kid?" "Mulder, we don't know that it was his child," Scully reminded him. "Let's look at the paternity papers and the blood work." All things matched up, but that still didn't prove anything conclusively. "Scully, Corrine said Jeremy was special since he was born. Why does he have those powers of perception and why would he suddenly start visualizing this killer's victims?" He paced back and forth in the office. Scully watched him, fully aware of what this meant. He was forming ideas and they were piling up faster than he could verbalize them. "Jeremy and his mother were extremely bonded; the mother told Corrine if anything happened to threaten them to get help, find me. Jeremy also observed bitter and violent fights between his parents. Suppose the death of his mother triggered something, made him want to protect women from violence?" Scully was rolling her eyes at him. "Mulder, this is a stretch, even for you." "I know." He ran his hands through is hair; he looked exhausted. " Mulder, we're not going to solve this today. It's still early in the day. Why don't we just give it a rest for a while and maybe we can meet tonight to talk more about it." The common sense of what she was saying struck him and he was tired. They agreed to meet later on tonight to finish up piecing things together. Scully went to the ladies room and by the time she got back, she found Mulder asleep in his chair, a report in his hand. She leaned over him to wake him up and startled, he grabbed her and held her tightly. He opened his eyes, and blushing, let go. "Sorry, Scully, I guess I do need some rest," he muttered. "Look, I'll pick you up tonight and we can work on this some more," she agreed and they prepared to leave. As they were walking out, the phone rang. It was Corrine. "Agent Mulder?" Her voice was shaky. "Please come; Jeremy is having some kind of fit or something... I'm scared!" "Hang on, Corrine," he said, "we'll be right there." On the way, he told Scully about the call. When the arrived, they found Jeremy sitting on the floor, eyes wide and humming a tune. London Bridge......they wracked their brains, thinking of all the bridges they could have to cover. "Mulder, there's a restaurant called English Garden on the other side of town. It's near a park with a small bridge and a man-made lake below." He nodded. "Let's go!" Without stopping to explain, they left Corrine with a phone number for the local ER and told her to get Jeremy there. Then they drove quickly to English Garden and park surrounding it. They found a place to wait and hid themselves there. It was nearly nightfall and they decided to wait it out. When darkness covered the park, and the restaurant had closed, a stealthy figure was seen approaching the bridge carrying a blanket. Without waiting for a heartbeat, Scully and Mulder jumped out and ordered him to stop. He dropped the burden and tried to run for it, but Mulder shot him in the leg which stopped him cold. Scully had run over to the blanket and found a young girl tied up, but still alive. The next victim! Mulder used his cell phone to call the police and the man was taken into custody. A search of his apartment later on revealed the knife used on the first victim. After wrapping things up, they drove to the hospital. Corrine was there with Jeremy, who seemed to be doing much better. As Mulder and Scully approached him, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Hi," Scully said, smiling back. "How are you, Jeremy?" "I'm ok," he said weakly but happily. "I didn't have the bad dream again before. I didn't see the monster." They nodded and Scully squeezed the little boy's hand. "I think we got that monster, Jeremy," she said. "You don't know it, but you really helped us do that." "I did?" he asked incredulously, a big grin spreading across his face. "Yep," Mulder said, "you are an official FBI helper now." Jeremy laughed out loud and called to Corrine, who smiled gratefully at them. "I think he'll be fine now. But, if you notice other strange behaviors, will you let us know?" she asked she would. Back at the office, they faced each other. Neither wanted to think about what they had witnessed oveunconscious girl had been reported missing that morning, and she was also doing ok considering her ordeal. There seemed to be very little doubt in Mulder's mind how this all came about, but Scully as usual, was skeptical. Mulder was really tired now and suggested they go home. As they left, he thought about asking Scully to have dinner with him, but decided that he didn't have enough resistance to make sure that was all they had. So, as always, he tucked away his secret thoughts and made his way home, as did Scully. Mulder fell asleep right away, which was odd for him, but at least he felt no young girls would die tonight. Scully sat at her computer, typing. "Agent Mulder remains convinced that Jeremy Marshall's birth was the result of extra-terrestrial interaction and that the boy somehow received perceptual powers beyond what is normal. He also believes that these powers became triggered by the past violence toward his mother of his father, and of her subsequent death. I reserve judgment and remain unsure of any logical explanation for these events. But the one thing I am certain of, is that the killer of these women is now behind bars and that little Jeremy Marshall will sleep peacefully tonight." At the Marshall home, Corrine sat watching television while her father drank and worked around the yard. It was late, but her father remained outside. Inside his bedroom, seven-year old Jeremy lay asleep, nothing but childhood sweetness in his head. End.
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