As their car sped for the woods, Al kept repeating, "This isn't going
to work." No one listened to him except Sam, who had learned when a situation
was dangerous. He knew that Scully was still skeptical about him and Al
and Robert. Truth be told, he was a little skeptical of Robert himself.
Although he had turned Al into an eighteen-year-old, part of him wanted
to deny what Robert represented. Maybe it was old-fashioned stubbornness.
He had grown up a scientist, much like Scully, and he wasn't easily persuaded.
He had leaped into many people in his time, and when he had leaped into
abnormal people, he vehemently denied their existence. He didn't believe
in voodoo or vampires, or anything else abnormal. He had faced and had
been such people, and he still didn't believe in their existence, trying
to use scientific explanations to write them off. To a certain extent,
he was successful, but then was thrown for a loop just before he'd leap
by being shown something to him that was unexplainable. Sam smiled. Maybe
he was more like Scully than he realized. To that extent, he immediately
knew, Al was more like Mulder, in that he believed in the paranormal. According
to the outlines provided by the X-Files project, he was a part of one.
They approached Mr. Klutz's house. Scully knocked on the door, but no
one was home, so she and her company sat in the car and waited for the
arrival of the Phoenix Foundation. They came ten minutes later in a car
and ambulance with its lights and horns deactivated. Scully was surprised
to see Peter Thorton get out of the car; blind men didn't exactly make
good field operatives. Mr. Thorton was being led by a man with blonde hair,
wearing a faded leather jacket. He guided Pete to her group, and Scully
said, "Good morning, Mr. Thorton; I'm Agent Scully. I must say I'm a little
surprised to see you out here."
Pete smiled. "I know it's not exactly one of the brightest things I've
ever done, but I think I can manage myself." He held a hand out to his
companion. "This is MacGyver; he'll be working with you as a representative
of the Phoenix Foundation."
Scully shook hands with him, as did Mulder and Beckett. She looked at
MacGyver and said, "I thought you no longer worked for the Foundation."
"I don't," he replied, "but I'm capable of doing things you wouldn't
expect. Pete thought I'd make a good addition to the team."
She nodded. Although not understanding, she let it slide, and then they
all made their way to the woods.
The air was warm and crisp; it was a refreshing smell to that of a musky
office. The sun was hot, but the maple trees provided enough shade, and
she watched as the shadows played over her partner's face. He didn't look
back, so she turned her eyes back to the path.
Once, she got stuck, not knowing where to go. At that point Mulder and
Al took over. Mulder used his memory to find the way, but Al had pocketed
his control mouse for the sake of secrecy; he didn't want anyone else knowing
about it unless it was important.
They finally came to the spot where Mulder was attacked by Hayes. The
stream ran a little lower than two days before, but it seemed as if the
fish swimming in it had doubled. He looked around at the area for any clues
as to where they could go, then opted to go to the spot where Hayes had
jumped out at him.
Hayes had tackled him by jumping off the top of a four-foot rise on
the forest floor. He jumped up onto it and found another path. Leading
the way, they came to a clearing in thirty minutes, and in the middle of
that clearing was a log cabin.
"I think we should have brought reinforcements," Scully said.
Mulder turned to her and said, "The Phoenix Foundation is a government
agency; they're all the back-up we need."
They approached the house. The forest had grown quiet as they came upon
the last stretch of the path that had led to the cabin, and now, as they
made their way to the house, the wooded area had become deathly quiet.
No birds chirped, no insects buzzed or hopped around. There wasn't so much
as a noise coming from a family pet. The quietness tried to get under Scully's
tough hide, but she briskly flicked it away with her mind as they approached
the cabin; she couldn't let it get to her now that she was so close. But
then she had gotten too close. Barry charged out of the house at full throttle
and headed right for her. Scully froze in surprise and shock; there was
nothing she could do to get out of his way.
