Title: Spirit of Solitude
Chapter 1
Author: P.Bear
e-mail: tigerms@erols.com
webpage: www.tigermoon.com/thai/fiction.htm
Summary: Those with courage enough to wage war and 
stand in the front line against evil have always 
sacrificed themselves to a cause higher than any and 
all of their beliefs. 
When the lines of sacrifice and survival blur, who is 
left to save those that save us?
Blurb: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, The 
Lone Gunmen, and The X-Files belong to Chris Carter 
and all the amazing actors as well as 1013 
Productions. Wolverine, Sabretooth, and the X-Men 
belong to Marvel Comics.  I am just attempting to do 
these characters justice and am using them without 
permission. 

--

(2:35 AM – Washington, DC)


A night's cool breeze sweeps through the streets, 
alleys, parks, lakes, and buildings.  It touches 
everything in a soft caress, playing a melody of 
comfort as it cools what is heated.  The empathy of 
night brings either a feared darkness of humility or 
a soothing emptiness and solitude. 

The breeze sweeps over the reflecting pool, creating 
a misty haze as it travels. It hesitates when it 
confronts the body of a little girl lying prostrate 
before it.  Her body draped such that from her waist 
down it is immersed in the slow rippling movements 
of  the now red tainted water.   Her body is facing 
skyward, eyes open in shock, and skin pale as the 
moon that reflects off from the water around her.  
Even the breeze that slowly wraps itself around 
the little body feels the coldness emanating from 
the prone form.  The girl's eyes, red from burst 
vessels, peer through the shifting coolness that 
envelops her.  

Having given the lifeless body what comfort it could, 
the breeze moved on leaving the body as it had done 
with a few other bodies such as this a few nights 
ago.  Leaving the body as a marker that indeed 
hunting season had begun.

** 

(3:30 AM)

A lone figure crouched at the top of the building, 
catching a glimpse of the police activity buzzing 
around the reflecting pool.  His spot was downwind 
and he took a cautious sniff.  He smelled blood, 
guts, and pain.  He smelled death. He smelled the 
frustration and disgust radiating off those working 
the scene.  He heard them arguing and cursing under 
their breaths.  It didn't matter to him; he focused 
on that smell of death.  He was able to see the 
splatter of blood written next to the little girl.  
In the child's blood, dry and rusted now, it read: 
"RUNT".   He could smell the scent of the murderer 
who did this to the little girl.  He knew that scent 
well, as if it was his own.  He remained and observed 
for a few more minutes, his anger boiling faster and 
hotter than it had in a long time.  He stalked off, 
biting the cigar that he had in his mouth close to 
the point of dismemberment, and jumped off the roof.  
He disappeared into the alley; it was time for him to 
start his hunt.

**

(30 minutes before – 3:00 AM)

Fox Mulder tiredly rubbed his right hand over his 
face, grimacing as he tried to pull his eyelids back 
up.  He looked at his clock, waiting for his vision 
to clear and focus.  A red blaring "03:00 AM" jumped 
at him.  

He slumped back into his sofa and stared at the 
ceiling.  He was yet again on probation because of 
their last X-File.  He wasn't the only one on 
probation this time either.  Scully caught a big end 
of the reprimand that Skinner had thrown at them, 
even though he had to admit that this time it was 
mostly his fault.  How was he supposed to know that 
the ugly-looking animal that he had tackled and 
fought with was actually the town's mascot?  Who 
would have thought that a hog was their mascot, an 
ugly one at that?    He was about to shoot the thing 
with his Sig Sauer when the Mayor of the town and 
Scully came running up to him, telling him to stop.  
That was when he looked over at Scully and 
accidentally left his backside unguarded to the evil 
creature.  Mulder rubbed his right butt cheek where 
the bite mark had left a nice red imprint, it still 
hurt.  A hog indeed.

Yup, Scully got thrown on probation as well.  That's 
what she gets for laughing so hard, Mulder thought 
through a grimace as he tried to remain off of that 
cheek.

This was the beginning of the third day of his 
fourteen-day probation period and he was totally 
bored.  He had spent the first day over at the Lone 
Gun Men's threatening to kill them if they didn't 
stop laughing after he had explained the situation.  
Eventually they were able to converse and show him 
the new UFO sitings amidst occasional snickers and 
laughter.  The second day he had spent playing 
basketball, only to have his backside complain loudly 
to him about it's previous abuse.  Now here he was 
lying on his sofa on the third day trying to figure 
out what to do.

Mulder checked his clock again, 03:01AM.  An annoyed 
groan came out of his throat.

He rolled onto his side and faced into his sofa, 
trying to will himself to sleep.  He was about to try 
counting sheep when the shrill ring of his phone rang 
out through the quiet room.  Grumbling he rolled 
himself towards the noise and reached for the phone.  
Scully wouldn't be checking on him, she had gone to 
California with her mother to visit her brother.  
Besides, she was probably still mad at him because of 
the probation.

"Mulder."  He grumbled into the phone.

"Agent Mulder, this is AD Skinner."  The gruff voice 
at the other end of the line sounded.

Mulder sat up automatically and grimaced as an 
annoying flare of pain went through his backside.  He 
sat on the edge of his sofa, resting his elbows on 
his knees and covering his face with his left hand.  
Skinner calling while he's on probation, Skinner 
calling at three in the morning, Skinner calling 
period meant that he was not going to like what he 
was about to hear.

The first thing that popped into his mind was Scully.  
Could she be hurt or in danger?

"Is it Scully, sir?"  Mulder responded, a little more 
concern than he had hoped revealed in his voice.

"No, agent.  I assume Agent Scully is fine.  I'm 
pulling you off your probation."  Skinner replied and 
waited to hear what the other man had to say.

"What?  Why?"  Mulder definitely knew something was 
not kosher.

"It will be clear to you soon. I haven't contacted 
Agent Scully on this case because it does not require 
her expertise at the moment.  There's already a 
pathologist on this case."  Skinner took a deep 
breath.  "I think she deserves the rest at this 
moment due to the nature of this case.  I would not 
have alerted you to it but the director has already 
made it clear that you will be involved."

Mulder remained silent, trying to compile the 
information that he had just heard.  Skinner wanted 
to keep Scully away from this case, and himself as 
well so there must be a certain danger for them.  

"What is this?"  Mulder asked, his voice firm 
belaying the apprehension he felt.

"You know of the Child-Hacker case that's been going 
on, I presume?"  Skinner said, his voice softened just 
a notch.

Mulder fell against the sofa, sinking into it as if 
he wished to be swallowed whole.  The pain flaring 
from his rear went undetected.  He had heard of it, 
everyone had heard of it.  Four little girls brutally 
killed over a time span of four weeks.  The FBI had 
put an extremely tight clench on information about 
this case.  The media was griping because they could 
get no info.  Inside the Bureau itself, it was near 
impossible to get any information unless you were a 
part of the task force.

So they needed him to come and do whatever it is 
that Spooky does to make things right.  Sink into 
this evil that now preyed upon these little girls.  
An exasperated sigh left his mouth, one that Skinner 
caught.

"The last victim was a friend of a high ranking 
official, and thus it has been made extremely clear 
to us that we had best put an end to this yesterday."  

"Four girls dead." Mulder whispered as he tried to 
comprehend the situation.

"Five."  Skinner said in a deadly tone.  "There's 
been another one found at the reflecting pool.  
I'll meet you there in thirty minutes."  The phone 
conversation ended there as Skinner hung up the 
phone.

Skinner got up from his bed.  He had a phone call 
from the office, a relay from the D.C. police.  His 
morning was not starting out on a high note.  Scully 
wasn't going to be too happy about being left out 
either, but he knew that it was going to be better 
this way.  At least he hoped so.

Mulder still had the phone in his hand a minute after 
Skinner had hung up.  He had wanted to ask why this 
was such a danger that Skinner had hoped to keep 
Scully and himself out of it.  Shaking himself awake 
he went to the bathroom.

As Mulder left his apartment, the clock read 03:14 
AM.

The chill from the pre-dawn breeze rolled over 
Mulder's body, almost pulling him toward the covered 
body as he trudged to the frenzy of activity at the 
reflecting pool.  Whispers of "Shit, it's Spooky," 
"What the hell is he doing here," and a few other 
bitter comments were not lost to either Mulder's or 
Skinner's ears.  Skinner looked abruptly around and 
the agents scattered, trying to find something to do 
or else they'd suffer an earload from the AD.

Mulder nodded to Skinner as he walked past him, 
heading for the little girl's body.  He still knew 
nothing about this case, and he was supposed to 
figure out some way to solve it? 

Stopping over the covered body Mulder looked around 
him.  He looked at the reflecting pool, now tinted 
like cherry Kool-aid.  The girl's body was still half 
in the water and he wondered how much longer her 
humiliation would persist.   Swallowing, Mulder bent 
down and removed the top of the white sheet only to 
lose balance and fall to his knees.  Bile rushed 
rapidly up this throat but he stamped it down.

Mulder took a look at the little corpse again, only 
to see a girl that looked strikingly familiar.  He 
was looking at a girl that could have been Emily's 
sister.  Emily, Scully's dead daughter.

Snickers were heard around him as the other officers 
saw Mulder flounder, but Mulder didn't even know it.  
A heavy hand was placed on his shoulder and Mulder 
looked up to meet the intense gaze of AD Skinner.

"This... this..."  Mulder stammered out, unable to 
finish.

"This is the reason why I didn't want Agent Scully 
involved yet."  Skinner handed him an envelope. "And 
this is why I didn't want either of you involved at 
all."

Skinner remained silent, standing next to his agent.  
He knew his agent was a pain, a severe pain.  He also 
knew that Mulder was a damn good agent and one that 
he could, to a certain degree, trust.  Mulder wasn't 
in the game to get glory, no, he was the true thesis 
of the hero.  Mulder wanted to save lives.

Mulder hesitantly opened the envelope and peered 
inside, only to have his throat constrict.  The first 
things that he saw were the pictures of the other 
victims.  Four of them, two looked like the girl 
lying on the ground in front of him.  Girls that 
looked strikingly similar to Emily.  The other two 
looked like Samantha, his sister.  He read their ages 
quickly.  All were around eight years old.

Mulder slapped the envelope shut and closed his eyes.  
No use, his mind had already captured the photos and 
now the images of all five girls danced in his head.

"Agent Mulder?"  Skinner said as he looked worriedly 
at the man fighting to maintain control.

Mulder's eyes snapped open, but he did not look at 
the AD.  "Yes sir?" 

"Everything ok?" Skinner asked quietly.

Mulder slowly shook his head, "Yeah, I can handle 
this."  Mulder looked around, looking at the people 
staring at him with either amusement or worry on 
their faces.

"I can handle this."  Mulder said finally as he 
pulled himself together.  He knelt next to the 
girl again, distancing himself emotionally from 
everything.  He pulled the cover completely off the 
girl and stared at the brutal destruction that now 
described what used to be a beautiful young girl.

Mulder began by looking at her legs that were 
submerged in the water.  He motioned for some people 
to come over.

"Have you already taken your photos?"  Mulder asked 
the forensics photographer.

"Yeah, got everything."  The man said quietly as he 
walked off.

Mulder had a few of the men pull the girl out of the 
pool and lay her down.  He scanned her little legs.  
They were wrinkled now from being supersaturated with 
the mix of water and blood.  There were tears in her 
legs that went from the middle of her thigh to above 
her ankle.  Flesh torn away in anger, in fierce 
animal-like quality Mulder thought.

The girl had been disemboweled, her intestines and 
attached organs lain outside of the almost empty 
cavity.  Mulder closed his eyes and hoped that the 
girl had already been dead when this happened.  He 
looked closer, no gunshot wounds visible that he 
could see and the tears that occurred all over her 
body looked just like that. Tears.  Not cut, not 
knifed.  They didn't look like any blade marks that 
he could imagine.  They looked more animalistic.  
Like claws and teeth.

He looked at the girl's hands and noticed underneath 
her fingernails there were a few strands of blonde 
hair.  Putting on a pair of gloves he took the small 
tuft of hair and placed it in evidence bags.  He'd 
hand one over to the FBI forensics team but he'd give 
the other set to the Gunmen.

Mulder silently covered the girl's body, thanking 
whatever fortune was out there that Scully wasn't 
here to witness this.  There was going to be no way 
that he would allow Scully to be involved in this, 
even though he wished he could have her there with 
him.  He needed her, but he'd be damned if he would 
allow any form of hurt flutter through the deepest of 
her blue eyes.  His only hope was to run this as far 
as he possibly could himself, and hope that he 
wouldn't lose himself in the process.

Mulder walked over to the writing.  The word 'RUNT' 
was written in what could only be called a fierce 
scrawl in the little girl's blood.  Was the killer 
seeing the girls as runts?  Is that what displeased 
him so?  Mulder looked at the shape of the girl.  
Granted she looked small for being eight years old 
but she wasn't a runt, and such a callous word at 
that.  Why did the killer harbor such hate.

Mulder shook his head and looked around the area.  
Something didn't feel right.  The word didn't fit 
with the girl.  That was wrong.  But right now, he 
felt like he was being watched.

"What do you think, Agent?"  Skinner said as he walked 
up next to him.

Shaking his reverie off, Mulder looked at the files 
in his hand.  "I'm going to need to go over these, 
sir.  I'll be in my office."

Mulder walked quickly past the surrounding media that 
was being held at bay by DC police officers.  It 
began to rain, hard.  They were shouting questions at 
him, but he ignored them.  Mulder pulled his trench 
coat above his head trying more to keep himself than 
trying to keep dry.

The word 'RUNT' kept going through his mind.

**

Dana Scully was helping her mom and Tara prepare 
breakfast in her brother's California home.  She had 
been seriously mad at Mulder when she got put on 
probation.  The past two days here though had really 
been great and her mood had lightened.  She was just 
annoyed now.  Of course Bill couldn't help but throw 
in offcolor remarks every once in a while about 
Mulder but she had learned to tune that out early.

"Damn..."  Bill's breathless voice resounded from the 
living room.

The women went out to see what he was doing when they 
saw what was on TV.  It was a newscast of a little 
girl's murder.

Scully looked at her watch.  From the looks of things 
they'd found that little girl 4 hours ago.  It'd be 
around 1 or 2 pm Washington time right now.  She 
paid more attention to the news report.

"At 2:45 AM this morning in the DC metropolitan area, 
the police were notified of a little girl's body.  
Police and FBI have taken over the area, not allowing 
the media to gain any access.  This is the fifth 
murder in what has been dubbed the 'Child-Hacker' 
murder cases.  All attempts at getting information 
has been rebuked with 'no comments'." The video shot 
initially from a helicopter, showing the red pool and 
the quickly moving police and agents, changed to show 
a few agents quickly moving past reporters to get to 
their cars.

Scully swore she saw Mulder pass by the camera, but 
she didn't get a good look since the object in 
question put his raincoat over his head.  She didn't 
think it was Mulder, he was on probation just like 
she was.  If he was taken off, they would have 
notified her as well.

"Poor dear."  Maggie Scully said as she walked back 
into the kitchen.

"Hope they catch the bastard."  Bill said.

Scully could only nod as she thought about giving 
Mulder a call.  Something didn't feel right.

**

AD Skinner looked at his watch, 1400 hours.  He 
hadn't heard or seen Mulder since that morning.  
Hopefully the agent had gotten something to eat, but 
he doubted that.  Skinner knocked on the door and 
waited for a response.  A minute passed and no 
response so Skinner opened the door to a dim room.

The only light came from Mulder's desk lamp.  The man 
behind the desk didn't seem to notice the intrusion 
into his office.  If anything, Skinner couldn't 
even tell if the man was alive or not.  The slight 
movements in Mulder's chest were the only proof that 
he was still with the living.

Mulder's hands were covering his face, his elbows on 
the table.  His shirt sleeves were already rolled up, 
his tie discarded in a corner of his desk.  The 
file's contents were scattered over the surface of 
the desk, photos and reports placed sporadically as 
if strewn about.

"Agent Mulder."  AD Skinner called him, using a 
conversational level voice.  The man still didn't 
move, and Skinner began to wonder where he was.

Mulder's mind was shooting a slide show of images of 
the crime scene and victims at a speed that only his 
subconscious could view.  Images, words, and reports 
flew by and were trying to settle themselves into a 
pattern.  But none came.  His mind sped through the 
reports again, dictating verbatim what he had read 
initially, his eidetic memory throwing images and 
words at him that he had only glanced at.

Mulder kept coming back to the word "RUNT."  There 
was an important significance there.  He just 
couldn't figure out what it was.  He had a few ideas, 
but none of them came even close to feeling right.

An image of victim number two flashed in his mind, 
and he physically flinched.  Victim number two, Jenny 
Applesmith.  Eight years old, brown hair in pig 
tails, beautiful child's face.  A copy of his sister 
Samantha.

The pattern from victim one and on in term of similar 
looks was Emily, Samantha, Emily, Samantha, and now 
Emily.  The next one, in another week, would be 
Samantha.  He didn't know if he could survive it.  It 
didn't matter, he knew he had to.  There were little 
girls out there that required it.

Mulder felt a hand on his shoulder and he startled 
awake, almost as if he had been sleeping.  In a daze 
he looked around and up, spotting AD Skinner standing 
over him with a worried expression on his face.  He 
automatically straightened and brought back his game 
face.

"What have you got agent?"  Skinner asked, noticing 
that there would be no use seeing if his agent had 
all his senses.  That was something that only Scully 
seemed to be able to do, but she wasn't here. 

'Whose fault is that?' Skinner's mind reeled at him.

"Something's been puzzling me here, sir.  Why Samantha 
and Emily, why them?  Of all the children out there, 
this is too much of a coincidence.  Is that smoking 
bastard behind this?"  Mulder said, his voice going 
from calm to barely restrained rage.  He looked 
straight at the AD, challenging him to answer.

"As far as I know, this is not even related to that 
man.  I'm as clueless as to what's happening as you."  
Skinner replied, not backing an inch.

Mulder stared hard at the man, trying to find any 
signs of betrayal or untruth.  He found none.  What 
he saw instead were the eyes of a tired soul, having 
fought and seen too much.  Mulder dropped his gaze, 
his shoulders slumped, and he leaned against his 
table.

"I don't understand it then.  This has got to be a 
straight attack or threat against Scully and me.  No 
one else knows of Emily or Samantha, besides those 
associated with us.  What type of sick game is this?"  
Mulder ran his hands over his face, scrubbing it as 
if he was washing it.  "Then, there's that written 
message at each seen.  'RUNT.'  That doesn't 
correlate to any of this.  The message of the victim 
choice is plain and simple; it's going after us.  But 
the written message isn't.  It doesn't match!" 

"Perhaps the killer was calling the victims runts."  
Skinner replied, sitting in Scully's chair.  He saw 
Mulder flinch.

"No, that doesn't make sense either.  The victim's 
weren't that small for their age.  Calling them runts 
would imply that they were much smaller than their 
supposed size.  Let's go over the victims again."  
Mulder answered. Despite his best efforts he already 
looked tired.  He sat in his chair and placed his 
elbows on the table, clasping his hands in front 
of his face.

"Victim one.  Sharon Pluconch, eight years old, found 
gutted at Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring, 
Maryland.  She was walking home from school with 
friends.  Friends say that when they turned a corner 
she had disappeared.  They didn't see anyone, 
anything, or hear anything.  She just disappeared.  
Only to be found dead one day later, not far from 
where she was missing.  Her stomach ripped, carved 
out, all intestinal organs left in the open.  Slash 
marks left by what can only be described as some 
animal's claw and teeth along her appendages.  The 
word 'RUNT' written in her blood along the rocks 
surrounding her.  She looked like Emily.

"Victim two.  Jenny Applesmith, nine years old, found 
gutted as well in the woods alongside North Glebe 
Road in Arlington, Virginia.  Found a week after 
previous victim.  She was having a birthday party, 
just turned nine.  Went to the bathroom, when people 
heard glass breaking and the girl's cries. By the 
time they got the door open, they found the bay 
window in the bathroom smashed and blood smears along 
the wall.  Autopsy reports same as previous victim.  
'RUNT' was written in her blood on the trunk of one 
of the bigger trees. She looked like Samantha.

"Victim three.  Crystal McCloud, seven years old, 
found gutted along Maryland's side of Great Falls.  
She had been walking home from school with her 
mother.  Mother reports being grabbed and violently 
thrown into a tree where she was knocked unconscious.  
When she woke up, her daughter was missing. Victim's 
body found a day later splattered on the rocks by the 
river.  More bruising done to her body than previous 
victims, as if she was bashed against the rocks.  
Neighbors living around the area reported a strange 
howl the previous night.  'RUNT' was written in her 
blood on the rocks around her.  She looked like 
Emily.

"Victim four.  Megan Olsten, eight years old, found 
gutted and speared on the horns of the Triceratops 
outside of the Smithsonian.  She had been sitting in 
the car at night, while her mother went into the 
grocery store.  The doors were locked, but people 
around heard the window smashed as well as the girl's 
cries.  No one saw anything though, they said it 
happened too fast.  When bystanders got to the car, 
they just saw the smashed window and drops of blood.  
She was found a day later. Same damage report as 
previous victim, more than the first two.  And the 
spearing.  The word 'RUNT' was written in her blood 
on the Triceratops.  She looked like Samantha.

"Victim five.  Janet Greene, eight years old, found 
gutted and half submerged in the reflecting pool in 
DC.  She had been sleeping in her room.  Parents 
heard glass and wood breaking as well as the victim 
shrieking.  When they got to her room, they found the 
window literally smashed and blood smears around the 
bed and floor.  She was found a day later, with the 
same level of damage as the first two victims.  The 
word 'RUNT' was written on the sidewalk next to her.  
She looked like Emily."

Skinner watched with sick fascination as Mulder 
recited the victim list.  He had seen the man go from 
strong and firm to weak and tired as he progressed 
through the monologue.  He had known that the toll 
that was being taken on him was great, he just didn't 
know it would sap away at his strength so fast.  

Mulder's hands were clasped together so hard that his 
knuckles and fingers turned white.  He needed a 
grounding force, he needed something to know he was 
still with the here and now, he needed something to 
hold him up or else he'd collapse, mentally and 
physically. He needed Scully.

There was at least something about the last victim's 
capture that he had caught in the photos of the 
house.  He wasn't sure if Skinner would like what he 
was going to say.  He wondered if he should say it at 
all.

Skinner saw the look on Mulder's face, like he wanted 
to say something but was unsure.  At this point, he 
needed to hear anything possible.

"What is it, Mulder?"

Mulder regarded him with a strange look and pressed 
on.  "The window of the last victim's house.  We know 
that it was smashed in, but it looks more like 
whoever did it was too big to fit through the window.  
You see here where the wood from the windowsill 
split?  That looks like what a shoulder would do if 
it was strong enough to break wood."

Skinner's eyes widened, but he remained calm.  No one 
could do that, but he would hear the man out.  This 
wouldn't be the first time that his wild ideas were 
actually on target.  He followed as Mulder continued 
his explanation.

"Here is a picture of the outside of the window.  See 
these marks to the upper left?"  Mulder asked, waiting 
for a confirming nod from Skinner.  When he got it he 
figured it was time to jump in with what he thought 
happened.

"There are five deep penetrating marks on the side 
wall of the house.  Almost as if something with claws 
had held onto the house using its left hand, and 
broke through the window with its right hand and 
upper body."  Mulder manipulated his hand to make it 
look like a clawing gesture.  The gesture seemed to 
fit the gash marks on the house.  When Mulder saw 
that the AD was about to rebuke, he decided to finish 
it off with a one-two punch.

"Here are another set of marks as well, these weren't 
noted in the report and I don't know why not.  I had 
them enhanced and they look like footprints.  Judging 
by the size, it would have to be well over six feet 
tall, if not seven."

Damn the man, Skinner thought.  From the photo 
evidence, it seemed to support exactly what Mulder 
was saying.  But was it possible?

"The evidence seems to fit, agent, but there's no man 
that can ram through a window with one hand and break 
the windowsill.  The only possibility is that the 
wood was rotten."

"Nope.  I checked, the family built the house two 
years ago.  The wood was sturdy."

"Jesus."  Skinner whispered as he sat back in the 
chair.

Mulder's phone rang and they were both startled.  
Mulder gave a sheepish look and answered the phone. 
Skinner watched as a look of excitement and energy 
went over Mulder's face before he hung the phone up.

Mulder grabbed his jacket and headed to the door, 
"Sir, I gave the Gunmen a sample of the hair fiber 
from the scene this morning.  They got something 
really strange.  I'll check back in with you when 
I find out what it is."

Skinner got up and nodded as he watched Mulder almost 
run to the elevator.  He was beginning to wonder if 
he should bring Scully in.

**

The man stood in the pouring rain, his dark hair 
matted to his face and his cigar long put out.  
Everyone gave him his way, not getting anywhere close 
to him.  The man emanated danger and anger.

Logan was pissed.  He'd been tracking the killer's 
trail for the past few hours.  He had to backtrack 
a few times in order to pick up the killer's scent.  
Logan sniffed the rain-drenched air.

"Flamin' Hell!"  He cursed silently and spat out his 
wet cigar.  Logan clenched his fists and stared into 
the Potomac River.  It appeared that the killer had 
leapt off the edge into the river.  He had read the 
paper, Sabretooth had been on a killing spree.  
Five children brutally slaughtered.  Definitely 
Sabretooth's style.  

His nails dug into his palm, a trail of blood 
streamed out and mingled with the rainwater, diluting 
it into a pink stain as it hit the concrete.  His 
fist unclenched and the blood stopped flowing.  The 
cuts healed instantly, without scars.

Logan looked into the sky, feeling the rain pelt his 
face.  He turned abruptly around and headed to his 
Harley.  He needed to backtrack again.  This time, 
he was going to go to the house that this girl was 
taken from.  He had seen it on the news as he was 
passing the streets.  He'd track Sabretooth down and 
then he'd kill him.

As he started his Harley the rain slowly came to a 
stop.  Logan smiled an angry smile.  Oh yes, things 
were starting to go his way and Sabretooth was gonna 
be in a world o'hurt real soon.

A few minutes later Logan parked his Harley a few 
blocks away from the house.  He would walk around 
here and wait till it got dark before he'd take a 
better look around.

**

Mulder stared in stark fascination at what the Gunmen 
had to shown and told him.  "A mutant?"

"Yeah, you see here?"  Frohicke said as he tapped the 
screen, pointing to a strand of DNA.  "That's the 
normal human DNA strand, but if you look at this 
screen you see the DNA from the hair strand.  There's 
some mutated factor in there."

"Is it branched DNA?" 

"Nope, it's completely different."  Byers remarked.  
"This is natural.  The mutation is a normal growth of 
the DNA"

"What you have here Mulder."  Langly piped in, "Is a 
real mutant."

"Kinda like your flukeman."  Frohicke snickered.

Mulder just grimaced when he remembered the creature.  
"Let's hope not."

Mulder leaned against a table and began thinking. 
"Could you guys print and sort everything you guys 
found?  I want proof -- evidence on paper."

"Not a prob, Mulder."  Langly said as he sat down in 
front of the terminal and starting typing and 
clicking away.

"Any way of telling what this mutation is?"  Mulder 
asked hopefully, his lower lip captured between his 
thumb and index finger.

"Sorry, Mulder.  That's impossible for us to figure 
out.  I don't think anyone can tell you either."  
Byers remarked. 

"Make another set and you guys keep it for safe 
storage.  I'll take this set.  Thanks again, guys."  
Mulder said as he took the folder of information and 
headed out.

As Mulder was driving back to the office he noticed 
that it was dark and that it had stopped raining.  
Making a quick decision he headed for the Greene's 
house.  They had temporarily moved to Mr. Greene's 
parents' house.  The house was under protection from 
the DC cops.  He wanted to take a look around the 
house and a close look at those marks.

Mulder pulled up outside the house and showed his ID 
to the stationed cops.  They waved him through as he 
went into the building.  He walked into Janet 
Greene's room and closed the door behind him.

Slowly walking around this child's room he took in 
the pastel colors that were muted by the darkness.  
Mulder didn't bother to turn the lights on.  The 
killer came at night, he wanted to see through the 
killers' eyes.  But he couldn't.  He couldn't grasp 
what this killer wanted.  To strike at Scully and 
himself -- if so, then why did he write 'RUNT'?

Images of Janet Greene filtered through his mind as 
he touched things in her room.  He touched a teddy 
bear that was lying at the foot of her bed and an 
image of Janet Greene's blood stained eyes staring 
into the sky came into his mind.  He felt the cotton 
sheets of her bed and the image of Janet's torn and 
bloody dress danced before his eyes.  After a while, 
Mulder could see nothing but her dead eyes staring at 
him and the red tinged pool of water.  He sat down on 
her soft bed and put his head in his hands.  Slow 
tears born from decades of pain began to flow down 
his cheeks.

God he needed Scully here.  He lifted his face up and 
stared outside.  There was a chill wind that swept 
through the broken window.  The breeze wrapped around 
him like a blanket, hovering over him, soothing away 
the heat of hurt. Mulder shivered.

Mulder felt so lonely and useless right now.  He 
couldn't get a handle of this killer and he was 
staring at dead Samantha's and Emily's everywhere.  
Flashes of his Samantha and Scully's Emily came to 
haunt him.  Slowly those images began to distort into 
distraught faces of the two girls screaming at him in 
pain.  The last image that came into his mind were 
both Samantha's and Emily's dead eyes looking at him 
accusingly.

Mulder rushed to the bathroom and emptied what little 
he had in his stomach.

**

Logan sat watching the child's house from the roof 
of a neighbor.  He could still smell Sabretooth's 
lingering sent here, as well as the girl's.  He 
didn't know what he had expected to find here, but 
he needed to be here.

A cold biting wind hit him in his face.  Logan closed 
his eyes and smelled it.  Fresh grass, dew drops, and 
earth.  So much like his home, so much like Canada.  
Canada's winds were wilder, colder, and fiercer.  
That was his one true home, no where else.  He didn't 
know how long he had lived, he didn't even know his 
full name or where and when he was born, but he knew 
that no matter where he had lived Canada was his 
home.  His first memories were of Canada.  Memories 
he knew to be real and not the implanted memories 
that have been forced into his mind without his 
knowing.

Logan opened his eyes as he heard the front door 
open.  From his view point he could only see the back 
of the house, but the front door had a greaseless 
squeak to it.  His heightened senses allowed him to 
hear the man exit the house.  He heard each and every 
foot step.

He saw the man walk unsteadily to the rear of the 
house.  Logan crouched down even further and took a 
sniff.  The man smelled of sunflower seeds, leather, 
sadness, and pain.  The man's face was pale and Logan 
could smell the faint hint of bile coming from him.  
The man looked up at the window, searching.  He 
looked down on the ground and all around him.  He 
then popped a flashlight out and pointed it at the 
claw marks that Sabretooth had left.  He fixated on 
that for a while.

Suddenly the man turned around, flashing his light 
about.  Almost searching.

'Smart man aren't-cha, bub?' Logan thought to himself.

**

AD Skinner was sitting at his desk, another late 
night trying to sort the mess that this case was 
bringing out.  He looked at his watch and then at the 
phone.  It was 20:35, he hadn't heard at all from 
Mulder.  He reached for the phone to call Mulder's 
cell when his phone went off.

"Skinner."  He responded abruptly after he recovered 
from the startlement.

"AD Skinner,  it's Agent Scully, sir."  The voice at 
the other end replied.  Skinner could tell that she 
wasn't too happy.  Shit.

Skinner put on his brusque AD voice and responded, 
"Agent Scully, I thought you were on probation?"

"Sir, I've been trying to get in contact with Agent 
Mulder since this morning, around noon your time.  
I haven't been able to reach him in his office, at 
home, or on his cell.  I called the Gunmen up and 
they were telling me that he was working a case.  
Not on his own, but one that was official.  When did 
Agent Mulder get pulled off probation and why wasn't 
I told about this?"  Scully's voice, quiet yet 
deadly, answered.

Skinner sighed, damnit.  He had been expecting this.  
He just had hoped it would happen later.  His voice 
softened.  "Scully, I pulled Mulder off of probation 
this morning.  There was another victim and the 
director made it clear in no uncertain terms that 
Mulder was to be put on the case."

"Fine, but why wasn't I notified?"  Scully rebuked, 
she wasn't backing down.  Of course he didn't expect 
her to.

Skinner paused, he might as well bring her in the 
fold.  It might prove useful to Mulder, but he 
wondered if she could handle the situation.  "Agent 
Scully,  I did not deem it necessary at the moment 
to bring you into the matter at hand.  Agent Mulder 
agreed with me when we had discussed this."  Skinner 
paused for a brief second.  Did he just include 
Mulder in the fault department? Damn!  Oh well.  
"There were certain matters that pertain to this 
case that made me question both yours and Mulder's 
usefulness."

"With all due respect, sir..."  Scully tried to 
interject.  She was angry now.  Mulder had agreed 
with him not to inform her?  What was it about this 
case that they felt the need to protect her?

"Agent Scully."  Skinner began again.  "At this 
moment, it is my intention to pull you from your 
probation as well.  When can you get here?"

"I've already booked a flight for tonight.  I'll be 
there in the morning."  

"Meet me at eleven am, Agent Scully."  Before Skinner 
could even say anything else the line went dead. 

'Well, that didn't go so bad.'  Skinner thought with 
a grimace.

**

Logan decided that he had spent enough time here.  He 
needed to get on Sabretooth's trail before another 
girl died.  Dropping from his spot on the roof he 
stalked to his Harley.  Starting it up he peeled out 
and decided it was time to find a place to hide his 
ride.

After he had stashed his Harley under some dense 
foliage, Logan donned his other persona.  He pulled 
the cowl over his face and adjusted the yellow and 
blue skintight costume.  Logan was now Wolverine, 
member of the X-Men and the best at what he did. 

Wolverine headed into the woods, following the trail 
that Sabretooth had made before he had captured the 
girl.  He needed to find his hide out.

Two hours passed and Wolverine was deep in the 
Northern Virginian woods, Sabretooth's scent kept on 
going.  Wolverine had stopped because he saw a 
campfire 50 yards in front of him.  Crouching down he 
approached the campsite in complete silence, looking 
like a large predatory cat stalking its dinner.

He watched the four men sitting at the campfire 
drinking beer and laughing.  They looked like they 
hadn't showered in days and they all had weapons 
slapped to them.  Wolverine sniffed them.  Blood, 
dirt, and evil.  This did not bode well.

One of the men stood up and finished his beer in a 
single swig.  "Bring the bitch out here, Scott!"  The 
man bellowed.

A fifth man dragged a near-naked woman from a tent, 
while she kicked and screamed.  Wolverine growled.  
He smelled the blood and dirt on her.  He saw the 
blood pouring from some of the wounds on her body.  
He bared his fangs and patiently waited.

The man that had initially spoken took the woman and 
slammed her to the ground.  He pinned her hands above 
her head and with his other hand he felt her body.  
Wolverine didn't want to give himself away, didn't 
want Sabretooth to know he was after him.  He didn't 
have a choice, he couldn't let this woman alone.  
Growling softly he crawled into a better position.

The woman was struggling fiercely, tears streaming 
down her face.  The pain of her body was nothing 
compared to the humiliation and pain of the man's 
hands as he ran it over her body.  She kept kicking 
and fighting and when she felt his hands grip the 
torn fabric of her jeans she tried even harder.

In the next second she heard a <SNICKT> and felt wet 
drops hit her face.  She looked up and saw that there 
were two protruding blades that were sticking out 
from each side of the man's neck.  The blades cut him 
enough to make him bleed.  The man's face had gone 
into shock.

"Leave the lady be, bub.  I ain't gonna repeat myself.  
You and your boys best be leavin' or else you ain't 
gonna be able to."  A deep growling voice came from 
behind the man.  

The man began to get up slowly but suddenly jumped 
forward only to fall back down holding his neck.  
Both sides of it were cut deeply now and blood was 
pouring out.

"God damn fucker!  I'm gonna kill you!"  The man 
raged as he made a grab for his gun.  The guy's other 
friends all went for their weapons and brought them 
pointing at Wolverine.

Wolverine slowly walked away from the woman, and she 
saw the two blades protruding from the back of his 
right hand.

"I'm giving you one more chance.  Put your guns down 
and leave.  No more blood need be shed."  Wolverine 
growled.

"I don't know what you're thinking crazy man!  We're 
the ones with the guns.  What the hell you dressin' 
up for? Halloween?"  The guy named Scott was yelling.

"...Gonna kill you asshole!"  The man with the bleeding 
neck raged and pulled the trigger.

The woman mustered her strength and hid behind a 
tree, coming out to look at the fight.  She new that 
the crazy guy with the costume was going to lose.  
Two knives against five guns?  What she next saw 
would stay with her for the rest of her life.

After the man had pulled the trigger she could have 
sworn that she saw the costumed guy jump straight in 
the air.  With another resounding sound of <SNICKT> a 
third blade, identical to the others, joined the two 
nine-inch long blades.  His left hand sprang three 
more blades and then the costumed guy came down on the 
first man.  A downward swipe of his right claw and 
the man's hands were separated from his body, and 
then a quicksilver frenzy of swipes and that man was 
gutted and lying on the ground. 

The other men stared in horror before they all began 
to shoot at the same time, blasting blindly and 
running away.  The lady watched the costume guy 
crouch a little, his muscles rippling in his legs for 
less than a second before he sprang into the air with 
claws extended.  He leapt at one of the men and 
twisted in mid-air to avoid a bullet and rolled right 
in front of the man.  The costumed man's arms swept 
out in front of him and literally took the man's legs 
from under him.  The man's howl of pain was quickly 
silenced by a set of claws thrust into his heart.

The costumed man twisted and ran amazingly fast before 
jumping at a tree.  Before he collided with it, he 
flipped and his feet made the connection with the 
tree.  The costumed man springboarded off the tree 
and hurled himself into the air, flipping over 
another of the guys who was shooting wildly at him.  
As the costumed guy came down behind the man he spun 
in a circle and his claws lashed out.  The costumed 
man landed on his feet, his stance amazingly low, 
while that gunner had fallen, his back a shredded 
mutilation hanging from his skeleton.

From his crouched position he charged wordlessly at 
the other man.  The man was running away, shooting 
backwards as he went.  The lady watched in awe as the 
costumed guy ran faster than the gunner and overtook 
him.  Once he was ahead he spun and did a swift round 
house kick.  She heard a sickening crunch as she saw 
the gunner's head snap in the oddest fashion.

The last man was standing there, his pants soaked 
with his own urine, pulling the trigger on his gun 
repeatedly in hopes of hitting his target.  The woman 
watched as the costumed man sprang onto a tree and 
jumped from branch to branch like an acrobat before 
nosediving at the gunner.  The next thing she knew 
the gunner had dropped to the ground.

Everything had happened in just a few seconds.

She stared in fear and fascination as the costumed 
man flicked his wrists and the blood that was on his 
blades slid right off.  Another <SNICKT> and the 
blades were gone.  The man looked at her and began to 
walk forward.  The woman panicked and was looking for 
a way to escape.

"I ain't gonna hurt ya, darlin'."  The costume man 
said as he stopped five feet away from her.

She took a close look at the man now and noticed his 
stature.  He was short but heavily built, and hairy.  
He was probably five feet three and very well 
muscled.  He extended a gloved hand that amazingly as 
it seemed was free of blood. 

"Come on darlin', let's find you some clothes and get 
you back to civilization."  The man's warm voice 
said.

Hesitantly she took his hand and stood up, towering 
over him.  He didn't seem to care as he started to 
rummage through the tents for some clothes.  They 
started walking once she felt warm enough.  The man 
took a tent and some supplies in a pack and hefted it 
over his shoulder easily.

"We ain't gonna reach any transportation or towns for 
another 3 hours of hard hikin'.  We're gonna get away 
from this mess and make camp so you can rest up.  
We'll go back in the mornin'."  The man said.

The lady shook her head, not really even knowing what 
to do.  She was afraid of him, but she felt at ease 
enough to follow him.

"Who... Who are you?"  The lady asked quietly.

"The name's Wolverine, darlin'."  The man said as he 
was walking alongside her.

"Je... Jessica."  The woman's horse voice replied. 
"What about those men?"

"Bears'll be hungry, they can get a snack."

A pair of golden eyes peered from the treetops 
downwind of the pair.  An evil smile plastered itself 
across its face.

"Logan, my boy, how nice to see you."  The voice 
chuckled softly.  "I think it's time to speed things 
up."

**

11:00AM

Scully quickly parked her car in the Bureau garage 
and headed straight for AD Skinner's office.
She had been hoping to see if Mulder was in the 
office but since she was late she didn't have a 
choice.

Reaching the outer office to the AD she spotted Kim.  
"The AD's waiting.  You can go in, Agent Scully."  Kim 
said, her voice belaying a profound sadness that 
befuddled Scully.

Scully opened the door and looked inside.  The room 
was darker than normal; she automatically looked in 
the corner to see if CGB Spender was sitting there.  
She let out a breath of relief before she knew it and 
entered the room.

Skinner was behind his desk facing the window, his 
back to her.  Scully cleared her throat and the AD 
turned around.  Scully was shocked.  His normal 
appearance of stern leadership was replaced with a 
tired and almost fragile one.  The dark bags under 
his eyes told of even his lack of sleep.  Good lord, 
what of Mulder then?  But Mulder was only on this for 
a day, he couldn't be that bad off.

"Have a seat, Agent Scully."  Even his voice was 
tired.  Scully complied, realizing that she was 
holding her breath waiting for the Skinner to bring 
whatever horrible news that had occurred since she 
had phoned the previous night.

"Sir?"

"There's been another one."  The AD said as he took 
his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Another one sir?  So soon?"  Scully said quietly.

"She isn't a body yet, she was taken from her home 
last night.  We initially didn't think that it was 
our man; he had a one-week interval.  To take one so 
quickly just doesn't make sense.  This is a drastic 
change.  After we took a look at the scene, Mulder 
was sure it was our guy.  This time though, he didn't 
bother coming through the window."  Skinner paused 
here, putting his glasses down and rubbed the space 
just above his eyes.

Scully waited, something else had happened.

"He slaughtered the whole family."  Scully gasped.  
"This... This thing barreled through the ceiling of the 
house into the master bedroom and gutted the parents.  
He crashed through the wall into the children's 
bedroom and killed their eight-year-old son.  He 
grabbed the eight-year-old girl from her room and 
escaped by creating a hole the size of a tank through 
the wall." 

Scully sat stunned, her breath caught in her throat.  
What kind of monster could do all that damage?  But, 
with that much damage then there must have been trace 
evidence.

Scully looked at Skinner, "There must have been 
prints or blood marks.  Something that the killer had 
left."  It almost came out as a plea.

Skinner nodded his head.  "Yes, there were 
fingerprints and bloodstains left at the scene.  
They're the same fingerprints that are left at all 
the scenes.  It matches none of any databases.  We've 
run it through everything."

Skinner got up. "Scully, let's go down to see 
Mulder."  He grabbed his jacket.

Scully got up, a questioning look on her face.

"Mulder knows something.  He's afraid to tell me what 
he knows, but he knows something... and he needs you, 
Scully."  With that Skinner left the office, not 
waiting to see if Scully was to follow.

Arriving at the door to their office, Scully was 
stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Scully..."  Skinner said, a warning.  He didn't need 
to go further. There was something that was beyond 
that door that was going to shock and scare her.  
Taking a deep breath and holding it, it seemed she 
was doing that so many times just this morning, and 
opened the door.

There was darkness in the room. At first they didn't 
think that anyone was there but they heard a light 
breathing sound. The only light that permeated the 
dark was the ambient hallway light that peered 
through the door. 

Scully raised her hand to the light switch only to be 
stopped by Skinner's whisper.

"Leave it off. I don't want to freak him out."

Scully rustled out a small flash light from her 
trench coat pocket and dimly set it about the room. 
The desk lamp was on the floor, broken and looking as 
if it had been flung there. Mulder's desk was 
littered with case files and paper. Nothing else 
seemed to look in disarray.

The door suddenly slammed shut and both Skinner and 
Scully spun around, both reaching for their weapons. 
Scully shined the flashlight in the direction of the 
door, but saw nothing.

"There isn't anything that you can do when it's 
dark." Mulder's disembodied voice echoed through the 
room. "Turn the light off, Scully."

"Mulder..." Scully replied, her hand still on her gun.

"Turn the light off, Scully."

Scully switched the light off and unsnapped her 
holster's strap, freeing the gun. Skinner already had 
the gun out and at his side, his safety off but 
within a thumb's reach. There was silence and as they 
waited their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Shapes 
slowly formed, black outlines upon black space filled 
the dark emptiness that was originally there.

They suddenly saw a shape move from their left. 
Mulder had been crouching in a corner and he slowly 
walked right in front of them.

"What are we, Scully?" Mulder said as he slowly backed 
toward his desk. "We live on and on, our life 
seemingly steady as we perch ourselves at the top of 
the pyramid. Look at this situation. You had your 
guns, your flashlights, and yet you were at a 
disadvantage."

Mulder sat down in his chair, not bumping into 
anything as he had walked. As if he could see in the 
dark. As if he had been in the dark for a while.

"What about those girls, Scully?" 

Scully and Skinner flinched when he flicked on the 
monitor and it brought a sudden bright blue glow into 
the room. They both flinched when they saw Mulder's 
face. It was drawn, tired, and totally emotionless. 
It was like looking at a stone statue. His eyes were 
closed, and they saw nothing but hollow pits of 
darkness.

"Mulder?" Scully asked as she slowly edged toward her 
partner, her hand resting away from her body, no 
longer touching her gun. She tried to look as 
unthreatening as possible.

"What about those girls, Scully?" Mulder's eyes 
finally opened. The glimmering reflection from the 
monitor highlighted his pupils. "What about them?"

"Mulder, we're going to find them. We're going to 
save them." Scully said as she got to his side and 
touched his forearm.

"Mulder, we're going to turn the lights on now." 
Scully said softly as she gestured Skinner.

The lights came on and Mulder clasped his hands in 
front of his eyes. He rubbed them as they became 
focused and the light didn't hurt.

"How long have you been in the dark, Mulder?" Scully 
asked.

"Not long."  Mulder said as he looked at the both of 
them through his blood shot eyes.

"Scully, there's something about this case that you 
need to be made aware of before we proceed."  Mulder 
said as he gathered the files and photos.  He left 
the file and photo of the most recent girl out on 
purpose. Mulder handed them to Scully to look through.

Scully had wanted to talk to Mulder more about what 
had happened, but thought that maybe later would be 
better. Scully opened the folder, and sucked her 
breath in.  All thoughts fled from her mind.  The 
color drained from her face and she felt the tight 
constricting in her throat that signaled a need to 
vomit. She tried to say something but her lips moved 
without any sound coming from them.

"They look like Emily and Samantha."  Mulder said 
gently, his voice offering support for her as she 
bravely looked through the folder.

"The girl that was just taken today?" Scully asked, 
her chin stuck slightly out and her jaw set.

Mulder handed the file for the new girl over to 
Scully, a Samantha look a like.

"Ann Parker, age eight.  She was forcefully abducted 
from her home late last night, her parents and twin 
brother killed. Something happened to the killer last 
night.  Something that made him speed his time table 
up tremendously.  We don't know if he's going to keep 
her for a week before he kills her, or if he's going 
to stay on target for this and kill her in 24... now 
only 8 hours away."  Mulder said as he assumed his 
FBI persona and pushed all emotion to the side.

Skinner decided to voice his concern at this moment.  
"Mulder, what happened to you a few moments ago, were 
you thinking through the child?"

Mulder nodded.  "I couldn't get the feeling of the 
killer, and I knew we were running out of time."  
Mulder flushed a little.  "I got amazingly upset and 
started to throw things around.  Before I knew it, 
the whole room was trashed, save for Scully's area."  
Mulder flushed even more, but quickly stamped down on 
it.  Scully flushed as well.

"When I saw the destruction, something hit me. I felt 
fear, almost like what that girl must have been 
feeling last night.  I saw familiar things destroyed, 
things I cherished broken, and didn't understand why.  
Scully, sir, I think that the killer is waiting for 
someone.  Someone he calls 'RUNT'.   It could be his 
accomplice; it could be anything or anyone. I'm not 
sure what but I'm sure that there's someone else."

Scully was about to ask how he knew that, but Mulder 
put a hand up.  He handed over another file to her.

"There's more.  In that file you'll see data gathered 
from hair and blood sample that was taken off the 
killer.  Notice anything Scully?"  Mulder asked, 
folding his hands in front of him.

Skinner tried to look over Scully's shoulder but all 
he could see was Scully's shocked expression.

"This... this is impossible."  Scully babbled.

Mulder shook his head, "No it's not, Scully.  I had 
the boys run it and then I had the FBI run their 
tests as well.  Both came back with the same data.  
Not only is this killer a mutant, but also from what 
the tests shows he can heal very fast.  Abnormally 
fast.  They couldn't fathom how fast that would be in 
the macro world, but when in the micro world, the 
damaged cells healed instantly.   What if Scully, 
what if this guy is nature's answer to the next 
predator?  He's fast, amazingly strong, deadly, and 
can heal from wounds amazingly fast.  He would make 
the perfect killing and hunting machine."

Scully shook her head, not quite believing it, even 
though everything was recorded right in front of her.

Mulder got frustrated, everything was right there and 
she still wouldn't or couldn't see it.  "Scully, it's 
all there!  Solid scientific proof that a mutation is 
on the loose..."  Mulder didn't get to finish as his 
cell phone rang.

Frantically searching for his jacket in the wrecked 
office, he finally shouted in silent triumph as he 
found his phone.

"Mulder."  Skinner and Scully watched Mulder's face 
almost glow with excitement.

"Where?"  Pause as Mulder pulled his jacket on.  
"We'll be right there!"

"Agent Mulder?"  Skinner asked as he and Scully stood 
up.

"That was the K-9 unit.  They've tracked the killer's 
scent to the North Virginian woods."  Mulder answered 
as the ran out the door, Skinner and Scully behind 
him.

In the car, Skinner was driving; he wasn't going to 
let a man that practically had a nervous breakdown a 
few moments ago behind a 3-ton vehicle.

Mulder's energy was palpable.  He had caught the 
questioning looks from both Scully and Skinner.  "I 
remembered having watched this really cheesy ninja 
movie a long time ago.  A line in the movie sprang 
into my mind. 'Only a ninja can kill a ninja.'  I 
played a hunch and got the K-9's involved.  The dogs 
were growling and howling when they took a whiff at 
the house.  The trainers said that they smelled 
danger.  I told the trackers to give me a call if 
the trail went cold or if they were going to find 
something.  They're call back there? Well, they're 
at the edge of the Northern Virginian woods.  The 
trail's still strong and the tracks almost look 
fresh, and they found bodies."

"What?"  Skinner bellowed.

Mulder and Scully looked in shock as Skinner 
frantically reached into his coat pocket with one 
hand and flipped open his cell phone.

"Agent Kelly?  This is AD Skinner, I need you to call 
the team together.  Mulder just got information about 
where the killer might be.  I want SWAT, heavily 
armed and heavily protected, as well as a fresh set 
of dogs.  Yes, dogs.  Agent Mulder will tell you where 
to meet, and this is to happen yesterday."  Skinner 
handed the phone over to Mulder.

Mulder relayed the information over to the other agent 
on the phone as Scully sat back and began reading the 
files, trying to ignore the fact that three of the 
girls looked so much like hers.

**

Wolverine stood up, his nose sniffing at the smells 
carried by the wind.  Something was wrong.  The woods 
had suddenly quieted down, almost as if a predator 
had walked into its mist.  He had woken at dawn that 
morning and had hoped to start walking back to town 
with the lady.  When he took a look at her, she was 
burning with fever and couldn't even get up.  He had 
left her to track down a stream and brought water 
back to keep her hydrated.  She woke up a few hours 
later, barely able to walk and he had carried her on 
his back, but even then she needed to take rests.  
They needed to find a doctor fast.

"Sabretooth."  Wolverine growled quietly as he caught 
a familiar scent, but his anger increased when he 
smelled fruit, candy, and innocence.  Sabretooth had 
another little girl with him.

"Well, well, boy'o.  Ain't this a pleasure?"  A deep 
voice laughed from Wolverine's left. 

Wolverine turned around, his eyes narrowing at the 
site of the bloodied girl.  She didn't seem too 
injured. She mostly had some cuts and bruises.  
Wolverine looked at Sabretooth, the man was sneering, 
his left hand out stretched holding the little girl.  
Sabretooth was six foot six inches tall, blond 
haired, built as savagely powerful as his namesake.  
The man had claws instead of fingernails.  The man 
had been his enemy since his most vivid memory; there 
was blood that needed to be repaid between the two.

"Leave the girl be, Sabretooth.  We got a score to 
settle, let's finish it and leave these people be."  
Wolverine's growl deepened, his hands in a tight 
fisted ball.  He couldn't make a move or Sabretooth 
would slash the girl's throat without a second 
thought.

"Boy, this ain't about us this time.  I'm here on 
a mission and I intend to finish it."  Sabretooth 
responded teasingly as he ran a claw against the 
girl's forearm, a small trail of blood spilling out 
as the girl cried out.

<SNICKT>

Wolverine's claws unsheathed themselves from his 
hand. His body trembled with a red haze rage. 

"CREED!"  Wolverine raged as he crouched low in an 
almost cat like stance.  His fangs visible and his 
claws ready for a taste of blood.

Sabretooth's eyes gleamed and narrowed, as he tasted 
the girl's blood from his claw.  "Tastes awfully 
young, Logan."  He said as his voice increased and in 
one motion threw the girl to the side, directly at a 
tree.

Wolverine sprang from his couch, hurling himself in 
the direction the girl was headed.  Sabretooth 
flipped into the air and, as the two men met at the 
girl, Wolverine sheathed the claws in his left hand 
and grabbed her against his body.  At the same time 
Sabretooth made a deep slash into Wolverine's back as 
he arched over him.

Both men landed, Wolverine crouched low, his left arm 
cradling the girl to his chest and his right arm 
poised ready.  His healing factor was already kicking in 
and the wound was closing, but it didn't make it any 
less painful.  Sabretooth stood up and dragged his 
tongue across his claws.  Sabretooth sported a wicked 
grin.

"Tasty as ever, runt."

**

A storm of dark armorclad men and women assembled 
along the edge of the woods.  A van setup with 
satcom dishes on its roof stood close by.  A group 
of ten men, each heavily armed, and each had a dog 
strapped to a leash. 

"The trail leads straight in there, the tracks look 
relatively fresh, only a few hours old.  We could 
catch up 15 minutes to an hour if we press hard 
enough."  A man said as he sat in a squad car.  The 
men that had been tracking the trail since that 
morning were taking a break, their dogs tired, 
thirsty, and hungry.

The group of them walked carefully into the forest 
towards the campsite where the initial trackers had 
found the bodies.  The walk had been quiet, the sSWAT 
team on guard as they went in, and the dogs were 
sniffing around, going in separate directions.

"Jesus."  One of the sSWAT members whispered as they 
found the five dead and slaughtered bodies at the 
campsite.

"Looks like they were shooting at something.  They're 
missing rounds."  Another SWAT member said as he 
squatted over one of the dead men.

Skinner looked around, he hadn't seen anything like 
this kind of hack job in any serial murder case 
before.  He looked over at Mulder to gauge the man's 
reaction.

Mulder noticed Skinner's stare. "This is different, 
this isn't our man."

"Mulder, take a look at this."  Scully said as she 
pointed to one of the dead men.  "The victims this 
morning had slash marks that looked like claws from 
an animal.  There were deep penetrating and one weak 
penetrating wound at each slash.  Here, we're looking 
at blades and not claws.  These blades are also in a 
set of three and they're longer than the claws that 
were used."

"AD Skinner!"  One of the agents with the dogs 
called.

"Yes."  Skinner said as he walked up to him, Mulder 
and Scully following behind him.

"We got two scents.  One that the earlier team picked 
up never reached this campsite; it's around this 
campsite but never in it.  The other scent that was 
picked up headed North from here.  Sir, the trail 
that the morning team had been following, looks like 
it would have intercepted this new trail as well."

Skinner nodded.  He got the attention of the other 
group members. "We got possible leads onto the suspect 
or suspects.  The dogs go in first, the rest of us 
will be weaving through with no more than fifteen 
feet between people.  I want weapons ready, evidence 
shows that this guy is big and strong, but do not -- 
and I repeat -- do not fire first.  Stay within radio 
communication, the dogs will tell us where to go.  
Keep your eyes open people."

Skinner faced a man that was standing next to him.  
"You got point behind the dogs, Agent Wong."

The man nodded and rounded up his troops.  Giving out 
his orders as he needed.

Mulder and Scully approached Skinner. "Sir?"  Scully 
asked.

Skinner looked at them, "Fifteen?"  Mulder asked.

"We're tracking one or possibly two suspects.  With 
this many people I want a closeknit unit so that we 
can collapse upon each other in case we're ambushed."  
Skinner said as he listened in as well to what Agent 
Wong was telling the rest of the group.  Skinner 
looked back at his two agents. "That's Agent David 
Wong, one of the best SWAT leaders out there.  He did 
black ops in 'Nam."

Skinner looked deeply into the woods.  "He knows 
jungle warfare like no other man I've ever seen.  
I trust him."  Skinner remembered back to the war 
where he saw a Chinese man disappear and reappear in 
the jungle, taking down enemy after enemy as if he 
knew exactly where they were.

The trio looked at the assembled group of SWAT 
members as they heard the last bit of information 
from Agent Wong.

"I want radio silence, but communications on.  Leave 
the channel open for the dogs.  Break silence only if 
you spot anything of importance."  Agent Wong turned 
towards Skinner.  "Sir, you along with Agent Mulder, 
and Agent Scully will be behind us.  We'll cover your 
sides, keep up with us because we're gonna be pushing 
hard and fast."

Skinner nodded as he readied the weapon he had 
grabbed from the sSWAT vehicle.  Checking the M-16, he 
patted in confirmation of the three other magazines 
that were tucked into his suit belt. He, Mulder, and 
Scully were the only ones out there that were 
unprotected in SWAT armor.

Mulder and Scully checked and cocked their sidearms, 
keeping the safety on.  They wanted to keep light and 
not be clumsier with accessories. Speed was their 
importance.

The agents with the dogs went in first, the dogs 
pushing against their leashes, growling silently.  
Agent Wong and his troop spread out in the woods, 
forming a trapezoid with no gaps larger than fifteen 
feet.  Mulder and Scully looked as Agent Wong 
communicated with his team by hand gestures, leaving 
the radio free for the dog team.

Their pace was relentless, as they pushed into the 
woods.  Every once in a while Agent Wong would point 
to a bloodstain on a branch or leaves, leaving the 
agents to worry if the little girl was alright.

An hour into their trek they heard an inhuman roar 
and sounds of two animals fighting, when suddenly 
everything went silent.

**

(10 minutes before...)

The majority of Wolverine's costume was slashed and 
blood-stained, an assortment of deep cuts were 
still bleeding and healing as he was crouched 
facing Sabretooth.  One of his knees rested on the 
ground as he tried to catch his breath.  He was 
tired, trying to assault Sabretooth as well as 
defend the little girl was beginning to tire him 
out.  A deep gash in his chest kept bleeding as his 
peripheral vision told him that the girl was still 
there, hugging the tree and crying.  The lady he had 
rescued the previous night was lying besides that 
tree in a semi-conscious daze, her fever taking 
hold of her.

Sabretooth glared at his bloody enemy.  Sabretooth's 
own brown, orange, and yellow costume looked like it 
had been in the blender.  He had wounds that were 
healing as well but his left arm was almost hacked 
off by a swipe from Wolverine's claws.  He was 
ignoring the pain as he felt his arm heal back up, 
tissue mending, bone rebuilding, and veins merging 
back together.

Wolverine was too tired, the blood was seeping out
too fast and his total damage was beginning to weigh 
on his healing factor.  His body wanted to slip into 
a healing coma so that it could heal faster.  He 
needed to get Sabretooth out of the picture and fast.  
He was desperate and he let the bloodlust and anger 
build in him.  He let his humanity go as he welcomed 
the animal that he always tried to hide inside and 
the berserker rage that was within him.

Sabretooth saw him slipping into that bestial mode 
and smiled.  It was time to get serious.  The two 
combatants launched at each other as a frenzy of 
claws and punches were traded.  Splatters of blood 
and meat flew as the fight progressed.  Wolverine's 
fighting was now brutal, he didn't follow the method 
that his martial arts teacher Ogun had taught him, he 
was now fighting as a beast.  In so doing, he left 
his left leg open and Sabretooth slashed a claw 
deeply into it but left his stomach open.  Wolverine 
plunged all six of his blades all nine inches into 
Sabretooth's stomach and began to slice.  Sabretooth 
howled in pain, lifting the shorter man up and in the 
process ripping Wolverine's abdomen as well.

Both men fell kneeling to the ground.  Their arms 
wrapped around their midsections as they tried to 
keep the intestines and stomach from falling out.  
Keeping their organs in their bodies so that their 
healing factors could seal their wounds up.  
Sabretooth sniffed the air as he was panting and 
smelled gunpowder and sweat.  Smiling he made a dash 
with all his strength to the hillside leaving the 
other wounded warrior, the sickened woman, and the 
little girl.  He had left his trail purposely obvious 
so that the law enforcement agents could track him 
down, and he brought them straight to Wolverine.

The beast that was Wolverine crouched to the ground, 
both knees planted as he grunted in pain.  His enemy 
had escaped, but it didn't matter now.  He had to let 
his healing factor take effect, and he had two people 
to take care of now.

The little girl slowly released the tree when she saw 
the thing that had captured her run away.  She looked 
hesitantly at the costumed man that had been fighting 
with it and didn't know if she should be afraid. Her 
mind was made up when the man hunched over as blood 
poured from his gut wound.  She ran over to him.

"Mister, are you all right?"  She asked.  The man 
looked at her and she saw his wounded face slick with 
new as well as dried blood.  She only got a pitiful 
growl in response and she felt sorry for him.  The 
man's blades were gone now as he tried to hold his 
stomach. The girl was suddenly startled as she heard 
branches breaking and a voice shout out.

"Step away from the girl!  Drop your weapon and step 
away from the girl!"  A horde of men with weapons had 
surrounded them and they looked like those she had 
seen on TV.  She was about to tell them that the man 
was hurt and that he had helped but the beast that 
was Wolverine felt threatened.

Wolverine reacted instantly despite the pain.  He had 
to protect the girl and in as quick a motion as he 
could he reached out and grabbed her, flinging himself 
back against a tree with a thud.  He popped the claws 
in his other hand, ready to defend himself.

"Holy shit." Someone said.

Agent Wong stepped forward slowly, flanked by six 
men, their guns at the ready.

"Put the girl down and step back!"  He shouted.

Wolverine's grip tightened on the girl as he kept her 
to him, using her as a barrier to hold his stomach's 
content in as well as try to protect her from those 
around him.  He answered them with a growl.

"Shit, this guy isn't human!"  Agent Wong heard one 
of his team say.

"AD Skinner, I can take a head shot right now.  
I have men around him and can grab the girl right 
after."  Agent Wong said softly into his mic.

Skinner was very hesitant about taking the shot with 
the girl in that creature's arm, but they couldn't 
afford to lose her. "Ok.  Take it!"

Agent Wong was already ready and he lined his shot 
up.  He heard Mulder protesting in his earpiece but 
ignored it.  A soft pull on the trigger and the 
bullet hit it's mark.

Wolverine's head flew back as the bullet hit him in 
his forehead, his arm released the girl, and two 
agents rushed to grab her while she was repeatedly 
screaming, "No, No!" 

What shocked the agents were the metal "Ting" they 
heard as the bullet hit Wolverine in the head.  What 
shocked them even more was his head snapping back and 
his leaping for the girl.  

"Open fire!"  Skinner yelled.

A barrage of weapons discharged as a few dozen clips 
were emptied into Wolverine's body, punching him back 
against a tree.  His body slumped down motionless.

When the echo of the guns cleared, Mulder, Scully, 
and Skinner could hear the little girl.

"No! He saved us!  He saved us!"

The agents finally saw the sleeping form of the 
battered woman and then looked at the lifeless form 
against the tree. "Oh God."

--

To be continued in Chapter 2