Pieces r6-Jo-p1

***

Mulder's sudden gasp for breath startled Skinner. "Fox? Come on, wake up." His heart in his throat as he watched the eyelids flutter then open and confused, hazel gems stared up at him. Mulder was trembling violently, so Skinner held onto him tighter and gently rocked him. "I have you, Fox. Everything is going to be fine."

"Oh, God. Walter, Marco and Armando they looked similar to Mostow's sculptures and drawings only they were larger, winged, and more grotesque. God, they were so hideous...totally evil." Mulder wrapped his arms around Skinner's waist and scooted closer until he was sitting on the larger man's lap. He held onto Skinner as if the larger man was a life preserver and was the only thing keeping him afloat on this side of sanity.

The name was instantly recognizable to Skinner. The Mostow case was one of the few cases that he truly regretted assigning Mulder to work on. "John Mostow...you mean those gargoyle images he made?"

"Yeah...gargoyles. It was what finally drove Bill over the edge, that is if he weren't there already." Mulder buried his face into the crook of Skinner's shoulder.

"You're going to be all right, Fox?" Skinner held him protectively, kissing the side of his lover's head while soothingly caressing his hand up and down Mulder's back. "I won't let this Marco anywhere near you. I promise you that much, Fox."

Mulder raised his tearstained face to look at his lover. "Walter, I can't figure out, why now? Marco said thirteen years, but it's only been ten and a half since that night at the club. He didn't seem like the type to deviate from a chosen course, I don't understand why he is coming for me now."

Skinner thought for a moment. "Maybe it isn't him. Maybe it's the other one, Armando. You did say that they had a falling out over you the first time you met them. It could be that something happened to Marco or he and Armando have parted company."

Mulder faced paled. "Oh great, Armando scares me even more than Marco."

"Come on, Fox. Let's go grab a shower then we'll head into the Bureau. I want to assemble a team to track down these two...men. You can work with the composite artist, we'll need a sketch of Marco and Armando in human form." It felt surreal to Skinner to be discussing catching two monsters that could change their appearance. He should have been used to it by now, after overseeing the X-Files department for over six years, and reviewing all of Mulder and Scully's reports during those years.

Mulder reluctantly slipped off Skinner's lap and climbed off the bed. He started laughing.

"What?" Skinner looked up at Mulder with concern. Mulder had been close to losing it and now he was laughing as if he had.

"Oh God, I'm...I'm just imagining the looks on the other agents' faces if I were to plop down on your lap in the middle of the next budget meeting." Mulder's laughter petered out as he took in Skinner's exasperated expression. "Okay, so maybe it would be funnier if I didn't have a crazed, inhuman, serial killer after me."

Skinner stood taking Mulder's hand and leading him into the bathroom. "No, it wouldn't, Fox."

Mulder sighed. He was doing it again. How many times had he used humor as a means deal with his problems? Now he had just offended his lover. "Sorry, Walter, I wasn't serious...I would never embarrass you at work."

"Fox, I don't give a goddamn about you embarrassing me at work! I don't like it that you are making light of this situation!" Skinner pulled Mulder's naked body roughly against his and hugged him for all that he was worth. "I'm so afraid of losing you, Fox, for once in your life look before you leap."

Mulder's arms encircled Skinner's waist and his chin rested on Skinner's broad shoulder as he whispered softly into the larger man's ear, "I don't mean to make light, Walter. It's the way I tend to deal with impossible situations...that doesn't mean I won't be careful."

"I--" Skinner pulled back and looked into Mulder's eyes. "I love you, Fox."

A warm sensation washed over Mulder and he was suddenly content, he would do everything in his power to hold onto this wonderful man. No one had ever felt that way about him with the exception of Scully. "I love you, too." Mulder kissed him chastely. "C'mon, let's take a shower...then go and catch us some gargoyles."

***

One day later
FBI Hoover Building
Wednesday, December 1, 1999
10:00 a.m.

Agent Matthews stepped into the conference room, carrying a manila folder that he handed to Skinner, and then he took a seat at the table. Skinner opened the folder and perused its contents, closing it he stood to begin the meeting. He picked up the remote that controlled the video projector through the conference room's PC and walked to the front of the room. He slowly glanced around the table at his team. Mulder was sitting next to Scully at the far end of the table next to the door. Mulder's usual place for a quick getaway. Mulder's eyes were focused intensely on him. Skinner moved his eyes quickly off Mulder's face as he felt a heaviness build in his groan. Unlike yesterday morning, where Mulder woke in the clutches of a nightmare, this morning they had made love until the alarm clock forced them out of bed. He scanned around the table to the other agents. Several of whom he pulled in from other departments yesterday morning to assist on the case, his eyes finally settled on Tom Colton sitting at the, ass kissing, front of the table. The A.D. was aware of the bad blood between Colton and Mulder. Skinner was the one who transferred Agent Colton to the South Dakota field office after Colton's actions on the Tooms case had nearly cost Agent Scully her life.

"Agents," Skinner began. "For those of you who have just been assigned to this case I will update you briefly on what we know." Skinner flipped on the projector, the first slide showed a photograph of Patterson's body. "Sometime during the predawn hours on November 21, former Section Chef Bill Patterson was brutally tortured and murdered at the Virginia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane." Skinner flipped the projector through several images of Patterson's body taken at different angles, stopping on one that showed the back of Patterson's head, gray brain matter could be seen from the missing section skull.

Mulder kept his eyes focused on his notes; he could not bring himself to look at the photographs of Patterson's mutilated body. Skinner's voice became a distant echo as the A.D. explained the details of Patterson's murder.

"...the wound that resulted in Patterson's death was delivered to the back of his skull and neck. The wound appears to be a bite mark, note the lineament tooth marks. It was however, ruled out as being a bite by the agent in charge of the investigation due to the lack of saliva and foreign bodies associated with bite wounds." Skinner looked meaningfully at Colton. "However, Agent Mulder has substantiated that it is indeed a bite wound."

"What! It's not possible," Colton growled, leaping to his feet.

"Agent Colton, *SIT* down," Skinner barked. "Agent Mulder will fill you and the other agents in later."

"Sorry, sir," Colton mumbled and sank back into his chair. He briefly glared across the table at Mulder who looked back at him with a disinterested expression on his face that made Colton even angrier.

Skinner clicked to the next image. It was hard to tell that the bloody object lying chained to the bed was human. Most of the agents in the room gasped, one stood up with a green complexion and quickly departed with his hand over his mouth. "Agent Mike Hatter retired from the FBI in 1991, he worked in the former BSU under Patterson. He was flayed alive, most of the bones in his body were broken, however the cause of death was a similar bite wound to the back of the neck and skull."

"Sir, do you believe that other agents working for the BSU under Patterson, during that time period, are in danger?" SAIC Johnson asked.

Skinner paused thoughtfully; the killer targeted Hatter for revenge over the way the older agent had treated Mulder during his years in the BSU. Would he target any of the other agents who had treated Mulder similarly, although not as harshly as Hatter? "It's always a possibility. We have notified most the men and women working for the BSU from 1986 through 1989 of the possible danger. However, our suspects have targeted Agent Mulder in particular..."

"Suspects?" Colton's eyes widened. "What suspects, sir?"

The A.D. advanced the projector ahead to show two composite sketches. "Agent Matthews was able to track down more information on these two men from a former patron at club Mercy where they were known to frequent during the late eighties." Skinner picked up the folder that Matthews handed him earlier and removed the diskette and inserted into the PC disk drive, he opened the file on the diskette, it was projected onto the large video screen, replacing the composites with passport photos of the two men.

Mulder fingers tightened around the pencil he was holding. Seeing photographs of Marco and Armando made his blood run cold. He pulled his eyes off the screen and onto Skinner's face; he listened to Skinner's voice as he tried to get his breathing and heart rate back to normal.

"Agent Matthews, would you like to fill the team in?" Skinner said.

"Yes, sir." Matthews stood and walked to the front of the room. Since, Skinner had assigned him this part of the case yesterday morning, he had spent all that day and late into the evening tracking down leads. He pointed to the video screen. "The older gentleman on the right is Marco Salavanti, on the left is his nephew Armando Salavanti, both men emigrated from Italy to the U.S. in the 1980s. Marco Salavanti is a wealthy tycoon. A check into his finances showed that he makes most of his money through investments. He has a multi-acre estate just outside of Annapolis. The other man Armando Salavanti has no apparent address or source of income aside from what his uncle provides. I ran a check on the two men with the Italian police, and scanned Interpol's database. There was no record that either man ever existed before they immigrated to the U.S., no birth certificates, former residences, school records, service records, nothing. Their passports had been forged. Just prior to their arrival in the U.S., there were several deaths in Italy similar in MO to Patterson and Hatter. The first was an Anthony Fabba who was in Interpol's database for dealing in white slavery. Mr. Fabba's remains were recovered in the 1982 his hands were missing from the body. The coroner's report indicated the cause of death to be the back of his skull being crushed." Matthews advanced to the next slide; he had received the images from Doctor Ferraro through the Internet. The slide was a close up of the back of Fabba's crushed skull, there were eight obvious puncture wounds. "As you can see the wounds are similar in appearance to Patterson and Hatter. All the victims in Italy were men and most had records for deviant sexual behavior."

Agent Scully spoke up, "Do you have Fabba's autopsy report?"

"It is currently being translated into English, Agent Scully. I will have a copy for you later this afternoon. Along with the other known victims."

"I'd appreciate that, Agent Matthews."

Matthews handed the remote back to the A.D.

Skinner turned to address SAIC Johnson, the Bull-dog looking agent sat straight in his chair, his attention focus on those around him. "SAIC Johnson, I want you to take a team out to Mr. Salavanti's estate and bring him in for questioning. Use extreme caution, we have reason to believe that the suspects are not human."

"Sir? Not human?" Johnson wasn't sure if this was the A.D.'s attempt at humor or if the man had lost it.

"Agent Mulder will explain," Skinner said gruffly.

Mulder stood and walked to the front of the room, he took the remote from Skinner, their fingers touched--lingering briefly. Mulder turned to the video screen and advanced the slides until he got to the images he had loaded earlier. It had taken him two hours to find an image of a gargoyle that most closely matched Marco and Armando. Not the twisted grotesque images from Mostow, but the brief image he had from the club nearly eleven years ago. The image was of a winged gargoyle snatching a naked man. "The Salavanties are...gargoyles. That is the reason there was no salvia is in the bite mark, gargoyles are not flesh and blood."

"Oh please, this is complete bullshit!" Colton was unable to contain himself. An annoyed look from Skinner quickly silenced him.

Scully interrupted, "Mulder, gargoyles are nothing more than decorative waterspouts that main function was to carry rain water off the roofs of buildings or they were architectural adornments on cathedrals."

Mulder sighed. He knew it was going to be tough convincing the team that they were facing real living, breathing gargoyles. "Why does the Catholic Church use gargoyles, both inside and outside their cathedrals, Scully?"

She met his eyes and pursed her lips. "The most common belief is that they were used to keep the evil spirits away."

Mulder turned back to the screen and advance to the next slide; it showed a carving of a gargoyle coming out of the wall on the side of a cathedral. "There are other beliefs. One is that the original gargoyles were devils that were frozen into stone as they tried to flee the church; still another is that they depict the evil spirits that the church triumphed over. Another myth was about a dragon called La Gargouille that was captured and burnt at the stake by a priest named Romanus after the townspeople of Rouen agreed to build the priest a church if he got rid of the dragon. So you see, the truth is, Scully, no one really knows the true origin of gargoyles," Mulder said, looking back at the image he had on the screen. "Were they demons or merely a medieval man's imagination of what a demon would look like?"

SAIC Johnson looked at the image on the screen; he knew that Mulder was considered a flake in some corners of the Bureau. However, the man had an incredible solve rate, and most of his cases were inaccessible to anyone but the Director and the President. If Mulder claimed they were facing real gargoyles then he'd rather err on the side of caution. "Agent Mulder, just what are my men going to be up against when they try to arrest Mr. Salavanti?"

Mulder was a bit startled by the question; he hadn't really expected anything but ridicule and disbelief from his colleagues. "There isn't much information on gargoyles, but what I found suggested that they are inanimate during the daylight hours, and move and hunt at night. They feed off the electrical impulses and endorphins in the human brain...they also enjoy the pleasures of the human flesh and are very...debauched," Mulder said, visibly paling.

Colton shook his head in disbelief. "So what are you suggesting, Mulder? That we haul in all the stone statues around D.C. on the suspicion of murder?"

"Agent Colton, if you are having a problem with this case, please tell me now. The Arkansas field office is looking for a couple new agents, I'm sure you'd fit right in," Skinner barked.

"Ah, no, sir. I'm not having a problem. If you believe that we are dealing with gargoyles, then who am I to disagree?" Colton was sweating profusely; he tugged nervously at his collar.

Skinner looked at him sternly. "If there are no more questions, you all have your assignments, I suggest you get to them. Agent Mulder, I'd like a word with you in my office."

"Yes, sir." Mulder followed Skinner out of the conference room, shrugging his shoulders at Scully as he passed her.

Colton stopped next to Scully and watched the two men step into Skinner's office down the hallway. "Now there is an X-File for you," he muttered.

Scully looked at him. "What?"

"How Mulder is able to hypnotize the brass? It's like he has some special power..."

"It's called brain power, Colton," Matthews quipped, he winked at Scully then headed off toward his cubical.

Scully smiled smugly at Colton. "Not any fun when others don't play along is it, Tom?" She turned and headed down to the X-Files office.

***

Mulder nodded in greeting to Kimberly as he followed Skinner into his office. Skinner stood holding the door, he closed and locked it after Mulder stepped through. Skinner then went, to Mulder's amusement, to lock the other door leading into his office.

"Hmm, sir, I thought we agreed to keep our work and play separate."

"Shut up, Fox." Skinner held Mulder's face between his two hands and leaned in for a kiss. "How are you holding up?" he asked as he pulled away and looked into Mulder's amused eyes.

"Better than I thought I'd be...but that would be your doing, it's nice not having to face this alone." Mulder's arms wrapped around Skinner's broad frame and he leaned against the larger man's body, relishing the strength of the man.

"If I had my way you'd never have to face anything alone ever again."

"Is that a proposal?"

"Hmm, what if it was?"

Mulder pulled back and gazed at Skinner's face, trying to determine if he were serious. "The answer would be yes. I'm tired of being alone...I want you as part of my life. Walter, I've never been happier than spending these past two weeks with you." Mulder's heart skipped a beat as Skinner's face lit up with a big smile.

"Good, we'll discuss living arrangements as soon as this case is over." Skinner hugged him warmly then reluctantly let him go. "Now get your butt back to work, Agent Mulder."

"Yes, sir." He grinned and started for the door, pausing with his hand on the knob he turned back to look at Skinner. "We should have more of these discussions, sir, they are certainly morale builders," he said as he pulled open the door and quickly stepped out not giving his boss time to respond.

***

Annapolis
Marco Salavanti Estate
Wednesday, December 1, 1999
2:00 p.m.

SAIC Johnson stood on the sprawling lawn of the large brick mansion and looked up at the stone gargoyles perched atop the roof. He and his men had spent the past two hours searching the estate for evidence to tie Salavanti to the murders. Marco Salavanti was conveniently absent. The servants claimed that he was out of the country on business. Johnson pulled the image that he had of the gargoyle that Mulder claimed closest resemble Salavanti as he continued to gaze up at the half-dozen gargoyles. The one over the front entrance most resembled it, right down to his large wings and toothy mouth.

Johnson pulled his cell phone from his pocket and arranged for a crane to be brought in within the hour. He realized that he might be making himself the laughingstock of the Bureau. One of his men stepped up beside him.

"Ugly mother fucker isn't it?" he said, looking up at the gargoyle that had his SAIC's attention.

"Good observation, Peterson."

"You don't believe...?"

"That it is alive? I don't know...I've seen stranger shit," Johnson said.

"So are we going to arrest it? Because if we are, I think we'll need larger handcuffs," Peterson joked.

"I'm bringing in a crane to remove it from the roof and I intend to have it locked up in Annapolis city jail."

"Oh, you can't be serious!"

"Peterson, someday you'll realize that it is always better to err on the side of caution."

***

FBI Hoover Building
Wednesday, December 1, 1999
3:30 p.m.

Mulder answered his phone. "Mulder."

"Are you ready to leave?" Skinner's gruff voice asked.

Mulder frowned looking at the clock. "It's still a bit early, Walter."

"I want to be out of here well before sunset. Salavanti will know by now that you are no longer staying at your apartment or mine. If your theory is correct, I don't want to chance leaving here after dark. He may be getting desperate to find you, and I wouldn't put it past him to stakeout the Hoover Building."

"Walter, we need to go to Annapolis first, SAIC Johnson has hauled in a stone gargoyle and has it locked in the Annapolis city jail. I want to be there at sunset to see if my theory is correct."

"Fox, it is too dangerous. Those creatures have targeted you..."

"For Christ's sake, Walter, it's locked behind iron bars! There shouldn't be any danger!" Mulder clamped his mouth shut and bit on his bottom lip realizing that he needed to get a grip on his temper. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that I want to there to see if it really is Marco."

"What if it isn't? Does that mean your theory is wrong or that they just got the wrong gargoyle statue?"

"I just want to see if this statue is Marco. Walter, just think about what it would mean if I were right?"

"Fox, I don't want to cause a public panic. If you are right, we'll need to keep this quiet."

"We can't keep this from the public."

"We have to. Do you want to see all the gargoyles around the world destroyed, just because people believe they might be real?"

Mulder leaned back in his chair looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully, he answered softly, "Oxford had gargoyles...I would hate to see them destroyed."

"Get your coat and meet me out front. We'll stop in Annapolis and see if this gargoyle comes to life after dark," Skinner said.

"Thanks, Walter."

***

Annapolis City Jail
Sunset

Police Chief Makel was sure that the FBI had finally gone too far as he stood outside the holding cell beside them staring at a hideous statue of a gargoyle inside. The Fibbies had made him move the prisoners into a separate holding cell. Makel studied the half dozen agents, most were common looking, dressed in Brook Brother's suits. The Chief had been surprised by the arrival of the large, bald Assistant Director who stood stoically looking into the cell. It was seldom that they had a visit from someone as high up in the Bureau as an Assistant Director, and the younger agent who arrived with the A.D. reminded the chief more of a GQ model than a FBI agent.

Makel glanced at his watch, it was way past his quitting time, but he wasn't about to leave as long as the FBI were at his station house. "So, what's it suppose to do again?" he asked again, not expecting an answer so he wasn't disappointed when none came.

Several other officers had stayed past their shifts out of curiosity, and gathered around to watch.

SAIC Johnson sighed as he looked over to the window and into the darkness of evening. The sun was down and nothing had happened, tomorrow he would become the laughing stock around the Bureau. "Agent Mulder, the sun's down, I don't think anyth..."

The gargoyle's eyes moved and its chest puffed out as it took a deep breath. Soon the stiff limbs moved and the creature straightened, standing on its clawed feet to his true height just a foot shy of it's head touching the cell's nine-foot ceiling.

"Shit! What the hell is that thing?" Makel moved several steps back bumping into one of his officers who had drawn his gun.

The creature grinned, it sharp fangs glistening in the light from the overhead lamp. "Fox, my pet, it is so nice to see you again."

"Marco, where's Armando?" Mulder said emotionlessly, standing still and straight, he would not give in to the fear that was coursing like ice water through his veins.

"My nephew isn't your concern. He will be dealt with strictly when I get my hands on him." Marco's eyes traveled lecherously up and down Mulder's body. "You have turned into a beauty, Fox, but then I knew you would." The gargoyle moved until he was standing at the bar, he placed his hands on the cold iron.

Skinner grabbed Mulder's upper arm and pulled him away from the cell at the same time he drew his gun. He had an instant fear that those bars would never hold the immense creature inside. His fears were confirmed as the bars started to twist and bend under the gargoyle's strength.

All the men drew their guns and started shooting. The bullets ricocheted off its body, causing the men to duck for cover as the bullets bounced wildly around the squad room.

A deep chuckle issued from the creature as he breathed in the delicious scent of fear and endorphins. At his age he didn't require nourishment more than once a month, but the smell of these humans was making his mouth water. His nostrils flared as he threw the iron, cell door out of his way and stepped into the squad room. Marco zeroed in on the most frightened of the humans, backing away from him, he was on the man in a flash, his sharp fangs sinking into the back of the officer's head, shattering his skull. He fed slowly on the electrical impulses and the endorphins inside the man's brain.

Agent Peterson leaned over and lost the contents of his stomach on the floor, while several other men fled the squad room and two had fainted.

Skinner tried to grab Mulder, but the younger man was too quick, he picked up a wooden chair, and crashed it down over the creature's back. The chair shattered leaving Mulder holding one of the wooden, splintered legs. When the gargoyle dropped the body of the dead officer on the floor, Mulder tried to run it through the chest with the chair leg. The chair leg splintered against the massive chest and the gargoyle grabbed Mulder's arm with one hand the wooden stake with the other. He chuckling maliciously, "Fox, I am not a vampire...you cannot kill me so easily."

"Let him go!" Skinner growled, his gun was drawn and aimed at the gargoyle's head.

"You want him, little man?" the creature leered, looking at all the men trembling and holding their puny weapons on him. He held Mulder against his chest as he petted him, running his clawed hand up and down Mulder's body. "Brave, foolish, humans. I'll allow you to take care of the little Fox for me. Until I have dealt with my nephew." Marco wanted to switch forms and kiss those sweet lips goodbye, but that would be impossible in a room full of men with guns. They couldn't hurt him while he was a gargoyle but they could as a man. Instead he let Mulder go and turned and dove through the glass window, flying off into the night.

***

Nicole's turn!