Chapter One Extra-Sensory Perception Disclaminer: Mulder and Scully are CC's, DD's, GA's and 1013s, never were mine, never will be mine.. but I can pretend, can't I? ;) Summary: What I would have done for the first sixth season episode. Has to do with ESP, dolphins, the vaccine, and the syndicate. Category: That would be telling!! "Joey, don't do that!!" A seven-year-old Sammy Fincher sat in front of the television, entranced by the screen. Next to him, his cousin Zachary rolled his eyes. "Duh, Joey! You fired the egg at yourself, not the dinosaur!" Joey didn't care. He just went on playing Yoshi's story, pretending that his annoying cousins and siblings didn't exist. This was his favorite game, and he didn't want them to ruin it for him. Julia, sitting on the couch near where her cousins and brothers were sprawled out on the floor, stood up and streched. "You guys, I'm gonna go and take a walk. Anyone wanna go with me?" Julia was 8-years-old, and she and her brothers, Sam and Joey, were irish triplets. She looked pointedly at Sarah, her oldest cousin. Sarah groaned. "Jul..... do I *have* to? Anyway, it's chilly out." "Please? Just a few minutes...." Julia gave Sarah her best puppy-dog face. "Ugh... oh, all right. But only for a few minutes, ok?" Sarah hated to relent to Julia's pleads, not wanting to give her the satisfaction, but she really did want to get some air. Besides, she lived for the ocean. She loved the sound of the waves rolling into the shore, slapping gently against the sand. "Can I come, too?" Annie, a little girl with curly brown hair, looked imploringly at her big sister. "Sure, Annie. But be sure to but on a sweatshirt. You too, Juls." Julia and Annie retreated up the stairway, while Sarah watched her little brother, Zachary, and her cousins Joe and Sam play the silly video game. Yoshi's story, she thought it was called. Joey had been begging her incessantly to play it, even though she hadn't a clue as to how to make the little bugger move. She shook her head at their ceaseless bickering over the TV game, and walked into the foyer. She herself didn't bother with the sweatshirt, wanting to feel the full impact of the ocean breeze. She didn't want to stay out too late, since her favorite show, the Y-Files, was on in 15 minutes. The episode with the killer trees, she recalled. A goodie. Julia and Anne clambered down the stairway, and they all headed for the door. * * * The beach house looked even bigger on the outside, with an impeccably manicured lawn, colorful flowers, and a perfect view of the ocean. They walked down the path to the ocean in silence. The night was cool and crisp, and the stars shone brightly in the night sky. Julia looked down at the sea foam beneath her feet, feeling the sand squish between her toes. Annie appeared to be doing the same thing, Sarah noticed. 'They must be keeping some sort of secret from me,' she thought. Kids are only quiet if they're keeping something from you. She let her thoughts drift to earlier that day, on the dolphin-watch boat. She had read in a few books about being about to call dolphins, but only if you had an incredibly high I.Q. Sarah knew that she was above average, but no genius. She had stood on the boat, and pictured dolphins, leaping in her mind. And then they had come, leaping into the air, mere seconds later. She could scarcely believe her eyes, and if the people around had not pointed and called out, she wouldn't have believed it. Julia interrupted her thoughts. "Sarah!! Look, there's a little girl!!" "I think she's bleeding!" Annie exclaimed, pointing down the beach. The three girls ran down the shoreline until they reached the little girl. She was unconcious, it appeared. Sarah bent down and put her first two fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse. One was there, just barely. 'Oh, help. Helphelphelp...' she thought. Sarah debated on picking the girl up, but didn't want to damage her anymore than she already was. Her leg was cut all the way from her knee to her thigh, and her face was bruised. Sarah quickly sent Annie and Julia to the house to get help. Then, just as the kids were running indoors, she heard a a great splash of water. She looked out to the ocean, and saw grey forms leaping toward her. At first she suspected they might be sharks, but as they got closer, she saw the familiar snout of a bottle-nosed dolphin. She gaped, then collected herself, trying to pick up the child and run for safety. But before she knew what was happening, she was walking into the surf, handing over the little girl to two dolphins, swimming side-by-side. They gently held the child between them, gave Sarah a reassuring pat with a tail fin, and swam into the ocean. Sarah swam back to shore, the undertoe having pulled her in, and tried to think of what on earth, if this *was* earth, had just happened. But for some odd reason, she wasn't afraid, not in the least. Until her mother rushed up to her, and shook her, her eyes wild. "Sarah--what did you just do? Did I just see you do that??" "Mom, did you see them??? Did you see the Dolphins??" Sarah's hands were trembling, but she could barely contain the excitement from her voice. "No, Sarah. I saw you drop a little girl into the ocean, a little girl who was hurt and couldn't swim! What have you *done*??" Her mother shook her head, and pulled Sarah in the direction of the beach house. Sarah was completely disoriented. 'What the hell just happened???' she thought.Though she knew that what had just occurred had nothing to to do with hell. But her mother thought she had killed that little girl! And Julia and Annie were looking at her like she was a ghost, or some monster. 'Oh, please no, help, helphelphelphelp.....' she thought wildly, her eyes shut to keep out the terror. They were halfway to the beach house, when she heard a splash. She turned around, and so did her little sister, Annie. She saw a flash of silver, as if in reassurace, and then it was gone. Sarah looked down at Annie, and her eyes were wide. ---- F.B.I. Headquarters Washington, D.C. Special Agent Fox Mulder paced down the hallway, headed for the A.D.'s office. Skinner had phoned him not 5 minutes ago, telling him, with trademark dryness, to report to his office immediately for a new case file. Mulder had no idea what it was about, but had the feeling Skinner was in no mood for him to dick around, so he left quickly. He reached the A.D.'s office, hoping he wasn't too late, and re-checked his watch. 10:13. He breathed a sigh of relief. The secretary looked up from her desk. "Assistant Director Skinner will see you now." 'I wonder if she's related to Scully,' he mused to himself, noting their stange resemblance, then opened the door . Skinner was sitting at his desk, shuffling papers into a folder, then looked up at Mulder. "Sit down, Agent Mulder." "Yes, sir." 'Uh-oh,' Mulder thought. He sat down in one of the two chairs in front of the A.D.'s desk. "Thank you for being prompt." Mulder was glad he'd chosen not to wait. "I have an unusual case for you, Agent Mulder. This report states that a young woman, 18 years of age, and her sister and cousin, had found a battered little girl by the edge of the Jersey Shore. She promptly picked the child up, sent the children for help, carried the girl into the water, and left her there. The mother says that the young woman, Sarah Carter, claimed that she had given the little girl to two dolphins. One of the children who was sent for help, her sister, verifies the suspect's claims." Mulder raised his eyebrows. "And the reason you're giving me this case, sir, is because you think that the dolphins were really little gray men in disguise, taking the girl for standard abduction procedures?" Skinner's forehead creased. "Agent Mulder, I don't have time for this. I'm sending you on this case because the bureau has reason to believe that this young woman may not be lying." "Sir, is there any reason why I inparticular have the privilage of this case?" "Yes, there is, Agent Mulder. That will be all." Mulder's jaw twitched. "Thank you, sir." Dismissed, he rose from the chair, and headed for the door. But before he could turn the knob, Skinner spoke: "Agent Mulder, I'd appreciate it if you would take this case seriously. There are some people who wanted to get their hands on it before I did, and I feel that it would be bad for the bureau's reputation if it fell into the wrong hands." Mulder's eyes strayed to the ashtray on the A.D.'s desk. He pursed his lips, then exited the room. * * * On the third floor of FBI headquarters, Mulder lounged backward in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk. He looked at one of the three fuzzy blue walls serving as their new office boundaries, as if pleading with it for help. Then he turned to the red-head leaning against the desk across from him. "Come on, Scully," he said. "At least we're not going to investigate the Jersey Devil. We'll go up there, catch some rays, go on a dolphin watch cruise, and maybe if we're lucky, stay in a 4-Star hotel. Things could be worse." Special Agent Dana Scully arched an eyebrow at him. "Mulder, on all the adventures I've been with you, we've not once stayed in a 4-Star hotel. The closest we've ever gotton was with that--that case with the fire guy. And even then, we had a beast woman to deal with." He glared at her. "Very funny, Scully, but as I had said then, I was merely extending a professional courtesy." Her eyebrow rose higher. "Ooh... so *that's* what you were extending..." He couldn't hide a grin. "Touche. I booked us on the 3:00 flight tomorrow, for Philadelphia." "Philadelphia? Why not Camden?" "Our government's trying to save the tax-payers money, Scully. Besides, maybe you can tell me where that tatoo parlor is. I'm really considering getting one of Elvis stamped on my shoulder." "Didn't you say something about the Yankees, Mulder?" He grinned."No, I'm saving my ass for that one." And hint of a smile touched the corners of her mouth. "Funny. All these years I had thought that was my job..." He dropped his feet from the desk, and popped a sunflower seed into his mouth. "I told you that, Scully. And then you started experiencing lancinating pain in your chest." He stood up, pushing the chair back, and headed for the coat rack, spitting the shell into the trashbin on the way. "I've got a few errands to run, so I'll see you tomorrow at the airport. Bring your suit." "I intend to, Mulder." She turned around in her chair, and glanced at all the papers piled on her desk. "I've got come paper-work to wrap up, then I'm going to head home too." He put his arm in the sleeve of his black leather jacket, then the other arm. "'Night, Scully." She glanced back at him. "Goodnight, Mulder." He walked out of the cubicle. Scully sighed, and began to sift through the papers.