Trainyard

Marita hung up her phone, turning to face the Syndicate members present - The Second Elder.  The one who had given her this investigation.


"What's going on?" he asked.


Marita took a deep breath - this had to be done just right.  "Agent Mulder is on the train."


The Second Elder stood silently.  Time stretched into an eternity before he spoke, "Find out if our dueling doctors had an operative on the train, as protocol dictates.  Find out who it is, and tell me your plan.  We can't let mass infection be the result of this foolishness."


"Yes, Sir," Marita answered.  She didn't dare disappoint him.  She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, heading toward the hallway where she had the rivals isolated in two different rooms.


********************


A key clinked in the lock of Marita's door before it swung open revealing an exhausted, and fairly pissed, Xavier.  Before Marita had a chance to say a word, X's deep voice cut through the room, "That man is a pain in the ass."


He shrugged off his long overcoat, and dropped it onto the nearby chair with a sigh. Marita stood and walked to where he stood, "How did it go?"

He shook his head, paused for a few minutes, then spoke, "I had to haul his dead weight over my shoulder to get us out of there before the damn thing exploded. So...it went better than it could have. Thank God it's Friday..." The corner of her mouth turned upward at the understated cliche typically reserved for office workers. 

He leaned forward to plant a kiss on Marita's lips, and savored the fleeting moment. She was the one thing normal in his life, something oddly pure in an otherwise contorted, dark world. 

She cocked her head to the side, thinking for a moment, "We should get out of town."


X raised an eyebrow, surprised at the sudden, flatly stated comment.  "What did you have in mind?"

Marita smiled, shrugging, and reaching for her phone, "Give me a minute."


He nodded, and moved into the bathroom to clean himself up a bit. As X splashed water on his face, he could hear Marita's soft, cool tone drifting through the other room. It was only a few minutes later that she appeared in the bathroom mirror.  "Pack your bag, Xav."

"Kicking me out already, Covarrubias?" 

She shot him a look as he dried his face, "We are spending the weekend in the Virgin Islands. She turned, calling out over her shoulder, "Pack fast, our flight is in an hour."

X couldn't help but smile to himself. He didn't know if it was in anticipation of a tropical vacation, if it was watching Marita's unapologetic, take charge way of handling things, or if it was the way the two of them shared one large suitcase like a long married couple. Whatever it was, he was happy. A happy man who had forgotten his otherwise atrocious day saving Mulder from himself. 

An hour later the two of them were on a small plane as it flew over the ocean.  X was wearing a lightweight, button up shirt and a pair of jeans. The casual look was a strange thing to see on him, and it made her smile. Her small hand squeezed his as she looked out the window. The water below, miles of distance between them and work. She felt like a bird being let out of a gilded cage.  

CSM: Nothing vanishes without a trace...burn it!