Out Of This World (X-Files/Twin Peaks AU)

10. The DEA

The lot was convened in the living room, the fire gone to little more than sputtering embers. Sandra sat with her head in her hands. She was close to tears at this point. "Are you sure you saw someone?" Coop asked. "What were you even doing in the study?" Sandra glimpsed at Mulder who was stood by the nearby window. He gave a nearly undetectable smirk.

"I couldn't sleep, I saw someone at the window and they were..." Sandra breathed in. "They were licking the glass."

"Well, they've gone now." Hawk said as he and Harry entered the front door. He removed his hat which was soaked with rain. Sandra thanked them again for checking out the area. Margaret stood on the bottom step holding her log, rocking it like a crying baby.

It was only another hour before the storm let up enough for the group to leave.

---

The trail had gone cold. Sandra was close to losing hope, and she could tell Harry was close to a break down. Having found not a shred of evidence in finding his lost love, Josie Packard, Harry had taken to hiding out at the police station or simply not leaving the house.

Sitting on the floor of the hotel room, Sandra spred the evidence files around the room in a semi-organized semi-chaotic fashion. Her last known whereabouts: the Great Northern Hotel.

Agent Cooper entered the hotel room and was witness to Jocelyn Packard shooting and killing Thomas Eckhart. Sheriff Harry Truman followed Agent Cooper into the hotel room and commanded Jocelyn Packard to drop the gun. Packard asked for forgiveness of Truman, clutched the pistol to her chest, and fell presumably dead on the bed. The body of Packard was transferred to the Calhoun Memorial Hospital morgue. Before Doctor William Hayward could perform an autopsy, Packard's body had gone missing from the hospital morgue. In its place was the body bag left unzipped.

Sandra was at a loss and placed her head in her hands, rubbing her tired eyes. Then, there was a knock at the door.

Dale Cooper stood in the doorway of Sandra's room; he was holding a little vial of the sticky substance from the night they brought James Hurley to the hospital.

"What's with the goop, Coop?" Sandra asked as she noticed his ridiculous beaming smile.

"I sent away a vial of the stuff to a friend of mine in the DEA. He said it was so strange that he wanted to speak with us in person. He'll be at the station later today." Coop dropped the vial into Sandra's open hand, then looked to the floor. "I was able to get Harry to come out to the meeting, but I'm getting worried about him. We haven't gotten any evidence on Josie, and he's losing hope."

"I haven't had any strange dreams either." She let out a chuckle. "I'm kind of grateful for that. Its been pretty quiet around here. If nothing happens soon, we might be sent on another job." Coop looked down at her for a moment.

"It would be a shame to lose such an asset to my team." Sandra's cheeks grew red. From her right, she heard the door to Mulder's room open. Coop took a step back as Mulder sauntered up to the two of them.

"Ready to go to the station, boys?" Sandra asked, cutting through the obvious tension in the hall.

---

The group sat in the conference room at the police station. Harry was seated at the head of the table looking worse for wear. He was unshaven, there were bags under his eyes, and his uniform shirt buttons were mismatched. Sandra whispered to Mulder. "It's been a week, how does he look this bad?" Mulder looked to his partner and whispered back.

"Love does some crazy things to a man." He smiled at her. Coop entered the room with a flourish.

"Harry, Hawk, Sandra, Mulder, Andy." Coop greeted the team with his usual happy demeanor. "I'm pleased to let you all know that an old friend of mine is on his way. I worked with Dennis Bryson in Oakland. He's a fine man. Intelligent." The intercom chimed in.

"Agent Bryson is here, Sheriff."

"Send him in." Harry responded in a monotone voice. The door opened slowly. In walked a tall brunette, with a skirt showing long legs, and bright red lipstick.

"Coop," she said with a sultry tone.

"Dennis?" Coop's shock shown on his face.

"It's Denise now." She cooed. After some introductions, Denise placed her briefcase on the table. Sandra couldn't help but notice the similarities between Denise and Mulder. It was uncanny.

"Denise could be your sister." Sandra giggled lightly.

"I called you, Coop, to let you know that something here was awfully strange." Denise began. "The sample you sent me of what you all call the 'goo' has some easily identifiable elements from the periodic table. Things like potassium, calcium, sulfur. But there is something here that we have never seen before." Denise passed around a photo of a color image. "Whatever this is, it doesn't exist on this earth." The photo shown an image of the goo from under a microscopic. There was a black mass, spiked, that looked like it was in the process of attacking whatever was next to it. "What you're seeing here is what I've been calling the 'consumer bacteria'. It looks like it slowly eats away the very top layer of the epidermis. It's nearly undetectable what damage it causes to the skin. In fact, it looks like it just collects data from the epidermis. After it collects whatever data it needs, it reproduces and dies."

"Are you saying this bacteria is designed to learn skintype?" Mulder asked.

"In a way, yes. I believe that if this bacteria is allowed to...fester...in the proper environment, well," Denise ran a hand through her hair.

"It could recreate a human being?" Coop stiffened at the realization. "But how is that possible?"

Sandra stood suddenly. "James Hurley!" She grabbed onto Mulder who was now standing beside her. "He was covered in that stuff, what if..." Sandra trailed off. She couldn't speak the possibility into existence. Mulder uttered a strong "Let's go!" And the gang, Denise included, rushed into their cars and headed towards the Calhoun Memorial Hospital.

"God," Sandra muttered. "I hope I'm wrong."