Title: Crazy Lights

Author: Skinfull

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit, no harm.

Summary: VS “Lights in the Sky” Special. Just a bit of fluff for fun. (F.F.F.)

Feedback: skinfull@undergroundtales.com Love all feedback. Thanks in

Advance!

Crazy Lights

By Skinfull

Mulberry State Forest

Wisconsin

Saturday 10.22PM

The light was so bright she felt it burn through her tightly screwed eyelids. Her hair

was whipped around her face and a strange humming sound exploded into the night

air. Mulder was lying beside her with his hands over his head, trying desperately to

cover them both with his body and the sleeping bag. Scully reached out one hand

and grabbed him, holding onto his elbow as tight as she could when suddenly it was

jerked away.

“NO!” she screamed opening her eyes but pulling them closed again. She caught a

glimpse of him being dragged away, his fingers digging long trails in the dirt as they

grasped for her.

“Scully!” his voice came though the night, hovering over her then fading away.

And suddenly it was over. Plunged into darkness, it took a moment for her eyes to

adjust.

***

FBI Basement Office

Washington DC

Friday 5.45PM

“No wait Scully don’t!” Mulder bustled in through the office and dropped his coat

across his desk. He took her arm and pulled her over to the filing cabinet, his smile

wide and expectant.

“Mulder?” she watched as he rifled through the files still smiling and even tapping his

foot. “Please…it’s Friday…it’s nearly six…”

“I know Scully I know…but wait till you see what I have.” Mulder found the folder he

was looking for and slapped it onto the table behind him. Then he reached for his

coat and removed a bundle of pages from the pocket.

“Let me guess…a case.”

“We really should have you tested for psychic abilities Scully.” As he rummaged

through the folder and pages he found the right ones and held them out to her.

“What’s this?”

“Two witnesses from the same town matching separate accounts from thirty years

ago.”

“Witness to what?” She read over the new statements first. “No Mulder.” As her

eyes scanned the words her head started to shake in dismay.

“Last night Jacob and William Verheim both witnessed various colored lights in the

sky over a forest that runs along the outskirts of their town. They’re twin brothers

who were walking home from a friend’s house at the time.”

“Lights in the sky?” she added dubiously.

“Thirty years ago in that same area for eight nights in a row, Bill and Shane Verheim

both witnessed similar lights in the same spot.”

“Brothers?”

“Yes. Shane is the father of Jacob and William, and Bill is his twin brother.”

“So…Wisconsin?”

“Yes. I have Kim booking our flights as we speak. I spoke to Skinner about it and

we’re leaving in the morning.”

“To do what exactly?” Scully pulled on her coat. Mulder folded his own coat over his

arm and followed her out to the garage.

“Don’t you see Scully?” He said excitedly, and she had to admit it was a lovely sound

to hear in his voice so happy. “Thirty years ago this phenomenon started and now

it’s starting again. Only this time we’ll be there to see it, to collect hard evidence!”

Scully sat into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine as Mulder climbed in beside

her and shuffled through his folder.

“So why aren’t we flying out tonight?” she asked, pulling out of the garage and onto

the street.

“Kim couldn’t get us any flights.”

***

Mulberry State Forest

Wisconsin

Saturday 2.20PM

In the back seat of the pick up truck Mulder unfolded the map over and over again

until he located the area he wanted. Scully was sitting in the front exchanging small

talk with Sheriff Nolan and the agent glanced down at his shoulder bag

conspiratorially. He hadn’t told Scully that he had intended on sleeping out in the

forest. The tent he packed was rolled up to mere nothingness and stuffed at the

bottom of his bag. He’d managed to put the sleeping bags and equipment into the

trunk before Scully noticed, but thus far, she hadn’t brought up a mention of the

motel they’d be staying in. And yet, he wasn’t hopeful.

“This is the area,” the sheriff said and he pulled the truck up to a small clearing.

They were more than five miles deep into the forest and the road they had been

driving on was all but non-existent. They all climbed out of the truck and Mulder

circled the car to stand next to the sheriff, pointing out something on the map.

“What were they doing walking through this forest at night?” Scully asked as she

looked around at the thickness of the dense trees around them.

“This forest is twelve miles wide and fifteen miles long. It’s a long walk around.”

“And how intoxicated were they?” she added as she came around the car to join

them.

“Their blood alcohol levels were taken at 0.17.”

Scully glanced at Mulder as if it were answer enough then folded her arms across her

chest and walked towards the edge of the clearing. Mulder took this opportunity to

take their stuff out of the trunk and bid the sheriff goodbye. The sound of the engine

starting made Scully turn with a start and she headed over to Mulder as Nolan drove

away.

“Where is he going?” she asked, that suspicious expression firmly on her face and

looking pointedly at him.

“Back into town,” Mulder said swiftly.

“What about us? Are we walking?” she looked up to him and then noticed the bags at

his feet. “What’s that? Oh don’t say it…”

“Scully we need to be here for the night to make sure that we collect all the evidence

that’s available.” He kicked one of the bags and waggled his eyebrows. “Tent,

sleeping bags and some provisions.”

“Oh no Mulder, you didn’t!” she scowled up at him but he had a slight curve in his

lips and for a second she did think he was joking. Until he unzipped one of the bags

and pulled out a folded tent. ”

***

Mulberry State Forest

Wisconsin

Saturday 10.12PM

Scully shifted in her sleeping bag, wondering for the thousandth time why she was

sleeping in a chilly tent when they could be at home in their warm bedroom. A chill

from the open flap made her look up and outside she could see Mulder’s silhouette

sitting by the fire. They didn’t usually go to bed after an argument. Well, she

pondered with a smile; they did, but not separately. Deciding it was her turn to

apologize, she unzipped herself from the sleeping bag and climbed out into the cool

night air. Her stockinged feet made soft cracking sounds on the dry leaves as she

approached him but he didn’t turn around. She plopped down next to him and buried

her cold hand between her legs to keep them warm.

“Mulder, I’m sorry,” she said nudging him with her elbow. “I shouldn’t have said

that.”

“No you’re right. It’s not really a real investigation.” He sighed as he picked up a

long stick and poked the fire, still refusing to look at her.

“C’mon,” she continued. “It was a genuine report by the local people here in

Farnsworth. It needed to be checked into.”

“Just not by us?” he suggested, casting only a sideways glance her way.

“Well maybe, but I just didn’t think that our investigation would warrant roughing it

again.”

Mulder looked behind him at the large four-man tent, electric lamp, air mattress and

double quilted sleeping bag then smiled. “This is hardly roughing it Scully.” He

teased nudging her back. Then he relaxed and placed a heavy arm around her

shoulder, pulling her over to him and setting her between his legs, her back resting

against his chest.

“We’ve been out here for hours and so far we haven’t seen anything.” She said

tentatively, not wanting to fight with him again.

“No,” he countered as he kissed her neck and nibbled on her ear. “But we have had a

good time! Good to get away from it all. ”

“Yeah.” She rolled her head to give him better access.

“Okay. We’ll just stay tonight then if nothing happens we’ll pack up and go

tomorrow. And I’ll cook a great outdoors breakfast.”

“Okay.”

Mulder resumed the soft kisses on her neck and was moving her hair aside when the

night sky exploded in a barrage of fireworks. Both of them jumped up startled, while

Mulder’s hand rested on his gun that was strapped to his hip.

“Jesus,” he muttered as he looked up at the colorful lights. “This town is crazy!”

“Wait…” Scully hurried back to the tent and he heard her rummaging through their

bags. When she came back out to him she was holding the file folder. She quickly

flipped through it to find the page she wanted then passed it to him, her finger

pointing out a specific line in the witness statement. “Look.”

Mulder took the file and read through it carefully. He flicked to the back of the report

and pulled out a second witness statement.

“Lights in the sky. Red, blue, orange.” Scully said trying to keep the smugness out of

her voice. “Fireworks. They all just saw fireworks.”

“No,” He looked up to the still exploding light show and grimaced. “The fireworks

were present on the nights of the viewing but that just means that they preceded the

unexplained lights.”

“Mulder…” Scully sighed then her shoulders slumped as she reigned in her next

damning comment. “Okay. One more night.”

“Looks like we’ll only need one more Scully!” He said pointing up to the fireworks

that littered the sky. As they died down, a small stream of white lights speared the

sky. They trailed after each other, the first light the brightest, and streaked an arc

across the moonlit clouds.

“What is that?”

“Get the camera!” Mulder yelled as he reached for the binoculars that were lying

beside the fire. As he focused the lens Scully ran back to stand with him, but he dare

not even glance at her for fear of loosing his sight. “Do you see them?” he said but

she didn’t reply. “Scully! DO YOU SEE THEM???”

“Yes…yes…what are they?”

The four lights swirled in figure eights, seemingly coming towards them then spread

out in a line sinking and rising at great speed.

“Helicopters?” Scully said although even she knew they couldn’t be.

“Where’s the closest Air Force Base?”

“There is…Volk field Air National Guard…and General Mitchell but that’s Air Force

Reserve.”

“Both those fields are over 150 miles away.”

They were both quiet for a moment as they watched the lights come closer. They

swooped and swirled, dived and soared then finally joined up into one large intense

light.

“What are they Mulder?” There was a tinge of fear in her voice and it was the one

thing that could pull his eyes away from the binoculars.

“I don’t know.” He took her arm and they backed away from the fire, both of them

crouching low in front of the tent. Suddenly the wind was kicked up before them. It

churned around them throwing up dirt and dust into their eyes. The light was

brighter now and seemed to take up the whole sky. The wind was stronger too and

they crouched low to the ground, covering their heads with their arms. Their eyes

were screwed tightly shut against the increasing burning light.

The light was so bright she felt it burn through her tightly screwed eyelids. Her hair

was whipped around her face and a strange humming sound exploded into the night

air, hurting their ears. Mulder was lying beside her with his hands over his head,

trying desperately to cover them both with his body and sleeping bag. Scully reached

out one hand and grabbed him, holding onto his elbow as tight as she could when

suddenly it was jerked away.

“NO!” she screamed opening her eyes but pulling them closed again when the

brightness blinded her. She caught a glimpse of him being dragged away, his fingers

digging long trails in the dirt as they grasped for her.

“Scully!” his voice came though the night, hovering over her then fading away.

And suddenly it was over. Plunged into darkness it took a moment for her eyes to

adjust.

The dust was still settling as she slowly sat up and looked around for him. She

scrambled to her feet and ran across the clearing, calling out his name, yelling out

for him and waiting for him to respond. But there was no reply.

She was alone in the eerie silence.

Before the wind had died down she was back in the tent rummaging through their

bag and reaching for the cell phone. Miraculously out here she managed to get a

weak signal. She called the sheriff and told him in no uncertain terms that he

needed to get up to the clearing with a search and rescue team ASAP. She left him in

no doubt to the manners of hell that would rain down on his office if he didn’t hurry.

By the time the sheriff arrived with three officers in tow and one search dog, Scully

was fully dressed again in full FBI mode, her gun was strapped to her back and she

had Mulder’s ankle gun in her hand. She met them in the clearing and instructed

them where to look. The moment the officers had left, the sheriff grabbed her arm

and stopped her from running off.

“What the hell happened here?” he asked somewhat annoyed by her commanding

his officers and at how quickly they responded.

“My partner was…taken.”

“Taken?” The sheriff scratched his head just beyond the rim of his hat. “By who?”

“I don’t know. We need to have this place combed. The longer I stand here talking to

you the less chance we have of finding him.”

“We won’t find anything in this dark.”

“Then we’ll set up a perimeter. We’ll clear out a 200 yard radius then I want

roadblocks set up in a twenty mile radius of this clearing.”

Her word was final and Nolan saw no way of changing her mind so he called the

state police and asked for back up. Scully had contacted the local FBI field office and

was waiting for a team to arrive, but knew it would be three hours before they did.

When all teams reported back in and the roadblock was in place, Scully watched as

the FBI forensic team set up perimeter lighting. That lit the clearing up like midday

sun. Immediately they set about searching for evidence and Scully longed to be

combing the ground with them but knew better to leave them to do their job.

When one member of the team stood up and called for extra lighting, Scully rushed

over to him. He was kneeling on the ground on the far side of the fire from where

the tent was pitched and before him was a large set of tracks.

“What are they?” she asked.

“Look like tire tracks,” the agent said as he lined the tracks out and got ready to take

a casting from them.

“They are tire tracks from a John Deere Cable Skidder.” Scully and the other agent

looked up to the sheriff who tipped his had with a smug smile. “And I know the only

man who owns one in about a fifty mile radius.”

***

Mulberry State Forest Centre

Wisconsin

Saturday 11.45PM

Scully stepped out of the car and trailed the sheriff to the front door of the centre. It

was a small wooden cabin that she was sure couldn’t contain more the one room and

she spotted a small outhouse in the back. The sheriff knocked on the door and

removed his hat as they waited for a response. Heavy footfall came towards the door

in a strange stop start way, then the door swung up wide. Scully peered around the

sheriff’s shoulder only to see the doorway empty.

“Shane?” the sheriff called out then took a step in and saw a body lying flat on a

small mattress next to a couch. “Shane.”

Scully hurried over to him and crouched over the still body only to be hit with a

strong wave of alcohol.

“Oh my,” she muttered, covering her nose and mouth.

“Yeah…Shane’s a drunk.”

“Shane Verheim?”

“Yes.”

“This is the man who filed the original complaint at the FBI thirty years ago.”

“I remember that. His brother and he were involved in a forest fire that year.” The

sheriff walked around the room and located the almost empty bottle of gin. “After

spending a week out here on a drinking binge after a high school party, they came

back into town with their UFO stories.” Smiling now, Nolan took a swig of the gin

straight from the bottle. “Man that was some party.”

“You were there?” Scully checked Shane’s pulse and rolled him over onto his side to

sleep off his drunken stupor.

“I went to school with the two of them. Hell, this is a small town. I went to school

with everyone.” Nolan laughed again and it grated on Scully’s nerves. There was

something odd about this guy.

“What about his brother?”

As if on cue a back door across the room slammed open and another man came

falling in, drunk and laughing almost uncontrollably. Scully whipped out her gun and

aimed it rigidly at the stranger.

“Oh hey!” the stranger exclaimed at the sight of Sheriff Nolan and Scully in his room.

“Now it’s a party!” He barked out another laugh and comically slapped his thigh.

“Sir!” Scully called out and she urged for him to get down on his knees, with her gun

waving at him to comply. “Down on your knees!”

“That’s Bill Verheim.” Scully lowered her gun cautiously but didn’t reholster it.

“I suppose you’re looking for him.” Bill said and Scully was instantly aware of

everything at once. The hair that stood on the back of her neck, the goose bumps

that rippled across her arms and the breath that caught in her throat.

“What did you say?”

“I said,” Bill said with obvious deliberation. “I said I suppose you’ll want him back.”

“Where is he?” Scully wanted to lift her gun up and shove it under this bumbling

stranger’s chin.

Laughing again, Bill shucked a thumb over his shoulder. “Out in the shed. He’s a

riot!”

Scully hurried past Bill with Nolan on her heels into the dark yard where the large

Cable Skidder was parked and into the shed behind it. It was a small shed about

twelve foot square and in the centre was Mulder tied to a chair. His head was

lowered and not moving. Scully raced over then slowly lifted it up. His eyes were red

rimmed and glassy but they were open.

“Mulder!” she called frantically, trying to untie his hands from the back of the chair.

“Scchhhhully?” he wheezed, his breath slurred and heavy with alcohol. “Ish tat you

Schhully?”

“Oh god!” After checking his pulse and pressing his limbs for any damage, she

pushed his shoulders back and made him sit up. His head lolled from side to side and

a wide leering smile curved his lips. “Are you drunk?”

“Lightshh Schhhuly, I saw these wonderful lightshh.”

“Huh, I bet you did.”

Sheriff Nolan helped her lift him up and they brought him out to the car. She

contacted the federal officers at the crime scene and arrested the Verheim brothers

immediately. Back in the Sheriff’s office, after three hours of questioning the

brothers admitted to Mulder’s abduction.

“Okay so you do admit it.” Scully said, as she brushed her hair away from her face

and sipped another taste of the luke warm sludge that passed as coffee from a

Styrofoam cup.

“Yes. It was a great plan and it worked,” Bill said triumphantly. Nolan was

questioning Shane in the other room but any progress reports he made were

frustrating.

“Okay just go through it with me one more time. What were the lights in the skies?”

Bill laughed harshly slapping the table. “Remote control gliders.”

“And the lights?”

“Just Mag lights attached to the gliders with control settings.”

“How did you take him?”

“Oh you’ll love this bit.” He leaned forward on his elbows. “We built an attachment

for the cable slider to help us drag fallen trees from underbrush. After a few

adjustments we were able to fix it so it would grab him.”

“Okay it makes…sense. But why?”

“Why?” Bill looked around the small room that was passing for an interview room.

“You’ve seen this town? And you still need to ask me why?”

” Just tell me.” Scully prodded, her patience waning.

“To be famous of course.”

“What about the file you lodged thirty years ago?”

“Yeah, no one came looking for the lights that night. We tried to gain attention of

anyone we could for over a week but nothing happened, so we gave up.”

“Why now after all this time?” Scully asked again not sure if it was good to hear this

or not. “Why were the new reports made by your sons?”

“Well we didn’t want to seem too obvious.”

Scully shook her head both in shock and confusion. He seemed to be genuinely

telling the truth. He seemed to be unaware of how much trouble he was in and he

didn’t seem concerned.

“What was the alcohol you were drinking this evening? That you gave to my

partner?”

“That wasn’t just alcohol! It was moonshine. The best moonshine in Wisconsin. Ha!

Gave to him? He all but drank it himself. And man did he have some cool stories.”

Scully had enough. The smell of alcohol in the room was getting to her and she

wondered if she was getting drunk by proxy. Bill’s voice was slurring more and his

eyes seemed to be drooping lower with every second that passed.

“Mr Verheim you are arrested with the plotting and abduction of a Federal agent.

This is serious and you are looking at jail time. I’d sober up if I were you.” He just

shrugged as if this was all part of the plan. Shaking her head in dismay Scully left

the room.

In another interview room she found Mulder sipping a cup of black coffee holding his

throbbing head in his hands.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, sitting next to him and rubbing his back gently.

“A little hung over. Like a Mack truck ran over my head actually.”

“Still?” she said surprised and wondered again just what was in that alcohol.

“It was amazing Scully.”

“It was?” she turned to face him and frowned.

“The lights in the sky were beautiful.”

“Mulder…” she began to tell him the truth then saw the look of wonderment in his

eyes and the small childlike smile on his face. “Yeah, they were beautiful.”

He smiled again and sipped his coffee and Scully sat back in the seat next to him.

She’d tell him tomorrow, she decided.

Tonight she just wanted to hold him.

The End.

Skinfull

March 2006. ©