Jungle Heat III: Forbidden Souls by marianne

TITLE: JUNGLE HEAT III: Forbidden Souls(1/-)

AUTHOR: by marianne

DATE:

DISCLAIMER: "The X-Files" is the creation and exclusive property of Chris Carter and 1013 and FOX. I'm just borrowing them to have some fun.

CLASSIFICATION: T, R, A

RATING: PG , R, NC17

KEYWORD: MSR and Skinner/Maggie

SUMMARY:

COMMENTS: All my thanks go to ..., my editor. And Gerry and Emily and Ratgirl for their encouragement. For an easier reading I donīt use the iīs on the end of the words anymore which are spoken by Chico. Some people have difficulty to read when they are there, but he is still talking with them on the ends of some words.

Part One

Somewhere outside Washington

Wednesday, September 10th

at night

It was one of the darkest nights in Washington. No sound could be heard from a shabby apartment building in a rather abandoned street, other than the steady hitting sounds by its only occupant.

The man's breathing sound was heavy as he uninterruptedly attacked a punching bag hanging in the middle of a large room. There were no doors in all the building but to the basement and the front door.

The man didn't turn around or acknowledge the presence of someone coming in, not even with a slight glance of his eyes. Nothing seemed to divert his attention from the swinging heavy bag by his strong blows.

Finally he turned to the man, taking a towel from a stool, drying the sweat from his face and then from his upper-body, finally placing the towel around his neck.

He observed the little glimmer coming from the door frame, the face behind still hidden in the dark. The smoke surrounded the head spooky-like.

"As I see, you still use the bad habit." He said to the smoking man with a surprisingly soft voice, but nevertheless chilling in his softness.

"I have a job for you. After this one you'll own me nothing more." The man in the dark said and entered, his sullen face lit by the soft light of the only lamp in the large room.

Scully's apartment

Thursday, September 11th

in the morning

Mulder sat carefully on Scully's gray and white stripped couch. He didn't know how he had ended up with the baby-girl. What was he supposed to do with her, when he couldn't understand a word that she said? He just hoped Scully was coming home soon. She had left to do grocery shopping with Chico and left "him" with the baby-girl. Him.

The AD and Maggie went to the church to speak with the old priest there. Actually they were really going to marry and as soon as possible. And then they were looking for a school for Chico.

That's why the kids were at Dana's.

The baby-girl was chattering again. He still couldn't figure out what, just that she kept calling him something like "Io Foshi". It was bad enough that Chico kept calling him Foxi. Couldn't it be at least Fox? No. The tiny boy just seemed unable to pronounce it without the e ending. And did he even try to call him just Mulder? No. The boy said it reminded him of "Murder", and Mulder had to listen to a long explanation about it. He was worse than Mr. Spock or Data. How did Skinner manage it?

"Let's watch TV then. Come on Melissinha sit on the couch, beside me. Can't you see I'm hurt?" he asked and showed her his leg still in the cast. Thank God it would be removed the next day. Then he lifted his sweater a bit to show her his still bandaged ribcage.

"See? I'm tired to keep chasing behind you." He put his puppy look on and patted again on the couch beside him.

The baby-girl had watched him with big eyes and finally sat beside him very carefully. She looked around and pointed to the TV. "Teh-Veh." He took the remote and turned on the TV and flipped through the channels.

"By Gosh. The Championship. Hm, in ten minutes. That's it." He said grinning and sat back, with his legs on the center table then he gazed at the baby-girl. Uh oh, she had a look on like Scully, when she was upset with him. How could this girl seem so much like Scully, he pondered. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to watch the game after all.

He gave her the remote. It was better not to mess with this tiny red head. With a red head you never knew. But he wanted to watch the game, even more as he was bound to stay at home, not that it was that bad, as he stayed in Scully's apartment. He sighed.

The baby-girl flipped through the channels, very slowly at first. She still couldn't understand, why everybody was talking so funny. "Shusha?" she asked questioningly to Mulder. He raised his shoulders helplessly. Finally she saw something she knew. "Baba!" she giggled sitting back, her head resting on Mulder's thigh.

The little elephants were running around the screen, when one of them fell hard on the floor. Mulder just thought why it couldn't have been at least Batman the baby-girl wanted to watch.

Instead of chasing some aliens, or serial killers, he had to take care of a baby-girl and watch Babar. It was the same elephant he had in bookform when he was about seven. He didn't know they made a cartoon of it.

"You know, Melissinha, that I once had the whole collection of Babar?! I read them to Sam year after year. Sometimes at night, then she was afraid of a rainstorm, we would hide under the blankets and read them with the flash lights on." He stopped his narrative abruptly.

Melissinha looked at him and couldn't understand why the tall uncle was suddenly so sad. She made a questioning sound and Mulder continued. "My father caught us once and destroyed the books."

What he didn't tell was that he was beaten up then and thrown for some hours into the dark cellar. It came just like a flashback to his mind. He had forgotten it over time.

He awoke from his day dreaming when he felt soft lips on his cheeks. The little baby-girl was hugging him carefully and sitting on his lap as she changed back to the game channel. Babar was already finished and the final scene reminded her of the injured uncle.

"Well I'm hungry. Do you want something?" he asked Melissinha and stood up putting her on the floor and went slowly to the kitchen.

There was already a mess in there. He reached for the cookies, made a jar of cranberry juice and "Mountain Dew" soda pop, some sandwiches with jelly and peanut butter. The only items left in the apartment.

Melissinha watched him all the time with her old Teddy in her arms and her right thumb in her mouth following him then back to the living room after he finished the popcorn. She sat beside him and after a while on his lap again and munched from the bits he gave her.

"Bah!" she said and gave him the peanut butter sandwich back and made a grimace of pure distaste.

"You don't like it? All kids adore them. Must be because you're Brazilian. Hmm. Here, take a jelly sandwich." And gave her a big slice and reaching for a big cranberry juice glass handed it to her too and sat back to watch the game for a whole minute, eating the peanut butter sandwich himself, when he felt a cold liquid over his shirt and legs. He yelped startled standing half up, causing the jelly sandwich in the baby-girl's hand to fly onto the white and grey striped couch and Melissinha's little feet fell on the dish and all trashed around burying the baby-girl under some sticky jelly and peanut butter sandwiches, his half finished "Mountain Dew" and all the rest of the juice as well.

"Oh, shit." He cursed when he felt a sticky sandwich on his own clothes. Worse, the baby girl began to sniffle after his angry curse. "Shshsh. Don't worry. It's not your fault. Com'on stop whining. I didn't mean you. Pleease, stop whining. See?" he asked when he wiped her face from the sticky jelly, but not succeeding at all until taking her into his arms and smeared with a smile a bit more on her nose and on his own. It worked. She stopped and sniffled just a bit and finally grinned. "Yeah, that's it. It's fun, but stop throwing the popcorn more around. Hell, Scully will be pleased to see the mess on her new plush white carpet." He sighed and bent carefully down.

"Let's clean up a bit." The baby-girl knelt down too and tried to take the popcorns out of the carpet. "No way, Melissinha." Said Mulder after a while and sat back, after he had tried to clean at least the couch from the stains of the red juice and the awful yellowish-green color of the "Mountain Dew".

"We have to face the storm coming from the other red head. Come on, let's clean ourselves instead." He said shaking his head with a sigh looking at the worsening damage he succeeded by trying to clean the couch and stood up taking Melissinha with him to the bathroom.

He discarded his jeans and the spoiled sweater after washing his hands. And helped Melissinha with her clothes. But as much as he tried, he couldn't clean her up from the sticky syrup and jelly all over her. He sighed again. The FBI's most unwanted and high profiler trying to clean up a baby-girl and not succeeding.

"What you need is a bathtub. That's it." He turned the water on to fill the bathtub. "Come on, take your clothes off and in the bathtub. ... What are you waiting for?" he asked finally when he turned back to her and saw her still in her sticky clothes with the old Teddy in her left arm and her thumb in her mouth. "Oh!" appearantly he was supposed to take care of that too. "How old are you? Aren't you supposed to know how to bath yourself alone? You're not older than three. Yeah right. I didn't bath myself alone at three. Where's Scully when I need her?" Decidedly he bent down and helped the baby-girl out of the remaining clothes. It wasn't an easy task.

Melissinha was chatting again and then gave him the old Teddy bear to help her to take off its clothes too.

"You know, girl, it's time to discard of this old Teddy." But looking into her eyes he knew that would be difficult. "Okay, you won. Let's give him a bath too. After this Skinner owes me. It's his child not mine." The baby-girl looked up at him after he washed her hair with Scully's shampoo and grinned happily reminding him all the more of Scully. If they would have a child it would surely look like this one. He sighed. What was he thinking? That would never happen. Like the other women with the chip, she was left sterile. And he still hadn't told her what he had found out.

He took Melissinha out of the bathtub and dried her with the huge towel and held her close. "Let's find some clothes for you. I think Mom brought some."

When they were back in the living room, the game was already half over. He lost his interest in it and turned it back to the cartoon channel. Melissinha sat on his lap again.

Midday.

Skinner, Maggie, Chico and Scully met on their way up to Scully's apartment.

"Hi, dear. Where is Melissinha?" Maggie asked her daughter with a big smile on her content face as she watched the effusive reencounter of Chico and Walter.

"I left her with Mulder while Chico and I went shopping."

"Papai, when are you going to marry? Isn't Mamãe's Church the best? Do I have to use a tuxedo? Do you think Mark will be there too? Look! Did you see the new tennis shoes Dana gave me?" he asked like a whirrl wind and showed Skinner his new sneakers. The tiny boy already managed to climb into Skinner's arms by tugging at the AD's sleeves. He grinned happily to Skinner. "Dana bought Melissinha a little dress too, it is a surprise. It's all green. Do you think Foxi will like the little Foxi I bought him? Look, it has his eyes." Finally he stopped his tirade and looked straight at Skinner's face who already gave up to answer any of Chico's questions until the tiny boy let him answer them calmly.

"Papai, I have to ... to throw newspapers to the houses."

Skinner raised his eyebrows at that and asked a bit confused, "And why do you have to throw newspapers to the houses?"

"I saw it on TV. American boys throwi newspapers to the houses by bike to earn money, to buy presents. Dana borrowed me the money for Foxi's present. Now I have to throw newspapers to houses. But, Papai, I can't ride a bike. I never had a bike." He said with his eyes as big as his innocent questions.

Skinner smiled at that, "Certainly you don't have to be a news paper boy. That's only meant that children do little chores at home like pulling weeds from the garden, or mow the grass around the house. I myself did that a lot to gain my pocket-money. That reminds me I forgot to give you your pocket-money. Don't you help me all morning to make breakfast and do the dishes? Those are chores too, Chico. So you see, you already are gaining pocket-money." He smiled inwardly, when he saw his son's face lit up at that, and gave him some dollars.

The boy took them with brilliant eyes and turned to Dana in the elevator. "Dana, here is the money for Foxi's present. Do you think he will like it?"

"But sure, Chico. Who wouldn't like something like the little fox?"

Scully smiled at him still amazed at Skinner's maneuverability with the tiny boy and took the money even as she had intended to give it to him, but she saw that that would be impossible and only hurt the boy's joy to be able to buy a present all by himself.

Finally they reached Scully's apartment. She opened the door for them, entered and stopped shocked by the scene before her.

End of part one

TITLE: JUNGLE HEAT III: Forbidden Souls(2/-)

Part Two

Scully's apartment

Thursday, September 11th

midday

Scully gasped for air, disbelieving. She moaned when she saw her brand-new, formerly white carpet almost totally covered by red and awful yellowish-green colored stuff and popcorn. She just had left Mulder and the baby-girl for two hours.

Maggie passed her and took in the not unfamiliar scene, remembering when her children were still little ones. Finally she spotted the two missing ones on Dana's red couch on the far end sound asleep. The baby-girl was lying on Mulder's stomach and chest. Her

somehow wet and tousled hair was buried in the crook of his neck, with her thumb in her mouth. Her Teddybear was resting beside them on a chair, draped in a towel, with its clothes drying on the arm chair.

Maggie had to smile and turned calmly away to survey the mess again and saw the rather useless attempts of trying to clean the mess up. She had to say that, Fox, at times, could be quite a catastrophe. She doubted that the carpet and couch could be saved. It was the first time she saw Chico quiet in Walt's arm and open mouthed. Not that the AD seemed less baffled.

"Well, dear, I think it's best ..." Maggie began to say when Scully interrupted her by finishing her sentence.

"... to pack all of it up and throw it into the garbage. This way I don't have to see it anymore." She sighed, "It was my favourite couch."

She didn't mention the brand-new carpet at all. She looked at the still sleeping duo and nevertheless had to smile. By the looks of it, Mulder had to bathe her and change his clothes too. Yeah, the green dress she bought came in the nick of time. Melissinha was wearing oversized green sweat pants and one of her favourite blouses.

Finally Chico demanded to be put down. He knelt before the red couch, while Skinner and the women began to take the spoiled couch out of the apartment. He waited patiently until the sleeping duo began to stir just as the others came back.

"Are you awake now?" he asked when he saw Mulder open his eyes slowly, with his face only inches from Mulder's face. Mulder, startled, drew back, waking the baby-girl up, too.

She lifted her head looking around with sleepy eyes and smiled brightly when she saw Maggie near the kitchen door. "Mamãe!" Mulder helped her down. When she made the first steps towards Maggie the oversized sweat-pants fell down. She stopped and looked down. "Oh!"

Scully took her into her arms. "Come with me, Melissinha. Look what a nice dress I bought for you." and went to her bedroom with the tiny baby-girl.

"Foxi. Look. I bought a foxi for you. Do you like it?"

Apartment Building outside Washington

Saturday, September 13th

20:35 pm

Although it was a shabby abandoned building, there were no beggars living in it. It seemed to say, "Stay away or you'll be damned" with invisible letters written on it.

The lonely man in the building surveyed carefully the items on the large table in the dark room only lit by a single lamp. His smile was cool like steel when he began to pack everything, item by item into his overseas bag. Without looking around or acknowledging the hidden stares from some beggars, he left the building and drove away in his old Ford Taurus.

Hunting time had begun.

Skinner's apartment building

Crystal City

Saturday, September 13th

Before midnight

Skinner was sitting in his livingroom reading an old book. He sighed when he looked around after a while. The living room was a mess. There were boxes of all sizes grouped around, all neatly marked with their contents. It was amazing how much stuff you accumulated in some years. Finally he had found a nice house in the neighborhood with Maggie's help. Tomorrow the packers were coming and they could move in there. Moving, and then a wedding right away.

They decided to marry on Chico's birthday, September 27th. In two weeks. Two weeks. Without children until now he suddenly had two. Two brats, but he wouldn't change them for anything in the world. Unlike his sister's children who were all too well behaved, at least when he was around. Well the youngest was a brat too.

Sister?

Oh God, Kathleen was going to kill him. He reached for the phone in pure reflex and dialed her number.

"Kathy? ... Yeah, it's me."

"What happened, Walt? It's almost midnight."

"Well Kathy, I ... I ... Are you coming to my wedding?" He finally blurted out.

"What?!"

"Well it will be on Chico's birthday, September 27th. He and Melissinha will be the ..................."

"What?! Who is she? Who is ... are Chico and Melissina? Walt, that's in two weeks. What the heck ... Why marry in such a hurry? Don't tell me. Walt, what have you gotten yourself into? I can't believe it. You were here on Sandra's birthday, that was in May. You never mentioned you had a girlfriend and now you are going to marry in two weeks? Oh, no. I'll be there tomorrow. I'm taking the next flight to D.C. I've got to hang up now. I have to pack." With that his sister hung up.

Skinner looked baffled at the phone than he hung up too. He realized that Kathy didn't know about Chico yet. A soft crying sound from his bedroom startled him. He hurried to there and saw Chico in a nightmare. After a long time it was the first nightmare the tiny boy had since his last experience. Skinner sat carefully down and brushing his fingers over the tiny face he began to whisper like a chant, "Shshsh, it's all okay, meu filho. I'm here. Nobody is going to hurt you again." The tiny boy calmed down in Skinner's arms.

Skinner sat back for a while and finally stood up and turning off the living room light went back to go to sleep too.

Sunday, September 14th

05:30 am

Kathryn Redgrave arrived at her brother's apartment without problems, and opened the apartment door with the spare key and walked decidedly in without ringing the bell. But on her way to her brother's spare bedroom she stopped short when she saw all the boxes grouped around. Then she continued on to the spare bedroom to leave her suitcase there. She was shocked to see that the room was slightly different and strewn with what were decidedly children's clothes and toys.

"Oh Jeez, what kind of a mess did he get himself into now?" and went to his bedroom. The door was open.

He wasn't alone.

A tiny blond boy was sound asleep in her brother's arms with his right thumb in his mouth. He had no resemblance with her brother. Observing him better she saw that he was very tan. Strange in such a blond boy. She was indecisive if she should wake them up or not, then the tiny boy opened his eyes sleepily.

She had never seen such crystal-blue eyes as the ones which were staring at her. He sat up and tilted his head a bit and said,

"Hi?!" he turned then to the still sleeping man and shook him a bit. "Papai. Wake up."

Skinner turned his head a bit and opened his eyes looking straight at the electric alarmclock on his night-table and closed them again.

As he feared, it was too early on a Sunday morning.

"Chico, please, it's only 05:30 and it's Sunday. We are not going to play football, nor volleyball, nor basketball nor soccer today."

"But, Papai, there is a woman in your bedroom."

"Okay, all right, but we aren't ... What?" Skinner opened his eyes startled. "Kathy?!" He fumbled for his glasses while he sat up.

"Good morning, Walt. So that's Chico. I'm going to prepare breakfast while you two get out of bed." She turned around and left them.

"Gee, Papai. Who is that womani?"

"My sister Kathy. Your aunt now."

"Oh, Papai, I have a tia now? I didn't know you had a sister. Do you have a brother too? Does she have children? Does she ..."

"Chico, let me wake up completely before you ask me more questions. Let's take a shower."

After the shower, Chico ran to his bedroom with a towel around his waist passing Kathy happily smiling at her by the way. He almost fell over the large suitcase in the middle of his room. Gee, perhaps she was going to sleep in his room. He hurried to throw his toys into the big trunk his father gave him. Then he searched through his clothes to find something to wear. Oh, that was hard. He wanted to make a good impression. Finally he decided to wear long pants for the occasion and his favourite T-shirt and his new sneakers. Then he hurried to the kitchen.

"Hi, Tia Katy. Nice to meet you." He said with a big smile.

His new aunt was really beautiful. She had the same eyes as his father.

Kathy looked down at him and couldn't help but smile back at the sunny boy. "Hi. Chico, isn't it?"

He shook his head affirmatively. "What are you cooking?" He asked and tilted his head again. "Panqueca? Don't you put ground meat with tomato sauce in it?" He asked then, when he saw that she made a lot of pancakes with nothing in them.

Kathy looked an instant at the boy, although she could understand him perfectly it was strange to hear the "tchii" sounds in almost all the word endings.

"Ground meat? No, those are pancakes, usually we put some syrup or honey in them or strawberry marmalade like Walt adores." She had to laugh when she saw his baffled face. "Are you Mexican?"

"Mexicano? No, surely not. I'm Brazilian. Well, Papai said I'm American now. And I have to learn to play baseball with the funny glove. But I don't have to throw newspaper to the houses." He followed her when she put the pancakes on the kitchen table where all was set for breakfast.

"Ahm, yeah. Sure. Do you want your milk with chocolate or pure?"

"Milk? I would like a little coffee, please."

"Coffee? Surely not. Children do not drink coffee. Sit down. I'll prepare your milk." She shook her head disbelieving. That was pure Walt to give a child coffee instead of milk. She saw that she had come in the nick of time.

Chico raised his shoulders helplessly and began to drink the milk.

Skinner stopped in his tracks, when he saw Chico and asked, "Chico, what are you drinking?" Although it was obvious.

"Milk." The tiny boy answered after drinking another big gulp.

"For heaven's sake, Chico. Why? Come give me the glass at once."

"Tia Kathy said I had to drink it. You said I had to obey her."

"Walt, are you crazy. Give the boy the milk back."

"Kathy, I know you know better what to give to children, but with my son I know better. He is still not used to the strong milk. You have to mix it with at least a third of water, and he always drank a bit of coffee. And I sure don't want another walk to the hospital because I gave him milk."

"Where is his mother?" she asked finally after Skinner's tirade. She couldn't help herself, but she was getting more and more curious. A Brazilian. When the heck did her brother know a Brazilian and father a child?

Before Skinner could answer her question Chico answered it. "She is dead and in the heaven now." He still missed her. But it wasn't so bad as before. Now he had Papai and his new Mamãe. His real Mamãe would be happy for him. Of that he was sure. He looked up at Skinner, smiling happily.

Suddenly he felt a little chill running down his spine. But couldn't find out why.

End of part two

TITLE: JUNGLE HEAT III: Forbidden Souls(03/-)

DATE: March 2000

Part Three

Sunday, September 14th

Skinner's Apartment Building

Crystal City

06:10

Skinner was sitting in his living room with Chico on his lap. Both observed the black-haired woman pacing up and down in front of them.

"Kathy, ..." Skinner finally tried to interrupt her tirade. But as always to no avail.

"... and above all you neither told me, your own sister, that you adopted a child. And how the heck did you manage to adopt him in such a short time?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well with Washington's help it was quite easy." He managed to say before she began to pace up and down again.

"Washington? You involved the FBI in it? Did you...?"

"Washington is the Brazilian delegate's name and it's his first name." He interrupted her. "So will you calm down now? It's all legal."

There was a ring at the interphone and Chico hurried to answer it,

while his father and aunt continued to discuss.

"Mamãe? Yeah, we are already up. ... Okay, I'll be down in a minute." He hung up and called, "Papai, I'll be back in a minute."

And hurried out to catch the elevator and down he went.

After a while Skinner perceived what Chico said. He was already standing up to go after him when the half closed door opened fully and in was a little whirlwind of a tiny red-headed girl. "Papai! *Levanta* me. Bea'huh'."

The little girl demanded still speaking more in Portuguese, but she had already learned quite a bit in English watching TV and living with Maggie. Finally in the AD's arms she gave him the bearhug she had asked for but stopped shortly after when she saw the strange woman and buried her face into the AD's neck but observed her with one eye.

"Papai? Walter, who is that now?" Kathy asked baffled.

"Melissinha. My ... daughter. Another orphan from Brazil."

To say Kathy was just a little stunned was an under statement.

Sunday

08:20 am

"Kathy, that's my fiancée Margareth." Introduced Skinner the two so different women. Kathy was about Maggie's age with the same dark hair color, but from there on they were totally different. Kathy was really tall for a woman, clothed with elegance as a judge should be. As her eyes were dark, Maggie's were blue.

Maggie was totally different of all the women Skinner used to date formerly and surely the opposite of Sharon at all. Kathy couldn't figure out what her brother saw in this motherly woman and older than he was. And what to say of the two children. Surprised she realized, the love among them. She had given up all hope to once see her brother with his own children after some years during his marriage to Sharon. And once again her hopes were dashed to the ground.

Maggie securely was out of date to give him his own children. Her own youngest daughter, Sandra, was already fifteen.

Sunday, September 14th

05:30 pm

A man in dark grey clothes stood silently in the shadows, observing the family with his special field-glasses. Sometimes the little blond boy was strange and seemed to look directly into his direction as if somehow he could see him. He decided to observe them longer and made some pictures.

FBI - Headquarters Washington

Skinner's Bureau

Monday, September 15th

The AD

To be continued... with feedback

End of part three