Dragon and Phoenix I
by Maureen S. O'Brien
Disclaimer: The X-Files belong to Chris Carter and Ten-Thirteen.
Other situations and characters in this story were created by
Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir. 
Author's Note: This story takes place in an alternate 4th
season, with this story taking the place of Gethsemane. This
story may also explain why impostors claiming to be Remo, Chiun 
and Dr. Smith were traipsing through Destroyer #108: Bamboo
Dragon....
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Scully stood by him to the last.
"I know you were framed, Mulder," she said quietly. It wasn't
the first time she'd said it this year. But gradually the
fierceness in her voice had been replaced by despair. "Nobody
else believed it -- not even Skinner -- and I couldn't find
the evidence to prove it.  I failed you."
"You've never failed me," Mulder told her. Skinner had resigned,
citing the disgrace he felt. Cancerman must have loved it. "You 
did everything you could, even while fighting the cancer. No one 
could have been a better partner or friend. Believe that."
"I'll try." Grief made her look small and helpless. He hated 
that. His enemies were killing her.
"You've got to do better than that. Fight, Scully! There's a
cure out there. Maybe even a miracle."
"I thought you were the skeptic in that area."
"There's no atheists in lethal injection chambers," said Mulder,
joking even now.
"I'm glad," she answered seriously, touching his hand. "I fully
intend to see you again."
"Just make sure you have a good long life first. And find Sam...."
"I'll find her." Living or dead. 
He read the promise in her eyes and sent back gratitude. He knew
her word was good.
She touched his face. "I'll miss you."
I love you, he thought.
Then he realized he'd spoken out loud.
Scully looked startled, then rueful. Then determined. She leaned
forward and kissed him.
Lips touched lips and mouth caressed mouth. Time stood still, for
there was no room for mere physical laws in the space that 
contained them -- until the guards came in and cleared their 
throats peremptorily for the second or third time. Even then, 
Scully pulled away from him slowly. She had always been shy of 
showing her feelings in public, but she stayed with him till the 
very last moment; and as he watched her pull away, she remembered 
to say, "I love you." 
Then they were taking him away. The guards had no sympathy for a
crooked FBI agent who had killed so many of his own: Agent Krycek,
the heroic Agent Pendrell...and no sympathy for his honest but
obviously stupid partner. But Mulder didn't care what they thought.
His only regret now was that Scully and he would never share more 
than that one kiss.
In this lifetime, anyway. 
Because, whether in Heaven or in some new incarnation, he was 
suddenly sure he'd been seeing her again. That belief let him lay 
down with perfect peace in his heart to be executed by poison for
crimes he didn't commit. And when the darkness came down, he knew
he'd see light beyond. And Scully.

He awoke to a familiar face.
Skinner's.
"I'm in Hell."
"No, Mulder, you're in New Jersey."
"Same thing." He struggled to sit up. "Why am I in a whole 
different state? And I didn't think a pardon would work that 
late in the game."
"It didn't. As far as anyone else knows, Mulder, you're dead.
We arranged to give you an injection that simulated death, 
and...." 
"We've just replaced this lethal injection with Folger's 
Crystals. Let's see if anyone notices."
Skinner ignored him. "....you were buried three days ago. I 
exhumed you and brought you here."
"So where's Scully? How did she arrange this drug? How did she 
manage not to let on?"
"She doesn't know. She can't know, or her life would be in
danger."
"From whom?"
"From me." Skinner lifted his hand and held Mulder at gunpoint.
"We needed a dead man for this, and you can be dead permanently
with very little fuss. Scully can be, too. I wouldn't like doing
it, but this is vital to national security."
Mulder's face twisted with hate, as Skinner had known it would.
"You're with Them. National security? National coverup is more
like it!"
Skinner didn't flinch. "You've got things turned around. We have
a mandate to oppose the Consortium, along with every other
criminal threat to the United States. But we work in extreme 
secrecy, and our numbers are low, to prevent abuse of our powers."
"Who's we? What mandate? Why are you doing this?"
Skinner ignored the first two questions for now. "Because a 
President who would himself be murdered saw that America could not 
fight the criminals and terrorists without abandoning her 
Constitution. Knowing that could break our nation, he created an 
agency that worked outside the Constitution and the laws, so that 
everyone else could stay inside them. It reports only to the current
President. It employs very few. And now we want you to become one of
us.
"Part of the CURE."
Mulder could see the sense in it. He could also see the appalling
secrecy, the unaccountability, and the infinite room for brutality 
and corruption. He was stunned that Skinner could make himself 
party to such a thing.
Then he looked at the gun. It seemed a convincing argument. For now.
"I guess you've got yourself an employee."

"I'm glad," said a earnest new voice. "It'll be nice to have some
company around here."
Mulder stared disbelievingly. "Agent Pendrell?"
Pendrell grinned. "In the flesh. I do the technical work and 
analyze the information our computers filter out for us. Then
Director Skinner makes the decisions on what to do. It's a lot of
work; I can't imagine how the first director managed to do it all 
himself."
"Harold Smith was a great man," Skinner said soberly. "As good
as he was great. But only God and CURE will ever know what he did
for this country, and the world. He chose me to head this agency on
his deathbed, and I only wish I could have known him longer. God
rest his soul."
"There was this other guy working here, but he quit. Or went on 
strike, or on retreat, or something. Said he'd never liked working
for this President anyway, and that he wouldn't take orders from
some Marine/FBI guy, and walked off. Chiun says he'll come back in
a decade or so, but until then, we need someone to replace him.
And you're it," said Pendrell helpfully. "Sort of a long-term temp."
"Who's Chiun?" asked Mulder. "And what am I supposed to do?"
A short, incredibly old Asian man manifested himself in Mulder's
face. Mulder couldn't believe he hadn't seen the geezer come in.
The drug must not have worn off completely yet.
"I am Chiun, Master of Sinanju. And you are supposed to be trained
by me, to become an assassin for Emperor Skinner."
Mulder fainted.
Chiun regarded him. Then he looked at Skinner.
"He is overcome by the honor done to a pale piece of pig's flesh.
I will wake him." Chiun reached out with one long, pointed 
fingernail and pinched Mulder's ear. 
Mulder found himself conscious and on his feet.
"I will guide him in the way he ought to go." Chiun grabbed Mulder's
neck with one hand, manipulating his nerves. Mulder found himself
walking out the door with no conscious control of his muscles.
"Never fear, Emperor Skinner. He will be trained. I will serve you 
well, as I served your father, Emperor Smith, before you. And the 
gold will continue to come to my little village in North Korea, and 
the women of Sinanju will not have to send their babies home to the 
sea." The door shut behind them.
Skinner and Pendrell both winced. A storm had made the submarine
one day late last month, and now they'd be hearing about babies 
forever.
Well, Chiun was Mulder's problem now. 
And vice versa. 
Skinner almost smiled. Talk about extreme possibilities.

"Freeze! Federal Agent!"
Master Chiun looked up from his seat on a bamboo mat. He calmly
continued sipping his water. So. This was why he had heard the
female creeping around outside. Her technique in breaking down
the door was execrable, but what else could be expected? So it
was with all that was not Sinanju.
"I refuse to manipulate my body temperature at the command of
a woman. Especially a skinny, pale Western one, with a nose
that is not attractively flat."
The woman looked at him. "I'm sorry, sir." She apologized without 
the proper tone of awe, but at least she had some notion of respect.
Unlike his students. "'Freeze' is a figure of speech; it means 'Do
not move.' I'm looking for a man being held prisoner here. He's
over six feet tall, has dark hair, hazel eyes...."
"There is no such man here."
Her eyes hardened. "Sir, with all due respect, I saw you outside
with him this morning."
"That was not a man," Chiun said smugly. "That was my worthless
and ungrateful student Fox. No one would come looking for him, so
I know he is not the one you are looking for." 
"You're not Obi-Wan Kenobi, either." She had been holding a gun
in her hand; now she pointed it at him. "I'm not leaving without
Mulder."
Chiun rose. "Your family will mourn the loss of their daughter." 
He would not really have to go so far. Only make her unconscious
and....
Scully's fingers tightened on the trigger of her Sig Sauer.
Chiun's long fingers began to move.
"Scully!" His lazy student came out of nowhere and practically 
drowned the redhaired woman in a hug. "I told you, Little Father. 
I told you my partner would come."
"This is your partner? This is the valorous Scully, with the heart 
of a lion?" 
"Yes."
Chiun decided he should have listened a little more closely to his
student's interminable and bizarre stories. Somehow he had missed
the matter of Scully's gender.
"You cannot have your concubine here during training. She will 
distract you from the glories of Sinanju. Later, of course, I will
teach you the infallible techniques to bring sexual ecstasy...."
Chiun glanced at his student and fell silent. It was obvious that
neither he nor the female was listening to the wisdom that fell 
from his lips. They were too busy with each other's. He sighed.
This was not good.
On the other hand, his slow student had become quick when he had
seen the female. His clumsy hands had become sure. And was that
not the burden of the tales his student had told? 
He reflected further. The woman was not wholly unworthy. Her 
movements were not quite as much like those of a water buffalo as 
those of most he met, and the smell of beef grease did not 
contaminate her breath as badly as it did Fox's.
And there was a prophecy. He had already seen two parts of it
fulfilled; he had trained the night tiger. 
He turned his eyes again to his student. They had released each
other from their deathgrip embrace. Good. He hated to pry apart
people attached at the lips. They tended to drool.
Fox approached him humbly -- as humbly as he could, that is.
"Master, I know that I am not to leave you until I have finished
training." He knew that because Chiun had caught him after every
escape attempt. 
"And I know that Skinner said nobody else could know that I was 
still alive. But Scully and I have been partners for over four 
years. Wouldn't that kind of teamwork be useful when I go out 
as an...assassin?" Fox still winced at the word. He still had not 
realized the greatness of his new profession, despite hours of 
lecturing on the great history of Sinanju.
"Please, Master, let Scully live and take her on as a student.
She's much better at the hand-to-hand than I am, anyway. And she
won't mind eating nothing but duck and rice."
Chiun gazed at them impassively. Then he stared at Scully. She
bore it patiently and silently. Unlike Fox, who had whined for
the first three weeks. He made his decision.
"Have either of you heard of Dragon and Phoenix?"
"It's one of the Chef's Specials at the Cathay Palace," Fox
said, smirking.
Chiun gave him a look.
Fox hastened on. "So named because the foods in it match each 
other as the dragon and phoenix do. They are two of the five
elemental animals in Chinese cosmology; they correspond with
the elements of metal and fire. The other animals are the
tiger (water), tortoise (earth), and the chi-lin or unicorn
(wood)."
How does he manage to speak in parentheses? Chiun wondered.
It must be something he learned at this school at the Ford
of the Ox.
"The dragon and phoenix were the symbols of the emperor and
empress," Scully chimed in unexpectedly. "They are also
symbols of marriage and fertility, as well as good government."
They were not wholly ignorant. Good.
"Been catching up on your reading, Scully?"
"No, Mulder. I've been looking for you."
Chiun broke in. "You call Fox by his last name. Scully is not
your first name, then."
"No. It's Dana. Dana Katherine Scully."
"Ah." He fell silent for a moment. "No woman has ever been 
taught the ways of Sinanju."
Dana opened her mouth and began to move forward. Fox prepared to 
hold her back.
"Silence! I have not finished."
Dana sat back. Fox wiped sweat off his forehead.
"However, there is a prophecy that speaks of these times. It
spoke of the night tiger, whom I trained; it speaks also of two
who are one, yin and yang, Phoenix and Dragon. I have seen you.
I have seen you speak to each other without speaking, as the
prophecy says. I believe you are they."
Fox and Dana exchanged glances.
"No talking!"
Their eyes shot back to him.
"Good. You have much to learn. You will have to work hard.
I will not spare either of you in the years ahead. But you
may become Masters someday. If even Remo could do it, you can."
Dana's head bowed, but not in acceptance. Fox looked unhappy,
but let her speak.
"Sir, I am...grateful for the opportunity you are giving us.
But it's only fair to warn you that I don't have years to 
give to this project. I have cancer, and the doctors say I
have only a short time left to live."
Chiun walked up to her. He had to look up.
"This 'cancer' - it is a thing under the bridge of 
your nose, almost touching your brain?"
"Yes, sir. How did you know?"
"It is easy, for those with eyes," he said scornfully. 
"Bend down and be still, graceless woman."
She did. She also rolled her eyes.
Chiun examined her. Then his hands blurred.
Something pricked her between the eyes. She blinked and
Chiun backed away. Impaled on one long fingernail was a wad
of tumor tissue, like a malign shish kabob.
"We of Sinanju do not die of 'cancer'," Chiun said. 
His two students were finally looking at him with proper awe.
He pointed the tumor kabob at them. "I have no time to go back
to the village and arrange for a proper marriage for you. We
will do that later, perhaps. For now, my declaration that
you are wed is enough. Go. You have tonight. After tonight, 
you will not have the energy for such games." He marched off.
He also flipped the tumor off his finger and into the trash.
Which was fifty feet behind him.
Scully opened her mouth to argue. Then she closed it again.
Mulder looked at her sympathetically. "Welcome to the wonderful
world of Sinanju, Scully. Let's get out of here before Chiun
makes us stand on our heads while juggling flaming shuriken."
He put his hand on her back and guided her toward his room.
"Don't we get lunch?"
Mulder shuddered. "Do you want duck with rice, or rice with 
duck? Or fish. And it's always water, never coffee. I could 
kill for a cup of The FBI's Most Disgusting. I could kill 
Skinner, in fact, since he's the one who decided I was a 
great candidate to go learn how to kill Cancerman and his 
merry men. Oh, and Pendrell didn't take a bullet for you, 
either. He's working here at Folcroft, too."
She merely raised an eyebrow. Mulder realized that if she'd 
found him, she'd also probably been poking around Folcroft 
long enough to know all this.
"Any other revelations?" she asked.
"Um...no." He opened the door of his room for her. "This is
where I've been staying. Note the lovely tatami mat for
sleeping on. Great for the back...I guess you're supposed
to stay here, too."
"We _are_ married. By virtue of the power vested in Chiun."
Mulder was looking away and didn't see her enigmatic smile. 
"Look, Scully, we've shared a room before. If you don't want 
to...."
She tapped his shoulder and made him look at her. "Mulder, 
I didn't come looking for you for my health."
Their eyes met. Then their lips. Soon their bodies were one.
Dragon and Phoenix. Yin and yang.
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Master Chiun, forgive the temerity of this writer...please?
I didn't know Remo had kidlings when I wrote this story,
and I don't know how this particular prophecy will work
itself out. I have some evil visions of using the Dutchman
against Cancerman and his buddies (thus reuniting the lost
branch of Sinanju), but if Remo's got two kids it would 
make sense if they were the ki-rin and the tortoise....
Hmm.
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