*****

I don't question His word. Whatever He asks of me, I'll do."
Owen Jarvis "Revelations"

*****

Cornell Residence
Bethlehem, Ohio
Thursday, April 23
11: 52 am

Scully paused for a moment before ringing the door bell, rubbing her fingers into the corners of her eyes. She wanted to say something positive to the Cornells, but there was nothing to say. Mulder hadn't called from the police station, and she hadn't been able to get a lead on any Mr. Chancey in the five county area. The man simply didn't exist as far as the federal government was concerned. She rang the door.

Mrs. Cornell opened the door, her face a pale round map of sleeplessness and anxiety.

They had met last night, only moments after Nathan had collapsed. Kneeling by the side of the hysterical boy, trying gently to untangle him from her partner, Dana Scully had glanced up to see Mrs. Edith Cornell in the doorway of her son's room, frozen in shock.

"Nathan?" she had asked, her voice high and querulous. "Nathan? What happened to him? Who are you?"

Scully had stood up and taken the woman into the living room, had tried to answer all of her questions and those of her sturdy laconic husband, David. Last night Mrs. Cornell had reminded Scully of Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith Show, the type of woman who would always bake cookies and send pies to new neighbors. She still looked like Aunt Bea today, in her flower-printed house dress and apron, but it was if Aunt Bea had been to war--Mrs. Cornell looked ravaged, as if Mayberry had been attacked by alien invaders.

"Oh, Agent Scully. Come in. Is there any news?"

It was always the first question.

"We do have a few leads, but we're still working on them. I was hoping to speak to Nathan. Is he here?"

"Of course, of course." Mrs. Cornell was twisting the loose fabric of her dress in one hand. "Are any of these leads good ones?" She seemed embarrassed to be asking, begging for scraps about her son.

"We don't know that yet, Mrs. Cornell. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's all right." She waved her hand at Scully in a shooing gesture. Scully took a seat and the shooing stopped. "I told David I'd call if there was any news. He went to work today, so as not to think about it, but I told him I'd call." She headed into the hall, stopped, turned back to the agent.

"I know Kevin's not ours, Agent Scully, but we love him. We've only known him for twenty months. It seems like such a short time to be so attached, but . . ." Her chin wobbled.

"Kevin's a special boy," Scully said, trying to remain neutral.

"He and Nathan didn't get along at first, you know?" Mrs. Cornell remarked. "Nathan didn't want another boy in here, but they're thick as thieves now."

"Why did that change, Mrs. Cornell?"

The heavy woman sighed, remembering a happier time. "Kevin needs someone to look out for him. He's--"

"--innocent," Scully finished.

"Yes, yes, he is. And I guess Nathan needed someone to look out for."

"Mrs. Cornell, do you believe what people say about Kevin, about the religious connotations of his marks?"

Mrs. Cornell scrutinized her for a moment. When she finally answered, her voice was chilly with reserve. "Agent Scully, I've never been a religious woman. When I see Kevin I see a boy who lost his parents, a boy who needs me and my family. Everything else will have to wait." She paused. "You'd think," she began, stopped, began again. "You'd think that someone God had chosen would get a break once in a while. I'll get Nathan for you."

You'd think that, wouldn't you? Scully thought, rubbing her temples with the tips of her fingers.

A moment later, Nathan appeared in the doorway, ragged and fragile. "My mom said you had some questions for me."

"I do, Nathan." She gestured to the couch next to her, and the teenager flopped down, sighing.

"Are you okay?" Scully asked, fighting the impulse to put her hand on his forehead. He just turned his blank expression toward her, impaled her on his red rimmed gaze.

"Where's Mulder?" he asked.

"Following up on some leads, which leads me to what I wanted to ask you. When we were questioning some of the kids that saw Kevin last they gave us a name, Mr. Chancey. That name doesn't appear in any database that I have access to. Do you know who Mr. Chancey is?"

"Sure. He's the creep that runs the magic store downtown. That's not his real name is how come you couldn't find it."

"What's his real name?"

Nathan shrugged. "The store's called Take a Chance, so the kids call him Mr. Chancey. He's a creep."

"Could you explain that?"

Nathan ran his hands through his hair. He seemed like a faint shadow of a boy. "There's just stories, you know? Like, I heard that he worships the devil and stuff, and he sells witchcraft stuff in his store. And this kid at school told me he takes little kids in the back room and touches them. Crazy shit. You don't think he has Kevin?" he said, concern blooming on his face like a rash.

"We don't know," she said, putting her hand on his arm. "Do you think these stories are true?"

Nathan shrugged again, lolling his head back against the couch. Scully could see the pulse throbbing fast under the thin skin of his throat. "I don't know. I mean, no one's ever said anything like it happened to them. It's always, like, 'I know this kid who knows someone who said,' you know?"

Scully nodded.

"But you're going to go and check on him, right?" He relaxed a little when she nodded again. "Good. Like I said, I haven't heard anything for sure, but those kids that saw Kevin, they hang out at his store a lot, and Dana,--"

She watched his bleak face, saw his adam's apple bob as he swallowed.

"--I heard them say once that Mr. Chancey killed a kid."

She was struggling to know what to say when her cell phone chirped.

"Scully."

"Scully, it's me. Where are you?"

"I'm with Nathan. I've managed to get an address for Mr. Chancey, a magic shop called Take a Chance downtown." She looked over at Nathan, who nodded. "Any luck on your end?"

"They're singing like birds," Mulder said, and she could hear his smile in the air. "All except Peter."

"What have they said about Kevin?"

"They took him downtown with them last night, to that shop to see Mr. Chancey. Samuel Eidel says that they left him there at about ten p.m., alone."

"Mulder, there are rumors that Chancey abuses children."

"I'm afraid that they're more than just rumors, Scully. Four of the boys have testified to having sexual contact with Mr. Chancey."

"I'll meet you," she said, and hung up the phone.

"Something wrong?" Nathan asked.

"No . . ." She shoved the phone into her coat pocket and stood up. "Can you give me directions to Take a Chance?"

"Can I come with you?"

Nathan did not beg, did not gaze up with hope in his eyes--he was beyond hope. It was just a question. One she knew he had to ask.

She paused, looking down into Nathan's open face. She shouldn't. It was against Bureau policy to let family members tag along on investigations, it was bad practice to take a witness to a possible crime scene, and it was just plain stupid to take Nathan to the man who might be hurting his brother, foster or not.

Scully sighed.

"Come on. But you're staying in the car."

*****

Take A Chance Magic and Novelty Shop
Downtown Bethlehem
12:31 pm

Nathan was out of the car before Scully had the key out of the ignition, strolling up to Mulder with his hands in his pockets. She followed, noticing with amusement that the boy had unconsciously adopted her partner's pose, turned slightly toward the cluttered shop fronts, looking over his shoulder at Scully and the car.

"Mulder," Nathan said, nodding.

"Nathan."

"Nathan," Scully said.

"All right, okay." He held up his hands in surrender and went back to the car, sitting in the driver's seat with the door open. After a second, Scully saw him fiddling with the radio.

"Why'd you bring him?" Mulder murmured.

"I think you have an admirer, Mulder." She watched him changing stations for a second. "He asked."

Mulder nodded, as if she had answered his question. "I told you we know that Chancey has had contact with at least four of the boys. What I didn't tell you is that none of them are pressing charges."

"What!"

He nodded, turning his back on Nathan. "None of the parents are willing to press charges, so--"

"--we have nothing to hold him on. Damn!"

"I know."

"Mulder, he's got Kevin, I know it."

"We've got nothing."

"Then let's go get something," she answered, striding toward the shop door.

*****

From the outside, Take a Chance Magic and Novelty Shop looked like a hundred dingy magic shops in a hundred dusty corners of a hundred forgotten towns. On the inside it seemed a lot larger, two wide aisles separated by a half-wall lined with displays: magic tricks, novelties, masks and costume jewelry. There was a counter at the back of the store, with an old fashioned cash register, the kind where the total popped up on little cards behind a pane of glass. The shop seemed completely empty.

"What do you think, Scully?"

She turned and found Mulder in a gorilla mask. Then she walked away. Eventually, she heard Mulder trailing after her, picking up things and putting them back.

The counter was spotlessly clean, white formica flecked with gold and silver flake. A small silver bell squatted next to the cash register with a politely lettered index card: please ring bell for service, it read, sotto voce. She tapped the bell and it chimed, a melodic cheerful sound in the empty store.

"Hello?"

A short round man peered from the back door, pushing his glasses up with one pudgy finger.

"Hello. I'm Special Agent Dana Scully and this is my partner, Agent Mulder. We're from the FBI." She pointed and noticed that Mulder was trying on Groucho Marx glasses. He waved. Once again she felt the almost irrepressible urge to punch him.

"Oh . . ." the man stepped up to the counter, wiping his hands on his apron. "How can I help you?"

He looks like Mr. Whipple, she thought. Only he squeezes little boys instead of toilet paper. The thought made her grimace.

"We're looking for a Mr. Chancey?"

The man smiled, chuckling. "Sure. That's me, I guess."

"Would you mind if we asked your real name?" Mulder asked, coming up behind her. Mercifully, he'd put the glasses down.

"Simon Malachai, a nice biblical name. It means messenger of God. But most folks just call me Mr. Chancey. You can too, if you like." He smiled at Scully, and, unbelievably, she found herself trying not to smile back. The man was harmless. He was fat and jolly and completely, utterly innocent. Of everything.

"We're here looking into the disappearance of Kevin Cryder," she said, regaining herself.

"Kevin Cryder?" Mr. Chancey put a finger to his pursed lips. "Kevin Cry--oh, yes! Kevin! Sure. He's a lovely boy, very nice. You say he's gone?"

"Mr. Malachai--" Mulder began.

"Chancey, everyone calls me that."

"Mr. Chancey, a number of boys claim that they left Kevin here last night," Scully said. "We'd like your permission to search the premises."

"They said that? Really? Silly boys." He smiled again. "That would be Eddie and Samuel, I'm sure, the troublemakers." His lighthearted tone told them he didn't mean the words. "You see, Miss Scully, those boys like to come around and learn magic. I show them tricks when I'm not busy, which is most of the time, I'm afraid." He chuckled a little. "I caught Samuel and Eddie stealing a few days ago and had to ask them to leave. They're just trying to play a prank."

"Did you catch Andrew Richter and Gerry Bell stealing, too?" Mulder asked, resting his elbows on the clean counter.

"Andrew and Gerry? Why, no. Why?"

"Because all four of them accused you of sexual assault."

Mr. Chancey laughed, laughed and laughed, like Mulder had whispered the funniest joke in the world right into his ear. His fringe of white hair bobbed from the effort.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, removing his glasses and wiping them on his apron front. "I just . . . well, shouldn't I be under arrest, then?"

Mulder stood back, his bluff called. Scully sighed.

"Yes, well." Mr. Chancey beamed. "What did the other boys say, hmm? George? Lawrence? Darling Peter?"

The agents watched him, silent and sullen. He knew, Scully thought. Somehow he knew they didn't have anything to hold him on.

"Do we have your permission to search the premises?" Scully asked again.

Mr. Chancey smiled. "Miss Scully, Agent Scully, Kevin is a charming boy, a lovely boy, and if he were here, I am sure you would find him. Please, feel free to search, but I don't know what you think you'll find."

"We hope to find the truth about Kevin Cryder, Mr. Chancey," Scully answered as Mulder flipped open his cell phone to call the police.

"Really?" He bent over the counter, eyes sparkling, as if he were about to whisper to her. "Sometimes you have to come full circle to find the truth, Miss Scully. Isn't that what they say?" He picked up the box he had set down when he came from the back and sailed past Mulder (who was talking urgently into the phone) out onto the floor, leaving her gaping after him.

*****

Take A Chance Magic and Novelty Shop
Bethlehem, Ohio
2:43 pm

Nothing.

They had nothing.

Mulder left the small cluster of officers near the door of the shop and headed back to the car, shoving his hands in his pockets as he went. Nathan was still sitting in the front seat, pretending to listen to the radio, secretly eavesdropping on everything.

"Find anything?" he asked as Mulder slid into the back seat.

"Not yet. Scully says you heard some rumors about him."

"Yeah, but nothing real. Is it true, what those kids said about him? Touching them?"

Mulder nodded.

Nathan blew out his breath in a gust, bending his head to his hands.

"Hey," Mulder said. "You didn't do this."

Nathan looked up at him, his fingers pushing lines into his cheeks. "People keep saying that to me."

"Maybe you should believe them."

"Do you?"

Mulder watched the cops in the bright afternoon light. Watched his partner order them, set them to tasks like a diminutive drill sergeant. Mulder knew what she would say, and he knew what he *should* say, and he also knew how it felt to have someone ripped away, someone you were supposed to look out for, someone who annoyed the shit out of you, following you around, asking you stupid questions, invading your privacy and touching your stuff. Someone who you loved anyway.

Mulder didn't answer.

"I know you think I'm nuts, Mulder, 'cause of what I think about Kevin. Man, I think so myself, sometimes. " He laughed a little. "But when I first met Kevin, I knew. I hated him for awhile, for making me think things, about God, about heaven and sin and all that crap that other kids don't even think about, but that's not him. Kevin's just a kid, Mr. Mulder. He's not all that other stuff, the bleeding and prophecies and the hand of God. He's just my little brother, you know?"

Nathan's hands crawled up over his face again.

"If you start crying again, I'm leaving," Mulder said, and was rewarded with a muffled chuckle and sob simultaneously.

"Fucker," Nathan mumbled.

After a quiet pause, during which Nathan swiped the tears off his face, Mulder turned to him again.

"You just knew, huh?" he asked. Nathan bobbed his head. Mulder laced his fingers together between his knees. "What'd it feel like?"

Nathan smiled, a full blinding smile for the first time in the twenty or so hours that Mulder had known him. Nathan's face was blotchy from weeping, his eyes red and swollen, his nose running, and suddenly Mulder knew what Nathan looked like when he was happy.

"Ask her," Nathan said, nodding at Scully, who had just come back out of the building with a grim smile on her face. "She knows."

Scully marched up to the car. "We found blood in the basement, Mulder. We're arresting Chancey. Let's go."

*****end 6/12*****

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