Mission: Jaws of the Jaguar

mission5

Mission: Jaws of the Jaguar Chapter FiveSettling In

Out in the car once more, Ethan nodded at Fox. "That was good, Mulder. Not a flicker, not a flinch. I think you may be able to pull this off."

"Thanks. I know you said tongue, but it just didn't seem appropriate for the rather romantic atmosphere." He said it dead faced, but Ethan's generous mouth curled at the corners. "So, does this mean we're engaged?"

"Connor considers himself married to Daniel, there's no question of that. Daniel... well, he likes to flirt. As far as we know he hasn't actually cheated on Connor. Connor likes to show Daniel off. There may have even been a little three way fun, but he'll definitely take apart anyone he feels is poaching on his territory."

"Huh. Sounds like a red neck. Shows off his girlfriend, then wants to beat the crap out of anyone who's interested."

"Not too far off the mark. Galbraith comes from the streets, no matter where he's ended up."

Fox wasn't sure what he had been expecting as far as the apartment went. Not anything this... middle class, anyway. In the downstairs hall, he waited while Ethan unlocked one of the mailboxes and removed several large manilla envelopes and a padded shipping envelope.

The door behind them opened, and a pleasant looking, plump woman peered out, beaming when she saw them. "Hello, Mr. Bridger. This must be your friend."

"Yes. Fox, this is Mrs. Gluckman, my landlady. Mrs. Gluckman, my good friend, Fox Mulder."

"Hi." Fox shook hands. The woman's face was bland, but her eyes were shrewd. "Pleased to meet you."

"What a nice, polite young man! But then, he WOULD be, being your friend, Mr. Bridger. Wait just a minute." She disappeared into the apartment, and appeared a moment later with a foil wrapped plate. "Here you are. I made a strawberry pound cake, and I just can't eat it all. You boys will have to help me."

Ethan took the plate. "You spoil me, Mrs. G. Thanks."

She smiled, darting a glance at the lanky man hovering near the stairs, and whispered, "Have fun, dear. But don't neglect business." Ethan winked at her, earning a chuckle, as he headed for the stairs.

Fox wanted to ask Ethan about the woman, but waited until they were in the apartment. "Does she... She isn't... part of your... uh... organization. Is she?"

Ethan set the plate and mail on the dining table. "What? You think spies can't bake? Want a beer?"

"Yeah." He followed Ethan into the kitchen, and glanced around. Almost as pristine as his own. Of course, he didn't do much more than make coffee and heat take out there. "I hope Daniel isn't a gourmet cook, expected to whip up a banquet for Montaña, `cause if he is, you're shit out of luck."

"I believe Danny probably pouts if he has to eat in more than twice a week. Dark okay?"

"What brand does Daniel drink?"

Ethan looked at him sharply. "You're learning." He handed Fox a bottle. "I don't know. It should be somewhere in the information they're sending us." Ethan took a beer himself and shut the refrigerator, then leaned back against it. "There's going to be a lot of details, Fox." He uncapped his beer and took a long swallow. "There's no telling what might be important, so you'll need to get it all. As far as we know, no one in Montaña's inner circle has had direct contact with Ballard or Galbraith, but we can't take any chances. Anyway, the two are fairly well known in the drug trade, so there's information floating around out there about them. Certain things will be expected, and looked for."

"Like PDOA?"

"Like PDOA. We might as well get comfortable and get started."

In the dining area, Ethan took off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair before sitting down. He opened one of the envelopes and began to scan through the sheaf of papers he pulled out. After a moment's hesitation, Fox removed his own jacket and followed Ethan's ple,ple, sitting around the corner from him. Without looking up from the papers, Ethan said, "Why don't you take off that tie? You're strangling me, just looking at you."


After years in a prep school where a tie was part of the daily uniform, Fox had pretty much the same feeling about them. But at the Bureau, you wore ties, so he wore a tie. If he could go most of three weeks without wearing one, he'd count that as a perk. The tie went into the jacket pocket.

Ethan handed him some of the papers. "Usually when you go under with an assumed identity, you only have to know about the person you're impersonating. In this case, the two involved are so intimate with each other that we're each going to have to learn everything we can about them both."

Fox looked at the top sheet of the pile he held. It was part of a medical history. "Can I take notes?"

"Good idea. There should be legal pads and pens over in the desk."

Fox found what he needed in the bottom drawer. He examined the computer curiously. He didn't have a lot of experience with them himself. He left most of that to The Lone Gunmen. But he had a suspicion that there were some very interesting things inside that little beige box.

Ethan called. "Don't fool with that, Fox."

"I wasn't going to. Give me a little credit."

"I figured you had enough sense, but you never know what a temptation curiosity can be. So don't fool with it. It could get... messy."

I bet. God knows what's tucked in there. He carried his supplies back to the table and settled down to study. He pulled his reading glasses out of his jacket pocket, and slipped them on.

Ethan looked over. The rimless glasses were square, and gave Fox an almost scholarly look. He could very well be a junior professor of literature of philosophy. Handsome, but..."Daniel doesn't wear glasses."

Fox didn't look up. "Maybe Daniel is so vain that he'd rather have blurry vision."

"That's possible," Ethan admitted. "But he doesn't wear glasses. Do you need to wear those?"

"If I'm going to read, I do." He shuffled the papers. "Besides, it says here that the reason Ballard doesn't wear glasses is that he wears contacts. Looks like a stronger prescription than mine, actually."

Ethan made a note. "We'll have to get those set up tomorrow."

They worked in silence for awhile. The quiet was broken only by the faint scratch of Mulder's pen moving across paper. He came to the end of his section, reviewed it, then looked back over his notes. Ethan was reading what looked like a shipping report. He had the sheet lying on the table before him. His elbows were propped to either side of it, and both hands were buried in his shaggy hair.

Fox watched the intent green eyes flicking rapidly over the information on the sheet. He had a feeling that Ethan probably didn't really need to take notes. Some people just absorbed information like a sponge, and Bridger seemed to be one of them.
Every now and then, Bridger's lips moved slightly, as if he were talking to himself. Fox found himself following the movements. He had a very expressive mouth. Suddenly Ethan's eyes flicked up, locking on his. "Yes?"

Fox glanced around quickly for a topic of conversation. He tapped the padded envelope that had come with the mail. "What's this?"

"Let's find out. We've done enough of this for the time being."

Ethan ripped open the envelope, then put it through the shredder on the desk. It's content was an unlabeled video tape. He turned on the television and inserted the tape in the VCR, then went to sit beside Fox on the couch. The remote was on the coffee table before him, and he took it and hit PLAY.

There were no credits, no title. It merely showed what looked like a table in an expensive restaurant. The tablecloth was heavy, china, silver, and crystal gleamed against the rich fabric. In a moment, Connor Galbraith and Daniel Ballard were escorted to the table by a tuxedo clad maitre de, and seated. It looked like the camera was
located no more than six or seven feet away from them.

Ethan shook his head admiringly. "The surveillance men are the true artists of this field. I'll never understand how they do it. We'll get periodic tapes like this so we can make personal observation on speech patterns and such." They listened to the two men discussing what to order. "You won't need to work on the voice, you're close enough. I'm going to have to brush up my brogue, though."

"I don't think Connor HAS a brogue. It's more of a lilt."

"Why Fox, that's a rather romantic term to use."

Mulder frowned. "I'm trying to think like Daniel."

They continued to watch the tape. Galbraith and Ballard had a leisurely meal. They were obviously very comfortable with each other. At one point Daniel remarked on something Connor was eating. Connor cut a forkfull and fed it to his lover, teasing him about never being satisfied. Daniel murmured that the only thing in the world that truly satisfied him was Connor, and squeezed his leg under the table.

Fox shifted. He'd never been that intimate with a woman in public. Now he was going to have to act like that with another man? Oh, well. He glanced over at Ethan, who was sitting forward, studying his double. At least with someone who looked like Ethan, it was plausible. It wasn't like he was going to have to make up to some bowser.

And since when does that have anything to do with it, Mulder? Wouldn't it be better if he was ugly? Then people would be less likely to think that you were really interested him. Wait, I'm supposed to make them think that. Well, yeah, Montaña and his goons. But I'd rather not have the rest of the world...

"You'll need to make your gestures just a little softer, a little lazier. Daniel's kind of a languid guy, except when he's partying."

"Check. Languid party animal."

The couple was leaving the table. "Good manners. They both fold their napkins. I'll need to find out what sort of tips Galbraith usually leaves."

"Probably big, to show off for Daniel."

"Could be." Ethan switched off the television. "Let's get some sleep. No point in over doing it the first day. You've had a lot to take in already."

He go and and went to the bedroom. "Cut out the lights, would you?"

Fox did, and went to the bedroom doorway. Ethan was sitting on the bed, removing his shoes. "There's only one bed."

Ethan looked around, then looked back at Fox. "I see that." He pulled his shirt off. Bridger wasn't big, but everything he had looked lean and hard.
"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"Left or right side, your choice. I don't care." He stood up and started opening his belt.

"I... don't think so."

Ethan shoved his pants down muscular legs, took them off, and folded them across a chair. "All right." He picked up a comforter from the foot of the bed and tossed it, and a pillow to Fox. "But I'm not giving up the bed. You can have the couch."

"Okay." Fox started to turn away. The couch looked comfortable enough. He'd slept on worse.

"But Mulder?" Fox turned back. Ethan in a pair of very small dark blue briefs, was sliding under the sheets. "Daniel and Connor sleep together. We're going to share a bed at Montaña's, and there'll be no dossinwn own on the floor, either. There's no telling when someone might decide to check on us. So it might be easier for you

if you get used to it before we go. Good night."

He switched off the bedside lamp. Fox stood there a moment, then went back into the living room.

In the darkness, Ethan Hunt smiled.