Written by Isaac Marchionna
All characters are copyright their original owners, duh. If I owned any of
these characters I'd be rich.

-----Thanks-----
My heartfelt thanks go out to the following people who helped me on my
story. They are Kevin Hammel, Andrew Norris, Kichigai Jimita, Nibun Yuri, and
Kaoru L. Shimitsu. And Special thanks to Jonas Fang!

Charlatans Chapter 2

"Kuno, how come I don't have a desk?!" Ranma demanded.

Chapter 2: "Nothing Changes, just Rearranges."

Washington D.C: A Week Later

	"Don't these people have file cabinets?!" Ranma asked while 
leaning on a
pile of folders.

	"They do, they're just buried under the folders that you're 
leaning on."
Kuno said while he browsed through a file.

	Ranma's elbow slipped causing the whole stack of papers to scatter
over the floor.

	"Hey, here they are!" Ranma quickly covered her mistake.

	Kuno paused in his reading. He looked up at Ranma with a rather
shocked expression on his face. "What knowledge do you have about, what's
the term, extra-terrestrials?" Kuno asked.

	"That's like the guy who needs to phone home, right?" Ranma said in a
confused tone.

	"Argh!" Kuno buried his head in his hands.
---------------------------------------------

	The happiness in Mulder's life could best be represented by the way he
slept. During his most happy years he had bed. Then some of the worst were
spent on a couch. Now they were spent sleeping on the floor.

	"Gooood Mooorning!" A voice woke Mulder up from sleep.

	Mulder groaned as the last bit of sleepiness left him.

	"Ahhh!" Mulder yelped as he realized that he wasn't alone. He had
something attached to him, using a grip that would put one of those face-
huggers from Aliens to shame.

	"Scully, Help! Something's on me!" Mulder tried desperately to pry
whatever it was off of him.

	Scully padded into the room, wearing a borrowed set of pajamas and
looking like a mess.

	"MULDER!, what are you doing to that poor girl?!" Scully stamped while
readying a mallet.

	"Girl! Where?! WHAT?! EEEP!" Mulder finally recognized that 
it was Nabiki
who was clamped onto him like a barnacle. Mulder tried desperately to force
the girl off him. Finally she budged.

	"Hey, what are you doing glomping him like that!" Scully said 
in a jealous
tone.

	Nabiki stared back icily and looked straight at Scully, "He's 
my fiance,
and he loves me, RIGHT!" Nabiki said as she poked him with her elbow.

	"Is this true?!" Scully said as she twirled her hammer over her head.

	"Err, umm, not that I know of...." Mulder said, confused.

	"But you said that you love me!" Nabiki produced her best fake cry and
attempted to glomp onto Mulder's body. She would have made it, except for a
large wooden mallet between her and Mulder.

	Electricity crackled between Nabiki and Scully.

	"Breakfast is ready." Kasumi's sweet voice called from the kitchen.

	"Umm, I'll be eating if you need me." Mulder said, neither one noticed
him leave.
---------------------------------------------

	"Really?  A giant fluke-man? Wow! Well I've got a one over here about a
guy who's shadow can suck people up like a blackhole." The two had been
looking through Mulder and Scully's case files. Most people would have
considered the files as just a nice collection of sci fi stories, but Ranma and
Kuno accepted them at face value. They'd both seen things at least as
strange, and besides, they had the FBI seal.

	"Hold on, what's this?" Kuno pulled out another file. He 
fingered through
the file.

	"What? What is it?" Ranma said curiously.

	"Well, it turns out that that Agent Mulder had his sister taken from
him at an early age. He claims that she was abducted by aliens." Kuno said as
he closed the file.

	"Poor guy, really?" Ranma actually felt sorry for the man, she knew
what it was like to miss a family member.

	"Yes, now if only those same aliens would abduct MY sister." Kuno said,
almost in whinny manner.
----------------------------
	Mulder sat down at the table. He had his chopsticks up and ready to go.
He watched as Nabiki came down the hallway and sat down next to him. She
would have grabbed on, except for a redhead sending her evil looks.

	Genma and Soun rushed for the table, placing themselves in the best
possible place to eat as much as they could. Akane rubbed her eyes as she
came down the stairs and sat down.

	Kasumi started to pass out the food. Mulder's mouth watered at the
sight of home cooked food. How long had it been since he'd eaten a home
cooked meal? Mulder thought to himself. 'Oh, yeah, about six years!'

	Mulder maneuvered his hands beneath the two oldest men who were
attempting to make the food disappear faster then the speed of sound.

	"You can have breakfast, but it'll cost you twenty American dollars."
Nabiki said plainly.

	"What! This meal maybe nice, but I can't pay you that much for this."
Mulder claimed.

	"Well, either you pay, or you can eat some bamboo stalks that we have
outside. But that will only cost you only fifteen dollars." Mulder grumbled as
he forked over the cash.

	Meanwhile Scully was trying to get herself some of the food. 
She finally
noticed a small corner of the plate that hadn't been sucked up.

	"Sorry, but it's going to cost you too." Nabiki said as she 
held out her
hand in anticipation of the cash.

	Scully fished through her wallet and pulled out a twenty.

	"Nope, gonna cost you more, make in forty!" Nabiki said to the redhead.

	"Ya know, as a doctor I've come across many untraceable ways to kill a
person." Scully said seriously. Nabiki started to sweat.

	Scully handed over the money. She wondered if Japan had the same
punishments when it came to justified homicide.
---------------------------

	"Why do these things always happen to me?" Ranma said as she threw
done yet another bizarre case file.

	Ranma was about to continue ranting when a small knock on the door
startled her.

	Kuno walked over towards the heavy wooden door that led to the
hallway. Kuno cleared his throat, "Yes?"

	"Agents Mulder and Scully? I can't talk for long; I'm not safe here. I
need to give you the disk just like you asked." A voice whispered under the
door.

	Kuno was confused, but opened the door to respond. Ranma moved
towards Kuno, standing on her toes to see over his shoulder. The door swung
open, revealing a man dressed in normal clothes.

	"What! How are you?! Shit. You're not them!" The man cried out in
alarm.

Kuno and Ranma looked at each other with dread, someone had realized their
secret. But before they could talk with the man he turned and ran.
	Kuno pushed Ranma aside and dashed down the hallway in pursuit. The
hallway was filled with file cabinets, which made for little room. Kuno and the
man weaned through obstacles with uncanny ability and speed. The man
pushed his way past files and books, causing most to fall in the way of Kuno,
who jumped over them while retaining his speed. The man looked back to see
where his pursuer was, and collided with a bookshelf while not paying
attention.
	Kuno slowed as he saw the man stagger and get back up. Kuno noticed
a small tape by his feet. The man dove for Kuno's feet, trying to retrieve the
tape. Kuno just put his foot on the tape, which prevented the man from
taking it.

	"Looking for this?" Kuno said as he pointed to the tape.

	The man tried once more to swipe at the tape, but was unsuccessful.
He realized that he couldn't get the disk, but he had the chance for escape.
He got to his feet and ran off faster then before.

	Kuno reached down and picked up the disk, he could hear the footsteps
approaching.

	"Hey Kuno, what was that about?!" Ranma said down the hall as she
tried to run in heels.

	"I'm not sure..." Kuno pondered.

	"Well, whatever it was the guy sure thought it was important, he sure
ran like..." Ranma tripped on her heels and fell flat on her face.

	"I really hate this trip" Ranma grumbled while rubbing her head.
-----------------------------

	"Stupid, Stupid, RANMA!" Akane landed a roundhouse kick on the
wooden dummy with an attached pigtail.

	Akane fumed at the thought of Ranma. When she was around him he
drove her nuts, but now that he was gone it was exponentially worse. Akane
shouldn't have been upset that he was kidnapped, but to her it was a
personal blow. She believed that being kidnapped was one of the things she
was good at, in her weird pretzel logic type way.

	'I don't get to travel the world, and he's probably off with some
American bimbo' Akane mentally cursed.

	Akane imagined all the things he was doing at the moment. A thousand
thoughts and possibilities floated through her head in a brief second. Akane's
face turned bright red with anger as she punched the dummy causing it to
explode.

	"That's it, I can't take it anymore! I'm going after him. I'm 
gonna kill
him!" Akane charged off towards the house. At that same moment half way
across the globe Ranma suddenly felt really cold.
------------------------------

	"Brrr..is it cold in here, I have the strangest feeling that 
something bad
is going to happen." Ranma commented as she crossed her arms and
shuddered.

	Kuno sat at his desk and tapped the tape with his finger.

	"By the way, what is that thing? Looks like a musical tape." Ranma
gestured at the tape.

	"I don't think so, looks bigger. I think I might know what it 
is, this might
interest you." Kuno went under the desk to hit a switch. Immediately the
computer screen on Mulder's desk flickered on.

	"So what is it?" Ranma grew impatient.

	"Pardon the wait, in a few moments. I believe it's a DAT." Kuno said
while he palmed the tape.

	"A what, have you been watching too many American ghetto movies?"
Ranma said.

	"No, a DAT, Digital Audio Tape. I heard the term somewhere before. It's
a linear backup medium. You store vast quantities of data for later retrieval,
the kind of thing you back whole computers on. I heard it from someplace,
really." Kuno said, trying to convince Ranma that that was really the truth.

	"Yeah right, Kuno's a nerd, admit it. You're a computer geek." Ranma
rolled on the floor with laughter.

	Kuno lowered his head in embarrassment. He blushed profusely, "Oh, I
beg of thee, fairest maiden, do not let this information slip past thy tongue,
for it would greatly shame me!"  Kuno got on his knees and begged.

	"Maybe, as long as you don't call me a maiden anymore." Ranma fumed.

	Kuno sat down and inserted the tape. A moment later file names
scrolled down the screen.

	"I don't get it, for one thing I don't know a thing about 
computers, but
where do we begin?" Ranma tapped the screen.

	"Um, I think we should start with this one." Kuno highlighted the one
called 'Readme.txt'. It was terribly obvious, but it was worth a try.

	The moment the file was opened the screen flashed random text and
images across the screen. Pages upon pages of text chattered across the
window. Suddenly the screen went blank except for one sentence.

	"What does it say, I can't read it!" Ranma tried turning her head until
she could make sense of it.

	"It's not English, that all that I can tell." Kuno said as he 
pulled out a
piece of paper to write the text down on.

------------------------------

	Scully was annoyed over Mulder's behavior. She was furious over
watching Mulder not fighting back when Nabiki glomped him.

	'It's not like I'm jealous or anything. I'm just looking out 
for the well
being of my partner, yeah, that's it. I'm looking out for him!' Scully thought
as she tried to justify her anger. She was walking around the corner of the
yard when she came face to face with Nabiki.

	"Oh, it's you." Scully said in half interested tone.

	"What's your problem?! Can't you see that Mulder and I are in 
love? He'll
marry me and take me back as his wife. Then I'll, I mean we'll live 
happily ever
after." Nabiki said in her ultra cute voice.

	"Why you little.....hussy!" Scully pulled out her mallet and 
chased after
Nabiki.

	"Eep!" Nabiki had misjudged her, Nabiki ran for her life. She dodged
repeated blows, most of which caused structural damage to the Tendo
residence. She ran inside the house, eyeing Mulder at the table she put
Mulder between herself and Scully.

	"The evil lady is trying to hurt me!" Nabiki grabbed hold of 
Mulder's arm.
Mulder groaned, he turned just in time to have a mallet connect cleanly with
his cranium.

	"You little brat, you made me hurt him!" Scully tried to 
shift the blame.

	The doorbell rang. Using this as an excuse Nabiki ran to get the door.
She opened the door, revealing an attractive brunette and a beautiful purple
haired girl.

	"Where Ranma?" "Where's Ranchan?" The two girls pushed Nabiki aside
as they searched the house looking for Ranma.

	"He's not here right now." Nabiki said.

	"Where he go?" Shampoo looked confused.

	"He's on a training trip, he's off in Albuquerque, yeah 
that's it!" Nabiki
whipped up a quick lie.

	"When will my sugar get home?" Ukyo asked. Only a couple of days
without her beloved Ranma and she was a nervous wreck.

	"I have no idea, he said it was gonna be a long time." Nabiki said.

	"Where Albuquerque, I no ever hear of that place." Shampoo demanded.

	"It's in China, it's pretty new." Nabiki said, normally an excuse this
stupid would never pass, but this is Shampoo, and she's not the sharpest
knife in the rack.

	"Uh, umm..okay!" Shampoo and Ukyo padded back to the door.

	"One last question, who are those two?!" Ukyo motioned towards Mulder
and Scully.

	"Oh, that's my soon to be hus...." Nabiki said as she was cut off my
Mulder's hand covering her mouth.

	"We're married!" Mulder put his hand around Scully and gave her a kiss
on her cheek. The two girls looked confused. Mulder hummed the typical
wedding march song.

	"Ah, okay!" The two girls chimed.

	Scully turned bright red, Nabiki fumed with anger, and the 
two girls left
the house.
-------------------------------

	"Well, today was certainly interesting, but I think we should call it a
day." Ranma threw down the last of the case files.

	Kuno nodded and put down his own reading material. He fished through
his pocket and pulled out the keys to the room. He motioned for Ranma to
exit, waiting patiently to follow.

	"Always a gentleman, ah I see ladies first, eh?" Ranma poked Kuno in
the ribs. She knew his little games. She could have a lot of fun with this
aspect of Kuno. Ranma walked a few steps before turning around, she gave
Kuno a seductive wink as she walked off.

	Ranma made it around the corner before collapsing with laughter. Kuno
still stood in the doorframe, his hands over his face to stop the nosebleed,
his face bright red.

	Ranma rolled on the floor, tears streaming down her face from
laughing so hard. She calmed down and took a deep breath, "Ah, that was
great!" Ranma straightened her skirt and walked towards the door that lead
to the parking garage.

	Kuno ran with one hand plugging his nose, the other carrying his wad of
case files. He caught up to Ranma, who was leaning against the car and
tapping her foot. It was decided earlier that Ranma wasn't going to drive.
Kuno came to this decision after a long talk with a nice police officer who
demanded that Ranma never drive again.

	Kuno unlocked the car and slipped into the driver's seat throwing the
case files onto the back seat.

	"Why can't I drive, I can do it!" Ranma complained.

	"Because the Police Officer said something along the lines of 'you're a
moving disaster, a dangerous force of nature on four wheels, the likes of
which haven't been seen since that bus that couldn't go below fifty a couple
years back." Kuno said to Ranma, who felt guilty and immediately shut up.

	Kuno was about to turn the ignition when a phone rang. Ranma patted
her jacket down, while Kuno searched through his jacket.

	"It's mine." Kuno pulled the small cellular phone from his jacket. He
looked at it skeptically. Only A.D Skinner had this cell phone number, and it
was only supposed to be used in extreme circumstances. Kuno hit the power
button and put the phone up to his ear.

	"Kuno Tatewaki?" The voice on the other end said.

	"Who is this?!" Kuno demanded. Ranma looked at him strangely.

	"I know who you are, and if you'd like to keep on living I 
need you to get
out of your car NOW!" The voice's tone never rose until the last word.
"I don't know who you are, but I don't know what you're talking about." Kuno
tried to hang up.

	"They'll be coming for that tape anytime now. If the bomb doesn't get
you then they will. Now get out of the car!" The voice ordered.

	"Bomb! What?!" Kuno yelled, he threw the phone down and pushed
Ranma violently out the door. He fell out the passenger side door, quickly
getting up he pulled Ranma with him.

	The two only managed to get about thirty feet away before an electric
clicking emitted from the bottom of the car. Kuno and Ranma were knocked
down by the force of a car bomb detonating. The force of which launched the
car into a vertical spin. The surrounding cars lifted and creaked, most turned
on their sides with their windows blown out. The car settled down in a pool of
its own gasoline.

	Ranma moaned as she shook her head. Ranma winced in pain as she
touched a cut on her head, the blood trickling down over her eye. Kuno
brushed off small debris that had landed on him. He inspected himself, finding
only a few cuts, nothing serious.

	"Are you alright?" Kuno said as he put pressure on Ranma's cut.

	Ranma was about to respond as a crack of sound resonated across the
garage. A few feet away from her a bullet caused the floor to explode in
small clouds of debris.

	"Gun, get down!" Kuno said as he grabbed Ranma under her arms and
pulled her behind a car.

	The lights in the massive garage suddenly cut out. A few seconds later
the emergency lights kicked in. The room was washed in an eerie red glow.
The walls flickered from the light cast by the fire.

	Kuno pulled his jacket off as he flicked the safety off on his gun.

	"Stay down, don't move!" Kuno whispered to Ranma. Ranma nodded, the
pain in her head was intense. Kuno peeked around the corner and dashed for
cover.

	Ranma wasn't someone that could stay put. She kicked off her shoes, 'I
hate those damn things!' Ranma reached inside her jacket and pulled her
smaller gun out. It wasn't the standard issue, but Ranma wanted the smallest
one possible.

	Ranma quickly pulled her jacket off and slipped the small gun into its
shoulder holster. Ranma cracked her knuckles and dashed behind a car. She
wasn't going to let Kuno make a mess of this.

	Kuno hid behind a pillar as he watched a group of men sweep the area.
He clenched his gun tightly, watching two of them men break off from the
pack and head in another direction.

	Ranma crouched behind a car, trying to find her attackers in the dark.

	Kuno wanted to yell out at the top of his lungs. He watched one of
them men move towards Ranma.

	Ranma could hear the pack of men moving away. She sighed as a sense
of relief washed over her. 'Whew, that was close', Ranma commented to
herself.

	Ranma gulped as a metallic click signaled that a gun had been pressed
up to her back. Ranma felt powerless, and then an overwhelming sense of
rage took over her senses. Ranma reached behind her back and pulled the
man over her shoulder in one quick move. But he wasn't going to go down this
easy.

	Moving as fast as he possibly could Kuno dashed towards Ranma.

	Ranma blocked a punch with ease, landing four or five punches in the
man's stomach. Ranma caught Kuno in the corner of her eye, which was
enough of a distraction to allow an opening. The man shifted his weight as he
attempted to land a roundhouse kick into Ranma's torso. Ranma dodged
easily, but in doing so left her back wide open.

	"Arghh!" Ranma looked up at the barrel of the man's gun. She wasn't
the kind of person to panic. But in this instance a powerfull feeling of
helplessness and terror flooded Ranma.

	"Time to die, Bitch!" The man said, pulling the hammer back on his gun.
Ranma growled, defeated.

	Ranma closed her eyes, suddenly feeling calm.

	She opened her eyes and smiled. He spent his last few seconds
confused at Ranma's smile.  Then his head exploded in a fraction of a second.
The hollow-point bullet expanding like a banana peeling apart. A large
mushroom of red matter exploded in the air.

	Kuno stood behind the fallen man, his gun still smoking. Ranma
quivered, shaking with shock, she'd never seen someone die like that. Sure,
she'd seen dramatized violence in movies, but this was real, tangible and all
the more shocking. Kuno bent down to offer her his hand.

	Ranma pulled out her gun instinctively as she noticed one of them men,
submachine gun in hand. Ranma brought her gun to bare faster then the man.
She managed to squeeze off two shots before the man collapsed upon his
knees. Kuno whipped his head around, eyeing the collapsed man.

	Kuno reached out and grabbed the gun from Ranma's hands, the gun
shaking from Ranma's trembling hands. Ranma had never taken a life, nor
had she ever wanted. She was a martial artist, and the idea of taking a life
was something that was a possibility, but not a constant thought.

	"Are you hurt?! Have they hurt you!" Ranma was lethargic with shock.
She was dizzy, the world seemed to spin around her. Her natural reaction
finally won out, and she passed out.

	Kuno was enraged.

	"How dare you touch the pigtailed goddess?! I shall avenge her!" Kuno
yelled. Announcing his position.

	Kuno could see three men, both sufficiently armed. Kuno had his gun at
his side. He reached behind his back and pulled out a second gun, not
regulation, but his choice. The men looked around the garage for their
comrades. When they couldn't locate them they glanced at each other and
walked towards an awaiting car.

	"Come back! It's not over that easily, you cur!" Kuno trained 
his guns on
the men.

	Two of the men got into the car, the third stood and stared at Kuno.
Kuno studied the man, the most prominent feature was the man's prosthetic
arm.

	The man pointed at Kuno and stepped into the car. Kuno turned as the
car peeled off with a horrible screech.
------------
	The ringing of a phone brought Kasumi out from the kitchen. Kasumi
picked up Mulder's cell phone and pressed the bright green button.

	"Hello? Yes, this is the Tendo residence. Umm, I'm not sure 
if this is a
secure line, it looks pretty sturdy." Kasumi awnsered.

	"Mulder!" Kasumi called out to Mulder, who was sitting near the koi
pond.

	"Arigato!" Mulder thanked Kasumi as she handed him the phone.

	"Hello, Mulder here." Mulder spoke into the phone.

	"Mulder, are you okay, we heard that you and Scully were attacked!"
The voice on the other sounded worried. Mulder recognized the voice as
Frohike, long time sex crazed member of the lone gunmen.

	"Umm, aside from crazy mercenary fiances, I don't remember being
attacked." Mulder checked himself over.

	"Mulder! This is serious, we heard you were attacked in the FBI parking
lot!" Another voice interrupted Mulder. Byers must have been using the
speakerphone. Byers was the only real voice of reason among the group.

	Mulder paled as he remembered Kuno and Ranma. Feelings of neglected
responsibility and guilt suddenly inundated Mulder.
"Okay, Guys, I'm gonna need a big favor. Do you have a minute? Well, to make
a long story short..." Mulder began to ramble off the story of the mix up.
---------------
	"Are you sure about this?" Scully said as she approached the clinic.

	"Well, you were insistent upon doing something to help out. And
obviously housework isn't one of your strong points. And your cooking is,
well, interesting.." Kasumi recalled the mess caused by Scully in the kitchen.

	"I see what you mean. Well, you did say that the clinic was
shorthanded." Scully said as she walked up the steps.

	Kasumi pressed the door bell. Smoothing out her skirt she put on her
most cheerful face.

	"Hello, Doctor Tofu!" Kasumi said as the Doctor opened the door.

	"Umm, uh, well hello Kasumi! And good day to you too, Ranma!" Tofu
motioned towards Scully. Tofu fought hard not to brake down into a
incoherent mess.

	"I am not Ranma!" Scully fumed!

	Tofu straightened his glasses, "Ah, I see! Well, hello, miss?"

	"Dana Scully, I'm here for a while, so I thought I could lend a hand."
Scully said politely.

	"Ah, what are your qualifications?" Tofu asked, while trying to keep
from ripping his note pad in half.

	"Um, this might take a while." Kasumi and Scully sat down.
--------------
	Kuno was exhausted. He had spent the last two hours describing what
had happened to the authorities. Kuno had never taken a life before, in his
mind he was a samurai, but he had never actually dreamt of killing someone.
Kuno felt tired, emotionally and physically. Kuno attempted to push those
feelings of remorse back.

	Ranma, after some grumbling, finally allowed the paramedics to check
her out.

	"I want you two to go home, lock your doors, and stay together!"
Skinner said as he talked to some of the officials overseeing the
investigation.

	"Hai!" Kuno and Ranma chimed in unison.

	"Let us proceed to my home!" Kuno said as they hailed a cab.

	"I think not!" Ranma replied.
-------------------
	Mulder had decided to go out for a walk. Since he was going to spend
quite a bit of time in Nerima, he might as well learn what was out there.

	"Um, excuse me, would you happen to have the time?" Mulder turned
around.

	"Oh, it's just about noon." Mulder said to the purple haired girl.

	"Why, thank you!" The girl politely responded. Mulder turned around and
continued to watch the scenery.

	"Azaka, Komadaki, we're late for Lord Tenchi's dental appointment. Ah,
how romantic that will be!" Ayeka walked off, followed by her giant 
linkin logs.

	"Yes, Princess Ayeka!" The giant blocks of firewood said in unison.

	"Hmm, interesting girl. Geez, giant moving logs, what will those
Japanese car designers think up next?!" Mulder said as he gazed up into the
sky.
--------------
	Kuno and Ranma stepped out of the cab. Kuno passed the driver his
fare. The two walked up to the stair leading up the Mulder's apartment. Kuno
was a little on edge, being attacked will do that to a person.

	Kuno drew his gun as he saw three men waiting on the steps of the
apartment building.

	"Whoa, hey, put the gun down man!" A long blonde haired man yelled.
The three men ducked behind anything that could give them cover.

	"Show thy selves!" Kuno demanded. Ranma stood behind him for cover.

	"Just us paranoid conspiracy freaks!" Frohike stood with his hands held
high. The two other men saw this and stood up in the same fashion.

	"Ah, I see your the guy Mulder told us about. Kuno, I believe. And that
must be Ranma!" Byers pointed his finger at the two of them.

	"What do you want?" Kuno eased up.

	"Mulder asked us to help you out. And it looks like we were a 
little bit
late!" Byers pointed at Ranma's bandages.

	"You know about that, who are you?" Kuno said confused.

	"We're the Lone Gunmen, nice to meet you!"

	"If you don't mind we can talk in a more private place." Frohike
motioned towards an awaiting car.

	Ranma stepped out from behind Kuno. She was cautious, but she also
wanted some anwser, "Why should we trust you?!"

	"We're the only ones who you CAN trust! And besides we have free
food!" Frohike exclaimed.
----------------
	"Stupid Ranma, I'll find a way to defeat him once and for 
all. He'll regret
the day he ever met me. First I need to find out where I am!" Ryouga said as
he tried using his map.

	Ryouga, finally put his map away in frustration.

	"Hey, it's the Doc's clinic, I must be in Nerima!" Ryouga said
triumphantly.

	Scully had finished her first day at the clinic. Tofu had 
hired her right
on the spot. Tofu was honored to have a full-blown medical doctor
volunteering to help out at the clinic.

	Scully closed and locked the clinic door behind her. The idea 
of heading
home for a home cooked meal was incredibly appealing.

	Ryouga saw the redhead out of the corner of his eye. He knew that red
hair anywhere. Anger and fury overtook the young man. Ryouga dropped his
backpack and charged.

	"RANMA!" Ryouga wielded his umbrella like a sword.

	"Aww, not again!" Scully exclaimed as she leaped out of Ryouga's way.

	"Die, Ranma, oh... you're not Ranma. Sorry, miss!" Ryouga apologized
briefly and walked off in search of the Tendo Dojo.

	Scully brushed herself off, shaken slightly from being attacked.

	"The people here sure have issues!" Scully said as she headed home.
---------------
	"Have enough locks on your door?" Ranma said as Frohike closed the
door to the Lone Gunmen's office.

	"Um, we're putting in another five tomorrow." Frohike said as he put
the large piece of lumber over the door frame.

	"So, it appears that you two have gotten yourself way in over your
heads!" Byers commented.

	"How so?" Kuno said as he fiddled with some of the gadgets laying
about the room.

	"Those men trying to attack you were professionals. You must have
something they want!" Langly said before taking a drink of his soda.

	"Whatever it is it could get you killed! Mulder asked us to 
give you any
help you needed. We're the ones you can trust." Byers responded.

	Ranma wasn't really paying attention. She was off looking around the
Lone Gunmen's office.

	"Hey, Langly, you think I have a chance with that chick?" Frohike
whispered.
	"I don't know, man. Mulder said she was some kind of martial artist."
Langly responded.

	"Carpe diem, man, carpe diem!" Frohike slowly walked over to where
Ranma was standing.

	"Hey hot mama, how 'bout you and me practice some Kung Fu back at
my place!" Fohike said as he put his hand on Ranma's rear end.

	Ranma turned bright red. She was sick and tired of being treated like a
girl. She hated herself for making the curse permanent, she was sick of
wearing girl's clothes, and she was sick of men treating her like a slab of
meat. Ranma's reaction wasn't pretty.

	Ranma knocked Frohike across the room. Thankfully an array of
bookshelves broke his fall.

	"Guess not...." Frohike groaned before passing out.

	Kuno walked over to Ranma, who was grinding her teeth and clenching
her fists.

	"I think it would be best for us to leave now." Kuno said as he hurried
Ranma out the door.
-------------
	"Waaahhh!" Soun bawled, tears overflowing.

	"What is it daddy?" Nabiki asked from the top of the stairs.

	"Akane is leaving! Waahhh! She's off for America!" Sound continued to
sob.

	"Didn't she at least say goodbye?" Kasumi asked as she brought food in
for dinner.

	"No, she just left a note saying that she was going to bring Ranma
home." Soun sniffled.

	"Well, Akane can take care of herself. Dinner time." Kasumi announced.

	Soun's tears immediately stopped, "Yay, dinner! Thank you, Kasumi!"
--------------
	Kuno and Ranma stood waiting for their cab to arrive. Ranma had
calmed down a great deal.

	A ringing sound immediately made Ranma jump. Kuno reached into his
pocket to fish out his cell phone. The last time it rang his car blew up. Kuno
was cautious as he turned the power on.

	"Mulder here." Kuno said, he had to remind himself to say Mulder's
name.

	"Cut the crap, Mr. Tatewaki Kuno!" The voice said.

	"Who is this?!" Kuno said, Ranma looked up at him questioningly.

	"The same person who warned you about that bomb. Now if you want
some real awnsers come to the Cooper House construction site on 3rd and
main."

	"And why should we?" Kuno said, Ranma put her ear up to the phone to
hear the conversation.

	"Because your life is still in danger! Now get going." At that the
connection dropped.

	"It's your call, I say we go. The last he called he saved our 
lives." Ranma
exclaimed.

	"Indeed!" Kuno responded.
----------------
	The cab pulled into the dusty lot of the construction site. Rebars and
cement bags were spread about the site.

	Kuno and Ranma stepped out of the cab. Kuno flashed Ranma a
concerned glance.

	Kuno's phone rang. Kuno quickly flicked it on.

	"Where do we go from here?" Kuno already knew who was on the other
line.

	"Take the construction elevator to the fourth floor." And with that the
phone went dead.

	The duo closed the door to the elevator, and flipped the switch to
ascend.
----------------
	"Kill them if they try to leave." The voice on the other end 
of the radio
commented.

	"Understood." Responded one of two men dressed in SWAT team
fatigues. He checked the range on his site, bringing the sniper rifle to bear
on one of the two agents.

	His partner took the other one..
----------------
	The elevator shuddered to a stop. Ranma forced the door open.

	"I don't like this." Ranma commented to herself.

	"Agreed." Kuno was feeling a little trigger happy, he didn't want any
suprises.

	"Ah, Kuno Tatewaki and Saotome Ranma." A voice emmited from the
darkness.

	"Ah, so I finally get to see what a Nannichuan cursed victim 
looks like.
Not bad. We've known about Jusenkyo for some time now. We just don't like
to touch stuff like that." The voice said.

	"Who's there?" Ranma shouted.

	A man stepped out from the shadows.

	"Who I am is not important. All I can tell you is that you're 
not safe. I
know who you really are, and If I can find out who you really are then the
people higher up won't take long to figure it out as well. All I can 
offer is my
help in prolonging that discovery as much as possible. You can trust me." The
man said, always in control of his voice.

	"But why would you help us out?" Kuno asked.

	"I don't fear having your blood on my hands, I fear having Mulder's. I
believe in the quest he follows. I don't want to see him fail because of a
simple mix up. You're only useful if it keeps Mulder alive, once you lose your
usefulness then you're expendable."

	"What do we do now?" Ranma asked.

	"Go back to work, cover your back, and trust no one!" The man said as
he walked back into the shadows.

	"Who are you, and how should we contact you?" Kuno yelled into the
darkness.

	"You can call me X, and I'll contact you." The man responded from the
shadows.

	Kuno and Ranma looked to each other and then walked back to the
elevator.
----------------
	"What is he waiting for, I could take these two out right now?" The
sniper said to his partner.

	"We wait for our orders." He responded.
----------------
	Kuno and Ranma started to step out of the elevator when it reached
the ground. Ranma was about to step out of the door when X's voice called
out from above.

	"I want you two to see how vulnerable you really are!" X yelled.
---------------
	"What?!" The sniper whispered to his partner.

	"That's right, we're to stand down." He responded.
---------------
	Kuno and Ranma watched as two men in fatigues stood up with their
high powered rifles.

	"You two are only alive as long as I feel fit." With that the two men
slipped into the shadows and disappeared.

	Kuno's phone rang, causing both agents to jump.

	"Mulder here." Kuno said.

	"No, I'm Mulder." The voice said on the other end of the line.

	"Agent Mulder, thank heavens! Can you explain why we were attacked,
confronted by two groups of men, and threatened?!" Kuno yelled on the
phone.

	"You've managed to dig yourself in pretty deep. I know who the first
group is, but who's the second?" Mulder answered.

	"Someone calling himself X." Kuno said. Mulder's side of the line went
silent.

	"Mulder?" Kuno asked into the phone.

	"I'm here, you've really pissed someone off if you met him. Did you get
any parcels lately?" Mulder sounded concerned.

	"Only a tape that doesn't work." Kuno said.

	"Whatever it is I want you to guard that tape with all your 
abilities. It
has to be connected with that tape. You met the Lone Gunmen today, trust
them. They'll help you, keep to yourselves, and don't trust anyone else. By
the way, these phones aren't secure. I'll have to end this conversation now,
good luck!" Mulder promptly hung up the phone, leaving the two with more
questions then awnsers.

	Ranma put her hand into her jacket and fished out the DAT tape. She
was curious as to why people were willing to kill for something this small.

	"Come on, it's too late to go back home. The sun will be up soon. We
should get back the office." Ranma said as she started walking off in the
direction.
	Kuno nodded, he wondered why things like these seemed to happen
around the inhabitants of Nerima.
----------------
	"Argh, I hate these things!" Ranma said as she tossed the pumps
across the room.  Ranma collapsed in the desk chair.

	"Ranma, I think we may have another problem!" Kuno said as he checked
through Mulder's Inbox.

	"What?!" Ranma said, ready to bring her gun out at any minute.

	"We've been assigned an actual X-File." Kuno said.

	"Oh my!" Ranma put her head down on the desk and groaned.

	End Chapter 2

	Next Time: "Married Life!


**********************************************
Althought I didn't recieve that much feedback concerning my first chapter,
what I did get back was extremely positive. So I decided to continue along
with my story. Thanks for reading this far.

Thanks!

Hehehe, there's actually been art for this series even before it was even
finished, all of which can be obtained at my page.




-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Instead of a trap door, what about a trap window? The guy looks out 
it, and if he
  leans too far, he falls out. Wait. I guess that's like a regular window."
- Jack Handey

Isaac Marchionna
Email: bobafett@scruznet.com
Titleist Productions' Fan-art: http://www.ab-tm.com/titleist/
Titleist's Cowboy Bebop page: http://www.ab-tm.com/Bebop/bebopintro.html
ICQ:47147756