Summary: After Agent Pendrell's untimely demise, his partner Agent Kathleen O'Neill takes matters into her own hands. The usual insanity ensues. Category/Rating: H/PG A short, sick one folks. Possible spoilers for Max. Copyright: Chris Carter owns them. And Chris Carter kills them. So come on and sue me, you louse. I laugh in your general direction. This is a somewhat surreal part of my *Master Plan* series from some months ago. Not necessary to read them to understand this, but might make you appreciate Agent O'Neill a bit more. COPYCAT MASTER PLAN III by CiCi Lean, 1997 ******************** All comments welcome. Hit reply!! Send to pendgirl@aol.com "I'm so sorry." Dana Scully sat somewhat nervously in Kathleen O'Neill's small living room, with a cup of coffee in her hand and a small care package placed carefully on the table. "I know how close you and Agent Pendrell were." she said sympathetically. O'Neill peered nervously over the rim of her coffee cup at Scully. "Uh, yeah. We were close. Uh, huh." she said. "You bet. I still can't believe you dropped by. It was..it's...well, so unexpected." finished O'Neill, with a slightly high-strung chuckle. She took another large gulp of the nearly boiling coffee without even a blink. Scully looked with concern at the other agent. She's taking this hard, Scully thought. "When I heard that you took off six months personal leave, I felt that I should pay you a visit. You know, no one's heard anything from you since the funeral, and...well, to be honest, we were getting worried." said Scully carefully. "Worried? About me? Oh, no...no. I was...uh...vacuuming a lot. You know. Place gets dusty." said O'Neill, biting her lip, glancing from side to side. "Very therapeutic, that. Vacuuming that is. Well, look at the time. You probably have to run now, right?" she finished hopefully. Scully kindly put her hand over O'Neill's shaking ones. "I understand it must hurt. To lose one's partner is probably like losing a piece of yourself." said Scully softly. "I almost lost mine once or twice. But, I know you'll make it through." Scully rose and picked up her handbag. "I just want you to know, that if you need anything, or just want to talk or go out, please feel free to call me." finished Scully with a sigh. She handed her phone number to O'Neill, who had already jumped up and was heading toward the front door. O'Neill held the door open with a big smile. "Well, it sure was great to see you. Sorry you couldn't stay longer, but hey, bet you're busy ,busy, busy. Guess you have to run. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." said O'Neill quickly, pumping Scully's hand up and down and nearly pushing her out the door. "So nice to see you. Glad you came by. Oh, and I'm probably moving to Iceland for a year or two, so I might not be home. But I'll be thinking about you. OK? See ya!!" O'Neill slammed the door shut before Scully could reply. She leaned back against it, sagging, with sweat rolling down from every pore. //That was close.// Oh O'Neill, how the heck did you get into this mess? OK, so you lost it when Pendo bit the big one. But everyone has to go eventually, she thought, as she walked to the basement door. Even your poor, sweet, puppy Pendo. //So why did you do it?// She opened it and slowly climbed down the stairs with shaking knees. //You knew this was wrong.// She passed a huge array of equipment in her basement laboratory. A giant tank, sterile chambers of every description, and a pile of wires and tubes. //As a scientist, you knew it was totally unethical.// She knocked gently on the basement closet door. She opened it slowly and peeked inside. Oh, dear. This was such a good idea at the time. She kneeled down and gently shook the dozing young man that was slouched inside. //Yeah, a great idea, Dr. Frankenstein.// He rubbed his eyes and squinted at her. "Is it safe yet?" he asked looking around, with huge blue eyes... And short, wiry copper-colored hair. "Yep. She's gone." O'Neill said with a grimace. The young man looked sadly at her. "Will I ever get to meet anyone?" he asked, hopefully. "I could hear the lady upstairs talking. She sounded nice. And maybe she wouldn't even notice." //Oh, no. Ha...she wouldn't even blink.// "I think she would notice, honey." said O'Neill, as she gave him a hand up and out of the closet. "Why?" he asked, with the innocence of a newborn. "Let's just say you look a helluva lot like someone who she knew pretty well." responded O'Neill. "You have a lot of the same traits." //And every single one of the same genes.// "Besides, you remember what I told you." said O'Neill, with a sigh. "Yeah." said the young man dejectedly, and started reciting by rote. "Everyone knows that Agent Pendrell *had* no twin brothers." "And?" said O'Neill, prodding him gently. The young man sighed. "And the cloning of a human being is a federal crime." He stopped reciting and began to pout. "But I still want to go out. And why do I have to stay down here? Can't I go upstairs once in while? And I don't like pasta. Why do you cook pasta all the time? You go out to places with nice food. How come I can't come along? I hate pizza too. I'm bored. And you're the only girl I ever get to see. I want a girlfriend. Why don't you make me a girlfriend? I'm sick of TV all day. I want to get a real job and make some money. I want my own apartment....and a girl..and some money. Why can't I have some ? I'm sick of this..." O'Neill closed her eyes and groaned. //Yeah. Real nice work, Mrs. Frankenstein.// Just great. ************* Fini!! Hit reply!! All comments welcome. Send to Pendgirl@aol.com Author's note: I was thinking it might be a fun idea to let Pendrell's clone loose in the FBI building. What says you guys? 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