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Special Agent in charge Zikabar malhotra Bodenman was reading the latest report on the serial killer the press had taken to calling the Skinner. A ghastly thing that. He'd already killed twelve people across the country, the last to within Zee's jurisdiction, so his people were helping the team from Langley.

They'd tracked him along the I70 all the way from Baltimore over two years.He only attacked ungulates, removing their pelt, while they still lived. Zee shuddered at the thought someone might take his beautiful fur off his body.

No one had been able to figure out his pattern, seven of his victims had been male, five females, they covered the whole range of income. The only common thread was they were ungulates, Deers, cows, gazelles and even a hippopotamus. His kill didn't follow any apparent schedule, some happening months apart, while the last two within the same week.

The fear among the Langley team was they were dealing with one of the rare case of someone truly insane. If that was the case, luck would be as much of a factor in catching him as investigative skills.

Zee looked up from the report when motion caught his eye. The pangolin he'd been waiting for had just stepped out of the elevator and was nervously looking down the room. For Zikabar himself. He wouldn't find him there.

When Zee had become so indispensable to the Bureau he'd been able to shed the traditional drab FBI look for something much more suited to his handsome form-- he was currently sporting a dashing silver shirt with a salmon jacket and slacks --he'd also gained the right to pick his posting. He'd chosen to come home to Denver and join marcus, who'd transfered there the year before.

He'd also been able to pick his office, and instead of the large one at the end of the room, usually occupied by the agent in charge, he'd taken the one halfway between it and the elevator. He still had a view of the bullpen, but it meant he got to observe the new comers before they realized he was studying them.

The pangolin was wearing a gray suit Zee decided to call the color 'it's about to rain, but it won't be a heavy shower' gray. His white shirt was rumpled and his tie was crooked, put on in a hurry. An understandable response to being summoned.

He straightened his tie as he looked around, he hadn't seen the agent in charge on the expected office. it wasn't long before he looked in Zee's direction, after all, the mule deer's bright suit tended to grab the attention in a sea of muted suits.

Zee motioned for him to come, and a moment later there was a knock as his door. The deer smiled. this was proof that the pangolin didn't get out of the basement often. If he'd interacted with any of the other agents in the three years Zee had been in charge, he'd have known not to bother.

"Come in."

Zee had a policy of transparency, which was why his office didn't have blinds. He closed the door to keep the volume down, not as a barrier. He'd put off quite a few visiting superior who'd wanted to scream at him in private. They'd still screamed at him, but Zee expected not for as long as they would have liked because of all the eyes looking in their direction.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" His voice quivered. he closed the door and stood there.

"Please take a seat Mister Mortis."

Zee dismissed the report and called up the file he'd assembled for this meeting.

"How are you enjoying working in the Unexplained Phenomenon

Department?" he asked as the pangolin sat. Mortis stared at him. "You're kidding, right?"

"I am not."

"I'm being wasted down there." his face hardened. "If only they'd give me another chance I could show them what I'm capable of."

Zee speed read the page to make sure he had the correct information. "According to this, you attacked the director, screaming, and I quote. 'You ruined my career you son of a bitch. You have no fucking right to pull me off that case."

The pangolin looked at he floor. "Well, he is a dog," he grumbled.

"I believe you made that comment at the hearing. Normally you should have been removed from the Bureau, but Director Patterson must have been feeling vindictive to relegate you to the basement."

Mortis nodded.

"You could have left."

"I've wanted to be part of the FBI my whole life. I can't just quit. He knew I wouldn't. that's why he did this." He sighed. "I know I shouldn't have lost it like that. I've been doing anger management ever since. I just hope someone will give me a chance." He looked at Zee with hope in his eyes.

The deer Replied with, "I'm glad to hear that." He ignored the look. Director Patterson had put a personal note in Mortis' file that who ever considered transferring him out of the basement would be taking his place. The Director wasn't a forgiving person.

"Have you had any... fruitful cases?" Zee asked. "I see here you investigated someone killed by a Skinless.

The pangolin shook his head. "That was last year. It was a hoax. Some of the locals wanted to scare the pastor. They were charged with stealing and desecrating a corpse."

"That's good. I'd hate to think those things are real." he scrolled to the next case he'd included in the file. "How about that haunting, two month ago?"

Mortis squirmed. "No, that didn't pan out either."

"Really?" Zee tapped the desk and the case spread itself over it's surface, each page perfectly lined up. "The initial report you and agent Carson submitted made it sound like it had all the indication of ghost committed attack. Carson, no, I'm sorry, it was in your report. You even stated you were certain you could prove it."

The pangolin couldn't keep eye contact. He dried his hands on his pants. Finally he sighed. "Thing is, we knew from the get go it wasn't going to be anything."

"Really?" Zee straightened his ears, to add to the feigned surprise. he didn't need his husband's talent to know when someone was padding a report.

"Look, we just needed to get out of there, even if for a few days and that accident had a couple of points in common with a haunting that we used it. We don't get any daylight down there," he added miserably.

The basement, the nickname for the Unusual Phenomenon Department, wasn't always in a basement. it was simply the lowest place with the bureau an agent could find him or herself. But in the Denver office, that's where he was, half a dozen offices, next to the deep file storage. Currently four of those offices were occupied by agents who had managed to piss off their superiors so badly they weren't even kicked out.

Zee had inherited them when he took over the office. he hadn't, nor did he have any plans, to ever send one of his agents down there. He firmly believed that any problems could be worked out.

"I can understand how you'd want to come up and see daylight at times." Zee tapped a page and it widened to take the entire surface. "Unfortunately, there's an expense report tied to the case. The use of Bureau funds for what was essentially a vacation is frowned upon."

The pangolin nodded. "I know. I'll pay it back."

"I'm glad to hear that, Mister Mortis." The deer steepled his fingers. "However, that might not be necessary. I could be inclined to overlook it, if you were willing to take the lead on a project for me."

Mortis's head snapped up. "A real case?"

Zee thought about it for a moment. "More information gathering, for the moment, but there's a chance you'll have to leave the basement to get what I need."

"I'll do it."

Zikabar smiled. "You haven't heard that this is about."

"I don't care, sir. If it gets me out, I'll do anything."

"I am glad to hear that. You'll be working with Agent

Loomis and Briton."

"Not Jennifer. Please, not her. I can't stand her. She actually believes all the crap that's down there."

Zee was aware. it was why he wanted her one the team, he wanted someone open to the idea weird things existed to temper the narrow mindedness of the others.

"If you can't work with her, I'll be happy to have Carson lead the team."

The pangolin groaned. "No, that's okay."

"Good. Should I expect problems between you and Agent

Loomis?"

"No. Gary's fine. Kind of boring, but he has a solid head on his shoulder. Sir, why are you leaving Carson off the team?"

"I need someone here to man the fort. In case something happens that requires the Unexplained Phenomenon Department's intervention."

Mortis snorted, but didn't press.

Zee handed him a memory card. "On here is a list of names belonging to eight families. I want you to go through all the files in the basement. I want you to pull all those where those names come up."

The pangolin's face fell. "That's all going to be here, sir."

"Yes, but once you have pulled them, I need you to fill in any gaps the initial agent might have left in, probably so no one would think they are crazy. I expect you'll have to go to the location where the incidents happened and talk with the local authorities to fill those. I'll authorize any reasonable expenses since I can't know where those files will take you."

Mortis' face lit up. "Yes sir. I'll make sure they stay reasonable."

"Good. Now, included with the family's names is a list of criteria I need you to keep an eye on as you are going through those report. Large wealthy families with unusually clean tack records. there's a few extra points on the memory. Once you are down with the initial names, I want you to do the same with those new ones. I expect some of our other basements will have files one whatever new names come up and probably more names also, so I'm authorizing you to go to other field offices, even Langley if necessary." Zee leveled his gaze on the pangolin. "If you do go there, stay away from the Director. My influence is wide, but it stops at his feet."

"Yes sir. I promise, I'll stay as far away as possible."

"Good. One other thing. This is a private project. You are collating data on names, but you don't know why."

"Sir, You haven't told me why we're doing this."

Zikabar smiled at the pangolin, who nodded after a moment.

"If anyone here asks why I summoned you, it was to justify

your expense report. If someone at one of our field offices causes you problem, have them call me and I'll clear things up."

He waited for a moment. "That'll be all."

Mortis looked like he might say something, but then shook his head and left.

Zee leaned back in his seat with a smile. There, Marcus wouldn't have any reason to worry. He'd be angry when Zee told him about this, but Zee was far more adept at calming his anger than he was his worries.

The door opened and Agent Belfare poked her head in. "Agent

Richard called, they think they have his location."

Zee stood. "Let everyone know. And inform Lewis we're on our way." maybe they'd get lucky and capture the Skinner this time.