XTC
by Henry Wyckoff
Crossover: XF, DW (4th Doctor), HL, ST:Voy, and the world of David Eddings

Scully didn't hear any voices telling her to head off the Nightman and his attempt to be the first to interrogate the gang kid, but there might as well have been voices. The sense was that strong. "I think you should back off," she held up her badge to remind him what she was. "I'm the one who should be asking him the questions."

"Be my guest," he smiled, "there's plenty of time, isn't there?"

"No," frowned Jan. "There isn't."

Pancho didn't say what came to mind.

Scully smoothly moved in between Pancho and the kid, and took off the ball gag crammed in his mouth. He coughed a little bit, and cursed, "Fuck you!"

Pancho was a few feet away, but that didn't keep him from whipping out a small handgun. It was a modern style, but looked quite old and used, even from a distance. "If there's one thing I like less than gang punks, it's gang punks who can't speak proper English. You put your Spanish blood to shame!"

"What the hell do you call yourself?" he looked at Pancho. He smiled and spoke softly, "I'm Catalonian."

"Huh?" He looked genuinely confused.

Pancho shook his head, making clicking sounds, "Worse and worse, but then again, most Americans don't know the geography of their ancestral lands..."

He looked at Clovis, lying on the floor, and back at Pancho. "That guy was strange, man, but you're weird!" The kid stared at the gun, not knowing if Pancho was any crazy than Clovis as he was strange.

Scully glared at Pancho, who put back the gun and backed away, raising his hands. His eyes were widened and his eyebrows raised as he said, "OK... I'm backing off."

"Remember that!" she snapped as she looked back at the kid. "Why don't you start off by telling us your name?"

"Screw you lady!" he snapped himself, then he eyed her exaggeratingly, saying slowly, "Bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

She smiled slowly, "Be very happy that I'm a federal agent. If I weren't on duty, you'd wish you hadn't said that. But that's beside the point. What is your name?"

"I said, 'screw you lady!'"

Jan decided that things had gone far enough. He moved between Scully and the kid, and stared into his eyes. He didn't do anything physical other than stare into the eyes with a grim expression, but the kid began to sweat. "What is your name?"

He was still defiant, but sounded less sure of himself. He started to shake too. "Billy. What's yours?"

Jan sank to his knees, his eyes inches from the kid's own. "Jan Hendricksen. Remember that well, boy." The way he said that sent chills down his spine. Scully noted an odd quality to it too. "Now, I'm not going to ask you again. What is your name?"

The kid spoke straight, "Jesus."

"All right, Jesus," nodded Scully, moving in. Jan backed off, but not completely. "Where did you get the XTC?"

The kid shook his head, "Lady, you don't want to know. I don't want to know."

"Do you know what the XTC does?" she asked softly.

"It's a hell of a rush, lady. It makes corpses smile."

"Have you ever taken it yourself?"

"You cr--" He stopped himself cold. Maybe he would have covered his mouth if he could. His arms did jerk a little, but so did the rest of his body too.

Jan smiled, "You were about to ask, 'You crazy lady?' weren't you, boy?"

"No way!"

Jan knelt again, his eyes a foot away, but no less powerful. "Don't lie to me, boy."

The kid began to stammer, and then he started to go into convulsions.

Scully barked, "He's having a seizure! Someone get some rags!"

The Doctor began to laugh, throwing Scully a rag out of his pocket.

"What's so funny?" demanded Jan, whirling around to face the happy man.

The Doctor shook his head, still smiling, "He's been brainwashed so thoroughly that any attempt to get past the barrier will result in his death. Who knows how many layers of brainwashing he has... Maybe one, or maybe a dozen. You won't even know when he's telling the truth, or when he's lying."

Scully had stuffed a rag in the kid's mouth, to keep him from biting off his own tongue. He was tied up, so he was safe as he could be. The seizure died down pretty quickly, now that nobody was asking questions, and Jan wasn't staring into the kid's eyes. "What do you know about these things?" she demanded.

He shrugged, "I've had experience with hypnotism many different times." He smiled.

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

Sarah elbowed the Doctor, which to him would be nothing more than a tap on the shoulder. "Go on!" she whispered intently. "Do something!"

He shrugged again. "I might be able to help. I'll need to get some equipment, however."

"Like what?" she grabbed her cellular phone, ready to make some calls.

"I have it already," he waved his hands at the phone. "It'll just take a moment." He walked to the TARDIS, ignoring the questions buzzing from those particular individuals who hadn't travelled here in it (those who had kept silent). The door shut, and remained so.

"What could he be doing in there for so long?" asked Jan.

"I don't know." Scully looked at the kid, who was starting to return to normal. He spit out the rag in his mouth, the spat at her. He didn't look too well.

The Doctor returned, holding what looked like a barbed-wire crown, plus some blinking lights. "This might help."

"What is that?" asked Methos, who had almost appeared to be invisible at this point.

"It encourages people to talk," he smiled.

"I ain't talking to nobody!" hissed the kid as the Doctor put it on his head. Then he screamed. "AAAAAAA! I'm going to gut you and fill your head full of lead ---!" Then he went limp for a moment. The crown remained.

"What is this device, Doctor?" asked Scully softly.

"It's a Black Box, Scully."

"You mean you don't know how it works?"

"Anymore that you don't know how a VCR works. You just use it," he spoke softly. "He's going to have a headache, but it looks like it's working just perfectly." The kid began to open his eyes, and the Doctor said, "Pretend that you have another you sitting right next to you. One of you can only lie, and the other one of you can only tell the truth. Suppose I asked the other you if I was wearing a coat. What would he answer?"

The kid said automatically, "Yes."

He beamed with triumph, "It works!"

Jan shook his head, "I don't understand how this is helpful!"

The Doctor sounded exasperated. "He probably has several layers of conditioning. The helmet he's wearing establishes a communication with each of those layers and then groups them into two groups: the layer telling the truth and the layer lying. By asking questions about the other through one of them, the truth always has to emerge."

Scully nodded, "That's as old as Greek philosophy, but I've never heard of this technology before."

He smiled with a false superiority, "Of course. The FBI is not all omniscient." His expression returned to normal. "Now, I believe we can get to the proper business at hand."

Scully nodded. "What is your name?"

"Jose Ibarra." His limbs didn't shake, and neither did his voice.

"Who gave you the XTC?"

"Some guy."

"Do you know him?"

"No."

Scully nodded. If the kid was going to speak literally, she'd have to get more specific. "Can you identify him if you saw him again?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He covered his face."

"Did he speak?"

"I don't know. I didn't hear him, but I knew what he wanted me to do."

Chakotay nodded slowly. He'd heard of that before. "A Romulan trick." Everyone stared at him, and he looked embarrassed, "I'll explain later."

Scully shrugged and turned back to Jose. "What did he want you do to?"

"He wanted me to find Pancho Villa and give him the XTC. He told me where to go and what to say."

Jan remembered something. "Who are the pimp and Chuck?"

"Chuck got into town. I think he's a hitman. He's a biker, but he's not riding with the Angels. I never saw the pimp before."

Jan hit the wall. "Then he's moving in -- not coming to base!" The kid said nothing. Jan walked to the door. "I need to get some air."

Methos nodded, "I'll come with you."