Spellbound - The Collector's Edition by Amy Schatz Hello everyone! Yes, it's Amy again! This is the LONG story that I had promised. And yes, it has 11 parts. It's also the first story of mine that is about a *real* X-File! Wow, imagine that! I hope that everyone likes it. **Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, Skinner and Frohike don't belong to me. I wish they did. They are the property of CC, 1013 and FOX. However, Elliot, Megan, Chief Garrett, Gabrielle and Louis do belong to me. If anyone would ever want to borrow them (I don't know why they would) just ask. :) CLASSIFICATION - TA: Adventure/Angst with heaps of Mulder/Scully UST. RATING - PG-13 SPOILERS - 1st & 2nd Season up to "Irresistible." TIME SPAN - Takes place in last half of the second season. **Credit - A BIG debt of gratitude and thanks must go to Melissa Rabey for editing this for me. Without her, it would be riddled with spelling errors, and Mulder and Scully wouldn't sound like themselves. Thanks, Melissa! :-) **Story Note - There is a fairly gruesome autopsy scene in chapter two. It's just a warning. Also, this isn't a M/S romance, but there is tons of bonding, hand-holding, and stuff like that. And there's a hint of deeper feelings between them. Here we go.... _______________________________ -- Spellbound -- One There was something in the air that night. Robin could feel it, and she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. The night was rather cold and it was drizzling slightly. The sky was completely starless and the wind blew past her in a frenzy. Robin realized just then, that she shouldn't be out so late at night. Even if this was a small town in New Mexico, times still weren't the same as they were when her mother was her age. The streets were so quiet and she felt like she was the only person left in the world. Robin chided herself for being so careless. As she walked along the sidewalk that night, she began to calculate how long it would take her to get home. She estimated that if she quickened her pace, and tried to breathe normally, she'd be home in about eight minutes. "Okay," she told herself, "just take it easy. Everything's fine." Robin didn't know why she was so jumpy. She just felt like the night was closing in around her, and was going to suffocate her. She ran shaking fingers through her hair, readjusted her backpack, and took a good long deep breath. She had just about calmed down, when the blinding lights of a car came racing over the hill in front of her. She let out a short, high scream, and stepped closer to the inside of the sidewalk. When the car was out of sight, she noticed that she was shaking all over. "What's wrong with me?" she asked out loud. "I've never acted like this before." She never had. All her life, Robin had always been the cool one in a roaring sea of hotheads. She had never jumped without thinking first, never just said whatever came into her mind. So why was she having a fit because of a car? Robin shrugged it off, with some difficulty, and continued walking, but much faster. She wondered why she had had to stay so long at the library that night. Was a research paper really worth her life? But, then she chuckled. She wasn't going to die tonight. She wasn't in danger. Then, she heard that innate voice inside everyone, and it whispered something to her. It whispered, "Run, Robin. Get out of here." But she kept walking at the same quickened pace. She wouldn't allow her own fears to control her. As she walked, she began to feel as though someone was watching her; walking behind her; following her. She shivered slightly, and chanced a look behind her. She saw. . . Nothing. There was nothing. "God, I'm acting like an idiot," she said softly. She brought one of her hands to her forehead, and noticed that she had a headache. No, wait, it wasn't a headache. It felt like her mind was sluggish; heavy. It felt like something was draining her mind of its power to think and function. There was that feeling again. Someone was watching her. She could feel his eyes. Robin called upon all her courage and forced herself to turn around; to convince herself that there was really no one there. As she turned, she caught a glimpse of an eye. A yellow eye, and some fur. The last things Robin Waters saw were fangs dripping with saliva, hungry for the kill and a huge claw coming down on her. =========================================================================== Two Special Agent Dana Scully was having a particularly rotten day so far. As the land whizzed by her, and grey clouds rolled by overhead, she remembered her morning from Hell. First of all, the power on her block had gone out during the night, causing her to oversleep. So, now she was late, and she hated being late. Secondly, she had been wakened by her landlord banging on her door at eight-thirty, asking just when, exactly, her power had gone off. Scully did not take well to being fairly shaken from sleep, to find that she was over an hour off her usual schedule. So, she was also in a bad mood. To top it all off, she had gotten a run in her stockings as she got into her car. All in all, it was shaping up to be the kind of day that one can only laugh about when a day worse than that one happens, or after a sufficient amount of time passes. "Yeah," she said dryly to the inside of her car, "like fifty years." * * * Scully pulled into her parking space at the FBI's headquarters in Washington, DC, and after gathering all of her things together, she stepped out. She had just locked the door, when she heard the ominous sound of thunder overhead. She slowly turned her gaze upward in time for a particularly large raindrop to fall on her face. Actually, it was more like in her eye. Rolling her eyes in disgust, she mumbled something about life and its wondrous variety. As she walked to the building, the rain falling hard and fast, she suddenly realized what she had just said, and how she had behaved. Her awe over her recent behavior was so powerful, that she didn't notice that she was getting drenched. "Oh, no," she said, fear evident in her voice, "I'm starting to sound like Mulder." * * * Scully stood at the entrance to Mulder's tomb-like office, a scowl on her face. She was looking at Mulder, who was looking anywhere but at her, and trying to stifle a laugh. The moment Mulder had seen her, a large, warm smile had spread across his face. Scully usually looked so perfect; so in control. Today, however was quite different. Her hair was wet, and disheveled. It hung in long, dark red strands; some falling across her face. Her light green sports jacket was spotted with dark circles of water, and there was a long run in her stockings, from her left ankle to her knee. "Not having a good day?" he asked as innocently as he could. Scully was staring at a poster on the far wall. It had been on that wall since the first day she walked into Mulder's office and introduced herself, and she assumed it would always be there. It was a picture of an alien craft hovering above the treetops. Below the trees, the words "I Want to Believe" were printed in large letters. She had never liked that poster, because it seemed to her that by displaying it, Mulder was advertising the fact that he had a "right to know." Although Scully shared that belief, she didn't think that one should be so blatant about stating it. Today, the poster particularly annoyed her. She shot Mulder a look that said, "Not today, Mulder," and sank into a chair. Mulder understood and recognized that look all too well. He said nothing. He dug down into one of his desk drawers, and came up with a towel. Looking at Scully with sympathy, he tossed it to her, and smiled. She smiled back, and began to methodically dry locks of her hair. She envied him his short hair colored a light brown. If it got wet, it dried in a few minutes. She also was envious that he didn't have to wear stockings. For the billionth time since her early childhood, she told herself that women had it much harder than men, and that it wasn't fair. As she dried her hair, she looked up at him, and saw that he was trying desperately not to laugh. "Mulder, I swear, if you say one thing, just one thing, I'll scream." He held his hands up. "Okay, okay. I'm over the shock, but, if I may ask, what happened to you?" She sighed, and brought a comb out of her purse. "The power went off, and I overslept, but I got here in time for it to rain all over me. So, did I miss anything?" She began to run the comb through her hair. She knew that he would nod, and say yes. That's what he did. "We just got a case." He swiveled around in his chair, obviously looking for a file. He found it, and opened it, perusing the words. "As usual, I was called to Skinner's office first thing this morning. I didn't think I'd done anything wrong, but you never know." He sighed, and handed her the folder. "Anyway, Skinner gave that to me, and told me that we should get right on it." Scully calmly looked at the picture of the girl with the cool of a doctor. She didn't wince at the gruesome appearance of the corpse, she didn't even make a face. She never did, and that was one of the things that Mulder liked about her. After Scully had skimmed over the report, she looked up at Mulder. "Looks like your normal, everyday, slasher." Mulder, of course, had been waiting for her to say that this case was completely normal. There was nothing paranormal about it; absolutely nothing. "Scully, look at her injuries. Those wounds look like they were inflicted by an animal, not a maniac with a knife." Scully cocked an eyebrow, and placed the file on Mulder's paper-filled desk. She marveled that he was ever able to find anything. The whole office looked like it had been leveled by a tornado, or some natural, or in Mulder's case, un-natural disaster. "So, what are you saying, Mulder? She was killed by a dog? Oh, no, it must have been a werewolf, right?" "No, but it wasn't human. At least I don't think it was." Scully rose and approached a mirror on the far wall. She studied her hair intently, wondering if it could be salvaged at all. It was so out of control, that even a comb wouldn't help. She gave up and ran her hands through it. "Were there any witnesses?" Mulder shook his head. "None, but who knows what kind of job the local police did. It's a small town. The police were probably too busy chasing off some cow-tippers or something to d a complete job. Besides, something like this really shakes up people like that. The police probably just want to forget about it." Scully smiled, grabbed her briefcase and headed for the door. "We can't let them do that, can we?" Mulder smiled in return. "Absolutely not." * * * Tularosa, New Mexico was not the largest town Mulder and Scully had ever seen. It was a small town nestled in the middle of the desert. The people who lived there were either ranchers, or they worked in the town. Most of their children moved away when they grew up, because there just wasn't enough to keep them around. So, the town was small, and quiet, and most of the time, it never saw any violence. The night before, all that had changed. It had changed when Robin Waters had been killed; violently killed. The town was in chaos, and everyone was afraid. Most people hate change, and when it comes, they fight it with all their will and strength. This was true for the people of Tularosa. Also, most people don't like strangers snooping around in their affairs and when those strangers work for the government, the strangers are rebuked all the more. This, too, was true for Tularosa. * * * As Scully and Mulder drove down Tularosa's main street, they noted the people. They didn't look too friendly, but the two agents were used to that. Once, when they had investigated a murder in the west, the Indians who lived there were not too happy to see them. Eventually, Mulder and Scully were able to work around the ageless battle between Indians and whites, and they solved the case. They would do the same here, in Tularosa. Scully looked across at Mulder, as he drove. Suddenly, a great fear came over her. "Mulder, where are we staying?" Mulder had a great talent for picking the worst places within fifty miles. He looked at her and smiled. "It's called the Tularosa Inn and Diner." Scully rolled her eyes. "Mulder, next time, I'll pick where we stay, okay?" "Whatever you say, Scully." Mulder looked at the small buildings and houses and the shadows they cast in the early afternoon light. The day was bright and warm for early April, and the ground looked like many shades of orange. He turned a corner, and pulled into the driveway of the Tularosa Inn. It was really a motor lodge, with long row of rooms stretching parallel to the highway. To the left of the rooms, was the office, and to the left of that, the diner. He parked the car, and they both got out, and headed for the office. The moment they saw the manager, they knew that this whole town would be rough to win over. The manager was a rather small man, with wispy white hair, and small, rounded glasses. He wore an old looking vest, and a white shirt. His pants were held up by suspenders, and he had a pocket watch tucked into his vest pocket. Mulder and Scully walked up to the desk. "Can I help you two?" asked the old man in a rather sour tone. Mulder nodded. "We have a reservation for Agents Mulder and Scully; two singles." The man nodded, and consulted his log book. Mulder looked at the book and noted that there were no other guests staying there. A few moments later, the man returned his tired gaze to the agents. He seemed to be sizing them up. "What're two government people doing here?" Scully smiled. "We're on official business, sir." "What kind of business?" "We're not obliged to say, sir," she answered. He nodded, and turned to a long square of pigeon-holes behind him. He took out two sets of keys, and handed one to each agent. "There you go." Mulder was about to leave, when he noticed that the room number on his key ring, was the same as Scully's. He turned back to the man. "Ah, sir, you made a mistake." "What?" "You gave us the same key." The man nodded. "That's right." Mulder shook his head. "No. We reserved *two* singles; two." The man once again consulted his log book. "No, no, it's right here, Agent Mulder. A reservation for one room." This time Scully stepped forward. "Sir, we asked for two rooms, not one." "You've got to give us another room," said Mulder. The old man shook his head, almost with an annoyed air. "No, it's all here in my book. You asked for one room, with *two* single beds, and that's what you got. I can't change it now. It's too late." "What do you mean it's too late?" asked Mulder. "After you called, I told the painters that they could paint the rest of the rooms. Sorry, but all the other rooms are being re-done. Can't you share?" Mulder smiled tiredly, and was about to tell the man just what *he* could share, when Scully stopped him. "That's all right, sir. Agent Mulder and I will make do just fine. Come along, Mulder." She grabbed Mulder's arm and fairly dragged him out of the office. Once outside, Scully turned to him. "Mulder, it's generally a good idea to *try* and get along with the native people. Now, you picked this hellhole, so live with it. I'm not happy about it, but I'm not going to act like a three-year-old over it." Mulder was beginning to see the humor in all of this. He smiled, and took hold of Scully's arm. "We'll finally be alone," he said secretively, his eyes shining. She pulled free of his grasp, gave him the Look and stalked off towards the car. "This is not funny," she mumbled under her breath. Scully unlocked the door, opened it, and trudged inside. She threw her suitcase on one of the beds, and placed her other bag on the dresser. Mulder arrived a few seconds later, and put his suitcase on the other bed. He walked over to where Scully was standing, and looked at her makeup bag. "What's in there, Scully?" She looked up at him and wanted to wipe that grin off his face. Why couldn't he ever be serious? Why did he tease her so? Oh, well, she supposed that his teasing and dark humor were part of the reasons that made her like him. Still, she couldn't resist teasing him back this one time. "I could show you, Mulder, but then I'd have to kill you." He chuckled. "I think you'd like to do that anyway." He sank down onto his bed, and looked at her. She stood facing the mirror for a few seconds, fussing with her hair, her suit, then she turned to face him. She walked to her bed, and sat down. "What are we going to do, Mulder?" "Well, first we're going to go down to the police station, and see the chief, then we'll take a look at the body of that girl." Scully shook her head. "No, I mean what are we going to do about this little situation here?" Mulder frowned slightly. "Scully, it's not like we've never spent the night in the same room before. What's the big deal? We'll figure something out. Look, I'll get up early and get cleaned up, so you'll have plenty of time, okay?" Scully shrugged, already tired of the argument. She smiled weakly. "Okay, Mulder. I'm sorry." Mulder grinned. "When did we turn into the *Odd Couple*, Scully?" She smiled. "Oh, so did you like it better when you had Krycek as your partner?" Mulder's response was so immediate and so powerful that Scully had to snicker. "No, no, no! Anyone but him! Besides he was really there to spy on us." She held up her hands and said, "Okay, okay, take it easy, Mulder. Let's get going! We're burning daylight!" She headed for the door and was outside before Mulder could respond. Once outside, Mulder looked at her quizzically. "Did you just say what I think I heard you say?" Scully ducked into the car, and waited for him to join her. "Yes, I did." When he still gaped at her, she said, "Well, isn't that what they say around here? I'm just trying to blend in." Mulder shook his head in wonder. As if Scully could ever blend in anywhere. * * * The Tularosa police station was nothing to write home about. It was in the center of town, and no bigger than two houses put together. The day was winding down by now, and the sky was a myriad of colors that were breathtaking to behold. As Mulder and Scully pulled up to the small station, and got out, they shook their heads in wonder. "It's amazing that some people can get along with so little, isn't it?" Mulder asked. "Yes, but they must be happy here. Let's admit it, Mulder. I wouldn't mind living in a small town every now and then." He nodded in agreement, and they proceeded on to the door. Walking in, they went to the main desk. The man behind the desk looked tired and bored. His dark hair was tousled, and he didn't notice the two agents, because he was engrossed in a *Spiderman* comic book. Mulder and Scully stood before him for a full minute before Mulder decided to cough and catch the man's attention. "Excuse me, sir." The man looked up, and nothing seemed to register. "Yeah? You got a package to deliver or something?" Mulder and Scully exchanged a look before Mulder continued speaking. "Sir, I'm Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully. We're from the FBI. We were called here by your chief." Still nothing registered. "Can I see some ID?" Both agents brought their badges out, and displayed them to the man. Once the man was satisfied, he said, "Okay. I'm Lieutenant Mallis. I'll go and get the Chief for you two." "May we sit down?" Mulder asked slowly. The man shrugged. "I don't care. You can sit down over there if you want," he said, waving his hand toward a row of chairs. Both agents looked at him with bewilderment all over their faces, and sat down. The lieutenant disappeared through a door. "Can you believe that guy?" Scully asked when he was gone. "Do you still want to live in a small town?" Mulder asked coyly. Then, he eyed her ID badge, which she still held in her hand, and said, "By the way, nice picture, Scully. Have you had a new one taken?" Then his voice took on the air of a snob. "That suit really brings out the gold flecks in your eyes." Scully looked up at Mulder, not appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood. Moments later, a tall, good-sized man walked through the door, followed by Mallis. He had light brown hair, and wore a dark blue uniform, as did Mallis. This was hard to believe, because usually, the two agents noted that small town cops didn't wear uniforms. This man was a surprising departure from the norm. He extended his hand towards Mulder, and said, "Hello, my name is Chief Patrick Garrett, and you are?" Mulder shook Chief Garrett's hand, and said, "Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully." Garrett shook Scully's hand and then gestured for them to sit down again. He smiled in amazement. "Boy, I can't believe that you two actually came." Mulder cocked his head. "What do you mean, sir?" "I asked for you two, and I hoped, but I never thought you'd actually come here. I can't believe that Agents Mulder and Scully are sitting in my police station." Scully raised an eyebrow. "You asked for us, specifically?" She was becoming wary. This had happened to them before. People had asked for her and Mulder because they knew about Mulder's reputation; about his penchant for the spooky, and the eerie. Garrett nodded. "Yeah. I have a friend in Albuquerque who heard about the two of you. So, when I called in the FBI, I asked if Mulder and Scully would be able to come." Mulder smiled, feigning flattery. "We appreciate that you asked for us, sir. Now, why don't you tell us what wasn't in the report." Garrett sighed. "It's all in there, Agent Mulder. The girl was Robin Waters. She was born here, and was here on spring break from Albuquerque University. Apparently, she was on her way home from our library, when she was attacked. We know this, because we found a backpack alongside the body." "It looks like she was attacked by some kind of animal. Is that your conclusion as well?" Mulder asked, eyeing Scully. The chief seemed surprised. "Well, no, Agent Mulder. We thought it was a man." "But her injuries look like they were inflicted by some type of a claw or talon, not a knife." The chief shrugged. "I don't know what kind of animal would have come into town. The only dangerous animals around here are cougars, and they're very rare. Besides, a cougar wouldn't just walk into town. They're very spooky." The chief realized what he had said, and he looked sheepishly at Mulder. "Sorry, Agent Mulder." Mulder smiled. "No problem. Well, Chief Garrett, may we look at the body?" "Of course. It's downstairs in the morgue." Scully blinked. "Your morgue is downstairs?" The chief nodded. "Yeah, we don't really have much of a need for a morgue, let alone one in a separate building." He headed for a flight of stairs to their left. As they descended, Scully and Mulder looked at each other, mentally trying to see what the other was thinking. At the bottom of the stairs they turned left and were faced with a rather large room. A metallic table was situated in the center of the room, and atop it was a body bag, enclosed in which was the body of the girl. Around the table, along the back and left wall was a counter which held various medical instruments and liquids. On the right wall was a small bank of separate boxes for other bodies. Scully was amazed that they only needed such a small storage area. She, Mulder, and Garrett walked forward to the body. Once there, Scully slipped out of her trenchcoat and reached for a pair of rubber gloves. As she put them on, Mulder and Garrett walked to the opposite side of the table, giving her room to move. She then reached for the zipper on the body bag, and pulled it down. What was then revealed to them was quite a gruesome sight. The girl had dark brown hair that at one time, might have been full of body and life. Her skin was now a dull grey, and her fingernails were a light blue. But it was her injuries that were truly awful. Her chest had many long scratches on it, and the left side of her face was practically shredded into ribbons. Her physical features were barely distinguishable, and her arms had long cuts running up and down them. Scully studied everything calmly, never wincing or acting as though she were repulsed by the horrendous sight. She touched the girl's neck, and inspected the wound there, with her fingers. After a few moments, she looked up at Mulder and Garrett, and pointed to the girl's neck. "The cause of death is obvious," she said dryly. "Those puncture wounds were made by teeth; fangs actually. She was asphyxiated." "Choked?" Garrett asked. Scully shook her head. "No. Have you ever seen lions killing their prey? They attack the animal from behind, usually, and they hold onto the animal by its neck. They close the esophagus until the animal can no longer breathe. As a preliminary statement, I'll say that this is how Ms. Waters was killed. I'll know more once I actually see the esophagus." Mulder looked at Scully, triumph in his eyes. "Scully, could a human have done this?" Scully shook her head again. "I don't think so. Humans don't possess the teeth or the strength needed to kill in this manner. Chief Garrett, I must agree with Agent Mulder. This was done by an animal." Garrett frowned. "Well, then, I guess I brought you guys out here for nothing." "Not necessarily," said Mulder, stepping closer to the body. "A predatory animal would first attempt to disable its victim, before it went in for the killing bite. Usually, these animals would attack the legs, backside, or back of the prey. Correct, Scully?" Scully nodded, watching Mulder warily. "This body has no wounds on the legs, rump, or back, does it, Chief Garrett?" Garrett shook his head. "No, it doesn't." "Then we must rule out an animal attack," said Mulder, eyeing Scully. He was waiting for her to protest. Garrett was bewildered. "If it wasn't a human, and it wasn't an animal, then what was it?" Scully spoke up before Mulder could answer. "An alien," she said, laughter in her eyes. Mulder looked at her, a warning in his eyes. "No, Scully, not an alien. I'm not sure what it was, not yet." "Mulder, if the animal was a dog or a cougar that knows humans, and has perhaps attacked them before, then it would not behave in a normal predatory manner. It would behave in a manner that would most likely bring down a human. I'm sure that a cougar can tell the difference between a person and a deer." "If it was a cougar, Scully, then it would have drug its kill away from the city lights, and the road, and it would have begun to devour its prey." Scully had no response to this statement, because Mulder was right. She simply looked at him, waiting. "So what are you saying, Mulder?" "I'm not sure what killed this girl, not yet, but I know it wasn't an animal." Garrett stood there quietly, waiting to see what the agents would do next. Scully took her sports jacket off, and looked to Garrett. "Chief, do you have any medical scrubs I can wear?" Garrett nodded. "Yeah. Our usual coroner, Bill, is on vacation, that's why an autopsy hasn't been performed yet. I think he keeps some back here," he said, as he began to search the room. A few minutes later, Scully was ready to make the first incision. Before she did, she looked at Garrett. "Chief Garrett, do you want to stay for the autopsy, or would you like to leave?" Garrett looked at Mulder, and knew that Mulder was going to stay. Garrett was a man, and he wouldn't be shown up by another man. He thought he would be able to stay. "I'll be fine," he said confidently. Scully smiled curtly. "Good. I'd ask Mulder to leave, but this is his job, and he has to stay." Scully took out her tape recorder, and hit the "record" button. Then, she placed it to her right, and stood before the body. "Autopsy of subject 11A345B. Name: Robin Waters; age: nineteen; field investigators: Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully." Scully then looked the body over, and began to speak. "Subject is a female and appeared to be in good health. The body has many lesions, abrasions and contusions that may have been incurred by an animal. Outward wounds consist of rakings of and about the chest and neck area, slashes on the left side of the face, encompassing the forehead to the chin." She stopped talking to hold up the left eyelid, and look at the eye. "Subject also has corneal scratches on the left eyeball that seem to be the same as the scratches on the face. There are also slashes on both arms, and shoulders. The neck has two puncture wounds consistent with the bite of an animal. I will now make the first incision." She gave Mulder a look that said, "Watch Garrett and take him out of here if he needs it." Mulder nodded in understanding, and gestured for her to begin. Scully soon had the chest open, and then she moved on to cutting the neck area open. Once she made the incision, she pinned the neck skin to the side, and examined the esophagus. Touching it with her fingers, she noted that it appeared to be damaged. "The esophagus has been bruised and crushed in some areas, which is the same presentation that is seen with the bite a predatory animal uses to suffocate its prey." Then Scully removed the anterior part of the rib cage, and examined the heart, liver, and stomach. "The heart and lungs are in good condition, so as to suggest that this subject did not smoke. Also, there is no evidence of any kind of heart disease," she said to the recorder, as she touched each organ. She then turned to the liver. Normally, the stomach would be removed first, but Scully wanted to make sure that this girl had not been intoxicated when she was attacked. If she had it might explain why she was so easily attacked by an animal. Using the scalpel, she cut the liver away and out of the body cavity. Taking it to a scale, she weighed it. "The liver of the subject is approximately 3.4 pounds, and a dark red in color." Scully then took the liver back to the examining table and cut it open. As she did, she heard Garrett sigh, and she looked up at him, then at Mulder. Stopping the recorder, she said, "Chief Garrett, if you would like to leave, it's all right." But Garrett shook his head. "No, no, I'll be fine. Please, continue, Agent Scully." Scully looked at Mulder, and pressed the "record" button again. She opened the liver, and studied it carefully. "The liver appears to have an excess deposition of fat. This indicates that the victim could have had diabetes mellitus, which interferes with proper oxidation in the liver. Other than that, the liver has no nodular hardening, which would indicate cirrhosis and possible alcoholism. Though, sporadic intake of alcohol may have occurred, with no detrimental effects on the liver." Scully then returned to the body, and turned her attention to the small and large intestines, and after examining them, found nothing. After this, she looked at the stomach, and decided to open it, in the chance that it might offer some small shred of evidence. She removed the stomach from the body, and once again took the organ to the scale. After weighing it, she cut the stomach open and studied it. "The stomach appears to contain nothing much, except the remnants of what appears to be some type of candy, possibly a chocolate bar. To try and judge time of death by the stomach's contents would be hard. But, if I were to estimate, I would have to say that the subject was killed within two hours of eating the candy." Scully looked at the rest of the body, and said, "The rest of the organs appear to be in good condition, and in my opinion, do not need to be extracted and examined. This autopsy has found that the subject, Robin Waters, was killed by asphyxiation. This autopsy was concluded at 5:10 p.m." She reached over and stopped the recorder, then looked at Garrett. "Sir, you did very well. You two can go on upstairs while I close, if you want." Mulder took the initiative. "Yes, Scully, we will go upstairs." He could see that Garrett wouldn't last much longer. Once upstairs, Garrett offered Mulder some coffee, and Mulder accepted. As they sat in the lobby of the police station, Garrett asked Mulder what he thought about the case. "I know you've been on harder cases than this one, Agent Mulder, but it's the hardest one I've ever seen. What do you think killed that girl." Mulder shook his head. "I'm still not sure, Chief Garrett. I'll have to wait till Scully gets up here, and we compare notes." Garrett nodded, and then smiled. "That reminds me. I've never seen a woman like Agent Scully before." Mulder nodded. He had been waiting for that comment. Every man who ever saw Scully was amazed by her. Especially that nut, Frohicke, back in Washington. But most weren't just amazed by her beauty or her coolness. It was her doctoral attitude and ability to look at gruesome crime scenes, and perform autopsies that really floored most men. However, whenever Mulder was questioned about her, he played dumb, and today was no different. "How's that, Chief Garrett?" he asked, smiling. "Well, she didn't seem to mind performing that autopsy at all. I mean, I was about to faint, and she was engrossed in the contents of the stomach. And she always called that girl, "the subject" or "the body." She's not very frail or dainty, is she?" Mulder shook his head. "No, no, those are not the words I would use to describe Scully, and she is a doctor after all. She's trained to be cool and detached." Garrett nodded, and was about to say something else, when Scully was heard coming up the stairs. Soon, she stood before them, exhaustion written all over her face. "Mulder, I think that we should go find something to eat." Garrett smiled. "Amazing," he said softly. Mulder smiled at him and nodded. "Yes, we should. Chief, we'll be back here tomorrow morning." He handed Scully her coat, and then slipped on his long overcoat. "By the way, have you contacted the girl's parents yet?" Garrett shook his head. "No, I was waiting for a cause of death. So, now that I have one, I'll call them before I go home for the night." Mulder nodded, and looked back at Lieutenant Mallis. He raised his hand in a good-bye gesture, and said, "Goodnight, Lieutenant Mallis." The man didn't answer. Garrett looked at Mulder and Scully apologetically. "Don't mind him. I'm sure he didn't hear you for a good reason. Spiderman's probably just cornered the Joker, or something." Mulder smiled, and patted Garrett's shoulder. "Chief, the Joker is from Batman, not Spiderman." =========================================================================== Three Mulder and Scully sat in the Tularosa Diner, barely able to eat the sandwiches sitting before them. Scully sat opposite Mulder, her coat still around her. The day was over, and in the desert, the nights are very cold. She was holding a mug of tea, trying to warm her hands with its heat. She watched Mulder drink his Coke, and wondered how he could drink something so cold, when it was fairly cold outside. After a few minutes, and one bite of the sandwich, she pushed the plate away from her. "I can't eat it anymore," she said, tiredly. "I'm just not hungry now." Mulder nodded, taking one more bite of his mostly uneaten sandwich. "If you're finished, Scully, we should go back to the room and compare notes." Scully nodded. "What are we going to do tomorrow?" Mulder shrugged. "I thought we should go take a look at the crime scene, and then, maybe talk to the girl's parents, and her friends at the University." Scully nodded again, and slowly slid out of the booth. Looking around the diner, she saw that there was only one other person there. A younger man, sitting alone, and way in the back. As Mulder paid for their food, Scully watched the man talking to the waitress. He had shoulder length, light brown hair, and what seemed to be dark eyes. Scully couldn't be certain, because he was wearing a baseball cap. His heavy jacket was pulled close up to his neck, and he was holding a mug of coffee. Scully was about to turn away, when he looked up at her. His gaze was so strong that Scully was transfixed. It was also a frightening stare, even for Scully. She felt like he could see right through her. When Mulder came up from behind her, she didn't hear or see him. Mulder stood beside her, a worried expression on his face. Ever since Scully had been taken and had disappeared, Mulder had become more protective of her. "Scully? Scully, are you okay?" he asked softly. Suddenly, the man broke his stare, and Scully, blinked quickly. She suddenly realized that Mulder was beside her, and she looked at him. "What did you say?" "I asked if you were okay." She nodded, and quickly turned away from the man. Mulder looked back at the person she had been staring at. In his mind, he made a mental note of the man's appearance, so he could be recognized later. He put his arm around Scully, and urged her forward, and out the door. Scully never looked back. She was too busy trying to get her heart beat back to a normal level again. The man in the back of the diner watched them go. * * * Once inside their room, Scully took her coat off, and went into the bathroom. Mulder took off his and surveyed the room. It was covered, from ceiling to floor, with wood paneling, and the bedspreads were so thin that he couldn't believe they would provide any warmth at all. To the right of the entrance, sitting before the one window, was a small, round table, with two chairs. On the opposite side of the beds, was a long dresser, atop which, sat a small television. At the very back of the room was the small bathroom, and to the left of that, was a make-shift closet. He sighed, and sank into a chair by the table. Opening his briefcase, he pulled out a stack of reports and files. Moments later, Scully came out of the bathroom. She looked refreshed, and back in control. They sat down and went over all the evidence and information again. Every once and a while, Mulder would make a note in the margin, or Scully would cross something out. Finally, after an hour, Mulder returned the files to his briefcase. Scully sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them, she found that Mulder had pulled out a deck of cards, and had begun to shuffle them. "Up for a game of strip poker?" Mulder asked, mischief shining in his hazel eyes. Scully smiled. "You wish. How about gin rummy?" Mulder nodded. "Fair enough, but when I win, I don't want to hear any whining from you. The last time we played, you weren't a very good loser." Scully pulled up a chair, and smiled. "That's because you cheated." Mulder looked wounded. "I did not. How did I cheat?" "Never mind, never mind. Just deal and prepare to lose." Mulder smiled, thanking God once again that Scully had been returned to him. He didn't want to imagine having to play cards with someone as ugly as Krycek. * * * The woman was becoming annoyed. After all, she wasn't asking for very much, was she? Why couldn't he just do as he was told? If he had done so, things would have gone a lot better with General Fitzman. As she sat in the car that night, she wondered where he was, and what he was doing. If he had gotten into any trouble, there would be hell to pay. Elliot wouldn't stand for another mishap. Not like the one that happened the night before. She was about to drive away when she saw his silhouette against the trees that lined the left side of the road. Looking at her watch, she mumbled, "It's about time." Moments later he was inside the car, waiting for her to yell at him. She always did, and he therefore always expected it. But tonight she just sat there quietly, staring at him, arms crossed at her chest. Finally, at long last, she began to speak. "What do you think you're doing, Louis?" Louis smiled, but not out of joy, out of the knowledge that his instincts had been right. "What do you mean?" "You should not have gone off on your own so soon after what happened. You can't control it yet, Louis. You know you can't." Louis took on the look of having been insulted. "I can control it. I've done so all day today." The woman shook her head, and ran her hands through her blonde hair. She looked at the dark road, and hoped that no one happened by. It would be too dangerous to her project. She noticed that the night was very foggy, and that the road appeared to be half covered with mist. "Louis, I want you to come back to the labs with me. Tonight, Louis." He shook his head and his light brown hair shook all about. "No way. I've spent years in that lab, and I'm sick of it. I want to see things, do things. I'm tired of being your little pupil. I'm tired of learning. I just want to be out in the world." "Louis, your training is not yet completed. I still have to help you master the final methods so you can control what you now have. If you don't come back, you will eventually lose control. You'll do something you'll later regret. You're not a bad person, Louis, but you'll become one. It will mold you into something you'll hate; something that normal men will hunt down and kill. Is that what you want. Louis? You've started down that track already. Look what happened last night." Louis' head lowered. "I didn't mean for that to happen. You know that. Her mind was weak, and mine just took over. It wasn't really my fault." The woman didn't look sympathetic. "I know you didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. Now the whole project is jeopardized." Louis looked up at her, regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry. Can't you fix it?" The woman looked doubtful. "I don't know. If it was just the local police, I'd say yes, but now they've called the FBI in. It will be harder to lose them, but I think it can be done. Don't you see, Louis? That's why you have to come back to the labs. If you're caught, something bad will happen. Either to you, or to them." Louis ignored statement, and his eyes lit up. "I saw a woman today." The woman immediately became wary. "Louis. . ." "She looks just like Gabrielle." Now the woman was scared. "Louis, no." He dismissed her concern. "Don't worry. I won't do anything. It's just that she *really* looks like Gabrielle, even more than the last one." "Louis, you're coming back with me right now. I won't be able to sleep tonight, if I know you're out here thinking about this woman." Louis opened the door, and stepped out. When he did, the woman jumped out of the car as well. They talked over the roof of the car. "Louis, don't do this. Come back with me. Do it for Gabrielle." Louis shook his head. "No, not tonight. Tomorrow. Let me have one more night of freedom; just one more night. I'll keep to myself, I promise." Louis began to walk away. He stopped after a few feet, and turned back to her. "Tell Elliot not to worry. I'll be there in the morning. I'll be there. I will." The last the woman saw of Louis that night, was his silhouette being devoured by the fog, and the last she heard was his promise to return in the morning. As she watched him go, she knew she would never see him again. And even though her project was ruined, and Elliot would be furious, all she could think of was this woman that Louis had seen. She knew what would happen. She prayed to God to keep the woman safe. Only God knew what Louis would do with her. * * * Mulder and Scully's night had passed by slowly, and very uneventfully. They had played cards until late. Although they had started with Gin Rummy, they soon grew tired of that, and moved on to Go Fish. After that, they had tried Blackjack for a while, and then went to poker. Finally, at one o'clock, Scully had set her cards down, stretched, and said, "That's it, Mulder. I can't see anymore. Time for bed." Mulder set his cards down, and smiled. "I thought you'd never ask." Scully gave him a look that told him to stop teasing. Then, she disappeared into the bathroom. She came out with her hair loose, and wearing pajamas. Mulder smiled, and said, "You wear fuzzy pajamas. Boy, Scully, I figured you for the satin pj's." She shook her head and got into bed. "Nope. Only my sheets are satin. I'm surprised you didn't know that by now, Mulder. After all the time we've spent together. Quite frankly, I'm hurt." Mulder's eyebrows went up, and as he walked to the bathroom, he said, "I'm sorry. I'll try to remember for next time." * * * The next morning, Mulder was already up and showered by the time Scully awoke. She showered quickly, and they were eating breakfast by seven-thirty. As they sat in the Tularosa Diner, Scully thought about how she had felt the night before in the diner. As she did, her eyes took on that frightened look, and Mulder noticed it. Mulder noticed everything. "Is everything all right, Scully?" he asked. Scully blinked and came back to the real world. "Yes. Why do you ask?" "Because you look like you did last night when you saw that man in here." Scully looked down at her tea, and suddenly, she wasn't hungry any more. She pushed her plate away before she became nauseous, and sighed. "I'm fine, Mulder. We should get going, right?" He nodded, deciding to drop the subject, and slid out of what was fast becoming "their booth." "I'll pay. You go and start the car. It's pretty cold out there." She agreed, and walked out of the diner. The moment she did, she felt as though someone was watching her; following her with his eyes. Someone was out there, in the sunlight, in the bushes, watching her. She quickly walked to their car, and yanked the keys out of her pocket. As she fumbled with the lock, she knew that there was someone there. Slipping her hand inside her jacket to her gun, she touched it to reassure herself, and spun around, the gun still hidden. She was confronted with the man from the diner. Still keeping her gun out of sight, she spoke. "Who are you, and why are you following me?" Her hair shone brilliantly in the New Mexico sunlight, and the man couldn't help but stare. "Your hair is pretty." He moved a step forward. A warning flag went off in Scully's mind. She had seen people like this man before, and she was no longer comfortable. Scully put her hand out before her, pulled her overcoat back, displaying her gun, and said, "Sir, I am going to have to ask you to keep your distance, please." The man obeyed and Scully calmed a bit, but she still felt that she wasn't in control of the situation. "Who are you?" she repeated, more forcefully this time. "I saw you last night. You're very pretty." "Sir, I am an FBI agent. I am armed, and I have asked you a question. Who are you?" "I'm somebody who likes you. I'm Louis." Scully exhaled. Finally, he had given her a name. "Why are you following me, Louis?" He smiled, desperately trying to stay in control; to stay in power. "Because I like you. You look like Gabrielle. I loved Gabrielle." Now Scully was getting scared. She wondered where the hell Mulder was, and why he wasn't out there with her. Just then, Louis moved closer to her, and took some of her hair between his fingers. "Your hair is soft." Scully tried to move away from the man, but she was stopped by the car. Memories of Donny Pfaster and what he had done to her floated through her mind like poison. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her hand had fallen away from her gun. "You look just like Gabrielle, you know. Maybe you should come with me." He stared into her eyes, deep into them, and Scully felt her mind slipping away. She couldn't concentrate on wondering where Mulder was, or if she should try to get her gun. All her mind could do was focus on the man before her. Her eyes took on the look of a frightened animal, and she was barely blinking. Louis smiled, happy that he had won, and was in control. "Maybe I'll call you Gabrielle. Would you like that?" He touched the side of her face gently, and she cringed, but her eyes never left his face. All she could see was Donny Pfaster, and that vision scared her to death. "Would you like that?" he asked again. "Scully!" Louis looked up, and found Mulder standing near the back of the car, gun drawn. Mulder's eyes darted from Scully to Louis and back again. He didn't like the look in her eyes, and he didn't like the fact that she seemed powerless. Mulder's mind remembered that time when they had been investigating a case in Massachusetts, and that Brother Andrew of the Kindred had somehow managed to control Scully and her actions. "Scully, are you all right?" When Scully didn't answer, Mulder shifted his gaze to the man, and moved forward, his gun pointed at the man's chest. "Federal agent, sir! Please step away from Agent Scully! Now!" Louis reluctantly moved away from Scully, but her condition did not change. She stood against the car, gaze forward, eyes unmoving. Mulder moved closer to the man, and said, "I am Agent Mulder. Who are you, and what have you done to my partner?" Suddenly, Scully moaned, and sagged against the car, listless. She put her hand on her forehead, and moaned again. Mulder wanted to go to her, and help her, but he didn't trust this man. Mulder didn't trust anyone; except Scully. Mulder ordered the man to put his hands on the roof of the car. Louis did so, and Mulder then searched him for any weapons. After he had searched, Mulder told the man to turn around. "Who are you?" he asked again. As he did, he glanced at Scully, and saw that she was now sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up close to her. "My name is Roger," said Louis. "What were you doing with my partner, Roger?" Louis shrugged. "Nothing. I thought she was pretty, and I told her so." Mulder was quickly losing his temper. When it came to Scully's safety, he had always had a short fuse, but since her kidnapping, it had become even shorter. "I'll only ask you one more time, Roger! If you don't give me a straight answer, I'll arrest you! What were you doing to her?" Louis frowned. "I wasn't doing anything wrong." Just then, Scully suddenly, but slowly got to her feet, and leaned against the car for support. "Just let him go, Mulder." Mulder looked at her in disbelief. "What? Scully, when I found you, you were completely incapacitated. You can't really want me to let him go." Scully moved very close to Mulder, put her hand on his shoulder, pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. "Mulder, I don't like him. He makes me very nervous. Please, just send him on his way. Please, Mulder." Mulder heard the fear in her voice, and he could not refuse. "Okay, Scully. For you, I'll let him go, but only because you want me to." "Noted," she said thankfully. Before Mulder spoke to Louis, she added. "And thank you, Mulder, for everything." Mulder nodded, and turned back to Louis, but Louis was gone. * * * As they drove to the crime scene, Scully couldn't shake the feeling that someone was close by; watching her from the shadows. She tried to take her mind off of it by watching the countryside roll by. Mulder looked across at her, worry gnawing at him. "Scully, are you really feeling okay?" Scully never took her eyes off the land. It was many different shades of orange and yellow, and the sky was the clearest blue she had ever seen. The day was still warming up, and by afternoon, she guessed that it would be very hot. Birds flew past her window, flitting this way and that in the soft wind. She nodded, and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm okay. Why are we going straight to the crime scene? I thought we had to go to the station first." "That's what I was doing in the diner. I called Garrett and asked him to meet us there. He gave me the directions, and that's why I wasn't outside sooner. Sorry about that, Scully." "Mulder, it's okay. *I'm* okay. Don't beat yourself up over it. Nothing happened and nothing will. This is just a normal case." "Sure, Scully, this is just another one of our normal cases." * * * Garrett was waiting by his car when Mulder and Scully pulled up. As they walked towards him, he noticed that Scully looked slightly flustered. He wondered if perhaps she and Mulder had had a fight, but then he dismissed that idea. They worked so well together, he couldn't imagine them ever fighting. Garrett never knew how wrong he was. "Good morning!" he said, as he shook hands with Scully, then Mulder. "The scene doesn't encompass a very large area. Walk right this way." They walked to the sidewalk, and then proceeded north. The police tape could be seen from very far away, and as they came upon the spot where Robin Waters had been killed, the tape glimmered in the sun. Scully knew that by the afternoon their long overcoats would be too heavy to withstand. Mulder, Scully, and Garrett ducked under the tape, and the two agents began to examine the area carefully. Scully bent down, and examined the blood stains on the cement. "There was a lot of blood here," she said, her voice sounding far away. Garrett nodded. "Yeah, there was. The really awful thing is that if she had been found sooner, she might have survived." Mulder looked at Scully, but she was staring off into the distance. "Do you agree, Scully?" Scully didn't answer. Mulder looked at her. "Do you agree, Scully? Could she have been saved?" Scully didn't answer. She was staring off down street, still crouched beside the blood stained cement. Mulder asked his question again, but louder this time. "Scully? Do you agree?" Something seemed to click on or off in her brain, and she turned to face him. As she stood up, she said, "What, Mulder? What?" Mulder softly asked Garrett to excuse them for a moment, and he moved closer to Scully. "What's the matter, Scully? You're a thousand miles away today." "I'm fine, Mulder." He shook his head. "No you're not. You have no attention span at all. Scully, if this case is bothering you, or if that guy back there scared you, I want you to tell me." Scully frowned at his mothering. "I'm *fine*, Mulder. Nothing's wrong." Mulder looked off at the distant mountains, and then back to her. "We have no secrets, Scully. Secrets kill trust, Scully. Remember that." He said as he looked at her intensely. "Okay?" Scully looked at him indignantly, but then her gaze softened. She knew he was only trying to protect her. "I can do this, Mulder. Now, get Garrett back over here so we can discuss this." Mulder relented. He called the chief back over. Garrett was all smiles. He figured that he had just seen the first fight between two people he admired greatly. "Lover's tiff?" he asked coyly. Scully rolled her eyes, and said, "Chief Garrett, your people were right. Robin Waters' injuries *were* severe, but if she had been found within minutes of the attack, and choppered to some advanced facility, she might have made it. The blood stains are consistent with her injuries, and I do not see any reason to believe that this crime scene has been tampered with or violated." Garrett sighed, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at Mulder. "Anything else, Agent Mulder?" Mulder looked around. He felt as though there were something there that he was missing. Something that he and Scully weren't hitting on, but he shrugged and said no. "Except for one thing, Chief Garrett." Garrett smiled. "What's that?" "Scully and I would like to interview Robin Waters' parents. Could you provide their address?" "Sure. As a matter of fact, I have it with me. I can give it to you now, and that way you can leave right away. It's a pretty long drive up there." Mulder nodded in thanks, and walked to Garrett's car with the chief. As he walked away, Mulder glanced at Scully, and noticed that she was looking all about herself. It was as if she felt she were being watched. She looked like a wild deer caught in the sights of a hunter's gun. And Mulder didn't like it. * * * The car sped along the lonely highway, as the sun played hide and seek with the clouds. They were soft, puffy clouds that looked like they could hold a lot of water. Mulder had heard of sudden, vicious, desert floods that appeared to come from out of the blue. He looked across at Scully. She was sleeping, or at least he thought she was because her eyes were closed. He wondered what was wrong with her. Was it stress? Was she burned out from their strenuous work schedule? She hadn't had a vacation in a long time. Besides, he didn't think she had dealt with her kidnapping yet. It must be awful for her, he thought, to not know what happened to her. It was awful enough for him not to know. Before Mulder had met Scully, he had never liked working with a partner, and his experiences with Krycek proved his point. However, Scully was different. At first, Mulder had kept her at a safe distance. He never told her everything that he was thinking, and he didn't trust her. Back then, he never would have said that by this time he would be trusting her with his life, and more important to him, his search for his sister. When Scully had been taken, he finally realized how much he needed and depended on her. Without her, his work wasn't as important as it was when she was there to contradict his every move. Mulder wouldn't give her up easily, and he certainly wouldn't let stress and a hard workload take away her gifted insight and intelligence. "Mulder, would you stop staring at me, please?" Mulder smiled. He knew she hadn't been asleep for real. Scully wasn't one for sleeping during the day. "Sorry. I'm just worried about you." Scully pushed herself up, and ran her fingers through her hair. After she looked out the window a few moments, she turned back to Mulder. "Look, I know that ever since I was taken you feel like you have to protect me, but you don't. Nothing's going to happen to me, Mulder. So stop acting like my mother." Mulder chuckled. "Scully, there are many things I would like to be, least of all is your mother." "Very funny. Can we change the subject, please? What do you hope to gain by talking to this girl's parents?" "That's the Scully I know. You seem more focused." She nodded. "I know. The further away from Tularosa we drove, the better I felt. I don't know what it is about that place, but I don't like it there. I take it back, Mulder." "Take back what?" "What I said about wanting to live in a small town. I don't want to, if it's a town like Tularosa. That place is strange; right up your alley. You probably think it's great, right?" He shook his head. "No, I don't really like it either. You know, it *is* a strange place. Back there, at the crime scene, I felt like I was missing something." Scully resumed her window watching. "Missing what, Mulder?" He shrugged. "I don't know, but when that guy back there was bothering you, I felt like he was part of it." "Who? Louis? He's harmless. Just a little lonely, if you know what I mean." "Louis? Who's Louis? That guy back there was Roger." Scully shook her head. "No, his name is Louis. Where did you get Roger from?" Mulder sighed. "He told me his name was Roger, Scully." Suddenly Scully got a very bad feeling. She no longer thought of Louis as a harmless lonely guy. "Mulder, that man told me his name was Louis, and he told you his name was Roger." Suddenly, all the memories of Scully's kidnapping rushed back to Mulder, and he became worried. He scolded himself for letting Roger or Louis, or whoever he was go. He only hoped that this guy took the hint and left them alone for the duration of the case. He didn't want to have to deal with this guy, too. * * * Mulder looked across the table at Robin Waters' parents, and wondered how they must feel. Did they feel as he and his parents had felt when Samantha, his sister, had disappeared? Did they feel as he and Scully's family had felt when Scully had been taken? He didn't know. He wasn't sure if everyone handled loss in the same way. All Mulder knew was that he didn't handle it very well; not well at all. When his sister disappeared, he blamed himself for years afterward, and was afraid to have his parents feel pride for his accomplishments. When Scully was kidnapped, he didn't eat or sleep for days, and he never gave up on her. He looked at Scully, and wondered how she felt when her father died, just this year. She was asking Robin's mother when they last saw their daughter. "I know this is painful, Mrs. Waters, but it is important to this case. Do either of you recall when you last saw your daughter?" Mary Waters was a thin woman who had short brown hair. Her eyes were usually a sparkling brown, but today they were red and swollen from a night of crying. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, and looked at her husband, David. Then, she looked back at Dana. "I saw Robin just three days ago. She was right here, in Socorro, on her way home from Albuquerque University. This was her spring break, and she always comes home." Scully smiled weakly. "Do you know why she was in Tularosa?" Mary nodded. "Yes, I do know. We used to live there. Robin grew up in Tularosa, and all her old friends are there. She wanted to go there and visit them." Scully glanced at Mulder, and noted that he was writing everything down. Scully then turned to David and said, "Mr. Waters, do you know anyone who might have wanted to cause Robin harm?" David looked at her in disbelief. "No, Agent Scully, I do not. Robin was a lovely girl. Everybody liked her. Everybody loved her. I loved her. Are you trying to implicate her in something that's drug-related? I guess that's why they called the FBI in, right? Well, if that's what you're thinking, you couldn't be more wrong. Robin would never have gone in for-" "Sir, we do not think that," said Scully, cutting his grief stricken rampage short. "I simply asked if anyone might have felt ill will towards her." Mary took hold of David's hand, and said, "Forgive him, please. It's all so fresh, you know. It's just that we saw her just three days ago, and now she's...now she's..." David looked up at the two agents, and scowled. "Don't bother trying to explain it to them, Mary. They don't understand. They're just two government lackeys doing a job they hate." Mulder bristled. "Sir, just for your information, Agent Scully's father died not long ago, so I think she might be able to imagine how you feel." David's anger faded into embarrassment, and he shrugged. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just can't talk about this any longer." He got up and disappeared into the living room. When he was gone, Mary looked sheepishly at the two agents. "I apologize for my husband. He's not taking this very well." She laughed, then, in a disconcerting manner. "Who does take this well? Do you have any other questions, Agent Scully?" Scully shook her head. "No, Mrs. Waters, but we will be in touch. When we find out what happened to your daughter, you'll be the first to know. Thank you for your time and consideration." Mary nodded, and showed them to the door. As they walked to the car, Scully looked at Mulder. "What are you thinking, Mulder? I know that look on your face." Mulder shrugged. "I don't know, Scully, maybe this is just a normal case. Maybe Robin Waters was killed by some punk who wanted twenty dollars. Maybe I was wrong." Scully was in shock for the whole ride back to Tularosa. * * * Mulder and Scully arrived back in Tularosa late that night. By the time they had something to eat, it was after eleven. Scully's lack of attention, and forgetfulness had returned as they drove back to Tularosa, and once there, she was worse than ever. As they walked from the diner to their room, Mulder studied her intently. She looked normal, except that she kept looking behind them, and to the side. She avoided shadows, whenever possible, and she walked extremely close to Mulder. She acted as though she expected someone to attack them. When they finally reached the door of their room, Mulder unlocked it, and was halfway through, when Scully, who had decided something, took hold of Mulder's sleeve. She was tired of her fear, and wouldn't let the same thing happen twice. Once before a case had gotten the better of her and she had ended up crying in Mulder's arms. That would not happen again. She would triumph over what she thought must be her fear of the everyday evil that thrived in the world. She needed some of the files in the car, and she decided she would go and get them herself. Mulder was still looking at her questioningly when she spoke. "Oh, Mulder, I forgot something in the car. I'll be right back." Mulder nodded, and called after her. "Be careful, Scully." She waved her hand at him, and disappeared into the blackness of the night. Mulder stepped into the room, and closed the door. * * * Scully walked up to the passenger side of the car, and pulled the keys out of her pocket. She held them up to the light, so she could find the right one, and suddenly, that feeling was back. The feeling that someone was there, watching her. Someone was standing right behind her, and they were waiting for her to turn around. She chided herself for acting so foolishly. Summoning up her courage, she breathed in sharply, and spun around. She saw nothing. She saw only the blackness of the night, and heard only the sound of the wind. She was about to turn back to the car, when something came out of the darkness, and hit her in the mouth, on the left side. She was slammed against the car door so violently, that her head felt like it would explode. She didn't move. Scully just crouched there, against the car, and waited. Waited for the next blow that she was sure would come. "Who's there?" she called out, her mind conjuring up frightening pictures of what could be out there. Images from Donny Pfaster to a terrible creature that might have killed Robin Waters. Finally, Scully rose, and touched her now tender mouth. She felt the blood that was there, and wiped it on her shirt. Scully thought of calling for Mulder, but then decided against it. He would never hear her anyway. Scully took a deep breath, and slowly turned back to the car, wanting to get inside and grab the flashlight that was on the floor. She also screamed at herself for leaving her gun in the car as well. She would never have done that normally. What *was* wrong with her? She had just inserted the key when she felt hot breath on the back of her neck. "Are you scared?" asked the voice. It was deep, and raspy. Scully didn't answer. She balled her fist, and spun around. Her fist would have hit its mark, if a huge claw hadn't hit her on the left side of her torso. She yelped and fell to the ground painfully, and winced in terrible agony. Scully had never felt such pain. Even a gunshot wound wasn't this painful. In seconds blood saturated the lower part of her white blouse. She was too scared to touch her wound, in fear that it might be fatal. She thought that the cuts, which were located just over the lower part of her ribs had to be deep for they were producing a lot of blood. She could feel it trickling down her side and inside her pants. "Who's there?" she called again, into the darkness, barely able to speak. Suddenly, she felt someone pulling her up off the ground, and she felt the hot breath again. The person pulled her close to him, and spoke. "I'm sorry I had to do that, but I had no choice." Scully attempted to wrench free of his grasp, but he was far too strong for her. "Who are you? What have you done to Agent Mulder?" "I don't think you should worry about him. You're mine now, and I won't let him get you back. You're mine now, *Gabrielle*." When Scully heard that name, she became extremely frightened. "Louis, is that you?" There was no answer. She was suddenly being pulled along by this person. He was pulling her off into the night. He was pulling her away from Mulder. "Louis, don't do this, please. Louis..." Scully drifted off, falling unconscious from the shock of her injuries. She fell limp in Louis' arms, and he smiled, stroking her hair. "You're mine now, Gabrielle." * * * Inside the room, Mulder decided that Scully had been gone too long. He grabbed the flashlight that was sitting on the dresser, and walked out into the night. As he came closer to their car, and noticed that he did not see Scully, he became worried. "Scully! Scully, where are you!" As he swung the light around and it came to rest on the car, he noticed the keys on the ground. Running to the car, he knelt beside it, and picked the keys up. He examined the door of the car, and found a small dent in it. He also saw a streak of blood on the window. "No, no..." he said to himself. "Scully!" But she was nowhere to be found. After Mulder accepted that she was gone, he found himself reliving all the same feelings he had when she was taken the first time. As he looked at the car, he imagined how it all happened. He imagined someone coming out of the night, and attacking her. Stepping back from the car, he discovered that his knees were rubber, and he fell to the ground. He lowered his head, and let go of the flashlight. He shook his head slowly, and mumbled to himself. He said the same thing over and over, in a voice full of panic and fear and determination. "I won't let her go, not again. I won't let her go." As he ran to their room to call Garrett, that sentence kept resounding in his head. All night, he heard nothing else =========================================================================== Four The light of early dawn seemed to crawl across the night sky; invading the darkness slowly. Soon the dark sky was permeated with wisps of yellow, orange, red, and violet. The cold desert air began its daily ascent, and soon, the warmth would overcome the cold. Birds awoke and began their morning chatter that officially christened a new day, and decreed that it had begun. Inside the Tularosa police station, Mulder sat in a chair beside Garrett's desk. He was slouched down low in the chair, his hand resting against his temple. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping. Mulder's face was awash in stubble, and he had bags under his eyes. His tie was loose, and his shirt was half tucked in and wrinkled. Mulder didn't know where his jacket was, and he didn't care. On the desk sat a cup of coffee that he hadn't asked for, and didn't want. His mind was too busy to worry about drinking coffee. His mind was thinking about the previous night, and how it could have happened. His mind was worrying about Scully, and wondering where she had been taken, and why, and by whom. His mind was busy pondering how he would find her, and how he would take his revenge upon the person that took her from him. And in the very darkest corner of his mind, somewhere so far back that he didn't even realize it, he was praying that she was all right, that she wouldn't be hurt, and that she would be returned to him. Mulder's fuse was very short that day, and in the days ahead, it would grow even shorter. So when Chief Garrett walked into the office, Mulder was in no mood for chit-chat. "How are you doing, Agent Mulder?" Garrett asked softly. Mulder opened his eyes, and looked up at the chief. "Have you found anything yet?" Garrett ignored the fact that Mulder had ignored him, and pushed onward. He shook his head sadly. "The reports on the blood have just come in, Agent Mulder." The chief stopped, unwilling to give Mulder such bad news. Mulder sat upright, and reached for the cold coffee. "Just tell me, Chief." Garrett took a seat behind his desk and sighed. "The blood on your rental car is Agent Scully's. Washington confirmed that an hour ago." The chief smiled. "We may be a small town, but we have all the police facilities of a big city." Mulder did not smile back. He was past caring about politeness. "What else?" "The tracks in the dirt near the car appear to show that a struggle had taken place. There is also a dent in the passenger door, which could be from a body hitting the door." Mulder's eyes froze on Garrett. "You mean Agent Scully's body." Garrett swallowed hard and nodded curtly. "Yes. Also, more blood was found on the ground, and this too, belongs to Agent Scully." "Was anything else found at the crime scene?" Mulder asked. "No, there wasn't. Agent Mulder, if I may say so, you could use some rest. Why don't you return to your motel, and sleep for a few hours?" Mulder's eyes darkened, and he stood up. "That's not what I did the last time, and I won't do it now." Garrett was confused. "What do you mean?" "When Scully was taken before, I didn't give up." Garrett did not ask about the previous capture, or why Mulder was at such a loss. Garrett had never had a partner, and could therefore not imagine how attached a person could become to their partner. However, he did notice that Mulder and Scully were very close to each other. "I'm not asking you to give up, Agent Mulder. I'm asking you to rest, so you'll be of a clearer mind." Mulder shook his head. "I don't think so." Garrett suddenly became annoyed that Mulder might think that the Tularosa police couldn't handle this. They could, and Garrett intended to show it. He stood up. "Look, Agent Mulder, I resent the fact that you-" Mulder turned on him, seething with anger. "Chief Garrett, I am a special agent of the FBI, so I outrank you! I'm also sick to death of inter-agency politics! Now, I order you to get to work on this case, and not worry about my sleeping habits! I'll sleep when Agent Scully is sitting in this office; safe! So, get to work!" Garrett had never seen Mulder so animated about anything. He nodded, and fairly ran out of the office. When he was gone, Mulder turned to the window, and looked out at the Tularosa landscape. Scully had only been gone a few hours, and already he was losing control. This was not good, and he knew it. He watched some low clouds drift past the window, and sighed. "Where are you, Scully?" he asked softly. "Leave me a clue." * * * Pain. Terrible pain. Scully had never felt so much pain in her whole life. Wherever she was, it was cold, quite damp, and for some reason, she could not open her eyes. She could tell that the blood from the cuts on her side had streamed down her waist and through her blouse. She knew that she had lost a lot of blood, because she was chilled from her wet garment. Scully lay on her uninjured side, her arms and legs bound, and a rag was tied over her eyes. Her whole left cheek also ached with tremendous pain, but it was nothing compared to her other injury. Scully listened intently, deciding if Louis was in the room. Finally, she concluded that he was not, so she tried to sit up. Her arms were tied in front of her, so sitting was an option, however she wasn't sure if her slashed torso could handle the strain and pressure. In the end, she decided to sit. She had to, if she ever wanted to escape. The moment she sat up, the pain in her side was magnified by a hundred, and she could barely stop herself from crying out. Scully's hair was disheveled, and it hung all about her blindfolded face. After a few minutes the pain subsided a minute amount, and for that she was glad. However, she could tell that her wound was still bleeding, and that was not a good sign. "Never mind," she said out loud. "Never mind what?" The voice scared Scully, and she jumped. Her breathing became shallow as she listened. She tried to pinpoint the position of Louis. When she finally decided that he was somewhere to her right, she sighed. "Louis, where am I?" Louis chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Scully nodded. "Yes, I would, but that's not what's important." "What is, Gabrielle?" Scully ignored his obvious ploy. "Louis, I'm still bleeding." "Yeah?" "Louis, I am a doctor, and I can tell that I have already lost a lot of blood. If the wounds are not taken care of soon, I could lose consciousness, and possibly die." "Those cuts aren't that deep, Gabrielle." Scully swallowed dryly. "Louis, since I can't see, I don't know that. But, even if they aren't deep, sometimes superficial cuts can be more dangerous than deep ones. Besides, how do we know if I don't have any internal injuries." "If you're trying to trick me into taking you to a hospital, you can stop." Scully wanted to scream and she was scared, but she knew that she had to keep calm. She wanted to get up and run out of this place, but she couldn't see, and the pain was getting worse. She knew that soon she wouldn't be able to withstand it any longer, and she'd give in to the darkness. And if she gave in to the darkness before Louis helped her, she knew she would never wake again. "Louis, please. Please help me. I will fall asleep, Louis, and I won't wake up again." Louis quietly moved forward, closer to Scully. As he moved, she cocked her head sideways, listening. He could see that she was telling the truth. Blood covered the whole left side of her blouse, and it wasn't dried blood, it was fresh. Louis moved even closer, until he was right next to her. Reaching out to her saturated blouse, he touched her gently. Scully flinched, but immediately stopped. She didn't want Louis to get too excited or upset. "I guess you do need a bandage," he said, as he wiped the blood on his fingers onto the cement wall that Scully leaned against. Scully breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Louis. I can tell you what to get, or we could go back to my motel room. My medical bag is there." Louis' eyes widened. "Oh no, Gabrielle! You're trying to trick me! Your friend will be there!" Scully shook her head quickly. "No he won't! He'll be at the police station, Louis! He won't be there. I promise." Louis looked at her with genuine affection. He liked Scully, and didn't want her to die. "What is in your bag that isn't in a store?" "Louis, wouldn't we look a little suspicious walking into a store together? Look at me. I'm sure I look like I was in an accident. If we go to the motel, we won't attract any attention, and I promise that Mulder won't be there." Louis's hands flew to cover his ears. "Don't say that name, Gabrielle! I don't want you to ever say that name again!" Scully frowned. "Why, Louis?" "Because he's my rival." Scully didn't understand. "You're rival for what?" Louis sighed. "For you, Gabrielle! He wants you, but he's not going to get you. You love me and we're going to be married." Scully thought her heart stopped. "What?" Louis smiled happily. "As soon as you're well again, we're going to be married. Then you'll really be mine, and *he* won't be able to do anything." Scully could barely breathe from fear. She decided to try to discourage Louis. "I don't know, Louis. I think that he will be very upset by this. He'll never let us alone. He loves me, Louis. He wants to marry me, too. Mulder and I are in love, Louis." Scully waited to see if her plan had worked. Instead she heard a low growl come from Louis. A low growl that soon turned into a scream. Louis came very close to her and screamed, "Don't say his name!" Scully didn't react. "Louis, I'm only saying the truth. You know that I'm right. Mulder loves me and he will come for me. So, why don't you let me go before he gets really angry and can't forgive you." "Shut up, Gabrielle," he muttered. "He's very determined, Louis. Mulder doesn't give up. He'll search for me forever." "Shut up, Gabrielle." This time his voice was louder. "You'll have to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder. We both will. Is that what you want for me? Mulder will always be there, in the shadows, and one day he'll take me away. One day Mulder and I will run away together." Suddenly, Scully felt a great rush of air come towards her, and then a fist slammed across her face, smashing her head against the cement block wall. She cried out as a small gash was opened on the left side of her forehead, near her hairline. Almost immediately, Scully felt the blood easing down her temple and cheek. She was quiet for a few minutes while a headache made itself known. She let the immediate pain abate, before she spoke again. "Louis..." "Just shut up." "Louis, you said that once I recovered, we would get married, right?" "Yes, Gabrielle." His voice sounded low and dangerous. "Well, if I don't stop bleeding soon, I won't recover, and that means no wedding." Louis thought about it. If he took care of Scully's problems, he could leave her for a while, and go to see Elliot. Those two were probably furious by now. He nodded. "All right, Gabrielle. I'll take you back to the motel, but if Mulder's there, I can't be held responsible for anything that might happen to him. Okay?" Scully nodded. "Agreed. Can we leave now, Louis? I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stay awake." Louis nodded, and as Scully gritted her teeth in pain, helped her to her feet. * * * Mulder had finally relented, and decided that he needed to sleep for a while. As he drove back to the motel, his mind was a flurry of activities. He wondered if the murder of Robin Waters had anything to do with Scully's abduction. He wondered if she had been taken by aliens, but he dismissed that theory. Whoever took Scully had a definite reason. Her capture was somehow connected to this case. He pulled into the parking lot of the Tularosa Motel and noticed that there was another car in the lot. Stepping out of his car, he walked over to the unknown car, and looked it over. Mulder saw nothing unusual until he looked through the window at the back seat. Sitting there on the back seat was what appeared to be two blood soaked towels. Mulder immediately pulled his gun out and walked towards the door to his room. He walked slowly, and with deliberate steps. He was halfway there, when the door opened slowly. Mulder stopped walking and waited. He didn't want to give away his advantage of surprise. The door opened further, and suddenly, a man stepped out. It was the man from the diner! It was Roger! Mulder still kept quiet. The man's back was to him, and he therefore did not see Mulder. "Come on, hurry up," the man mumbled to someone else. "Let's go, Gabrielle." And then, the man pulled Scully out of the room. When Mulder saw her, he was shocked into further silence. He couldn't believe that she was there. The man Mulder knew as Roger took another step before Mulder called out to him. "Federal agent, stop!" Louis turned around, and pulled Scully into a headlock. "Let us go, man!" When Mulder saw Scully, he wanted to cry. She was blindfolded, and her white blouse was utterly soaked in her blood. The right side of her mouth was swollen and also bloody, and she had a gash on her forehead that was bleeding as well. Her wounds were covered by her blouse, but Mulder knew that her wound had to be great in order to produce so much blood. Her hair was caked with dried blood and grime, and he thought that she must be in terrible pain, especially in the position that Roger now had her in. "Scully." He found that he could barely say that much. Scully's head cocked in Mulder's direction, and her hands pulled at Louis' sleeves. "...Mulder..." It was all she could say. Louis still hadn't bandaged her wound, and she was still bleeding. In Louis' free hand he held her medical bag. "Let her go!" Mulder said in a calm voice. Louis shook his head. "No way! Gabrielle is mine! She always has been! She loves me! Let us go!" Then Louis turned to Scully. "You said he wouldn't be here. You lied." Mulder stepped closer to the pair, his gun trained on Louis' head. "No, Roger. You are holding a federal agent hostage. Do you know that that's a federal offense? Agent Scully is not Gabrielle! Let her go!" Scully forced her eyes to focus on Mulder's form, and using the last of her strength, she yelled to him. "Mulder! Get out of here!..." Louis stepped closer to his car, and drug Scully along with him. She hadn't said anything else but Mulder's name and the warning, and Mulder knew that meant that she was weakening from loss of blood. Halfway to the car, Scully collapsed onto the ground, and Louis lost his hold on her. Mulder knew that this would be his only chance. He flew at Louis, and attacked him. They rolled away from Scully, but she didn't move. She was unconscious, and simply lay on the ground, drops of her blood falling to the dusty earth. Mulder punched Louis in the ribs over and over, but it seemed to have no affect on him. Suddenly, Louis was on top of Mulder, and Mulder felt like his mind was no longer his. Louis stared at Mulder, his dark eyes boring through Mulder's hazel ones. "Listen to me, Mulder. You will give up this fight with me. You will let me and Gabrielle leave in peace. Do you understand me?" Mulder blinked, and stared into Louis' eyes. He didn't move, but in his mind, he knew that he was somehow being controlled. Finally, after what seemed an eon, he shook his head. "No, Roger, I won't let you go." Louis' temper flared, and he lost control. * * * When Mulder awoke, it was late afternoon, and the air was turning chilly again. He slowly sat up, and realized that he had a nasty cut on his forehead. The blood had run down his face, and onto his collar. As he stood, a great, searing pain shot through his whole body. Looking down at his chest, he saw that the pain came from scratches on his chest. How did he get those? Roger couldn't have done it. Or could he? Suddenly, Mulder remembered Scully's wounds, and wondered how she got them. As he walked to his room, he knew that Scully was gone again. Although he was worried about her, he felt some comfort because he knew for certain that Roger had her. On the ground before the door, he found Scully's medical bag. Apparently, Roger had only taken what he needed and had left the rest. As Mulder looked at it, a slight smile spread across his lips. Roger had been holding the bag! His fingerprints had to be on it! Mulder ran to the room, quickly bandaged his minor wounds, and then carefully slipped the bag into a plastic one. He then ran to his car, and sped off towards the Tularosa police station. * * * Chief Garrett looked at Mulder in pure astonishment. He was amazed that Mulder was not amazed. Mulder simply sat there as if things this unnatural happened to him every day. At long last, Garrett sat down, and folded his hands before him. "Are you sure you're okay, Agent Mulder?" Mulder nodded. "Yes, it's just a few minor scratches. If Scully were here she'd tell me to stop acting like a five-year old." "Was she wounded very badly?" Mulder looked away, and sighed. "She didn't look too good, Chief." Garrett nodded sadly, not knowing what to say. He decided to change the subject. "Agent Mulder, my men haven't been able to come up with much of anything. I'm sorry. We have no leads." Mulder frowned. "They didn't find anything? Nothing?" "No, but hopefully that bag you found will turn something up. Do you have any ideas?" "I have the feeling that I missed something somewhere. I just can't put my finger on it." * * * Soft morning light filtered through the white curtain, and fell downwards. It fell down into the dank, dark, lifeless room. The room was built of cement blocks, and was very cold. In one corner of the room, a body, covered with an army-style blanket lay on a cot. The person did not move, barely breathed, and made no sound. As the minutes passed, the sunlight moved over the person's body, and eventually it fell on the person's face. Scully's hand passed over her eyes, to shield them from the light. Scully noticed then, that her hands were no longer tied, and there was no blindfold over her eyes. Quite suddenly, Scully remembered the cuts over her ribs, and sat up a little bit. She touched her side gently, so as not to reawaken the terrible pain. She unbuttoned her blouse and her blood-stained fingers fell upon a bandage and tape. Breathing a sigh of relief, she eased back down onto the hard cot and pillow, and lay still again. The simple act of sitting up had caused her head to ache with a severe pain that only abated after several minutes of lying down had passed. Half an hour later, Scully attempted to sit up again, and this time, she was able to do so successfully. Then, breathing deeply, she pushed with all her strength and stood up. The second she did, the whole room began to spin around her, and bile rose in the back of her throat from the nausea. Scully ignored all of this, and forced a foot forward. However, all of this was too much for her body to take, and her eyes rolled back, her body went limp, and she fainted onto the cot. An hour later, Scully's eyelids fluttered, and her lips parted to form words. "...Louis?...Louis, are you...there?" There was no answer, but this did not surprise Scully, because she was sure that Louis was off somewhere, covering his tracks. Scully knew that she had to get up and use this time to try and escape. So, with all the strength she had left, Scully forced herself off of the bed, and into a standing position. Once there, she stood still for a few moments, forcing the nausea away, and the spinning to disappear. When this was done, she took a step forward, and then another. Soon, she was standing before the windows, blinking from the sunlight. Scully wondered where she was, and what Louis intended to do with her. She knew that this place was not the same one she had been in the night before. Louis had moved her, further from Mulder. She knew that it diminished the chance that Mulder would find her. Then, her last waking moments came into her mind, and she remembered that she had been at the motel with Louis, and Mulder had been there. She remembered that he had called to her, and she had said his name aloud. Then, the memories ended, and were replaced with blackness. She wondered what had happened to Mulder, and why she couldn't remember anything else. Had she fainted? Probably she had, but what had Louis done to Mulder. Louis had warned her that he wouldn't be responsible for what he would do to Mulder, if Mulder was at the motel. Scully didn't think that Louis would kill Mulder, or would he? She sighed, and refused to think about it any longer. Mulder was too smart to get killed anyway. She got up on her tip-toes, and was able to glimpse a look out of the windows. All she saw were a few trees, the wind blowing dust and leaves about, a lonely road, and the desert sand. * * * The building was huge and constructed mostly of glass. It had been designed for scientific people and their needs, and it served them well. Inside was a huge lobby that was opulently furnished, and this was the only part of the building that was built for comfort. Louis walked past the vacant receptionist's desk, and proceeded on to the elevator. Pushing the "up" button, he looked around himself to make sure that he was alone. Soon, the doors opened, Louis stepped inside, and he disappeared behind the steel. Louis got off of the elevator on the twelfth floor, and turned down a long, dull, colorless corridor. He stopped before the fourth door on the right, and knocked quietly. It was opened by a woman; the same woman from the car. "Louis! I can't believe it's you!" Louis smiled uneasily at her high tone of voice, and slid past her. The woman closed the door behind him, and ran past him, to stop him. "Louis, wait. Don't go in there. Elliot's in there, and he's very upset." Louis stopped, an annoyed look in his eyes. "I'm so sick of Elliot! He doesn't understand me at all. Let me go in there!" The woman's expression changed, and she became angry. "Look, Louis, I don't like your attitude! You're damn lucky that I'm not as angry as Elliot. You walked out on us, and this project, without a care." Suddenly, Louis' words of the woman flashed in her mind. "Louis, you didn't hurt that woman, did you?" Louis looked completely innocent. "What woman?" "Don't play games with me, Louis." "I didn't touch her, okay? Now can I go in and see Elliot?" The woman shook her head. "No. Where have you been all this time, Louis?" Louis shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "Look, I had some things to take care of, all right?" "What things, Louis?" Both the woman and Louis snapped their heads around to find Elliot lurking in a corner. "Elliot! Good to see you," said Louis happily. Elliot was a tall man with close cropped blonde hair, and small circular glasses. His eyes were dark and mysterious, and he was hardly ever in a good mood. He rather fancied that he resembled Billy Idol; however, no one but he believed it. Elliot was extremely intelligent, and very polite. "Louis, I feel obliged to say that you are on very thin ice with me. You have been gone almost a week, and now you come sauntering back in here as if nothing happened." Louis' head fell down, and he took on the expression of a little boy. "I'm really sorry, Elliot. I didn't mean to be gone so long. I just got preoccupied." "With that woman that looks like Gabrielle," the woman offered. Elliot's eyes ignited into flame, and he seared holes through Louis. "Another woman, Louis? This has all been about another Gabrielle? And here you stood trying to pass your adventure off as scholarly travels! How dare you lie to us?" Louis glared at the woman, rather like a brother who had been told on. "I didn't touch her! I swear!" Elliot shook his head sadly, and played with a pencil in his slender hands. "Louis, you should know by now that I can tell when you are lying. What have you done with her? We can't suffer another murder." "I didn't touch her!" "Louis, stop trying to fool us. It's pointless," said the woman. "Now, who is she, Louis?" Louis was silent for many seconds until he finally looked at them. "Her name is Scully, and she's with the FBI." Elliot and the woman almost fell onto the floor from shock. "What did you say?" asked Elliot in a low dangerous voice. "She's an FBI agent!" Elliot moved close to Louis, and stared at him. "You will let her go, Louis." Louis shook his head. "I won't. She's mine now. She's my Gabrielle." Elliot threw his hands up into the air. "For God sakes, Louis, Gabrielle is dead! Now it's sad, and we know that you loved her, but she wasn't strong enough. She died from the procedure, but you survived. You survived to carry on our important work. She died so you could continue. You've got to accept that. It's been a long time." Louis stepped back from them, backwards towards the door. "I'm not letting Gabrielle get away again. I'm sorry, but you'll have to find somebody else to finish the research." He opened the door, and looked back at them. He knew that they weren't brave enough to attack him. They had no weapons to defend themselves with, and no way to control his power. "I'm sorry." Then, Louis disappeared. * * * Mulder had returned to the site of Robin Waters' murder, thinking that he had missed something. He hadn't slept for thirty-six hours, but he felt none of it. He kept telling himself that if he just searched the site one more time, just thought it over one more time, he would find a clue. After all, that was the reputation he had in the Bureau. Agents came to him with their cases when they reached a dead end because usually, Mulder could make that leap of faith, and find something for them to go on. Sometimes that leap was in the wrong direction, but sometimes, even if Scully wouldn't admit it, he could skip a few steps and end up ahead of the pack. Now he stood still beneath a hue oak tree where Robin had stopped just before being killed. The late afternoon light was beginning to fade, and the breeze that ruffled his short brown hair had a slight chill to it. "Okay," he said out loud, "now, what am I not seeing?" Mulder knelt down beside the huge tree, and looked at the grass that grew near the base of the trunk. He pushed the grass this way and that, looking for anything that might help him. He was about to look away when he saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Looking back, he examined the area close to the trunk's base and found a small, red matchbook. Mulder smiled triumphantly and picked it up. He turned it over quickly and read the address on the back. It read: *Marie's Old Country Bed and Breakfast 205 Horizon Road Ruidoso, New Mexico.* Mulder slipped the matchbook into a plastic bag, and headed for his car. He hoped that this matchbook had been dropped by Robin's killer. * * * Elliot stared at the television screen studiously. He was watching one of Louis' early sessions at the lab. This session had been taped two days before Gabrielle had died, so Louis appeared happy, content, and cooperative. Elliot leaned forward and cupped his chin in his palms. He couldn't believe that their project had gotten so out of hand. "Elliot, what are you doing?" Elliot didn't turn to face the woman who had been his partner in this for so many years. "Just thinking where all of this went wrong." The woman shook her head slowly, and sadly. "Elliot, you can't blame yourself; not for Louis, or for Gabrielle. None of this is your fault or mine." Elliot paused the tape on a smiling Louis. A Louis who was happy with his lessons and his new powers. A Louis who was happy because he had Gabrielle to love. "Look at him, Megan. Look how happy he was, how complacent. Two days after this Gabrielle died and all of this madness began." Now Elliot turned to face Megan, and his eyes displayed his sorrow and his helplessness. "Megan, I should have seen the signs then. I should have known that Gabrielle was Louis' lifeline; that without her his life meant nothing. Without her nothing he did mattered to him anymore because he needed her to be there with him. Oh, Megan, how could we have been so naive to think that he would be able to go on like nothing happened?" Megan looked out the window at the grey evening. She could tell that it was already turning quite cold. As she watched the trees outside the lab complex swaying in the desert wind, her light blue eyes suddenly widened. "Elliot, what about that woman? We both know that Louis has her." Elliot stopped the tape, pulled it out, and placed another one in the VCR. He pressed the play button and the image of a woman popped onto the screen. She had light blue eyes, auburn hair, and light skin. She appeared to be in some sort of a recreation room, and was talking with Megan. If Mulder had been in the room with Elliot and Megan, and had glanced at the screen, he would have sworn that that woman was Scully. Elliot shook his head. "She was a beauty, wasn't she?" Megan nodded. "Yes, and we all know how obsessive he was about her. Elliot, I don't want to think about what he could do to this FBI agent if she isn't cooperative." Elliot nodded. "We have to stop Louis before this whole project is exposed. If they catch Louis, and see what he can do, they'll be on our trail like bloodhounds. You must try to find Louis and the woman, but under no circumstances should you go to the police or the FBI. I'll try and close things up around here." Megan's eyes fell. "You mean we're...?" "Yes, we're aborting the project. We have to, Megan. It's too dangerous to continue. Besides, we have no more subjects, and it would take too long to start over with new people. Go now, and try to help that woman." * * * Mulder pulled into the small parking lot of Marie's Old Country Bed and Breakfast and sighed. It was almost dark. He hoped that this place wouldn't turn out to be a dead end. Scully had already been missing for two days. If he didn't find a lead soon, the trail would soon be too cold to follow. He stepped out of the car, straightened his tie, and walked up the front steps of the old house as his long, dark overcoat danced in the wind. Knocking on the screen door, Mulder noticed that there was a sign on the door. It read: *No one is a stranger in Marie's house because her door is always open.* Mulder smiled hollowly, and suddenly the door was opened before him. A woman stood there. She was older, robust, and wore an old fashioned dress and apron. "Can I help you?" she asked, her grey hair blowing in the cold desert air. Mulder reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his badge. "I'm Agent Mulder of the FBI, ma'am. I'm here on official business, and I have a few questions to ask you." The woman's eyes widened, and she stepped backwards into the house. "Please, come in, Agent Mulder. I'll try to answer your questions." Mulder nodded and stepped into the house. He found himself in a rather quaint living room, that reminded him of his grandparents' house. The woman offered him a seat, and he took it. The woman smiled at him, obviously nervous. "I'm Marie Rivera, the owner of this house. What can I do for you, Agent Mulder?" Mulder opened his notebook, and took out a picture of Louis. The results of the fingerprint analysis had come back, and he had gotten them before coming to Marie's. Along with the results, a picture was sent, for which Mulder was glad. He handed the picture to Marie. "Do you recognize this man?" Marie looked at the picture quickly, and then at Mulder. "Is he in trouble?" "Do you know him?" Marie nodded sadly. "Yes, he's my nephew, Louis." Mulder nodded, remembering how he had felt when Garrett told him that the fingerprints on Scully's medical bag belonged to a Louis Mallory, and not someone named Roger. At least that part of the puzzle had been solved. But, Mulder had still wondered until a picture was faxed to the Tularosa police station a few seconds later. Mulder then asked Garrett to run an address check on Louis, then he had headed for Marie's. Mulder then reached for his wallet, and brought out a picture of Scully. After he had known Scully for a while, Mulder had insisted that they each carry a picture of the other in their wallets, in case something like this ever happened. They weren't any special pictures, just larger duplicates of their badge pictures. When Mulder had handed his to Scully, she had looked at him mischievously. "Does this mean we're going steady, Mulder? Usually a girl gets a ring, or a jacket." At the time, Mulder had not found her joke funny. He had felt that her comment was insulting security measures that were very close to his heart. Now, as Mulder looked at her picture, he wished that she were there with him to make fun of his paranoia. He held her picture before Marie, and said, "Do you recognize this woman, Mrs. Rivera?" Marie looked at the picture a long time, and finally she spoke. "She looks like Gabrielle, but she can't be Gabrielle." Mulder began to feel his usually rock solid patience ebbing away. "Mrs. Rivera, think hard. This woman is a federal agent, and she is missing. Do you know her or have you seen her?" Marie shook her head. "No." "When did you last see Louis?" "He was here last night." Mulder couldn't believe his luck. "Was someone with him?" "I don't think so." "What did he want here?" Marie shrugged. "He stayed the night here. He also said that he had some things that he wanted to store in the basement. I said that that was fine with me, and I gave him the key for the basement door. Actually, I was kind of surprised to see him because I hadn't seen him in three years, except for that day last week. He stopped by one evening, and said that he had taken a leave of absence from his job." She looked up at Mulder and found him standing. He had stood up the minute she mentioned the basement. "You want to see that basement, right?" Mulder nodded, and bent down to collect his things. "If that's possible, yes." Marie stood before him, hands on her hips. "And if it isn't?" Mulder didn't miss a beat. "Then I will be forced to get a court order." Marie nodded, and stepped ahead of him. "Follow me, Agent Mulder." Marie led Mulder to a door underneath the steps. She pulled a set of keys out of her apron pocket and after finding the right one, slipped it into the keyhole. Soon she had the door open, and she and Mulder descended the steps. Once downstairs, Mulder asked her to turn the lights on, and Marie did so. When she did, and the room was revealed to them, Mulder breathed in sharply. The room was an unfinished basement with a cement floor and cement block walls. There was nothing else in the basement except for a few boxes. Mulder looked the whole room over then turned to Mrs. Rivera. "Mrs. Rivera, are those boxes the items that Louis wanted to store here?" Marie walked over to the boxes that were stacked up against the wall nearest the stairs, and looked at them quickly. "No, these are mine." "Are any of those boxes Louis'?" Marie shook her head. "No, Agent Mulder. These are all mine." Mulder let out a sigh, and began to walk around the room, looking for clues. A few times, he had to stop himself from asking Scully what she thought. "Could you then tell me, Mrs. Rivera, why your nephew said he wanted to store things here, when in fact, he had nothing to store?" Marie shrugged. "I don't know." Mulder had been canvassing the entire room, and was at the wall exactly opposite the stairs. He knelt down before the wall, as he had done with the others, and looked at it closely. About two and a half feet up from the floor he found a small red stain. Touching it, he found it dry, and nothing came off on his fingers. He turned to Marie. "Mrs. Rivera, do you know what this stain is here on the wall?" Marie walked over to Mulder and shook her head. "No, Agent Mulder. I can't say if it's always been there, or not. Why? What do you think it is?" Mulder shook his head sadly. "I think it's my partner's blood." Suddenly, Mulder thought of something, and he looked down at the floor. Pulling a small flashlight out of his pocket, he shone it on the damp floor. Below him he found two larger circles of red. He touched these as well, but they were also dry. He was about to turn away, when something caught his eye. He bent down closer to the floor, and shone the light at the crease that was formed when the wall met the floor. There, he saw three or so strands of hair. Immediately, he pulled a plastic bag and tweezers out of his pocket. He picked the hairs up with the tweezers, and placed them in the bag. Holding them up to his light, he found them to be auburn in color. Suddenly Mulder found the room to be extremely hot as waves of anger passed over him. He found himself reliving the same feelings he had had when he had found Scully in that Georgetown hospital. He stood up slowly and slipped the bag into his pocket. Somehow, it made him feel a little better to have it there, close to him. "Mrs. Rivera, did your nephew say anything about his future plans? Anything about where he might be going?" "I made breakfast for him, and all he kept talking about was that he was finally going to see the world. He said that he would finally have enough time to do everything he wanted." "Did he say anything about Gabrielle?" Marie's eyes widened and she remained silent, not sure how much she should say. Mulder sighed. "Did he mention her, Mrs. Rivera?" Marie nodded, finally deciding. "Yes. He said that he and Gabrielle would finally be together, but, Agent Mulder, that can't be true." "Why is that?" "Well, Gabrielle is dead. She died about two years ago in a work related accident." "Was Gabrielle his wife?" Marie shook her head. "No, just his girlfriend, but Louis loved her above his own life. When she died, Louis wrote to me. He was destroyed." "Where did Gabrielle work?" "She and Louis worked at the same place. It's a laboratory facility in Las Cruces called Gateway Research." "What did Louis and Gabrielle do there?" Mulder asked, as he wrote her comments down. Marie shrugged. "I don't know. He would never tell me." Mulder knew that the hairs he had recovered were Scully's and he knew that the blood on the wall and floor was hers as well, but he still had no idea where she was. "Do you know where Louis lives?" "He and Gabrielle had a place, but I don't know if they used it very much." Mulder smiled in that slight, confused way that he had. "What do you mean by that, Mrs. Rivera?" She shrugged. "Well, whenever I called him, to invite them over for dinner or something, they were never there. They were never there; ever." Mulder shrugged, but jotted that information down. "Do you know the address?" She nodded. "I have it upstairs. If you're done here, Agent Mulder, we can go upstairs and I'll get it for you." Mulder looked around the damp basement one more time, and then nodded. "All right, Mrs. Rivera. I'm done here." The twosome trudged back up the stairs, and once there, Marie went to a dresser that sat in the hallway to her kitchen. She dug into one of the drawers, and pulled a small, manila piece of paper out. Squinting her eyes at the small print, she said, "It's in Three Rivers, on Windy Road. House number 66. Three Rivers is only about thirty miles from here. You could get there by suppertime." Mulder nodded as he wrote the information down. "Thank you for your assistance, Mrs. Rivera. I will have you notified when this case is solved." Marie nodded and tried to put forth a valiant smile. "Thank you, Agent Mulder. I'll show you out." Marie walked to her front door and opened it. Mulder walked past her, and down the porch steps. As he opened his car door, Marie called out to him. "Agent Mulder! I hope you find your partner!" Mulder looked back at Marie, and Scully's image came into his clouded mind. He nodded to Marie, and slipped into the car. Once inside and alone, he put his head on the steering wheel, and mumbled to himself, "So do I." =========================================================================== Five Scully awoke on her third day of captivity to find Louis still gone. She was partly glad for that, but another part of her couldn't help wondering if Louis was out there, somewhere, stalking Mulder. She tried not to worry about it, but her mind kept returning to it. She wouldn't have worried so much, if she had thought that Mulder knew what he was up against, but he didn't. He probably still thought that Louis' name was Roger, and Scully knew that if Mulder still thought that, then he was as good as a sitting duck. But, as Mulder would undoubtedly say: "A sitting duck is better than a dead duck, Scully." Scully finally had enough strength to seriously contemplate escape. The cuts on her side were still terribly painful, and with each step, she threatened to reopen the wounds, which had just recently stopped bleeding. Also her mouth was still quite swollen, but at least she could walk without feeling queasy and lightheaded. Scully hadn't eaten since her capture, nor had she had any water. She knew that if she didn't get water soon, she would be as good as dead. The room in which she was being held did not provide much warmth, so she was fairly shivering. She only had on a thin blouse, and a pair of dress pants. Her sportscoat had been lost somewhere, but she didn't remember where or when. Standing up, Scully wondered if there was any way to get out of the room in which she was being held. If there was, she was determined to find it, and quickly. Louis would undoubtedly be returning to her soon, and she wanted to be gone when he did return. She walked around the room, until she came to the door. Slowly, she clasped it with her trembling hands, and turned. The knob turned a small amount, and then slammed into the locking mechanism. Scully pulled as hard as her injuries would allow, but to no avail. Frustrated, frightened, and alone, Scully pounded weakly on the door with her fists, as tears streamed down her face. Then she walked over to the wall that held the small window. The window was about two feet above her head, but still, she reached her hands up, and grasped onto the ledge. The moment her muscles engaged, fierce pain shot into her side and she barely stopped herself from screaming. She ignored the pain, and tried to pull herself up, and the minute she did, she felt the clots break, and once again, she felt blood trickling down her side. Scully let go, and for a few moments was almost incapable of handling the pain. Finally, giving up, she slid down the wall, and collapsed onto the floor. She accepted the fact that she wasn't going to get away. She would die alone, or worse, she would be forced to live out her life with Louis as his Gabrielle. * * * Scully awoke suddenly, but did not know why. She lay there, on the cold floor listening for the sound that had awakened her. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, or rather unconscious, but she guessed it had been until she could handle the pain again. Her blue eyes flicked back and forth in a frightened manner as she waited breathlessly. "Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?" Scully's eyes flew to the wooden door that separated her from freedom, and her breath caught in her throat. She had heard a voice, and it wasn't Louis'. It was a female voice. She pulled her torn and broken body up to a standing position, and leaned close to the door. "Hello?" she asked tentatively. Scully felt as though eons passed before the person on the other side of the door responded. "Are you Scully?" Scully swallowed a sob, but silent tears coursed down her cheeks as she answered. "Yes. I'm Agent Scully. Who are you?" Scully heard the woman fumbling with something. "I'm here to help you. That's all you have to know. Now, I don't seem to have a key, so you'll have to back away from the door, please. Far away." Scully's brow furrowed. "Why?" "Just do it, please." Scully obeyed, and as fast as her injuries would allow, moved far to the side of the door. Scully almost let out a scream when a gunshot ripped through the stillness. The doorknob shattered and fell to the floor, as the door swung open. Slowly, a rather tall woman, with blonde hair walked through the doorway. To Scully, she seemed very scientific, as if she worked in a lab. Scully braced herself for the worst. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice breaking. Megan smiled as softly as her disposition would allow. "I can't really tell you that, Agent Scully. I just came to release you. You see, I know Louis, and I want to help him. He really never meant you any harm, and-" Suddenly Megan's gaze flicked to Scully's blood covered blouse. "Are...are you okay?" Scully sighed with pain and looked down at her blouse covered with fresh blood. "No I'm not." Megan gulped down her panic. "Louis did that to you?" Scully nodded. "Yes. I don't know how, but he did." Megan nodded. "Well, that's not important right now. What is important is for you to get out of here before he returns. Sorry, I didn't get here sooner." Megan handed Scully a canteen of water, and a blanket. "Put that on, and drink some water. Then I'll drive you back to your motel." Then, with a second glance, she said, "Boy, you really do look like Gabrielle." Scully accepted the offerings gladly. But then, in the back of her mind, the part of her that was Mulder spoke up. She couldn't trust this woman so easily. "Why are you helping me?" Megan's eyes took on a sad look. "Because this has all gotten out of hand, and it has to stop." Scully nodded, and pulled the blanket around her. As she followed Megan out of the house and into the windy, hot dusk, she wondered if Mulder was safe. Scully looked around herself, trying to commit the scenery to memory. Easing herself into Megan's car, she sighed, biting down the awful pain. The whole ride back to Tularosa, as night descended, only one thought was in her mind: how good it would be to see Mulder again. * * * Mulder had just entered the city of Three Rivers when his cellular phone rang, startling him. Without taking his eyes off of the road, he reached onto the passenger's seat, the seat where Scully should have been, and picked it up. Touching the SEND button, he put the phone to his ear. "Mulder." "Mulder, this is Garrett. Sorry to bother you, but I thought you'd want to know this. Louis Mallory works for Gateway Research, which does scientific testing on any subject you could imagine. Louis worked for two scientists named Elliot Feller and Megan Hutchinson. These two have PhD's in Psychotherapy and Neurology respectively. They were supposedly working on ways for humans to use more of their brain power. Up to 30 or 40% more." Mulder took it all in with a dour demeanor. "Mind control," he said, almost absently. Garrett ignored this last statement, because it frightened him. "Mulder, there's more. It seems that Doctors Feller and Hutchinson had two subjects or pupils. Their names were Louis Mallory and Gabrielle Cane." Mulder felt like a stake had been pushed through his heart and twisted. "Gabrielle?" "Yes. This has to be the girl that Louis keeps muttering about. It seems that he and Gabrielle were...involved, but one day, about two years ago, six months after she and Louis had signed on, she died. Cause of death is listed as electrocution, but that seems unlikely. Mulder, the coroner's report says that the neurons and synapses in her brain were cauterized, almost as if someone took a soldering gun to them. No electrical shock that I know of can probe that deep into a body." "She couldn't handle the strain of her brain's new power. I don't know how anyone could. Garrett, do you know what this means? With that much more use of the brain's power, a human could do anything: telepathy, telekinesis, projection, forced hallucination, anything. A person with that kind of power could make a normal person see anything, do anything. They could even see a cougar attacking them, when there was really only a person there." Garrett sighed. "Now wait a minute, Mulder. Let's not leap off the face of reason. No one knows what such a person could do. Or if they could do anything at all. Maybe the experiments didn't even work." "They worked. Garrett, I saw what Louis did to Scully that morning. He had her under his control, and he probably wasn't even trying hard. Then I saw her at the motel, and I saw what he had done to her. She was spellbound under his gaze." Garrett said nothing. There was nothing to say. Mulder sighed. "Look, Garret, I'm at Louis's address, so I've got to go. I'll call you if I find anything." "Okay. Good luck, Mulder. I hope you find Scully." "So do I, Chief." Mulder was about to press the END button, when Garrett spoke. "Oh, wait a minute! There's one more thing, Mulder. Somebody called for you. I think his name was...um...Skinner. Yeah, that's it. It was Skinner. Assistant Director Skinner. He said call him right away or he'd have some other agents come out here and kill you." Mulder didn't react. "Okay, Garret. Thanks a lot." Mulder pressed the END button and sighed tiredly. This was all he needed: Skinner breathing down his neck about something that didn't even matter. Mulder knew that he'd have to tell him about Scully. He looked out at the darkening sky and decided that it would probably rain later. He pulled his overcoat around him, opened the door and stepped out. He cursed himself for not getting here sooner. It was near dark already. But, that couldn't be helped. Garrett had asked him to try and work up a profile on Louis, and then Mulder had talked to some of Robin Waters' friends, but none of that had panned out. Well, he'd better get started. He looked at the house before him. It was quite small and painted in earth tones. The roof looked like it needed a going over, and one or two of the windows were cracked. Mulder took one more look at the sky and hoped that wherever Scully was, she was warm and in no pain. Then, he remembered Skinner. "I probably forgot to send him a birthday card," he said dryly. Pulling the phone out again, he dialed Skinner's number and waited. After five rings a female voice answered. "This is Agent Fox Mulder. I was asked to call Assistant Director Skinner." He could hear the laughter in the secretary's voice as she spoke to him. She knew Mulder quite well, for she was usually there when he was reprimanded, which was quite often. "Yes, Agent Mulder, I know. If you'll hold for a few seconds, I'll connect you." Mulder didn't even think two seconds passed before he heard a click, and then: "Is this you, Mulder?" Mulder looked up at the New Mexico sky again, and decided to make this quick. The rain was coming faster than he had thought. "Yes, sir. You asked me to call?" "Agent Mulder, I have been made aware that you have been using the Bureau's labs quite extensively over the past few days. I wasn't upset until I discovered that one of the specimens sent here was a swatch of Agent Scully's blood." Mulder sighed. "Sir, I-" Skinner cut him off. "Now, I know that any agent of mine would have called me if he or she were in trouble, or if their partner was in trouble. So, Agent Mulder, I'm asking, are you in trouble?" "Sir, Agent Scully is missing." The words cut at Mulder like a white hot knife. Skinner tried hard to keep in control. "I'm sure you would have told me sooner or later. Right, Agent Mulder?" Skinner didn't wait for an answer. "Of course. Now, you say she's missing. Do you mean to impart that she wandered off in some sort of fugue?" Mulder bit down hard on his lower lip, and tried to keep the anger out of his voice. "No, sir. She was taken by a suspect named Louis Mallory." "When did this event take place?" There was no emotion in Skinner's voice. "Almost three days ago. I am currently following a lead in her case." Mulder imagined Skinner rubbing the bridge of his nose as he spoke. "Agent Mulder, was she taken by the same person who you are investigating for murder?" Mulder almost choked. "Yes, sir." "And you are sure that she is still...alive?" Mulder noted the strain in Skinner's voice, but made no mention of it. "It's very possible, sir." "Agent Mulder, do you need further assistance from the Bureau in the form of agents, scientists, or finances?" Mulder knew that Skinner was saying that whatever Mulder needed to find Scully, Skinner would provide. It almost made Mulder feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that Skinner really cared about Scully. "No, sir, not at this time. But, if the need presents itself, I won't hesitate to call." Skinner coughed. "Very well, Agent Mulder. Please call me in twenty-four hours and inform me of your progress." Mulder nodded. "I will, sir. Thank you." Mulder again pressed the END button, and slipped the phone into his pocket. Then he turned to the house again. He walked to the front porch and up the steps. Looking in the windows, he saw nothing, so he turned to the door. Pulling out his gun, he slowly opened the screen door, and then pushed open the main door. The hinges creaked as the door swung open and Mulder slowly walked inside, his gun sweeping the barren room. He breathed in deeply. He could feel that Scully had been here, in this place. He didn't know she had been there only half an hour ago. * * * Megan stopped the car alongside the road, and looked over at Scully. She had fallen asleep and was near unconsciousness from shock. Megan reached over and tapped her shoulder. Megan noticed how pale Scully was, and her blouse had so much blood on it that it scared her. She tapped Scully again. "Agent Scully, wake up." Scully stirred and her eyes opened. She looked over at Megan. "Are we there already?" Megan's eyes fell. "Not exactly." Scully slowly pulled herself up in the seat, and looked around. They were on a lonely looking desert road, and it was almost night. Pushing her hair behind her ears, Scully breathed in slowly to calm herself. "Where are we?" "We're about a mile and a half away from your motel." "Why are we stopped?" asked Scully, her voice very soft and weak. "Because this is as far as I can take you." Scully was so tired, and weak, and in so much pain, that she thought she had heard wrong. "What?" "I can't let anyone else see me, Agent Scully. I have to keep my anonymity in this. That's all I can say, so, I'm afraid you'll have to walk." "I won't be able to walk that far." Megan swallowed, knowing that Scully was right, but she couldn't risk being seen. Besides, a car would happen by, and pick Scully up. "Agent Scully, do you see that rise up ahead?" she asked as she pointed before them. Scully nodded, fear rising in her. "Just beyond that point is where the town of Tularosa begins. Just go to the first house or shop and ask them to take you to the hospital. You'll be fine. You can walk that far." Scully realized that she couldn't triumph over this woman's fear. She had no other options. Scully nodded to Megan. "I guess I have no choice. Can you help me out of the car?" Megan didn't answer. She opened her door immediately and walked around to Scully's side. Opening her door, she offered her hand, which Scully took. Once out of the car, Megan closed the door, and helped Scully to the side of the road. She placed the blanket around Scully again, and gave her a long drink from the canteen. "I'd let you have the canteen, Agent Scully, but I think it would only weigh you down. I have to leave you now, but I want you to know that I hope you're okay, and I hope Louis didn't hurt you too much. Maybe one day you'll understand Louis, and you'll be able to forgive him for what he did. It really isn't his fault. He can control it. I used to think that one day he'd be able to, but now I see the truth. The truth, Agent Scully, is that no one and nothing can control it, because it's not a natural state. And what is unnatural cannot be held in check, and will one day break free of its worldly constraints." That said, Megan took back the canteen, and got into her car. As she sped away, and the dust billowed around, Scully prayed that IT was not bearing down on Mulder. * * * Mulder had scanned the entire house and found nothing. Now he walked down the basement steps, and came to a door at the bottom. Upon inspecting it, he found that the doorknob had been shot off, and his stomach knotted up. Slowly, and almost unwillingly, he pushed the door open. His gun drawn, he stepped across the threshold and was not prepared for what he saw. * * * Scully began walking, slowly but surely. She topped the rise and before her lay the once sleepy town of Tularosa. Each footstep brought forth such pain as she had never known. Her side ached unmercifully, and she thought that her head would burst. She knew that if she stopped, she would fall unconscious and slip into shock. And if that happened, she could die, because there was little chance that anyone would find her out in the desert. Thunder boomed above her suddenly, and she jumped. She looked to her right, and a long shred of lightening ripped from the dark night clouds above her. It was almost totally dark now, and the lightening illuminated the ground for a few moments, before it disappeared. Thunder sounded again, and Scully started walking a little faster, even though it worsened her pain. Then, the rain came, and it fell upon Scully in hard pellets. They fell upon her head and stung her scalp. She paid no attention to it. She kept walking, knowing that she probably wouldn't make it to the motel. But, she had to try. * * * Mulder knelt before the army-style cot, and tried to suppress tears. He tried, but failed. As he looked at the blood-soaked blankets and knew that the blood was most surely Scully's, tears slipped from his hazel eyes, and down his cheeks. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there. It could have been hours. His gun hung in his right hand, forgotten. His mind was full of this room. All over the floor, all over the walls, all over the door, were splotches of blood. He couldn't imagine how Scully could still be alive. She wasn't, he admitted to himself. He had lost her for good this time. He stood, and wiped the tears away with his sleeve. He checked the room for any other evidence, and found none. He hadn't expected to. He walked to the door, and before leaving turned back. He looked at the cold, grey, dark, lifeless room where Scully's life had ended. How could he go on? What else was there? Then, he remembered Louis, and he remembered his sister. The first he would spend the rest of his days tracking until he found him, and then he would kill him. That was the least he could do for Scully. The second he would also keep searching for, but he had always felt that Scully would be the one to help him find his sister. Now that she was gone, he wasn't so sure that the task could be accomplished alone. Nothing meant as much without Scully. Even the search for his sister. * * * Scully walked past the first building in Tularosa, and almost fell down from the pain. She was now soaked to the skin, but felt none of it. The pain eclipsed all else. The pain and the drive to get to Mulder. She knew that if only she could get to him, she would be all right. He would take care of her. She would stake her life on that, and this night, she was. As she crept closer and closer to the motel, the rain, night and pain bore down on her, harder than ever before. * * * Mulder stepped out of the house and stood on the front porch. Rain fell hard and heavy and splattered off his car. He stood there, looking out into the desert night. He thought about the first time he had met Scully. That first day she had walked into his office and introduced herself. He had heard a knock on his door, and had said, "Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted." She had said, "Agent Mulder, I'm Dana Scully. I've been assigned to work with you." Mulder had looked at her with a sly grin. "Oh, isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded. So, who'd you tick off to get stuck with this detail, Scully?" Scully had ignored his cynical remark. "Actually, I'm looking forward to working with you. I've heard a lot of things about you." "Oh, really," he had said. "I was under the impression that you were sent to spy on me...." That had been the beginning. The beginning of something special. A relationship with someone who would grow to understand him better than anyone else. A person with whom he would share his innermost secrets and desires. And now that person was gone. A person he had loved. It was like Samantha's disappearance all over again, only this was worse. It was worse because he knew for certain that Scully was gone. At least with Samantha, he could always hope. And it was hope that kept him going; kept him searching for her. What would hold him together after this? Mulder walked down the steps and let the rain hit his face. He welcomed it. He closed his eyes to try and block out the pain, but all he could see was Scully. Every minute they had ever spent together flashed before his eyes. How could she be gone? It didn't seem possible. Soon his own mournful tears mixed with the rain, and his head lowered. How could he go on? His knees became weak and he fell to the ground. He cried silently, but his pain could be heard for miles. * * * Scully's vision blurred for a moment, and then cleared. When it did, she could see the motel's lights, and its sign. She was almost there. She stopped and looked down at her blouse. She touched it and found it slightly wet with blood. She sighed. At least it wasn't as much as before. Maybe she would make it after all. She hoped that Mulder was there. If he wasn't she didn't know what she would do. It was still raining, but she mainly ignored it, pulling her blanket closer to her. She took another step and the pain seemed to redouble its efforts, almost throwing her to the ground. Her vision blurred again, and this time, it took longer for it to clear. Not that she could see much in the dark and through the rain, but some was better than none. She went onward. * * * Mulder sat in his car trying to compose himself. He had broken down back there, but not for long. That wasn't him, it wasn't how he dealt with things. He kept his feelings to himself and thought about them on his own terms. He smiled hollowly. He never knew how much Scully meant to him, how much she affected him. He turned the key and the car started. As he pulled out of the driveway and headed back to Tularosa he thought about all the cases he and Scully had solved together. He thought about the fact that since she came to be with him, everything he did seemed to mean more. She had been the other part of himself. As he had been for her. She was his antithesis; the skeptic. He was hers; the believer. Each side needed the other. Now his side was gone, and he didn't know if he could move forward. Did he even want to? He didn't know. Soon he was on the highway and headed for Tularosa and a night filled with dreams of Scully. * * * Scully staggered into the parking lot of the Tularosa Inn and Diner. Her right hand held her injured side, and the pain was so intense, that she barely felt it any longer. Almost like when water is so hot it feels cold to the skin. A few drips of blood escaped her fingers, and seeped between them. Quite suddenly her gaze locked onto the door of their room. She stepped forward, letting the blanket drop to the wet ground. Tears fell from her eyes; happy tears. She kept walking until she reached the door. Sagging against it, she banged on its wooden exterior. There was no response. Scully didn't make a sound. Using the last of her strength, she banged again, and called his name. "...Mulder!...Mulder, please answer the door!...Please be there!...Mulder!..." There was no answer. Scully's tears of joy turned into tears of bewilderment, and she collapsed onto the ground. She fell unconscious almost immediately and lay on the ground, her blood mixing with the rain. =========================================================================== Six Mulder saw the lights of the motel emerge out of the darkness like apparitions of the dead. The dead, he thought morosely. Scully. She's among them now. He had saved her once, at least he thought he did. When she was fighting for her life in that Georgetown hospital, he had spent the whole night with her, trying to saturate her with his beliefs, and he had succeeded. The next day she had revived. And he had thought that he had her back for good. Now she was...now she was gone...forever. And he hadn't even been able to say good-bye. Or tell her how he felt. A single tear coursed down his cheek. Now he'd have to say it all to a tombstone. He'd have to bear his soul to a lifeless hunk of stone. For all Mulder's beliefs, he knew one thing. When someone dies, her spirit doesn't hang around an empty graveyard waiting for visitors. It flies off to who knows where, and is free. Pulling into the wet parking lot of the Tularosa Inn he sighed, but his eyes widened when he felt the car drive over something. He pulled forward a little and then stopped the car right there, and got out. Looking back at where he had been, he saw a dark mass on the pavement. He took his flashlight out of the car, and walked over to the form. When the light fell on the dark green army blanket, he couldn't believe his eyes. Mulder walked over to the blanket and knelt beside it. He picked it up and the light showed him that a part of the blanket was stained red. Stained red. Blood was red. He touched the stain, and some of the blood came off on his fingers. Mulder felt like someone had punched him in the stomach, and knocked the wind out of him. Pulling himself to a standing position, Mulder swung the light around so it fell upon the doors and windows of the rooms. When the light came to his and Scully's room, it revealed another form in front of the door. The rain fell faster. The wind howled. Mulder suddenly found his breath coming in short rasps, as he ran to his door. When he reached it, he shone the light on what he now knew was a body, and almost fainted from shock when he saw auburn hair. He knelt beside her. Scully was lying on her left side, and her thin blouse was plastered to her skin from the rain. Mulder couldn't help smiling, and crying all at the same time. She wasn't dead. That was all he could think. But from the look of her, she was close to it still. Before he touched her, he shone the light in all directions, making sure that no one was lurking in the dark. When he was sure that they were alone, he laid the light on the ground, so it shone on her face and torso, and then turned her over. Mulder's face drained of all color. The whole left side of her blouse was covered in blood. Dark red blood. Her face was bruised and she had a cut in the corner of her mouth. "Oh god, Scully." Mulder touched her face gently, wiping away some of the rainwater, though it was replaced just as fast because it was still raining quite heavily, and it felt like it was picking up. He smoothed out her hair and pushed it away from her face, and then leaned down close to her. "Scully," he whispered into her ear. "Scully, can you hear me? It's Mulder." She did not respond. He tried one more time. "Sc-Dana, it's Fox. Can you hear me?" When Scully didn't react again, he wasted no more time. He pulled the key to the room out of his pocket, leaned up, and unlocked the door. It swung open easily. Mulder reached down and scooped her up into his arms. He stepped into the room and out of the storm. * * * Mulder laid Scully down on the bed closest to him and then closed the door. He made sure the door was locked, and then turned on the two lights in the room. Then he shrugged his overcoat off and tossed it onto a chair in the corner. Walking into the bathroom, he got two washcloths and wet one of them. He walked back to Scully and touched her forehead. It was hot with fever. Mulder knew that the combination of her wounds and the cold, wet rain had brought the fever on. He placed the washcloth on her forehead and stroked the side of her cheek. He still couldn't believe that she was there with him. He hadn't lost her forever. Fighting down the urge to carry her to the car and race off to the hospital, he walked around to the other side of the bed. He sat down beside her and began unbuttoning her shirt. "Gee, Scully, this isn't really how I imagined it. I always thought you'd be...you know...awake." He forced a smile and peeled the blouse off of her shoulders. He then gently put his arm around her back, and pulled her close to him. Using his free hand, he managed to get her right arm out of the sleeve. He repeated the same action with her left arm, and then set her back down. A rather large, and sloppily applied bandage was revealed to him. It couldn't really be called a bandage anymore because it was sodden with blood. Mulder abruptly remembered that he had no first aid equipment in the room. Scully's medical bag was down at the police station. Mulder stood quickly and retrieved his cellular phone. Unable to suppress his anxiety any longer, he dialed 911 and waited for an answer. After about eleven rings, a tired voice answered. "911, what is the emergency?" "My name is Agent Fox Mulder of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. My partner has been injured and I need an ambulance at the Tularosa Inn." Mulder heard the woman typing. Then: "Ah, Agent...?" "Mulder," he supplied tiredly. "Yeah, Agent Mulder, I'm afraid that I have some bad news. First of all, how badly is your partner injured?" Mulder walked over to Scully and touched her cheek. "She has a wound on her lower torso, a fever, and facial contusions." "Oh, is it a gunshot wound?" "No. Listen, enough with twenty questions. Just get an ambulance to the Tularosa Inn; room four." Mulder was through being polite and cordial. Scully needed help quickly, and if these inane EMT's couldn't provide it, he'd take her to the hospital himself and damn the storm. Mulder heard her typing some more. "Agent Mulder, I don't quite know how to say this. A bridge on the main highway to Tularosa has been washed out from this storm. No ambulances can get to you from here in Alamogordo. Is she near death?" Mulder sighed with worry. "I don't think so." "Then bandage her wound, keep her warm and hydrated, and wait until the storm passes. The minute the bridge is repaired or the water goes down, I'll send an ambulance. Okay?" Mulder bit his bottom lip, trying hard to think before he snapped. "No, it is not okay. My partner has lost a lot of blood and is continuing to do so. At this rate she could be..." His voice broke and he was silent for a few seconds. He finally recovered. "...She could be dead by the time you get here." He heard the woman sigh in what sounded like annoyance. "Agent Mulder, there is nothing I can do about it. I can't control the weather." "Maybe you can't, but we still have the same problem. I think I'll just bring her myself." The woman shook her head. "Agent Mulder, if you're worried about her dying, you won't do that. Based upon what you've told me, your partner should not be moved. If you do so, you could very well be signing her death certificate. "It is imperative for your partner to stay in that room, and stay still." The woman's words brought Mulder out of his angry rage and he managed to calm down. He finally thought about what she had said, knowing full well that he didn't always think before he acted. But, he had to think now, because it wasn't him that was in danger. It was Scully. "Do you really think so?" he asked in a soft voice. The woman exhaled in relief. "Yes, Agent Mulder, I do. Now just do as I said, and I promise that the ambulance will be there as soon as it can. I will make it their top priority." Mulder thanked the woman and ended the call, then looked at Scully. She hadn't moved at all and her breathing was shallow. He didn't know what to do. He had no bandages. Then, an idea came to him. He pulled his overcoat on and hurried out of the room. He fairly ran to the main office, and banged on the door until the manager let him inside. "What do you want?" asked the manager. He looked rather annoyed, as if Mulder had taken him from something important. Mulder looked down at him, water streaming from his hair and coat. "Look, I'm sorry if I've taken you from your weekly Canasta game. Do you have a first aid kit?" The manager looked offended. "`Course I do. What do you take me for? It's a law. I gotta have one in here. Never had a use for it, though." "Well you have one now. I need it." The manager somehow sensed the urgency in Mulder's voice, and decided not to toy with him. He reached behind his counter and brought it into view. "Is everything all right, Agent Mulder?" Mulder smiled faintly. "It is now. Thank you, sir," Mulder said, holding the case up. "That's all right!" the manager called back. * * * Mulder entered the room, and dropped his coat on the chair again. He sat next to Scully on the bed, who was still unconscious, and opened the kit. It contained gauze, bandages, tape, burn ointment, alcohol, Vaseline, iodine, scissors, tweezers, and a few other things. Mulder swallowed and went about the task of removing the old bandage. It came off in one soggy piece and Mulder grimaced, but what it revealed was much worse. Four long, fairly deep cuts ran from just around her back to the middle of her stomach. They were terrible looking, and Mulder could tell that they had tried to clot, but were not able to until he had brought her inside. He took the washcloth from her forehead and placed it over the lacerations, trying to remove the excess blood, and clean the area up a bit. As he performed this task, he glanced up at Scully from time to time. She was still insentient and that worried him. He removed the bloodied washcloth and brought out the iodine. He let a couple of drops fall into each cut and still there was no reaction from Scully. He sighed, and bandaged the wound as best he could with his limited supplies. Mulder knew that the cuts needed to be stitched, but that was something he just couldn't do. He just hoped that she could make do until the ambulance came. He then moved on to the cut on her mouth. Dabbing it with some alcohol, he cleaned it up. He didn't bother with a bandage for it was healing nicely on its own. Next he turned to the nasty gash on her forehead. He made a mental note to make sure that Louis paid especially for this one. He cleaned it, put iodine on it, and bandaged it. This done, he stood up and searched through Scully's suitcase until he found a pair of pajamas. He removed her shoes, then her pants, and stockings. He managed to get the pajama bottoms on her, and decided against putting on the top. He's have to jostle her around, and that might start her wounds to bleeding again. He couldn't risk that in this situation. Suddenly he heard the wind howling outside and rain barraged the window loudly. A crack of thunder was heard, then lightening was seen. Mulder had been thinking about calling Garrett, but his phone would never work in these circumstances. He sighed. "Well, Scully, it looks like it's just you and me." Mulder smiled. It sounded so good to say that. Instead of: "Well, Mulder, looks like you're alone." He went into the bathroom and filled a glass half full with water. Sitting down next to Scully again, he held the glass to her lips, and poured a minuscule amount down her dry throat. When that went down nicely, he gave her some more, remembering the operator's advice. When Scully had finished half of the water, he put the glass down. After, he sat in the chair next to the bed, and leaned back, his hands covering his face. He was so tired, and he didn't know what else he could do to help her. Mulder didn't know how, but he knew that if Scully was to live she had to awaken. So, he sat forward, and took her hand. "Scully, you've got to wake up now. You have to, Scully." There was no response. Scully lay there, her skin pale, eyes closed, breathing shallow. Mulder could feel her pulse and it was slightly fast. He was worried. He could think of nothing else to do but talk to her. "You know, Scully, back there, I thought I'd lost you for good. Then I found you here and I felt like a piece of my heart or my soul had been given back to me. You're an important part of my life, Scully. I know I don't show it most of the time, but it's true. Back there at Three Rivers, when I thought you were dead, I didn't even know if I wanted to live anymore." He smiled. "You mean a lot to me." Scully's pulse slowed the smallest amount. Mulder's face saddened. "After Samantha was taken, I didn't think there was anything else left in life that was worthwhile. And I kept thinking that until I joined the FBI and found the X-Files. They gave my life a purpose, but until you came along, I didn't know that the X-Files served another purpose: they helped people by giving them the truth. And giving people the truth helped me, like a kind of therapy. The truth is like that for me, and all my life the only truth I've ever sought it what happened to my sister. But over the years, that truth has diminished, because I can't find her. So, for the past few years, the only truth I've known is you and me. That you'll always be there to bail me out and I'll be there for you. When Dune Barry took you and gave you to those bastards, I found the only truth I had left was gone, and it destroyed me. So when I got you back, I was a little overprotective, but I couldn't help it. Then, today, when I thought you were dead, and there was no hope, I lost it. You see, today I found out that you're more than just my one solid truth. You're my best friend, my partner, and I need you, Scully. Without you I'm incomplete. I'm not whole. I need your truth to guide me. I need you, Scully. Without you I can't go on. So don't leave me now. Not like this. Come back to me. I believe you're not ready to go. And I'm here, waiting." Scully's breathing deepened and her pulse slowed back down to its normal rate. * * * Mulder's eyes opened sharply. Outside, the storm was still raging, but that was not what had awakened him. He listened intently, and heard a small, soft sound. He had turned the lights out, and couldn't see all the details of the room. He leaned forward, towards Scully. "...Mu...Mul...Mul...Muld...er..." "I'm here, Scully." Mulder saw movement on the bed, and suddenly lightening flashed, catching her red hair and part of her face in its light. Mulder was afraid to breathe. She was awake! He left his chair and knelt beside the bed. Then he heard another sound. It was a soft muted cry or sob. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could see the basic outline and shape of her face. Reaching out, he wiped her tears away. "It's okay, Scully. I'm here now." Suddenly, he felt her arms reach out and encircle his neck. Grasping his neck with all her diminished strength, she pulled him close to her until his head rested on her shoulder and against her neck. Scully let out a long sigh of relief. Now she felt safe. Mulder was there. She let tears fall, unheeded, down her cheeks, and didn't let him go. Mulder put his arms around her neck and back and held her tightly. He could feel the warmth of her naked skin through his T-shirt, and it made him happy. She was awake, and would be all right. He felt her tears on his cheek but didn't care. They only proved that she was alive. Scully felt the pain from her wounds, but didn't care. It proved she was alive. Scully held Mulder close until she fell asleep and only then did he let her go. That night they both slept peacefully, knowing that the other half of their own soul was there. =========================================================================== Seven Daybreak found the storm still going strong, but it was still quite dark outside. It seemed that the night was trying desperately to hold on; as if what happened the night before was special and important, and shouldn't be forgotten quickly. The thunder and lightening had abated during the night, but the rain still fell heavily. The clouds loomed low and were thick and dark. It wasn't hot because the rain had cooled off the atmosphere; in fact, it was slightly cold. Mulder lay on the other bed, sleeping. The previous day and night had been quite horrific for him and he needed rest. After Scully had fallen asleep, he had moved to the other bed. Last night had been his first good night's sleep in about three days, and he had needed it. His gun lay on the nightstand between the beds, and a glass of water sat next to it. Scully was covered with a sheet, for Mulder hadn't put the pajama top on her, in fear that movement would reopen her wounds. Her bra was also slightly stained with blood, but, as with the shirt, Mulder didn't want to move her too much. The curtains were pulled shut, but a thin sliver of grey light managed to cut through and fall on Scully's face. She wasn't sleeping. Her eyes were closed, but she was no longer completely under the spell of pain. It was still there, but at least she was lucid and awake. She had awakened half an hour ago, and was simply thinking how good it felt to be safe again. She could feel Mulder's presence in the room. It was like a protective shield that engulfed her. She thought back to the previous night, when she had been unconscious. She couldn't exactly remember being asleep, or waking up, but she did remember one thing. All through it, she felt that Mulder was there, urging her to live. Just as he had done when she had appeared at that Georgetown hospital. Mulder had spent that last night with her. The night that could have ended in two ways: her life or her death. Her mother had sister were sure that it would in the latter, but Mulder wouldn't give up; couldn't give up. He stayed with her the whole night, and held her cold, lifeless hand, and in the end, he helped Scully make the decision to come back to her life. To him. The next morning she awoke. She knew that both times, she had come through because of him. It almost annoyed her to think that her mother or her sister couldn't bring her back, but her partner could. Fox Mulder could bring her back to life; could save her life, just by his being there. But just then, as she lay in the motel room, the pain in her side, she really didn't care why her subconscious or her soul responded to Mulder, she just knew it did. And right now, she was thankful that it did. Because without him there last night to help her, and jog her back to life, she knew she would have died. Scully still had her eyes closed. She didn't want to open them and have to look at her wounds. She sighed, and realized that she was thirsty. Turning her head to the right, and away from the window, she saw the nightstand and the glass of water. Scully reached with her left hand, and tried to get the water, but as she did, extreme pain shot through her wound and up and down the whole left side of her body. Scully tried to hold the pain in check, and not yell out. She didn't want to awake Mulder. But, she just couldn't. She let out a low moan, unable to handle the discomfort. Mulder was immediately awake, sat up and had hold of his gun. "...Mulder...it's okay," said Scully faintly. "It's...just me..." Mulder put the gun down, and rubbed his eyes. "Scully, what are you doing? Why didn't you just ask me?" Scully eased back down onto the bed, and sighed, biting down on the pain. "I didn't want to wake you." A small smile. Mulder grabbed the glass, and knelt beside her bed. "Here," he said as he held the glass to her lips. "Just a little at a time, though." When she had finished half the glass, he put the glass down and placed his hand on her forehead. He was quiet for a few moments as he decided on his diagnosis. Scully waited, a half smile on her lips. "Well, what's the prognosis, Doctor? Will I live?" Mulder looked at her, and his eyes were intense. "Don't joke about that, Scully." Scully's smiled faded, as fatigue came over her. "Well?" "Your fever's gone down, but you're still hot. So, no moving around, okay?" Scully nodded, and looked at Mulder. Mulder smiled. Her eyes had a haunted look to them, as if she had endured much more than she could stand. She must have been awfully scared when Louis had her. He wondered if she wanted to talk about it. "Scully, you know that you can tell me anything." Scully reached out and took Mulder's hand, and he could feel her trembling. "I was never so scared, Mulder. Not even when...not even when Pfaster had me." Mulder looked away, and swallowed hard. Memories of Scully falling to pieces in his arms floated in and through his mind. He had never seen her so scared, and he thought and hoped he never would again. Scully was his anchor to reality and the stability that he needed. If she crumbled, where would he be? He also knew that if Scully had been more scared with Louis than she had been with Pfaster, then something terribly awful must have happened to her. He couldn't even bear to think what it could be. He looked back at Scully, and she could see the tears in his eyes. "Scully, did he...did he...?" Scully shook her head. "No, no. All he cared about was for me to get better so we could get married." "Married?" Mulder said, his eyes on fire. Scully looked away, then. All the memories were too much for her. She couldn't handle them. "Mulder, have you tried to call the paramedics? I'm sure that I need stitches." Mulder nodded, sitting down on his own bed. "They can't get through because of the storm. They promised they'd get here as soon as the roads are cleared." Scully nodded, and then forced herself to look down at her injury. She looked at the bandage that Mulder had fashioned from part of his T-shirt and some gauze. She smiled lightly. "You did a good job on the bandage, Mulder." Mulder bowed slightly. "Why, thank you, m'lady. I do try." Scully smiled again. It felt so good to be with Mulder again; to be safe again. Suddenly, she felt her stomach growl. "Mulder, I haven't eaten since I was captured. Do you have anything to eat here, besides-" Mulder's eyes lit up and he cut her off. "I have sunflower seeds." Scully continued as if he had said nothing. "...sunflower seeds?" Mulder kept his smile. He stood up and walked over to the dresser. He began to rummage through one of his bags. "I think I have some cupcakes, or something." He searched a few minutes more, and came up with a crackling package. "Paydirt! Cupcakes! Would you like to sample some, m'lady?" Scully nodded vigorously. The site of the pastry made her stomach do somersaults. She pushed herself up to an almost sitting position. Mulder walked over, pulled the wrapper off, and broke one cupcake in two. He handed one half to Scully, and took the other half for himself. As Scully chewed, she looked at Mulder. He looked harried, at the very least. He had bags under his eyes, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in about two days. She knew that she wasn't the picture of beauty, but he looked worse than she felt. The doctor in her took over. "Mulder, are you feeling okay?" He gazed solemnly at her, his deep hazel eyes trimmed with a watery lining from the anguish and pathos that raged behind them. "Yes, why do you ask?" Scully swallowed. "You look terrible. Did something happen?" Mulder looked at her in disbelief. "Um, yes, Scully, something did happen. Some maniac who has unbelievable powers kidnapped you. Now, maybe you think I should have been out painting the town while this was happening, but I just couldn't pencil it in." Scully smiled warmly. It was all for her. He looked like death warmed over because of his worry for her. It was touching, in a weird, psychotic, Mulder kind of a way. "Mulder, you were all upset over me." Mulder looked at her hard. "Scully, I can't believe that you are really surprised by all this. What kind of a person do you think I am? Do you think I only care about aliens and abductees?" Scully's eyes fell. She had hurt him. "Well..." "I mean, do you think that all my mind is filled with is the Loch Ness Monster and cattle mutilations? Well, it's not." Scully was starting to feel really bad. "Mulder, I..." Mulder kept on talking. It was the only way he could deal with the surfacing feelings he was having. All of the grief and pain and loss he had felt when he thought Scully was dead was resurfacing, and it was overwhelming him. "Scully, I care about more than all that. I care about you. I couldn't stand to lose you again. I just..." He looked away, then, and Scully could feel the power of his emotions. They were a presence in the room. When Mulder turned back to her, his eyes were filled with tears that threatened to fall. "Scully, it's like I told you last night when you were unconscious. You're my-" "...One truth," Scully finished for him. The minute she said it, she wondered how she had known what he was going to say. Had she heard him the night before? Was he the only person who could connect to her soul? Mulder looked at her for a long time from his seat on the other bed. Then, slowly, he moved forward to her. He took her hand and tears fell from his eyes. "Scully, yesterday I found the place where Louis had you, and I saw the cot you had slept on. And I saw the blood. There was so much blood I was sure that you had to be dead." Scully reached a hand up to his cheek and touched it gently. "Mulder, I'm okay. Everything will be fine, now." He shook his head. "That's what I told myself after you recovered from the coma, and after Pfaster kidnapped you, but it's not the truth, Scully. We're lying to ourselves." "What are you saying, Mulder?" Scully was worried for him. "The X-Files are bad for you, Scully. *I'm* bad for you. I couldn't take it if something happened to you again, and it was my fault." "Mulder, this wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that this would happen." "If it weren't for me you would still be at Quantico, and you'd be safe." Scully nodded. "Yes, I would be. But, Mulder, if I was still at Quantico, we would have never met." He nodded. "I would rather have never met you than have you die before my eyes one day." Scully's eyes took on a painful look. "You don't mean that." Mulder began to nod, but stopped. "No, I don't. But, Scully, you should leave the X-Files. It's what's best for you." Scully's mouth set in a grim line of determination. She shook her head. "And leave you all alone? No way. Besides, who'd be there to save your ass?" Mulder forced a smile. "But, Scully-" Scully waved her finger at him. "No buts. I'm not leaving you, Mulder. You need me. If I left, they'd shut down the X-Files in a matter of months. You'd have no one there to keep you within screaming distance of reason. You'd go after some nutty case, give a nutty reason, and that would be it. You'd be shut down. So, there's no way that I'm leaving." Mulder looked at her affectionately. No one had ever said that they would stay with him no matter what. He didn't know what to say. So Scully said it for him. "Mulder, I know that things have happened to me, and you feel as though they're you fault. They weren't, so accept it. Secondly, you are not God, as much as you like to think you are. You are not omniscient. You can't see everything that's going to happen, so stop beating yourself up about it. Finally, when I joined the FBI I took an oath. I swore to do my job to the best of my abilities. I didn't say that if an assignment was too dangerous, I would go running back to my safe little lab room in Quantico. Besides, you're my partner now, and I have a responsibility to you. So, I'm not leaving. Okay?" Mulder thought about what she had said. "Okay," he said finally. "But you have to promise that nothing bad will ever happen to you again. Deal?" Scully nodded, and shook his hand. "Deal. Now give me that other cupcake." Mulder smiled. "Your wish is my command, m'lady." =========================================================================== Eight The morning passed by slowly for the two agents. Scully fell back to sleep after finishing the cupcake, and her sleep seemed peaceful. Mulder lay on the other bed and tried to sleep, but after an hour, he gave up on that idea. He then moved to the bathroom, and took his usual cold shower. In the shower, he allowed himself a few moments of emotion, as he placed a hand on the wall, and silent tears of relief fell from his eyes. His breath came in huge gasps, and he had to stop himself from totally breaking down. Part of him still couldn't believe that Scully, that *Dana*, was alive and still with him. His center was still there. The focus that kept him from going completely insane from loneliness and anger was with him still. A small, uncharacteristic smile crept onto Mulder's face, then. And the water seemed to turn a bit warmer. Mulder grabbed the bottle of shampoo, doled some out, and began to work it through his hair. Soon, he rinsed his hair, and was about to turn the water even warmer still, when his well trained ears caught the smallest of sounds. Turning the water off, he slipped into his robe, and stood in the bathroom, listening. His muscles tensed as the noise floated to his ears again. Over the sound of the rain, he could hear it. It sounded like someone was mumbling. Mulder's eyes scanned the bathroom for- Damn! His gun was sitting on the nightstand! Slowly and quietly, he eased the bathroom door open, and slid out and along the wall. From this vantage point, he could see that there was no one in the room, but they could be on the beds or under them. On the beds! Scully. The noise came again, and Mulder chanced a look around the corner. When he did, he saw Scully asleep, but her head thrashed from side to side, and her face was wet with sweat. Mulder moved quickly to her side, and stood above her. He knew all too well about nightmares. Dana was dreaming... ...of a lake...misty and cool. ...of a woman standing on a dock that lay close to the bank. ...feeling close to this woman; loving her. Then the scenery changed. Dana's vision blurred, and she was lying on a table in a room void of everything and nothing. It was a room that held secrets. She dreamed... ...of wearing a long white dress. ...her eyes being closed, but her mind and soul open. ...of her father standing before her. ...looking like his soul had been torn from him ...of him telling her how he felt. ...of her spirit smiling. Suddenly the room melted away, and Dana was in complete darkness. And she was afraid. She was afraid for her life. Afraid she wouldn't live to see her family again. To see Mulder again. She dreamed still... ...of the light that pierced the darkness...sharp and painful. ...of her gaze falling upon his face...the face that struck horror into the very depths of her soul. ...of him pulling her out and into the wilderness. ...of being in the night...and the night seemed to have a color all its own...being carried to the top of a hill. ...of a new light...even more sharp and painful. ...of being taken...given over to them Suddenly she felt as though she were floating and then she was on a table again. She could feel them around her; watching her. Her dream continued... ...hearing a noise above her...getting louder. ...of opening her eyes...of something coming down on her...passing out. ...of such pain...both physical and emotional...pain that seared across her soul and threatened to tear her apart. ...of being so frightened and in such agony that she begged to die. ...remembering Mulder...and knowing that she couldn't die and leave him. Suddenly Louis was above her. His face was a mask. Her dream went on... ...of Louis touching her hair...feeling fear again. ...of yellow eyes...and a claw coming out of the dark. ...of pain...making her remember the last time she felt such pain...such terrible pain. ...of being forever lost...alone...with the pain forever...no one left to find her...Mulder would go on alone...He would forget her. ...of crying out helplessly to him, again and again. ...mulder...Mulder...MULDER! * * * Mulder stood very still as he witnessed Dana's nightmare becoming progressively worse. Her thrashing continued to elevate, and soon, he came down close to her, wrapping his arms around her to stop her from hurting herself. The psychologist in Mulder took over and he listened closely to her mumblings. He couldn't make anything out. Until... It started low and inaudible, but soon, it grew in intensity. Soon he could make it out quite clearly. She was calling out for him. The memories of that terrible message left on his answering machine ricocheted around in his mind. In his arms, Scully called out to him, her voice full of fear. "Mulder...Mulder...Mulder!" Mulder smoothed the hair away from her face, and whispered to her. "Shh, Dana, it's all right. I'm right here. You're all right." Then, Scully came awake so quickly that it even startled Mulder. Her eyes flicked open, and their intensity was almost unnerving. She looked about herself, and Mulder could tell that she was trying to remember where she was. And he could see the memories of the dream washing across her face. "It's okay, Dana. It's Fox. I'm right here. It's Mulder." That seemed to have some affect on her, as her body relaxed the smallest amount. "You were having a bad dream," he told her. he thought. At first, she didn't seem to be able to summon up her voice. Finally, she swallowed. "Mulder, I..." He nodded, and loosened his grasp on her, thinking that she didn't want to be coddled. But, to his amazement, his arms hadn't moved far, when she spoke out quickly. "No, don't let me go!" Her voice seemed small. Mulder resumed his original position. "Okay, Dana. I won't. Do you remember where you are?" he asked, as he looked about the half lit room. He felt rather than saw her nod. "Yes." Her voice seemed to be detached from her. It seemed to come from everywhere in the room. "I'm in the motel room, with you." "That's right. Would you like to tell me about your nightmare?" Dana thought about it. She was so scared at that moment, still not sure if she was dreaming or not. She had to talk to someone, and who better than the person she trusted with her life? "I don't really remember that much of it." "What *do* you remember?" Dana closed her eyes. She tried to conjure up the images from her dream, even though she didn't really want to relive them. "A lake...cool air...and a woman." "What else?" Dana's eyes remained closed. "I see my father. Oh, Mulder, he looks good, and happy." A single tear coursed a path down her cheek. Mulder moved quickly and deftly from behind her, to alongside her, being careful not to move her too much. He was still afraid that her wounds would reopen. He lay her head down on his shoulder, and then leaned against the headboard. To his utter astonishment, Scully refused none of this. Rather, he felt that she wanted it. Needed it. Needed him. When he was settled, Dana slipped her arms around his waist, and let out a long sigh. She was safe again. With him. Mulder decided to push her. She needed to talk about this. "Dana, do you remember anything else?" Scully's eyes opened, and they were a pale blue. "Yes. I remember a light, Mulder. It was so bright. And I see Duane Barry, and he's pulling me out of something, and we're going up a hill. And then..." Mulder held his breath. If she could remember something, anything. "And then...now I'm on a table, and I can feel somebody watching me. I open my eyes, and I see something coming at me...and then..." Scully began to tremble, then. It started small, and Mulder was so entranced by her words that he didn't notice it. After a few moments, though, it became so bad, that he felt it to the core of his being. But Scully pushed ahead. Tears formed in her eyes, and threatened to fall. "And then...then I feel pain...terrible, awful pain, that...that makes me want to die to escape it." By now Scully was crying. Suddenly, she felt as though she were back in the dream, and she wanted to die. Her tears turned into racking sobs, and she held onto Mulder as though he were her lifeline, which he was. "...I want to die...I want to die..." she said over and over. "Please, kill me...don't let this go on...let me die..." Mulder sat up quickly, pulling her with him, now suddenly unaware of her wounds. Nothing was as important as preserving her will to live. He took hold of her bare shoulders, for she still only wore her bra, and shook her hard. "Scully, come out of it! Stop it now, Scully! You're not with them anymore! You're here with me! You're safe, Scully! I won't let them hurt you anymore!" Scully's eyes opened suddenly, and for a few brief seconds blue met hazel as she looked at him. Then, her eyes rolled back and she fell limply against him. * * * Scully sagged against Mulder's body, and his only reflex was to catch her. His eyes wide with amazement and worry, he set her gently down onto the bed, and laid her head onto the pillow. He smoothed her sweat-drenched hair away from her forehead and eyes, and then lay the back of his hand on her brow. It was burning up! That was what had caused her to fall unconscious. He breathed a silent, quick prayer, but then rethought his diagnosis. It must have been a combination of the fever, and remembering. Mulder sat back and looked at her. She was so pale, and he thought that she must have lost a lot of weight during her kidnapping. Slipping off the bed, he pulled the sheet up and covered her. Then, he turned to the small table that sat before the windows, and began searching for his cell phone. By the sound of the rain outside, the storm was past them, and he might be able to get through. Upon finding the phone, he pulled up the antenna, dialed in Garrett's number, and pushed the SEND button. He waited breathlessly for the sound of ringing to fill his ears, and most miraculously, it did. "Chief Garrett," came the greeting. A large, warm smile spread across Mulder's face at the sound of that voice. "Chief, this is Agent Mulder." Mulder heard Garrett sigh in what he could only term relief. "Mulder, where are you? I've been trying to call you for hours." "I'm at the Tularosa motel. I didn't have my phone on because I didn't want to waste the power. You wouldn't have been able to get through anyway, because of the rain. Besides, the power went off here around twelve last night, and it still hasn't come back on." "Are you okay, Agent Mulder?" Garrett's voice was soft and consoling. "I know how worried you must be about Agent Scully. I'm also sorry to report that we don't have any other leads." Mulder's smile widened. "Chief, I have some good news." "You found a clue at Louis Mallory's house?" "Better than that. I found Agent Scully." "She was at his house?" "No, when I returned from there, I found her collapsed in front of our motel room. Chief, she is badly wounded. Is there any way that you could get to us? I've already called the ambulance, and they can't get through because of a washed out road." "First of all, let me say how happy I am that you found your partner, Agent Mulder. Secondly, yes, I can get to you two, but it may take a while. How badly is she injured?" "She has some deep cuts on her side." "Is she conscious?" Mulder's gaze returned to Scully. She was as still as death. "No. She's got a pretty high fever, though. So that could be the cause." "Okay, Mulder. I'll call ahead to Las Cruces Medical Center and inform them of her condition. I'll leave right now, and get there as quickly as the weather permits." Mulder said goodbye and ended the call. Putting the phone down, he sat down next to Scully. He took her hand in his, and touched her cheek gently. "Wake up, Scully," he said softly. "Don't leave me now. Come back to me." There was no response. Only the sound and movement of her breathing proved that she was alive. Mulder closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to stay in control. he said to himself, He looked down at her, his hand still on her cheek, and this time he spoke aloud. "I'm not going to lose you again, Scully. You're too important to me." As he spoke Scully's face contorted and he could see a thousand emotions flicker across it. She began to mumble, and toss and turn in the bed. Mulder knew that she must be having another nightmare, but he didn't know what to do. Should he wake her, and risk her passing out again from the memories? Or should he let her ride the dream out, and just be there to comfort her? He didn't know. Suddenly, Scully's mutterings became clearer and he could understand what she was saying. Beneath her fevered brow, her eyebrows distorted from their usually impeccably groomed form, and her eyes opened the smallest amount. Mulder was then able to see pale blue eyes that looked glazed and frightened. "Louis...Louis..." she mumbled. "...Let me go...I'm...bleeding...going to die..." Mulder's face took on that puppy-dog look that he often let loose on Scully when he wanted his own way. Now he turned it on her because his heart was breaking for her and the pain she had endured. "Shh, Scul...Dana. Everything's going to be all right. Chief Garrett is coming for us. Just hang on." Scully behaved as though she hadn't heard him at all, and in truth, she hadn't. She was really still unconscious, even though, her eyes were open. "...Louis...Mulder...find me...won't let...me go....Louis...I'm going...to...die...going...to...die...." Mulder was becoming concerned. If Scully believed that she was still back with Louis and still thought that she was dying, her health could worsen. Mulder took Scully's hand again, and leaned down very close to her. "Scully, wake up now. You've got to wake up. You're not with Louis, Scully. You're with me. You're safe." There was no response from her. Her rantings continued. "Scully!" he shouted. Her eyes opened slowly, and to his delight, she attempted to give him "The Look"; the way she always looked at him when he voiced one of his unreal theories. "...Mulder, why are you yelling at me?" she asked, in a voice that was edged with weakness and fatigue. Mulder smiled. "That's the Scully I know. How do you feel?" "Like I walked...two miles in the desert...in the rain, with a bleeding wound," she said with a deadpan expression. She sighed then, and the memories of the dream, and the pain she felt when she remembered it drifted through her mind. Suddenly, the memories assaulted her again, and she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath. She saw a bright light that scared her as nothing ever had. She saw Donny Pfaster coming at her. She saw them falling down the stairs, fighting for the gun. She remembered physical pain that was as none she had ever experienced. She saw Louis and his anger coming for her. She saw Pfaster and Louis coming at her; working in concert. She saw her own blood pooling on the cement floor beside her. She saw the face of Duane Barry and felt his insanity. Tears fell from Scully's eyes, and slid down her cheeks. Mulder reacted quickly when he realized that she was experiencing flashbacks. He leaned down and took her in his arms, murmuring calming and soothing things to her. She did not resist. Scully realized that, once again, she was crying in Fox Mulder's arms. He must think her the weakest person he had ever met. But then she decided that she didn't care. It felt good to be held by him. She felt safe with him. She felt loved by him. Somehow, when he was with her, all her fear melted away. Scully's arms moved upwards from her side. One arm curled around his neck, and the other snaked up and under his arm to rest on his back. Then, she did something she never would have done before she met this man. She accepted help and comfort. She pulled him close to her in an embrace that seemed to last forever. Then, she pulled him down next to her, so that he, too, was lying on the bed. Mulder pulled the sheet over the both of them, and he heard Scully sigh in solace. She rested her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. Once again she felt that shroud of safety descend upon her, as it always did whenever Mulder was with her. It was the shroud of trust. She trusted this man with her life, and her emotions. She knew he would always be there to protect her, even if she didn't need it. She also knew that no matter how many times she was reduced to tears, he would always think her the most courageous and strong person he had ever met. He would always be the light in her darkly cynical and serious world; her true best friend; and the only person she would risk everything for. She also knew that he trusted her as he did no one else, and he would gladly die to protect her. And he knew that she was the only person who accepted him as he was, and respected him. He trusted her with his life and his secrets. And he knew that she would give her life for his in a second. He knew that she would always be his only anchor to reality; his only friend; and the only thing in his life that was as important as the search for his sister. They fell asleep in each other's arms; secure in the knowledge that nowhere else could they be as safe, as accepted or as loved. She was his world. And he was hers. =========================================================================== Nine He had waited long enough. he thought to himself, He had to go back and see if she was still alive. He hoped that she was. Despite all his anger, and all he had done to her, Louis really did love her. At least, in his mind he did. He still intended to marry her and take her away. After all, Gabrielle had given her consent. He had seen the lightening last night; had heard the thunder. And Louis had felt her presence. His new capabilities made him more sensitive and aware. He knew she had been with him. And she had agreed that the woman was good for him. He would take his new *Gabrielle* away. He would love her as he had loved his other. Louis still had the car he had stolen, so he arrived at his house in Three Rivers fairly quickly. He had been in another town, just sitting in a diner, thinking. He had also been trying desperately to control his mind. Everyone else seemed so weak to him. If he let his guard down for one moment, someone could end up dead. As he got out of the car, something felt wrong to him. With his heightened sense, Louis had come to be able to sense when Scully was near. He did not feel her near now. Pushing through the front door, he headed directly for the basement. He had only been gone for a day, maybe a bit more. He had a strange feeling; something was tugging at his mind. What was it? He found out when he opened the basement door, and his anger flared white hot before his eyes. She was gone! Oh, he could tell that she had been there. He knew she had been. He had left her there. Louis' eyes flicked to the blood on the walls, floor, and blankets. Judging by all this blood, he guessed that she was probably dead. Now Louis was really angry. Whomever had let his *Gabrielle* go, would have to pay. His angry gaze swept the room looking for clues, but he found none. he thought. Louis almost believed that, but pushed it aside. Mulder didn't even know who he was. No, it had to be someone else. And then the answer came. he thought. Louis quickly left the house, not bothering to lock any doors. It didn't matter now. What he treasured most was gone. He slipped into the stolen car and sped away from the house, never intending to return. As he drove, one thought resounded in his mind. * * * A loud knock on the door forced Mulder to open his eyes. Diffused light filtered through the crack in the blinds, but it was so soft, it didn't even bother him. He instinctually pulled Scully closer to him and was about to drift off again when he heard the knock a second time. And this time it was louder. And then a voice: "Mulder! Agent Mulder, are you in there?" Smiling at the sound of Garrett's voice, Mulder forced himself to get up. He crossed to the door and opened it. Quite a scene was revealed to him. There was an ambulance off to the right, Garrett's squad car, a small cluster of on-lookers, EMT's, and the manager. Everyone seemed to be talking at once. Mulder smiled again and extended his hand. "Chief Garrett, you don't know how good it is to see you," he said sleepily. Garrett shook Mulder's hand warmly, while trying to take a look inside. "Is she in there?" he asked quietly, almost solemnly. Mulder fondly looked over his shoulder at Scully. "Yeah, she's still sleeping." Garrett nodded. "Should I have the EMT's come in, or do you want to bring her out yourself?" Mulder bit down the urge to over-protect her and forced himself to trust, at least for a little while. He shook his head. "No, you better call the EMT's. She has some bad cuts and I just got them to stop bleeding." Garrett nodded and looked to a man and a woman who were standing nearby. They wore blue work shirts, black pants, and some patches were sewn onto the shoulders of their shirts. "You can come in, guys!" he called out. The two nodded and pushed past Mulder to get into the room. Mulder allowed them entry and watched them closely. Scully was still asleep, but when the two people began examining her, her eyes snapped open. She stared wildly about herself, wondering where she was. Mulder saw her confusion and fear and moved forward to stand at the foot of the bed. "Scully, it's okay. The ambulance is here, now, and we're going to the hospital. Just take it easy." The moment she heard his voice, her breathing deepened and she relaxed. She nodded and closed her eyes, feeling completely safe as long as Mulder was there. The EMT's lifted her onto a gurney and began to wheel her out of the room. As they passed Mulder, Scully reached out and took his hand, holding it tightly. On the ride to the hospital, Mulder sat right beside her, still holding her hand. * * * The building stood tall and impassive before him, like a silent sentry daring him to enter. It was still morning, just after nine, and so the sky was still pale and waking. The air was cool, but the usually sweet smell of flowers was absent. Instead, a bitter, palpable, oppressive odor hung in the air. Louis fancied it to be the smell of revenge. He stepped forward, opened the door, and disappeared inside. * * * Megan sat at her computer, feverishly typing. Suddenly, and with determination, she pushed a disk into the computer, hit a few more keys, and then got up. As her files were copied over to disk, she threw reports, files, printouts, and other things into boxes. As she worked, she hoped that Elliot was almost through collecting the video tapes, and clearing the lab room. She knew that they had to leave quickly or risk the wrath of Louis. Her heart was pounding with millions of years of instinct behind it. She felt hunted. She could feel his eyes on her. She could almost imagine his breath on her cheek. Taking a deep breath, she tried to shrug it off; to pass it off as nerves. But, in the back of her mind she *knew* the truth. She knew *what* the truth was. And the truth was out there. The *truth* was Louis. She could hear the wind outside and she could hear her own heart beating. As she resumed her hurried packing she almost felt calm. What she would later know as the calm before the storm. Then the lights went out. * * * Her pain was gone. It was gone and replaced with a sweet, pleasant numbness that flowed through her whole body. She felt at peace for the first time in a long while. She had almost dozed off when she heard footsteps coming towards her. Momentarily, fear rose up in her and it ruled her so, that she couldn't open her eyes. Her heart pounding, she attempted to sit up so she would be ready to flee. And then she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She was about to scream when she heard the softest voice in the world. "It's okay, Scully." Scully's heart left her throat and she exhaled. "Oh, Mulder, it's you." She finally opened her eyes. She thought that he was the most beautiful thing to see. "I didn't mean to scare you." She smiled faintly and relaxed. "That's okay. I guess it's going to happen for a while." Mulder nodded and took a seat beside the bed. He looked over at her, lying there, trying valiantly to act like every little sound didn't scare her to death. He admired her for being strong. However, physically, he knew she was very exhausted. She looked pale and quite thin. Even her eyes looked very light and her eyelids hung low and heavy. He reached out tentatively and covered her hand with his. When he spoke, his voice was soft, kind, and affectionate. "How are you feeling, Scully?" "Good, now that my new best friend is morphine." Mulder's lips curved into a lopsided smile. "Hey, I thought that I was your best friend." He squeezed her hand and his gaze drifted to the window. It was still overcast and drizzling. "You should get some sleep," he said finally. Scully studied him intently. Finally, she asked, "Where are you going?" Mulder visibly winced. he thought wryly. "To check out some leads." "Mulder, I don't think-" He held up a hand. "Don't think, Scully. I've got to find him. He can't get away with what he did to you. I let him go once because you asked me to." He looked at her intensely, his hazel eyes flickering with anger. "Don't ask me to do that again. I want to do this for you." Scully was silent for long moments as she searched his eyes and her feelings. In the end, she only said two words, but they said everything that she couldn't. "Thank you." Mulder could only smile. * * * Megan was frantic. She had long ago surpassed surprise, fear, and even panic. She was running on instinct and it told her to hide. The office was dark and very quiet. It was so quiet that Megan could hear her own breathing. She wondered where Elliot was and if he were all right. She kept trying to tell herself that it was just another power outage. After all, the power had been off for most of the night, and had just recently come back on. But in her heart, Megan knew that it was Louis. And she knew that he was here for her. Megan wanted to get up and try to get away, but her fear kept her hidden in the corner. Her knees were drawn up and her arms were wrapped around them. Her eyes were wide and filled with the knowledge that she was being hunted. She was the prey. The wind picked up speed and it howled around the building. Megan closed her eyes and desperately tried to calm herself. She knew that if she was to get out of this alive, she would need to keep a cool head. Just then her computer beeped, telling her that her files had been copied. Without thinking she reached up to take the disk and keep it safe. It held all of their research and data. She snatched the disk out of the drive and was about to pull her hand back when something akin to a vise took hold of her wrist. Then she felt the hot breath on her cheek. "You betrayed me..." The voice was raspy and low. It was the voice of her nightmares. It struck fear into Megan's heart and her mind began to conjure up images of what could have a hold of her. Her mind seemed to be working without her consent. As if someone else was doing it. Megan swallowed dryly and tried to summon up enough courage to speak. "I did no such thing." The vise tightened around her wrist and she gasped in pain. Her imagination seemed to be working overtime. Even though logic told her that it must be Louis who had her, primitive fear told her that it was a terrible creature. She was sure she could see claws and fangs, and maybe yellow eyes.... "Do not lie to me. I know what you did. You let my *Gabrielle* go free." Megan sighed sadly. "She was sick. She was going to die. I couldn't let that happen." Megan waited a few seconds before pressing onwards. "Where have you been? What have you been doing besides hurting an innocent woman?" Louis chuckled wickedly and it was an awful sound. "I've been thinking of ways to kill you." He laughed and Megan screamed as she saw claws rip into the flesh of her wrist. Then she heard the sickening sound of bone breaking as the world faded to black. * * * Mulder pulled up in front of a large building. It was constructed mostly of glass and seemed to stretch up to the sky at odd angles. The sky was still slightly grey from the passing storm, but it was nearly eleven o'clock now, and the temperature was rising. A white sign with blue and green letters stood before a long walkway that led to the main entrance. The sign read: Gateway Research: the road to the future will be bright. "Yeah, right," Mulder mumbled as he passed the sign and walked up to the doors. They swung open easily and he proceeded on to the receptionist's desk. But there was no one there. He found this slightly strange, and headed to the elevators. On a board beside the elevator he found a listing of all the labs and scientists in the building. He ran his finger down the list until he found two names. Feller, Elliot, PhD Hutchinson, Megan, PhD. --room 524 He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for floor number five. The elevator hummed along quietly and soon a ding resounded through the air indicating that the ride was over. The doors swished open and Mulder stepped out. "The wonders of modern technology..." he mumbled. He breezed down the hall silently, his eyes looking in every direction. At the end of the hall, there was one last door, and it was slightly ajar. He immediately drew his weapon and gently pushed the door open further. He was confronted with a dark room in disarray. Papers, files, and folders were strewn all about the floor, the computer screen was cracked, and a lamp lay broken on the floor. Mulder entered the room slowly, cautiously. he thought. He did not call out or even whisper because he knew that it was all too possible for someone to be hiding in this room. Also, with the lights out he was at a bit of a disadvantage. He stepped forward and made a quick surveillance of the room. He checked in the closet and out in the hall again. Then he made his way to the computer desk. What he found there made him sick. He felt the bile rising in his throat, but swallowed it down. He looked at the body on the floor before him. Kneeling down, he attempted to take her pulse, but the body was so cold, he knew she was dead. Besides, no one could survive the wounds she had received. One person had already died from them. He looked at what was left of Megan Hutchinson, PhD. Her whole body had been torn to shreds and she was soaked in her own blood. Her neck had been ripped out, as if by a wolf or tiger, and in some places, the cuts were so deep that her bones were exposed. <...Into the fire...I'm reunited...> Mulder shook the darkness away from his mind and stood up slowly. He scanned the rest of the room quickly. Mulder began to make his way out of the room again when he heard frantic footsteps coming down the hall. Mulder stood straight and aimed his gun at the door, his breath coming short. He waited. Seconds later, Elliot Feller skidded through the doorway. "STOP! Federal Agent! Hands in the air!" Elliot slid to a halt and shoved his hands up into the air. In them he held three videocassettes. "Okay, okay, just don't shoot me," Elliot whimpered. Mulder advanced to him, and took the cassettes from him. "Are you Dr. Elliot Feller?" Elliot nodded. "Yes. Who are you?" Mulder didn't put his gun away but he did lower it considerably. "I am Special Agent Fox Mulder of the FBI." Elliot nodded. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to find us." Mulder nodded and gestured to Megan's body, which was hidden from Elliot's view by the desk. "Do you know what happened to this woman?" Elliot's brow knitted in confusion. "What woman?" Suddenly, the answer dawned on him. "Not Megan!" He ran to the desk, unaware of Mulder's gun. He fell to his knees beside Megan's broken tattered body and touched her hair. "No, no...not you, Megan! I should have been here...to help you." Mulder let Elliot have a few moments before he spoke up. "Dr. Feller, did Louis kill this woman?" Elliot looked up at Mulder and wiped a few stray tears away. "Yes, he must have. Louis has lost all control of his abilities." Mulder holstered his gun. He was sure that Elliot was no threat. "You mean his powers; his mind control powers." Elliot thought about lying, but decided against it. This man seemed to believe that Louis had done this awful thing, and perhaps he could help. "Yes. He can now use 30 40% of his brain power. He has almost unlimited capabilities, some of which are good, and some of which are not. The tragedy of it all is that he can't control his powers. He can't control his killing." Mulder nodded. "I think that perhaps he did control it this time, Dr. Feller. I think that he wanted to kill Dr. Hutchinson. She must have betrayed him in some way. Do you have any ideas?" Elliot looked back at Megan and then stood up, unable to take the sight any longer. Megan had been so innocent and open-minded. She had been so optimistic about their project and Louis had repaid her by killing her. Louis had to be punished for that. Megan deserved that much. "I told Megan to go and find the FBI agent that Louis had taken. I told her to let her go so Louis wouldn't hurt her." Elliot sighed as he surveyed the office. "Apparently, Louis found out what Megan did." Mulder nodded. "And apparently he wasn't very happy." Elliot nodded. "Yes, but why didn't he come after me? Why did he only kill...Megan?" Suddenly Mulder realized where Louis would most likely be headed. There was one thing that he loved above all else and that was Gabrielle. He would want her back. Mulder gestured for Elliot to follow him out of the room. As they walked down the hall to the elevator, Mulder voiced his theory. "I think that Louis had other things on his mind. Things like getting *Gabrielle* back." Elliot looked at Mulder, confused. "But Gabrielle is dead, Agent Mulder." Mulder shook his head as they stepped into the elevator. "Not to Louis, she isn't. To Louis she is alive and well and just happens to look like my partner. He'll try to get her back. We have to stop him." Elliot's eyes widened. "We?" Mulder nodded and pressed the button for the lobby. "Yes, we." * * * Louis parked his stolen car and slipped out and into the night. He headed for the main entrance to the Las Cruces Medical Center and walked in quickly. After asking directions, he headed up to the right floor. As he stepped out from the elevator, Scully, who was still in her room, was just falling asleep. =========================================================================== Ten Scully turned over onto her right side and sighed deeply. She wasn't really awake, but her body knew enough to not turn over onto her injured side. Her room was dark; the nurses had pulled all the shades, and it almost felt like night. The placid and even beeps of the EKG monitor lulled her into sleep and for once, a rather sweet dream. In it she and Mulder were sitting on their bench alongside the Potomac and it was night. But they weren't talking. They were quiet as they listened to the wind, the water lapping and each other's even breathing. They didn't have to talk. They were happy just being together. Scully smiled in her sleep and pulled her pillow closer. She was turned away from the door so she never saw or heard it open nor did she see the light that fell across her prone form. Louis stepped into Scully's room and his fevered gaze fell upon her and he smiled. There she was, his Gabrielle. All he had to do was walk over there, pick her up and take her with him. It was almost too easy. And that made him think it might be a trap. So, he advanced slowly, almost expecting Mulder to leap out at him at any moment. Soon he was standing beside her bed, deciding how he should wake her. He smiled again and gently touched her shoulder. She stirred and mumbled, "...M-Mulder, is that you...?" Louis' dark brown eyes turned even darker as he heard her say the most hated of names. "Hello, Gabrielle." Scully was still ruled by sleep and she didn't recognize the voice. She still thought it was Mulder. "...Don't tease me like...that, Mulder." Louis was trying valiantly to control his anger and his rage but he felt like she was betraying him. How dare she compare him to that tall lanky idiot? There *was* no comparison. He would have to make her see that. "No, Gabrielle, it's Louis. Your Louis." This time the voice and words found Scully and her eyes snapped open in fear but she didn't move. She forced herself to breathe deeply and think clearly. "Louis, what are you doing here?" she asked shakily. Louis smiled and started to pull the covers off of her. "I came for you. I came back for you." Scully felt as though her heart had stopped and her breath wouldn't come. "...I'm not coming with you, Louis..." she managed to mumble. Louis' anger flared again but he was still able to keep it in check. "Yes, you are, Gabrielle. You don't have a choice." Scully still hadn't turned over to face him. She couldn't look at him, she knew. If she did it would all be over. She would be under his control. Even now she felt the presence of his mind in hers and she was fighting it with every bit of her strength. "...Yes I do have a choice. I can't walk very well, Louis...." "Look at me, Gabrielle!" Louis hissed angrily. Scully stood her ground. She had to fight him even if it meant her death. If she acquiesced now, there would be no going back and she would be lost forever. her soul cried out. But, he wasn't there and she had to accept that and try to make Louis understand. "I don't want to look at you, Louis. You hurt me." Louis ripped the covers off the bed violently but Scully didn't even flinch. "You love me!" he said rather loudly. Scully kept her back to him and didn't move. "No I don't, Louis. I never did. I'm not *your* Gabrielle." This was too much for Louis. "You love *him*, don't you?" he seethed. "Get out, Louis," she said quietly. "It's Mulder, isn't it? You love him!" "Louis..." The tone in her voice was as good as an answer for Louis and he lost all sense of control. His eyes burned darkly with fury and he advanced towards Scully. Since she had her back to him, she never saw him coming, so when he grabbed her around the neck in a headlock she was completely surprised. "Louis!" she managed to shout in a muffled tone. "Everyone has betrayed me," he fumed. Louis began to pull Scully off the bed. She tried to fight him but she couldn't get any leverage. There was nothing for her hands to grab onto and her legs were just as useless. Plus this exertion was bringing her pain back even through the drugs and the last thing she needed was for her wound to reopen. "Louis...stop..." she mumbled. But Louis couldn't stop. He was so angry that all he could see was his Gabrielle and that she had betrayed him. His Gabrielle loved another man and the pain of that realization stabbed him like a dagger. He dragged Scully off the bed and she crashed to the linoleum floor with a painful grunt. But Louis didn't stop there. He straightened up and pulled her across the floor, still in a headlock, and to the door. "I never thought that you would betray me, Gabrielle. I thought that you loved me. You once did." Scully was having serious trouble breathing and the pain from her wound was increasing to an almost unbearable level. <...Mulder...Mulder...> her mind chanted. Louis looked down the hall one way, then the other and then he looked down to Scully. His grip on her was rough but he didn't intend for her to escape him again. His dark eyes burned brightly with purpose. His gaze was frightening and Scully could feel her mind slipping away. "You will have to pay for what you did, Gabrielle. * * * Dr. Elliot Feller was very scared. He had never been in a car that traveled across the ground as fast as this car was going. His closed his eyes and prayed to God that Mulder was some sort of ex-stunt driver, because only such a person could handle a car at those speeds. Mulder said nothing because his mind was racing faster than the car. All he could see was Scully laying on the floor, her body torn to pieces as Megan's had been. He tried to keep calm and keep his fears at bay, but it was hard to do. This was Scully, after all; his best friend, his partner. She was the most important person in his life. And he couldn't lose her twice in two days. Hell, he couldn't lose her at all. It would destroy him. It was early afternoon now but the sky was still grey. Mulder managed to regulate his breathing and he stole a glance at Elliot. He saw the man cowering in the passenger's seat, his eyes closed tightly. "Are you feeling all right, Dr. Feller?" "Could we slow down just a bit, Agent Mulder? I'm afraid that my stomach can't handle such high speeds." Mulder grinned faintly. "Sorry, Dr. Feller, but I can't do that. Louis is probably heading for the hospital. He might even be there by now. My partner was seriously injured by Louis and she is in no condition to fight him off. I have to get there quickly. I have to make sure she's all right." Elliot kept his eyes closed. * * * Louis pulled Scully up to her full height and put his arm across her stomach roughly; right across her injuries. "Louis!" she whispered hoarsely. "You're hurting me!" Louis' face portrayed no emotion. He no longer cared if Scully felt any pain. His pain was all encompassing and he wanted her to feel the same pain as he did. He knew what he had to do. She had to pay for her treachery and he already knew the how he would do it. "I don't care, Gabrielle. You have to pay for what you did and you're going to pay tonight." That said, he took another glance down the hallway and then pulled her out of the room, her feet sliding across the floor. He only took a few steps down the hall when he came to a stairwell. Opening the door, he hauled her inside and began to descend the steps. He had to get her off of that floor because that would be where Mulder would look first. Louis and Scully had only gotten three steps when Scully decided to make her move and she jabbed Louis in the ribs. He gasped and his grip on her loosened. Adrenaline had temporarily made her pain abate so she was able to pull free from him and head down the stairs. She had to get away from him before his mind took total control. Almost losing her footing, she got to the landing and then headed towards the door. All she had to do was find a nurse or an orderly. Anybody. But she knew that just anybody would not do. She needed Mulder. Bursting through the door she found herself on quite a deserted floor. It appeared that it was being renovated because cans and drop clothes lay all about. She took a deep breath and stumbled down the hallway looking for a place to hide. * * * Mulder ran into the lobby of the hotel and skidded to a halt in front of the reception desk. His eyes were wild and his hair stuck out oddly, seeming to defy gravity. "Excuse me, nurse?" The woman looked up from her paperwork. "Yes, sir?" Mulder dug into his coat pocket and pulled out his ID. He held it before her face. "I am Special Agent Fox Mulder and I need you to send security up to Agent Dana Scully's room immediately." The woman's eyes were wide as she nodded her head. "Okay, I'll do it right away." As Mulder turned away he saw her picking up a phone and he heard her speaking hastily. He headed straight for the elevators, Elliot trailing along. As they stepped inside, Elliot swallowed hard and looked at Mulder. "Agent Mulder, what are you going to do? How do you expect to subdue Louis." "By shooting him." Elliot's jaw dropped. Mulder didn't notice. His gaze was locked on the LED display as the floors ticked by. Scully was on the sixth floor in a private room. At least, he hoped it was still private. "But Louis is valuable. You just can't kill him." Mulder finally turned his head to look at Elliot and when he did, it was with cold eyes. "Louis is dangerous, Dr. Feller. He almost killed my partner. She would have died if your friend hadn't saved her and I thank you for that. But, I just can't let him go." Elliot realized that the conversation was over. He could tell by Mulder's tone. He hoped that Louis would be reasonable and wouldn't put up a fight. * * * Scully slipped inside an empty room and tried to see what was before her. The room wasn't pitch black, but it was dark enough that she could only see outlines of things. Soon, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw that she was in a normal hospital room. It was just like hers, except there was no bed. It appeared that someone had been doing some repainting. Scully stepped forward, hoping desperately that she could find some place to hide. And maybe something she could use as a weapon. She soon found that there was nothing in the room that she could use to defend herself. Walking slowly, with her hands running up and down the wall, she made her way around the room. Her heart was pounding in her chest and it was making her head hurt. And she knew that Louis was looking for her. She could feel the power of his mind. It was a presence and it was crowding in on her on all sides. It was suffocating her. She knew that all this walking had to be aggravating her wounds and the stitches. She just hoped that her cuts wouldn't start bleeding again. However, she was in such a state of shock and primal instinct, that she didn't feel the blood that was seeping from her cuts. She took a deep breath and forced herself to keep some sense of calm. Since there was nothing that she could use as a weapon, she had to find somewhere to hide and wait for Mulder to come. Taking another step forward, her eyes focused on a door; a door to a bathroom. Sighing in a small measure of relief, she walked inside and found a tub, sink, and toilet. She immediately turned to the tub and the idea that she could hide in it and pull the shower curtain around, occurred to her. In the semi-darkness, she knelt down before the tub and reached her hand inside. She felt water. She was about to reach down into the water to grab the plug when she stopped, fear clouding her eyes. She felt his eyes on her. "Did you think you would escape me, Gabrielle?" His voice was low and raspy and in her mind she saw her own body lying torn and bloody on the floor. * * * Mulder flung the door to Scully's room open and was greeted with the sight of an empty bed. The sheets were tangled and pulled away. A security guard flicked the lights on as Mulder advanced to the bed. He looked it over quickly and then turned back to Elliot and the guards. "He's got her." Elliot gulped. "We don't know that, Agent Mulder. Maybe she was taken for x-rays. Maybe..." Elliot trailed off as his gaze followed Mulder's and he looked to the floor below him. He was standing on top of a red stain. A fresh red stain. Mulder walked forward and knelt next to Elliot. He touched the stain and his fingers came up wet and dark red. His heart lurched in his chest as he said, "This is her blood." Elliot shook his head. "How do you know? It could be anything. It could-" He was cut short when Mulder stood up, towering above him. His eyes were very dark and Elliot could feel his rage. "He has her and we have to find them. They're probably still in the building. Now, are you going to help me, or can you live with the death of a woman on your conscience?" Elliot closed his eyes. "I'll help you. I'll help you." Mulder looked at him a while longer and then turned away. He turned to the guards. "Stay here in case either of them return." The guards nodded and watched as Mulder exited the room. He stood in the middle of the hallway for a while, trying to collect his thoughts. His looked down the hallway both ways and was about to go down to the nurse's station to question them, when his gaze stopped on a patch of red on the floor before a door. He pulled out his gun and walked towards it, Elliot following. * * * Before Scully could move or answer Louis, he charged her and closed his hand around her neck, while the other took hold of her left arm. "Louis!" she cried out. Louis smiled wickedly and began to push her downwards to the water. "You have to pay." Scully swore that she could feel claws cutting into the flesh of her upper arm and around her throat. But her train of thought was halted when her head was forced under water. Suddenly, water was everywhere and she couldn't breathe. She tried to push herself up, but she didn't have enough strength with Louis on top of her. After some seconds had passed, Louis pulled her up and out of the water. Her head hung low as she gasped for breath. But Louis only let her breathe for a few seconds before he pushed her down again. "Stop!" she managed to scream before the water was all around her again. As he held her under, his eyes gleamed with anger. "If your love for me has ended, so must your life." * * * Mulder followed the trail of blood drops down the stairs, listening intently. A moment before he thought he had heard something: a voice, but he wasn't sure. He glanced back at Elliot. "Get ready, Dr. Feller, I think we're close." * * * Scully almost blacked-out as Louis pulled her head out of the water again. He had kept her under for much longer that time. If he put her under again, she doubted she would come back up still breathing. "...Lou...Louis...why...you...doing this?" she managed to sputter as he held her head against his chest. "I told you, Gabrielle. You betrayed me and you wanted to leave me. You must be punished." His grip tightened and the claws bit down into her flesh cruelly. "Louis!" she screamed as the pain bore down on her. And then, something very primal in Scully took over and she screamed out the only name that meant safety to her. The name that she called out during her nightmares. The name that was her whole world. "Mulder! I need your help! MULDER!!" * * * Mulder's breath caught as he heard that all-too- familiar cry for help. He broke into a run and headed down the hall. * * * Louis grinned evilly. "He can't help you now, Gabrielle. Goodbye." And then he pushed her head into the water again, never intending her to live through it. Scully fought with every ounce of strength she had left, because she knew that this was her last chance. If something didn't happen now, she would die. Louis' grin spread into a satisfied smile as he watched Scully's writhings growing weaker and finally stop. And then a shot rang out through the air. The bullet pierced Louis' back and tore through his heart. His eyes rolled back and he fell backwards and away from Scully. And his last thoughts were of holding Gabrielle. Mulder rushed forward, stepped over Louis' body, and gathered Scully up into his arms. She wasn't breathing. * * * Mulder pulled Scully's limp body away from the tub and gently set her head down onto the floor. She still wasn't breathing. His eyes were frantic as he looked up at Elliot. "I need some paramedics! NOW!" Elliot scurried from the room and Mulder turned back to Scully. Her hair was completely soaked as was most of her hospital gown. Mulder's gaze drifted down to a red blotch that was spreading out from a darker area on her midsection. He took a deep breath and knelt down close to her. Her lips were a deathly blue and he had to blink back tears as he looked at her. Then he gently pinched her nose shut, tilted her head back and lowered his mouth onto hers. He breathed into her twice and then crossed his hands and placed them on her chest. Pushing down gently but firmly, he counted off. "One, two, three, four, five." He waited two heartbeats to see if there would be a reaction. When there wasn't, he again brought his mouth to hers and exhaled two times. He pulled his mouth away again and began to push down on her chest. "Come on, Scully! Come on!" he shouted as he tried to make her heart beat; make her lungs breathe. Dropping his mouth to cover hers for a third time, he pushed two great breaths of air into her lungs. He knew she had to come back soon or it would be all over. She had to come back. "Don't you leave me!" he shouted in a panicked voice. "Don't give up, Dana! Don't leave me!" He pushed down onto her chest again, harder than the last times, and was about to close his mouth over hers for a fourth time, when he saw her eyelids move. And then her head moved slightly as water gurgled in the back of her throat. And then she was coughing, as she tried to get the water out of her mouth and throat. Mulder sighed in relief and smiled widely. Quickly, he turned her onto her side so that the water wouldn't choke her, and rubbed her back. As she spit the water from her mouth, she began to moan and mumble. "...Get...away..." "It's okay, Dana. It's me. It's Mulder." Scully's head felt like it was going to explode and she felt like her lungs were half-filled with water. Her mind was still clouded and all she knew was that someone was above her and that that someone wanted her dead. She weakly pushed away an arm that tried to touch her. "...Stay...away...from me..." Mulder's eyes widened. "Scully, it's *me*. It's Mulder. *Mulder*." His voice was soft and gentle and it finally reached Scully. She slowly turned her head and hoped that the face she saw would be Mulder's. Her pale blue eyes softened as she saw that it was Mulder. And then they filled with tears as she realized that she was safe. Mulder reached out, pulled her close and felt her sag against him. Then he heard her crying softly as she reached out with her left arm and encircled his waist. The other reached up to his coat sleeve and held onto it tightly. As she lay there in Mulder's lap, he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "Everything's okay now, Scully. I'm here. You're safe." She nodded and then looked up into his deep hazel eyes and saw the affection in them. "Th-Thank you...Mulder." He smiled, his lips curling sardonically. "For what?" "...For saving my...life..." she murmured. Mulder was floored. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. It made his heart swell with devotion and tenderness for the woman he held in his arms. She was so special and important to him. She was his everything. But it also made him feel guilty. If only he had gotten there sooner or had just stayed with her, nothing like this would have happened to her. He had already lost her once because he hadn't been where he should have been. And tonight he had almost lost her again. That thought scared Mulder horribly and he pulled Scully even closer. "You're welcome, Scully." She smiled softly and reached up to touch his cheek in such a way as Mulder had never felt. "I love you, Mulder. You're my best friend." Mulder smiled and touched her cheek as well. Then he pulled her into an embrace that seemed to last forever. And he felt like he was holding the whole world in his arms. =========================================================================== Eleven Mulder heard the sound of footsteps pounding down the hallway and he turned his head in their direction. Soon, two nurses and a doctor came running into the room, breathless, wielding flashlights. They saw nothing at first, until Mulder called out to them. "Over here!" The doctor turned her head and flashlight in the direction of the bathroom. Her eyes widened as the grisly scene was revealed to her. "Agent Mulder, is that you?" she called out, advancing slowly. "Yes! Please get a gurney for Agent Scully. I don't think she'll be able to walk," said Mulder calmly. He then directed his gaze to his partner and found that she had slipped into a light sleep. The doctor nodded. "We have one outside. Nurse Corre, would you bring it in, please?" The nurse nodded and stepped outside of the room. Mere seconds later she pushed a gurney inside and right up to the doorway of the bathroom. "Agent Mulder, what happened here?" asked the doctor. Mulder slipped his arms under Scully and easily lifted her up into his protective embrace. He stepped around Louis' body and over to the gurney. As he gently set Scully down, he looked at the doctor. "I'm not exactly sure what happened here, Dr. Walker. But I do know that it's over and I know that Agent Scully needs your help." Dr. Walker nodded and started for the hallway. "We'll get her into another room and check her out. It looks like her wounds have reopened." Mulder followed them out of the room and down the hall. He wanted to take a look at Louis, but he wasn't going anywhere. Besides, he wanted to make sure that Scully was all right and he didn't want her to wake up alone. As they proceeded down the hall, Scully's eyes opened slightly and her head moved slowly from side to side. "...Mulder...Mulder..." she called softly. Immediately, Mulder was by her side and took her hand in his. He smoothed the wet hair away from her face and said, "I'm right here, Scully. You're not alone. I'm here." Her worried complexion eased and a small smile appeared. She squeezed his hand and closed her eyes again. "Just...don't leave me..." she said sleepily. Mulder's mouth twisted into a wry grin. "Never," he said softly. * * * After Scully had fallen asleep, Mulder quietly left her room and headed to the nurses station on that floor. He walked up to the desk. "Nurse Corre?" The nurse looked up from a computer monitor and into the eyes of the man that she knew as Agent Mulder. A man who was very protective of one Agent Dana Scully. "Yes, Agent Mulder?" "I'd like someone to bring up the body from downstairs. I need to examine it." Nurse Corre frowned. "I'm sorry, Agent Mulder, but one of our orderlies already took it to the police station. He said that you asked him to do it." Mulder's eyebrows raised. "He?" Nurse Corre nodded. "Yes," she said. "A thin man with blonde hair. He was about this tall," she said holding her hand up to the proper height. thought Mulder. "Well, then, I need you to call Chief Garrett in Tularosa and ask him to put an-" "Agent Mulder?" said a deep voice. Mulder turned around and found himself face to face with Chief Garrett. "Garrett? What are you doing here?" Garrett shrugged. "I came here to see how Scully was doing. Why? What's happened?" Mulder led Garrett away from the nurses' station and they began to walk down the hall to Scully's room. "Louis killed one of the scientists who worked at Gateway Research." "What? Which one?" asked Garrett shock permeating his voice. "Dr. Megan Hutchinson. It was very bloody. You should send some of your men over there to collect the body." "What about Louis? Where is he?" Mulder sighed and they stopped outside of Scully's room. "After he killed Dr. Hutchinson, he came over here and attempted to kill Agent Scully." "Is she all right?" Mulder nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "She is now. I almost didn't get to her in time. Louis nearly drowned her. He almost killed her, Garrett." Garrett nodded. "I assume, then, that Louis is dead." "I shot him." Garrett saw the fire that was in Mulder's eyes and knew not to say any more. "How's Scully?" "She's sleeping now. Her cuts reopened and Louis gave her a few more on her arm and neck, but other than that, she's all right. The doctors say that she'll recover fully." "I suppose that you'll want to examine Louis' body." "I'd like to, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen," said Mulder sadly. "Why not? I know that you'd prefer it if Scully did it, but I'm sure that we could find someone capable." Mulder grinned faintly and shook his head. "No, that's not it, Garrett. It appears that in my haste to save Scully, I let Dr. Feller go." Garrett shrugged. "So?" "One of the nurses just told me that a tall orderly with blonde hair took the body to the police station. Garrett, I didn't ask for anyone to take Louis' body anywhere. That orderly was Dr. Elliot Feller." Garrett closed his eyes briefly. "All right, then. We'll put an APB out on him." Mulder shook his head. "That won't do any good. If Drs. Feller and Hutchinson were performing these experiments under the auspices of the government, as I believe they were, then we'll never find him. They'll hide him away somewhere where he can continue his dirty work. We'll never see him again." Garrett looked at Mulder incredulously. "You think that the government was secretly having these two scientists perform experiments on people to increase human brain power?" Mulder's face didn't betray anything as he nodded. "Of course." "*And* you think that Louis Mallory had this ability?" "Yes. He was able to use his brain in ways that are still only fantasy to most people. It's how he killed Robin Waters, Dr. Hutchinson, and almost...almost Scully." Garrett was silent for a few moments as he tried to grasp the ideas. Finally, he shook his head and turned his gaze to Scully's door. "Can I take a look at her?" Mulder let the previous conversation go and smiled. "Sure, but we have to be quiet." Garrett smiled. "Or what? The nurses will scold us?" As Mulder pushed the door open he said, "They already grounded me..." * * * Later, after Garrett had left, Mulder walked out into the hall and called Skinner. He probably had half of the agents in the Bureau out looking for them. "Skinner." "Um...this is Agent Mulder, sir." "Where have you been, Agent Mulder?" "Well, I'm afraid that's a long story, sir." "And I look forward to hearing it. But, before I do, I would like to know if you have found Agent Scully yet." Mulder sighed, thinking that he would rather be having a route canal than doing this. "Yes, I have, sir. As we speak, she is resting comfortably in her room." Mulder heard a pencil tapping. "Her room?" Mulder swallowed. "Yes, sir. Her hospital room." There was a short pause, before Skinner said, "I see. Well, Agent Mulder, I suppose that I should let you go, but I expect to see a full report on this case upon your return." "Yes, sir. You will." "Good, Agent Mulder." Mulder was about to end the call when Skinner said, "Oh, and Agent Mulder?" "Yes, sir?" Mulder had thought that he had escaped. "Make sure that Agent Scully gets the best care." "I will, sir." Mulder hit the END button and slipped the phone into his jacket pocket. He smiled. Would wonders never cease? Skinner had been worried about Scully. * * * The desert sky was colored a light red, purple and orange and the sun was halfway hidden behind the mountains. Its light cast a glow upon the desert and the building named the Las Cruces Medical Center. The Center was bathed in a warm light, as was its small garden. The administrators of the hospital thought that it would be good for the patients. It was. Dana Scully sat in a wheelchair in front of a sliding door. Her hair was brushed back from her face and her eyes were clear and shining. A bandage covered the cut on her forehead and her arm and neck were also bandaged. The cuts on her side had been restitched and the pain was much better. She wore a hospital gown and over top of that a white robe that the hospital offered. As she looked outside at the beautiful scenery and horizon line, she allowed herself to smile. she thought. Disjointed memories of the past few days swam through her mind, but she didn't let them bother her. She wouldn't allow it. Instead, she let them float away, downstream. Dana closed her eyes and sighed. Where was he? She wanted to go out into the garden, smell the flowers, feel the fading sun, feel *him* near her, and know she was alive. she asked herself. Suddenly, she felt two strong hands cover her eyes. For a second, fear and panic rose in Dana and her whole body stiffened. "Guess who?" came the sweet voice from behind her. That sweet voice that was her anchor. Dana exhaled in relief and smiled. "The Easter Bunny?" His hands did not move from her eyes. They were warm, soft and made her feel safe. "No...." "Marvin the Martian?" She felt him smile; felt its warmth. "No, earthling." She brought her hands up to cover his, kept them there for a while relishing in the physical contact, and then pulled his and hers away. She turned a bit and her eyes said everything that words could not. "My best friend." It was a statement. Mulder's hazel eyes looked down softly and affectionately at her. He knelt down next to her, searched for her hand and held it in his. "Always." Scully smiled and gently touched his cheek. They stayed that way for a long time; eons it seemed. Then, Mulder straightened up an went to stand behind her. Gripping her wheelchair, he sighed happily. "Are you ready, m'lady?" Scully smiled. "Yes, my dark prince." "Okay..." he said as he pushed the chair forward and the door slid open. Slightly cool but sweet air blew past them and Scully breathed in deeply. This was the first time that she had been outside since...since that woman, who she know knew as Megan, had dropped her off on that lonely road. she told herself. Mulder pushed her out and into the middle of the garden. Wisteria, juniper, violets and cottonwood surrounded them like a sweet-smelling blanket. The sky was a pastel canvas with high wispy clouds floating overhead, as if an artist's brush had placed them there. They stopped at a stone bench and Dana smiled up at Mulder. "Would you like to sit here a while?" he asked softly, running a hand through his unruly dark-brown hair. Dana loved his hair. It looked so soft. She nodded and pushed on the arms of the chair in an attempt to get up. However, she found that she had no strength to accomplish such a task. Besides, such exertion made the wounds on her side quite painful. Then she felt Mulder's hand on her shoulder and she slumped back down. "Take it easy, Scully. You're not Wonder Woman, you know." Scully smirked. "Gee, thanks, Mulder. You know just what to say to a girl. Got any other compliments?" Mulder grinned. "Not right now, Scully. I'm saving the others for the flight home." "Oh, goody. I can't wait," she intoned softly. He chuckled and bent down. Slipping his left arm behind her back and his right under her knees, he easily lifted her slight frame out of the chair and onto the bench. She still hadn't regained the weight that she had lost. To his surprise and chagrin, Scully did not protest. He sat down next to her and for a while they were silent. They listened to the wind and the sounds of the awakening night animals. Finally, Mulder turned and looked at Scully. She looked very young and beautiful to him as they sat in the small garden. But her eyes had a faraway look about them. She was still pale and a bit too thin, but her wounds were healing nicely. She would be back to normal in no time. he thought. After a while, Scully turned to face him. "Mulder, you're developing a bad habit." "And what might that be?" he asked, liking the look of mischief in her eyes. "Staring at me." "That's bad?" he asked, laughter in his beautiful eyes. "I think I'd call it more of an addiction than a habit." Color rose up in her cheeks and she looked away, hoping he hadn't noticed. The desert seemed so peaceful now. So incapable of causing the pain and horror it had brought upon both of them. She sighed and looked back at Mulder. He was staring at her again. "Mulder..." she began in a stern tone, but trailed off. "Yeah, Scully?" Her eyes softened and a faint smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Thank you." "For what?" he asked innocently. "For saving my life...for taking care of me...for...being my best friend." Mulder pushed away his feelings of guilt and smiled sweetly at her. "You're welcome, Scully. Besides, I like taking care of you." She playfully slapped his shoulder. "There's that habit rearing its ugly head again." Mulder looked confused. "I thought that staring was my habit?" She nodded. "It is, but it's only a symptom of a much larger problem, which is your need to over-protect me." Mulder smirked. "Problem? Gee, I had no idea. Well, they say that the first step is admitting you have a problem..." Suddenly, he stood up. "Hello. My name's Fox and I'm an over-protector." Scully yanked him back down beside her. She shook her head. "I don't suppose a 12-step program *would* help, would it?" He shook his head back at her. "Nope. I'm afraid not. Looks like I'll be watching over you for a long time." She sighed in contentment. "Joy." He looked at her seriously, then. "Does it really bother you, Scully?" She looked at him tenderly. "I'm going to say something now, Mulder, that you can never repeat. Nor will I mention it again." She took a deep breath. "I kind of like it when you look out for me. I do the same for you. I'm just not as neurotic about it. But I really appreciate that you care for me because I care for you." Mulder smiled and it was one of his rare, full, beautiful smiles. He reached out and took her hand in his. Scully leaned closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. She felt safe and happy when she was with him, even if he did drive her crazy half of the time. A few minutes later the sun disappeared and the night grew colder. "Mulder, can we go back inside? I'm freezing," she said softly, not really wanting their closeness to end. Mulder got up and lifted her back into the wheelchair. "As you wish, m'lady." As they passed through the sliding door, Scully looked up at Mulder and took one of his hands. "Can we stop off at the vending machine?" "Why?" he asked, noting the mischief in her eyes. It was good to see after all that had happened. She winked at him. "Maybe they have cupcakes." He smiled and whisked her off down the hall, still holding her hand. THE END!!