X4 A War of Smoke
Part OneThe old man took one last puff of his cigarette and then put it out slowly in the ashtray sitting next to him. He then put his hand in his pocket and brought out another cigarette, lit it and put it into his mouth.
The room was quiet and dark and he sat on the sofa on his own quietly thinking, enjoying his cigarette. He had been sitting there for hours on his own. He looked at a photograph that brought tears to his old eyes. He saw a young boy and a younger girl. He smiled and then turned towards a pile of paperwork lying on his desk. One title read, 'X-File No.23'
Suddenly he heard footsteps outside of his door. He waited for the knock but there wasn't one. He sighed then went back to his cigarette.
"Get up."
The smoking man jumped and his eyes opened wide. But when he saw who it was he settled again calmly. With his back to the man who was behind him he took another puff from his cigarette.
"GET UP OLD MAN!" The voice said with emotion and anger. The smoking man slowly put out his cigarette and then stood up keeping his eyes ahead of him. He faced away from the man behind him.
"Why are you so angry?" He said calmly.
"SHUT UP! Turn around and face me." The voice said with more anger than before. The smoking man sighed then started to turn around slowly. He faced the man and smiled a little. The man was pointing a gun at him. He could see that he was upset.
"Fox Mulder." The smoking man said. "What a nice surprise, what are you doing?"
"I want to know where you've put my property." Mulder said. He was gaining great anger in his voice. He breathed heavily. The smoking man could sense his anger.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't give me that bullshit! Where are the X-Files?" Mulder said. The smoking man smiled again.
"You won't need them anymore." He said. "The X-Files are going to close."
Scully sat on her sofa staring at her computer on the coffee table. She couldn't believe that the information had been taken. She stared in disbelief. All the work that they had done, three X-Files were missing from her computer and worst of all, one was the X-File on Mulder's sister, Samantha. She remembered the conversation she'd had with Mulder and remembered in sadness how upset and angry he had been. She wondered where he was, she had tried to tell him not to go but he hadn't listened to her. He had gone off to find the smoking man and he was probably going to kill him. She sighed and shook her head. Her red hair shone in the dim light. She moved her hands to her head and hung it with worry feeling her heart race for her friend.
Mulder kept his gun steady but he could feel his body shaking with pure anger. He was ready to shoot and he was going to if he didn't get the files back.
"The X-Files are going to close." He heard the smoking man say. Mulder stared in disbelief at the man for a moment then felt like he had been crushed.
"What?" Mulder said with sadness.
"You weren't making any success Fox. There is no point to keep it going." The smoking man said. Mulder sighed.
"No, no this has happened before and they've been reopened. You're so full of shit.. you just want them closed so that Scully and I don't find anymore evidence against you." Mulder shouted.
"Believe what you want, but they're going to be closing tomorrow. You'd better start packing Mulder." He said. Mulder couldn't believe it. He moved his eyes towards the table and saw paperwork on there. He tried to read the writing.
"What's that paperwork?" He asked. The smoking man stopped and looked over to the table.
"It's nothing of importance." He said.
"So they're the X-Files?" Mulder said. The smoking man sighed.
"Leave Fox." He said.
"No. Give me the files. If I don't need them, nobody does. Give them to me."
"No."
"I'll shoot." Mulder said confidently. He stared at the smoking man and frowned.
"Good bye Fox." The smoking man said. Mulder didn't move.
The smoking man put a hand behind his back and reached underneath his jacket and brought out his gun slowly. Mulder hadn't noticed. The smoking man quickly moved and brought out the gun and pointing it towards Mulder shot him in the leg.
Mulder cried out in pain. He shot his gun madly and it hit the light bulb. The whole room plunged into darkness. Mulder fell to the floor and cried out in pain. "STOP! DON'T LEAVE YOU BASTARD!" But the smoking man was already out of the door. Mulder sighed and felt pain surge up his leg. He cried out desperately.
Scully ran into the building, she had decided that she wasn't going to let Mulder go on his own to see the smoking man. She was going to go with him and help him. She cursed herself for not going in the first place. Scully made her way to the foyer and ran up the stairs on her right. She looked up when she heard footsteps and gasped as she saw the smoking man himself running towards her. Scully stopped on the stairs and tried to get her gun but it was stuck in its hold. Scully stood in the way of him and he passed her by but she quickly put her leg out to trip him and sent him falling down the stairs. She watched him roll to the bottom and stared as he moved slowly to get up. A woman rushed out of the reception and went to him. She looked up at Scully on the steps and frowned at her. Mulder's cries filled the corridor at the top of the stairs.
Scully turned her head towards them and her eyes opened wide with shock. She ran up the stairs quickly and made her way to the open apartment door and ran inside. The lights were off but a beam of light was shining in through the door from the corridor. Scully opened the door wider and saw Mulder lying on the floor holding his bleeding leg. Scully gasped.
"Mulder!" She said loudly. Mulder turned towards her.
"Scully? Scully.. Scully help me." He said weakly. Scully moved towards him and sat next to him.
"Mulder. It's ok just don't move. Don't move." She said softly and put a hand on his head. She gently stroked it and tried to calm him down. "Squeeze my hand." She said. She put his hand in hers and felt pressure on it from him. Scully looked at his leg and saw blood coming out quickly onto the floor spreading all over his jeans.
"The files.. they're on the table. Scully.. the files." Mulder said weakly and then put his head against the wall and took one painful breath. Scully turned her head towards the table and squinted in the darkness, she couldn't see any files.
"Ok, we'll get them later." She said trying to calm him down. Her heart sunk with despair and she filled with rage.
"That son of a bitch shot me." He said. Scully nodded.
"I know Mulder, just lay still." She said. Scully reached for her phone with her free hand and dialled 911. Mulder breathed heavily and groaned in pain. Scully felt panic fill her insides. "It's ok. It's ok.." She said softly, trying to reassure herself as well as Mulder.
The smoking man pushed the worried woman away with a grunt. She moved away from him.
"Sir, I'm only trying to help you. No.. no don't get up.." She said. He got to his feet slowly then walked toward the exit of the building with rage. Behind him someone started to come down the stairs and he heard Scully's voice pierce loudly.
"GO UPSTAIRS MAM! GET OUT OF THE WAY! FBI!" Scully shouted. The woman looked at her in shock then to the man running out of the door. She nodded slowly then started upstairs. "There's a man upstairs who needs help, sit with him. I'll be back soon." Scully said breathlessly to the woman. Scully ran to the foot of the stairs and into the dark night.
She scanned the large car park for signs of the smoking man. Her breath breathed out in clouds in the freezing air. She held her gun steady and felt her body start to shiver with cold. Her head turned. Suddenly from one dark side of the park she heard fast footsteps and turned towards them. Her legs started to run fast towards the sound and she saw a bush rustle. Someone was running away from her. Scully reached the bushes and ran through them causing them to sway again. She reached the other side but was suddenly pulled backwards into the bushes with a great force. Scully cried out and felt a cold hand gripping onto her coat. Then another hand grabbed her hair painfully. She dropped her gun.
"OW!" Scully cried out. She fought furiously against the man.
"Dana.. Dana.." He was saying with frustration. He bent down and picked up her gun and put it in his pocket. Scully pushed and pulled to get out of his grasp. She felt her hair pull more and more tight and felt tears sting her eyes.
"Let me go!" She screamed.
"Why aren't you with Mulder?" He said gruffly. Scully suddenly stopped by the sound of her partner's name. Her heart skipped a beat. "I thought you would be by his side. Don't you care for him Dana?" He said. Scully felt anger burn inside her.
"You know I had to find you, you're the criminal and I'm the law. Now get off me."
"You see Dana, that's why you're wrong because I'm part of the government too.. that's why you can never stop me." He said in his calm, unnatural tone. Scully breathed heavily and pulled away from him again. He pulled her back.
"Let me go. Get off me right now." She said.
"Dana.."
"It's SCULLY!" She shouted then with all her strength she kicked him hard in the leg. He let go and she moved forwards then spun around quickly.
"Argg.." He said holding his leg.
"GIVE ME THE GUN AND THE FILES!" She screamed. The smoking man breathed heavily and fell to his knees. He was gasping for air, he held his hand to his neck. Scully looked at him then frowned in suspicion, what was happening?
"I.. I can't breathe." He said. Scully shifted uneasily on her feet and felt her doctor instincts come upon her.
"Give me the files!" She said trying to push away the feelings of wanting to help. The smoking man fell onto his chest and was now facing the ground. Scully fought against the desire to help him, but she knew if he got worse she would have to. She moved towards him and pinned him on the floor. She reached inside his pocket and brought out his gun. She aimed is at his head.
"Get up!" She said. "GET UP!"
"I.. I can't." He said breathlessly. He tried to get to his knees and coughed loudly.
"May be this will persuade you to give up smoking." She said. The smoking man looked up at her sadly then stood up slowly. He panted for air.
"Do you know how long I have been following you two.. I can always see you, all the time." He said between breaths. Scully frowned at him.
"Do I care?" She said.
"You'll never prove what you want to prove." The smoking man said. Scully stared at him with anger and aimed the gun at his head with more accuracy. She heard sirens coming from the street behind her. She turned and looked at where the sound was coming from then turned back to the man. But he was gone. Scully looked around her for him but he had vanished. He had got away, and Scully wanted to talk to him. 'Dammit Dana.' She said under her breath, annoyed at herself.
She took one last deep breath then slowly made her way towards the ambulance that was parked outside the building picking up her gun from underneath the bush on the way. She tried to push her fury away.
Two days laterMulder lay in the hospital bed asleep. Only two days after the accident and Mulder was getting a lot better. Scully opened the door after seeing he had fallen asleep and moved out of the room into the corridor. She bumped into Assistant Director Skinner. Scully blushed and smiled as she looked up at him.
"Sorry Sir, I didn't see you there." She said.
"How is Agent Mulder?" He asked with a serious expression on his face.
"He's getting better." Scully said. She moved away from the door and sat down on a chair in the corridor.
"You need to come into work Dana, we've got things to discuss." He said. Scully nodded.
"I know, I came in yesterday but you weren't around. Shall we go now?"
"No, come in tomorrow. There are some serious things we have to discuss Scully." He said.
"Sir those allegations are all true I swear to you. We even have a witness who saw what happened. It's the smoking man, he's behind all of this.."
"Dana, I can't say I don't believe you. We'll speak tomorrow." He said then turned and walked away down the corridor. Scully looked after him and stood up trying to call him back. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She sighed and sat back down in the chair. This was going to be hard to prove by herself.
Part 2The sun tried to make its way out of the clouds but didn't succeed. They were too thick. Mulder got out of the car with Scully's help and she helped him into his apartment building with one arm over his shoulders. He limped heavily but Scully talked to him happily and tried to cheer him up.
"You know I recorded all the baseball matches for you while you were in hospital Mulder." She said as they walked across the open car park. She felt Mulder shiver.
"Thanks Scully." He said. Scully stopped then made Mulder sit on the ground. 'Er.. Scully? What are you…'
"Just wait here a second." She said. They were only a few metres away from the car. She heard thunder rumble in the distance and she looked up to see the sun disappear behind heavy rain clouds. Scully went back to the car and picked up her long coat. She went back to Mulder and locked the car then put his arms into it.
"Come on Mulder this will keep you warm." She said. Scully laughed when she realised that he had got his arm stuck in her coat.
"Scully… this isn't big enough." He said with a small smile. Scully blushed and pulled it off him.
"Sorry. I should have known that!" She said. She put it around his shoulders then helped him up again. They walked slowly to the entrance of the building.
"God, this is really hard work." Mulder said quietly. Scully put an arm around his waist and squeezed it.
"Come on, there's not much further to go now. We need to get you into your apartment." She said. A huge gust of wind blew them to one side. Scully held onto Mulder with all her strength. He did the same to her.
"Damn weather." He murmured.
"Come on Mulder." She said with a smile. They reached the door then Scully closed it behind them and the warm air hit them fast. Scully sighed with relief. The receptionist gave them a small smile as they walked past her. Scully pressed the button for the lift and they stood waiting for it to come down.
"Excuse me, Fox." The receptionist said. They both turned their heads. "I hope you're better now. We've been missing you here in the building." She said with a friendly smile. Scully felt herself smile. Mulder nodded.
"Thanks." He said. The lift door opened and Scully helped Mulder in. She pressed the button and the door closed.
"I can't wait to get on my sofa." Mulder said. Scully let out a small laugh.
"You'll be there soon. I think you'd better sleep in your bed tonight though Mulder." Scully said. Mulder looked at her objectively but then realised he wasn't going to make any difference; she was a doctor after all.
The lift door opened and they made their way slowly across the corridor. Scully took out her own key and unlocked the door. As the door opened Mulder stared for a moment at his home.
"Looks different." He said.
"It's clean. I tidied it." Scully said. He smiled then they made their way inside.
'Oh I see.'
Scully led Mulder to the sofa then set him down. He sighed and then rested his head against the back. He closed his eyes while Scully went back to close the door. She took her coat away from him then put it on a chair. Scully sat next to him on the sofa.
"Do you want anything?" She asked him.
"I don't know. I might do later." He said. Scully nodded and then put her hand on his foot. She felt under his sock and up his leg. "What are you doing Scully?" He asked her with a cheeky smile which almost looked hopeful.
"You're cold." She said with a tiny smile then patted his leg. She stood up then went to his bedroom to get a blanket from the bedroom cupboards. Mulder tried to lift his leg up into the table but failed in pain. Scully ran to stop him.
"Mulder no!" She said. He sighed. "Let me do that. You can't strain yourself too much. Just take it easy." She said. Scully put the blanket around him then took hold of his leg. She started to lift.
"Oww… Scully…" He said. Scully put it on the coffee table to rest it. She put a cushion under his ankle.
"Better now?" She asked. He nodded.
"Yes Dr Scully." He said with a smile. Scully rolled her eyes and make her way to the kitchen.
"Are you sure you don't want anything?" She asked him.
"I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee." He said. Scully nodded and started to boil the kettle as the rain started to fall heavily against the windows.
Six days later
"Agent Scully where is Agent Mulder?"
"I'm sorry Sir Mulder is not able to be here today because of his injury."
"Well he needs to be present Agent Scully, this is a serious matter we are talking about here."
"I know Sir and I understand your need for Mulder to be here but I am sorry he is not coming."
"Agent Scully what is the real reason for Agent Mulder not to be here today?"
Scully stared at the panel with fear but a false look of seriousness and control. This was it, she would have to lie. She looked to Skinner and tried to see what he was thinking and tried to get him on her side. But he didn't flinch. She sighed and shifted uneasily in her seat.
"Are you planning to close the X-Files?" Scully asked. She felt her heart skip a beat and tried to control herself. The panel looked at her for a moment.
"Agent Scully." A fierce man said. "We ask the questions. Not you."
"I… I know Sir and I am sorry. I cannot tell you why Agent Mulder is not here today, I can only tell you what I think his reasons are." Scully said trying to keep her voice steady. Six pairs of eyes were looking fiercely at her, questioning her every word to see if she was lying.
"And what would they be Agent Scully?" A woman said looking down her glasses.
"That he is unwell." Scully said again. The woman sighed and shifted in her seat.
"Agent Scully if you do not tell us a better answer we will be forced to hold you…"
"If Mulder is unwell then why didn't he tell us himself that he could not be here this morning?" Skinner suddenly asked. Scully fiddled nervously with her jacket.
"I… that I do not know Sir." Scully said. "Agent Mulder and myself are concerned about you closing the X-Files. That is all we want to find out about."
"Agent Scully we do not wish to express our plans on the X-Files." The woman said with growing anger.
"What if I said that Mulder didn't come to this meeting because he was angry that you were closing the X-Files?" Scully heard herself say. She felt her heart race, they were going to get her and punish her. But it was the only way to get some information out of them. The six members all started talking amongst themselves angrily, except for Skinner who was looking at Scully. Scully met his gaze and gave him a look of a cry for help. He shook his head.
"Agent Scully." A man said looking at her sternly. "Since you have lied to us you will be put into custody until you realise how important it is to tell us the information we need."
Scully felt her heart skip a beat and she suddenly felt very small and helpless. She gasped and opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Skinner stared at the panel with disbelief.
"Please… please Sir. I was trying to find out information about my department, my years of work…" Scully started desperately. She felt herself stand up and felt tears sting her eyes.
"AGENT SCULLY!" The woman shouted. Scully stopped and sat back in her chair. "YOU WILL DO AS THE PANEL ASKS YOU TO!"
"Yes." Scully said quietly.
"You shall pack your belongings for three nights at first and make your way to the Washington FBI holding building where you will be taken to a cell and kept there until you have finished your punishment. You shall also tell Agent Mulder of these new developments and tell him that if he does not come to see the panel at 1500 hours today he shall be sent out of the FBI." She said sternly, her body moving sharply as she spoke. "Do you understand?" Scully looked up at her sadly and felt anger and fear from these people. How could she tell Mulder? "DO YOU UNDERSTAND AGENT SCULLY?" She shouted. Scully jumped.
"Yes. Yes mam I understand."
"You may go now Agent Scully." Skinner's voice said. Scully noticed it was full of concern and sadness but she stood up slowly and made her way towards the door. She stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. As it closed she kept her hand on the doorknob and closed her eyes in disbelief. She felt her body getting weaker and felt a tear roll down her cheek. Scully turned then started to walk away and into the corridor. She made her way to the lift and waited for it to come to her. Somebody pushed past her and said sorry but she didn't notice. She stared at the lift door as it opened. She didn't move.
"Excuse me." A voice said behind her. Scully didn't hear. "Dana?" A woman said. Scully blinked and looked behind her. She looked up at a familiar face of a young girl with long dark hair. She smiled at Dana with concern. Scully stared at her distantly.
"Dana? Are you OK? It's me. I haven't seen you for a while." The woman said. Scully sighed.
"You… you haven't?" Scully said trying to smile.
"No. Dana its Holly." Holly said. Scully blinked again.
"Holly. Oh yeah, hi." She said weakly. They both stepped into the lift.
"What's wrong? Has something happened?" Holly asked her. Scully shook her head and brushed away the tears from her eyes.
"Oh no, nothing. I just didn't get much sleep last night that's all." Scully said. Holly put a friendly hand on her shoulder.
"Dana? Have you been crying?" She asked. Scully shook her head and looked away from her friend. "Are you sure you're ok? Where's Fox?"
"Oh he's um… he got shot last week and he's not been into work yet." Scully said. Holly looked at her in surprise.
"Shot? Oh god Dana I'm sorry. Is he ok?"
"Yeah, yeah he's fine. He's just recovering." Scully said. The lift came to a stop and the door opened.
"Well this is me! You'll be ok right?" Holly said concerned making her way into the corridor.
"Yes. I'll be ok. See you around Holly." Scully said as the doors closed. Scully sighed then backed against the door. She shook her head and stared at the floor and let her eyes fill with more tears as she made her way down to the dark basement where only the X-Files staff could belong.
Scully opened her front door and stepped inside. She looked around her house and sighed. There was no way that she could tell Mulder to his face. She would just break down and make a scene. She worried that he wouldn't go to work and he would lose his job, but the X-Files was his life and he would sacrifice anything for it. Anything except Scully.
Scully sniffed and her lower lip trembled. She walked towards the kitchen and opened her fridge and took out a can of lemonade. She went into the lounge and sat on one of her sofas. She sighed and thought carefully how she would tell her friend without making him too angry or upset, which she knew inside she couldn't prevent. He would blame himself for getting her into this mess because he asked her to tell them why he wasn't there at the meeting. She picked up the control and turned on the TV trying to put her thoughts somewhere else. She checked her watch. 11:15. She needed to start packing in a while… she felt her head get heavy and she pushed herself into the sofa. She had to phone Mulder soon… she had to…
Scully closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.
Part 3
The smoking man smiled when he heard the good news.
"Agent Scully has been put into custody? What wonderful news. What about Fox?" He said slowly.
"He's going to be thrown out of the FBI if he doesn't meet them at the building at 1500 hours." A man said. He was tall and wore a long dark coat.
"Really? That's even better! We've got them both out of the way. Wonderful."
"I talked to the panel and told them what you told me to say."
"Good. Good work. They'll be out very soon." The smoking man said. "Well, you deserve a drink don't you think? Have one, they're in the fridge." He said.
"I have to leave now Sir. Thank you for your offer though." He said. His voice was sinister and his face stern.
"All right." The smoking man said. "Wait…" He said, the man turned and faced him as he moved towards the door. "What have you told Walter Skinner?"
"I told him that they are not to be trusted Sir. I told him everything you told me too, he seems to be turning sides." The man said.
"Thank you." The smoking man said and the sinister man opened the door and exited the room. The smoking man lit another cigarette with a satisfied laugh.
"Good." He said simply then took a puff of his cigarette.
Scully awoke by the sound of her door bell ringing. She jumped up, startled and took a deep breath. The door bell rang again and she put a hand to her head. She thought for a moment… her mind panicked. She checked the time on her watch and felt her heart skip a beat. It was half past three. Scully jumped again at the sound of the door bell ringing. Scully got up quickly and started towards the door. She waited outside it afraid to open it. She wondered if the FBI had come to look for her.
"Who it is?" She said with fear in her voice.
"Scully! It's me, let me in." She heard Mulder say. Scully rushed the open the door before she had time to think.
"MULDER!" She shouted. He stepped in and Scully started to push him back out of the door.
"Scully… what's going on…"
"NO! MULDER GET OUT OF HERE!" She shouted. Mulder stared at his friend with growing concern.
"Scully, what's wrong? Are you OK?"
"NO!" Scully shouted. Mulder frowned in concern. Scully lowered her head and sighed. "I was supposed to tell you… I was supposed to tell you to go into work for a briefing with the panel. It's really serious, you have to go now Mulder… oh god…" Scully said weakly. She put a hand to her face and felt herself start to cry.
"Scully? Why do I have to go to work? Come on, why are you crying?" He asked her putting a friendly hand on her arm.
"No. Mulder you… you have to go now. Go to the headquarters. You had to be there at 1500 hours but now… I guess I must have fallen asleep or something I…" Scully said in a sad voice. She started to close the door.
"Scully, what are you saying?" Mulder said holding the door back.
"You have to go now, or you'll lose your job… unless you've already lost it." She said in a whisper as if it was something she didn't want to tell him. Which is really wasn't. Mulder didn't reply. "Go." Scully said looking into his eyes. He stared at her for a few moments then started to back away from the door.
"I… I don't understand why…" Mulder said.
"Just go Mulder, I'll explain later." Scully said sadly. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I was so tired… I've had such an awful day…" she said feeling tears run down her cheek again. She looked at the floor as Mulder started to run out to his car. She closed the door behind her and closed her eyes. Scully felt as if a hundred rocks had fallen on her, she couldn't think, she couldn't move and she had no feeling except complete and utter misery. She put her hands to her face and leant against the door as she slid her back down it and reached the floor. She sobbed heavily as she heard Mulder's car drive out of her drive. Scully started to pray that he hadn't lost his job. When he would come back she wouldn't be there to talk to.
Mulder stormed onto Skinner's floor and walked towards his office. The secretary looked at him with anger.
"Agent Mulder? You're too late now…" She started but Mulder just ignored her and pushed the door open. Mulder stopped and stared at the group of directors staring at him. Some stood up and had packed their belongings.
"Well, Agent Mulder. It looks like you're going to have to pack your bags because you've lost your job." The stern woman said. Mulder felt anger boil in his blood.
"No! Wait Scully didn't tell me until just a few minutes ago. I only just found out and I had no idea why I had to come here but I came because she seemed pretty upset about it. Could someone please explain why Agent Scully was crying as she told me this?" Mulder said with anger. They all stared at him for a few minutes and Skinner shifted on his feet.
"Agent Scully had been put in custody." A man said. Mulder stared in disbelief.
"WHAT?" He exclaimed.
"She lied to us about where you were and why you hadn't come to the hearing this morning." The man continued. Mulder tried to object but couldn't find the words.
"Would you like to tell us why you objected to come this morning Agent Mulder because we would all be very interested to know."
Mulder stared at the people who looked at him like he was a caged animal in the zoo. He felt extremely threatened. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Scully had been put into custody because of what he'd told her to do. He shook his head in disbelief.
"You can't put Scully in custody." He said.
"Agent Scully has not even signed herself into custody yet Agent Mulder so we don't know if she will get there anyway." The woman said with a smirk. Some others laughed. Mulder nearly screamed at them but he had to keep his cool. He could see that Skinner wasn't laughing.
"Scully lied because I told her to." Mulder said quietly. He felt great guilt and sorrow and he had to tell them the truth. He couldn't let Scully get punished like that.
"What are you saying Agent Mulder?" The woman said.
"I told her to tell you that I hadn't come in because of my injury. As you can see, my injury has gone and I have recovered. The reason why I didn't come this morning is because I didn't want the X-Files to close and I was too angry to come to this hearing because I knew it would be about that." Mulder said.
"We already know that Agent Mulder. Dana told us that already." Skinner said. Mulder turned towards him. "We will reconsider Agent Scully's position in custody." He said. Mulder took a huge sigh of relief.
"But we haven't finished with you Agent Mulder. You have disobeyed the rules of the FBI." The woman said. She whispered something to the man next to her and then looked back at Mulder. He sighed and waited for the news. He could already see it coming.
"You will pack your belongings and leave this building. We will notify you when we think it is necessary." The woman said. Mulder looked at Skinner who sighed and put his head in his hands. Mulder shook his head.
"Those X-Files are my life. YOU CAN'T CLOSE THEM!" Mulder found himself standing and shouting at the panel.
"AGENT MULDER!" The woman shouted. "YOU WILL LEAVE THIS BUILDING WITH YOUR BELONGINGS AND YOU WILL HAVE NO CONTACT WITH AGENT SCULLY!" Mulder felt himself nearly faint.
"But…" He started.
"Agent Scully will be working and you have no need to contact her about work or anything to do with the FBI of that matter. Anyway, in the meanwhile she will be in custody. Now, please leave. You have done everything that was asked for." A man said harshly. Mulder turned and left the room without a word. He closed the door and found himself facing the secretary.
"You were not supposed to go into that office without my authorisation." She said in a squeaky voice. Mulder shook his head and took one step towards her.
"Go and get a life which is more than sitting here and shouting at people. You think you're so important, but you're really not." He said slowly then walked out of the room slamming the door behind him.
Mulder's journey home was slow and tiring. He rubbed his eyes and massaged his forehead while keeping one hand on the wheel. Looking back at the road he saw rain fall heavily on the windscreen. The patter of the raindrops echoed in his head and he sighed. When he'd tried Scully hadn't answered his call. He turned into her drive and stopped the car. He ran in the rain towards the front door and saw that the windows were dark. There was no light in the house. Mulder frowned. She couldn't possibly be in bed yet. Mulder remembered that she had said she was tired. May be she had gone to bed. Mulder knocked on the door then rang the doorbell. There was no answer. He looked in through the window, the rain plummeting down on his leather coat. He held a hand to shelter his eyes and looked inside. There were no lights. The bathroom light wasn't on, nor was the bedroom door slightly open. Mulder started to feel his heart beat fast in confusion. Where was she? He distantly heard the phone ring and saw the light flashing on the phone to show that she had not checked her answer phone messages. Mulder remembered the message he had left her.
"Scully?" He said quietly. Mulder turned from the house and ran back into his car. He sat down and slammed the door. Putting two hands on the steering wheel he sat and thought to himself for a few moments. Today was just too strange to handle.
"I hope you have understood these rules Agent Scully. You will not be allowed to plead for your own release at any time." A man said. He was tall and large and his face was stern. Scully raised her eyes to his face and shivered. A small gust of wind was blowing through the window in her cell.
"I have understood." She said without emotion.
"Good. This is your cell. Breakfast is at 0800 hours." The man said. He closed the door. It closed with a loud bang and Scully was suddenly shut into darkness. She looked around in the darkness. After about three seconds lights flickered on then shone from above her. She stared at her surroundings. Scully slowly lowered her head to her side to see her small suitcase at her side. She then looked at the bed and table in her small cell. It was whitewashed and bright and the bed was satisfactory. It wasn't a bad cell and it was used for FBI agents. But it was also disgusting. Scully could smell the strange smell of cleaning fluids and her sheets were so crisp and white that the brightness of the room nearly blinded her. She knelt down and opened her bag. She emptied it putting her clothes onto the bed. A small door was in the corner leading to a toilet and a washbasin. Showers were downstairs. Scully felt herself collapse on the bed suddenly and she put her hands to her face. What was she going to do? Mulder wasn't there and she had no idea what had happened to him today. She just hoped that he would come to visit her, but it didn't seem likely.