The soldier entered Scully's cell and grabbed her by the arm. "Venido con mí." (Come with me.)
"NO! Take ME! Take me instead!" Mulder pleaded. The soldier yanked on her arm and pulled her up haphazardly off the floor. Mulder immediately felt the loss of the physical connection he had with Scully as her hands left the warm grasp of his.
Scully didn't fight. She glanced bravely at Mulder to silently let him know that she would be okay. But in her heart she was terrified, and so was Mulder.
The soldier escorted her out of the cell and Scully kept eye contact with Mulder. She would be strong for his sake.
"No, please take me, not her. Please! POR FAVOR!" Mulder cried out in one last desperate attempt to switch places with Scully. He ran to the front of his cell and watched through the bars as Scully disappeared down the corridor with the soldier.
Mulder was so enraged that he took hold of the bars of his cell with both hands and shook the doors ferociously to release all of his anger, fear, and frustration. "SCULLY! WHY HER? WHY HER? TAKE ME!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He kept shaking the bars until all of his energy was spent, and he slowly crumpled to the ground and buried his face in his hands. "Scully..."
Scully was taken to a small white room. The soldier closed the door behind them and pushed her into the lone chair that was in the middle of the room. Scully stayed compliant. The soldier walked around her slowly, looking her up and down. He stopped right in front of her and stooped to her level. He put his face right up in hers, and she could smell his stale breath as he took a moment to stare her down. He was trying to intimidate her, to let her know that he was in full control and there would be trouble if she tried anything. She kept telling herself over and over to stay calm. She was a trained FBI agent. She could get through this.
Finally, he stood up and said, "Vas a decirme donde él está."
Scully knew some Spanish, but she was rusty. "En ingles, por favor," Scully said, her voice unwavering. (In English, please.)
"You will tell me where he is," the soldier repeated louder and stronger, his English coated with a Spanish flavor.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Where is he?"
"I assure you I do not know what you are talking about. Who are you looking for?"
"The boy."
Scully's mind was working overtime. What boy? What does he want me to say? Who are these people? What do they want from me? She knew that she had to form her answers in such a way to get him to reveal more information to her, to get him to talk.
"What boy?"
The soldier promptly slapped Scully across her face. It surprised her and stung a bit, but she could not let the pain and fear get to her. She stayed composed. "You need to tell me what boy you are looking for so that I can answer your question."
"Think hard, Agent Scully. You know. You will tell me now."
Scully's breath was taken away. The fact that he knew her name and that she was an Agent threw her off guard. "How do you know me..."
"WHERE IS THE BOY?" The soldier was loosing his patience.
Scully decided to remain silent. She hoped that he would give her time to think. Did she know who this guy was? Had she seen him before?
"We need his powers. Where is he?"
Powers? Gibson...was he talking about Gibson Praise? What would a Mexican soldier want with Gibson? And how did he know about him? Was this man a part of the conspiracy?
"What do you want with this boy?" Scully dared to ask.
Her question earned her another hard slap to the face. Scully closed her eyes to the pain. When she opened them again, she realized the truth about the man standing before her.
She sat horrified as the Mexican solider morphed his face and body into the Super Soldier; the same Super Soldier that Mulder was convicted of "killing." He grabbed her neck with one hand and lifted her whole body up out of the chair, choking her.
How long had she been gone? Hours? Days? Mulder couldn't tell. He was at his wits end with worry and grief. He sat huddled in the corner of his cell, his head bowed into his arms which were stretched over his knees.
"The Old Man is right. Things are not what they seem."
Mulder was startled by Krycek's voice. He lifted up his head.
"You look like crap, Mulder," Krycek simply stated.
"Thanks, buddy," Mulder replied, his voice tired and sad.
"You know, I always thought you and Scully had something going on. Too bad I didn't live long enough to win the office bet."
"Shut up," Mulder seethed through his teeth.
"How quickly you forget that I'm on your side, Mulder."
"Leave me alone." Mulder lowered his head back in the cradle of his arms.
"Look at you. The Smoking Man said you were defeated and broken. But I didn't realize..."
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" Mulder snapped his head back up to yell at Krycek.
"It's more like what do you want from me? I can help you. Go ahead. Ask me. You know you want to." Krycek folded his arms and waited for Mulder to respond.
Mulder didn't want to give him the satisfaction. But in his anguish, his heart couldn't hold out any longer. He had to know.
"What are they doing to Scully? What do they want from her?"
"She is being questioned."
Mulder quickly stood as Krycek's words sunk in. "What do they want?"
Krycek swallowed and looked at Mulder with sympathy.
"WHAT DO THEY WANT?" Mulder repeated with anger.
"Your son."
"What?" Mulder's eyes widened in disbelief. "Who are these people?" Mulder felt the fight coming back into him.
"What you need to worry about now is how to get the hell out of here. Listen to me. You've escaped this place before, but it was in a different location."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Things are not what they seem..."
And with that, Krycek's apparition disappeared before Mulder's eyes.
