Faithful

Walter Skinner stared at the piece of paper which lay on his desk with a blank expression of surprise and confusion. He had no idea what to think or what to do about what he had just read. He sighed and picked up the worn piece of writing paper again to read it once more and to try and form a plan of how he cold help and make things right. But Agent Scully's words didn't bring him any hope.

Skinner rubbed his brow with his right hand and looked down at the desk sleepily and agitated, he had been losing sleep over how this situation had arisen. He jut didn't understand it. It didn't make sense somehow. How could Mulder be dying of heat smoke inhalation three weeks after he inhaled it? And why couldn't the doctors do anything? What was the strangest point was that they hadn't found anything substantial which actually pointed directly to smoke inhalation. Skinner frowned in thought as he remembered Scully's troubled words in George Memorial hospital. 'Almost as if his chest has been robbed of its ability to breathe…' She had said, tears glistening in her deep blue eyes. Skinner had felt great guilt for her at that moment, he couldn't explain it but he always felt that Mulder and Scully's quest should have been his all this time. He felt responsible; although they had told him countless times that it was not his fault. That they had wanted to do this, that Mulder was so willing to find out the truth that…

Skinner let out a shout of anger at the thought of losing such an ambitious man as Mulder and such a good friend and agent. He slammed his palm down on the desk and over Scully's scrambled handwriting which clearly showed that her hand had been shaking. He stood up quickly and grabbed his coat. There was something else to this, there had to be. He strode quickly to his door and stormed out of the office ignoring his assistant's cries of confusion and slammed the door behind him. He was going to get some answers, and fast.

That evening, Scully found the confidence to go back for her turn to watch over Mulder for the night. She had slept next to him in his bed nearly every night she had been on duty. She couldn't explain why, but she felt it was an obligation. The kiss they had shared out in the cold of Russia and the danger of they had felt together had left her questioning if Mulder even remembered if it had ever happened. Scully longed for him to remember, but also dreaded the conversation that would arise from the memories. She had seen Mulder in a completely different light after that night, and although the kiss had been mainly a reaction to the cold and they had been forced to comfort each other, Scully knew that there had been a great connection made between them that night. Feeling more positive while thinking about this topic, she found herself at Mulder's door in minutes and was ready to go inside when she heard a cry from the car park outside. Scully frowned in confusion and wondered whether or not to go and see what had happened. She sighed and turned back to the keyhole and put her key inside quickly when she heard it again, a woman screaming for help and… 'A gun?' Scully gasped in shock as she heard gunfire from outside. She frowned with surprise and reached for her own gun underneath her long coat and put her hand on it. She turned from the flat quickly and unintentionally left her key in the hole. Scully took out her gun from the holster and ran in quick steps, her heels clicking against the wood of the floor smoothly as she ran for the elevator. She heard another scream and in shock and eagerness to save lives, she hit the elevator angrily with her left hand as it was not moving and ran for the stairs quickly. Scully held her gun with both hands and ran down the flights of steps until she reached the bottom and ran out into the cold night.

She looked around in concentration trying to find the disturbance and found that she couldn't see anyone. She kept her gun close to her head and clicked off the safety. Moving slowly and putting one step in front of the other carefully she gingerly made her way towards the sound of a dustbin being knocked over. Scully took a deep breath and ran out as quickly as she could towards the scene of the noises. She turned a corner and saw two men standing over a body of a girl who appeared to be injured. Feeling anger and rage burn inside her body she yelled throughout the dark night.

'FBI! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!'

The two men looked at her and started to speed off in a fast run and Scully ran after them as quickly as she could. Suddenly, a shower of rain started to fall over her and the street became slippery.

'HEY! FREEZE!'

Trying to keep her balance and squinting her eyes in the heavy rain she found that she had lost the men and grabbed her mobile phone. She dialled the police and told them her situation as fast as she could. When she had done this she turned back to the young girl who lay on her back and was clutching her stomach and was taking heavy breaths. Scully bent down and looked at the young girl sympathetically as she looked at her with wide and terrified eyes.

'It's all right; I'm here to help you. Let me see your injury.' Scully shouted over the heavy rain. The girl started to shiver nervously and Scully saw the blood start to spill heavier. She felt her heart beat faster with panic. 'Please, let me see. I can help you I'm a doctor!' She said with a forceful yet reassuring voice. The girl seemed to understand and she slowly pulled her arms away from her stomach revealing a clean gun shot wound. Scully sighed heavily in disgust at the men. She saw that the bullet was not fatal, but the girl needed a hospital. 'Ok, you'll be all right. My name's Dana, what's yours?' She said softly and tried to comfort the girl by taking her hand and holding it. It was freezing. The girl's face suddenly changed from fear to confusion as she stared at Scully with puzzled eyes. Scully frowned with confusion at her reaction.

'What is it?' She asked.

'Your… your name… Dana…' She said with difficulty. Scully frowned and nodded, unsure of what was going on. The girl closed her eyes for a second and Scully panicked.

'No, no stay with me! Look at me!' She shouted over the heavy rain and the girl seemed to come back to her and looked into her eyes. Scully felt that something was really wrong here. 'What is it?' She asked, starting to feel fear herself.

'They… they were looking for… you and… they were…' The girl said with great difficulty. Scully's vision swayed with confusion. The ambulance sirens started coming nearer.

'Who?' Scully pressed.

'Those men… they must have thought I was you. They're looking… for your… friend…' The girl gasped painfully. Scully felt her heart skip a beat in fear as it registered what the girl was saying. Scully gripped her hand and felt hot tears cling onto her throat.

'Mulder? They're looking for Mulder?' Scully pleaded. The girl took deep breaths and then looked back at Scully.

'Is that… his name?' She said weakly. Scully had had enough with questions. She stood up quickly and watched as the ambulance pulled into the drive and came towards them.

That was when she suddenly realised while looking into the bright headlights of the ambulance… she'd left the key in the door…

'AGENT SCULLY!' Shouted Skinner from across the car park. Scully turned with tear stained cheeks as she felt as if she was going to collapse in the rain and never wake up again. He came running towards her and took her arm quickly. 'Come on! They're after Mulder! They always were!' He shouted to her and pulled her away from the ambulance.

'They… they were?' Scully said between confused breaths. '…Sir?' She asked in complete surprise at seeing him at that very moment. Scully found her footing and picked up speed by his side quickly. She noticed that he was frowning with determination and anger, but he didn't know what she had done, what had happened…

'Sir I've… I've done something awful… I led them right to him!' Scully said between breaths as they made their way up the stairs quickly, Skinner pulling her along by the arm with great force. Scully didn't seem to realise however and couldn't stop thinking… 'I've killed Mulder… I left the key in the door…'

'Come on Agent we need to get moving now!' Skinner shouted, obviously thinking that she was in shock. Scully shook her head and felt her arm being pulled strongly but she couldn't really feel it. She felt the tears come out of her as she felt as if she were in a dream as the world seemed to be spinning around her.

After flights of stairs, they seemed to be on the landing and in Mulder's corridor. Skinner turned back to Scully with confusion as he saw her fall to the floor and push herself up against the wall and curl herself up. Skinner turned from her quickly, leaving her behind and hearing her sob heavily. He shook his head in disbelief as he didn't know why she was in such a state but they had to…

'Oh my god…' Skinner's mouth opened wide in shock as he edged towards Mulder's door. He stopped dead in his tracks and heard Scully's heavy sobs fill his ears. He stared at the open door ahead of him and frowned in shock. Urging himself to move further forward he made his way to the doorway and held up his gun, ready to fire. He pointed it inside as he quickly slipped in and then made his way through the seemingly deserted apartment.

'AGENT?' He shouted out inside the apartment, his voice wavering with fear and worry that Mulder had gone. There was silence. Skinner made his way towards the bedroom. 'MULDER?' He shouted out again and frowned in confusion as very faintly, he heard a groan from the bedroom. Skinner turned quickly and pointed his gun towards the door and made his way swiftly towards it. He took one deep breath and put his hand on the handle. After counting to three he burst open the door and went into Mulder's bedroom and gasped at what he saw in front of him.

Mulder's bed had been obviously been messed up and there was a sign of struggle.

'Mulder?'

Skinner heard the faint murmur again and he realised that no one was about. He quickly went to the other side of the bed and as he came round the side he saw Mulder, lying on his back and obviously recovering from a heavy blow to the head. Skinner breathed a great sigh of relief and bent down to help Mulder up. He felt his chest tighten with fear as he noticed that Mulder was still very weak and that he was finding it hard to breathe. But he was still alive.

'Agent Mulder, it's me. It's Skinner.' He asked forcefully and helped Mulder up onto the bed. Mulder frowned in obvious pain and took quick deep breaths. Skinner saw that his head was bleeding.

'Sir?' Mulder murmured weakly as he opened his eyes slightly to see Skinner standing over him. Skinner nodded and turned to the rest of the apartment. 'Scu… Scully…' Mulder rasped and seemed to be calling for her. Skinner frowned with concern and went out to get her. To his surprise she was standing next to the door with a hand covering the side of her face and she was shaking.

'Dana?' He asked in a sympathetic voice as she neared her. Shaking violently, Scully whimpered and turned away from him and let out a sob. 'Agent Scully… what's all of this about Agent Mulder is all right.' Skinner said taking hold of her arms and holding her still. She didn't seem to hear. 'Scully! Listen to me! Mulder's alive!' He shouted at her.

Scully heard the words and they hit her like a blow to the head. She gasped and looked up at Skinner with disbelief. Skinner let out a small smile. 'Don't be so negative. I know this is a hard time, but he's all right.' He said in a softer tone, glad that she was starting to act saner. Scully seemed to be falling apart with the threat of losing Mulder. Skinner admired their partnership with great adoration and watched as Scully wiped a tear away from her eye and turned quickly, advancing into the apartment and towards the bedroom.

She quickened her pace as she walked through the door and she let out a cry of relief to see Mulder lying on the bed. Scully ran towards him and grabbed his hand and kissed it happily. She started to cry again and Mulder frowned in great emotion and relief that she was by her side again.

'Oh my god Mulder!' She gushed. Mulder looked up at her weakly and with confusion. She put a hand to her mouth and swallowed a sob sadly.

'What.. what happened?' Mulder asked in a daze. Scully bit her lip and shook her head forcing the tears to go away and for her to remain strong.

'I… I thought that you were… and it was all my fault…' She managed but then looked into his eyes and saw they were full of confusion and fear. She felt a pang of guilt hit her like a ton of bricks and she sighed heavily and stroked his hand calmly and to her amazement she managed a confident smile.

'I thought you were calling for me. I think I'm hearing things these days. I'm sorry Mulder.' She said forcefully, but she could see that he was still confused. She knew that he could sense that something was wrong, but she couldn't let him know that. Scully took her hand away from his and moved away from the bed slowly much to Mulder's surprise. She met eyes with Skinner who leant against the door frame with crossed arms and seemed to hold a face of sorrow and sympathy. Unable to know what to say to him, Scully walked straight past him and into Mulder's bathroom where she could get some alone time and she splashed water over her tear stained face and tried to gather herself, the ambulance sirens were still raging outside.

She turned away from the sink and moved over to the window in the bathroom which was open and the wind blew her long jacket about. She reached to close the window and felt the icy wind grasp her in surprise. With a little gasp and pulled the window shut with a bang and locked it.

Scully furiously rummaged through her files which lay on her desk at home and she pushed on her glasses which she very rarely used nowadays. She didn't have time to find her contact lenses. She needed to help Mulder, she needed to find out more about Russia and exactly what had happened. Something was seriously wrong here.

While pushing away the piles of loose paper quickly, Scully felt her head ring with a headache and she frowned in confusion trying to push it all away. She needed to focus. Mulder was dying.

Banging her fist on the desk and shouting out in frustration Scully pushed herself away from the desk and walked over to her sofa and to her coffee table where she had put together what she could find about Russia. She couldn't understand it herself, not that this was a rare occurrence in her work, many things were left unexplained… however her science didn't even prove anything this time. Scully frowned and checked her watch. 9:50pm. She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her dishevelled hair. It had felt like the whole evening had been going on for much longer than that. Scully glanced down to her left to something which caught her eye. It looked like an explanation of an officer who had not been found at the crime scene. She saw the words 'Rogue' and 'Sergeant'… but suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing.

Scully gasped in fear as she heard the phone seem to explode in a horrifically loud ringing in her right ear. She sighed heavily and moved her hand over to the phone to her right and picked up the receiver.

'Hello?' She asked sleepily.

'Agent Scully? This is Dr Snow from the forensics lab and George Memorial?' The lady scientist said in a strong tone. Scully suddenly appeared very awake and she sat up straight.

'Yes? Have you got my results?'

'Yes, and I don't think that you're going to believe them.' She said uneasily. Scully let out a small smile of disbelief.

'Try me.'

'Well, the idiolatic solution- or that is what you said it was… well we've named it this anyway, it's a completely new substance, mainly made out of nuclear components used in the nuclear missiles. It is full of radioactive materials including…'

'Is it unknown? Deadly?' Scully pressed on eagerly, reaching for a pen and smoothing out a piece of newspaper.

'Well… as I was going to say, this appears to be a hormone advancing solution… however, some of the chemicals in it…' The scientist paused for a second and Scully frowned in confusion at the silence.

'Yes?' She asked.

'Well, some of the chemicals in it are… completely unrecognisable. We've never seen anything like it on this planet.' Dr Snow said in a low voice. Scully let out a small laugh and shook her head in disbelief but also in great reassurance. It was what she had been thinking- and fearing all along.

'Thank you Dr Snow, I'll be by tomorrow morning to pick up the results.' Scully said with new growing confidence and she heard a silence on the other end of the phone. 'Dr Snow?'

'Aren't…. aren't you a little surprised?' Dr Snow asked in an incredulous tone. Scully tried to fake some surprise as she realised she was sounding suspicious. Normal scientists would have shouted in response down the phone to news like this.

'Yes, oh yes of course.' Scully urged very unconvincingly.

Dr Snow uttered a small 'Hmmm', and then put down the phone. Scully sighed and looked at the phone in her hands for a second, trying to link what she had just heard to everything that was happening. She frowned in thought and realised that her body was shaking slightly. Scully didn't know if it was in shock or excitement, but her eyes turned back to the paper which she had been looking at before, and once again she read 'Rogue' and 'Sergeant' and then her eyes moved slowly but cautiously onto, 'Murderer…'

Suddenly, her door swung open with a mighty crash and the lights died out.

Scully gasped in horror and leant in response to where her gun was on the floor. She vaguely remembered for a second that she had thrown it off in a hurry as she had entered the room. She stretched out her right arm and felt her hands touch the cold metal of the barrel. She could hear someone stepping into the house and she felt her heart race fiercely with fear and her eyes opened wide with fear. Scully grabbed for the gun and slipped it onto her grasp and silently, she made her move to hide underneath her large coffee table. She pointed her gun out and watched in fear as she saw a pair of male legs move into her house and rudely knock over a pile of books carelessly. Scully frowned in anger and gritted her teeth, ready to attack at any moment. She wondered whether she should shoot at his legs.

'Miss Scully… I know you're in here.' The man's voice leered. Scully's stomach turned at the voice. He was Russian. 'I have information for you on how to save your friend.' He said in a low voice. Scully felt her heart clench in her chest. Paralysed with fear and wonder about what to do next, she took a deep breath and shot out at the man's legs and the bullet hit his ankles and crippled him. She heard a gun blast off into the wall of her house as the man fired wildly in surprise as he fell. Scully grunted as she forced her body out from underneath the table, turning over as she got out. She stood up quickly and with skill and pointed her gun down to the man who lay on his back and caught her eye. Scully saw that he was smiling and she clicked another bullet into place angrily and pointed at his head.

'I'm listening you son of a bitch.' She said angrily through gritted teeth. The man seemed to laugh at her manner but grimaced in pain as his blood poured onto Scully's floor. She looked down at it in disgust for a moment.

'You're a feisty one Agent Scully, I'm surprised…' He said through a painful smile. Scully snarled in anger and kicked him in the foot to make the pain worse. He shouted out in agony and Scully took this as an advantage to shut him up and turned him over roughly. She felt her chest grow with anger again as she heard him laugh. 'What are you doing sexy?' He asked in his thick accent which made him sound incredibly sleazy. Scully felt tears sting her eyes as she suddenly had a flash back of what had happened to her at the military base. She paused for a second in shock. She had completely forgotten about that moment, like she had erased the horror from her mind. The man underneath her scrambled around and she suddenly turned back to him, determined to take control. Scully let out a small shout of rage and grabbed the man's hands and pulled them up to handcuff them, which she had luckily grabbed in her rise to her feet. She clicked them over his wrists and frowned in concentration as she kicked him hard in the side, the tip of her boots ramming into his ribs, and felt the anger escape her willingly.

'Tell me the truth to why you're here!' She shouted and kicked him over so he lay on his back. He was still smiling in a slick manner. Scully felt the rage so strongly she was finding it hard not to shoot him as he lay there.

'I'm here, because I wanted to help your friend.'

'That's a load of crap and we both know it.' Scully shouted angrily and walked round to her door, slamming it shut and locking it. 'Now get up.' She said in a low and shaky voice. The Russian didn't move. 'I SAID GET UP!' She shouted in a big voice and the man lost his smile and glared angrily at her as he slowly got up, grunting in pain. Scully kept her gun pointed at his head and tried to keep her cool. 'Now walk over to that chair.' She said angrily, motioning for him to move to her dining area and sit down. He slowly moved towards the chairs and sat down angrily, glaring at her as he moved. 'Never had a woman tell you what to do before?' She leered, but was angry with herself for letting her emotions shown. The man let out a small laugh and shook his head.

'Well haven't you got me just right?'

'Shut up!' She shouted and moved over to the kitchen top where she grabbed a knife. The Russian seemed to flinch at the sight of it and Scully nodded. 'Feeling a little more nervous of a little woman now are we?' She raged. The Russian didn't answer and struggled with his handcuffs. 'Don't even think about getting up.' She said and moved to the chair and re clasped the handcuffs around his back and to the chair so that he couldn't move. Scully reached for the phone and dialled quickly, keeping her eye on him. She waited for Skinner to answer.

'Sir? I need you to get over here right away. And bring Mulder with you.' Scully said forcefully as the Russian leered at her with that smile again. She bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming…

'What?' Skinner asked in complete surprise. 'Bring Mulder? Dana he's not well enough for that.'

Skinner heard Scully's answer and suddenly his attitude changed to concern. 'Are you all right? Who the hell is this man?'

'That doesn't matter now.' Scully said down the line in a shaky voice. 'Just come quickly.' She said, and then put down the phone. Skinner frowned in thought and looked towards Mulder's bedroom door. He slowly made his way to it and knocked.

'Come in…' Mulder said weakly and Skinner walked in to see Mulder lying on his bed resting. Skinner sighed.

'Agent Mulder, we're going to have to take a trip.' He said in a low voice. Mulder looked at him in surprise and coughed heavily.

'What?' He rasped. Skinner shifted uneasily on his feet.

'I'm sorry, but we've got to go to Scully. We don't have very much time.' He said keeping his head low and moving towards Mulder. Mulder frowned in surprise and looked at Skinner's troubled face.

'What's going on? Why Scully?' Mulder asked in obvious concern and worry. Skinner sighed and didn't answer but left the room slowly. 'HEY! What's happened to Scully?' Mulder shouted breathlessly as Skinner turned and went into the lounge.

'It was you, wasn't it?' Scully said, now trembling and holding her head in her hands. She couldn't believe this, she had finally remembered.

It had been very dark and dismal in the cold room she was captured in. The man had come in… he had been touching her inappropriately. Scully could remember his scent and his smell. It disgusted her and she tried to force him off. She was falling in and out of consciousness and she felt pain all over her, everywhere.

Scully suddenly realised that a tear was falling down her cheek. She sniffed it away and turned back to the Russian with great rage. He sat quietly, with a satisfied look on his face, half shadowed by the light. She felt her chest tighten at the look of his eyes, and she felt another flashback. Scully gasped in horror as she remembered looking into his eyes, or he was looking into hers. She couldn't remember… but he was glaring at her and he was smiling… the same smile as before. Scully flinched and quickly stood up and pulled her gun to his face. The Russian let out a laugh again and tears blinded her vision. She couldn't control herself.

'Why?' She asked in a tearful voice. 'Why did you do that to me?' She said, trembling heavily. He didn't answer but just shrugged.

'You won't kill me because I know how to save your friend.' He said in a slimy voice. Scully shook her head.

'You came here to kill me.' She said. He shrugged again and shifted in his seat.

'How do you know?'

'I KNOW!' Scully shouted with fury and glared at him. She sighed heavily and thought back to Mulder and how little time he had left. She let her lip tremble and the tears got heavier, but she forced herself not to let it show. 'How can you save Mulder?' She asked in a sad voice. He didn't answer and it was her turn to let out a small laugh of disbelief. 'Why did I even ask. Am I going to have to torture it out of you?' She raged, standing before him and pushing the barrel of her gun to his forehead. He flinched but still remained calm.

'I like torture.' He said, his dark and terrifying eyes glaring into hers. Scully almost was sick and she moved away from him quickly. There was a knock on the door and she ran to it thankfully. She slowly opened it to find Skinner looking at her with concern with Mulder by his side, breathing heavily and weakly. Scully frowned with concern and felt her anger turn to sadness as she saw Mulder's pale face and she opened the door all the way quickly and grabbed Mulder before he fell. Skinner entered quickly and walked towards the kitchen to see the Russian. Scully heard the sound of Skinner kicking him fiercely as she moved Mulder to the sofa and lay him down quickly. Scully took his hand and knelt by his side.

'Mulder?' She asked in a soft and sad voice. He responded weakly by clenching her hand and looking at her.

'Scu… Scully… are you ok?' He rasped, and Scully nodded tearfully. She went to her medicine cabinet quickly and got out her stash of Mulder's. She reached for the phone to call Dr Fessen. Mulder shifted in pain and groaned as Scully dialled. She reached for his hand again and he seemed to calm down.

Skinner entered the lounge as Scully started to dial the phone, his hands stained with blood from forcing information out of the Russian. He waited until Scully was finished and then spoke.

'His name's Vladimir.' Skinner said in a low voice. Scully moved away from the phone and neared Skinner and looked at his blooded hands with a frown.

'What did you do?'

'It's not as bad as it looks, that man wasn't going to talk unless we did something.' He said forcefully. Skinner looked down at Mulder.

'Ah…' Scully said uneasily and moved away from Mulder so that he couldn't hear what she was about to say. 'I've asked for Dr Fessen to come over and help me, I'm worried about his condition at the moment he's getting weaker.' Scully said as strongly as she could. Skinner nodded and looked at her reassuringly.

'I'm going to get this information out of him, don't you worry.' Skinner said and Scully nodded. She watched Skinner turn and walk towards the kitchen and as he turned she caught the eye of Vladimir. Scully felt a chill run down her spine as he glared at her seething. 'Sir?' Scully called out on impulse and Skinner turned and walked back to her. He looked at her questioningly and Scully shifted nervously on her feet, knowing that she had to tell him but also feeling so uncomfortable. She stood there for a moment.

'Scully?' He asked in confusion. Scully sighed and put a hand to her forehead.

'This man… he was there in Russia and I believe that…' She said with difficulty as she saw Skinner's look on his face. 'I believe that it was him, Sir that… that attacked me.' She said slowly and felt herself blush a little. Skinner's face turned to a sour expression and his face started to get red with anger. Scully watched him uneasily and he didn't answer for a moment.

'You're saying, that this man was the one who raped you?' Skinner said finally, and Scully flinched at the words.

'Please, I've been trying to forget what happened to me, I've been blocking it out of my system and out of Mulder's. I don't want Mulder to know Sir, he… he would react uncontrollably and at this moment it is definitely not what he needs to be hearing right now…' Scully's speech started to quicken and she felt tears coat her throat and her face start to droop with threatening tears. She shifted on her feet and rested her arm on a chair next to her and looked down to the floor. Skinner sighed. 'Mulder can't know. He'll go mad and do something stupid. Please, let's just find out a way to cure Mulder.' Scully said simply and as calmly as possible. Skinner nodded and put a hand on her arm with concern.

'We'll punish him for what he's done. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to.' He said in a soft voice, and Scully raised her eyes to his and let out a small smile as a worried tear escaped her eye. She blinked and felt her admiration for Skinner flow through her. He turned and walked towards the kitchen, and Scully flinched as he shut the door loudly. She knew that he wasn't going to take this information lightly.

After about two hours of constant interrogation, Skinner came out of the kitchen and Scully looked up in surprise as the door opened as she was drifting into a sleep on the other side of the lounge on her sofa and faced a sleepy Mulder. She blinked as the light which Skinner turned on and it made her flinch a little. She yawned and got up into a sitting position and looked over to Mulder who was frowning at the bright lights. She moved over to him and reassured him that everything was all right. She looked to Skinner and saw that his face looked serious and his expression was tough. Scully saw the seriousness in his eyes and stood up and walked towards him slowly. She sighed heavily and walked with Skinner to the other side of the room and spoke in hushed voices. Skinner took a deep breath and then opened his mouth to speak.

'Scully… you're not going to believe what this man has told me. It took a long time to get it out of him, and I had to use great force.' He spoke in a sympathetic voice. Scully frowned with worry and sympathy as she saw Skinner's tired eyes and she took a deep breath.

'What is it?' She asked in great fear, dreading the worst for Mulder.

'Mulder isn't just suffering from smoke inhalation; he's suffering from something that was actually IN the smoke.' Skinner emphasised and Scully frowned in thought.

'What?'

'Scully… it's the another substance which is very similar to the substance that was in the cigarettes before. Do you remember?' Skinner said in a low and sympathetic voice as he worried about Scully's reaction. 'Now Mulder's already fought that once I don't think that…' Skinner started with difficulty.

She didn't answer for a moment but looked like she was about to hit something. Her cheeks flared red and she started to get flustered. She turned away from Skinner and leant against a sideboard and took a deep breath to try and composed herself.

'Scully?' Skinner asked from behind her, but she put up a hand to stop him speaking and walked away from him and towards Mulder. Skinner sighed in defeat and realised that he couldn't do anything to help her. He turned and went to the other side of the room and watched as Scully took Mulder's hand and seemed to be fighting back tears as she gently stroked his forehead.

Mulder wheezed heavily in his sleep. Scully sat beside him her hands pulled up to her face and she clasped them together in fear and worry. She sat with tear glistened eyes and occasionally prayed for him as Skinner continued to interrogate Vladimir next door.

After about another hour, Scully took a deep breath and went to her desk to try and figure out a way to help Mulder medically, like she had before. She grabbed some paper and sat down to write when Skinner came into the lounge again.

'Dana, he's told me.' Skinner said suddenly in a grave voice. Scully felt her heart leap in her chest and she looked up at him suddenly and he came closer.

'What?' She asked in barely a whisper. Skinner put his hands on her desk and leant towards her.

'There's a way to get rid of this virus… to cure Mulder.' Skinner said simply. Scully blinked back nervous tears.

'Ye…yes?' She stuttered nervously. Skinner took a deep breath to start his next sentence, choosing his words carefully.

'There's a vaccine, in the hands of a man in Brazil…'

'Brazil! That's too far Mulder's not going to last long enough for me to get to…' Scully shouted out and Skinner held up a hand for her to stop and raised his voice.

'DANA will you let me finish!' He said forcefully. 'Now listen. The idiolatic solution is alien. Vladimir and his men were trying to create a monster race out of radiation materials and extra terrestrial DNA, which could transform a human completely.' Skinner paused to see Scully falter and gasp in shock and disbelief.

'But… but why?' She asked incredulously.

'Vladimir said that it was an act of science and that was it. Also, they were getting paid big bucks for it.' Skinner said with a snarl, furious at people who chose wealth over human nature. He had encountered quite a few of them in his lifetime. Skinner sighed and looked back at Scully who looked across the room at Mulder silently.

'This disease that Mulder has is a lot slower than what he had before. Vladimir claims that this substance was released in the air when the area was ambushed, because they didn't want to get captured and were forced to unleash this new weapon, which- by the way; would have been used later on against the general public- to kill all of the officers who were against them.' He continued. 'Vladimir was the only survivor of the ambush, and he says that when they realised they were under attack, they didn't have time to act with weapons, so they used their new weapon because it was the most accessible at the time. This is how Mulder was infected.'

'But…' Scully said, regaining more focus now, 'surely the other men who were in the fight… they must be dying too.' Scully said, frowning in thought. Skinner sighed and looked down to the desk solemnly.

'FBI agents and US militia. 50 in total.' Skinner said in a low voice. Scully looked at him waiting for the rest of the information and frowned in confusion. '48 are dead already, most from over exposure at the site-' Skinner went on difficultly while Scully grimaced in disgust, '-and the others over time. Just like Mulder's dying now.'

There was a long silence between the two skilled agents as they processed their thoughts and tried to think about what to say next. Scully was the first to respond and she stood up with determination.

'Sir, tell me about this man.' She said, her tears now turning to emotional ones as she felt her determination to save Mulder alight through her like a fire. Skinner nodded.

'Vladimir has given me an address and a location. This man is the only one who can save Mulder. Nothing that we did before can help him. This disease has been stolen, studied and has therefore advanced under scientific research Scully. I'm going to have to send a team over with you to find the man and arrest him. You're not going alone, it's too risky.' Skinner said with a serious look and Scully nodded in agreement.

'What do we do with Vladimir?' She asked, her eyes turning to the kitchen with rage. Skinner obviously felt the anger in her voice.

'I'll take him to the police, get him locked up. He told me a way to keep Mulder comfortable and to may be slow down the increase of disease. I've booked you a plane to Sao Paulo- it'll take you about five hours to get there. You get ready to go, get a good night's sleep-'

'-No.' Scully cut in loudly and firmly, and Skinner looked at her in surprise. 'I'm not wasting any time. We go tonight, or we don't go at all.' She said, and turned from Skinner before he could refuse.

She went quickly into her bedroom and was again haunted by the sound of Mulder's wheezing which seemed to be filling her brain and making her paranoid with fear for him as the sound went round and round her head and made her dizzy. Closing her tearful eyes and taking a deep breath, she turned away from the bed and went to her cupboard to grab her rucksack and cool clothing. She stretched out her right arm and realised it was trembling as she took down a shirt from the shelf…