GEORGE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL
SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2012 5:53 P.M.
Mulder parked the car about a block away from the hospital. As he jogged towards the building he looked up the large edifice and his eyes scaled the immensity of it. The hospital was very close in distance to the other federal buildings. He entered the hospital and looked around for directions to the Pediatrics' wing. He saw the directory board and immediately took the elevator to the correct floor. Upon seeing the front desk attendant, he immediately felt an old anxiety, which he had only felt during his cloak and dagger days when seeking out the truth. In a flash, memories started flooding back to him. …Climbing on board the spacecraft to save Scully and her transformation. Getting into the secret military facility that led to his going into hiding. Watching Samantha disappear…
What Mulder feared the most, was that feeling of helplessness and trusting the untrustworthy to bring justice, and he could not stand it. It was only until recently that he discovered faith in something, in someone. That person was Scully; Mulder's symbol and cross. She reminded him that there is still hope left to this world. And she was the only person whose life determined his sanity and gave substance to the intangible and inexplicable. If something happened to her, he would certainly lose touch with all reason.
"Sir, can I help you?" the attendant asked. The question interrupted his miniature anxiety attack, and like always, brushed it off.
"Uh…" Mulder was thinking quickly, "Yes…I'm-" but was immediately interrupted by a phone call that sought out the attention of the attendant first. The female attendant picked up the phone to answer, gesturing to Mulder to wait a minute.
"Nancy in pediatrics. Mmhmm. Ok. I'll be there in a moment." The attendant hung up the phone, looking at Mulder, "I'm sorry, but if you could wait here in the lobby. I'll be right back."
Mulder sat down in one of the available chairs in the hallway and waited for the woman to exit beyond the double doors. He scoped the general vicinity and noticed how surprisingly vacant the area was for a hospital that's usually very busy. He took his good fortune and immediately stood up to approach the front desk. He slowly skulked down the juxtaposing hall opposite of the direction Nancy headed towards. He scanned quickly at the walls, billboards, signs, floors; anything that gave evidence to Scully's whereabouts. Suddenly he saw a young pair of eyes staring at him through a window. The sign above the doors read, Play Time.
Once the little girl noticed Mulder noticing her, she immediately raised her eyebrows in fear and hid from his view. Mulder approached the room and opened the door. "Knock, knock?" said Mulder as he lightly tapped the glass door.
The little girl that was staring at Mulder through the window backed herself into a corner. She wore a beanie that looked too warm for her head and she embraced herself as if protecting her body. "Who are you?" piped the little girl.
"My name is Fox Mulder."
"Fox? Like the animal?" questioned the curious little girl.
"Yep," replied Mulder. The other children in the room were too busy playing with the new gaming system that they had barely noticed a stranger enter the room. Mulder figured since he was the tallest person in the see-through room, that he better shorten his stature by sitting in one of the kids chairs. He sat in a short chair just out of view from the exposing windows. "So… what's your name?"
The little girl approached Mulder hesitantly, and then silently walked around him scanning him up and down for anything suspicious. Upon satisfactory, she dragged another chair forward and sat across from Mulder.
"Dottie," she replied. She continued staring Mulder down as if half expecting him to leap out of his own skin to frighten her, but then she quickly decided her opinion by responded, "I like you. You're not like the other big people around here."
"What do you mean?"
"I dunno," shifted Dottie as she shifted her eyes toward the wall. "You just… um… look normal."
"Look normal? How so?"
Dottie took her time as she continued with her opinion, "You seem safe… warm."
"Do you not feel safe?" said Mulder. Dottie shrugged her shoulders and then shook her head slightly. "Well, you should feel safe. The people here really just want to see you get better."
"Yeah right," blurted out Dottie sarcastically, "they all act strange here, except Dr. Scu-" Dottie halted her thought and she immediately looked down as she started to cry. Flashes of Scully's violent disappearance had frightened the little girl.
"Dr. Scully? Is she your doctor?" said Mulder, excitement ebbing in his voice. Just hearing about a possible lead to Scully's whereabouts kick started his adrenal glands and caused his heart to flutter. Dottie sniffled, wiping her nose on her right sleeve before nodding her head up and down. She still continued avoiding Mulder's gaze. Her stare was focused on the flowered wall paper pattern next to them. Mulder got up and placed his body in the view of the little girl.
"She wasn't my doctor for long time, but I really did like her."
He stared at the little girl for a moment and reassessed his approach. Her fidgeting in place, her removal from the other children patients, all pointed to signs of trauma. Dottie's curled up body position and wide nervous eyes only confirmed his theory. Mulder gathered all the symptoms and concluded that she was definitely suffering from some sort of shock. He lowered and softened his voice before slowly speaking, "What did you see?"
Dottie pulled up her knees to her head as she buried her face in her folded arms. Through her limbs she managed to mumble out, "The other doctors, they took her."
"Where?"
Dottie lifted her head momentarily, looking over the window that viewed the rest of the hospital. Her mood suddenly shifted to distress. "My Suzie doll! Could you grab it for me? I need her. She needs me. I left her alone. She's really scared."
Bombarded by the random response, Mulder decided to go with it. "Sure, where did you leave her last?"
"Down the hall," she sniffled, "by our beds. It's my fault. She'll never forgive me."
"Hey, it's ok. I'll get her back to you." Mulder got up and quickly glanced outside the Children's Play room. The coast was still clear. He looked back down at Dottie and noticed that she was trembling. Sympathetically, he reached out and cupped her shoulder to reassure her, not even entirely sure that he was doing the right thing to comfort her. He said, "None of this is your fault. You have been so incredibly brave that Suzie would be proud of you. Now, I know you don't really know me, but I need you to continue being brave for me. Can you do that?"
She nodded her head. Mulder grinned and replied, "Good. I'll be right back."
Mulder crept down the hallway looking down at the baseboards of the walls to see where Dottie could have possibly dropped her doll. A pillar stood adjacent to the entrance to the Children's Ward. As he walked closer he could make out a couple of rouge pieces of yarn string to what appeared to be the hair to a doll. The faux hair poked out from the blind side of the pillar as it sat against it. Mulder approached the girl's doll when he noticed the position where the figure sat.
He looked up and around the area. Before picking up the doll he tried to recreate a possible scenario in his mind which led to Suzie's abandonment. Mulder got down on one knee to replicate Dottie's height and tried to imagine seeing things from her perspective. The relative position between the pillar and the doors to the Children's Ward offered a quaint little nook for any little person to sit in or hide behind. Mulder put the time frame of her disappearance somewhere between approximately 3:00 a.m. when he last heard her voice to now. The hospital was at its' least busy shift, meaning less witnesses.
Mulder pretended to drop the imaginary doll and when he looked down he guesstimated the direction in which Dottie was looking at. Dottie indirectly answered his question on where she last saw Scully by her nervous reaction and then suddenly needing of her doll. Psychologically speaking, Mulder concluded through association of behavior that Scully disappeared around the very same time Dottie dropped her doll. The sudden neglect of Suzie was Dottie's coping of the incident she saw, and thus when confronted with the issue, reacted in the way that she did.
He picked up the doll and looked down the short hospital hallway. The only entrance and exit was a single elevator.
KWIK-N-GO SUPERMARKET
6:14 P.M.
"If that's Mr. Jerry, then he looks pretty damn good in that photo."
"Are you saying that this is him?" questioned Reyes as she showed the Air Force photo of Captain Gerald Feinhart. Doggett looked on authoritatively as both he and Reyes questioned the customer service clerk.
"I'm saying that if you took away ten to twenty years and shaved off his hair and beard, then yeah."
The answer wasn't definitive so Doggett asked, "Are you sure? Would you be willing to testify in court?"
The clerk being slightly offended at his response, defended more seriously, "Yes. I'm sure. In fact, I'm sure that anyone who works here would back me up."
"Well, thank you for your time," answered Reyes with a grateful nod of her head. They both turned away from the counter and headed toward the exit doors. "We should probably tell Mulder of our confirmation."
Just then Doggett's phone started buzzing. "And speak of the Devil," Doggett acknowledged the phone call as both he and Reyes exited the store and headed toward their SUV. "Mulder! Any news yet?"
"Scully is definitely somewhere here in this hospital. There's an elevator on the Children's Ward and I have a hunch I'm going to find something that some people aren't going to like. I'm going to turn my cell off for the time being. I'll call when I get out," answered Mulder in soft subdued voice. Then there was a soft click and the phone went silent on his end.
"Mulder, are you ok? Don't do anything… Mulder? Mulder! Damn it!" said Doggett as he angrily ended his phone call, "Now I remember why I don't like working with this guy."
"What happened? What's going on?" said Reyes her eyebrows furrowed in concern. Doggett's walking started picking up speed.
"C'mon, let's get to the car quick. We've got to head to the hospital before Mulder does something stupid."
3404 SAMUEL BOULEVARD
WARRENTON, VIRGINIA
SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2012 6:14 P.M.
Jeremiah, Gibson and William beamed themselves down from the ship behind a building across from their true destination. "She's got to be in there," pointed out William. "Can you hear her?"
Will's question was directed at Gibson. "I've never met Leyla Harrison, so I wouldn't even begin to know what to listen for."
"I suppose something foreign or out of the ordinary would be sufficient," suggested Jeremiah.
"So, I would basically listen for the thoughts of someone like you. Gee, thanks for the insight. That helps," Gibson replied sarcastically.
"Shhh!" hushed William, "I'm going to try and hear her."
Will closed his eyes and tried to concentrate like in previous practice sessions with Gibson. An immediate tsunami of sounds washed over him like twenty or so radio stations turned on simultaneously. He first eliminated the voices that had a distinct low masculine pitch.
"Ah! I think I know what floor she's in," interrupted Gibson. The statement broke Will's concentration.
William sighed in frustration, "Gah, this is freaking hard."
"Nah, you got this. You can do it. There's something being said on the fourth floor that seems suspicious. Check it out there."
Without moving an inch from his position, William did as was suggested by Gibson and focused on the fourth floor of the building. William's ability to hear people's minds was nowhere near that of Gibson's years of experience and training. To get to the strength and stamina in focus of Gibson's level of hearing would be likened to that of an Olympic runner running as fast as a horse; not impossible, but still extremely challenging.
William closed his eyes again.
Will was standing outside his body. It was definitely an odd sensation looking at himself standing there next to Jeremiah and Gibson. William was somehow translating sounds to visions. He looked up at the building he was standing behind and saw through the thick brick walls. The voices he heard were represented by different colors. The voices that were clearly of a Super Soldier were fully fleshed out in his mind. Not only could Will hear what they were saying, he knew what the Super Soldiers looked like. The other human voices were mere silhouetted pulsations of light, vibrating through the rhythm of sound.
~How am I doing this?~ Thought Will.
William couldn't believe how well he was receiving the information when he saw the old Asian man from his dreams leading him through the street. He followed the old man and they walked through the unknown building of his destination with unmarked doors and see-through walls. They both traveled up to the fourth floor and there she was, Agent Leyla Harrison, addressing another Super Soldier. "…I don't care how you do it. The Tower needs to go up. The Brethren are after me, I fear my time may be up…"
Will opened his eyes and he was back in his body. He turned to Gibson who was giving him a mixed facial expression of amazement and fear. It was the first time Will used his hearing ability in that way and the Old Asian man from his dreams was involved, and Gibson felt the presence of him through William's thoughts. "You saw that old man from your dreams again, haven't you?"
"What do you mean? What happened? What's going on?" wondered Jeremiah.
"It's nothing, never mind. I know exactly where Leyla is, ok? I'll explain later, but we better move because Super Soldiers are bound to come." Will patted the filled syringe that rested in his right pant leg pocket for immediate access when the time was right to use it. As soon as he reassured himself, they all proceeded down the path Will recalled during his aural vision.
Super Soldiers were coming out of the buildings that felt William's presence upon proximity. They all eerily stood at the edge of the streets looking at the individuals making their way. When a few of the Super Soldiers became too close for comfort, Will used his force energy to push them out of the way. The situation felt odd since none of them were aggressively challenging them or physically confronting them. They were just looking. Most of their eyes were serious, some were apathetic, but all were still nonetheless frightening.
Will, Gibson and Jeremiah climbed the stair ways of the business building and made it to the fourth floor, like he did in his vision earlier. Will reached into his pocket and held the syringe in his hand. He was prepared to inject the serum into Leyla, hopefully non-violently. Just as they approached the door, they saw part of the wall break open. It was Leyla escaping the entrapped room. Without so much as batting an eyelid, she had crashed through the wall and came into the hallway so quickly that it caused the trio to jump in their place. She had walked through the wall with ease, leaving nothing but rubble and debris in its wake. When she caught a quick glimpse of William she immediately started sprinting down the hallway.
Leyla had moved so quickly, that she was almost near the exit at the opposite end of the hallway. Instantaneously, Will knew that if they had to run to chase her down they would not have been able to reach her in time to catch her. So he floated the loaded syringe in his hand and sent it like a speeding dart toward the base of Leyla's neck. From the other end of the hall, Will forced the syringe to condense and squeeze every drop of silver liquid into her system. Leyla slowed her run to a stumble and then immediately collapsed to her knees, and upon hitting the ground she fell sideways.
~Please let this work~ Will thought. The trio hustled quickly to where Leyla fell. Jeremiah got to Leyla first and turned her onto her back so that they all could see her face. Jeremiah grabbed one of her wrists and felt for a pulse. All of a sudden her eyes whipped open revealing nothing but pitch black coloration.
"Her mind's gone blank. I don't hear anything, do you?" asked Will confirming with Gibson. Will reached for Leyla's other hand and tried to comfort her.
"I've got nothing," said Gibson horrified by the sight of her eyes, "Does she have a pulse?"
Jeremiah immediately replied, "Negative. Wait…"
Leyla's entire body started to tremble which quickly escalated to seizure-like convulsions.
"Support her head!" shouted Will as both he and Jeremiah were preventing her arms from flailing around violently.
"I'm already ahead of you," responded Gibson as he rushed over to Leyla's head to cradle it between his hands and knees.
"What's happening to her?" asked Jeremiah.
"I was kind of hoping you would tell me," said William as she continued to shake wildly. He took the needle that was still submerged in her neck and immediately yanked it away, tossing it to the side.
After about five minutes of the fevered quake, her body eventually subsided to a few small vibrating shudders. Then finally, her muscles relaxed and then nothing. Jeremiah and Will both still held onto each of Leyla's hands and looked at each other. They had both felt her life leave them. The shock was the helplessness, especially since she had two healers at each hand and still none could save her. Jeremiah reached for her eyelids and then closed them gently with his two fingers.
"But, I don't understand!" exclaimed Gibson.
"Neither do I," stated Jeremiah solemnly. "Are you sure it wasn't a poison from Liam?"
"It was meant for me, but I don't understand. I distinctly recall Liam intending to rid me the burden of my abilities, not kill me. It should have worked."
Then Leyla suddenly opened her clear eyes, inhaling her first real breath. The trio inhaled with her in absolute surprise. She then tried looking around blinking every so often, focusing with her original blue eyes. "Will…," croaked Leyla.
"Yeah, I'm here," responded William still holding her left hand.
"Your mom… Dana Scully…," said Leyla Harrison between labored breaths, "she's in danger. She's the… George Washington… Hospital…"
Leyla passed out in their arms.
"…Mom?" said Will softly to himself.
"William," interrupted Jeremiah, "Leyla Harrison's alive. Let's get her to the ship and over to Mulder as soon as possible. She's suffered some significant trauma and I'll feel safer healing her once we're away from this place."
"Yeah, we'll figure out a plan on the way over to D.C.," concurred Gibson. It took all the effort in the world for Will to focus on the task at hand.
"Yeah, ok," agreed Will, "But after we get on the ship, we go straight the George Washington Hospital."
Bluish hues suddenly engulfed the party of four and were immediately whisked away to the spacecraft just floating above.
SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2012
Scully sat slumped in her chair. She had been sitting there for so long she couldn't tell what hour it was. Exhausted, she avoided the human need to sleep, especially if she wanted to stay alive and still be the same person she woke up to today. Scully rubbed diligently over the sore spots on her arms where she was poked, prodded and injected. She could still feel the residual drugs in her system, which had put her in a strange phantasmagoria. The twilight state she was in was scary, but she knew it would be worse if she were to fall asleep. A door slid open and caused Scully to jump in her seat.
"I'm not going to submit. You're just going to have to kill me," she said in a somewhat lucid voice. William's clone, who came in the form of a stocky man with a weathered face, entered the room. "So what do people call you anyways?" she continued.
The clone scoffed and replied slyly in a gruff voice, "Well you should know mom."
"You bastard!" exclaimed Scully as she continued rubbing her arms gingerly.
"Tst, tst, tst, we'll have none of that now. How about you call me Liam instead, hmm?"
Scully remained vigilant in her responses. She didn't want to give away anything, especially in her current state. The clone, noticing Scully's pain, came forward and sat in front of her. She flinched as she felt the tremor of Liam sitting down. He extended his hand on the table before her. "Give me your hand."
Scully shook her head.
"I swear I won't hurt you. In fact, I want to do the opposite."
She remained as still as possible, her eyes staring at Liam with complete skepticism.
"Would you prefer that I force your hand?"
The option presented, however suspicious, was also a better alternative to a possibly violent outcome if she didn't offer her hand. She took her chances and lifted her arm. Scully's hand quivered as she extended it to touch Liam's hand. He gently caressed her hand with both of his hands, as if it were a delicate fragile gem.
She could feel both their heartbeats align in perfect rhythm and her muscles began to relax. Her sight, once plagued with odd colors and double vision, began to form clear and sensible shapes. The cloud, fogging her mind, was being lifted and she could feel the sobering clarity of reality. Her hunger vanished, and she felt the illusion of being satiated. The exhaustion she had once felt suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a new kind of spring. She was reawakening. She felt like she was being rinsed of the drugs that worked her system, and was instantly feeling better.
Liam let go of Scully's hand and their limbs separated. Scully was surprised by Liam's altruistic gesture. She stared at her hand as she slowly withdrew it, clenching and unclenching it. "I don't understand…"
"What's there to understand?"
"Why did you heal me?"
Liam shrugged his shoulders and said, "We all have our reasons."
Scully paused for a moment, thinking that there was more to his response than what he was leading her to believe. "So again, what could you possibly want from me?"
Liam looked on, carefully studying her reaction. Scully continued, "I've got nothing of value. So what can I even offer to exchange for my freedom?"
She started thinking of their previous encounter. She remembered seeing the photos of William on the table and realizing that the person in front of her is not William, but a clone. Liam's silence perturbed her because she knew he was sitting on answers that would make this whole entire situation make sense.
"You just need to stay alive for the time being."
"Alive for what?"
"For William to fulfill his destiny," answered Liam, "you're integral to his decision. I'm just eager to see it come into fruition."
"Well, I'm not going to force him to do or say anything that might endanger his life."
"I know."
"I don't even know where he is."
"We're waiting for him. He'll be coming for you soon."
As silence filled the air, Scully was putting two and two together. The realization hit her like a bucket of cold water and she responded, "This is a trap for William… and, I'm the bait."
She couldn't believe what she was saying. As the words hung in the air, she began to get upset over the audacity of the whole situation. Her anger stemming from years of abuse and being used as a pawn in someone else's game. And now that she's unwillingly participating in the possible demise of her own son, it only strengthened her resolve. "And you've made him into a terrorist," Scully shook her head in disgust, "damn you."
"It all comes out in the wash. Perhaps he'll show mercy on you and your kind."
Disgusted, Scully replied scathingly, "Get out of here. I have nothing left to say to you."
Liam grinned as he stood up to leave. The door slid open and he left the room. Just when the door was about to fully close, a hand popped through halting the complete closure. Mulder entered the room wearing a doctor's lab coat. "Mulder!" cried Scully in relief.
Mulder held up a finger to his mouth signifying the need to move silently. Scully got up and ran over to Mulder and they embraced for a few seconds. The door was about to slide close again and both he and Scully made their grand escape to the surface.
