* * *
Scully sat in the hospital room. She hated it here, as a patient at least. She need to be doing something, but they had made her promise to stay in bed. This let her mind wander and she couldn't seem to stop it. Her life had flashed before her eyes, but the only innocent that Scully could clearly remember was Fellig. She was supposed to be dead too last time she was shot, but again she turned out with nothing worse than a case of exertion.
Her mind was screaming 'I was shot, I know I was, I felt it enter my body, I felt my heart slow down, I felt . . . So what _if_ he was telling the truth. What _if_ he missed his time for death and that made him immortal. That means since he took _your_ time for death, _you_ would be immoral as well.'
The rational side of her mind had about enough of this thought. 'Are you kidding me? You sound worse than Mulder and his little gray men! If anything saved you, it was God. He brought you back after your abduction and He's just decided it wasn't your time.'
'But has God ever been so showy in His miracles that He would do it twice and so quickly?'
'God works in mysterious ways, you know that. Besides, somewhere along the line it has to be wrong to think such things as missing out on your time of death. When your time comes, you can't resist God's will.'
'True, but the Angel of Death passed over the Jewish houses in Egypt, this isn't too much different. And how do you know that it wasn't God's will that this immortality thing happened.'
'How can you be so sure you are truly immortal. What proof do you have?'
'Well, for instance, when God brought me back after my abduction it took months to recover, I will be out of here tomorrow.'
'So?'
'So, I don't know! It's just a feeling I have. I'll ask Mulder what he thinks.'
'Mulder will think you went off the deep end, but he'll only make fun of you before he steals this idea as his own . . .'
'Maybe that's what I want, what I need right now. Maybe I just need someone else to tell me right now that I'm not crazy and he believes in me.'
The argument was stopped there as Mulder lightly knocked as he opened the door.
"Hey Scully! I don't have a video this time, but I will keep you company."
Scully smiled meekly. At least he didn't have another video, it probably would've been Super Bowl 34, the Ram's road to victory. "Thanks Mulder. I could use a good laugh right now."
Their conversation was light and pleasant, but they were ignoring the issue that really needed to be discussed and Mulder finally managed to find the right words. "So what exactly happened to you back there Scully?"
"I don't know for sure Mulder. But I do have a theory that's well- a little different."
Mulder had gotten too emotionally involved to stop to listen to Scully. "We'll find the bastards who did this to you Scully. Near as I can figure it, you were shot with a paint bullet, only instead of red paint it carried your blood. Those things can be really painful and if mixed with some light acids or something it could've eaten a hole through your blouse causing the bullet hole. Now consider where it hit you and that could explain why you were only winded."
Scully let the explanation linger in the air for what seemed like forever. "That's it Mulder? No God saved you, no alien abduction flashback, no immortality?"
"Why Scully, from your voice it would almost seem you were disappointed . . ."
"Well, your explanation covered all the basics, but it sounds so unlike you. Are you sure we haven't stepped in some weird spores lately?"
"Ha ha Scully. Like you say, sometime the real answer is the most obvious one in front of you. What did you want to say?"
Scully swallowed. She couldn't share her Fellig idea with Mulder, he wouldn't understand. He hadn't been there. "Well, I was thanking you for being there so quickly. But I was just wondering, you said that I was covered with my own blood. Where did you learn that?"
"Some doctor."
"But Mulder; The couldn't have done the test so quickly! Even if you were just talking to him the results wouldn't be in yet."
"Your right Scully. I'll go find that guy. You rest up and I'll see what I can do about getting you out of here." Mulder had one foot out the door before Scully stopped him. He turned to see her biting her lower lip, like she was dying to say something else.
"Mulder . . . thanks."
"Sure, no problem."
When Mulder had firmly shut the door behind him, Scully let out a sigh. She had almost told him, almost. She threw her head back onto her pillow in disgust.
* * *
Mulder headed up to the front desk to talk to the enchanting young nurse he noticed earlier. "Hey, do you know where that doctor who was treating my partner went? I have a few questions for him."
The girl looked up at Mulder. Kinda cute, if you went for the total dorks. She rated him a total obsessive geek, but he was better looking than the man she had just given a sponge bath to, and besides, it _was_ her job, sorta. "I noticed him leaving earlier. I'm new here so I don't know the shifts and don't know when he will be back. Hell, I don't even have a clue who he is!"
'She likes me.' Mulder convinced himself. He gave her those puppy eyes and was about to ask her name when his cell phone interrupted him. "Excuse me." He explained, but the girl seemed to be the first one to leave. 'Another girl scared off by a strong man, I have to be less authoritative.' Mulder pondered before answering his cell phone. "Mulder."
"Agent Mulder, It's Bobby from Research. I have that report for you."
'Bobby?' Mulder tried to think. 'one of Pendrell's replacements. Funny thing was neither Mulder or Scully knew Bobby's last name. "Report?" He questioned.
"Yeah, the translation you wanted; it's done."
"Bobby, I know that I didn't give you anything to translate. In fact, I haven't been in contact with anyone in the bureau for several days now."
"Yeah, but this has been sitting here for several weeks. Are you feeling all right? What do you want me to do with this because I just didn't waste all my time-"
"No, I _know_ I didn't order anything along those lines and Scully would've informed me."
"So what do you want me to do with this?"
"Well, just read it to me and we'll see if we can figure out what is going on."
"Okay, but I know this is for you. Besides your name on the request it reads:
Spooky,
Hell of a ride, huh? I hope you enjoyed my little path to discovery. But I should point out that if you had let Scully explain her theory about your journey then you would've learned a piece of her soul. Shape up your act before it's too late for us all.
Agent Mulder are you there?"
"Yeah, um, how long ago did you say that arrived?"
"A few weeks ago, why?"
A sharp release of breath could be heard on Bobby's end. "No reason, other than why it took you so long to translate?"
"We were busy, but this wasn't a fun assignment and you didn't put a rush on the translation. Whoever wrote this must've grown up knowing how to write like this. Everything was perfect and it didn't sound like this guy wrote it without years of practice."
"Wait, what language was this written in exactly?"
"Why Agent Mulder, I thought you knew. I mean you wrote it down and everything. Don't you remember? Russian . . ."
* * *
Scully sat in the hospital room. She hated it here, as a patient at least. She need to be doing something, but they had made her promise to stay in bed. This let her mind wander and she couldn't seem to stop it. Her life had flashed before her eyes, but the only innocent that Scully could clearly remember was Fellig. She was supposed to be dead too last time she was shot, but again she turned out with nothing worse than a case of exertion.
Her mind was screaming 'I was shot, I know I was, I felt it enter my body, I felt my heart slow down, I felt . . . So what _if_ he was telling the truth. What _if_ he missed his time for death and that made him immortal. That means since he took _your_ time for death, _you_ would be immoral as well.'
The rational side of her mind had about enough of this thought. 'Are you kidding me? You sound worse than Mulder and his little gray men! If anything saved you, it was God. He brought you back after your abduction and He's just decided it wasn't your time.'
'But has God ever been so showy in His miracles that He would do it twice and so quickly?'
'God works in mysterious ways, you know that. Besides, somewhere along the line it has to be wrong to think such things as missing out on your time of death. When your time comes, you can't resist God's will.'
'True, but the Angel of Death passed over the Jewish houses in Egypt, this isn't too much different. And how do you know that it wasn't God's will that this immortality thing happened.'
'How can you be so sure you are truly immortal. What proof do you have?'
'Well, for instance, when God brought me back after my abduction it took months to recover, I will be out of here tomorrow.'
'So?'
'So, I don't know! It's just a feeling I have. I'll ask Mulder what he thinks.'
'Mulder will think you went off the deep end, but he'll only make fun of you before he steals this idea as his own . . .'
'Maybe that's what I want, what I need right now. Maybe I just need someone else to tell me right now that I'm not crazy and he believes in me.'
The argument was stopped there as Mulder lightly knocked as he opened the door.
"Hey Scully! I don't have a video this time, but I will keep you company."
Scully smiled meekly. At least he didn't have another video, it probably would've been Super Bowl 34, the Ram's road to victory. "Thanks Mulder. I could use a good laugh right now."
Their conversation was light and pleasant, but they were ignoring the issue that really needed to be discussed and Mulder finally managed to find the right words. "So what exactly happened to you back there Scully?"
"I don't know for sure Mulder. But I do have a theory that's well- a little different."
Mulder had gotten too emotionally involved to stop to listen to Scully. "We'll find the bastards who did this to you Scully. Near as I can figure it, you were shot with a paint bullet, only instead of red paint it carried your blood. Those things can be really painful and if mixed with some light acids or something it could've eaten a hole through your blouse causing the bullet hole. Now consider where it hit you and that could explain why you were only winded."
Scully let the explanation linger in the air for what seemed like forever. "That's it Mulder? No God saved you, no alien abduction flashback, no immortality?"
"Why Scully, from your voice it would almost seem you were disappointed . . ."
"Well, your explanation covered all the basics, but it sounds so unlike you. Are you sure we haven't stepped in some weird spores lately?"
"Ha ha Scully. Like you say, sometime the real answer is the most obvious one in front of you. What did you want to say?"
Scully swallowed. She couldn't share her Fellig idea with Mulder, he wouldn't understand. He hadn't been there. "Well, I was thanking you for being there so quickly. But I was just wondering, you said that I was covered with my own blood. Where did you learn that?"
"Some doctor."
"But Mulder; The couldn't have done the test so quickly! Even if you were just talking to him the results wouldn't be in yet."
"Your right Scully. I'll go find that guy. You rest up and I'll see what I can do about getting you out of here." Mulder had one foot out the door before Scully stopped him. He turned to see her biting her lower lip, like she was dying to say something else.
"Mulder . . . thanks."
"Sure, no problem."
When Mulder had firmly shut the door behind him, Scully let out a sigh. She had almost told him, almost. She threw her head back onto her pillow in disgust.
* * *
Mulder headed up to the front desk to talk to the enchanting young nurse he noticed earlier. "Hey, do you know where that doctor who was treating my partner went? I have a few questions for him."
The girl looked up at Mulder. Kinda cute, if you went for the total dorks. She rated him a total obsessive geek, but he was better looking than the man she had just given a sponge bath to, and besides, it _was_ her job, sorta. "I noticed him leaving earlier. I'm new here so I don't know the shifts and don't know when he will be back. Hell, I don't even have a clue who he is!"
'She likes me.' Mulder convinced himself. He gave her those puppy eyes and was about to ask her name when his cell phone interrupted him. "Excuse me." He explained, but the girl seemed to be the first one to leave. 'Another girl scared off by a strong man, I have to be less authoritative.' Mulder pondered before answering his cell phone. "Mulder."
"Agent Mulder, It's Bobby from Research. I have that report for you."
'Bobby?' Mulder tried to think. 'one of Pendrell's replacements. Funny thing was neither Mulder or Scully knew Bobby's last name. "Report?" He questioned.
"Yeah, the translation you wanted; it's done."
"Bobby, I know that I didn't give you anything to translate. In fact, I haven't been in contact with anyone in the bureau for several days now."
"Yeah, but this has been sitting here for several weeks. Are you feeling all right? What do you want me to do with this because I just didn't waste all my time-"
"No, I _know_ I didn't order anything along those lines and Scully would've informed me."
"So what do you want me to do with this?"
"Well, just read it to me and we'll see if we can figure out what is going on."
"Okay, but I know this is for you. Besides your name on the request it reads:
Spooky,
Hell of a ride, huh? I hope you enjoyed my little path to discovery. But I should point out that if you had let Scully explain her theory about your journey then you would've learned a piece of her soul. Shape up your act before it's too late for us all.
Agent Mulder are you there?"
"Yeah, um, how long ago did you say that arrived?"
"A few weeks ago, why?"
A sharp release of breath could be heard on Bobby's end. "No reason, other than why it took you so long to translate?"
"We were busy, but this wasn't a fun assignment and you didn't put a rush on the translation. Whoever wrote this must've grown up knowing how to write like this. Everything was perfect and it didn't sound like this guy wrote it without years of practice."
"Wait, what language was this written in exactly?"
"Why Agent Mulder, I thought you knew. I mean you wrote it down and everything. Don't you remember? Russian . . ."
* * *