- 13 -

Suddenly the door unlocked. He shifted up from his seat near the
window where he had stared through the bars at the garden where the
others sat. He hadn't had breakfast. They hadn't unlocked his door.
He had been secluded from all the rest.

Dominique came in with a look on his face Mulder hadn't seen before.
'Fox,' he said seriously, 'it seems that we have a slight problem.'

'We do?' Mulder asked numb. 'What problem might that be?'
'It seems that you are still in touch with your friends at the FBI.
Last night I didn't want to believe that you would be capable of
betrayal, but I could not deny the evidence at hand.'

'What evidence might that be?' Mulder asked, feeling weak in the legs.
He felt hungry and unstable.

'You brought a phone in this house that you used several times. You
called your friend Dana Scully. I don't know what you told her, but
this is forbidden.'
Still debating if he should lie or not, Mulder realized quickly that a
chance of getting out of this game with his story intact, was not an
option. Dominique's eyes changed colour when he said, 'She's come to
see you.'
'Who is?'

'Dana Scully. She's here, waiting for you in the lobby. You told her
you wanted to leave, didn't you?'
'No, I didn't. How could I? You took my phone.'

'You told her lies about us. Why else would she be here?'

'Perhaps she just came to see how I was doing.'

'Do you want to leave, Fox?'

Mulder didn't give an answer, knowing that his lies would be
discovered. Dominique sighed. 'That's what I dreaded.'

Almost unnoticeable Dominique nodded towards Dennis. Only then Mulder
saw that there was a second guard who had been standing outside,
waiting for a sign. The two of them grabbed him before he could
react.
'Hey!' Mulder shouted, trying to fight off the guards who got a firm
grip on him. 'What is this?'

Dominique watched as the two guards pushed Mulder onto the bed, using
their full strength to keep him down. Mulder was thrown on his belly,
his arms stretched aside so he couldn't use them. His wrists were
clung to firmly. Mulder fought for all he was worth, kicking and
screaming like crazy. But they were too strong for him and kept him
down easily.
Dominique had closed the door behind the second guard. The thick walls
and door kept the noise inside the room.

Then Dominique leaned over and grabbed Mulder's left arm, pushing a
syringe into the flesh. Quickly he emptied its contents and pulled it
back out. Mulder's body seemed to convulse at first, fighting the
contents of the injection.
Then he relaxed and hardly moved anymore, closing his eyes.
Dominique's moves caused the guards to stand down and they watched
while their leader turned Mulder on the bed. The agent remained quiet
and almost lifeless when Dominique lifted his eyelids and said
softly, 'Fox, can you hear me?'
Mulder swallowed, sighed deeply, opened his eyes and looked at
Dominique. 'Yeah,' he said. His pupils were dilated. Numbness had set
in. He stared into nothingness. The only thing he could do was
listening to Dominique's voice.
'Are you here to get me down, Fox?' Dominique asked gently. 'Do they
know what I'm doing?'

'Yeah.' Mulder's answer mumbled and difficult to hear. Dominique
watched, as the agent seemed to struggle within, still trying to
fight the contents of the syringe. But the sedative was too strong to
ignore, even for a man with a will like Mulder's.

'You're doing great, Fox,' Dominique said softly, helping him to sit
up. The agent still seemed to have difficulty to stand straight.
Dennis had to keep him up. Mulder hardly seemed to move when
Dominique put his left index finger under the agent's chin and forced
him to look up.
'He's a goner,' Dominique said to Dennis. 'He won't be able to say his
own name.'

'If you keep this up, you're going to kill him.'

'We all have to die. Besides, by tonight it will all be over. First
he's going to do something else for me though. By now I'm sure our
agent knows who's the boss.'

'I hate to say I told you so,' Dennis said angrily. 'You shouldn't
have taken him in. He and that damned reporter have forced us to move
things forward. They've put the plan in jeopardy.'

'The plan stands as it is. We had everything ready as it was. In a few
days we're out of the country, enjoying their cash, my friend.'

Dennis nodded, pushing Mulder forward. Like a zombie the agent walked
down the stairs, followed by Dominique and his guards.