Tomorrow
By Jillian
CHAPTER NINE
It was nearly an hour before a doctor walked outside of the office. Sitting up quickly, the look on her face registered with Scully. It wasn't good. Looking at one another, Dana Scully and her boss John walked over to the doctor.
"What did the tox scan return?" Scully asked.
"Well, Mrs. Carter, frankly, I'm unsure." The doctor, an older man, wrinkled his brow in confusion.
"This woman is a medical doctor, let her see what you've come up with." The other man demanded.
"A medical doctor?" He asked.
"Yes, I have a background in bio-genetics and I'm an MD." She said, close to believing her lies.
"Well, this is what the tox scan returned." He said, handing her the results.
She looked it over, but the compound was nothing she'd ever seen before.
"Is there a chance it was the equipment malfunctioning?" She asked, knowing very well she'd asked that questions many times before. It was never the equipment, it was always an X-File.
"No, we just tested it. You've never seen it either?" The doctor asked.
"As far as I know, it shouldn't exist." She murmured, knowing inside what these people were capable of.
"The good news is, it seems to be leaving her system. She's going to be just fine." The doctor smiled.
"Thank God." Scully breathed.
Just then, the girls parents, misty-eyed, walked out of the room. "She's awake." They said quietly. "If you'd like, you can go talk to her." Scully looked to her boss, but he gave her a glance that she understood. She could go, but he didn't want to accompany her. "I'd like that, just to check in on her." Scully smiled, walking towards the door. Taking a deep breathe, she opened it. She was still overcome with guilt knowing this was all her fault. Looking inside, she saw Gina sitting there quietly.
"Hi." She said quietly.
"Doctor Carter," She smiled. The girl's blue eyes met Dana's, filled with the innocence only a child possesses. She met eyes just as blue, but wracked with guilt and pain.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Okay, I guess. Druggy." She smiled weakly.
"Gina, do you remember what happened to you?" Scully asked.
"I remember feeling a poke, coming up the stairs, I just figured it was one of my friends or something, like my compass in my bag. And in your class I felt all groggy, kinda like I was really drunk only different. Then it goes black for a while, and I remember seeing you leaning over me, and then I woke up here. They say you're part of the reason I'm okay... I don't know how to thank you." She smiled.
"Don't thank me." She said, knowing it was truly her fault. "I mean that. Thanks enough will be when I see you pass the chem Regents in about a week." She smiled. "Will you be out of here in time?" She asked.
"I think, um, they said maybe tomorrow." She smiled.
"It's good to see that you're okay. I'm going to call the school and let them know, so your friends can be assured. Get your rest." She smiled.
"Thank you." Gina said quietly as her teacher left, only giving her a weak smile.
Quickly she called the school, and told her boss she was heading home. On her way out, she found the doctor and asked for a copy of the tox scan to look over. He gladly got one for her. Racing towards her car, she pulled out her cell phone. Ignoring the laws about driving and talking on the phone at the same time in New York, she dialed her new home number. Mulder pick up after one ring.
"Mulder, it's me." She said.
"Dana, how is she?" He asked.
"She's okay, Mulder." She said, with a sigh of relief.
"What was it?" He asked.
"I don't know, it's something I've never seen before." She murmured.
"How far are you from home?" He asked.
"Ten minutes." She said.
"Hang up and drive safely, okay? I'll see you then." He said.
"Okay, Mulder, I will." She said, hanging up the phone.
It was dark outside when she quickly strode into the home, and saw Mulder waiting for her on the couch.
"We need to call someone from the Bureau. I can't let any more kids get hurt. It's not their search and if anyone deserves this, it's me." She said, tears in her eyes.
"Shh," He quieted her, putting his arms around her and pulling her close. He was so much larger than her, but he rarely noticed the fact. It was only at times like these when she was truly falling apart that he noticed her vulnerabilities... Such as the fact that his body dwarfed hers, when inside he felt just as small as she did. Normally, Scully could tower over a giant, despite being just above five feet and a petite woman.
But not now. Tears began to flow from her eyes, freely. She was always hesitant about crying in front of him, she always liked to seem his equal in every way. But as she looked up into his eyes she knew it didn't matter at the moment.
"Mulder... What the hell is going on? I mean, just as soon as things start working my world is crashing down again, it's all falling apart." She said. "Sometimes I think it would be so much easier to give up."
"No, Dana. You convinced me yourself that it isn't worth it to give up. We're so close, Scully. If we talk to the Bureau, if we get help on the inside..." He trailed off.
"We should call Skinner, and Monica, and John. They'll help us, they can create the liquid more safely than we can..." She said.
"As long as you think like that, instead of thinking in terms of giving up, we'll be okay." He said. It was true. He only believed it wouldn't all end because she didn't believe it either, even if she momentarily let herself think she did.
"Mulder, you put my world back together after it falls apart." She said quietly.
He smiled. It was only because she did the same for him so many times. If not for her, he would be believing it was all over, there was no hope.
He kissed her lips chastely, and rested his forehead against hers.
"I'm only able to because of all the times you've put together my world." He whispered.
She shut her eyes tentatively, as if gathering her thoughts.
"Sorry, I lost it there for a moment. I can't believe I even thought of giving up,"
"Shh, it's okay. I've lost it countless times before." He said. "Let's call DC."
"Okay." She said quietly.
The first person they called was AD Skinner, at his home number.
"Hello?" They heard.
"Assistant Director Skinner?" She asked.
'Yes, who's speaking?" He asked.
"Sir, it's Dana Scully. I'm sure Monica told you..."
"Yes, she did. Are you okay?" He asked.
"Well, yes and no. Are you guys extracting magnetite?" She asked.
"We are. I pulled strings with the quarry and I have migrant workers doing it as we speak." He said. "Have you been creating it?"
"Yes, well, I've been threatened. One of my students was poisoned, accompanied by a note saying it was because I was creating the liquid. I'd feel much safer if I faxed you the procedure, and you had a lab assistant produce it. I'm sure you can find a young agent to handle it." She said. "Someone unsuspecting."
"Of course." He said.
"It was an unknown poison, I'm also going to fax a copy of it's makeup, I need it analyzed. As for the note, I think it's pretty clear who's after us." She said.
"Mmhm," He sighed. "Well, I'll be sure to tell John and Monica if you'd like." He said.
"Yes, please. And, um, Sir? I have some good news." She said.
"Really? Let's hear it."
"I'm, uh, pregnant." She said.
"My God, Scully, congratulations! That's fantastic news! I'll let John and Monica know. I'm jotting down the number you're calling from now, are you home?" He asked.
"Yes, I am. Um, I'll fax it to your house, just give me the number." She said.
He read her the number and they said their goodbyes.
"They're going to take care of the production from now on." She said quietly.
"Good. They can analyze the poison, too." Mulder replied.
"Yeah. Mulder, I've never seen it before, and I'm a well trained pathologist. Who would know of it? None of my colleagues at Quantico... Nobody I know, nobody, is qualified to handle what these..." She paused. "Super soldiers, have created. They've created a new race, why not create a new, untraceable poison?" She murmured.
"Well won't someone eventually catch on?" Mulder asked.
"It's too crazy to believe. I would have never believed it, if I hadn't seen what I've seen." She said.
The phone rang. Scully reached over to it and answered.
"Hello?" She said.
"Katherine? It's John." John the principal, not John the agent.
"Hi, um, what's going on?" She asked.
"Well, the police are trying to figure out who did this to Gina. They believe it was an incident involving a possible date rapist, administering the poison and then coming to get her later."
"That doesn't make sense, she would've passed out in school... A date rapist would go after her at a party or club, but not a place like this where so many people were around."
"That's what I said, but they don't have any idea of another possibility. They have students on high alert, with a risk of kidnapping and a sex offender." He said.
"Do they have anyone in mind?" Scully asked.
"No." He said. She was silently relieved that nobody had to be blamed for something that was her fault.
"When will she be back at school?" Scully asked.
"Late this week, most likely. By the day of the chemistry regents." He said.
"Okay. I'll bring her some work and study guides during the week so she can be prepared." She said.
"Katherine, you're making a wonderful teacher." Her boss said.
"Thank you, I'll, uh, see you tomorrow." She stammered. The guilt rose up inside her... Had she never came to teach here, Gina would have never gotten sick. Everything would have been safe, normal... She sighed. Safety, normalcy... Things she would never have. Things because of her, the nobody around her could have either.
She suddenly felt very, very sick. She got up and ran to the bathroom.
Mulder was there within seconds, holding her hair back again as he had done the other morning. She sobbed violently as she kept vomiting, until she finally was able to pull herself together. Pulling her head up, she met Mulder's eyes.
"Baby sickness?" He asked.
"I wish it was." She murmured, walking to the sink to wash her face.
"Hey, you can't blame yourself. First of all, if you're going to blame someone, blame me." He said weakly.
"I'm not looking to place blame, Mulder... If I was going to, I suppose I could easily just blame the Super-soldiers." She said, half lying. Inside she still connected herself to the misfortune that was going on. "I just don't want to have anymore reasons to blame anyone." She said, wiping a tear from her cheek. She couldn't believe how easily she had started crying. Hormones, she told herself. Hormones.
"Hey, we're almost there, Dana. It's going to be okay. We're going to have a baby." He said, smiling.
"Yeah," She smiled back. "We are."
They went back into the living room, but Scully was clearly exhausted. He led her inside to the bedroom, and they changed into pajamas. They tried to disregard that it was only half past nine, and that they felt like an old married couple. They didn't say anything, they just laid in the bed beside one another. Nothing needed to be said... Words were superfluous, through their silence they conveyed more emotion than they ever could with words. He placed his fingers on her stomach, thinking of the baby that soon would be growing there. He moved slowly down the bed, so that he could kiss her stomach, as if kissing the unborn child goodnight. He resituated himself next to her, looking into her eyes. His look, his touch, assuaged all her fears and anxieties, giving her the peace she so sorely needed. Scully fell asleep in Mulder's arms that night, his kiss lingering on her lips.