Tomorrow
By Jillian
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mulder awoke when the phone rang at about two in the morning. He rolled over, expecting to see Scully there. The bed was empty, and he flew to the phone, panicking.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Mister Mulder," said a voice he didn't recognize. "Are you wondering where she is?"
"Who is this? What did you do to Scully?"
"She put herself in this position. We warned you about the liquid. Now we're going to have to get serious."
"Where is she?!" He screamed.
"She's not hurt, nor is the unborn child... Yet. I believe you know what we are capable of, Mulder. If you mention one thing of this liquid to another soul, if one more drop is produced, we will take action against her. Have no doubt about that."
"What can I do to save her?" He asked.
"Find her. We won't kill her if you stop the production, and get rid of the liquid. You're the only one who can stop it, Mulder. You'll be rewarded for that. If you find her within forty-eight hours, we won't kill her. If you can get her home with you, safely, and you destroy the liquid, we'll forget the entire incident. If you save her, and produce the liquid, we'll strike again... Twice as hard. And if you don't save her by then, we'll kill her ourselves. That's all, Mulder." The voice said right before Mulder heard a click.
He was throwing on clothes when he saw the note on the dresser. Frantically, his eyes swept across the page. She was at Monica's? She must have been taken on the way there. Just as his eyes moved to the phone, he noticed something that reflected the lamp light. It was on Scully's microscope. It was tiny, but Mulder made out a camera. "Shit, they've been watching her." He said aloud, to no one in particular. Quickly he reached for his cell phone, and dialed Scully's cell. "The cellular customer you are trying to reach--" Mulder hung up on the recording, and searched for Monica Reyes' number. He dialed it and she answered after two rings.
"Hello?"
"Monica, it's Mulder. I need to know where Scully is." He said.
"She's here, I um, needed some girl talk." Monica lied.
"Damnit, Monica, I know she's not there. I just got a call from the Super-soldiers, they have her. Where was she going? Did she leave your house? Was she going somewhere else?"
"Oh my God... She was going to her mother's, I told her to tell you, but she--"
"I'll check there." He said.
"Let me know when you find something." Monica said before Mulder hung up on her.
Mulder searched for Mrs. Scully's number throughout the room and in his cell phone, but couldn't find. He ran outside, and saw that the car was gone. Damnit, Scully had taken it. He pulled out his cell phone and hit redial. Monica picked up again.
"I need you to drive to her mother's, the car is gone." Mulder said.
"I'll be right there." She said.
Ten minutes later, Monica Reyes pulled her SUV into the parking lot of Mulder's hotel. Mulder got in the back carrying the suitcase with the liquid in it for protection, and noticing John in the front. Gibson was in the seat next to him. "What a time for a reunion." He muttered. "Gibson, can you tell what she's thinking?"
"No. I'm sorry. She's too far, something's stopping her." Gibson said.
Nothing was said until Mulder told Monica how to get to Mrs. Scully's house. When they arrived there, Mulder leapt from the car and knocked on the door like a madman. Mrs. Scully hadn't been able to sleep since her daughter left, and she hoped this knock was her again. She hurried to the door, and opened to see Fox Mulder standing on her doorstep.
"Fox, what's wrong? Where's Dana?" She asked, panicking.
"I don't know. Someone took her. Did she arrive here?" He asked.
"Yes, she came to visit... She said she was afraid to tell you, that you'd get upset with her for letting me know she was still alive. She left, Fox."
"They got her on the way home, then." He murmured. "Mrs. Scully, give me your phone number. I'll call you when I know something." He said. "I've got to go find her." He programmed her number into his cell phone and rushed to the car.
"She was here, but she left." He told Monica, John, and Gibson. "John, give me your badge number." He said.
"Why?" John asked.
"I'm going to call the cops about her car."
"JTT123087." John said. Mulder's fingers frantically dialed the area police.
As soon as they picked up, he let out an entire sentence in one breath. "This is Special Agent John Doggett with the FBI, badge number JTT123087. I need to know if any cars with the following descriptions have been reported in an accident or abandoned in the last several hours. A white 2002 Ford Escort, rental,"
"Yeah, uh, one. They just called it in. A convenience store over on Jacobs Avenue." That was about three blocks away. "The tires were slashed, it's still down there, nobody's gotten a chance to pick it up yet."
"Thanks." Mulder said, hanging up. "Make a right and go three blocks to the convenience store on Jacobs. Her car is there."
They pulled into the lot and saw the car in the corner. Sure enough, it was their rental. Mulder ran into the store to ask the clerk if he had seen her. Behind the counter was a kid in his twenties, with too many piercings. Mulder startled him, but surely got his attention as he sped into the store.
"Have you seen a woman about 5'3, her late thirties, red hair," He began.
"Yeah, uh, she got a coffee in here around one thirty, quarter to two maybe. She walked out though, hadn't seen anything unusual since. Why?" He asked.
"Thanks." Mulder said simply, trotting back outside.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Scully awoke slumped against a cold cement wall, on an equally cold cement floor. Her head was pounding, and she noticed an armed guard standing in the room. She let out and involuntary moan of pain, and the man walked over to her. She surveyed her body, seeing the same clothes she left her mother's in, all in tact. She felt pains in her chest, and looked down to see bruises about two inches beneath her neck line. Underneath the hem of her short sleeve shirt, she could see a puncture wound on her arm.
"What the Hell did you drug me with?" She demanded, feeling kind of dizzy.
"Don't worry, it won't harm you. We needed you sedated, that's all. We don't intend on killing you yet. He has over twenty four hours to get to you. Of course, he may not know since you lied to him." The man said.
"What? I did not, how would you know?" She demanded.
"Your stunt with the cross may have stopped our surveillance in New York, but you walked right into our trap in DC." The man said.
"He'll find me." She said, trying mostly to assure herself.
"You'd better hope so. Or you're not going to be a very happy woman." The man threatened. She studied his face. He even looked arrogant, in his mid-thirties, slightly younger than her. Dark eyes and hair, a menacing scowl. Typical bad guy.
"You don't want to do that, I'm preg-"
"Yes, I know you're pregnant. I know more than you realize. You're not just someone they picked up off the street to throw in here. You're Dana Scully. I know more about you than most people do. And I know that if he doesn't get here by the designated time, I'll be the one to kill you and your unborn child." He said. His voice was flat, emotionless.
"You son of a bitch, you leave me and this child alone, do you understand me?!" She demanded.
"I will if he follows the directions, which are to find you and cease producing the liquid, and also destroying what he already has. We'll know if he breaks one of those conditions, if either of you do, and we'll hit you twice as hard as this time." He said. He then reached into his pocket, pulling out a syringe.
"Time to put you back to sleep." He muttered.
"What the hell is that? Leave me alone!" She struggled to get away, but she was still in pain and dizzy.
"It won't harm you or the fetus. It'll merely knock you out for about six hours, frightening your little partner boy when he comes to your rescue." He said, piercing her with the needle. She opened her mouth to protest, but darkness overcame her before she could say a word.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mulder reached the rental car, where the others were standing, and looked at the slashed tires. He tried to get into Scully's head. She would have walked out, and seen the tires. Someone probably snuck up behind her, possibly drugging her, and taking her away with them. If only she'd been honest, and they'd gone together... It wasn't time to think like that.
"Mulder, look." John said, pointing to a note on the front seat of the car. Mulder opened the unlocked door and took it out.
Nice work, Mr. Mulder. You're one step closer to finding her.
It was printed on paper with the address on the header. It read: "748 Edgegrove Avenue, Arlington Virginia." Mulder was familiar with the area. He had suspected for quite some time that the Syndicate met near there, where there was a series of warehouses. Scully never believed him, and every time he managed to get inside, nobody was left. Just an empty table, with leather chairs around it. It always seemed their style. Maybe they'd passed it on to the Super-soldiers.
He showed Monica and John, and they and Gibson got back into the car, speeding off in the direction of Arlington. During the drive, Mulder filled up two hypodermic needles with the liquid for each of them, as protection. It was like carrying a gun against these people. He put the tiny covers over the point, to prevent stabbing anyone in the car by mistake, and set them down at his side. He'd hand it to them when they arrived. After what felt like a lifetime for Mulder, they pulled into a lot. The sun was rising. What had they done to her? Mulder noted that this was record timing.
"Here," He began, holding out the hypodermic needles. "It's the liquid. You each have two. If you suspect someone of being a Super-soldier, use it." They got out of the car and stared at the huge building before them. It had about three floors and was a square block in area. This wasn't going to be quick. He jogged towards the door, but Monica stopped.
"I don't want to take Gibson in. I'll wait out here with him." She said. "You take these extra needles, Gibson and I will keep one each." She said.
"Alright," Mulder said, taking the needles.
"Monica," John debated.
"Go, John." She said. "I'll be fine."
Before he walked away, he returned to her and placed a passionate kiss on her lips.
As they resumed the jog to the door, Mulder said "Nice work, buddy."
"Took me long enough." John replied.
The door they reached was unlocked, oddly enough. These people wanted them to find her, so that they would discontinue the liquid production. That was not part of Mulder's plan however, but he would think that out later. All he wanted to do now was to save Dana Scully. They wandered through the darkened hallway of the room, John pointing his gun, ahead of Mulder. The building was eerily empty, probably to throw them off. They scoured the first floor, which took about a half an hour, but found absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.
"Hey Mulder, maybe this is a decoy. Maybe she's somewhere else." John suggested.
"Yeah, and maybe that's what they want us to think. C'mon, there's still two more floors to check." He said. "We'll cut it in half. I'll take the second, you take the third."
"Are you sure you wanna split up?" He asked.
"Yeah. You're a big boy, John, you can look out for yourself." Mulder said sarcastically.
"Well as long as you can," He muttered, running up the stairs ahead of Mulder.
Fox Mulder walked out of the stairwell and into a hallway just as dank and dreary as the one on the first floor. It pained him to know Scully was somewhere in a place like this. For several minutes he wandered through the floor, going in and out of rooms, finding nothing. Finally, he walked into a room that looked like it had been used. There was a large wooden table, with ten leather chairs around it. It had a water cooler, and Mulder touched his hand to it. The water was still cold. It hadn't been long since someone was there. At the far right corner of the room, there was a wooden door, like one that led to a closet.
Mulder quietly opened it, again unlocked, and saw that instead of a closet, it was a long hallway. He saw a man at the end of the hallway. The man was watching another door in front of him, fumbling around with a keycard, waiting for it to open. Mulder watched as the man, dressed in black, repeatedly put the keycard in the wrong way. Ever so quietly, Mulder approached him. When he was about a yard away, the man felt his presence, and spun around on his heels, reaching for his gun.
Mulder, however, already had the needle of magnetite in his hand, and jabbed it into the mans arm. Thank god for the heat and short sleeve shirts, because apparently the liquid hit him in the right spot. Every vein in his body turned silver, and he shook violently. He fell to the ground like a tree, as stiff as a board. Super-soldier. One down, how many to go? He only had two more vials of the vaccine, and he was seriously regretting bringing so little.
Mulder picked up the mans keycard, and inserted the card the correct way on his first try. It was no more difficult than using a bus pass, but luckily somebody else's stupidity gained him entrance into a large room, with concrete walls and a concrete floor. At the far corner of the room, laying sprawled on the floor, was Scully. A man was standing over her, kicking her legs. She had a bruise on her face, and she was unconscious. Oh god, the baby. The baby. Scully. The baby. Scully.
"Get the hell off of her you son of a bitch!" Mulder cried.
"So you're the infamous Mulder. A pleasure to meet you." The man said. He drew no weapon, and Mulder ran over to Scully.
"Dana, oh God, Dana, wake up." He said to her, cradling her in his arms. "What did you do to her?!" He demanded.
"Nothing permanent. I was informed not to break anything." He murmured. "Just to teach her a lesson."
"Damnit, couldn't you teach me?" Mulder asked, tears in his eyes.
"The best way to teach you was to punish her." The man replied.
"Did you drug her? What did you giver her?" He asked.
"I'm not at liberty to say." The man said.
"If she's hurt, if our baby is hurt, I swear to God," Mulder began, rising and walking towards the man.
"What can you do to me?" The cocky man asked.
"This," Mulder muttered, stabbing the man with the needle.
As he shook, the man muttered something to Mulder.
"Be wise, save yourselves, and destroy all of it." Seconds later, he fell to the ground, dead.
Just then, John Doggett walked into the room. "Jesus, Mulder, is she okay?" He asked.
"I don't know. She has a pulse, it's kind of thready I think. She was always the one who could tell."
"There were three of em upstairs, in a meeting room. They were planning somethin', but I took 'em all out." Mulder found the way John spoke rather amusing, it was like something out of an action movie.
"Let's get her out of here." Mulder said, lifting her limp body, looking at the bruises about her. As he carried her, her shirt lifted up displaying her stomach. No bruises. They hadn't hit her there, thank God. They intended simply to rough her up. Of course, Mulder had no clue why she was knocked out. What would he tell the doctors?
They met up with Monica and Gibson outside, who called 911. Within ten minutes, an ambulance came to pick up a pregnant woman who was "attacked and stabbed with a syringe full of an unknown substance." They put her onto a stretcher, and they loaded it into the ambulance.
"I'm going with her." Mulder said.
"Sir, let us do our job." The EMT said.
"No, I've been told that too many times." He said, climbing into the back. "I'll meet you at the hospital!" He called to John and Monica, who ushered Gibson into the car.
"Please, Dana, wake up. Please be okay." He pleaded with her motionless body. A lone tear slipped down his cheek as the ambulance sped away.
End of chapter Thirteen
BUM BUM BUM… Want more? Let me know!! Feedback desperately begged for at JILLIBEAN@aol.com or review me here at my second home, fanfiction.net.!