Chapter seven - Idaho
Mulder and Scully got two hotel rooms about five miles from the research facility. They each checked into their own rooms too tired to do much besides order room service and fall asleep.
They had no idea that they were being watched.
The older man turned to Krycek. "Is it going as planned?"
"So far perfectly. If they are here, that means that she doesn't remember anything. She would never willingly put Mulder in danger."
"Are you going to visit her tonight?"
"I think not - I don't know if her body can take much more of the medication. I am afraid another dose may kill her and although she is an excellent lover, I think I would hate to loose her right before we truly need her."
"And Mulder?"
"I thought about it, but from my observations of him, he sleeps too infrequently and too lightly to take the chance. And besides, we are not sure of the long term affects of the medication on the human brain. Why risk destroying the part of him we want the most."
"And if he refuses to co-operate"
"Then he will be destroyed."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder and Scully met for breakfast and Mulder could immediately tell something was wrong. Scully, who was usually as cool as a cucumber before a case, seemed to be edgy and hostile towards him.
"I don't see why we have to go in there during broad daylight. Do you think that if there really is a government conspiracy going on in there that they will buy your feeble cover story about us running a routine anti- terrorism inspection? I think we should go at night. Just sneak in."
"Scully, since when have you wanted to sneak in anywhere? Aren't you concerned about not having a warrant?"
"Screw the warrant."
Mulder stopped arguing at that point his concern about Scully and her state of mind growing by the minute. He excused himself to go to the men's room using the chance to call the Lone Gunmen on his cell phone.
Langley answered.
"Turn off the tape, it's me." Mulder waited for the click and then continued "Anything new on the stuff I left with you?"
"Not much. A lot of it is made up of compounds we cannot identify. We are not even sure they are found here."
"Here?"
"On Earth"
"Oh, what about what you have been able to identify."
"So far, part of the substance seems to resemble an herb used in African mating rituals."
"Used for what?"
"To put unwilling brides into the right mood to greet their new husband's properly."
"No kidding - it makes you horny?"
"It makes you very sensitive to touch. Like your whole body is one erogenous zone. Then it makes you tired."
"Sounds like something Frohike would like. Anything else?"
"Not really but we think it may also have some sort of mind altering components to it. We will keep working on it and let you know."
"How's Scully?"
"Acting weird"
"Do you think she has been exposed to this stuff?
"I have no idea and in the mood she is in, I am not going to ask her."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder returned to the table and found that Scully's mood had gotten even worse. She barely would talk to him and only briefly nodded when he said that he would do what she wanted and go into the facility at night.
Scully barely acknowledged him as she rose from the table and left. It was almost as if she was in a trance barely snapping out of it when Mulder called out after her.
"What time Scully?"
"One" and she was gone leaving Mulder alone with his breakfast and his thoughts.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scully returned to her room and immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number etched in her memory. Her called was answered on the second ring.
"Good morning Dana"
"Good morning Alex"
"Do you have something you want to tell me?"
"Yes. We will be there at one"
"Very well done Dana. Now I want you to go asleep and stay asleep until it is time to leave. Don't talk to anyone - especially Mulder. You cannot trust him. He will hurt you."
"I understand" and Scully hung up the phone and lay on the bed. She was asleep within minutes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scully slept and she dreamt. Over and over again the same dream kept repeating itself. She was in trouble and Mulder would rescue her at the last minute.
In her dreams she kept screaming to Mulder to help her. At first he didn't hear her but finally he did and then he saved her.
But the dream ended the same way every time. She took out her gun and shot Mulder through the heart.
She was safe but he was dead. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder paused at Scully's door trying to decide whether or not to knock. Breakfast had not gone well and even though he was not looking forward to dealing with Scully in her current mindset, he was worried about her and thought he would check up on her.
He started to knock when the door swung open. Apparently Scully had forgotten to close it properly.
"Scully?" he said peering through the door. He spotted her lying on her bed and walked over to her. "Scully?" he said again as he bent down to touch her.
Then her heard her feeble cry "Mulder, help me. Please help me. Mulder"
He tried to shake her but she would not wake up, she only repeated her plea time and time again.
Mulder tried again and again to wake his sleeping partner only to be greeted by the same feeble pleas for help. Realizing that she was not going to wake up any time soon, Mulder sat next to her on the bed and gathered her in his arms murmuring words of kindness into her ear as he stroked her hair.
"I'm here Scully" he whispered to her "I won't let anything happen to you."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was dark when Scully was able to pull herself out of her sleep induced trance. For a moment or two she had no idea of where she was. She only knew she felt safe.
There was a body lying next to hers holding her close. It was Mulder - the source of her safety.
She sighed quietly and savored the moment waking up slowly.
But as her mind became more awake, the panic within in began to stir. She bolted up right suddenly terrified of the man next to her.
He could not be trusted. He would hurt her.
Mulder felt her movement and her transformation from the woman who looked so content to be held in his arms, to the woman who was suddenly afraid.
"Scully, it's okay. I won't hurt you."
Scully just stared at him. "I know I should believe you, but I just can't". She got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. "I need to get ready"
Mulder scratched his head in bewilderment watching Scully leave the room. He was worried about his partner and worried about taking her into the facility with him that night.
"Scully, maybe you should stay back here and let me go in there alone."
Scully walked out of the bathroom still brushing her teeth "Why would I want to do that?"
"You just seem a bit jumpy around me tonight. I don't want to put you in danger."
"I'm fine Mulder. I just had some bad dreams that spooked me a bit."
She finished brushing her teeth and walked over to him. She touched his cheek lightly. "Really, Mulder, I'm fine. And even if I wasn't I would never let you go in there without me covering your back."
Mulder nodded and returned to his room to get ready. Somehow he couldn't erase the picture of Scully stabbing him right in the back she was supposed to be protecting.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
About an hour later they arrived at the facility dressed in dark clothing carrying nothing more than their weapons and flashlights.
Entry into the building was easier than they anticipated and the suspicion that something was very wrong grew in Mulder's mind and he and Scully slowly walked down the corridors.
The first corridor was lined with small rooms which appeared to be labs and examination rooms. Since there were so many of them, they decided to split up do some quick checking and meet back near the main entry way in 30 minutes.
After consulting their watches they separated. Mulder watched Scully as she continued down the hall bypassing the labs. That surprised him - he thought for sure she would be curious about what experiments they were working on.
Mulder himself peered through the windows of several labs before seeing something the peaked his interest. The room in question seemed to be used for examination purposes. On the small table next to the examination table sat a small vial containing the small greenish liquid Mulder had found back in DC.
He glanced around for Scully but seeing her no where in sight entered the room alone. He walked over to the vial, picked it up and looked at it for a second or two before putting it in his pocket.
"That was meant for you Mulder"
Mulder spun around to find Alex Krycek standing in front of the closed door pointing a gun at him. "Originally we thought to use that substance on you instead of Agent Scully but since we were not quite sure of its long term affects we chose her. She is far more expendable to the project than you."
"What have you done with her and what do you want?" Mulder said. He was not only curious but was trying to buy himself sometime to figure out how to disarm Krycek.
"We want you. Against us you are a major threat to the project and the cloning procedures we were doing right here in this building. With us, we would be unstoppable."
"Were doing"
"You don't think we left everything here for you to find, did you? Everything has been moved to a more secure location."
"This was all just a trap?"
"More or less and Scully the bait."
"How?"
"That substance you found is indeed extraterrestrial. In small doses it can be used for mind control with very few side affects besides heighten sensitivity to touch. Your partner, however, proved to be a more difficult case than we originally anticipated. Her loyalty to you ran very deep. It took many treatments to get her to think the right way. She has been given more medication than any human has received in the past. We are not sure what the long term affects will be. It's unfortunate, but she is expendable."
"If anything happens to her."
"Spare me the speech Mulder. You are going to stay here a while as our guest while we decide exactly what to do with you. If you are lucky, I won't share stories of my most intimate moments with your partner with you."
Krycek looked down for one second apparently looking for something with which to tie Mulder up and Mulder jumped on the opportunity - hurling himself at Krycek and knocking him to the ground. His gun sailing across the room.
The two men were locked in a battle with neither one having the advantage over the other when suddenly the sound of a voice made them stop.
"Let go of him" a cold female voice said.
They separated and looked over to the door where Scully was standing, weapon poised.
"Scully, thank God you are here. Are you alright?" Mulder said.
"Shut up Mulder"
"Dana, remember what we talked about? Now is the time. You need to do this Dana. For you and for us." Krycek said softly.
Scully pointed the gun a bit more towards Mulder.
"Scully, it's me here. I'm on your side."
The gun pointed a bit more towards Krycek.
"Dana, you know you cannot trust him. He will only hurt you."
The conversation and gun pointing when back and forth with Scully only getting more confusion and the pounding in her head grew. Her heart and her head were doing battle with her the only true victim.
When the pain became unbearable, she knew she had to make a choice. She pointed the gun "I am sorry" was all she said before she pulled the trigger.
There was the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. The man she shot and herself.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ end of chapter seven
Mulder and Scully got two hotel rooms about five miles from the research facility. They each checked into their own rooms too tired to do much besides order room service and fall asleep.
They had no idea that they were being watched.
The older man turned to Krycek. "Is it going as planned?"
"So far perfectly. If they are here, that means that she doesn't remember anything. She would never willingly put Mulder in danger."
"Are you going to visit her tonight?"
"I think not - I don't know if her body can take much more of the medication. I am afraid another dose may kill her and although she is an excellent lover, I think I would hate to loose her right before we truly need her."
"And Mulder?"
"I thought about it, but from my observations of him, he sleeps too infrequently and too lightly to take the chance. And besides, we are not sure of the long term affects of the medication on the human brain. Why risk destroying the part of him we want the most."
"And if he refuses to co-operate"
"Then he will be destroyed."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder and Scully met for breakfast and Mulder could immediately tell something was wrong. Scully, who was usually as cool as a cucumber before a case, seemed to be edgy and hostile towards him.
"I don't see why we have to go in there during broad daylight. Do you think that if there really is a government conspiracy going on in there that they will buy your feeble cover story about us running a routine anti- terrorism inspection? I think we should go at night. Just sneak in."
"Scully, since when have you wanted to sneak in anywhere? Aren't you concerned about not having a warrant?"
"Screw the warrant."
Mulder stopped arguing at that point his concern about Scully and her state of mind growing by the minute. He excused himself to go to the men's room using the chance to call the Lone Gunmen on his cell phone.
Langley answered.
"Turn off the tape, it's me." Mulder waited for the click and then continued "Anything new on the stuff I left with you?"
"Not much. A lot of it is made up of compounds we cannot identify. We are not even sure they are found here."
"Here?"
"On Earth"
"Oh, what about what you have been able to identify."
"So far, part of the substance seems to resemble an herb used in African mating rituals."
"Used for what?"
"To put unwilling brides into the right mood to greet their new husband's properly."
"No kidding - it makes you horny?"
"It makes you very sensitive to touch. Like your whole body is one erogenous zone. Then it makes you tired."
"Sounds like something Frohike would like. Anything else?"
"Not really but we think it may also have some sort of mind altering components to it. We will keep working on it and let you know."
"How's Scully?"
"Acting weird"
"Do you think she has been exposed to this stuff?
"I have no idea and in the mood she is in, I am not going to ask her."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder returned to the table and found that Scully's mood had gotten even worse. She barely would talk to him and only briefly nodded when he said that he would do what she wanted and go into the facility at night.
Scully barely acknowledged him as she rose from the table and left. It was almost as if she was in a trance barely snapping out of it when Mulder called out after her.
"What time Scully?"
"One" and she was gone leaving Mulder alone with his breakfast and his thoughts.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scully returned to her room and immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number etched in her memory. Her called was answered on the second ring.
"Good morning Dana"
"Good morning Alex"
"Do you have something you want to tell me?"
"Yes. We will be there at one"
"Very well done Dana. Now I want you to go asleep and stay asleep until it is time to leave. Don't talk to anyone - especially Mulder. You cannot trust him. He will hurt you."
"I understand" and Scully hung up the phone and lay on the bed. She was asleep within minutes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scully slept and she dreamt. Over and over again the same dream kept repeating itself. She was in trouble and Mulder would rescue her at the last minute.
In her dreams she kept screaming to Mulder to help her. At first he didn't hear her but finally he did and then he saved her.
But the dream ended the same way every time. She took out her gun and shot Mulder through the heart.
She was safe but he was dead. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder paused at Scully's door trying to decide whether or not to knock. Breakfast had not gone well and even though he was not looking forward to dealing with Scully in her current mindset, he was worried about her and thought he would check up on her.
He started to knock when the door swung open. Apparently Scully had forgotten to close it properly.
"Scully?" he said peering through the door. He spotted her lying on her bed and walked over to her. "Scully?" he said again as he bent down to touch her.
Then her heard her feeble cry "Mulder, help me. Please help me. Mulder"
He tried to shake her but she would not wake up, she only repeated her plea time and time again.
Mulder tried again and again to wake his sleeping partner only to be greeted by the same feeble pleas for help. Realizing that she was not going to wake up any time soon, Mulder sat next to her on the bed and gathered her in his arms murmuring words of kindness into her ear as he stroked her hair.
"I'm here Scully" he whispered to her "I won't let anything happen to you."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was dark when Scully was able to pull herself out of her sleep induced trance. For a moment or two she had no idea of where she was. She only knew she felt safe.
There was a body lying next to hers holding her close. It was Mulder - the source of her safety.
She sighed quietly and savored the moment waking up slowly.
But as her mind became more awake, the panic within in began to stir. She bolted up right suddenly terrified of the man next to her.
He could not be trusted. He would hurt her.
Mulder felt her movement and her transformation from the woman who looked so content to be held in his arms, to the woman who was suddenly afraid.
"Scully, it's okay. I won't hurt you."
Scully just stared at him. "I know I should believe you, but I just can't". She got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. "I need to get ready"
Mulder scratched his head in bewilderment watching Scully leave the room. He was worried about his partner and worried about taking her into the facility with him that night.
"Scully, maybe you should stay back here and let me go in there alone."
Scully walked out of the bathroom still brushing her teeth "Why would I want to do that?"
"You just seem a bit jumpy around me tonight. I don't want to put you in danger."
"I'm fine Mulder. I just had some bad dreams that spooked me a bit."
She finished brushing her teeth and walked over to him. She touched his cheek lightly. "Really, Mulder, I'm fine. And even if I wasn't I would never let you go in there without me covering your back."
Mulder nodded and returned to his room to get ready. Somehow he couldn't erase the picture of Scully stabbing him right in the back she was supposed to be protecting.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
About an hour later they arrived at the facility dressed in dark clothing carrying nothing more than their weapons and flashlights.
Entry into the building was easier than they anticipated and the suspicion that something was very wrong grew in Mulder's mind and he and Scully slowly walked down the corridors.
The first corridor was lined with small rooms which appeared to be labs and examination rooms. Since there were so many of them, they decided to split up do some quick checking and meet back near the main entry way in 30 minutes.
After consulting their watches they separated. Mulder watched Scully as she continued down the hall bypassing the labs. That surprised him - he thought for sure she would be curious about what experiments they were working on.
Mulder himself peered through the windows of several labs before seeing something the peaked his interest. The room in question seemed to be used for examination purposes. On the small table next to the examination table sat a small vial containing the small greenish liquid Mulder had found back in DC.
He glanced around for Scully but seeing her no where in sight entered the room alone. He walked over to the vial, picked it up and looked at it for a second or two before putting it in his pocket.
"That was meant for you Mulder"
Mulder spun around to find Alex Krycek standing in front of the closed door pointing a gun at him. "Originally we thought to use that substance on you instead of Agent Scully but since we were not quite sure of its long term affects we chose her. She is far more expendable to the project than you."
"What have you done with her and what do you want?" Mulder said. He was not only curious but was trying to buy himself sometime to figure out how to disarm Krycek.
"We want you. Against us you are a major threat to the project and the cloning procedures we were doing right here in this building. With us, we would be unstoppable."
"Were doing"
"You don't think we left everything here for you to find, did you? Everything has been moved to a more secure location."
"This was all just a trap?"
"More or less and Scully the bait."
"How?"
"That substance you found is indeed extraterrestrial. In small doses it can be used for mind control with very few side affects besides heighten sensitivity to touch. Your partner, however, proved to be a more difficult case than we originally anticipated. Her loyalty to you ran very deep. It took many treatments to get her to think the right way. She has been given more medication than any human has received in the past. We are not sure what the long term affects will be. It's unfortunate, but she is expendable."
"If anything happens to her."
"Spare me the speech Mulder. You are going to stay here a while as our guest while we decide exactly what to do with you. If you are lucky, I won't share stories of my most intimate moments with your partner with you."
Krycek looked down for one second apparently looking for something with which to tie Mulder up and Mulder jumped on the opportunity - hurling himself at Krycek and knocking him to the ground. His gun sailing across the room.
The two men were locked in a battle with neither one having the advantage over the other when suddenly the sound of a voice made them stop.
"Let go of him" a cold female voice said.
They separated and looked over to the door where Scully was standing, weapon poised.
"Scully, thank God you are here. Are you alright?" Mulder said.
"Shut up Mulder"
"Dana, remember what we talked about? Now is the time. You need to do this Dana. For you and for us." Krycek said softly.
Scully pointed the gun a bit more towards Mulder.
"Scully, it's me here. I'm on your side."
The gun pointed a bit more towards Krycek.
"Dana, you know you cannot trust him. He will only hurt you."
The conversation and gun pointing when back and forth with Scully only getting more confusion and the pounding in her head grew. Her heart and her head were doing battle with her the only true victim.
When the pain became unbearable, she knew she had to make a choice. She pointed the gun "I am sorry" was all she said before she pulled the trigger.
There was the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. The man she shot and herself.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ end of chapter seven