CHAPTER 9: MY FRIENDS SAY I'M ACTING PECULIARLY
Mulder practically flew to Walter Skinner's office, taking the stairs instead of the elevator for he simply could not stand still. He ran past his superior's receptionist and stopped dead in Skinner's office doubled over and wheezing.
"Skinner...Wal....ter....I...." Mulder coughed in a strangled manner.
Skinner immediately got up and ran to Mulder's aide, "Agent Mulder, are you alright? Here sit down." Skinner pushed Mulder towards the sofa in his office. He yelled for his receptionist to get the man a glass of water.
"No sir, just...give me a second...to catch my breath..." Skinner's face began to look a bit less concerned and Mulder received the glass of water that was called for. He sipped it noisily deciding it best to sit down. "I saw Scully, sir. She was outside of the building just a moment ago." Skinner attempted to interrupt looking very concerned for Mulder's mental state, but Mulder continued without pause. "I was walking up to the building and I got a sudden pain in my head, just like a sinus headache or something, and I looked up and she was there." Mulder decided to leave out the scenario of seeing Scully while he was in the shower that morning for that would be too much to digest. He peered at Skinner for support.
Skinner paused for a moment, speechless, and then decided it best to ever so slightly change the subject. "Have your sessions with Dr. Karnofsky been going well?"
"They have been fine. Look I am not delusional. If I had reached out my hand, I am certain that I would have touched her. She was there, sir. I am not crazy."
"Mulder, we have been over this. Dana passed away, there is nothing you or I could do. I have been grieving over this myself, but she wouldn't want that. She would want us to move on, and you cannot make this a personal quest to find her, when there is nothing to find. I mean, Mulder, we have proof that she died. I don't mean to sound cold, but there is no way that she could be alive however much we wish her to be."
"It wasn't real. They did this. I've done some research, I mean what about the clones sir? What makes you think they could not do that with her?"
"Mulder, get a hold of yourself. Who is they? The smoking man? We checked her body for EVERYTHING as you requested, there was no trace of anything abnormal except for the chip she had already had. And even if there was some miraculous conspiratorial faking of her death, why? Why would the smoking man pretend to kill her?"
"Distraction. Hopelessness. He took my sister and now he wants to take the only other thing that I really have...well, he wants to take everything I care for away from me. Did you forget about my father, Scully's sister?"
"I don't think that the man's agenda is to completely drive you crazy, Mulder. I think that you need to take hold of this, maybe get more appointments with Dr. Karnofsky, get..." At this, his door opened and Agent Carson walked in unsteadily looking as if he had seen a ghost.
"Your receptionist called me sir, she said that Agent Mulder had come in."
"Carson, this isn't such a great time."
"Oh," Carson faltered, "I'll just come back a bit later." He looked very nervous and looked as if he were going to be sick as he turned to leave Skinner's office.
Mulder spoke quickly, "Sir, plain and simple, I saw her. Believe me, I know Agent Scully, and she certainly was alive." Agent Carson stopped at a dead halt and began to sweat profusely.
Skinner looked a bit embarrassed that Carson would have heard this and took his anger out on him, "Carson, I SAID that this was not a good time."
Carson stared at the floor for a moment and breathed in deeply, "Sir, I have something that I need to tell you that is of the utmost importance."
"Well, you'd better make it quick because Agent Mulder and I are in the middle of something here." Skinner looked absolutely livid.
Carson sucked in and quickly responded. "I saw her too."
Mulder turned in ridiculous speed sizing up the man. Skinner looked aghast. "What? Is this some sort of sick joke, Carson, because if it is you are fired as of this moment."
"No, sir. I swear to you. I saw Agent Scully this morning. I did not know it was her when I saw her. I had gone to use the facilities and when I came back I noticed that the door to Agent Mulder's office was slightly open, so I knocked on it and asked if anyone was in there. When I opened the door, I saw that there was a woman with her back turned to rifling through the filing cabinet, so I asked her who she was and why she was down there, but she did not respond. The last thing I remember was her picking up a file and getting on the elevator. I couldn't stop her. After that, I looked in the filing cabinet and saw that it was Agent Scully's file that was missing."
"Agent Carson, what do you mean, you couldn't stop her? She was right in front of you."
"It was strange, sir, it was like my feet were glued to the ground. She looked at me, and in my head I knew that I did not need to see her identification. It was like someone put that there. Her lips were moving, but I could not hear anything.. I just knew that she had to get through and by the time I regained consciousness or whatever you want to call it, the elevator doors had closed and she was gone. I thought that I was hallucinating, but the fact that her file was there just earlier today leads me to believe otherwise." Mulder was beginning to look frantic, yet somewhat relieved knowing that he was not crazy.
Mulder's eyes popped open, "We can look at the tape! They keep a record everyday. I think it was about 10:42 when I saw her walking past me."
Carson sat up, "Yeah, 10:40 when I last looked at the clock after she left."
"Alright, this seems like the best idea, though, I do not see how this could be possible. Let's go talk to security." All three men began their trek downstairs to the security desk, all wondering what the hell was going on.
CHAPTER 10: COMING SOON
Mulder practically flew to Walter Skinner's office, taking the stairs instead of the elevator for he simply could not stand still. He ran past his superior's receptionist and stopped dead in Skinner's office doubled over and wheezing.
"Skinner...Wal....ter....I...." Mulder coughed in a strangled manner.
Skinner immediately got up and ran to Mulder's aide, "Agent Mulder, are you alright? Here sit down." Skinner pushed Mulder towards the sofa in his office. He yelled for his receptionist to get the man a glass of water.
"No sir, just...give me a second...to catch my breath..." Skinner's face began to look a bit less concerned and Mulder received the glass of water that was called for. He sipped it noisily deciding it best to sit down. "I saw Scully, sir. She was outside of the building just a moment ago." Skinner attempted to interrupt looking very concerned for Mulder's mental state, but Mulder continued without pause. "I was walking up to the building and I got a sudden pain in my head, just like a sinus headache or something, and I looked up and she was there." Mulder decided to leave out the scenario of seeing Scully while he was in the shower that morning for that would be too much to digest. He peered at Skinner for support.
Skinner paused for a moment, speechless, and then decided it best to ever so slightly change the subject. "Have your sessions with Dr. Karnofsky been going well?"
"They have been fine. Look I am not delusional. If I had reached out my hand, I am certain that I would have touched her. She was there, sir. I am not crazy."
"Mulder, we have been over this. Dana passed away, there is nothing you or I could do. I have been grieving over this myself, but she wouldn't want that. She would want us to move on, and you cannot make this a personal quest to find her, when there is nothing to find. I mean, Mulder, we have proof that she died. I don't mean to sound cold, but there is no way that she could be alive however much we wish her to be."
"It wasn't real. They did this. I've done some research, I mean what about the clones sir? What makes you think they could not do that with her?"
"Mulder, get a hold of yourself. Who is they? The smoking man? We checked her body for EVERYTHING as you requested, there was no trace of anything abnormal except for the chip she had already had. And even if there was some miraculous conspiratorial faking of her death, why? Why would the smoking man pretend to kill her?"
"Distraction. Hopelessness. He took my sister and now he wants to take the only other thing that I really have...well, he wants to take everything I care for away from me. Did you forget about my father, Scully's sister?"
"I don't think that the man's agenda is to completely drive you crazy, Mulder. I think that you need to take hold of this, maybe get more appointments with Dr. Karnofsky, get..." At this, his door opened and Agent Carson walked in unsteadily looking as if he had seen a ghost.
"Your receptionist called me sir, she said that Agent Mulder had come in."
"Carson, this isn't such a great time."
"Oh," Carson faltered, "I'll just come back a bit later." He looked very nervous and looked as if he were going to be sick as he turned to leave Skinner's office.
Mulder spoke quickly, "Sir, plain and simple, I saw her. Believe me, I know Agent Scully, and she certainly was alive." Agent Carson stopped at a dead halt and began to sweat profusely.
Skinner looked a bit embarrassed that Carson would have heard this and took his anger out on him, "Carson, I SAID that this was not a good time."
Carson stared at the floor for a moment and breathed in deeply, "Sir, I have something that I need to tell you that is of the utmost importance."
"Well, you'd better make it quick because Agent Mulder and I are in the middle of something here." Skinner looked absolutely livid.
Carson sucked in and quickly responded. "I saw her too."
Mulder turned in ridiculous speed sizing up the man. Skinner looked aghast. "What? Is this some sort of sick joke, Carson, because if it is you are fired as of this moment."
"No, sir. I swear to you. I saw Agent Scully this morning. I did not know it was her when I saw her. I had gone to use the facilities and when I came back I noticed that the door to Agent Mulder's office was slightly open, so I knocked on it and asked if anyone was in there. When I opened the door, I saw that there was a woman with her back turned to rifling through the filing cabinet, so I asked her who she was and why she was down there, but she did not respond. The last thing I remember was her picking up a file and getting on the elevator. I couldn't stop her. After that, I looked in the filing cabinet and saw that it was Agent Scully's file that was missing."
"Agent Carson, what do you mean, you couldn't stop her? She was right in front of you."
"It was strange, sir, it was like my feet were glued to the ground. She looked at me, and in my head I knew that I did not need to see her identification. It was like someone put that there. Her lips were moving, but I could not hear anything.. I just knew that she had to get through and by the time I regained consciousness or whatever you want to call it, the elevator doors had closed and she was gone. I thought that I was hallucinating, but the fact that her file was there just earlier today leads me to believe otherwise." Mulder was beginning to look frantic, yet somewhat relieved knowing that he was not crazy.
Mulder's eyes popped open, "We can look at the tape! They keep a record everyday. I think it was about 10:42 when I saw her walking past me."
Carson sat up, "Yeah, 10:40 when I last looked at the clock after she left."
"Alright, this seems like the best idea, though, I do not see how this could be possible. Let's go talk to security." All three men began their trek downstairs to the security desk, all wondering what the hell was going on.
CHAPTER 10: COMING SOON
