Chapter Five - Say It Isn't So
Scully managed to make it into the ladies room just in time. She threw herself into the nearest stall and quickly lost the coffee and bagel she had for breakfast.
She lay wearily against the toilet appreciating the feeling of coolness against her cheek. Slowly, the waves of nausea subsided and she pulled herself to her feet and walked towards the sinks. A few splashes of cold water on her face and a quick rinse of her mouth and she began to feel like a human being again.
She looked at herself in the mirror and saw a very tired woman gazing back at her. The professional veneer she had applied to herself earlier had been stripped away and she wasn't quite sure she had the strength to put it back on again.
She took a couple of deep breaths and by sheer strength of will forced down all the emotions that swam within her. She dreaded having to face the three men in Blevins' office, but knew the longer she waited the harder it would be. She straightened her shoulders and making sure the walls around her emotions were firmly in place she walked back to the office.
When she opened the door and walked in, she was surprised to find only Mulder standing there.
Feeling even more embarrassed to be alone with him she said nothing but raised an eyebrow in question.
"I explained to Blevins that the woman on the screen was a friend of yours and that you needed a minute to settle yourself."
Mulder saw anger slowly rise within Scully but he raised a hand as if to push it down again. "He asked me if I would rather work with someone else and I said that I was happy to work with you. He had a 10 o'clock golf date so he left."
Scully nodded "And Agent Krycek."
"I sent him down to VCU to dig up the case records on the other murders. I bet if we look closely enough we will find something that they missed. I want you to go over all the autopsy reports too."
Scully looked at Mulder frowning slightly. This agent ordering everyone around didn't seem at all like the man who was such a gentleman the night before.
"Do you always order everyone around?" Scully asked him.
This made him laugh. "I guess you could say that my people skills often leave much to be desired." He paused delighting at the way she arched her eyebrow at him "When do you think you can do the autopsy" He knew that she dreaded having to do it but that she would rather die than admit it.
"I will head over there right now. If that is alright with you?"
Scully didn't wait for an answer but stormed out the room wondering what exactly she saw in that pompous ass the night before.
Scully was still steaming when she arrived at the autopsy bay and flipped on the tape recorder over her head. It wasn't until she reached for the sheet covering the victim that she remembered who was under it.
She closed her eyes, said a quick prayer for Paige's soul and drew back the sheet.
Scully did a complete and thorough job on Paige ordering every test she could think of and a wide array of x-rays as well.
It took her two hours to complete her task and she found herself incredibly tired when she pulled the sheet back up over the body. All the events of the last 24 hours caught up with her and she leaned heavily on the table trying desperately to bring her roaring emotions under control.
Her head was bent forward as she took several deep breaths trying to calm herself when she felt a pair of hands place themselves gently on her shoulders and start to massage her gently.
She surprised herself when she gave into the comfort the strong hands provided her instead of confronting the person who stood behind her.
"I see you've let your guard down a bit today Scully" Mulder said softly as he continued rubbing away the tension in your neck.
"I am too tired to fight off anything or anyone" she replied barely above a whisper.
Hearing the weariness in her voice, Mulder spun her around and looked down at her. Her eyes wear circled in darkness and she looked like she would faint at any second.
"You don't have to do this Scully" he said with the concern obvious in his voice. "No one will think less of you if you remove yourself from this case."
"You may not think less of me, but I would" she said straightening herself. "I am fine, Mulder. Really."
He looked at her skeptically as he saw her guard go up again. He was beginning to realize why he sister had poured so much tequila down her throat the night before. "Okay. I have the case files out in my car so I can review them tonight. Shall we meet in my office tomorrow morning. Say around 10?"
"Ten?"
"I don't know about you, but it's been a long weekend for me. I could use the extra hour sleep. See you then." And Mulder walked out of the room leaving Scully with her corpse.
Scully drove home in a fog and took a brief shower before collapsing on her bed. She listened to the frantic message on her answering machine from Melissa and had every intention of calling after she shut her eyes for just a moment.
She slept straight through until morning.
Mulder found it difficult to sleep that night. He mind was swimming with the facts of the different cases. They were all pieces of a large puzzle that was just waiting for him to put together.
True enough, there didn't seem to be any obvious connection between all the victims but Mulder knew enough to know that didn't mean that there wasn't one. He would just have to figure it out.
He mind was also swimming with thoughts of Dana Scully. She was another puzzle waiting to be figured out. Somewhere inside that professional agent beat the heart of a passionate woman. He was sure of that. He just wasn't sure how to get that woman out or if he even wanted to try.
He popped in a video and watched it until he fell asleep.
Scully entered the elevator and pushed the button for the basement. She was surprised to find out that Mulder's office was nothing but an old storage room that had been converted into office space. "Mulder must have offended more people than just Blevins to be sent down here" she thought to herself as she walked down the empty hallway.
She opened the door to Mulder's office and her eyes widen when she saw it. Every surface on the wall was covered with pictures of aliens, spaceships of one type or another, or other bizarre scenes.
There were two small desks in the office. One of them was currently occupied by Alex Krycek.
Krycek rose and walked over to Scully as she entered the room. "Good morning Agent Scully. I am sorry we didn't get properly introduced yesterday. I am Alex. Alex Krycek."
Scully shook his hand thinking to herself that his manners were just a little too polished. "Would you like some coffee Dana?" He hesitated a second. "Is that okay if I call you Dana?"
"Sure" Scully replied thinking to herself that she preferred the way that Mulder referred to her as just 'Scully'. "Just cream please".
She sipped the coffee as Krycek made small talk about the case. Scully simply nodded as he rambled on. And ramble on he did for at least an hour until Mulder strolled into the room looking quite pleased with himself.
Scully was going to say something about his tardiness, but stopped when she saw the look of eager excitement on his face.
"Good morning Scully, Alex" he said as he walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He settled himself into his chair before continuing.
"I have an idea. Scully you looked over the autopsy reports, right?"
"Yes"
"Now tell me, if you hadn't seen the bodies themselves but just looked at the lab results what would you think happened."
"You can't take just the lab results Mulder, you need the whole picture"
"Yes, I know Scully but sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees. Just humor me, okay?"
Scully picked up one of the case files and flipped to the test results. "This one states a low level of oxygen in the blood and other signs that would point to suffocation."
She looked over at Mulder and he nodded for her to continue. "Okay, this was states pretty much the same thing." She picked up another case file "and so does this one."
She looked at him "And just what do you think this means?"
"I think it means that all of the victims were suffocated"
"Suffocated with no outward signs of struggle. With no physical evidence supporting that theory."
Krycek finally said something. "Fox" and Scully saw Mulder cringe slightly at the use of the name "who do you think is doing this?"
"No who - what"
"What? Are you saying a person didn't do this. Than what did?"
"A ghost"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of chapter five. What do you think so far?
Scully managed to make it into the ladies room just in time. She threw herself into the nearest stall and quickly lost the coffee and bagel she had for breakfast.
She lay wearily against the toilet appreciating the feeling of coolness against her cheek. Slowly, the waves of nausea subsided and she pulled herself to her feet and walked towards the sinks. A few splashes of cold water on her face and a quick rinse of her mouth and she began to feel like a human being again.
She looked at herself in the mirror and saw a very tired woman gazing back at her. The professional veneer she had applied to herself earlier had been stripped away and she wasn't quite sure she had the strength to put it back on again.
She took a couple of deep breaths and by sheer strength of will forced down all the emotions that swam within her. She dreaded having to face the three men in Blevins' office, but knew the longer she waited the harder it would be. She straightened her shoulders and making sure the walls around her emotions were firmly in place she walked back to the office.
When she opened the door and walked in, she was surprised to find only Mulder standing there.
Feeling even more embarrassed to be alone with him she said nothing but raised an eyebrow in question.
"I explained to Blevins that the woman on the screen was a friend of yours and that you needed a minute to settle yourself."
Mulder saw anger slowly rise within Scully but he raised a hand as if to push it down again. "He asked me if I would rather work with someone else and I said that I was happy to work with you. He had a 10 o'clock golf date so he left."
Scully nodded "And Agent Krycek."
"I sent him down to VCU to dig up the case records on the other murders. I bet if we look closely enough we will find something that they missed. I want you to go over all the autopsy reports too."
Scully looked at Mulder frowning slightly. This agent ordering everyone around didn't seem at all like the man who was such a gentleman the night before.
"Do you always order everyone around?" Scully asked him.
This made him laugh. "I guess you could say that my people skills often leave much to be desired." He paused delighting at the way she arched her eyebrow at him "When do you think you can do the autopsy" He knew that she dreaded having to do it but that she would rather die than admit it.
"I will head over there right now. If that is alright with you?"
Scully didn't wait for an answer but stormed out the room wondering what exactly she saw in that pompous ass the night before.
Scully was still steaming when she arrived at the autopsy bay and flipped on the tape recorder over her head. It wasn't until she reached for the sheet covering the victim that she remembered who was under it.
She closed her eyes, said a quick prayer for Paige's soul and drew back the sheet.
Scully did a complete and thorough job on Paige ordering every test she could think of and a wide array of x-rays as well.
It took her two hours to complete her task and she found herself incredibly tired when she pulled the sheet back up over the body. All the events of the last 24 hours caught up with her and she leaned heavily on the table trying desperately to bring her roaring emotions under control.
Her head was bent forward as she took several deep breaths trying to calm herself when she felt a pair of hands place themselves gently on her shoulders and start to massage her gently.
She surprised herself when she gave into the comfort the strong hands provided her instead of confronting the person who stood behind her.
"I see you've let your guard down a bit today Scully" Mulder said softly as he continued rubbing away the tension in your neck.
"I am too tired to fight off anything or anyone" she replied barely above a whisper.
Hearing the weariness in her voice, Mulder spun her around and looked down at her. Her eyes wear circled in darkness and she looked like she would faint at any second.
"You don't have to do this Scully" he said with the concern obvious in his voice. "No one will think less of you if you remove yourself from this case."
"You may not think less of me, but I would" she said straightening herself. "I am fine, Mulder. Really."
He looked at her skeptically as he saw her guard go up again. He was beginning to realize why he sister had poured so much tequila down her throat the night before. "Okay. I have the case files out in my car so I can review them tonight. Shall we meet in my office tomorrow morning. Say around 10?"
"Ten?"
"I don't know about you, but it's been a long weekend for me. I could use the extra hour sleep. See you then." And Mulder walked out of the room leaving Scully with her corpse.
Scully drove home in a fog and took a brief shower before collapsing on her bed. She listened to the frantic message on her answering machine from Melissa and had every intention of calling after she shut her eyes for just a moment.
She slept straight through until morning.
Mulder found it difficult to sleep that night. He mind was swimming with the facts of the different cases. They were all pieces of a large puzzle that was just waiting for him to put together.
True enough, there didn't seem to be any obvious connection between all the victims but Mulder knew enough to know that didn't mean that there wasn't one. He would just have to figure it out.
He mind was also swimming with thoughts of Dana Scully. She was another puzzle waiting to be figured out. Somewhere inside that professional agent beat the heart of a passionate woman. He was sure of that. He just wasn't sure how to get that woman out or if he even wanted to try.
He popped in a video and watched it until he fell asleep.
Scully entered the elevator and pushed the button for the basement. She was surprised to find out that Mulder's office was nothing but an old storage room that had been converted into office space. "Mulder must have offended more people than just Blevins to be sent down here" she thought to herself as she walked down the empty hallway.
She opened the door to Mulder's office and her eyes widen when she saw it. Every surface on the wall was covered with pictures of aliens, spaceships of one type or another, or other bizarre scenes.
There were two small desks in the office. One of them was currently occupied by Alex Krycek.
Krycek rose and walked over to Scully as she entered the room. "Good morning Agent Scully. I am sorry we didn't get properly introduced yesterday. I am Alex. Alex Krycek."
Scully shook his hand thinking to herself that his manners were just a little too polished. "Would you like some coffee Dana?" He hesitated a second. "Is that okay if I call you Dana?"
"Sure" Scully replied thinking to herself that she preferred the way that Mulder referred to her as just 'Scully'. "Just cream please".
She sipped the coffee as Krycek made small talk about the case. Scully simply nodded as he rambled on. And ramble on he did for at least an hour until Mulder strolled into the room looking quite pleased with himself.
Scully was going to say something about his tardiness, but stopped when she saw the look of eager excitement on his face.
"Good morning Scully, Alex" he said as he walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He settled himself into his chair before continuing.
"I have an idea. Scully you looked over the autopsy reports, right?"
"Yes"
"Now tell me, if you hadn't seen the bodies themselves but just looked at the lab results what would you think happened."
"You can't take just the lab results Mulder, you need the whole picture"
"Yes, I know Scully but sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees. Just humor me, okay?"
Scully picked up one of the case files and flipped to the test results. "This one states a low level of oxygen in the blood and other signs that would point to suffocation."
She looked over at Mulder and he nodded for her to continue. "Okay, this was states pretty much the same thing." She picked up another case file "and so does this one."
She looked at him "And just what do you think this means?"
"I think it means that all of the victims were suffocated"
"Suffocated with no outward signs of struggle. With no physical evidence supporting that theory."
Krycek finally said something. "Fox" and Scully saw Mulder cringe slightly at the use of the name "who do you think is doing this?"
"No who - what"
"What? Are you saying a person didn't do this. Than what did?"
"A ghost"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of chapter five. What do you think so far?