Mulder quickly pulled up to Fellig's apartment building in his rented blue Taurus. The brakes squeaked as the car came to a stop. He noticed right away that there were quite a few police cars parked around with their lights still flashing as if to say that something important was going on that needed immediate attention.
Mulder started to relax a little. Good, she has plenty of backup he thought. He got out of the car and started looking for Scully. She should be around here somewhere. Looks like maybe she made the arrest and a forensics team was starting to gather evidence against Fellig. But when he saw an officer start to block off the entrance to the apartment building with yellow tape that had the familiar black wording of "Police Line Do Not Cross," Mulder couldn't help but get another twinge of anxiety. Something felt off.
"Can I help you, sir?" An officer stepped in front of Mulder, preventing him from walking any further towards the building.
"Special Agent Fox Mulder. FBI." Mulder said as he flashed his badge. "I'm looking for Agent Dana Scully. She's my partner. She's assigned to the Fellig case."
"Helicopter just came and took her. Not sure which hospital they're transporting her to, though. You'll have to ask the officer in charge. He's inside holding Agent Ritter for questioning."
"Wait, wait...what? Hospital? She was transported to a hospital? What for?" Mulder's face visibly paled.
"You mean you don't know what happened?"
"What's going on here?" Mulder asked with an impatient shaky voice.
"I'm sorry, Agent Mulder. I assumed you knew. Agent Scully was hit with the same bullet that killed Fellig. Agent Ritter claims he made the shot. She's in pretty bad shape. Lost a lot of blood. They had a hard time stabilizing her, so they took her by helicopter."
Mulder's mind was suddenly reeling in shock. Hospital...Scully got hit...bullet...bad shape...Fellig killed...shot...a lot of blood...Agent Ritter. It was all registering at once and it was all too much to take in. He became dizzy.
"You okay, Agent Mulder?"
Mulder gripped his forehead with his hand and closed his eyes, trying to steady himself. Without bothering to answer the officer, he made a sudden beeline to the entrance of the apartment building. No, he wasn't okay. The fast pounding of his feet against the ground matched the fast pounding of his heart. Did her heart still beat? Surely he would have known otherwise. Wouldn't he automatically feel the sheer pain of her being ripped from his own heart if she had suddenly slipped away?
He wasn't sure where he was going, but he needed to see Agent Ritter. Mulder followed the commotion of police officers moving in and out of an apartment down the hallway.
When he entered the apartment, he found himself being led toward the black curtain of Fellig's darkroom. The darkroom was now bathed in light and something else- - blood. Blood was everywhere. Over to the left on the floor by the table, he spotted the taped outline of Fellig's body. Just behind this and slightly to the right was a large ugly pool of congealed blood. More of the same blood was also thickly smeared and splattered down the wall, repainting the room in rich crimson.
Mulder had seen so many crime scenes in his line of duty. He couldn't even begin to count how many. Throughout the years he had become desensitized to death, blood, and gore. He had to in order to do his job. But this was no ordinary every-day crime scene. This blood on the floor and on the wall belonged to Scully. He knew this scene would haunt him for the rest of his life. It made the bile rise in his throat, constricting his air passages and causing his heart to hitch. He was slowly becoming aware of every organ in his body as each one started to ache for oxygen. Lungs. Stomach. Brain. Air; he needed air. He took a deep breathe and then swallowed hard to keep down the contents of his stomach.
Mulder turned to leave the darkroom and noticed Agent Ritter sitting in the living room with his elbows on his knees, head bowed, and blood-stained hands held out in front of him. More blood. She couldn't possibly still be alive now. Not with all the blood that she left behind. With staggered steps and a quiet unstable voice, Mulder approached Ritter. "You killed her."
Agent Ritter was surprised by Mulder's presence and immediately stood up. "I...I don't know...I don't know what to say...I just pulled the trigger without thinking...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."
Mulder couldn't accept that. He didn't want to hear an apology. His anger started to flare. "So it's true? You made the shot? Without thinking? You're a pathetic excuse for a federal agent, you know that?" Mulder said, his voice now stronger and growing louder with each word. "If OPR doesn't get rid of you, I will. If she's dead, you're dead. Got that?"
Agent Ritter slowly sat back down and covered his face in shame with his bloodied hands. Mulder knew that he needed to walk away now before more blood was shed. He had to go be with Scully.