When Scully finally awoke, she did not find herself in the best of circumstances. Her head was pounding and she was freezing. The temperature in the basement was less than inviting.
"Mulder?"
"Scully?"
He had left her side to investigate the room. With 'The Red Mole' gone and Scully unconscious, Mulder had a lot to think about. Supposing they were set up, why were they taken in the first place? If it was the disk they wanted, it could have been retrieved through different means. Mulder began to wonder what was on that disk. He had intended to get it analyzed right away, but his paranoid mind told him to wait. The Lone Gunmen were inconveniently out of town having gone to a convention. When Mulder did insert the disk into his own computer, nothing but encrypted data showed up.
"Mulder, where are we?"
He quickly strode over to Scully's side. She tried to push herself up a bit but experienced a bit of difficulty because her hands here still cuffed behind her back.
"In a basement somewhere, I think."
"I heard you talking to someone earlier. Who was it?"
"It was our source Scully. Whoever did this to us got to him too."
"'The Mole?'"
Mulder helped Scully into a comfortable position. He wanted to delay as long as possible.
"Mulder, was 'The Red Mole' here?"
He nodded.
"Where is he now?"
"They took him away."
And as if to justify Mulder's answer, screams made its way to the basement. More soon followed until after a few minutes it stopped.
Scully looked at Mulder in the eye. Hers were filled with panic. The cries she just heard were unlike any other. They were a combination of fear and pain, tinged with anger, rage, and despair. They were the cries of a man who ceased to control his own life and the only thing he could do was watch it end.
"Scully, I …"
Before Mulder could say anymore, the basement door opened once more. The same man as before stepped in, however, this time he wore a white butcher's apron which was splattered with blood.
"Agent Scully, I'm glad to see you're up."
He made his way down the stairs, never once taking his eyes off the agents below. When he neared them, the man reached into his back pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Then he pulled Scully off the floor, turned her so that she faced Mulder and took the handcuffs off. Instinctively, Scully massaged her sore wrists as soon as possible, thankful for the relief, but apprehensive to the man's motives.
"Forgive my manners, Agent Scully. Since we'll be intimate for the next few hours, I believe that I should introduce myself. My colleagues called me 'The Butcher,' but you my dear may simply call me Butch."
Butch then continued to turn Scully around once more so this time, she was facing him. He cracked a smile and Scully saw his ragged teeth, full of chips and gold caps. She felt his hands glide over her shoulders and she shook in fear as he began to take of her overcoat. The coat fell to the ground and then Butch proceeded to remove her suit jacket.
Mulder watch all this happen before him, noticing that Butch was shifting his eye contact between Scully and himself. He tried to restrain himself, in the fear that Butch might do something rash if he acted out, but when Butch began to unbutton Scully's blouse, Mulder could not help himself. He hoisted himself to his feet, cursing at Butch, and advanced towards him but stopped in his tracks when Butch quickly pulled out a switchblade.
"I have no reservations in hurting beautiful women, Agent Mulder."
And as if to make his point, Butch deftly ran the blade through Scully's arm, creating a deep cut. Mulder was conflicted as he watched the blood pour out and stained Scully's shirt. He wanted to strangle Butch but he knew that he was no match for the brute. Instead, Mulder stepped back and did his best to divert his anger.
Butch put the switchblade away and continued undressing Scully. He finished unbuttoning her blouse, took it off, and watched it fall. His hands then worked on her pants, first the button then the zipper. Butch let his hands follow as the pants fell to the floor. He could fell Scully tremble through the material and a crooked smile emerged on his face. Finally, Butch lifted Scully's foot up, one at a time, to remove both her pants and shoes. When he was done, he stepped back and admired the figure before him.
Scully stood, painfully aware of her sudden partial nakedness, thankful that he did not remove her underwear – at least not yet. She was unsure of what to do with her hands. Her medical mind told her that she needed to put pressure on that cut as the blood continued to steadily flow out, but her woman's mind said to cover up; use her arms to hide her body. Confused, Scully remained still, feeling the eyes of Butch examining her.
After taking her in, Butch laughed, pushed Scully aside, and headed for Mulder. He gave a sharp whistle and two more men entered the room. They rushed to Butch's side, however both stopped to admire Scully before aiding their companion.
Unlike his approach with Scully, Butch did not first uncuff Mulder. Instead he and his cohorts began tearing the clothes off Mulder's body. He struggled a little but it was difficult to fight back. When they were done, Butch took Mulder by the hands, and dragged him over to the other side of the room. He hooked his handcuffs onto a chain dangling nearby. Then, one of Butch's cronies pushed a button hidden on the wall which slightly elevated Mulder off the ground. When they made sure that Mulder was secured onto the wall, the men retrieved Scully.
In the meantime, Scully had managed to rip off a strip of cloth off her blouse but had difficulty in wrapping it around her wound. Butch grabbed her with little resistance and his men cuffed her. When they were done, Scully was also dangling from the wall.
Stepping back to survey their work, Butch and his men whispered comments into each others ears, some remarks eliciting grins and malicious stares.
"Agents, if you'll pardon me and my compatriots, we'll be taking leave of you for a brief moment. I hope you'll enjoy this reprieve. Trust me, when we're through with you, you'll be wishing you were dead."