Suspicion

Mulder followed Scully slowly and felt the thick air fill his lungs. It was damp and full of moisture and was making it hard to breathe. He looked at Scully moving quickly and sighed heavily in annoyance.

'Scully, slow down.' He shouted, leaning his hands on his legs and taking a breather. The stopped and turned round to look at him.

'What's wrong?'

'I'm finding it hard to breathe, the air's heavy.' He said in a low voice.

'We're nearly there.' She said with a confident smile.

'I know, but I'm finding it hard to breathe.' He said again, with an angry tone this time. He started to wheeze and cough. 'Scully.. Scully I can't breathe.' He said weakly and reached out a hand to her. To his surprise she stood and looked at him with a blank expression.

'Are you all right?'

'No… Scully I think I need help.' He said desperately. Scully continued to look at him blankly and to his surprise she smiled suddenly.

'You will be all right.' She said blankly. Mulder frowned in confusion and put hand to his throat.

'No Scully, please help me.' He rasped weakly. 'Give me an injection again or something. I…I can't go on, I have to rest.' He said, and let himself rest on the ground. He looked up at her and felt anger and confusion as she stayed looking at him. 'Scully!' He shouted.

'We have to keep going, I don't know what injection you mean. I haven't given you an injection before.'

'What the hell are you talking about Scully?' He shouted taking heavy breaths. 'Have you completely changed or something? You're usually helping me by now! You're a doctor! Help me!' He said desperately. But to his horror she stood still. Mulder couldn't believe it. He looked up at her again and into her eyes. Suddenly he felt fear boil inside as he looked deeply into her eyes. There was something wrong. She wasn't the same, something was different. Mulder felt his breathing ease a little more and he stared at her for a while.

'What is it?' She asked with a large grin. Mulder shook his head slowly as he came to realise in fear. It felt as if the whole world around him crumbled.

'You're not Scully.' He said in a low voice and stared into her eyes. She frowned and laughed.

'What do you mean?'

'You're not Scully.' He said again, and got up slowly. She frowned in confusion and Mulder started to walk towards her slowly in a threatening manner. He reached into his coat slowly as he advanced towards her and felt his hand brush the metal of his gun. 'Get the hell away from me.' He said slowly. She looked at him and laughed again. 'Quit laughing. Scully would never laugh in this situation.' The robot's head tilted to one side and looked at him with suspicion. Mulder drew his gun out of his coat slowly and just when it was going to be in view he pointed it at her head quickly. The robot took a step back and put her hands up in surrender.

'Mulder, don't do it.' She said, her eyes watering with nervous tears, she looked exactly like Scully. Mulder faltered.

'Shut up!' He shouted, trying not to let her trick him. She looked at him in surprise and worry.

'Mulder, please don't, don't do it.' She said, her voice wavering with fear. Mulder shook his head to get her out of it and pointed his gun at her harder. Scully stared in horror.

'Mulder come on, what's wrong. Just put the gun down, it's me, what are you doing!' She shouted hysterically, and to Mulder's surprise a tear ran down her cheek. 'Mulder, don't you trust me… what's wrong have you gone crazy or something? Are you ill? Dammit Mulder you know that I'm on your side.'

'Shut up! You're not Scully so stop trying to be her! WHERE IS SHE!' He shouted loudly, a cold sweat appearing on his brow. Scully looked at him with confusion and sadness.

'Mulder, I'm right here…'

'WHERE IS SHE! The real Scully!' Mulder said and realised he was shaking. He was terrified that he was wrong and terrified that he was right and that Scully was in grave danger. His heart skipped a beat and he clicked his gun into place. He aimed it at her head and took a deep breath, trying not to falter. Her eyes were full of fear and looked so real, but he knew it was a trick. It was so hard to point his gun at her and threaten her it felt like a knife was stabbing into him when he spoke to her this way, but he kept telling himself, 'It's not Scully, It's not Scully', he said. She looked at him with horror and started to cry.

'Mulder, you're going crazy, what's happened to you!' She said hysterically. Mulder moved forward and she stumbled backwards on a stone to get away from him. Mulder finally made up his mind, and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and felt his heart beat loudly. She started to scream, and he tried to block her voice out. He sighed and turned away from her, and put one hand over his face in sorrow. He pulled the trigger, and the screaming stopped.

Mulder felt panic run through his blood as he realised what he had done. His finger's loosened on the gun and he dropped it shakily to the cold ground. His eyes were squeezed shut and the reality of the situation started to sink into his mind. He slowly tried to breathe again, and found even that hard to do. His heart was pounding loudly and he felt as if he should kill himself. He didn't deserve to live.

What had he done? He'd shot her and killed her. Scully… his partner, the only one that he could trust and now he had ruined her trust. He hadn't believed her, and he felt ready to die for it. Mulder's mind quickly flashed to his place in the FBI and how he would lose it, and never manage to find aliens or to prove the cigarette smoking man wrong. Everything he had ever lived for, he had just lost. Mulder then thought of Mrs Scully, and he was almost sick at the thought of her hatred towards him and great disbelief of a loss of another daughter. Mulder couldn't believe it. What had he done?

Mulder's shaking got more violent and to his horror he let out a sob and fell to the ground clutching his face with his hands. He fell to his knees and sobbed heavily, not daring to look at her. He felt total despair and horror at himself, how had he known if it hadn't been Scully? All he could think was that he had done the wrong thing, that it actually had been Scully. His fear was taking over his thoughts and body and he cried heavily and slowly reached his hand over to the gun that lay on the ground in some grass. His fingers touched it then he scrambled to pick it up. Mulder took a deep breath and held the gun in his hand murderously again, and he turned it towards his face preparing to take his own life.

'I'm so sorry Scully… I didn't know what I was… doing.' He said between sobs. Mulder's heart ached with guilt and he ran a tired hand through his hair. He put his fingers in the trigger and got ready to pull it… but something made him stop.

He had to check. He had to make sure it was definitely Scully that he had killed, because he just might have been right. There might have been just the slightest hint of truth in his judgement. Mulder sighed heavily and frowned with confusion as his mind battled with his thoughts. He had to look, he had to check. But what if it was Scully, he would be completely destroyed to see her dead, and knowing he had done it, would he be brave enough to take his own life as he did now? Just the thought of it made him want to die, and he felt sick with rage at himself. Mulder sighed and felt tears sting his eyes as he turned his head slowly and painfully to look at Scully, dead at his feet.

Her hair was panned out on the ground underneath her head and the gun shot wound was… no where to be seen. Mulder looked at the body in surprise and squinted to try and look more closely. He moved towards her slowly, trying not to touch her because he was so afraid that she would come back to life and try to kill him. He was scared of what she might say to him after all these years of trust…

Mulder sniffed his tears away although his heart was painfully pounding as he looked at her dead body, it looked so much like her and she looked pale and peaceful. He moved towards her head and saw that there was no gun shot wound, then down at her coat and chest and he was astonished to find no blood. Mulder ripped open her coat roughly in desperation and hysteria, as he tried to find the evidence. He pulled open the jumper she was wearing under the coat and saw a small hole where the bullet had gone through, but still no blood. Mulder frowned in suspicion and confusion as he lifted up the jumper, expecting to see a heavy gun shot wound on her delicate skin, but there was only a hole… with no blood.

Mulder felt fear rise inside of him and he looked up at her face again in horror. This wasn't Scully, he had been right. Not only was she not Scully, this thing wasn't human. Mulder stared in disbelief and looked carefully into the hole in the chest. It was a clean entry, and as he stared into the hole he thought that he noticed something that looked metal or electrical. His eyes opened wide and he let out a cry of surprise when he realised that there were electrical wires and cables inside. This wasn't Scully, this was a damn robot.

Relief spilled through his blood as he realised it wasn't her.

'Thank god.' He gushed, and let out a huge sigh of relief while brushing a tear away from his eye. He fell back onto his knees and closed his eyes for a few moments. Then his thoughts went back to the reality of the situation. If she wasn't here, then where was she?

Slowly, Mulder turned to look at the robot's face again in horror, and a chilling feeling ran down his spine as the likeness to Scully was almost eerie and totally horrific, as if she had been copied inch for inch, to look exactly like her. Mulder suddenly realised the reality… that Scully was gone and in trouble. He cried out in anger and stood up quickly. Mulder kicked the robot in frustration. He looked up to the sky and closed his eyes in defeat and anger. Throwing his head back he let out a long painful shout of Scully's name loudly into the sky, which echoed all around the forest. He bowled over and rested his hands on his knees in exhaustion after the cry and rested there for a few minutes. Mulder frowned in annoyance and found his new strength; he had to get to Scully. He forced his gun into his coat and started his descent down to the base in the freezing weather leaving the robot lying out of power as if it was a dead ghost. As Mulder walked away the trees swayed heavily and a heavy cloud of mist started to surround the robot's body as if it were a protective shield, and after a few minutes it got so heavy that eventually nothing could be seen.

'There is something seriously wrong going on here…' He said to himself, and continued to walk towards the base.