Disclaimer: The X Files does not belong to me.

Pure Evil

Scully knew this plan was a disaster waiting to happen. She knew that she would be making a deal with the devil if she went through with this. She wondered what would be asked of her in return.

Scully had no doubt that The Smoking Man had a cure for Leah Van De Kamp and the others who were dying, the problem would be getting it from him. Mulder worried about her safety with Spender but Scully knew he was not going to hurt her. At least not physically. It was not part of his game. He wanted her alive and Mulder too.

She found Miller quickly and explained the situation. He was not crazy about the plan but when Scully made it clear that she was leaving with or with out him he decided to come along.

The main problem, of course, was getting out of D.C., it seemed that every inch of street and sidewalk were filled with cars at a complete standstill.

She knew that there was a helipad on the roof of the hospital and she decided to try to find out who to talk to so she could get access to it.

Many who filled the halls were on the mend and some were in full recovery. They had quarantined the people who remained sick even though most of the staff realized the others wouldn't catch it. The masses needed to feel safe right now. When people become afraid they begin to act out.

Scully had seen some of that behavior earlier in the evening as the looting began. She had no doubt that was just the tip of the ice burg. After finally locating the people in charge of the helicopter she explained the situation. Her actions from earlier had made an impact and they believed her. No one else was healthy enough to fly the helicopter so it was not being used.

Scully thanked God for her training.

Before leaving she checked in on Skinner and Tad O'Malley. Skinner was in a room off to the side and held only him and Tad. Skinner was not a fan of Tad O'Malley but he didn't complain about the arrangement.

"Sir? How are you feeling?" Scully said softly as she felt his forehead for signs of fever. O'Malley lay in the cot next to Skinner fast asleep.

"I am feeling fine Agent Scully. I have made an amazing recovery. I am told you are to thank for the cure, is that right?" Skinner asked squinting up at her since the lights were still giving him a headache.

"Agent Einstein and I worked together on this as well as many other doctors." Scully said modestly.

"Whatever you say Agent. But I know you are the one who saved all of these lives. How are you feeling? Where is Mulder?"

"I am fine. Sleep deprived and emotionally drained but I am doing much better than most. Mulder is recovering. He was really bad when I found him and needed stem cells."

"Stem cells? How did you…?" He trailed off.

"Sir, William found me. It was amazing. I looked up and he was just there. I don't have any explanation for any of it but I am just trying to enjoy it for now. I actually need to leave now to go find a way to help his mother."
"Where are you going?"

"To find The Smoking Man. She is dying, along with others that he deemed nonessential. He must have some sort of cure."

"Dana, you should know by now that nothing from him comes out of the goodness of his heart. He will want something huge in return. There must be another way to go about this."

"No sir, I don't think there is another way. I estimate that I only have a few hours until we lose her and I have no time to argue anymore about going to him."
"Fine but I am going with." Skinner began to get up and ignored Scully's pleas for him to lay back down.
"Sir you are not well enough to be going! Agent Miller is coming with I will be fine."

"Agent Miller is a good agent but he is green. He has never dealt with anyone like this before. Spender is pure evil; the devil incarnate. Miller does not know how to handle that yet. I have faced him many times. I am coming with and that is not up for debate. The world might be ending but I am still your boss."

Scully decided to give up the fight and just let him come along. She knew he would anyways and he seemed to be getting better by the minute. He walked normal but she could tell he was dizzy and she grabbed a couple bags in case he got sick on the ride out.

The three agents made it to the roof and into the helicopter. Skinner continued to point out the flaws in the plan till they were in the air and he became too sick to argue. Scully felt sympathy but was also relieved to have him stop talking.

Miller was not much better but she knew that his youth had saved him most of the trouble and time of beating the illness.

Scully had completely lost track of time in the hospital and when she walked out into the sunlight it was surprising to her. As they flew she was almost amazed that the sun had even come up. The day was so beautiful. The sky was blue with fluffy white clouds and a slight breeze blew through the air. It was as if God was mocking the tragedy that was going on below. Like he had finally given up on man but wanted to maintain the beauty of the earth.

In between her thoughts of the science behind all of this and trying to solve it she had been praying a near constant stream of thoughts. As time wore on the prayers were less coherent and eventually it was whittled down to a list of names in her head.

Mulder, William, Leah, Bill, Tara, Matthew, Charlie…. The list wore on. It was almost therapeutic for her to just let the names of those she cared about flow out.

Knowing that Mulder was out of dodge had eased her anxiety greatly. Since he began recovering she found herself able to fully focus on the crisis that was unfolding. During the transplant there were moments where she was not sure he would make it. There were rolling blackouts all around D.C. and they were lucky to have a generator, but the stress of the outages was evident in the doctors working. All were tired and still recovering themselves.
Scully watched on helplessly thinking of all the times she nearly lost him and how he had always lived. She said them to comfort herself but the thoughts just ended up giving her more worry as she thought, it is only a matter of time.

Mulder was all that she had. Yes, William had made an appearance but he did not belong to her. Mulder belonged to her and she to him. No matter if they were together or separated they would always belong to each other. Losing him would be losing a part of herself and she was not sure what she would turn into if she lost him.

As she recounted these events she sent up a thank you to her God hoping that her show of gratefulness would win her some brownie points. She needed all the help she could get.

They landed in a field near where Miller described the isolated house. Once they landed they had to walk for nearly a half hour before they came upon a car.

Skinner surprised everyone and broke the window and then preceded to hot-wire the car.

Both agents watched with open mouths as the car started and their Assistant Director emerged with a look of pride.

Miller drove them down the road he took to find Mulder. The house that they pulled up to looked entirely normal.

In her mind Scully had pictured it as some kind of secret hideout or bunker but this was more like a family house that one would buy to raise children in.

They had discussed how to go about entering the house and had decided that a direct approach was best. There was no point in surprising him and they wanted to tread lightly.

So they all three made their way to the front door. Scully looked at both men who nodded at her and she then knocked on the door.

No sound could be heard. After a few seconds she knocked again only to be met with more silence.

After a few more knocks and what felt like forever she tested the knob. It was open and they went in. All three had their hands on their guns on instinct.

Suddenly they were frozen. Suspended in the places where they were. They could not move a muscle no matter how hard they tried. It reminded Scully of what'd happened on the bridge. Fear crept into her mind as she wondered what kind of trick this could possibly be.

She heard a voice in her head then. It was one that she did not know but it sounded somehow familiar to her, "Agent Scully I have been wondering when I would see you next. It has been far too long."