Chapter Twelve

Mulder and Scully were on their way to the library. They had just left Janette's house but Scully couldn't believe there wasn't any record whatsoever of a laboratory that took Melissa's eggs and implanted them into Janette's womb. It was simply impossible. She figured Janette or the police just didn't look hard enough, so she convinced her partner to go the library. Scully had a feeling Marzulli's was the key to this whole thing. They were the ones who were after Kayla, they had to be. If Janette's story was true, then something was going on that was bigger than Scully imagined.

At the library, Scully was shocked to discover Janette had been right. No old newspapers, no old phonebooks, no advertizing, no web address, nothing to prove there had ever been a Marzulli's Laboratory. Nothing except that small ad posted in the paper in 1981, the ad that led Janette to become pregnant with Melissa's eggs.

The newspaper ad displayed a phone number and an address, so Mulder suggested they take a swing by the old lab, but Scully already had a feeling they wouldn't find anything worthwhile.

On the way to the address in the newspaper, Scully took out her cell phone and dialed the number the ad had advertized. Scully waited for seven rings before she got an automated response that the phone number was no longer in service. Scully breathed out, frustrated. This made no sense. How could there be no record of this place?

Sure enough, as they drove past the address on King Street, they found nothing but an abandoned warehouse with a "condemned" sign hanging on the front fence. Scully shook her head.

"Looks like it was all an underground operation." Mulder pointed out. Scully faced him.

"Is this making sense to you, Mulder? Because it isn't to me. You know what I think? I think the whole thing is a hoax. I think that woman must have gotten the name of the lab wrong, because this isn't making any sense to me. Why would a laboratory, one that seemingly doesn't exist,"

"It might exist, but it could be an underground operation. You have no idea what people are capable of.

"Fine, let's say for argument's sake that this is a secret facility. I still don't understand why they would take eggs from one woman, implant them in another, inject the fetus with something and then all of a sudden, 16 years later, wanting to go after that same kid." Scully waited. Surely Mulder would see how silly the whole thing sounded. But she wasn't surprised when he simply shrugged, ready with another explanation.

"I don't know all the details either, Scully, but if you want my opinion, I think whatever those people injected the baby with when she was still in Janette's stomach is responsible for these seizure-type things she's having now." Mulder raised an eyebrow when Scully stared at him, incredulously. "I think we should do a blood test."

Scully couldn't object. It was a good theory. Whatever Janette had been injected with might be showing up in Kayla's blood stream. It was worth a shot.


Scully had Mulder wait in the car while Scully went up to get Kayla, who was settled on her bed, halfway through another book.

"Hey Kayla, we need your help with something." Scully asked. Kayla perked up a little, feeling like she would finally be able to do something that didn't involve her being stuck inside a hotel room all day.

But she sulked on the way down to the car, her book under her arm. She didn't think she would have to go for more blood work.

"Isn't there any way you could use some of my blood on file?" Kayla asked, getting into the backseat of the car. Scully smiled to herself. She sounded like a kid. She is a kid.

"Labs don't keep blood on file, Kayla, and even if they did, people's blood can change daily. It all depends on what's going on inside." Scully explained.

"But I don't get it. What does my blood have to do with me being in danger?" Kayla asked.

Scully took a glance at Mulder. Even though she had the answer to her question, she didn't think it was a good time to scare Kayla with the details. At least not until she was positive of what they were dealing with.

"It's just all part of the investigation, Kayla." Scully turned to offer Kayla a smile. "Don't worry, it will be over before you know it."

Scully and Mulder waited in the waiting room of the lab while Kayla was having her blood drawn by one of the nurses. When Kayla came out of the room moments later, pale and a piece of cotton taped to the inside of her elbow, Scully offered a quick smile, and left the girl with Mulder, who took her to the coffee shop, as she headed to the back room where she had already received clearance to analyze Kayla's blood herself.

Scully waited patiently as Kayla's blood went through the processes of being ready to analyze, and soon, she was staring at a plate under a microscope. She wasn't sure what to expect, but nothing could have prepared her for what she was seeing. She even rubbed her eyes and changed the setting on the microscope to be sure.

The DNA was strange, the strangest thing she had ever seen. In fact, what was in Kayla's blood was like nothing she had ever seen before in all her years of medical school or training. There it was, an extra chromosome on number 14. Scully checked it six different times before she realized it wasn't a trick of her eye, it was actually there. What it meant, Scully didn't know, but she knew it wasn't normal, and she didn't doubt it being a factor in Kayla's episodes. But why were people after her for an extra chromosome?

Scully found Kayla and Mulder sitting in a booth at the coffee shop, sipping mochas, while Kayla's cheeks gained some color again. They saw her coming, and Mulder handed her a hot cup.

"For you." He said. Scully smiled and cleared her throat.

"Mulder, will you come with me a minute? I need to speak to you." She said. Kayla's face dropped as she stared at Scully. She sensed something was wrong, she didn't like it. Mulder continued to act casual though.

"Sure, come on Kayla. Why don't you wait with the nurses while we chat for a sec." He said with a wink.

With Kayla in the safe hands of the nurses, Scully brought him to the backroom where she had him look through the microscope.

"What am I looking for?" He asked. Scully rolled her eyes. Right, he wasn't the doctor, she was.

"Chromosome 14. There's an extra chromosome! I've never seen anything like this before. Chromosomal abnormalities are rare, except for Trisomy 21, Down's Syndrome. But, on 14, it's unheard of! There isn't a case in medical history like this, Mulder." She explained. "If Janette is telling the truth about them injecting her, it's possible whatever they injected her with must have mutated or something and caused this genetic abnormality." The gears were working Mulder's head.

"You've never seen this before?" He asked. Scully shook her head and waited to hear Mulder's latest theory. He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What if it's not human?" He asked. Scully breathed out.

"Oh, not now Mulder, seriously..."

"No, I am being serious. Come on, hear me out. What if this is extra-terrestrial?" Scully raised an eyebrow.

"What, you think aliens came down from outer space, disguised themselves as lab technicians and injected a pregnant woman with an alien substance?"

"No," Mulder shook his hand, "The lab technicians are human. But what if they're getting their orders from an extra-terrestrial force?" Scully breathed out, holding her eyes shut with her fingers.

"Alright fine, humour me." She looked up. "Why? If aliens did do this, why would they do it? It's not like Kayla's anything phenomenol. If this injection is causing her medical condition, it's nothing extraordinary. She just zones out and mumbles." Mulder raised an eyebrow.

"What was it she said?" He asked. Scully looked down, trying to remember.

"She said Marzulli's." She replied. Mulder nodded, as though confirming something in his own head, and headed out. Scully sighed, wishing she could be inside of his head sometimes.


On the ride home, Mulder casually asked Kayla if she had ever heard of a place called Marzulli's Laboratory. Scully couldn't believe how casually he had slipped it in there. Kayla wasn't at all suspiscious. She just looked up from her book with a raised eyebrow.

"Who?" She inquired.


Later, when Kayla was fast asleep in her room, Scully went to hear more on Mulder's theory, no matter how strange it sounded. Maybe she would be able to pull something out of his theory that would actually help them figure out this case.

"What if Kayla has some kind of supernatural power?" Mulder asked. Scully was growing tired. Now this was all starting to sound like a load of crap.

"Why do you think that?" She asked.

"How else do you explain her ability to say Marzulli's while she's in her state, but now saying she's never heard of it?"

"Maybe she just forgot."

"Didn't you say she has no memory of what happens when she has one of these episodes?"

Scully nodded.

"So what, you're saying she has the ability to 'see' the past?" She asked. Mulder shrugged.

"Could be. Or maybe she can see the future." He said. "Think about it. Either way, it would make sense these guys would want her. That's a really valueable tool to have. Can you imagine the power that holds? Knowing the past, or the future?"

He went on for a while, but Scully wasn't convinced. She remained skeptical.

But, as she headed back to her hotel room, she couldn't help but think about what Mulder had said. How else could they explain how Kayla had knI own about Marzulli's in her episode, but said she never heard of them. It made Scully cringe inside - she hated it when she started to think there could be truth to Mulder's crazy theories.

As she kicked her shoes off and pulled her pajamas out of her suitcase, she heard a quiet voice coming from Kayla's bed.

"So, what's wrong with me?" She practically whispered. Scully turned around and saw Kayla supporting herself on her elbow, staring at Scully with tired eyes. Scully, sighing, took a spot on her own bed, facing Kayla.

"Nothing's wrong with you." Scully explained.

"I know you guys looked at my blood. You must have seen something weird. Something abnormal. Do you know who's after me? Have you arrested anybody?" Kayla asked. Scully breathed out.

"Kayla, we don't know anything yet. We're doing everything we can to figure it all out, and it's...well it's just better right now if we keep everything on the down-low until we know things for sure."

Kayla sighed.

"So I have to be kept in the dark until then?"

"I think so. It's just to protect you." Scully said. Kayla sighed, but seemed to accept it, as she leaned back up against her pillows with a sigh.

Scully didn't want to leave it at that. She felt horrible. Scully and Mulder were gone all day and left her alone to do nothing but read, and on top of that, they weren't telling her anything. She couldn't help but feel like she owed Kayla a normal conversation.

"So, how's your book?" She asked, receiving a smile from Kayla.

"I'm going to have to get a new shelf back home for all these new books," she said in a cheerful tone, "this is my first time reading A Tale of Two Cities. I really like it."

"Is there anything you don't like reading?" Scully asked in a joking tone, but Kayla wasn't laughing. She just breathed out slowly.

"Sometimes it bugs me to read about families." She admitted shyly, with a small shrug. "I guess that's to be expected though. But it doesn't matter - there's lots of literature out there that doesn't focus on family as a central theme." Scully couldn't believe how intelligent and well-spoken this 16-year-old was. She tried to remember Melissa at 16. It was hard.

"I imagine it must have been very hard for you, Kayla, growing up the way you did." Scully said, trying to be empathetic. She wasn't sure how she expected Kayla to respond. In fact, she wondered what had gotten into her. It wasn't like her to dive right into emotional topics.

But Kayla simply shrugged.

"It's not like I knew any differently. How can you miss what you never had?" She asked casually, tugging on her sleeve unconsciously. That was when Scully remembered what Dr. Mitchell had said, about the possibility of Kayla self-injuring. Scully swallowed, was this really the right time? It wasn't like she and Kayla were close - Scully was simply sharing a room with her because they had to. Was she really the one to ask about this?

But she felt she couldn't just forget about it either. Whether she was ready to admit to it or not, this kid was her neice. They shared the same blood.

Scully cleared her throat.

"Kayla, you don't have to talk to me about anything. I'm probably the last person you want to share stuff with, but when I was talking to your doctor, Dr. Mitchell, she told me she thought you were struggling with something that she hasn't had a chance to ask you about. She said she saw...cuts on your wrist." Scully wasn't surprised when Kayla clammed up. She didn't really know how to ask these kinds of questions - maybe she was too blunt about it - honestly, what did she know about talking to teenagers?

"I'm sorry, Kayla, I didn't mean to upset you. I just...wanted to know if you were alright." Scully sighed. "And you know, maybe you should tell someone if you're not."

Kayla didn't say a word, she simply reached for her book and opened it up to where she left off.

Scully didn't want to leave their conversation on that note, so she cleared her throat.

"You know, I read that book in high school, a hundred years ago," she grinned when she caught a smile on Kayla's lips, "who's your favourite character?" Kayla thought and then smiled.

"Lucie." She replied.

"Why Lucie?" Scully asked. Kayla breathed out dreamily.

"She just has it so great. She's so central to the plot, I mean, without her, there wouldn't be a book, would there? And how wonderful would it be to have two guys falling in love with you?" She asked. Scully shrugged, bringing her legs up on her bed, feeling more comfortable.

"I don't know, I think it's better to have the full attention of one guy. Too much drama if you have to choose. Besides, there's someone for everyone."

"Do you really believe that?"

"What?"

"That there's someone for everyone? Do you believe that?" Scully looked over and realized Kayla was waiting for her answer. Scully smiled.

"Yeah, I do." She replied, staring at the girl in a new way. Scully hadn't planned for this to happen, but she was growing attached. She felt for the girl, who had never experienced love in her life. Instead, she lived out her wishes and fantasies through her books.

"Everyone deserves love, Kayla," Scully found herself saying, and watched as Kayla listened intently. Scully was strangely reminded of late night conversations she would have with her sister during their high school years, "it can come from the strangest people, and at the most unexpected times, but everyone is loved by someone." Scully couldn't believe she was saying all of this.

Kayla smiled, and Scully swore she saw a tear in the corner of her eye. She turned back to her book with a nod.

"Thank you, agent Scully." She said simply.