Act IV – Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.

As expected, Scully said nothing about the events of the night before. Mulder wasn't surprised. She was Cleopatra the Queen of Denial, after all. They talked inanely about the case and the weather before Mulder dropped her off at the county morgue and continued on to the commune.

When Mulder reached the meeting house, he gave Azure a brief explanation of what happened to Louisa and explained that his need for astral projection for not only his own personal journey, but to find Beggar Price to confirm their findings.

"Once my partner gets the lab results back, I would like to start. Is that something I can do yet today?"

Azure nodded. "Are you sure you want this, Mulder? Not all travels are pleasant. You may find something you didn't expect on the other side."

"I need to know." Mulder insisted. "I'm willing to take the risk. I have to have a real and personal experience that answers some questions. Since we received this case, I felt life-changing event was going to happen here. I want to take the orange pill, Azure."

"Alright. Let me know when and I'll make time today."

Scully walked into the basement medical examiner's office in a daze. She had been that way since last night when Mulder kissed her and said that he loved her. That kind of confession, Scully never expected to hear and it made her worried that Mulder was going to do something rash.

Dr. Hammond walked cheerfully though the door, whistling, until he saw his colleague's face. "Dana? What's wrong?" He hurried to her. "Dana?"

"It's Mulder." Scully found herself confessing. "Last night he told me that he loved me and he was going to take that orange pill today. He said it just in case he didn't come back. He was determined, Dale. I'm worried about him."

"You should be." Hammond said unexpectedly. "I have met the woman that runs the commune and I don't trust her. She lured one of my techs away to her den of ill-repute and I haven't been able to replace him."

Scully stared at Dr. Hammond. "Do you think she killed Beggar Price?"

"We'll know in a little while. The lab opens at 10am and I'm hoping they have the results from their analysis." Scully was silent. Dale studied her. "How do you feel about what your partner said to you?

"I'm stunned." Scully said honestly. "Mulder always went his own way. I was included only if I was going the same direction. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine he had deeper feelings for me other than friendship. I really don't know what to think."

Dale hugged her. "I'm sorry, dear. I didn't realize it would be such a shock. I could tell how he felt about you from the moment I saw him hovering when I met him in the parking lot. He cares for you a great deal, but he feels guilty about something doesn't he?"

Scully sniffed. "Just for the last seven years of my life. Dale, since I joined the X-Files, My sister has been murdered, I've been abducted twice, survived inoperable brain cancer, my ova have been removed and I'm sterile, I found someone created a daughter with my eggs and then she died, all while being attacked by monsters both human and not. Mulder feels responsible for all of that."

"My god, woman." Dale said sympathetically. "No wonder he stayed away. Do *you* feel he is responsible?"

"No. The people he has been fighting against…are. They do this to ordinary people all the time—why should we be any different? Mulder has tried his best to protect me and it has always been my choice to stay. I'm afraid, he sees it as failure."

"I see." Dale said. "This is a quandary." A man appeared at the door to autopsy. Dale took the proffered papers, thanked him and proceeded to read. Scully waited until he was finished, then took the report and read it also.

When she was finished, Dale looked at her. "Agent Mulder was right. It's harmless herbs—not singularly or in combination a prescription for death."

"Something is missing." Scully said.

"What is that?"

"Red Valerian. According to Mulder's list and the test results, there should be no Red Valerian in the pill, but a significant dosage was found in Beggar Price's toxicology screen. The herbal plant is over the counter and designed to treat anxiety, migraines and insomnia. It is a mild sedative, but in combination with other drugs, it can have powerful effects. I was hoping that Mulder's list just forgot to mention it, but the dosage found in Price's blood is significant…" She hesitated. "I think that the combination of that and another herbal sedative might have stopped his heart. "

"It is possible that the strength and absorption rate may have been too much for him. Where did the valerian come from?" Dale asked.

"Price's blood shows a myriad of other herbal supplements, in addition to the valerian, that don't match the pill. Most are benign, but I'm sure he took something else, right before his death."

"What if there are two orange pills?" Dale supposed. "What if Beggar Price got ahold of the wrong one?"

"Mulder!" Scully said and ran for the door before she realized that she had no transportation.

"Don't worry, I'll drive." Dale said and the two doctors flew out of the room.

"Did you hear from your partner?" Azure said as she lit incense and set the ambiance.

"No, but I called the lab. The pill couldn't have caused it. I'd like to proceed." Mulder was dressed in sweat pants and a tee-shirt for comfort.

Azure had him sit cross-legged on a comfortable mat. "Mulder, we are going to relax. I want you to clear your mind of all thoughts and listen to my voice. Picture yourself in a favorite and safe location. It could be at the beach or home in your bed. Wherever you want to be right now. Do you have it?...Good. In that space there is a candle and I want you to watch the flame flicker and dance while I count back from 20. When I reach one, a door will open in front of you and you can choose to walk through or stay safe where you are. Ready? 20…19…"

Mulder listened to her voice and began to fall into a light trance. He did go to a safe place—it was Scully's apartment. She wasn't there, but that didn't bother him because she would be coming back soon. The candle was part of a late night supper he planned for her and he watched the flame as he twisted the band on his finger idly. 20…19… a voice droned on.

The apartment began to fall away and he felt like he was floating. When the voice reached '1', a door opened and inside was a table with an orange pill on it. A woman that looked a lot like Scully handed it to him. "Go forward or remain. The choice is yours."

Mulder didn't hesitate. He took the pill, swallowed and waited, staring at the Almost Scully person. It resembled his beloved partner in every physical aspect, but he could tell that there wasn't the right spirit inside. Light and warmth is what normally exuded from her. This creature didn't have it.

"Good." It said. "Come with me." The Almost Scully walked him down a hall to another door and opened it. "What you seek is out there."

It stood aside and Mulder walked through. He emerged into a replica of the X-files basement office with the familiar two desks and file cabinets, but it was empty. The Almost Scully didn't follow him and the door shut firmly behind him and disappeared. Mulder was worried. He left the office and ran down the hall, up the stairs to the rest of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. It was empty—even of guards. Sprinting to Skinner's office, that too was void. There was nothing for him here. He didn't understand. Where was he?

"You are confused, because you thought you were going to travel to the spiritual copy of your physical world. That's not where you are." The unexpected voice ripped out of a dark corner and sent a chill through him.

"Beggar Price?" Mulder said and turned around.

"In the flesh…so to speak." The voice continued.

Mulder spun to see the more animated form of the dead man on the autopsy table standing before him. "How did you get here and where is 'here'?"

"I'm mostly a figment of your own imagination." Price approached. "I can talk to you, but however I appear, isn't real. I don't have a body any more than you do. This place is your mind's version of hell. I'm only here because I understand you are looking for me."

"Yes. I wanted to ask you about Louisa Richardson and…your death too."

Price laughed sardonically and the report echoed through the empty walls like ricochet. "I tried to help Louisa. She didn't want to be pregnant and especially with my child. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I killed her as well as the fetus. Interestingly enough, she passed by my corner of eternity and forgave me. I didn't deserve it. She's moved on to her section of heaven or hell and it's out of my hands. I guess that's another mark against my name."

"What about you?" Mulder asked. "How did you die?"

"By the hand of stupidity; the same way you did. I trusted Azure. She tricked me and here I am." Beggar walked solidly on the cement floor. "At this stage, and with you being as dead as I am, there is no point in deception. Azure didn't deliberately kill me, but she neglected to mention that the orange pills she handed out for her astral projection exercise had a look-alike cousin. I snitched one of her pills because I wanted to try again on my own and got the wrong one. It put me in such a deep sleep that I never woke up again."

Price looked apologetic. "Sadly, she gave you that kind on purpose. I think her heart was in the right place, but she is the only one that can tolerate that blend of herbs. I found out that I'm the second person that has died from her little orange pill experiment. You are the third." Price looked at Mulder. "Did she convince you that they are harmless?—of course she did. Ask yourself why she didn't tell the authorities that one of the other pills were missing? She counts them like a miser counts gold. She knew I had taken it and she didn't tell anyone about it. I'm surprised she would try it again with a Fed, but either way—I guess you are trapped like me."

Mulder tried not to panic. "I'm not dead. I was just looking…"

Price cut him off. "Have it your way. Whether you accept death or not, you are here. I just came to visit so that you didn't wonder for the next 10,000 years what happened. I'm going to leave—I have my own eternity to get back to." Price looked sadly at him. "I saw your partner. I know you don't think she loves you—but she does. This is going to be hard on her. A word of advice—accept *this* and it will make it easier." Beggar Price faded out leaving Mulder alone in an empty building without a soul for company.

Dana Scully and Dale Hammond raced up the driveway to the Seven Rays Commune. Scully nearly leaped from a moving car as she raced into the meeting house to see Azure lightly slapping her partner trying to get him to respond.

"He won't wake up!' Azure said. "I don't understand!"

"Did you call an ambulance?" Dale shouted at the woman. She shook her head. Dale got immediately on the phone.

Scully fell upon Mulder and found he had no heartbeat and immediately began CPR. When the ambulance had been requested. Dale helped. Scully wanted to arrest Azure Harris, at least, and kill her at most. However, there were more important things to worry about. They kept up the resuscitation until the ambulance arrived in 10 minutes. It was a good thing they weren't too far away from the city of Denver.

The paramedics used shock paddles and got a pulse, put Mulder on oxygen and Scully got in to ride with him. The last thing she saw before they closed the doors was Dale calling the police and asking them to arrest Azure Harris.

On the terrifying ride to the hospital, Mulder code blue'd twice. Scully did her best to stay out of the way, but the pain she was feeling was starting to overwhelm. At the hospital, the ambulance drivers took him straight into the ER and Scully stumbled out later. The doctors didn't allow her back as they worked on her partner, friend and the man she loved. Dale's warning came to pass. They had waited until it was too late.

By the time Scully was allowed to see Mulder, it was 4 hours later and both Dale and Skinner had been notified of the developments. Azure Harris was in custody for distributing a dangerous substance and Mulder was on life support. Scully wasn't sure how to feel and frankly, she was numb. Dale tried to comfort her.

"He's strong, Dana. He'll pull through."

Scully didn't reply. She could tell that this body in front of her, had no soul. He left her alone and it was increasing apparent that if she wanted him back, she would have to go after him. "He's not here, Dale. He's out there—somewhere." Scully paused. "I can't leave him like this. Can you ask Leaf to come to the hospital?"

"Dana, this isn't the way." Dale said.

"What would you do if you could get Alice back?" Scully didn't look at him. She didn't want to see the pain on his face.

"Alright." Dale acquiesced. "I'll bring Leaf."