XF Big Bang: "A Tell-Tale Truth" Part 5 of 7.
Rating: Generally a mild R, but NC-17 for an explicit sex scene.
Summary: Agent Mulder discovers the Cigarette Smoking Man is involved with smuggling in illegals and Scully goes undercover to find out why. She ends up on a journey that takes her nearly across the country and away from everything that was familiar to her.
Author's Note: Just want to thank my wonderful betas. oct0puss and ashley_west, you guys were awesome!!
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
On Friday, at ten to nine in the morning, Scully exited her apartment. She jumped in surprise to see Aaron standing there in his regular clothes. He was wearing jeans and a thin t-shirt. He smiled at her.
“Are you going, too?” she asked him.
“That I am,” he answered.
“Good.”
He accompanied her to the elevator. She pressed the button.
“I do have to say that it’s surprising you’re getting out in two weeks,” he told her. “It’s always been a month for everyone else.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “That’s weird.”
Scully stepped into the elevator and Aaron followed her. They went up to the fourth floor in silence and when the doors opened, Frank was standing there. He was the male nurse Scully had seen on her first day here. He was a little too thin and a little too anxious.
Behind Frank was a long counter that divided the hallway into two sections. There was a door cut into the counter to allow access to the other side. A female security officer with short, dirty blonde hair was behind the counter. She was wearing a navy blue uniform.
“Sign out, please,” she said.
Scully never did visit the security floor. She didn’t want to go without a reason, and a reason never presented itself. Besides, she didn’t very much feel like going alone.
She approached the counter and signed underneath Frank’s name. Aaron signed after her.
“Dana Scully,” the security officer eyed her up.
Scully nodded. “Yes.”
“I’ve heard about you.” The officer smiled. “I’m Candace.”
“Nice to meet you,” she replied.
Scully smiled weakly at her before walking away. She didn’t know how Candace knew about her or what was said, and she didn’t care to find out.
“All set?”
A tall and very muscular male security officer walked out of a room from behind the counter. He approached, his eyes scanning over Frank and Aaron before landing on Scully. She diverted her eyes.
“For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Russell,” he announced. “I do all trips out and in.”
He opened the counter door and stepped out. Russell led the way back to the elevator, Frank following him close behind. They all filed into the elevator and the doors closed them in. Russell punched in a code on the pad quickly and the elevator began to move.
“First time in, Doctor Scully,” he asked, even though everyone in the elevator knew that he was already aware of the answer.
“Yes,” she responded.
“Hope you enjoy the fresh air,” Russell told her.
“Thanks.”
The doors opened and Scully knew the floor. It was the garage. Russell led them to a dark car with tinted windows. He got in on the driver’s side while Frank took the passenger side. Aaron gave Scully a smile as they both climbed into the back.
Once they were out on the road, Frank asked Russell all about the show Cops and whether or not Russell ever found himself in those situations. By his tone, Scully could tell Russell wasn’t a fan a Frank’s. She tried to ignore them both as their drive continued.
The sun was bright and warm on Scully’s face. She breathed in the fresh air for a few moments before taking a look around. They were parked in a small concrete parking lot. There was a dirt road cutting through the ‘town,’ a term she used loosely.
On either side of the road were shops, but they were pretty worn. A few people were walking down the street, but if it wasn’t for their appearance, she would have figured the place was deserted.
“Come on,” Aaron said to her and began down the road.
Scully followed after him.
“Be back in an hour!” Russell called out. “Behave and remember the rules!”
No one ever told her about the rules. She guessed she would have been told about them during an evaluation, but since she didn’t have one, she shrugged it off and caught up to Aaron’s side.
“Do they sell stamps here?” she asked, remembering the letter shoved into her pocket.
“You’re going to mail something?” Aaron replied, looking at her as if she was crazy.
“Yes,” she answered.
“We’re not allowed any contact,” he said. “I don’t know what the penalty is if you get caught, but I can only assume it’s pretty bad.”
“I don’t care,” she replied bluntly. “Are you going to help me or not?”
Aaron frowned. “I think they sell them in the General Store.”
“And there’s a mailbox over there,” she added, giving a nod across the street.
Scully entered the building with the ‘General Store’ sign above its door. Aaron followed her into the small and quaint store with nearly bare shelves. There were bathrooms towards the back as indicated by a fading sign.
No one else was in the store except the woman behind the counter. She was older and plump, her dark and curly hair turning gray.
Scully approached the counter and kept her voice low. Aaron wandered around the store, not wanting to be fully involved.
“Do you sell stamps?” she asked the woman.
“How many you want?” the woman responded with a raise of an eyebrow.
“Just one,” Scully answered.
The woman slid the stamp toward Scully and she paid with coins. She took the letter from her pocket and stuck the stamp in the corner. As she wrote Mulder’s address on the envelope, the woman nudged her arm.
“You with them?”
Scully looked toward the doorway to see Russell and Frank entering the store. She placed her arm over the letter, hiding it.
“Can I get a pack of... um... Morley’s?” she said to the woman, the only thing she could think of fast enough to make her presence at the counter seem inconspicuous.
The woman retrieved the pack and set it down next to Scully’s arm.
“Thanks,” Scully gratefully told her and paid.
She placed the cigarette pack on the envelope and slid both from the counter. Scully walked out of the store and headed down the road a bit. Aaron came out moments later. He caught up to her.
“Smooth,” he told her sarcastically.
“They didn’t see me,” she snapped back.
“Now, you gotta make sure they don’t see you put the letter in the box.” He nodded toward the blue mailbox across the street.
“You stand lookout,” she commanded.
“No way,” he refused with a shake of his head.
“I thought you were going to help,” she said.
Aaron let out a sigh. “What should I do if they look toward the window or start coming out?”
“Ask me if I want to go to... that bar place you said was here,” she advised.
“Fine.”
Scully crossed the street as Aaron walked back over to the General Store. He jammed his hands into his pockets and paced outside of the store slowly, glancing in from time to time.
She was getting closer to the mailbox. She looked over at Aaron and he glanced into the store before giving her a nod. Scully slipped the letter into the mailbox and quickly walked away. Aaron lingered outside of the store a little longer before crossing the street.
“Happy now?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered and gave him a tight smile.
“Who was it for?” he replied.
“My mom,” she lied. “She worries.”
Aaron nodded. He gave her a smile. “Want to go to that bar?”
“At ten in the morning?” She lifted her eyebrows at him.
“Well, it was logical when you thought we might get caught,” Aaron pointed out. “And they have a jukebox.”
“And they’re open now?” she responded, doubting him.
“Yep,” he told her brightly.
“Fine,” she gave in.
Aaron headed toward the bar and she kept up at his side.
“Thank you,” she said. “For helping me.”
He glanced to her, a smile back on his face. “You’re welcome.”
Scully was sitting next to Mark at a table in the laboratory. James and Brandon were across from them and Max was seated away from the group, fitting his own preference.
“We’re not getting the results we’d like.” Brandon leaned forward in his chair. “We administered the antiviral during the third stage, but we should try something new.”
“What do you suggest?” Scully asked.
“Administering it to everyone in the first stage,” Brandon told her. “Get it early and maybe it’ll make everyone better.”
“Sounds logical,” Mark replied. “Doctor Scully and myself will administer it to the new patients. We’ll monitor for a few hours and get back to you.”
When Scully and Mark arrived at the hospital floor, they entered into the first ward. The patients were unconscious to spare them from pain. Scully and Mark systematically injected each patient with the antiviral medication.
“And now, we wait,” Mark said as he placed a syringe into a red recycling bin.
Scully sat down on a stool in the corner of the room. Mark began writing down the stats of each patient. She watched him.
“Who did you leave behind?” she asked.
“What?” Mark didn’t look up.
“When they brought you here, who or what did you leave behind?” she repeated her question with more detail.
“No one,” he answered crisply. “I had a nice job at a hospital. I was second in command of an entire wing. They arranged a leave.”
“They?”
He finally brought his gaze up to her. “Can you help me with these stats?”
Scully nodded and stood from the stool. She picked up the chart of the patient nearest to her and wrote down the numbers on his monitors.
“It’s bigger than us,” he said, scribbling on a chart. “All of this here. It’s bigger.”
She didn’t respond.
The following morning, Scully was glad to see the patients improving. They were without very much pain and were awake and speaking.
She felt pretty well as she continued throughout the day, caring for those in stages two and three while comforting those in the first stage. She had hope that the antiviral would help to rid this virus from the body and she would be allowed to return home.
By the end of the night, Scully was confident in the antiviral medication, enough so that she figured she would be back with Mulder in less than a month.
Actually, she was really counting on less than two weeks, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. She went to sleep that night feeling more optimistic than she had over the three weeks she had been there.
She awoke to the sound of knocking on her door. Scully climbed out of bed and wondered if whoever it was had woken her neighbors as well. She pulled open the apartment door and the Cigarette Smoking Man entered, burning cigarette in hand.
“Good,” he spoke. “You’re awake.”
“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t.”
“I’ve seen the medical reports,” he told her.
She smiled slightly. “Yeah. The antiviral appears to be working.”
“That’s good,” he replied. “I’m impressed.”
“I haven’t had much to do with it,” she said. “I’ve only been here for a short time.”
“True,” he responded.
Scully suddenly thought of something. “I, um, have something... hold on.”
She walked into her kitchen and came back with the pack of Morleys she bought in the General Store. She held it out to him.
“Here.”
He took the pack from here, suspicious. “What is this for?”
“I... accidentally bought them.” She immediately cursed herself for her pathetic excuse.
“You accidentally bought them?” he repeated. “In town?”
“Yes.” She gave a short nod.
The Cigarette Smoking Man placed the pack into his jacket pocket. He took a drag on his cigarette and headed for the door.
“I just wanted to check in on you.”
“Wait.”
He turned.
“If the antiviral medication works, does that mean I get to go home?” she asked.
“Seems likely,” he answered and let himself out.
The next day, Scully was aware something was wrong the moment she stepped onto the hospital floor. Kelsey approached her.
“Some bad news, Dr. Scully,” she told her.
“What happened?” Scully asked, a little afraid to know the answer.
“Out of the eight that were given the antiviral, only three survived,” Kelsey informed her.
Scully’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“They seem completely better,” Kelsey explained. “Their blood is being tested right now to check for the virus.”
“Who died?” Scully replied.
“A young girl,” Kelsey told her, “three adults-two male, one female-and an elderly man.”
“And the ones that seem better?” she said.
“An elderly woman, an adult male, and a boy,” Kelsey responded.
Scully let out a heavy sigh. “They haven’t got it right yet.”
She turned and walked away from Kelsey, wanting to get up to the lab and check on the results of the blood samples.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The next step after the failure was to try the antiviral in another stage. Again, the experiment was conducted, but in the second stage. The patients appeared to get better over the course of the next few days, only to have most of them expire.
She felt frustrated. The working hours were endless. She collaborated with Mark and the scientists to determine why it was only saving a few and what they could do to make the antiviral stronger.
They experimented with dosages, with mixing medications, but nothing worked. Finally, they remained with administering only the antiviral in the third stage and found it allowed more patients to survive than when the antiviral was administered in the first two stages.
Overall, they felt lost and a disheartened. There was a possibility of hope, but that had been squashed. They did have reason to be somewhat optimistic in the fact that the antiviral did work for some, but trying to figure out why seemed more difficult than to have discovered the antiviral in the first place.
After a very long work day, Scully walked back to her apartment feeling exhausted. She had been up too long and it was now nearing three in the morning. She unlocked her apartment and stepped inside.
She flicked on the light switch and jumped at the sight of the Cigarette Smoking Man sitting on the armchair in her living room.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she hissed, her heart still racing from the scare.
“Waiting for you,” he answered.
“How did you get in?” she replied.
“I have access to anywhere,” he stated simply.
Scully glared at him. “This is an invasion of my privacy.”
He stood. “How is the antiviral coming along?”
She shook her head, letting out a sigh. “Not well. We think we’re getting closer to understanding how it works and then... we’re thrown a loop; something doesn’t match up.”
“It needs to get done,” he told her, eyes locked with hers.
Scully frowned. “It’s not like we’re not trying.”
The Cigarette Smoking Man took out his Morleys and pulled one out.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t smoke in here,” she said bitterly. “It took days to get the smell to go away on your last visit.”
He eyed her up and then returned the cigarette to the pack. She frowned, feeling like she just won something, but not quite understanding what it meant.
“What happens to the people that get better?” she asked, figuring she should try to get an answer from him now that she had the chance.
“They’re returned home,” he responded.
“Really?” She cocked an eyebrow
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know.” Scully shrugged. “Our work is confidential. Seems like letting them go home could potentially ruin this thing you have going.”
“You think they shouldn’t go home?” he replied.
“No,” she told him. “I think you’re lying to me.”
“And why, Doctor Scully, would I do that?”
‘Because that’s who you are,’ she answered bitterly in her mind, but she kept her mouth closed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he assured her as he headed to the door.
Her eyebrows drew together. “What’s tomorrow?”
“Outing.” He opened her front door.
“I’m going into town tomorrow?”
He faced her. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“No, I do. You’re going?”
“Yes.”
The Cigarette Smoking Man stepped out, closing the door behind himself. Scully sighed. She knew they always left at nine in the morning for outings, which didn’t give her much time to sleep.
She hadn’t written to Mulder again since she didn’t know when she would be going back out and there was no one, not even Aaron, that she trusted to mail a letter for her. Sure, Aaron had helped her, but she didn’t want him to read her words or to get caught.
Scully locked her apartment door and went into the bedroom. She retrieved a pen and piece of paper and sat down on the bed. She drew in a deep breath, reminding herself to keep it vague in case it was intercepted.
Mulder,
I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen you. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been away for more than a month. I miss you more each day, I think, and I wish you were here. Or, preferably, I wish I were with you.
Day in and day out, I see people sick; I see people die. I was beside a twelve-year-old girl today as she took her last breath. This is sick and it’s daunting. It seems logical to be here, to help with this. It is suppose to help, but at the cost of the innocent? Sometimes, I don’t know what keeps me here. We’ll expose them. We will. We have to. I’m too haunted by the faces of those who have passed to keep my mouth shut about this.
I tell myself to be patient. As much as I want to scream at the top of my lungs and expose this to every source of media, I know there is a reward in waiting. This would all be so much easier if I had a compass showing me which way is north and which is south, which is right and which is wrong.
It’s getting late and I need to sleep. Please, take care, Mulder.
With love,
Dana
Scully sealed the letter inside an envelope and slept with it under her pillow.
The Cigarette Smoking Man was at her door the following morning. He puffed on his cigarette and took a step back as she entered into the hallway.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she locked her front door.
“Escorting you,” he answered.
“I don’t need an escort.”
Scully passed him and headed for the elevator. While she was waiting for its arrival, he caught up to her.
“You’re really going into town?” she said.
“Yes,” he told her.
“Why?” she replied.
“Why not?”
The elevator doors slid open. He dropped his cigarette butt to the floor and extinguished it with his shoe. He joined her in the elevator as she hit the button for the fourth floor.
When they arrived at the fourth floor, Frank and Kelsey, who had been waiting to go, fell silent at seeing the Cigarette Smoking Man. Scully ignored their reaction and signed out.
Russell, also quiet, led them into the elevator. She knew pretty quickly that the Cigarette Smoking Man made these people uncomfortable. She just wondered what he did to them that made them feel this way.
The car ride in was even more uncomfortable. No one spoke and the Cigarette Smoking Man had his window down to let the cigarette smoke out. Scully sat blankly in the back seat, eyes focused on the window and Mulder’s letter pressed against her skin, secured in the waist of her pants.
She glanced around, trying to be sure she was alone in the general store. There was an older man toward the back of the store, but Scully felt he posed no threat. She had five minutes to get back to the car and she knew Frank and Kelsey were already back there. She just needed to act quickly.
The woman behind the counter gave Scully a smile.
“I’d like one stamp, please,” Scully told her.
She paid with coins again for the stamp and placed it on the envelope.
“Thank you,” she said to the woman.
Scully walked toward the door, but stopped as she quickly scribbled Mulder’s address onto the front. When she finished, she left the store and looked around. She hated that the mailbox was outside. Anyone could see her deposit the letter. She felt less paranoid the first time with Aaron as her lookout.
She glanced back at the woman at the counter and wished she had enough trust in someone else to let them send the letter for her. The woman seemed nice, but Scully didn’t know what kind of person she really was. She could be nosy or careless and Scully didn’t want her words to Mulder to be seen by anyone, but him.
A man stepped out of the barber shop, close to mailbox, and headed down the street. That’s when Scully saw her opportunity. She crossed the street and followed behind him, which helped her case because he was heading in the direction of the car.
She threw the letter out and watched it fall to the ground.
“Excuse me, sir,” she called out, approaching him.
Scully picked up the letter as the man stopped and turned to her.
“You dropped your letter.” She held it out to him.
“That’s not mine,” he told her.
“Oh, well, I’ll just go put it in the mailbox then,” Scully responded.
She smiled at him and he smiled back at her in return. He gave a nod and continued on.
Scully mailed the envelope and headed back to the car, wondering if that had really gone as smoothly as she thought it did. She didn’t see the Cigarette Smoking Man, let alone anyone she had arrived with, which assured her that she might have gotten away with it.
There was a knock on her door later that night. Scully opened it to find Aaron standing there.
“Good evening,” he greeted her.
“Hi, Aaron,” she replied, glad for his presence. She had been researching for the past few hours and was growing tired of it.
“I was over in my apartment getting hungry and so I thought I’d come over here and ask if you wanna get dinner together?” Aaron told her. “That is, if you haven’t already eaten.”
“I haven’t,” she said.
“So...” Aaron tapped his fingers on the door frame. “Would you like to go down to the cafeteria with me? There’s a pasta special.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
“Good.” He smiled. “And you can tell me about your outing today.”
“Just hold on.”
Scully went into her bedroom and slipped on a comfortable pair of shoes. She grabbed her keys from the dresser and headed back out into the living room. She smiled at him as she stepped into the hallway.
Aaron waited patiently as she locked the door. He walked alongside of her as they headed to the elevator.
“I didn’t even know you were going out today,” he said.
“Neither did I,” she admitted and pressed the button. “I was told last minute.”
“Lucky you,” he replied. “Sometimes I gotta plead to get out of here.”
The elevator doors slid open and they both stepped on. Scully turned toward Aaron as the doors closed.
“Do you know the man who smokes all the time?” she asked.
Aaron frowned. “He leaves his cigarette butts all over the floor.”
“Yeah, that’s him,” Scully agreed. “Is he the one that you interact with? Like your boss?”
“No.” Aaron shook his head. “As far as I know, everyone’s boss is this guy named Krauss or something. That guy that smokes is always talking with him or will sit in if Krauss wants to talk to us, but that doesn’t happen too much.”
“What does Krauss look like?”
He stared at her, surprised. “You’ve never met him?”
“No,” she answered.
“Then who’s your boss?” he responded.
“The Cigarette Smoking Man.”
“Oh.”
The doors opened and they stepped out. Aaron led the way into the cafeteria.
“Yo, Tom!” he called out.
“Aaron, what can I...” Tom smirked as his eyes landed on Scully. “Oh, and if it isn’t Dana. Well, what delectable food of the gods can I cook up for you?”
Aaron turned to her. “You want the pasta? It’s damn good.”
“Sure,” she answered.
“Two pastas,” Aaron told Tom.
“And what can I bring to quench your thirst?” Tom replied.
“Coke,” Aaron said.
Tom looked to Scully. “Dana?”
“Water’s fine.” She gave him a tight smile. “Thanks.”
“Come on.” Aaron nudged her. “We’ll sit back here.”
He led her to a table in the back with only two seats. She sat down across from him. He leaned closer to her, keeping his voice low.
“All right, so let me get this straight,” he began. “You know that cigarette-smoking dude?”
“Yes.” Scully nodded. “I know him. I suppose.”
“He’s scary,” Aaron said. “All he does is smoke and stare. You don’t know what he’s thinking. Fucking crazy.”
“What’s Krauss like?” she asked.
“Kinda the same.” Aaron shrugged. “Less scary. He’s soft spoke, kinda short with these dinky glasses. I can’t believe you’ve never seen him.”
“Is he on the third floor?” she replied.
“Yeah.” Aaron nodded. “I gotta clean up there. That cigarette guy’s got a big apartment, except it doesn’t even look like anyone lives there. He’s barely got anything. Although, he’s got a pretty sweet typewriter.”
“A typewriter?” she repeated.
“Yeah, it’s cool.”
Tom brought over their drinks, walking on his tip toes. He smiled at both of them.
“Thanks,” Scully told him.
“No problem, ma chérie,” he responded before heading back to the kitchen.
“I shouldn’t be talking about this stuff though,” Aaron continued with their conversation. “Could get my ass kicked. Or get killed.”
“Killed?” She raised her eyebrows and then took a sip of her water.
“Well, no.” Aaron shook his head. “No, that’s not what I meant. They don’t... kill people, per se, it’s more like... well, yeah, you can get killed.”
“How?” She leaned forward in her chair.
“Accidents,” Aaron said simply. “One time, there was this guy, Tony, and he hated it here. He played the game, right? Got into town after his month was up and started freaking out.
“Before you know it, some guy busts into the General Store like he’s gonna rob it-which, you know, is stupid because that little place has no money-and the guy shoots Tony only, makes off with, like, fifty bucks and Tony’s dead.”
“That all happened in one day?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Aaron sipped his soda. “They’re prepared for shit like that. So let’s talk about something less depressing. Name your favorite actor, actress, and movie. Go!”
She shook her head, but he prompted her to go on. Scully gave in and talked with him about any normal or bizarre questions he posed, which made her feel, just a little bit, like she was back home.
Aaron was walking her to her apartment, rambling on about his Gilligan’s Island phase when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Scully frowned and looked toward her door, the focus of Aaron’s attention. The Cigarette Smoking Man was standing there.
“Uh, I’ll see you later, Dana,” Aaron told her. “Bye.”
He turned and walked away quickly. Scully approached her door, noticing the seven cigarette butts on the floor.
“They’re going to think those are mine,” she said.
“You don’t want me smoking inside,” he reminded her.
“What are you doing here anyway?” Scully asked as she entered her apartment.
The Cigarette Smoking Man followed her in and closed the door. “Did you have a nice time in town?”
She paused for a moment, wondering if he knew what she had done, but she kept cool and turned toward him.
“It was fine.”
“You’ve become good friends with that man,” he noted.
“I suppose.” She shrugged.
He smirked and shook his head slightly. The smirk vanished and Scully felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I want you to know things are going well for you right now,” he told her. “Your work has been above average, your observations on par, but-” He closed the distance between them. “If you think for a moment you can undermine me by your little charade, you are mistaken.”
“What charade?” she replied.
The Cigarette Smoking Man pulled out her letter to Mulder. She tried to stay strong, but she couldn’t help the tears that formed in her eyes.
“That’s not...”
“Yours?” He finished for her when she didn’t go on. “Let me open it, then, and see-”
“No,” she cut him off. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry you were caught.”
He pulled out his lighter and flicked it on. The flame danced as he held the end of the envelope near it. Scully lowered her eyes to the floor as he lit it on fire.
She felt sick to her stomach. The letter had appeared unopened, but if he had opened it, he would have read her words about wanting to expose this.
The Cigarette Smoking Man dropped the flaming letter to the floor and put the flames out with his shoe. Scully looked up from the ash. He was watching her.
“Don’t think for a second that I won’t do to you what I’ve done to your letter.”
He turned and left her apartment, slamming the door behind him. Scully swallowed hard, shaking slightly, as tears fell from her eyes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Medical and scientific progress was at a standstill. They continued to administer the antiviral medication in the third stage, but the results were always the same. About half the patients lived while the other half died, no reason as to why one had died and not another.
The scientists still continued to work diligently, changing the antiviral medication and testing it on the patients, only to find that it made the antiviral have no effect at all or killed the patients sooner.
Scully was growing to hate this job and the facility. The death was haunting her in her sleep and she felt it was unethical to keep experimenting with different drugs. She wished to go home, but she remained silent.
After all, she wanted to be on her best behavior since the Cigarette Smoking Man had found out about her letter. She believed in the stories Aaron had told her and she didn’t want to be killed.
She was relieved when Candace, the security guard, knocked on her door one night and told her she would be going on an outing. Scully had been waiting for one. She vowed not to send Mulder a letter again and she would keep to that. She just wanted some fresh air and sunshine.
The Cigarette Smoking Man hadn’t been back to see her since the night with the letter. However, she knew he meant what he said because she traveled into town with security officer Russell and the other male security officer, Vince, who she had never seen before. She knew there were three officers, but she only ever encountered Russell and Candace.
Vince was built much like Russell, but he never talked, nor smiled. The nurse, Patricia, also accompanied them on the trip. She tried to start a conversation a few times on the drive, but Scully wasn’t up for it and neither were the men.
When they arrived into town, Scully was well aware that she was the one to be watched. She was followed by Vince for the first half hour as she walked around, just breathing in the air and taking in the sun.
When she grew bored of that, she entered the General Store. Vince followed in behind her and went to the bathroom. The woman at the counter spoke up.
“Excuse me.”
Scully approached her. “Yes?”
“I was told to give you this.” The woman handed her a slip of paper.
Scully frowned and unfolded the paper. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she recognized Mulder’s handwriting.
Meet me in the ladies’ room.
She slipped the paper into her pocket and browsed an aisle for a brief moment before heading into the bathroom, passing Vince along the way. The door swung shut behind her. It appeared empty, but the last stall was closed.
“Mulder?” she asked quietly.
The door opened and he stepped out. Mulder smiled at her, but the smile was not returned.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded to know as she walked toward him. “You have to go.”
“It’s okay, Scully,” he assured her.
“No, it’s not,” she replied. “They have special instructions to keep an eye on me. If they see you-”
“Please calm down.” He placed a hand on her arm.
“How did you even find me?” she said.
“Postage on that letter you sent me,” he told her. “I’ve been waiting here a week and a half.”
“This was a terrible idea, Mulder.” Scully shrugged him off. “If they see you-”
“Who?” he cut in.
“There are people working for him that come into town here,” she explained. “If they see us together, they would probably kill you and me both. I tried sending you a second letter, but I was caught. That’s why they are paying extra special attention to me.”
“I’m... sorry, Scully.” Mulder offered a weak apologetic smile. “I wanted to see you.”
“Does Skinner know you’re here?” she asked.
“Told him I was going on vacation,” Mulder responded.
Scully frowned. “You never go on vacation.”
“Which is why he was a tad suspicious,” he added. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, but Mulder...” She locked eyes with him. “You must promise me you won’t come back here. Please. It’s a risk enough as it is, but if you kept coming back, well...”
“I won’t,” he assured her.
She shook her head and diverted her eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t have sent you mail.”
“I’m glad you did,” he said. “What have you found? What have you been doing?”
“I can’t tell you that,” she answered.
His eyebrows drew together in surprise. “What?”
“Mulder... you’re asking.... you’re asking too much of me. I can’t-” She drew in a sharp breath. “There are more lives at stake than our own.”
“So... then what, Scully?” he replied. “What happens when you return home? Will I get answers then?”
“There’s just too much right now,” she tried to explain. “And besides... I don’t know if I’ll ever be home.”
“What do you mean?” His eyes were locked with hers.
“You should go.”
She turned and headed for the door. He grabbed her arm, keeping her there.
“No, Scully, talk to me,” he insisted. “What the hell is going on?”
Scully pulled out of his grasp and faced him. “If you knew and they knew about it, you’ll be dead. I don’t want that to happen. Just know that... I’m fine. Please, Mulder.”
“All right,” he agreed. “I’m sorry I came.”
He moved past her for the door. She turned, watching him.
“You can’t go.”
Mulder stopped and faced her. “What?”
“You should stay in here for probably another two hours,” she advised and approached him. “I’m leaving in a half hour. To be safe, you should give yourself some time between now and when I depart.”
“Fine.” He headed back to the last stall.
“Mulder.” Her voice was relatively quieter. “I miss you. Every day.”
He turned and nodded. “I miss you, too.”
She gave him a tight smile and left the bathroom.
The rest of the time on her outing was spent outside on a worn bench in the sun, with Vince standing a few feet behind her, as she tried her hardest not to cry.
When she returned to the facility that afternoon, she was different. After having seen Mulder, she felt depressed. She admitted to him what she kept telling herself couldn’t be true-that she may never return home.
Scully woke up in the morning, determined to just get through the motions of day, working later hours without even realizing it. She didn’t see Aaron as much and was quieter around him when he did convince her they should get dinner.
She was tired of being here, tired of feeling alone. She wished she could go back in time and tell Mulder this undercover business was a terrible idea. But she couldn’t do that, so she told herself to stop imagining a different outcome and to get on with her new life.
She was at another meeting with Mark and the scientists. Progress was still at a halt and morale had nearly hit rock bottom. Max was pacing behind the table and Scully was sitting farther from Mark than she usually did.
“It doesn’t work on everyone,” Brandon continued with his thought. “That’s just something they must accept and we’re done. We’ve tried everything else and this is the best we’ve got. If this gets out, half the population will die. That’s it, end of story.”
“We can’t get away with that,” Mark replied, frowning. “They’ll keep us here until we find a way to save everyone.”
“Not everyone deserves to be saved,” the words tumbled from her mouth, a flashback to one of her trips with the Cigarette Smoking Man.
“Doctor Scully?” James asked and smoothed his hand over his red hair.
“Maybe not everyone deserves to be saved,” she said, looking around at the men. “Maybe it knows that.”
“It?” Brandon raised his eyebrows at her. “The virus?”
“Yes, the virus,” she snapped. “We’ve tried every single means to classify those that survived and those that did not to understand why the antiviral worked on some and not others. We failed. Medicine and science won’t explain it. Maybe we have to go beyond that to understand.”
“What are you suggesting?” Mark asked her cautiously.
“Beyond science,” she replied. “Beyond medicine.”
“What?” Max scoffed from behind her. “Supernatural? Paranormal?”
She turned in her chair to glare at him. “Nothing else has worked.”
“You’re crazy,” Brandon told her.
“Am I?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Or did José Munoz survive because the virus wanted him to while his father did not because the virus saw no need?”
Mark stood from his chair. “Dana, could I speak to you in private for a second?”
Shooting him a glare now, Scully stood and followed him over to the elevator. They kept their voices low.
“What?” she hissed.
“You better have an explanation.” He pointed a finger.
“I do.” She nodded.
“Nothing crazy,” he added.
“It’s not crazy,” she told him. “When every normal, possible explanation does not pan out, what’s left? The abnormal.”
“A virus that chooses who to kill?” Mark asked, eyebrows raised.
“No,” she responded. “Because it killed everyone before. But the antiviral affects it somehow. Maybe it gives the virus the ability to choose.”
Mark looked down at the floor for a moment before bringing his eyes back up to her.
“You should take a few days off.”
Scully frowned. “What?”
“I’ll ask that they get you into town,” Mark went on. “You need some air.”
“I do not,” she denied it.
“You’ve been working long hours,” he pointed out. “You’ve been keeping to yourself.”
She shook her head. “That’s not-”
“You need a few days,” he cut her off.
“Since when do you have authority over me?” Scully asked.
“I don’t,” he answered. “But I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
She returned to the table and Mark soon followed, but Scully noticed how, as they continued the meeting, they tiptoed around the topics that might cause her to go off again.
She opened the door and he was standing there.
“You heard.”
Scully swung the door open and walked away, allowing him to enter. She sat down on her couch and he closed the door.
“Going back to Agent Mulder’s roots, are we?” the Cigarette Smoking Man asked.
“How do you know it’s not a possibility?” she replied. “You’re not the one down there watching it kill people.”
“No,” he said. “I’m not. And neither will you.”
She stared at him, confused. “What?”
“Outing tomorrow,” he informed her.
“No,” she responded simply. “I don’t want to go.”
He frowned, as if disappointed. “Don’t do this.”
“You can’t make me go,” Scully told him.
“Yes, I can,” he assured her.
“I don’t want your control over me,” she spoke a little too loudly.
The Cigarette Smoking Man held her eye contact. He cleared his throat.
“That’s too bad. Be at security at nine or I will come get you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Scully arrived promptly at the security floor the next morning. The Cigarette Smoking Man was standing against the wall, smoking a cigarette, when she stepped from the elevator. She gave a tight smile to Candace as she signed out and then followed the Cigarette Smoking Man into the elevator. It would just be the two of them.
She was tired and brooding. He didn’t seem to mind the silence, but even on their former road trips, he never seemed to mind it then either.
A little over a half hour into their car ride, Scully looked away from her window and settled her gaze on him.
“Why is it a problem if I’m thinking like Mulder?” she asked. “Sometimes he’s right.”
“Right?” he repeated, keeping his eyes on the road. “About boogeymen and aliens?”
“He saw things differently and because of that, I can say he had saved my life quite a few times,” Scully told him. “While I may not have believed in what he claimed he saw, I couldn’t deny its existence either.”
“But you still didn’t believe him,” the Cigarette Smoking Man pointed out.
“Do you think I’m wrong in looking for another explanation?” she said.
He didn’t answer her and took a drag on his cigarette. Scully remained silent then, until she realized their trip seemed very unfamiliar.
“Where are we going?” She looked back over at him. “This isn’t the way into town.”
“No, it’s not,” he agreed.
She stared at him, her paranoia getting the best of her. “You’re going to kill me.”
He glanced over at her with a glare. “No. I’m not.”
“I don’t trust you,” she replied.
“When have you ever trusted me?”
She fell silent again; he had a point. They began to pass through other towns she had never seen before. He drove into a more urban area with taller buildings and more people.
Scully wanted to know where they were going, but she kept quiet. After all, she knew he wasn’t going to give her an answer. He pulled up alongside of a park, stopping the car in the shade.
“What are we doing here?” She stared at the park outside her window.
“Going into the park,” he answered. “Getting some air.”
She looked over at him. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Walk, meditate, I don’t care.”
“What are you going to do?” she replied.
“Make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Finding this to be more irritating than relaxing, Scully popped open her car door with a sigh. She slammed the door closed and headed along the pebbled path and into the lush park. It was shaded, but that wasn’t necessary since it wasn’t blazing hot outside.
Her days that had grown into weeks and inevitably months had brought her to the beginning of December. It was strange to know these were winter months, yet the weather remained warm and without snow. She wondered how much snow was on the east coast she left behind.
Scully headed down a slope toward a pond. There were several older children with toy boats in the water that they moved with a remote control. A young couple were on the other side of the pond having a picnic and a few tots with their mothers were watching the ducks.
She kept some distance and sat down on a bench, watching. They were all living seemingly normal lives, not knowing the underbelly of the world they lived in. If she so desired, she could have easily infected any of these people with the virus and the medical world would fail at saving them.
It disgusted her to know there was so much the government was keeping from its people and it disgusted her that she was a part of it. It worried her, as well, because she figured for all she did know, there was a good percentage of things she did not, nor would not, ever know.
“Mind if I sit?” the Cigarette Smoking Man asked, indicating the end of the bench.
“As long as you don’t smoke,” she responded.
He sat. She drew in a breath, eyes fixated on the playing children. She thought of the children back in the facility, too sick to do anything, some too weak to keep fighting the virus.
This outing wasn’t helping her very much.
“You matter,” he suddenly spoke.
She brought her gaze to him. “Excuse me?”
“Your work, your records, everything you do back at the facility,” he went on. “It matters and so do you. We are keeping this under wraps in the public world as best we can. We’re doing our best to control it, keep it confined. If you weren’t doing the work you are involved with, all these people in this park could be dead.”
Scully looked back out at the pond. “It doesn’t excuse those who have already died.”
“And is that my fault?” he asked. “I’ve tried to help them by bringing them into the facility. Some have survived.”
She couldn’t listen to this anymore. She stood from the bench and began toward a path that weaved through a patch of trees.
“Where are you going?” he said.
“Leave me alone,” she called back to him.
Scully knew he’d follow her anyway because he said he would, but she hoped he’d keep some distance. She walked along the path, but veered off before reaching the trees. She was just so tired of this. She was always so tired.
She settled down on a sunny patch of grass, lying completely on her back. She enclasped her hands together on her abdomen and closed her eyes against the sun. Scully breathed in, the sun warming her.
This felt better-being in the sun. She wondered if that’s why she had been feeling so down and angry. Sunlight affects mood and without it, she was losing its warmth and its rays which gave her some warmth and peace.
She drifted off into a light slumber and woke up some time later to him tapping her on the shoulder. Scully opened her eyes and squinted against the sun. She sat up and shielded her eyes as she looked toward the Cigarette Smoking Man.
“It’s time to go,” he told her.
Scully stood and followed him out of the park. She looked herself over, making sure she hadn’t been getting burned by the sun. She was glad to discover her skin was still fair with only a very faint pink.
When they were both settled in the car, he started it and began to drive back to the facility. He glanced at her as he lit a cigarette.
“Feel better?”
She shrugged, not admitting to him that she did feel a bit better.
“Well, I hope so because you won’t be getting an opportunity to go there again,” he said and blew smoke in her direction.
Scully returned to the facility still feeling they should all explore the abnormal route as an explanation to the virus and antiviral. However, since she was feeling a bit better, she didn’t press the issue and figured they would come back to it when their new experiments failed.
The days turned to weeks and although Scully had been feeling better, she still didn’t feel complete. She did take the Cigarette Smoking Man’s words in when he spoke to her in the park. She did think that her work mattered, but it was hard to deal with the everyday death-especially since she still believed that he had a part in infecting these people.
Scully was feeling homesick as the days grew nearer to Christmas. She wished she could go home, but everyone she mentioned the holiday to gave her the impression that it wasn’t happening. After all, they coasted right through Thanksgiving without barely acknowledging its existence. Though, Tom did make pumpkin pie.
But Christmas was different. She refused to skip over it. So a week before Christmas, she went to Candace in security and asked if she could get a hold of the Cigarette Smoking Man for her and tell him it was important. She thought her request was ignored until he showed up at her door one night.
“You wanted to see me,” he said.
“Where have you been?” she asked him, annoyed that he hadn’t come sooner.
“None of your business.” He remained in the hallway. “What did you want?”
“Christmas is in two days,” Scully told him. “I want to go home. At least for a few days.”
He shook his head. “That’s not possible.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“I don’t make the rules,” he replied.
“Who does and where can I find them?” she shot back.
He smirked slightly. “I’m surprised at you. You should have expected this response.”
“I was hoping for a Christmas miracle,” Scully responded sarcastically.
The Cigarette Smoking Man paused a moment. “Is that all?”
“Yes,” she answered bluntly.
“Then, goodnight.”
He turned and walked away from her. She watched him until her was out of sight. Scully closed her door quietly, her eyes fixed on the floor.
“Hi, Ron,” Scully greeted the nurse as she made her way down the hall on the hospital floor.
It was nearing nighttime and she thought being on duty for Christmas Eve would get her mind off of the fact that she wasn’t home.
“Dr. Scully.” He stopped her. “Kelsey thought we should all get together tomorrow for lunch. Tom assured us that there’s going to be a nice meal in the cafeteria. We thought we’d get as much of the staff together to, you know, spend the holiday with someone. You should be there.”
“Thanks.” She gave him a tight smile. “Maybe. Are you the only one on?”
“Yeah.” Ron nodded. “That kid. The little boy...”
“Edward.” She knew exactly who he was talking about.
“He’s not doing well,” Ron told her. “I think he’ll go tonight.”
“Anyone else?” she asked.
“No,” he answered, “but there’s always the possibility.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Scully said. “You can take the night off.”
“Really?” Ron raised his eyebrows at her.
She smiled. “Merry Christmas.”
“Thanks, Dr. Scully.” He returned the smile. “I’m just gonna finish up some paperwork.”
Scully walked away from Ron and headed to the third ward. She stepped into the room and looked to the bed Edward was in. He was a boy small for his age. His sixth birthday was two months ago.
Drawing in a breath, Scully put on her latex gloves and mask. Everyone in the room was either unconscious or asleep. For the ones the antiviral was helping, they were still too sick to do much more than sleep. As for the ones not getting better, they were unconscious.
Scully made her way toward Edward’s bed. She pulled a stool over and sat down next to the bed.
“Hey, Edward,” she spoke quietly and brushed the boy’s dark hair away from his forehead. “I know it’s getting rough. Your father and mother are waiting for you up there.”
This case really stuck with her and some of the other nurses. Sometimes they would get families in the hospital, but never usually the entire family. Edward’s father had passed away a week ago and his pregnant mother only two days prior.
“I bet it’s nice in heaven,” she continued on. “It’s peaceful and there’s no reason to be scared. Your mother and father are there. They’re watching over you right now, making sure you’re okay. They’ll be there when you arrive, ready to hug and kiss you all over. There’s no pain there in heaven. Not like here.
“But I’ll stay here as long as you need me, Edward. If you want to hang on for a little while longer, I will be right here. There’s no reason you should die alone.”
Scully slipped her hand into Edward’s and gently rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb.
“Dr. Scully?”
“Yes?” She looked toward the doorway.
Ron took a step in. “I’m going to go now.”
“Okay,” she replied. “Have a goodnight.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said.
“Same to you, Ron.”
He left and Scully turned back to Edward. His lips were parted, tinted blue. His eyes were closed, long dark lashes pressed together.
“On Christmas Eve, my sister, Melissa, used to read ‘Twas the Night before Christmas to me,” Scully told the small boy. “My brothers were always setting up traps to try and catch Santa, so my mom would make hot chocolate and Melissa would read to me. She loved to read that story to me and I was excited every year when she did.”
Scully paused, thinking about Melissa. She missed her so much. She imagined how different this very day could have been if she never joined the FBI. She began to recite.
“‘Twas the night before Christmas... when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...’”
She paused, recalling the words.
“’The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...’”
She swallowed a lump in her throat.
“’The children were nestled... all snug in their beds while... visions of...’”
She trailed off, tears filling her eyes. With one hand still in Edward’s, she covered her eyes with her other. It wasn’t fair this little boy was dying. It wasn’t fair that his unborn sister had died, and his parents, and every other man, woman, and child that had entered this hospital as a patient.
Scully wondered what kind of bed this boy would be sleeping in if his family never got sick or the antiviral had worked. She wondered what presents were hidden in a closet or under a bed that were waiting to light up this boy’s face on Christmas morning. A Christmas morning he would never experience.
With the monitors continually beeping around her, Scully cried.
Continue to Part Six.
Summary: Agent Mulder discovers the Cigarette Smoking Man is involved with smuggling in illegals and Scully goes undercover to find out why. She ends up on a journey that takes her nearly across the country and away from everything that was familiar to her.
Author's Note: Just want to thank my wonderful betas. oct0puss and ashley_west, you guys were awesome!!
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
On Friday, at ten to nine in the morning, Scully exited her apartment. She jumped in surprise to see Aaron standing there in his regular clothes. He was wearing jeans and a thin t-shirt. He smiled at her.
“Are you going, too?” she asked him.
“That I am,” he answered.
“Good.”
He accompanied her to the elevator. She pressed the button.
“I do have to say that it’s surprising you’re getting out in two weeks,” he told her. “It’s always been a month for everyone else.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “That’s weird.”
Scully stepped into the elevator and Aaron followed her. They went up to the fourth floor in silence and when the doors opened, Frank was standing there. He was the male nurse Scully had seen on her first day here. He was a little too thin and a little too anxious.
Behind Frank was a long counter that divided the hallway into two sections. There was a door cut into the counter to allow access to the other side. A female security officer with short, dirty blonde hair was behind the counter. She was wearing a navy blue uniform.
“Sign out, please,” she said.
Scully never did visit the security floor. She didn’t want to go without a reason, and a reason never presented itself. Besides, she didn’t very much feel like going alone.
She approached the counter and signed underneath Frank’s name. Aaron signed after her.
“Dana Scully,” the security officer eyed her up.
Scully nodded. “Yes.”
“I’ve heard about you.” The officer smiled. “I’m Candace.”
“Nice to meet you,” she replied.
Scully smiled weakly at her before walking away. She didn’t know how Candace knew about her or what was said, and she didn’t care to find out.
“All set?”
A tall and very muscular male security officer walked out of a room from behind the counter. He approached, his eyes scanning over Frank and Aaron before landing on Scully. She diverted her eyes.
“For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Russell,” he announced. “I do all trips out and in.”
He opened the counter door and stepped out. Russell led the way back to the elevator, Frank following him close behind. They all filed into the elevator and the doors closed them in. Russell punched in a code on the pad quickly and the elevator began to move.
“First time in, Doctor Scully,” he asked, even though everyone in the elevator knew that he was already aware of the answer.
“Yes,” she responded.
“Hope you enjoy the fresh air,” Russell told her.
“Thanks.”
The doors opened and Scully knew the floor. It was the garage. Russell led them to a dark car with tinted windows. He got in on the driver’s side while Frank took the passenger side. Aaron gave Scully a smile as they both climbed into the back.
Once they were out on the road, Frank asked Russell all about the show Cops and whether or not Russell ever found himself in those situations. By his tone, Scully could tell Russell wasn’t a fan a Frank’s. She tried to ignore them both as their drive continued.
The sun was bright and warm on Scully’s face. She breathed in the fresh air for a few moments before taking a look around. They were parked in a small concrete parking lot. There was a dirt road cutting through the ‘town,’ a term she used loosely.
On either side of the road were shops, but they were pretty worn. A few people were walking down the street, but if it wasn’t for their appearance, she would have figured the place was deserted.
“Come on,” Aaron said to her and began down the road.
Scully followed after him.
“Be back in an hour!” Russell called out. “Behave and remember the rules!”
No one ever told her about the rules. She guessed she would have been told about them during an evaluation, but since she didn’t have one, she shrugged it off and caught up to Aaron’s side.
“Do they sell stamps here?” she asked, remembering the letter shoved into her pocket.
“You’re going to mail something?” Aaron replied, looking at her as if she was crazy.
“Yes,” she answered.
“We’re not allowed any contact,” he said. “I don’t know what the penalty is if you get caught, but I can only assume it’s pretty bad.”
“I don’t care,” she replied bluntly. “Are you going to help me or not?”
Aaron frowned. “I think they sell them in the General Store.”
“And there’s a mailbox over there,” she added, giving a nod across the street.
Scully entered the building with the ‘General Store’ sign above its door. Aaron followed her into the small and quaint store with nearly bare shelves. There were bathrooms towards the back as indicated by a fading sign.
No one else was in the store except the woman behind the counter. She was older and plump, her dark and curly hair turning gray.
Scully approached the counter and kept her voice low. Aaron wandered around the store, not wanting to be fully involved.
“Do you sell stamps?” she asked the woman.
“How many you want?” the woman responded with a raise of an eyebrow.
“Just one,” Scully answered.
The woman slid the stamp toward Scully and she paid with coins. She took the letter from her pocket and stuck the stamp in the corner. As she wrote Mulder’s address on the envelope, the woman nudged her arm.
“You with them?”
Scully looked toward the doorway to see Russell and Frank entering the store. She placed her arm over the letter, hiding it.
“Can I get a pack of... um... Morley’s?” she said to the woman, the only thing she could think of fast enough to make her presence at the counter seem inconspicuous.
The woman retrieved the pack and set it down next to Scully’s arm.
“Thanks,” Scully gratefully told her and paid.
She placed the cigarette pack on the envelope and slid both from the counter. Scully walked out of the store and headed down the road a bit. Aaron came out moments later. He caught up to her.
“Smooth,” he told her sarcastically.
“They didn’t see me,” she snapped back.
“Now, you gotta make sure they don’t see you put the letter in the box.” He nodded toward the blue mailbox across the street.
“You stand lookout,” she commanded.
“No way,” he refused with a shake of his head.
“I thought you were going to help,” she said.
Aaron let out a sigh. “What should I do if they look toward the window or start coming out?”
“Ask me if I want to go to... that bar place you said was here,” she advised.
“Fine.”
Scully crossed the street as Aaron walked back over to the General Store. He jammed his hands into his pockets and paced outside of the store slowly, glancing in from time to time.
She was getting closer to the mailbox. She looked over at Aaron and he glanced into the store before giving her a nod. Scully slipped the letter into the mailbox and quickly walked away. Aaron lingered outside of the store a little longer before crossing the street.
“Happy now?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered and gave him a tight smile.
“Who was it for?” he replied.
“My mom,” she lied. “She worries.”
Aaron nodded. He gave her a smile. “Want to go to that bar?”
“At ten in the morning?” She lifted her eyebrows at him.
“Well, it was logical when you thought we might get caught,” Aaron pointed out. “And they have a jukebox.”
“And they’re open now?” she responded, doubting him.
“Yep,” he told her brightly.
“Fine,” she gave in.
Aaron headed toward the bar and she kept up at his side.
“Thank you,” she said. “For helping me.”
He glanced to her, a smile back on his face. “You’re welcome.”
Scully was sitting next to Mark at a table in the laboratory. James and Brandon were across from them and Max was seated away from the group, fitting his own preference.
“We’re not getting the results we’d like.” Brandon leaned forward in his chair. “We administered the antiviral during the third stage, but we should try something new.”
“What do you suggest?” Scully asked.
“Administering it to everyone in the first stage,” Brandon told her. “Get it early and maybe it’ll make everyone better.”
“Sounds logical,” Mark replied. “Doctor Scully and myself will administer it to the new patients. We’ll monitor for a few hours and get back to you.”
When Scully and Mark arrived at the hospital floor, they entered into the first ward. The patients were unconscious to spare them from pain. Scully and Mark systematically injected each patient with the antiviral medication.
“And now, we wait,” Mark said as he placed a syringe into a red recycling bin.
Scully sat down on a stool in the corner of the room. Mark began writing down the stats of each patient. She watched him.
“Who did you leave behind?” she asked.
“What?” Mark didn’t look up.
“When they brought you here, who or what did you leave behind?” she repeated her question with more detail.
“No one,” he answered crisply. “I had a nice job at a hospital. I was second in command of an entire wing. They arranged a leave.”
“They?”
He finally brought his gaze up to her. “Can you help me with these stats?”
Scully nodded and stood from the stool. She picked up the chart of the patient nearest to her and wrote down the numbers on his monitors.
“It’s bigger than us,” he said, scribbling on a chart. “All of this here. It’s bigger.”
She didn’t respond.
The following morning, Scully was glad to see the patients improving. They were without very much pain and were awake and speaking.
She felt pretty well as she continued throughout the day, caring for those in stages two and three while comforting those in the first stage. She had hope that the antiviral would help to rid this virus from the body and she would be allowed to return home.
By the end of the night, Scully was confident in the antiviral medication, enough so that she figured she would be back with Mulder in less than a month.
Actually, she was really counting on less than two weeks, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. She went to sleep that night feeling more optimistic than she had over the three weeks she had been there.
She awoke to the sound of knocking on her door. Scully climbed out of bed and wondered if whoever it was had woken her neighbors as well. She pulled open the apartment door and the Cigarette Smoking Man entered, burning cigarette in hand.
“Good,” he spoke. “You’re awake.”
“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t.”
“I’ve seen the medical reports,” he told her.
She smiled slightly. “Yeah. The antiviral appears to be working.”
“That’s good,” he replied. “I’m impressed.”
“I haven’t had much to do with it,” she said. “I’ve only been here for a short time.”
“True,” he responded.
Scully suddenly thought of something. “I, um, have something... hold on.”
She walked into her kitchen and came back with the pack of Morleys she bought in the General Store. She held it out to him.
“Here.”
He took the pack from here, suspicious. “What is this for?”
“I... accidentally bought them.” She immediately cursed herself for her pathetic excuse.
“You accidentally bought them?” he repeated. “In town?”
“Yes.” She gave a short nod.
The Cigarette Smoking Man placed the pack into his jacket pocket. He took a drag on his cigarette and headed for the door.
“I just wanted to check in on you.”
“Wait.”
He turned.
“If the antiviral medication works, does that mean I get to go home?” she asked.
“Seems likely,” he answered and let himself out.
The next day, Scully was aware something was wrong the moment she stepped onto the hospital floor. Kelsey approached her.
“Some bad news, Dr. Scully,” she told her.
“What happened?” Scully asked, a little afraid to know the answer.
“Out of the eight that were given the antiviral, only three survived,” Kelsey informed her.
Scully’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“They seem completely better,” Kelsey explained. “Their blood is being tested right now to check for the virus.”
“Who died?” Scully replied.
“A young girl,” Kelsey told her, “three adults-two male, one female-and an elderly man.”
“And the ones that seem better?” she said.
“An elderly woman, an adult male, and a boy,” Kelsey responded.
Scully let out a heavy sigh. “They haven’t got it right yet.”
She turned and walked away from Kelsey, wanting to get up to the lab and check on the results of the blood samples.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The next step after the failure was to try the antiviral in another stage. Again, the experiment was conducted, but in the second stage. The patients appeared to get better over the course of the next few days, only to have most of them expire.
She felt frustrated. The working hours were endless. She collaborated with Mark and the scientists to determine why it was only saving a few and what they could do to make the antiviral stronger.
They experimented with dosages, with mixing medications, but nothing worked. Finally, they remained with administering only the antiviral in the third stage and found it allowed more patients to survive than when the antiviral was administered in the first two stages.
Overall, they felt lost and a disheartened. There was a possibility of hope, but that had been squashed. They did have reason to be somewhat optimistic in the fact that the antiviral did work for some, but trying to figure out why seemed more difficult than to have discovered the antiviral in the first place.
After a very long work day, Scully walked back to her apartment feeling exhausted. She had been up too long and it was now nearing three in the morning. She unlocked her apartment and stepped inside.
She flicked on the light switch and jumped at the sight of the Cigarette Smoking Man sitting on the armchair in her living room.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she hissed, her heart still racing from the scare.
“Waiting for you,” he answered.
“How did you get in?” she replied.
“I have access to anywhere,” he stated simply.
Scully glared at him. “This is an invasion of my privacy.”
He stood. “How is the antiviral coming along?”
She shook her head, letting out a sigh. “Not well. We think we’re getting closer to understanding how it works and then... we’re thrown a loop; something doesn’t match up.”
“It needs to get done,” he told her, eyes locked with hers.
Scully frowned. “It’s not like we’re not trying.”
The Cigarette Smoking Man took out his Morleys and pulled one out.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t smoke in here,” she said bitterly. “It took days to get the smell to go away on your last visit.”
He eyed her up and then returned the cigarette to the pack. She frowned, feeling like she just won something, but not quite understanding what it meant.
“What happens to the people that get better?” she asked, figuring she should try to get an answer from him now that she had the chance.
“They’re returned home,” he responded.
“Really?” She cocked an eyebrow
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know.” Scully shrugged. “Our work is confidential. Seems like letting them go home could potentially ruin this thing you have going.”
“You think they shouldn’t go home?” he replied.
“No,” she told him. “I think you’re lying to me.”
“And why, Doctor Scully, would I do that?”
‘Because that’s who you are,’ she answered bitterly in her mind, but she kept her mouth closed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he assured her as he headed to the door.
Her eyebrows drew together. “What’s tomorrow?”
“Outing.” He opened her front door.
“I’m going into town tomorrow?”
He faced her. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“No, I do. You’re going?”
“Yes.”
The Cigarette Smoking Man stepped out, closing the door behind himself. Scully sighed. She knew they always left at nine in the morning for outings, which didn’t give her much time to sleep.
She hadn’t written to Mulder again since she didn’t know when she would be going back out and there was no one, not even Aaron, that she trusted to mail a letter for her. Sure, Aaron had helped her, but she didn’t want him to read her words or to get caught.
Scully locked her apartment door and went into the bedroom. She retrieved a pen and piece of paper and sat down on the bed. She drew in a deep breath, reminding herself to keep it vague in case it was intercepted.
Mulder,
I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen you. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been away for more than a month. I miss you more each day, I think, and I wish you were here. Or, preferably, I wish I were with you.
Day in and day out, I see people sick; I see people die. I was beside a twelve-year-old girl today as she took her last breath. This is sick and it’s daunting. It seems logical to be here, to help with this. It is suppose to help, but at the cost of the innocent? Sometimes, I don’t know what keeps me here. We’ll expose them. We will. We have to. I’m too haunted by the faces of those who have passed to keep my mouth shut about this.
I tell myself to be patient. As much as I want to scream at the top of my lungs and expose this to every source of media, I know there is a reward in waiting. This would all be so much easier if I had a compass showing me which way is north and which is south, which is right and which is wrong.
It’s getting late and I need to sleep. Please, take care, Mulder.
With love,
Dana
Scully sealed the letter inside an envelope and slept with it under her pillow.
The Cigarette Smoking Man was at her door the following morning. He puffed on his cigarette and took a step back as she entered into the hallway.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she locked her front door.
“Escorting you,” he answered.
“I don’t need an escort.”
Scully passed him and headed for the elevator. While she was waiting for its arrival, he caught up to her.
“You’re really going into town?” she said.
“Yes,” he told her.
“Why?” she replied.
“Why not?”
The elevator doors slid open. He dropped his cigarette butt to the floor and extinguished it with his shoe. He joined her in the elevator as she hit the button for the fourth floor.
When they arrived at the fourth floor, Frank and Kelsey, who had been waiting to go, fell silent at seeing the Cigarette Smoking Man. Scully ignored their reaction and signed out.
Russell, also quiet, led them into the elevator. She knew pretty quickly that the Cigarette Smoking Man made these people uncomfortable. She just wondered what he did to them that made them feel this way.
The car ride in was even more uncomfortable. No one spoke and the Cigarette Smoking Man had his window down to let the cigarette smoke out. Scully sat blankly in the back seat, eyes focused on the window and Mulder’s letter pressed against her skin, secured in the waist of her pants.
She glanced around, trying to be sure she was alone in the general store. There was an older man toward the back of the store, but Scully felt he posed no threat. She had five minutes to get back to the car and she knew Frank and Kelsey were already back there. She just needed to act quickly.
The woman behind the counter gave Scully a smile.
“I’d like one stamp, please,” Scully told her.
She paid with coins again for the stamp and placed it on the envelope.
“Thank you,” she said to the woman.
Scully walked toward the door, but stopped as she quickly scribbled Mulder’s address onto the front. When she finished, she left the store and looked around. She hated that the mailbox was outside. Anyone could see her deposit the letter. She felt less paranoid the first time with Aaron as her lookout.
She glanced back at the woman at the counter and wished she had enough trust in someone else to let them send the letter for her. The woman seemed nice, but Scully didn’t know what kind of person she really was. She could be nosy or careless and Scully didn’t want her words to Mulder to be seen by anyone, but him.
A man stepped out of the barber shop, close to mailbox, and headed down the street. That’s when Scully saw her opportunity. She crossed the street and followed behind him, which helped her case because he was heading in the direction of the car.
She threw the letter out and watched it fall to the ground.
“Excuse me, sir,” she called out, approaching him.
Scully picked up the letter as the man stopped and turned to her.
“You dropped your letter.” She held it out to him.
“That’s not mine,” he told her.
“Oh, well, I’ll just go put it in the mailbox then,” Scully responded.
She smiled at him and he smiled back at her in return. He gave a nod and continued on.
Scully mailed the envelope and headed back to the car, wondering if that had really gone as smoothly as she thought it did. She didn’t see the Cigarette Smoking Man, let alone anyone she had arrived with, which assured her that she might have gotten away with it.
There was a knock on her door later that night. Scully opened it to find Aaron standing there.
“Good evening,” he greeted her.
“Hi, Aaron,” she replied, glad for his presence. She had been researching for the past few hours and was growing tired of it.
“I was over in my apartment getting hungry and so I thought I’d come over here and ask if you wanna get dinner together?” Aaron told her. “That is, if you haven’t already eaten.”
“I haven’t,” she said.
“So...” Aaron tapped his fingers on the door frame. “Would you like to go down to the cafeteria with me? There’s a pasta special.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
“Good.” He smiled. “And you can tell me about your outing today.”
“Just hold on.”
Scully went into her bedroom and slipped on a comfortable pair of shoes. She grabbed her keys from the dresser and headed back out into the living room. She smiled at him as she stepped into the hallway.
Aaron waited patiently as she locked the door. He walked alongside of her as they headed to the elevator.
“I didn’t even know you were going out today,” he said.
“Neither did I,” she admitted and pressed the button. “I was told last minute.”
“Lucky you,” he replied. “Sometimes I gotta plead to get out of here.”
The elevator doors slid open and they both stepped on. Scully turned toward Aaron as the doors closed.
“Do you know the man who smokes all the time?” she asked.
Aaron frowned. “He leaves his cigarette butts all over the floor.”
“Yeah, that’s him,” Scully agreed. “Is he the one that you interact with? Like your boss?”
“No.” Aaron shook his head. “As far as I know, everyone’s boss is this guy named Krauss or something. That guy that smokes is always talking with him or will sit in if Krauss wants to talk to us, but that doesn’t happen too much.”
“What does Krauss look like?”
He stared at her, surprised. “You’ve never met him?”
“No,” she answered.
“Then who’s your boss?” he responded.
“The Cigarette Smoking Man.”
“Oh.”
The doors opened and they stepped out. Aaron led the way into the cafeteria.
“Yo, Tom!” he called out.
“Aaron, what can I...” Tom smirked as his eyes landed on Scully. “Oh, and if it isn’t Dana. Well, what delectable food of the gods can I cook up for you?”
Aaron turned to her. “You want the pasta? It’s damn good.”
“Sure,” she answered.
“Two pastas,” Aaron told Tom.
“And what can I bring to quench your thirst?” Tom replied.
“Coke,” Aaron said.
Tom looked to Scully. “Dana?”
“Water’s fine.” She gave him a tight smile. “Thanks.”
“Come on.” Aaron nudged her. “We’ll sit back here.”
He led her to a table in the back with only two seats. She sat down across from him. He leaned closer to her, keeping his voice low.
“All right, so let me get this straight,” he began. “You know that cigarette-smoking dude?”
“Yes.” Scully nodded. “I know him. I suppose.”
“He’s scary,” Aaron said. “All he does is smoke and stare. You don’t know what he’s thinking. Fucking crazy.”
“What’s Krauss like?” she asked.
“Kinda the same.” Aaron shrugged. “Less scary. He’s soft spoke, kinda short with these dinky glasses. I can’t believe you’ve never seen him.”
“Is he on the third floor?” she replied.
“Yeah.” Aaron nodded. “I gotta clean up there. That cigarette guy’s got a big apartment, except it doesn’t even look like anyone lives there. He’s barely got anything. Although, he’s got a pretty sweet typewriter.”
“A typewriter?” she repeated.
“Yeah, it’s cool.”
Tom brought over their drinks, walking on his tip toes. He smiled at both of them.
“Thanks,” Scully told him.
“No problem, ma chérie,” he responded before heading back to the kitchen.
“I shouldn’t be talking about this stuff though,” Aaron continued with their conversation. “Could get my ass kicked. Or get killed.”
“Killed?” She raised her eyebrows and then took a sip of her water.
“Well, no.” Aaron shook his head. “No, that’s not what I meant. They don’t... kill people, per se, it’s more like... well, yeah, you can get killed.”
“How?” She leaned forward in her chair.
“Accidents,” Aaron said simply. “One time, there was this guy, Tony, and he hated it here. He played the game, right? Got into town after his month was up and started freaking out.
“Before you know it, some guy busts into the General Store like he’s gonna rob it-which, you know, is stupid because that little place has no money-and the guy shoots Tony only, makes off with, like, fifty bucks and Tony’s dead.”
“That all happened in one day?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Aaron sipped his soda. “They’re prepared for shit like that. So let’s talk about something less depressing. Name your favorite actor, actress, and movie. Go!”
She shook her head, but he prompted her to go on. Scully gave in and talked with him about any normal or bizarre questions he posed, which made her feel, just a little bit, like she was back home.
Aaron was walking her to her apartment, rambling on about his Gilligan’s Island phase when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Scully frowned and looked toward her door, the focus of Aaron’s attention. The Cigarette Smoking Man was standing there.
“Uh, I’ll see you later, Dana,” Aaron told her. “Bye.”
He turned and walked away quickly. Scully approached her door, noticing the seven cigarette butts on the floor.
“They’re going to think those are mine,” she said.
“You don’t want me smoking inside,” he reminded her.
“What are you doing here anyway?” Scully asked as she entered her apartment.
The Cigarette Smoking Man followed her in and closed the door. “Did you have a nice time in town?”
She paused for a moment, wondering if he knew what she had done, but she kept cool and turned toward him.
“It was fine.”
“You’ve become good friends with that man,” he noted.
“I suppose.” She shrugged.
He smirked and shook his head slightly. The smirk vanished and Scully felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I want you to know things are going well for you right now,” he told her. “Your work has been above average, your observations on par, but-” He closed the distance between them. “If you think for a moment you can undermine me by your little charade, you are mistaken.”
“What charade?” she replied.
The Cigarette Smoking Man pulled out her letter to Mulder. She tried to stay strong, but she couldn’t help the tears that formed in her eyes.
“That’s not...”
“Yours?” He finished for her when she didn’t go on. “Let me open it, then, and see-”
“No,” she cut him off. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry you were caught.”
He pulled out his lighter and flicked it on. The flame danced as he held the end of the envelope near it. Scully lowered her eyes to the floor as he lit it on fire.
She felt sick to her stomach. The letter had appeared unopened, but if he had opened it, he would have read her words about wanting to expose this.
The Cigarette Smoking Man dropped the flaming letter to the floor and put the flames out with his shoe. Scully looked up from the ash. He was watching her.
“Don’t think for a second that I won’t do to you what I’ve done to your letter.”
He turned and left her apartment, slamming the door behind him. Scully swallowed hard, shaking slightly, as tears fell from her eyes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Medical and scientific progress was at a standstill. They continued to administer the antiviral medication in the third stage, but the results were always the same. About half the patients lived while the other half died, no reason as to why one had died and not another.
The scientists still continued to work diligently, changing the antiviral medication and testing it on the patients, only to find that it made the antiviral have no effect at all or killed the patients sooner.
Scully was growing to hate this job and the facility. The death was haunting her in her sleep and she felt it was unethical to keep experimenting with different drugs. She wished to go home, but she remained silent.
After all, she wanted to be on her best behavior since the Cigarette Smoking Man had found out about her letter. She believed in the stories Aaron had told her and she didn’t want to be killed.
She was relieved when Candace, the security guard, knocked on her door one night and told her she would be going on an outing. Scully had been waiting for one. She vowed not to send Mulder a letter again and she would keep to that. She just wanted some fresh air and sunshine.
The Cigarette Smoking Man hadn’t been back to see her since the night with the letter. However, she knew he meant what he said because she traveled into town with security officer Russell and the other male security officer, Vince, who she had never seen before. She knew there were three officers, but she only ever encountered Russell and Candace.
Vince was built much like Russell, but he never talked, nor smiled. The nurse, Patricia, also accompanied them on the trip. She tried to start a conversation a few times on the drive, but Scully wasn’t up for it and neither were the men.
When they arrived into town, Scully was well aware that she was the one to be watched. She was followed by Vince for the first half hour as she walked around, just breathing in the air and taking in the sun.
When she grew bored of that, she entered the General Store. Vince followed in behind her and went to the bathroom. The woman at the counter spoke up.
“Excuse me.”
Scully approached her. “Yes?”
“I was told to give you this.” The woman handed her a slip of paper.
Scully frowned and unfolded the paper. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she recognized Mulder’s handwriting.
Meet me in the ladies’ room.
She slipped the paper into her pocket and browsed an aisle for a brief moment before heading into the bathroom, passing Vince along the way. The door swung shut behind her. It appeared empty, but the last stall was closed.
“Mulder?” she asked quietly.
The door opened and he stepped out. Mulder smiled at her, but the smile was not returned.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded to know as she walked toward him. “You have to go.”
“It’s okay, Scully,” he assured her.
“No, it’s not,” she replied. “They have special instructions to keep an eye on me. If they see you-”
“Please calm down.” He placed a hand on her arm.
“How did you even find me?” she said.
“Postage on that letter you sent me,” he told her. “I’ve been waiting here a week and a half.”
“This was a terrible idea, Mulder.” Scully shrugged him off. “If they see you-”
“Who?” he cut in.
“There are people working for him that come into town here,” she explained. “If they see us together, they would probably kill you and me both. I tried sending you a second letter, but I was caught. That’s why they are paying extra special attention to me.”
“I’m... sorry, Scully.” Mulder offered a weak apologetic smile. “I wanted to see you.”
“Does Skinner know you’re here?” she asked.
“Told him I was going on vacation,” Mulder responded.
Scully frowned. “You never go on vacation.”
“Which is why he was a tad suspicious,” he added. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, but Mulder...” She locked eyes with him. “You must promise me you won’t come back here. Please. It’s a risk enough as it is, but if you kept coming back, well...”
“I won’t,” he assured her.
She shook her head and diverted her eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t have sent you mail.”
“I’m glad you did,” he said. “What have you found? What have you been doing?”
“I can’t tell you that,” she answered.
His eyebrows drew together in surprise. “What?”
“Mulder... you’re asking.... you’re asking too much of me. I can’t-” She drew in a sharp breath. “There are more lives at stake than our own.”
“So... then what, Scully?” he replied. “What happens when you return home? Will I get answers then?”
“There’s just too much right now,” she tried to explain. “And besides... I don’t know if I’ll ever be home.”
“What do you mean?” His eyes were locked with hers.
“You should go.”
She turned and headed for the door. He grabbed her arm, keeping her there.
“No, Scully, talk to me,” he insisted. “What the hell is going on?”
Scully pulled out of his grasp and faced him. “If you knew and they knew about it, you’ll be dead. I don’t want that to happen. Just know that... I’m fine. Please, Mulder.”
“All right,” he agreed. “I’m sorry I came.”
He moved past her for the door. She turned, watching him.
“You can’t go.”
Mulder stopped and faced her. “What?”
“You should stay in here for probably another two hours,” she advised and approached him. “I’m leaving in a half hour. To be safe, you should give yourself some time between now and when I depart.”
“Fine.” He headed back to the last stall.
“Mulder.” Her voice was relatively quieter. “I miss you. Every day.”
He turned and nodded. “I miss you, too.”
She gave him a tight smile and left the bathroom.
The rest of the time on her outing was spent outside on a worn bench in the sun, with Vince standing a few feet behind her, as she tried her hardest not to cry.
When she returned to the facility that afternoon, she was different. After having seen Mulder, she felt depressed. She admitted to him what she kept telling herself couldn’t be true-that she may never return home.
Scully woke up in the morning, determined to just get through the motions of day, working later hours without even realizing it. She didn’t see Aaron as much and was quieter around him when he did convince her they should get dinner.
She was tired of being here, tired of feeling alone. She wished she could go back in time and tell Mulder this undercover business was a terrible idea. But she couldn’t do that, so she told herself to stop imagining a different outcome and to get on with her new life.
She was at another meeting with Mark and the scientists. Progress was still at a halt and morale had nearly hit rock bottom. Max was pacing behind the table and Scully was sitting farther from Mark than she usually did.
“It doesn’t work on everyone,” Brandon continued with his thought. “That’s just something they must accept and we’re done. We’ve tried everything else and this is the best we’ve got. If this gets out, half the population will die. That’s it, end of story.”
“We can’t get away with that,” Mark replied, frowning. “They’ll keep us here until we find a way to save everyone.”
“Not everyone deserves to be saved,” the words tumbled from her mouth, a flashback to one of her trips with the Cigarette Smoking Man.
“Doctor Scully?” James asked and smoothed his hand over his red hair.
“Maybe not everyone deserves to be saved,” she said, looking around at the men. “Maybe it knows that.”
“It?” Brandon raised his eyebrows at her. “The virus?”
“Yes, the virus,” she snapped. “We’ve tried every single means to classify those that survived and those that did not to understand why the antiviral worked on some and not others. We failed. Medicine and science won’t explain it. Maybe we have to go beyond that to understand.”
“What are you suggesting?” Mark asked her cautiously.
“Beyond science,” she replied. “Beyond medicine.”
“What?” Max scoffed from behind her. “Supernatural? Paranormal?”
She turned in her chair to glare at him. “Nothing else has worked.”
“You’re crazy,” Brandon told her.
“Am I?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Or did José Munoz survive because the virus wanted him to while his father did not because the virus saw no need?”
Mark stood from his chair. “Dana, could I speak to you in private for a second?”
Shooting him a glare now, Scully stood and followed him over to the elevator. They kept their voices low.
“What?” she hissed.
“You better have an explanation.” He pointed a finger.
“I do.” She nodded.
“Nothing crazy,” he added.
“It’s not crazy,” she told him. “When every normal, possible explanation does not pan out, what’s left? The abnormal.”
“A virus that chooses who to kill?” Mark asked, eyebrows raised.
“No,” she responded. “Because it killed everyone before. But the antiviral affects it somehow. Maybe it gives the virus the ability to choose.”
Mark looked down at the floor for a moment before bringing his eyes back up to her.
“You should take a few days off.”
Scully frowned. “What?”
“I’ll ask that they get you into town,” Mark went on. “You need some air.”
“I do not,” she denied it.
“You’ve been working long hours,” he pointed out. “You’ve been keeping to yourself.”
She shook her head. “That’s not-”
“You need a few days,” he cut her off.
“Since when do you have authority over me?” Scully asked.
“I don’t,” he answered. “But I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
She returned to the table and Mark soon followed, but Scully noticed how, as they continued the meeting, they tiptoed around the topics that might cause her to go off again.
She opened the door and he was standing there.
“You heard.”
Scully swung the door open and walked away, allowing him to enter. She sat down on her couch and he closed the door.
“Going back to Agent Mulder’s roots, are we?” the Cigarette Smoking Man asked.
“How do you know it’s not a possibility?” she replied. “You’re not the one down there watching it kill people.”
“No,” he said. “I’m not. And neither will you.”
She stared at him, confused. “What?”
“Outing tomorrow,” he informed her.
“No,” she responded simply. “I don’t want to go.”
He frowned, as if disappointed. “Don’t do this.”
“You can’t make me go,” Scully told him.
“Yes, I can,” he assured her.
“I don’t want your control over me,” she spoke a little too loudly.
The Cigarette Smoking Man held her eye contact. He cleared his throat.
“That’s too bad. Be at security at nine or I will come get you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Scully arrived promptly at the security floor the next morning. The Cigarette Smoking Man was standing against the wall, smoking a cigarette, when she stepped from the elevator. She gave a tight smile to Candace as she signed out and then followed the Cigarette Smoking Man into the elevator. It would just be the two of them.
She was tired and brooding. He didn’t seem to mind the silence, but even on their former road trips, he never seemed to mind it then either.
A little over a half hour into their car ride, Scully looked away from her window and settled her gaze on him.
“Why is it a problem if I’m thinking like Mulder?” she asked. “Sometimes he’s right.”
“Right?” he repeated, keeping his eyes on the road. “About boogeymen and aliens?”
“He saw things differently and because of that, I can say he had saved my life quite a few times,” Scully told him. “While I may not have believed in what he claimed he saw, I couldn’t deny its existence either.”
“But you still didn’t believe him,” the Cigarette Smoking Man pointed out.
“Do you think I’m wrong in looking for another explanation?” she said.
He didn’t answer her and took a drag on his cigarette. Scully remained silent then, until she realized their trip seemed very unfamiliar.
“Where are we going?” She looked back over at him. “This isn’t the way into town.”
“No, it’s not,” he agreed.
She stared at him, her paranoia getting the best of her. “You’re going to kill me.”
He glanced over at her with a glare. “No. I’m not.”
“I don’t trust you,” she replied.
“When have you ever trusted me?”
She fell silent again; he had a point. They began to pass through other towns she had never seen before. He drove into a more urban area with taller buildings and more people.
Scully wanted to know where they were going, but she kept quiet. After all, she knew he wasn’t going to give her an answer. He pulled up alongside of a park, stopping the car in the shade.
“What are we doing here?” She stared at the park outside her window.
“Going into the park,” he answered. “Getting some air.”
She looked over at him. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Walk, meditate, I don’t care.”
“What are you going to do?” she replied.
“Make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Finding this to be more irritating than relaxing, Scully popped open her car door with a sigh. She slammed the door closed and headed along the pebbled path and into the lush park. It was shaded, but that wasn’t necessary since it wasn’t blazing hot outside.
Her days that had grown into weeks and inevitably months had brought her to the beginning of December. It was strange to know these were winter months, yet the weather remained warm and without snow. She wondered how much snow was on the east coast she left behind.
Scully headed down a slope toward a pond. There were several older children with toy boats in the water that they moved with a remote control. A young couple were on the other side of the pond having a picnic and a few tots with their mothers were watching the ducks.
She kept some distance and sat down on a bench, watching. They were all living seemingly normal lives, not knowing the underbelly of the world they lived in. If she so desired, she could have easily infected any of these people with the virus and the medical world would fail at saving them.
It disgusted her to know there was so much the government was keeping from its people and it disgusted her that she was a part of it. It worried her, as well, because she figured for all she did know, there was a good percentage of things she did not, nor would not, ever know.
“Mind if I sit?” the Cigarette Smoking Man asked, indicating the end of the bench.
“As long as you don’t smoke,” she responded.
He sat. She drew in a breath, eyes fixated on the playing children. She thought of the children back in the facility, too sick to do anything, some too weak to keep fighting the virus.
This outing wasn’t helping her very much.
“You matter,” he suddenly spoke.
She brought her gaze to him. “Excuse me?”
“Your work, your records, everything you do back at the facility,” he went on. “It matters and so do you. We are keeping this under wraps in the public world as best we can. We’re doing our best to control it, keep it confined. If you weren’t doing the work you are involved with, all these people in this park could be dead.”
Scully looked back out at the pond. “It doesn’t excuse those who have already died.”
“And is that my fault?” he asked. “I’ve tried to help them by bringing them into the facility. Some have survived.”
She couldn’t listen to this anymore. She stood from the bench and began toward a path that weaved through a patch of trees.
“Where are you going?” he said.
“Leave me alone,” she called back to him.
Scully knew he’d follow her anyway because he said he would, but she hoped he’d keep some distance. She walked along the path, but veered off before reaching the trees. She was just so tired of this. She was always so tired.
She settled down on a sunny patch of grass, lying completely on her back. She enclasped her hands together on her abdomen and closed her eyes against the sun. Scully breathed in, the sun warming her.
This felt better-being in the sun. She wondered if that’s why she had been feeling so down and angry. Sunlight affects mood and without it, she was losing its warmth and its rays which gave her some warmth and peace.
She drifted off into a light slumber and woke up some time later to him tapping her on the shoulder. Scully opened her eyes and squinted against the sun. She sat up and shielded her eyes as she looked toward the Cigarette Smoking Man.
“It’s time to go,” he told her.
Scully stood and followed him out of the park. She looked herself over, making sure she hadn’t been getting burned by the sun. She was glad to discover her skin was still fair with only a very faint pink.
When they were both settled in the car, he started it and began to drive back to the facility. He glanced at her as he lit a cigarette.
“Feel better?”
She shrugged, not admitting to him that she did feel a bit better.
“Well, I hope so because you won’t be getting an opportunity to go there again,” he said and blew smoke in her direction.
Scully returned to the facility still feeling they should all explore the abnormal route as an explanation to the virus and antiviral. However, since she was feeling a bit better, she didn’t press the issue and figured they would come back to it when their new experiments failed.
The days turned to weeks and although Scully had been feeling better, she still didn’t feel complete. She did take the Cigarette Smoking Man’s words in when he spoke to her in the park. She did think that her work mattered, but it was hard to deal with the everyday death-especially since she still believed that he had a part in infecting these people.
Scully was feeling homesick as the days grew nearer to Christmas. She wished she could go home, but everyone she mentioned the holiday to gave her the impression that it wasn’t happening. After all, they coasted right through Thanksgiving without barely acknowledging its existence. Though, Tom did make pumpkin pie.
But Christmas was different. She refused to skip over it. So a week before Christmas, she went to Candace in security and asked if she could get a hold of the Cigarette Smoking Man for her and tell him it was important. She thought her request was ignored until he showed up at her door one night.
“You wanted to see me,” he said.
“Where have you been?” she asked him, annoyed that he hadn’t come sooner.
“None of your business.” He remained in the hallway. “What did you want?”
“Christmas is in two days,” Scully told him. “I want to go home. At least for a few days.”
He shook his head. “That’s not possible.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“I don’t make the rules,” he replied.
“Who does and where can I find them?” she shot back.
He smirked slightly. “I’m surprised at you. You should have expected this response.”
“I was hoping for a Christmas miracle,” Scully responded sarcastically.
The Cigarette Smoking Man paused a moment. “Is that all?”
“Yes,” she answered bluntly.
“Then, goodnight.”
He turned and walked away from her. She watched him until her was out of sight. Scully closed her door quietly, her eyes fixed on the floor.
“Hi, Ron,” Scully greeted the nurse as she made her way down the hall on the hospital floor.
It was nearing nighttime and she thought being on duty for Christmas Eve would get her mind off of the fact that she wasn’t home.
“Dr. Scully.” He stopped her. “Kelsey thought we should all get together tomorrow for lunch. Tom assured us that there’s going to be a nice meal in the cafeteria. We thought we’d get as much of the staff together to, you know, spend the holiday with someone. You should be there.”
“Thanks.” She gave him a tight smile. “Maybe. Are you the only one on?”
“Yeah.” Ron nodded. “That kid. The little boy...”
“Edward.” She knew exactly who he was talking about.
“He’s not doing well,” Ron told her. “I think he’ll go tonight.”
“Anyone else?” she asked.
“No,” he answered, “but there’s always the possibility.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Scully said. “You can take the night off.”
“Really?” Ron raised his eyebrows at her.
She smiled. “Merry Christmas.”
“Thanks, Dr. Scully.” He returned the smile. “I’m just gonna finish up some paperwork.”
Scully walked away from Ron and headed to the third ward. She stepped into the room and looked to the bed Edward was in. He was a boy small for his age. His sixth birthday was two months ago.
Drawing in a breath, Scully put on her latex gloves and mask. Everyone in the room was either unconscious or asleep. For the ones the antiviral was helping, they were still too sick to do much more than sleep. As for the ones not getting better, they were unconscious.
Scully made her way toward Edward’s bed. She pulled a stool over and sat down next to the bed.
“Hey, Edward,” she spoke quietly and brushed the boy’s dark hair away from his forehead. “I know it’s getting rough. Your father and mother are waiting for you up there.”
This case really stuck with her and some of the other nurses. Sometimes they would get families in the hospital, but never usually the entire family. Edward’s father had passed away a week ago and his pregnant mother only two days prior.
“I bet it’s nice in heaven,” she continued on. “It’s peaceful and there’s no reason to be scared. Your mother and father are there. They’re watching over you right now, making sure you’re okay. They’ll be there when you arrive, ready to hug and kiss you all over. There’s no pain there in heaven. Not like here.
“But I’ll stay here as long as you need me, Edward. If you want to hang on for a little while longer, I will be right here. There’s no reason you should die alone.”
Scully slipped her hand into Edward’s and gently rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb.
“Dr. Scully?”
“Yes?” She looked toward the doorway.
Ron took a step in. “I’m going to go now.”
“Okay,” she replied. “Have a goodnight.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said.
“Same to you, Ron.”
He left and Scully turned back to Edward. His lips were parted, tinted blue. His eyes were closed, long dark lashes pressed together.
“On Christmas Eve, my sister, Melissa, used to read ‘Twas the Night before Christmas to me,” Scully told the small boy. “My brothers were always setting up traps to try and catch Santa, so my mom would make hot chocolate and Melissa would read to me. She loved to read that story to me and I was excited every year when she did.”
Scully paused, thinking about Melissa. She missed her so much. She imagined how different this very day could have been if she never joined the FBI. She began to recite.
“‘Twas the night before Christmas... when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...’”
She paused, recalling the words.
“’The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...’”
She swallowed a lump in her throat.
“’The children were nestled... all snug in their beds while... visions of...’”
She trailed off, tears filling her eyes. With one hand still in Edward’s, she covered her eyes with her other. It wasn’t fair this little boy was dying. It wasn’t fair that his unborn sister had died, and his parents, and every other man, woman, and child that had entered this hospital as a patient.
Scully wondered what kind of bed this boy would be sleeping in if his family never got sick or the antiviral had worked. She wondered what presents were hidden in a closet or under a bed that were waiting to light up this boy’s face on Christmas morning. A Christmas morning he would never experience.
With the monitors continually beeping around her, Scully cried.
Continue to Part Six.