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18 Nov 1997

Abah: The Recovery(3/4)
by Susan Proto

Disclaimers in part 1

Part 17/33

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

It was now dark and well past the time Mulder should have taken his
anticonvulsant medication. He wasn't sure of the time, and asked
Lidofsky, his latest in the line of baby sitters, what the time was.

"It's about eight forty-five, why? You have a hot date?" Carl Lidofsky
asked.

Mulder chose not to answer for a couple of reasons. The first being he
didn't want to give the S.O.B. the satisfaction of getting a rise out of
him. The second was he didn't completely understand what Carl Lidofsky
said to him.

Lido spoke with a thick accent, possibly Russian, which distorted the
language just enough for Mulder in his current state of deafness, that he
wasn't to sure of anything anymore. He did make out the number eight, so
Mulder knew it was after eight o'clock. It was probably closer to eight
thirty or nine o'clock.

Mulder was given a fast food burger, fries and coke to eat around two
hours ago. Although he wasn't now hungry, his mouth was dry. He was also
nervous and needed to use a bathroom. He was a bit frustrated because
they hadn't brought his walker in with them from the car, so Mulder felt
pretty much dependent upon the baby sitting crew that watched over him.

He couldn't figure out what they were worried about. Mulder couldn't walk
a straight line without help even if he wanted to, so he certainly wasn't
going anywhere. Why would they feel it necessary to leave someone here
with him at all times?

Because even if he couldn't escape, he could still, he could still, what?!
What could he still do? he wondered. "Damn it!" he cried out aloud,
"wha' is it?"

Lidofsky was up in a flash and in Mulder's face. Lidofsky's words spewed
from his face which was contorted in anger. "You just shaddup, you hear?
I don't want you causing a lot of noise in here."

"Why? Who's here to even hear me?" Mulder asked. "Wha' are you afrai'
of?"

"Just keep your mouth shut, Mr. Mulder, and we'll get along just fine.
You understand?" and with that Carl Lidofsky grabbed Mulder's collar and
clenched it for emphasis.

"Yeah, okay, bu' I gotta go to the bat'room," Mulder said.

"Oh, come on then, I will take you." Lidofsky said. "Well, what are you
waiting for?"

"I nee' some hel' gettin' up. I have a walke' in the car. Coul' you ge'
it for me?" Mulder asked plaintively.

"Oh for Christ's sake, just get up, Mr. Mulder!" And with that Carl
Lidofsky pulled Mulder up to a standing position, but Mulder became very
disoriented and had difficulty maintaining an upright position. When he
felt himself tilting to one side, Mulder grabbed tightly onto Lidofsky's
arm.

"Damn it, Mulder, get off of me!" he shouted and flung out the arm Mulder
clung to out and away from his body.

Mulder went flying to the other end of the room, cursing and shouting for
help at the top of his lungs the entire time.

"Damn it, Mr. Mulder!" Lido cried out, "You are going to fucking get me in
so much trouble. C'mon, shaddup now. You have got to stop yelling!"

At that moment Edgar Franks came in. "What the hell is going on Carl?"

"Aw, the sonofabitch fell down and he started yelling," Lidofsky replied.

"Well, you know we gotta keep him quiet. So, keep him quiet."

"How? He won't shut up, Franks."

"Oh man, you know, for a smart guy you sure are a dumb ass sometimes.
Watch the master at work," Franks responded. He walked over to Mulder,
who was still shouting curses and cries for help at the top of his lungs,
and kicked him hard in the stomach.

Mulder now fought to catch his breath and while he tried to recover,
Franks bent down and gave him one more hard thwack to his jaw. This
forced Mulder to keel over backwards and hit the back of his head hard
against the concrete floor.

"Ya see Lidofsky? Now he's quiet. Piece of cake." When Franks left the
room, Lidofsky went over to Mulder to inspect the damage.

He observed Mulder as he laid on his side in a fetal position. The back
of his head was bleeding pretty badly, and Mulder was groaning in pain
while holding his stomach.

"Shit, Franks. You didn't have to do this to the guy, did you? Shit."

Lidofsky pulled out his handkerchief and began wiping the blood from the
back of Mulder's head. He applied some pressure to stop the bleeding, and
after a time, it did.

"Mr. Mulder, are you okay?" he asked.

"I thin' I'm gonna be sick," he responded.

"All right Mr. Mulder, let's get you up and into the bathroom. Come now."

This time when Mulder leaned into him for support, Carl Lidofsky did not
push him away. In fact, he wrapped his left arm around Mulder's waist and
grabbed Mulder's right hand with his own to bring it around his shoulder
for support. Lidofsky walked him to the bathroom, just in time for Mulder
to puke his guts up for the second time that day.

#####################################################

Maggie Scully's Residence
Baltimore, MD

When the doorbell rang, Elizabeth was the one available to answer it.
Maggie had gone into the kitchen to make what seemed like the hundredth
pot of coffee, while Scully was trying to locate some useful information
on the internet.

Skinner and Stein were busy perusing the files that Mulder had at home,
hoping to find a clue as to what he had discovered and wanted to share
with them. Unfortunately, it looked like he had packed that information
to bring with him to the office today, before he was snatched.

When Elizabeth opened the door, she was somewhat taken aback by the odd
looking trio before her. "Yes, may I help you?" she asked somewhat
tentatively.

"Good evening," said the man with the beard, the most normal looking one
of the bunch. "We're here to see Mulder. He's expecting us."

"He is? I'm sorry, but he's not here," Elizabeth began.

"Awfully late to still be at a therapy session,' interjected the lanky man
with the wild blond hair.

"You know about Fox's therapy sessions?" asked a very confused Elizabeth.

"Of course we do, Mrs. Mulder. Why wouldn't we?" asked the short,
pony-tailed man.

"Who are you?" Elizabeth implored, distressed that this stranger knew her
name.

"Mrs. Mulder, we are friends of Mulder's. What's happened? Where is he?"
asked the first man again.

Scully came up behind Elizabeth. She had heard voices at the door and
realized that Elizabeth had sounded uneasy. When she saw the trio that was
invading her home, she actually laughed out loud.

"Hello boys," she said.

"Hello Agent Scully," replied Byars. "Where's Mulder?"

"Come on in boys, and maybe you can help us figure that out," Scully said
as she gestured for them to enter. Elizabeth followed the three men into
the den where Maggie joined both Skinner and Stein.

"Mom, Elizabeth, Walter and Jack, I'd like to introduce three of Mulder's
and my friends, Byars, Langley and Frohicke," said Scully.

"Well, we meet formally at last, gentlemen," said Stein.

The trio looked uneasily at the tall, older gentleman that had just
addressed them. All three were well aware as to his identity. They were
somewhat disconcerted at the notion that he readily knew who they were.
Frohicke in particular looked especially uneasy.

"You're the Lone Gunmen, aren't you?" asked Skinner with a hint of
astonishment. "Damn, I've heard Mulder refer to you, but I never
thought__."

"Uh Dana, could we talk with you in private for a moment," asked Frohicke.

"Yeah, Scully, I think we need to speak to you, alone, for a couple of
minutes," concurred Langley.

When Dana looked at the trio quizzically, Byars merely reiterated their
request by saying, "Now."

She excused herself and then ushered them into the living room. She sat
down on the long, white, very elegant looking, but exceptionally
uncomfortable couch. "Okay boys, what's up?" Scully asked.

"What's up?!" shouted Frohicke. "What's up, she asks! Dana, have you all
gone fucking crazy?! That's Cancerman in there! What the hell is he
doing in there?"

"Frohicke, calm down. He's here__."

"Scully, he's right. That man cannot be trusted," Byars added. "He has
no business being here. It's probably because of him that all of those
children are dying."

"Byars, I understand your_____."

"Now Scully, we don't mean to interfere or anything, but damn, this guy is
bad news, ya know? Where's Mulder? Why isn't he here?" questioned
Langley.

"We don't know where Mulder is. That's why we're all____."

"You don't know where the fuck Mulder is and Cancerman is sitting in your
den as if it's fucking Christmas Eve and everyone's gathered round the
hearth? Dana, what the hell is going on here?" Frohicke was beside
himself.

Dana looked at the three men as they paced about and gestured wildly.
They reminded her of caged animals in the zoo and terrified animals at
that.

"Boys, please calm down," Scully called out. "Hey guys? Please?" She
watched and listened to them long enough. It was now time for her to be
heard.

"Gentlemen, shut up and sit down!"

The three of them stopped dead in their tracks and looked directly at
Scully. It was the first time any of them ever heard her raise her voice
in anger, and it was apparent to them that she was royally pissed off.

They shut up. They sat down.

"Gentlemen, I understand your concern , but I think it is unfounded at
this point," she began.

"Dana, you can't dance with the devil, and Cancerman is the devil
reincarnate," replied Frohicke.

"He's not the devil, Frohicke. Or at least he's not any longer, oh I
don't know, you guys," moaned Scully. "Somehow he's managed to convince
me and Walter that we should trust him."

"You can never trust him, Dana. It's too damned dangerous," sneered
Frohicke.

"Now hold on a minute, Frohicke. If Dana feels there's cause to work with
the Smoking Man, then let's hear her out," suggested Byars.

Scully understood the Gunmen's ire. If someone had told her six months
ago she would be siding with Cancerman, she would have had them committed.
But experience changes people. She tried to define it for them, but it
was so difficult.

"I don't know how to explain it to you guys. I just know that over the
last few days, that man has ingratiated himself into our family. He just
seems to belong all of a sudden. He's convinced us all that he is here to
help Mulder.

"Look boys, I know the man is not a saint. Hell, I know there's a lot
that he did, and probably is still doing, that I do not want to ever know
about. But for now, for all intents and purposes, he is doing everything
possible to help us find Mulder," declared Scully.

"But why?" Frohicke asked. "The Cancerman always has an ulterior motive
for whatever action he engages in."

"Yes he does. Two as a matter of fact."

"And they are?"

"Number one is he believes Mulder's information will lead us to Samantha,
Mulder's sister and his daughter. For some reason he is sure she is
affiliated in some form or another with the people who are responsible
for those children receiving the small pox vaccination and the Black
Cancer," stated Scully.

"And number two?" asked Frohicke.

"Number two is probably the most difficult one to believe," she said. "He
loves Mulder like his own son."

Frohicke looked at Scully carefully. He truly cared for this woman as
well as the man she considered her partner both professionally and in
life. He had to be sure she truly believed Cancerman was there for their
benefit before he would continue.

"Frohicke, as God is my witness, and on my love for Mulder, I really do
believe Stein is on our side this time."

"Okay, Dana, but if you ever feel any doubt, promise us you'll go with
your gut and let us know. I could never trust the man before, and I don't
know if I could ever trust the man in the future. But for your sake and
Mulder's sake, if you think we should work with him then we will,"
concluded Frohicke.

The foursome returned to the den to continue their discussion. No
comments were made by anyone left out of the private discussion, and none
were made by anyone involved. The conversation picked up where they had
left off.

"Yes Walter, this unholy trio are the Lone Gunmen," said Scully.

"Well, I for one am delighted to welcome you into my home, boys. May I
get you something to drink while you make yourselves comfortable?" asked
Maggie Scully.

"Thanks Mrs. Scully, something hot would be really appreciated," replied
Byars.

"I'll be right back."

"So Scully, what's going on? Where exactly is Mulder?" asked Byars again.

Dana went on to update the three men on what transpired during the day.
She mentioned the cab ride to the doctor's office, the description given
by Elizabeth, and the necessity for finding him as soon as possible to get
him his medication. She included the news that an all points bulletin was
put out for the driver of the cab along with an artist's composite sketch
of the man.

"We are in the process of trying to locate him via a tracking device
which works like on a cellular signal that Jack had placed in his hearing
aids," Scully continued. "Unfortunately, there appears to be a glitch
here too. We think he may either be in a mountainous region or the
hearing aid is lost or broken.

"And that gentlemen, is the story in a nutshell," Scully related in her
best FBI Agent persona.

"Dana, are you okay?" Frohicke asked. Dana looked at Frohicke with just a
hint of tears forming in her eyes. Leave it to Frohicke to cut through
the jargon, and get to the heart of a matter.

"Yes. I'm fine. But I don't know how much longer Mulder will be able to
hold out. The longer he's off of his anticonvulsant medication, the more
dangerous it might be for him," she replied evenly.

She paused then, caught her breath and then asked, "But now let me ask you
something. What the hell are you doing here?"

Langley laughed out loud and responded, "Mulder had contacted us to
request some information. We were able to accommodate him and we told him
we would be by today to assist him in his investigation of the cardiac
child murders."

"What did he ask you to search for, and what did you find?" Skinner asked
seriously. "Perhaps you'll have something to help us determine where
Krycek's taken him."

"Krycek?" echoed all three men simultaneously. "How do you know of his
involvement?"

"I'm afraid that's my department," stated Stein. "I recognized one of his
nasty henchmen based upon the sketch of the cab driver. I fear Mr. Krycek
is using Mulder to get to me."

"Boys, what did Mulder ask you to find out?" repeated Scully.

Byars explained that Mulder felt there had to be some kind of link between
all of the children due to the presence of the Black Cancer. He realized
it wasn't the obvious one such as doctor or school or parents since none
of the children lived near one another. He then reviewed the children's
medical records more carefully and found the link.

"Which was?" asked Skinner.

"Smallpox vaccinations," replied Byars.

"What? But since that's been eradicated, children don't get smallpox
vaccinations anymore," Maggie said.

"Well, they're not supposed to, Mrs. Scully, but these children did,"
confirmed Frohicke. "Mulder wanted us to find out where the last of the
vaccines were housed."

"Atlanta, Georgia and Moscow, Russia," interjected Stein.

"Touch‚," responded Langley. "The next step was to determine where the
vaccines were being sent from, whether it was directly from Atlanta or
Moscow, and if there were any intermediary places that were packaging the
vaccines and sending them out to specific doctors, clinics and hospitals.

Byars continued by saying, "We were going to the individual clinics and
doctors' offices that administered the smallpox vaccinations to see if
there were other samples available. We wanted to check the lot numbers on
the packages. We've got to try to find a link between the vaccines,
because I suspect that's where we'll find the Black Cancer too."

And Frohicke concluded by adding, "Mulder was going to supply us with the
names and address of the clinics and medical offices those kids were seen
at. We were going to make a little nocturnal social visit to each of
them in an attempt to gather the necessary information."

Stein looked thoughtfully at this trio of men whom he still considered
very able adversaries, but now felt grateful knowing they were, at least
for now, working on the same side.

"That makes sense. I've suspected there was a renegade treatment center
that is procuring the Black Cancer and arranging to have it administered
to different subjects. They then somehow shock the victims to induce
their death," concluded Stein.

"All of this to get back at you, Jack?" asked Skinner incredulously.

"The players are becoming increasingly more difficult to control, Walter.
They all want to play by their own rules whether it is for the greater
good or not. I fear the players in this scheme, and this goes for Krycek,
have had their own agenda for quite some time," Stein replied. "Dana, do
the records indicate when the children got their smallpox vaccinations?"

"I'm looking at the faxes now. It's hard to determine, as the writing is
so unclear. Okay, according to the last victim, it was received last
year. And the fourth victim was last year too. As a matter of fact, it
was the same month," she concluded.

Scully continued to review the medical charts and noted each child
received the smallpox vaccination in the same month. There was no
indication as to what day during the month. "We've got to find out where
these vaccinations are coming from as soon as possible. It might be our
only chance in finding Mulder.

"Ohmigod. What time is it now?" Scully asked suddenly.

"It's going on nine thirty, sweetheart," answered Maggie.

"We've got to find him. We've got to find him soon."

End of Part 17/33

#####################################################

Part 18/33

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

Mulder woke up in the darkened room feeling totally disoriented. He
couldn't tell what time it was because there were no windows leading to
the outside. He didn't have any idea as to how long he had been sleeping,
but he figured it was long enough to lull Edgar Franks into complacency
and allow him to fall asleep as well.

His bladder, however, was full, and he desperately needed to relieve
himself. When he tried to sit up, though, Mulder felt the effects of
his earlier run-in with Franks. He felt light headed, dizzy, and slightly
nauseous. *Concussion,* he thought to himself. *Why the hell am I always
getting concussions?*

Mulder forced himself to a standing position and fought hard to remain
upright . James, his PT, would have been very proud of him, and though
his eyes were wide open, the room was so dark a blindfold would have had
the very same effect.
*So there,* thought Mulder triumphantly.

Of course the next challenge was finding the bathroom without falling flat
on his face. He really did have to go, so he tried hard to determine in
which direction the other "baby sitter" led him to throw up his delicious
big mac. It was not an easy task to do in pitch darkness when you were
healthy; it was nearly impossible for a man with spatial relationship
deficits.

Suddenly he felt a hand press down hard on his shoulder. "Where the fuck
do you think you're going?" demanded Edgar Franks.

"I have to ta'e a lea_k_," Mulder replied with determination. "I wa'
lookin' for the ba'room."

Franks walked ahead of Mulder, not realizing that Mulder would have
actually appreciated a helping hand. He really wanted his walker, but he
knew they would never give in to that request.

Mulder, looking as precarious as a tight rope walker on a windy day, took
one tentative step in front of him at a time. Franks opened the bathroom
door that was in the far right corner of the room and turned on the light.
Mulder not only squinted at the blinding light before him, but he
startled as well. He lost his balance and landed painfully on the floor.

"Shi_t_!" Mulder shouted out loud.

Franks was in his face inside of a second. "Why can't you keep your God
damned mouth shut, Mulder?" Franks sneered as he smacked him hard across
the face.

Mulder looked at him with a shocked expression. He didn't expect the blow
to his face, because he had no way of gauging just how loud his voice
was.

"Wha' the hell wa' tha' for?" asked Mulder.

"Just keep your mouth shut, Mulder, and we'll get along just fine,"
replied Franks.

"Can you he'p me up p'ease? I really do ha'e to go to the ba'room," he
pleaded.

Franks remembered what happened the last time he helped Mulder up. He
walked toward him but at the same time managed to keep his distance to
avoid any more projectile vomiting episodes.

While Mulder relieved himself, Franks stood guard. Though he probably
should have felt self-conscious about having Franks standing so nearby him
while he urinated, Mulder didn't. He had gotten used to having Skinner,
Scully, or even Maggie stand watch while he took a whiz to ensure he
didn't take a fall and injure himself even more.

After Franks led him back into the still dark, main room he sat back down
on the concrete floor. Mulder asked, "Wha' time is it?"

"Why do ya wanna know? Ya going somewhere?" Franks replied.

"Jus' tell me wha' ti'e it is."

"Well, if ya must know, it's just after midnight," he replied.

"Wha_t_?" Mulder asked incredulously. "How lon' are you goin' to kee' me
here?"

"As long as it takes for Mr. Krycek to accomplish his objectives, Mulder."

Though he would have preferred the lights on, Mulder was at least thankful
for the silence around him, because it afforded him a greater ability to
decipher the words of his keeper.

"An' wha' happens after tha'?"

"You'll probably go where the rest of them are and get that shit put into
you."

"Wha' shi_t_?" he asked nervously.

"The STP shit. You know, the oil treatment? It looks like these little
disgusting oily, black worms. I mean, those little suckers look totally
revolting, ya know? I couldn't imagine putting those damned things in me,
but I from what I hear, it hurts like hell. At least from the screams I
hear in the treatment center. Man, those guys just scream and scream.
Well, at least I've given you something to look forward to, eh Mulder?"
Franks concluded.

The thing Edgar Franks was not aware of, as he made his little sales
pitch, was Mulder understood his own fate from the moment he said the
words "oil treatment." He realized immediately that the Black Cancer was
once again in his future, and it was at that very moment, unbeknownst to
Edgar Franks, that Fox Mulder's stress level exceeded even his limit.

Mulder's body first reacted to this stress by lapsing into small, almost
imperceptible tremors. As Franks droned on, Mulder let out a soft cry of
anguish. Franks believed it was in response to his eloquent description
of his horrible fate.

It was, in fact, a typical symptom of the initial stages of a grand mal
seizure. Mulder's body fell back to the floor leaving him in a supine
position. Franks didn't notice in the darkness, as he was taking to much
glee out of the idea of verbally torturing Mulder.

Suddenly Mulder's body stiffened and began twitching more noticeably.
Franks was still droning on and on, and did not take notice of his
charge's condition until the twitching became uncontrollable spasms.
Franks heard the thrashing about and ran to turn on the lights.

When Franks turned around he saw Mulder's body on the floor was convulsing
uncontrollably. He ran to him and leaned over his body. His first
instinct was to forcibly hold him down and he did so with his right hand,
while at the same time he pulled out a walkie talkie with his left.

"I need help in here. The guy's gone wacko on me! He's having some kind
of a fit!" he said anxiously.

Lidofsky ran into the room moments later. When he saw what was going on,
he screamed to Franks to get the hell off of the guy.

"But look at him!" Franks shouted.

"I am looking at him, you idiot. That's why you've got to get off of him!
For God's sake, Franks, he's having a seizure. You could hurt him by
holding him down like that," Lidofsky replied angrily.

When Franks stood away, Lidofsky moved quickly to Mulder's side. He noted
he was breathing irregularly and that his pants, though only slightly wet,
were also slightly soiled. Lidofsky realized with sadness that Mulder had
lost bladder control and bowel control during this seizure.

Lidofsky turned Mulder onto his side with his face angled toward the floor
so that his saliva would drip out of his mouth instead of back down his
throat. He merely kneeled nearby and allowed the seizure to take its
course.

"How long has he been seizing?" Lidofsky asked.

"I don't know," replied an irritated Franks. "Do I look like fucking
Florence Nightingale?"

"Franks, it's important to monitor this kind of shit! Think! How long
has he been seizing?"

"He must have been going on like that for a few minutes before you finally
came in," Franks finally admitted.

"A few minutes? What's that? One? Two? Four? Six? How many minutes?"
said a very anxious Lidofsky as he watched Mulder's body continue to be in
the throes of a full grand mal seizure.

"I dunno, Carl. Maybe three or four minutes? I'm sorry, man. I didn't
realize I was supposed to keep a stopwatch on him for these kind of
things," Franks offered, somewhat contritely.

"Call Mr. Krycek, Edgar," Lidofsky said.

"What? Are you crazy Carl?" Franks implored.

"The guy's in trouble, Edgar. We gotta get him to the doctor," Lidofsky
replied.

"Are you sure, Carl? Mr. Krycek is gonna be real pissed about this."

"It doesn't matter if he's pissed or not. We gotta get this guy to the
doctor, and I mean soon. He's still seizing, Edgar. It's gotta be over
ten minutes. He needs medication," Lidofsky concluded.

Franks reluctantly went over to the intercom hanging on the wall and
dialed Krycek's extension. He explained the situation and then held the
phone at arm's length to avoid the full blown effect of Krycek's cursing.

"He said he'd have a gurney sent here as soon as possible, but we'd better
keep him alive," reported Franks.

"A gurney? Good." And then turning to Mulder, he spoke soothingly in his
accented English, "Hear that Mr. Mulder? You're going to go to a place
where they can help you. You're going to be fine, Mr. Mulder. Keep
breathing, Mr. Mulder. You're going to be fine," he repeated over and
over until the gurney arrived.

"Damn it, it's about time. This man is very ill. Move it!!" Lidofsky
cried out in anger.

The two attendants picked Mulder's seizing body up and strapped him into
place. Though Lidofsky wanted to follow him into the treatment center, no
one had given him permission to enter that area. So, he stayed behind and
went with Franks into the break room. As he sat down and sipped his
coffee, he said a silent prayer for Mr. Mulder's well being.

#####################################################

Maggie Scully's Residence
Baltimore, MD

Scully jerked her head up with a start. She must have fallen asleep in
the club chair and no one wanted to disturb her. She woke up with an
uneasy feeling. Something was wrong, that she knew. She wasn't sure what
it was, but she knew her uneasiness had to do with Mulder's well-being.
And she suddenly realized his well being was in great jeopardy.

"Mom! Abah!" she cried out.

Maggie and Walter were at her side in an instant. They asked her what was
wrong, and she replied she had a terrible feeling that something was wrong
with Mulder.

"What time is it?" she asked anxiously.

"It's almost twelve-thirty," replied Walter.

"He needs his meds. Something is wrong. I know it is. Oh God, he's got
to get his meds," she sobbed.

Walter reached out to hold his adopted daughter in his strong arms.
"Dana, we'll find him. We'll get him back for you, I promise."

"Oh Abah, but will he be in one piece?" she cried as she sought the warmth
and security of his embrace.

End of Part 18/33

#####################################################

Part 19/33

Treatment Center
Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

Mulder was wheeled, still laying on his side, into the treatment center's
examining room as quickly as it was safely possible. As he continued to
seize his limbs strained against the safety restraints. He was brought to
the center of the examination room where the young doctor was waiting.

She didn't necessarily appreciate being roused out of a deep sleep, but
when Mr. Krycek calls, one did not complain nor dawdle. He himself had
called to inform her she would be receiving a patient that needed very
special, impeccable care. The doctor was not informed as to why this
particular patient was to receive the VIP treatment, but receive it he
would.

Mr. Krycek ordered it , and Dr. Samantha Ellis did what she was ordered to
do, just like any good member in standing of the Consortium's Rebel
Faction. Dr. Ellis watched as the gurney was locked into place. She used
her stethoscope in an attempt to get a quick reading on his heart, but his
body was experiencing too many severe tremors to get an accurate reading.

Ellis decided she needed to hook him up to heart and brain monitors as a
means of keeping tabs on his condition as soon as possible. She asked the
attendants if there were any kind of medical history on the patient and
he shook his head mutely.

"Damn it," she said aloud. There was a possibility the seizure was a
result of a pre-existing condition. If he were already taking a certain
kind of medication he could suffer a reaction if she gave him a different
medication.

It didn't look like she was going to have a choice though. She was
informed the patient had been seizing for upwards of ten minutes prior to
being brought here. The seizure was passing the fifteen minute mark. She
made the decision to administer Dilantin, the oldest and most commonly
used anticonvulsant used to date.

Ellis knew there were other, newer and even more effective medications on
the market for seizure conditions. But she also knew Dilantin had been
around for the longest historically and remained effective in the short
term. She first drew blood to develop a baseline and then administered
two hundred milligrams of the drug.

She placed an oxygen mask around his face to enhance his breathing.
Within minutes Dr. Ellis observed the patient's body begin to relax. The
tremors lessened and his extremities became less stiff. After
approximately seven to ten more minutes, the patient's body totally
relaxed.

He laid on his side with his face pointing down toward the gurney. He was
drooling heavily and his eyes were very glassy and unfocused. Dr. Ellis
debated as to whether she should try to speak with the patient.

It had been her experience that if a seizure victim was roused too
quickly, it could trigger another seizure. Sometimes the person went into
another seizure immediately, anyway, but Dr. Ellis didn't see any reason
to force the issue at the moment.

Samantha Ellis suddenly experienced a moment of deja vu. Samantha
remembered an earlier time in her life when she had a similar experience.
She couldn't remember exactly when or with whom, but it took her breath
away at the suddenness and clarity of the memory itself. She actually saw
herself leaning over the seizing body of a young boy and feeling the fear
she felt back then when she was a small child.

Samantha shook herself back to the present. She was a doctor, for
heaven's sake. *Get a grip,* she admonished herself. *You've a patient
on the table who needs you.*

She monitored the patients vitals and decided he was as stable as he was
going to be for the moment. Dr. Ellis pulled a stool over and got at eye
level with the man on the gurney. His eyes were still unfocused, but he
had stopped drooling. She grabbed a soft towelette and gently wiped his
mouth of the remaining saliva.

She looked up at the attendants and asked if they knew his name. "Mulder,"
was the answer.

Dr. Ellis nodded pensively and looked back to her patient. "Mr. Mulder?
Mr. Mulder, can you hear me?"

What Dr. Ellis did not realize was Mulder was actually laying on the ear
with the hearing aid, so he really could not hear her very well at all,
given all of the noise from the various monitors he was hooked up to and
the chatter of the various medical attendants present. As hard as he
tried, Mulder simply could not focus on the face before him.

He knew she was saying something to him, but between the enormous fatigue
and confusion he was feeling as a result of the grand mal seizure and his
hearing loss, he could not concentrate fully enough to make out what she
was saying, or to even determine what she looked like. All he wanted to
do was sleep. He felt he didn't have a choice as he closed his eyes and
slept.

#####################################################

On route from Raleigh, NC to Baltimore, MD

"I still don't know why we gotta drive the car all the way back to
Maryland to dump it," complained Franks. "This is a God damned long
drive!"

"You can survive the five hour trip, Edgar," replied Lidofsky.

"Sure, that's easy for you to say. You didn't just make the trip
yesterday with Son of Exorcist. Shit, I still can smell the puke on my
shoes," Franks griped again.

"Tell me about it. I'm sitting right next to you," he agreed. "But you
know why it happened, don' t you? It's because you think too much with
this," he said while making a muscle with his left arm and pointing to it
with his right hand. "You got to use your brains every now and then to
assess a situation. Couldn't you see that poor guy could only take so
much?" he implored.

"Lidofsky, you getting soft on me?" asked Franks. "Mr. Krycek said to use
whatever force was necessary to make the snatch, so I did."

"Damn it, Edgar, my great-grandmother, Bubbie Eva, could have made the
snatch on Mulder," snorted Lidofsky. When he looked over at Franks and
saw him turn bright red, Lidofsky knew the muscle man accepted his point.
Carl knew Franks would never admit it out right, but he also knew Edgar
Franks wouldn't be so quick to beat up on the guy again. At least not
while he was around.

"Well," Franks began, changing the subject, "at least we get to take a
flight back to the center. I don't think my back could handle another
five hour drive back." Carl Lidofsky nodded in agreement and then closed
his eyes till his driving shift came up.

#####################################################

AD Skinner's Office
Washington, DC

When the soft trill of the cell phone rang out, the three of them reached
for their pockets. Jack Stein came up the winner, while Walter and Dana
looked on.

"Yes?."

"We have a fix on the tracking device. You're not going to believe it,
Sir. We've tracked it back to Baltimore."

"What? When?" asked an excited Stein.

Both Dana and Walter thought they were going to explode if Stein didn't
let them in on the latest development.

The voice at the other end of the phone related that a very weak signal
was picked up just outside of North Carolina, but the mountainous area
caused the signal to fade in and out. It didn't get strong again until
Virginia, and then it stabilized in Maryland. Baltimore to be exact. In
fact, it looked like it was emitting its signal right from the very place
Mulder was taken. Pratt Street, nearby the doctor's office.

One of the very doctor's offices that the Lone Gunmen paid a visit to last
night. After a very thorough search of the facility, Langley was the one
who came upon the box containing vials of small pox vaccine. It was
purely by accident, as Langley was searching around in the back room and
came upon a small, hidden refrigerator unit.

Langley thought it was odd to have a working refrigerator covered up with
a drop cloth and then blocked by boxes that were piled six and seven high
to make the refrigerator unit inaccessible. So, never one to be
deterred, Langley meticulously removed all of the obstacles and found the
small box hidden in the rear of the unit, inside another box listing it as
insulin.

Byars looked at the wild haired one and asked him what ever made him
decide to keep looking. Langley responded he had had a feeling and
decided to follow through on it. And it paid off with a lot #: 865452P.
The Lone Gunmen were equally successful in the other two offices they
searched last night and discovered the same lot number.

So when Stein's technical expert reported they picked up a tracking
signal nearby the doctor's office where Mrs. Mulder had her exam, Dana and
Walter were very hopeful.

"Maybe they just dumped him back where they had kidnapped him. Maybe,
they just want to scare us, but got scared themselves when they discovered
we knew about the small pox vaccinations. Maybe____." Said Scully.

"___Maybe," said Walter Skinner, effectively cutting off Dana's anxiety,
"we'll just drive over and check it out." As they grabbed their coats,
Skinner called in for backup to set up a search of the area for Mulder and
his hearing aid tracking device.

#####################################################

Maggie Scully's Residence
Baltimore, MD

Maggie heard the back door open and was surprised to see Walter, Dana, and
Jack walk into the house as it was still relatively early in the day.

"Hi," Maggie said, surprised at their appearance. "What's going on?"

At the sound of footsteps and voices, Elizabeth entered the den. "What's
happened?" she asked anxiously. "What's happened to Fox?"

"We still don't know, Elizabeth," Dana began in frustration. "We don't
know anything!"

"Walter? What's going on?" Maggie asked.

"We found the cab that picked up Mulder and you, Elizabeth. It was
abandoned by the doctor's office on Pratt Street," answered Walter.

"When did you find the cab?" asked Maggie. "Was there any sign of Fox?"

"We found it because the tracking device transmitted the signal which told
us exactly where the cab was," responded Jack.

"The device that was in Fox's hearing aid. Oh my God, where's Fox?" cried
out Elizabeth.

"We don't know, Elizabeth. That's the problem. The hearing aid was on
the floor in the rear of the cab," Scully replied. "We know where the
damned hearing aid is, we just don't know where Mulder is. Damn it, I
can't take this anymore!" Scully raised her voice loudly.

"So now what?" asked Maggie, feeling the frustration almost as much as her
daughter. "What do we do now?"

"We keep working to find him, and we keep our eyes and ears open in doing
so. I suspect Krycek won't remain silent forever. Not if Stein is right
about Krycek's motive to get revenge," answered Skinner.

"How long do we have to wait before this Krycek fellow gets in touch with
you. Isn't there a way to get in touch with him? Fox can't wait much
longer without his medications, Walter. He needs to be found and soon,"
declared Maggie.

#####################################################

The Lone Gunmen
Unknown Location

Byars, Langley, and Frohicke all came to the same conclusion. The
packaging was not American made. The vaccines definitely came from
Moscow, Russia. The vaccines were not, however, small pox vaccines, yet
there was no evidence of the Black Cancer in the vials either.

The boys determined that the contents of the vials had something to do
with the Black Cancer entities, they were just unsure as to what. They
hoped Scully would be able to determine if whatever the substance was
showed up in the autopsy toxicological reports.

Langley discovered something else odd. Not all of the vials contained the
same drug. In fact, if Langley didn't know better, he'd swear on his
high school chem teacher's head, that some of the vials contained plain
H2O. Water. Plain, not even Poland Spring, water.

"They're using the kids as guinea pigs," Langley concluded.

"Well, we kind of knew that already, didn't we? asked Frohicke.

"Yeah, but not for the Black Cancer specifically," responded Langley.

"How do you mean?" asked Byars.

"All of the children had the Black Cancer like Mulder. Remember Mulder
told us he had received some sort of antidote for it, which is why it
didn't kill him right away.

"I believe these children were test subjects for the antidote. I believe
the six children who died were given a placebo, a water placebo,"
explained Langley.

"Oh my God. You guys know what that means, don't you?" exclaimed Byars.

"There are probably a helluva a lot more kids out there carrying the Black
Cancer. Let's just pray the rest of them got the cure instead of the
water placebo," replied Langley.

"We're going to see more dead children, aren't we?" Frohicke asked
rhetorically.

End of Part 19/33

#####################################################

Part 20/33

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

Mulder woke up slowly. His limited hearing picked up sounds that were all
too familiar to him. The beeps of electronic monitors could be heard
intermittently. When he attempted to stretch his arms, he felt immobile.
He tugged at his wrists and realized they were bound with restraints.

At that realization he let out a low moan of frustration, and a medical
attendant rushed over to him. She observed him ever so briefly, just long
enough to note his vitals, as well as the eye movement. She left to
quickly place a phone call to the doctor, as Dr. Ellis wanted to be
informed as soon as the patient began to show signs of awakening.

Mulder tried to call out, but his mouth was extremely dry. He was
desperate for some water. Scully. If Scully were here, she would know he
needed the water. Mulder emitted another moan, only this one was of
despair. He was feeling disjointed, uncomfortable, scared and alone. He
desperately wanted Scully at his side. Now. "Scu'eee," he attempted to
call out, but with his mouth so dry it came out as a raspy groan.

When Dr. Ellis arrived approximately twenty minutes later, she asked for
an update on the patient's condition. She was informed of his vital
signs which were now stable.

The attendant also informed the doctor that the patient was calling out a
word over and over again, but neither she, nor her colleagues, were able
to determine what the word was. When Dr. Ellis asked the attendant what
the word sounded like, she was informed, "Skuh-ee."

Samantha Ellis shook her head upon hearing that, as she had no clue as to
what its possible meaning was either. She hoped to gain some more
information when she spoke to Mr. Krycek about her new charge sometime
later that day. In the meantime, she would have to do some detective work
on her own, hopefully with the full cooperation of the patient himself.

She stood over him and took the time to really look at him. She hadn't
had the time to do that last night when he was brought in, since she was
too busy doctoring him. This morning, however, she had the luxury of
time to really take a good look at him.

Ellis noted the patient was tall. That's not always easy to determine
when the victim arrives flat on their backs, and this one had actually
come laying on his side with his body bent in a little. But now that he
was laying in a supine position, she determined he was indeed a six
footer, possibly a little more.

She also noted he was extremely thin, and in fact underweight. He did not
show any signs of being malnourished, just way too thin. His skin color
was pale, almost chalky, but Ellis attributed that to the seizure and
medications.

His hair was long enough to cover his ears a bit, but it was neatly
trimmed. She also noted, for the first time, the hearing aid in the left
ear that the neatly trimmed, but long hair, had hidden from her.

Next, the doctor noted his eyes. Though they were still closed, she noted
the patient had the most beautiful and longest eye lashes she'd seen in
quite a while. *Most women would envy those eyelashes, Mr. Mulder,* she
thought to herself.

Suddenly Samantha Ellis experienced deja vu again! Samantha found herself
sitting on a porch next to a young boy. He was crying and cursing and
pounding a baseball into his mitt. *What's wrong?* she heard herself ask
the boy. *Why are you crying?*

*They heard them! The guys heard Mom's friends say I had girl's eyes,*
he blurted out. *They heard them say it wasn't fair for a boy to have
such pretty girl's eyelashes! And now they won't let me play, `cause they
said they don't play ball with no girls!*

She watched as he continued to cry and pound the glove in frustration.
She heard herself say, *I'm sorry. I'll play with you.*

At that she saw the boy calm down, though the tears continued to stream
down his cheeks. *Thanks, Sam, that's real nice of you, but I don't feel
like playing right now. Maybe later, okay?* And with that he gave her
the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen. Samantha felt total,
unconditional love in that smile, and it took her breath away.

"Scu'y," he moaned aloud to startle Dr. Ellis out of her revelry.

"Mr. Mulder? Mr. Mulder, can you wake up now?" Dr. Ellis asked gently,
but directly at his face in recognition of the hearing loss.

"Scu'y," he repeated over and over again. He then licked his lips, and
Ellis realized the poor guy was probably dying of thirst. She reached
over for the pitcher of ice water and poured some into the cup. She
snapped the cover on the cup and placed the straw inside the small hole
meant to accommodate it and put the straw by the patient's lips.

"Drink, Mr. Mulder. It will make you feel better," she offered.

When Mulder felt the straw on his lips he smiled slightly, and uttered
"Scu'y," in a relieved tone. He then sucked on the straw to drink in the
much needed liquid. After a few sips he felt sated and also exhausted.
He fell asleep again, but not before he uttered in a tone reserved only
for her, "Than's Scu'y, I love you."

#####################################################

X-Files Department
Washington, DC

Brrrnnnggg. Brrrnnnggg.

"Scully."

"Hello Agent Scully, how are you today?"

"I'm fi___." It nearly came out of her mouth, but somehow she knew this
was not what the voice on the other end needed to hear. "I'm..scared.
It's been too long and I'm scared, Fohicke,"she told him as she recognized
her friend's most distinctive voice.

"I know Dana. This sucks big time, but listen, we have some information
we would like to share with you. Would you care to join us for a bite to
eat, say around one o'clock at `The Library Restaurant'?" he asked.

"No problem. Do you want me to bring Skinner and Stein?" she asked.

"I think we would feel more comfortable if it were just you, Dana. We're
still not too comfortable with this new association, so we'd just as soon
limit our contact with him. If that's okay with you, of course," Frohicke
deferred.

"It's okay. I know how hard it is for you boys to accept him as one of
the good guys. I guess I still can't believe it either, but the fact that
you didn't run in the other direction at the mere mention of him was more
than I ever hoped for, so yes, I'll meet you alone, at one o'clock."

#####################################################

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

"We delivered the car, boss, just like you wanted," reported Franks.

"Very good, Franks. You left it right near the doctor's office as I
asked?"

"Of course Mr. Krycek. We followed your orders to a Tee," he replied

"Do you know the car has been impounded already?" Krycek asked.

"No. That's pretty fast, isn't it?" asked Franks.

"Yes. They discovered the car extremely quickly, too quickly. It was
almost as though they were staking the location out. I don't quite
understand how they found it so fast, but my sources say the suits were on
that car within one hour of you dropping it off. What's even more amazing
is the uniforms were there within twenty minutes of you dumping it. Now I
wonder why that is?" Krycek mused darkly.

"I don't know why, boss. All I know is Lidofsky and I followed your
orders to a Tee. We didn't change nothing," replied a nervous Franks.

"Is that true Lidofsky? You followed my orders exactly?"

"Yes," Carl Lidofsky replied. "We followed your orders exactly."

"Very well, you're dismissed," Krycek said with a wave of his hand.

"Uh, Sir? If you don't mind my asking you, how's Mr. Mulder doing?" asked
Lidofsky.

"He'll live, Lidofsky," Krycek responded dryly.

"Well, that is good. Thank you, Sir." observed Lidofsky.

"Do you have any further instructions for us, Mr. Krycek?" asked Franks,
trying to change the subject. He sensed the boss was none to happy with
Carl's inquiry.

"Not at this moment, gentlemen, but soon. I promise you very soon, it
will be time to smoke the bastard out, and when it is, I'll let you know,"
Krycek concluded.

End of Part 20/33
####################################################

Part 21/33

Maggie Scully's Residence
Baltimore, MD

Maggie sat alone in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee that she spiced
up a bit with a couple of shots of the Amaretto liqueur she usually saved
for special occasions. It warmed her as it slid down her throat
effortlessly. Maggie remembered only three other times when she brought
out the bottle for a personal taste.

The first was when her beloved Captain, her Bill, died unexpectedly from a
heart attack. The second was when her Dana was being kept alive on life
support and she made the decision to remove it, and the third time was
when her eldest daughter, Melissa, was murdered.

Now, Maggie Scully found herself mourning the loss of another one of her
children. Fox Mulder had ingratiated himself into her heart the first
time she'd met him. It was the night she arrived at Dana's apartment,
having just woken up from a nightmare that told her she was being taken
from her.

Then during the time Dana was still missing she told him of her concern
that she was still having the same dream. When he told her the time to
start worrying would be when she stopped having the dreams, was when she
came to love him as one of her own.

And now she sat in her kitchen, drinking the alcohol laced coffee, and
wondered if he would be returned to her as her younger daughter had been,
twice in fact. The first time was after the abduction and the second time
was after the cancer. Life after the cancer was supposed to be joyous and
happy. Instead she sat and waited to see if she would grieve again.

She felt a firm hand on her shoulder, looked up, and saw Walter standing
next to her. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Hi to you too," he replied. "I didn't want to startle you, but I had
called your name three or four times. You were in another world."

"I was feeling sorry for myself, Walter." Maggie averted her gaze for a
moment, and Walter sat down across from her. She continued, eyes still
looking anywhere but at him. "I was thinking how unfair God was being to
me for making me grieve four times in the last three years. It's not
fair, and I don't like God very much at the moment for putting me and my
family through this," she said somberly.

"I don't blame you for being angry, Maggie, but should you be angry at
God?" he replied quietly.

Maggie looked at Walter curiously, as she never knew him to be a religious
man, but he had never faulted her for her own beliefs in God. Yet now,
when she questioned those very beliefs, Walter Skinner admitted for the
first time his own doubts and beliefs.

"With whom else should I be angry, Walter?" she asked.

"How about the bad guys, Maggie?" he replied softly. "God put good guys
and bad guys on this earth, didn't He? Are we supposed to think God can
control every action the bad guys make? If that were true, then we would
have to expect the converse to be true. God should then be able to
control every move the good guys make.

"Maggie, I don't know if I like that idea. I mean, I don't like the idea
of the bad guys being given free reign, but if that's the only way I can
guarantee that I, as a good guy, have free reign to act the way I feel is
best, then so be it.

"I want to be free to do God's work, Maggie, not necessarily be at God's
mercy," he concluded.

"But I'm tired of all the sadness. I'm tired of good people having to go
through so much trauma and sadness. It makes me angry, Walter. It makes
me very angry. That young man out there somewhere has been put through
more hell in his thirty-seven years than most people would see in ten
lifetimes.

"It's not fair to him, and it's not fair to Dana or the rest of us. Why
should fate deem it that he be forced to suffer so much more than most
people. That's not the work of a merciful God, Walter. I had always
believed that God watched over all of us, and that He would take care of
us. I don't think I can believe that anymore," she concluded sadly.

"Oh Maggie, if you lose your faith then where will that leave the rest of
us? My sweet, loving Maggie, I count on you to be strong for all of us
and one of the reasons you're able to be strong is because of your faith
in God to see us through all of this.

"Maggie, God is not forcing us to believe in Him. God is there for us to
accept and embrace at our will. I have to believe that there is something
out there bigger than all of us who will hear us, will hear me, and give
me the strength to go on.

"I learned that from someone I've come to love very much, Maggie. It took
me a long time to develop that kind of trust in myself that would allow me
to believe again and put my faith in something or someone that I could not
touch or see or hear. It took a very long time for me to find someone who
could lead me to that faith again.

"And now I need to work as hard as I can to find him again. I need your
strength and faith in me Maggie, so I can find Fox. Please Maggie, don't
desert me by abandoning your faith. Please."

Walter had been sitting in the chair across from her, but he now stood up
and knelt down at her side so he was eye level with her.
"I love you Margaret Scully. I love you with all of my heart, and I want
to see you happy. I want to do whatever I can to make you happy, but
ultimately my sweet Maggie, it's up to you. It's always been up to you."

"Find him, Walter. Just find him."

#####################################################

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

Dr. Ellis checked in on the patient a couple of hours later. She wanted
to be sure the necessary amount of Dilantin was being absorbed by Mulder's
bloodstream. As she rummaged about the various charts and monitors she
saw the patient slowly rise to wakefulness.

"Hello," Dr. Ellis said clearly. "How are you feeling?"

Mulder heard the voice but was unsure of the words. He couldn't hear
anything very clearly due to the constant humming and beeping of the
monitors in the room with him. He felt extremely disjointed as well.

He had opened his eyes and hoped to look about and get his bearings. He
knew he'd been there for a while, since at least last night. He couldn't
remember why he was in this room, but at least he was no longer strapped
to the bed. He hated being placed in restraints.

He looked at the young woman who spoke to him. He was having trouble
getting his eyes to focus. He blinked his eyes hard several times, and
then tried to stare ahead.

When his eyes focused well enough to see straight, he found himself
looking directly into a pair of lovely hazel eyes. Mulder stared into
those eyes and drank in the tenderness that seemed to be emanating from
them. He next took in the face before him and noticed it was lovely and
feminine. Mulder saw a pair of tortoise shelled glasses perched on her
nose and short, wavy, light brown hair frame her face.

His eyes focused so he was able to observe her whole face and felt comfort
and security in that face. He sensed a familiarity in her face that he
had not seen in many years. And then Mulder gasped.

Mulder's extremities stiffened and then the tremors began in earnest. His
head lurched back and he began to gag a bit. Mulder's breathing became
labored and irregular.

Dr. Ellis jumped into action. She called out to the medical team and
directed them to assist her in turning the patient on his side. They then
replaced the safety restraints so as to protect him from rolling off the
bed. She had begun timing the seizure and determined if the seizure went
beyond five minutes, she would administer an extra dose of Dilantin.
Until then, there was really very little to do.

When the seizure hit the four minute mark, Ellis observed Mulder's
extremities begin to relax. The seizure was coming to an end which was a
great relief to Ellis. She had the feeling his body wouldn't be able to
sustain too many more four minute seizures much less the fifteen minute
seizures of the night before.

As she took the last of the vitals she said, "Okay Mr. Mulder," she said,
"you're going to be fine. I want you to rest now." She smoothed the
blanket over him to provide him with the warmth his body may have lost
during the seizure.

"Scu'y?" he mumbled.

"No, not yet," she replied regretfully. "Get some rest, Mr. Mulder."

"Oh, okay," he replied sleepily. "Goo' nigh', Sam."

Samantha Ellis looked at her patient with surprise, and maybe, a little
fear.

#####################################################

The Library Restaurant
Washington, DC

"Hello Agent Scully," greeted Byars, along with Langley and Frohicke.

"Hi boys."

"How are you holding up, Dana?" asked Frohicke.

"Okay," she said shakily. "But I'll be honest, it's getting harder the
longer he's missing. I don't know if he'll survive this time guys."

"Hey, this is Mulder you're talking about, he'll survive just to spite
`em," retorted Langley lightly.

"I hope you're right," Dana replied wistfully, but then, is a stronger
voice asked, "Now, what have you got for me boys?"

Byars went on to explain their theory regarding the idea of the children
being used as guinea pigs to test an antidote for the Black Cancer. He
went on to further explain their belief that the children who died were
given the placebo rather than the real antidote.

"Oh my God," gasped Scully, "that means____."

"_____there are probably a whole lot more kids out there with the Black
Cancer," interrupted Byars.

"Which also means there are probably a whole lot more kids being tested
with the antidote," said Scully.

"And a whole lot more that may die because they got just the placebo,"
confirmed Frohicke.

"I'll send these on to the labs for testing. Thanks you guys," Dana
affirmed, gratefully.

#####################################################

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

"Where am I?" he finally managed to ask.

"He speaks," Ellis said lightly. "You're in a clinic, a treatment center,
Mr. Mulder."

"Why?" he asked, asked groggily.

"You were brought in very late last night because you were seizing," she
responded. "You had another seizure a few hours ago."

"Damn."

"Mr. Mulder, have you had seizures before?" she asked.

"Yeah. Af'er the trea'men' I ha' lo's of seizures."

"What seizure medication were you on, Mr. Mulder?" she asked.

"Umm, it wa' Te'tro'," he mumbled.

"Tegretrol? Was it Tegretrol Mr. Mulder?"

"Yeah. My hea' hur's. Why does my hea' hur'?" he asked in a small,
pained voice.

"Well, for one, you came in with a helluva gash on the back of your head.
I suspect you sustained a light concussion. Also, I administered two
hundred milligrams of Dilantin which might make you a little woozy," Dr.
Ellis responded.

She looked at him and decided she really needed to get a more detailed
medical history in order to best take care of him.

"Mr. Mulder, you said you had a treatment. What were you treated for?"

"The firs' ti'e, or the secon' ti'e?" he asked.

"Let's start with the first time," she responded.

"I ha' meningitis."

"Did you start taking the Tegretrol after the meningitis?" Dr. Ellis
asked.

"No. Tha' was after the treatmen' for the Bla' Cancer," he answered.

"The what?" she asked shocked.

"The Bla_ck_ Cancer," he repeated more clearly. "I ha' the Bla_ck_
Cancer, but it help_ed_ Scu_ll_y. She ha' the tumor, an' the Bla_ck_
wor_ms_ ate the tumor," he explained.

"Oh my God," she responded. "I don't believe this. I didn't know anyone
else had it. I thought it was just the children who contracted it. When
did you contract it?"

"Wha? I' sorry, you talk to fas_t_. I don' un'ers'and," Mulder said.

"I'm sorry. When did you get the Black Cancer?" she reiterated.

"When I wen' to Russia. To Tun_gu_ska. Kryce' was with me, the bastar',"
he recalled.

"Mr. Krycek was with you?" Dr. Ellis asked incredulously. "With you, Mr.
Mulder?"

"Yeah. I' sorry, bu' I' gettin' real tire'. I thin' I nee' to res_t_."
Mulder started to close his eyes when Dr. Ellis stopped him with one more
question.

"Mr. Mulder, what is your first name?" she asked.

"Don' like it," he responded.

"Why?" she asked.

"Jus' don' like it."

"But what is it?" she asked, almost whining. She didn't understand it
herself, but for some reason she had to know his first name. "Please, I
have to know, Mr. Mulder."

"Fo_x_," he replied. "My na'e is Fo_x_."

"Have a good sleep, Fox," Samantha Ellis wished uneasily.

End of Part 21/33

##################################################

Part 22/33

Walter Skinner's Office
Washington, DC

It was now the third day that Mulder was missing. Skinner was becoming
more and more anxious. He not only had to worry about Mulder, but the
deaths of six young children, and Skinner was quite certain there would
be, at the very least, a seventh death of a child.

Jack Stein was sitting at the large conference table in Skinner's office,
looking at various notes and files while he smoked cigarette after
cigarette. Skinner finally had to spring for one of those air purifiers,
because the stench of the cigarette smoke was permeating everything
Skinner owned, especially his clothing.

Maggie had begun to complain about the smoky odor emanating from his
clothes. Skinner could smell it as easily as she could and hated it, but
he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. He didn't want to confront
Stein about it. He knew Stein was working as hard as he could to ally
himself with Skinner, Scully and the team searching for Mulder.

He knew the reasons for Stein's undivided interest in this case. First,
was to find Mulder. Second, he hoped it would lead him to Samantha, his
daughter. Finally, he wanted to squash the Rebel Faction of the
Consortium. Skinner wasn't exactly positive if that was Stein's order of
priority, but as the results would be the same, he didn't that concern all
that much.

Skinner was desperate to succeed in the first goal, and would gladly give
his all in achieving the second goal. The third goal, for all Skinner
cared, could take a flying leap, except for one thing: the children.
Skinner had come to the realization that if they found the Consortium's
Rebel Faction, they would most likely put an end to the children's
murders.

When Skinner heard the knock on the door, he called out a firm, "Come in."
He saw Scully enter breathlessly, as if she'd been running. "Dana?
What's going on?"

"I just got back from the lab," she responded.

"I had lunch with The Lone Gunmen. They brought me the samples they
found in the small pox vaccine vials. Guess what?" she said a little
anxiously.

"Dana, I'm too damned tired to play guessing games," Skinner responded.
"What are the results?"

"Walter, I'm not playing games. Listen to me. It was definitely not
small pox vaccines in the vials. The Gunmen had a theory which the test
results have apparently proved out," she began.

"The boys suspected the vials contained something other than the small pox
vaccine, but they weren't sure what, until Langley started messing around
with his `high school' chemistry kit," she added with a nervous chuckle.

The fatigue and stress were beginning to get to Scully, and she missed
Mulder desperately. Aside from the obvious fact she was worried about his
safety and health, she just missed him.

She'd gotten used to having him around to bounce ideas off of. She'd
gotten used to hearing his repartee. Even with all of his physical
difficulties, he was still capable of the fastest witticisms around, and
she missed them.

She shook her head slightly and observed the two men in the room with her.
*Stop it,* Dana admonished herself. *You've got work to do* she thought
when she realized that she finally had some hard data to share, so she
settled herself down and continued with her findings.

"Langley discovered that the vials could be divided into two groups. He
didn't have a clue as to what the hell Group A was, but he swore on a
stack of bibles that the Group B vials were filled with nothing more than
tap water. And he was absolutely correct. Good ol' H2O.

"So what does that have to do with anything?" Skinner interrupted.

"Damn it Walter, would you shut up and let me finish. This is important!"
she looked at the AD and realized she had just opened herself up to a
suspension for insubordination. *Shit,* she thought, *I am tired.* "I'm
sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to___."

"Dana, it's all right. Just go on with your findings," he replied
tiredly.

"Okay, so the boys figured the Group A vials had to have something
significant in them. Something that was worth keeping very secret. So
Langley proposed a hypothesis. The Group A vials contained some kind of
antidote for the Black Cancer.

"So, I went to the available source that could help me verify it. Mulder.
Or rather his medical records, and his blood," she said.

Stein looked a little confused when he asked her how he could test the
blood of someone who was missing.

"It was foresight on my part, Jack. You see, since Mulder was always
getting into situations that ended up with him hurt and bleeding in some
fashion or another, I was always worried that he might be in need of a
blood transfusion," Scully started to explain. Suddenly she realized that
he was probably in that very situation right now, and her eyes began to
well up.

"You banked his blood!" Skinner interjected without noticing Scully's
reaction. He called her name to redirect her attention. "Scully? You
with us?"

"What? Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

"I said you banked Mulder's blood, didn't you?" he repeated.

"Oh. Yes, yes I did, so I had a fairly unlimited amount of samples."

"And you found something, Agent Scully?" asked Stein.

"Yes, Mr. Stein, I found something," Scully admitted.

"Dana, please, you're killing me here," pleaded Skinner.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be talking in puzzle pieces here. I guess I'm
just a little tired and ____." Dana paused for a moment. She was well
aware that it wasn't just that she hadn't slept for more than fours over
the last two nights, because the fatigue didn't weigh half as heavily on
her as her apprehension for Mulder's safety. As the hours passed, she
became more and more worried, and she just wanted to solve this case and
get Mulder back in one piece.

"Walter, what it basically comes down to is this is the first breakthrough
we've had on this damned case. The contents of the Group A vials matched
antigens found in Mulder's blood. These same antigens were not found in
any of the young victims," she reported.

"So what does it mean?" asked Skinner. Scully sighed in response. She
just didn't have the strength to spell it out, so she didn't mind in the
least when Stein chose to respond.

"It means we've got more children out there who may die," answered Stein.

When Skinner looked at him puzzled, Stein went on, "Agent Scully, correct
me if I'm wrong, but the children who died did so because they did not
have the antigens from the Group A vials. They did not have the antidote
to the Black Cancer, did they?"

"No, Jack, they did not have the antidote," Scully concurred.

"My God, Scully, the children who died were a part of a control group,
weren't they?" Skinner posed.

"Yes, that makes the most sense to me, Sir," responded Scully grateful
that everyone was finally on the same playing field.

"How many children do you suppose they infected in order to have a control
group and a trial group?" Skinner asked incredulously.

"There's no way of knowing. It could be as small as twenty or as large as
hundreds or thousands. What the hell have those fools done?" asked Stein.

"Where do we go from here, Scully? Now that we have some hard data, what
do we do with it?" Skinner asked.

"Well, I guess the first thing to do is check the medical records of the
children within the radius of those children who were murdered. We have
to determine who else received a so called small pox vaccine. Each of the
victim's medical files had a record of the pseudo small pox vaccine.

"We need to get a health directive to all school nurses of public and
private schools to check the records of all eight year olds for
documentation of the vaccine. The children who received the placebo had
the documentation listed. I have to assume children who received the
trial antidote also would have been documented. It's not necessarily the
quickest answer, but it's at least proactive," Scully concluded with a
sigh.

"A very logical start, Scully. Good job. Let's get on that right away.
Would you draft a memo, please," Skinner asked.

"Memo. Right, I'll go down and get it on the computer."

"No. I mean, you don't need to bother to go down to the basement to draft
the memo. You can use my computer, Dana," he stammered.

Dana looked at Walter carefully for the first time in the three days since
Mulder had been missing. She knew how exhausted and drained she was
feeling, and hadn't yet taken the time to think about how Mulder's
disappearance was affecting Walter.

She hadn't realized just how haggard and tired he looked. "Walter," she
began tentatively, for if there was one man that hated admitting he was
not feeling well physically or emotionally more than Mulder, it was Walter
Skinner.

"Walter?" she repeated. "Do you think maybe you should go home and take a
break?"

"What? Dana, I have work to do."

"Walter, with all due respect, Sir, you look like shit," she chided
gently.

Walter looked somewhat nonplused at her remarks, but then in a
self-deprecating tone, asked rhetorically, "So when exactly did I lose
control here?"

"Go home Walter," Scully admonished.

"But, there's work to do," he replied, rather unconvincingly.

"AD Skinner?" Stein began.

"Yeah, Stein?"

"Go home."

Walter looked first at Jack Stein and then at Dana Scully. He saw fatigue
in their eyes, but he also saw concern. So he did the only responsible
thing he could think of. Walter stood up, walked over to where his jacket
hung, took it off the hanger, and after nodding toward his two associates,
walked out the door.

"I guess I'd better get that memo written," said Scully, and with that she
sat down at Walter Skinner's desk, massaged her temples for a few moments,
and set to work.

#####################################################

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

Krycek heard the knock and called out a terse, "Come in." When he looked
up and saw Samantha Ellis, MD walk through the door, he broke out into a
welcoming smile and repeated, "Come in, come in."

Samantha walked in, almost shyly, and sat in the seat Krycek was gesturing
towards. "Hello Mr. Krycek," she said.

"Please, it's Alex. Call me Alex." When she nodded in acquiescence, he
continued, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Samantha?"

Samantha Ellis bristled imperceptibly. Though Mr. Krycek preferred she
call him by his first name, she resented that he apparently assumed she
felt the same. The fact was, however, she'd worked damn long and hard to
achieve the title of Doctor, and she wasn't one to relinquish it so
easily.

Unfortunately, this was Mister, or rather Alex Krycek that was doing the
assuming. Samantha accepted her fate reluctantly and continued, "I need
information about the patient you placed in my care, Mr. Kry___, I mean
Alex."

"How is he doing?" he asked stiffly.

"He's stable at the moment, but I suspect if I had his medical records,
he'd be doing a whole lot better. This man has apparently had a helluva
medical history in recent months, and in order to treat him properly, I
need to see what transpired," she declared rather passionately.

"Samantha, calm down. I don't know what Mulder's medical history is, but
if you really need to see it, I'll see if I can locate it, okay?" he
attempted to placate.

"Mister___, Alex, I'm very serious about this," she responded, sensing he
was merely trying to appease her. "If you want this patient to be given
the VIP treatment, I have to know what I'm dealing with. Or I won't be
held responsible for the consequences," she responded seriously.

"All right, Samantha. I will try to get you information as soon as
possible. I promise. Now, on to a more important matter. Would you do
me the honor of joining me for dinner tonight?" he asked.

"Tonight?" she asked, not sure how to respond.

"Yes, tonight. I'll be going out of town tomorrow for a few days, so
tonight makes the most sense to me. Is there a problem?" he asked.

Samantha felt as though she was caught between a rock and a hard place.
She really wasn't sure if it was a wise move for her to go out with Alex
Krycek. Oh sure, Samantha found him extremely attractive, in fact she
thought he was downright gorgeous.

But there was something about him, something almost volatile, that
frightened her a bit. She looked at Alex Krycek with piercing eyes and
wondered, if she were to go out with him, would she be getting in over her
head. The idea of getting in over her head did not appeal to her right
now, no matter how gorgeous Alex Krycek was.

She had other priorities right now and one of those priorities was a
patient whose history remained a complete mystery to her. And yet, for
some odd reason, she felt more comfortable with him than she did with the
man now sitting in front of her.

It all came down to one thing. The good doctor didn't know if she could
trust totally trust Alex Krycek, and trust was something that was very
important to Samantha Ellis.

End of Part 22/33

#####################################################

Part 23/33

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

"Hello Mr. Mulder, how are you feeling?" asked the short, thin man with
the beard and mustache, and thick Russian accent.

"I, I guess okay. My hea' hur's though," he responded. "Sorry, do I know
you?"

"Lidofsky. Carl Lidofsky. I was staying with you before you hurt your
head," he explained.

"Oh. Yeah. I remem'er. Your frien' li'e to use me as a punchin' ba',"
Mulder responded.

"Yes, he did, but he promised me that won't happen again. It looks like
you may be coming back to me and Franks in a day or two," Lidofsky
informed.

"Why? Why can' I jus' go home? I wanna go home," he said n a quiet,
plaintive voice.

"I know, Mr. Mulder. It won't be much longer, I'm sure," replied Lidofsky
with a measure of compassion.

"Wha' does Kryce' wan' from me? I don'_t_ know anythin_g_," Mulder
implored.

"Oh, Mr. Mulder, it's not you Mr. Krycek wants. It's the Smoking Man,
and he feels taking custody of you is the most efficient way to bring him
to us," Lidofsky explained.

"He's no' goin' to fall for it," Mulder replied. "I don' mean anythin'
to him, so takin' me hostage won' brin' Cancerman to you, " he continued,
unsure as to how much he truly believed those words himself.

"Well, we'll see about that, Mr. Mulder. I think you underestimate your
impact on people," Lidofsky said. "I'll let you rest now. I'm sure we'll
be seeing one another again soon. You take care of yourself." He turned
around and left the room.

Mulder looked around the room he was staying in. It was rather large and
looked strangely familiar, though he wasn't sure as to why. It had the
appearance of a hospital room, yet there was something different about it.
It's like he'd been here before, but not here.

It then hit Mulder why everything seemed so familiar. It was the same set
up as the Treatment Center he'd been in for the Black Cancer Treatment
that saved Dana's life. The people were different, but the equipment and
the layout was the same.

Mulder felt his chest start to constrict, and his breathing began to
quicken. He knew he was beginning to hyperventilate, but was completely
powerless to stop. The experience he had in the last Treatment Center was
life threatening and his body's defense mechanism responded instinctively.

He was terrified and knew he had to get out of there. Mulder associated
the Treatment Center with the Black Cancer, and he associated the Black
Cancer with an incredible, intense, pain he never wanted to experience
again.

As he gulped in air faster and faster in panic stricken breaths, Mulder
sat himself up and tried to climb out of the hospital bed. The act was
made more difficult by the multitude of IV tubes and catheters he was
hooked up to.

Mulder somehow managed to get to a standing position before anyone else
realized what was going on. When one of the medical attendants noticed
the patient was out of bed, he yelled out and then immediately walked over
to tell Mulder to return to the bed quickly.

"No, I gotta ge' outta here," he responded in between short halting
breaths.

"Mr. Mulder, you're in no condition to be walking around. Besides you're
attached to the wall," he explained calmly, but loudly.

Mulder looked to his side and saw, indeed, one of his IV's was attached to
the wall. He solved that problem by pulling the IV out of his forearm,
causing a stream of blood to pulsate out of his arm. This of course,
caused Mulder's breathing to become even more shallow and quick.

"Mr. Mulder, don't!" shouted the attendant. "I need some help here!"

"No, lea'e me alone. I wanna go home." Mulder attempted to yell out in
between breaths. Mulder was becoming more and more lightheaded as he
continued to take in more oxygen than his body could handle.

When he attempted to walk, his found his legs were too weak from lack of
any real use. Next, the room began to spin in Mulder's mind and as he
began to take another step, his knees buckled and Mulder collapsed.

As the medical attendants crowded around the fallen figure, a voice rang
out, "What the hell is going on here?"

Samantha Ellis rushed to where Mulder had stumbled and ordered the
attendants to help get him back into the bed as quickly as possible.
However, she then heard the shallow, quick, desperate intake of breaths,
so she called for a paper bag to be placed over Mulder's mouth and nose.
She encouraged him to draw in deep breaths as slowly as possible and to
breath out as slowly as possible.

While she worked to help Mulder gain control of his breathing, Samantha
saw his bloodied forearm. She realized one of the IV tubes had been
pulled out, and was concerned what could have provoked such an action.

When Mulder's breathing finally got under control, the attendants began to
pick him up. Mulder cried out in frustration, as he wanted nothing to do
with this place, or its personnel, and just wanted to get out of there.

Mulder tried to fight back, but there were just too many powerful hands
holding him in place. They lifted him up and placed him back in the bed.
Before he realized it, Mulder's wrists and ankles were strapped in the
Velcro restraints.

"No! No! P'ease, ta'e them off! No! Ta'e them off!" he cried out as
though in agony, but Samantha Ellis knew the restraints themselves were
not causing any physical pain.

As she observed him in such obvious distress, Dr. Ellis wondered if
perhaps she should take the restraints off. She also worried about the
possibility of another seizure. "What happened?" she asked in an
authoritative voice.

"He had a visitor and then the next thing we knew, he ripped out his IV
and tried to walk. He took a half a step and fell. That's when you came
in," reported one of the attendants.

"No one noticed the patient was hyperventilating?" she asked with obvious
disgust. When she received no reply, she continued.

"Who was this visitor?" she asked.

"Oh, one of Mr. Krycek's bodyguards."

"Which one? The big American guy, or the thin Russian man?"

"The Russian," was the reply.

"Did he say anything to upset him?" asked Ellis in a vain attempt to
understand what possessed Mulder to pull out an IV and attempt to walk
away in his weakened condition.

"I don't know, Dr. Ellis. They were speaking very softly."

"Very well. We'll leave the restraints on for a little while to make sure
he's calmed down. In the meantime, let's give him a low level dose of
Valium, just to help him out a bit." She wrote down the prescribed amount
on his chart, and the attendant brought the correct dosage. Meanwhile,
Ellis had reinserted the IV tube, so she was able to inject the dosage
directly into the IV.

Within minutes, the valium had the desired effect, and the tension visibly
left Mulder's body. A few minutes passed, and when Ellis realized he
wasn't going to go immediately to sleep, she sat down on a stool near him.

"Hi," she said. "Feeling better?"

"I wan_t_ to go home," he said in clear, quiet defiance. "I wan_t_ to
see Scu_ll_y."

"Mr. Mulder, who is Scully?" asked Samantha curiously. It was the first
time he said the name so clearly, and she was dying to know whether the
name represented man or beast, male or female.

"My par_t_ner," he said.

"Partner?" she echoed. Partner to Samantha Ellis could mean any one of a
number of things. Wife? Significant Other of the opposite sex, or of the
same sex? Man's best friend as in a dog? She didn't have a clue.

"Yeah. At the bureau we were par_t_ners, but now we're goin_g_ to ge_t_
marrie_d_ as soon as I ca_n_ wal_k_ dow_n_ the aisle in a straigh_t_
li_n_e." It took so much energy to speak that clearly, that Mulder soon
looked visibly exhausted. His eyes started to flutter and began to close
when Samantha asked one more question.

"Mulder, what's Scully's first name?"

"Da_n_a. Her name is Dana," he replied and then fell into a very
necessary sleep.

Samantha Ellis looked at the sleeping man. *He worked at the bureau.
What bureau?* she thought. *His partner's name is Dana Scully. _Her_
name is Dana Scully.*

It bothered Samantha that she was being kept in the dark about this man's
personal and medical history and the reasons for his admittance to this
particular Treatment Center.

The clients that were usually treated here were admitted because they
needed very specialized treatment for very rare diseases. Mr. Krycek had
hired her two months ago as one of the chief medical officers of the
center.

Krycek had the financial backing of what she came to know as several
Russian Consortium Members, or the Board of Directors. They had come to
be known as the Consortium Rebel Faction, as far as Samantha Ellis knew,
because of the radical treatment the center provided due to the extremely
fast-acting, harmful nature of the diseases they treated here.

Most recently, there were a number of children admitted for a very
specialized treatment of a rare cancer, the Black Cancer, discovered in
Russia, which explained the special interest the Russian Consortium
members had in establishing this particular center.

So Samantha had a difficult time reconciling herself with the idea that
Mr. Mulder had also been treated for the Black Cancer, because she was
under the impression that their Treatment Center was the only one
providing the experimental care for this particular disease. Where had he
been treated? Why hadn't she been informed?

Mr. Krycek obviously had a previous history with Mr. Mulder. Mr. Mulder
said he went to Russia with Mr. Krycek. So why did Mr. Mulder contract
the Black Cancer? Why didn't Mr. Krycek? Why did Mr. Krycek want Mulder
to receive the best treatment, yet, at the same time, seem to have such
ambivalent feelings toward him?

And why did Samantha Ellis feel an incredible sense of attachment for this
stranger. She felt compelled to do whatever she could to help him out of
what he apparently perceived as a dangerous situation. Samantha knew
innately she had to stand by him and protect him. She felt an inborn
obligation to take care of him, and do whatever it took to reunite him
with his Dana Scully.

#####################################################

Maggie Scully's Residence
Baltimore, MD

As Walter walked into the house, he was bombarded by the shouts of
derision. "What the hell?" he heard himself say aloud in a bit of a
shock.

He moved quickly to the den where the angry voices were coming from. As
he walked in, he saw both Elizabeth Mulder and Maggie Scully practically
nose to nose in full contempt of one another.

"You have no right to say that!" screamed Elizabeth. "You have no right
to make that kind of judgment. You weren't there. You didn't know. You
couldn't know. He's doing what he can, and so am I, so don't you dare
accuse me of not caring. You can't do that to me! I won't allow it!"

"What the hell is going on here?" boomed Walter.

When Maggie looked away from Elizabeth and toward Walter, he was shocked
to see the intense pain and anger in her eyes. "Maggie," he asked more
quietly, "what's wrong?"

"She's known all along about the hell he's been through. She'd known
about the Black Cancer before any of us, Walter. She received monthly
updates from her fellow consortium members.

"I want her out of my house, Walter. I want her out of our lives. She
never gave a damn about Fox! She only gave a damn about the project, the
good of the project! Well to hell with their God damned project!" Maggie
screamed. "To hell with them all!! I just want our son back!"

At that Maggie looked directly at Elizabeth. "Yes, you bitch, _our_ son,
not _your_ son. You gave up that right twenty-five years ago. You gave
up that right. You knew, and you chose to do nothing. You've known all
this time, and you never did anything. Damn you, Elizabeth Mulder. Damn
you for putting Fox through a living hell. I want you out of my home.
You are no longer welcomed here. Get out. Get out!!" Maggie screamed in
total rage.

Walter was beside himself, as he'd never seen Maggie this out of control
before. He was so frightened by what he was seeing, in fact, that he
feared she could suffer an attack of some kind herself. He moved towards
her as quickly as he could, and drew her into his arms. He attempted to
comfort her, but she remained inconsolable. He felt her trembling
uncontrollably in his arms.

"Elizabeth, would you please explain to me what happened?" he asked
through clenched teeth. He was every bit as angry with Elizabeth now as
well, since he knew Maggie reserved her wrath for only things deserving of
it. Elizabeth must have committed something very heinous indeed to cause
Maggie to react in such a manner.

"I told her the truth, because she asked me what the truth was. If you
weren't prepared to hear the truth, Maggie dear, you should never have
asked me to share it with you. You asked me and I told you, but instead
of accepting the truth as it played out in history, you choose to judge
me.

"Well to hell with you, Maggie, and you too Walter, you and your high and
mighty values and morals. You were never faced with the decisions I and
my husband, and Jack had to face, so don't you dare compare me to you.
Don't you dare," she spat back.

"I still don't understand. What did you know about?" Walter asked,
clearly trying to comprehend the situation before him, but also somewhat
anxious as to exactly what he'd find out.

"She knew he had the Black Cancer. She knew all along, from the very
beginning that it was the cure for Dana. She knew Dana could have been
cured from the beginning because she knew the consortium was behind Dana's
abduction. She knew the consortium gave her the cancer in the first
place. She knew, and chose to do nothing about it!" Maggie cried out in
frustration.

"For crying out loud, Maggie, what the hell did you expect me to do about
it? What could any of us done about it, right Walter? When the
consortium makes a decision, there is very little any of us can do. They
tell us, they don't ask our opinion, right Walter?" Elizabeth replied in a
caustic tone.

Maggie pulled out of Walter's arms. She looked at first Walter, then
Elizabeth, and then back at Walter. "Why does she keep asking you that,
Walter?" she asked anxiously. "What is she insinuating?"

"Nothing, Maggie," he replied tersely.

"Nothing, Walter? Oh bullshit!" Elizabeth interrupted. "You know as well
as I do that Jack was in your office more than either my son or Maggie's
daughter or any of the other agents put together . He wasn't in there as
just window dressing, Walter. He was there as a Consortium representative
to make sure you did their bidding. And you did do their bidding, Walter.
You know you did," Elizabeth chided.

"Elizabeth, I never willingly condoned any of the destructive Consortium
acts," Walter retorted angrily.

"Perhaps you didn't knowingly condone them, Walter, but you were willing
just by your inaction. You chose to do nothing about any of it, so it
continued. Jack had free reign. He once said he never initiated any of
the situations that put _my_ son in danger. He was right. It was never
him, it was you.

"Jack just waited, and bided his time. When the time was right, you would
give them just the right assignment, Fox would go headfirst into the
investigation and Dana, apparently forgetting the common sense God had
given her, jumped right into the fray with Fox. They would get themselves
caught up in one crazy situation after another, and the Consortium was
always there, ready and waiting.

"You knew the Consortium was behind Dana's abduction, Walter. Jack
probably never came out and said it directly to you, but you're not an
idiot, Walter. You knew. You knew and you did nothing.

"And you," Elizabeth reproached, looking directly at Maggie, "you have
the nerve, Mrs. "High and Mighty" to accuse me of being a part of the
consortium plot? Damn it, Maggie, you've been sleeping with a man who's
been a player all along!"

"A player?" Skinner repeated with astonishment. "A player? Maybe more
like a pawn, Elizabeth. And perhaps that's what you were too, Elizabeth.
I think we were all pawns. Sometimes now, when I look at Jack, I wonder
if he too was a pawn," he mused.

"NO!" Maggie shouted. "No! I can't accept the idea that you all merely
stood by and allowed bad things to happen to good, innocent people.
Walter, you knew the consortium took her? Fox and I went through all of
that agony and you knew?

"Damn you, Walter," she enunciated in a deadly quiet voice. "He was ready
to put a gun to his head because he couldn't find her. He was ready to
end his life because the consortium hid her so well from him, and yet you
did nothing.

"And did you, Elizabeth, ever call to find out how he was doing? Did it
ever occur to you that he was in pain? You said someone was keeping you
informed of all Consortium activity and its associated ramifications.

"Did one of those reports include your son, your first born, your baby
boy, was ready to eat the loaded end of a pistol?! Did it? I wouldn't be
surprised if you didn't have the benefit of surveillance pictures and they
had eight by ten glossies made up!

"I don't think I can stand to look at either one of you at the moment.
You may have both been pawns in this terrible, evil game, but you were
both knowing pawns. And it is for the knowing, and not doing anything
about it, that I find so hard to forgive." And with that, Maggie Scully
started to leave the room, but before she walked out, she turned and said,
"I would like both of you to leave this house as soon as possible." Then
Maggie turned and walked out of the room.

End of Part 23/33

#####################################################

Part 24/33

Somewhere between Baltimore and Arlington

He remembered leaving Elizabeth Mulder standing in the den, as he fled out
the back door. He couldn't stand in that room anymore, wondering if
Maggie was going to come back downstairs to tell him it was all a mistake.
He had longed for her to admit she was just overreacting, but he knew
that was not going to happen. At least not tonight.

Maybe not ever.

Duplicity was a pretty serious accusation. He had never thought of
himself as blameworthy of such an allegation, but the more he recounted
Maggie's words in his mind, he realized he might very well be guilty as
charged.

And it made him sick to his stomach. And he needed to get out of there
quickly, only he didn't know where to go. He had given up the Crystal
City apartment when he'd moved in with Maggie and the brood. Now he
wished he'd kept the place as a safe haven, but hindsight is always
twenty-twenty.

He drove for around forty minutes when he found himself in front of a
familiar building. He parked, shut off the engine, and then fingered the
set of keys on the key ring for a minute or two. He stepped out of the
car, locked the door, and headed into the apartment.

As he unlocked the door, he noticed the number 42 hanging on the outside
was slightly askew. When he entered the apartment, his mind flashed to all
of the times he was in this apartment, before and after Mulder's illness.

He remembered receiving a rather decisive beating from a very big African
American man, but felt some satisfaction in the knowledge that he had
gotten in a few good punches himself. But more so, he procured the
information of Mulder's location which ultimately saved his life from a
deadly retrovirus.

The last time he was in this apartment was when he retrieved some of
Mulder's belongings in preparation for the move to Maggie's house for his
recovery from the cancer treatment. He recalled not needing to get much,
just some sweat pants, tee shirts and underwear, socks. So much time had
passed since that day.

He felt sick. Somehow it now felt like he was returning to the scene of
the crime. Skinner ran into the bathroom and promptly threw his guts up.

#####################################################

Unknown Address
Krycek's Office
Raleigh, NC

"How is he?" Krycek asked Lidofsky.

"He's upset," he replied.

"He's upset?" Krycek echoed. "What do I give a damn if he's upset? So
he's upset!"

"Mr. Krycek, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I am merely
reporting his condition."

"I am _not_ upset," Krycek spat back. "When will he be released from the
Treatment Center?"

"I don't know, Sir. I think the doctor, she will want to keep him more
days. He doesn't look well."

"To hell with how he looks, and to hell with what __she__ says! First she
says one thing and then she goes and changes her mind! You can't trust
what she says, the bitch," Krycek spat.

"Uh, Sir? I'm not sure what you mean? I only meant ____," he uttered.

"Look, I don't give a damn what you mean. I want him back in his room and
under surveillance by tonight, do you understand? And I don't give a damn
what Dr. Ellis has to say on the subject," Krycek added, obviously
agitated. Ever since Samantha Ellis rejected his dinner invitation, Alex
Krycek felt only disdain for the fair doctor.

When Lidofsky attempted to protest, Krycek waved him off. "Send in Franks
on your way out, Mr. Lidofsky," Krycek said as he dismissed his bodyguard.

"But Mr. Krycek___," Lidofsky tried to pursue the matter, but to no avail.

"You are dismissed, Mr. Lidofsky. Send in Franks, now."

When Lidofsky informed Franks that Krycek wanted to see him, Lidofsky's
voice trembled ever so slightly. He knew what Krycek was going to say to
Franks.

He realized Krycek was planning to give Franks free reign in keeping
Mulder in line. Any agreement Franks had made with Lidofsky earlier was
now going to be null and void. This thought filled Lidofsky with
apprehension, and he feared for Mulder's life.

#####################################################

Maggie Scully's Residence
Baltimore, MD

Dana arrived home to find the first floor lights off in the house. Dana
thought it was unusual, but she didn't consider it cause for concern, just
curiosity.

"Mom? Mom? Walter? Elizabeth? I'm home," she called out.

She saw the upstairs hall light go on, and once again called out, "Mom?
Are you up there?"

"Yes, Dana, I'm up here."

Dana walked up the short flight of stairs to the second floor of the
house. She noticed her mother was wearing her father's old robe around
her clothing, something she'd gotten into the habit of doing when she was
upset by something.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Dana asked, as gently as possible. People thought
she, Dana Katherine Scully, held her emotions in check. Well, when pushed
to her limit, Margaret Scully placed her emotions in a steel trap. Dana
knew she needed to go slowly so her mom would start opening up to her
rather than shutting her out completely.

"Mom?" she repeated. "Please, tell me what's wrong?"

"Walter," Maggie began. "And Elizabeth," she tried to continue.

"What about Walter and Elizabeth? Mom, where are they?" Scully asked.

"I kicked them out," Maggie whispered.

"You what?!"

"I kicked them out," Maggie repeated in a voice only slight louder.

"But why?" Scully asked in a breathless voice.

"They knew, and they did nothing about it. They did nothing," she
repeated over and over again, as though it were a mantra.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Scully asked in both shock and
confusion.

As Maggie tried to explain her reasoning behind evicting Fox's mother and
her own lover, Scully felt the world start crashing inside of her. She
was trying so hard to absorb the information that Maggie was imparting on
her, but all she could think about was how tired Walter was, and how she
insisted he go home to rest.

Dana knew Elizabeth would either contact Jack or go back to Greenwich.
She wasn't particularly concerned about her, as she knew Elizabeth was
perfectly capable of closing off her emotions. But Walter was another
story entirely. Since Mulder had become ill, she had seen a side of him
that she hadn't thought ever existed.

He became an open book. The love he showed her and Mulder was without
reservation. Once upon a time, Walter S. Skinner was strictly Bureau, but
then he became their Abah, and Scully didn't want to lose him. Scully
also knew her mother would be devastated if she lost him permanently.

She wondered where he would go. For some reason, she couldn't imagine him
going to a motel when it dawned on her where he would was. Having sat
with her mom for a little over an hour, she finally told her she
understood how very upset she was feeling, but the past was the past, and
what should count was how they acted now.

"Mom, Walter loves us. He became our Abah for a reason, because he loves
us as if Mulder and I were his own children. And Mom, Walter is so crazy
in love with you, he would never intentionally do anything to hurt you.
You've got to know that."

When she received no reaction from her plea, Scully told her mother she
was going out for a little while and would return very shortly.

Maggie sat in her rocking chair and watched her daughter leave. She knew
she had much to think about, perhaps much to forgive. But not right this
moment. She felt too betrayed and hurt to even consider forgiveness at
this time.

#####################################################

Unknown Address
Raleigh, NC

"Where the hell do you think you are taking this patient?" shouted out Dr.
Ellis as she came into the treatment room from a dead run! One of the
attendants had paged her the moment Edgar Franks entered the room and
attempted to move the hospital bed.

"What the hell are you doing?" she repeated angrily.

"Bringing him back to his room, Doc," Franks replied nonchalantly.

"Now why would I allow you to do that, Mr. Franks?" retorted Samantha
Ellis.

"I ain't asking your permission, Doc. I got my own orders to follow, so
don't hassle me and just get out of my way," he demanded.

Mulder was watching the angry exchange between Edgar Franks and the doctor
and knew he was in trouble if he were to be removed from the doctor's
care.

"Wai_t_!" he called out.

"Shaddup Mulder, nobody asked you for your opinion. Mr. Krycek gave me
specific instructions to bring Mulder back to his room, so that is exactly
what I am going to do. Now get out of my way." Franks began to pull the
hospital bed.

"No! Wai_t_!" Mulder shouted again. "I'm gonna be si_ck_!" he shouted
out, as he leaned forward toward Franks.

"Oh shit!" cried the burly man. "Don't you even think of coming near me,
you sonofabitch! My God damned shoes still stink `cause of you!

"Give him some of that pink shit for his stomach, will ya? I'll be back
in an hour. And you better have him ready, or Mr. Krycek won't be very
happy," commanded Franks.

After Edgar Franks practically ran out of the treatment room, Dr. Ellis
looked at Mulder and asked him the obvious question, "So, do you really
need some of that pink shit to settle your stomach?"

Mulder was watching the doctor very carefully to make sure he understood
every word she said. He smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, no' really. I
just remembere' Fran's didn' li'e me vomitin' on him the las' time we were
together."

"Well, Mr. Mulder, that was quick thinking on your part," said Samantha.

Mulder felt his cheeks blush while he sat quietly looking down at his
hands. Suddenly, he asked, "Coul_d_ I as_k_ a favor of you?"

"Of course, Mr. Mulder," Dr. Ellis replied.

"Ca_ll_ me Fox," he said quietly.

Dr. Ellis considered this thoughtfully and then said, "Okay, Fox, but on
one condition." He looked intently at her and nodded for her to continue.
"Call me Sam."

Mulder smiled at that, but then just as quickly his face took on a somber
expression. He stammered for a moment before he spoke. Samantha observed
his hesitancy and with a smile and a nod, she encouraged him to speak.

"Sa_m_? What happe's whe' you cu_t_ yoursel_f_?" he asked seriously.

"What? Mr. Mul___ I mean, Fox, I don't understand," she responded in a
confused manner.

"Wha' happe_ns_ whe_n_ you cut_t_ yoursel_f_?" he asked with clearer
speech, thinking that was why she was confused.

"I bleed, Fox," she answered succinctly.

"You do?" he asked, hopefully.

Samantha Ellis had absolutely no idea as to why she was about to do what
she was going to do. She didn't understand _why_ Fox Mulder needed to
know the answer to this question, but it was very apparent to her that he
_desperately_ needed to know.

For some reason she knew the reason behind the "why" didn't matter, only
that it did. She opened a drawer and picked up a hermetically sealed
packet that contained a sterilized scalpel. She opened the packet and
pulled out the sharp instrument. Slowly, she made a small cut along the
fleshy part of her palm and held her hand out for him to see.

He watched the blood slowly begin to drip from the pierced skin. He
stared, amazed at the brightness and gleam of the scarlet liquid which
slowly dripped along her palm.

"Fox? Are you okay?" she asked gently.

Mulder hadn't realized he was holding his breath. He hadn't realized he
was sitting and waiting for the inevitable, when the flowing liquid turned
to green noxious fumes and caused the clone to melt and evaporate before
his very eyes.

But the only thing he saw at the moment was the slightly thickened ruby
red liquid that escaped from the cut in her hand. Mulder's vision blurred
momentarily as he heard her repeat her question, "Fox, are you okay?
Please, what's wrong?"

"Nothin's wron_g_, Sa_m_. Nothin_g," he answered but the tears began to
flow freely at this point. The tears belied his true feelings however,
for given the odd and even dangerous circumstances he was forced to endure
at the moment, Fox Mulder was really a very happy man.

Fox Mulder finally found his sister.

#####################################################

2360 Hegal Place
Alexandria, VA Apt. 42

The knock on the door caused him to startle, but it didn't surprise him.
He knew she would figure out where he went, and he was relieved. When he
didn't answer the door right away, she used her key and let herself in.
He heard her gasp slightly as she walked into the apartment. It had been
so long since she'd been there.

"Hello Walter," she called out softly.

"Hello Dana," he responded in kind.

"The place could use a good dusting, couldn't it?" she asked lightly. I'm
still not quite sure why we didn't convince him to give up this place."

"Don't you remember? We didn't have the heart to do it," he replied. "It
was his tangible means of seeing his recovery. When he was well enough
to leave Maggie's, he could return back to his home. He could return
here."

"I remember, Walter. Sometimes I wonder why we let him believe__," Scully
began.

"Why?" Skinner interrupted? "Because Mulder always needed to believe in
something. Something that was usually unattainable, something..,Oh God,
Dana, what am I going to do?" he whispered.

Dana walked over to the leather couch, and sat beside Walter Skinner. She
placed her hand over his and asked him simply, "What do you want to do?"

"I have to make her understand. Dana, I have to make _you_ understand. I
didn't know who abducted you, Dana. I never knew for sure, and I did
everything within my power to get you back. Unfortunately, as you once
pointed out to me so eloquently, I sometimes didn't realize the
limitations of my own importance."

Walter looked down at the diminutive hand that covered his own. He had
come to love and respect the woman sitting beside him so much, and held
dearly the opinion she held of him. He wanted so much to convey to her
how important she, Mulder and Maggie were to him, but he didn't know if he
had the words.

"Dana, I'm scared. I've never seen her so____."

"Angry? Walter, she'll get over the anger," Dana consoled.

"No, it wasn't the anger. I know she'll get over the anger. It's the
hurt, Dana. I don't know if she'll ever forgive me for the hurt, for the
feeling of betrayal. And I don't know how to fix that. How do I fix
that?" he pleaded.

Dana looked at him and squeezed his hand beneath hers. She took a deep
breath and told him the way to fix it.

"Find him, Walter. Find Mulder."

End of Part 24/33

#####################################################