Mulder's Basement Office
December 29, 1999
Scully stared at the envelope. She knew what it was without even
opening it.
It was the chance of a lifetime detailed on a piece of Bethesda Naval
Hospital stationary.
When she got the first letter she was ecstatic. She was in a state of
euphoria that was only ended when Mulder walked into their basement
office.
It was a state of euphoria that was laced with sadness and regret.
She knew
that as incredible as the chance was she could never leave the
X-Files. She
could never leave Mulder. She wanted to tell him of that letter, of
the
great things it held, but she could not. She wanted to share the
news with
her best friend, but she knew that it would hurt him. Instead she
neatly
folded that first letter and put it in the back of her briefcase.
As he handed her this, the second letter, she saw the worry etched in
his
face. She knew he was afraid that this was about her health. She
wanted to
tell him otherwise, but she couldn't, not without telling him exactly
what it
was. She had hoped that this was the letter saying that her
acceptance
period had expired, and that the passing of time had made the decision
for
her, but alas that was not the case. This was a copy of the same
letter as
she had already received, only this one had a post it note attached.
"We are looking forward to you joining our team, in the New Year." It
read in
bold black block print.
A smile crept across her face as she glanced at the note. The smile
was more
for Mulder's benefit, but she couldn't help but think that this
project was
exactly what she was looking for in life. She had vowed on many
occasions
that she would not leave the X-Files, but this was her chance to
really make
a difference, a tangible difference in the lives of many people. This
was
her chance to do more than just try and help the world a few people at
a
time.
As neatly as it had arrived, she folded the letter back up and put it
in her
briefcase with the other letter. As much as she wanted to not have to
make
the decision she knew that she would have to deal with it, and she
would have
to do it without her best friend's input.
Mulder's face softened as he saw the smile begin to form on Scully's
face.
Whenever she got mail marked, "Personal & Confidential," he became
uneasy.
There was always the chance that someone higher up in the chain of
command
was going to split them up. The threat always loomed that they would
take
her away from the X-Files, take her away from him. All past attempts
had
failed. The X-files were closed down twice, she was abducted twice,
they had
tried reassignment, new partners, and they even threatened her health
with
cancer but she remained. The only time they had nearly succeeded was
when
they tried to reassign her to the Salt Lake City Field office, and
that was
only because that assignment did not interest her, with or without him
it
just did not interest her. When time and fate erased that dilemma, he
even
tried to tell her to go and be a doctor, but she would not leave.
That was
the past though, and the fear always lingered that they would find
some way
to make her decide to leave. It was an unfounded fear, he knew that
she
would not leave, at least not without some kind of a fight. As long
as they
were together, as long as they were the formidable team that they
were, he
knew that separation was a possibility, and he knew that he had to
accept it.
This was different though. This was mail from a medical institution,
an
institution that she had received treatment from during her battle
with
cancer. When he handed her the envelope, he tried to cover the shake
in his
hand and the fear on his face, but he knew that he could not. He knew
that
she already knew the thoughts that were coursing through his mind. He
knew
that he could not hide something as simple as this base emotion from
her. He
could not help it though, he was too wrought with fear. What if the
cancer
returned? What if there were some other complications from her
abduction to
Antarctica? What if they found some new way to torture her for her
association with him?
When he saw the smile on her face, he was lost for a moment in the
beauty of
it. She didn't smile much, but when she did it was a sight to behold.
It
was a sight that could soften the countenances of the most evil of
men. It
was a smile that could turn a crying baby into a giggling one. It was
a
smile that even made him feel the need to smile.
As he watched her fold up the letter as neatly as it was sent, he kept
silent
for a few brief moments that seemed to last an eternity. He hoped
that she
would mention the letter and its contents, but something told him that
she
would not. Instead she took out a file folder and started to put the
finishing touches on an autopsy report.
Scully's Apartment
Later That Evening
As she sat at her kitchen table and did some additional paperwork,
Scully
knew she would have to make a decision. She desperately wanted
something of
a more normal life, but she also did not want to give up the X-Files.
She
didn't want to give up on the search for what happened to Mulder's
sister,
and she didn't want to give up on finding out what had happened to
her. She
also didn't want to lose the friendship that meant the most to her at
this
point in her life. For a brief moment she thought about calling
Mulder and
telling him of her dilemma. She thought about trying to get his
opinion, but
she knew that he would tell her to be a doctor. She knew he would
tell her
that they would still be friends and he would still consult her on
cases, but
she knew better. She knew that he would only distance himself from
her. In
the end the decision to stay was easier then all of the thought she
put into
making it. There really was no decision, The X-Files was where she
belonged.
She knew it, and for a brief moment she couldn't believe that she was
actually questioning it.
As she took the letters out of her briefcase and decided that she
would call
in her rejection in the morning, her cell phone rang. Thinking it was
Mulder, she picked it up on the first ring.
"Scully"
"Hello, is this Dr. Dana Scully?"
"Who is this?"
"This is Dr. Van Taylor from the CC-10-13 research study team. I am
sorry to
disturb you at this late hour, but we were afraid that you had not
received
our invitation to join us. We are looking forward to you becoming the
regional team leader for the Washington Metro Area."
"Oh, Hello Dr. Van Taylor, actually I had received both of your
invitations.
Why didn't you call me at the office?"
"I actually did call you there, your partner, an. an Agent Mulder,
gave me
your cell phone number. He didn't think you would mind his giving it
to me."
"Well, I was just going through your letters and was about to contact
you
myself. Although I do appreciate your generous offer, I feel the need
to
decline your invitation at the moment. It sounds like an exciting
project,
but I am quite happy where I am and with what I am doing."
"Is there anything I can do to change your mind? I have a
considerable
amount of leeway in what I can offer you to ensure you join the team."
"I'm sorry, but at the moment, I am not ready to leave my current
position.
Again I appreciate that the offer was made, but I am really not
interested at
this time. Thank you."
"Well, Dr. Scully, I am sorry that you are not joining us, but I wish
you the
best in your endeavors."
"Thank you." said Scully as she hung up the cell phone and placed it
back on
the end table next to her.
She thought about calling Mulder and telling him, but decided better
of it.
"He doesn't really need to know," she said in a barely audible whisper
as she
put the letters in her top desk drawer and started to get ready for
bed.
Bangor Construction Site
Office Trailer
December 29, 1999
Marie sat at her desk in the office trailer, and wondered. She
wondered if
anyone knew what was going on other than herself. She wondered if
anyone
outside of the organization knew about it or would even figure it out.
She
wondered if anyone knew the horrors that awaited the United States
population
and probably the world's population shortly thereafter. She wondered
if the
people in power cared. From her findings, it was fairly obvious that
the
Federal Government was not doing anything to stop it, in fact they
were
helping perpetuate the problem. As she closed her office door and
began to
pace the tiny area, she wondered if there was anything she could do
about it.
Marie was a Technical Engineer for a construction management firm. By
degree
she was a Chemical Engineer, but those talents and that knowledge base
were
very rarely touched upon in her current assignment as an assistant
project
engineer for a pharmaceutical facility that was being expanded. As
most
people do, she often got bored in her position, and would do anything
to
enhance her mind. At times she cruised the Internet, often for hours
looking
for anything that she found interesting. Unfortunately, Beech
Pharmaceuticals, the Client Corporation for this project, thought her
modem
phone bills were too high and curbed her access. She didn't have any
real
friends in the area as she was working some 300 miles away from home,
so she
needed to find something else to do in order to pass the nights.
After many
failed hobbies she decided to tap into the vast amounts of information
that
she worked with every day. It was a wealth of knowledge at her
fingertips in
her own cleverly arranged filing system. It was enough to keep her
busy
reading and assimilating information for months.
She started by reading operations and maintenance manuals, she learned
everything there was to know about the equipment that was being
purchased and
installed. She then went on to reading plans and design criteria for
both
the pieces of equipment and the entire facility. It was a standard
Pilot
Plant expansion. It was all cut and dry. They were taking an
existing
structure, making it larger and adding new equipment as well as
upgrading the
old equipment. Her company had built hundreds of these in the past.
There
was nothing to look into; there was no reason for anybody to question
anything. The engineer designed what they were asked, and her company
built
it. There was nothing more to it.
She had found things in her reading that had confused her. She found
things
in the basis for design that made no sense. She began to question the
engineering company. They merely designed what they were told to the
specifications that they were told to use. They found some things a
little
out of place but were told the facility was intended to be dynamic and
expandable in the next few years. They stopped questioning things at
that.
Instead she started asking the client, and the others working on the
job.
She didn't think she was doing anything wrong, she was merely
questioning the
design. She thought that the owner had made a mistake. She thought
she was
being helpful. She thought she was justifying her salary. She knew
that she
had been terribly wrong when every question she asked was answered
with
another question, and her files were often rejected and otherwise
tampered
with. She learned very quickly to keep her mouth shut. She learned
very
quickly to stop asking questions.
Instead of letting it go, and forgetting about the things she had seen
and
discovered, she kept a private journal and wrote detailed passages of
what
she saw that was wrong and what the implications were. She kept
reading and
kept letting pieces fall together in her head. She kept looking into
things
that she never should have questioned. The pieces really started to
come
together when she was given full access to the plant computer server.
Now her time was coming to an end on this job. She was being
transferred
back to the home office as of the first of the year. She would spend
some
time waiting for her next assignment and all would be OK. She
couldn't say
that she wasn't glad to be leaving. Things in Pennsylvania were no
longer as
nice as she had remembered. First her car was vandalized, only
untraceable
parts were taken, but it was enough to keep her out of work for a few
days.
Then her apartment was ransacked. She didn't own much so there wasn't
much
to take other than a few dollars and her computer. The stereo was
left
behind, as were the CD's. She thought it was just some kids, maybe
the
superintendent, since her lease was about to expire and she was not
renewing.
She never thought it could be anything else, she was just happy to be
leaving.
She paced the office one last time, it was fairly late, and she was
alone, so
she turned on her computer, and decided to check her email one last
time.
When she went to open her mail, there was a single message, from Faye,
the
jobsite secretary.
Marie-
Best of Luck on your new assignment. I am going to miss all
of your
weirdness and the way you got hyper when you drank sprite. I hope the
Jeep
is up and running soon, and try to have a nice holiday before you head
back
to the Bangor Office. Keep in touch and let me know when you want to
hit the
outlets again.
--Bye old buddy old pal
Faye4
It was a nice enough goodbye message, right up until the 4. Most
people
would have seen it as a typographical error, and that was what it was
supposed to look like, but between the Faye and Marie, it was a lot
more. It
was the signal, it was the signal that something was afoot. It was
the
specific signal to check the server.
There must have been an update. Faye was not a computer nerd, aside
from
knowing how to email and do all of the office type applications, she
was
fairly computerphobic, relying on Marie to fix problems and find
files. Faye
did have a knack though for knowing when the server was updated, and
knowing
what type of information it was. Maybe it was because the backup was
run off
of her computer, or maybe it was because everyone on the site loved
her, but
either way she was a valuable resource.
Marie popped the tape out of the back-up, popped a clean tape of hers
in, and
waited for the back-up to be completed. This was the big one, this
was the
month end back up as well as the year end back up. This was the tape
that
would hold all of the marbles, everything Marie needed to try and stop
this.
While she waited for the back-up to complete, she put a floppy in her
computer's drive and tried to download everything she could. She
didn't have
a tape back up of her own, so she would have to have somebody else
open those
files, but these files she could read. She only had about 3 minutes
before
the server would figure out all of her scrambling and rerouting, so
she
grabbed all that she could. Reading them now wasn't important, she
would
read them when she had the time. The final file that she grabbed, the
one
that she might have been detected while downloading, one that she
would open
a few days later, would be the one that made it all crystal clear to
her.
As she packed the last box with her personal items from the office,
the
questions of what to do about all of this nagged at her. She couldn't
just
forget about what she saw. There was only one thing she could do. She
had to
tell someone, but secrecy agreements and other legal jargon bound her.
Essentially she was trapped. She kept telling herself that there was
nothing
she could do about it. She kept trying to convince herself that she
was
doing her job, and that she shouldn't have been looking so closely at
the
plans and design of the facility. She tried to convince herself that
she
hadn't seen any of it, and that none of it could possibly really be
happening. She should have just been doing her job, she should have
only
been gathering the information and filing it. All she had to do was
make
sure that the information was kept orderly and did not get lost. She
never
should have read it, and she never should have started putting the
pieces
together. All she could do was take the journals she so carefully
wrote and
protected, and send them to someone who might be able to help. At
first she
only kept the journals as a record of events in order to save her ass
as well
as her employers in case everything went to hell. Now she hoped that
if she
sent them to the right person, maybe her months of rambling could be
used to
stop all of this. She wasn't sure who to send them to but she was
absolutely
certain of one thing. Everything was going to go to hell.
Basement office
February 9, 2000
A large package sat on Fox Mulder's desk. It was a copy paper box,
and from
the weight of it, it was full of either bricks or books. When he
first saw
the copy paper box on his desk, Mulder couldn't help but think it was
some
kind of mistake. They no longer keep the copier in here, they haven't
kept
it here in years, he thought, as he looked at the meticulously wrapped
package and saw that it had no return address.
He was so distracted by the box, that he didn't notice Scully as she
walked
in behind him and started to go through the other mail that she had
picked up
on her way in. Amongst that other mail was another envelope from
Bethesda
Naval Hospital.
For a brief moment she was glad that Mulder didn't see the Bethesda
envelope,
or the envelope from Skinner's office that was marked similarly with a
big
red "Personal and Confidential." She was curious as to the contents
of
those two envelopes, but along with Mulder was slightly more curious
about
the box that sat atop his desk.
"What's that?" She asked as she watched him cut at the massive
amounts of
tape all over the box.
"I don't know, but the person who sent it wanted to make sure that it
got
here intact." Mulder said as he pulled at the tape, and cut at the
cardboard.
Scully saw the note attached from Shipping and receiving, and
proceeded to
read it to him. "Agent Mulder, The content of this package was
considered
suspicious due to the lack of a return address and the way it was
shipped.
We detained the package until the proper tracing could be done. The
package
is considered to be safe, with the contents being books and files.
The
package was x-rayed and any computer items enclosed may have been
altered.
We are sorry about the delay in getting this to you."
"What is the date of the postmark?" Scully asked
"December 30, 1999, that's almost 6 weeks ago." Said Mulder as he
looked at
his watch.
"Well, we had better figure out what's inside before it waits any
longer."
Said Scully as she peered into the box.
The box was tightly packed with red hardbound journals loose-leaf
binders and
notebooks. Also enclosed in a metal box were several floppy disks and
zip
disks. Finally there was a small zip-lock bag of a dark green
substance,
labeled "Control Batch - CC-10-13." On top there was a sealed
envelope
addressed to Agent Fox Mulder or Agent Dana Scully.
As Mulder pawed through the contents Scully took the envelope and read
the
note.
Agent Mulder or Agent Scully,
I don't know if you remember me or not, but my brother, Tony Woods,
was a
firearms instructor whose class you both attended although Agent
Scully did
not finish. I had coffee with you and my brother, Agent Mulder, and I
thought that maybe you could help me as I don't know whom else to turn
to. I
am sending you all of these files because I don't know what to do. I
was on
a project to build a pilot plant for small-scale production of
pharmaceuticals and vitamins. In my work on this project I found some
things
that did not add up. It was capable of mass producing a drug in a
very small
area, which would be taken by the masses. It was labeled as the
nutritional
supplement of the future, but it was something more. It lead to
improved
health, increased strength, and the ability to heal wounds and cuts
and
illnesses at a rate 17 times faster than normal. I know this sounds
like a
wonder vitamin, and sounds like something we should all be taking, but
that
might very well be the problem. Amongst its side effects, it has the
ability
to alter the physiology of the brain, and make individuals much more
susceptible to alternate stimuli. It also led to alterations in the
blood's
chemistry, alterations whose effects are not completely known. Even
some of
the doctors who worked on the development of the drug are baffled as
to the
side effects, and many have no idea how to handle the patients who
have taken
this drug.
They said it was a nutritional supplement but I found it to be a
completely
chemical drug with properties I've never heard of before. I don't
even know
if they are possible. I am not a doctor, I'm just a chemical
engineer, so I
really don't know, but if people start taking this with unknown side
effects
who knows what could happen.
I am bound by secrecy agreements and since I am not a doctor, I do not
know
all of the details, but I do know that the FDA is looking the other
way and,
in fact, helping to push this product to market. A hearing is set
for
February 15, 2000, but it is merely a formality, as the FDA doesn't
approve
or regulate nutritional supplements. They only monitor them, and that
is
only on rare occasions when it is felt that the public may be being
deceived
or when somebody else is involved. This hearing is because a
competing
pharmaceutical company (Haughey Pharmaceuticals) thinks the vitamin
employs
their patented product without credit or royalties being paid. I
think the
hearing is a ruse so that it will appear that the FDA investigated and
tested
this vitamin, although I can find no record of such an inspection, or
release
of a sample to any agency.
I cannot believe that the only thing stalling this from reaching the
public
is greed, when there are so many other issues involved. My questions
to
both the Companies involved and the FDA have gone unanswered or I have
been
told that I should mind my own business, as I cannot comprehend the
science
at hand. I have also been told that the FDA will not entertain my
questions
or concerns because nutritional supplements are not regulated like
pharmaceuticals are.
I have enclosed all of my notes on what I found as well as some
computer
files that found their way to my desk. I have also enclosed all of my
journals detailing the responses I received to the questions I asked.
Finally I have enclosed a sample of the substance.
Maybe you can help. I don't want to just let this go. This may be
nothing
other than a nutritional breakthrough, but from what I have seen there
is
something else at hand. I would appreciate your contacting me upon
receipt
of this. If you choose to look into it I may be able to assist you.
My
business card for my home office is enclosed.
Thank You
Marie Woods
"OK" said Scully as she folded the note up and put it back into its
envelope.
"So what are we supposed to do with all of this stuff?"
"Maybe we should start by reading it." Said Mulder a little annoyed
at
Scully's lack of enthusiasm.
"You can read it Mulder, as interesting as it sounds, I have some
other
things I need to take a look at. I will catch up with you a little
later."
She said as she walked out the door.
"Where are you going? You just got here." He said in disgust.
"I think I will take a walk to the reflecting pool." said Scully as
she
flashed the two pieces of mail at him so he could see that they were
mail but
not whom it was from or that it was marked "Personal & Confidential"
He just waved her off as he started rummaging through the box. He
started
pulling out journals and the metal box as she looked at him and walked
out
the door. He should have known something was wrong, but even if he
did, he
just let her go.
The past 5 weeks seemed tense between the two of them. Scully thought
as she
walked in the brisk winter air. Mulder was always pulling some wild
theories
out of thin air, and lately he was wrong much more often than he was
right.
They didn't really talk, other than to argue, and even when they tried
to
have a rational discussion about receipts and itemizations of expense
reports
it seemed that there was a coldness in the air. As much as she didn't
want
to admit to it, she knew it was partially her fault. She was not as
willing
as she used to be to just go along with his theories, not even for
argument's
sake. She tried a lot harder to work more reasonable hours, not
staying in
the office till all ungodly hours of the night like Mulder did. She
tried to
spend more time with her family, spending weekends with her mother
instead of
at the office. When her mother questioned her about her new habits,
she
merely told her that it was a New Years resolution, to try and lead a
somewhat more normal life. She was pretty sure that her mother knew
better
though.
Mulder was being himself but it was her, she realized that had
changed. When
she stopped to think about it, she discovered that the change began
almost
immediately after she rejected the research position. She knew that
she
didn't want the position, but she wondered if she didn't
subconsciously yearn
for that type of a normal life. She wondered if it wouldn't have been
the
perfect new start for a new year and at the cusp of a new century.
It was a cold day to be sitting at the reflecting pool, but she wanted
to
read her mail in private. She didn't want to have to worry about
Mulder
staring at her and wondering what it said. She also wanted the few
moments
of walking to allow her to think. She walked to the far end of the
pool, and
found a spot on the somewhat deserted steps leading up to the Lincoln
Memorial. She sat down and proceeded to tear open both the letter
from Dr.
Van Taylor and the envelope from Skinner's office. She opened them
both, but
was more interested in the one from Dr. Van Taylor. She had assumed
it was
the standard, "We understand that you are not interested in the
position but
we would still like to have you as part of our team. If you change
your
mind, please feel free to call." Letter.
She was wrong. She had to read the letter twice before what it said
even
remotely registered.
Dr. Scully
We are sorry that you were not interested in the research position
that
was offered to you. The prestige of this position should have lead to
your
acceptance, but we respect the fact that you chose to remain in your
current
position. However, we are in a crisis stage of the research, and we
need
someone of your unique talents and abilities to not only be the
regional team
leader but also to do a great deal of the research. We would like for
you to
accept this new position of your own accord, but if you choose not to
do so,
we have taken other measures.
We have petitioned the federal government and your superiors and
requested
your permanent assignment to this project. I understand this was not
the
most ethical of ways to get you to join our team, but we felt it was
necessary in order to complete the research in a timely manner. The
item we
are working on will benefit many people who have no hope left, and we
may be
able to cure many cancers and other terminal diseases as a result of
this
research. We thought that you would understand once you saw the scope
of
what we are doing.
Again we apologize for the tactics, but please understand that it was
necessary for the good of the population and the project. We are
looking
forward to your arrival to begin working with us, effective February
15, 2000.
Regards
Dr. Anthony Van Taylor
Upon reading the letter the second time, she immediately picked up her
cell
phone and dialed Dr. Van Taylor's phone number. When that line was
busy, she
had him paged. She then started dialing his cell number, but it too
was
busy. She was so angered by the situation, and busy trying to reach
Dr. Van
Taylor, that she didn't see Mulder walking up to her. She didn't
notice as
he picked up the envelope from Skinner. She didn't even notice as he
sat
beside her and looked at the transfer papers signed by Skinner.
There was a post it note attached from Skinner. "I must say this came
as
something of a surprise but I wish you the best in your chosen
assignment.
Please see me before you leave."
Mulder sat there in shocked disbelief. He looked at Scully and
watched as
she fumbled with her cell phone and kept dialing other numbers. He
looked at
her with betrayal written all over his face. Scully was being
transferred.
She was being transferred, not for a short term, not on loan to
another
region, but she chose to be transferred permanently. She chose it
without
even talking to him. It wasn't that she would be far away, Bethesda
Naval
Hospital was only a short drive from Washington, but the point was
that
Skinner signed off on the transfer, effective immediately, without
questioning either him or Scully. He held up the transfer papers,
with the
post it still attached. Mulder looked at her, making sure he got her
attention, dropped the papers, and walked away. He knew things had
gotten
rocky between them, but he never expected this.
"Mulder, . wait. I didn't ask for this." She said as she grabbed the
back of
his arm. "I wouldn't leave, not now, not when there is so much more
to find
out. Mulder wait." She said as he pulled away and started walking
back to
the office. "Mulder, I am trying to straighten this out."
Mulder walked back to the office. He wanted to get his keys and drive
home.
He never turned to face her, even though he knew she was rushing after
him.
He heard the clicking of her heels against the relative silence of a
cold
February morning on the Mall. He wasn't thinking, he wasn't paying
attention
to anything other than that he had to get out of there. He had to get
away
from her. He was being propelled back to his office only by gut
instinct and
reflex. He knew she would follow, he knew that his apartment was the
last
place he wanted to be, and he knew she would find him there, but he
couldn't
stay at his office, the office they shared. She would be cleaning out
the
few things that were hers, at least at his apartment, he could not let
her
in, he could bolt the door so he wouldn't have to face her apologetic
stare
as she walked away from The X-Files, as she walked away from him. He
was
brought back to reality, if only briefly, by the horn of an angry
motorist as
he crossed the street. Then it was back on his journey to get home so
he
wouldn't have to look at her and see the betrayal.
He knew something was wrong. He knew that his relationship with
Scully had
been strained lately, but he didn't expect this. He didn't think she
would
ask for a transfer. He didn't think she would do it without at least
talking
to him first.
He had gone out to the mall to find her, he had wanted to talk to her.
After
a few moments of sifting through the voluminous amounts of information
in the
box, he was excited. He thought this was exactly the type of case
that would
bring their relationship back to what it once was. He wanted to tell
her
that this was a medical conspiracy of sorts. She would be doing more
in this
investigation than just autopsies and other clean up work for him. He
wanted
her to see how important her contribution was to the X-Files, and this
was
just the case that would show that. He wanted her to know that the
X-Files
was nothing without them working as a team, together.
The look of betrayal on his face was ingrained into Scully's memory as
she
tried to catch up with him. She knew he had not heard her. She knew
he
wasn't listening when she told him that she was not leaving. He saw
the
transfer papers and everything turned off except his feelings of
betrayal.
She was worried about him. She knew he would go back to the office.
She
knew she had to follow him, and make sure he understood that she had
no
intention of leaving. She had to make him understand that she was not
taking
this assignment, at least not without a fight.
By the time Scully got back to the office, both Mulder and the box
were gone.
Her first instinct was to go after him. There were only two places
that he
could have gone, His apartment or to see the lone gunmen. Instead
though,
she decided that she needed to straighten this out.
Mulder's Apartment
February 9, 2000
Mulder sat on his couch and stared at the far wall. It was a dreary
day even
by February standards, but it was made all the drearier by the
knowledge that
Scully was leaving and there was nothing he could do about it. He
wanted to
try and persuade her otherwise, but she chose this. She chose to
leave, and
considering their relationship of late, he couldn't say he blamed her.
For a few moments he tried to contemplate what it would be like
without her.
He tried to convince himself that it was the breaking in of a new
partner
that he dreaded the most. In the back of his mind he knew it was much
more
than that. He knew that he was losing his best friend.
As the moments passed, he almost wondered why Scully hadn't followed
him
here. He wondered why she tried to follow him back to the office but
not
back to his apartment. She always followed, he thought. Even, if it
was
just to explain why she was leaving, even if it was to say good-bye.
She
didn't even call, he realized as he clutched his phone.
In the end, he decided that it was easier to just accept that she was
leaving
and go on. He had this great lead on a case, and he wasn't going to
let it
go, even if his partner, the medical expert was abandoning him. He
had to
pull it together and accept that she had betrayed him, as everyone
else had,
it only took her much longer than he ever expected. Who said he ever
needed
her anyway?
Office of the Lone Gunmen
February 9, 2000
6:45 p.m.
Mulder thought about calling first, but decided that this was better
not
being discussed over cellular lines or unsecured lines. He knocked at
the
door and waited for a response.
"Just a second," said Frohike as he embarked on the task of unlocking
all
nine deadbolts and locks on and around the door. "Mulder," he said as
he
opened the door, "is Agent Scully accompanying you on this fine
February
evening?" he asked as he peered around Mulder and his box of journals
and
notebooks.
"Actually no, Scully will not be accompanying me," he said
indifferently.
"Then where is the beautiful and enigmatic Agent Scully?"
"I don't know. She is probably still cleaning her stuff out of MY
office" he
said making sure he properly stressed the right words.
"Why, what happened?"
"Look, I don't want to discuss that. I have some items I want you
boys to
take a look at. I have a lead on something that I think needs some
fast
action. Can you clean your plate for a few hours to give me a hand?"
He
said as he saw Byers and Langly enter the room.
"Sure Mulder, but where is Scully?" asked Langly innocently.
"She asked for a transfer, and got it. All right? Now can we let the
Agent
Scully issue go and work on this? I really don't want to talk about
it."
"Geez Mulder, lighten up." Said Langly as he looked at Byers.
Byers nodded in response, and merely said, "OK" as he walked back out
of the
room.
"Look I didn't come here to lament Scully's transfer. I came with
some
important business." He said as he pointed to the copy paper box that
he
placed on the table. "This package was x-rayed, and for starters I
was
wondering if you could open the zip disks and computer files. I don't
know
whether they were damaged or not. Also I was wondering if you could
dig me
up any information on Beech Pharmaceuticals and the research they were
doing.. Specifically in the field of Neutriceuticals."
"Ah yes," said Langly, "The new wave of the future, the field of
natural
supplements that carry medicinal properties. The best part is that
none of
it has to be tested or even proven effective. All you need is someone
who is
willing to believe that this root will help enhance memory and this
leaf will
help in weight loss."
"Who sent you this Mulder?" asked Frohike as he pawed around the box
looking
for any other computer files.
"A woman by the name of Marie Woods, she is the younger sister of a
firearms
instructor who tried to enhance my capabilities."
"Woods. Woods. Woods," said Frohike as he pondered the name and recent
events. "She wouldn't happen to be a chemical engineer from New
Jersey,
would she?"
"Yes. Yes she is. How did you know?" asked Mulder as he walked over to
the
computer that Frohike was now sitting at.
"Here is her obituary." said Frohike as he turned the screen so that
Mulder
could more fully see.
"What?" said Mulder as Scully walked in.
"Marie Woods, age 26 missing and assumed dead after an explosion
February 8,
2000 at a chemical/pharmaceutical warehouse in central western
Pennsylvania.
She was a chemical engineer for the Bangor Advanced Technologies
Group. She
is survived by a brother, Anthony Woods, who is an instructor in the
United
States Airforce, and her parents, John and Barbara Woods, both
retired.
Memorial Services will be held in Clifton New Jersey on Thursday
February 11,
2000." Read Frohike. "The memorial is the day after tomorrow. She
sent you
all of this stuff?"
"Yes," said Scully, "I didn't think she was in danger. Do we know
anything
else about what happened?"
"Can you guys look into this for me?" asked Mulder as he gathered up
the
papers "I have to make a road trip to Pennsylvania."
"We need to talk," said Scully as she followed Mulder out the door.
"There is nothing to talk about. You found something you would rather
do
than work on the X-Files, and I respect that. It would have been nice
of you
to tell me about it, but you didn't, and that is OK too. Now if you
will
excuse me, I have a long drive ahead of me. I wish you the best on
your new
assignment."
"I am coming with you. I tried to explain to you that I did not
choose that
assignment. In fact I refused a very generous offer because it is not
what I
want to do right now. I belong here with you looking into this.
Trying to
figure out what happened to your Sister, what happened to me, and now
what
happened to Marie Woods." She said as he got into his car. "I will
meet you
at your apartment in an hour, don't leave without me."
"What about your transfer? Skinner's paperwork said it was effective
immediately. Aren't they expecting you at Bethesda?"
"I will handle Skinner, and I have a few calls in to Dr. Van Taylor at
Bethesda. I am trying to straighten this out. I will see you in an
hour.
Besides they are not expecting me for a few days." She said as she
rushed to
her own car.
Mulder's Apartment
8:00 p.m.
Scully walked in with her overnight bag over one shoulder. "I am glad
to see
that you didn't ditch me." She said with a smirk.
"We have worked together for 6 years, and this case is more in your
expertise
than mine. I figured that I might be able to use your assistance on
this
one. Not to mention the fact that you are a better shot that me. I
didn't
want to piss you off just in case you were staying with the X-files."
He said
with a sneer.
"Well lets go. It's a long drive to Pennsylvania." Said Scully,
completely
ignoring Mulder's last comment but inwardly smiling at it.
Bangor Construction Site
February 10, 2000
8:47 A.M.
"Have you gotten in touch with her brother yet?" asked Scully as they
crossed
the state border into Pennsylvania.
"No, he hasn't returned any of the messages I left for him on base."
"I didn't know that you kept in touch with him. That course was over
five
years ago."
"We exchanged a few emails over the years. We had a beer last time
Tony was
in DC, and he kept me up to date on what his sister was doing. But he
never
mentioned this. I am surprised that you didn't keep in touch with
him, I
thought you and he got pretty close during that week of training."
"Well, I guess he and I lost touch. But either way, we can't just
walk up to
the scene, flash our badges, and start poking around. If this was
more than
just coincidence, we could be putting her family in danger."
"I haven't been able to speak with him, but if I know Tony, then he
will be
in Pennsylvania searching the wreckage brick by brick if he thinks
there is
still hope of finding his sister. I have left word with the funeral
service
to have Mr. and Mrs. Woods contact me. And Scully, I don't think this
is
just a coincidence."
"If it isn't just a coincidence, then whomever killed her was
incredibly
sloppy. Somebody will make the connection."
"I don't know about that Scully. I don't think that she told many
people of
her concerns. I would doubt that she even told her family the
details. And
whomever she asked questions of within the company is going to keep
their
mouths shut for fear that they will face a similar fate. I think
their
secret is pretty safe. Besides we aren't even sure that the site she
died on
is the same one that she was worried about."
They arrived on the site to see it was still extremely busy. There
were
people mulling around the parking lots, and there were still press
crews on
site. It seemed as though they were all waiting around, hoping that
Marie
would turn up alive, or at least that her body would be found. When
they
walked up to the trailer, they saw, as Mulder had expected, Tony
sitting
there.
At first Tony didn't see them as he had his face buried in his hands
and was
just sitting there shaking slightly.
Scully walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure they
will
find her." She said in her most soothing tone.
Tony didn't budge, he barely even moved to acknowledge her words of
concern,
but there was something familiar in that voice. There was a warmth
that he
only knew of two people to have, one was a federal agent that he
thought of
as a star pupil, and the other was Marie. He was pretty sure it
wasn't
Marie, so he looked up to see the warm and compassionate smile of
Agent
Scully.
"They should have found her. They should have at least recovered her
body by
now." He said solemnly. "What are the two of you doing here?"
"We were in the neighborhood. and we heard what happened to Marie."
Said
Mulder. As he looked at Scully.
"They wouldn't let me aid in the search. They said it was too
dangerous,
that the structure that remained standing was too unstable. They told
me
there was nothing I could do." Said Tony as he put his hand over
Scully's
that still remained on his shoulder. "I tried to do it anyway, but
they
threatened to arrest me."
"It's OK, Tony, I'm sure they are doing everything they can. I am
sure that
they will let you know if they turn anything up." Said Scully. "Where
are
you staying?"
"Marie's apartment was only a few miles from here. I am staying with
some of
her neighbors. Faye, the secretary said I could stay with her, but
Marie's
neighbors are closer."
"Can we buy you dinner?" asked Scully as she noticed how bad Tony
looked and
that it seemed like he was rambling. "I am sure that they will
contact you
if anything happens."
"Come on," said Mulder as he started to walk towards the door. "Let's
get
out of here for a while"
Tony walked to the door begrudgingly. He followed Mulder, and Scully
walked
behind him with a hand at his back. He knew that there was nothing he
could
do, but he wanted to be there at the site when they found her. He
knew that
Faye would contact him if they found her.
The three of them went to the nearest restaurant that looked quiet.
As they
were walking in, it occurred to Tony to ask, "So what brings you out
here
anyway?"
"Actually, we were looking for you, and we didn't want to wait for the
memorial service to talk to you." said Mulder.
"Why? Why were you looking for me? Is there some other problem?"
asked Tony
a little worried. Mulder and Scully may be friendly acquaintances of
his,
but it worried him when federal agents were looking for him.
"We were actually trying to reach Marie," said Scully. "She sent us
some
information that we were following up on."
"When we tried to look into the information she sent us, we stumbled
upon her
obituary, and the fact that they hadn't found her body. That led us
here.
Can you answer some questions for us Tony?" asked Mulder trying to be
compassionate and failing miserably at it.
"What did Marie send you? Why would she contact you at all? Why
didn't she
tell me that she contacted you?"
"We just got her package today." Said Mulder. "She sent it 6 weeks
ago, I am
sure that she was wondering why we hadn't gotten back to her. She
never
told you that she was trying to contact us?"
"No" said Tony, "I don't even know why she would have felt the need to
contact you. She was just a glorified secretary on this job, or at
least
that is what she told me." He continued as a tear streamed down his
face.
"She had some concerns over a substance that was being tested and
marketed
for the general public. She never said anything to you about it?"
asked
Scully as she took Tony's hand. Normally the emotions of the people
she
interviewed did not have this strong of an effect on her, but Tony was
a
friend. Tony was someone who helped them in the past. In fact Tony
seemed
like the kind of person who would help anyone. He was just that type
of
person. It was a shame that Tony lost a sister to something
senseless, and
she found herself thinking of Melissa as she tried to comfort him.
"This job." Mulder cut in, "I thought she was transferred off of this
job.
Why was she here if she was transferred?"
"She was on this job for almost 2 years." Began Tony as he stared at
his
hands and a small piece of rubble from the accident that he was
playing with.
"When she was transferred, she felt that she had not finished what
she
needed to do as far as getting all of the files together and in a
presentable
format. Bangor sent some other people to finish, as they felt that
they had
more important things for her to do in the home office. She was asked
by the
client to come back for about a week or two to just tidy things up and
finish. She didn't want to come back to this job, as she said it was
extremely stressful, but she would never say no to the folks she
worked for.
She was too dedicated for that and she didn't want to leave a job
undone.
She used to say that she had to work twice as hard as anyone else in
her
group, since she was the only woman engineer. She was just home this
past
weekend. She said things were going well, and that she would be done
by
today. She said she would be home tomorrow. She felt that she had
proven
herself, and that things would get easier from this point on. She had
taken
the rest of the week off to spend time with the family and her
boyfriend."
Said Tony as the tears began to freely fall from his face, and he
continued
to play with the piece of concrete. "Now she is gone, and I don't even
have
her body to take home."
"Is there anything else you can tell us about the work she did? Did
she have
any friends on site that we can talk to?" asked Mulder as he watched
Scully
comforting Tony.
"She loved her job, she said it wasn't really glamorous, and that it
would
never make much of a difference in the world, but in her own way, she
thought
she was helping people. She really wanted to make a difference." he
said,
putting the rock down and looking up at them, with tears again
beginning to
fall from his eyes.
As they sat in the diner and their food came, Mulder's cell phone
shrilled to
life. He answered it to the sound of Frohike's voice.
"Mulder."
"Mulder, this is Frohike. I think you are going to want to get back
here
right away, and bring Scully with you. You have to see what we turned
up,
and even then I don't know that you will believe it."
"What is it?" asked Scully
"We have a memorial service to attend in the morning. What do you
have?" said
Mulder into the phone.
"Trust me, you need to see this. I'm sure that you can get back in
time for
the service. Oh and by the way, Langly has an idea he would like to
pursue.
Can you get any of the wreckage from near where the blast center of
the
explosion was?"
"I will see what I can do. We will get there as soon as possible.
Thanks"
finished Mulder as he pressed the end button on his phone.
Scully looked at him with a puzzled expression, "What is it Mulder?"
"We need to get back to DC as soon as possible." He then turned to
Tony, as
he grabbed his coat. "Tony, I am sorry about Marie. We will be in
touch,
and we will do our best to make the memorial service in the morning."
Scully grabbed her coat as well, and as she gave Tony's shoulder a
final
parting squeeze, she promised that they would be in touch.
The ride to drop Tony off back at the site was a quiet one. Scully
spent
most of the time staring at Mulder waiting and wondering what
transpired on
that phone call that had them rushing back to DC.
Tony sat in the back seat staring off into space, and Mulder drove
without so
much as a word.
As soon as Tony stepped out of the car, Mulder handed Scully the piece
of
rubble that Tony was playing with. "Could you please bag that
Scully?"
"What is it Mulder, why did you blow him off like that? Why are we
going
back to DC now?"
Before she could finish, Mulder cut her off. "It was Frohike, he said
that
we needed to get back to DC to see what they have discovered. He said
that
even if we saw it we would probably not believe it. I have a feeling
that I
know what they found." Said Mulder as he briefly looked away from the
road to
steal a glance at Scully. "Tony knows he may be in danger. He's
Military, he
knows that there is no such thing as an unannounced friendly visit
from a
pair of federal agents. He knew from the moment he heard your voice
that he
was in danger, and trust me, he will take the appropriate actions to
ensure
his safety and that of those around him."
"What do you think they found Mulder?" asked Scully as the wheels in
her mind
began turning. "Was Marie abducted by little gray men?" she asked
exasperated by the lack of information that he was volunteering.
"Now you are starting to think along more reasonable lines." He said
as he
stole another glance at her now annoyed face.
"Reasonable??? What????"
"Lets just wait and see what the boys have to say." Said Mulder with a
smile
curling at the corners of his lips. This was just like old times,
before
their recent lack of communication. He was going to miss this type of
banter; he was going to miss his partner.
"So you aren't going to give me your theory?" said Scully exasperated
yet
again. She knew that this was like old times, and she saw that Mulder
was
trying to enjoy it before it all came to an end.
"No. I want to wait and see if the gunmen confirm it for me. Besides
you
might believe them, I doubt you will believe me."
Office of the Lone Gunmen
11:21 P.M.
They looked around the dark area that the gunmen called home, and saw
some
items that had not been there the day before. There was an isolation
apparatus, with a glovebox and a few other pieces of scientific and
lab
equipment. Mulder picked up the gas mask and some of the other items
that
were lying around.
"Where did you get the new toys?" he asked as he played with a
personal
respirator.
"Just some old things that we dusted off out of storage." Said Frohike
as he
took the respirator from Mulder's hand.
"Government Surplus and fire sales at biotech facilities that went
belly up
are wonderful things." Said Langly cheerfully.
"We decided to isolate the substance and break it down." Said Byers
"We did
some testing on it, with the aid of a bio-nerd friend out of MIT.
Mulder,
take a look at this." He said as he led him to a computer monitor that
held a
somewhat familiar looking molecule.
"Hey Mulder, does that look familiar?" asked Langly as he hit a few
keys on
the keyboard.
Mulder looked at it, with Scully at his side, and his chin nearly
dropped.
"That can't be," he said not believing what he saw. "Scully, take a
look at
this."
She took one look, and all she could say was two words, "Purity
Control"
"They found a way to distribute it to the masses." Said Mulder.
"Marie had
reason to be worried, and she didn't even know why."
"I don't understand Mulder? Why are they doing this? What is their
motivation to expose the population to this?"
"I don't know, Scully. I don't know why they are trying to hybridize
the
population."
"Hey Mulder do you have that piece of rubble I requested" asked Langly
as he
adjusted the glasses on his face.
Scully took the bagged piece of concrete out of her pocket and handed
it to
him. "What did you want that for?"
"I think he's playing a hunch Scully," said Mulder.
"How close to the blast center was this taken from?" asked Langly.
"I don't know." Said Mulder, "The way Marie's brother was holding and
fondling it, I would assume it was as close as he could get. I
didn't want
to flash federal credentials to try and get any closer. Everyone is
already
in enough danger."
He took the rock and put it into the isolation box, he smashed it up,
and
started to analyze what he was looking at. He continued to examine it
as
Byers asked a few more questions.
"Mulder, don't you think it was weird that there was nobody else in
the
vicinity of the blast when it happened?" asked Byers.
"It occurred at lunchtime. The construction crews were in their
designated
areas eating lunch." Said Scully wondering what they were getting at.
"You mean to tell me that Marie was the only person working at lunch
time?"
asked Frohike.
"What are you getting at guys?" asked Mulder starting to get annoyed.
He was
tired and it was well after midnight. "Could you just cut to the
chase, we
have to be on the road a couple of hours if we want to make that
memorial
service."
"I think you can call it off," said Langly as he looked up from the
microscope.
"What do you mean?" asked Scully.
"He means that Marie wasn't there. It was a clone, wasn't it Langly?"
asked
Mulder
"How could you know that?" asked Scully incredulously.
"Do you remember the substance you found on your shoe right around the
time
you found this whole purity control thing?" asked Langly rhetorically.
"That
same substance is all over this rock. I would guess that the flooring
that
this came from was within 30 feet of the rapidly decaying body. They
will
never find Marie's body, because Marie wasn't there."
"But they could have been producing this substance in that facility,
or. it
was a warehouse, maybe they were storing it there. How could you be
so sure
that this is something else?" Asked Scully
"It was a facility that was still under construction." Said Frohike
"The
accident reports and the information given to local police and fire
departments all state that the space was empty. There was supposedly
nothing
in that area other than construction supplies. Last I heard they were
still
baffled as to what caused the accident."
"They are going to be baffled for a while, but as long as they are
still
looking for a body, that should distract them from any potentially
damning
findings." Said Byers. I am sure that it will be a long time before
they
simply rule that it was a faulty valve on a welding gas bottle and let
it go
from there."
"Won't somebody notice if they never find a body?" she asked.
"I am sure they will eventually find a body that is so badly destroyed
from
being at ground zero that they will declare it hers without much of an
identification process." Said Langly.
"They will find a body Scully, it just wont be Marie's" said Mulder as
he
grabbed his jacket. "We have to hit the road Scully, if we are going
to make
that memorial service in 5 hours."
Scully walked to the car, with Mulder's hand in its familiar place at
the
small of her back. She didn't believe any of what she was just told,
but at
this point, she didn't know what else to believe. She also had
something
else running through her mind. She was enjoying this. Mulder was
treating
this as if it would be their last case together, and for once she was
almost
an equal. He wasn't ditching her as he went off to look into
something, and
he didn't relegate her to only reading the information that was sent.
What
if this transfer could not be cancelled, what if, when Mulder found
out she
was back, things reverted back to the way it was before, what if the
transfer
was what she really wanted. Her head was reeling as she leaned her
head
against the window and fell asleep as Mulder started the five-hour
drive to
northern New Jersey.
St. Andrews Church Rectory
February 11, 2000
11:21 A.M.
Scully gently squeezed Tony Woods' shoulder. He had been through a
lot and
was not doing all that well. At some point during the service he
decided to
let his emotions show and the tears fell freely from his eyes.
"It was a beautiful Service." Said Scully as she tried to offer some
comfort.
The memorial ran almost four hours as people spoke of the things that
Marie
did for them, and how she helped them in some insignificant way that
really
meant a lot to them. There were moments when Scully couldn't help but
smile
at the things people said. Marie was the kind of person that Scully
would
have liked to know. She seemed like she would have been a great
friend and
confidante in some of Scully's worst times.
"Thank you." said Tony. "I am sure that Marie would have liked it.
She
would have been surprised at who and how many people turned out to pay
their
respects, and how much of a difference she made in some of their
lives. We
videotaped it. I want to bury it with her if they ever find the body"
"I am sure that she would have been very pleased." Said Scully. I
wish I had
the chance to meet her."
"You would have liked her Scully. You shared many qualities." Said
Tony.
Mulder stood there and watched. He spent much of the service
surveying the
attendees and looking for anyone who might have not belonged there.
They
decided on the ride that they would not tell the family that Marie
might
still be alive until they were more certain. They didn't feel the
need to
put the family in any more danger than they already were. The less
they knew
the less chance of them getting hurt. Tony knew though, or at least
Tony
seemed to know that something wasn't quite right.
His excuse for the taping was good, but in the back of his mind,
Mulder knew
that Tony would spend hours pouring over the tape. He would check the
names
of everyone who signed in, seeing who was there. He would pour over
the
tapes looking for the person who did this to his little sister. That
was a
danger in and of itself, but there was nothing Mulder could do to stop
that
other than let him know that he and Scully were doing everything in
their
power to find out what happened. Tony would never accept this to be
an
accident, especially without a body. It didn't help any that Tony was
as
paranoid as they come, and the moment Scully told him that Marie was
concerned about something at work, he would assume that this wasn't an
accident.
Scully wanted to tell Tony that there was a chance that Marie was
alive. She
wanted to give him some hope and end his anguish. The problem was
that they
were still not sure. She couldn't decide what would be worse, for
Tony to
assume his sister was dead without a body, or to spend his life
thinking she
was alive and searching for her. It made sense that Mulder didn't
want to
tell him. Mulder didn't want Tony to spend the rest of his life on a
quest
to find his sister that was quite possibly futile.
As they left the Rectory and headed over to the repast at the Woods
home,
Tony turned to Scully. He stared her straight in the eyes with a cold
and
deadly stare. "Agent Scully, Marie is still alive, isn't she?" he
asked with
anger seeping from his voice.
Scully was taken aback by his question. She looked over to find
Mulder but
he was too far ahead with his long strides to have heard the question
or even
notice that Tony stopped her. She didn't know what to tell him. She
didn't
want to lie to this man, who had been through so much, not unlike what
she
had been through in losing a sister. She also didn't want to get his
hopes
up based on the wild theories of her partner and the lone gunmen.
Tony had
put her in a bad position, not giving her the opportunity to consult
Mulder,
and not giving her more than a few breaths of time to give him an
answer. He
had put her in a bad position, and he knew it.
Without having the luxury of time to think about it, and needing to
give him
an answer, Scully took a deep breath and spoke. "Tony, I know what
you are
going through. I lost my sister a couple of years ago. I also know
that
Mulder can sympathize with you, he lost his sister over 20 years ago.
I
honestly don't know if Marie is still alive. As long as they haven't
recovered a body, there is always hope, but a handful of people saw
her go
into that building minutes before it collapsed. I think it is only a
matter
of time before they find her. I'm sorry Tony, I wish I could tell you
otherwise."
"Thank you Scully. I appreciate your honesty. Do you think that what
she
sent you had anything to do with her. her .. Her passing?" he asked as
he
began walking towards the car.
"I don't know Tony, I don't even know if what she was concerned about
is even
true. Besides it is going to take time before we can finish sifting
through
it all and investigating it. We will do what we can to figure this
all out."
She said as she quickened her pace to catch up with Mulder.
The Woods Family Home
February 11, 1999
12:00 p.m.
The repast was similar to the service in that there were more people
there
than anybody imagined, and they kept speaking of Marie's greatness and
that
her passing was a waste. There were the philosophers amongst the
group that
were certain that she was in a better place, and that god had some
greater
duty for Marie than what she could do in this world. Mulder spent the
time
continuing to try and find the person who didn't belong. Scully was
introduced to the rest of the family, and many of Marie's and Tony's
friends.
One of whom slipped Scully a motel business card during their
handshake.
On the back it said:
Come alone. I have information for you. 11:30 p.m. - don't dress
like a
Fed.
Scully put the card in her pocket in a swift movement that insured
that
nobody saw her put it there. She didn't want to put this person in
any
further danger, than she already was by virtue of her friendship with
Marie,
and she was still working on the site.
The two of them tried to get more information from the attendees, they
wanted
to know who was working on the site. They wanted to know who Marie's
friends
were, and if there was anyone that she might have told her concerns
to. The
problem was that they had to try and get this information without
anyone
knowing that they were FBI Agents. They couldn't even tell the
family, other
than Tony, for fear that it might get back to the people who were
responsible
for this.
"I guess Marie was good at keeping information and her concerns to
herself."
Said Mulder as they headed to their hotel. "I just cannot believe
that she
accessed all of this information, and liberated the sample and the
computer
files alone."
"Yes, she did seem to keep to herself, but ." said Scully as she
reached into
her pocket and handed him the card, "somebody knows what is going on."
"You can't go alone Scully. What if this is some kind of a trap to
try and
figure out what we are up to? What if they want to hurt you to keep
us from
getting to the truth?" asked Mulder with concern.
"I don't think that is the case Mulder. I was introduced to the woman
who
gave me the card. It is the Project Secretary, Faye Blurry. I think
she
might be able to help us to get to the bottom of this. I just think
she is
afraid. Maybe she knows more than we think."
"OK.. Just make sure you take your cell phone with you, and your
weapon, and
I wont be too far behind." Said Mulder as he glanced at his watch. I
have
some reading to do, and some calls to make. Do you want to get
together for
dinner?"
"I have to see if Skinner has gotten anywhere with reversing this
transfer
myself, and I want to see if the boys came up with anything further on
the
substance CC-10-13. I will meet you in your room at 7:30, we can get
dinner
then." She said as she got out of the car and walked to the trunk to
get her
overnight bag.
Peter Pan Motel Parking Lot
11:30 p.m.
As she parked her car, Scully saw Faye drive up in a little red Ford
Probe.
"Come on, I want to do some driving." Said the red haired woman. "I
never
let Marie drive when we went anywhere. Her driving scared me, and I
like to
be in control.. But mostly her driving scared me." Said Faye as a
smile crept
across her face. "I wore the hat, because I figured that two red
headed
woman would definitely stand out," she said as she pointed to the hat
that
said "Trust No One"
"I like the hat, I should get one for my partner. That is his motto
in
life." Said Scully as she tried to calm Faye, who was obviously very
nervous.
"I am sorry that I could not just tell you at Marie's house, but I
didn't
want anyone to see that I was talking to you. My husband is afraid
that they
might come after me." Said Faye, talking a little faster than
necessary.
"How did you know I was a federal Agent?" asked Scully
"I saw you when you were consoling Anthony on the site yesterday. He
told me
that you and Your Partner.. Mildew.was it?" she asked taking a brief
pause.
"Oh you mean Mulder," Scully said with a chuckle as she corrected her.
"Oh sorry, you and your Partner Mulder were FBI agents. Old friends
of his.
He didn't want to tell me who you were, but he eventually caved in. I
guess
he thought I was trustworthy enough, and he was pretty exhausted. I
don't
think he told anyone else though. He said that Marie sent you some
stuff. I
stopped him at that. I didn't want to know any more. I already knew
once he
told me your name."
"So you know what was going on?"
"You have had the files and stuff for a couple of weeks now, is Marie
right?
Are you going to be able to stop this?"
"We only got the files a couple of days ago. The package was delayed
first
in the mail and then in the Bureau's mailroom. We have barely had a
chance
to even look at the majority of the items in the box. We were
researching it
when we stumbled upon Marie's obituary."
"Did you get the package that was sent to you a few days later? She
saw your
name as a filename, and she wasn't sure it was you, but it triggered
her
thinking of Agent Mulder, so she sent the stuff to the two of you. A
couple
of days later she told me that she saw your name in a few of the most
recent
entries. She was sure it was you, Dana Katherine Scully MD. So she
sent you
a package containing a disk with all of the files she was able to get
as well
as a hard copy of them. She said she sent it to your office at
Quantico,
since that was the only address she was able to get, and she wanted
you to
see it before your partner did."
"No, I never got anything from Marie addressed to me. If it went to
Quantico, it should have been forwarded to me in Washington. Maybe it
was
held up in the mail room as well?" Scully said as she tried to think
of what
could have happened.
"I think I have a copy of the disk back at the hotel. Marie was
wondering
why you and your partner never contacted her. She said that maybe
Mulder
would not see this as an X-File, but when you saw what she sent you,
you
would have dragged him with you to investigate this. When you leave
tomorrow
for Washington, you will find the disk tapped to the underside of the
bumper
of your car."
"What did the file say?"
"I don't know. I never opened the files Marie gave me for
safekeeping. I
just told her when the server was updated. I thought it was funny at
first,
I thought Marie was delusional. I had never met anyone who was as
paranoid
as she was. I knew that she was having a hard time with some of the
folks we
worked with, both from Bangor and from Beech. At first, they used to
talk to
me about her. Tell me that she was asking questions that a young snot
nosed
project engineer from a construction management company had no
business
asking. They would say that she was not doing her job, that she was
being
paid too much, things like that. The standard office gossip and
complaining.
Every now and again though Beech's project manager would yell at
Bangor's
project manager that he needed to shut her up. They needed to stop
her from
nosing around. First they took away her modem time, but she found a
way
around that. Then they didn't allow her to speak to anybody but the
senior
Project engineer. Then they demoted her to only filing. Then the
thing
happened with her jeep, and her apartment was ransacked, and Bangor's
management decided that they needed to get her off of this site, for
her own
good. They decided that it was unsafe for her to be living out there
all
alone. Or at least that is the story that I heard."
"So they were the ones who robbed her apartment?" asked Scully.
"Well I don't know. Bangor just decided that they didn't want her to
be in
this area because it was so unsafe. She was the only woman in her
department, and sometimes they treated her like she was a frail and
weak
woman. I couldn't believe that they would move her for that reason.
I have
worked with this company for years, and a person's wellbeing was never
very
high on their list."
"What did Marie find?" asked Scully, fascinated by the whole story,
but
wanting to cut to the chase.
"Like I said, I never really looked at what she did, and I took most
of what
she said with a grain of salt, but she found out that the vitamin that
they
were supposedly going to use this facility for was not exactly what
they said
it was. She found files that detailed the transformation that a
person would
go through after prolonged use. She discovered that it seemed like
they were
using the guise of a vitamin to hide it from the FDA, but instead the
FDA
suggested that route so that it would be more appealing to the masses.
She
found files on the people who served as the initial test subjects many
of
them completely unaware. She said that they were fed it intravenously
in
high doses for a week or two then monitored regularly by being
kidnapped.
None of those people ever remembered where they might have been for
the time
they were missing. When people started to remember using hypnosis or
whatever, they started taking the homeless, and even prisoners in a
few
cases."
"So Marie had proof of all of this?" asked Scully, not quite sure
whether to
believe this woman or not.
"She had computer files. She also had studies of people who were
terminally
ill, some with cancer, who were used as test subjects. Those people
all got
better, very quickly. But they had to be terminated. Their body
chemistry
had become alien and toxic. Exposure of their blood to air led to
toxic
fumes."
"Where were these studies done?"
"That particular study was done right in your back yard, in Arliss
Maryland I
think. Marie found that they had found a way to adjust the properties
of the
substances, prolonging the time it took for changes to take place.
They
could slow down the transformation by years, and create a population
that was
basically manipulable to what ever they wanted. Like I said I though
Marie
was nuts when she came up with all of this. I thought she had spent
too much
time on those government conspiracy web sites. I thought maybe she
was
watching a few too many episodes of Star Trek, or that this was just
science
fiction that she was dreaming up in her head. This is all science
fiction,
right?.. Agent Scully?... None of this is possible.. Right?"
"I don't know Faye, I need to see what is in those files. I have one
question though. If you never read the files, or really listened to
Marie
when she was telling you about this then why do you seem to know so
much now?"
"I never thought they would bring Marie back to the site. There was
too much
bad blood between Beech and her, but somebody convinced them that she
was the
only person who could finish the files. When she called to say that
she was
coming back, I did some downloading from the server. I wanted to give
her
the files to see if there was anything that she needed to know before
she got
here. I gave the files to Brian Couldon, someone who worked with her.
I
guess he read the files, and told me not to let her out of my sight
while she
was here. He said we would take turns watching her. Apparently one
of the
files, one that Brian gave me a copy of shortly after the explosion,
was a
detailed description of Marie's unfortunate accident. So then I read
some
of the other files, and well that was when I decided that I needed to
talk to
you."
"I don't understand how you got the file. Nobody would put something
like
that on a readily accessible server. Nobody could be that stupid."
Said
Scully, believing less of this incredible story with each moment.
"My computer ran the back up. I had access to everything, even the
private
folders, and the encrypted server. They thought I was too computer
illiterate to know how to access any of it."
"Didn't they know that you and Marie were friends, and that Marie
would be
able to figure it out?"
"I don't know. I know they knew we were acquaintances, but I am not a
people
person, I would just not talk to anyone if I didn't have to. It was
weird
that I was able to be friends with Marie, since I just really don't
like
people. I know that they knew I didn't like people. Maybe they
didn't think
I would have given her access. I don't know. "
"Thank you for all of your assistance." Said Scully as she noticed
they were
turning back into the parking lot. "By the way, where can I find this
Brian
Couldon?"
"I am really surprised that he didn't come to the memorial. He works
for
Bangor, though. If you call their main number, I am sure they can
put you
in touch with him. I will have that disk under your bumper by the
time you
leave your hotel in the morning. Oh and Agent Scully, thank you. I
hope you
can put a stop this."
"We will look into it. Where can I find you if I have any further
questions?"
"I don't know that you will be able to find me. My husband is
extremely
paranoid, in fact this is his hat. He thinks that we should get out,
get
away, just in case Beech comes looking for me. Whatever we haven't
sold off
is already packed. We are leaving the day after tomorrow."
"Where are you going to go?"
"I don't know, most likely somewhere out west, where there is less
humidity.
Someplace where the cost of living is cheaper, and nobody knows who we
are,
where we can start all over again." Said Faye as she pulled up around
the
back of the bar. "Good luck, Agent Scully. I will be rooting for
ya."
"Thank you for all of your help. Good luck, where ever you end up."
Said
Scully as she got out of the car and walked towards her car.
Darkened Warehouse
Somewhere in the Continental US.
It was dark. It was cold. The wood floor was damp. Marie had no
idea where
she was. She didn't know if it was day or night, or what day it might
even
have been. She was awake, or at least she thought she was. She
didn't
really know because she couldn't see. She sincerely hoped that this
was a
dream, but as realization hit her and her last memory of being in the
warehouse came back into focus she knew that this was no dream. The
side of
her head stung and she smelled the distinct odor of dried blood. As
consciousness started to come through the cloudy haze of darkness that
occupied her mind, she realized that she was blindfolded. She
realized that
she was in pain, but she could not scream out. She inhaled to scream,
but
instead ended up gasping. She was having a hard time breathing. She
couldn't feel her left arm. There was a dull ache in her left leg
until she
tried to move it, and found the pain to be excruciating. So
excruciating in
fact that before she knew it, her body decided that the moment of
consciousness wasn't worth the pain, and mercifully she was
unconscious
again.
Brian sat at the small desk he had set up in the darkened trailer. He
used a
flashlight to work on the paperwork he needed to complete so he could
get off
this job. He knew that he should be in the trailer complex or aiding
in the
attempt for the project team to get back to normalcy. He didn't want
to
leave Marie alone though. He knew that she was in bad shape, but at
the
moment there was nothing he could do about it. He made the decision
to get
her out of the warehouse even though he was repeatedly told to not
interfere
with Marie's work. He needed to get her to a hospital, but he
couldn't
utilize any of the local ones because they were all tied in with the
PhD's in
research and development at the facility. He needed to help her. He
needed
to get her some medical attention as she was bleeding and he had no
idea of
the extent of her injuries. But at the moment he couldn't get her out
of the
situation he had gotten her into. He believed that he would help her
live,
and that was better than the alternative offered by the people who
owned the
warehouse.
Brian had followed her to the warehouse. He was a Senior Technical
Engineer
with Bangor Advanced Technologies, and he had been charged with
Marie's
professional development since she began with the company. He had
always
tried to keep her involved in different things. He had always tried
to make
sure that she was learning something at every turn. When he
discovered what
was going on at this job site, he pushed for Marie's transfer. He
knew that
she had found something big, and he knew her personality. He knew
that she
would only get hurt as she tried to help. He wanted her off the job
before
she got really hurt. No matter how many times he told her, she never
learned
to keep her mouth shut. He had not envisioned that they would try and
kill
her. He never thought it would go that far.
She told him she was going to the warehouse. He was only a minute or
so
behind her, since he didn't want her going anywhere alone. He slipped
into
the back entrance, when he heard what sounded like a slow leak from a
gas
cylinder. He grabbed her arm, and told her there was something she
needed to
look at outside. She followed him out of the warehouse, but left her
inspection binder inside. She was going back for it when the building
collapsed all around her.
The first person he saw, he thought was her, it was her face, or so he
thought, until he saw the body start to decay into a mass of green
slime.
For a moment he thought that maybe she wasn't in there, that maybe she
got
out. Then he saw her, lying amongst the rubble. At first he feared
that she
was dead, until he heard her gasp his name and whimper in pain before
she was
unconscious.
He spent a few moments digging her out until she was uncovered enough
that he
could drag her to safety. The structure was unstable, and he didn't
want to
risk leaving her there to find help, lest she be buried even deeper.
He
dragged her outside and behind the structure as he waited for help to
arrive.
He had not intended to hide her. He only wanted to get her help, but
when
help was slow in arriving, very slow, he decided that he would have to
do
something. Fifteen minutes later he had her tucked away in a storage
trailer
when the first sirens of help started to arrive. They spent most of
the
start of the rescue effort surveying the damage to the nearby
facility. They
made it seem like they had no idea anyone was in there. It was
lunchtime and
it was a union job, so they figured that everyone was safely in their
area
eating lunch. It wasn't until a craftsman told them he saw a woman
enter
the warehouse that they even started to try and look for her. And
then they
took their time. Brian was sure that even if he told them that she
was
inside, and he told them where she was, she would have certainly died
as they
took their time to find her.
He did his best to control the bleeding and to immobilize the
appendages he
was sure were broken. The construction safety courses and emergency
medical
training that Bangor had subjected him to left him still woefully
unprepared
for anything like this. Then he had to clean himself up so that they
would
not know he was near the explosion or that he dragged Marie from it.
Luckily
she was in an area where he could drag her out of the rubble and to
the
trailer without being seen. He didn't want to blindfold her, in fact
he
didn't mean to, he only wanted to stop the bleeding above her eye, and
to
keep the dirt, blood, and whatever else was in that warehouse from
further
harming her. After he thought about it though, it was probably a
better idea
to blindfold her. He didn't know if the bright flash of the explosion
had
done any damage, and he didn't know if he wanted her to know it was
him who
was holding her in this trailer.
The day of the explosion, and the next he could not get her out of
there. He
worried that there was internal bleeding, and he was afraid that she
was
bleeding to death but he knew that if he tried to do anything, not
only would
her life be in further danger, but his would be as well. There were
too many
people around until all hours, including a man that looked familiar
from a
picture Marie once showed him. He wanted to get the man's attention
so he
could tell him that Marie was alive. He wanted to tell the two
well-dressed
people that the man was talking to that she was not dead, that she
desperately needed medical attention, but he could not. How would he
explain
it? How would he tell them that he only did this to help her? In the
end he
didn't tell anyone. He just waited. He spent the time in the dark
trailer
doing work, hoping that he would be ready the first chance he got to
get
Marie out of there.
He was going to drive her to her home. Maybe a hospital up there
would be
able to take care of her. Maybe her family would appreciate what he
did.
When he thought about it though, he figured that if they wanted her
dead,
they would be keeping tabs on what was going on up there. He was sure
that
even they were wondering why they had not found a body.
As he sat and thought about the events, he wasn't sure what was going
on. He
remembered the body that was decaying, but he didn't know what it was,
or
what it was doing in there. Eventually he decided to forget about
that other
"thing". It was probably a hallucination anyway. He was certain that
nobody
would believe him if he tried to explain that one. None of that
mattered
anyway, he would try and figure it out later, after Marie was safe.
Mulder's Apartment
Sunday February 14, 2000
11:21 a.m.
Mulder stood in his apartment violently bouncing a basketball.
Something
didn't add up. They went through all of the journals. They went
through all
of the documentation that was sent to them, but something was missing.
Something was missing other than Marie's body. After all of the
reading
Mulder had come to a conclusion. A conclusion that he was even a
little
worried about sharing with Scully. He knew it was off the wall, but
it was
the best he could do. He was certain that Marie Woods was nowhere
near the
explosion when it happened. He was certain that the traces of residue
that
were found on the stone that Tony recovered were the remains of a
clone. A
clone of Marie. The question was, where was the real Marie, and how
were
they going to find her? He paced around his tiny apartment continuing
to
dribble the basketball when his phone chirped to life.
"Hello?"
"Mulder, it's me. I think I found something. Meet me at the
Gunmen's." said
Scully.
"I'll be right there." Was his reply as he grabbed his jacket and ran
out the
door.
He knew there was something missing in this whole picture, and he
hoped that
Scully had found it. They were running out of time to find conclusive
proof
that the FDA should not allow this product to be sold.
Scully had found the disk that was taped to the rental car. It was
exactly
where Faye said it would be. In a single swift motion Scully removed
the
disk from its hiding place and had it in the pocket of her lap top bag
so
that nobody would notice, not even Mulder.
She now sat in her apartment and opened the files. The first file was
a
listing of women's names, along with catalog numbers. Amongst the
names,
when she took a quick cursory glance, were; Betsy Hagopian , Penny
Northern,
and hidden amongst the S's, her name. This file was nothing new to
her
though, she had seen it before, when Albert Hosteen cracked the Navajo
code.
She could not open any of the other files.
After a little more digging, Scully thought she had found it. She
found
inconsistencies in the molecule. She found unidentifiable compounds
that
could not be broken down into any elemental form. She found that
there was
no known way to make this compound. It was a nutritional supplement,
supposedly all natural, but there wasn't a single solitary atom of
carbon in
it. There was no Nitrogen. There was no oxygen. A mass spec report
that
she had run by the gunmen showed unidentified peaks. This compound
was
getting stranger by the moment. After careful analysis of the various
reports from the gunmen and her pile of stuff from the package Marie
sent,
she couldn't find reason not to put this product on the market. She
was
getting frustrated. All she found were problems with the chemistry.
Without
further real reports from the clinical trials she was at a loss. She
was
going through the last journal when she found it. A couple of pieces
of
microfiche were taped to some pages in the middle of the journal.
Early Sunday morning Brian finally got the opportunity to get Marie
out of
the trailer. It was raining and it was just past dawn when he pulled
up to
the trailer. This would have to be the day when he got her out of
there,
whether he had been seen her or not, this was it. Her periods of
consciousness were getting further apart, and her pulse and breathing
had
slowed. Considering how dreary the weather was, it was going to be
easier
than he thought. He pulled his minivan up to his favorite parking
spot, at
the back of the trailer and opened the back door. When he stepped
into the
trailer, and saw the paleness of Marie's face, he was afraid that he
had
waited to long. He was afraid that his efforts to help Marie had
inadvertently killed her. He carefully walked up to her body, and
touched
her face. She was burning up. He knew he had to get her to a
hospital, now
it was more critical than ever. She was not doing well and he knew
it, he
thought about just taking his chances with getting her to a local
hospital
and registering her under a different name, but he knew in the back of
his
mind that that would be her end. He had to take her somewhere else.
He
carefully lifted her body, and put her in the back seat of the van.
He
needed to take her someplace safe that wasn't to far away so he took
her to
the closest jobsite that he had friends on. He was going to take her
to
Rockville Maryland. They both had friends there that would be willing
to
help. It was going to be a fairly long drive, four hours or so, he
was
hoping that she would make it.
As the drive proceeded along, Marie stayed mercifully unconscious, and
except
for a few grunts and moans when he first moved her, she was quiet.
Brian
felt the need to check on her every so often to make sure that she was
alive.
He was almost there, when he heard her start to cough and gasp from
the
back. He looked over and saw a stream of blood dripping from the
corners of
her mouth. He was trying to tilt her head so that she wouldn't choke
on the
blood when he heard the crash.
Smoke was streaming from his radiator, and the tail end of the car in
front
of him was not in such great shape. When he smelled the gasoline he
knew
that he was in trouble. He left Marie in the back of the minivan and
raced
to the driver's side door of the Oldsmobile Intrigue. He saw a woman
who
looked vaguely familiar slightly slumped over the steering wheel
airbag. She
had a small cut over her left eye as though she had banged her head on
the
side window. She appeared to be disoriented but trying to get out of
the
car. Brian helped her out of the car, and then went back for Marie.
The fresh air was exactly what Scully needed. She wasn't quite sure
what
happened, other than that somebody had rear-ended her. When the air
bags
discharged she knew she was hit harder than she had at first thought.
Her
head hurt, and the gas from the airbag was getting to her when
somebody
pulled her from the car. He pretty much dragged her to the side of
the road,
apologizing profusely all the way. Then he was gone, he had gone back
to his
vehicle, to get somebody else out, she thought.
Marie had been banged around pretty badly as a result of the jolt. As
he
struggled to get her out of the car, he silently chastised himself for
driving so close to the bumper of the car in front of him. He was in
trouble, and he knew it. He would have to explain to the police what
he was
doing with a person who was in such a state in his car. He would be
forced
to explain what had happened. When the folks in Pennsylvania were
informed
that Marie was found, he would have not only endangered himself and
his
family, but he would be sealing the fate of Marie. He thought about
trying
to continue on, and take both Marie and the other driver to the
hospital, but
his radiator was leaking so badly that he knew he wouldn't get very
far.
Scully watched from a slight distance away, as this man struggled to
get
someone out of the car. By this time she had regained her composure
and was
starting to call the police, when she saw all of the blood on his
shirt. She
put her phone down and rushed to his aid. There was somebody in his
vehicle
who was badly hurt, and her oath as a doctor compelled her to help.
When she stood to rush to his aid, it became apparent that it would
not be as
easy as she had originally thought. A wave of dizziness overtook her,
but
she continued on. She had to help.
Brian was startled when he felt the hand of the woman reach around to
help
him lift Marie. "You should really be sitting down Miss. That is a
pretty
nasty gash on your forehead. You probably have a concussion. Please
just
sit down and hopefully help will come soon."
"I'll be alright.. We need to get her out. I am a doctor. Let me see
what I
can do to help." Said Scully as she looked at a woman, who was
obviously
suffering from injuries that were from more than a simple rear ending
accident. "What's her name? What happened to her?""
"Marie." said Brian as he started to realize where he had seen this
woman
before. This was Marie's brother's friend, or one of them. "We were
in an
accident. That's what happened to her. I hit your car." He finished
as he
began to panic that this woman would recognize him. "Who are you?
"Dana Scully." She said as she gave Marie a cursory examination. "She
isn't
breathing," she noticed as she went to check her pulse. "I need to
know what
happened to her, it looks like she has some broken ribs and god only
knows
what else. I cannot help her if I don't know what happened. My phone
is by
my jacket on the side of the road, get it and call for help." She
yelled as
she began CPR.
Brian dutifully ran and got the phone. He picked it up and dialed
9-1-1 as
he noticed the badge lying open on the ground next to where her jacket
was
laying. When he recognized her at first, he thought he would come
clean with
her. This was a friend of her family. She would surely help protect
them.
When he saw the federal badge he thought otherwise. What if she knew
what
was going on? What if she was only a friend of the family for
convenience
sake?
"Did you hear me?" Scully asked frustrated. "I said that I cannot
help her
if I don't know the extent of her injuries. I know this is not a
result of
the accident. What the hell happened to this woman?" she again asked
as she
heard the sirens blare in the distance.
"I can't tell you what happened. I don't know. I just picked her up
from a
deserted road, and was trying to get her help. "
Scully glanced over at the license plates of the car, as she was
becoming
more frustrated with this man. When she saw the Pennsylvania plates,
then
she took a closer look at the injuries and the woman's face. There
was
something very familiar about her face. This woman was in an
explosion," she
said as she wiped some of the concrete dust off the woman's forehead.
Suddenly she knew. "This is Marie Woods, isn't it?" When she didn't
get an
answer she knew she was right. "Look sir, If this is Marie Woods,
then you
are going to have to trust someone. I will help you. I will make
sure that
nobody hurts her."
"You were on the site. You were talking to her brother. You have to
help
her. If she dies then we all may die. You can't possibly understand
how
important what she knows is."
As she was about to try and allay his fears, the ambulance pulled up.
She
turned to him , "I don't know who you are, and at the moment I don't
care.
These people are going to ask you questions. Don't say a word. Just
keep
your head in your hands and act distraught. Do you understand me?"
He nodded and put his head in his hands.
The paramedics loaded Marie, Scully, and Brian into the ambulance, and
took
them to the nearest hospital.
Lone Gunmens Offices
Mulder was pacing around the office. "She should have been here by
now. She
should have been here." He kept trying her cell phone, but she didn't
answer. It just kept ringing. He was starting to fear the worst,
when his
phone rang.
"Mulder."
"Mulder, its me. I need you to come to Georgetown Medical center
right away."
"What's wrong? Are you alright?" he asked as he grabbed his jacket
and ran
to his car.
"Just get here. Now."
"I'm on my way."
Mulder was worried. She had called him, and she sounded OK, at least
it
wasn't the hospital calling him. He wondered what had happened, but
he
decided to wait and see what she had to say as he raced to the
hospital.
Scully was waiting for him at the entrance to the emergency room
waiting
area. "Mulder, I want you to meet Mr. Brian Couldon." She said as
she
pointed to a distraught man who sat in the reception chairs with his
head in
his hands and was shaking.
Mulder began to walk to the man, but Scully stopped him. "Who is this
Scully? What happened?" he asked as he reached out to caress the
bandage
above her left eye.
"Mr. Couldon rear-ended my car. On his way to Rockville Maryland."
"Are you alright? Maybe you should sit down." Said Mulder as he
guided her
to a chair near Brian's.
"It is just a minor concussion and a few stitches. That is not
important
though. We are waiting to hear news on Mr. Couldon's passenger. I
think you
will recognize the name if you don't recognize Mr. Couldon. His
passenger,
was a Marie Woods"
"Scully? How could that be? I was waiting for you to get to the
Gunmen's.
They found Marie's body late last night. Marie is dead."
"Did they positively identify the body?"
"I don't know. Tony called to tell us that they had found a body. A
body
that they believed was hers. Are you sure this is the same Marie
Woods? Are
you sure this isn't somebody or something else?"
"Yes Mulder. I am absolutely certain that this is the Marie Woods
whom we
were looking for. Mr. Couldon said that he pulled her out of the
wreckage
mere moments after the explosion, long before rescue crews got there."
"Why didn't he tell anyone that she was OK?"
"I haven't asked him much. I wanted you to be part of this. He says
that
she is in danger. He says that he was trying to protect her. We have
her
registered under the name Marie Oaks. And Mulder, she isn't OK. She
is not
in very good condition. It will be a miracle if she makes it out of
surgery,
but I haven't told him that yet. He will answer all of our questions
when he
knows she is going to be OK. In the mean time, I think we need to get
Tony
here, discreetly and quickly."
They sat there the rest of the night. Information on Marie's
condition was
sketchy at best and not that easy to come by. She had spent almost 11
hours
in surgery. They had found out that she was suffering from massive
internal
bleeding, and she nearly bled out. Her body was ravaged by the
precursors of
infection, and they refrained from setting her broken bones until they
had a
better idea of whether she was going to make it or not.
Tony got there within hours of the phone call. He didn't understand at
first.
A body had been found in the wreckage. He was certain that Scully
was
wrong, how could Marie have ended up in a hospital three hours away
from the
accident site. It was Scully's insistence that he get there and at
least
take a look, that convinced him to make the five hour drive. Upon
arrival,
his first instinct was to yell and scream until he got some answers.
He
wanted to know how his sister ended up in Washington. He wanted to
know who
brought here there, and who did this to her. He wanted to, most
importantly,
make sure it was her.
Scully calmed him down. She assured him that it was in fact Marie
that was
in surgery. She told him that she had held Marie's hand in the
ambulance.
She told him that they were doing everything to help her. She also
told him
that the person who brought her here was trying to help. She would
have told
him the whole story, but instead Tony raced to the door of the OR that
was
opening.
Marie had made it out of surgery. Tony rushed to her bedside. Mulder
asked
that a guard be placed outside of her room explaining that Tony was a
protected witness, and that he needed to be guarded. It was a
stretch, but
at five am, Mulder figured that nobody would really question it.
Scully and
Mulder then proceeded to question Brian.
"Mr. Couldon, if you could please come with us, we would like to ask
you some
questions." Said Mulder.
"I didn't mean her any harm. I was only trying to protect her. If I
had
left her at the warehouse, she would surely be dead right now. If I
had
taken her to a local hospital, they surely would have killed her."
Cried
Brian.
"It's okay, Mr. Couldon." Said Scully. "We only want to know what
happened."
"Yes, Mr. Couldon, can you please tell us why you were so afraid for
Marie's
safety?" questioned Mulder
"Please call me Brian." Started Brian, "She had found something.
Neither of
us really knew what it was, but when things started getting weird we
knew
that it was not just a design flaw. She was just doing her job when
she
started asking questions, the questions kept getting deeper and
deeper, until
she was told that she should drop the topic. Marie is the kind of
person who
saw that as a reason to continue. When things started happening to
her, like
her car was vandalized, and her apartment was ransacked, I had her
transferred off the site. She was the kind of person who never
learned to
believe or trust authority, and she never learned that there are times
when
you really have to shut up. I don't think that she made the
connection about
the things that were being done. I don't think she saw these random
acts of
violence as a reason to stop searching. I saw it immediately and I
asked her
to let it go. She didn't listen. They brought her back to the site
against
my wishes, because they thought she knew too much. I don't know what
she
knew. I know that she stopped asking me about things, but I thought
that she
was heeding my request to let things go. I think that was what she
wanted me
to believe. She had kept journals. We all saw her writing in them,
but she
never let anybody get close enough to see what it was she was writing.
I
think that is why they ransacked her apartment, looking for those
journals.
I knew they were planing on hurting her. The secretary gave me a file
that
detailed her accident. That was a couple of days before she even came
back
on site."
"Who was doing all of this?" Scully broke in.
"Beech Pharmaceuticals was doing it. They are very protective of
their
research and their intellectual property. They thought she knew too
much."
"They are also the lead manufacturer of Military vaccines and medical
products. Any drug administered in a military hospital is either
manufactured by them or at the very least inspected by them," said
Mulder
"I don't know what their intent was with this facility, but I can tell
you
that I never saw a Pilot plant designed to that degree before. The
rest of
us just thought that it was the engineer's way of making a larger
profit on
the overdesign. I guess Marie just took it a little further."
"Do you know what it was that Marie found? Do you know what they were
planning on producing here? What did she tell you of her findings?"
Asked
Mulder, trying to let Scully know that he had no intention of letting
Brian
know that they were in receipt of the journals and notes.
"No, she stopped asking me and telling me when I made it apparent that
I
didn't want to know. All I know is that whatever it was that they
were
working on, she knew enough about it to be dangerous. I knew that she
was in
trouble. I knew I had to help her. I did the best I could. I am
sorry if
I made things worse, but I know that if I didn't help her they would
have
killed her. I know that I couldn't have lived with myself if that
happened."
He paused as he cleared the single tear from his eye. "I have to go.
My
family is probably wondering where I am. If it is all right with you,
I would
like to go home. I just have one request. Please don't tell her it
was me
who did this to her. I will still have to work with her when she
comes back
and I would rather she not know. So, Agents Scully. Mulder. Can I
go?"
"Wait a minute Mr. Couldon," said Mulder as he put a hand on his
shoulder.
Scully broke in "If we have any further questions, where can we
contact you?"
before Mulder had the chance to finish.
"You can get me at the Bangor Offices."
Scully reached into her pocket, and took out her card. "If you need
to get
in touch with us, don't hesitate to call."
"Thank you." he said as he took the card and began to walk out the
door.
"You can't just let him go Scully" said Mulder as they watched Brian
walk to
a pay phone.
"Yes I can. He hasn't given us any information that we didn't already
have,
and from the way he handled her, and the way he tried to dress her
wounds, he
was trying to help her. And besides, we don't need to put him in any
more
danger. He still has to go to work on Monday."
Georgetown Medical Center.
ICU
Monday February 15, 2000
6:15 am
Tony sat at his sister's bedside, gently clasping her hand. He didn't
know
what happened, he didn't how she got here, but he was grateful for the
opportunity to see her alive again. Her face had some bandages on it,
and
there were some stitches, but he was certain this was Marie. He held
her
hand as if, she would vanish if he let go. He didn't notice when
Scully
walked in. He was slightly startled by her hand on his shoulder.
"Tony, I just spoke with the doctors. She is very weak, but they are
hopeful
that she will make it."
He turned to her and smiled. "Thank you Scully. Thank you for giving
me my
sister back."
"We have some work to do to get ready for the hearing this afternoon.
You
can stay here as long as you want, but if you decide that you need a
place to
sleep or get a shower, you can come to my place. The address is on
the back
of my card." Said Scully as she handed him the card.
Lone Gunmen's Office
February 15, 2000
6:30 A.M.
"How is she doing?" asked Byers as Mulder led Scully into the office.
"Marie is very weak, but they think that she will make it." Said
Mulder.
"I have a couple of files that I need opened," said Scully as she
handed him
the disk. "How soon can you take care of this?" she asked as she went
to sit
down.
"Right away." said Langly
They were only sitting there a few moments when Langly called Scully
over.
"What is it Langly?"
"I can only get one of the files to open. The others are badly
corrupted and
only partially complete. They all are about you Scully." Said Langly.
"One
file lists your abduction date amidst data on other abductees. The
next is
pretty bad, but we can make out your name."
"What about the file you were able to open?" asked Mulder as he walked
over
to where Langly was sitting.
"The third file, Mulder is an email, with a file attached." Said
Scully as
she glanced at the email.
CGB-
The project is moving along nicely. All of the trials have
produced the
expected results. We have had a few problems, but those problems will
be
rectified in time for the hearing date. We have spoken with the other
parties involved and the hearing will go as planned. The agents in
question
will be taken care of in an amicable way, that will give us the
necessary
freedom to pursue our goals with plenty of time before The Date.
Attached are the files that you requested.
Sincerely
Dr. A. Van Taylor
Attached File <>
"What is that email saying? It is vague at best." Said Mulder getting
a bit
annoyed.
"Scully, do you know who this Dr. Van Taylor is??" asked Byers ready
to
answer his own question.
"Yes, that is the Doctor who had me transferred to his research
project."
"I know" said Byers, "But do you know why he had you transferred? Do
you
know why he so specifically ensured that you were on his research
project?"
"No, I hadn't even thought about it, but I never applied for any
research
projects or grants, I never even thought to ask where they got my
name."
"When Mulder told us that you were leaving The X-Files, we did a
little
looking into your transfer. Dr. Van Taylor is the principle
researcher for a
project known as CC-10-13. Which also happens to be the name of the
substance that you asked us to analyze. It is Dr. Van Taylor's job to
insure
that all regions have a medical professional who is extremely
knowledgeable
about the effects of and procedures associated with individuals taking
CC-10-13. You Dr. Scully were going to be in charge of the Washington
DC
Metro Area."
"That never would have worked. I would have seen this research and
have been
privy to these side effects and the repercussions of taking this drug.
I
would have known that people should not be taking it."
"But would you have Scully?" asked Mulder, "You, yourself said that
you
couldn't find any reason why this should not be a part of every
person's
daily regiment. If you didn't have Marie's files and journals, you
too would
have thought this was a great medical advance."
"I would have had access to more information. I would have seen that
this
was not all it was cracked up to be."
"Scully, they would have you as convinced as they would have
everybody. You
would have only known what they wanted you to know." Said Mulder
amused by
Scully's denial.
"The way the project was slated to work was as follows," said Byers,
as he
took out a small print out. "First regional doctors were going to be
set up
in order to finish the research. That would have stretched till
approximately March 31, 2000. Then all medical professionals were
going to
be invited to seminars in which this vitamin was going to be
demonstrated,
and shown to be highly beneficial in order to get their patients on
it. The
seminars would have been completed by August 31, 1999 by which time
70% of
the United States population would have been regularly taking this
supplement. In the time it took for the transformations to take
effect,
enough experiments would have been done as to what made you unique,
Scully,
that makes the transformation possible without the toxic byproducts
that we
have seen." Said Byers as he flipped the page.
"Wait a minute, you said I was unique. What do you mean by that?"
asked
Scully at least slightly confused.
"Scully, we found reference in your medical records to some unorthodox
treatment you received during your cancer treatment. There was also
reference to some anomalies in your blood chemistry after your
abduction to
Antarctica." Continued Byers.
"I don't understand why you checked my medical records."
"When a doctor goes to this much trouble to secure someone for a
research
study, there has to be a reason, and we guessed it might be medical in
nature." Said Byers.
"So they wanted to use me as a guinea pig, but why did they offer me a
research position?"
"They know your history Scully. They know your work ethic, in fact I
would
say that they know more about you than you know about yourself. They
know
that you would work tirelessly until you found the missing link,
especially
if you thought it might save people's lives. They also know that
Mulder does
not work as efficiently when your team is broken up. Add in his
feelings of
betrayal, and not only do they have you, essentially experimenting on
yourself, but they have broken up the only team that could have
stopped
them." Finished Byers.
"The best part of the whole thing, Scully," said Langly, "is that you
would
be willingly experimenting on yourself, without even knowing it."
"How would that be possible? I wouldn't allow that."
"You wouldn't even know it." Said Mulder, "Things like mandatory blood
donations, your own private bathroom off of your office, your yearly
physical, etc. you would be working with your own biomatter labeled
as that
of a general sample."
"I have a call in to Skinner, and in to Dr. Van Taylor. I am not
taking the
transfer. I will quit before I am willfully a part of this." Said
Scully as
she picked up her phone.
"What would you do Scully? If you went into private practice you
would be a
part of this anyway. There is no escaping this, not unless Marie
pulls
through and can tell us what she knows." Said Frohike as he tapped
away at
his computer.
"But we have her notes and her journals. We have everything she
knows." Said
Mulder. "We can stop this."
"No," said Byers. "You do not have everything. According to these
files,
Marie was uniquely immune to this substance. And I am willing to bet
she
knows why. We are starting to get bits and pieces of the summary
report on
her recovered."
"It has to be in the journals we have, it has to be in the paperwork."
Said
Scully
"Mulder, in the paperwork you looked at, did you notice anything that
pertained directly to Marie?" asked Byers. "Do you have or have you
seen any
of her medical records?"
"Actually, no, there is nothing in the files other than her
observations.
Nothing that referred to her as a test subject." Said Mulder.
"What about you Scully?" questioned Byers.
"No, most of what I saw was un-named trial results, and the files that
pertained to me, that you opened. Nobody mentioned that Marie might
have
been a subject. I don't understand, her name doesn't appear in the
names of
those abducted, and Tony never mentioned anything about his sister
having
been abducted, or anything about her health."
"Unless nobody even knew, maybe she didn't even know herself that she
was
being tested. It is possible that she didn't figure it out until
after she
sent the box. She might have only figured it out as a result of that
disc
you had Scully" said Mulder. "Where did that disc come from?"
"It was left for me, the note said that Marie had sent it to me, but I
never
received it. This was a copy."
"Even if this gives us more information, we still don't know
everything that
Marie knows." Said Langly. "We need her to tell us."
"What about her family, what about where she lives, the information
has to be
somewhere. We have to be able to access her medical records at the
very
least." Said Scully.
"Has anyone even been where she lives over the past few days? I bet
it is
being cleaned up if it hasn't been already. Without her, you don't
have much
Mulder." Said Frohike. "Where are the rest of the files that she sent
you?"
"They are back at my apartment." Said Mulder as he grabbed his jacket.
"I'd
better go get them."
"I will go check on Marie." Said Scully as she headed for the door.
"You boys, see what else you can come up with." Said Mulder as he
walked out
the door. "The hearing is at one this afternoon, we are running out
of time."
Georgetown Medical Center ICU
Monday February 15, 2000
8:30 a.m.
Scully rushed to the room where she had left Tony and Marie two short
hours
ago. When she entered the room it was empty except for a single
orderly who
was changing the sheets and cleaning up the room, and the guard that
Mulder
had posted was gone.
"Where is Marie Oaks? She was in this room this morning." Asked
Scully.
The orderly just kept going about his business cleaning.
Scully grabbed his shirt collar, and spun him around to face him.
"Where is
she? She was just here a few hours ago." She yelled at the orderly,
at first
not noticing the headphones he was wearing.
"Look I just work here." He said pulling the headphones form his ears.
"I
don't know where she is. I got a list of rooms that needed to be
cleaned
when I came in. I am just doing my job. I don't even know who Marie
Oaks
is."
As Scully was apologizing to the orderly, the charge nurse came in.
"Where is Marie Oaks? She was here this morning with a protected
witness. I
need to know what happened to them.," said Scully with urgency in her
voice.
"Who are you? I cannot just give information on patients to anyone."
"My name is Dana Scully. I am a friend of the family. I left my
witness
here with Ms. Oaks at 6:30 or so this morning."
"I am sorry, Ms. Scully. Ms. Oaks passed away at 7:45 this morning.
Tony
Oaks has gone home, he asked us to let you know."
"What happened? When I left, she was weak, but they thought she was
going to
make it."
"I don't know exactly what happened. I came on shift at eight, but I
can
check her chart if you would like."
"Yes, I would appreciate that."
"She died of complications resulting from her injuries." Said the
nurse
glancing at the chart. "I guess in the end, her heart gave out.
According
to this chart, it was pretty miraculous that she made it through
surgery. I
am sure we did all that we could for her."
"I would like to perform an autopsy." Said Scully.
"I don't understand why. She died of cardiac arrest. With all of her
other
injuries, I doubt she would have made it anyway. Besides you cannot
perform
an autopsy. The body is in the process of being transferred, and it
has been
requested that her body remain intact for burial."
"Thank you." said Scully as she walked away and took out her cell
phone. I
need to get in touch with Tony, she thought. I need to find out what
happened, and I need to perform an autopsy.
Mulder's Apartment
Monday February 15, 2000
8:30 am
When Mulder walked up to his apartment, something in the pit of his
stomach
told him to expect the worst. When he got to his door to find it
slightly
ajar, his worries were confirmed. The apartment was more of a mess
than
usual. Everything was torn up, his desk was flipped on its side, and
his
computer lay on the floor with the monitor smashed. There were papers
everywhere, and all of his books were strewn about the apartment.
Picture
frames were broken, and lamps were overturned. About the only thing
that was
not destroyed was his fishtank, but that didn't matter since the
inhabitants
were already deceased. As he had feared, the box with all of Marie's
notes
was gone, all of his notes from what he had read were gone, everything
was
gone.
As he reached into his pocket to call Scully, his cell phone chirped
to life.
"Mulder."
"Mulder it's me. She's dead. Marie. This morning. Tony has left for
home."
"What happened?"
"Cardiac arrest, her heart couldn't handle the stress of her other
injuries."
"Was Tony there when it happened?"
"I don't know."
"You have to autopsy the body. You have to find out what killed her.
You
have to find out what was unique about her."
"The body has already been transferred. It is en route as we speak.
Not to
mention the fact that Tony has requested that the body be kept intact
and no
autopsy be performed."
"Did you call him? I can't believe that he is going to let this go."
"I am still trying to reach him. I will gather up all of her records
and see
what I can find out. I will meet you at the Gunmen's with all I can
find.
We can try and put something together to at least stall them until we
have
enough time to really comb through Marie's package. We haven't had it
long
enough to really work with it."
"It's gone Scully, its gone."
"What's gone Mulder?"
"The package, all of the journals, my notes from the journals,
anything and
everything pertaining to Marie Woods is gone. Again Scully, we have
nothing.
After all that we saw, we have nothing, and the hearing is in a few
hours."
"But Mulder, what did we really see? We saw a dark green powder that
we
didn't learn enough about from the analysis. We never saw any effects
of the
substance, all we have are some corrupted files. There is nothing we
can do
about this. I don't even know if we can stall them."
"We do still have something Scully. You are due to report to Bethesda
this
morning for your new assignment. I am sure that you can come up with
something before the hearing. We can't just let this happen. If
Marie was
right, we cannot let this happen."
"Maybe we can get something from Marie's medical records."
"Let me know what you find."
Holy Face Cemetery
Lodi New Jersey
Tuesday February 16
Mulder stood on the outskirts of the crowd in a dark suit and even
darker
shades. Scully stood at his side as they watched the casket of Marie
Woods
descend into the ground. The group was breaking up, and Tony was
walking
towards them.
"I just want to thank you both for helping us. I am sure that Marie
appreciated it as well." Said Tony as he shook Mulder's hand. "Agent
Scully,
I am just sorry that you never got to meet her. The two of you would
have
been great friends. Thank you again." He finished as he hugged
Scully.
"Tony," said Mulder, "it isn't too late. We can still do an autopsy
to find
out what happened."
"I know what happened. Marie died as a result of the injuries she
sustained
in the accident. In the end her heart just gave out."
"Were you in the room when it happened?" asked Scully
"Look, I appreciate all of your help, but myself and my family would
like to
just put this tragedy behind us, and try to move on with life. We
would
like to remember her for the person she was and all of the good things
about
her. Whatever you think might have happened is not important to us
anymore.
I am just glad that I got to see her one last time, even if it wasn't
really
her. I am sure that Lisa Hill, the woman at Georgetown Medical center
appreciated your efforts as well."
"What do you mean? The woman at Georgetown Medical center was Marie.
We have
an eye witness who brought her there from the explosion site." Said
Mulder
"The injuries," began Scully, "they were consistent with what
happened. The
witness. That was Marie."
"No, it wasn't. She could have been Marie's twin, and I understand
how you
could have made the mistake, but they found Marie's body at the site.
The
fingerprints and the dental records of the body at the site matched
Marie's.
Her husband, James Hill, claimed the woman at the hospitals' body. He
thanked me for all that you did."
"Where is her body? I would like to take a look myself." Said
Scully.
"Here is Mr. Hill's card. He gave it to me when he left the
hospital."
"I will check into this." Said Scully as she took the card and
squeezed
Tony's hand not believing that she could have made such a mistake.
"If it's any consolation, your sister indirectly saved the lives of
thousands
of people." Said Mulder.
"I'm sorry that we couldn't do more." Said Scully as she continued to
hold
Tony's slightly shaking hand.
"You did all you could, and you did the best you could to give me the
chance
to say goodbye. Thank you, and my family thanks you for helping us to
put
closure to this. The next time I am in Washington, or either of you
is in
New Jersey, the beer and pizza is on me." Said Tony as he turned to
meet back
up with his parents.
"I will hold you to that." Said Mulder as he ushered Scully to their
car.
"Field Notes Closing Summary," Typed Scully into her laptop. "On
Monday
February 15 at 9:00 am , I reported to Bethesda Naval Hospital to take
my
position on Dr. Anthony Van Taylor's research team. The receptionist
took me
to Dr. Van Taylor's office, which was completely empty, except for a
few
paperclips and coffee stain rings on the now vacant desk. There was
no
forwarding address left, and the receptionist was as confused as I
was. She
explained though, that sometimes research projects are cancelled
without
notice. She could not give me any further information. The Compound
CC-1013 never came up for a FDA hearing. When Mulder and I appeared
for the
hearing, we were told that the dispute was settled between the two
companies.
Since the FDA found nothing wrong with the substance involved, it was
pulled
from the FDA's docket. No further information was available on the
FDA's
research or analysis of CC-10-13. Beech and Haughey pharmaceuticals
were not
accepting any calls or taking any questions pertaining to CC-10-13 or
the
hearing. Any traces of anything other than a standard overdesigned
pilot
plant were removed from the Beech Pharmaceuticals site, and two trees
and the
building itself were dedicated to Marie Woods' memory when the
facility
opened later that month, without a warehouse. We never found out why
Marie
was unique, or why it was so important that I be part of the study, as
the
gunmen could not recover the file with any degree of accuracy. The
body of
Lisa Hill was cremated shortly after her husband claimed the body. I
was
never able to examine either body or make identifications myself.
A local newspaper article explained that Marie Woods died Saturday
February
13th at 10:58 P.M. after being recovered from the wreckage of an
explosion at
Beech Pharmaceuticals warehouse construction site. Crews pulled her
body
from under nearly four feet of rubble where she had been trapped for 6
days.
She was miraculously still alive, but died of a cardiac arrest while
being
airlifted to the nearest trauma center. Her face was badly damaged,
but
fingerprints and dental records provided by the family confirmed that
it was
in fact Marie Woods.
The article went on to say that structural instability, ground
instability,
and the risk of further explosions from what was still in the rubble
hampered
the search. There were a great deal of highly volatile substances
still in
and around the wreckage. It was a leak in a gas cylinder that
triggered the
initial explosion. It ended with the quote, "Beech Pharmaceuticals,
Bangor
Construction, and the Woods family wanted to express their sincerest
thanks
to everyone who aided in the search."
I never saw Marie's body, the service was a closed casket affair, and
the
Woods family would not allow anyone to get close enough to the casket
to peer
inside. Mulder was certain that her body was not in the casket, and
he held
onto the idea that she was not really dead, but he didn't want to
spread that
idea to the family. He didn't want Tony to be lost in a crusade
similar to
his own.
Brian Couldon was at the funeral, as were many of Marie's colleagues,
but
none of them would comment on anything other than what a shame it was
that
Marie was gone. When Mulder and I approached Mr. Couldon after the
service,
he claimed to have never spoken to either of us. When we asked to
examine
his minivan, it was perfectly intact, showing no evidence of a traffic
accident, minor or otherwise. He did wink at me twice at a moment
when he
was sure he had eye contact. When the person standing next to him
noticed,
he motioned that he had something in his eye.
Faye Blurry was not at the funeral, and was never heard from again.
It is my
hope that she and her husband made it to wherever they wanted to go,
and were
now going on with life, only thinking of Marie fondly.
As for the X-Files, my transfer was never valid. Skinner held onto
the
paperwork. He wanted to speak to Mulder and myself before it was
finalized.
When I went to his office early on the morning of February 17, to
inquire as
far as what to do considering the fact that the research study was
apparently
disbanded, he informed me that the paperwork was never finalized. He
said
that he wanted to discuss it with me before I left, and that he was
reluctant
to sign the transfer in the first place. I apologized for not meeting
with
him earlier than this, and thanked him for voiding the transfer. He
welcomed
me back, and asked that the reports of this investigation be on his
desk by
the following morning, which they were, along with all of the expense
reports, and follow up notes. Even Mulder got his paperwork done
early and
properly along with a note of thanks that he left on Skinner's desk.
Aside: I am still not sure what exactly CC-1013 was capable of or
did. If
it was really capable of all of what Marie was afraid of, it will only
be a
matter of time before it surfaces again, only this time there probably
won't
be anyone trying to stop it.
THE END