[begin part 3 of 3, Contrappunto] Saturday, February 7, 1998, 7:50 a.m. University of Cincinnati Hospital The next morning Alex felt as if she were floating through her rounds. She had gotten the results back on the CSF sample and they had confirmed their suspicions. Plus Dana had called and arranged to meet her that later that morning. After she had spoken with the FBI agent on the phone, Alex had had a hard time suppressing the grin on her face. She tried to squelch the feelings she felt, but it was like she was a teen-ager in love. *How can you be in love with someone you've only know for a day? Plus, she's straight. Plus she lives 500 miles away. And she wears that cross.* Alex knew, in her mind, that people who took their religion seriously enough to demonstrate it rarely were open enough to get involved with a member of their own sex. *On the other hand,* Alex rationalized to herself, *she knows I'm gay. She didnât flinch, and she even touched me after she knew that.* Alex tried to mentally slap some sense into herself. *Get a grip. This is just a fantasy. Why on earth would she be interested in you?* But there was something about the way that Scully talked to her, about the way she looked _into_ her, that kept Alex just a little hopeful. Hopeful enough that she couldnât completely dismiss her fantasies. 8:20 a.m. Chemicorp Parking Lot Mulder pulled the car up into an empty spot. There were only about 20 cars in the lot. He and Scully surveyed the factory surrounding them. There were two large buildings and several smaller ones. Most of them seemed to be connected by a series of covered walkways. One of the large buildings appeared to be the main production facility, as large smokestacks belched out noxious, oddly colored fumes. Scully wrinkled her nose. "They should be shut down, merely on aesthetic grounds." The other large building and the smaller ones showed little signs of activity. The factory seemed to be largely closed on the weekend. The complex of buildings was surrounded by a chain- link fence that looked to be ten feet high. There was only one entrance through the fence, but it was locked and controlled by a key-card machine. Mulder walked over to the entranceway and investigated the machine. Scully looked around anxiously. "The Lone Gunmen showed me how to bypass one of these. I think." He started to fiddle with it. "Mulder, that's illegal," she said, just for form. It wasn't like she wouldnât go in with him if he opened the gate. Which he did. "Hey, it actually worked!" He seemed surprised. The two of them hurried through the gate and went to one of the emptier looking small buildings. They tried the first door they came to. It was locked. "Mulder, look over here." Scully pointed to one of the covered walkways. There was a door in it that hadn't shut properly. Unless you were looking for it, you wouldnât have noticed the small discontinuity between the door and the frame. Scully opened the door and peered in. It didnât look like anyone was around. They slipped in and headed to the nearest building. The rooms in this building were offices. They tried to open the doors but all were locked. They looked through the windows in the doors and from the sales charts they could see on the walls, they surmised that this was the sales division. The two FBI agents continued into the next building. This one looked more promising. The rooms in this building were filled with complex equipment. "I think these are their analytical labs. That looks like the equipment of analytical chemists." Scully noted. They tried the door. It was locked. "Can you try your Lone Gunman magic here?" "They didnât have to tell me how to pick regular locks," Mulder grinned. "But, Scully it's illegal." For a second, she looked as if she might smack him. He just laughed. Quietly. "And look, it's the kind of lock any bozo can pick. Even you Scully." This time she looked like she really might smack him. "Here take my driver's license. Slip it between the door and the frame and slide the lock over." Scully followed his directions and they were in the room. She felt so·naughty. They quickly entered the lab. They split up and circled the room, looking for something that might answer their questions. Mulder opened filing cabinets and looked through the papers inside and Scully looked through the chemicals on the benchtops. "Mulder, come over here and look at this." She pointed out a cabinet filled with racks of tubes. Each tube had a date on it. There appeared to be a tube for every weekday for at least several months. "What if these are samples from batches produced each day? They are current through..." She checked the tubes. "yesterday. I'm going to take samples from the tubes from the last week." She looked around for something to put her samples in. "While you're doing that, I'm going to go look for the administrative offices and see if I can find anything out. Okay?" "Sure. Be careful." "You too. Letâs meet at the car in a half hour, okay?" She nodded, already caught up in labeling tubes. Ten minutes later, she was pipetting samples when she heard a noise outside the room. Someone with a very heavy footstep was walking down the hallway. She quickly stashed the tubes behind a large piece of equipment and hid on the other side of the bench. She held her breath as the footsteps stopped in front of the lab, as if their owner were looking into the room. After a long moment, the footsteps continued down the hallway. Scully exhaled. She stood and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a security guard walking away. She hoped that Mulder was careful. She finished gathering her samples and restored the lab to its former organization. She put the tubes into her jacket pocket and went to the door. She looked out. The hall appeared clear. She quickly made her way back to the car. Mulder walked up shortly after she got there. "I found some files that look interesting," he said as he got into the car. "But I couldn't find a copy machine. So I just took them. I'm going to copy them while you and Alex test those samples." "Mulder, do you realize that if we had to follow proper procedure, you would be completely ineffective?" He gave her his best hurt look and they drove out of the parking lot and headed to the hospital. 10:10 a.m. University of Cincinnati Hospital "Alex? It's Dana." Mulder raised his eyebrows at his partner. "Dana?" he mouthed at the woman on the phone. She ignored him and continued to speak. "We're in the lobby of the medical school. Can you come meet us? Okay. We'll see you then." She turned to her partner. "She'll be here in 20 minutes. She has to finish with her patients." "Dana?" he repeated. "She asked me if she could call me Dana. And unlike you, I have no particular aversion to my given name." "You really like her donât you," he looked at her with a completely serious expression. She began to respond with a smart-alec response, but then she saw the expression in his eyes. "I do." She answered honestly. "Not that it matters much. We'll be gone in a couple of days and I'll never see her again." She gave him a weak smile of resignation and he returned it in kind. Their lives were not conducive to emotional attachments. After a few minutes, Scully saw Alex coming across the lobby. She was wearing Katherine Hepburn-esque wide legged trousers and a starched white shirt. Her lab coat flowed behind her as she strode toward them. Scully felt herself grinning. She wondered if Alex always dressed this well, or if maybe she was dressing for her. *Now, why would you think that? She has no interest in you,* Scully reminded herself. When Alex reached them they all greeted each other. The two women grinned stupidly at each other for a moment before they each forced themselves to attend to the business at hand. "We found some samples at Chemicorp this morning. I donât know that they are the right ones, but they looked the most promising," Scully began. "Good. Let's take them upstairs and see what we can do with them." "I need to make some photocopies," Mulder broke in. "Can you point me to a copy machine?" "The library is right over there." Alex pointed. "They have a bunch of machines." She reached into her coat pocket and took out a sheaf of papers. She shuffled through them and handed a yellow card to Mulder. "Here is a copy card. I think it has about 100 copies left on it. If you need more, you can buy them at the desk." "Thanks, Alex. Scully, I'll call you when I'm done here. You girls be good now," his grin was almost a leer. They both shook their heads at him and headed off for the elevators. They went to the 7th floor and went into a nearly deserted lab. A short dark woman greeted them. "Dr. Scully, Dr. Madison." Alex introduced the two women. "Please call me Janice." "And you can call me Dana." Scully was beginning to miss the cases where she just let everyone call her Agent Scully. "You have some samples for me?" the no-nonsense scientist asked the FBI agent. "Here," Scully pulled five tubes out of her jacket pocket. "I really appreciate you coming in on Saturday to test these for me." "Oh that's fine. I usually work on Saturday anyway. I get more work done when other people aren't around." She took the samples from Scully. "I have four cell lines that each express a different population of estrogen receptors. When these receptors are activated by estrogen or related compounds, the concentration of calcium in the cells rises very quickly. It's a signaling response. External cue, estrogen, causes an internal signal, calcium, which then cues other cellular activities. Itâs how the cell can react to external cues. We can visualize this response by incubating the cells with a dye that is different colors at different calcium concentrations and then looking at them under the microscope. So weâll label the cells with the dye and then put your samples on the cells and first see if they cause a response, and second, see if there is a different response in the different cell lines. Okay?" Scully and Alex agreed and watched the woman work. They followed her into a small dark room completely filled with microscopes and computer equipment. ãIâm going to use a digital camera to record the responses, so you can watch them on that computer screen.ä Dr. Madison sat at on of the microscopes and turned on several switches. She put the samples onto the microscope and fiddled with more switches and knobs. The computer screen lit up with a picture of a gray cell. ãThat is the cell without the dye.ä She flipped a switch and the image turned light green. ãThat is the dye. This is the cell in the resting state.ä Scully examined the computer screen. The cell flickered with tiny waves of light. It seemed so·alive. ãIâm always amazed at how beautiful life is,ä she whispered. The other two women nodded in agreement. ãIâm going to put the sample on the cell now. Excuse me, I have to change some settings over there.ä She maneuvered around Scully and Alex in the small room. Scully stepped back to let her pass and moved right into Alex. She jumped with the contact and slightly lost her balance. Without thinking, Alex put her hands on the FBI agent to steady her. The two women looked at each other in alarm. Alex felt her stomach drop with the surge of desire. The scientist moved by them again and Alex reluctantly let Scully go. She wasnât sure how to interpret the look that those intense blue eyes held. ãOkay, here goes.ä She plunged the handle of a very small syringe. ãIâm injecting the sample into the medium that the cells are bathed in.ä All three women watched the computer screen intently. The cell that had been quietly green now flashed an angry red. ãWell, that looks like a response to me,ä Dr. Madison said with a touch of amazement in her voice. ãIn fact, thatâs a huge response. If I didnât know better, Iâd think that were pure estrogen. Iâd like to get some of this to a chemist and see what it is. Letâs try the other cell lines.ä She repeated the procedure with another set of cells. This time the cell turned from green to orange. ãInteresting,ä the scientist mused. ãThat was a much smaller response.ä She repeated the experiment with the other two cell lines. One set had no response and the other had a response like that of the second cell line. ãWell, it looks like you were right, Agent Scully. Clearly this compound affects different receptors very differently.ä ãDo you think that could account for the fact that only part of the exposed population is affected?ä Scully asked. ãAbsolutely,ä the scientist agreed. ãI wonder what the cells look like after 15 minutes exposure.ä She put the cells from the first experiment back on the microscope. After she had focused the microscope, the three women looked in astonishment at the fiery red cell on the computer screen. ãShouldnât the response have quieted by now?ä Alex asked, the concern evident in her voice. She could picture the cells in her patientsâ brains pulsing like this one. ãYes. Iâve never seen anything like this.ä ãI wonder,ä Scully began slowly, ãif this could explain the comas. If the response didnât shut off normally, the circuits might just overload and shut down.ä ãThat does seem a likely possibility,ä Alex agreed. Scully continued, ãIt may be that this response wonât shut off until the receptor itself is silenced. What is the lifespan of an estrogen receptor?ä she asked Dr. Madison. ãNo one knows for sure, but there is a lot of research out there that addresses the question." The three women continued to discuss the scientific and medical ramifications of their findings until Scullyâs phone rang. ãScully,ä she answered. ãOkay,ä she said after a pause. ãMulder, be careful out there. Call me when youâre done.ä She hung up. ãHeâs going to go return those files and see if he can track down some potential leads,ä she explained to Alex. ãI thought you might want to do a little research on the turnover of estrogen receptors.ä Alex nodded and Scully turned to the woman at the microscope. ãDo you have any references that we could start with?ä Dr. Madison nodded and they followed her back to her office. They took the list of references and headed toward the elevator. Each doctor read through her part of the list as they walked. When they got to the elevator, Alex looked up suddenly. ãIâm sorry, but Iâve been here since 6:30. I have to eat something before we get into this.ä Scully laughed at the abruptness of this declaration. ãOkay. Cafeteria?ä ãDo we have to?ä Alex whined a little. Scully laughed again. The sparkle in Alexâs eyes told her that she wasnât really petulant. ãI really hate the cafeteria. I try to avoid it if at all possible. And it usually isnât possible, but it _is_ Saturday. Let's go out." Scully agreed and they headed to the garage. They were both so caught up in small talk and enjoying each other's company that they didnât see the men hiding behind the car adjacent to Alex's 4Runner. Although both women were strong and fought hard, they were little match for the large men that outweighed them by at least 100 lbs. each. Their screams were muffled by rags placed over their mouths. "Get the FBI chick's gun," one of them said as they half shoved, half dragged the women to a car where a third man stood. The third man opened the trunk and took Scully's gun from the man holding her. The two thugs shoved first Scully and then Alex into the trunk. The third man held Scully's gun on the two women in the trunk. "If I hear anything from you, I'm going to stop the car and make you sorry." And with that he slammed the lid of the trunk, plunging the two women into total darkness. Neither Scully nor Alex dared to move. They heard the men get into the car and start the engine. Scully listened closely as they drove out of the garage. She could hear muffled voices coming from the front of the car, but they were indistinct. She decided to risk talking. "Alex," she whispered. "I don't think they can hear us very well. I'm going to try to call Mulder. They didn't take my phone. But I have to move around a little to get to it. Okay?" Alex quietly assented and Scully wiggled around until she was facing Alex. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone. When she pressed the on button, the two women were suddenly bathed in a pale green light. Scully pressed the speed dial and hoped that the signal could go through the walls of the trunk. "Mulder, it's me," she whispered. "We've been kidnapped. There are three men in a navy Oldsmobile Intrigue with Ohio license plate number CEG-989." She paused as he took down the information. "Mulder, we're in the trunk." She let this sink in. "Mulder, please find us...please." She reluctantly hung up, but kept the light of the phone lit for a minute, so she could see Alex. "He's calling the police." She tried to stay calm, if not for herself, then for Alex. Alex looked at the woman in front of her. Although it was clear that the FBI agent was trying to remain calm, the panic in her eyes was not far from the surface. Alex reacted instinctively to comfort her. She put her hand on Scully's shoulder, and looked questioningly into her eyes. Scully closed her eyes, and tried to let herself be comforted. "I'm sorry. It's just that I've been in a similar situation before. It did not turn out well." She tried to push the memories of Duane Barry out of her mind. She tried to think of how she could possibly explain all that had happened to Alex. She wanted to be strong. She needed to be strong, for Alex. She had to think of some way to escape. She opened her eyes and silently thanked Alex for the comfort. And then she marshaled her emotional reserves. "Letâs see if we can feel the trunk release mechanism behind you. I'm going to turn off the light to conserve the battery, but if we find anything, I'll turn it back on to look. Okay?" "Mmm hmm." "And Alex, it'll be okay," Scully said into the dark. She didnât sound completely convinced. "I think I'm going to have to lay on top of you to reach. I'm sorry." "That's okay," Alex murmured. *Great,* she thought angrily, *I get to have her on top of me, thanks to being kidnapped.* Alex's fear had been turned to anger by the look in Scully's eyes. She had never felt the desire to do violence before, but seeing that panicked and hurt look had made Alex want to do bodily harm to those who had caused it. The two women fumbled around the trunk lid. Alex tried to ignore the press of Scully's body against hers. Despite the danger, she was having a hard time. Scully shifted and her breast pressed against Alex's. Alex caught her breath. "I'm sorry. Am I too heavy?" "No, that's not it." Alex paused. "I just moved against something sharp," she prevaricated. "I think this is the mechanism." Scully turned on the light and shined it at the trunk lid. "However, it doesnât look like we can do anything with it." She slid off the doctor. "Plus, we're probably going 65 miles per hour down the highway. It wouldnât really do us much good to open it until we stop," Alex pointed out. She saw Scully tense up again, the panic starting to return. She gathered Scully into her arms as best she could, given the confines of the trunk. She held the smaller woman and stroked her hair. She whispered into her ear. "Shhh, it'll be okay. Mulder will find us." The light from the phone went off and they were immersed in darkness again. Alex felt the woman in her arms stiffen. "Shh, shh," she murmured and continued to stroke Scully's hair. "Let's talk about something. Something to keep our minds occupied." "I'm not sure I can carry on my end of a conversation. You talk. Tell me about growing up in Kentucky." "We lived on a big farm, just outside Lexington," Alex spoke soothingly into Scully's ear. "My mother grew up on the farm. It had been in her family for generations. But her parents only had one child--my mother. So she inherited it. She actually ran the farm, although hired men did all the work. My father taught at the university. They grew tobacco, I'm somewhat chagrined to admit. But there were also a few horses, cows, hogs, and chickens, too. My brother and I had the run of the farm. It was an amazing place to grow up." Alex absently stroked Scully's hair as she talked about the farm of her youth. She continued to talk, knowing that what she was saying was unimportant. She tried to focus on comforting her, and tried to ignore the feel of the woman in her arms, tried to ignore her smell. Finally she felt Scully relax a little. The FBI agent moved slightly so that she fit better into Alex's arms. Alex held her breath. The car pulled up and stopped. The two women froze. They heard the doors open and the men get out of the car. They heard one of them ask what they were going to do with the women. "Let's go inside and see what the doc says," another replied. And then they were gone. Scully and Alex remained frozen for a minute, but then Scully raised herself up on one elbow. "I know where we are," she whispered to Alex. She picked up her phone and hit the number 1 button. "Mulder, weâre at the Chemicorp factory. I recognize the smell. Mulder, hurry. They're coming back." She hung up the phone. She didnât move. Before the light went out Alex could see that the FBI agent was on the edge. On the edge of panic, on the edge of true fear. She reached out and pulled Scully down to her. She held her tight. She wanted to protect this woman. She wanted to hold her if it were the last thing she did. And if Mulder didnât show up soon, it might be the last thing she did. She ignored that thought and reached up and caressed Scully's hair. Scully let Alex's arms hold her and comfort her. They helped keep the panic at bay. Scully was unsure how to deal with panic. She rarely let herself experience fear. But there was something about being in this trunk that brought back everything horrible that had happened in the last five years. She was also afraid for Alex. She couldn't imagine letting anything happen to her. She let herself actually feel the arms around her. She felt the body pressed up against hers. She was overcome with an urge to return Alex's comfort. She wanted to feel Alex, wanted to experience her. Without really thinking about it, Scully moved her head toward Alex's. Alex had barely had time to register the change in position when she felt Scully's lips on hers. Scully was tentative at first, finding Alex's lips. But when she found them, she kissed the other woman passionately. Alex didn't know what to think. Thousands of unconnected thoughts flew through her mind. *It's the stress.* *Oh my god, those lips.* She tried to be noble. "Dana..." "Shh, please, just kiss me." And so she did. They did. Scully caught Alex's lower lip between hers. She grazed it with her teeth and then sucked on it. Alex pulled away for a second, but only to get a better position. She held the back of Scully's head with her hand and kissed her upper lip. She could see its fullness in her mind's eye as she felt it with her lips. She gasped as Scully's tongue entered her mouth. They heard sirens in the background, but continued to kiss. A few minutes later a voice hissed from the darkness. "Scully, Scully, are you in there?" The two women pulled away from their kiss and breathed for a moment. "Mulder, in here. Can you get us out?" Scully didn't move away from Alex, but she did wipe off her mouth. Alex echoed her gesture. Of course she didn't want her partner to see her in a compromising position. The lid popped open and Mulder opened the trunk. He grinned down at the two women. "Some criminals. They didn't even lock the doors. I just used the automatic trunk release." Alex was surprised when Scully relaxed into her arms. Surprised, and a little embarrassed with Mulder grinning down at them. "Sorry it took me so long," he said as he held out his hand to help them out of the trunk. "That's okay, Mulder, Alex took care of me." She squeezed Alex's hand before she accepted Mulder's help and began to untangle herself so that she could get out of the trunk. When she had gotten free of Alex, Mulder lifted her up and placed her on the ground. He then gave his hand to Alex and helped her out of the trunk. Once free of the car, Alex leaned up against it. She was exhausted. "Are we still in danger?" she asked. "No, the police are inside right now, arresting people. I thought I'd come find you first." "Thanks," both women said in unison. Scully leaned on the car next to Alex. The three of them compared notes for a few minutes until the police came up with four men in handcuffs. "Are these the men that kidnapped you?" one of the policemen asked, pointing to three of them. Scully and Alex nodded. The police loaded their prisoners into their cars and left, after receiving assurances that the two FBI agents and the doctor would follow them to the police station to give their statements. "As you might have guessed, Scully" Mulder noted, "the fourth man was Eugene Marks. I've been trying to establish a connection between him and the military. Maybe we can nail them this time." She just nodded, lost in her own thoughts. 9:35 p.m. Precinct 31 Police Station Alex sat alone in an empty interrogation room. The police had finished with her and she was just collecting herself to go home. She was exhausted, but she couldn't shut her mind down. She couldn't believe what had happened today. She was astonished at the actions of Dr. Marks. She was still worried about her patients. And then there was Dana. She would never forget that haunted look by the green light of her cellular phone. She would never forget holding her in her arms and comforting her. And she would never, ever, forget that kiss. She knew that it had just been stress. She knew that Dana had just been seeking comfort, but she would never forget her passion, and those lips. The door opened and Scully walked in. She no longer looked like a wounded child, but was the confident, beautiful FBI agent that Alex had first met. She came over and sat next to the doctor. She took her hand. "Are you okay?" Alex looked up and gave Scully a wry smile. "I'm just exhausted. Did Marks confess?" "Sort of. He claims that they didnât deliberately tried to poison anyone. They had an accidental spill that found its way into the creek. They'll get a slap on the wrist for trying to cover it up, but they're all going to go down for kidnapping. It's not good to kidnap a federal officer." Scully smiled at Alex. "We're going to have to pursue other avenues to establish any military connection. It'll be hard. They are difficult to pin down. You'll be interested to know that their research confirms what we discovered. It suggests that the active ingredient in the compound binds irreversibly to a certain type of estrogen receptors. First it causes behavioral changes, and then it overloads the hippocampal circuits and causes a memory loss. The circuits then become so overloaded that consciousness is lost. In rats, at least, normal receptor turnover allows for the resumption of consciousness in a few days." "Are there any lasting effects?" "In rats, it doesn't appear so. But they have no idea how it's going to affect humans. I think you'll get a very interesting paper out of this one." Scully paused for a minute and looked into Alex's eyes. She squeezed the hand she still held. "Alex, thank you. For everything." The two women stared into each other's eyes. Blue into green; green into blue. Neither set was stone or steel. Neither expression impassive. After a long moment, Scully spoke. "I have to get back and finish up our paperwork. I'm sorry that I can't take you home." "That's okay. I called a cab before you came in." "We're going to try to get a flight out tonight. I'll call you from DC and let you know how things turn out." Scully knew she was closing the doctor out. She wasn't trying to be insensitive, but she just didn't know what to do with these emotions. "I'm glad that I got to say goodbye." Alex looked away. She understood Scully's need for distance, but she was afraid of what she might see in her face. She gathered up her coat and walked to the door. She opened the door, but stopped before she stepped through it. She couldn't resist turning to look at Scully one more time. She was still sitting where Alex had left her. Alex managed a twisted smile and a quiet, "Dana," before she ducked out of the room. Coda 11:35 p.m. Cincinnati International Airport Mulder looked down at the woman walking beside him. He saw a flash of hurt and confusion in her eyes. He wasn't sure which demons she was fighting in her mind, not that it mattered to him. He reached down and took her hand. He squeezed it gently. *I am here. If you need me.* She looked up at him, the haunted look briefly there, before it was replaced with a more controlled one. She smiled at him. *Thanks.* [end part 3 of 3, Contrappunto]