"Count-Down" By Kirsten Kerkhof Chapter 1 Ten Santa Maria Hospital Macapa, Brazil 27-06-1997, 07:56 pm "OUT OF THE WAY! Make way!!" the nurses shouted while running through the corridors to First Aid. They had to hurry! On the stretcher was the motionless body of a woman, connected to a portable coronary care unit and infusions. Obviously she was suffering from hypothermia because she was covered from head to foot in a foil. The condition was clearly extremely serious and not a second was to be lost. Together with the nurses was a young man in his thirties. His expression was precarious and he clearly belonged to the woman. Although it didn't matter now, it was clear the woman in question was pretty. But not now. She was deadly pale and both her eyes were black with hemorrhages. Blood came out of her right ear and the care unit showed a weak and irregular heart-beat. The nurses knew the dangerous and almost hopeless situation the woman was in. They desperately tried to stabilise the situation while hurrying through the hospital. The nurse in charge broke into a cold sweat. This patient seemed lost forever, but she couldn't let go. As long as her heart beat, as little as it did right now, there was hope. She hardly breathed and she had to be helped with extra oxygen, but she was still breathing. Kind of ... The nurse knew her chances of surviving it all were frighteningly little. The man who was with her, called her name. The woman didn't react. The nurses weren't surprised, but they didn't stop him. Right now it was the only thing the man could do and they knew how much it could help the man himself. And they also hoped the woman might hear it. Who knows, every positive thing was a good thing in this situation. The head nurse turned towards the man: "Is this your wife?" "No", the man said, as he looked at the woman's face and gulped, "But maybe she wouldn't be in this situation if she had been my wife ..." "You're engaged then?" the nurse asked. "We're colleagues", the man said. His eyes told the nurse he didn't want to talk about it. The nurse understood and nodded while she said: "Anyway, we'll do everything in our powers to save her, I promise." The man nodded and as the woman was placed in a tub with warm water to try to get her body temperature back to 37oC, he walked towards the door. Then suddenly he seemed to remember something and he ran back into the room. "Get her out of the water!" he shouted. The nurses stopped him. "You don't understand! Get her out of that tub! The heat is going to kill her!!" he screamed as he tried to get to the tub. "Leave this room" a nurse said. "Sir, you're confused and that's okay, but you'll have to understand she has to ..." At that moment a long beeping tone interrupted her sentence. The care unit gave an alarm-signal and horrified the man saw the woman's heart had stopped. "Shit! A flatliner!" the head nurse said and they got the woman out of the tub and started heart ressuscitation. After a horrifying ninety seconds, more like ninety minutes to the man, the heart of the woman started beating again and it kept beating. "Keep her out of the water!" the man said. "I know what I'm talking about. There's something in her body, causing a fatal rise of her body temperature when it's brought back to 37oC!" The head nurse looked at him and said: "All right, we'll give it a try, but if her heart stops again, we'll carry on the way we intended to! Understand that her life is in your hands now!" The man nodded and he whole-heartedly hoped she wouldn't let him down. In his mind he could scream, desperately begging of her to stay alive, but he knew that in this situation everything depended on herself, her will to live. Right now, the only thing he could do was hope. Softly he said to her: "Come on! You can do it! Don't let me down ..." After a few minutes the woman's condition appeared to get a little more stabilised and a nurse walked up to him to tell him she would be taken to the Intensive Care Unit and if he could fill in a few papers for the hospital. The girl behind the desk took a form and asked: "Your name?" "Special agent Fox Mulder, FBI" XxXxX Chapter 2 Nine FBI Headquarters Washington D.C. USA 23-06-1997, 2:16 pm RESOLUTELY SPECIAL AGENT DANA Scully walked through the corridors of the headquarters of the FBI in Washington D.C. She was on her way to the basement. She came there with an alarming frequency, she thought, but she had reasons to be there: here was her partner's office. In a room that once served as room for the photo-copier Fox Mulder had his office; even now after five years. A down-right miracle to their colleagues and Scully knew all too well why. The problem was Mulder kept himself busy with the so- called X-Files, cases about unexplained phenomena. Keeping himself busy was an understatement though, he had devoted his life to solving these cases. The FBI hadn't been pleased with that and that was why they had assigned agent Scully to be his partner. As a sceptical scientist she had been ordered to give field reports on the validity of the cases and as soon as the opportunity would present itself, give the bosses a signal so they could close the X-Files. Scully was a brilliant, hard-working, but obedient agent, the kind of agent they liked best, but there was one aspect of her job in which she would be disobedient forever: she would never debunk the X-Files. She had to admit to herself she admired Mulder's passion for investigating the cases too much to have the X-Files taken away from him. It had happened before and she hoped for him it wouldn't happen again. It was his raison d'être. Right now however, she wondered why she hadn't given it a better try before. She was annoyed, angry because today - her day off! - she had to be at Mulder's office again. He had called her at home for a case he had received and he needed her help. She knew this could happen, but why did it have to be today? Without knocking she opened the door of his office. It went rather uncontrolled and the door handle slipped out of her hand, so that the door slammed against one of the many cram-ful bookcases. Several papers fell onto the floor. Mulder, who was working at his desk, looked around at hearing all this noise. "So I see I finally did find the worst moment in the world to call you!" he said and he grinned. Scully's courage fell. That grin was something she had learned to fear during these five years: it meant Mulder had gotten hold of case he was interested in and it also meant she would have to give a rational explanation to it again. An X-File. "Correct, this was indeed by far the worst moment you could have picked!" Scully said, closing the door. She left the papers where they were, they were invisible in the undescribable chaos in Mulder's office. This office was her idea of the perfect nightmare. "Come on, Mulder, you know I'm leaving tomorrow! I told you, Assistent-Director Skinner and the entire English-speaking world about my vacation! Do you mean I should have sent my messages in inter- galactic languages so that your UFOs would stay away as well?" Scully had planned a week's holiday and nothing was going to stop her from going there. She thought. And here she was again. "I'm sorry, Scully", Mulder said. "And I have to believe you're serious?" she said scornfully. She could kill him for this, because she knew that at the 'moment suprème' she would give in and go on an investigation with him and Mulder knew it just as well. Fortunately Mulder would never take advantage of this. He looked at her apologetically and said: "I'm sorry - really! - but this case is so strange that I wanted to discuss it with you." "Where is it?" Scully asked. "Just show it to me. At least I will know what I'm going to sacrifice my well-deserved vacation to." Mulder searched his desk. Then he searched the floor and then he got up to try and find it somewhere else. Scully burst out laughing. She had never thought she would live to see this! Mulder couldn't find what he was looking for in his own office: wonders would never cease! She said: "Okay, Mulder, I'm going to give you 10 seconds to find it. If you haven't found it after ten seconds I'm going home and then you won't see me for the first nine days!" Mulder looked at her. "You're not kidding?" "I would go searching if I were you, Mulder!" she said. "Ten!!" Mulder went on searching. "Nine!" Mulder knew she was serious and felt a little nervous. "Eight" "Seven" Scully was enjoying herself thoroughly. "Six" "Five!" Mulder looked around and tried as hard as he could to remember where he could have placed that folder. "FOUR!" "Oh, come on, Scully! Don't be so cruel!" he said almost begging. "THREE!! Save your breath, Mulder!" Scully said mercilessly. Her tone was sadistic. Then she saw Mulder dive into a pile of papers. "TWO!!!" A brown flash flew in her direction and with a loud slam it landed in front of her on the desk. "One ..." she said almost speechless, while she looked at the brown folder in front of her. She couldn't believe it. Then she looked at Mulder who stood next to one of the book-cases, arms folded and smiling the most self-assured grin she had ever seen. "You just won the microwave, agent Mulder! Would you like to continue for the car?" Scully said mockingly. Then she started to laugh as well and said: "Come here and explain to me who invaded the earth this time!" MULDER SAT DOWN AND took the folder. He opened it and was about to take out a few photos when he seemed to change his mind and he turned to Scully. "Have you ever read that story by Agatha Christie, Scully? You know, the one about the ten little niggers?" "No, but I've heard about it." "It's a story more or less about a group of people and constantly people get murdered. Nobody knows who does it and everyone is a suspect." Mulder told. "Yes, I remember. I always thought it a terrible idea", Scully said. "Just being in a building, not able to leave and one after another people get slaughtered, without you being able to do something about it or knowing who you had to avoid." "Well, that seems to be the case with a group of scientists of the University of Boston. They were looking for a newly discovered kind of beetle in the Brazilian Amazone. You know they are constantly discovering new species in the rain forests and we can conclude from the log-books that are found, that suddenly scientists started to disappear, only to be found dead later on. Not a sign of any criminal activity." "A natural cause of death?" Scully asked. "These scientists were all between 25 and 40 years old, perfectly healthy according to the medical checks they had before they left and it's hardly likely that the entire group of ten men and women would have suffered from undiscovered brain tumors, undetected liver problems or a heart defect that wasn't treated right." Mulder said. "That's true", Scully had to admit. "And so I take it you want to go investigating this matter, huh? Why? Do you think UFOs were at work here?" "No, not yet that is", Mulder said seriously. Scully knew she shouldn't have tried this joke. UFOs were no joke to Mulder. "But you were right about my wanting to go on an investigation and I managed to get A.D. Skinner so far as to assign this case to me. Wasn't very hard though. I think he was kind of glad I volunteered to take up this case", Mulder said with a serious expression. Then his face lit and he said cheerfully: "So, that's settled then! We're off to Brazil!" "What do you mean, we?" Scully asked. "Don't forget I'm going on vacation to-morrow!" "Oh no, Scully!" Mulder said. "I found that folder inside those ten seconds, remember? By the way, where were you going, because you hadn't told me yet." he added. "You win!" Scully said. She hated it but actually she had to admit she found this case kind of interesting. "I was going to Brazil!" XxXxX Chapter 3 Eight Macapa Airport Brazil 24-06-1997, 01:30 pm IT WAS BUSY AT the airport of Macapa. In the hall a band played cheerful Brazilian music and the temperature and atmosphere gave Scully a feeling of going on holiday. "Vacation" she thought. "I could have been here for nine days of swimming and sun-bathing!" She felt momentarily jealous at the people who were there for their holidays dressed in cheerful summer clothes. She felt angry with Mulder. Why did he always have to have those 'splendid' ideas? He was walking next to her and he had just picked up their luggage. "So, Scully, you're in Brazil after all!" he said. "Yes", she answered, "I was just thinking about it. I could have been here for nine care-free days of sun, sea and sand, instead of those forests. Looking for those creepy little bugs, brrr!" the thought made her shudder. Although she always seemed the imperturbable agent, insects weren't her favourite subject. "Ah well, just look at it this way", Mulder said. "If everything goes well, you might be able to get a few days of sunbathing after all and you just take up this lost holiday some time in the future. I know someone who would love to see you come home with some sun-tan!" "Ah, must be Frohike," Scully said. "Cheer up, Scully!" Mulder said cheerfully as he put his arm around her shoulder in a friendly manner. "This ..." At that same moment they were approached by a number of Brazilians who tried to offer them 'Romantic tropical sun-sets' or 'Exotic trips to the coral reefs for two'. Scully freed herself from Mulder. "I think you shouldn't do that, Mulder", she said. "No," he said, "Obviously that's equal to being engaged and married here!" Scully momentarily thought about it. She and Mulder? It made her laugh. Never in her life! Mulder looked at her as she was laughing. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I tried to imagine, you know, you and me, married and ..." "Go on ..." Mulder said with a mischievous smile. "Forget it, Mulder!" she said and she walked on. Mulder overtook her after a moment and Scully remembered he had been trying to say something. "By the way what was it you tried to tell me, just before we were approached for those exotic trips and so on?" she asked. "Oh, I just wanted to say: Cheer up, this investigation is going to be easy and fun, I'm sure of that. A couple of nice days in the Brazilian jungle!" "Let's hope ..." Scully said, putting her luggage in a taxi and ordering the driver to take them to their hotel. When they had arrived at the hotel, describing itself with 'almost every room with a view on the beautiful swimming-pool' and 'luxurious suites decorated with authentic Aztec designs' - "Who on earth makes up these things?" Mulder had wondered - they checked in and went to their rooms. The rooms were opposite of the other and after having agreed upon meeting each other in the lounge in half an hour where they would meet a guide for their expedition later that evening, they went their separate ways. Scully closed the door behind her, threw her bag in a chair, shrugged when she realized that that could hardly be called very good for her freshly ironed clothes, kicked off her shoes and fell onto the bed. Delicious! For a moment she remained lying there, then she got up and walked towards the bathroom. She decided to take a hot bath for another twenty minutes to freshen up after this trip and put on something more suitable for this climate. This thought cheered her up. She whistled while she took the towels from the stool and filled the tub with water. She made a grimace towards the air-grid in the wall. Half an hour later she arrived downstairs in the lounge and just when she turned around to see if Mulder was coming, she saw him walking out of the lift. She raised her eye-brows. "Well, Mulder, I can see you decided to go Caribian today!" she said. Mulder looked at his clothes and said: "We're near the equator, Scully! We have to adapt to the people around us!" He was wearing white trousers and a shirt in vivid colours. He wasn't wearing a tie. 'It suits him', Scully thought, 'actually he's quite handsome in these clothes, though they're hardly the kind you'd expect from an FBI-agent'. "By the way, Scully, those aren't quite the clothes I'm used to seeing you wear either!" he said. She had changed her usual suit for a light, short summer dress in blue and white. "I thought, I'd better enjoy the weather and the surroundings as long as I can", she said. "You're disappointed?" and she turned around like a fashion- model. It made her laugh. "Not at all", Mulder said smiling. 'She's beautiful', he added in his thoughts. "Come, how about getting something to eat?" AFTER A DELICIOUS MEAL the two agents had met their guide in the lounge. He introduced himself as Marco San Petro and told them it had been him who had taken the expedition from the University of Boston to the place in the jungle for their investigation. After that he had returned himself, keeping contact by radio, which had stopped after some time. Mulder invited him to have a drink with them in the bar of the hotel. "A new kind of beetle had been discovered in the rainforests of the Amazone and those students wanted to go studying it", San Petro told them. "What kind of beetle?" Scully asked. "I don't know", San Petro said. "I know the forests, not what crawling around in them." "How long did you wait before you took any action after the radio contact had stopped?" Scully asked. "Four days, I think, or five ... no, four days", San Petro said. "Why did you wait?" Mulder asked. "They told me they'd be going on two-day trips from time to time. They wouldn't take the radio with them and that's why they told me that I didn't have to sound the alarm until three days would have passed without contact. I gave them an extra day, but then I went there." San Petro said. "So you went to look for them then?" Scully asked. "Oh yes, but I couldn't find anything", San Petro said. He drained his glass in a single swig. "Except for those two corpses." "Two corpses?" Mulder asked. "You know who they were?" "Hey, Mr FBI! I'm just a guide, okay?" San Petro protested. "Do you think I liked finding those two bodies? This is gonna ruin my reputation as a guide when this leaks out!" "So I take it you know next to nothing about this expedition?" Scully asked. "No, I just knew who I was going to take with me and where they had to be." San Petro said. Mulder took the decision that had already been agreed upon: "Can you take us there?" "Sure, but I'd advise you to put on different clothes. Especially you, señorita!" San Petro gave Scully a wink. When he looked the other way, Scully made a wry face. Appointments were made for the following day to travel to the place in the jungle where the expedition had been and San Petro, who emptied his second drink and paid for it, left. Mulder ordered another drink for him and Scully and they sat down at a table. "I don't trust him, Mulder", Scully said. "I don't trust him either, but he is the guide who took those students into the forest. Besides, we've got very little choice I fear, for that particular spot in the jungle is cursed. At least that's what the local people say. There is hardly any guide to be found who would take us there. I'm afraid we're stuck with him, and we'll have to take our chances!" Mulder said. "But he was lying: he didn't warn anybody until a fortnight later. We have to be very careful." "So what else is new?" Scully said. "After all, we have to be careful all the time, haven't we?" XxXxX Chapter 4 Seven Grand Hotel "Brasilia" Macapa, Brazil 25-06-1997, 8:46 am THE NEXT DAY THE two agents were waiting in front of their hotel. San Petro had agreed to pick them up there. He had given them information about the clothes they should wear and things they'd better bring with them. Mulder felt as if he came from the set of an Attenborough wild-life film, recently arrived from the African Serengeti Plains. He was wearing khaki coloured trousers and a shirt in the same colour, hiking boots and apart from his gun, which he wasn't going to leave behind, he also had a hunting knife. His back-pack was packed with all the things San Petro had advised them to bring. Plus what he thought useful himself. Scully looked the same, except that she was wearing shorts. She had a red bandana around her neck which made her face look very pale. It was not that it didn't suit her, Mulder thought, but it just wasn't a colour that made her look very pretty. But, okay, they were going on a survival trip into the Brazilian rainforest, there were more important things to worry about. On the square in front of the hotel more people assembled. Clearly of the touristic species and elderly. The spirits in the group were high and when they burst out singing songs, Mulder decided he had chosen the right profession: there was always a chance for an FBI- agent to die an unnatural death and he hoped he would never be like them. To his relief from the other side of the road a klaxon sounded. The jeep to which it belonged was old and battered. "Is this meant for us?" Scully asked. "Afraid so ..." Mulder answered who saw San Petro behind the wheel. They took their luggage and crossed the street. "Just throw your stuff in the back!" San Petro said. "Plenty of room!" "I thought we'd get more guides for such a trip", Scully said. She thought just the three of them a little dangerous. "We're going to pick them up at a camp, just before going really deep into the forest," San Petro said. "They're going to help us with our luggage and they'll go back as soon as we've reached our destination. You probably already know the place is cursed, so I don't expect much help from them." He shrugged as if he thought: 'although I don't care'. "Aren't you afraid of the curse?" Mulder asked. It wasn't that he was worried about it, it was just that he wasn't very keen on him and Scully being left alone in 'the middle of nowhere' if San Petro would get it on his nerves. "Oh, no. That curse is just a lot of crap. There's hardly any reason to go there anyway. Even less is happening than you can get there looting. But it is and will always remain the bush-bush", San Petro said while he raced the jeep through the streets of Macapa. Mulder saw Scully look at the speedometer first and then at San Petro. She was sitting between himself and San Petro. He leaned towards her and said softly: "I've told you before: I'm not the worst driver in the galaxy!" "Mulder, if we're going to survive this, I'll never complain about your way of driving again, I promise!" Scully answered, who didn't think San Petro's driving very reassuring. "He's covering three times as many miles in an hour as I could!" "Well, there are only three things you can do about that, Scully," Mulder said: "One: you'll have to become a more aggressive driver yourself." "Never!" Scully said resolutely. "Two: you'll have to let me drive in future." "Even neverer!" "Three: you're getting out of the car now, and you're going to walk all the way." "Where, to the beach and the swimming-pool for the vacation I ought to have right now? Gladly!" Scully said. "You really haven't come to terms with it yet, have you? Not having your vacation?" Mulder said. "Mulder, please", Scully said. "I'm sure they taught you in psychology-class how good it can be for people to take some time off! I needed that vacation, okay? After months of chasing aliens, mutants, monsters, killers and your UFOs, I just needed some sun, sea and sand. Just like that." "So why did you come then?" Mulder asked. "I could have handled this on my own just fine." "No, you couldn't!" "Oh yes I could", Mulder said, defying her. But Scully didn't take to it. "Besides, I thought you told me I had to come, you know, after you had found that folder within those ten seconds?" Scully said. "And on top of all that, who going to keep you out of trouble if I'm not there?" "Have I reached that point already?" Mulder asked. "You've got no idea!" Scully said teasingly. AFTER AN HOUR AND a half of driving along paths covered with plants they arrived at a spot in the forest. A number of sheds were put up as if they had just been thrown into the forest and this was the way they had hit the earth. San Petro stopped the jeep and got out. Three men came towards him and the men discussed something in rapid Spanish. Mulder and Scully, who didn't understand Spanish themselves, didn't understand a word of this conversation but the gestures made it clear that the men were negotiating about the number of helpers they would be getting. It took San Petro almost thirty minutes of negotiating before he could tell Mulder and Scully that they would have five men to help them. "It took you 30 minutes to get five men?" Scully had asked. "Señorita, don't forget that no man who's got some brains in his head would want to go to that place. You'd better consider yourself lucky! However, they'll leave as soon as we've reached our destination. They refuse to stay longer than really necessary. For them that is", San Petro said. Mulder didn't care. He preferred working alone and Scully was the only one whom he could stand being near him all the time. He was certain San Petro could turn out to be a real pain soon enough and he definitely didn't need more people. Two other jeeps appeared. They looked as bad as their own jeep, Scully remarked. Hardly reassuring, but then again nobody expected they would be using brand new cars anyway. After some shouting to the other men, San Petro got into the jeep joining Mulder and Scully and they drove off. A bumpy drive followed. "These people", Mulder said after they had driven for about four miles, "Have they ever been there before?" "No, never. The curse, you know", San Petro answered. Scully got annoyed by all this superstitious business. For her there wasn't such a thing as a curse. This place was no doubt exactly the same as any other spot in the rain-forest, except that perhaps one of those vague deities had its headquarters there. Yet she decided to say nothing. She didn't fancy being left behind in the forest very much. These people obviously believed it and whether the place was cursed or not, she didn't think it would be easy to get out of this jungle without a competent guide. And, she had to admit, as Mulder's partner she had encountered more things she had considered nonsense at first which turned out to be not quite so ... Oh well, she would just wait and see. Before she was prepared to believe it! "But if they've never been there before, how do they know where they have to go?" Mulder asked. "Everyone knows where that place is, even if you've never been there yourself! These people have heard more tales about this place than you have about your national heroes and they damn well know that what those people behind us are doing ..." he pointed towards the other jeeps " ... is defying everything they've learned as children. A man simply shouldn't go there!" San Petro said while he kept looking at the path but didn't appear to have any intentions to slow down in the least. Then he looked aside to Scully. "Maybe you shouldn't have come, señorita. It's not a place for ladies!" "Don't worry. I can take care of myself." Scully said coolly. Mulder looked momentarily at Scully. He knew perfectly how well she could take care of herself. There had been several times when suspects had considered her too feminine to be of any danger to them, but Mulder knew there hadn't been a single one who had thought that for very long. She had knocked men over twice her size down so hard they didn't dream of getting up as long as she was around, something that made Mulder feel fortunate to be on her side every time it happened. "Are we getting close?" Scully asked. The forest was very dense and they had been on the road for quite some time. "Yeah, I guess so", San Petro answered. "About two, three miles or so. Actually it's rather close to the city." "This place, is it cursed because of some deity or what is it?" Scully asked. Now she wanted to know what she was supposed to be afraid of. "They say this is the place where the Gods came to the earth hundreds of years ago. And it is said that they have cursed this town because of the sinful behaviour of its people. Anyway, the town died out and the place has this awkward habit that people going there don't come back most of the time. The people here believe that's because of the curse!" San Petro said. "The curse of the pharaoh", Mulder said to himself. Then he asked San Petro: "And what do you think?" "That they got lost in the jungle. The jungle knows no mercy", San Petro answered. "Without a guide or a map you're doomed." For a moment it remained silent and then San Petro said grinning: "But, señor and señorita, you can trust me. I'm the best guide around!" "Sure you are!" Scully thought sneering. XxXxX Chapter 5 Six Jungle Near Macapa, Brazil 4:24 pm THE JUNGLE BECAME LESS and less dense and at last an open spot in the forest appeared. On this spot there were buildings covered in plants, but clearly made by humans. Mulder looked around and was amazed by the sheer height of some of the buildings. He wondered how such a primitive community had been able to build such buildings. The jeeps stopped near one of the smaller buildings and the helpers started to unload the jeeps. They did it fast, but seemed very nervous, looking around them all the time as if something was lurking in the forest. Something that would prove the curse to be correct. The leader of the men walked up to San Petro and started to say and ask things. He spoke Spanish and although Mulder and Scully didn't understand what it was exactly what he was saying, it was clear what it was all about: the helpers wanted to go home, and if possible right now. San Petro went to talk to the two agents as the jeeps except one disappeared into the forest. "I gave them permission to go. They were too nervous to be of much help anyway." He sighed. Then he became optimistic again and said: "So, what are your plans?" "To begin with, I suggest we'll make a camp and perhaps that little temple over there is quite good for that purpose", Mulder said as he pointed towards a little building. "What do you think?" he asked of Scully. "I guess it'll do just fine", she answered while she picked up some pieces of the luggage, following Mulder's example. "Ah, señorita, let me carry that for you", San Petro said in a futile attempt to be courteous. "This is really much too heavy for you!" "Señor?" Scully began, smiling radiantly. "Si, señorita?" San Petro said eagerly. "Back off!!" she said crushingly, and she took the luggage and turned her back on him. San Petro was perplexed. This was not the kind of woman he was used to dealing with. Mulder had been watching the scene from a distance and smiled. He walked up to San Petro: "You'd better watch out, she's hot stuff!" "Yeah, I've already figured that part out for myself!" San Petro said slightly indignant as he took the last pieces of luggage and followed Mulder towards the little temple. "MULDER, WHAT IS IT you hope to find here?" Scully asked. She was sitting in front of the temple and watched the forest get darker. Mulder was standing next to her and without looking at her he said: "I'm not sure, Scully. I suspect there must be some log-books or notes left from the expedition, so that's what I planned to go and look for tomorrow. And after that, well, I haven't really thought about that yet." He sat down next to Scully. "Well, as long as we keep an eye on that San Petro, because I don't trust him one bit!" she said. Mulder nodded and he patted his gun and knife: "He isn't going to touch these and I'm prepared to use them the first time I think it necessary!" Scully laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder. Mulder was pleasantly surprised by this but he didn't say anything. Instead he just wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I presume you will protect me if necessary, won't you Mulder?" Scully said smiling. "Since when do you need my protection?" he asked. It would be the first time ever! "You're the man around here ..." she said as if that explained it all. Mulder grinned and for a while neither of them said anything. Somehow Scully felt incredibly safe and protected the way she was sitting here with Mulder. Then she yawned, laughed and said: "All right, I've had enough for today. I'm going to bed. If you want to keep looking at those trees, you can just go ahead, but I know better things to dream of." "Tell me, Scully!" Mulder said. His tone was cheeky. "You don't have to know everything, Fox", she answered. "Aw, come on, Scully. You can ..." then he became amazed: "Fox?" Scully laughed, but decided not to say anything. 'Just use your imagination, Mulder!' she thought. WHEN SCULLY GOT UP the following morning the sun hadn't risen yet, but she could see quite clearly already. Mulder's sleeping bag was empty so he was awake as well. She was walking in the direction of the river that ran through the town when she met him. "San Petro is at the river as well. Maybe you'd better wait for a little while." Mulder said. So he too knew how San Petro thought about her! Mulder had wondered before why Scully hadn't had more relationships. She was a beautiful woman and he knew there were quite a lot of agents in the Bureau who fancied her, but somehow it seemed as if she didn't want it or something. He didn't know, though he didn't care either. Actually he was glad about it, because she was a good partner. He smiled to himself and looked back to Scully as she walked to the river. He knew all too well that she meant much more to him than just 'being his partner'. Most of all she had become a friend and a person, the only one to be precise, he could trust blindly. The only one who supported him in everything; well, almost everything that was; and he knew that whatever was going to happen in their individual lives, Scully would always be there when he needed her most. Scully arrived at the river and looked at the water. She frowned: this water was not in the least clear! San Petro saw her hesitate and said: "Don't you worry, señorita, this water isn't clear, but it is clean. Perfectly safe!" and to prove her just how safe it was he drank some of it. "So I suppose it can't be much of a poison then!" Scully thought cynically and used some water to rub the sleep from her eyes. Then she took a brush and tried to smoothen her hair. She saw how San Petro looked at her eagerly and she walked back to the little temple. "Mulder!" she began and beckoned him to come. "That guy drives me crazy! Really! I mean, he's constantly gazing at me, I really can't work like that! Don't you know a way to get rid of him?" "Fatally or just temporarily?" Mulder asked. Scully grinned and said: "Well, let's make it temporarily for now." "Your wish is my command, m'lady", Mulder said semi-officially. He failed to keep the ridicule in his voice imperceptible, "But, yes, I think I know how to keep him out of our way. He likes fishing and so forth. If he takes care of the food he isn't going to be a problem to us." "You trust him with your stomach?" Scully wondered sarcastically. Mulder took something out of his back-pack and showed it to her: "Stomach pills!" "I get the message", Scully said and she started the preparations for the investigation. SCULLY WAS SITTING ON the top steps of a temple. She took her bandana and wiped the sweat off her fore- head. She looked at her watch and saw that more than ten hours had passed since they had started searching. She looked at what Mulder was doing. They had decided to split up and look for the remains separately and to call the other when one of them would find something. They hadn't found much yet, but they had found one of the most important things: the expedition's log- book. It had been lying in a corner of one of the deserted and dilapidated little temples. Mulder had found it and he had called her. They had decided to take a better look at it that night. Then they had gone their separate ways again, because there were still some important thing missing. Like bodies for instance. Mulder walked towards her. "Found anything yet?" she asked. "Nope", he said. "No notes, no bodies. Nothing. Just lots of plants and ruined buildings." He sat down and wiped his fore-head with his sleeve. "By the way, have you seen San Petro, Scully?" "No, but then again I can't say I miss him ..." Scully said. "Ah well, he's probably fishing someplace or something. I don't know." She suddenly realised something and looked at Mulder. "Don't tell me you're worried about that guy!" "Well ..." Mulder said hesitatingly. "Not really worried, but something struck me ... What if this entire group has fallen victim to the very insects they were studying?" "Killer bugs", Scully said and she thought about it for a little while. "There aren't many of them, especially not in the wild, but then again, new species are found in these forests every day ... Who knows, science hasn't found answers to everything there is ..." Mulder grinned and said: "Scully, you don't mean to tell me you lost your sceptical attitude after all, do you? That you've given up your firm faith in science!" "I've been working with you for much too long, Mulder. Please remind me to request a transfer as soon as we're back in D.C.!" She looked at him. She had been joking, but he seemed to be genuinly scared she might be serious. She laughed and said: "Go to bed, Mulder. You're worrying too much!" XxXxX Chapter 6 Five 26-06-1997, 01:47 pm SAN PETRO'S WHEREABOUTS BECAME very clear to Mulder and Scully the next day. He was lying in a corner near one of the largest temples. He was dead. "Can you figure out how he died, Scully?" Mulder asked. Scully was a medical doctor and if there was anybody who could figure out how a victim had died, she was the one. She kneeled down and examined the body. She shook her head. "I see no wounds or other signs suggesting a violent death. He has a lot of insect bites on his body, but we covered in mosquito bites ourselves as well, so I don't think that would be the problem." She stood up and wiped her hands at her shorts. Then she walked towards Mulder who beckoned her to come and look. His expression showed unbelief and disgust and Scully wondered what it could be that made him look that way. Mulder was by no means an unexperienced agent and he had seen horrible things before, she knew that. She walked around the corner and unvolutarily put her hand to her mouth. She felt her stomach turn a somersault. Mulder had turned around and was busy looking extremely pale. She couldn't blame him in the least: in front of them were the bodies of the students, decayed and alive with insects. From the nose, eyes, mouth, ears and every other place they could find, the insects crawled in and out of the corpses. The smell was unbearable. She grasped Mulder's arm and pulled him away, away from this horribly disgusting place. It took a full fifteen minutes before one of them said anything. They had both been violently sick of the sight, even Scully who was fairly used to seeing decaying corpses. "Well, Scully, at least the mystery about the lost students has been solved. They've been found quite convincingly!" "Or what left of them", Scully said. "I'm not sure if we should draw the conclusion from this that these people died from the insect bites and that this kind of beetle is indeed poisonous or something like that, but at least they were quite full of it." "Oh, shit, Scully! That's so gross!" Mulder said disgusted. "Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." She got up. "I think I'll go and get that log-book we found yesterday. You never know, maybe there's something in it that's useful to us." "All right", Mulder said, stretching his legs. He looked at his clothes. They were dirty and ragged. He had torn his pants while looking in one of the temples and at that moment he knew that the 'indestructable quality' of the cloth had been wrong too. He didn't care very much though. He watched Scully. Her clothes were at least as dirty as his and she had tied her hair in a careless pony- tail. Still she didn't look dowdy. Even in these conditions she had a certain dignity about her. A dignity she had once explained to him as necessary to be able to survive in the 'boy's club' of the FBI. It wasn't until later that he had fully understood the truthfulness of her words, only later it had become clear to him that her position wasn't exactly getting easier because she was a woman. The two agents studied the log-book of the expedition and it appeared that during the first week everything had been going fine. Everyone had been well-prepared for his or her tasks and after they had caught ten beetles after three days, they had started to study the insects. However, soon after the beetles had been caught, one member after another started to die of a mysterious illness, causing the body temperature to rise fatally so that the victims died of sheer hyperthermia within two or three days. One of the members had lived a little longer after she had suffered hypothermia as a result of falling into the river. Nevertheless she had died as the other team members had tried to get her body temperature back to 37oC. The expedition had been exterminated as if Nature had counted down from ten to zero. "Here's a picture of those insects", Mulder said picking up a piece of paper from the ground. It had dropped out of the log-book and showed a beetle of about two centimeters long with extremely long feelers. It gave Scully the creeps. Dead people, okay, she had studied for that. She could deal with them. Dead aliens, being Mulder's partner that was something that came with the job. But insects ... she would never been able to tell Mulder, but she found them even more creepy than dead people. "Mulder, those are the same insects as in the bodies of the students!" she said. "At least, they look an awful lot like them ..." "Then maybe we ought to catch and study them", Mulder said. The hesitation in his voice made clear he didn't really feel called upon coming near the remains of the students again. "Be my guest", Scully said, who didn't like the task any more than Mulder did. "I don't think so actually", Mulder said. "You're the one who's used to dealing with corpses." "You're the one with the brilliant plan to go and study those insects!" Scully said in return. " We can toss ..." Mulder said hesitatingly. Scully looked at his serious expression and started to laugh. "Okay, forget it. I'll do it." "You sure?" Mulder asked. On the one hand he was glad Scully volunteered to do the dirty work, on the other hand ... if she really didn't want to go ... "Mulder, I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you. You never know I might change my mind." She put the bandana in front of her mouth and nose. The bandana was quite dirty but right now she was willing to take every piece of cloth, as long as she didn't have to go there without something covering her mouth and nose. "That's quite a fashion-statement, Scully!" Mulder said. She looked at him angrily. He could have been a little more thoughtful, she thought, it wasn't him who had to burrow into these corpses! Right now she was not in the least in the mood for jokes. She took a pair of tweezers and a bag from her back-pack and walked towards the temple where the bodies were. Mulder followed her at some distance. She walked past San Petro's body. It still looked extraordinarily intact, especially when compared to the remains of the other bodies and although Scully momentarily considered using San Petro's body as a source to get the beetles, she decided to walk on. At least those members of the expedition were a safe source to get the right bugs. Though 'safe' was hardly the word here, she thought. She made a wry face again as she saw the corpses. This was so gross! For a moment she hesitated but then the cool agent inside of her gained victory and she kneeled down at one of the bodies. Using her tweezers she took an insect from what had once been the right arm. The little animal tried to get loose, but Scully resolutely put it in the bag. She was about to stand up when it occurred to her it might a good idea to get a second insect. After all, she was here anyway and she didn't really fancy going back to the bodies in case that first beetle should get the worst of it ... She pulled a beetle from the body and held it in front of her face. She watched the little animal and for the first time in her life she felt admiration for this strange little creature caught in the tweezers, something for which she had never before felt any other feelings than disgust. She turned the tweezers around to study to beetle carefully. It used this opportunity to get loose and to free itself from the tweezers. Onto Scully's arm. And it immediately bit her with its jaws. Scully screamed, knocked the insect off her arm, got up and ran away from the corpses. The bag with the first beetle and her tweezers she left behind. She really couldn't be bothered about those right now. "Scully?" Mulder shouted when he had heard her scream. He ran up to her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" "That thing bit me! Look!" and she showed him two spots on her arm. Blood came out of the wounds. Mulder turned around and started to walk towards the camp. "Wait a minute, there's a first-aid kit among the stuff we brought, I'll get bandages and iodine. And perhaps we should check the log-book, the members of the expedition may have written something about these wounds. Okay, Scully?" He heard no reaction. "Scully, did you hear what I said?" No reaction! He immediately turned around just in time to see her collapse onto the ground. "Scully!!" He ran towards her. Her face was red and her fore-head was feverishly hot. Mulder remembered the fate of the students, how the had died. From hyperthermia. And Scully seemed to suffer from the same thing. Then he also remembered the woman who had lived a little longer and he hurried to get Scully as cold as possible. Something that wasn't going to be easy in these conditions. XxXxX Chapter 7 Four 27-06-1997, 04:13 am DAY WAS DAWNING AND Scully's condition was still getting worse by the minute. Mulder had taken every piece of clothing and textile he had been able to find and soaked it with water from the river. Then he had wrapped them around her. He hoped this was going to cool her down a bit of the hyperthermia, because that would have been fatal anyway and he didn't even know what she was suffering from right now. The situation made him nervous. This wasn't leading anywhere! He had to get her to a hospital as soon as possible, but how? San Petro was dead so they didn't have a guide and he doubted if he himself would be able to find the way back. Before Scully would die. Or both of them, for if he'd get lost, he had hardly any more chances of survival than she had. He decided he had to take his chances. Guide or no guide, if he wasn't going to leave this place, they both didn't stand a chance. For the last time he soaked the clothes with water from the river, wrapped them around her and then lifted her into the jeep. She was clearly very ill and the fever and the wet clothes made her little frame shiver. "Mulder ... where are you going?" she asked softly. Her eyes were closed and she seemed hardly conscious of what was going on. "What are you doing?" "I'm going to take you to a hospital", he said to her. Scully nodded weakly and momentarily she was silent. Then she started to weep and said: "Mulder, don't go away! Don't leave me alone! I'm so scared! So tired ..." Mulder really began to worry about her. He had never before seen her like this and that made clear her condition was terribly critical. "I'm thirsty, Mulder ..." she said weakly. He had put her in the jeep and went to get water. He realised she should drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration. He filled two canteens with water from the river and walked back to the jeep. As he wanted to give Scully the water he saw it was going terribly wrong. She had lost consciousness. He sweared under his breath, threw the canteens in the back and started the car. Right now he was really grateful for his fairly good sense of direction and kept his fingers crossed as he drove across the jungle. "Come on, come on!" he said angrily. The plants were covering the path and he couldn't pick up speed. He looked at Scully whose condition was rapidly getting worse. And the jungle just didn't seem to get less dense. He had been driving for a few hours without seeming to get any nearer to civilisation and he started to wonder if his sense of direction wasn't that good after all. He looked at the gas meter: the fuel tank was almost empty and he knew it. A feeling of fatalism came over him and he released the pressure on the accelerator. After all, what did he care, he thought, they weren't going to make it anyway! Obviously this was just the way they both had to die: in the Brazilian rain-forest, ill and lost ... But at least he was together with Scully, just the two of them, that thought kind of comforted him. He had been going through so much with her and despite the fact that in her condition she was probably going to die much sooner than he was, he liked her being here with him. Then he woke up from this fatalistic nightmare, called himself to order again severely and stepped on the gas. How could he be so stupid to give up all hope so easily? As long as the jeep moved, there was hope. Hope that he would survive. Hope that perhaps Scully would survive as well! This thought made him feel a little optimistic again and he pressed down the accelerator as far as he dared on this path. And to his own astonishment he reached the town. He took a deep breath in relief as he drove through the streets of the town, on his way to the nearest hospital. Because, although he himself was safe now, Scully wasn't in the least! Santa Maria Hospital Macapa, Brazil 27-06-1997, 07:56 pm "OUT OF THE WAY! Make way!" the nurses shouted as they pushed the stretcher through the corridors. On the stretcher was Scully's motionless body, connected to respirator and a portable coronary care unit. The heart-beat showing on the care unit was weak and irregular. Her condition was extremely critical. Mulder followed the nurses and looked at her. Blood started to run from her right ear and Mulder knew this was a very bad sign. Also the contusions around her eyes and her deadly pallor were frightening. He saw that this situation was making the nurse in charge pretty nervous. Despite the fact that Scully was breathing herself, which was a good sign on itself, it was hardly worth mentioning as the nurses had to help her with extra oxygen and she was likely to give up any moment now. Mulder saw that the nurses felt they were dealing with an already lost case. Mulder had hardly had the energy to protest when they had wrapped Scully in foil to get her body temperature back to 37oC. A tiny voice inside his head told him they shouldn't be doing that, but he had been too tired to understand why. "Scully!" he said. He hoped so much that she would open her eyes. Anything, if she'd just show him she was still alive. That for God's sake she'd still be alive! That everything was going to be okay after all! The nurses didn't stop him. Right now there was nothing Mulder could do. Except to hope. Which wasn't terribly much. The nurses also knew that she might just hear it and that would perhaps make her condition a little more hopeful. "Is this your wife?" the head nurse asked Mulder. Mulder looked at Scully's messed-up face and gulped. "No", he said, "But maybe she wouldn't be in this situation if she had been my wife ..." Momentarily he thought about her resolute, almost indignant reaction to the subject when he had mentioned it for a moment on the airport of Macapa. "Forget it, Mulder!" she had told him and somehow it had hurt. "You're engaged then?" the nurse interrupted his train of thoughts. "We're colleagues", Mulder said. He almost begged the nurse not to talk about it. He just didn't want to talk about it. Not now. The nurse understood and nodded. "Anyway, we'll do everything in our powers to save her, I promise." Mulder was getting a little annoyed of her voice which gave him the impression she wanted to treat him like a child who'd lost his mother, but he managed to smile. 'After all', he thought, 'she probably doesn't know her voice sounds so terrible. I shouldn't work off my feelings on her.' The little voice in his head telling him there was something going awfully wrong in the way they were treating Scully grew louder and more impudent. And at the same moment they were placing Scully from the stretcher into a tub filled with water, Mulder saw the life-threatening situation. "Get her out of the water!" he shouted. He knew this was sounding irrational to the nurses, but then again they didn't know what was wrong with her. Neither did he, actually, but he chose to ignore that fact for now. He saw unbelief in their eyes as he rushed towards the tub. He was stopped by the nurses. "You don't understand! Get her out of that tub! The heat is going to kill her!" "Leave this room", a nurse said annoyed. "Sir, you're confused and that's okay, but you'll have to understand she has to ..." At that same moment a long beeping tone interrupted her sentence. Mulder was horrified as he saw that Scully's heart had stopped and the coronary care unit gave an alarm-signal. "Shit! A flatliner!" the head nurse said. The nurses lifted her out of the tub and started heart massage. Mulder felt the ultimate feeling of helplessness. His partner was dying and there was nothing he could do! From what Scully had told him, this was almost the same situation as he had been in a few years ago. Then he had been looking for the alien bounty-hunter who had killed his sister - or rather her clones. He had ended up on the North Pole and inside a submarine he had encountered the alien, getting contaminated with its 'blood'. Something that had almost cost him his life. It struck him that the situation was more than just roughly indentical. Except for one horrible detail: it had been his own stupid fault that he had barely survived his reckless adventure a few years ago; he hadn't even informed Scully before he had been out of her reach and he had never found out how she had found him after all; right now it wasn't even her fault she was in this condition. It was, he realised, his fault again! For he had been quite glad that she volunteered to study those insects and, although she loathed the task and it had been his idea, she had not even refused to go. Just as she hardly ever refused anything he asked of her. He knew that no matter the absurdity of his ideas she always joined and supported him, even when she didn't share his beliefs, and she had more than once risked her career and even her life to get him out of trouble. And he had never really thanked her for that. More than just 'good job' or 'thanks, Scully' had never passed his lips and as he saw the problems the nurses had to get her back to life again, he felt terribly guilty for that, for those missed opportunities to show to her his gratitude for her support. After a minute and a half the nurses picked up a weak pulse. Mulder felt so relieved he didn't know what he wanted to do. What he did know, though, was that the nurses had to keep her out of the tub. "Keep her out of the water!" he said. "I know what I'm talking about. There's something in her body, causing a fatal rise of her body temperature when it's brought back to 37oC!" He saw the expressions of the nurses, they clearly didn't believe him. He became desperate. "Come on! You've got to believe me!" The head nurse looked at him and said: "All right, we'll give it a try, but if her heart stops again, we'll carry on the way we intended to! Understand that her life is in your hands now!" Mulder nodded. What else could he do? He hoped whole-heartedly she wouldn't let him down. She couldn't let him down! How would he be able to carry on without her? In his mind he was desperately begging her not to go: he needed her! She had to stay alive! But he knew that whatever he wanted, right now it was up to her to decide whether to stay alive or to die. He kneeled down beside her head, looking at her lying on the stretcher, motionless and with her eyes closed. She was very pale, but her expression was so tranquil and peaceful that for a moment he was afraid that she was already dead. That this heart-beat he saw on the monitor was a fake to keep his hopes up. But he shook his head to get rid of this foolish idea and corrected himself. Softly he said to her: "Come on! You can do it! Please don't let me down ..." He stroked her hair and swallowed. He didn't want to lose her! The situation appeared to get slightly better and a nurse came up to him and told him she would be taken to the Intensive Care Unit and asked if he could fill in a few papers for the hospital. The girl behind the desk took a form and asked: "Your name?" "Special agent Fox Mulder, FBI" AFTER THE FORMS HAD been completed he got the number of Scully's room and with fear in his heart he went to look for the room. And for Scully. XxXxX Chapter 8 Three Santa Maria Hospital Intensive Care Unit room 8 27-06-1997, 9:05 pm MULDER FOUND HIMSELF STANDING at the door of room eight and hesitated. He knew that what he was about to see wasn't pleasant. Then he took the door handle and opened the door. It was as bad as he had thought it would be. Softly he closed the door behind him and walked to the bed. He took a chair and sat down. From this place he was able to see just how bad her condition was. Her eyes were closed and she was on constant artificial respiration. Her heart-beat was still terrifyingly weak and irregular. She lay motionless on the bed and she was horribly pale. Mulder took her hand and felt it was stone-cold. He felt terrible. And he felt guilty. Guilty because he hadn't been able to save her from this. But then again, he knew she had never ever allowed him to be her protector. The door opened and a woman entered the room. Her face showed concern and she didn't even notice Mulder at first. "Mrs Scully?" Mulder said. The woman looked at him and seemed to be a bit relieved. "Fox? Oh, I'm so glad you're here, too", she said. Then she looked at her daughter again. "How is she?" Mulder asked. He had to ask though frankly he didn't want to know the answer. Mrs Scully sighed and wiped off a tear. "The doctors don't think she'll ever recover, Fox. Two, three more days, that's all ..." she sighed. Mulder looked at Scully lying motionless on the bed. He gulped. He thought of all the things he was wishing to tell her, any way, but just to let her know! Before she'd die. Because, he realised it now and had known it for much longer, she didn't have any chances anymore. Mrs Scully looked at Mulder. She knew how he felt. She saw the way he tried to bear up bravely. And failed miserably. But she wouldn't have raised four children if she wouldn't be able to see right through all that. "Fox ..." she said. Mulder turned towards her. He had been looking at Scully's face all the time. His partner's face, soon to become his late partner's face. The thought made him sick. "Fox, please, come here", Mrs Scully beckoned him. He walked towards her. "Fox, you're trying to be brave, I can see that, but ..." she had taken his hands and saw she was breaking through that wall of fake imperturbability "... there's no need to behave like that. Not for me and certainly not for Dana. You've always respected each other's emotions and actions, trusted each other. Whatever you would want to do now, Dana won't hold it against you. But please don't hide your feelings! That's not going to help you and it won't help her either ..." Mulder was rapidly losing the battle against his tears. On the one hand he was thankful towards Mrs Scully that she said so directly and without reserve what he thought and wanted himself, but on the other hand he felt kind of embarrassed that she had to tell him what was best for him. Then, all of a sudden, he really couldn't care anymore and he gave free course to his despair, his feelings of guilt and distress. "I could have saved her!" he said as he cried, his face in Mrs Scully's lap. "This wasn't supposed to have happened! Really!" "I don't understand, Fox ..." Mrs Scully said. She put her arm around him to comfort him. "I left her alone! I let her do all the dirty work because I was too lazy, too lax to do it myself! It's my fault that she's in this condition, that's she's dying!" He wiped off the tears and looked at Scully. He felt so awfully guilty. "Fox, it's not your fault. I'm sure you had a reason not to be with her at that moment. And you brought her here. You would only be guilty of her condition if you should have omitted to take her to a hospital, but that's something you should never do. I know. Dana knows." "Look", she said. "You shouldn't bear any malice, to yourself or anybody in the world. Look at her. Think of how she was and remember it. Never forget. Not even when she's gone." Mrs Scully looked at her daughter lovingly. "Isn't she beautiful? So peaceful, so calm. She's not in any pain, she's not suffering. She will die without having had any pain ..." Tears were running freely over her cheeks. "But she's still alive. We shouldn't give up hope. Who knows she might still have a chance." "Who knows ..." Mulder said without much conviction, but with a little smile. He knew he wasn't being very realistic now, but he couldn't get the thought out of his mind: 'You've surprised me before, Scully. Surprise me again ...'. He sighed. What he was about to ask Mrs Scully was hard, because he didn't know how she would react, but there was something he didn't want her to be present at. Something between him and Scully. "Mrs Scully, please don't take this amiss, but I'd like to be alone with Dana for a few minutes ..." Mrs Scully wanted to say something, then seemed to change her mind and said: "Of course, Fox. You can call me when I can come in again. Take your time. You know where I'll be, don't you?" Mulder nodded and Mrs Scully went outside. HE WAS ALONE WITH Scully now. He took the chair and sat down. He had taken one of her hands in his and stroked it. He felt a little uneasy. He thought about the way he wanted to say what he had to tell her. But maybe what was proving to be the biggest obstacle were the sheer consequences of his words. "Scully?" he said after a while. "I don't know if you can hear me, but ..." he thought "...there's something I want to tell you ..." this was going to be the hardest part and he knew it. He hoped he wouldn't falter. "Scully, I ... I know you're on the line between life and death, deciding which way to go. And death is much easier, much more comfortable than life ... I want you to know that ... that ... if you want to go to the other side, I'll let you go. If you want to, if you really want to go, you can go." He got up and looked at her. Could he let her go? He suddenly wasn't so sure about that anymore. He got angry at hearing himself being so selfish. Of course he'd allow her to die! And yet ... Despite this whole hopeless situation she was in, there was something that told him he couldn't let her go. He couldn't live without her, he realised all of a sudden. He simply couldn't live without her! Life without her wasn't really worth living! She had become such an important part of his life that he would never be able to carry on without her! He tenderly stroked her hair and her face. "Scully, if you want to go, I'll let you. There are people waiting for you; your father, your sister. You can go there, and I swear I've never been more serious about anything in my entire life! But I also want to tell you that if you're considering to carry on, to keep on living, think about your mother. Think about me! I ... I can't miss you, Scully ..." he paused and a tiny smile crossed his face "... and after all ... well, who's supposed to keep me out of trouble when you're gone?" He wiped the tears from his eyes and as he looked at her again he imagined he was seeing a vague, but unmistakably mocking little smile on her face. He smiled, put her hand back on the bed, thought for a moment and then he kissed her softly on her fore-head. Then he left the room. AFTER HE HAD TOLD Mrs Scully she could go back in, Mulder walked towards one of the surgeons at the Intensive Care Unit. "I've got to know something about agent Scully's condition!" he said. The surgeon looked at him, took a folder and asked: "What would you like to know?" "I want to know about what has been determined already. About her illness, her condition, her chances, everything!" Suddenly he had become ready to fight. He didn't care about what it was he would hear, he wanted to know the truth about Scully's illness. "Frankly, agent Mulder, we know next to nothing about her illness. All we know is that she somehow got into a coma and that ... I'm sorry to have to tell you ... she's highly unlikely ever to recover from it." "And her chances?" Mulder asked. He just had to know! "Two, three days. If we're lucky, it might be four days. It won't be longer before it's all over. Her condition rapidly getting worse ..." The surgeon closed to folder and turned around. Mulder closed his eyes and he momentarily sought the support from the counter. Then he decided to go home. But before he could go, there was one more thing he had to know. He got the surgeon's attention. "What can I do?" he asked. "Just keep your fingers crossed that we're not calling you", the surgeon said. XxXxX Chapter 9 Two Santa Maria Hospital Intensive Care Unit room 8 28-06-1997, 10.36 am WHEN MULDER CAME BACK the next morning he could see that things were going all wrong. Scully's condition had deteriorated visibly and the doctors were monitoring her around the clock now. Mrs Scully was sitting beside the bed and she was holding her daughter's hand as she told Mulder: "She had a heart-attack last night. The doctors think she'll pass away today. Her body just can't take it anymore ..." Mulder nodded and sighed. He didn't really know what to do. What he wanted. He was used to come into action when things were going wrong, but right now there was nothing to come into action for. Now, in this situation, he could only hope. And he didn't even know what he wanted to hope. On the one hand he wanted to give Scully the chance, the opportunity to die. She would never again recover from her current condition he knew, and if he really cared about her, he'd love her enough to let her go peacefully. But on the other hand he wanted to keep her here. He wanted her with him, here, on this earth, alive! He wanted to hear her talk, laugh! He wanted to see her enter his office, telling him A.D. Skinner had hit the roof again and was looking for an agent to blame it on, preferably with the name of Fox W. Mulder. He even wanted to hear her being sceptical again! Everything, but not what was most likely right now. For everything he wanted now was just an imagination, an unrealistic phantasy. Because reality, this ice-cold and merciless reality told him that he was most likely to lose Scully forever before he'd go home that night. And that in a few days he would have to do what no one ever would hope to have to do: bury his best friend. A nurse entered the room. It was an unexpected sound in the room that had been almost completely silent. The only sounds audible were coming from the machines that kept Scully alive. Now as the nurse came in that silence was roughly broken. Mulder felt anger rising. He knew this was unreasonable, the nurse did only what she had to do and tried to be as silent as she could, but Mulder didn't care: she broke the silence, the peace in the room and that proved sufficient to make him angry. Then everything became too much for him and he walked out of the room, through the corridors of the hospital. He was so sick of this hospital smelling of death and disease, he was sick of himself, of the doctors who weren't able to save Scully, of everything! He was furious with the world, with people, with life and especially with death which was taking Scully away from him! He was still furious when he got into his car, he was blazing with anger when he opened the door of his hotel room, he was angry with the utter injustice of this world as he threw his coat towards a chair! And he completely and utterly broke down when he sat down on the couch. He realised he was feeling much more at peace with Scully's fate than a few years ago when she had been abducted. He had been so sure she had wanted to come back, while perhaps she was less inclined to return then than she was right now. He realised that, now, in this case, Scully would probably love to return, to keep living. It was just her body that was not functioning anymore. He laid down on the bed and thought. He tried to sort his thoughts out, to get his mind clear again. He failed and the fatigue and emotions of that day made him fall asleep. THE PHONE RANG. Mulder woke up with a start and looked at his watch. Five hours had passed. For a brief while he didn't know what had been going on, but then reality hit him in the face forcefully again. He reached for the phone but then he hesitated. He knew what the surgeon had told him and he just didn't want to hear the news. The phone kept ringing and after a minute or so he picked up the receiver nonetheless. He took a deep breath, ready for the news that was going to shatter his life forever. "Mulder" He listened to what the person on the other side had to tell him. Involutarily a smile appeared on his face. He didn't dare to show more. The news was good enough to be overjoyed with, but he couldn't, he was too confused about what had happened to his life and his future during these two minutes. MULDER ENTERED SCULLY'S ROOM. Her mother was sitting at the bed-side and was holding her hand again, just like she had been doing every time he had seen her here. "Hello, Fox", she said. For a moment Mulder expected Scully to correct her mother, just like she had done a couple of years ago, but Scully said nothing. He looked at her. Her eyes were closed. She looked better than six hours ago, the life-support machines were switched off, but she was still very pale. Then she opened her eyes and looked at him. He smiled. There was nothing else he could do, nothing else he could think of than to smile. Scully showed no reaction. She followed his face as he moved but she didn't smile at him. Mulder felt hurt. "Why doesn't she smile at me?" he asked Mrs Scully. The question sounded silly but he didn't care one bit. "She's hardly come round from her coma", Mrs Scully said. "She hardly notices anything that is happening around her. Actually, you're lucky that her eyes followed you as you moved." "What do you mean?" Mulder asked. He wondered why that had to be something lucky for him. "She recognises you", Mrs Scully said and somehow this simple sentence made Mulder feel very warm and grateful inside. "How is it that her condition has improved so much?" he asked as he took a chair. Mrs Scully shook her head and said: "Nobody knows. The doctors are astonished. It's as if she suddenly started to fight for her recovery with all the power she had left in her. And it looks like she's going to make it! Although it may take another two or three months before she more or less back to normal. It can take weeks to regain full consciousness and then the rehabilitation starts." She looked at Scully who was staring with wide- open eyes to the ceiling. Her gaze was empty and far away. Mulder caught himself being disappointed in Scully's abilities. He had hoped she would say something, smile to him or whatever. That she would react and now that she didn't he felt disappointment. He reprimanded himself. He told himself he'd better be happy that she was still alive! That one day she might be able to live like a normal person again, maybe she would even be his partner again, come back to the FBI! All that, while just five hours before, all she had left to live were a few hours. He severely told himself that instead of her having a whole new life before her, she might have been dead now. And that would have meant he would have lost her forever! He felt much better now and he knew that, whatever was going to happen and no matter how long it was going to take, he would help Scully, help her to get back. He got up, looked one last time at Scully who didn't look back now, but who seemed lost in her own dream-world, and said to her mother: "Well, I guess I'm going home, try and get some sleep, because that's something I haven't had much of lately." Mrs Scully smiled and feeling all sunny inside Mulder left the room. He whistled as he walked to his car and drove back to his hotel. XxXxX Chapter 10 One Washington D.C., USA THE TWO MONTHS WHICH followed were difficult. For Scully, but for Mulder as well, who was determined to help her as much as he could. After she had come round from her coma after three weeks, the slow process of rehabilitation started. Fortunately she hadn't lost her ability to speak, but her movements had become unco-ordinated. She was able to walk, but initially she couldn't find the balance or the co-ordination to carry out more complex movements. Movements that people usually just took for granted were simply out of her reach at first. More than once she had broken down completely on Mulder's shoulder, utterly losing all courage, because her body refused to do what she wanted it to do. In those cases Mulder had the difficult task of encouraging her to keep her spirits up and to keep trying. But just as well there were days when things went extraordinarily well, days when, after a few extremely tiring hours, they would sit under a tree in a park, just the two of them, his arms around her, content and happy, saying nothing, just quietly enjoying the world and this life. And each other. Slowly but surely Scully's condition improved and after two months she was discharged from hospital. Her abilities weren't 100% yet, but her skills and possibilities were more or less back to normal again. The doctors were amazed at her quick recovery. So was Mulder. To a certain extent that was, for he had seen her fighting to come back. FBI-Headquarters Washington D.C., USA 09-09-1997, 3:56 pm A WEEK AFTER SCULLY had returned home Mulder was called in to Assistant-Director Skinner's office. The day before had been his first day in his office after their return from Brazil and he had immediately started to remove the dust-traps that had thought to find a safe home among his belongings. He couldn't bring himself to clearing up the chaos in his office, he knew he wouldn't be able to find a thing in his life again if he did. Scully probably wouldn't understand, but then again, that had been the case for almost five years now, so ... He walked to A.D. Skinner's office and was shown in by his secretary. "Agent Mulder, please have a seat", Skinner said, pointing towards a chair. "Thank you, sir", Mulder said. He sat down and waited for what was coming. "Agent Mulder, I read your report on this investigation ..." Mulder started to feel uneasy. He knew all too well that this report was hardly up to the Bureau's standards. " ... but despite the fact that it does not meet the requirements the FBI has set for its agents in the least ..." There you were! It was insufficient! Mulder had known it all along! "... I'm prepared to make an allowance just this once because of the circumstances." Mulder felt relieved and said: "Thank you, sir. I ..." "Of course you understand this is not going to happen again, agent Mulder," Skinner interrupted him, "and the next investigation will be reported by the book, is that clear?" The stress on that passage 'by the book' had been unmistakable and Mulder knew why. He nodded. Right now he felt prepared to promise almost anything! The door opened and Scully entered the room. "Ah, welcome back, agent Scully", Skinner said and he directed her to another chair. Scully sat down. "How do you feel, agent Scully?" Skinner asked. "Very well, thank you, sir", she answered. She showed no signs whatsoever of her close encounter with death. Skinner opened a drawer, took out a brown envelope and gave it to Mulder. Mulder looked at its contents, among which he saw a couple of tickets. "For Miami, Florida", Skinner said. He had taken a pen and had started to make notes in a note-book. "An investigation, sir?" Mulder asked. Personally he didn't care too much, but he thought it a little soon for Scully to be sent to another investigation right away. "No, agent Mulder. Vacation", Skinner answered, not once looking up from his note-book. Then he put down the pen and said to the agents: "You're going on vacation for three weeks, get to come to terms with the experiences of the last three months and then I expect you to report back here for the usual procedures." "Thank you, sir", Scully said as she got up. Mulder said nothing, but followed Scully. As they were walking through the corridors to Mulder's office he said: "Well, Scully, I suppose you're going to get your sun-sea-sand vacation after all!" "Yeah, it's a pity it almost cost me my life, but I guess one has to make some sacrifices for one's vacations ..." Mulder laughed and he held the door for her. "Scully?" he said as he put his coat on a pile of papers, due to the lack of a better place available. Scully had taken a chair and was sitting there, catching her breath. Her condition was still not up to scratch and that was one of the reasons why Mulder didn't want her to go on an investigation so soon already. "Mm?" she answered to show she was listening. Mulder kneeled down before her. He took her hands. Scully was mesmerised by the unexpected concern and seriousness in his expression. "I've been wondering for quite a while why ... well ... why you came back to me? I mean, you were so close to death and I wondered why ... you returned? I know myself that death is much ... easier and ... eh ..." He suddenly didn't know how to put things and he got hopelessly lost in his own words. "You told me yourself, Mulder. You gave the reason yourself!" Mulder looked at her, not understanding what she meant. She answered smiling: "Who else would want to keep you out of trouble?" Mulder grinned, got up and said: "Ah, great! Three weeks just the two of us! Doing nothing, no field reports and ..." He didn't finish his sentence but looked at Scully attentively. She got up as well and saw a strange fiery look in his hazel eyes. She loved it. She put her arms around his neck and as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him she whispered: "Which doesn't mean there won't be anything for us to investigate in Miami ...". He smiled and she returned it with one of those radiant smiles she never showed to anybody but him. For about ten seconds they just looked in each other's eyes, displaying emotions and feelings towards the other that had been there for so long, but which they just had never dared to express. Then Scully closed her eyes and she softly pressed her lips on his in a long and passionate kiss. 'Lift-off' The X-Files * Count-Down