Disclaimed in part one. If you are missing parts, please email me at eponine119@att.net ********** Culex Pipiens by eponine119 & Mystic eponine119@att.net & Nalvarez@delphi.com ************ Red Roof Inn 8:45AM Walter Skinner looked at the two bodies, that lay three feet from each other, in shock. Agents Mulder and Scully were not the type to just start shooting when they got mad, especially not at each other. He knew they'd had the opportunity more than once. "Do you think it's Mulder and Scully? By their outward appearance?" Kilsky asked from behind him. Skinner bent down and looked at the man, he did have brown, short cut hair and he was very tall and he was in a suit. It did appear to be Mulder. He stood, not even wanting to admit that the woman could be Scully, he had somehow come to think of her as a niece, maybe sometimes the daughter he always wanted, fierce and determined. Like him. Her auburn hair fell disheveled behind her head, covered in blood and brain. He could barely make out her chin, but her skin was milky white underneath the red. She was short, in comparison to the man and she was slim. Too slim, as Scully had become recently, probably because of the stress of the cases. He felt a tear fall down his cheek, surprising him. He stood and came face to face with Kilsky who was looking behind Skinner with his eyes wide and his mouth hung open. "Sir?" Scully asked. Skinner turned quickly and almost smiled when he saw her. She looked at him concerned, seeing the single tear fall from his chin. "Sir, are you alright?" She asked. Skinner looked at her once more and nodded, then looked up at Mulder, "Where have you two been?" Mulder answered as Scully bent down to look at the two bodies on the floor. "We got too many complaints here and we decided to go to another hotel." "Have you found anything?" Skinner asked. "I never did get that report." Scully stood, "Sorry, sir, we got a little preoccupied. We haven't yet been able to disclose what caused the recent deaths, although we have a clue it has something to do with a certain drug being marketed as safe." "How did you figure that out?" He asked, taking a few steps away from the dead bodies. Mulder and Scully looked at each other, Mulder answering, "We found the drug at all of the crime scenes and Agent Scully did a little testing on it." "What does it do?" "This drug induces a deep sleep and it concocts dreams that seem very life like. Of course we haven't yet been able to determine how, lab tests don't conclude much more than the drug says it can do." "Then how do you know it was this particular drug." They looked at each other again. "Agent Scully, did you take this drug?" He asked, a bit angry. She looked away for a moment and then back at him, "Yes, sir." She admitted. "You know that's not protocol." "Sir, rarely do we work under proper protocol." Mulder said with a smirk. "Well, I demand that you discontinue this course of investigation." "We have, sir." "What are you doing now?" "We're taking another drug, sir. "What does this one do?" "It makes you stay awake." "And why are you taking this one?" "Because we have no idea how long the effects of the other take place." Skinner took a step closer to Scully, "Why do you have scratch marks all over your face, agent Scully?" "The original drug, sir." "I'm not wasting any more time up here." Skinner said, a little annoyed. "I want you to finish this up and Mulder, Scully." He paused, waiting until he knew he had both of their attention, "I don't want you to take anymore drugs, I don't care what significance they have to this case." "Is that an order, sir?" Scully asked. "Yes." He turned, his coat flying like a cape behind him as he entered his car and drove off. Mulder looked at her and she smiled, telling him, "I guess if one of us gets a headache, we're screwed." She turned and walked away, to Kilsky. He had given his deputy an order, probably to find out who was staying in the rooms and to get the story right with the paper. He turned to her and smiled. "Nice to see that you're not dead." He said, honestly, he didn't like to see anyone dead, not in his part of town. "Kilsky, is there any way we can find out just how many people in this town are using the drug Melatonin?" One of his eyebrows went up. "You think that drug has something to do with this?" He asked. "Are you taking it?" "No, I don't like taking drugs for anything. I believe that things pass in time." "What happens when you get a cold?" She asked. His cheeks turned red, "Nyquil." "Well, can we find out how many people take Melatonin?" "I guess we could do a door to door." "Please." She said, "Tell anyone that is using it to discontinue usage until we find out more about this." He nodded and went immediately to his car and sped off. She went to Mulder, "What now?" He asked. "I don't know. I don't think it's just the Melatonin that's giving us the problems, I mean, the drug is known to give you vivid dreams, but I don't think it makes anyone kill." "You think it could be mixing with something else?" "Yes." "What?" "I don't know, but we should find out if there's any experimental drug being tested on people here, in Fort Wayne." ********** Fort Wayne Pharmaceutical 10:22PM They waited in the lounge, reading the latest Newsweek and Time magazine, which were only useful in making them both *want* to go to sleep. They dropped the magazines when a round brunette woman entered the room, looking as bright as a high beam at night. She shook both their hands, "Hello, you must be from the FBI, I'm Dr. Marylin Shafer!" She said, so cheery the Mulder played with the thought that maybe this plant was making drugs, or at least lots and lots of caffeine. He started, "I'm agent Fox Mulder, this is agent Dana Scully. We're wondering if you could answer a few questions for us." The woman nodded, "Yes, but please, in my office." They followed her through two metal plated doors and passed a laboratory and into a large office. It was heavily decorated with posters of the environment and plants and the desk was littered with papers, presumably test results. "Sorry for the mess, I rarely have visitors." Dr. Shafer said, moving a stack of papers out of one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "Please, sit." She invited. They both took seats and watched her as she bounced around the room, putting things away, in an attempt to make the office look tidy. "You're not the one under investigation." Scully informed her. The woman turned with a laugh. "That's not what I'm worried about, it's just that there's some stuff in here that might make you loose your breakfast." "Results from testing?" "No, pictures of me at the beach." They looked at her face and she had been perfectly serious. She found the package of pictures she had been looking for and shoved them in a drawer. She sat in her desk and hovered over her belongings as if they would see something they shouldn't. Mulder asked, "Dr. Shafer, are there any experimental drugs that have been tested on anyone in the town, without previous permission?" "No, we don't conduct secret experimentations that violate anyone's rights." "Are there any tests going on right now that have a targeted group of subjects?" "There is one, I believe, but I don't have much information on it, other that it being a kind of vaccination for something or other." "How is it transferred?" "Through injection. The leader of that project is Dr. Perulli. I could take you to him and then you could ask him questions about his experiments." They stood, ready to be led to Dr. Perulli. Dr. Shafer took them out of her office and led her down another hall and opened a door to another office. "Dr. Perulli, I have two FBI agents who would like to ask you a few questions about some vaccination you're working on." They heard a man speak, but couldn't understand what he said and then they were shoved into the room. The small bald man behind the desk waved his hands at the two seats in front of him. "You aren't from the FDA are you?" He peered at them, suspiciously. They shook their heads and he smiled. "What can I do for you?" Scully answered, "Tell us about the drug that you're making and who is taking it?" "Well, it doesn't really have a name yet, but it's a kind of hormone, it stimulates the brain. We're administering it, experimentally, to people with any kind of neurological diseases, diseases that might make them forgetful. What does this have to do with the FBI?" He asked. "Could you tell give us a list of people who are on this experimental drug list?" "That's confidential." "Than can we have a sample, to have it examined." The man opened a drawer and handed them a small bottle, then said, "I still don't see what this has to do with the FBI." Mulder asked, "Has this been tested for reaction with other drugs?" "Yes, it's been tested with other drugs." "But with every drug? Have you tested it with Melatonin?" "I don't think so, but I didn't follow that very well. I only administer and do follow ups." "When are the follow ups?" "In about a week." "Can you tell us just how many people are on this experimental drug?" "About fifty." "Are there any other experimental treatments going on from this laboratory?" "No." "Thank you for your time, sir. If we need any more information we'll contact you." Mulder shook his hand and they walked out of the building. As they reached the car Mulder looked at her and then said, "How many of those fifty do you suppose take Melatonin too?" "I don't know, but I don't think this is the cause for all of the trouble, I mean three of the victims were young people, two teenagers, why would they be taking a pill for neurological disorders?" "Maybe we should check their medical records." ********** Motel 6 3:26PM Scully yawned looking at the folder in front of her. She had sent the pills for examination with the Melatonin, but they had told her that there were machines down, a power outage in DC because of a storm, and they wouldn't be able to get preliminary reports to her for at least twenty four hours. Mulder was sitting on the floor, with her laptop, trying to write a report that they could fax to Skinner that would make some kind of sense. He saw her yawn and was about to suggest that she get some sleep, but figured she wouldn't go for it anyway, so why bother. "What'd you find, so far?" He asked closing the computer and standing to stretch. "Not much. Andrea Mitchell's background shows nothing about memory loss anywhere in the family, but Kyle Saunders mother had Alzheimer's. Homer Jackson had a stroke two years ago and since then had complained of memory loss. Gregory Foster, James' father, suffered from a brain tumor that impaired his ability to remember things." "Well, that might explain three out of four, Kyle and James might have thought that popping a pill would help them remember for tests in school. Still doesn't explain Andrea, unless of course she got a pill from Kyle." Scully laid down on her back and stared at the roof. She was still a bit confused, although glad that no one had killed anyone else in the last day or two. She heard a buzzing. She looked around the room until she saw it flying around and she sat up. It landed on Mulder's cheek and it looked as if it were going to draw blood. She stood and his eyebrows cocked in confusion as her hand went up a bit. She slapped him and looked at her hand in satisfaction when she saw the dead bug stuck to her palm. He pulled a hand to his own face and coiled away from her. Then he looked back up at her and screamed, "What the hell did you do that for?!" She held her palm at him, an idea in her mind, "Mosquito." ********** Fort Wayne Pharmaceutical 3:50 PM "They know," said Dr. Marylin Shafer, not nearly so perky as she had been earlier in the day. "We're screwed." "Don't jump to any conclusions," replied Dr. Perulli. "I don't think that the FBI does its snooping around for the FDA. They're looking for some drug that makes people crazy - haven't you heard about the murders in town?" "Yes, and two of those people were involved in our research. That's what makes me nervous." "They'll never be able to prove anything because our drug doesn't make anyone crazy," Dr. Perulli insisted. "But if they find out we're not even supposed to be testing this on animals when we're actually going into the unofficial widespread human subjects..." "They won't find out." Dr. Perulli rose and began to massage Dr. Shafer's shoulders. "Marylin, honey, relax. We're helping people. People who wouldn't get help any other way. It's the government's fault if -" Marylin slapped his caressing hands away from her body. "Go sell it somewhere else," she snapped. "Like to your wife." She left quickly and let the door slam behind her. *********** Warehouse 3:50 PM The boss was waiting for Farnell. "Did you take care of them?" he asked. "Yeah," Farnell replied. "I want my payment now. Fifty thousand, plus 8 oz. of that good stuff you're dealing." "Have you seen the news?" the boss asked. "What do I care about the news?" demanded Farnell. "I don't feel so good, I need a pick-me-up. You gonna gimme the stuff or not?" "Here." The boss slid the small bottle of pills over to him. Farnell opened it, took two and sighed, a dopey happy smile stretching across his face as he relaxed back in his chair. "You botched the job." "Wha...? Nah..." responded Farnell, whose body had begun to twitch with pleasure. "Strong stuff, man." "You killed a pair of dentists, you moron," the boss said, then nodded to the two black-clad men who had been standing guard over the entrance. "Take care of this. I have a meeting about what's really going on in this town. And then I have a couple of FBI agents to look after." End of part 7. Comments? Please email us at eponine119@att.net; nalvarez@delphi.com Disclaimed in part one. If you are missing parts, email me at eponine119@att.net ********** Culex Pipiens, part 8 by eponine119 & Mystic eponine119@att.net & Nalvarez@delphi.com ************ Motel 6 3:50 PM Scully had an excited look in her eyes, but Mulder refused to see the pleasures of having a dead bug smashed on your hand. "Mosquitoes, don't you get it, Mulder?" she said. "Apparently not," he replied, looking at her as though she'd gone headfirst off the deep end. She carefully wiped the bug off into a tissue and put the tissue into a plastic evidence bag. "Two of the victims - *at least* two of the victims - had bug bites on their bodies at the time of their death. We also have bug bites on our bodies, Mulder. What if there's something about these mosquitoes that -" "Makes people believe in their dreams so strongly that they kill?" Mulder said, looking at her with that look on his face that said no way, but I'll hear you out because I'm nice. "It could be interfering with the drug," Scully said, getting up. "I have to analyze this right away, and I never had a chance to go over our blood samples from last night, either." She ran a hand through her hair. "I have so much to do!" she cried. Mulder watched her, wondering if she'd been sneaking caffeine when he wasn't looking. "Scully. Don't get your hopes up," he said. She looked at him seriously. "It all fits, Mulder." "Except that mosquitoes bite millions of people a year, and there aren't millions of people killing each other." Scully nodded. "True. But this could begin to explain why we have both had nightmares. Before we even arrived in this town, and certainly before I took the melatonin. We have to find out, Mulder, before this has the chance to get any worse." She slung her bag over her shoulder. "You coming?" "I thought you said you weren't letting me out of your sight," Mulder reminded her, packing her laptop into its carrying case and bringing it with him. She looked at it and he shrugged. "I have to keep myself amused while you play mad scientist." "How do you know I'm not really a mad scientist?" she teased back. "How, indeed," Mulder agreed, glad to see she'd perked up. ************** University of Indiana at Fort Wayne Science laboratory 7:16 PM Scully yawned into her hands and leaned against the pristine white counter. She yawned again as she peeled off her rubber gloves and switched off the microscope light. Time to hit the Pepsi machine again, she thought. Or maybe the on-campus coffeehouse. No one knew more about staying awake all night than college students. "Playing solitaire, Mulder?" she asked, approaching her partner who had been absorbed in her laptop computer since their arrival at the lab. He looked at her and noticed she'd taken off her gloves. That meant she was finished. "What did you find?" he asked, looking up into her eyes. "There is an odd substance that I found inside the mosquito that bears strong resemblance to a substance I found in our blood. I don't know what the substance is, or what it does, or why it was in the mosquito. This is one time when I can honestly say I wish I knew a little more about bugs," Scully answered, leaning over his shoulder to look at the screen of her computer. She frowned. "What have you been up to?" she asked. "Today's your lucky day, Scully. Bugs," he said, turning the computer to face her. He made a face when he looked at the insects on the screen because the idea of them made his skin crawl, but when he looked back at his partner, she was kneeling at the side of table to get a closer look. "That looks like it," she said, touching the screen lightly. "Where did you get this information?" Her hair bounced around her face as she turned to look at him. "Did you know that Langley collects and studies butterflies?" Mulder said. Scully smiled, imagining the long-haired rocker cradling a delicate, colorful creature in his hands. "I didn't know that," she said. "He asked a friend, who was able to come up with this," explained Mulder. "You've heard about killer bees?" he said and she nodded. "It turns out they aren't the only new insect to migrate to the United States in recent years." Scully frowned. "If you're going to say this is all the responsibility of a secret government genetic experiment, Mulder, I don't want to hear it," she said. "Makes a great theory, doesn't it?" he said with a cocky grin. "No, Langley thinks these mosquitoes may have been displaced by the cutting and burning of the South American rain forest and come north in search of new homes." Scully nodded. "There are a lot of things we've never even imagined being exposed by the destruction of the jungle and its vegetation. Miracle drugs in particular have often been found in the jungle." "Along with the ebola virus and other such niceties," agreed Mulder. "I found nothing to indicate this is a virus," Scully said sharply. "Still," she picked up the containers, "I've got to get this to the lab so that experts can look at it. If these bugs have migrated, there could be millions of them, all biting people and spreading this thing." "There haven't been widespread reports of cases like these, Scully," Mulder pointed out, his fingers crossed. She met his eyes. "Yet," she said, slipping the samples into a box. Her cell phone shrilled and Mulder picked it up. "Mulder," he said. "Mulder, it's Sergeant Kilsky. I'm sorry to have to bother the two of you with a little thing like this case, but we've got another one." Mulder got the distinct impression that Kilsky didn't like him much. "Any details?" he asked. "Yeah, this guy must've thought his gun was a popsicle, 'cuz he tried to eat it," Kilsky replied. "Get your FBI selves down here pronto." "Lovely man," Mulder muttered, putting down the phone. Scully was looking at him. "We've got to go." ************** Warehouse 8:30 pm "You two look like hell," Kilsky greeted them, "What took you so long to get here? You two doing things you're not supposed to be?" Mulder felt his face get hot, but Scully's voice was dripping with ice as she calmly responded, "I don't know, Sergeant, were we not supposed to be solving the case?" "Where is he?" Mulder asked, and followed the police officer over to the body. "His ID says he's Tim Farnell," said Kilsky. "His rap sheet says he's a small-time gangster. Guess he got tired of it." Scully knelt to examine the corpse. "This doesn't look self-inflicted," she said. "Yeah, right," said Kilsky, looking down at Farnell, whose hand still clutched the gun. "What do you mean?" Mulder crouched down next to her, intensely focused on the details of the scene. "I don't think he could have bent his arm at the angle necessary for him to have shot himself with that hand," Scully said, tilting her head. Mulder touched Farnell's other hand, which revealed a small orange pill bottle. "What do you want to bet it's melatonin?" he asked. Scully pressed her lips together. "It's too easy," she said. "I agree," Mulder said. They rose from the floor at the same time. Scully walked over to talk to the coroner, leaving Mulder standing by himself. "I want a blood sample, and I want to know if the body has any insect bites on it," she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the darkness and she looked at Mulder. He'd seen it, too, and he was running with his gun drawn. "Excuse me," she said and ran after him. She caught up to Mulder outside the warehouse just as a car squealed out of the parking lot. The partners exchanged a silent look, and a moment later they were in their car, following the mysterious man. *********** Different warehouse 9:01 PM The night air was quiet and still around them as they got out of the rental car. The sound of the car doors slamming seemed to echo. A chill played over the back of Scully's neck. "I don't like this, Mulder," she whispered. They both had their guns drawn. "Where did he go?" "We saw him pull in here. This is it, Scully, I can feel it." "What if it's a set-up?" she asked, but he didn't answer. They were right next to the building now, holding their guns, ready to use them at the first hint of trouble. Mulder cautiously pulled open the door and peeked inside. "Oh my God," he whispered, amazed, and Scully looked at him. He didn't say anything, so she moved around to look in through the open door, too. What they saw astounded them. "Tell me I'm dreaming." Mulder whispered. They walked into the warehouse. Scully smiled and only looked at him. She walked past his face and jumped up to sit on the yellow and blue horse, holding the golden pole coming out of its neck. "I guess there was a carnival in town." She said looking around her at the rides that were in the building, packed up and ready to go. "But why would that guy come here?" "Maybe he didn't. He's probably long gone by now. This was probably just to loose us." Mulder looked at himself in a mirror and made a face, seeing his body double in size, sideways. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a look around, would it?" He glanced at her. She smiled, "Nope. Don't see how it would." Scully jumped off the horse and walked to where he was and walked away from the mirror to another, that made her as tall as he was. "Think I can carry this around with me?" She asked. He grinned, "Do you think it'll fit in the trunk?" Scully walked past him and tripped on something. She gasped, falling into a pile of clown costumes and becoming entangled in them. She sat up and looked at what caught her foot annoyed. Mulder turned away to laugh. "Mulder, look at this." He turned back and she was on her knees lifting the handle to a trap door. He fell to his knees across from her and they both looked down into the darkness below. She pulled her gun again and he followed the action. He decided to go down first, reaching around him for a switch he was thrown forward by her foot, which kicked him in the back as she came down the ladder behind him. "Try to find a light." He told her. They both stopped moving when they heard the buzzing. It was subtle but it was there. Scully slid her hand along the nearest wall and found a switch and hit it. The lights overhead made them wince. Mulder looked around him first, there was a screen covered box in the middle of the room and inside it were hundreds upon hundreds of mosquitoes. Scully looked at them and gasped looking at the insects. "What..." She trailed. Mulder turned to her. "They're the key, Scully." He told her waving a hand at the box and turning back to her. "What do you mean?" "They've got whatever it is that's causing these people to kill each other in them and when they bite people, it's like getting an injection of this drug." "What does that have to do with the Melatonin?" She put her hands at her waist and gave him a look. "Maybe nothing. The Melatonin might just be a coincidence." "I thought you didn't believe in coincidences." "I say we take one of these bugs to have it examined, while it's alive and before it injects anyone. Or before it's in your palm." He smirked at her. Scully looked at the box and then back at him. "And how do you suggest we get one without letting a lot of them loose?" "There has to be a way." He looked around and then looked back at her. "What is this way, Mulder?" She asked. "One of us opens the door and swipes a few in a jar and slams the door closed, that way only one of us gets bitten and only a few of these bugs gets out. Now, which one of us is smaller and faster?" She shook her head. There was no way she was going to stick her bare arm in a room full of mosquito's that could make her have more dreams like the ones she'd been having lately. "There has to be a way that 'they' got the bugs out without getting bitten by them." She told him. She looked around and saw a jug with a hose to spray and a few netted gloved and a netted hat. She walked over and began to put them on. He looked at her in amazement, "You're volunteering for this?" He asked. "You don't want to do it." He looked at the floor. She took the jug and hose and sprayed into the side of the screened wall of the box, near the door and she noticed the mosquitoes flew to the other side. The spray was a repellent. She found an empty soda can and put it in her pocket and then she sprayed into the screen again, and she opened the door and shut it behind her. She walked slowly to where the mosquitoes had retreated and pulled the can out of her pocket. She watched them go into the can to get to the drops of liquid still left at the back of the can. She jammed her gloved thumb into the opening and she walked back to the door and sprayed it with the repellent and quickly walked out, slamming the door behind her. Scully took off the netted hat and one of the gloves, keeping the gloved hand stick in the soda can with the mosquitoes gloved. If she took it off the mosquitoes would fly out of the crevices. She looked at him and he began to laugh. She scratched her head. "I step in there, risk my health, and you, the coward, laugh at me." "Well, you look kinda dumb with your thumb stuck in a can." "Let's go to have these things examined." ********** Motel 6 10:15PM Scully threw herself on the bed and sighed. Mulder looked at her and only wondered what she would do if he threw himself on the bed next to her. They were both dead tired and they couldn't use any more of the Vivarin. "When did they say they'd have results?" Scully asked him. "On the mosquitoes?" He questioned. "No, the Olympics." She gave him a wearied look, "Of course the mosquitoes. I kind of faded out when the Dr. Guyser started talking, his voice is so monotonous." He smiled, "He said we should call back in the morning. What did you tell him to look for anyway, that was the point I faded out." "I asked him to look for any kind of drug. Anything that might stimulate adrenaline. I also asked him to see the effects of what he finds with Melatonin and or the experimental drug that Dr. Perulli gave us." "What do you expect to find?" "I don't know." She closed her eyes and rolled over onto her side, away from him and smiled. "Do you think that's safe, I mean one or two of those mosquitoes bit through the glove." He sat on the bed next to her and she sat up, looking him right in the eye. Then she jumped up and pulled him off his bed. "Let's dance." She told him. "What?" He asked as she tried to grab hold of his hand. "Mulder, I want to dance." "Scully, we have no music." "We'll make our own." He took a step away from her and she gave him a wicked smile before jumping on him. He gasped and she tried to rip his shirt off of his shoulders. They fell backwards on the bed and she sat up, straddling his thighs, smiling. He rolled on his side and sat on her, pinning her arms at her sides with his hands. "What the hell has gotten into you?!" He yelled. "Wanna play, don't you wanna play, Mulder?" She said his name with lust and he shuddered. He suddenly wondered if he was dreaming. "Mulder, What's wrong?" She closed her eyes and smiled. He saw her smile fade and he noticed that her breath grew shallow, she was falling asleep. When he knew that she was asleep he got off her and moved her up to a pillow and folded the comforter over from the other side to cover her. She smiled in his sleep and he walked slowly to his room and closed the door between the two of them, hoping that whatever happened didn't happen again because she was getting very hard to resist. ********** End of part 8 Comments? Please email us at nalvarez@delphi.com; eponine119@att.net Disclaimed in part one. If you are missing parts, email me at eponine119@att.net ********** Culex Pipiens, part 9 by eponine119 & Mystic eponine119@att.net & Nalvarez@delphi.com ************ Motel 6 3:10 am Mulder groaned and rolled over in the motel bed, pushing his face deep into the pillows. But it was too late; he was awake. Rubbing his hands over his face, he sat up and yawned, looking at the clock, wondering what he was going to do until it was a decent hour. Then he heard it. Creak, creak, creak, creak - the sounds were coming from Scully's room, intensely regular, but growing in volume. And they sounded like bed springs. Mulder's eyes widened and he stared through the dark room at the door. You should just go back to sleep, he told himself. But he couldn't. Her light was on and he really wanted to know what she was doing in there. He knocked lightly on the connecting door, but there was no answer. Thinking that this probably wasn't a good idea, he tried the knob. It turned under his hand, and he pushed the door open, steeling himself against whatever he might be about to see. The covers were in a tangled heap, sliding halfway off the bed. Movement caught his eye and his gaze traveled up. Scully grinned and waved at him, bouncing once more lightly on the bed and then allowing herself to drop heavily against the mattress, laughing breathlessly. "What are you doing?" Mulder asked sternly from the doorway. "Bouncing," she replied, halfway sitting up and grinning at him wickedly. "It's fun!" Her face was flushed and she was breathing hard from the exertion and excitement. She sat up the rest of the way and crossed her legs, looking at him. "Scully, what are you wearing?" Mulder cried, suddenly breathing hard himself. "Nightgown," she said, scrambling to her feet and standing in the center of the bed again. Mulder watched her, feeling a little lightheaded. This was the kind of nightgown he occasionally had dreams about Scully wearing. Usually when he fell asleep with one of *those* movies playing on the VCR. It was pink satin, with fluff adorning the collar and the sleeves. It was not the sort of nightgown Mulder had ever imagined Scully would actually own. "If you're done staring, c'mon and join me," Scully invited, bouncing lightly on the bed again. "Mulder," she said, taunting him. It was tempting. Damned tempting. But then Mulder remembered that she'd been bitten by the mystery mosquitoes and she probably would have no idea in the morning what she'd been doing all night. And he couldn't take advantage of that. "Scully, since we're both up, why don't we try to get some work done on the case?" "You're no fun," she pouted playfully at him, jumping up and brushing the ceiling with her fingertips. "Scully, I'm going to change my clothes and freshen up a bit, and I'll be back in about ten minutes, OK?" Mulder said, watching her. "'Kay," she said casually, continuing to jump on the bed. Mulder went back into his room and pulled the door closed, wishing he had a camera. He sat down on the bed and yawned, suddenly very tired again. He shook his head and blinked. He wasn't going to go back to sleep, he told himself, even as his eyes drifted closed. Well, maybe just a few minutes. ********* Motel 6 3:59 am Mulder sat up and opened his eyes. He hadn't meant to go to sleep at all, he thought, checking the clock. At least Scully had had some time to calm herself down, he thought, going in the bathroom to brush his teeth and put some water on his hair before knocking softly on the door between their motel rooms. "Come in," said Scully, and Mulder did. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, feeling embarrassed as he stepped inside, thankful to see that she was sitting on her bed and not jumping on it. She was dressed, too, he noticed, in jeans and a T-shirt and had her glasses on as she hunched over her laptop computer. "No problem," she said, not looking up, her attention focused on what she was doing. Mulder sat down next to her. "What're you up to? Working on a report?" he asked, looking over her shoulder. "Not exactly," she said, stopping typing to bite her thumbnail as thoughshe wasn't sure what to write next. "Checking your email," said Mulder, leaning in closer. She let him. His eyebrows rose at what he read on the screen. "Dear Frohike," [it said] "Thanks so much for the information and the pictures that you sent. I think you're right, and I have decided to take you up on your offer. If you promise to bring your guitar and your harmonica, I promise I will meet you on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday, June 1 at 4:30 PM. Love always, Scully. PS What *is* your first name?" Mulder frowned at his partner, who was about to execute the send message command. "Scully, I don't think it's very kind of you to toy with his affections this way," he said. "Who's toying?" she said and pressed the button. "Scully?" "We've been trading emails, and Frohike's a nice guy. I should have given him a chance before this," Scully said. "He's well-read. Polite. Where else am I going to find a guy like that who can play medieval love songs on his harmonica?" Mulder gaped at her. She sounded serious. "Wait, you've got to see this picture he scanned and sent to me." She pressed a few buttons on the laptop and a picture began to fill the screen. There was Frohike, and it appeared he had no shirt on. Mulder yanked the plug of the laptop out of the wall and Scully stared at him. "Mulder?" she said, giving him a concerned look. "What is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?" Mulder demanded angrily. "You keep telling me to get a life, Mulder -" said Scully. "I can't play the harmonica, but what about me, Scully?" Mulder couldn't believe the words even as he said them. "What about you, Mulder, you're my partner," said Scully. "Why are you acting like this?" "Acting like what?" "Paranoid. Hostile. Jealous -" "I'm not the one agreeing to meet Frohike for a date, for God's sake!" Mulder cried, getting up from the bed. "I'm not the one who was just bouncing on the bed like I was higher than a kite. You're under the influence of something we don't understand -" "I'm fine, Mulder." said Scully. "I think maybe you've been sneaking something though. What is it? More Vivarin, or some melatonin?" "I haven't taken anything." Mulder said, but he could see that she didn't believe him. He had to protect her, he thought, but he didn't know how he could. She wasn't in any danger, he thought, she was just acting crazy. He didn't know what to do. "What did you take, Mulder?" Scully demanded, rising from the bed. "Scully-" It was all he could get out when he saw the picture on her black T-shirt. It was a light green depiction of an alien's head, and underneath it read, "We are not alone". "What?" she asked, instantly concerned. She reached up and touched his face as though to see if he had a temperature. "What is it?" "That...shirt," he gasped out. Scully looked down at it and then looked at him. "That's it, Mulder, we're going to the emergency room. There's something wrong with you, and I want you to see a practicing physician." "You're good enough for me," Mulder said, watching her with careful eyes. When had she ever sought an outside medical opinion? "I'm a pathologist, Mulder, I could tell you a hundred things to look for in an autopsy, but I'm not prepared to diagnose or treat an allergic reaction to drugs," she informed him, grabbing her set of keys to the rental car. "Move it, Mulder, and I mean it." He went along with her, thinking that once they got to the hospital, he could get someone to have a look at her. Maybe they would be able to explain why she was acting so crazy, what was in the bite of the mosquito, and if it was dangerous. After about three blocks, she brought the car to a sudden halt in a crowded parking lot. "This isn't the hospital," Mulder said. "I'm thirsty, aren't you?" she asked, getting out of the car before he could stop her. She was inside nightclub by the time he got out of the car to follow her. "Scully," he shouted after her, barely able to keep her in sight as she headed for the bar. "Scully," he said loudly once he caught her. He pulled the long-necked bottle out of her hand and slammed it down on the dented counter. "I don't think that's a good idea." She struggled, trying to reach the bottle, but he kept it away from her. "OK," she said finally, taking his hands. "Then dance with me. You wouldn't earlier." Bad idea, Mulder thought, but she was looking at him so pleadingly. And it was a public place, what could happen? The darkness in the nightclub picked up the phosphorescence of her T- shirt and the alien face began to glow eerily. Scully put her arms around his neck and pulled him in very close, swaying sensuously, ignoring the fast, heavy metal beat of the band up on the stage. Mulder tried to keep his mind on anything but how aroused he was getting by her dancing. He looked at the sweaty faces of the people dancing manically up near the stage, some of them bouncing off of each other in their rapturous frenzy. He froze as he thought he saw Mr. X in the crowd. His heart pounded. That was Mr. X. The man turned and met Mulder's eyes, holding them from across the room. Then, deliberately, he winked, and went back to dancing. "Scully-" said Mulder, but she didn't seem to hear him, lost in a world of her own. And Mulder's attention was captured by something else. The band, up on the stage. They were grungy, wearing flannel and denim, and the lead singer had stringy long hair. The guy playing drums had several earrings in interesting locations, as well as a couple of pink streaks in his hair. But it was the guitarist that Mulder was staring at. His hair was short and spiky and the dangling earring in his ear danced as he concentrated intently on the guitar and what he was playing. After a moment, he looked up and Mulder's suspicion was confirmed. Krycek. Forgetting Scully, Mulder tore across the club, staring at Krycek. He jumped up onto the low stage and grabbed him, the music dying with a discordant shriek. "You bastard!" Mulder screamed at the man who had once been his partner, who looked back at him with confused green eyes. Mulder punched him, hard, but he didn't go down. Mulder drew back to shove him to the floor, but a stinging slap to the side of his face sent Mulder spinning. He blinked and opened his eyes, surprised to find himself sitting on the floor, carpeting beneath his palms. Scully's face loomed before his eyes and Mulder frowned. Her lip was split and bleeding and her eyes were dark. She was sitting on his chest, determined to keep him immobile. Then Mulder realized they were his motel room. "Oh my God," he whispered, the realizations flooding over him. "I was dreaming." She nodded once, watching him. He tried to reach out and touch her face, but her knees were planted on his arms. "I hit you." "Are you awake now, Mulder?" Scully demanded. "Yeah," he said, feeling horrible and guilty. Her eyes searched his for a moment and then she got up off of him. Mulder sat up and watched her walk to the other side of the room, her arms wrapped around herself. "Scully, I'm so sorry," he said and his voice was thick and raw. "I didn't mean - did I hurt you?" One of her shoulders rose in a shrug and she shook her head, but she wouldn't look at him. "I didn't mean to hit you, you've got to believe me." Mulder sprang to his feet. "I would never - I was dreaming, I thought you were-" "Krycek," Scully said, her voice hard. "I know. You called me by his name." "Scully-" "This is out of hand, Mulder. We have to solve this case, and now. Before either one of us gets hurt any more." Scully said and went into the bathroom to attend to her wounds. Mulder sat down hard on the bed and put his head in his hands. He felt like dirt. Less than dirt. He'd hurt her again, and he could have killed her. She was right, they did have to find out what was going on. Because he didn't want this to happen again. ************* 5:11AM Scully walked slowly out of the bathroom and looked at him cautiously. He had his head in his hands and he was hunched over on the bed, she heard him sigh sadly and wondered if he was crying. "I'm ok, Mulder." She tried to reassure him. He looked up at her and she looked at him. "I'm sorry." He told her. "I know, but I don't understand." His face took on a look of confusion. "What don't you understand, I was dreaming..." "I don't understand why I was bitten by the mosquitoes and you were the one going crazy. Maybe these mosquitoes don't have anything in them." "No, I think there's a drug mob in the area testing out a new drug on people, but this drug is mixing with something, either the Melatonin or the experimental drug and it's causing odd reactions." He thought a moment, "Scully what do you remember about last night?" "Other than you kicking my ass?" She shot at him, a little too harshly. He nodded turning away from her. She blushed, "Things I'd rather not remember." She said. "You didn't jump up and down on your bed?" He had to ask. "No, did you dream that?" She smiled. He nodded, his cheeks turning red. "You didn't e-mail Frohike asking him on a da..." "NO!" Her face grew grave and her arms went to her waist, "You dreamt this?" "I guess so." She sat on the bed next to him and patted his arm, "Mulder, I'm going to lay down in my bed for a little while because I'm tired and we still have to wait a while before the results are in. You are going into your room and we are locking the door between us." "But what if something happens?" "Then something happens." ********** University of Indiana at Fort Wayne Science laboratory May 17 10:22AM As they entered the laboratory they were met by Dr. Guyser running towards them, his eyes gleaming. He stopped short of them and tried to regain his breath as they stared at him. He looked up at them, his smile fading as he saw her lip. "Ms. Scully, what happened?" He asked, his excitement being replaced by concern. "My shampoo fell on me while I was showering last night." Mulder looked at her, a bit shocked she could lie so fast. "Oh dear." The man said, wanting to examine her lip as though she were a small child. She looked away and asked, "Dr. Guyser, did you find anything in those mosquitoes?" His smile returned. "Yes, where did you find these?" "What did you find?" Mulder repeated for her. "They've got some new drug in them. We analyzed it and it's a kind of stimulant, it's supposed to bring you rapture and tranquillity." They walked with him as he began to move around the lab, to his office. Scully and Mulder took seats in front of his desk and he began to shuffle through his papers, continuing, "When we mixed it with the Melatonin it became a stimulant for the dreaming process. Feeling it was safe for consumption we gave some to our chimpanzees and they, well, let's just say we may have another chimpanzee in a few months." He smiled. "They began to act out their dreams, sleepwalking at times to accomplish it." Scully looked at the papers she was being handed, results, brain waves from the chimps. She looked at him and asked, "What happened when you mixed the Melatonin and the drug with the experimental drug?" His face grew grim, then he gave her another result, a photo. "We had to remove our male because our female began to pummel him to death." He paused. "I guess what they say about too much of a good thing was right. When all three drugs are mixed is when you have problems, the dreams become violent, deadly, and the subjects begin to act them out, even killing one another, if allowed." Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, this explains the deaths. Mulder suddenly turned to Dr. Guyser, "But how does the experimental drug get into someone who isn't taking it?" "These mosquitoes you brought me suck in as well as inject. With the amount of drugs that they had in them I would suspect they bit a person taking the experimental drug and or the Melatonin, injecting them with some of the drug mix, and at the same time sucking in some of the experimental drug. The next person bit would be injected with all three substances. Of two of the three." Scully stood. "Thank you Dr. Guyser." She extended her hand and then shook his, walking quickly from the room. They both walked quickly to their car and entered buckling their seat belts. He turned to her, "This is it." "Doesn't explain Farnell." She said. "He probably screwed something up, you know how these drug mobs work, Scully." "Yeah, but what?" She looked away and then suddenly back at him, "Our assassinations! He was supposed to kill us and he killed the two dentists instead..." Scully began talking faster than Mulder could follow, "We have to go and tell Dr. Perulli to stop administrating the experimental drug and we have to get in touch with Kilsky to see just how many people are taking the Melatonin and we have to go back to the warehouse and get rid of those mosquitoes." "First I say you get off the caffeine." "I didn't have coffee this morning." He opened his mouth to speak but stopped short, not really knowing what to say, only knowing that he had to do everything she said, and fast. Before another person dies. ********** End of part 9 Comments? Please email us at eponine119@att.net; nalvarez@delphi.com Disclaimed in part one; email me if you are missing parts. ********** Culex Pipiens by eponine119 & Mystic eponine119@att.net & Nalvarez@delphi.com ************ Police Department 11:12 AM Kilsky was sitting with his feet up on his desk eating a jelly donut when Mulder and Scully arrived. He put the donut down, but he didn't seem to know that he had a bit of jelly smeared across his cheek. Mulder found it to be utterly disgusting. "Where the hell have you two been?" he demanded, lowering his feet to the floor. "Investigating...what've you been up to?" Mulder shot back. "I've seen four, no make that five, stiffs this morning and all before breakfast," replied Kilsky. "They're dropping like flies in this town." "Mosquitoes," corrected Scully. "Huh?" "We know what's going on," she explained. "We uncovered a warehouse, across town, filled with an unusual breed of mosquito that produces and spreads a substance that induces a state of extreme, uh -" "Hyperness," Mulder injected dryly. Kilsky looked confused. Scully continued. "When mixed with the melatonin, this substance causes a state of, uh -" "Horniness," Mulder injected, fighting the smirk that threatened to overtake his face. Kilsky began to look a bit more interested. "And when it's mixed with both melatonin and an unapproved drug undergoing trials in town, it causes severe dementia, rages, and death," Scully concluded. "Furthermore, it doesn't matter if the victim has taken the drugs; depending on who's been bitten, the mosquitoes can spread the drugs and cause the reactions." "What does all this mean?" Kilsky asked, his brows furrowed together in deep thought. Scully shook her head. "If there were five new murders during the night, it means we're in trouble," she said, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. "Some of the mosquitoes must have gotten loose last night," Mulder said, excitement shining in his eyes, "That would explain the dreams I had, Scully!" She turned and looked up at him, her eyes dark and looking haunted. "Take off your shirt, Mulder," she said. Kilsky burst out laughing. He was silenced a moment later when both agents turned and glared at him. Mulder didn't remove his shirt, instead untucking it from his pants and raising it. He sucked in a harsh breath when he felt Scully's cool, gentle fingers brush his spine. "You have several bites," she said clinically. Kilsky sensed the seriousness of the situation as he watched Scully pull Mulder's shirt down and the way they couldn't look at each other. "So who do I call first?" he asked, picking up the phone. Scully opened her mouth to respond, but Mulder answered faster. "The media," he said. "Have them warn people to discontinue using the two drugs we mentioned, and to stay indoors and take precautions against mosquito bites." He gave Kilsky a solemn look. "Don't let this develop into a panic situation." Mulder turned to go and Scully followed. When she caught up with him, she said quietly, "This is my fault. I let the mosquitoes out when I took the one to analyze." "You don't know that, Scully," Mulder said. "They may have been released purposely. This may go deeper than we initially thought." He looked down at her and she shook her head, continuing to feel responsible. Mulder wanted to touch her to try to make her feel better, but he couldn't. One look at her bruised face reminded him how close he'd come to the edge last night. He'd been under the influence of those drugs. He could have killed her. And it could happen again. ************ Fort Wayne Pharmaceutical 11:31 AM Two men in dark, somber suits approached Dr. Perulli's desk. They reminded him of the two FBI agents with whom he'd spoken the day before, but there was something different about these men. There was a glint of silvery evil in their eyes, and a detachment that suggested they found themselves to be superior to other humans. "We'd like to see your research, Dr. Perulli," the first man requested, more politely than he'd been expecting. He was not surprised that they knew his name. "What agency do you work for?" the scientist asked. He wasn't stupid; he knew they worked for the government. Please don't let it be the FDA, he prayed. "What agency," said the man who wasn't leaning across his desk. "Where's the research?" the first man asked again. He didn't sound amused. Dr. Perulli could feel himself beginning to sweat. "I don't have it," he lied, "It went to my supervisor this morning for her approval. Something about an irregularity." "Who's your supervisor?" "Marylin Shafer. She warned me not to speak to the FDA, though I can't imagine why." They're buying it, Dr. Perulli thought ecstatically, at least I won't lose my position! The man who was leaning against his desk nodded and headed for the door. The other man smiled at Dr. Perulli as though to wish him a pleasant day. "FDA, yeah right," he said and fired one silenced shot through Dr. Perulli's heart. "You get Shafer," he said, beginning his search of the office. Out in the hall, Dr. Marylin Shafer began to run for the stairwell. ************* Warehouse 11:52 AM "Maybe we should have stopped for lunch," Mulder said offhandedly, more because he was beginning to seriously worry about Scully than because he was hungry. "Maybe we should have stopped and picked up some OFF," Scully remarked, referring to the popular brand of bug repellent. Mulder wondered what Scully thought she was going to do here. He doubted there was any way she could kill the entire room full of bugs they'd discovered. Maybe she just wants to look, he thought. "Scully," he said, "Why don't we come back later?" "I want to do this now!" she insisted, stubborn as ever. "Scully. We can get some repellent, we can get some lunch, go back to the motel, maybe get a little rest while the Gunmen work their magic and find a way for us to kill these suckers." "I don't want to sleep," Scully said so passionately that Mulder had to turn and look at her. "What is it, what's wrong?" he asked softly. He brushed her skin with one finger and she flinched. "Scully?" "I don't want to talk about it!" Mulder swallowed hard. "Is it because I -" the words were so hard to say, "I hit you?" "No," she said, finally meeting his eyes. "It's what I dreamed last night." He raised an eyebrow, not breaking their eye contact. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. "Did I say I wanted to?" she bristled. "Let's go." She turned away to look out the window as Mulder backed out of the warehouse parking lot. Neither of them noticed the pair of black binoculars focused on them from inside the building. ************** Motel 6 12:30 PM "Are you sure you don't want any more?" asked Mulder, looking at the last slice of pizza in the box but determined not to reach for it, because he knew that if he did, Scully would never say she wanted it, even if she did. "I'm stuffed," she said, turning on her laptop and plugging it into the wall. "Let's see if your friends have come up with anything for us yet." Mulder crammed the last piece of pizza into his mouth, practically whole. He was famished, and he didn't know why. Crazy metabolism, he thought. "Mulder, this isn't funny." Scully informed him, her voice tight. "What isn't?" he asked, blinking, innocent. "You said you remembered me emailing Frohike about a date. And now, here is an email from him, accepting, surprised because my offer came out of the blue. How'd you do it? And why?" she demanded. He frowned. "That was just a dream," he said, rising to look over her shoulder. There was a message on the screen from Frohike, who was suffering from an overuse of adjectives in his excitement at Scully's unprecedented offer. "Wasn't it?" he asked, the bottom dropping out of his stomach. Suddenly he wished he hadn't eaten so much pizza. "You tell me," Scully said, still sounding angry, as she scrolled down through several pages written by Frohike. "Langley added a PS. About how to kill the bugs safely. Let's go." She abandoned the laptop and stomped out the door, leaving Mulder scrambling to keep up. ************* Warehouse 1:03 PM Scully was driving, too fast in her anger and her hurry to get to the warehouse, eradicate the bugs before anyone else could be bitten, and end this case as soon as possible. "Don't you think we should stop and consult the authorities?" Mulder asked. She was irritated with him, but not as irritated as she was with herself for not knowing if she should trust him. Not knowing if she should trust her own memory. "No time," she said, pealing into the parking lot and jumping out of the car. Mulder followed. But they were too late. Double doors in the side of the warehouse, large enough to drive two trucks through side by side, were open. And pouring from them into the sunshine was a dark, visible swarm of buzzing mosquitoes. "Quick, get in the car!" Mulder screamed, diving for his door and hoping Scully would do the same. But he wasn't fast enough, he could feel his skin begin to itch and throb as a few of the insects landed and fed on him. ****************** Fort Wayne Pharmaceutical 1:03PM The two men in black stared down at the body of Marylin Shafer, which had been placed next to Dr. Perulli's. They set down the small box full of C14. They looked at each other and they began to walk out of the building. Reaching their car MIB number one's cell phone rang. He opened the door to the car and climbed into the drivers seat while number two got in the passenger seat and then answered the phone. It was their boss. "Did you get the information?" He asked. He could hear the puff of smoke being blown into the phone, "Yes, sir. We got the information you requested." "Did you dispose of the bodies?" "The bomb will detonate in one minute." "No one saw or heard you?" "No, sir. We made sure we weren't noticed." "That's good, but did you happen to jam the video camera's?" There was silence. They weren't told about any camera's. Number two looked to number one with a questioning glance as if to ask, 'What happened?' "I assumed as much." The man hissed into the phone. "Sir, should we go back in and eradicate the video surveillance evidence?" "No, that won't matter." He hung up the phone and number one pressed END. Number two looked at him and asked, "What was that all about? What's this about video surveillance evidence?" "There were camera's in the building." "But they didn't tell us about that." He banged his hands on the steering wheel. "We were supposed to assume, dammit, don't you remember training?!" "No and neither do you. What did he say about it?" "He said not to worry." "Why's that?" Number one didn't have time to answer before the fire ripped through the car and it flipped over. The flames quickly consuming, but not killing them. They screamed for minutes before the second explosion went off from the middle, tearing the car in half, leaving two unidentified bodies for police to be burdened with. ********** Location Unknown 1:07PM He hung up the phone and pressed the button, detonation in one minute. The man sitting opposite him looked at him in frustration, not knowing why he had done what he had done. "What about the reports? The information?" "We already have that." "Then why send two men to go in there and get it." "To destroy any copy the outside world may have." He stood, "What about if it's on some disk somewhere in the building, are you going to keep sending your men in to find these disks." After blowing out another long string of smoke in the air, he answered, "We're quite certain that no other copy has been made available." "How do you know?" "We just know." He said esoterically. The man walked from the room, hoping that what this cigarette smoking man said was right. He needed the information to replicate the drug. He watched the other walk out of the room and a smug grin came over his face. He knew that the information was in a safe place. It would never leave his hands unless he wanted it too. There were no other copies. All evidence erased. Nothing to deny. ********** Warehouse 1:07PM He felt a fist slug at his arm. He had spaced out, gotten so scared that he froze in place, not moving, letting them bite him. He looked up and saw Scully. She was pointing at the car with mosquitoes circling her body, landing and some biting her. "We have to get out of here!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him off the floor and into to the car. Jumping in some of the bugs got stuck in the car and continued to bite them. She slapped at herself while speeding away from the warehouse and to the nearest hospital. "Where are we going?" He asked, smiling. "To the hospital." She glanced at him quickly, knowing the drug was already taking effect. It worked faster than she though it would. "Why?" "Because this isn't the drug/Melatonin/experimental drug mix, this is the pure drug, we're going to be too happy to take care of ourselves in a few minutes. We have to get serious treatment." "You mean we're going to OD." She chuckled and nodded. "Yep, we could end up comatose." "Again." He laughed. The car went into the wrong side of the road and the jerked back into the right lane. Scully forgot where she was going, then she saw the police station. "Say 'Hi' to Kilsky!" She screamed, laughing, aiming her car directly at the front of the building. He looked at the building and the he looked at her and he laughed. As she struck the front doors her head collided with the steering wheel before the air bag exploded in her face. Mulder was slumped down and he flew forward, into the dash board and fell under it, his head falling on her feet as everything went black. ********** ER room 1:12PM The two male doctors looked at the two coming in with mournful faces, knowing this was going to be a long night. First they have two men with a gunshot wounds in each other's chests, then a teenage girl comes in after drinking too much Vodka. Then a teenage boy comes in holding a knife, now in psychiatric care, but he killed himself with his doctors pen. Then an elderly woman has a heart attack from seeing a mass of mosquitoes flying by her house. Now these two. The two FBI agents who were supposed to be solving all this death seemed to want to become part of it. Dr. Anderson took the woman, Dana Scully to one ER room while Dr. Duchovny took the man, Fox Mulder into another, across from Scully. Apparently overdosing on some hallucinogenic drug and then crashing into the front door of the police station they were both in bad shape. Dr. Anderson looked at Dana Scully. Her lip was busted, but that was an old bruise, by at least a day. Her face was scratched, but those were days old. He found she had cracked her skull and would need to go into surgery and was quickly taken there. Dr. Duchovny looked at Fox Mulder. His head was bruising and his left foot was broken and his left shoulder had to be popped back into place. After having done that he began to worry about how to get the drugs out of his system. ********** End of part 10 Comments? Please email us at eponine119@att.net; nalvarez@delphi.com Disclaimed in part one; if you are missing pieces, email me. ********** Culex Pipiens by eponine119 & Mystic eponine119@att.net & Nalvarez@delphi.com ************ Room 76A Fort Wayne Medical Center 2:10AM Fox Mulder woke up and looked around the room. His head was pounding and his vision was cloudy. He tried to sit up but found that it hurt, a lot. He glanced at his side and saw that the bed beside him was empty, no Scully, he thought. He reached out and pressed the nurse button. "How are you doing Mr. Mulder?" The petite woman asked entering the room. She had curly brown hair and small brown eyes that almost disappeared when she smiled at him. "Where's..." He tried to speak but it came out in a whisper, his throat felt like it had been stuffed with cotton recently. She put a hand on his head and then reached for a thermometer, "You shouldn't try to speak, you should conserve your energy so you can get out of here faster." She placed the instrument in his mouth and walked out of the room. Mulder held it in his mouth impatiently waiting for the woman to come back in. He got sick of waiting and spit it out of his mouth, hearing it crackle as it hit the floor. The woman entered the room and looked at it on the floor, quickly picking it up and placing it in her tray. She gave him an angry glance, "You shouldn't be so rowdy. You should be thanking your lucky stars you made it through the night." He looked at her name tag, "Lucy, Lucy can you tell me something..." A doctor came in and dismissed her from the room and then he looked at Mulder. "You're looking a mite better today Mr. Mulder." Mulder read his tag, Dr. Duchovny. "Time?" He asked. "It's two fifteen in the morning and you really should be trying to back to sleep." "Don't want sleep." "What do you want Mr. Mulder?" "Dana." He looked into the doctors eyes and noticed they seemed to sadden at her name. Mulder thought he might cry. If anything happened to her... "Your girlfriend is still in intensive care." "She's not..." He trailed, "Is she ok?" He gave Mulder a worried look, "We don't know. We probably won't know until she comes out of it." "Out of it?" "She's in a coma. Fractured skull, there's swelling in the brain and we've relieved it, but we still don't know if she'll stabilize." "Her mother?" He nodded, "Margaret Scully is in with her right now. Would you like me to get her for you?" "Please." Mulder whispered closing his eyes against the pain in his throbbing head. "Would you like me to order you some more pain killers?" "Please." He said, opening his eyes at the man. He left the room and Mulder. Soon Lucy reentered sticking a needle into his arm. Mulder winced, but was happy when the drugs began to take effect only a minute later. He smiled as he saw Margaret Scully walk in the door and sit in a chair next to his bed. Dr. Duchovny and Lucy left them alone. "How is Dana?" Mulder asked her. He could see the tears in her eyes. He knew this was weighing her down. "She's not doing well." "Sorry." He whispered as tears gleamed in his eyes. He was weak, there was no way he could hold a strong front for her or anyone else. She ran a hand through his hair. "It's not your fault, Fox." "I made her come here." "Dana is never forced into a situation she didn't want to be in. She may have been reluctant, but if she came, she wanted to come. If only to try and keep you alive." He began to cry. He had to cry. She cradled his head until the sobbing stopped, then she kissed his forehead, her lips cool against his hot skin. He wanted to see Scully. He wanted to hold her hand and speak to her. He wanted her to hear his voice, to know he was there for her, to know he was ok and that she would be too. "Tell her..." He trailed taking a deep breath. "Tell her I love her." He smiled, "Tell her I order her to get better as her senior agent." Margaret smiled and stood, "I'll come back later to make sure you're still here and the nurse isn't hassling you, ok?" Mulder nodded and Margaret left the room. She walked down the hall and entered the room her daughter was in, looking at her unusually pale face under the bandages and tubes. This was how Melissa was the last time she had seen her. Maggie held her daughters hand. "Dana, he's alright. He's worried about you." She watched her heart beat twice quickly. "He has something to tell you. It's important and I think he'll have to tell you himself." The heart rate quickened again. "Oh baby..." She trailed, finding it hard to breath past the lump in her throat. She hugged her daughter and cried. She didn't want to loose both of her daughters the same way, she didn't want to loose them at all, but to loose both the same way... ********** A suburb of Washington DC 2:07 pm EST Margaret Scully had been suffering from a mild case of the flu and just generally feeling run down for a couple of days. And because she'd been housebound, she'd had a lot of time to think about her daughter, Melissa. Which may have accounted for the fact that she awoke from her nap screaming. After a moment, the world slid back into focus and she saw her bedroom around her. The world was all right...mostly. At least, her other beautiful daughter was not lying in a hospital bed. As far as she knew. Frowning with worry, Margaret rose from the bed and walked out to the kitchen to use the phone there, in the cozy room that felt most like her home. Absently, she scratched a rising welt on her back. She looked over at the screen door as she dialed and saw that it had a hole in it. Mosquito must have gotten in, she thought, listening to Dana's cell phone ring. ************** Warehouse 1:15 PM CST Scully was breathing hard and her hands were slick with sweat so she was having a hard time getting the car into reverse gear. Every time she glanced in the rearview mirror, she saw the dark cloud of mosquitoes and got distracted. She could see Mulder scratching, and she could feel the same furious itching on her own skin. She threw the car into gear, finally, and the tires squealed as she backed out of the spot. Scully jammed the car into drive and floored the gas, reaching for her cell phone with the other hand. She had to call Kilsky...the media...someone. The phone rang. Mulder blinked as though coming out of a daze and realized he was scratching small red bumps on the back of his arm. He looked down at them, and then looked at Scully when he heard her phone ring. "Hi, Mom. Um, I don't really have time right now..." he heard her say, and he couldn't help gaping at her. "No, Mom," she insisted, "I under - I understand that, but I'm *really* busy - no. Mom. Mom." She rolled her eyes like a twelve year old. "Here, Mom, talk to Mulder, he's not doing anything." And she tossed the phone at him, concentrating on her quick trip through the streets. His eyes were wide as he collected the phone from his lap, where it had fallen, and oriented it the correct way. "Mrs. Scully?" "Fox, is my daughter in danger?" As serious as her voice was, as serious as the mosquito situation was, he couldn't help making a joke. Maybe because it was so serious. "Only from her driving." "Fox," her voice was as stern as his own mother's tended to be and it made his heart ache. "She's fine, Mrs. Scully. We're in the middle of a very difficult case right now, and we're a bit on edge. And the case seems to have just broken, so we're kind of busy. But what can I do for you?" he asked. "It's nothing," she said softly, mumbling embarrassedly as Dana would have if she'd realized she was so upset over a dream. "I had a dream, Fox, and for a moment it was so real, and I was so scared for her. But now I realize that it was actually a dream about Melissa." Mulder steeled himself against the telltale sounds of her crying: the ragged breathing, the weak, high voice, the wet sniffle. "Please. Don't cry." The car almost swerved off the road as Scully looked at him. "Don't...I'll take care of her." He was silent for a long moment and Scully dared to glance at him again. He was so caring and gentle, it was in every line of his face, every word he spoke. And he said he would take care of her. She was starting to feel all melty inside. "Please, Mrs. Sc-" He waited. "We'll be fine. You just get some rest. You have to take care of yourself, Mom." The word slipped out before he could even think to stop himself. He heard Scully's loud, startled gasp, but the cellular phone had gone to staticky interference and then dead. Scully pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car, crossing her arms over the steering wheel and putting her head down. Mulder looked at her and watched her shoulders shake. Tentatively, he reached over and put his hand on her back. "Scully, it's OK," he said. She nodded, and a moment later she raised her head and looked at him, tears streaking her reddened face. He reached over to brush the tear away. "Don't you cry, either," he told her with an encouraging smile. "I'm not crying, Mulder," she gasped out, "I'm laughing! It all seems so incredibly silly!" And she leaned heavily against his shoulder, laughing audibly and uncontrollably now. Mulder grinned at her, the mirth seemingly contagious. In another minute, he was going to be laughing, too, although he couldn't even think why, he just felt so...happy. Happier than he could ever remember feeling. As happy as he'd been the summer he was nine and one weekend his Dad took the family to Coney Island in New Jersey and fed him and Samantha cotton candy and soda until all they could do was run amuck and laugh until their bellies ached. "It's the mosquitoes," Scully giggled. "Those must have been the happy ones." She giggled more. "Happy mosquitoes!" She had a picture in her head of a cartoon mosquito with a red ball on the end of its long nose and a party hat on over its big eyes. "I think - we should - maybe - go to the hospital," Mulder managed to say between guffaws. "Just say NO," Scully laughed. "Maybe I should drive." Maybe it was his personality; he didn't seem to be as affected as she was. Or maybe it was because she was smaller, or maybe he'd simply not been bitten as much as she had. He got out of the car and went around to the other side, moving her over into the passenger seat. He fastened Scully's seatbelt over her lap and she snickered seductively at him. "That tickles!" He looked at her for a moment. He kind of liked this side of her. But he also didn't; it scared him in ways he didn't want to think about. He headed for the hospital. By the time he got there, Scully's laughter had turned convulsive. She appeared to be having a hard time drawing a deep breath, caught up in hiccups and stray giggles. Mulder was worried about her, and it sobered him. He got out of the car and hurried around to the other door, which he opened, but Scully found herself unable to stand. He had no patience with his laughing partner and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her into the emergency room. "Take a number," said a large nurse who looked as though he'd never laughed in his life. Mulder stood in the midst of what appeared to be a sea of people in the emergency room. Some were laughing. More than a few were bleeding. A pair over in the corner was kissing like there was no tomorrow. Scully's eyes closed and she began to twitch in his arms. "I need help here!" he shouted. A hand tapped him on the arm and he turned to see a woman about Scully's size wearing a lab coat standing behind him. "This way," she said. Mulder followed her. "Why aren't you affected?" he asked. She shrugged. "Could be that none of the mosquitoes got into the hospital, thank God. And since I'm only a resident, I haven't been outside in the last thirty-six hours," she explained, and then laughed. Mulder clutched Scully to his chest protectively. She seemed to be better now, he realized, looking down at her. "Sorry, you get kind of weird after such a long time on the job. Especially with some of the things we've seen in the last couple of days." She looked at Scully. "You can put her down now, you know." Mulder placed his partner gently onto the ER bed but didn't stop touching her. He held her hand and stroked her hair with his other hand. The young woman listened to her heart and breathing, and raised her eyelids to look into her eyes. "Looks like she's sleeping it off." The young woman turned to him with sharp eyes that he wasn't entirely certain he could trust. "What about you? Did you get bitten by the mosquitoes?" "How do you know so much about this anyway?" Mulder asked. Another young woman in a white lab coat entered the room and walked over to him. "Maybe we should examine *you*," the first girl said ominously. Mulder looked over at the newcomer, who didn't speak. Both girls approached him, suddenly standing much too close, and he realized just how small they were. About the size of...aliens. He looked in their eyes and was shocked to see that they weren't human eyes; they were deep black voids. He opened his mouth to shout for help, but no sound came out. *************** ER Room 2:27PM A hand touched his shoulder and he jumped. He was holding her in his arms and he was in the ER. They were there because of the mosquitoes, they had been bitten, Scully had gone into laughing fits and he had taken over driving, going straight to the hospital. "Hope you haven't been waiting long, Mr." The doctor looked at the chart, "Mulder. I'm doctor Jim Harvey." Dr. Harvey told him looking at Scully. Mulder looked up at the young man, he looked at the clock, and then he looked back at the man. How long had he been asleep and how much of what he remembered was accurate. He looked around the room and there weren't many people in, although those who were had silly grins and were scratching themselves. "Is this visit mosquito related?" The man asked Mulder. "Yes, have there been many?" "Yeah, apparently there's a swarm that came into town. We've got people out there with poisons trying to kill them, but that's not stopping them from taking bites out of townsfolk." He looked at her, "Bring her to a bed." Mulder stood and followed him to a room and laid her down where Dr. Harvey immediately began to take her temperature and her blood pressure. Mulder watched attentive that the man didn't do anything he didn't approve of. "How long has it been since she was bitten?" He asked Mulder. "About an hour." "And you, were you bitten?" He nodded, "Yeah, we were at the warehouse where they were keeping the mosquito's, and they had just been released into the populace." "How many bites do you suppose you have?" "I really don't know." "But you haven't had any problems?" Dr. Harvey surveyed Mulder for any signs of fatigue or giddiness, as he had encountered with the other patients, but saw none. Mulder looked up from Scully and answered, "No. We were driving back into town and she got delirious on me so I brought her to the hospital, I was thinking she might have had an allergic reaction to them or something." Dr. Harvey smiled, "I don't think that's the case, she would have been swollen, convulsing even. She might have been affected more so than you because of her height and weight," He smiled, glancing down at her again "She's considerably smaller." Mulder nodded, smiling, "Is she going to be ok?" He asked. "Yeah, she just has to sleep it off. I suggest you take her home and just let her rest, she'll probably wake up in a few hours wanting a steak." Mulder reached to pick her up, but the man stopped him, "If Anything should arise, bring her to the hospital without a second thought. We don't know what the secondary implements of whatever's going on here are." Mulder ran a hand through her hair and told Dr. Harvey, without looking up at him, "It's the drug that's in the mosquito's. You might want to call the lab at the University, ask them what they think." Dr. Harvey waited for him to leave. "Please, before I go." ********** End of part 11. Comments? Please email us at nalvarez@delphi.com; eponine119@att.net disclaimed in part one; if you are missing pieces, email me. ********** Culex Pipiens by eponine119 & Mystic eponine119@att.net & Nalvarez@delphi.com ************ Motel 6 that night 8:32PM Mulder slept on the bed next to her, waiting for her to wake up, to tell her the good news. She opened her eyes, 'Oh God, I died.' she thought, unable to see light. She reached a hand up and found that her covers had been pulled up over her head. She quickly brought it down and looked at the ceiling of the motel room a bit surprised. She looked over, feeling someone with her and saw Mulder sleeping in the bed, facing her. He looked calm, she thought, that might be a good indication that whatever happened is over. "Mulder." She said. His eyes fluttered open, "You're ok." Was all he said and he smiled at her, making her heart melt. He got up and went to a chair. "I was beginning to think you'd really gone into a coma." "Nevermore." She said sitting up, rubbing her head. "My mother called, when we were in the car, did that happen?" "Yes, she said she'd had a disturbing dream, I didn't probe her on it, I was more worried about getting away from the mosquitoes." She stopped him and asked, "What happened to the mosquitoes?" "Pesticide." Was all he said. "You feeling ok?" "Yeah, why?" "You were a little out of it when we were in the car, do you remember anything after your mother called?" She thought a moment and then smiled, "You called her 'mom' and then, um, I woke up here." "You don't remember the hospital?" He gave her a worried look as she shook her head. She didn't remember going hysterical, laughing like a mad woman or going to the hospital. "What did they say at the hospital, were there other people in for the mosquitoes?" She scratched at her arm. "They said there had been a few people in for them, but it didn't seem serious. The effects seem to die down after a while and there aren't any odd secondary side effect." "How did you find that out?" "I told them to call the lab and run a few more tests on it before I left the hospital." He paused, "I wasn't about to take you out without knowing whether or not you'd be ok in a few hours." She blushed slightly, "Mulder, what did I do?" She paused for a moment, "When I was drugged?" "You laughed until they gave you a sedative at the hospital," he paused, "and then you slept." "I didn't do anything *stupid*, did I?" She blushed deeper. "No." He laughed. The phone rang and he picked it up, surprised to hear Kilsky's voice. The man almost screamed into the phone, "The two scientists are dead, the ones you went to visit, Shafer and Perulli." "What? When were they found?" Mulder asked, while Scully looked at him oddly. "A little while ago. There was an office fire and they were killed in it, but looking at the bodies, the coroner says that they were both shot. There was also a car bomb, two men were found inside, burned to death, we think they may have been the men that killed the two scientists." The man paused, letting Mulder take this in, "Is Ms. Scully ok, I heard about the incident at the warehouse. Some of my men are out right now still trying to kill the last of the mosquitoes that were let out." "You got rid of them all?" "Well, yeah." "What about the information in the office of Dr. Perulli, was is all destroyed?" "Burnt to a crisp." "Thanks." Mulder hung up and looked at Scully. "They burned all the information on that experimental drug, and Kilsky says they killed at the mosquitoes." She looked at him, slightly worried now, "Doesn't matter, we still have evidence in the tests run on the mosquitoes in the laboratory, right?" Mulder pointed at her as if to say, 'you may be right' and he picked up the phone again and dialed the lab. He waited for a few minutes before a machine picked up. He put the phone down looking at her. "What happened?" She asked, sensing his suspicion. "A machine answered, now I'm not sure about this, but doesn't a place as big as that usually have *one* person working in the lab?" ********** University of Indiana at Fort Wayne Science laboratory 9:01PM Driving up to the lab they noticed the parking lot was empty and there was yellow tape around, the kind for a crime scene. 'Why hadn't Kilsky mentioned this on the phone?' Mulder thought to himself, 'Maybe he didn't know yet.' He parked the car and they get out, quickly making their way to the front door. An armed guard met them, giving them hard looks. He held out a hand to stop them, "Sir, ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to turn back." Mulder pulled his badge, "I'm agent Fox Mulder, this is my partner Dana Scully, with the FBI, I believe that gives us jurisdiction over a crime scene, especially one having special significance to our case." The man's eyes widened, "I still can't let you in, your safety is not totally ensured by the CDC." Scully almost screamed, "The Center for Disease Control?! What were they doing here, in Fort Wayne, in this lab. Where are they?" The man pointed to a van on the side of the building, "They're inside right now, they're checking on a small lab explosion that might have released some deadly disease into the air." "But this is a University Laboratory, what are they doing with a deadly virus in their facility, especially one with such a high population in the immediate vicinity?" The man gave her an annoyed look, "I really don't know, I think they were holding it for transport to the CDC. You might want to go talk to the guys in the van." Scully began to ask another question but Mulder stopped her, holding a hand up and then speaking to the man himself, "You said there was an explosion?" "Yes." "Where?" "In the main lab." Mulder sighed and almost stomped him feet, "Come on Scully. They got rid of our evidence." She cocked her head stubbornly, "They would endanger the lives..." She paused, thinking of how ridiculous the statement sounded after the recent events. "What are we going to do then?" "Go back to Washington, file our report and wait to see if anything is recovered. I don't think there's anything else we could do here. I'll be willing to bet there's been a fire in the morgue, something with the embalming fluid." He said angrily walking to the car. ********** Atlantic Shores May 24th 12:22 pm He lay back in the beach chair, stretching out his thin white legs and trying to attract the attention of the weak spring sun to tan his pasty skin. After a few moments, a craving disrupted his reverie and he reached into the straw beach tote he'd brought with him for a distinctive red and white package of cigarettes. Lighting one, he sat up and surveyed the water. He wished it was warm enough to go waterskiing. Now there was an urge he hadn't had in a while. The cellular phone in the bag rang and he answered it, saying nothing, just expelling a mouthful of smoke over the phone. "Everything's been taken care of," a voice reported to him. "Good," he said smoothly, squinting out at a boat on the water. "And Mulder and Scully?" "Are convinced everything is buried so deep they'll never find it again." The man nodded and waited for the man to conclude the call. He didn't. "What?" he asked at last, stubbing out the cigarette irritatedly on the metal arm of the beach chair. "Just why were you toying with mosquitoes, sir? What did you hope to accomplish?" his operative asked hesitantly. The man merely shrugged. If his man did not understand, it was not worth explaining. Everything he did fit neatly into the jigsaw of his building power. "That's what I thought," said the operative, looking quizzically at the phone he held, figuring that the man did not even know his own motives. *********** Los Angeles, CA May 24 9:22am The man sat bolt upright in bed, his heart pounding and his palms sweating. He nudged the woman sleeping next to him. "Whaddisit?" she mumbled, still sleeping. "Dori, wake up, I've had the most amazing dream!" he cried, excited. When she didn't respond, he leapt out of bed, crossing the hardwood floor of the room, not even bothering to look out at the gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean through the windows. He grabbed the phone with one hand and turned on the computer with the other. He *had* to write this one down, it was brilliant! "Chris, come back to bed," his wife said, but she knew it was no use. Her husband was obsessed with his work. He scratched an errant itch as he began to type furiously, formulating an outline. "This'll show those Relationshippers," he muttered. A mosquito buzzed around his head. *********The end********** So, what do you think? This one strayed a bit from the original idea and got kind of nutty, but it was a lot of fun to write and we hope it was as much fun to read. Of course, we mean no real harm to mosquitoes or melatonin or anything else; it's just a story! Please send comments, lots of 'em :) and don't forget that there's two of us, and if you could send them to both, it would be very helpful. Thanks for reading! 'Culex pipiens' is the name of the common household mosquito, or so Mystic says. eponine119 & Mystic eponine119@att.net nalvarez@delphi.com