From: kim stanley Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 15:23:55 Subject: REPOST: Night Terrors pt 1/3 hi This my firstfanfic ever. It took my alot delibertation as to whether I should post this. Any feedback would be welcome since it is my first fanfic at kstanley@telusplanet.net Like what you thought about it and so on. Hope you enjoy it Kim Stanley Title: Night Terrors pt 1/3 Rating: PG-13 Archives:please e-mail me Feedback: any feedback to kstanley@telusplanet.net Time line: middle of the fifth season Summary: AD Walter Skinner experiences frightening dreams and consults Agents Mulder and Scully about them. However, there is more to the dreams than Skinner thinks as Agents Mulder and Scully find out: His dream is very real. Content Warning: PG-13 language Archive: Disclaimer: Well, the characters are not mine. You know who they belong to 1013. Who else? Author's notes: Thank you to everyone at Skinnerholics. Where would I be without you? My mom and stepfather for the computer so this could happen. My dad for the word processing program. Night Terrors by Kim Stanley pt 1/? Middle of the night Walter Skinner's apartment Skinner awakes again with the sweats. He is dreaming again, of what he does know, but does not want to admit it to himself. Pulling out his gun, Walter checks his apartment. "Oh god, this has been 5 times this week that I have had the same dream. Another nightmare about the past." Satisfied he is safe he returns back to bed and sleeps until 5:30 am. Walter Skinner's apartment 5:50 am Already dressed and showered, Skinner pours himself a cup of coffee and sits down at the kitchen table. Asking himself if there anything to his dreams, he firmly decides to confront Agents Mulder and Scully with his problem. He couldn't believe it at the time, but he did tell Agent Mulder about Vietnam. Sipping on his coffee he remembers the first day Agents Mulder and Scully walked into his office with their first field report "That was five years ago." Smiling, he gets ready to go to his office to confront Agents Mulder and Scully with a new case. And to relay his nights to both of them. Mulder's Apartment 7:00 am Mulder gets up off his couch and mutters to himself, "Damn, not again. I fell asleep on my couch with my VCR on." While getting a cup of coffee to wake himself up to get to Skinner's office by 8:00 am sharp his cell phone rings. "Mulder" "Mulder, it's me." "Yes, Scully, what can I do for you on this rainy morning?" "I'm worried." "Who about?" "Our fantastic AD Skinner." "Why's that?" lifting his brow, wondering why Scully his telling him this so early in the morning. "He has not been himself lately, Mulder." "Well, you're the doctor. What do you think we should do?" "The best thing we can do, Mulder, is confront him and see if there is anything bothering him. Honestly, Mulder, I do not think he should be working, in my medical opinion." "Why is that, Scully?" Mulder quips trying to drink his coffee, get dressed and talk with Scully at the same time. "Since the last case we finished, his behaviour has been very erratic. To be honest, after he went out onto the field with us on the last case he has not been acting like the Walter Skinner I know." "So, Scully, what are you trying to get at? I have to leave if I'm going to make it to his office in time." "I think, Mulder, he is suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome." "Really? And what on earth should we do about it?" "Confront him, Mulder. This morning." "Well, you are the doctor. Okay, meet me in my office in 15 minutes." "Okay, Mulder. See you there." Mulder finally is off the phone. Skinner having problems, he shrugs, not Skinner. However his mind wanders to the day Skinner walked into his office and shared his Vietnam war experience because he trusts Mulder. Thinking that there might be something to what Scully was saying he feeds his fish puts on his jacket and leaves apartment 42. Mulder's Basement office FBI building Mulder sits patiently and looks around his office with a smirk grin on his face and thinks to himself, "I love my hole in the ground. Where is Scully?" Looking at his "I want to believe" poster, waiting for Scully, he sips on coffee he bought from the FBI cafeteria. Scully ever so quietly sneaks up to his back and shouts, "Mulder what are you doing?" Mulder's coffee falls into his lap and he turns around to face Scully. "Damn, not again. Can you go and get some paper towels please, Scully?" Sitting with half his coffee in his lap, Mulder is not amused at Scully's antics this morning. Having only a few minutes to head up to Skinner's office for a new case briefing he wonders what Scully will say to Skinner about his behaviour. Scully reenters the room and hands Mulder a stack of paper towels. "Scully, I did not need that many," he laughs. "Oh, we can use them next time you pull this stunt on me. It's about time we go up and see the assistant director" Scully nods in agreement. Mulder and Scully leave the dim lit basement office that looks as if a bomb hit it and head towards the elevator. "Hey, Mulder, you should get a maid." "Yeah sure, Scully." AD Walter Skinner's office 8:00 am Mulder and Scully approach Skinner's office just in time to meet with him at 8:00 am, both wondering what this new case is about. Mulder wraps on the door. "Come in," Mulder and Scully hear. Mulder, like a man, opens the door for his partner, who he has come to protect over the past 5 years. Especially when he was so desperately trying to find a cure for her inoperable cancer. They both enter and take their usual seats across from Skinner's desk. Mulder grins at the "no smoking" sign perched upon Skinner's desk. "Good morning, Agent Mulder, Agent Scully." "Good morning, sir," Mulder and Scully reply in unison. "I need you both to investigate a cult ring in Richmond, Virginia. Youngsters are disappearing, which has the Richmond PD in an uproar." "I can imagine," Mulder replies "Any bodies turn up yet?" "As a matter a fact parts of bodies have turned up, according to my report from the Richmond PD." Scully interrupts Skinner. "Sir." "Yes, Agent Scully?" "Well, to be frank, sir, you have not been yourself lately. Actually, since the last case. I am concerned. Is everything okay?" Skinner moves about with anxiety. He gets up out his chair and turns away from Agents Mulder and Scully. Then he turns to face them both still standing. "You are right, Agent Scully, I have not been myself. Just not getting enough sleep, that is all," Skinner tells them. "Honestly, sir, I think it is much more than that, after you being in the field with us this last case. In my medical opinion, I do not think it is a just a case of not getting enough sleep." "Well, Agent Scully, I will take that into consideration." "But, sir," Scully replies with a look of concern on her face. "Agent Mulder and I have discussed this and we think you are in danger from this and want to help you" "So what do you propose?" Skinner asks turning to both Agents Scully and Mulder. "Getting you checked out, sir." "That is not an option right now. I have to many cases to finish up and you two have to get to Richmond, pronto!" Scully sighs with disappointment that Skinner is sending them to Richmond right away and will not take her medical advice. "Damn it, sir, you have to do something." "Agent Scully, I will, but you both have to hightail it to Richmond." "When we get back then, and that is a medical order. I hate to pull rank over you, sir, but I believe you are endangering yourself. Call Mulder or me on our cell phones if anything unusual happens to you." "Thank you for both your concern. I will. Now get out of here." Scully and Mulder get up to leave Skinner's office. Skinner leaps up and says in a very low voice. "Thank you both for your concern." Skinner's apartment Early evening Skinner fiddles for his keys. "Where are they?" he mutters to himself. He finally finds them in his back pocket. "There they are," he exclaims to himself. He opens the door to his apartment and takes off his shoes and plops himself on the couch. "Gee, I'm running on empty." He runs into the kitchen, scrounging around, looking for something to fill his empty stomach. In the freezer he finds a TV dinner and throws it into the microwave. After dinner watching TV Skinner falls into a deep sleep. "Oh no, not again." "Why me?" "What do you want?" Terror sets in he wakes up all of a sudden. "Oh god, it happened again. Where is the darn cell phone? Oh damn, did I leave it in my bloody office?" Over on the lazyboy sits his cell phone. Well, Scully did say for me to call if anything unusual happens. Here goes nothing, he encourages himself. He punches in the speed dial for Scully's cell phone and gets a message, "This cellular is out of range or turned off. Please try again." "Damn." He speed dials Mulder's cell phone. "Mulder." "Mulder, this is Assistant Director Skinner. Where is Scully?" "Right beside me, sir, sleeping in the car. We are on our way to Richmond as you asked" "Why did she not answer her cell phone?" "Hold on. Oh, she had it turned off. Do you want me to wake her up for you?" "No, that is fine. Tell her to turn on her cell phone, will you, Mulder?" "Okay. Are you alright, sir?" "Yes, I will be fine once you figure out what the hell is going on in Richmond. Talk to you later." Skinner rests back on the couch, furious with Scully because he cannot admit to Mulder he thinks he is going nuts. Skinner picks up the remote and channel surfs like so many men his age do. Flip, there, finally, something decent. He pauses on the channel rerunning "FOX Files." The phone starts ringing he grabs it. "Hello?" No answer. The phone is still ringing. _Oh crap, wrong phone. My cell phone is ringing._ He picks up the phone. "Skinner here." "Sir, this is Scully. Mulder woke me up and said you had called." "Yes, I did." "What's up, sir?" "Frankly, Scully, I think I am losing my marbles." "Marbles, sir?" "Yes. I did not elaborate if front of Mulder today because he has enough weight on his shoulders with this case in Richmond." "Sir, yes, I am listening." "Too make things short, I have been having nightmares. Very vivid ones." "Can you say anything more about them?" "Sometimes I wake up in bed in sweat. Sometimes I find myself in another room. To tell you the truth, I really do not understand what is going on. That is why I called you. That is your department, is it not?" "Yes, it is. I will talk to Mulder. Maybe I can fly back and he can handle the case in Richmond and we will figure what is going on, okay?" "Okay, Scully, but soon." "Well, I want to check out what is going on in Richmond first. Then I will get back to you tomorrow okay?" "Okay, Scully. Sleep well when you get there because I will not be." Skinner is not in a very good mood. He shuts the cell off and goes back to surfing the TV set to get his mind off what could happen when he sleeps tonight, yet again. Finding nothing he decides to put on his favorite CD by the Foo Fighters. Anything just to get his mind off sleeping tonight and the impending doom he feels before going to sleep. Skinner enters the kitchen and looks again in the fridge. "Munchies. That is what I need. Ah, there's one donut left." He would rather forget all the details of the case, namely the mutilations, but it keeps coming back to his mind. He slumps in the lazyboy and sits listening to the CD munching on the donut. Slowly he falls asleep. Skinner finds himself close to a bloodbath of dead bodies. "Oh god, where am I?" "This is 'Nam, man. Where do you think you are?" "Oh shit, not 'Nam." Skinner tosses and turns in his sleep. "They are only children. Oh man." "Yes, they are. You ordered them to be killed." "Oh no! Not children! Oh shit!" Skinner gets out of bed, gets dressed, grabs his gun, and leaves his apartment. Unknowingly, he is the middle of the street. He is waving his gun and mindlessly shooting at invisible targets. All of sudden he wakes up. "Oh my god." A speeding car comes into Skinner's path. End pt 1 Night Terrors Pt 2 Richmond, VA Mulder is driving the car after no progress in the case so far. Frustrated, he glances over at Scully who bears a look of worry on her face. Mulder drives into the parking lot of "Sleep-EZE" motel, the usual one that theystay at when they have a case in the Richmond area. Mulder goes in and gets them there usual two separate rooms beside each other. Both Mulder and Scully collapse in their separate rooms. Scully is lying on her bed wondering why AD Skinner has not touched base with her as of yet. She dials his cell phone number and get his voicemail. "Sir, this is Scully. When you get this please give me a call." Scully goes back to bed thinking that maybe she will fall asleep. She just lies there tossing and turning throughout the night. Not wanting to bother Mulder she picks up the case file and enters some information that has been gathered into her laptop. Two hours later, not sleepy, she finishes the case review of what happened that day. Her cell phone rings. Wondering who it could be at this hour, Scully answers. "Hello?" "Are you Agent Dana Scully of the FBI?" "Yes, and who am I speaking to?" "This is the Georgetown Medical Center in Washington D.C. Walter Skinner of the FBI left your name as a contact. He was hurt badly in a car accident three hours ago. He has sustained injuries to his spleen, which had to be removed and to his left leg, which had to be set in place with pins. Do you understand this?" "Yes, I do I am a medical doctor I am in Virginia and will be there on the next flight out. I will need a copy of his medical records." "Yes, we understand that, Dr. Scully. Everything will be made available when you get here." "Yhank you." Scully turns off her cell phone and immediately runs to the next door, pounding on it. Muttering to herself, wishing Mulder did not sleep so soundly at the worst of times. Mulder opens the door looking very sleepy eyed. "What can I do for you, Scully?" "Mulder can I come in? It is very urgent." "Okay, Scully, but only for my favorite partner." Scully enters the room which looks much like hers -- a double bed and a small desk with a few chairs. What they use for accommodations is nothing fancy, trying to keep costs down in that area. "Mulder I have bad news." "What is it this time?" Mulder had heard this line from Scully one too many times. He puts on his robe and sits in a chair. "Mulder, Assistant Director Skinner has been admitted to Georgetown Medical Center." "What happened?" Mulder asks, rolling his eyes, thinking Skinner has gotten himself in too much trouble too many times. "Apparently he was hit by a car when he was in the middle of the street and sustained some injuries. He had to go for emergency surgery." "Scully, go get your things. We are headed back to Washington and to find out what happened to Skinner." Scully goes back to her room and gets her things and meets Mulder at the car. "I have already checked us out." They both throw their bags into the trunk. Mulder drives towards Washington hoping, the roads are okay. It is blowing snow on the freeway and Mulder thinks that the roads might be dangerously slippery at this time of year. Not telling Scully his fears about the road conditions, he continues to drive back to Washington D.C. Georgetown Medical Center Washington D.C. Scully and Mulder rush through the main doors to information and find that Skinner is in ICU on the third floor. Scully goes to the elevator and pushes the "up" button beside the elevator doors. She is very impatient, not knowing what Skinner's condition is. She paces back and forth in front of the elevator doors walking right into Mulder without looking. "Scully, are you okay?" "Yes, I'm fine," practically biting off Mulder's head with her tone of voice. "Will you take it easy? Here comes the chariot." They both enter the elevator and Scully pushes the button for the third floor. Scully practically runs to the ICU information desk and takes out her identification so there is no misunderstanding as to her identity. "Here is what I think you would like to see, Dr. Scully," the nurse hands Scully a clip board. "Anything you need, please just ask. My name is Jennifer and I am here until midnight." Scully replies, "Thank you." Mulder is hanging around the nurses station looking at the nurses. Scully taps him on the shoulder. "Mulder, you know better. Quit looking at all the young nurses. We have a job to do." Mulder retorts "Okay, sorry about that. Had to amuse myself while you were talking to... What is her name?" "Jennifer," Scully replies. "Okay. Did you find anything unusual on his chart?" "For crying out loud, Mulder, I just opened it. Can you wait in the chairs over there and try not to get into any more trouble? I will be a few more minutes," glancing back at the Skinner's chart. Mulder walks over to the candy machine and puts the required amount of money for a chocolate bar and buys a granola bar for Scully. They had not eaten since last night and he thought Scully could use something to eat. He picks up both candy bars out of the machine and walks towards Scully with a worried look on his face. He almost rams into Scully as she was headed over to update him on Skinner's condition. He hands her the granola bar. "Thought you could use some food." "This is food, Mulder?" opening the granola bar, thinking this is all I will get to eat for several hours until they figure what is wrong with Skinner. "Thank you, Mulder. I didnt mean to bitch at you like that. I have feeling this is gooing to be more interesting than I thought." "Well, until we can go sit somewhere to eat I thought it would be good to get a granola bar into you." "Okay, Mulder. The good news is he is not dead the bad news is he was found wandering in the middle of the street, according to witnesses who saw him get hit by the car. No charges have been made as of yet because of the unusual circumstances surrounding this case--those being Skinner walking in the middle of the street for no apparent reason. He sustained injuries to his spleen and left leg which both had to operated on. The spleen was removed and the leg was pinned back into place and more than likely he will need physical therapy. What is bothering me, Mulder, is why he was walking in the middle of the street at 3 am and not in bed. Mulder, I have something to tell you that the Assistant Director told me confidence. I will tell you what that is when I get back from checking in on Skinner. I am going to check with Jennifer to see if it is okay to take a look at him." Mulder cannot sit still waiting to see what kind of condition Skinner is in. He admits to himself the nature of Skinner's accident has bothered him deeply and wants to figure out what the hell happened in the first place to Skinner before something worse happens to him. He phones the FBI, gives his badge number, and requests two agents to come and protect Skinner in the hospital for fear that anything could happen. Scully returns to the nurse's desk looking for Jennifer. She asks if she can see Skinner for a few moments to see what condition he is in. Scully finds out he is in room 304 and walks towards his room. The hallways are quiet in the ICU. She puts on a gown and mask and enters the room. Skinner looks very peaceful for the moment. She quickly examines him, knowing that Mulder gets very impatient with her when she does this type of thing. Well, at least he is breathing on his own, even though Skinner looks like a rag doll in his bed hooked up to IVs and is receiving oxygen at the moment. At least he is resting peacefully for the moment, she thinks as she closes the door gently. "What is it that you had to tell me out of confidence about Skinner before you checked on him, Scully?" Mulder asks with a worried look on his face. "Mulder, he has been having rivetting nightmares for the past few months about children dead in a bloodbath in Vietnam. I have the feeling Skinner was sleepwalking when this happened. Mulder, I think we are looking at an X-File here involving Walter Skinner. Why, who, or what is causing Skinner to have these nightmares. In my medical opinion we have to get to the bottom of this before something happens to him." Mulder replies, "When was the last time you found an X-File? I have to agree it is and we do need to help Skinner. He has saved our ass more times than I can think of right now. What I am trying to say is we will investigate Skinner's nightmares, but we have to wait until he is in better condition, don't we, Scully?" "Of course. I can't go rushing in there when he is knocked out by pain killers and sedatives and ask questions. Let me do the asking since I am the medical doctor here. Mulder, for once please keep your mouth shut and stay out the questioning of Skinner. Besides, I told you confidential information which I would not have told you, but under the circumstances had no choice. I think Skinner's life depends upon us right now and we have to get back to the FBI and dig for some information regarding sleep disorders." "Okay. I want to pick up the police reports on the way and see if there is anything in there that might help us." "Since Skinner will be out for a few more hours, I suggest we go get this done now and come back in a couple of hours when the sedation wears off." Thanking the ICU staff and getting two agents to guard his room, Mulder had phoned the FBI while he was munching on candy waiting for Scully, insisting on this precautionary measure because of Skinner's level in the FBI and his expertise. They both thank the two agents for their promptness in arriving. Then they depart the medical center. Mulder and Scully head off to the police then to the FBI building. FBI Building Mulder's basement office Mulder and Scully finally reach Mulder's basement suite office after having trouble with the police in obtaining the police reports, even though they showed their creditentals. They got the run around that too many people have fake IDs and they could be anybody. So after waiting an hour they finally obtained the police reports. Now in the comfort of what Mulder calls home, he is sitting across from Scully, reviewing the police reports, looking for anything unusual in them. While Scully is scanning a copy of Skinner's chart looking for anything at all that did not seem right. They had taken the usual blood work, did a head CT and MRI. Everything looking normal. She closed her eyes and laid her head on Mulder's desk where she found a spot. "Oh, sorry, Scully. I have not done any house cleaning and I have not gotten a maid yet," Mulder says, moving some of the rubbish into the garbage can and moving a pile files to the other end of the desk. Scully lifts her head up, facing Mulder. "I cannot find anything out of the ordinary in any of his tests they have done so far except one thing but I do not think it really would make a difference. His white cell count is slightly high, as if he were fighting an infection. But there is no documentation on his chart of him suffering any infection." "Scully, do you think you can pull a blood sample from Skinner. I have an idea the blood taken from those kids in Richmond all had increased white blood cell counts too. Scully, I am wondering if there is any connection between Skinner's nightmares and what has happened in Richmond." "Okay, Mulder. Where are you getting this from? There is no connection between those children that died in Richmond and Skinner. Come on, Mulder, you are on a wild theory rampage again. Admit it." "No, Scully. Look at their white blood counts they are all high and so is Skinner's. Did Skinner subconsciously know that these children were about to die?" "Mulder, I have been working with you for five years and that is the wildest one yet." "Scully, you can admit it. It might be far fetched, but what else do we have to go on at this point?" "Okay. Let me look at the Richmond case file. We need to get to the bottom of this. If there is connection, time is running out for Skinner. By the way I thought we might need this, Mulder." Pulling something out of her jacket pocket, Mulder realizes what it is. "I got this from Skinner while I examined him, just in case." "Scully, good thinking, because I have the feeling Skinner's time is running out." Mulder is perusing the police report while Scully digs through what they found out in Richmond. She did several autopsies and had blood run through all the usual tests. Nothing unusual except the high white cell blood count, as in Skinner's case. She had several blood samples frozen, from Richmond, in the FBI pathology lab just in case they needed them for something in Washington. Mulder, still trying to find answers from the eye witnesses accounts but finding nothing, shrugs and looks at Scully. "Anything?" "Yes, actually. All the children that died were experiencing what the parents described as night terrors for two or three months before they passed away." "Scully, I think we have found our connection. Are those blood samples from Richmond still available? I have an idea." "Yes, they are. The samples are in the pathology lab, frozen. Mulder, what are you thinking?" "Come on, Scully. We have to get those blood samples from the pathology lab. Then we are going to visit some friends." "No, not those three. They are not reliable Mulder." "Scully, all the lab tests that a normal lab can do have been done. Nothing has come up except an elevated white cell count. What else do you suggest? Besides Skinner is running out of time." Scully reluctantly agrees. They head for the lab and Scully heads to the freezer only to find that all the samples had been taken. "Whoever is responsible for those children's deaths wants Skinner dead. Mulder, I have two samples I kept in my freezer just in case our evidence went missing again." For some strange reason over the past five years, evidence they had found or were about to get suddenly goes missing. So this time Scully decided to keep two samples at home in her freezer, so that this time they could find out what happened to those children in Richmond and now possibly save Skinner's life. Mulder and Scully head downstairs to the parking lot only to find someone running with the blood samples getting in their car and driving away. "Damn. Did you get the licence plate number?" "Yes, Mulder. I got the first 5 numbers that should give us enough to go on. We will have to run it through the NCIC and see what we come up with." "Good is your computer hooked up to the database." "Of course, Mulder. When is it not?" Scully says, rolling her eyes. Mulder politely opens the passenger side of their government issued car, gets inside, and drives out of the parking lot towards Scully's apartment. Scully's apartment Scully opens the door to her apartment which is furnished in a simple fashion. Mulder looks around, as he has not been here for awhile. "Hey, Scully, you haven't changed this apartment in years." "I have not had the time to," she says from her bedroom, looking for her laptop. While hooking her laptop into the FBI database Mulder, being a bit nosy, walks from room to room. "Mulder, sit down for a few minutes. This will take about ten minutes and then we will have to get going." Scully sits at her desk in her den and punches in the partial licence plate number into the database. Waiting patiently for something to come up, she invites Mulder into the den. Mulder takes a seat across from her and muses to himself about the long relationship and friendship they have had over five years. "Mulder, I have something. It is a stolen car reportedly stolen from A-1 car rentals close to the FBI building. This does not sound good at all and the chances of tracking it are slimmer as time goes by," Scully walks into her kitchen opens her freezer and finds one blood sample from the Richmond case. "Mulder, a sample has been stolen, but everything else here looks fine." Scully's cell phone rings. "Hello?" "Hi. This is Jennifer from the Georgetown Medical Center. Walter Skinner has been having nightmares, and yelling out loud in his sleep. He tried to get out of bed and pull all the IVs out. We have had to sedate him overnight." "Thank you for calling and letting me know." She pushes the "end" key on her cell phone to terminate the call. "Mulder, it is happening again. Skinner is having those night mares and waking up yelling out loud." "Do you have the blood sample and your laptop? We had better get going to see Frohike." They both hop into the car, driving to Mulder's friends, loosely named the Lone Gunmen. Fifteen minutes before Jennifer calls again. "Dr. Scully, Walter Skinner has woken up even with sedation and has headed to the street below. He went down there like he was in a trance and was yelling about children." "How did he get passed the agents outside his room?" "They took a fifteen minute coffee break." Damn, Scully mutters to herself. Thinking what her next action will be, she tells Mulder, "Skinner is loose and I have to get to the medical center and find him before he hurts himself or anybody else." "Scully, how could he get loose with two guards? And I thought you said he had a cast on his left leg. I hope we are not to late I will drop you off, then I will head over to Frohike's." "That is what I have to find out, Mulder. I think it's best if you go to Frohike's with the samples and I will find out where Skinner is and how he was walking with a cast on." Mulder takes a U-turn and speeds towards Georgetown Medical Center. End Pt 2 Night Terrors Pt 3 Outside Georgetown Medical Center Skinner somehow manages to get by the guards and hospital staff roaming a back alley near the medical Center. He finds himself back in Vietnam. The young Walter is on his first tour of duty overseas, his unit is sent on a mission to check out a village where many young children live with their mothers. The unit sneaks up near the village and checks out the surrounding area. The captain gives the orders and Skinner among other unit members start to head to one of many villages in Vietnam. Young Walter thinks. To his surprise, his fellow unit members go into the village while Walter stays behind to secure the area. Then the bombs and hand grenades go off, and young Skinner is shocked nobody told him that they were going to do this. Parks calls him over for body disposal. Skinner approaches the village with a look of horror on his face, "My god. What have we done?" His unit begins to dispose of the bodies, woman and children, about fifty in all, into a mass grave they have dug up for the mission. Skinner, along with the rest of the troop, hauls the bodies to the mass grave and set it afire. "Oh no," Skinner yells. Walter, with a broken leg, crouches behind a Dumpster, thinking the enemy is coming. He is conscious but in an alternate universe. Right now his mind is in Vietnam, while his body is outside Georgetown Medical Center in an alley behind a Dumpster. It is very cold outside at this time of year and Walter Skinner is crouched trying to keep away from enemy fire and the cold. He is dressed in only the pajamas that is was wearing when he left the hospital and the weather is getting colder as time goes by. Skinner is in trouble. He is in the cold and has been for several hours. Skinner continues to stay behind the Dumpster for protection from the Vietcong who wanted to get the village first. Skinner's unit was tipped off that this was their next target. Walter in his mind, stands at the massive grave site yelling, "Oh god, what have we done! Women and children for Christ sakes. They were just little children." Meanwhile, Scully goes up to the third floor trying to find Skinner. She talks to both FBI Agents who did not have a clue that Skinner left the room. "How could he when had a broken leg with pins in it?" The agents reasoned with Scully. She concurred with them and set out to find Jennifer, Skinner's primary nurse. Scully is told that Jennifer will not be until noon. Scully decides that in his condition he could not have gotten far and leaves the medical Center headed for the back alley. "Bbrrrrr," Scully mutters to herself as she exits the medical Center into the Washington cold air. She goes to the nearest back alley and combs the area. After checking one back alley she goes into another on the other side of the hospital. Scully sees a garbage bin ahead and the looks of something sticking out from behind it. She rushes to the garbage bin to find that it is Skinner. Not being able to wake him up she suspects he has been in the cold for an extended period of time. Finding Skinner's pulse, which is very faint, she takes off her jacket to put around the Assistant Director. Immediately she fumbles in her purse and dials 911 for an ambulance, then calls Mulder. Frohike's, Byer's, and Langly's Ware house apartment/work studio... Frohike was consumed by the wealth of data that was coming across his computer screen while Byers and Langly chatted with Mulder about their latest newsletter "The Bullet." Now the three known to Mulder as the Lone Gunmen were not a big draw for their newsletter, but a few people did subscribe to it to and that covered mailing and printing costs. They never wanted it to be a big business just a small letter going out to the devoted conspiracy fans. Frohike turns to face Mulder and interrupts the chat to say he has found something similar in Skinner's blood and the blood samples of Children in Mulder and Scully's latest case in Richmond. The similarities between the two were almost an exact match. Yes, the White Blood Cell count was sky high, but there was something unusual about the shape and size of the white blood cells. It seemes to Frohike, that they were like little armies gathering for battle, in this case a supposed infection, which there were no signs of. Frohike confers with Byers expertise in biochemistry to try to solve Mulder's problem before it is to late for their AD. They confer for about ten minutes and come back to join Mulder and Langly in the kitchen of the warehouse apartment, where it is actually the cleanest in the apartment. Their work area is always cluttered with floppy discs and info and nothing gets cleaned, near the array of high tech gear they have in their studio, mainly for pleasure purposes only. Mulder follows Frohike back into their studio to see what possible solution Frohike has come up with. " Frohike have we got here and what can we do before it is to late for Skinner?" "Well, Mulder they have to give him a high dose of Vancomycin to break up the white blood cells armies and reduce the number to within a normal white blood cell count. I think that the little armies have been doing something to the mind causing nightmares." "That is good news." Langly offers his two cents worth chime in. "I agree. I do not know how many times over the past five years Skinner has helped us we do owe him this, for him to be rid of those night terrors." Mulder and the threesome are still discussing about the brilliant discovery when Mulder's cell phone rings. Mulder answers his phone and relates to his friends that Scully has found Skinner and he is now being treated for hypothermia in the ER of the Georgetown Medical Center. He thanks Frohike, Byers, and Langly then heads out to his car to get back to the medical center to tell Scully the treatment, that Frohike discovered to battle Skinner's white blood cell armies. He chuckles to himself, "Armies." Georgetown Medical Center... Mulder quickly parks his car in the parkade and rushes to the ER to find Scully. He inquires at the nurses' desk where he can find Walter Skinner. Hurrying to the trauma room he rushes through the doors almost running into Scully who is supervising the treatment for Skinner. Skinner is lying is warm pool of water so that they can bring his temperature back up slowly so the chance of shock to the system is minimized. Mulder asks Scully how long he has been there and what his condition was. Scully had gotten to Skinner in time before more damage could be done. It will be another half-hour before his body temperature is back to normal range. Then he could be moved back to his room in ICU. Mulder then relates his finding from his visit to Frohike's and tells Scully of a possible treatment that could aid Skinner battle against the high white blood cell count and includes Frohike's remark of White Blood Cell armies. Scully cannot find this funny at all right now as she is supervising the warming of Skinner's body. "About 15 more minutes then he should be back within normal temperature range," Scully tells Mulder. Mulder then tells Scully about the outlandish treatment that Frohike has come up with to battle Skinner's White blood cell "armies" as Frohike put it. Scully replies, "That might work, but Vancomycin is saved for severe cases where no other antibiotics will work." Scully will think about it but right now is more concerned with the immediate task at hand getting Skinner's body temperature back into normal range. Mulder looks at Skinner and notices how pale the Assistant Director looks in the tub. His temperature finally is within normal range and they can move him back to the ICU. Mulder phones the FBI asking for three agents to come and protect Skinner, so they can split off for coffee breaks and not let this happen again. Mulder eagerly waits outside the conference room door on the third floor where Scully is consulting with Skinner's doctor about a course of treatment. Scully and the doctor discuss treatment options and decide to go with another antibiotic for four hours then take a blood sample to see if the White Blood Cell count has gone down. Meanwhile they both decide that Skinner will have to remain sedated until his White Blood cell count comes down within normal range. They concur that they cannot risk Skinner getting lose again and getting another case of hypothermia which would most likely put his body into a shock state. Scully walks out of the conference room and shakes hands with the doctor. Turning towards Mulder she tells him of their plan of action. Mulder is immediately dismayed they are not taking Frohike's advice about getting rid of the White Blood Cell "armies." Scully reassures him after four hours if there is no change they will go to the stronger antibiotic to rid Skinner's body of this invisible infection that seems to be attacking Skinner's mind. Four hours later... "Mulder, we just received the latest blood results there as been no change in Skinner's condition for the good. The white blood cells seem to be fighting the antibiotic as if it were an infection. I have discussed this with his doctor here on staff and we have no choice but to go to the Vancomycin. It might take a few hours to a few days. They will be taking blood samples every two hours to see if there is any change in the WBC. I am hoping we can get this out of his system for good." "Scully, I sure do hope so. I hate to see Skinner suffering so much." Meanwhile, in Skinner's hospital room, there continue to be murmurs from Skinner sleeping under sedation. Skinner is still having the same dream over and over again. While the new antibiotics are being given, Mulder and Scully anxiously await the next few hours to see if the new antibiotics will bring down his White Blood Cell count and rid his body of the night terrors at the same time. Two hours later, Jennifer nudges Scully awake with the results from the lab. There has been a slight drop in the count but not much to make a difference. Not to wake Mulder she goes to Skinner. Scully sees the AD twisting and turning in his sleep and has a concerned look on her face. His pulse is racing due to the nightmares. She checks his other vitals at the same time checks the IV and quietly exits his room. She pokes Mulder awake and tells him what Skinner looks like quite pale and is not getting a very good sleep probably due to the night terrors. Scully relates it might be few more hours yet before they know if the Vancomycin is working for Skinner. Mulder offers to go to the cafeteria and brings them back both coffees. Thinking that it will be along night ahead for both of them, he hands her a cup of coffee. Scully gets the lab report from Jennifer every two hours, who is pulling a double-shift. Not until 6 am was there a significant drop in Skinner's White Blood Cell count, still quite high but a lot lower than his last count. Scully enters Skinner's room and checks him over. His pulse rate has decreased immensely and he appears to be sleeping more comfortably. << Mulder was right. Why did I not listen to him in the first place? >> she muses silently. Scully drops by the vending machine and brings a cup of coffee to Mulder and nudges him awake. Mulder was asleep in a chair near Skinner's room. Mulder takes the coffee and gulps it down and tries to wake up. Once Scully sees that Mulder is finally awake to take information in she tells him overnight there has been an improvement in Skinner's overall condition. Mulder asks if he can take a peek in on Skinner and enters the room looking at the AD in shock, looking very thin and emaciated, he thinks compared to when the last time they met before he and Scully left for Richmond. That case that would eventually tie things into what was happening with Skinner. He quietly exits the room and smiles at Scully because he is very happy that Skinner is finally getting better. 1 week later... Skinner has been moved out of the ICU and into a normal room he is sitting up comfortably eating lunch when Mulder and Scully walk into the room. Scully puts some flowers in a vase to cheer up the hospital decor. Mulder hands Skinner a gift and then sits down. Skinner opens the box and his mouth is agape. "You shouldn't have Mulder. The Knicks Bloopers. Great, I can watch it while I am getting my rest before I get back to work and send you both on another case." "Well, you are very welcome Sir." Mulder this time cannot wait to get another case and see the AD back in his office. Mulder, Scully and Skinner chitchat for awhile then Skinner falls asleep. Scully lets Mulder know that Walter will be released next week they are triturating his antibiotics down and want to make sure his WBC does not go back up. They are checking his blood every 4 hours now, and the WBCs are steadily decreasing Scully tells Mulder. 2 weeks later... FBI Building Basement Suite Office Mulder and Scully are getting ready to go meet with Skinner, his first official day back at work. The AD is sending them clear across the country to California to help the FBI field office in a mysterious case, a possible X-File. Mulder is sipping on his coffee as Scully looks over the case notes sent to them via internal mail. "Mulder, it is time for our meeting with Skinner." Mulder grabs his jacket and they both head for the elevator up to Skinner's office. Skinner's office... Scully knocks on the AD's door and he asks them to enter. Skinner starts rambling about the next case in California and gives them more information that came in from the field office twenty minutes ago. Scully and Mulder in unison ask the big question. "Sir, how have you been feeling since leaving the hospital?" Skinner looks at his two agents wondering why they are asking him this. Skinner replies, "Fine, thank you. I have been suffering no more night terrors thanks to you two also. Now don't you both have a case to get to in California?" Both Mulder and Scully dismiss his remark, thinking that is Skinner all right. They quickly head out the door to make flight arrangements for California. The End XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Feedback to kstanley@telusplanet.net visit my x-philes page http://homepages.infoseek.com/~xphile28/kimxphiles.html visit my homepage http://homepages.infoseek.com/~jarodette