From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 00:33:09 -0500 Subject: Poisoned (1/2) by Flowerjuls Source: direct Reply To: juls01@tstar.net Disclaimer: They're not mine-"They are the property of Chris Carter, 1013Productions and 20th Century FOX. No infringement is intended." Wasn't that fun? I hope this isn't corny at all, anyway, I tried not to make it corny Marcella, thank you for editing this story! Summary-Scully gets poisoned then someone messes with her brakes and gets in a car accident. E-mail- juls01@tstar.net Poisoned Scully's apartment Friday, December 3, 4:15 PM Someone knocked on her door. "Scully, it's me!" He yelled. Her heart jumped. She reached for her Sig Sauer issued to her from the FBI. She had the door locked, but she knew he could come in anyway, because she had given him a key for an emergency. This definitely was not an emergency. "Scully," he said and tried the door. "I need to talk to you about this case we are investigating on. There has been another piece of evidence that was confiscated. Let me in or I'll use this key you gave me," he said, jokingly. There was no answer and he began to get worried. He remembered at Exxon about an hour ago that she said she was going to her apartment. He put the key in the slot and had the door open, to find an Agent Dana Scully standing in the back of her room with the gun pointing at him. "Scully?!" He put his arms halfway in the air, not expecting this. "Don't come any closer, Mulder." Fox Mulder took a deep breath and slowly put his arms down. He began to step closer. He stopped when her heard the click of the gun's hammer being pressed down. He saw her finger slide over the trigger. He was hoping that she wouldn't really pull the trigger. He was going to try and grab the gun out of her hands. "No, Mulder, don't even try. I will shoot you. I will," she clearly stated. He backed off a little. "All along you've been against us. You're with 'them'. I saw you, Mulder. Giving evidence to 'them'. You had me fooled for a while. But now I understand." "Wait Scully-" "No. I'm going to have to shoot you no matter what." "No, Scully. How could you do that with what all we've been through? I want to find the truth just as badly as you do. Scully-" He stepped closer. He noticed her arms started to shake, although it wasn't very obvious. "I've got to-," she said. He got close enough to grab the gun out of her hands. Once he did, he gave her a hug. "We've got to stick together, Scully." He said. Casey's Bar 10:58 PM 'The Chemicals Between Us' by Bush blasted out of the speakers in the bar, making Scully's already pounding head feel like she had a migraine. "Ma'am." She heard someone say and turned her head slowly to the person. "Do you need a ride home? I can get you a taxi, or something." She just stared at him. Her vision was blurry, so she couldn't recognize him. "Muller," She slurred, "is tha you?" "What?" He asked. "Here, let me get you out of here." He said and helped her out of the bar. Saturday, December 4, 8:20 AM Dana Scully woke up with a headache and a stomachache. She found herself on a couch, covered with a blanket. "Feeling okay?" Someone asked. She jerked up into a sitting position and looked at the man. He had a little brown goatee, brown hair, and blue eyes. He was a fine looking young man, sitting in a chair with a paper in his lap. "Who are you?" She asked defensively. "I'm Steve Naples. I saw you at the bar last night, and you looked kind of depressed, so I came over and asked you if you needed a ride home. You said something about a person named Muller or someone. Do you want some coffee or something?" He asked. "No thanks." She said. "Oh, by the way, what's your name?" He asked and went to the kitchen. "I'm Dana." She said, not saying her last name because she was getting suspicious of him. She looked down and saw a bucket on the floor. "You had a hangover last night-good thing you made it to the bathroom in time", he said, walking back with a smile of his face. Scully didn't seem to find that funny. "Do you need to be somewhere?" "Uh-yeah. Can you get me to Casey's? I left my car there." She said. "Sure." He said, maybe a little too anxiously. Mulder's apartment 8:34 AM Fox Mulder laid on his couch for about a half an hour before deciding to get up. He made some coffee, but he didn't even get to drink it. The phone rang and he walked over slowly, still not fully awake. For some reason he had a bad feeling about the phone call. He debated whether he should answer it or not. "Mulder." He said into the phone. "You need to come to the Georgetown Hospital right now." He recognized it as Skinner's voice. "Why?" He asked. There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Agent Scully has been in an accident." Skinner said and then hung up. The bad feeling just got even worse. Mulder quickly got dressed and sped to the hospital, going through a red light or two. Georgetown Hospital Thursday February 3, 1:33 AM Dana Scully woke up to find herself in a hospital bed with an I.V. hooked up to her. It was dark, and she thought she saw a figure in the doorway. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again, not worrying about it. After waking up, Fox Mulder went to stand near the doorway in Scully's room. He had this weird feeling that she was going to wake up. He went inside the room, not caring if it was past visiting hours. It was dark in the room. He found a chair to sit in and ended up going to sleep. He hadn't been getting enough sleep for the past two months that Scully had been in a coma. He was used to not getting enough sleep. All he had been doing for the past two months was staying at the hospital, occasionally talking to Scully's depressed mother, or the doctor (who said that Scully wasn't going to make it), starving himself, and going into Scully's room every now and then. 6:28 AM Mulder woke up when he heard the door open and a nurse come in. He looked up at Scully and was surprised to see that she was awake too. He noticed that she was staring at him. He got up. "Nurse, she's awake." He said rudely and pointed at Scully. "I know. I am going to get her mother." She left and a minute later Mrs. Scully walked in. "Dana!" She said, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. "Mom", Scully said and gave her a hug. Mulder went to the other side of her bed. Scully looked over at Mulder. "Who are you?" She asked. "That's Fox Mulder. Don't you remember him?" Scully's mother asked. She looked at him for little while, then said "No." Mulder got upset that she didn't remember him, but tried not to show it. He went and sat in the chair again. The doctor came in with Scully's charts and stood in front of her bed. "Dana Scully?" He asked. "Yes." She answered. "You have made a remarkable recovery." He wrote something down and continued, "You have been in coma for two months now." "Why?" She asked, not really believing him. The doctor looked up at her. "You were in a car accident." She looked surprised. "Someone tampered with your brakes." She heard the man in the chair say. She had heard that voice a million times before. So, why couldn't she remember who he was? "For right now," the doctor said, "I am going to let you rest for a while and check on you later." He looked at Mulder. "Are you related to her?" He asked. "Yes," Scully's mom answered for him. The doctor left. "Why'd you say that?" Mulder asked. "It's obvious he would have made you leave," She said, "and I know you want to stay." Mulder didn't argue. Scully closed her eyes and ended up falling asleep again. An hour and a half later, Mulder saw Scully lift up her hand, as if she wanted someone to hold it. "Mulder," she said quickly. Mulder got up instantly, grabbed her hand and sat down on the bed. "It's okay, Scully." He felt her hand tighten around his. She surprised Mulder by sitting up and hugging him. He hugged her back. Scully opened her eyes. She realized that she was hugging someone. She knew immediately after taking a whiff of his scent. "Mulder?" She asked, stopped hugging him, and looked into his eyes. "Are you alright, Scully?" He asked. She could see relief filtering through his eyes. Then she noticed that he hadn't shaved in a while and looked like he had lost some weight. Seeing worry flash through her eyes, he said, "I haven't had an appetite and I wanted to sport the beard look. Like it?" Even though she knew he was lying, she couldn't help but smile anyway. Then her smile faded away quickly and she looked down at the bed. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you earlier." She said. "Hey, Scully, it's alright." Mulder said. When she didn't reply, he reached out and lifted her chin up with his finger so that he could look into her eyes again. "You stuck with me." He said and they both smiled. Sequel to "Poisoned" FBI Headquarters Two weeks after getting out of the hospital, 3:54 PM Scully was at Mulders' desk, and as she was typing on a computer, the glow of the computer screen showed on her face. She was looking for the name Steve Naples, but, apparently, there wasn't anyone by that name that ever existed. She was already very suspicious of the man that brought her to his apartment after she got drunk. She was sure that he was somehow related to her car accident. She got on a phone and punched in Mulders' number. The phone rang about three times until Mulder finally picked it up. "Yeah." He said. "Mulder, it's me. I can't find the name Steve Naples anywhere." She said. "Are you suggesting he made it up?" She rolled her eyes and said, "Do you have any other ideas?" "He could have hacked into his file and somehow deleted it." "I really doubt that, Mulder." She said, annoyed. "So what are you going to do about it?" He paused, "Arrest him for telling you the wrong name?" Scully just about said something, but then she heard something break. "Mulder? What happened?" She asked into the phone. He sighed and then said, "Nothing." He paused to pick up a broken lamp that had fallen over. She waited a few seconds for him to say something else, but he didn't. "Well, Mulder, I'm going to go." She said. "Alright." He said, and put the pieces of the lamp in a trashcan. He decided that it looked better without that ugly lamp there anyway. "Bye Scully." "Bye." She said and hung up the phone. Scully could tell that Mulder had become his old self again. She finished up in the office and went to her car. She decided that she was going to go and try to find this 'Steve Naples'. But Mulder did have a point. What was she going to do when she found him? 27th Street February 17 Friday, 4:15 PM Dana Scully stepped out of her car. There was a cloud hanging over the sun, casting many shadows in the parking lot. Other than another car parked in one of the spaces, the apartment complex in front of her was abandoned. She started walking to the front door to see if Steve would happen to be there. The door opened and it startled her. Steve stepped out, looking at the ground. Then he looked up and saw Scully. "Hi Dana." He said, not seeming the least bit surprised to see her. "Put your hands behind your back." She demanded. Steve gave her a look of shock and then said, "What?" "You heard me." He looked over at his car, thinking about making a run for it. But before he could do anything, Scully grabbed his arm and handcuffed him. "I didn't do anything." He said and tried to get out of her grasp. She only gripped his arm tighter and noticed that it was turning a different color. Scully called her partner from her cell phone. "Mulder, I need back up. I'm at Twenty-seventh Street in Georgetown." She immediately pushed END, giving Mulder not time to reply. "I thought you got rid of him." Steve said. Scully led him to her car and shoved him against it, not caring about any scratches that he might leave. "What the hell are you talking about?" She asked. "You know, Mulder. I was the one who made you think he was against you. I poisoned your drink at that gas station, but I guess I didn't put enough in it." He paused. "I see your brakes are fixed." "Fuck you." She said. Police cars spent no time screeching their way into the parking lot. They put him into custody; they were orders from the FBI agents. FBI Headquarters 6:35 PM "So he poisoned your drink?" Assistant Director Skinner asked Scully. "Yes. He told me so." She said. The room was silent for a minute, as Skinner collected his thoughts. "You may be excused." He said. Scully found Mulder waiting for her when she walked out into the hallway. It was empty and there was a feeling of uneasiness. "Do you want me to drive you home?" He asked her. She looked at the ground. Mulder understood that she didn't want to admit that she needed comfort, so he put his arm around her and they walked out to his car. It was already dark outside, even though it was only seven o'clock. Mulder drove right past the turn to Scully's apartment. "Mulder, where are we going?" "I changed my mind. I thought since it's sort of dinner time, that we might as well go to a restaurant to eat." Scully didn't say anything in reply. Mulder guessed that she wasn't too thrilled about the idea. After a few minutes of driving around, he turned into a place called Sam Hill. She looked at him questioningly, but he didn't seem to notice. Inside, Mulder led Scully to a table for two and there was a candle on it. After a few minutes, a waiter came up to the table and they ordered some food. The lights dimmed down considerably and off to their side, lights to a stage brightened up to show a band that had started to play. It was only an imitation band, but they were pretty good anyway. The singer of the band started singing into the microphone, "Hurray for a child that makes it through. If there's any way, because, the answer lies in you. They're laid to rest before they know just what to do. Their souls are lost because they could never find what's this life for? I see your soul; it's kind of gray. You see my heart, you look away. You see my wrist, I know your pain, I know your purpose on your plane. Don't say a last prayer because you could never find what's this life for? What's this life for? But they ain't here anymore. Don't have to settle the score. Cause we all live under the reign of one king. But they ain't here anymore. Don't have to settle no Goddamn score. Cause we all live under the reign of one king." When the band finished the song, the lights brightened up, and everyone in the restaurant clapped. Finally, Mulder and Scully's food came. Mulder looked at his plate and used his fork to play with the food. "Do you ever think about what this life is for?" He asked, then took a bite of his meal, and waited for an answer. "I've never really thought about it much." Scully answered slowly, wondering what his point was. "Well," Mulder said and took a drink of his beer, "I just thought you might have thought about it once in while, since you've been through so many near death experiences." Scully swallowed the food that she just took a bite of and replied, "You've been through many yourself." Then she took a sip of her beer. Mulder played with his food some more. He hesitated, then said slowly, "When you were in the hospital, I felt helpless because there was nothing that I could do to help you." He put his fork down and looked up at her. "The doctors kept telling me that you weren't going to make it, and even as each day passed by with me having this fear of you not making it, I just kept my hope and faith that you would." When he finished, Scully reached over and patted his hand. "Thanks." She said. He gave her a small smile, "All that and I just get a 'thanks'?" He joked. They talked a little more and finished their dinner. Scully noticed that Mulder had a few too many beers. "Oh, hey, look they're doing karaoke." He got up from his chair. "Mulder, what are you doing?" She asked. He walked to a place where Scully couldn't see him. A few minutes later, the lights dimmed and a song started playing. Then Scully saw Mulder on the stage. "Oh, my God." Scully said silently, embarrassed. She could not believe that he was doing this. He started singing, "Man, it's a hot one. Like seven inches from the midday sun. Well, I hear you whisper and the words melt everyone, but you stay so cool. My Munequita. My Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa. You're my reason for reason. The step in my groove. And if you said 'This life ain't good enough.' I would give my world to lift you up. I could change my life to better suit your mood. Cause you're so smooth. And it's just like the ocean under the moon. Well, that's the same as the emotion that I get from you. You got the kind of loving that could be so smooth. Give me your heart, make it real, or else forget about it." Some people started whistling at him as he got off the stage and walked towards her. "I'll tell you one thing. Well, if you would leave it'd be a crying shame. In every breath and every word I hear your name calling me out. You hear my rhythm on your radio. And you feel the turning of the world so soft and slow, it's turning you' round and 'round. And if you said, 'This life ain't good enough'." He reached their table and held out his hand for her to take. "I would give my world to lift you up." More people started whistling and Scully finally took his hand. "I could change my life to better suit your mood. Cause you're so smooth. Well, go forget about it.... Give me your heart, make it real, or else forget about it." He finished and twirled Scully around with one hand. Then he gave the microphone to one of the people who wanted to do karaoke. Scully put her arm around his waist, while the audience was clapping for them and led him out the door. "Mulder?" "Hmm?" He asked, smiling. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" His smile disappeared as she stepped away and looked at him with a smirk on her face. "Come on Scully, what's wrong with having a little fun?" He asked. "I don't know Mulder, you tell me." "There's nothing wrong-" The ring of his cell phone cut him off. He sighed, got it out of his pocket, and, before answering, he gave Scully a look of annoyance. "Mulder." "Hi Special Agent Mulder." The person on the other line said. "Who is this?" "Steve. Please help me." He said and then it sounded as if he was cut off. "Who was it?" Scully asked, concern on her face. "Steve." Mulder said. "What?" Scully asked, exasperated. Mulder nodded his head. "Mulder, how did he call you?" "I have no idea. He said that he needed help." "Do you think we should go check on him?" "Yes, I do." He said, heading towards his car. He seemed remarkably sobered up regarding the amount of beer he had. The ride to the police station was quiet. They entered the stations' lobby, forgetting about everything that had happened that evening. "May I help you?" One of the officers asked. The secretary had left early. "Yes." Scully said. "Can you tell me if a man named Steve Naples was taken in here?" The man stared at them blankly, then said, "No. I'll look it up in the computer, but I'm pretty sure that no one came in here at all today." He punched something in on the computer, and came up with nothing. "I'm sorry." Neither Mulder nor Scully said goodbye to the man. When they got outside, Scully asked, "What are we going to do, Mulder?" "I'm going to call Skinner." He said, already pushing the send button on his phone. Mulder knew that Skinner worked long days. He was passed through to Skinner's line. "Sir? It's Mulder." "What is it?" "Steve Naples escaped. I think he must have escaped while he was being taken to the police station." "Who is Steve Naples?" Skinner asked, then decided he didn't want an answer. "Look Mulder, I don't really have time for this right now. It's going to have to wait till morning." Mulder heard the click of the phone and put his own up. Scully saw the disappointment on his face. "He didn't know who Steve was." She scoffed, "How did I know this was going to happen?" They were silent for a moment, and then Mulder said, "I think I know where he might be." Scully looked at him, expecting him to tell her, but he just walked to the driver's side of the car. They both got into the car. Mulder floored it. "This is getting so fucking old." Scully informed him. "What?" Mulder asked. "This exact thing. We find evidence and then somehow it just disappears. I'm getting so damn tired of it." Mulder had to agree with her. He was getting pretty tired of it too. Neither of them said anything after that. After about fifteen minutes, he turned onto a little dirt road that was so bumpy he had to slow to about fifteen MPH. "What are we doing here, Mulder?" She asked. "This is where some people 'supposedly' saw an alien spaceship land." Mulder told her, and didn't intend to say anything else about it. "What does that have to do with Steve?" Scully wanted to know. Mulder didn't answer. She hated it when he did that. Finally, Mulder stopped the car before a crater sized hole in the ground. Scully looked at Mulder, but he just sat there, staring out the windshield. She noticed another car parked out in the distance. "Look at that, Scully." He said and pointed towards the sky. Dana Scully could not believe her eyes. As she looked through the windshield, she saw a large mass of circular light, blinding her as it got closer. She looked away when she couldn't bear it anymore, and even though she had after images in her eyes, she could see a person in the crater sized hole. At first she thought it was Mulder, but then she looked to her left and he was still in his seat, staring into the blinding light. It looked like he was smiling. Scully got out of the car and yelled at the person. She heard Mulder get out of the car too. The man looked back at her and now that her vision was almost perfect, she recognized who it was. It was that Steve Naples guy. He looked at both Mulder and Scully and had this look of fear on his face. He seemed as if he was about to cry. "Please don't let them take me! I... I am so sorry about what I did. Please forgive me." He glanced at Scully, then Mulder, but saw no forgiveness from either of them. The spaceship came closer to the man and a faint light covered him. "HELP ME!" He exclaimed and started crying. All of a sudden the light got brighter to the point where it was too blinding to look at, and when the light was gone, his screaming stopped, and he was gone also. Mulder looked over at Scully and noticed that she was closer to where Steve used to be. "Scully?" He asked. She didn't turn around. "You think we should have helped him?" She asked. "I mean, I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. Since he's gone and no one is going to believe us, yet again. And its going to keep happening either till we give up or till the day we die." Mulder's excitement of seeing the spaceship and at last having Scully see it with him faded away. He wasn't listening to Scully anymore as she kept rambling on about how they may never know the truth. He walked towards her and enveloped her in his arms. Scully stopped talking and started to cry. She rested her head on his chest. He was silent for a moment and then started out slowly, "I really don't mind what happens now and then. As long as you'll be my friend at the end." Mulder told her. "Sometimes I wish I could find a place to hideaway. But then I remember that I'm not a superhero and that I need some lovin' too." He smiled and leaned back just enough to look at her, but not enough to stop hugging her. She looked up at him too, and she seemed relieved. Faintly smiling, she said, "Have you ever wondered why or how we've made it through so many close calls, Mulder? I think that, through each experience, love has saved us." Fini Notes: Marcella helped me edit this story and I thank her very much for taking the time to do that. I didn't know if this was an appropriate ending. I started this story about two years ago (Whoa!) and it has gone through many changes. I did put something in there about Samantha, but now since it is finished after Mulder learns that Samantha was dead the whole time, I couldn't do that! Oh well, hopefully everyone liked it. Please give feedback if you wanna! I need some lovin' too.