From: Athena1600 Date: 12 Jun 1998 23:13:22 GMT Subject: NEW - Selling Your Soul (1/4) By Kate Dyer Selling Your Soul (1/4) By Kate Dyer Athena1600@aol.com CATEGORY: S; A,R RATING: G SUMMARY: Scully makes a deal to save the X-Files and Agent Diana Fowley. Can she live with herself having sold her soul to the Consortium? TIMESPAN: US Season 5, taking place directly after The End SPOILER WARNING: The End, Patient X / The Red and The Black KEYWORDS: Scully / Krycek, ScullyAngst DISCLAIMER: I'm poor and spending all my little money on The Movie, the Action Figures, and everything else, so there's no point in suing me. I'm just getting personal pleasure out of using the names of Krycek, Scully, and Mulder. ARCHIVE: Sure, fine, whatever. Anywhere FEEDBACK: With a side of fries. WRITTEN: June 5, 1998 Selling Your Soul By Kate Dyer Athena1600@aol.com ---------------------------------------- Friday, June 5th, 1998 11:59 PM Scully's Apartment Annapolis, Maryland ---------------------------------------- Dana Scully threw the last of her clothes into the large suitcase and closed it with a `click'. She picked up her cell phone and made one last call before tossing it onto her neatly made bed. A knock emitted from the door and echoed through her quiet apartment. She picked up the suitcase and looked around. Everything was in perfect order, in it's respective place. She moved to the door and opened it, not even bothering to look through the peep hole. Krycek had said he'd be there at twelve, and she heard the chime of a clock striking twelve. "Are you ready?" he asked. Scully looked back at her apartment once again. She put down the suitcase and moved to the mantle, where a few pictures sat in frames. She quickly took them out of the frames. One was of her family from many years ago, when she was still young, when she was still happy. Another was of her and Mulder, taken during one of their early cases together. The third was of Missy, taken weeks before her death. Behind it was the only picture of Emily that Scully had. She grabbed them and went back to the doorway. Krycek leaned down to carry her suitcase for her. "I've got it!" She said rather snappishly. He shrugged, gripped her elbow, and began to lead her down the hallway. As he walked, his leather jacket swung from side to side, revealing his Glock 9mm handgun tucked in his waistband. "You don't need that, I'm here voluntarily." She said as they boarded the elevator, nodding toward the weapon. He looked at her suspiciously. "Look, I'm not going to try anything. There's too much at risk!" Scully insisted. Krycek let go of her elbow and pulled the clip from the Glock, slipping it into her hand. "Thanks." She murmured, pocketing the clip. The elevator doors opened with a `ding' and they walked out of the building. As they approached a black car, almost invisible in the darkness, Krycek's grip on her tightened. The window rolled down exposing an older man. His cigarette butt flowed orange, a small point of light in the darkness. "Scully, I'm glad to see you made such a great recovery." He said ominously. "Thanks to Mulder. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about your recovery." She growled. He turned to Krycek, "Is she armed?" He asked. "I..ah, didn't check." Krycek admitted sheepishly. "You've grown too trusting, Alex." He answered. Krycek took the suitcase from Scully and started patting her down with his good hand. "Sorry about this." He whispered in her ear. "Hey, it's just your job. Soon to be mine." She replied coldly. "No, you'll get a much more humane job than I've ever had." He said before opening the car door for her. They got in and the car sped away from her apartment building. Scully didn't look back. Scully felt a pinch on her shoulder and was surprised to see Krycek extracting an empty needle. Her eyes glazed over and she fell into a deep sleep. Her head fell against Krycek's shoulder and he repositioned her so that she wouldn't wake with a cramp in her neck. ---------------------------------------- Saturday, June 6th, 1998 6:16 AM Unknown Location ---------------------------------------- When Scully awoke, she found herself lying on a single bed in a small dormitory room, scantily furnished. "Morning." Krycek greeted her from the shadows. "Where am I? What time is it?" She asked angrily. "You're at the compound. This is where you will live and work. As for the time, well, you're the one with the watch." He said, smiling slightly. "Come on, they want to talk to you." She followed him to the door. ---------------------------------------- Saturday, June 6th, 1998 6:22 AM Conference Room ---------------------------------------- "Ah, Miss Scully." A cold voice with a British accent greeted her entrance into the large conference room. "Nice of you to join us." "Like I had a choice." She muttered, only to be heard by Krycek, who looked at her sympathetically. She scowled and turned to the other men in the room. One took a draw of his cigarette and picked up a manila folder. "From now on you are no longer Agent Scully." He said sternly. "All information about your life has been erased from all existing databases." He took another long draw of the cigarette. "You no longer exist." An involuntary chill crept up her spine. "You will start work tomorrow. We've assigned you to study the `black cancer' since we know you've come in contact with it in previous cases." He finished speaking and motioned at her as if shooing away a fly. "You're dismissed." Scully gritted her teeth, already hating being treated like a lowly servant. Krycek led her back to her room and she began to unpack her solitary suitcase. ---------------------------------------- Monday, June 8th, 1998 5:11 PM Scully's Apartment Annapolis, Maryland ---------------------------------------- "Scully?" Mulder asked, peeking into her apartment. He put the key to her apartment back into his coat pocket and entered her living room. "Scully?" He asked again, this time louder. When she hadn't showed up at work, he had begun to get worried, and being the overprotective partner that he was, he had come to check on her. "This is stupid." He said out loud. "She's probably visiting family or something." But try as he might, he couldn't convince himself. Something about her apartment wasn't right. As he scanned the room, his mind seemed to latch on to something, only to have it slip away. He was about to leave when it started tugging on his brain again. That's when he saw it. All of the frames that had usually sat neatly in a row on top of Scully's mantle were in a state of disarray. He moved closer and noticed that they no longer held pictures. He frowned and began to make his way around the apartment to see if anything else was unusual. He made his way to the bedroom and entered it. The bed was neatly made, with her cell phone laying in the middle. "What is she doing without her cell?" He asked himself. He walked around the room toward the closet and threw the doors open. His arms dropped to his sides and his eyes widened in curiosity and fear. The closet was empty with the exception of a few hangers. He rushed to her bureau and threw open the drawers one by one. They were all empty. He flicked on the light in her bathroom, and flung open her medicine cabinet. Nothing. All her personal belongings were gone. He walked back into her room, thoroughly perplexed. He sank onto the bed just as his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket to answer it. "Scully?" He asked anxiously. "Is this Mr. Fox Mulder." The voice of a stranger answered. Mulder's face fell in disappointment. "Yes, who's this." He asked nonchalantly. "I'm Dr. Rapson over at Potomac Hospital. Ms. Fowley has come out of coma and is asking for you." "Diana? But...I thought they said that there was no way..." Mulder questioned. "Well, that's what we thought. It seems she had other plans." The doctor replied. If only Mulder knew that it wasn't Diana Fowley who's plans they were. (End part 1, Continued in part 2) Selling Your Soul (2/4) By Kate Dyer Athena1600@aol.com *Disclaimers in part one Tuesday, June 9th, 1998 Dear Ahab, I made a deal. I sold by soul. To the devil. For Mulder. For the X-Files. I clearly remember the day I was approached. All that was left of our office had been ashes. All the files, all our cases, had gone up in smoke. I had clung to Mulder for what seemed like hours...lifetimes. I was sinking fast and struggling to breath. He had just stood there. So lost. Although the flames that had leapt about the office had burned bright, those behind Mulder's eyes had been extinguished in a gust of soot. With the X-Files gone, he had nothing left. I had come home exhausted after leaving him in Agent Fowley's hospital room. For once, I didn't draw my gun upon seeing Krycek stretched out on my couch. I didn't care anymore. I just looked at him, then walked on to the kitchen. I think that surprised him. Maybe even unnerved him. He walked up behind me a few minutes later. In a fit of rage, I had grabbed a large cutting knife, pushed him against my refrigerator, and brought it to his neck, drawing blood. `Who was it? Was it you? Did they watch as it burned?' I had yelled. I could see fear in his eyes. I felt powerful, for once. I pushed him to the floor and threw the knife on the counter. My hands were shaking. He began to speak after he realized that he was no longer in danger. `I'm just their servant boy. I had no part in it.' He had paused. `I didn't know you cared so much about the X-Files.' `For Mulder. I did it all for Mulder. And now there is nothing left.' I had replied. `There is a way you could save the X-Files. For Mulder.' Krycek had responded. I had laughed sarcastically. `They're all gone. Burnt. How could there be a way?' Then he had tossed a file at me. Its contents had slid across y kitchen table. It was Samantha's X-File, fully intact. `Salvaged from the fire.' Krycek had explained. `What do you want Krycek?' I had asked, knowing that he was there to offer more than a lonely file. `If you come work for them, they will see that this is delivered to Agent Mulder, that the X-Files are reopened, and that Agent Fowley has an extraordinary recovery.' `What does Fowley have to do with all of this?' I asked, and Krycek had looked at me suspiciously. `You really don't know?' I shook my head. `They were engaged years ago. Were going to work together on the X-Files, but higher powers found that unwise. Mulder and Fowley were sure to have a monumental impact. So, those powers reassigned her out of the country and sent in a polar opposite to assist, yet debunk, his work. You.' He finished. Had Mulder loved this woman? And she was now on her death bed. The X-Files were Mulder's life. I had once seen a time when there had been no X-Files, having been shut down. Mulder had lost hope in those short months. He had stopped caring, about everything. Would he able to go through it again? I had reached into the back of my refrigerator and pulled out an old bottle of vodka. Pulling down two glasses from a cabinet, I had filled them to the brim, and handed one to Krycek. Clinking them together, I had said `So, when do I start?' I think I gulped down the glass in three seconds flat. Like I said, a deal with the devil, a lesson on how to sell your soul. Yours Always, Starbuck ---------------------------------------- Friday, June 12th, 1998 11:21 PM FBI Building Washington, DC ---------------------------------------- Mulder walked through the front doors of the FBI building with Agent Diana Fowley at his side. Skinner had called him earlier that week to tell him that the X-Files were being reopened, and the Fowley has being assigned to them as an assistant to Mulder and Scully. Assuming they found Scully, of course. Mulder had filed a missing person's report with the Maryland Police, but nothing had come of it yet. "Diana, I want to run something by Danny, I'll meet you in the office." He said before slipping into the sound technicians room. Fowley smiled, nodded, and continued down the hall toward the elevator. "Danny." Mulder greeted his colleague. "Mulder. Any news on Agent Scully." Mulder shook his head. "This," Mulder began, holding up a small tape, "is from Scully's answering machine. I was wondering if you could translate something for me." Danny took the tape from Mulder and popped it in one of the many tape players that littered the small office. "Dana, this is your mother. I guess you forgot about our brunch date this morning. We'll try to do it some other time. Give me a call when you're not busy." BEEP "Okay, here it is. It's Scully's voice, I'm sure of it." Mulder said, indicating the tape. The tape was silent for a few seconds before a tired voice uttered, "Cupio credere." There was a sigh, then the computer generated voice remarking: Friday, June 5th, 1998. 11:59 PM "Wait, I think there's an echo." Danny said, turning a few knobs and playing the message again. "Yeah, there definitely is." "What does that mean?" Mulder asked. "Well, the echo is the answering machine. She called herself from her cell." Danny explained. "Why would she do that?" Mulder questioned, slightly confused. "So you would find it? I don't know." Danny paused. "It's Latin. Credere - to believe. Cupio means want, first person." "I want to believe." Mulder concluded. Danny nodded in confirmation. "She left." He whispered. "What?" "She left. She wasn't taken. She left, and this was her good-bye." Tuesday, June 16th, 1998 Dear Ahab, I hardly have time to write anymore. I work from dawn till dusk, though I can't really tell because there aren't any windows in the lab. When I get back to my room, I'm usually exhausted. I don't mine the hard work, I'm used to it, and it's fascinating. The other scientists and I are studying the `black cancer' and trying to develop a cure. They were supposedly in possession of an antidote, but had to use it to cure one of their own. We study blood samples of those infected, and those who have been cured by the Russians. I try to pretend that I'm doing a good deed trying to rid the world of this deadly organism. but deep down I know that the cure will be used against others somehow. The only break we get during the day is for lunch. I usually eat with Krycek. At first I thought that he sat near me to keep an eye on me, but now I realize that it's by his own free will that he joins me. I don't think he's well liked among the `inmates' and I call them. They seem to fear him. Over the weeks he has become somewhat of an ally. He lets me babble on about some great discovery I made and listens with real interest. He told me once that he had wanted to be a nuclear physicist while growing up. What causes a man with hopes and dreams to become on who kills and cheats for a living? Yours Always, Starbuck Sunday, June 21st, 1998 Dear Ahab, All the workers get Sundays off, so I actually have time to write. There is a make-shift church in an adjacent building. Not many people attend services. I guess people don't trust God around here. Ii was surprised to see Krycek there. He was sitting at the far end of the last pew, almost lost in the shadows. He glanced at me and caught my eye. I smiled before proceeding to the first row of pews. The compound turns out to be a top secret military base. It is made up of several large buildings. The base is on the water and I love to go sit on the docks to watch the sun rise. I don't think we are really supposed to leave the dormitories, but the guard on duty just nods and smiles and lets me walk out. Sometimes he even says good morning. Yours Always, Starbuck ---------------------------------------- Monday, June 22nd, 1998 10:13 PM Top Secret Military Base ---------------------------------------- Scully was standing facing out her window when a knock sounded at her door. A minute later, Krycek entered. "What happened?" He asked as he surveyed the room, in which clothes and other belongings were strewn all over the place. "Oh. Um...nothing, I just lost something." She said quietly. "What? Maybe I can help you find it." He replied. "No. It was nothing. Just a journal I wrote in occasionally." She sounded disappointed. he nodded and left. "Did you take it?" Krycek asked the smoking man accusingly. "I don't know what you're talking about." He replied nonchalantly. "Yes you do. It was a journal. She wrote in it. Why did you take it." "It revealed too much about the black cancer. It could have fallen into the wrong hands." He admitted. "Look." Krycek growled. "She isn't going anywhere. She's a prisoner here, and you just took away her only refuge. Give it back. Krycek walked into Scully's room without even knocking. She sat up in bed and stared at him. He walked to her and handed her a small book. Reaching to turn on the light, she blinked, and saw that it was her journal. Running her hand over the cover, she opened it to the first page. "There were pictures...." She began, but Krycek cut her off by handing them to her. "Who are they?" He asked, sitting down beside her on the bed. She told him, reminiscing on her childhood and past cases in the FBI. "I'm envious of you, Agent Scully." She laughed cruelly. "I'm no longer an Agent." "Okay, I'm envious of you, Dana." This caught her off guard and she stared at him. "Why?" "You have a past that you like to think about. You have good memories." "Oh, Krycek." She sighed, clasping his hand in hers. She didn't really know what to say to him. They stayed silent for several minutes. "Come on." He said, pulling her off the bed and toward the door. "Wait. Where are we going? I'm in my pajamas." "Don't worry, no one will see you." He smiled kindly. She went with him totally trusting him, never doubting him. He took here outside near the docks. "Wait here." He said, and began breaking into a car. "What the hell are you doing?" She asked. "You'll see." He replied, smiling deviously. She couldn't help but smile back. He hot-wired the car and the engine hummed to life. He fiddled with the radio until it landed on a soft rock station. He walked back to Scully and slid his hand around her waist and began to sway with the music. Dana Scully threw her head back and laughed. "You hot-wired a car so we would have music to dance to?" She asked. "Aren't I the romantic?" He grinned and his eyes twinkled. He felt her arms slide around his neck. She leaned against his chest and hummed along with the music. "I don't think anyone has ever broken the law for me before." She murmured. He twirled her around and answered her smile with one of his own. (End part 2, Continued in part 3 Selling Your Soul (3/4) Monday, June 29th, 1998 Dear Ahab, Alex surprises me more everyday. I wonder what Mulder would say if I told him that we now ate dinner together regularly, and talked about normal things that normal people talk about. I've also gotten to know the guard whom I often pass on my way to the docks. His name is Jeff Davenport and he was to be discharged from the military, but was offered a second change to come work at the compound. Some of the workers here are superficial and work simply for the money, but others have intricate stories of deals and blackmail. I still don't know how Alex came to work for them. He doesn't talk about his past that much. We've been making progress in the study of the `black cancer'. I've been promoted to section head. Sometimes I wonder how Mulder and the X-Files are doing. We rarely hear current news around here. Yours Always, Starbuck ---------------------------------------- Monday, July 7th, 1998 12:11 AM Top Secret Military Base ---------------------------------------- "I recommend that the study of the black cancer be immediately ceased." All eyes in the conference room turned toward Scully in shock. "Doctor Scully, you are the section head of the biotoxin studies. What reason do you have to suggest this?" "You treat this as if it was a virus. It isn't. This is a highly intelligent organism of which likes none of us have ever seen before. We have no control over it. If this were exposed to the public, it would ravage the population. In time, people will die. I know you will take no heed in my recommendations and opinions, but I felt like I needed to speak my mind." "Thank you, Doctor Scully, for that very moral and moving speech. We will speed up research on the black cancer. We need results quickly. We need a cure quickly." Scully sighed in exasperation, though she didn't really expect them to listen to her. She walked our of the conference room and met Krycek at the door. He could tell by her expression that she had failed. "At least you tried." He said, resting his hand on her lower back as they walked down the hall toward the labs. ---------------------------------------- Thursday, July 17th, 1998 12:11 PM Top Secret Military Base ---------------------------------------- Scully cracked her knuckles, shut her eyes, and leaned her head back. She had been working since before dawn and was exhausted. The syndicate had requested that all members of her department put in extra hours to speed up the production of a cure. They had all gotten pay increases, although money didn't really have a use at the compound. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. She picked up the test tube holding a sample of the black cancer. She was preparing to create a slide when she suddenly became light-headed. She tried to reach out and grasp the edge on the counter, but it was of no use. Her body had gone too long without food and sleep. Her legs gave out under her and Scully fainted, falling to the linoleum floor. The test tube in her hand crashed to the floor and shattered, spilling the black cancer over the vinyl flooring. Krycek walked down the hall toward the labs. Scully hadn't been at lunch, and he wanted to get her to take a break. At first, upon entering the lab, he didn't notice her body. But when he did, his eyes filled with horror. He crouched next to her, and with shaking hands, gently pried her right eye open. He saw what he had expected, her eye was clouded over with a black substance. Grabbing a phone that was to be used only in emergencies, he declared breathlessly into the receiver, "There is a biotoxin leak in section six. And we need a doctor. Immediately." In a matter of minutes, the lab was filled with a clean up crew dressed in biohazard suits. "As you know, we have no cure." Doctor Cabott told Krycek. "The Russians have a cure." Krycek replied. "Mr. Krycek, you don't have enough time to go to Russia, steal the cure again, and get back. She'd be gone by then." "Are there any cases of people naturally surviving the black cancer?" He asked. "No. And anyway, her body was extensively weakened by her recent cancer." Krycek sighed and looked at Scully's form as another convulsion shook her body. "There is one thing that might work." Krycek looked hopeful. "A blood transfusion from someone who has been cured, who has antibodies." "Marita?" Krycek asked. "Wrong blood type." Krycek frowned and looked toward Scully once again. ---------------------------------------- Friday, July 18th, 1998 1:21 AM Mulder's Apartment Alexandria, Virginia ---------------------------------------- Mulder groaned and looked over at the clock. It's bright green letters read 1:21. The person at his door kept knocking at regular intervals. He finally rolled off the couch and stumbled to the door. He opened it and yawned. "Krycek. Haven't seen you in a while." He said dryly. "We need your help, Mulder." Krycek said, pushing past him and moving into the apartment. A guard followed him carrying a body. Mulder protested. "What the hell are you doing?" Krycek wasn't paying attention. "Put her there." He commanded the guard, pointing toward Mulder's couch. Mulder walked forward, curious, and as the moonlight hit her face, recognition sparked in his eyes. He dropped to his knees next to the couch and ran his hand along her cheek. "Oh, God. Scully." He murmured. He took a piece of her hair and twisted it between his fingers. Her body began to shudder with another convulsion and he dropped the auburn strands. "What's wrong with her?" He whispered, looking toward Krycek for an explanation. He walked over and opened her eyelid exposing the cloudy surface. "What did you do to her?" Mulder snarled, raising his voice. "I didn't do anything, Mulder. There was an accident in the lab. She dropped a test tube. Look, Mulder we need some of your blood." "What?" Mulder asked, looking up from Scully and toward Krycek. "You have the antibodies in your blood." "The tests in Tunguska?" Mulder asked. Krycek nodded, and Mulder looked back at Scully's now-peaceful form. A couple hours later... "How long will it take?" Mulder asked, applying a bandage to the inside of his elbow. "I don't know, it varies in every case." Krycek replied. He paused then added, "She did it all for you, Mulder." Mulder turned to look at him. "What?" With his attention on Krycek, he didn't notice the guard behind him swing the butt of his rifle until it hit him in the back of the head with a blunt `crack'. "Take her down to the car. I'll make sure some one comes to check on him." Krycek directed the guard. "Was that entirely necessary?" The guard asked, looking a Mulder's motionless form. "He wouldn't have let her leave." Krycek said, picking up Mulder's phone with a gloved hand and dialing Agent Fowley's number. The guard nodded and left carrying Scully. (End part 3, Continued in Part 4) Selling Your Soul (4/4) Monday, July 28th, 1998 Dear Ahab, They finally let me leave the clinic today. I've been able to work for a week, but they wanted to perform more tests that they feel might be helpful in our research. Alex wouldn't ell me how I was cured. He mostly avoided the subject. Doctor Cabott told me that I had a blood transfusion, but he didn't know with whom. While I was ill, the scientists continued working, and I can only hope that progress toward a cure has been made. Alex escorted me back to my room after I was released and gave me a bouquet of white lilies as a get well present. Yours Always, Starbuck ---------------------------------------- Friday, August 8th, 1998 12:21 AM Top Secret Military Base ---------------------------------------- "Dana. Dana." Krycek gently shook Scully awake. She blinked sleepily. "What's wrong." She asked in mid-yawn. "A black cancer outbreak. A couple hours south of here. There's a team leaving in ten minutes and I thought you'd like to come with us." Scully nodded. "I'll meet you in the lobby in five minutes." ---------------------------------------- Friday, August 8th, 1998 3:45 AM Baltimore Harbor Baltimore, Maryland ---------------------------------------- Krycek walked across the shipping dock to where Scully stood over a body. "So what do you think?" He asked. "It's definitely the black cancer, going through the final stages. These men won't survive much longer. They contracted it a while ago, probably brought it from Russia. Which hospital are they being transported to?" She inquired. Krycek was silent for a while. "None." He answered guiltily. "We'll take the ones that are better off to the lab. Two of the men have already died. The black oil will vacate their bodies before dawn." "I know that it's no good wishing, but I wish we had the cure. I just want the suffering to end." Krycek cupped Scully's cheek in his palm. "We all want that, Dana." "No, you all want this cure to use the black cancer on others and inoculate yourselves. You want to use it to cause others to suffer." "Maybe that's what they want, but it's not what I want. I don't want to see you duffer due to their suffering." He paused and a strange look passed over his face. "Dana, you're bleeding." Scully raised her eyebrows in query, but felt a drop of blood trickle over her lip. She raised her finger to her nose and when she drew it away, she found it covered in blood. "It's just a little nosebleed. Probably the summer humidity." She assured Krycek and herself. He kept staring at her. She turned and began to walk back to the van they had arrived in. He grabbed her arm and made her face him again. "But what if..." He began. His voice grew hushed. "What if it's your cancer?" "It's in remission, Alex. Aren't I allowed to have a nosebleed like normal people every now and then?" She said angrily. ---------------------------------------- Friday, August 8th, 1998 6:16 PM Mulder's Apartment Alexandria, Virginia ---------------------------------------- Mulder opened the door to his apartment, reveling two men dressed in suits. "Can I help you?" Mulder asked, eyeing them suspiciously. "Are you Fox Mulder?" One of the men asked. "Yes." "I'm Detective Curtis with the Baltimore PD. Could we escort you to the station, sir?" "What for?" "We need to ask some questions about your whereabouts last night." "Why? Look, I work for the FBI. Diana!" He yelled back into the apartment. A minute later she joined him near the door. "Ma'am, was Mr. Mulder in your presence last night between the hours of midnight and five in the morning?" "Yes, why?" "Well, we found some of Mr. Mulder's blood at the scene, but it had a few abnormalities." Mulder and Fowley looked at the detective questionably. "Well, there were some strange antibodies, that's how we matched it to you so quickly. But, it seems as if there were red bloods cells belonging to another person in it also." "How would something like that happen?" Fowley asked. "Someone could have doctored some of his blood and planted it at the scene. Mr. Mulder could be doing drugs and using unclean needles." Mulder shook his head. "Oh, you could have had a blood transfusion." "What if someone else had a blood transfusion with my blood?" Mulder asked. "Yeah, that would work." "It isn't my blood." Mulder said. Fowley looked at him, expecting him to continue. "It's Scully's." Sunday, August 23rd, 1998 Dear Ahab, The nosebleeds have come back. More frequently this time. The migraines have come back too. At first, I tried to convince myself that it was anything but the cancer, but now I've stopped kidding myself. I tried to hide it from Alex, but nothing gets past him. He had seen it coming since that first nosebleed. He had prepared himself for death. Or maybe it's just that he's never unprepared for death. He thinks that the black cancer somehow damaged the microchip in my neck. He made them take me to a specialist. The tests for cancer came back positive. They gave me two to three months to live, maybe less. ---------------------------------------- Tuesday, October 13th, 1998 5:11 PM Suburban Hospital Silver Spring, Maryland ---------------------------------------- Krycek squeezed Scully's hand as he sat down next to her hospital bed. The heart monitors and other devices beeped rhythmically, interrupting the awkward silence of a hospital. Scully opened her eyes and looked at him. She tried to smile, but didn't have the power. The cancer had sapped her strength quickly, leaving her weak and unprotected. Krycek's eyes filled with tears and he got up to leave. He stopped as a tall, well built man with broad shoulders entered the room. "Are you ready?" He asked with an emotionless voice. Krycek nodded and looked down at Scully. The man walked next to the bed and gently laid his hand on her forehead. Scully closed her eyes. Krycek observed the man. Some said that he was an alien, sent to hunt down and kill the colonists. When he took his hand off her, Krycek could already see the color returning to her cheeks and lips. He leaned over and gently kissed them. "It's time." The bounty hunter said, anxious to leave. "I need to make a phone call first." Krycek said as he walked toward the pay phones. He dialed and waited for the answering machine to click on. "This is Mulder. Leave a message." "Suburban Hospital, 1013 Carter Boulevard, Silver Spring, Maryland. Room 616." He paused. "Take care of her Mulder." He slowly hung up and turned back to the bounty hunter. They walked down the corridor together. "Do you know how one of these work?" The bounty hunter asked handing Krycek a small, metallic cylinder. "Sure." Krycek said, not really knowing, but trying to act like it. He began fooling with it, turning it in his hands. `Ffttpphhtttt' "Holy....." "Watch where you point that thing." I made a deal. I've sold my soul. For Dana. The End. Feedback please! So, should I write a sequel? ~Kate Dyer ------------------------------------------------------ "I do not lie. I willfully participate in a campaign of misinformation" - Mulder ------------------------------------------------------