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At about 12:25 that
night, Scully lay on the living room couch. She tried to fall asleep but
couldn’t help but feel something was wrong. It bothered her very much,
yet she could not place it. It seemed that everything- the case, the place
they were taken to, their escape, Mulder’s sister, her collapse- was not
right. Something about it all was strange and unusual, and not really because
the X-Files usually dealt with the strange and unusual. Suddenly, it hit
her. She got out from under the covers and grabbed the new gun the FBI
had given her. She ran towards the stairs. “Samantha!” she yelled.
There was an
abrupt THUMP upstairs. Scully hurried up the steps. Samantha’s voice called
in her head. “Dana! Help me! Please help me!” Scully took the steps two
at a time. It seemed that she could not get there fast enough.
Nausea. Dizziness.
Intense headache. She clutched the banister in desperation. She knew she
would not make it. “Samantha!” She moved on as fast as she could. The walls
spun around her. “Mulder!” If she couldn’t make it, Mulder might. “Mulder,
get up! Your sister’s in danger!” She winced at the volume of her own voice.
She pulled herself onward. She saw Mulder run past the top of the stairs.
Just a little farther, she told herself. Blood ran from her nose
down to her lip. As she hastily wiped it away, she heard two rounds fired.
Then another thump. “Mulder! Samantha! Mul- unh!” Something in the shadows
pushed her down the staircase, sending Scully toppling head over feet.
She struggled to stand up after she reached the bottom. After two tries,
she finally got to her feet. Immediately raising her gun, she searched
for the intruder. Shadows flickered. A small wisp of smoke came from one
of those shadows. From the darkness, 3 men appeared. One was holding onto
Samantha, one was directly in front of her with a gun, and the other… was
the Cigarette-Smoking Man. Samantha looked fearfully at Scully. “Let her
go,” Scully commanded.
A puff of smoke
streamed out of the Smoking Man’s mouth and nose before he spoke. “Or what,
Agent Scully? You’ll shoot? I don’t think you will, seeing that if you
shoot one of us, the other two will be sure to kill Agent Mulder’s sister.
We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”
Scully glanced
at Samantha before resuming her glare at the Smoking Man. “Samantha, are
you okay?” She nodded. A metal collar hung around her neck.
“Really, Agent
Scully, we haven’t the time for this. You will get out of the way, whether
you like it or not. You cannot harm me or my associates without risking
Samantha Mulder’s life. Your gun is useless.” Scully stared at the three
men. They all wore guns and the other two were much stronger than she was,
without question. She could never take them out fast enough. Where is
Mulder? she wondered worriedly. If he were there, they might be able
to take out all of them before Samantha was harmed. Despite her doubts,
she kept her gun pointed at the Smoking Man.
Smoking Man glanced
at her briefly. “Dispose of Agent Scully.” He sighed almost regretfully.
“No!” Scully
heard Samantha scream as the man in front of her punched her out of the
way. Scully fell to the floor, her gun flying out of her grasp. “You said
you wouldn’t hurt them!” The man reached for his gun and pointed it at
her. Still dizzy, she tripped him up and tried to stand as he fell flat
on his back. “Dana, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I had to do
it. They made me,” Samantha’s voice cried in her head. The words were in
Scully’s head in a rush, taking less than a couple seconds to be understood.
It was almost as if she had thought the words herself. “I didn’t want to
make you collapse and black out. I had to. To keep you out of the way for
a while. But you wouldn’t get treatment. Why wouldn’t you? A few weeks.
A day even. I had to do it, you understand? They said I’d be able to see
my own kind. More than just the zombies that follow me around every day,
searching for comfort. They never said that I’d see my brother, or make
a friend. I’m sorry. I had to.” As the rush of words filled Scully’s mind,
the Smoking Man and the man holding Samantha passed her on their way to
the door. “Dana, please forgive me,” Samantha pleaded aloud between sobs.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’m sorry. Take care of Fox for me…”
The man suddenly kicked Scully in the stomach, knocking the wind out of
her. Gasping for air, she struggled to reach the man’s gun. Still hunched
over, she shot the man once. He dove for her throat. Then twice. He toppled
over, nearly falling on top of her. She fell to her knees, breathless.
A shape moved
quickly down the stairs. Scully raised the gun then let it drop. Mulder
rushed to her side. His arm was bleeding. “Scully! You okay? Where’s Samantha?”
Scully pointed
towards the door. “They took her outside… Hurry,” she panted.
Mulder scrambled
to his feet and ran outside. Scully pushed herself up and nearly toppled
over again. The walls spun so fast she could barely tell in which direction
she was headed. She staggered to the door.