TITLE: Fatality AUTHORS: enigma (enigma17@earthlink.net) and Fleet CLASSIFICATION: Post-Ep, MS/UST RATING: Strong PG13 ORIGINAL EPISODE: Imperial Violet by Khyber DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and all its subparts belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and Twentieth Century Fox. No copyright infringement is intended. DISTRIBUTION: Two weeks exclusively on VS10, then ask me. Saturday, 9: 15 PM Griffin Research Labs, Monterey, CA Professor Frederic Griffin peered through the microscope at the tiny organisms swimming around on the slide. He wished with all his heart that they would stop. That they would go still and die. When he'd found out about Imperial Aqua, he'd sworn to put a stop to it. While as a scientist he understood the importance of collecting the viruses to study them and perhaps develop a cure, he could never imagine using them to hurt others. He couldn't understand how anyone could justify using a deadly virus to conveniently neutralize an enemy. And besides, until they had a cure, there was nothing to stop the enemy from sending the infected bodies back in retaliation, and then what would they do? And to make matters worse, he later found out that the weapon was being developed by the same team that he'd worked with in the past. He'd always thought they were dedicated to finding a cure. He'd admired them. But now it appeared that they were more dedicated to their wallets than anything else. Griffin sighed and stepped back from the microscope, realizing that he'd been gazing into it without really seeing anything. Maybe it really was too late to keep working. Griffin's feet were beginning to ache, and he was hot inside the biocontainment suit. Something crashed in the lab behind him and Griffin jumped, suddenly alert. "Who's there?" he asked nervously. He'd thought his escape had been clean; he knew the Pentagon's defenses well and had had no problem sneaking in and making off with several vials of the materials being tested. That had been surprising, considering the circumstances, but now Griffin began to wonder if this had all been planned. A shadow darted across his field of vision. Griffin whirled, but he could find no one. Then suddenly, he felt a pair of hands grab him from behind and then the sharp searing pain of an injection. The hands released him, and he turned to see a man, clad in solid black, grinning maliciously at him. He was holding a syringe of the virus. *** Monday, 8:15 AM FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Special Agent Fox Mulder leaned back in his desk chair and propped his feet up on his desk, smiling at his work. He'd just finished cleaning up his desk for the first time in two years. He turned the swivel chair in a slow circle and his smile faded. Just in front of the closed door, there lay a single sheet of paper. Mulder walked over to it and picked it up, gazing at it curiously. He was accustomed to strange things; it was his job to investigate the paranormal. But sometimes it was things like this that bothered him the most. He could handle aliens and ghosts just fine, but unexplained pieces of paper shoved under the door unnerved him. He looked more closely at the paper and saw that it was a newspaper article. He read it over quickly. It spoke of a professor who appeared to have died from the Ebola virus. At the bottom was scrawled a note: Home is where the heart is. The fix lies within something that is broken. Tell NO ONE!! Mulder felt his blood run cold. There was definitely something strange going on here. The door knob turned and his partner, Dana Scully, stepped in. Mulder quickly shoved the article into his briefcase. "Mulder, I'm going to California on a-what did you do to this room?" "I cleaned it." Mulder said, grinning smugly. Scully gave him an odd look. "Mulder, are you feeling all right?" "Fine. What were you saying?" "Oh. I've been assigned a case. One Professor Frederic Griffin was found dead of the Ebola virus in Monterey, California. They called in the CDC, of course. When the CDC conducted the autopsy, they found what looked like a needle puncture." "So they think the man was murdered?" "They're not sure. They've requested that an agent with a medical background look into it." "So naturally, Skinner thought of you." Mulder said. Scully nodded modestly. "Mind if I go along?" "Not a bit." *** Monday, 4:00 PM Zeus Storage, Monterey, CA Lyle Redson was a man in black. He was invisible. He was not a citizen of any country. He had no driver's license, no social security number, no permanent address. There was no way to reach him or locate him. Unless, of course, he came to you. And then he was impossible to get rid of. Currently, he was working for the government, for the nameless men who controlled all of the most secret projects. But that was only because they were willing to pay him the most money. Lyle was faithful only to himself. So, while he stood listening to his boss discuss the latest events, he was really thinking of the new yacht he was planning to buy with the money from this operation. "Now. I want all of you to be aware of a potential...security risk." The man took out a cigarette and lit it, the smoke forming a long gray trail in the air. Lyle crinkled his nose. He hated that smell. "Two FBI agents have been dispatched to look into the...unfortunate events surrounding the death of Mr. Fredric Griffin. Be forewarned, these two have caused trouble in the past." He paused, taking a long drag, then exhaled slowly. "Hageep. Redson. Follow them. I want you to keep a close eye on them, but don't do anything yet. My sources have confirmed that all traces of the substance have been removed, and it is entirely possible that they will become frustrated and leave without causing too much trouble. Consult me before you take any action." Lyle sighed and turned to leave. *** Monday, 5:00 PM Monterey Airport, Monterey, CA The airport very closely resembled a madhouse. Groups of tourist rushed around with cameras and loud, unattractive clothing. It was as though they thought that they could fit in by wearing clothes that looked as if they might be stylish on another planet. Scully smiled and shook her head in amusement. "What?" Mulder asked curiously. "Nothing." "No, seriously. The last time you laughed at something it turned out that my pants had been unzipped all through a meeting with Skinner, and you were too irritated with me to bother saying anything until afterward." They arrived at their rental car and got in. "I'm sure that Skinner found it very amusing as well." Mulder snorted. "Yeah. Sure." They both sat in silence for the rest of the drive, taking in the scenery and preparing themselves for the upcoming case. Scully sat, secretly dreading the meeting with the epidemiologist. She'd been on plenty of disturbing cases before, but the ones having to do with deadly viruses were unfailingly the most unpleasant. Especially after what she'd been through a year ago. Normally, the threat of contagion wasn't something that she worried about much. She took the necessary precautions, and tried to remind herself that it was much more likely that they'd die in a plane crash than contract some fatal illness. But after the events of a year ago, she had to think twice before stepping into an autopsy bay. They pulled into the parking lot at the Marriott Express, their rendezvous point and base of operations for however long it took to close the case. As soon as they entered the lobby, they were greeted by an enthusiastic young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Are you two the FBI agents they promised me?" she asked brightly. "Yes." Scully answered. "I'm Dana Scully, and this is my partner, Fox Mulder." "I'm Cindy Blake. I work for the CDC. I assume you know why you've been sent here? You're familiar with the case?" "Well," Scully said thoughtfully, "we've been given the case file, but a lot of the information is marked as classified." "Oh." Blake said. "I'd forgotten about that. Our people can get pretty particular about how much information is released to the public. They've wanted to keep it quiet. Didn't want to create a huge scare." "But there's been a press release," Mulder broke in. "What?" "An article in the Sunday paper." "But the body wasn't found until Sunday night." Blake said in puzzlement. "There's something strange going on here." "Mulder, you knew about the case before I gave you the file?" Scully asked incredulously. "Yeah. I didn't want to say anything though. I wasn't entirely sure it was the same case," Mulder said lamely. "Well, anyway," Blake interrupted. "It's been a rather alarming case. As you may know, there's never been a case of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever in the US before. At least not in humans. Infected monkeys were found in Virginia a few years ago, but that was something else entirely. "So anyway, when we found the body, it was the last thing we expected to find." "How do you mean?" asked Scully. "Well, it wasn't like normal Ebola. We weren't sure what it was, until we got a good look at the organism itself, and then we found something truly terrifying." "And what would that be?" Mulder asked. "It was indeed the Ebola virus. But a different strain, one that's never been seen before. And as far as we can tell, it has a 100% kill rate." "That's incredible." Scully murmured. "Yes. And, until now, it was thought to be impossible. But so far, all specimens infected with the virus have died. And in a shockingly short period of time. Some of the animals died in a matter of hours." "What's the mode of transmission?" "We're not sure. But until we are, we're keeping everything associated with the virus under careful quarantine. The last thing we need is for one of our own people to goof up and start the next plague." Blake laughed nervously. "Can we see the lab where the body was found?" Mulder asked. "Well...yes. But you'll have to wear the appropriate protection." "We're perfectly willing." "Fine. I'll take you there myself." *** Monday, 5:30 PM Griffin Research Labs, Monterey, CA Mulder walked slowly around the room where the body had been found. It took all his concentration to keep from tripping over his own feet in the bulky quarantine suit. It also gave him an unnerving feeling of claustrophobia. It felt as though he were an astronaut on a space walk. He could see and touch all around him, but at the same time, he was separated from it by a firm plastic barrier. Behind him, Scully was puttering around at what had once been the lab counter, looking at all the instruments and checking all the beakers and test tubes for a possible clue. Mulder smiled enviously. She seemed to have no problem with the suit. The lab had been completely trashed. There was shattered glass and spilled liquid everywhere. It looked as though a hurricane had come through overnight. "Mulder, come and look at this." Scully's voice came through the suit sounding muffled and far away. He shuffled his way over to where she stood, holding several test tubes from the nearby counter. "What is it?" "I'm not sure. There's a residue of some kind." "What are you thinking?" "Well, it appears that this lab has been trashed deliberately, like someone was cleaning up." "So you think that Griffin discovered something he shouldn't have and someone else had to clean it up?" "Yes." "But why the Ebola virus? That's a bit of an attention grabber, don't you think?" "I agree, it is odd. But still, what if he discovered something that made him dangerous? I mean, how did the Ebola virus get here in the first place?" "I have no idea." "I want to give this to Dr. Blake to have it analyzed." She gestured to the tube. "And then what do you say we get something to eat and call it a night?" "Sounds good to me." *** Monday, 6:00 PM Griffin Research Labs, Monterey, CA Great, Lyle thought angrily, so much for leaving without finding anything. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed. It rang a few times, and Lyle was just about to hang up when the voice came on. "What have you got?" The voice was dry and cracked, the product of too many cigarettes. "Sir, they visited the lab and they may have found a sample of the substance." "What are they going to do with it?" "They're having it analyzed. That is-unless you want me to intervene." "No. Let them have it analyzed. It will do them no good." "But sir-if they find out-" "They already know that it's Ebola. This won't give them any help as far as figuring out where it came from. No, this is still no threat to us. Keep watching. And keep me informed." There was a click and then a dial tone. *** Monday, 7:00 PM Redwing Inn, Monterey, CA "Oh, look, Scully! They have Roadkill." Mulder said, his eyes scanning the Redwing Inn's bizarre menu, "I wonder if they've got that raccoon we saw coming up here." Scully looked up and shot him a withering look. Mulder was completely unfazed by it. "I'm getting the Roadkill," he said gleefully, grinning at the sick look on her face. "Mulder, you're crazy." "Isn't that why they paired me with you?" he shot back without missing a beat. "I think I'll have the chicken in lemon butter sauce." "Scully, you just ruined my opinion of you." "In what way?" "I thought you appreciated unique tastes. I mean, chicken? That's too normal." "Mulder, unique is one thing. Sick is quite another." "Like I said. I'm getting the Roadkill squirrel." "Mulder, that's disgusting!" "Haven't you gotten that point across quite clearly enough yet?" "Apparently not if you're still going to order it." "I don't know how you can be grossed out by that, but not by the description of Ebola in the case report." "Speaking of the case," Scully said, clearing her throat, "we need to find out from Dr. Blake what she found out about that sample I took. I'm hoping she'll call us in the morning. Mulder, doesn't this case give you a distinct feeling of déjà vu?" "Yes. It definitely does. I'm just hoping I'm wrong." "Just be careful, Mulder. No ditching." "Of course not! Hey, look, the food's here." Mulder said with a grin. Scully ate her chicken in silence, eyeing Mulder, who was eyeing the plate in front of him. "What, Mulder, was it hit by the wrong kind of car?" she teased, "Or did you just order it to gross me out, and now you don't really want to eat it?" After they ate, they got back in the car. Ten minutes later, they were back at the hotel. "Mulder, if you ever do that again, I'm going to make you Roadkill." Scully said threateningly. All through the ride home Mulder had pretended to try and hit every animal they saw on the road. "What? I was just trying to restock the restaurant with Roadkill." *** Monday, 11:00 PM Huntington Lab, Monterey, CA Blake slipped the slide into place and peered through the microscope. Sure enough, there they were. The tiny organisms that caused the disease known as Ebola. They looked so harmless, contained on that slide. But still, she knew they were responsible for causing a disease that was so horrifying that most people denied its existence. They simply thought that it was something that never occurred in their country. It only happened in "uncivilized" countries, like Africa. There was no way it could touch them. Well, Blake thought angrily, thanks to all these mad scientists, Ebola is now a very real threat to the whole world. She turned and something dark darted across her vision. She felt her heart skip a beat. "Hello?" she called, hoping that it was just a lab tech who had gotten a little too curious about the classified work that was being done and decided to take matters into his own hands. "I don't bite, you know," she called encouragingly. Blake turned again and walked a slow circle around the room. Several times she thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. But every time she turned toward it, there was nothing there. "This isn't funny. Come out, I mean it!" For a few moments, she was sure that it was just someone trying to see what she was doing. But then she thought of Griffin and ideas started running through her head. Was this what it had been like for him? What had he thought of it? How had reacted? But most importantly, what had he done wrong? Blake put the samples away as quickly as she could and turned to leave. *** Monday, 12:00 AM Marriott Express, Monterey, CA Blake parked her car in the hotel's parking lot. "Shoot, shoot, shoot," she muttered, grabbing her bag and getting out of the car. "Dana! Fox!" she shouted as she ran toward their rooms. Scully emerged from the first room, wearing a pink bathrobe. "Dr. Blake?" she called, hurrying over. "Scully? Cindy?" Mulder's voice came from behind Scully, "Are we having a pajama party?" He grinned. But his smile darkened as he saw Blake's face. "They know that we know." *** Tuesday, 8:00 AM Marriott Express, Monterey, CA "Mulder? Are you ready?" Scully asked, knocking on the door connecting their hotel rooms. She heard a muffled groan coming from the other side. "Mulder?" she asked, opening the door. "Are you coming to the lab with me?" She walked into the room and looked around for Mulder. She rolled her eyes seeing the comforter on the bed pulled up over a big lump. "Not funny, Mulder," she said going over to the bed and pulling the covers back. Mulder groaned again. "No light." he muttered, "You tryin' to kill me, Scully?" He rolled onto his stomach. "Mulder, there isn't any light. Are you feeling all right?" She leaned over and touched his forehead, "Maybe a slight fever. Serves you right, Mulder. I told you that squirrel was a bad idea. You'd better stay here." "But Scully-" "Mulder! You can't go working with deadly viruses, even if you're only a little bit off! I'll be back at twelve to wake you up." she said firmly. She went back into her room, grabbed her briefcase and the directions to the lab. She arrived at the lab without any problems. She got out of her car and went inside. *** Tuesday, 10:13 AM Huntington Lab, Monterey, CA The lab smelled of formaldehyde and disinfectant. All the equipment was sparkling clean, and someone had washed the floor earlier that morning. Scully inhaled deeply and smiled. That smell brought back memories. She remembered being a student at Quantico Academy and staying up all night to cram for exams, then falling asleep in class the next day. She remembered her first day in forensics, how she'd been trying to lose weight. She'd gotten up early and run four miles, then ended up skipping breakfast. She'd fainted in class and everyone had thought it was because she was squeamish. Scully sighed and shook her head, banishing those thoughts. She needed to concentrate. She picked up the scan she'd been looking at a moment ago and held it up to the light. It showed the image of a virus, magnified to a hundred times its original size. There was something odd about it. It was definitely Ebola, there was no question about that. But the shape looked distorted, almost as if it had been altered slightly. Scully sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was too tired to be thinking about things like this. She'd been up all night the previous night, and the night before she'd stayed up late looking over the case file. But still, she didn't want to waste any time. This was probably the biggest and most important case she'd ever been assigned to. And for some strange reason, she felt the need to prove herself. To find something that no one else could. She thought back through everything they knew about the case so far, hoping to find something that didn't fit. A missing piece or a stray bit of information that might lead her to the answer she'd been looking for. And then it came to her. There. Griffin had been a government researcher working on a cure for Ebola. Then he'd quit for some unknown reason. The distortion. She caught her breath. Imperial Violet. What if- "My God. It's still happening." she whispered. "Congratulations." A voice said behind her. Scully whirled. A man dressed entirely in black stood behind her, holding a syringe of the virus. Scully felt her knees go weak. "You've just won a ticket to death row. Come with me." She had no choice but to follow. *** Tuesday, 6:00 PM Marriott Express, Monterey, CA Mulder woke with a start. His head was throbbing and his mouth was dry. But he knew it was only the aftereffects of his nightmare. He'd been having the same dream sporadically since the year he was twelve. Since Samantha had disappeared. He'd dreamed that same dream over and over, so many times he knew it by hear. The dark room, then the blinding light, and his sister's screams as she was taken away from him. He never knew what happened to her after that. And no matter how many times he had that awful dream, the terror and the grief never faded. And he always woke feeling awful. Mulder turned his head so that he could see the clock. 6:00? Scully had promised to wake him at noon. He sighed, sat up, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He went over and knocked on the door to her adjoining room. No answer. Mulder gave her a moment to respond, then pushed the door open and stepped into the room. It was dark and empty. Mulder sighed and went over to the phone, trying to ignore the growing sense of unease. He knew her number by heart. He could have dialed it in the dark. The phone rang and rang. With each tone, Mulder felt his heart beat faster. Something was very wrong. She always answered immediately. Images from the past came floating back to haunt him. If anything happened to Scully... "Yes?" A gravelly voice answered at last. Mulder recognized it immediately. As the realization struck him, he felt his rapidly beating heart grind to a sudden stop. He should have known. "What did you do to Scully?" Mulder growled through clenched teeth. "Nothing...yet. She's here with me, resting comfortably. She seemed a little tired." "Let me see her." he demanded. To his surprise, the voice responded immediately. "I think that can be arranged. Come tonight. Midnight. The building called Zeus Storage. Come alone." *** Tuesday, 9:11 PM Zeus Storage, Monterey, CA Consciousness was slow in returning. Scully lay there for an undetermined amount of time, wondering if she were dead. She remembered all too vividly the events of the previous afternoon, though she was not sure how much time had elapsed since then. She'd been ambushed at the lab, and forced to follow the unidentified man into a car and back here. He didn't even have to restrain her. His only weapon was the syringe of the virus. Scully knew that at the moment, that was the deadliest weapon he could possibly have laid his hands on. She knew that if she were to become infected, she ran the risk of starting a wide-scale viral outbreak. But still, if she and Mulder failed, the consequences would be even worse. Even in the midst of danger, Scully was a scientist first. She couldn't help but notice that her captor wore no protection and seemed totally unconcerned with the threat of infection. So, she mused, the weapon has a flaw. The virus must have to be injected. "Hello? Uh-are you awake?" A hand poked her. Scully groaned and rolled over. "I'll take that as a yes." It was a young man's voice, and he seemed friendly in sharp contrast to the men who'd thrown her in here earlier. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently. "Stop," she moaned, realizing she sounded like a whiny teenager. "Oh, come on, they haven't infected you yet. Get up. Enjoy what time you have left." At this, Scully opened her eyes and sat up. A young man with sandy colored hair and green eyes was sitting next to her, grinning like an idiot. "I'm Nathan Greenway," he said, "Innocent lab assistant of Frederic Griffin. They just grabbed me and threw me in here. And you are?" "Dana Scully." "Wow. It spoke! So, what's you tale of woe?" "It's a long story." "Well, we appear to have a very long time." *** Wednesday, 12:00 AM Zeus Storage, Monterey, CA The night air was cold and crisp as Mulder walked toward the big dark building. The Cigarette Smoking Man was waiting for him at the door. "Where is she?" Mulder asked, trying desperately to keep the panic out of his voice. He wanted to be in control here. "Inside. Come with me." Mulder followed him down the hallway, his apprehension growing with every step. At the end of the hall, the Cigarette Smoking Man opened a door and ushered Mulder through. The room was large and empty. At the far end, Scully sat in a single chair. Behind her stood a security guard holding a syringe of what Mulder had to assume was the virus. "Scully-" he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "Mulder. I'm all right." She looked terrified, despite the fact that she was trying hard not to. "Like I said," the Cigarette Smoking Man said from behind Mulder, "I haven't done anything to her. Yet." He looked meaningfully at Scully and she glared back at him. "What do you want?" Mulder asked. "Ah, well. Your partner here stuck her nose in something she shouldn't have. Again. I want to make sure that she doesn't share her knowledge." "Let her go." Mulder demanded. "Very well. On one condition." "And what's that?" "You come and work for me." "Mulder, don't." Scully broke in. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you." The guard sneered, gesturing to the syringe in his hand. "So what do you say? It's a good situation for you. You get all the answers you want, and your partner gets her life back." Mulder started to agree, more out of fear than anything else, but Scully cut him off. "Mulder, you can't. If you agree, thousands will die." "One more word and you will be among them." Scully looked straight at Mulder, her jaw set, and deliberately continued talking. "They've continued the project. They're still manufacturing the virus. In the Pentagon this time." The Cigarette Smoking Man gave an almost imperceptible nod. The guard uncapped the syringe and jabbed it into Scully's arm. She didn't even flinch. She just kept talking. "Griffin was part of the original team. They were working to develop a cure. Then someone got the idea of using it as a weapon." Mulder stood, frozen, barely hearing her. He already knew. "When Griffin found out that they wanted to use it to kill people, he quit." Now the effects of the injection were beginning to set in. Her voice became strained and Mulder could tell that she was struggling for consciousness. "Then he got second thoughts. He broke into the Pentagon and stole some of the virus. He continued working on a cure. I don't know whether he was successful." She paused, struggling for breath. "Mulder, if you fail, thousands will die. It would be the end of the world as we know it." Mulder turned and ran as hard as he could. The last thing he saw was a single tear rolling down her cheek. *** Wednesday, 3:00 PM Zeus Storage, Monterey, CA Blood. There was blood everywhere. Scully looked at herself and felt tears come to her eyes. She wasn't sure why. She'd never been one to cry easily, and there was very little reason for her to do so now. It wasn't like it would do her any good. She didn't regret her decision. And oddly enough, she wasn't scared. It was almost a relief to know, for once, exactly what was going to happen. She'd chosen her fate and she'd accepted it. She knew it was the right decision. "Penny for your thoughts." Greenway said from across the cell. He too had been injected the previous day and was as miserable as she was. "I was just thinking... that I finally get to know what it's like." "What do you mean?" "When I was in med. school, I always wondered what it felt like, to be dying of Ebola. What about you?" "I was just thinking how stupid they're being. I mean, to infect thousands of people with a virus that they have no cure for. I mean, what do they think? That they can control it so that only the people they want will become infected? It just doesn't work like that." "It'll never work." She paused for a moment, searching for words. "Nathan? Do you believe in an afterlife?" He looked at her blankly, as though he couldn't find anything to say to that. Scully leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. It was too painful to talk. Hell, it was too painful to even think. When he finally spoke, she barely heard him. "I don't think so. I mean, I hope not. I've had such a hard time in this one, I can't bear the thought of going through it again. Dana?" She didn't respond. *** Wednesday, 9:00 PM Griffin Residence, Monterey, CA Mulder rushed into the house, trying desperately to catch his breath. He'd taken off after the disaster with the Cigarette Smoking Man. He'd simply lost control and run away. And for some reason, they'd let him go. For several minutes, he'd wandered around aimlessly, one thought on his mind: this was his fault. Then he remembered the note. On a hunch, he'd decided to go to Griffin's home and see if he could decrypt the riddle. The fix lies within something that is broken. He was now reasonably certain that the fix the note spoke of was the cure for the virus. Mulder paused for a moment in the doorway, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the house. He was surprised. Somehow, he'd expected the house to look like the lab, completely trashed. But it wasn't. In fact, it was the most immaculate place Mulder had ever seen. It was even neater than Scully's apartment. He smiled. He hadn't thought that was possible. But then his smile faded. If they had trashed the lab, why had the house been spared? Was it possible that they didn't know about it? That didn't seem very likely. In fact, he thought it was more likely that they had set a trap for him. He didn't care. If there was any chance that he might find a cure for Scully, it didn't matter what price he paid. Mulder started searching the house. There wasn't exactly much to see. There were experimental data sheets neatly filed away on the shelves. It seemed as if Griffin owned an entire library on filoviruses. There were stacks and stacks of books and reports on outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg. After giving the house a once-over, Mulder stood still in the middle of the main room, uncertain what to do next. Then he realized he was missing the obvious. The note. The fix lies within something that is broken. Mulder rushed into the room that served as an office and stood staring for a moment, knowing that he'd found what he'd come for. In the center of the room, on a metal folding table, there lay a smashed computer monitor. It was the only thing in the house that was not in perfect condition. Mulder walked over to it and carefully reached inside the shattered screen. He pulled out a small vial of pale yellow powder, and for the first time, he felt a tiny thread of hope. *** Wednesday, 10:00 PM Huntington Lab, Monterey, CA Mulder burst into the lab, breathless, the precious vial cradled safely in his hand. Blake turned to face him. "What? What is it?" "Scully's been infected." Mulder said, his throat tight. "Oh, God, how?" Blake looked completely taken aback. "We've been being watched. She found out that the government has been manufacturing the Ebola virus and using it as bio-warfare. A government spy kidnapped her. I went to see her and she insisted on telling me what she'd discovered, even though she knew she would be injected if she did. I barely escaped. We're going to have to be careful now." "Oh, God, I'm sorry. What's that?" she asked, gesturing to the vial in his hand. "Griffin was working on a cure. I'm hoping this is it." "Well, then, let's test it." Blake took the vial from him. She pulled on one of the bulky protective suits and went into the quarantine area of the lab. She slipped a slide of the live virus into the microscope, then carefully put some of the powder onto the slide. She stared at it for a moment, then repeated the process several times. A few moments later, Blake stepped back out and walked over to where Mulder was sitting. She held up the vial of liquid and shook her head in astonishment. "I don't know what the hell this is, but it seems to be killing the virus." "So you're saying that this might work for Scully?" "Well, it's always possible that it could be toxic, but if she *has* been infected with Ebola, then there's really nothing to lose..." "How will we get in?" Mulder asked. "Which building is it?" "The one called Zeus Storage." "That's a government building. I think I know a way in." *** Wednesday, 11:21 PM Zeus Storage, Monterey, CA Lyle Redson stood in front of his boss. He knew immediately that something had gone disastrously wrong. "The project is over." "What?" Lyle asked in shock. "It's over. They know." "Are you going to do anything?" "No. It's over. Time for a new location." *** Wednesday, 11:45 PM Zeus Storage, Monterey, CA Mulder watched as Blake dialed in the security code. The building seemed oddly dark and deserted and Mulder wondered what the Cigarette Smoking Man had in store for them. He'd half expected armed guards at the door. Mulder and Blake had talked for nearly an hour, outlining a course of action. The plan was to simply disguise themselves by wearing biocontainment suits. Blake knew the entrance codes and they were hoping to be able to simply slip in and give Scully the antidote, then take her to a hospital quarantine facility. As they walked down the empty hallway, he felt a growing fear that they were too late. The building was deathly still. Blake led Mulder down the hall to a small quarantine cell. Scully lay inside, unconscious, along with another man. Both were covered in blood. Mulder and Blake rushed in. Blake knelt down and gently checked their pulses. She looked at Mulder carefully before she spoke. "The man's dead." Mulder stopped breathing. "Your partner is alive. Barely. I'm going to try giving her the antidote, but I don't know how much good it's going to do." She paused and uncapped the syringe. "You'd better call an ambulance." *** 30 Days Later Mulder walked down the bright hospital corridor toward Scully's room. After a month of quarantine, she'd finally been discharged from the hospital. Mulder shuddered at the memory. They'd taken Scully to the hospital as quickly as possible. They'd put her on life support at Blake's insistence, but there was serious doubt that she would even survive the night. It had been the worst few hours of Mulder's life. Every moment he expected one of the quarantine nurses to come out and shake her head. But by morning, Blake told him that she appeared to be out of danger and that he could go back to the hotel and rest. Mulder arrived at her door. He knocked softly. "Come in." she called. Mulder opened the door and stepped in. "Feeling better?" Mulder asked, smiling. She sat on the bed at the far end of the room, fully dressed. She was reading a report on an Ebola outbreak in Africa. Mulder smiled, shook his head, and sat down next to her. She gripped his hand tightly. "God, it's been awful." "I don't know how you can be reading that after all you've been through." Mulder said softly. "It passes the time. Have you heard anything on the case?" "It was closed this morning. It's all over the media. The CDC did a raid on the Pentagon, and they were shocked by what they found. There's evidence that Ebola was being manufactured in both the Pentagon and the DoD's advanced research facility. Not really a surprise, considering. All of the Ebola has been destroyed. Roush pharmaceuticals filed for bankruptcy this morning." "What about the antidote?" "That's still a mystery. They're not sure how it was made, what it was, or who made it. They haven't found any more. Blake ran some tests on what was left, and the material was a substance that does not appear in nature." "So then it's over?" "It's over. Scully?" "Yeah?" "Since we're in California, don't you think we ought to do some sightseeing before we leave?" "Sure. Fine. Whatever." Mulder got up and turned to leave, but Scully stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Mulder?" "Yes?" He turned back. She stood and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "Thank you." *** Epilogue "Why did I let him bring me here?" Scully muttered, laying out her beach towel, and opening the huge, colorful umbrella that Mulder had insisted on buying at a souvenir shop. Of course, she never would have been able to talk Mulder out of it-he was determined to try surfing. "Look, Scully! I'm doin' it!" Mulder yelled. Scully looked over and snorted. Mulder had laid the surf board on the beach and was pretending to surf. "Mulder, you're not even in the water!" "You can't rush these things, Scully." He bent back down and rocked the board again. Scully got up and walked down the shoreline, splashing her feet in the tide. She privately thought that it was nice to relax after all that had happened. She walked back towards Mulder, grabbing the tail of a small lobster on her way. "Look, Mulder! It's a member of the nematode family," she called. "No, Scully...it's from the seafood family." Scully smiled, remembering their last beachside case. "Oh, no. You're smiling again, Scully. What is it this time-is my draw-string untied?" *** Fatal Misprints These are all typos that were found in the unedited drafts. 1. They had planned to disguise themselves by wearing biocontainment suites. 2. The building was deathly ill. 3. "Mulder, I'm going to California on a-what did you do to this room?" "I clean it." 4. It was as though they thought that they could fit in by wearing clothes that looked as though they might be stylish on another planed. 5. The virus must have to be indicted. 6. "Mulder! If you can't go working with deadly viruses, even if you're working with deadly viruses, even if you're only a little bit off." 7. The building seemed oddly dark and dessert.