Title: The Antidote Revised Version Summary: Mulder and Scully are both infected by a virus...but there is only enough antidote for one of them to live... Author's Notes: This one just popped in my head. X-tra: I loved the thought of this plot line..I hope it works its way into a real X-Files ep one day...I'd love to see it happen! :) Enjoy! March 26, 1999 "You take it Scully...you have more things to live for than me." "No, Mulder. You have more to see, more to conquer. You have to find your sister." Mulder huffed and sat back against the white wall. "I won't do it, Scully. You can't make me, " he said in a childish defiance. Scully smiled. She leaned her head softly on the wall behind her and closed her eyes. "Mulder?" Silence. "Muuuulllldddeerr..." Scully sing-sanged his name. "What?" He replied softly while playing with the button on his jacket sleeve. "I love you." Mulder laughed out loud. "What? What's so funny?" Mulder turned his head to find Scully's eyes piercing his. "I love you more, " he stated simply, giving her a cute 'Mulder' smile. Scully sighed and closed her eyes again. "Mulder...we only have one hour left. One of us must take the pill." "And it's not gonna be me..." Mulder jumped in hastily, turning back to the sleeve button. Scully bowed her head in her hands in frustation. One day earlier "What do you think it is, Scully?" Mulder asked his partner, slightly fingering the unopened yellow package that read 'FOX W. MULDER'. It was Thursday and Skinner had given them the morning off since there were no new cases for them yet. "Why don't you open it up and see?" Scully chided him. She opened the daily newspaper and started reading the headlines for the day. Mulder had called her hours earlier when he got 'the package'. She had gotten up, showered and dressed in her light lavender suit, and headed for Mulder's apartment. Now that she was here, she figured she might as well eat some breakfast and read the paper until they were ready to go to the office. "What if it's a bomb?" he asked while shaking it and putting it up to his ear playfully. "Tick...tock...tick...tock.." Scully showed her annoyance by rattling the paper and turning the page. "Just open it already!!" she yelled from behind the paper. Mulder sighed. "Let's try to figure out who would send it? No return address, probably no fingerprints...there's lots of classic signs here of the unibomber..." Scully threw down the paper in frustation and grabbed the package from Mulder's hands. "I'll open it!" she seethed, eager to see what was inside, and hating Mulder for teasing her. Mulder watched silently as Scully ripped the package open and stuck her right hand within it only to draw it out quickly. "Ouch!" "What?" he asked concerned. "It...it bit me!" Scully looked down at her hand and noticed a red welt appearing on her little pinky. Mulder carefully lifted her hand and studied it. A tiny speck of blood was coming up from the skin that was 'bitten'. He grabbed a napkin, dabbed at the spot, and let Scully put pressure on it. He reached for the package with more caution and peeked inside. When he couldn't see anything, he tilted it so whatever was inside could fall out. "Whatever it is...it's stuck." "Be careful, " Scully warned him as he tentatively reached inside the very slowly. When he withdrew his hand, she saw it was nothing more than a NY Yankees pin with a picture of the stadium on it. Mulder smiled as he noticed that the tiny clasp was undone, and that was what had 'bit' Scully. "Is that all it was?" Scully asked him. "Yeah, but it's ok Scully, I don't think you'll turn into a vampire or anything..." he winked at her. "But I could keep you here for observation..." Scully arched her eyebrows. "I. Don't. Think. So." Mulder laughed at her and set the pin down, accidently scaping his finger too. "Damn!" He immediately stuck his thumb in his mouth. "Mulder...that's not really sanitary, " Scully scolded him. Mulder shrugged and waltzed to the bathroom to get some more alcohol for Scully's pinky. Damn...I love it when she flirts with me... he thought. Meanwhile, Scully lifted the napkin to look at her hand. "Oh...My..God!! MULDER!!" she screamed loudly. Her tiny pinky had turned almost pitch black... Later that same day "Agents? What happened??" Skinner's voice boomed throughout the hallway to the Emergency Room. Mulder blinked at his superior. "We have no earthly idea, sir." Skinner gazed at Mulder's bandaged hand. "What do you mean you have no idea? Don't you know?" he asked incredulously. Scully stared down at the floor, not meeting his eyes. "Sir, Mulder got this package...and inside it was a pin...and we both got stuck by it...and..." "WHAT? What package? Why are you at the hospital?? Do you know what went through my mind when I heard that BOTH of my agents were taken to the hospital?" Skinner gave them both a look of disappointment. Mulder sighed and explained the package and what had happened to his boss. "I'm sorry sir, the pin must have had some kind of fungus or something on it..." "ARE you SERIOUS??" Skinner exhaled. His eyes looked back and forth from Scully's hand to Mulder's hand. "Sir, I assure you that this is *quite* serious, " Scully sternly told him. Mulder explained furthur. "Whatever it is, it's acting pretty fast. In fact, the doctors are finding a room for us now. They are going to keep us here to see if it spreads to anymore body parts." Skinner sighed. I have heard it all now... "Well, when do you think you'll know something?" Scully spoke up, "Any time now. They are studying the fungus and should let us know something soon." Scully saw Dr. Berry heading towards them. "In fact, there is our doctor now..." Skinner turned his head to see a older man with glasses and a long white lab coat on. Dr. Berry stepped up to them and said, "I'm sorry. We have a containment crew outside waiting for you both. You will be taken to another facility. We just don't have the kind of equipment here to help you." Dr. Berry took off his glasses and rubbed them with his jacket too see better. "Dr. Berry, I am a scientist and a medical doctor. I assume you know more than you are telling us? What is going on here?" Scully spoke vehemently. Mulder glanced at Scully during her outburst. He could tell she was angry by the fire in her eyes...and that meant Dr. Berry better speak up. "Well, it's like this. We couldn't exactly identify the exact nature of whatever it is.." he explained as he trembled slightly. Scully raised her eyebrows at the doctor. "EXCUSE ME?" Skinner put a reassuring hand on her shoulder's to steady her. "Agent Scully, I'm sure that the doctor here has a very reasonable explanation...right Doctor??" Skinner let his 'you're a dead man' gaze lock onto Dr. Berry's eyes. The doctor fumbled some more. "All I know is this. It's not a fungus..it's a virus. It's been incubating in your system for hours now, staying in a complex form. But as soon as your bodies recognize it as an enemy, it will attack it, letting loose millions of simple virii that will start to kill you both very slowly. Unless you have some sort of antidote..." Dr. Berry nervously looked over his shoulder. "What? What will happen Dr. Berry??" Mulder forced him to respond. "Unless you have an antidote...you will both die within 48 hours.." Scully and Mulder were speechless. Skinner just bowed his head and prayed a silent prayer. Later on that very same day Diana Fowley poked her head in the office and spoke into the dark. "May I come in now?" "What took you so long?" a voice rang out at her. "I suppose you heard what happened by now?" she stated to the other dark figure. "Yes, I have." Fowley observed a brief orange radiance from a flicker of a lighter to light up a cigarette and then go dark again. "Well, I did as you asked me. At least *I* didn't screw it up." She walked closer to the dark figure. "I can always trust you dear. It's Krycek I don't trust. I knew somehow he would ruin things for me." Fowley felt a arm sneak around her waist. "I told you not to trust him. I'm the only one who really cares about you darling..." Fowley bent to kiss the ear of the dark figure. The dark figure chuckled softly in the dark. "Of course, if Agent Scully hadn't been there, all went have went well." He let Fowley take a quick puff of his cigarette and then poke it back in his mouth. "I promise darling, I will make everything right again...just as you like it." Fowley blew a little smoke in the dark figure's ear. "So I suppose you will give them the antidote?" "Yes...but only for one of them, and if I know Agent Mulder like I think I do, he will make her take it. Agent Mulder will die, just like you planned it, " she whispered softly in his ear, and nibbled a bit on his nose. "Of course...you always know what I want..." the dark figure smiled in the dark. "You always know..." Still later on Mulder and Scully had been led to a white room with twin beds, a desk with nothing on it but a pen and paper, a small white couch, a TV in the upper corner of the room, and a tall white divider in the middle that divided the bed space in half. Mulder, still in his suit that he had had on since breakfast, glanced up at the TV and wondered out loud, "I wonder if we can get the playboy channel?" Scully, looking equally distressed, gave Mulder 'the look' and replied nonchalantly, "I wonder why we have to have the same room?" Mulder grinned evilly and quickly grabbed Scully around the waist tightly. "Oh baby...just think about it! Me and you...locked away together...for the rest of our lives..." He bent down to lip-lock her, in which she deftly avoided it and squeezed out of his arms before contact could be made. Mulder was left hugging the air and kissing an imaginary Scully still in his arms. The real Scully looked back at him and crossed her arms. "Mulder?" she asked playfully. Mulder 'awoke' and put on a sad face. "Sure Scully..but when you start to feel lonely tonight and you start moaning for me, I won't be listening..." Scully blushed and casually turned around so he couldn't see it. She picked the bed on the right hand of the divider by throwing off her shoes and lying down on it. Mulder just wandered around for a bit, letting the 'vibes' settle in. Once he took off his coat, and sat down on the couch to watch tv, he heard a buzz on the door click it open. "Scully..we got company.." March 5, 1999 Mulder watched as his boss entered the room. "Hi guys..." Mulder blinked. Scully got up to see who was in the room. Her eyes shown surprise when she saw Skinner. "Sir?" Skinner grinned slightly and opened a small bag. "Look at what I got!!" Mulder went over peered into the bag. "Just save us the trouble guessing and just tell us.., " Mulder stated, not wanting to stick his hands in any more places he where he couldn't see well. Skinner reached in the bag and pulled out a clear plastic bag with one small green pill. "Well?" he asked. Scully turned to give Mulder a puzzled look. "Well what sir?" "THIS...is it. THIS...is the antidote." Mulder's eyes lit up. "How? How did you get it?" He grabbed the little bag and stared at it. He studied it from all angles before letting Scully look at it. Skinner started to get a little nervous. "Well, " he started, pulling a little on his tie to loosen it, "I found it lying on my desk when I went back to the office late tonight." He coughed. Mulder went wild-eyed. "What?" "It had a note attached to it. It said 'Here is the answer'. So I took it to the lab here where they scaped a small amount off it. They tested it and it killed the virus in the tube." Scully saw where the pill had been scaped off. "But this doesn't prove anything Sir. Besides, how do we know if this is enough? How do we know that this tiny thing will cure both of us?" She shook the bag in her hand for effect. Mulder dreaded reading the look on Skinner's face. "Go ahead Sir...give us the bad news..." Mulder sighed. Skinner looked at the walls, and then the floor, and then the divider. Anywhere but their faces... he thought. "Sir?" Scully pressed him. The AD cleared his throat and answered, "It's only strong enough for one of you." His face told them the rest. Mulder closed his eyes and let his body rock on his feet. Scully just gently touched the bag again while one tiny tear escaped down her cheek. "Well, I think Scully should take it, " Mulder said softly and then turned around to sit back on the couch. Without looking at Scully, Mulder turned the TV back on and started flipping channels. Scully gazed at Mulder's profile and went to sit next to him. "Are you crazy? Mulder...I can't...I can't..."She tried to find the right words, but couldn't. Mulder turned to face Scully. "YES YOU CAN...and you will. It's all my fault Scully...this all my fault..." "What do you mean your fault, Mulder?" "I'm the one who was supposed to die Scully, that package had my name all over it!! Not yours! Whoever delivered it, meant it for me only. The never expected you to be there so they came up with this antidote!! BUT..it's just for you, Scully...not me..." "MULDER!! You can't be serious!! Maybe it's just a fluke??" Mulder jumped up angrily and grabbed the bag from her hand. He shook it in her face and yelled again. "YOU WILL TAKE THIS!! You hear me Scully??? This is yours!!" He flung it back at her and went to lie down on his bed. After what seemed like eons, Mulder heard Scully stop whimpering and say good-bye to Skinner. He pretended to be asleep when she came to his bed. He felt her move her hand gently through his hair. He felt her breath as she whispered in his his ear, "I won't let you die for me. I can't...I won't...". He felt her hot tears sting his neck as they fell. He was still until he knew she was gone, not standing to hold his tears any longer, he wept. March 6, 1999 "I love you." Mulder laughed out loud. "What? What's so funny?" Mulder turned his head to find Scully's eyes piercing his. "I love you more, " he stated simply, giving her a cute 'Mulder' smile. Scully sighed and closed her eyes again. "Mulder...we only have one hour left. One of us must take the pill." "And it's not gonna be me, " Mulder jumped in hastily, turning back to the sleeve button. Scully bowed her head in her hands in frustration. They had been at it all morning long, since they had woke up. Back and forth, neither giving in to the other. Each one making excuses for the other one to take the pill. At first it was spiteful arguing, but now it had turned into playful bantering. Both knew they 'time window' was closing, but they couldn't seem to get the other to take the pill. "How about if we flip a coin?" Mulder suggested. "What? You want to rest the fate of your mortality on the flip of a coin?" Scully asked him intrigingly. "Why the hell not?" He shrugged. "We're not getting anywhere fussing over our families, or friends, or whatever. I say let's just do it. Heads I win...Tails you lose..." "Ok...so.." Scully stopped for a minute. "Hey..." Scully playfully swapped at Mulder's arm. "Admit it Dana...I almost had you there for a sec.." Mulder grinned evilly at her. "The name's SCULLY to you buster..." Mulder 'winced' like a kid and took a dime out of his pocket. "Call it Scully.." Then he flipped it in the air. "Heads means I win and YOU take the pill..." Mulder caught the coin and slapped it on the back of his hand. He kept his other hand covering it from view. "You sure??" Scully looked doubtful for a second. "Umm..yes?" she squeaked. Mulder nodded his head and looked at the coin. "Tails." Scully nodded and closed her eyes. Mulder just sat there and stared at the coin. "Scully?" "Yeah?" "Two out of three?" Same day "What does that make Mulder??" Scully poised with her pen to jot down the next info. "Heads." Scully rolled her tongue. "Let's see, Heads 54...Tails 54..." "Damn!" Mulder threw the dime on the other end of the room and laid back in a heap on the floor in exhaustion. "Mulder? What do we do now?" Scully asked exhaustedly. "At least we're not dead yet..." Mulder mused. Scully let her head drop on the table with a thud sound. Another click in the door sounded the arrival of another visitor. Scully and Mulder both looked up in unison. Skinner poked his head in the door. "It's me..." Mulder somehow found the strength to crawl to the door. "Sir? Please tell me you got another pill?" "Good god!! You don't even have the strength to stand up?" Mulder felt his boss lean over him and pick him up. Skinner carried him to the bed and scolded them both. "You both are in here dying? Are neither one has taken the pill?" Skinner looked disgusted at them both. "Sir? We came up with a solution..." Scully told him softly. "What's that?" He put his hands on his hips. "Whoever reaches 100 first wins.." "My god!! Look at you two? The doctor is having a fit wondering when you guys will make up your minds!! Not to mention your mother Scully..." Scully whipped her head up at Skinner. "My mother?" Tears of sadness overcame Scully and soon she was shaking so hard that Skinner had to go over and calm her down. "Here...drink some water...you'll feel better soon.." Mulder sat up on his bed and smiled. "Go ahead Skinner...take her home..." "No Mulder! I can't leave you..." "You have no choice Scully...I put the pill in your water...that *you* just drank..." Scully opened her mouth to cry again. "You tricked me!!" Mulder got off his bed and went to Skinner. "Would you please.." "Yeah...I'll be waiting outside for her." Skinner left to leave the room. He turned around for a brief second. "Mulder? You've been a good agent..." Mulder was too choked to answer, but nodded his head instead. Skinner quietly left the two alone. "Mulder? You tricked me..." Scully's voice wobbled. Mulder smiled a sad little smile and hugged her. "I had to." "Oh Mulder!!" Scully cried in his arms as she realized that this was it. No more Mulder...no more Mulder...she couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Dana...oh Dana..." Mulder's voice constricted after that. No more words...just touches and tiny kisses. Mulder kissed her nose, then her eyes, and finally...the sweet moment he had longed for...he kissed her on the lips. Scully's tears were falling so hard, she didn't even know what he had done. All she could think was that this was it. No more Mulder...ever...Mulder kissed her again and let his hands play in her hair. He smiled and started humming out loud. "What's that?" She managed to choke out between gasps. Mulder started to sing a little bit for her. "You're just too good to be true...can't take my eyes off of you...you feel like heaven to touch...I want to love you so much..." Scully was crying even harder now. She clung to him as much as she could. She felt she never wanted to let him go. "...and when you break down and cry...I thank God you're alive...you're just too good to be true...can't take my.." Mulder couldn't finish. He didn't trust his own throat to finish the song. He lifted Scully's face to see her eyes. Her wet eyes. "I love you Dana...and i always will...don't you ever forget that either..." "I won't!" Scully cracked, not being able to tell him that she loved him more than anything else in the world and always would. But deep down inside she knew...that he knew...and that everything would work out. Somehow... She looked into his shining face and tenderly scraped her lips over his. The magic they felt poured from their souls uniting them together in love... Same day Mulder's body went limp and before she knew it, technicians had surrounded them and taken her Mulder away in minutes. "NOOOO!!" Scully screamed. Skinner came flying in the room and found Scully lying in a heap on Mulder's bed. "Scully!! Shhhh..everything will be fine..." he hugged her and sat with her until she could no longer stand it. "Why? Why did they take my MULDER!?" Scully felt she had never been this tore up before. Now, the love of her life was gone. Taken from her. GONE FOREVER... Skinner did his best to smoothe her emotions, but he knew it wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be enough. "Don't worry Dana, we'll find them...we'll find the people responsible for Agent Mulder's death." And they cried. Same day (of course) The doctor pulled the sheet from over Mulder's body. Good..still warm... Mulder started moving and opened his eyes. A doctor was standing over him, blinking a light in his eyes. "Doctor? Doctor Berry?" "Shh...I'm not supposed to be here..." "Why not? Where am I?" "I made them take you down here to the morgue. They all thought you were dead...hahha." "I'm dying...I made my partn...I mean Scul...I mean Dana take the pill...the last antidote.." "And so you are Agent Mulder." Dr. Berry took out a green pill and made Mulder swallow it. "Why?? How did you..." "I'm working against him...against the smoking man..." "I don't understand.." "In other words, I'm working for Alex Krycek. He gave me this pill and told me it was for you. He said that you were needed to live, just like your partner. I don't know, I'm guessing the smoking man doesn't know that Krycek is a double agent." Mulder swallowed some water that Dr. Berry handed him. "So that's why you were so nervous at the hospital before, they were watching you, weren't they?" "Yes they were, but for now, I think you're safe." "How do you know?" The doctor reached down and pulled out a bagful of little pills. "I have made lots of pills!" "Lots and lots of pills.., " Mulder added with a smile. "Go home Mulder, go home and rest." Dr. Berry left as quick as he had appeared. "I will doc...I will." Mulder got off the gurney and made his way back upstairs to find his Dana and go home. The End |