Uroborus IV: Fear by Bobbi

STORIES ON THIS SITE ARE INTENDED FOR ADULTS ONLY

This is part 4 of a 5 part series titled Uroborus, written by Bobbi and Basbleu. The stories are in the following order:

Sins | Killing the Demon | MacGuffin | Fear | Dana Scores

It is highly recommended that the previous three stories be read before this one, in order for this to make any sense at all. J Mulder, Scully, Skinner, the X-Files and all related characters are Copyright Ten Thirteen Productions, no copyright infringement intended. Special Agent Cait McHale Copyright Basbleu, used with permission. Special Agent Melissa Palmer, Timothy Harper and the work as a whole Copyright Bobbi.

Click for Content Warning:

References to rape

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Uroborus V: Fear by Bobbi

Special Agent Fox Mulder let himself into the familiar apartment, using the key he'd had for months, but rarely used. "Melissa?"

"Hi." FBI Liaison Melissa Palmer walked out of the kitchen, smiling tensely (at Mulder. "Thanks for coming."

"What, no kiss?" Mulder pouted, but wondered why she was so distant.

"Mulder, we need to talk." Melissa frowned lightly. "Let's sit, ok?"

"Ok." Mulder's eyebrow crinkled. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No." Melissa looked up at him, and then quickly looked away. "Look, this isn't easy, so bear with me."

Mulder nodded, reaching over to hold one of Melissa's hands. She jerked away, shaking her head.

"Please, don't." Taking a deep breath, she spoke quickly. "Mulder, I haven't been happy with our 'arrangement' for a while. I just recently figured out what the problem was. It really isn't your fault at all. It's mine. But, Mulder, " she sighed and rubbed her forehead with her hand, blinking rapidly. "I'm in love with you. You're not in love with me. And I just can't handle that anymore."

Mulder stared at Melissa. "Melissa, I love you so much." He protested. "How can you even think I don't? We've been together for almost a year..."

"Actions speak louder than words, Mulder. And we don't have a 'together' to speak of." She wiped a lone tear from her eye, clearly fighting more.

"There are signs of being in love. You spend a lot of time with the person, you can't stop thinking about them, things like that. One of the big signs is that a person changes you in some way. I am not the same person I was before I met you. You have changed me, without a doubt, for the better, I hope. But you haven't changed. We haven't spent a lot of time together. You don't think about me all the time. You're Mulder. And you always will be."

He was speechless. He hadn't ever thought about changing who he was for her. Was it really supposed to be that conscious of a thing?

"I'm sorry. But I need…," she sighed, wiping another tear before it rolled down her face. "I need more than you will ever be willing to give. It's my problem, not yours."

"Melissa, I want you in my life." Mulder argued. "I need you."

"No, you don't. You don't need anybody in your life, other than Scully and Samantha. I don't fit." She snorted softly. "Maybe you need me for sex, but that's it."

Mulder was in shock. He really hadn't thought anything was wrong. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Just leave." Melissa wouldn't look at him in the eyes. She knew that if she did, all of her nerve would crumble. She loved Fox Mulder more than she had thought possible. But she couldn't take the constant worrying, the fear that he was dead, half the time brought on by his lack of concern for her. When he would hang up on her, not call when he was supposed to, or disappear for weeks at a time, he never even considered that she might worry. And she couldn't handle it anymore. She just wasn't that strong. "Please."

Mulder stood up slowly, still staring at Melissa. "I will always love you." He tried, one last time.

"Love has a different definition for you than it does for me." Melissa shot back.

That was anger, Mulder noted. She was mad at him. How? Shaking his head, he turned and left.

Seeing the front door shut behind Mulder, Melissa finally could show the emotion she'd been holding back since he had arrived. She sobbed into her hands, crying for what she just let go.

Mulder drove away, still in shock. She'd dumped him? He jumped as his cellular phone rang, and his broken heart surged hoping it would be Melissa. "Mulder."

"Mr. Mulder. Stop the car." He instantly recognized X's voice, and pulled over to the side of the road, getting out of the car.

A black car stopped behind him. Mr. X stepped out and walked toward him.

"You followed me?" Mulder was annoyed. "Why?"

"Here." X pressed a computer disk into his hand. "You'll know what to do."

Mulder looked at the disk for some sort of clue to its contents, but it had no label. When he looked back up, Mr. X was in his car and driving away.

Shaking his head, Mulder got back into the car and drove to the Hoover Building, calling Scully on the way.

"Mulder, this had better be good." Scully did not look happy. She had bags under her eyes and was pacing the office as Mulder booted up his computer.

"It should be." Mulder replied. "Why are you so grumpy anyway?"

"It's midnight, Mulder. I was actually trying to get some sleep for once." She shook her head. Their last few cases had been grueling. All she wanted was one good night's sleep.

"Sorry, this couldn't wait." He pushed the floppy disk into the computer and waited. As the screen lit up with the logo from the National Security Agency, his eyes widened. "Scully, look."

Scully stood over Mulder's shoulder, looking at the screen. "How did you get this?"

"X."

"Mulder, this is stolen..."

"Obviously." Mulder's eyebrows narrowed. "This seems to be a case file."

"A few case files." Scully pointed to the screen.

"Four." Mulder looked them over, and opened one, to reveal nothing but numbers.

"It's encrypted." Scully sighed.

"Damn." Mulder hit the computer in his frustration, accidentally turning it off.

"Be careful there, we can't afford a new one." Scully said lightly. "Look, Mulder..."

"We get so damn close, Scully. We have it, right in our hands, and yet they're keeping it away from us." Mulder stood up, eyes narrowed. "They manipulate and play with me, with you, with Mel..." He stopped himself from finishing the thought (Melissa isn't my concern anymore, is she?) and stared at the ground. "Damn."

"Mulder, we'll get this decoded." Scully said gently, concerned about her partner�s unusual emotional outburst. For a brief moment, Scully wondered if someone had been tampering with Mulder�s drinking water again.

"Sure." Mulder shook his head. "I'm sorry I got you out of bed. Go back home, get your sleep."

A little confused, Scully grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. She turned before she opened it. "Mulder, are you ok? Is something wrong?"

"No." Mulder answered, a little too briskly.

Scully nodded. Liar. But he'd talk when he wanted to talk. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Right." He waved.

�Now it's time for the top ten list...� the TV blasted.

Palmer shifted on the couch, trying to get comfortable, but it felt wrong. She felt wrong. Mulder wasn't there. Normally, when he wasn't there, she could think about the future, when he would be there. That would give her some comfort. Now, he would never be there again. She pursed her lips, determined not to cry again. How had she ever gotten so attached to Mulder? Dangerously attached. She could not ever let this happen again. Melissa nodded, staring into the air. "Never again." She hadn't been this attached to Timothy even though she had been engaged to him. This, this was unhealthy. Unnatural. A noise from the door made her look up, and she reached around on the couch for her gun. She held it close to her chest, staring at the door as it shook, and then opened to reveal a wrinkled man smoking a cigarette.

"Hello, Agent Palmer." The man walked into the apartment casually, closing the door behind him, seemingly oblivious to the gun Palmer aimed at him.

"Stop or I'll shoot." She tried to sound as strong as possible.

"No, you won't." He turned off her television and sat down across from her, lighting a new cigarette with the butt of the old one, which then was ground into Palmer's carpet with his heel. "You are going to help me though."

"Who the hell are you?" Palmer couldn't believe the gall of this man. But there was something about him that told her to listen to him. An aura of sorts, a sense of power.

"Mulder hasn't told you about me? I believe he has a few unflattering nicknames for me." The man waved at the air. "It doesn't matter who I am anyway. I need your help. That's all you need to know."

So this was Cancer Man. Palmer's eyes narrowed. This man ordered the death of Mulder's father. He had Scully abducted. Now he needed her help? Curiosity got the better of her. "With what?"

"Mulder has just come into possession of a computer disk. My disk. I will see to it that Mulder has the opportunity to return the disk to me. You will see to it that Mulder takes advantage of that opportunity."

Palmer's head swirled. How the hell was she going to influence Mulder when she didn't want to be speaking to him? "Mulder isn't going to listen to me."

"Oh, I think he might." The man looked at the frightened woman. Agent Mulder would listen to her. He had to, or else he'd kill her. "It�s simple, Agent Palmer." He stood up and bent over Melissa. "Either Agent Mulder returns that disk to me or I make your worst nightmare come true."

"Worst nightmare?" Palmer stared at the man. "What's my worst nightmare?"

"Three weeks in a cabin. Raped and sodomized by a large man with black hair and blue eyes." He snarled.

"That's impossible!" Palmer gasped, terror seizing her heart. "He�s ... I…"

"He isn't dead." The man whispered before walking out as casually as he'd strode in.

Palmer stared at the back of the door, unsure of just what to do. Her eyes darted, panicked, around the room. How could that be true? She'd seen Timothy shot with her own eyes. He had to be dead. What disk did Mulder have anyway? Her worst nightmare....

Shaking, she put the chain and bolt on the door and settled in for the night. She would look into this tomorrow. For now, all she could do was try to sleep and hope the nightmares left her alone.

"Scully?" Palmer peeked her head into the door of the basement office.

"Hi, Melissa. Mulder isn't here yet." Scully looked up from her paper with a smile. "You can wait for him, if you'd like."

"Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you." Palmer admitted. "Let me buy you breakfast?"

"Sure."

Once they were seated in the diner, cradling steaming cups of coffee, Palmer sighed. "Scully…,"

"Dana." Scully corrected.

"Right. Dana. Sorry, I'm so used to hearing Mulder refer to you as Scully. " Melissa smiled weakly. "I'm sorry to drag you into the middle of this mess, but I didn't know who else to turn to."

Scully smiled. "Don't worry. If it's related to Mulder in any way, I'm sure I would have ended up smack in the middle of it eventually." Scully did want to help but she couldn't help wondering why Melissa couldn't turn to Mulder.

"Probably." Melissa looked at Scully, and took a deep breath. "Last night I had a visit from the Cancer Man. He told me that if I don't see to it that Mulder gives him some computer disk he will...he'll..." Her voice trailed off.

"He'll what?" Scully pressed softly.

Melissa's eyes widened as she stared at Scully. "He said that Timothy isn't dead, and that he'd take me again."

Scully gasped. "We saw..."

"I know." Palmer shook her head. "I know he can't be alive. I�d know …wouldn't I? Given everything that happened?"

"Only Mulder could answer that."

"The way that man said it, he sounded so sure. "

"That man lies." Scully said firmly. "You have to tell Mulder about this."

"Mulder and I broke up last night." Melissa said quietly. "I don't think he wants to hear much of anything from me right about now."

"Want it or not, he's going to hear this. Let's go back to the office."

"And that's all he said." Palmer finished telling her story and wrapped her arms around her stomach, hugging herself.

"Just 'he's not dead.'" Mulder asked, spinning around on his chair.

"Yes." Palmer snapped. "Not melodramatic enough for you, Mulder?"

"Hey!" Mulder raised his arms in the air. "Melissa, I'm not trying to pick a fight, ok?"

"Fine." She stared at the floor, grinding her teeth.

"So Harper isn't dead." Mulder crossed quickly to a cabinet and pulled out a file.

"Mine?" Palmer asked.

Mulder nodded as he started flipping the pages. "There it is!" He pointed to the page. "Harper's body disappeared before burial. I remembered something being off. "

"There would have to be paperwork on that."

Palmer frowned. "Alisa should be able to get it quickly." She grabbed the phone and called her assistant, asking her to pull the file. After hanging up, she asked Mulder the question foremost in her mind. "Mulder, wouldn't I know if Timothy was alive?"

Mulder shook his head. "Not if he's gotten better at controlling his psychic energy. Or if he was medicated."

"Do you remember telling me something about Timothy seeing every intense emotional experience I had?" Palmer looked at Mulder, hoping she wouldn't have to elaborate. When Timothy had first re-surfaced, Mulder had told Palmer that Timothy could 'see in' on any intense experience she had, including sex. At the time, Palmer had been celibate. But in the past year, sex had hardly been a regular occurrence, but she was far from celibate.

Mulder frowned at Palmer. "Yes." Then he realized what she was alluding to, and looked away quickly, muttering "I don't know."

Palmer's eyes narrowed. "Wonderful. I'm going to get those files from Alisa." She stood up and marched out of the room without a second look at Mulder.

"Mulder?" Scully asked gently. "Want to tell me what's going on?"

"Melissa dumped me last night." Mulder explained.

"She dumped you? Then why does she look so miserable?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "Women. Something about me not knowing what love is."

"That's half the explanation. What about the intense emotional experience?"

"Harper could look in when Palmer had an intense experience, remember? Her run-in with the President, with Carr....adrenaline surges. What experience creates the greatest adrenaline surge in human nature?" Mulder forced the words out.

Scully looked at Mulder apologetically. This was embarrassing him. "You think that Timothy's been watching you and Melissa ..." She searched for a word.

Mulder nodded. "If he's alive and sane? Probably."

"Mulder, sex doesn't cause an adrenaline rush, per se. A true �fight or flight� reaction, which is what I think you're referring to, is caused by the autonomic, sympathetic nervous system releasing epinephrine and norepinephrine into the bloodstream. An orgasm, on the other hand, is a voluntary reaction which also stimulates the adrenal gland, but epinephrine isn't all that is released. Sex hormones are released also. You're not talking about adrenaline surges, if you think he can see in on sex. I think you're talking about adrenal gland stimulation." Scully finished, satisfied with her theory.

"If this is all because of the tests done on Palmer, why would the CIA want to stimulate the adrenal gland?"

"Studies have shown that when animals� adrenal glands have been stimulated, the animals became violent, destructive. This was done to a human. It's mind manipulation. If a person's adrenal gland was stimulated unnaturally, he could become violent, sexually aggressive."

"They could act like Harper?" Mulder asked.

"Yes."

"Here." Palmer rushed back into the room, holding a thin file. "There isn't anything here to see, just one form authorizing moving his body to Arlington, and another saying that it never got there."

"What's the reason given on the form?" Scully asked.

"Unforeseen circumstances." Palmer read.

"Which means absolutely nothing." Mulder noted. "They don't want a lie in writing. Not this time, anyway."

"But why?" Palmer asked.

"Because they've been saving him for you." Mulder said softly.

Frozen, Palmer stared at Mulder. He hadn't really just said that.

Mulder realized what he'd said too late. He tried to apologize, but she cut him off.

"I should go. I have work to do." Quickly standing up, she made her way to the door. "Thanks for joining me for breakfast, Scully."

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax, Mulder." Scully scolded

"Scully, I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I didn�t mean to threaten her."

"Well, you did." She frowned. "You've got yourself a fine mess here."

"I didn't do anything. " He protested.

"I don't care about the reasons you're in a fight." Scully shrugged. "I'm talking about this disk you have. Mulder, what could be on it to make Cancer Man go this far?"

"He's pulled his secret weapon." Mulder said thoughtfully. "I don't know what's on the disk, but I'm going to find out." Standing up, he grabbed his jacket. "Scully, can you try to dig some more for Harper's body? Use your medical clearance?"

"I'll see what I can find."

"Call when you find something." Mulder left without another word.

"Yes, sir." Scully whispered sarcastically as the door slammed behind Mulder. "Whatever you say, sir."

Palmer stared at her computer screen, unable to focus on the reports in front of her. With a frown, she stood up. As angry at Mulder as she was, she still couldn't sit still. Not while Harper could still be alive.

A few minutes later, she tentatively knocked on the door of the basement office. She hated this. Mulder owed her an apology, and yet here she was, crawling to him.

"Come in!" A call came from inside, followed by a giggle.

Palmer pushed open the door to the office to reveal Scully standing with a woman she didn't know, grinning, holding up a pair of pumps. "Do you like them?" She asked.

"Cute." Palmer smiled, and looked at Scully's friend. Almost regal, with dark hair and sparkling green eyes, this was someone who, once met, was clearly never forgotten.

"Cait McHale." She offered her hand. "I'm from the North Carolina field office."

"Melissa Palmer." Palmer shook the hand, smiling back. "White House Liaison Officer."

Cait whistled. "Is it half as glamorous as it sounds?"

"Not a bit." Palmer couldn't hold the smile for long. She turned to Scully. "Do you know where Mulder went?"

"He went to find out what's on that disk." Scully replied. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. No." Obviously confused, Palmer sat down and sighed. " I don't know what to think."

"Mind if I ask what happened?" Cait asked, curious

Palmer looked at Cait, and then at Scully.

"Cait's a friend of mine. If you want to tell her, she can be trusted." Scully smiled. "Who knows--she might be able to help."

"It doesn't sound very credible, I know."

Palmer started. "But this guy came to see me last night and told me that a man who I saw killed last year is still alive, and is going to hurt me again if Mulder doesn't do what he wants him to do."

"How did he hurt you before?" Cait asked.

Palmer looked at the floor. "Kidnapped me for three weeks. Raped me and almost killed me."

Cait's eyes softened. "Melissa, I specialize in crimes against women. Do you want to talk about it?"

"It happened so long ago. I'm over that."

Palmer shrugged. "It's just…I can't imagine going through it again. I don't think I�d survive." She started to shiver.

"Who was he?" Cait sat in the chair across from her.

"My fiancee." Palmer whispered.

Cait's eyes widened as Palmer continued.

"He went crazy. We had unwittingly been part of a CIA. They used us as guinea pigs, tested vitamins on us that made Tim go crazy. Mulder thinks the pills gave us a psychic link too. I could see things Timothy did, he could see me. If he's alive, he can still see me." She looked at Cait. "What's the line for scared women? 'We'll never let anything happen to you.' Well, I'm an FBI agent. I couldn't protect myself before against Tim, and I don't know if I could now. And if he really has been watching me, he's coming for me. And for Mulder."

"For Mulder?" Scully interrupted.

"Unless Timothy's better, he's been watching us. " Palmer shook her head. "I can't even begin to explain how disgusting that thought is."

"You don't think he'd just get off on it and go on?" Cait asked.

"No. He was insane. He raped me because he said he needed a son and then tried to give me an abortion just weeks after. Those damn pills."

Cait frowned, contemplative, then looked over Melissa�s head at Scully. "I know this may be a long shot but the similarities are too close to ignore. Several Vietnam vets across the country, all at different times, suddenly went insane and raped and murdered Vietnamese women and then committed suicide. They had all been part of a Marine Corps squad �experimented upon� with some sort of designer vitamin during the war."

"Did you figure out who was behind it?" Palmer asked.

" We suspected the CIA, but…" Cait shrugged.

"Are any of them still alive?" Scully asked.

"It�s hard to tell.� Cait admitted. �Our investigation was prematurely suspended due to lack of evidence. For all we know, every Vietnam vet could have been used as a test subject. Of that particular squad, only one survived."

"Who's the one?" Palmer asked.

Cait hesitated before answering. "Skinner."

"Assistant Director Skinner?" Palmer looked incredulously at Cait. "He doesn't know anything. He's the one who put Scully and Mulder on my case to begin with."

"Oh no." Cait shook her head. "He knows a hell of a lot. Melissa, I think he took the same pills you did, or an earlier form of those pills."

Palmer stared at Cait. "Oh my god. How...he could have stopped this?"

"No.� Cait answered quickly, defensively. �He doesn't know much more than we do. But he probably understands what you're going through a lot more than I do." Cait smiled. "He�s out of town until tomorrow night. Why don't you meet with him when he gets back?"

"Ok." Palmer nodded, a little curious as to how Cait knew Skinner�s schedule, then turned to Scully. �Did you know about Skinner?"

"No. I knew Cait was working on a case involving some crazed men, but I didn't know the details--most of her cases seem to involve crazed men." Scully looked at Palmer. "You should talk to Mulder about all of this."

"I can't." Palmer shook her head.

"Why not?" Cait asked.

"Because we'll be talking, and then he'll be sitting next to me, and then he'll be holding my hand, and then he'll be looking at me with those big weepy eyes, and then he'll pout, just right, and then I'll stop talking." She looked up and wrinkled her nose. "I turn to jelly."

"Melissa, get a vibrator." Cait sighed.

"Look, Mulder just has this power over me. I can't talk to him."

"Do it over the phone." Scully offered.

"Or does he �pout just right� over the phone?" Cait asked sarcastically.

Palmer made a face at Cait. "No."

"Melissa, I know we just met, but I know Mulder. He may be a pig, but he is a good man. Talk to him." She turned to Scully. "Now can I have my shoes back?"

Scully looked at the pumps she was holding and smiled. "Sorry. But they are gorgeous."

"Thanks." Cait took the shoes back and slid them on, looking over at Palmer's suede enclosed feet. "Melissa, very nice shoes." She sounded like it was a seal of approval.

Palmer looked at her shoes and smiled. "Thanks, I was rather excited when I found them."

Mulder walked into the office to find the three woman looking at their shoes and making weird cooing noises. He watched them for a minute before clearing his throat.

"Hi, Mulder." Cait turned around and smiled. "Long time."

Mulder nodded. "Nice shoes."

Cait smirked. "Wish I could return the compliment." She turned to Melissa and Scully. "I have to run, I have an interview upstairs in five minutes. Melissa, if you need to talk, I'm staying with Dana." She hugged Melissa, and then Scully. "I'll see you later." With a wave at Mulder, she left.

"Did you find anything?" Palmer asked in as emotionless a tone as she could muster.

"No." Mulder frowned. "Except that I'm to drop off the disk in two days. I haven't been told where."

"Who told you?" Scully asked.

"I don't know. I didn't recognize the voice."

Palmer looked at Mulder. "Are you going to return the disk?"

Mulder hesitated briefly, looking at Scully.

"You son of a bitch." Palmer stood up. "You're keeping it. You're going to let them send Timothy after me."

"No, I'm giving it back." Mulder said, but the damage had already been done. Again.

"You really care that little about me?" Palmer looked at Mulder, deeply hurt. She turned to Scully. "Please call me if you find anything." She walked out of the room, trying hard to hold her head up.

"Wow. And it's barely noon. Shall we see how much more damage you can do today?" Scully remarked.

"Shit." Mulder put his head in his hands.

"You know, you're a fool."

"Gee, thanks Scully."

"She loves you so much, Mulder, and you're hurting her every chance you get."

"I love her. I'd never want to hurt her."

"Then what the hell are you doing, even thinking about keeping the damn disk? Mulder, you'd trade me for your sister, but you won't trade a disk for the woman you claim to love?"

"I am going to give the disk back." Mulder insisted. "I just want a little more time with it."

Scully stood up. "I'll see you later."

"Where are you going?"

"I hit a brick wall looking for Timothy's body, so I'm going to try and get Melissa's mysterious vitamins further analyzed. I didn't have the time to do a full work up on them last time. Maybe the NIMH has something on file." She grabbed her coat. "Go talk to Melissa. And don't stick your foot in your mouth."

Mulder nodded.

Palmer sat on her couch with a box of tissues watching a talk show. She knew that leaving the office was stupid, and emotionally weak, but she really didn't care about that right now. She'd been duped by Mulder. Completely. He'd convinced her that he was a good man who cared about her. She'd even thought that he really had loved her, in his own warped way. She'd never doubted that. But it had all been an act. Son of a bitch. She looked up as the doorbell rang. "Shit." She made her way over to the door and opened it, holding her gun behind her back.

"Melissa, please." Mulder was there with the puppy dog face.

"No." She slammed the door.

"Melissa." She heard him yell through the door. "Please, we need to talk."

"No!" She locked the door and returned to the couch.

A second later the door opened and Mulder walked in, holding up his keys. "Remember these."

Melissa narrowed her eyes and stared at the television.

"Melissa, please talk to me." Mulder sat down next to her on the couch and took her hand. "I know you must be in so much pain right now."

She looked at him and felt her heart melt. But she heard Cait in the back of her mind 'you need a vibrator.' No she didn't. She could resist Mulder. "You don't know anything."

"So tell me. What are you feeling?" Mulder rubbed her hand gently. "Let me in."

She choked as tears welled in her eyes. "No."

"Melissa, please." He reached up one hand and stroked her hair lightly. "I can help. I helped you through this before. Let me help you again. "

Melissa wanted to let it all go so much that once she started, the tears flowed quickly. "I'm just so scared...Mulder...if Timothy's been watching us, he's coming. Cancer Man can't keep him. It wouldn't be possible, not as crazy as he was."

"Melissa, what did he do to you?" Mulder asked softly.

"I told you." She shook her head. She didn't want to talk about that.

"You told me a little. But how did you survive three weeks? Do you have any idea how incredibly strong that makes you?" With one hand in her hair and the other in her palm, he gently massaged her, trying to calm her sobs.

"Strong?" She laughed lightly through the tears. "I cried for the first week. I don't remember all that much after that, I think I was blacking out. Fear. I'd never been so scared in my life. And the constant pain. I was repulsed by the thought of what was happening to me. I just shut down. I didn't think about what was going on. It just happened. In a way the pain helped, it was so mind numbing that I couldn't think...made it all feel like it was happening to someone else. It was like I was starring in a horrible satire of my life."

"Do you feel like that again?"

"Don't play shrink with me, Mulder." Melissa pulled back slightly. "I'm not being analyzed."

"Did you ever get professional help?"

"No." She shook her head. "Mulder, remember, this is all because of the CIA. I can't exactly trust a shrink."

"You can trust me." He kissed her palm softly.

Melissa jerked and pulled her hand back. Shit. No sex. "Stop that."

"Sorry." He sighed. "I know you feel violated. And you're scared about that happening again. And I know you think this is a line, but I will not let anything happen to you. Ok?"

Melissa looked at him and shook her head. "Mulder, I wish I could believe that. But you can't make that promise."

"I love you. I can promise that."

"Don't."

"Melissa..." Mulder pulled her towards him and hugged her tight.

"No." She whispered as she felt herself melt into his embrace. She felt so comforted, so loved, surrounded by strong arms, safe. She felt his lips brush the back of her neck and shivered. "Mulder..."

"Hmm?" He licked her neck lightly.

"I'm mad at you."

"Hmm." He made his way to her earlobe and tongued it slowly.

"That means no sex."

"Hmm." He kissed her.

"Mulder, no." She pushed his chest gently.

"Melissa..." Mulder whispered her name into her ear as his hand made his way up under her sweatshirt.

"Mulder..." Melissa pushed him harder, trying to get him off of her.

He didn't reply, but took hold of her breast in his hand, flicking the nipple.

An involuntary moan escaped Melissa's lips. Shit, she thought, as she felt his hips sink into hers. No. She'd said no. "Mulder, get off of me." She pushed at him again, trying not to panic. Mulder wouldn't do this to her. Not Mulder. But he was pushing up against her, not moving away.

"Melissa, I love you." He whispered, kissing her neck.

"No!" Mulder groaned and looked in her eyes. "I love you. Everything will be fine." He grabbed her arms and held them at her sides.

"Mulder..." Melissa squirmed in his grip, terrified. "Let go of me!" She kicked him as hard as she could.

"Ok!" Mulder jumped back and held his hands up. "Sorry. Ouch."

Melissa had jumped to the other side of the couch and was staring at him, shaking, her eyes wide. "Get out."

"Melissa," He looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Get out." She repeated, pulling her shirt down with a frown.

Mulder stood up, hanging his head down. "Melissa, I'm sorry."

"Leave." She wouldn't look at him.

When she heard the door close behind him she stood up and reached for the phone. She needed help.

Cait and Scully were seated at her kitchen table within an hour

"Thanks for coming," Palmer looked at the two. "I guess I just need someone to talk to, and, well..."

"We offered." Cait smiled. "Did something happen?" She had noticed the tear stains on Melissa's face.

Palmer nodded. "Mulder was here."

"What did he say this time?" Scully's eyes widened.

Melissa lowered her eyes. "I'd never said no to him before, I guess he didn't expect to hear it, and...well....he wouldn't stop..."

"Did Mulder rape you?" Scully couldn't believe she was asking Melissa the question, the Mulder she knew would never... Her heart was breaking.

"No!" Melissa jumped. "He didn't. He just didn't stop until I kicked him. It was like he didn't hear anything I said, didn't notice I was trying to push him off, didn't notice I wasn't kissing him back. She took a deep breath as tears began to run down her face. "It had happened again. I'd done it to myself again."

"Melissa, don't blame yourself." Cait said firmly. "Mulder should have heard you, and he should have stopped. What you're describing is attempted rape."

A small sob shook Melissa's body. "No, Mulder would never rape me..."

"He almost did." Cait interrupted. "Do you want to bring charges?"

"God, no!" Melissa�s teary eyes snapped wide open with shock. "I mean, he's Mulder."

Scully was staring at Melissa, her mouth hanging open. How could Mulder have been so stupid? Melissa's confidence had been lousy enough before. Now?

"What made you stop him?" Cait asked.

Melissa looked at the floor. "He put his hand up my sweatshirt. I felt him touch me and panicked. And then he held my arms down..."

"He held you down?" Cait interjected.

Melissa nodded. "But, it's not like it's something he doesn't do..." She smiled lightly. "I rather like it, normally."

"I need to talk to him." Scully stood up, bumping into a chair awkwardly.

"Scully, are you alright?" Cait looked at her friend, concerned. She realized how much this had to hurt Scully.

"I'm fine. I just need to talk to him." She rushed out of the room.

"You did the right thing, Melissa." Cait smiled at the shivering agent.

Melissa shrugged. "Did I? If I'd let him continue, I would have had an orgasm or two, and I'd probably be sleeping in his arms right now. Instead, I'm crying in my kitchen with a woman I just met. No offense."

"None taken."

"Why am I so much better off now then? Why was fighting him doing the right thing?" Melissa looked at Cait. "For an instant today, I thought Mulder was going to rape me. I felt such fear, so much pain....I would have rather died than continued had he actually done it. I can't think about what happened. I'm just not strong enough."

"Admitting defeat is taking the easy way out, Melissa." Cait shook her head. "You need to deal with what happened. Today, and four years ago. And you are strong enough."

"I think I'm wearing a sign that says 'rape me.'" Melissa cracked.

Cait stared at Melissa. "I'm sorry, I don't find that funny."

"Mulder!" Scully banged on the door, waiting for him to answer. "I know you're in there, so open the goddamn door."

Finally she heard a click, and the door fell open. Scully walked in to find Mulder sitting back down on the couch in the dark.

"What did I do?" He asked mournfully.

"You almost raped her." The words spat out violently, as if she couldn�t bear to have them in her mouth. "My god, Mulder, how could you? You're a psychologist, and yet you intentionally cause her this much pain?"

"I wasn't going to rape her." He protested.

"Then what happened?" Scully was furious. "She said that you held her down, that she was trying to push you off, that she said �no.� Is this true, Mulder? Did you almost rape Melissa?" Her voice rose as the accusation flew.

"I didn't know. " Mulder offered half-heartedly.

"You didn't know what?" Scully raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know she was serious." Mulder finished his sentence, frowning. "Sometimes, well, she changes her mind..."

"After she's pushing you off of her?" Scully asked.

"Well, no, but maybe this time..."

"Mulder, that woman is shattered. I want you to know that you did that to her. Cait is with her right now, trying to comfort her somehow. But she feels like you're Timothy Harper. You knew she had a problem with trusting people. You know how betrayed she felt by Timothy. You knew what a miracle it was that she'd opened up to you. And yet you go and do the same thing to her!" She turned to leave.

"Wait, Scully." Mulder stood up. "Can I see her?"

"No, you can not." Scully opened the door. "And I think you should get help. Tomorrow."

"Tell her that I love her." Mulder said softly.

"I will do nothing of the sort." Scully shook her head.

Palmer knocked on the door to the office and pushed it open, jumping slightly when she saw Mulder inside. "Oh, hi, is Scully here?" She looked past him as she spoke, determined to put up a strong front.

"No, she's in the lab. She'll be back in half an hour though, if you want to wait." Mulder replied, looking into Palmer's eyes.

"No, thanks." She turned to leave.

"Wait!"

She turned around, hand on one hip, and looked at Mulder, one eyebrow raised. "What?" His voice was soft. "I never, in a million years, meant to hurt you. I need you to know that." Melissa stared at Mulder. He never meant to hurt her. How dare he humiliate her as he had and expect her to believe that. Her face turned red as she hissed. "You didn't even notice me, Mulder. You were so caught up in fucking the object in front of you that you didn't hear or feel anything I did. You never meant to hurt me?? You didn't know what you were doing, and you didn't care."

"I care, Melissa." He whispered, head hanging low.

She looked at him through narrowed eyes, shaking with rage. "Mulder, I swore once that I would never be a victim again. In fact, you were there when I made that vow. You made me break it. You, the man I thought I loved, made me a victim again. I just don't see how you expect me to believe you care." She felt tears start to form in her eyes and realized that she was going to start crying if she didn't leave him soon. And there was no way she was going to let Mulder see her cry. "I'm sorry, Mulder, but this is one story of yours that I don't want to hear." She quickly walked out of the office and into the stairwell, burying her face in her hands as she turned the corner, just catching the tears in time.

"Melissa?" She felt a pair of hands grab her. Looking up, she saw a concerned Cait looking down at her. "Are you ok?"

Tears pouring down her face, all Palmer could do was shake her head 'no' as sobs wracked her body.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Putting a protective arm around Palmer, Cait led her up the stairs, where Scully was rushing down.

"What's going on?" She asked when she saw them, breathless.

"I don't really know yet." Cait said wryly. "Our emotional goddess here hasn't really managed to say a word to me."

Palmer started to laugh through her tears at Cait's comment. "Emotional goddess?" She choked as she tried to speak.

"Aaaah! She has the gift of voice!" Cait shouted, grinning. "Now, shall we get out of this place?"

"Mulder just called me." Scully looked at the two women, unsure of what to do. "He said it was important."

"So go to Mulder. I'll take care of the goddess." Cait replied.

"Here." Scully handed Cait her keys. "Take her to my apartment. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Ok." Cait looked at Palmer and sighed. "Now, dear, do you think you can last five minutes like this without crying again? Just so we can get to my car without a scene?"

Palmer nodded, smiling wryly. "I'm not that bad."

"I don�t know, I haven't seen anything to the contrary." Cait grinned and pulled Palmer up the stairs. "Come on, goddess, lets go."

"And I have a very sneaky suspicion that 'goddess' is quite an insult, coming from you."

"Now what on earth would give you that idea??"

Scully ran down the stairs, hearing Cait and Palmer's voices trail off above her. One thing she had to say for Cait, she was incredibly talented with dealing with abused women. She had a gift for knowing exactly how to bring each individual woman out of whatever funk they were in. Pushing open the door to the office, she found Mulder sitting at his desk, head in his hands. "Mulder?"

"I did it again." He moaned.

"What did you say to her this time?"

"I don't know what I said that was so wrong, but god, Scully, she was so mad. She said that I treated her like an object...that I treated her like Timothy..."

"You did." She sat down in a chair facing him.

"So how do I fix this?"

"I don't think you can just yet. Until we figure out what happened to Timothy, Melissa's going to be seeing him in the back of her head whenever she sees you."

Mulder frowned. "I've been going through X-Files, I can't find anything that would explain how he could be alive." He shook his head. "But Cancer Man wouldn't lie about something this big, would he?"

"He could, Mulder." Scully replied. "Look at what the mere suggestion of Timothy's return has done to Melissa. She is completely shattered. And that, in turn, has messed with you. Maybe that's all Cancer Man wants. You are going to give that disk back, aren't you?"

"Yes." Mulder snapped, and caught himself. "Sorry. So, are you saying that what happened last night between myself and Melissa wouldn't have happened if Cancer Man hadn't told her Timothy was back?"

"You're the psychologist, not me Mulder, but it does stand up to logic, doesn't it? She was feeling unsafe and insecure to begin with. You just exacerbated the situation."

"I didn't mean to."

"You never mean to, do you."

Mulder looked at Scully and decided to leave that alone. "So we have to find Timothy. For Melissa's sake." He frowned, "And mine."

Scully sighed. "Yes, we do."

Mulder jumped up. "I have an idea."

"Oh no."

"I'll call you later."

"Mulder!" Scully called, but it was too late. He was gone.

"Melissa, you can talk to me." Cait was sitting across from the sobbing woman on the couch, looking at her with caring eyes. "I've worked with a lot of women in exactly the same situation as you."

Melissa glared at Cait. "I doubt they've been in the same situation as me, Cait."

"Oh, you'd be surprised the things cocaine abuse can do to people. Or any drug for that matter. Money will do the same." she frowned slightly. "What you have to understand is that as horrible as what happened to you was, worse has happened, and people survive. You're not the only one to go through this."

With a slight nod, she acquiesced. "Fine. I'm not the only one. So tell me, how do I ever learn to trust anyone again?"

Walking into the apartment just in time to hear the end of the sentence, Scully couldn't help but quip, "Trust no one!"

With a groan, Cait threw a pillow at her friend. "God forbid."

"Sorry." Scully smiled. "How are you doing?" She aimed the question at Melissa.

"Worse has happened." Melissa said wryly, shooting a glance at Cait, who grinned.

"Exactly."

"I'm going to clean up my face." Melissa excused herself and headed to the bathroom.

"Cait, I will not put up with another one of you, don't even try." Scully warned, sitting down on the recliner.

"You think I'm trying to turn Melissa into me??" Cait stared at her in shock. "Please. There can be only one."

"Shall we see how many cheesy quotes we can throw into this conversation, dear?"

"Why the hell not?" Cait laughed.

Returning from the bathroom, Melissa looked a thousand times better.

"Are you really ok?" Scully asked again.

"Fine." Melissa smiled. "Really."

"So, what's the Caped Crusader up to?" Cait asked Scully.

"Caped Crusader?"

"I'm trying." She smiled meekly. "Great lines are one in a million."

"Well," Scully turned to Melissa. "Mulder's looking for Timothy."

Melissa nodded slowly. She'd been expecting that. "He isn't going to find him."

"I know." Scully replied. "But, he needs to do something."

"Have you found out anything?" Cait asked.

"No," Scully frowned. "The additional tests I ran on the vitamins all came back inconclusive. They think they can identify hemoglobin in the pills, but that makes no sense."

"Hemoglobin?" Melissa asked.

Scully nodded. "Hemoglobin carries oxygen inside our bloodstream. It's part of a red blood cell. That's why it wouldn't belong in a pill."

"Do you have the vitamins?" Cait asked.

"Here." Rummaging through her purse, Scully pulled out the pills Melissa had given her just a year before.

"Would you mind if I took a crack at them?" Cait looked at them closely. They looked innocent enough.

"Sure." Melissa shrugged.

"Thanks." Grabbing her coat and keys, Cait turned to Scully. "I'll be back as soon as I can, unless you've changed your mind about letting me stay?"

Scully smiled. "Whenever you get back."

"Bye." With a wave, Cait left.

"I should get going too, it's getting late." Standing up, Melissa sighed. "Thank you, and please, thank Cait for me, I really appreciate all the help."

"Anytime." Scully smiled.

Mulder left the office and went to see the only people who he knew would accept him no matter how much he messed up. To them, he would always be cool. He went to see the Lone Gunmen.

"Mulder, how goes it?" Frohike smiled as he made his way past the full-body scan into the dark room.

"How are my teeth?"

"Could use some plaque work, Mulder." Byers smirked, pointing to the image on the screen. "The red right there."

Mulder made a face. "I'll have to talk to my dentist about that one,but right now, I have bigger problems."

"What's wrong?" Byers asked, concerned.

"Is there a chance Timothy Harper could be in Washington?" He asked.

"Agent Harper's dead, Mulder. If I recall correctly, you were there when he was killed." Langly reminded him.

"I'm well aware of that." Mulder suddenly just snapped. All of the anger he'd been holding back poured out at the three people least deserving of it.

"Look, Melissa's been told that he's alive and out to get her. Is there any possibility of that?"

"The CIA was conducting some tests on strength and life expectancy, but as far as we could tell, those tests were stopped in the 1980's." Byers replied.

"We know the CIA was conducting tests on Timothy and Melissa." Mulder hissed. "That isn't my question."

"You're asking if they could have made Harper immortal." Frohike couldn't keep the grin off of his face. "You mean, like a vampire? Mulder, what is wrong with you?"

"The person who told Melissa that Harper is alive isn't known for his sense of humor."

"I don't know what to tell you." Byers shook his head. "We tried to help you with this once before and came up against a brick wall."

"I know."

"Nothing's changed."

Shaking his head, Mulder said softly, "A lot has changed."

Narrowing his eyes, Frohike looked at Mulder closely. "You're sleeping with her."

Looking up with a jerk, Mulder frowned. "Not anymore."

"How was she?"

Without another word, Mulder stood up and left.

"Way to go Frohike."

"Can't you tell when a man's been dumped, dude?"

"Hey, he was acting like a jerk..."

"Real mature, Frohike."

Cait walked along the dark street slowly, trying to look as calm and composed as possible.

"Welcome back." A figure emerged from between the trees beside her. �What do you need?�

"Test these for me?" Cait held out her hand.

The figure accepted the pills and nodded. "I'll contact you." And then Cait was alone again.

Shaking her head, Cait continued down the street. So that was life as a 'secret agent.' Looking across the street, she spotted a Haagen Daz. Did secret agents still eat ice cream? She smiled, and headed towards the store.

Melissa woke up again, trembling with fear. These nightmares were getting to her. Holding her head in her hands, she repeated what Cait had told her, like a mantra. Other people had been through this. Other people had survived. Dammit, she'd made it through Quantico, which was a nightmare. She'd made it through law school, when sixty percent of her starting class couldn't. Hell, she'd lived through three weeks alone with Timothy. Why had everything become so difficult all of a sudden?

Her phone rang, shaking her out of her thoughts. She picked it up with two hands to hold it steady.

"Palmer there?" She heard a man's voice.

"Speaking."

"Hold." A pause, then a new voice on the phone. "Honey?" The voice was soft as silk, and hit her as hard as a punch in the stomach.

Melissa stared at the phone in shock, unable to move. Nothing came out of her mouth.

"Hon, it's me, can we talk, please?" She heard the voice pouring through the phone through a daze.

This can't be happening. This can't be happening. She repeated inside her head until she found the strength to hang up the phone. Almost immediately, it began ringing again. With a scream, she pulled the cord from the wall. "Leave me alone! YOU'RE DEAD!" She sat down on the bed, breathing heavily. She was not going to lose control again. Think rational thoughts. She walked into the study and flicked on the computer. Since sleep was clearly out of the question, maybe she could find out something about hemoglobin...

"Now." Cait heard the voice in the phone and hung up. "I have to go."

"Where?" Scully asked. "You don't have another interview today, do you?"

"No. I'll meet you at the office later." Cait hurried out the door.

"Did you find anything?" Cait whispered excitedly to her helper.

"Here."

She was handed the vitamins, along with a ream of what looked like computer printouts.

"Chemical analysis of those pills. Be careful." And again, the figure was gone before Cait could say thank you.

Turning around in a quick circle, Cait ran to her car and drove to the Hoover Building as quickly as she could. Running into the basement office breathless, she held the analysis up. "Here!"

"What?" Scully and Mulder were huddled over a piece of paper on the desk.

Cait pushed the paper into Scully's arms. "Chemical analysis of the vitamins."

Scully looked over the paper quickly. "Cait, where did you get this?"

Cait shook her head. "No can do."

"My god."

"What does it say?" Mulder looked over Scully's shoulder, not understanding anything he was looking at.

"It's a synthetic hormone suspended in hemoglobin. How strange."

"What kind of hormone?" Mulder asked.

"I don't know, it lists the synthetic name, not the biological one. Cait, this doesn't exist."

"Apparently it does." Cait replied.

"I'm going to take this to Georgetown. Maybe they can figure out what kind of hormone this is even though they can't break down the pill." Scully smiled. "Thanks Cait. Oh, and will you tell Melissa?"

"I'll tell her." Mulder offered.

"_I'll tell her. Stay away from her for a while, eh Romeo?" Cait grinned. "Let yourself recharge. There's a limit to how much pain one man has the ability to inflict in one week."

Mulder made a face. "I'm not evil, Cait."

"No, but you are a man."

"I'll see you two later." Scully left the two squabbling.

"Melissa?" Cait knocked on the door to her office and pushed it open. "Your assistant isn't here."

"I know, come on in." Melissa was sitting behind her desk. "I told her to go home. I'm not exactly getting anything done today."

"Still pretty down, huh." Cait settled into a chair and smiled. "I have news."

"Yeah?" Melissa raised an eyebrow slightly. But her eyes remained dead.

"Those vitamins have some kind of hormone in it, in addition to the hemoglobin."

"What hormone?"

"Scully's working on it." Cait's eyes narrowed slightly. "But we're close, I can feel it."

"Cait, this is getting worse." Melissa whispered.

"What? What happened?"

"He called me last night."

"Mulder?" Cait shook her head. "The clod, I told him..."

"No." Melissa's eyes narrowed. "Timothy."

"I thought he was dead." Cait looked at Melissa closely, observing the shaking, the red eyes, the torn up fingernails...all signs of serious emotional distress that she�d missed in her initial excitement.

"He was. He isn't anymore."

"How?"

"I don't know!" Melissa shouted. She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"No, that's ok. If you need to scream, scream." Cait replied calmly. "I know what's happening to you is scary, but you have to let it out. If you try to keep all of this inside you are going to crack. I told you that you�d survive; I didn�t say you had to do it alone. Or quietly."

"Did you know that hemoglobin has a life span, just like red blood cells? It dies within the body, and more are created. It makes no sense how it could last in a pill form." Melissa said calmly, pushing Timothy out of her mind.

"Melissa, you can't ignore your feelings."

"Why not?" Just as calm.

"They won't die."

But I will. The thought shot through Melissa's head before she could stop herself, and unexpectedly, she burst into tears. "I'm sick of crying." She sniffled through the tears.

"Yeah, well, I�m sick of you crying." Cait remarked. �So, stop.�

"Gee, thanks."

"Welcome."

"So Scully's trying to find out what's in those pills?"

Cait nodded.

"And Mulder?"

"Do you really care?" Cait asked.

"Yes." Melissa sighed. "I know you think that I should hate him, but I just can't. I do love him, and I suppose I always will."

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

"Mulder's sulking. As he should be."

Melissa looked at Cait. "He's sulking because of me?"

"Yes. Feel better?"

Nodding slowly, Melissa smiled slightly. "It's horrible to admit, but yes. I'm glad he feels bad. "

"It isn't horrible to admit that, Melissa. He should feel bad, and you have every right to relish it." Cait looked around the office. "You know, Melissa, this is a nice place, but it's rather dreary. No offense, but it is the FBI."

Melissa nodded. "I can only do so much."

"Shall we blow this joint?"

"Sure."

Mulder let himself into his apartment and headed straight for the refrigerator, pulling out a beer. He took a long gulp and examined the bottle closel--it tasted horrible. There was an expiration date, reading about six months ago. "Beer can go bad??" He asked the bottle before throwing it into the sink in frustration.

Wandering through the apartment, his eyes rested on the drawer containing the disk. That couldn't help him now, but the drawer contained something that could. He pulled the masking tape out of the drawer and taped a large "X" on his window, turned on the light to shine through the "X," grabbed his basketball, and settled in for the wait.

The two women arrived at Scully's apartment to find her already home. "I was wondering where you were." She smiled at Cait as they walked in. "Hi, Melissa."

"Hi." Melissa smiled. "Sorry about barging in on you yet again."

"Don't think about it." Scully shrugged. "So, I have a bottle of wine, and J.A.G.'s about to come on. Stupid show, gorgeous guy, good wine, care to join me?"

Cait and Melissa quickly agreed, and soon the three were settled in front of the TV, ogling men in uniform.

"You know, they make all law enforcement officers out to be fools. Like only lawyers can be real detectives." Cait frowned. "Silly."

"Hey, lawyers are the best detectives." Melissa laughed.

Cait stared at Melissa, not finding a joke in that.

"Oh," Scully started laughing. "Melissa, Cait doesn't know." Giggling, she shook her head. "Melissa's an attorney."

Cait's eyes widened and she burst out laughing. "You had me scared there."

"Are lawyers really that bad?" Melissa asked, sincere.

"Yes." Cait replied. "And enough of that subject. Scully, did you get anything out of Georgetown today?"

With a thud, Melissa felt herself return to earth as she was reminded of the reason she was here. She'd actually managed to forget it all, for a little while.

"No, they're supposed to have something for me tomorrow." Scully replied.

"Do you have any idea what it could be?" Melissa asked softly.

"No." Scully shook her head. "I'm sorry, Melissa, but I really don't."

"I wish I knew something, anything concrete. This void, not knowing...." Melissa's voice wavered. "I don't know how much of this I can take."

"It's hard." Scully empathized.

"It's just that I'm so used to knowing what's going on, " Spurred on by the wine, she continued, "Where I am, where I'm going, where I've been. I mean, the only thing I ever did in my life that wasn't planned was join the FBI instead of the CIA, and even that was forgivable. And now, I don't know anything anymore, I don't recognize anything, even me." Staring at the floor, Melissa's eyes welled up with tears.

"What do you mean?" Cait asked softly, moving in to sit closer to Melissa.

"I'm not like this. I mean, I think about what I've done in the past, my accomplishments, and I can't even comprehend undertaking anything so massive anymore. Work is about all I can handle right now, and even that's pushing it some days, today being one of those days. I never cried in front of another person. Ever. Only in front of Timothy, but that was when he asked me to marry him, and he was crying too." A wry smile passed across her face. �But all that was before …�

"Before what?" Cait prompted gently.

"Before Timothy kidnapped me. Before he raped me," Melissa could feel herself getting angry. "Before he destroyed who I was. He changed me, and I don't know who I am anymore. I want back what he stole from me!"

"You're still the same person underneath it all."

"But I don't feel the same. Things are darker, everything is harder. I don't care as much as I did, not about anything. Or anyone, except Mulder, but of course, we can toss that one out the window now, can't we?" Her voice began to rise again.

"You're so angry, Melissa, just let it out." Cait said softly. "Scully, me, we both have had times like this..."

"Melissa, just scream." Scully smiled lightly. "Or punch a pillow."

"Or punch Mulder." Cait offered.

Melissa snorted. "I think I kicked him hard enough."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"You know, you could always do it again."

Melissa looked at Cait and started giggling. "Why do I get the feeling that you want me to beat Mulder up?"

"Because she knows that Mulder would have her arrested if she tried." Scully started laughing.

"Hey!." Cait tried to defend herself, throwing pillows at both Scully and Melissa.

Before long, the three were laughing hysterically, all thoughts of rape and murder far from their minds.

The next morning, the three women met in the basement office.

"I was thinking…" Scully started.

"That can be the start of a dangerous sentence." Cait cracked.

"Please, I haven't had enough coffee for jokes yet." Scully frowned. "I was thinking about hemoglobin. We saw Timothy shot, we know that he died. I checked for a pulse. But, you swear he survived." She looked at Melissa.

"I know that was him on the phone." She nodded.

"Now, medically speaking, true death is more than just the blood not circulating or the heart not pumping. It is the cessation of electrical activity in the heart, along with the death of brain function. A heart attack can sometimes stop the heart and blood temporarily. When or if it is restarted by defibrillation, the problem is that if the person has been without blood flow for a significant amount of time, even though the heart will work, they could still be brain dead. The general estimate is that it takes about five minutes without oxygen for brain cells to start dying. However, there have been cases of drowning victims being resuscitated hours after drowning with no problems, because the temperature of the water they were in halted all bodily functions, not just the heart. The body didn't need oxygen, so nothing died."

"So the body could be re-started again without any problems." Cait nodded her understanding.

"Exactly. Alternatively, now mind you, this is impossible, but, if a body was somehow given a constant supply of oxygen, they could survive for a long period of time without the heart pumping. Hemoglobin carries oxygen. If these pills are an immortal form of hemoglobin, well, theoretically, it's possible that Timothy's heart just didn't pump until someone started it again later, but his brain was sustained by the hemoglobin. It is pushing the science a little bit, but, it's a working theory."

Melissa stared at the floor. "You're saying that Timothy is immortal."

"No, not really. Yes, he can survive without his heart pumping. But he isn't any different from anyone else. He�ll still die if his heart isn�t restarted. It just might take longer." Scully shook her head. "He may have the ability to live forever, but a heart cannot."

"My god." Cait sighed. "So is Melissa immortal?"

"I doubt it, but Melissa, that reminds me. Can you stand up for a minute?"

"Sure." Giving Scully a curious look, Melissa stood.

Scully walked over behind Melissa and felt the other woman's waist with her hands. "Would you mind lifting your shirt up a little?"

"Um, sure?" Melissa complied. "Can I ask why I'm doing this?" She jumped a little as Scully's cold fingers touched her skin.

"Another theory." She poked around a little, and nodded. "Can I draw some blood?"

"I guess. Will you tell me what the theory is?"

"When the blood test comes back."

A knock on the door made them look up.

"Shit." Cait muttered under her breath, as the sudden hulking presence of the Assistant Director filled the door frame. She�d hoped to avoid him, coward that she was. After what happened the last time she was in D.C., ...

"Sir." Melissa quickly tucked her shirt back into her skirt.

"Sir." Scully nodded, noticing that he looked around the room, his eyes resting on Cait a little longer than the other women. Something unintelligible passed over his face, making Scully�s interest perk up.

"Kimberly said that you wanted to see me?" He asked Cait.

She looked uncomfortable. "Yes, I wanted you to talk to Melissa."

"I know Agent Palmer." He frowned. "Cait, I really don't have time..."

"It's about MacGuffin, Walter." She said softly, concern about the other woman overriding her personal discomfort with the situation.

Melissa stared at Cait. 'MacGuffin?' What the hell was that?

The frown on Skinner's face deepened tenfold. "How could anything concerning Agent Palmer involve MacGuffin?"

"The CIA was running tests on her. And on her fiancee. Apparently, he turned violent. We've been testing the pills." Cait replied. "You need to tell Melissa about what happened to you."

Skinner looked at Melissa and stared into her eyes. He was clearly calculating the intelligence of revealing his problems to another person. "Fine."

Cait sighed heavily. She hadn't been all that sure that he was going to go along with her.

"I know what happened to you, Agent Palmer. I want you to know before I say anything, that I had no idea what caused that. I didn't know this was it…I still don't even know what this is. "

"We do." Melissa replied stonily. She couldn't trust him, not a chance in hell.

"You know what?"

"We know what the pills are, or at least part of them."

"What was I taking?" Skinner's voice rose a pitch.

"Hormones and hemoglobin."

He shook his head. "My god. That's it??"

"That's it?!" Melissa practically shouted. "Isn't that enough? You, you're working with them, and they did this to you....and you're working with them." She repeated.

"Now wait a minute." Skinner said softly. "Let me defend myself, ok?"

Cait snorted. "Sure, Walt, go ahead."

Skinner stared at Cait for a second before beginning. "When I was in Vietnam, my squad was ambushed...."

Mulder woke up with a start, sending the basketball in his hands across the room. What time was it?? He stared at his watch as his eyes began to focus. 10:00 in the morning! He stared at the "X" in the window.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty."

He jumped up at the voice and grabbed his gun from the table in front of him. "Who's there?" He called out.

"Come over here." The voice replied calmly.

Mulder slowly walked past the open front door to his apartment, and into the kitchen, where, much to his surprise, Alex Krycek was peering into his refrigerator. "You're dead!" He exclaimed, shocked.

Krycek stood up and shook his head. "Obviously not, Mulder. Tell me, do you have something against eating? There is nothing in this refrigerator, other than a case of stale beer."

"You..." Mulder stood with his back to the open front door, unsure of what to do. He'd seen Krycek shot before, would shooting him now do any good?

"Yes, me." The former agent watched as Timothy Harper crept through Mulder the door, exactly as planned, with knife drawn. All it would take was a few more seconds of this bullshit. "How are you, Mulder?"

Mulder pointed his gun at Krycek, decision made on what course of action was best. "Better than you're going to be." He barely registered the shrill sound of his phone ringing until Krycek pointed it out.

"What, does it take twenty rings for your machine to pick up?" He sneered.

'This is Fox Mulder, I can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message.' The machine told the caller, and beeped.

Timothy Harper stood behind Mulder, knife held tight in his hand, watching Krycek's eyes carefully for any sign of trouble.

Mulder turned to stare at the answering machine as it spoke, unaware of the dark presence behind him.

"Mulder, um, it's Melissa."

Harper froze as he heard his ex-fiancee's voice. His knees locked into place, and all of the rage he had felt moments before towards Mulder disappeared into one thought. Melissa.

Mulder's eyes widened, and he looked at Krycek.

"Your girlfriend?" Krycek sneered.

Harper only knew that if Mulder answered yes, he would die at that instant. But Mulder didn't answer. And Harper didn't know what to do.

"Mulder, Skinner just told me something about Timothy I think you should hear...where are you?"

Mulder held the gun steady on Krycek, still staring at the answering machine. Melissa was talking to him again?

"Look, we need to talk...call me or Scully when you get in, ok? Your cell phone isn't working again." And then there was silence.

Timothy was still frozen. He hadn't heard a word past Melissa saying his name, memories of the two of them in love were flooding through his head, memories he'd thought long forgotten. A time that was long gone, when he was a different man, before...before what?? What couldn't he remember?

Krycek stared at Timothy poised behind Mulder. Why wasn't he moving? What was going on?

Mulder's temporary daze caused by Melissa's voice was broken by the silence. "Now, where was I?" Mulder released the safety on his gun and pointed it at Krycek. "Yes. You're dead."

"Yes, I am." Krycek replied. "And so is he!" He pointed behind Mulder.

Timothy bolted when he realized Krycek was pointing at him, unsure of what he was doing in the apartment in the first place. He had to get far, far away. He had a lot he needed to remember.

Mulder whirled around to find himself facing the back of a fleeing Harper. "FREEZE!" He screamed, to no avail. Krycek shoved past him and ran out of the apartment. He followed the two down to the street, but they were lost in typical daytime traffic. "Damn." He cursed, and walked back upstairs.

"This beer has gone bad." A dark man was peering into his refrigerator as he returned to the apartment.

"What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk, Mr. Mulder. You need to return a disk tomorrow."

"And I will. But first you tell me, who was just here?" Mulder waved his arm towards the door, glaring at the man.

"That was Alex Krycek."

"Krycek's dead. You shot him, and then blew up the building he was in. And who was his 'friend?'" Mulder held his gun tight at his side, finger on the trigger.

"His friend was Timothy Harper. And neither of them died."

"So you saved him."

"Mr. Mulder, my participation in the matter is irrelevant."

"Why? Why is it irrelevant? Tell me what you did!"Mr. X shook his head. "You've really gotten yourself in a middle of a mess this time, Mulder."

"What am I in the middle of?"

"Timothy Harper and Alex Krycek will not die like normal men. It takes a little more to kill them than it does a normal person. The same is true for your little girlfriend and your Assistant Director, although to a much lesser extent."

"YOU were involved in the tests." Mulder's eyes narrowed.

"Not at the time, no, unfortunately, I only learn of the tests after they've been performed, they are initiated at a level above mine." Mr. X frowned.

"How high of a level above yours?"

X shook his head. "Sorry, Mr. Mulder, I'm only here to warn you."

"About what?"

"In case you didn't get the gist of what almost happened here, Harper was here to kill you." The man said calmly, almost as if he were merely telling Mulder that it was raining out.

"Why?"

"You're sleeping with his ex-fiancee." Mr. X looked at Mulder closely. "Or you were, at least. We've been able to control Harper somewhat, but not as completely as we would like to."

"So you let him go? So he could try to kill me??" Mulder stared at the man in disbelief.

"As I said before. The decisions are not at my level. We did not know that he was going to focus on you, we had hoped the psychic aspect of his abilities had been eliminated. Palmer hasn't shown any signs of a link."

"You've been watching Melissa?"

The man frowned. "Mulder, we're always watching. However, we can't control Harper now, and I never anticipated him joining forces with Krycek. I will try to sort this out, but I want you to be careful. Do you understand?"

"No." Mulder shook his head fiercely. "You can't just come in here and tell me someone is out to kill me, but you can't help, and leave. I need more. What were the tests? What were you giving them?"

"I can't tell you, Mulder."

"You have to tell me something!"

"I've told you more than enough. And do not, for an instant, consider not returning that disk tomorrow." The man turned, and admist Mulder's protests, left the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

Mulder stared at the closed door, his head spinning. Once again, he had been told everything and nothing, and had no proof. There was some kind of connection between the disk and Harper, that much he was able to guess. He did know one thing, however. He had to see Melissa.

"I called Mulder, I don't know where he is." Melissa rejoined the group. "Hopefully he'll show up soon."

"He always shows up eventually." Scully shook her head.

"So you were attacked by Americans?" Melissa asked, returning to the subject at hand.

Skinner nodded solemnly. "Or so it seems."

"So the drug has gotten a lot stronger." Scully thought aloud. "The version you received made the men become violent twenty-five years later. The version Melissa and Timothy received only took two months for the extreme violence to erupt."

"That's not entirely true." Skinner corrected Scully. "There were signs of violence in Vietnam. The only difference is that we were in a combat situation, extreme violence is to be expected. The rapes that were reported, well, as much as they are often denied, rapes of local women were hardly an unusual occurrence in Vietnam at the time."

"Melissa was also the first woman ever to receive the tests, from what we know." Cait added.

"Why would they do that? If this is a pill that is supposed to create killing machines, why would they use it on me?" Melissa asked. "Timothy was in combat operations, not me."

"They probably wanted to see how well you could fight him off." Skinner said.

Melissa jumped as if she'd been shocked. So the CIA wanted her to be attacked. It was all part of their plan, part of Timothy's plan. She shook her head, determined not to cry anymore.

Cait glared at Skinner. How insensitive could the clod be. "Melissa..."

Melissa shook her head again. "Don't say anything. I'm fine. Really."

They sat in silence for a while, nobody wanting to cause any further pain to Melissa, each trying to figure out exactly how to phrase the horrible truths that needed to be told.

Suddenly the office door flew open, and Mulder ran in, breathless. "Is Melissa here?" He stopped in his tracks when he spotted Skinner sitting at his desk. "Sir?" Looking around the room, he saw Melissa's frowning face, Cait's angry one, and Scully's poker face. "Have I missed something?"

"Not really, no." Melissa glared at him, taking her anger at Skinner's statement out on Mulder.

"I, um, I have to tell you..." He looked at Skinner cautiously. "Sir?"

"Whatever you have to say, Agent Mulder, you can say in front of me." Skinner said sternly.

"Yes, Sir. I was just visited by Alex Krycek and Timothy Harper." Mulder started.

Melissa grabbed the nearest chair and sat down, feeling her knees begin to shake.

"They were there to kill me. And they're going to try again. The tests they were given have made them 'more difficult to kill.' I was told that the same tests have done the same, to a lesser extent, to you, Melissa, and also to you, Sir." He looked at Skinner. "That part I don't understand."

Skinner nodded. "I do."

"That's why all of your fellow squad members were shooting themselves in the head." Cait realized. "You can't recover from a shot to the head, especially if you blow your head off."

Skinner winced. That was a painful jab. Payback for what he said about Melissa.

"Your fellow squad members?" Mulder was still waiting for an explanation.

"Later, Mulder." Scully interjected. "Where did Krycek and Harper go?"

"I don't know." He replied, dropping his gaze.

"And why does Timothy want to kill you?" Melissa said quietly.

Mulder looked at Melissa, the pain apparent in his eyes. "He saw, Melissa. They didn't think he could see anymore, but..."

Melissa nodded, and stared at the floor. Timothy had seen her having sex with Mulder. How disgusting.

"Melissa, you promised me a blood test." Scully said quietly. "How about we go do that now?"

Standing up, Melissa nodded, and followed Scully from the room.

Cait looked at Mulder and Skinner carefully. What a pair they were. "Neither of you are too intelligent, are you?"

"Look, Cait, I'm not going to walk on pins and needles around Melissa just because you think she can't handle anything. She's an adult, and she has to hear the truth." Mulder protested.

"There are ways of telling people things, Mulder…"

"I'm not going to lie to protect her, Cait."

Cait frowned. She hadn't been asking him to do that, had she? "That wasn't what I wanted you to do."

"She had to know."

"Why? How much difference does it make now? Your life is still in danger, isn't it? Timothy is still alive." Cait felt incredibly protective of Melissa. It was, unfortunately, something that happened to her often with crime victims, as her partner in North Carolina was constantly reminding her.

"I don't need to take this from you." Mulder stood up.

"Where do you think you're going?" She challenged.

"To find Scully."

"She's with Melissa."

"I'm going to find them."

"Not alone, you're not." Cait grabbed her jacket, and, without another glance at Skinner, marched out of the room behind Mulder.

Skinner stared at the two agents bickering as they left and shook his head. What on earth had just happened in here??

Melissa watched as Scully wrapped a tourniquet around her upper arm, and expertly inserted the needle into her vein. The tourniquet was removed, and she watched the blood flow into the vial.

"Are you ok?" Scully asked, as she pulled the needle out and held Melissa's arm above her head.

"I'm fine." She replied, stubbornly pulling her arm down to her side.

"You had no way of knowing..."

"Right."

"Melissa," Scully sat down opposite her and looked her directly in her eyes. "I want you to actually listen to what I'm saying instead of blowing it off as bullshit, ok?"

Melissa lowered her eyes, embarrassed by the truth of the accusation. "What?"

"You could not have known that Timothy was alive, and you couldn't have had any idea that he was going to go after Mulder. I thought you were mad at Mulder. Now you're feeling sorry for him, aren't you?"

She shook her head. "Not exactly feeling sorry for him."

"Then what?"

"Wavering between wishing Timothy had succeeded and thanking god that he didn't." Melissa made a face. "I don't know what I feel anymore."

Cait burst into the room, followed by a glowering Mulder. "He insisted on coming up here."

"It's ok." Melissa said quietly.

Mulder and Cait looked at Melissa in surprise. What had Scully said to her?

"I should go. I need to get some work done." Melissa stood up, and made her way from the room on still quivering knees.

"What on earth did you say to her?" Cait asked Scully.

"What are you talking about?"

"Melissa, she's...well..." Cait stammered.

"She doesn't hate me anymore? Is that what you want to say, Cait? Did you want her to hate me??" Mulder asked.

"No, but...what happened?"

"Mulder, would you mind leaving Cait and me alone for five minutes?" Scully asked her partner softly.

Mulder nodded and turned to the door, before hesitating. "You two won't disappear on me or something, will you? We do have work to do."

"I'll meet you downstairs." Scully assured him.

"Ok." Mulder left the room and headed to the elevator. Time to see Melissa in relative privacy.

"Alisa, schedule me some time at the firing range this afternoon. Oh, and I need another meeting with the Director--we need to discuss his press release about the background searches at the White House." Melissa looked at the calendar in her hands and sighed. "Thank you. Look, I'm behind closed doors for the rest of the morning, ok?"

Alisa nodded. "Anything else?"

"I think that's enough for now." Melissa smiled lightly.

Alisa smiled and left the office, firmly pulling the door shut behind her.

Melissa flipped on her computer and proceeded to read her morning e-mail, only to be interrupted by the sounds of Alisa arguing with someone. She walked over to the door and pulled it open.

Mulder was standing in the outer office, his patented puppy dog look on his face. "She wasn't going to let me in." He pointed to Alisa, pouting.

"I�m sorry, I tried." Alisa shrugged, smiling. Mulder was good for Melissa. She was glad to see them talking again.

"That's ok. Come in." Melissa waved Mulder into her office and returned to her seat. "I figured you needed to talk to Scully."

"I'm going to, later. She's talking to Cait now." He settled into the chair across from her desk.

"Aaah, girl talk."

"Yeah," Mulder shook his head. "I�ve learned that can be dangerous."

"It's all for the greater good." Melissa looked at Mulder closely. "I'm sorry about what happened this morning, I know it isn't my fault, but I still can't help but feel responsible."

"Melissa," Mulder felt like the space between them was endless, a great open canyon he couldn't cross. "You shouldn't, in any way, feel responsible. It took two people to give him something to see, remember?"

"But..."

"No buts."

"Ok."

"And, I believe that I owe you a sincere apology." Mulder's face became solemn. "I never, ever would intentionally hurt you."

"Mulder, that's why it hurt so much when you did hurt me." Melissa looked at him, eyes wide.

"I understand that." His eyes pleaded with hers. "I love you, Melissa, I need you. Please, don't answer now. Tonight, come to my apartment. I'll cook."

Melissa laughed. "How about I bring takeout?"

"Ok." Mulder smiled. "I'll see you later then." He left without another word, elated by the success of the meeting.

"Cait, what's going on between you and Skinner?" Scully asked.

"Nothing." Cait's eyes darted around the room, refusing to meet Scully's.

"Cait, I know you, and I know Skinner. Something happened."

"Look, Scully, I've known Skinner since I was a kid, that's all. We have a lot of history." She replied, carefully

Scully shook her head. She didn't believe Cait, but she was learning how to deal with stubborn people. "Listen, Cait, I'm not going to push you. But you can't take your anger at Skinner out on Mulder by using Melissa."

"That's not what I'm doing." Cait argued, defensively.

"Then why are you so determined to keep Melissa arguing with Mulder?"

"He almost raped her, Scully." Cait's voice grew louder. "That's a felony, and I cannot forgive him for that."

"It�s not your place to forgive him. Melissa loves him, Cait. When one person loves another, anything can be forgiven. If she can forgive him, why can't you?"

Cait stared at Scully, uncomfortable, speechless. "I...I don't know."

"Mulder is not Skinner. If you're mad at Skinner, yell at Skinner."

"I'm not mad at Skinner!" Cait shouted.

"What then?" Scully asked softly.

Cait clamped her mouth shut. She knew exactly what Scully was insinuating. "Then … nothing." She stood up, shaking slightly. "I have to go."

"Cait..." Scully called after her. Had she pushed too hard? This was the first time she�d ever seen her rattled.

"I'll see you later. I have to go." Cait said again, as she ran from the room.

Scully stared at the test tube in shock. This wasn't possible. None??? She jumped as her phone rang.

"Scully, she's talking to me again!"

"Mulder, I just found something really strange." She was breathless. "The red blood cell count in the blood is controlled by the hormone erythropoietin. It is only secreted when the oxygen level in the body drops, but it is always present in the blood to some extent, as red blood cells are always being produced. Melissa doesn't have a trace of erythropoietin in her blood."

"None?"

"None at all."

"What does that mean?"

"That she hasn't produced any new red blood cells in at least a week--trace elements of the hormone would be detectable in the blood for at least that long. I suspect, however, that she hasn't produced red blood cells in a long time."

"Melissa said you were feeling her back. Why?"

"I was feeling her kidneys. As I suspected, they are enlarged, probably due to the constant imbalance she must have in her bloodstream."

"So she has a constant supply of red blood cells."

"Of oxygen." Scully corrected. "But it's impossible..."

"It explains a lot, Scully."

"I suppose it does."

"I'm going to see Skinner." Mulder stood up. "You should run this test on him."

"I'll call Melissa."

Mulder walked into Skinner's office as the door to the inner office opened and Cait ran out, pushing past him without seeing him. "Cait?" He grabbed her arm and spun her around.

Cait refused to look at him, as she yanked her arm from his grasp without a word and ran from the office.

Skinner ran out of the office, "Cait..." His voice trailed off as he saw Mulder. "Agent Mulder."

"Sir, Scully has found something very interesting in Melissa's blood. She would like to run the same test on you." Mulder looked at Skinner closely, noting his flushed face and bright eyes. If he didn't know the man better, he would have almost suspected those were tears.

"I'll be down in a few minutes, Mulder." Skinner replied tersely, before spinning back into his office and slamming the door behind him.

Mulder stared at the door for a minute before heading back down to the basement. Skinner and Cait? What a sick thought.

"Palmer."

"Can you come downstairs? I think you want to hear this." Scully asked.

"On my way."

When Mulder arrived in the basement office, Scully had just finished explaining her latest finding to Melissa.

"So this constant oxygen supply is what is keeping Timothy alive?" Melissa asked.

"Timothy and Krycek." Mulder replied.

Melissa nodded. "I suppose it all fits together, somehow."

"How do we kill Timothy then?" Scully asked.

Melissa's head jerked up. She knew he had to be killed, but the concept of it, of killing him again, was strange.

"A gunshot to the head worked just fine in North Carolina." Cait offered as she stepped into the room.

Mulder stared at Cait, waiting for some acknowledgment of what had previously occurred upstairs.

Cait met Mulder's gaze, silently pleading with him not to mention seeing her in Skinner's office. If Scully knew, she would easily figure out what was going on.

Mulder nodded slightly. Cait was a decent woman, even if she was a little hard on him at times. And there was no reason to cause her any unnecessary pain. Whatever had happened between her and Skinner hadn't been very pleasant, that much was obvious. "Aim high."

�What if we can't do enough with a single shot? Will we get a second?" She was steadily turning the same color as the grey walls of the Hoover building. What if she couldn't stop him?

"Yes." Scully answered the question. "A gun shot will put him down, regardless of where it is. After that..."

"Blow his head off." Cait interrupted.

"Some sort of obvious mortality will be necessary, yes. Decapitation is generally the safest and easiest."

"Like a Highlander!" Mulder cracked.

The three women all glared at Mulder. Not funny.

Melissa frowned. "Mulder, were you told when he would come again?"

"No."

"You were just told to wait?"

"Yes."

"And that's considered a helpful source?" Cait asked. "My doorman can tell me more than that."

"Since when does North Carolina have doormen?" Mulder shot back.

Cait wrinkled her nose. "Touché'."

"Melissa, shall we cut out of here early?" Mulder looked at her closely.

Melissa nodded. "Mulder, he may come to your house tonight."

"Then we'll be ready."

The two sat down to pizza on the couch, their guns within easy reach on the table in front of them.

"I forgot the beer." Melissa stood up. "I stuck it in the fridge." She opened the refrigerator and peered inside. "You already had beer in here. Ick, Mulder it's stale."

Mulder frowned. Since when was everyone so interested in the contents of his refrigerator?

Melissa dumped the old beer into the trash and carried two bottles of Killian's to the couch.

"Here. Good ole' Irish beer from Colorado."

"Bottled in Ireland."

"Made in Colorado." Melissa smiled.

"There you are." Mulder grinned, clicking his bottle against hers.

"What?"

"Smiling. You're beautiful when you smile, you know that?"

"Mulder, I'm here because we need to talk." Melissa prompted.

"I know. Oh, Scully said to tell you that Skinner had the same test results as you, by the way." He took a big bite out of his slice of pizza, dripping tomato sauce all over himself. "Oops."

"Clutz." Melissa shook her head. "Go clean yourself up, little boy."

Mulder ran off to the bathroom, leaving Melissa alone on the couch when the front door flew open, and Timothy burst in.

Melissa stood up, grabbing her gun, and pointed it at Timothy, trying to hold her shaking hand steady. She'd been trying to prepare herself all day for this.

"Missy." Timothy whispered, staring at Melissa.

Mulder heard the crash of the door and ran out of the bathroom, trapped by Timothy's body away from his gun. He stood behind Timothy, looking at Melissa, praying she could shoot Timothy.

"Don't. Don't move an inch." She was trying to aim. If she missed, she would hit Mulder.

"I'd forgotten." Timothy sounded like the man she fell in love with, not the terror she had known more recently. "I forgot all about us, how much I loved you, how beautiful you were....Melissa, please, I love you."

"Don't, Tim." She started backing away from him. "You're dead."

"They did this to me Melissa, they made me do everything to you." Tears began to form in the large man's eyes. "I remembered it all, today." His blue eyes glistened as he pleaded with her, his hands trembling as he begged for his life. "Missy..."

"No." Holding the gun steady with both hands, she released the safety.

"Give me another chance." Timothy took a step towards Melissa.

She fired, biting her lip as she squeezed the trigger gently. She watched Timothy fall down, and Mulder run past him to grab his gun. "Oh god." She breathed as a tear ran down her face, walking over to his body.

"Melissa..." His eyes were open as blood flowed from the hole in his forehead. "I love you."

Melissa's eyes narrowed as she registered what he was saying. "That is not a word to be used so lightly, Timothy." She pointed the gun down at him and emptied the rest of the cartridge into his head as tears flowed down her face, a face void of expression.

Mulder took the gun from Melissa and caught her as she crumpled into his arms. "It's over, Melissa."

She couldn't speak, could only shake and clutch at Mulder's chest. Yes, it really was over. She had killed Timothy, once and for all.

Holding Melissa up with one arm, he called Scully with the other. "Harper's dead."

"This is Agent Dana Scully, case file X-6725." Scully typed quickly, wishing to close the case as soon as possible. "The autopsy on Timothy Harper revealed swelling of the kidneys and liver, as well as an extremely low red blood cell count, with a contradictory high oxygen level. Based on these results, it can only be summized that Special Agent Harper's life was artificially maintained after the first set of shots he sustained due to the high oxygen level. However, in this circumstance, the effect of eight shots to the head caused enough damage to cease all bodily function, and cause instant death. Special Agent Palmer has not reported any recurrence of any psychic abilities, and it is assumed by this agent that the psychic abilities were only present while Agent Harper was alive, and that they will not return.

"The vitamins given to Agent Harper were shown to contain hemoglobin with oxygen levels corresponding to the unnaturally high levels in his bloodstream, as well as a synthetic hormone. The exact nature or effect of this hormone was unable to be determined. It is assumed that the psychic abilities, as well as the violent tendencies, were caused by this hormone.

"This X-File was reopened by Agent Mulder upon the re-appearance of Agent Harper. Agent Harper is dead, and his burial in Arlington was observed by this agent as well as many others. X-File 6725 is closed."

Scully sighed and shut off the computer. There was so much she was not able to put into the report. As Skinner explained to her, it was not prudent to include Krycek, Melissa or his own participation in the tests, or their beliefs of the exact nature of the test. Mulder had returned the disk as instructed earlier today, and was currently comforting Melissa, who had conflicting feelings over her final moments with Harper. So for now, at least, the mysterious forces who had been manipulating them through this whole affair would leave them alone. There was no reason to incite their wrath unnecessarily, about that Skinner was right. But how could he be sure that he wouldn't succumb to one of the unfortunate side effects of the medication someday? Or that Melissa wouldn't? Questions without answers, and yet, a closed case file. There was no logic to it. But, it had to be...

"Ready to go?" Cait popped her head in the office.

"Your interview's over already?"

"Yup." She sauntered over and pointed at the recorder. "Working?"

Scully nodded. "I'm closing Melissa's case."

Cait shrugged. "I suppose it would do more harm than good to keep it open."

"I can't help wondering what if..."

"There are a lot of 'what if's' in the world, Scully. If you worry about all of them, you'll go insane."

"But..."

"No buts. You closed a case, successfully. Now let's go get blitzed."

And with those words of wisdom, the two agents walked out of the office, both of them praying that X-File 6725 would remain closed. Forever.

Continue to Uroborus V

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