The Enemy Within Her- Exorcising Demons 6/6 DanaDrives@aol.com Refer to disclaimer in part one **** Tuesday 11 AM Mulder sat in the orderly chaos of the of the Lone Gunmen and waited while Byers tapped quietly on the keyboard. The usually jovial paranoia of the place was quieted by the urgency of his work. Langley and Frohike stood to one side, softly discussing the comparative merits of different contacts and sources. Mulder had quickly explained the problem. They had been keeping a record of Scully's medical information for the past weeks and were in the process of trying to feed it to as many outlets as possible in the search for a treatment, a cure, something that could be done without sterilizing her forever. It had only taken a moment in her presence to realize that she feared the idea of "the procedure", as she referred to it, almost as much as she feared the tumors. Never one to wallow in self-pity, she was doing her best to bury her pain away where no one would see it. No one *would* have been able to see it- except Mulder. In that moment he had pleaded with her to wait a few days, to let him check on some leads, maybe they would find something. She had indulged him- as well as herself- in what she surely believed was nothing more than a fantasy, and had promised to wait. "Well, that just about does it." Byers turned away from his computer and met Mulder's gaze. "We now have all of our people working on it. We should know something in the next day or so." There was a moment of awkward silence as Mulder turned to go. "Thanks. I- I owe you one." For most people that statement wouldn't have meant much, but the three men left standing in the room knew well how firmly Fox Mulder refused to allow himself to owe anything to anyone. Frohike sighed. "Hell. I guess he does love her after all." And he slapped a bill into Langely's outstretched hand. **** Thursday 10 PM /You Have Mail/ Mulder- We've got something. **** Thursday 10:30 PM "What we're talking about here is a type of chemotherapy." Byers leaned against a table and crossed his arms. "The difference here," inserted Langley, " is that instead of using the traditional medications, massive quantities of designer hormones are used to destroy the cells. Since Scully identified that estrogen and progesterone were causing the ova-like cells to appear, it would seem that mega-doses of testosterone-based drugs would cause them to atrophy." "And once they have been reduced significantly, her immune system *should* be able to clean out any remaining cells." Byers finished. Mulder stared at the floor, immobile, while his mind whirled in a thousand directions at once. The pieces settled quickly into his first question. "Wouldn't that destroy her reproductive system anyway?" "Temporarily, it would shut her down, but not permanently. Everything should return to normal once the therapy is discontinued." The pieces settled again to form his second query. "Won't the tumors return as soon as the hormones level out? Since that's what caused them in the first place?" Byers responded, "No, we don't think so. You'll remember that they had to take her again to reintroduce the DNA into her system- more than likely into each individual region which is currently host to a tumor. Once these are gone- barring any further introduction of the stimulant- that should be the end of it." **** Two weeks later Georgetown Hospital Scully lay in bed watching the fluid pour through the tube into her arm. All tests so far showed the treatment to be working- the tumors were shrinking and she expected to go home soon. She found herself thinking of Betsy Hagopian, of all the women who had suffered so needlessly. She wondered if their surgeons- the men who had removed their tumors again and again, who had more than likely overseen each final harvest following their deaths- would ever be brought to justice, ever be forced to pay for their role in the destruction of so many lives. Pushing the questions away for the moment, she turned her attention to the blue sky outside her window, remembering the voice in the dream and wondering if she would ever really be able to save herself completely. Mulder stood outside, looking through the small glass window at his partner lying still in the brightly lit room. They would send her home soon, and things would return to normal- or at least as "normal" as things could be. He had discovered that Dr. Kronke had retained some tissue from Scully's surgery, presumably tissue that he was killed for, though this information would never be included in the "official" police report. He wondered about the surgeons in Allentown... *Is there were any way to keep her safe?* He let his mind wander back to the moments of intimacy that they shared so naturally, so easily, before one or the other of them retreated behind the barriers they had constructed. What would it be like to ignore those barriers for once? To let a moment of intimacy progress as it would between any man and woman? To allow her to protect him and protect her in return? As he peered through the glass at the woman who had become such an integral part of his existence, he found himself contemplating the only way he *knew* to keep her safe. Unfortunately, it would involve an even more frightening risk to them both. **** End.