GROVETON 8/8

By Carol Jenner and Suzanne Bickerstaffe
Agnt CJ@aol.com, Ecksphile@aol.com
April 30, 1997

Disclaimers and acknowledgements in Chapter One

Chapter Eight


Sebring, Florida
Thursday, March 6
10:30 AM


"...all right, which hospital is it this time?"  His tone was 
resigned, almost as if he had been expecting the call.

Scully could clearly picture Skinner's face in her mind.  
The glare, the twitch of his upper lip that was almost a 
sneer.  She had delivered this news too often not to know 
the AD's reaction.  The fact that this time she was 
delivering it by way of the phone and not in person did 
nothing to diminish the graphic image in her mind.  
"Sebring Community Hospital, sir."

"Intensive Care, as usual, I suppose."

"Well, yes," she admitted, "but only for twenty four hours 
or so, sir.  It's just a precaution.  It won't even be that long if 
they need the bed for someone else.  By tomorrow he 
should be transferred to the Trauma floor, and then he'll be 
discharged a day or two after that, if all goes well."

"With Mulder involved, it's difficult to count on everything 
going well, Agent Scully."  He sighed.  "You know, I was 
under the impression that you two were going on vacation.  
How did Agent Mulder sustain his injuries?  Waterskiing?  
Parasailing, perhaps?"

She cleared her throat.  This wasn't going well. She might 
as well tackle the hard part. "Uh, no sir, I'm afraid not.  He 
was kidnapped on the order of a Commander Avin, 
subjected to an experimental drug against his will and was 
beaten half to death." There was an edge to her voice as she 
finished, almost a challenge to her tone, as if she expected 
the AD to dismiss the episode as another one of Mulder's 
hairbrained stunts, or as the result of his uncanny ability to 
ask the wrong questions of the wrong people at the wrong 
time.  She was startled, then, by Skinner's response.

"You have a first name on Avin?  How about which branch 
of the military?"

"We weren't exactly on a first name basis, sir," she replied 
drily.  Pointedly she added, "And it was the branch that 
wears black uniforms."

He was silent for a moment.  "Hold on for a minute, 
Scully."  She stood holding the phone, watching the activity 
around her at the busy nurses' station.  Skinner's voice came 
back on the line.  "There's no record in the data banks of an 
officer named Avin in any branch of the military, Agent 
Scully."

"Did you really expect there would be, sir?"

He sighed again.  "No, I guess not," he said tersely.  "Is 
Mulder going to press charges against this Commander 
Avin - or is he going to press them against Mulder?"

She hesitated.  "I doubt it, sir.  Commander Avin is no 
longer in the picture, if you get my drift."

"Jesus Christ, Scully!  Mulder didn't kill him, did he?"

"No, sir, Agent Mulder did not kill him.  He could barely 
move at the time."

"Did you?"

"No, sir."  She didn't elaborate.

After a pause, Skinner said, "I take it that you would prefer 
to tell me in your report."

Relieved, she took the escape he offered.  "Yes, sir.  I think 
that would be better. I have a couple of other names you 
can check out.  An enlisted man by the name of Lance 
Krupsky - that's with a K, I think - and an old doctor, 
possibly a German or Austrian national by the name of 
Herprin.  But I don't think you'll have any better luck with 
those, if you stick to official channels."  She lightly 
emphasized the latter words.  But it wasn't necessary - the 
use of those two words spoke volumes between the AD and 
his subordinate.

"I'll see what I can do.  What's the extent of Mulder's 
injuries?  How long will he be confined to desk duty this 
time?"

"At least until the cast is off.  Fractured clavicle, dislocated 
shoulder, a hairline fracture of the humerus and another of 
the cheekbone.  He was negative for skull fracture, but 
there was concussion, of course."

"Of course."

She winced at the dry sarcasm, but plowed on.  "We're 
waiting for the results of some tests before internal injuries 
are ruled out.  He may have a kidney contusion as well."

Skinner was quiet for a few moments.  "You're a physician.  
Tell me, Scully.  How much more punishment can his body 
take?" he asked grimly.

Miserably, she replied,  "I don't know, sir.  I wish to God I 
did.  Then maybe I'd do what I could to get him out of the 
field.  He'd hate me forever, but it might save his life.  But 
as things stand, it's fortunate that he seems to have 
miraculous powers of healing."

"Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin', is that it, Agent 
Scully?"  There was a hint of humor in his voice.

She smiled in spite of herself.  "Something like that, sir."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm...okay. I am now, anyway."

"What the hell went on down there, Agent Scully?  I'm sure 
there's more to the story than what you've told me so far."

"I - I'm going to have to think about that, sir.  Yes, there's 
more, a lot more.  But at the moment, I wouldn't have a 
clue how to explain it."

"Very well.  Report to me first thing when you're back in 
town.  I can expect you by Monday?"

"If Mulder's fit to travel, yes, sir."

His tone changed then - warmer than that of a superior, yet 
not quite as intimate as that of a friend. More gently he 
said, "Keep me up to date on Mulder's condition, will you, 
Dana?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm here if you need anything."

"I appreciate that, sir."

Scully hung up the phone and drifted into the break room.  
She poured herself a cup of coffee, sipping it carefully as 
she took it back to Mulder's little corner of the ICU.  She 
sat gratefully in the lounge chair at his bedside, provided by 
the nurses late the previous night when it became clear that 
she was not going to leave.  

Stretching back in the chair, she watched the reassuring 
regularity of his heartbeat on the cardiac monitor.  He was 
sleeping now, had been sleeping for the past several hours.  
His dark hair hung in his eyes, long lashes resting on his 
cheeks, his face stubbly from two days' growth of beard.  
The left side of his face was still badly swollen and 
discolored. His left arm lay at his side, taped to an 
armboard to prevent him from dislodging his IV.  The right 
was encased in a fiberglass cast which was held out stiffly 
at an angle by a brace which wrapped around his waist.

The last twenty four hours had been... well, frankly... 
surrealistic.  She could hardly believe herself that their 
nemesis - who was also possibly an alien - had shown up in 
the middle of nowhere to help her free Mulder.  Now that 
the rigors of the rescue were over, she had the leisure to 
wonder why the Smoking Man had issued the directive to 
save her partner's life.  Whose side was he on, anyway?  
She rubbed her temples wearily.  Whose side was anyone 
on in this mess?

Mulder's IV pump began beeping. Scully pushed herself 
from the chair and replaced the empty with the full bag of 
fluid standing by on the bedside table.  "It's okay - I took 
care of it," she told the nurse who came hurrying into the 
room.

The nurse looked impossibly young to be in charge of the 
ICU, but Scully had seen her in action and she was good - 
very good.  "Thanks.  The patient in 3C is crashing and we 
might be tied up for a while.  Anything you need right 
now?"

"No, thanks."

"Look, here's his next dose of morphine," she said, handing 
Scully a Tubex.  "He's due for it any time now - he'll 
probably need it when he wakes up.  It's strictly against the 
rules for me to leave it with you of course, but you being a 
doctor and all.... Anyway, I wouldn't want him to be in pain 
and have to wait for it if we're tied up next door."  She 
dimpled prettily.

Scully read the barrel of the medication cartridge and 
nodded.  "I'll see that he gets it."  Evidently, her partner was 
having his usual devastating effect on the nursing staff.  
There certainly had been no shortage of females coming 
into his room to see if there was anything he needed.

<<Code Blue, ICU, Room 3C....Code Blue, ICU, Room 
3C....>>

"Shit!"  The nurse was out the door at a run, as the rumble 
of the rolling crash cart and the slap of rushing footsteps 
filled the hallway.

Scully took Mulder's vital signs and checked the circulation 
in his injured arm, carefully recording her findings in his 
chart.  Then she sat down, relaxing into the chair, her 
thoughts once more on the events of the previous day.

The ride from the basecamp had been terrible.  After her 
ally had fired the two shots to simulate hers and Mulder's 
executions, she had driven off down the rutted dirt road as 
fast as she could.  At any moment, she expected to see a 
pursuing truckload of black-clad soldiers reflected in her 
rearview mirror.  Mulder moaned in the back seat, vainly 
trying to bite back a yell every time the Jeep hit a pothole 
and jostled him.

Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "We have to 
find a hospital, fast."

Her companion looked casually over his shoulder into the 
back seat at Mulder's form.  "He will not die.  He is in pain, 
but he will not die."

She glanced over at him for just a second, then turned her 
eyes back to the winding country road.  "I thought I was the 
doctor here."

His lips curled slightly.  "You healers are strangely 
proprietary about your talents - however inadequate they 
may be.  Think what you wish.  In any event, the only thing 
that may kill him is your driving.  Turn left here."

The Jeep skidded into the turn.  In moments they were on 
the paved surface of the road heading into Sebring.

"You can slow down now.  We aren't being followed and I 
have no wish to be stopped by the police."

Scully glanced down at the speedometer - she was doing 
better than 85.  She eased up on the accelerator until their 
speed dropped to 60, just five over the posted limit.  Ahead 
she could see a traffic light at a major crossroad.  Seconds 
later she could pick out a blue and white "H" sign. 

"The hospital's to the right.  No offence to your obvious 
medical expertise," she said drily,  "but I'm turning."

Her companion merely shrugged.

About a mile after they had turned, the hospital came into 
sight.  Suddenly he demanded, "Pull over here."

"Why?" she asked sharply.

"Just do it."

She pulled into a strip mall parking lot.  Her mysterious 
ally opened the Jeep door and slid out.  

"Where are you going?"

"I have no need to go to your hospital.  He is safe now," he 
indicated Mulder with a nod, "and I have my mission to 
complete."

She shook her head.  "But....  I guess I thought...."  She took 
a deep breath and started over.  "Thank you.  Thank you for 
getting Mulder out of there."

A faint look of amusement passed over the normally 
expressionless face.  "I need no thanks.  I will do anything 
necessary to carry out my mission.  This was merely a favor 
for one who makes that possible."

"What's his name?" Scully demanded.  "Why did he tell you 
to save Mulder?"

He turned and walked toward the bus station at the far end 
of the strip mall.  For a moment, Scully considered trying 
to catch up with him, but a glance at Mulder's pallor, and 
she headed for the hospital.

What followed were several hours that seemed like a replay 
of all the other times she had accompanied him to 
emergency rooms around the country.  X-rays, lab tests, her 
partner's body invaded by needles, catheters, monitor wires.  
Every time she had promised herself it would be the last.  
This had been no different....

She was wrested from her thoughts as Mulder groaned 
softly and began to stir.  His eyes snapped open, wide with 
panic and pain.  Clumsily, he groped with his left hand, 
reaching, searching for something.  She caught his hand 
and held it as best she could around the styrofoam and tape 
of the armboard.  "It's all right.  I'm here."

Instantly he settled, his eyes closing.  When they reopened, 
the panic was gone, though the pain was still there.  "How 
long have I been asleep?"

"Almost five hours now.  Feel better?"

"I'm thirsty."

She let go of his hand and picked up a cup and spoon.  
"You can't drink yet.  Here's some ice chips."

"I hate those fucking things.  Not everyone shares your 
passion for crunching chunks of ice between their teeth."

"Quit complaining and open up."  She spooned a few ice 
chips into his mouth.

They melted and he swallowed the small amount of water 
they produced. "Some bedside manner you have, "  he 
grumbled.

"Must be all the practice I get."

Regret tinged his expression.  "I'm sorry, Scully.  I did it to 
you again, didn't I?"

"In spades, partner."

"What's the damage this time?"

She ran down the list of his injuries.

"You sure about no skull fracture?  My head's pounding 
and I'm seeing double."

"You have a concussion, that's not unexpected.  But I'll take 
a look at the x-rays myself a little later to make sure they 
didn't miss anything."

"Nice to have my own personal physician."  He looked 
around for something.  "Uh, Scully... I have to....  Where's 
that bottle thingy?"

"No, you don't 'have to'.  You're just feeling irritation in 
your bladder from the catheter."

"Shit.  I hate those fucking things, too."

"You know, for someone who hates hospital procedures as 
much as you do, you don't do a very good job taking care of 
yourself so you can avoid them."

The lightness in her tone might have indicated amusement 
to anyone else.  But Mulder saw that her eyes were dark 
with worry and fatigue.  He reached awkwardly for her 
hand again.  "I'm sorry, Dana.  I hate that I keep putting you 
through this."

"I know you do."  She let out a shaky breath and avoided 
his eyes.  "Sorry.  I-I'm just relieved you're going to be all 
right."  She smiled down at him.  "Of course, I could 
always look at it like you're giving me the opportunity to 
keep current in emergency medicine."

"Hey Scully, why is this red?"

"Quit playing with your tubes, Mulder.  And yes, there's 
blood in your urine.  You probably have a kidney 
contusion.  But it looks better than it did last night, if that's 
any comfort.  Speaking of which, I have your morphine.  
Do you need it?"

"Need it, yes. But I don't want it.  Not yet, anyway.  It'll put 
me to sleep and I want to stay awake for a while."  He 
stopped suddenly, listening intently as two all too familiar 
voices came down the hallway towards his room.  "Come 
to think of it, maybe I don't really want to stay awake...."

"Forget it, Mulder.  You owe me.  If I have to put up with 
them, so do you."

Candy burst into the room, with Chris following on her 
heels.

"SCOR -oh, I mean Mulder - how are you feeling, honey?"  
Candy plopped herself down on his bed, the sudden 
movement setting his shoulder and head throbbing again.  
She wiped the hair from back from his forehead. "Are they 
treating you okay?"  

She tried to remove his covers to survey the damage, but 
Mulder pinned the top sheet down firmly with his left 
arm."I'm fine, Candy.  Scully says I'll be able to leave in a 
day or two."

"Well, that's good to hear," said Chris from the end of the 
bed.

"Chris, I'm sorry we couldn't help you.  You know, the 
whole mystery of the disappearance of the Groveton 
people.  We're no closer now than we were," apologized 
Scully.

"I think that perhaps there are some things that we don't 
need to know.  I know that you and Mulder certainly would 
have been better off if we had just let well enough alone.  
We'll never know why they left.  Maybe it's better that 
way."

Candy wrinkled her nose in a frown. "Oh, I don't think so.  
We know what happened, right, Mulder?  I mean it was 
aliens, wasn't it?"  

"Candy,"  Mulder glanced over to Scully, who was waiting 
for his answer as eagerly as Candy. "I don't think we have 
enough evidence in this case to say either way.  Maybe 
aliens had something to do with the disappearance, but 
maybe not.  Fact of the matter is we just don't know."  

From her chair, Scully smiled gently.  She knew how hard 
it was for him to admit that not everything involved aliens 
and the paranormal, that most things had rational 
explanations.

"So Chris, what are you and Candy going to do?  Try to 
rebuild Groveton?"  she asked, in an effort to change the 
subject from the uncomfortable one of aliens.  She had 
already experienced far more than she could ever explain.

"Actually, it's weird. Two weeks ago the Red Cross 
wouldn't give me the time of day, and now they want me to 
go to North Dakota to help the flood victims.  They're even 
talking about giving me a Directorship, which would mean 
us moving to DC."

"Oh, Chris!"  Candy sprang like a tigress off the bed and 
wrapped her fiance in her long, elegant arms.  "You never 
said anything about DC!"

"Well, it's not definite yet.  It depends...."  

"Wouldn't that be great, Dana?  We could be neighbors, we 
could go shopping together!  Oh Mulder, can you imagine?  
Maybe I could get a job in the FBI and we could work with 
X-Files together!"

"Uh...."  Scully tried to stop Candy's torrent of enthusiastic 
babble.  God, she had to put a stop to this before it got too 
far.  Pigs would fly before she shared that cramped office - 
and Mulder - with HER!  She watched to see how Mulder 
would handle this development.  

"Actually, Candy, I already have a partner. She's all I need."  
Scully felt the warmth rise in her cheeks, and her eyes 
sparkled.

That comment was totally lost on Candy. "I think I'll start 
the application process to the Bureau," she mused aloud. 
"Surely they could use a meteorologist."

"Candy, it's not definite," interjected Chris, but nothing was 
going to dampen her enthusiasm.  He knew he shouldn't 
have mentioned it, but it would be such a good move for 
him careerwise and he was just so honored that it was even 
being considered.  Actually, he had mentioned it more to 
impress Dana than for Candy's sake.

"Oh, absolutely!"  chimed Scully.  Chris and Mulder looked 
startled.  "I'm sure Agent McGough would just love to work 
with you."  Agent McGough had a reputation for being a 
lady's man in the labs at the Bureau.  Mulder would have 
smiled if his face didn't hurt so much.
 
"Well, we have a plane to catch.  We'd better be going. 
Mulder, take care of yourself."  He leaned down and 
whispered to him, "And take care of that partner of yours."

"I will, Chris, thank you.  Good luck yourself."

"Oh, Mulder."  Candy leaned over and gave him the kind of 
kiss that, under other circumstances, he might have 
enjoyed.  But there in the ICU, hurting all over, tubes 
running in and out of his body, he was just glad when it 
was over.  "I'll miss you, Scorpy."

"Uh...yeah.  Bye Candy."

She and Chris left hand in hand, Candy chattering excitedly 
about the prospect of living in Washington.

Scully turned to Mulder and wiped a smear of Candy's 
lipstick from his mouth.  "You don't think they'll actually 
move to Washington, do you?"

"Maybe we can ask Skinner for a transfer.  Base the X-Files 
in Juneau or something."

"With our luck, there'd be an earthquake or a pipeline spill 
and they'd arrive on the scene"  Scully pushed the chair 
closer to her partner's bedside and collapsed into it.  She 
extended her hand through the siderails to hold his, his 
fingers automatically twining with hers.  She noted his face 
was drawn and lined, and guessed the cause to be less Chris 
and Candy's announcement than the pain in his shoulder 
and head.  "Want that morphine now?"

"After Candy, it's a temptation.  But there's too many 
questions I need answers to.  How the hell did you ever find 
me, Scully?"

She glanced at the monitors tracking his pulse and blood 
pressure.  Both were up - significantly.  "Tell you what - I'll 
answer your questions for ten minutes, Mulder.  After that, 
I give you the pain med and you take a nap.  Deal?"

"Deal - so answer my question."

She sighed.  "I didn't find you.  Chris came in, saying he 
had seen you taken away by some soldiers and that we had 
to get out of town fast before they found us.  He drove us 
into Sebring.  Except it wasn't Chris."

"What do you mean, it wasn't Chris?"

"It was someone we've met before - someone who can 
shapeshift."

He stared at her.  "The Bounty Hunter?" he asked in a 
hoarse whisper.

She nodded, frowning.  "When we got to the motel - a 
place you can recommend to NICAP, by the way - Chris 
was already there.  I ran outside just in time to see our 
shapeshifting friend driving off in Chris's Jeep.  He came 
back the next morning, as Candy this time, but I was on to 
him."  She smiled.  "He just wasn't perky enough.  Anyway, 
he said something strange... that it was in his interest to 
protect you, and that he had done it before."

Mulder was stunned.  "Protect me?  Why?"

Scully shook her head.  "He said that he had a mission, and 
to complete that mission he sometimes had to do favors for 
men in our government who looked the other way to allow 
him to do his work."

"Who the hell in the government would be interested in 
saving my ass?"

"Interesting question, isn't it?  Even more interesting 
answer.  He claims it was Cigarette Smoking Man who 
made the deal with him to save you."

"But that just doesn't make any sense," replied Mulder, 
stunned.

"I know."  She shrugged.  "Maybe he was lying. Anyway, 
he had managed to infiltrate the basecamp so he knew 
where you were." She took a deep breath and went on 
quickly, studying the IV pump to avoid his eyes.  "Which 
was a good thing, since I didn't have a clue. He told me... 
he told me you were in bad shape, and that we had to get 
you out of there fast."

Mulder grunted.  "When beating the shit out of me didn't 
work, they dug up Dr. Mengele to try out his new science 
project on me."  He raised haunted eyes to meet Scully's.  
"Turns out the good doctor knew my father. Worked with 
him on the Project.  He even knew about Samantha."

"Oh, Mulder."  She tightened her grasp on his hand.  Of all 
the tortures they had subjected him to, bringing up his lost 
sister and his father's complicity in the Project were 
probably hardest for him to bear.

He gave her a twisted smile.  "They should have used the 
drug first.  By the time they gave it to me, I was so far out 
of it that I couldn't have told them anything even if I had 
wanted to.  Not that I knew all that much."  He related his 
discoveries in the shed. 

"It was a colony of clones, Mulder.  The Bounty Hunter 
admitted as much - that he was sent down here to terminate 
them before they could be dispersed to start other 
colonies."

"That's what the maps were for, then - marking the towns 
where the clones would be sent.  Looks like they got out of 
town just in the knick of time, as they say.  But Christ, 
Scully!  How the hell did you know you could trust him?  I 
mean, in the past he's whaled the shit out of both of us, 
kidnapped you, been anything but a good buddy....  How 
did you know you weren't stepping into a trap?"

She shrugged.  "I didn't.  But my options were somewhat 
limited, at the time.  I had no choice."

Anger and fear warred for supremacy on his face. "You let 
him cuff you and blindfold you and lead you into that 
viper's nest?  God damn it, Scully!  You could have been 
tortured or raped or killed!  Don't you ever take a chance 
like that again!"

"I knew the risks, Mulder.  And I accepted them. If our 
positions had been reversed, can you honestly say you 
wouldn't have taken that chance?"

There was a brief pause.  "No," he finally admitted.  "But 
Jesus, Scully!  When he choked you, when he threatened to 
turn you over to that pack of animals - "

Now his vital signs were really elevated, threatening to 
trigger the alarms.  "Settle down, Mulder, or you'll get your 
morphine now," she commanded, eyeing the monitors 
worriedly.

He took some deep breaths and tried to change to a more 
comfortable position, until he realized that there wasn't 
one.  His hand was so tight around hers that her fingers 
began to tingle.  "You were so cool - acting like you didn't 
care...."

"I know," she said apologetically.  "I had to play it that 
way, Mulder.  I knew Avin would try to use me to make 
you talk.  And at that point, I wasn't sure our shapeshifting 
friend was coming back."

"I kind of figured.  I mean, a lot of what was going on....  I 
wasn't exactly with the program.  I thought that's what you 
were doing.  But it was so hard... to act like I didn't care 
that you were about to be gang-raped by those - " His voice 
caught.  He paused a moment before he could go on.  "I 
was just so afraid that...."

"Yes?"

"I - I was afraid that maybe you'd think I really didn't 
care..."

"Mulder."  She smiled over at him, her voice soft.  She had 
never looked more beautiful in his eyes. "I could never 
think that.  Do you think it was easy for me, seeing you 
beaten to a pulp and writhing in pain, to act like you meant 
nothing to me?"

His eyes met hers.  "What do I mean to you, Scully?"

She smiled again and squeezed his fingers before 
extricating her hand from his, and standing.  "Your ten 
minutes are up.  Nap time, Mulder."  She swabbed a port in 
the IV line with alcohol and slowly injected the morphine.

He sighed as the drug hit his bloodstream.  "You won't 
leave, will you, Scully?" he mumbled sleepily.

Her cool fingers brushed the hair away from his eyes, off 
his forehead.  "No, I'll be here.  I won't leave you, Mulder."  
She caressed his cheek, his hair, feeling him relax beneath 
her touch.  Within moments, he drifted off to sleep.

"I won't leave you, Mulder," she murmured.  "I'll never 
leave you."


End of Groveton.