Chapter 6: Scully’s Sortie
Dana Scully stepped through the wormhole – the sensation was like having every cell in her body ripped apart and then spliced back together – into the past and saw Katherine put, what looked like, a gun to Mulder’s head.
“No!” She yelled, but she wasn’t quick enough and she saw Mulder’s body slump. Katherine dropped the ‘gun’ and stood up to face her. “Did you give him the implant?” Scully demanded and Katherine shook her head.
“No, I had only just given him the anaesthetic.” She looked confused. “Where did you come from?” She asked.
“I came here to stop you from giving him the implant. You were being tricked into giving it to him. That implant *kills* people.” Scully said determinedly and Katherine stared at her in shock.
“I was being tricked into killing my own father?” She was aghast and Scully could only nod.
“It nearly worked too.” A familiar voice drawled and Scully turned to face him.
“Krycek.” Scully acknowledged to the barrel of his gun.
“Scully.” He returned cheerfully and turned slightly to look at Katherine. “Katherine.” He gestured at Mulder, lying against a pile of bottles of mineral water. “Finish the job – the implant.” She shook her head.
“No way.” She replied and he smiled.
“It was a long shot, I suppose. How about give him the implant or I kill Scully right now?” He said mockingly.
“Don’t listen to him.” Scully told Katherine over her shoulder and locked her eyes with Krycek’s. “He’s not going to kill me.”
“I don’t need to.” He said with a smile and fired the gun into the air. He returned his aim to Scully. “Now we wait.” They didn’t wait more than a few seconds.
“Freeze.” A *very* familiar female voice called from the direction of the office and three sets of eyes turned to look at her.
“My God.” Scully whispered as she saw herself standing across the room from her. The jaw of the Scully on the other side of the room fell open as she took in the scene.
“What’s going on?” *That* Scully demanded. Krycek smiled at the Scully in front of him and changed his aim to her earlier self. Comprehension dawned on her and she turned towards her counterpart.
“Run!” She yelled and then events moved so fast that she wasn’t really sure what happened next. Krycek pulled the trigger and the gunshot echoed endlessly around the warehouse interior. The other Scully stood frozen in the path of the bullet. Katherine ran towards her, but it wasn’t a normal run – she seemed to outrun the bullet and knocked the other woman to the floor before the bullet hit her. Instead the bullet ploughed into a bottle of mineral water and sent, what seemed a disproportionate amount of, water falling down onto them. Krycek just shrugged.
“Oops!” He said casually. Katherine placed her hand to that Scully’s temple and the other Scully seemed to lose consciousness. Then Katherine stood up and stormed over to Krycek.
“You knew I’d save her, so why did you do it?” She demanded.
“Maybe I wanted to find out if what they said about you was true.”
“Well now you know that it is.”
“What did you just do?” Scully asked incredulously.
“I slowed down time, so that I could get to your earlier self before the bullet – just like Krycek knew that I would.”
“That’s impossible – it’s against the laws of physics.”
“What if the *laws of physics* are wrong?” Krycek asked with a smile. “Your biggest problem Scully is that you never see past the end of your nose.” He lowered the gun. “But you were right. I wasn’t going to kill you. I was just playing out the role – must be seen as having tried.” Scully’s brow creased in confusion.
“What do you mean Krycek?”
“I mean that I’m going to let you get away with changing time.” He leaned closer and stroked the gun down her cheek. Scully jumped away from him and glared but he just smiled.
“Why?” Katherine asked and he turned to look at her.
“Because they don’t deserve to win like this.” He turned back to Scully. “Do you know where I am in this time? Right now? I’m buried alive and the only reason I won’t die is because they can use me.”
“But you’re my boss.” Katherine pointed out.
“Only as long as it pleases them. I have no power. They use me the way they use you, the same way they used my predecessor. His mistake was that he thought he really had power. I’m *taking* power into my hands, even if it’s only for one second of time that nobody will remember.” Katherine’s watch beeped and a new light gate formed.
“I have to go.” Katherine said looking at Scully with longing. Scully nodded stiffly, what could she say to her not quite human daughter whom she didn’t know if she would ever see again? Katherine swallowed and stepped through the gate.
“So you’re doing this to make you feel powerful?” Scully asked scornfully as the light faded.
“I have to admit that it does feel pretty good, but that’s not the whole reason.” His eyes locked with hers and Scully saw pain in them. “I’m sorry about your sister – I’ve never had a chance to tell you.” Scully swallowed with difficulty and Krycek put his hand on her shoulder to add emphasis. “I promise you that as long as I live she’ll have fresh flowers on her grave.”
“You think that forgives you?” She demanded bitterly.
“No.” He answered honestly. “Nothing forgives me. I’m just giving you and Mulder another chance to get them back for what they’ve done to you and what they’ve done to me.” He sighed and ran his fingers down her face – this time she didn’t flinch away. “Can’t see past the end of your nose Dana.” His watch began beeping. He shrugged and let go of her arm. “I guess it’s time for me to get out of here.” The light gate began to form and he turned towards it.
“Hey Alex.” Scully called and he turned back to her. She’d just remembered something important. She walked up close to him and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” He said with a smile and a mocking bow as he stepped through the light gate.
Scully stood alone in the warehouse. She crossed to her earlier self <better than a mirror – is my hair *really* this colour?> and examined her as a doctor should. She seemed to be fine except for a strange mark on her temple that looked, for all the world, like a fingerprint burnt onto the skin. Scully marvelled again at the creature that Katherine was – she couldn’t think of any other way to describe her. Having assured herself that there would be no lasting damage here, Scully turned her attention to Mulder. As she touched him, his eyes fluttered open and Scully jumped back in shock.
“Scully.” He muttered looking up at her. “Where am I?” Scully calmed her racing heart and crouched down next to him.
“Everything’s fine Mulder – just go back to sleep.”
“But Scully…”
“Sleep now, we’ll talk later.” She assured him soothingly and he closed his eyes. Scully took the piece of paper from her pocket and looked at what she had written: Samantha Wiles’ address in California. She didn’t trust The Network, they had lied to them all before and they would undoubtedly do it again. Carefully Scully folded up the paper and put it into Mulder’s coat pocket. She had done as much as she was willing to do to change time. Her watch beeped and the light gate formed. She reached down and kissed his temple. “Sweet dreams Mulder.” She muttered and stood up. Taking one last look around the warehouse, Dana Scully stepped through the gate and back across time.