SquidgeWorld Archive

Fowley's Death
by CSMsWife

 
FBI Headquarters
February 21
2:50 pm

Special Agent Fox Mulder sat down in his basement office.  He cursed to himself when he banged his sore knee on the desk.  He couldn't believe what Assistant Director Skinner had just told him.  That Mulder's ex-girlfriend, Diana Fowley, was found dead in a Watergate Hotel room not even two days after she had tried to kill him and his partner, Dana Scully with the help from some "black-bearded man".  He couldn't believe it, he trusted her, they had always been close.  But what had made her want to kill them?  Who wanted her to kill them?  Mulder leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.  He heard footsteps in the hall and someone knocked on the door.  

"Come in," he said without opening his eyes.   

Dana Scully walked into the office with a file in her hand. She sighed, she knew Mulder must be feeling hurt and betrayed.  She walked up to the desk and he opened his eyes and looked at her.  She could see the pain on his face.  

Scully was about to say something when Mulder blurted out, "I'm so sorry, Scully."   

She looked at him, confused, "What are you sorry for, Mulder?"   

He continued, "For not listening to you about Diana.  I just didn't want to believe you.  I was so blind, I didn't even realize it!  That's why she wanted a reassignment, she wanted the X-Files for herself!"   

Scully walked to the other side of the desk and put her hand on his shoulder. "Mulder, you couldn't have known.  You trusted her and she betrayed you.  And you haven't forgotten that she tried to kill us two days ago have you?"   

Mulder looked at his knee.  "How could I forget?" he said with a sad smile, "Good thing she's not very strong or you would have been minus a head."   

Scully touched her neck where a scar was.  "At least you won't have a permanent necklace," he said.  

She rolled her eyes at him. "Lets get going Mulder, we need to meet Detective McSquirrel."   

Skinner had given the case to Mulder and Scully because the circumstances surrounding Fowley's death were very bizarre.  Scully handed Mulder the file as they rode two levels to the Requistion offices.  Scully filled out a form as Mulder read the file.  Apparently Agent Fowley was found in a room at the Watergate Hotel with radiation burns all over her body.  The weird thing was, nothing else had registerd any radiation, including the clothes she was wearing.  Mulder's senses were in overdrive as Scully led him to the car.  He traded the file for the keys so she could read it and hopped into the driver's seat.

the Watergate Hotel
Room 1121
5:30 pm

As Scully showed the detective in charge, Marissa McSquirrel, her ID, she noticed that Fowley's body was on a stretcher.  "So, you're the two FBI agents Ms. Fowley tried to take out a few days ago." she said seriously, "Ever find out why?"   

"Not yet," Scully replied, "I'm Agent Scully, this is Agent Mulder, any thoughts as to what led up to her death?"   

Marissa sighed and answered, "Well, aside from aliens or a nuclear blast, I can't think of anyway something like this could happen.  We had a hazmat team checking for signs of radiation but there were none except on the woman.  I don't understand how the rest of this place couldn't have been affected.  Especially since she was found burnt to a crisp-" She paused when she saw Mulder wince at her choice of words.  "I'm sorry, it's been a long day."

Scully took Mulder aside.  "If being here makes you uncomfortable, why don't you wait outside?"   

"Thanks Scully, but I'm fine."  He went to inspect the balcony.

"Mulder, I'm going with Detective McSquirrel to do the autopsy.  When you get there, wait outside."  She emphasized 'outside'.

"Yeah, ok," he said distractedly.
 

Georgetown Medical Center
6:30 pm

As Scully performed the autopsy, she prayed Mulder would listen to her and wait outside.  Who knows what his reaction would be if he saw Fowley in this condition.  She noticed something strange as she inspected the nasal cavity.  A small, pink, and slimy growth.  "That's strange, it's not like any tumors I've ever seen," she said out loud. She got a sample to send to the FBI labs. The results would be back in a matter of hours.  Scully turned around quickly when she heard the door open.  It was Mulder.

"Mulder, I don't think you should come any closer."

It didn't matter how close he was, he could still see her disfigured body.  Scully took off her gloves and walked over to Mulder, who was obviously in shock.  He had read the report but those were words, he was seeing this with his own eyes.  Just as Scully led Mulder out of the autopsy bay, she saw Skinner heading toward them.  Good, she thought, he could keep an eye on Mulder while I finish up.  She told Mulder to sit down and met Skinner just out of earshot of him.

"Sir, could you stay with Mulder, I'm almost through with the autopsy."   

He looked at Mulder and then at Scully.  "What happened?"

"He came into the room after I told him not to."

"That's Mulder for you, he never listens.  Go ahead and finish up."

Scully nodded and took one last look at him before returning to the autopsy bay.  She had another doctor send the blood samples out for the tox screen and took one last look at the small growth.  "What are you?"

Mulder's Apartment
7:36 pm

Scully sat at Mulder's desk waiting for the tox screen results to be faxed to her.  She turned and watched Mulder who was asleep on the couch.  She tried to imagine what he was going through.  Even though Fowley had tried to kill them, they had been close once.  Or as Frohike had called her, 'Mulder's "little chickadee".  That's what probably made this so difficult for him.  Scully then started feeling guilty for her next thought.  Here she is, trying to understand the way Mulder felt about Fowley and she suddenly thought about her birthday which was in two days.  What will her and her mother be doing?  She has said anything about it yet.  Snap out of it Dana, she thought, this is not the time!  She was about to get a drink of water when the fax machine beeped.   

It woke Mulder up and she had to stifle a laugh when he whined, "But mom, I don't want to go to school!"

Mulder sat up and asked what was going on.  He saw Scully picking up the fax and stood behind her as she read.  "According to this, there was traces of dextrodiclamerol in her system." She looked at Mulder. "That drug is still being experimented and studied by the FDA!  Many don't believe it works, like me."

"What does it do?"  Mulder inquired.

"It supposedly helps fight the AIDS virus by "burning" it," she said skeptically.  She looked at him, Oh no, Scully thought, he has that glint in his eyes! "Alright, Mulder, what's your theory?"

"I think she was killed for one of two reasons.  One, she didn't succeed in killing us or two, because she did try to kill us."

"Ok, three questions, who would have wanted us dead, who would not want us dead, and since when did your theories start to sound like mine?  I saw that glint in your eyes, Mulder, what gives?"

Mulder smiled, "I was just throwing out your theories instead for some fun.  Now, my theory is that Diana was injected with way more of that drug than she should have been and it caused the radiation burns."  

"Say your right, Mulder, but why didn't anything else register any radiation?"  

"I think that the drug only affects the person's body," he answered.

Scully didn't know what to make of his outlandish theory so she suggested that they put an APB out for this black-bearded man so she could mull over it.
 

ABANDONED MOVIE THEATER
7:45 pm

Alex Krycek sat back in his seat.  That idiot had better hurry up, he thought.  He wished he had more time to scope some better candidates to kill Fowley but he had been running out of time and Johnson was his best bet.  What he didn't know was that Johnson was a doctor for the FDA at one time.  He also didn't know Fowley was killed in a bizarre manner, until he learned that Mulder and Scully were on the case.  He would have to find out what Johnson did to her even if he wouldn't tell him himself. Just then, he walked in and sat next to Krycek.  "What took you so long?"

"I had to get my beard trimmed.  Where's my money?"   

Johnson's motives were clear, he wanted money and he was willing to kill people to get it, even an FBI agent.  He had used an experimental drug that he had stolen from the FDA where he used to work to kill the agent.  Johnson knows that when Krycek finds out, he's as good as dead.  "Watch your back, Johnson, just because you helped me doesn't mean I like you."   

Johnson nodded nervously and got up to leave.  He met with the private detective he had hired to take pictures and he knew he would need them soon.  After he left, Krycek noticed something on the floor.  It's a vile that has 'dextrodiclamerol' written on it.  He remembered reading about the drug in a newspaper, the FDA hasn't approved it yet.  He decided that he'd have to pay another visit to Johnson soon.

FBI Headquarters
11:55 pm

Mulder entered the office and saw Scully working on her laptop.  "Hey, Scully, el bosso actually complimented us on how well we're doing on this case!"  Mulder said with mock enthusiasm.   

"Really?" Scully replied without looking up, "That's a first."   

"Any useful information on that drug?  Who could have access to it?"   

"The only people that seem to have access to dextrodiclamerol are the doctors who discovered it and the doctors at the FDA who are testing it.  Oh, and guess who used to work at the FDA until a week ago."  Scully moved the cursor to a link and clicked.  A picture of the black-bearded man came up.  Mulder read the caption, " 'Dr. Mark Johnson worked for the FDA until a week ago.' That's it?" Mulder asked.   

"Mulder, Mark Johnson was killed in a fire a week ago."

"WHAT?"  Mulder exclaimed.  "But we saw him two days ago, Scully, he tried to kill us., remember?"

"Yeah, well, if he died in that fire, that would make him a ghost."  She noticed Mulder's eyes widen. "Mulder, I'm kidding, he's not a ghost.  He probably staged the whole thing so everyone would think he was dead."

"I knew that's what you meant!"  Mulder responded.   

He was about to sit at his desk when he remembered that he left the file in the car so he went to get it.  While he was gone, the phone rang.  "Scully." She heard heaving breathing on the other end and said,  

"Mulder, cut that out, it's not funny!"   

She was about to hang up when the caller said, "He's burning just like her and you may be next."  The caller hung up.   

She just sat there for minute and thought of Mulder, most likely alone in the garage.  She ran out of the office with her gun in hand.  As Scully turned the corner, a figure jumped out, knocking her weapon to the floor.  He pinned her arms around her back.  "Ms. Scully," a hoarse voice said to her, "tell Mulder to watch his back if he wants us to work together."  He then put a rag over her mouth.  Chloroform!  She tried holding her breath but couldn't any longer and breathed it in.  Everything in front of her swam and she slumped to the floor unconcious.   

Mulder, for some reason, was skipping back to the office when he saw Scully on the floor.  He rushed to her side.  If she was dead, he'd never forgive himself for leaving her alone!  He checked her pulse, it was still strong.  He lightly tapped her cheek and called her name.  "Scully, can you hear me?"   

Her eyes fluttered open and she sees Mulder, concern in his face.  "Oh, my head, what happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," he answered as he helped her to their office, "I was in the garage, and as I was, um, walking back I found you on the floor."   

Scully sat down and Mulder stared at her.  "I'm fine, Mulder!"

"So...?"

"A few minutes after you left, the phone rang.  The man said, 'He's burning just like her and you may be next!'  I thought he was talking about you so I ran to the garage.  That's when someone grabbed me and told me that you'd better watch your back if you want to work together."   

"Work together?  With who, I wonder."  Mulder said.

"Mulder?"

"Yeah, Scully?"

"Why did you empasize the fact that you walked from the garage?"   

He cleared his throat, "No reason, I guess it just came out that way."  He paused for a minute before saying, "It's been a long night, let's go home an get some sleep."

Scully couldn't believe it, Mulder was suggesting sleep!  Of course, she wasn't going to protest.

Mulder's Apartment
February 22
1:05 am

Mulder was so tired that he couldn't sleep so he decided to watch an old movie that was on.  He turned his TV on but remembered that he still hadn't come up with a good plan to sneak everyone, including Skinner, down to the basement office for Scully's surprise birthday party.  After about a half an hour he satisfied himself with a plan and settled in for some long awaited sleep.
 

7:08 am

After putting his suit on, Mulder heard a knock at the door just as the phone rang.  He said, "Come in." knowing it was Scully.  She walked in as he answered the phone.  "Agent Mulder, this is Skinner, we've got another one.  Your black-beard man, Doctor Johnson."   

Mulder looked at Scully and mouthed what Skinner had just told him.  "We'll be right there, Sir."

Greengrove Park
7:45 pm

As they arrived at the crime scene, Scully spoke up, "This must have been the man the person on the phone was talking about."   

Marissa came up to them, a little relieved they were there.  "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, we kind of have a witness."  

"What do you mean "kind of"?"  Mulder asked.

"Well, that shorter man, talking with Officer Peters is a private detective hired by..." she looked at her notes, "your Doc Johnson but were not sure why and he's not saying why.  He only told us that they were talking and that Johnson just started shaking and screaming and it smelled as if he was on fire."

Scully told the detective that Johnson was supposedly killed in a fire a week ago.

Mulder walked to Officer Peters as Scully continued to tell Marissa the cause of Fowley's death and Johnson's work at the FDA.  "Agent Fowley was injected with a drug that the FDA hasn't approved yet.  They're still testing it and many don't believe what it can do."

"What's that?"

"Fight the AIDS virus by changing the acidity of the DNA strands causing the virus to disintegrate."

"Really?"  she said skeptically.  Although she didn't understand all of what Agent Scully had said, she had gotten the idea.

Mulder yelled for Scully and she ran over to him.  He handed her a photograph.  It was a picture of... ALEX KRYCEK!?  "Mulder, that's Krycek!  Where did it come from?"

"It was in Johnson's briefcase.  My guess is that Johnson hired that detective to take pictures of Krycek to turn him in, maybe even blame him for Diana's death.  See, he's holding dextro-what's-called in his hand."

"But why would Krycek be involved to begin with?  I mean, he SEEMS to want to be on our side, right?  Why kill Fowley?"  Mulder shrugged.

Marissa spoke up, "I'll put an APB out on this Alex Krycek."   

Mulder laughed, "That won't do any good, he'll just disappear into the woodwork, he's a rat."

"Then Agents, how do you suppose we catch him?"  

Scully answered, "He'll contact us soon, I'm sure."

FBI Building Garage
9:56 pm

Krycek sat patiently in his unmarked car waiting for Mulder.  He couldn't believe Johnson betrayed him!  He was definately going to have to be more careful next time.  That little weasel used to work for the FDA and used some experimental drug to kill Fowley.  All he wanted him to do was shoot her execution style and be done with it.  To top it all off Johnson had a private detective following him and taking pictures!  He'd have to locate that camera before it's too late.  It's kind of ironic that Johnson had left the drug in the theater and Krycek used it to kill him.  He turned off the car when he saw Mulder pull into a parking space.   

Mulder headed for the door to the building.  He got the usual feeling he got whenever Krycek was around.  In one swift motion, he grabbed his gun and turned around.  Sure enough, there was Krycek!  "BASTARD!!" Mulder growled, "Why did you kill Diana?"   

Krycek stayed where he was as Mulder came closer.  "Answer me, Krycek!"

"I was helping you, Mulder."  He said simply.  "Helping me?  How?"   

"Fowley tried to kill you and Scully because she was ordered to protect the Project.  He was testing her allegiance.  But I needed your help."  

Mulder, pointing his gun at Krycek's head,"Oh, so the only reason we're alive is because of you?" he said sarcastically.   

Krycek hestitated before asking, "You don't know, do you?"

"I don't know what?"

"Who Fowley was working for.  Think about it, Mulder, you're a smart guy.  How did she get the X-Files?  Along with Spender, Jr...?"   

Mulder started lowering his gun as the realization struck him.  Diana had been working for that black lunged son of a bitch this whole time!  Wait, Mulder thought, maybe Krycek was lying, he has before.  Mulder raise his weapon again.  "How do I know you're telling the truth, Krycek?"

"I guess you don't.  The real reason I'm here is to tell you that the Colonization will occur at the end of this year.  I'll need the help of you and Scully.  We'll be able to save ourselves if not the whole world."   

"What?" Mulder asked.   

"I'll keep you posted on the progress, that is, unless you refuse to help me."   

After Mulder let this all sink in, for some reason, he lowered his gun.  Krycek seized the opportunity to tackle him, knocking the weapon to the floor.  He then punched Mulder in the stomach.  Mulder doubled over trying to get up and catch his breath at the same time.  As Krycek was running to his car, Scully drove in.  She slammed on the breaks and ran out of the car after Krycek, gun in hand.  "KRYCEK, STOP!!"   

She fired two rounds but they harmlessly hit the back passenger doors as he sped off.  "Shit!"   

She turned around to Mulder who was sitting on the ground clutching his stomach, she ran to him.  "Mulder, are you okay?"

He nodded, catching his breath.  Scully handed him his gun and helped him up.  "Have a nice "friendly" chat with Krycek?"  

Mulder smiled weakly.  "I suppose Johnson was killed the same way as Diana?"

"Yes, he was.  What did Krycek want?"

"He supposedly needs our help when Colonization begins--"  She looked at him, wondering if she heard right.  "Colonization?!"

"Don't ask."  He paused for a moment before continuing.  "Scully he killed Diana."

"What? Why?"

"Because she was ordered to kill us by her boss, the Cancer Man."   

Scully couldn't believe it. True, she hadn't trusted Fowley from the start but she was working for him the whole time?  "I also figured that Krycek was the one that attacked you in the hall because Johnson was, uh," he clears his throat, "unavailable."

"Mulder that's plausible but we can't prove it."

He looked at her, confused.  "What about that picture of Krycek with the drug in his own hands?"

"It's gone."

"Gone? Where?"

"One of Detective McSquirrel's men 'misplaced' it, and Mulder--"   

He cut her off.  "DAMN!  How did I know that was going to happen?  I suppose the bodies are evidence enough.  You said you may have found fingerprints on Diana's shirt--"  Mulder stopped when he saw the expression on Scully's face.  

"Both bodies were stolen last night."

AD Skinner's Office
February 23
8:53 am

Skinner leafed through the report Mulder had handed to him.  He and Scully sat patiently while he read it.  Their superior put the folder down and looked at the two agents.  " I see there are still some unanaswered questions.  Like who killed Agent Fowley and Doctor Johnson and who stole their bodies from the morgue including the autopsy reports."

"That's correct, Sir," Scully answered, "Someone also broke into Agent Mulder's apartment and stole the report that had been faxed to him."

"I am going to have to get a pitbull," Mulder muttered.

Skinner asked Mulder, "What was Krycek's role in all of this?"   

"He said he needed my help and that Agent Fowley was working for the Smoking Man."

"Your help?"  He left that question in the air. "You don't sound too sure of Fowley working with the Smoking Man."

"I can't and will never trust Alex Krycek, Sir."

Skinner nodded.  "That's all for now Agents, you may go."

~~~

Mulder and Scully walked down the hall to the elevator.  "Hey Scully, I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday!  I'm sorry!"

Scully smiled, "That's okay Mulder."

They rode down the elevator in silence.  The doors opened and they head for their office.  For some reason, Mulder dropped to the ground as if he was in pain.  Scully looked over at him.  "Mulder?  Are you okay?"

As she was bending over him to figure out what was wrong, Skinner sneaked by without her noticing.  Mulder, however, was watching as he entered their office.  Good, he thought, it's time to party.  "Mulder? Mulder are you alright?  Mulder, answer me!"

He suddenly sat up.  Scully looked at him confused.  "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" He asked coyly.

"Are you okay?"   

He walked to the door for Scully and as she turned on the light she heard a group of people yell, "SURPRISE!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"   

She looked aroudn the room in shock.  All of her friends were there including her mother and Skinner.  Skinner?  That's why Mulder acted hurt, so Skinner could get by without her noticing.  "Oh my God, Mulder, I'm going to kill you!"  She said laughing and giving him a hug.   

"What Scully?" He asked grinning.   

Margaret Scully came up to her next.  "Happy Birthday, sweetheart."

"Thanks, mom."

Scully was so happy, this was the best birthday ever.  Now, she'd just have to come up with a good one for Mulder's birthday!

end