Isolation (7/16)
by ML 

email: msnsc21@yahoo.com
Rating: PG13 for mild violence and swearing

Type: Gen, het. M&S, a character/other pairing 
Disclaimer: You know the tune, sing it with me now: I don't own
them, I'm just borrowing for a while.  The original characters:
they're mine, all mine.

Author's Notes: This was written for the 2010 XF BigBang.  
I couldn't have done it without Wendy's expert beta.  Bouquets 
of thanks to her! That said, if there are any errors or omissions, 
that's my fault.  More notes at the end of the story.  

Summary: It's time to come out of hiding and get back to the
business of saving the world.  Mulder is looking for people to help
him and Scully do just that.  With so many of his former friends and
colleagues either missing or dead, he gets help from an unexpected
quarter -- and finds that he's not the only one who's ready to get
back into circulation.   

Takes place in 2008, after the events of "I Want to Believe".

We never gave up, we never will.  In the end, if that's the best
they can say about us, it'll do.
-John Fitzgerald Byers

x-x-x

Chapter Seven

Scully had already gone up to bed when the phone rang.  Mulder was
answering emails and doing a little searching of his own for
information about Morris Fletcher, though he was sure that Googling
him wouldn't turn up much.

The phone startled him.  He picked it up quickly, barking "Mulder"
into the mouthpiece.

"It's your friend," came the nasal and slightly sarcastic voice of
Morris Fletcher.  "I have a package for you.  Can you meet me at the
place?"

"What place?"

A theatrical sigh traveled over the ether.  "This isn't a game, you
know.  I have a delivery for you, and I'm taking it there.  And it's
going to need some attention.  Is there a doctor in the house?"

"Who is it and what did you do to him?"

"Is this a secure line?  I'm guessing not, so I'd rather not say. 
Just come, and if you have a doctor handy, bring her too."

x-x-x

Other than Mulder cursing every time another car got in his way,
there was no conversation on the way to the warehouse.  

"Mulder, you've got to calm down," Scully urged.  "It won't do him
any good if we get in an accident on the way there."

Mulder didn't slow down appreciably.  "What if he -- or they --
isn't okay, Scully?  I have no idea where Fletcher's been keeping
them or what experiments or tests they've been subjected to."

"No, we don't, and we can't do anything about it until we see him --
or them."  She put her hand on his arm.  "I'm concerned, too, Mulder.
Why did he ask you to bring a doctor?" 

"We'll know soon enough," Mulder said, as he took the last turn into
the parking lot almost airborne.  The headlights picked out an
unmarked white van, parked next to the loading dock.

Mulder slowed to a crawl and parked behind the van, blocking its
way.  The engine was running on the van.  Only its parking lights
were on.   Mulder turned off his engine and motioned for Scully to
open her door as he did the same.

"Did you ever get your permit to carry a concealed weapon?" he
whispered to Scully as they approached the driver's door of the van.

"I'm a doctor, not an FBI agent," Scully whispered back fiercely.

"Then get out your scalpel, Bones."  The door of the van opened and
Morris Fletcher stepped out.  Although he was dressed in his
customary suit, he'd loosened his tie.  He looked a little
disheveled. 

"Well, if it isn't the missus," Fletcher said with a grin.  "You're
even cuter than I remember." 

Mulder looked a question at Scully, who shrugged.  "I don't believe
we've met formally," she said icily.  He looked vaguely familiar,
only because Mulder had mentioned him in conjunction with the trip to
Groom Lake.  "I'm Doctor Dana Scully." 

"So you are," Fletcher said warmly.  "And I've got a patient for
you." He jerked his head at Mulder.  "You're going to have to move
your vehicle so I can open the back."

Mulder pulled around, parking next to the van.  Scully waited by the
back door of the van with Fletcher.  "I'm disappointed that you don't
remember me, Dana.  We had quite a little thing going in Vegas."

"You must have mistaken me for someone else."  

"Oh, I don't think so," Fletcher said with a leer.  Scully ignored
him.  He nodded to Mulder.  "Here's the first of three.  I'll help
you get him inside."  He opened the van doors.

Although the outside of the van was unmarked, inside it had all the
accouterments of an ambulance.  One dim fluorescent light blinked on
and they could make out a figure huddled under a blanket on a gurney.
There was a drip attached to his arm.   Something that sounded like a
snore issued from the figure.

Scully looked at Mulder.  He went back to the SUV and fetched her
medical bag.

"Why don't you step back here with me for a moment while Scully
checks him out?"  Mulder said while pulling Fletcher back from the
van.

Scully carefully climbed in and pulled the blanket off the
unconscious form.  She recognized the sharp angle of jaw and chin
first.  She turned his head carefully to see his face, her fingers
brushing across unfamiliar stubble on his head.

"Oh my God.  What did they do to you?" she whispered.  Tears started
in her eyes.  "Langly..."  She shook herself and quickly checked his
vital signs.  Breathing and heart rate normal.  Eyes equal and
reactive to light.  He tried to bat her away when she took his hand
to check his pulse.

"Why is he unconscious?  What did you give him?  It's not possible
to examine him thoroughly here.  I think he should be admitted to the
hospital."  

"No!" Fletcher said.  "No one can know he's here."  Langly seemed to
startle a little at the sound.

"Then I'll admit him under John Doe," Scully said.  "What did you
give him?  Did you administer the antidote yourself?"

"No," Fletcher said, looking indignant. "It was administered by a
trained professional.   Help me get him inside," Fletcher said to
Mulder.  "He's under sedation, and the reversal of the memory wipe is
already in progress.  The antidote was given about twelve hours ago. 
It's better if he's out during it."

"What did you give him?"  Scully asked again, standing in the door
of the ambulance.  Fletcher was not getting past her to touch this
man.

"It's proprietary," Fletcher huffed.  "Need to know basis only."

"I need to know," Scully insisted.  "What if he has a reaction to
it?  What can I give him to counteract it?"

"He won't, and nothing," Fletcher said.  "You just need to monitor
him, and make sure he doesn't wake up too soon."

"I thought you said that the procedure wasn't 100% certain to work,"
Mulder said.

"Did I?  The shorter term ones have been successful.  He might be a
little disoriented; I don't know how badly.  We haven't kept anyone
under this long before.  Come on, time's a-wasting."

Mulder grabbed Fletcher and pushed him face first against the SUV,
twisting his arm up against his back.  "Check him for weapons,
Scully," he said, and she hopped down from the ambulance to do so.

"Ooh, baby, what a thrill," Fletcher said sarcastically, "I swear
I'm not armed, but go ahead and frisk me anyway, you wench."

Scully ignored him.  She frisked him efficiently and then stepped
back.  "He's telling the truth about that, at least," she said.

"Okay, then you're coming with us, Fletcher." Mulder said.

"Where are we going?"

"We're taking Langly to the hospital," Scully said.  Let's go."

x-x-x

Scully made the arrangements with Admissions over the phone en route
to the hospital.  She'd arranged to be met there by her Neurology
Fellow,  Doctor Katy Chandra.  "The bed's ready," Katy said.  She
found a couple of orderlies who helped get Langly out of the van and
into the elevator up to Neurology.

If her staff was surprised to see Dr. Scully show up in the middle
of the night with an unconscious man, they kept it to themselves.  

Within minutes, under Scully's watchful eyes, they had Langly in a
bed, hooked up to monitors.  Scully drew his blood and wanted Katy
take it to the lab personally.  "Tell them it's from me," she
instructed Katy.  "I need results as soon as possible."

"Dr. Scully, wait." It was Lily Chavez, the R.N. assigned to Langly.
"I'll make sure the specimen gets to where it needs to go. Dr.
Chandra needs to finish the admission orders."

"What happened to him, Doctor Scully?"  Dr. Chandra asked.

"He was found in this state," Scully said.  "I don't yet know what
caused it."  She had to tread lightly here.  Langly needed to be
admitted, of that there was no doubt.  The problem was now what to
share with the staff.  It wasn't fair to embroil them in a cause they
knew nothing about.

Fortunately, for the moment Dr. Chandra was satisfied.  Scully was
sure that there would be more questions later.

Through it all, Langly appeared to be sleeping peacefully.  Once the
monitors were hooked up, they could all see that his vitals appeared
stable.    

Mulder thought that the best thing he could do is stay out of the
way; he and Morris hovered in the hallway until Scully came out of
Langly's room.

"How's he doing?" Mulder asked.  Usually he was on the receiving end
of Scully's ministrations when she was in full doctor mode, and not
fully aware of what she was doing; it had been a rare sight to see
her in action. 

"He seems to be stable," she said.  "I'll have to wait for the lab
results to see what's in his system.  I think I should run a CAT scan
too, Mulder.  I checked him for head trauma, and I don't think
anything invasive was done, but without a more thorough examination,
I can't be absolutely certain."

Mulder nodded.  He turned to say something to Fletcher, but he had
disappeared.  "Damn it!" he said.  "I don't want him going after
anyone else.  I'll call Skinner, see if he can help find him.  He
probably took the ambulance."   

Once he'd called Skinner, Mulder looked into Langly's room.  Scully
had pulled a chair next to Langly and was holding his hand.  Mulder
thought of the many times he'd awakened to Scully's hand in his and
smiled a little.  He'd been in reactive mode from the time Fletcher
had called; now he pulled another chair over next to Scully's.  He
scrubbed his face with his hands.  Scully turned and smiled a watery
smile at him.

"Is it really him?"  Mulder whispered.

"I don't know, Mulder.  It looks like Langly, except for the hair."

"And the beard," Mulder pointed out the wispy blonde goatee.

"I found these in his pocket," Scully produced a pair of wire-rimmed
eyeglasses, "and this."

She held out a dog-eared business card, which read:

Mintage Sound
Studio and Engineering Services
Roger Mintage, owner
(847) 555-2705

Mulder said, "I'll call Agent Doggett and see if he can find out
anything about this place."

~*~

Continued in Chapter Eight