*~*~*~*~*~*
Connected
by Lovesfox
*~*~*~*~*~*
lovesfox@rogers.com

Headers in Part 1

***
Part 10 of 12

Unknown Location
Tuesday


Scully watched helplessly as Mulder succumbed to the effects of
the injection.  Saw his eyes go blank and unfocused, saw his mouth 
open in a fruitless effort to speak.  Knew that he was trying to
say her name.

When his head listed to the side as he slipped into unconsciousness,
it was she who cried out his name.

"Mulder!"

Her heart was pounding, a fast furious beat that she could feel
in her throat, and her clenched hands were cramped to the point
of pain.  Yet she could not release them.

Mulder's eyes remained shut, his body limp.

What the hell was in that injection?  When the Doctor turned to
her, an eyebrow arching, and the guards visibly stiffened, she 
realized she had actually voiced the question out loud.  It did 
not matter; her query was ignored as Mulder's earlier queries
had been.

The Doctor merely shifted to stand at her side, and held out his 
hand for the next syringe.  Which was quickly given to him by
his attentive assistant.

Her gaze flicked to the machines -- to the EEG and the polygraph,
or the advanced versions thereof.  In order to test her and
Mulder's ability, their cooperation, while not guaranteed, was 
somewhat necessary.  The injection was most likely for the purpose 
of ensuring or even enhancing this cooperation.  Mind whirling 
with the possibilities, one such drug that leapt to the forefront 
was thiopental sodium.  Or as it was better known, sodium pentathol.  

Truth serum.

Often used as a sedative or anesthetic, depressing the central
nervous system and both slowing the heart rate and lowering the
blood pressure, it explained why Mulder was unconscious -- an
effect that usually only lasted minutes.  It also made the 
recipient lose inhibition and become quite talkative, though 
many scientists and researchers disputed the usage of thiopental 
sodium for the gathering of information.

With the unknown advanced technology their captors seemed 
possessed of, They might well have created their own hybridized
version of a truth serum.

Scully winced when her wrist was grabbed as Mulder's had been, 
and shivered when her arm was prepped for the injection, biting 
her lip to hold back an instinctive cry of protest.  A sharp stab, 
and the needle was in.  Unable to lift her eyes from the sight,
she imagined the liquid serum flowing through her veins, every 
beat of her heart pumping it to her organs.

Having watched Mulder fall under in less than a minute after his
injection, and having medical knowledge of the protocol of a 
dosage of thiopental sodium, she knew what was going to happen.  
Still, she tried not to go down without a fight, struggling to
keep her eyes open, straining her neck to lift her head up from
the cushioned chair, every muscle in her body coiled tight. 

Despite her efforts, her eyes rolled back in her head and slowly
closed, and her body sagged back as weakness infused her limbs.

"Noooooo--" she mumbled through lips that felt too thick for 
speech.  With the last of her strength, she attempted to open 
her eyes again, but her eyelids felt so...

...heavy...

She was drifting...

Moaning slightly, Scully turned her head to the side a little,
and tried again to open her eyes.  This time she was successful,
though she had to blink several times to clear her vision, and
a small smile curled her lips at her triumph.  Letting them slide
closed again, she took stock.  She felt loose and lazy, as if
she were detached from her body.  As well, her mouth was dry, 
and her limbs a bit heavy, not really in her control.

Voices -- low, mumbled voices -- caught her attention, and now
she had to struggle to focus her mind.  Where was she?  Rolling
her head to the other side and opening her eyes, she saw Mulder. 
Strapped to a chair and staring at her, his face appearing slack
for some reason.  She heard his voice in her head, discerned the
confusion and disorientation in that one word that was her name, 
and was startled, jolting in her seat.  Arms and legs straining
against restraints that held her strapped in, as Mulder was.

<<Scully?>>

Everything suddenly came back to her in a rush, and her head 
surged forward off the chair back, a gasp escaping her lips.
Their mind-reading, being grabbed outside the Gunmen's.  The 
injection, trying to fight the effects of whatever had been in 
the syringe -- the serum she had postulated was sodium pentathol 
of some kind.  

Searching the room to the best of her limited ability, she 
noted that the two guards were back in position at the door, 
while the technicians and Doctor were once again gathered 
around the machines.  Watching her and Mulder.  Scully realized 
then that some time had passed since she had been injected, 
though she had no way of determining how many minutes.  She 
did not think it had been longer than a few.

Easing back into the chair, she looked at Mulder once more.  
He was still watching her, his expression somber.  She heard
him call to her again, though the words seemed faint and far
away, not clear as they had been.  Another sign that their
power was fading, she mused.

<<Scully...you okay?>>

She kept her response simple, even as she was remembering that 
they shouldn't be communicating through mind-talk now, that it 
was dangerous to do so.

<<Yes>>

Though she wasn't really okay, all things considered.  But 
she knew he'd understand, and that he felt the same way.  

There was no chance to further their 'conversation', or to
try and warn him not to mind-call to her again, for the
Doctor deemed it time to begin.  At a brief command from the
older man, one of the technicians retrieved yet another piece
of equipment -- what appeared to be a laptop -- sitting on its 
own metal table with wheels.  It was rolled into place over 
Mulder's chair and positioned such that her partner could see 
the screen, while she could not.

Without preamble, the Doctor spoke.  "Images will appear on
the screen in front of you, Agent Mulder.  You will transmit 
them to Agent Scully via your newly acquired skill, and she
will verbalize each image as she receives it."  

His face had remained expressionless through his recital, but 
as he delivered his next words, it grew slightly sinister.  
"Failure to comply is not acceptable, and will be dealt with 
accordingly."

An icy chill skated its way down her spine at the implicit
threat, and she fought to hold back the resultant shiver.

The Doctor's lips curled in the barest of smiles.  "Perhaps
a small demonstration of the result of your non-compliance." 

Scully barely registered the sharp nod he gave, as fire
tingled its way up her arm and through her body, originating 
from her index finger, covered by the electrode.  She gasped, 
her heart thundering in her chest once again, and instinctively 
tried to jerk away from the source.  Uselessly, of course --
the restraints served their purpose well, as intended.

Across from her, Mulder reacted similarly, though he voiced
his pain and protest out loud.  "Christ!"

The pulse had lasted mere seconds, but it had left her feeling
weak and nauseous.  And frightened out of her mind.  Eyes
fluttering closed, she struggled to regulate her breathing,
and barely heard the Doctor's next words.

"Shall we begin?"

***

Shaking off the effects of the surge of electricity he had
been subjected to -- similar to that of the stun gun, yet 
not quite the same intensity -- Mulder's concerned gaze 
scanned his partner.  Her eyes were closed, but as if she 
had felt his attention, they opened to meet his.

In that unique way they had always had of communicating 
silently, long before the blessing, or curse, of their mind-
reading ability, Scully assured him she was all right.  He 
nodded once, a barely-there gesture of his head, telling her 
the same.

And then in another startling moment of clarity, he mused 
about the nature of the drug they had been given.  Having
assumed it was to aid in the testing procedure, perhaps a
truth serum of sorts, he was somewhat surprised at how
unaffected his ability to reason seemed.  Which led him to
consider their choices regarding the tests.

Chancing a mind-send, Mulder asked her what they should do.

<<Cooperate or not, Scully?>>

Her gaze flicked to the machines and back.  A message of
its own.  Still, she sent a reply.

<<Too risky>>

It *was* a risk.  He gave her a tiny nod in agreement, 
signaling that they should comply.  For he realized that 
he and Scully had no idea of the possible consequences of 
failing to cooperate, no assurances they would walk out 
of there alive.  Or whether being successful during the 
tests would be beneficial or detrimental to their health 
or life expectancy.  Then again, he had noted the use of 
the word 'small' in regards to the Doctor's demonstration, 
as the man had labeled the jolt they had each just received.  
Which meant the jolts could, and would, get stronger if 
they did not cooperate.  

And the time to cooperate, or not, was apparently now.

The laptop that had been placed in front of him had been
showing a bright blue screen, but at another signal from 
the Doctor, the first image appeared.

Deliberate choice or ironic coincidence, it was a picture 
of a red fox.  Fighting a smirk, Mulder fixed the image and 
the words in his mind, met Scully's gaze, and sent both.

Scully blinked, and not surprisingly, the barest of smiles
touched her lips.  She hesitated briefly before uttering,
"Fox.  Red fox."

Focusing on the screen again, he watched the next image
appear, frowned slightly when it did, wondering if it had
been chosen for its possible meaning to Scully.  Jesus 
Christ on the Cross.  Taking a deep breath and exhaling 
slowly, he did the same as before, and sent it to Scully.

He heard her sharp inhalation, watched her eyes narrow a
little.  Her voice was tight when she spoke.  "A crucifix."

He could sense her unease, knew she was getting distracted
by it.  Holding her gaze for a few seconds, he tried to 
convey a message telling her to relax, without using their 
mind communication.  After a moment, she blinked, and then 
closed her eyes as she took a slow, deep breath, held it, 
and released it with equal slowness.  His empathy had been 
outwardly displayed by his unconscious mirroring of her 
tense pose; he allowed himself to settle back into the chair
when he saw she had done the same.

The next image was awaiting him on the screen.  The Statue 
of Liberty.  

It took her a little bit longer with this one, and though 
they had agreed to cooperate, Mulder couldn't help wondering 
if she was hesitating on purpose.  Her brow was crinkled 
slightly as she concentrated, but she stated it at last in 
her normal, clear tones.  "Statue of Liberty."

Glancing quickly at the Doctor, Mulder was unable to read
the man's expression, or glean any impression whatsoever as
to what the man was feeling or thinking.  So far, their
accuracy was 100 percent, but the testing was still in its
very early stages, too soon to be of significance.

The fourth picture was of a seashore.  After sending it on,
he watched as Scully hesitated yet again.  And grew concerned
as her silence continued on.  Her frown lines were back,
deeper than before, and she had her head tilted slightly
to one side, her eyes unfocused as she stared at him.
Clearly concentrating.  And not succeeding -- this was not
an attempt at hindering the testing.

Flicking his gaze to the screen and back to her, he fixed
the image in his mind again and re-sent it.  Come on, Scully,
he willed silently.

Her uncertainty was clear when she finally spoke, the words
quiet and stumbling.  "Water.  Water...of some kind."

Mulder tensed again, expecting to see her jolt from the
shock, to *feel* her pain through the link.  Or to be jolted
himself as well.  His gaze shot nervously from her to the 
Doctor, whose expression appeared merely contemplative.  
Neither of them were zapped however, and he breathed a shaky 
but quiet sigh of relief.

That relief was soon wrenched from him when their link failed 
them completely.  

Image number five was that of a corn field -- again one that 
left Mulder wondering if it had been used deliberately, as
a sardonic sneer at Scully and him.

Because of her difficulty with the previous image, he took 
a moment to breathe slowly and deeply, to clear his mind, 
before sending the image on to her.

Scully's carefully blank expression gave way to curiosity 
and impatience.  Seconds later it bled into confusion and
panic.  He watched her breathing accelerate, watched her
shake her head slightly from side to side, as if attempting
to dislodge the confusion.

Finally, she admitted with fearful defeat, "Nothing.  I'm
not...I don't see anything."

There was no warning; he had not even formulated a thought
as to the repercussions of this missed connection.  A
surge of electricity zinged along his arm, through his body.
Had his mouth opening in a silent rictus of pain and his 
spine arching, lifting him up from the chair only to fall 
back with a weak groan when the pulse ended.

For a moment, he felt like a gibbering fool -- his lips numb
yet tingling, his tongue thick in his mouth.  Head lying
slackly to one side, chin touching a shoulder, slumped in
the chair against his bonds.

A quiet verbal warning from the Doctor had him opening his 
eyes and straightening up.  Across from him, Scully slowly
did the same.

And they started once more.

The next image was of a snowy mountain range.  Though it in 
no way resembled the place where Duane Barry had taken Scully 
over five years ago, Skyland Mountain came to mind.  Mulder
frowned and pushed that bitter memory away, to concentrate 
on the picture before him.  Lifting his head, he met Scully's 
gaze.

From the blank yet frightened look in her eyes, Mulder knew 
their ability had failed them again.

The Doctor gave Scully only seconds, prompting her with an
impatient, "Agent Scully?"

"I can't--"

She barely got the words out when she was hit with another
jolt of electricity, her back arching and lifting her partly
from the chair.

Mulder was not zapped.  His punishment was to watch Scully 
suffer.  He would have preferred the electricity, gladly 
taken on hers as well as his own.  

It seemed to last forever, but was in reality perhaps only
five seconds.  Scully slumped into the chair when it was 
over, her eyes closed and chest rising and falling with 
rapid pants for air.

She was accorded little recovery time either.  The Doctor's
next words were as impatient as his last prodding.  "Next 
image, Agent Mulder."

A quick glance at the screen showed another image, which
Mulder ignored.  Glaring at the Doctor, he yelled, "She 
needs a moment, damn it!" 

This time he thought his brain would fry.  The jolt of fire 
that began in his finger and raced through him had his body 
jerking like a marionette -- a hobbled marionette.

***
End Part 10 of 12