Title: Tree of Knowledge Author: RM >lebontrager@iname.com< Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to CC, 1013, and Fox. No fringe is intended. SPOILER::::::Biogenesis ~~~~ Tree of Knowledge ~~~~ "The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. . .The serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" Genesis 2:9, 3:4-5 ~~~~ Flashes like lightning flared through her mind. Flower garden. Kitchen sink. Screaming. Paper. Baby. Cherry Coke. Sea. Mulder. Dana Scully licked her lips and looked up from the the ocean's hypnotic waves, blinking in the sunlight. What had that been? All that metal, all that Navajo scribbled into the sea, the strange creeping along the back of her neck, like a call. A call. She shivered again and glanced back the way she had come, noticing the emptiness of the shore, how her footsteps had already been washed away. She was stranded here, in this Coast that seemed more golden than Ivory, with its hot sand and hot sun and thick wind. Her hands clenched around her sundress, and she wiggled her toes in the surf, trying to breathe deeply and cleanly without fainting. She wasn't sure what exactly she'd seen, but it had set off a fallout of information in her head, like pressing fast forward on a video you'd never seen before, so that when the pictures flew by, you had no idea what they were. She was left with impressions. The importance of getting Mulder out of that padded room and into this country was more than ever in her mind. She knew that Diana was bad. Knew that him staying locked up was bad. He could really go nuts, stuck in there. He had to finish this process, this . . .Becoming. Becoming something else. She had read the word in a Dean Koontz novel, talking about people who became more and more animal-like because of a gene swapping virus. Mulder was Becoming. Becoming more human, more alien. It made her afraid. Believing made her afraid. Where would she be when Mulder was another Gibson Praise? The sun began to tighten her skin and she glanced at her arms, noticing how red they already were, how hot with the afternoon. Looking back up, her eyes picked out the native diggers coming toward her, their faces dark and shining against the dull haziness of the sand. She walked forward, picking her way along the coastline, careful not to cut herself on any of the tools or rocks or pieces of glass. It was beautiful. And scary. This was something very new. Something she didn't want to have to think about right now. Mulder. She had to take Mulder here. Right now, right now. He was going to die if she didn't get him over here. ~~~~ She was watching the halls carefully, but her mind was somewhere else. Her mind was still back on that sand, with the water caressing her toes, and the huge metal disk before her eyes. She was there, and she couldn't fight her way back. The psychiatry wing had one locked door, and no elevators leading to this floor, so she had to bluster her way past the nurse. Once inside, she walked quickly down the left hall, away from Mulder's padded cell, trying to throw off the women at the nurses' station, just in case they were the observant type. The hall eventually circled back around to where he was, so she walked and watched, licking her lips in nervousness. They would have to do this very quickly. She looked in the observation room, and rejoiced in finding it empty. It didn't look like anyone had been in for awhile, either, so she was relatively safe for a few minutes. Peering through the window, she could see the moniters, and the fuzzy image of her partner, rocking back and forth in time to his pain. She shivered and was thrust back to the oceanside, watching the waves glide over the metal disk, feeling it reach out and touch her mind. Scully pulled back from the door with a shake of her head, trying to bring herself to concentrate. She had to do this right the first time. The hall was deserted as she picked the lock, and thankfully, no alarms sounded. She was pretty sure this ward didn't have that kind of security system, but she wasn't confident of that. The door creaked open and she slipped inside, holding her breath as Mulder came into view. He sprang to his feet like a cat, his legs powerful and fast, rushing her with deadly intent on his face. She stepped back, and he halted. Inches from her body, breathing hard, Mulder stood poised. She took in a quick breath, fighting down the urge to panic. "Mulder." His eyes cleared for a moment, and his lips parted, as if he were remembering something. "It's me." Almost against her own will, her arm reached forward and her hand encirlced his wrist. She felt a jolt ride through them both and once again, she was back There, on the Ivory Coast, seeing the Unbelievable, basking in its living presence. Mulder tilted forward and Scully caught him before he could fall. He was slumped in her arms, heavy and prone, as if he had been on edge for days, and only with her there did he feel safe enough to relax. "Mulder. We have to get out of here." Feeling his forehead, she was apalled at his fever, and pushed him back to the wall, needing to see his eyes again. "Mulder. . .you're sick. I need to get you out of here." "Drugs....lots..." She frowned. "They've given you lots of drugs?" He nodded and sighed, then closed his eyes. When they opened again, he was that same on-edge, tightly wound man she had seen before. His eyes were on fire within hers, and she stepped back. "Have to get out of here," he whispered harshly, grabbing her wrists. The contact made her jump, but she pulled him with her to the door, praying ferverently that no one was in the hall. They stumbled into a medical supply room, and she pulled out clothes from her briefcase, placing them gently into his shaking hands. "I can't. . ." he muttered and shook his head again. His energy levels were swinging from high to low, and she saw that he was in one of those downward spirals again. They'd been giving him some major drugs, trying to keep him from Becoming, she was certain of that. Keeping him away from the artifact, and away from the Ivory Coast, they'd been able to make him confused and unstable. Scully handed him some blue boxers, faded with washing, and did her best not to look while he slid them on. When those were in place, she unsnapped his specially-made-for-nuts hospital gown, and dropped it to the floor. Mulder raised his eyebrow and gave her a look, which made her feel surprisingly better about his condition. He steaded himself by placing his hands on her shoulders, and she helped him put his jeans on. "Lift," she commanded, and his right foot rose to let her slip the pant leg on. Then she yanked them up and zipped and buttoned his fly, smiling despite herself. Just when she thought he was starting to regain his senses, his knees buckled and he dropped like lead to the floor. She caught his head before it could crack against the wall, and then eased him back. "Sorry. . ." he mumbled and his eyes closed wearily. "No, Mulder. You have to stay awake. We have to get out of here before they notice you're gone." He nodded and let her wrestle his grey T-shirt on over his head and through his arms. "Don't have too much fun..." he admonished, but his words were slurring again. ~~~~ She grimaced and looked again at the nurses' station. "Okay, Mulder. Stay awake here. You're going to have to duck down beside me and go through the door when I do." She motioned for him to get on his hands and knees and then strode for the locked door, looking as nonchalant as possible. The high rim of the desk offered enough cover so that Scully could walk normally through the door while Mulder slipped out with her. The nurse sitting beside the button to buzz them through glanced up briefly, then gestured to the log for Scully to sign out. She signed out under the fake name she had used to get inside, then smiled politely as the woman nodded. She felt Mulder's hot, quick breath on her thigh, and then his fingers gripping her leg tightly. Glancing back, she saw the edge of a white coat through a patient doorway, her alarm rising as the man began to back out of the doorframe, still talking. The lock buzzed loudly in front of her and she whipped around, then strode forward, feeling almost ridiculous as Mulder tagged along behind her like a puppy. She slowed to let him go ahead of her and then pulled the door shut behind them just as the doctore turned and started in their direction. Scully hauled Mulder to his feet and led him through the halls, feeling her heart still thumping wildly and her palms sweating in fear. She had to get him back to that thing. Back to the Ivory Coast. ~~~~ She couldn't remember now how they had gotten here, only that she had slept only five hours in five days, and that Mulder went from hyper active and dangerous to sluggish and confused. She had made him rest somewhere in Belize, before getting on a plane to cross the ocean and land in Africa. Land in Ivory Coast. He seemed much better, after sleeping off all those drugs, and he told her that the artifact was pulling him closer, enticing him to its metal lips. Mulder kept asking her how she had known he needed to get here, and then he would ask her why she hadn't come earlier, when his voice was raw for screaming her name. "I knew you'd understand, Scully. I knew you were the only one who would believe me." She shivered as the car bounced on the rutted dirt road, then took his hand in hers, needing that connection. "Whatever happens, Mulder. . .don't leave me." He glanced to her with surprise, eyes still somewhat hazy. "I wouldn't Scully. . ." She turned her head away from him, looking out the dusty window to the stunted trees and squat huts. "Scully." "Just . . .just don't." It was all she said for the rest of the ride. ~~~~ The sun was hot again. The waves were comforting, just as the sea would always be comforting to her. She held Mulder's hand tightly as he breathed in the sight of the disk, long and metal and stretching out beneath sand and the rocky coast. He sighed and she felt his fingers twitch between hers, then sort of dance along the back of her hand, as if he were beating out a rhythm. She watched his face as he transformed, as he Became. She still wished they could have brought along a lot of medical equipment to moniter him while this happened. She didn't trust it. Studying his face, a memory verse from Sunday school popped into her head. It seemed as if Mulder was being breathed into, as if he was being filled with a spirit of knowledge and power she had never seen before. She shivered as his eyes rolled beneath his closed lids. Gibson Praise. . .that area of the brain that people were referring to divinely, Diana's involvement with that case, and then with Mulder. Hearing voices. He said he'd been hearing voices. Gibson heard voices. She glanced warily to him again, then tightened her grip on his hand. He stood knee deep in the ocean, his feet planted firmly in the center of the disk, where it formed an etched cirlce, and she was just outside it, shivering despite the sun. Had it been minutes or hours? Days or years? "Scully. . ." Startled, she looked over at him, saw his lips pursed, her name still dancing on his tongue. "Come. . .come here." He was alive, breathing in this knowledge, taking the fruit of the tree and devouring it with thoughtful adoration. "Scully." She stepped into the cirlce, felt his arms embrace her, sliding smoothly around her stomach, pressing her body into his back. His lips came to her neck and glanced across her skin. She entwined her fingers with his, feeling the powerful beat of his heart behind her and the nudge of knowledge against her mind. Before she let her eyes close, she remembered. Eve offered the fruit to Adam. This time, Mulder was inviting her in. Would the consequence be death? ~~~~ end adios RM