Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, and the Cigarette Smoking Man are all property of
Chris Carter and a bunch of scary lawyers.  I use them purely for
entertainment value.  Please don?t sue me.

Author?s Note: I thought this up after seeing ?Leonard Betts?.  At the end of
that episode Scully is attacked by a man who needs cancerous tumors to
survive.  She kills him, but is obviously upset about it. Then that night she
gets a nosebleed (or at least that?s what I thought happened). Does she have
leukemia?  We will have to wait and see.  This is a story about what might
happen if she does.  Sorry if this story looks kinda funky, I have a weird
word processor.

I would like to dedicate this to Karen Burke. Get well soon, girl!

		

				Unexpected Encounters	
					by LillieD

	?I can make it to the door myself, Mulder.? Scully told her partner who was
looking at her anxiously.  She smiled at him.  Mulder had been so sweet
lately, ever since she told him about the nosebleed and the tests.  She could
cope by herself, but it felt good to know that he was there is she needed
him.
	?Are you sure you?ll be all right?? Mulder wrinkled up his brow, and
visually examined her for any signs of giving in. There weren?t any. Scully
held fast, and after a minute, he let her get out of the car and watched as
she walked over to the low, brick building. The sun shown weakly through the
overcast sky, and a very gentle breeze ruffled Scully?s vivid copper hair as
she opened the door and stepped calmly into the clinic
	Mulder prided himself on having found the clinic.  It was a private practice
set up especially for cancer patients.  It was on the expensive side, but
Scully could get better treatment here than anywhere else, and when it came
down to it, that was what really mattered.
	Mulder couldn?t imagine what the world would be like without Scully.  He
didn?t want to imagine it.  He just wanted her to get better.
	
	?The results from the tests indicate that our primary diagnosis was
correct.? The doctor had a dark, bushy beard, was slightly overweight, and
sat behind a desk in the examining room while Scully shivered in a hospital
gown on the table.  
	?So you are confirming that I have chronic myelogenous leukemia?? Scully
took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.  She had been expecting this, but the
news was still hard.
	?Yes, you definitely have leukemia.  Now we must discuss treatment.?  Doctor
Patterson must be used to breaking news like this, though Scully. He seems
remarkably calm and sympathetic.
	And Scully was right.  David Patterson had told many people that they had
cancer before, and many of their results had not even looked as good as Agent
Scully?s,  if you can ever call a diagnosis of cancer ?good?.  
	?Well, cancers aren?t my specialty, but the treatments for leukemias are
radiation therapy, and chemical therapy, correct?? Scully did her best to
retain the perfect veneer of calmness that she had created after many years
medical school, and work in the darker side of the FBI.  This was different
though.  This wasn?t someone else, it was herself.  It was like being
abducted all over again.  Once more, Scully had no control over her life and
death.
	?I keep forgetting that you are a doctor, Miss Scully,? Dr. Patterson smiled
wryly, ?You have done your reading on bone marrow cancer, haven?t you?  Yes,
for many patients, chemo and radiation treatment can halt the growth
process.?
	?What do you mean, ?For many patient??? Scully tilted her head to the side,
letting her hair slide to her shoulder, and looked suspiciously at the
doctor.
	The doctor looked straight back. ?In cases of chronic myelogenous leukemia,
the radiation and chemo only slow down the process.  To fully stop the
cancer, a bone marrow transplant as well as the other two procedures is
necessary.? Oh God, Scully thought. Transplant and chemo and radiation. ?To
perform a transplant, we must first find a match for your bone marrow.  It
says in your file here that you have living relatives??
	?Well, yes.  I have two brothers, and my mother.? There was a hollow, cold
sensation in Scully?s stomach.  She stared fixedly at the wall with Dr.
Patterson?s diplomas on it, and swallowed hard.
	?Good.  Would it be possible for them to come here to be tested to see if
any of them match??
	?Yes, yes, of course.? Scully answered, but she couldn?t look at him.  It
was all coming together. She had been right from the first.  When that Betts
man had attacked her in the ambulance, it hadn?t sunk in immediately what he
meant when he said, ?You have something that I need.?  Then she realized that
he had been avoiding killing people unless he needed to protect, or to ?feed?
himself.  He shouldn?t have needed to attack her. She never saw him, only
what he had left behind, unless...she had one of the cancers that he needed
to survive.  
	Mulder hadn?t understood her silence afterwards.  He must have thought that
she was feeling guilty, but he was wrong. She was scared.  
	Then that night her nose started to bleed. She woke up with blood dripping
down her throat.  That wasn?t too alarming in itself, except that it wouldn?t
stop. And she knew something to add to it. Suddenly Scully began to remember
how she had been so tired lately, the way her bones ached. At the time she
had thought it was just stress, but now she knew it wasn?t.  She had
leukemia, and she was dying.
	Dr. Patterson flipped through his papers, ?The disease has been progressing
for some time now,  it is much further along than I would have suspected.? He
noticed that his patient was not responding.  ?Miss Scully, are you all
right?? He leaned forwards.
	Of course, she wasn?t. Scully shook herself. ?What were you saying about my
treatment??
	Dr. Paterson studied her for a minute before responding. ?Well, I think that
we should start you on an oral chemotherapy today, and then attempt to find a
marrow donor.?
	?Start me today? Isn?t that a bit abrupt?? Scully was shocked.
	?I?m afraid so.  You have had this disease for quite a while without knowing
it, and the sooner we halt it the better.? She sat still, while this new
piece of information sunk in.
	A sudden chill swept through Scully as a thought occurred to her. ?What if
we can?t find a donor?? 	
	?We?ll find one.?
	?But what if we don?t?!??
	?Then I would say that it doesn?t look very promising.? The doctor
reluctantly replied.
	?Thank you for being frank with me.?


	Dana Scully slowly walked back to the waiting room, with the bitter taste of
the chemo still on her tongue. The doctor had told her to wait for an hour
after the pill to see if there would be any problems. Great, she thought, I
really need more problems.  A sick feeling swept through her in a wave, but
it wasn?t from the medicine.
	The waiting room of the clinic consisted of several uncomfortably
hard-looking chairs, a reception desk, and a low table strewn with
dilapidated women?s magazines.  There was another patient in pea-green
hospital gown like hers, sitting in the corner. He had the one copy of
Newsweek up in front of his face.  Scully sighed, picked up the least beat-up
of the magazines, and sat down a chair away from the man.
	Scully flipped through the periodical, and finding nothing worthy of notice,
reached for another.  At that exact second, the man put his own magazine down
to turn the page. Scully gasped.
	?YOU?? She whispered hoarsely.
	?Hello, Agent Scully.? The man who Mulder called Cancer Man looked back with
a tired expression on his face.
	?What are you doing here?? Scully?s blue eyes were wide with shock.  This
man, who she knew to be personably responsible for more assassination, coups,
and government cover-ups than she could count on both hands, was sitting next
to her in a doctor?s office.
	?I would guess for the same thing that you are, Agent Scully,? he held up
his arm, and Scully saw the IV tube slowly dripping chemicals into it. ?Your
partner?s nickname for me, Cancer Man, or sometimes ?black lunged bastard?,
is more appropriate than he thought.?
	?You?re dying??
	?Lung cancer.  I?m waiting for an organ donor, but there are some things you
can?t speed up no matter what your connections are.? He gave a weak attempt
at a smile, but stopped halfway.  Scully just continued to gape at him. 
	?You?re probably thinking that I deserve this.  And you are right.  After
all of the things that I have done, I deserve to die. I deserve the most
painful death imaginable, and I would welcome it.  But what if I can?t even
find peace there??
	?What do you mean?? Scully couldn?t believe that this was happening. She and
Mulder had spent the last four years trying to uncover the secrets of this
man who was now practically confessing to her.
	?I?ve used up my whole life doing what I thought was right, what was best
for the country, and never thought about myself.  You might not think it was
right, but I did.  Now I look back though, and wonder if I was doing the
right thing.  Would the world have been a better place if not for me, or
would there just have been someone worse instead?  I can?t stop thinking
about what I?ve done.  I am a haunted man, Agent Scully.? Even though he said
her name, Scully had the feeling that he was talking to himself as much as to
her.
	?I have done and seen horrible things.  Things that no man should see, but I
have had to deal with them and control them.  Now I wonder what it was all
for.? He paused and glanced at Scully, who had leaned towards him to listen.
She realized that his deep, smooth sounding voice was weighed down by
something inside.  He was guilty.  A terrible guilt over all that he had done
was choking him.  She tried to say something, but no words would come.
	?What has come from my life, Agent Scully?  The people who?s ideals I have
risked my life for willingly, won?t even put out a hand  to help me now.  I
am nothing, just an agent like yourself, a pawn...? he stopped, overcome by a
fit of coughing.  Without realizing what she was doing, Scully put out her
hand, and rested it on the man?s shoulder. Slowly, he sat back up, gasping
for breath, and turned to face her.
	?Thank you,? he whispered.
	A wave of sorrow and nausea swept over Scully at once.  Here was a man who
went against everything that she and Mulder fought for,  but she still felt
sorry for him.  
	As if sensing what she was thinking, the man said, ?I gave up my future
happiness for a life of danger.  Now that I am old and no longer serve the
purpose, I can be discarded. No one will morn my passing, practically no one
will even know I am gone.  That pathetic Frohike and his Lone Gunmen have
told you about what I have done, haven?t they?  But did they tell you what my
hopes and dreams were?  Did they tell you what my secret aspirations are?  Of
course not. They don?t even know what my real name is.  And they don?t care
either.? The man sounded so bitter that Scully almost winced.
	?I can see that you are wondering why I am telling you this.? He didn?t look
at her. ?I know that you don?t care about me either, and after what I  have
done to you, I?m not surprised. But you do care about Agent Mulder.?
 Scully?s expression of pity turned once again to surprise.  How could he
know? She tried to interrupt, but he pressed on.
	?I look at Agent Mulder and see myself.  He is possessed by his own cause,
like I was once, but there is a difference.  He has you.  If it weren?t for
you he would have been lost in it long ago. It is important that you stay
with him.  He needs you, no matter how it seems. You are the one focus in his
life.  Without you, he will self-destruct, and that prospect frightens me.?
	Scully tried to read in his face what he was thinking, but his creased
features were a mask of indifference and coldness. Without a word he got up
and, dragging his IV behind him, shuffled off down the hall to the doctor?s
offices. Scully let him go in silence.  He turned to go into a room, and
looked back at her for an instant, and in that fraction of time she saw that
mask drop, and saw the painful, lonely inside of a forgotten man.
	Scully wanted to go after him, and ask what he meant by his words, but then
Dr. Patterson came in, and handed her the neatly folded dark suit that she
had worn to the clinic.
	?You can go and change now, Miss Scully.?

	Scully left the building in a daze.  Everything inside of her was swirling
around, and the more she tried to make sense of it, the more it shattered
apart. What she had felt strongly before was confused with new, shifting
emotions.
	?SCULLY!!? She stopped, and turned to see Mulder getting up out of his
parked car and running after her. ?What happened?? he asked as he came up to
her side. ?You look so pale.  What are the results??
	?Chronic myelogenous leukemia. I?m on chemotherapy, waiting for a marrow
donor.? She couldn?t look at his face.  She didn?t want to see his reaction,
so she examined the pavement between them.
	?Oh God,? Mulder murmured. There was a silence while each one digested what
had been said.  Finally Mulder asked, ?Can I give you a ride home? I can?t
think of what else to do right now.? Now Scully looked up at him and saw her
own features reflected in his tormented hazel eyes. Was she really that thin
and pale?
	?No, thank you, Mulder.  I would like to be alone for a while.  I saw a park
over across the street. I?m going to take a walk, and then get a taxi home.?
She shut her own eyes and took a deep breath. Mulder contemplated her for a
second and then reached out and put a gentle hand on her arm. Then he pivoted
on his heel and left without a word.  
	Scully watched as the Taurus pulled out of the parking lot, and then walked
across the street to the shade of the trees.  It was just starting to get
dark,  but Scully didn?t notice.  A gentle wind stirred her hair, and she
closed her eyes and breathed the sweet smell of fresh green things.  As she
wandered through the gravel paths, Scully began to feel calm inside for the
first time since that morning.  Her head was still swirling, but she felt a
strange sense of peace in her that was difficult to really concentrate on. It
as there, though. 
	The wind began to pick up and it blew her hair out behind her.  The wild,
free feeling of it made a kind of bubble of joy rise up inside of her.
 Suddenly she wanted to leap and sing out.  Instead she started running.  She
lost both of her shoes, and when the small stones in the paths began to dig
into her feet, she moved over and ran on the grass. 
	She ran as if there was something behind her that she could escape if she
tried hard enough. Everything began to twist up inside again, and Scully
realized that she was becoming hysterical, but she only ran harder.  She was
outrunning her past, the cancer, the man in the waiting room, and... Mulder.
 She was trying escape her feelings for Mulder. It began to rain, then to
pour.  Scully stopped dead in her tracks. She threw her head back and looked
up at the rain.  It came down cold on her face, and all at once she felt like
crying instead of laughing, but she was back to earth now, and knew what to
do.

	?I?m coming!? Mulder yelled as he rushed to answer the frantic pounding on
his door.  As he opened it, he saw Scully standing alone in the hallway,
soaking wet. ?Scully!  You?re drenched!? He stepped aside as she walked into
the entryway.  She didn?t acknowledge him, only stared straight ahead like a
zombie. ?Scully?? 
	Then she turned to him. ?Hold me,? she said, looking up at him pleadingly.
	Mulder was slightly taken aback for a second, but he willingly wrapped his
arms around her and pulled her close.  He could feel her heartbeat through
her jacket, and when she began to tremble, he only held her tighter. He had
dreamed of having her in his arms so many times, but not like this.  Not when
she was, he could barely even think the word, dying.  Mulder buried his nose
in her damp copper hair, and inhaled the sweet smell of herbal shampoo.  But
there was a scent underneath.  It smelled like Scully. 
	?Let go,? Mulder didn?t mean  for her to let go of him, and she didn?t.  He
wanted her to let go of everything that was trapped inside of her.  He wanted
her to let it out so that she could be free.  Scully started to cry silently
on his shoulder.
	?I love you, Mulder. Oh God, I love you so much.?
	?Shhh,? Mulder whispered. ?I love you too.?
	?I?m so scared, Mulder.?
	?I know.  I am too.?
	?Promise that you won?t ever leave me.? She turned her face up to his,
begging, and he could see the tears running down from her beautiful blue
eyes.
	?I promise.  Just cry now.  You?ll be O.K..? And he clung to her, while sobs
wracked her small body.  They both stood in the hallway and wept.

Epilogue:
	?Agent Mulder?? a doctor in surgical scrubs stepped out of the elevator into
the lobby of the hospital.
	?Yes! I?m right here.  Is she all right?? Mulder practically jumped out of
his chair.
	The doctor smiled. ?Yes, the transplant was successful.  If all goes well,
she should make a full recovery.?  
	Mulder slid back into his chair with a sigh, ?Oh, thank god.?
	?Do you know what?s funny, though??  the doctor sat down beside Mulder.
	?I have no idea.?  Mulder wasn?t really in the mood to play games.
	?The transplant donor was anonymous.?
	?That?s not strange,? Mulder glanced at the man beside him. ?There are
anonymous donors all of the time.?
	?No. What?s strange is that the donor specifically requested that the marrow
be given to Miss Scully.  Why would someone do that?  How would they even
know if their marrow would match?? The doctor looked puzzled. Mulder glanced
at him again.
	?Can I go in and see her??
	?Yes, yes, of course.? The doctor waved his hand vaguely, and stared off
into space. Mulder got up and headed towards Scully?s room.  As he rounded a
corner, he thought that he saw a older man in black suit disappear down
another hall.  Mulder shrugged.  Right as he opened the door to Scully?s room
though, Mulder detected a whiff of cigarette smoke in the air. He thought for
a second that it smelled like Morleys, but then he was in the room and in
Scully?s arms.

THE END