Voyager: Fight the Future By Amy Bower rewob@adiis.net Summary: Set in Season 5 and is a crossover with X-Files. The crew encounters a problem so Q brings in the experts to help them. Rating: PG Disclaimers: Paramount owns Voyager and Chris Carter owns X-Files. I'm just having a little fun. I have nothing worth suing over… Author's Notes: This contains spoilers to the X-Files movie so if you haven't seen it and want to be surprised, run away now. Go quickly. If you're still here, you've been warned. Dedication: To Kris just for putting up with me. You know why the squirt gun is in here! And have I told you lately that you're obsessed?!! To Jason for your creative thoughts on episodes. Hey, shouldn't you be working, not reading this?! U.S.S. Voyager Delta Quadrant 24th century "Captain, I'm picking up an M class planet on sensors." Ensign Harry Kim at Ops reported. "On screen, Ensign." Captain Janeway ordered. The viewscreen sprang to life to show a desert like planet not much different from Vulcan. There were few bodies of water visible and two suns blazing fiercely down on the little planet. However, the sensors picked up something unusual. "Captain, sensors are showing a patch of vegetation in the Eastern Hemisphere. It's very unusual considering the climate of the region." Harry's voice was puzzled as his fingers flew across his console gathering information. "Any life signs?" inquired Commander Chakotay. "None that I can detect. There's some atmospheric disturbance that is disrupting some of my sensors." "Will we be able to beam through it?" the Captain wondered. "No, but a shuttle shouldn't have any trouble navigating the disturbance." "Captain…" Lieutenant Paris started to say. "I know, Mr. Paris," Janeway interrupted him. "you'd be willing to pilot a shuttle down." Tom's smile was answer enough for the Captain. "Very well, Lieutenant, go prepare a shuttle." She turned to Chakotay. "Commander, assemble an away team to check this out. You may want to take Lieutenant Torres with you. Maybe she can figure out a way to transport through that disturbance if she gets some readings of it." "Aye, Captain." Commander Chakotay followed Tom into the turbolift. Tom landed the shuttle a few meters from the area of vegetation that Harry had discovered. There were also two large structures situated next to the field. The away team emerged from the shuttle and quickly covered their eyes from the harsh glare of the twin suns in the sky above. "Tom, you and B'Elanna go check out that structure," Chakotay indicated the one on the left. "Ensign Parsons and I will check out this one." B'Elanna took her tricorder out of her Engineering smock and quickly began to run some scans. The rest of the away team followed suit as they walked by the edge of the field. "This really is what it looks like, isn't it?" Tom asked the others. "It would appear so." B'Elanna sounded just as disbelieving as Tom. "It looks like our next question should be why there is a corn field in the middle of a desert planet in the Delta Quadrant." Chakotay double-checked his scans, which only served to confirm their findings. Tom and B'Elanna entered the building to the left and began taking scans there as well. The building was quite large but appeared empty save for the metal grates on the floor. They walked across the path in the middle and knelt by one of the grates. "What do you suppose this place is?" Tom asked. "I don't know, but my tricorder isn't registering much of anything." "Neither is mine. I wonder if there's something in this metal that is blocking the scan." Tom fiddled with his tricorder but with no results. "Listen," B'Elanna placed a hand on his arm to quiet him. "Do you hear something?" Tom stopped and listened. Very faintly, he could hear a buzzing sound, but he could not tell where it was coming from. "It almost sounds like bees." "I know, but why would there be a building full of bees in the Delta Quadrant?" "Why not? After all, there is a rather large cornfield out there." Tom pointed out. They both looked up at the ceiling, as there was a loud sound above them. Ventilation shafts opened along the length of the ceiling. They looked at each other in alarm as the grates around them opened as well. They were quickly surrounded by a large swarm of bees. They began running for the door. "You, okay?" Tom asked his companion breathlessly once they had emerged from the building. "Yeah, I think so." B'Elanna brushed her hair out of her eyes and adjusted the smock she had used to shield her head from the bees. "Did we trip some sort of release or something?" "I don't know. My tricorder still isn't registering anything." B'Elanna reported as she checked the readings. "I wonder if the other building is the same?" Tom wondered. "I don't know. Ah," B'Elanna grimaced in pain and slapped a hand at the back of her neck. When she removed her hand, she held a bee in the palm. "B'Elanna, are you all right?" Tom was quickly at her side. "It stung me, but I'm okay. Klingons aren't allergic to bees." She tried to smile at him, but it didn't quite convince him she was fine. "It must have gotten stuck under the collar of my smock. I knew I should have taken it off." "Let's get you back to the shuttle to check you out just in case. It's hard telling about these things out here." B'Elanna nodded slowly, but as she turned towards the shuttle she faltered. "Tom, I don't feel so good… my head is spinning… my heart is pounding…" Tom caught her gently as she started to fall and lowered her to the ground, cradling her head and shoulders in his arms. "B'Elanna! Can you hear me?" B'Elanna looked up at Tom but couldn't focus as everything swam before her eyes. She felt her grip on his arm loosen as she lost consciousness. Tom fought down a sense of panic as he tapped his comm badge, "Paris to Chakotay." "Chakotay here." Came the immediate response. "Commander, you need to get out here. B'Elanna's been injured. I'm taking her to the shuttle." Tom disconnected before he got a response and quickly picked B'Elanna up and headed for the shuttle. Chakotay and Parsons entered the shuttle to see Tom bent over B'Elanna, medical tricorder in hand. He walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "What happened?" "There were bees. She got stung, and then she collapsed. She's in anaphylactic shock, but she said Klingons weren't allergic to bees. We need to get her to Sickbay soon." "Tom, I can get us through that disturbance, but you can do it faster." Chakotay spoke softly to the younger man. "We need you, B'Elanna needs you. Are you going to be able to pilot? Parsons can keep an eye on her. She'll be okay, but we need to get back to the ship as fast as possible." Tom nodded without taking his eyes off of B'Elanna's still form. He visibly regained his composure and headed for the pilot's seat. Chakotay instructed Parsons to keep an eye on B'Elanna and strap her in before heading to help Tom. They were quickly lifting off and on their way back to Voyager. FBI Headquarters Washington, DC Earth November 1998 Agent Fox Mulder sat at the desk in his temporary office looking over a few of the files that he had reconstructed after the fire that had all but destroyed his office and life's work. He paused as he came across his most recent file, one he had completed only a few months ago. He still wasn't sure what to make of the events that had brought him so close to getting the answers that he sought and yet managed to puzzle him even more than before. All he knew for sure was that he could not have continued his work if Scully would have gone through with her resignation from the Bureau. He needed her stabilizing presence now more than ever after the recent events of the summer. "What's this?" Mulder's voice was puzzled as he closed the cover of the file. Instead of the usual X that appeared on the tab of the folder, the letter Q now appeared. He looked up quickly as he heard a chuckle from the other side of the room. "That's much better don't you agree?" The man at the other end of the room was leaning against the file cabinet, a smug look on his face. He was wearing a black suit and held a lit cigarette casually in his hand. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?" Mulder quickly stood and leveled his gun at the intruder. "Come now, Mulder, don't be melodramatic. It doesn't become you." "Who sent you?" Mulder's finger tensed on the trigger as he awaited the answer he was half-afraid to know. There was a flash of light and the gun in Mulder's hand changed from his usual weapon to a squirt gun. "There, now you won't hurt anyone. Not that you could hurt me, mind you, but who knows what you'd do to yourself." Mulder stared wordlessly at the squirt gun in his hand. He sat down heavily and looked at his visitor. "Who are you?" "My name is Q." "Q? That's it?" "Well, you needn't sound so disappointed. After all, as I recall you once knew a man known only as X so this should come as no big surprise to you." "What are you?" Mulder waved the squirt gun. "How did you do this?" "Your puny mind could not comprehend how I did it so don't even trouble yourself over it." Q wandered around the room poking into the file cabinets. "Why are you here?" "Well, I believe that your expertise in certain areas may be useful to some friends of mine. They seem to have encountered something that you may be able to help them with." "What sort of friends are they?" Mulder was still trying to comprehend the events that were unfolding around him. He had encountered many strange things over the years, but this enigmatic man was proving to be far stranger than anything he had ever experienced. He wasn't sure why, but he thought it had something to do with the way he acted. The fact that his gun had been replaced with a squirt gun also served to make him wonder. "Oh, I'm sure you'll like them, but I warn you that they might not be all that happy to see you. I've never been able to figure it out, but they never seem to appreciate sudden visitors." Q shrugged his shoulders at the oddities of humans. "I'll need to contact my partner. Where should she meet us?" Mulder wondered reaching for his cell phone. "Oh, don't bother with that. I will get us all there much faster than that." Q snapped his fingers and after a sudden flash of white light, the office was empty. U.S.S. Voyager Delta Quadrant 24th century Captain Janeway sat at the head of the conference table surveying her officers. The Doctor had just explained his opinion of the situation, and she was still trying to figure out how her chief engineer could be in Sickbay, all evidence of her condition pointing to anaphylactic shock due to a bee sting. Lieutenant Paris sat at the end of the table, dejected. "Anyone else have any ideas about how we should proceed?" Janeway asked after the briefing. "We may have one, Kathy." The senior staff turned as one as Q, now in his usual Starfleet uniform appeared at the other end of the room. He was flanked by two unfamiliar figures. "Q!" Janeway's voice held an edge she usually reserved for calling battlestations. "Is that any way to treat someone who is just trying to help?" He sounded hurt. "Q," Chakotay sighed. "Your help usually involves more trouble than it's worth." "Mulder?" the woman to Q's left asked, looking around in puzzlement. "Scully, I have no idea what is going on?" "Well, Q, it looks like we're all wondering what is going on." Janeway prompted. "You can start by explaining who these people are." "Captain," Tom perked up a little as he looked intently at the two newcomers by Q's side. "I could be mistaken, but by their clothes, I'd say these people are from Earth. Mid 20th century." "Try late 20th century." Mulder put in, taking in his surroundings. "1998 to be exact." "What is going on here?" Scully was still puzzled. "I was wondering the exact same thing, Miss…" Janeway turned to the agent. "Scully, Special Agent Dana Scully. FBI." "Captain, I have brought you a little help to deal with your current problem." Q strolled over to stand behind Tom's chair. "I really don't think that you and your crew are quite prepared to deal with this situation so I brought in the experts. You better let them do their job before Tom here loses his mind." "Q!" Tom stood, trying to keep his anger in check but not succeeding very well. " If you don't watch it, I'll…" "Tom, that's enough!" Janeway interrupted, motioning her pilot to take his seat again. She stood and rounded the table to face Q, "I don't know what you have in mind, Q, but you had better start explaining. I'm tired of playing games with you. We have more important matters to attend to." "I am well aware of that, but if you don't mind my saying, Lieutenant Torres is not going anywhere." Tom stood, furious, ready to take on the omnipotent being but was interrupted by the captain before he could try anything, "Q, we do mind you saying that so you had better explain yourself. What do these people have to do with our current situation?" "Perhaps it would be best if you let Agent Scully look at the medical records concerning Lieutenant Torres. I am sure she will find them most interesting." "First, you say you are from the 20th century?" She looked at Mulder and then Scully. "That's right. 1998." Scully moved over to stand next to her partner, hoping he was having an easier time understanding what was going on. "And if I could ask you a couple of questions, um, where and when are we?" Mulder looked over the captain's shoulder at the stars outside the window. "Of course, Mr…." "Mulder. Special Agent Fox Mulder." Q sighed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Humans! Always have to have introductions. It's much easier in the Continuum where everyone knows your name." Janeway ignored Q's mutterings. "I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We are currently in the Delta Quadrant, roughly 60,000 light years from Earth in the 24th century. I am afraid that will have to do for explanations right now." Mulder and Scully closed their mouths as they realized they had slowly dropped open in astonishment. It was one thing to think they weren't on Earth, but it was another matter entirely to hear it put into words especially when they realized how far away they were from Earth. They didn't need to know exactly how far a light year was to know that 60,000 was a long way from where they were seconds before. "Um, thank you, Captain." Scully finally found her voice. Mulder jumped as Scully nudged him with her elbow; he was still gaping at the stars outside the window. He leaned down to whisper to Scully; "This is it, Scully. A genuine X-File!" "What is an 'X-File'?" Commander Tuvok's hearing allowed him to overhear the whispered comment. The agents turned to look across the table at the Vulcan. Mulder cocked his head, staring at the ears. Subconsciously, he felt one of his own ears. He stole a glance at Scully to find her doing the same thing. They stopped as they realized everyone was staring at them. "I really don't think we have time for this, do you?" Q was looking bored. "Suffice it to say that these people have dealt with a similar situation to the one you are facing right now. Shall we get on with it?" "One more thing, Q." Janeway gestured to the two agents but addressed Q when she spoke, "I trust that you will return these two to their correct time and place when we are finished here." "My dearest, Kathy. Of course I will. I will even make sure that they remember nothing of the experience since I know how much you hate messing with the time line." "What? Wait a second," Mulder looked at both the captain and Q. "I don't want to forget all this! This is too good to pass up! Time travel, aliens…" "Mr. Mulder," Janeway interrupted him. "I am afraid that you have no choice in this matter. You must not remember any of your experiences here so as not to disturb the natural progression of the time line." "Oh, of course." Mulder could not hide the disappointment in his voice, but he was determined to find a way to remember this extraordinary experience. "Now, shall we go start on your little problem?" Q started to raise his hand as if to snap his fingers to transport them away. Janeway held up a hand. "Q, we'll walk if it's all the same to you. Chakotay you have the bridge. Tom, Doctor, you're with me. The rest of you back to your stations." SICKBAY The doctor led the little group over to the biobed that held the still form of the chief engineer. He ran a quick visual check to make sure everything was working properly. "What did you say happened to her again?" Scully asked, looking at the comatose woman. "She was stung by a bee." Tom tried not to let his gaze linger for too long. "You say she's in anaphylactic shock?" Scully looked at the trio of Starfleet officers. "Yes, but Klingons aren't allergic to bees." At their confused looks, Tom elaborated, "She's half-Klingon and half-Human." "And Klingons are…?" Mulder was trying to imagine what the ridges would be like on a full-blooded Klingon. "I really don't think now is the time to acquaint you with alien physiology, but suffice it to say that I checked all my medical records pertaining to Klingons in general and Lieutenant Torres in particular and I can find no evidence to suggest that she should have suffered this extreme of a reaction to a simple bee sting." "May I take a look at her medical chart, please?" Scully requested. The doctor tapped a few keys on the panel at the head of the biobed. "There you go." "Um, perhaps you'd better explain these to me. I'm not all that familiar with your technology." Doc rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'm a doctor, not an interpreter. I thought you said you had a medical degree." "I do, but it's from the 20th century not the… what century did you say this was again?" "The 24th. Oh, never mind. Here, this reading here is…" Mulder left the two to confer while he moved over to stand next to Tom who was looking intently at the unconscious woman. "Girlfriend?" "What?" Tom was startled out of his reverie. "Is that your girlfriend?" "Oh, uh, I guess you could say that." "You guess? You don't sound very convinced." Mulder looked at him quizzically. "Well, I'm not exactly sure what you'd call our relationship. It's more than a working relationship, but lately it hasn't been a very romantic relationship either. I just don't know any more." "Since you seem to have everything under control here, Captain." Q interrupted the other conversations. "I think I'll be on my way. I need to take q jr. over to the Gamma Quadrant to see how things are going over there. Ta-ta!" With a snap of his fingers, he was gone in the telltale flash of white light. "Great! Now how do we get home?" Scully exclaimed. "Don't worry, he'll be back. He always comes back sooner or later. But at least this time he's trying to be helpful… I think." Janeway explained. "Doctor, keep me informed of any changes. Tom, you're off duty as of now." "But, Captain…" She held up a hand to silence him, "Take care of our guests and see if you can't find a solution to all of this. Use whatever personnel you need and keep me updated on how things are progressing. I'll have Neelix find some accommodations for them. You may want to give them comm badges." "Thank you, Captain." Scully continued to look at the medical readings while the Doctor explained the significance of them. Suddenly, she paused the scrolling information, "Mulder, get over here and take a look at this." "What is it, Scully?" Mulder leaned over her shoulder to look at the readings. Tom looked on from the other side of Doc. "See these?" She pointed to a set of readings. "They are almost identical to the ones taken from those bodies we recovered from the building in Dallas." "You mean…?" Mulder's mind reeled at the possibilities. Scully nodded. "I think so." "What? What's going on?" Tom looked at the agents and then to the doctor. "Doc, what are they talking about?" "I'm not sure, Mr. Paris. Would you mind filling us in on what you've found?" Doc looked at them expectantly. "I think we've encountered this before." Scully said faintly. "What is it?" Tom asked. "It's an alien virus. Well, alien to us anyway." Mulder quickly realized something. "You mean you haven't seen this before?" Doc took a closer look at the readings. "No, I can't say that I have, and considering that I am the compilation of 47 doctors, that's pretty amazing." Tom rolled his eyes. "Do you have a cure?" "We had one once, but we used it." Mulder looked at his partner. "We didn't have time to analyze it." "A few months ago, I was infected with this virus. Mulder used the cure on me." Scully filled them in quietly. "Where did you get it? Maybe we could find some record in the database or something." Tom could feel that they were getting closer and yet were too far away. "Um, I don't exactly know where it came from, but I doubt that they kept any records for anyone to find." Mulder tried to explain. "It really is a long story." "Miss Scully, you said you had been infected by this virus?" Doc wondered. "That's right." "Would you mind if I took a blood sample? Perhaps I can formulate a cure that way." "No, I don't mind go right ahead." Scully began to roll up her sleeve. "That won't be necessary." Doc pointed at her sleeve. "Mr. Paris, please hand me the hypospray." Scully looked at her arm in wonder as Doc pressed the hypo to her arm. She couldn't even tell he was doing anything. "Doc, any idea how long that will take?" Tom wondered. "That depends on how long you are going to stand here and bother me." Tom ignored the remark as he turned to the two agents again. "Would it help if you could see where… this happened." "It might." Tom tapped his comm badge, "Paris to Janeway." "Janeway here, Lieutenant." "Captain, I was wondering if I could take our guests down to the planet to take a look around. Doc is running tests and working on a possible cure. There's nothing else to do up here." There was a slight pause before Janeway responded, "Commander Chakotay will meet you in the shuttle bay. Keep us informed." "Thank you, Captain." Tom closed the channel before turning back to his companions. "Sure beats our cell phones." Mulder muttered. "We'll get you some comm badges first." Tom walked over to the replicator and tapped in his authorization code. "Computer, two comm badges." Mulder and Scully gaped as two comm badges shimmered into existence. "Whoa! How did you…? How did that…" Mulder was at a loss for words. "Oh, um, that's a replicator. It's a little too complicated to explain right now. Maybe later." "Right." "Doc," Tom turned in the doorway. "Let me know if you find something, would you?" "Of course, Lieutenant." The trio exited Sickbay on their way to the shuttle bay. The agents tried not to gasp at the sight of the shuttles. They were having a hard time imagining the size of the vessel they were on if the shuttles were so large. Tom guided the shuttle through the atmosphere as the two agents watched, trying to look like they weren't grasping the edge of their seats as if holding on to a lifeline. Chakotay sat next to Tom and kept an eye on the readings. Ayala sat in the back ready in case of further trouble down on the planet. Tom landed the shuttle with a gentle thump, not far from their previous landing site. Scully and Mulder shielded their eyes from the sudden glare of the desert planet. They both stopped dead in their tracks as they rounded the side of the shuttle. A sudden chill enveloped them. "Are you okay?" Chakotay wondered, noticing their reactions. "Yeah, it's just that, we've been here before. Well, somewhere very similar." Mulder wondered, eyes still glued to the structures. "I didn't really look at the buildings before. I was too busy wondering about the corn. They remind me of…oh, what were they called?" Tom snapped his fingers trying to remember. "Oh, that's it! They were on Earth centuries ago, popcorn poppers or something like that." Scully stared at him, shaking her head even as she saw Mulder's sly smile. "You two were made for each other." She remarked to her partner. After several hours of looking over the installation, the Away Team had made no new discoveries. The tricorders were still not scanning properly, and the agents were just as baffled as the Voyager crew. It was a quiet group that boarded the shuttle for the return trip. Mulder tried to lighten the mood, "I don't suppose you saw anyone smoking a cigarette down there?" "We haven't seen anyone down there." Tom answered as he readied the shuttle for takeoff. "Why? Do you think someone was down there?" Chakotay wondered. "No, it's just that when we ran into this same problem, there was a guy, a group actually, that was behind the whole thing. They're in charge of some global cover-up that's bent on withholding the truth from the people of Earth." "Excuse my partner, he's forgetting that we're not on Earth any more." Scully looked at her partner pointedly. "As striking as the similarities are, they can hardly be the work of the same people can they? Not 400 years apart." "Well, it's hard to say. After all, Jack the Ripper wasn't caught until the 23rd century." Chakotay pointed out. Scully glanced at Mulder, clearly wondering if she had heard right. "Really." Mulder perked up. "I don't suppose you could tell us who shot JFK?" "Who?" Chakotay wondered. "A president of what was then the United States of America. Mid 20th century." Tom filled him in. "Hey, you're pretty good with your, uh, history." Mulder noticed. "The 20th century is a hobby of mine." "I wish that didn't make me feel old." Mulder complained. "Sorry." Tom glanced back at the two agents. He had a feeling he could like them if given the chance. If the circumstances were different, he'd probably enjoy having them around. A few minutes later, the shuttle docked and the occupants wearily emerged onto the shuttle deck. Neelix was waiting for them in the corridor when they exited the shuttle bay. "I'm sorry I wasn't around to meet you earlier, but I was busy with supper preparations." Neelix was completely oblivious to the startled reactions of their guests and went right on with what he was saying, "I thought you might be hungry after all the traveling you've done lately. I've got a few things you might enjoy in the Mess Hall." "Thank you, Neelix." Chakotay had noticed the reactions and was trying to give them time to recover. "That was very thoughtful." "Well, Commander, I am morale officer. It wouldn't do to have our guests go hungry, would it?" "Right, Neelix. Why don't you take them to the Mess Hall? I have to go report to the captain" "Tom, do you want to come get something to eat? I haven't seen you in there all day." "No, thanks, Neelix, I'm not hungry. I think I'll go see how Doc is doing and check on B'Elanna." "She's going to be fine, Tom." Neelix reassured him quietly, patting him on the arm. "Yeah, I know." Tom nodded, but his voice was not convincing. He brightened somewhat and turned to Mulder and Scully, "Stay away form anything with leola root." "Okay…" They responded slowly. Neelix led the unsuspecting pair down the corridor to the Mess Hall. Later That Evening Scully paced the floor of her VIP quarters. Too much was going on for her to feel tired. Of all the things she had witnessed over the years working with Mulder, this was by far the strangest thing they had encountered. She had almost convinced herself that she was dreaming and was about to pinch herself when the door chime sounded, startling her. "Come in." The door whooshed open to admit Mulder. "Scully, I hope you don't mind. I was having trouble sleeping." He jumped as the door closed behind him again. "I can't get used to those doors." "There's a lot of stuff that I'm having trouble getting used to." Scully pointed out the window for emphasis. "I see your point." Mulder went and sat on the couch, deliberately sitting with his back to the vista behind them. "What are you thinking, Mulder?" "I was just thinking about what that other guy, Q, said. Do you think it's possible that we won't remember any of what's happened?" "I don't know. I guess if they can do all this, they can make it so we don't remember what happened. It's happened before." "Yeah, but," Mulder got up to pace around the room. He waved his arms to encompass the entire room. "I mean, look around! We're in space on some sort of star ship. We're in the future, Scully! This is the ultimate X-file, and we won't remember a thing! I don't think I can handle this! I mean think about this, Scully, the truth could be just around the corner here. I just get the feeling that we are so close to knowing what is going on." "How do you figure that, Mulder?" "These people know so much. They're from the future; they have to know something about what's going on, or maybe I should say, what went on." "I don't know, Mulder. I don't think these people are trying to hide anything from us. They seem pretty helpful." "That's not what I'm saying, Scully. I just think that maybe these people have the answers I'm looking for, and they don't even know it. That Q character probably knows what's going on, but I doubt that he'd tell us anything." "Mulder, try to look at it this way." Scully got up and put her hands on his arms to stop his pacing. "After all that we've gone through and despite all the conspiracies you are convinced take place on a daily basis, isn't it enough that the human race is going to last for at least another 400 years?" "Gee, Scully, when you put it that way…" "Doctor to Agent Mulder and Agent Scully." "Um, Mulder here." Mulder looked up at the ceiling since that seemed to be the way it worked. "Would you please report to Sickbay. I have something you should see." "Sure, Doctor, we're on our way." "As soon as we can find it." Scully muttered under her breath. "This is an awfully big ship, Mulder, I'm all turned around. Everything looks the same. Shouldn't we ask someone to take us there?" "Don't worry, how hard can it be?" 5 Minutes Later "Excuse me, could you tell me which way it is to your Sickbay?" Scully asked a tall, blonde woman in a blue jumpsuit. My partner is a typical man and doesn't want to ask anyone for directions." Mulder didn't even comment on her remark, as he was too busy staring at the crewmember Scully had stopped. "Follow me." She began walking down the corridor at a brisk pace. "Mulder," Scully had to grab her partner's arm to get him moving. "Would you mind putting your tongue back in your mouth? You're drooling." "Uh, what?" Mulder snapped out of his daze. "Never mind, Mulder." Scully rolled her eyes. "Sickbay." The woman led the pair through the doors. "Ah, there you are. I was wondering how long it was going to take you." The doctor said upon their arrival. "I believe they were lost. If you don't need anything else, I will be going." "Thank you, Seven." The Doctor smiled at her as she left. "Seven? Sure looks like a Ten to me." Mulder muttered, watching her leave Sickbay. The doctor led them over to a console and brought up a set of readings for them to look at. "Agent Scully, does this mean anything to you?" Scully leaned over to take a closer look. After a few seconds of making sure she knew exactly what she was looking at, she looked up at the doctor, "I think so, Doctor. It looks like you've already discovered a cure for the virus!" "What?!" Mulder leaned over to look at the readings, but they meant nothing to him. "How were you able to do this in such a short amount of time?" Scully was incredulous. "Using the blood sample you gave me I was able to run a series of tests to determine what the best course of action might be." The doctor explained. "I think this will do the trick, but I was hoping that you could tell me if it will work." "How would we know if it works or not? You are obviously far more advanced than we are; you tell us." Mulder sounded skeptical. The doctor looked puzzled. "You said that you once possessed the cure for this virus. I was hoping you could tell me if this is the cure that you had or something close at least." "I never saw the cure really." Scully shrugged. "Um, I was the one that had the cure, for a short time, but there was no time for analysis…" "Oh, I see. Well, then, I guess we should go ahead and give it a try. I've run several tests and none of the other ones came anywhere close to getting the results we want." The Doctor moved over to the centrifuge, removed a vial and put the contents into a hypospray. "Doc, what's that?" Tom was sitting by B'Elanna's side monitoring vital signs. "I am hoping that it is a cure, Mr. Paris." "Really?" Tom's demeanor suddenly brightened. "We'll soon find out." The doctor pressed the hypospray to B'Elanna's neck. "Keep an eye on those readings, Lieutenant." "Yes, sir!" Scully and Mulder stood off to the side to watch the proceedings, trying not to hold their breaths as they waited to see if the cure would work. "It’s not working, Doc!" Tom tried to keep his voice from belaying the panic he was feeling, without success. "The readings are all the same." "Give it a little time, Mr. Paris. It might take a little time to get all the way through her system." After a few more minutes, the Doctor turned away shaking his head. "I don't understand. I was sure this would work." Tom hung his head in his hands and sighed. Scully turned to help the doctor study the readings again and begin on another test for a cure. Mulder looked over at the pilot and felt sorry for the young man. He moved over to see if there was anything he could do to help. No one noticed the slight movement from the biobed. "Tom," Mulder placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know I don't really know you or anything, but I know what you're going through…" "Tom…" B'Elanna sighed weakly from the biobed. Tom's head snapped up at the sound. He turned his attention back to the biobed and smiled, "Hey, there!" "Tom, what's going on? Who is that?" She looked over at Mulder. "Doc! Doc, get over here! It worked!" Tom called over his shoulder and then turned back to B'Elanna, "That's kind of a long story, but they helped us find a cure. You're going to be all right." "Surprisingly enough, Mr. Paris is correct." Doc smirked as he double-checked the readings. "The cure seems to have worked even if it wasn't very fast acting. You will be fine." "Thanks, Doc." B'Elanna was sounding better every minute. "Now, could you please explain what's going on?" "I think that will have to wait." Everyone turned to see Q standing at the other end of the room. "I think it's time I return your guests to their own place and time." "Q," Tom stood and faced the omnipotent being. "Thank you." Q raised his hand and with a snap of his fingers, he and the agents disappeared in the blinding white light. FBI Headquarters Washington, DC Earth November 1998 Agent Fox Mulder sat at the desk in his temporary office looking over a few of the files that he had reconstructed after the fire that had all but destroyed his office and life's work. He rotated his neck to work out the kinks. It was a painstaking process, but until he was assigned to some other case, he was determined to get as many files reconstructed as possible. He reached for another file but his hand encountered a stack of mail instead. He took the manila envelope off the top of the pile and looked at the return address. It was from Los Angeles. He opened it and tipped the contents into his hand. It contained a picture, nothing else. "Hey, Mulder." Scully entered the office and looked over his shoulder. "What's that?" "I don't know. It's some picture that someone mailed to me, but there's no note to tell me why. I sure don't see anything that suggests it's an X-File." "Mulder, why is there a squirt gun on your desk?" Scully pointed at the toy perched atop another stack of files. "I have no idea." Mulder looked puzzled. Scully leaned over to take a closer look at the picture in her partner's hand. "You know, Mulder, those people look kind of familiar." "You know, I think you're right." Mulder, too, took a closer look. "But I sure don't know who they are." They stared at the picture trying to figure out why the people seemed familiar. The picture was of four people standing in some sort of park. One was a black man with baggy pants, tank top and a bandanna covering his hair and the tops of his ears. A younger, blond man stood next to him wearing a blue shirt with a tank top underneath. They were looking at the third man who was dressed in a strange black jumpsuit that had blue shoulders and some sort of object on his left arm. The fourth person, a young lady, didn't seem familiar at all. "Scully, I have the strangest feeling that I know these people." Mulder almost whispered. "Yeah, me too." Scully stared for a moment longer and then shook herself visibly and stood up straight. Back to business as usual. "Mulder, it's almost time to go." "We wouldn't want to keep the review panel waiting, would we?" Mulder asked sarcastically. Mulder took the picture and slid it back into the envelope. He'd save it just in case it proved useful later on. He pulled his jacket on and followed Scully out the door on their way to the review board. The door closed on the empty room but as the door shut, there was a quiet chuckle that seemed to emanate from all around the darkened room.